The shortest month is thankfully not the shortest list of ‘coming to cinemas’ horror films.  While we do not get a  marquee horror release around St. Valentines Day this year, presumably because most distribution firms are wisely terrified of going up against Fifty Shades of Grey that weekend, there are a few interesting looking horror films, including a pair of horror comedies, coming both to cinema and/or V.O.D. this month:

February 6:

The Voices

We originally told you about Ryan Reynolds’ upcoming horror-comedy The Voices here.

The basic premise, straight from Lionsgate, is that Reynolds (Green Lantern) is Jerry, a chipper guy clocking the nine-to-five at a bathtub factory, with the offbeat charm of anyone who could use a few friends. With the help of his court-appointed psychiatrist, he pursues his office crush (Gemma Arterton- Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters). However, the relationship takes a sudden, murderous turn after she stands him up for a date. Guided by his evil talking cat and benevolent talking dog, Jerry must decide whether to keep striving for normalcy, or indulge in a much more sinister path.

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Available in limited theatrical release, and V.O.D. on February 6, The Voices could easily become one of those amazingly fun, cult horror-comedy films that become an essential part of any horror fans’ collection for those days when you just want to see a talking head on a coffee table.

February 13:

What We Do in the Shadows

A mockumentary film that has been making the festival rounds, including a showing at last years’ Sundance Film Festival, What We Do in the Shadows  is written, directed and starring Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) and Taika Waititi (Eagle vs. Shark). The film involves a documentary crew being invited into the Wellington, New Zealand home of four vampires, from different eras, to see what life is like as these centuries-old creatures attempt to survive in the 21st century. The impetus of greater conflict in Shadows is the introduction of a new “modern” vampire into the mix, who is less interested in keeping his vampirism a secret from society at large.

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Garnering many positive reviews, What We Do in the Shadows sets out to deliver on its’ casts comedy pedigree and give us a horror-comedy Best in Show.

Do not expect a wide-release of this film, so if it does sound interesting to you, and you are lucky enough to have a showing at a local cinema, do not delay in going to see it .

February 27:

The Lazarus Effect

You know what medical students never do? Watch zombie movies, Pet Sematary, The Walking Dead, play Resident Evil, or read zombie books, or even Frankenstein. Nope,  they are too busy studying, working in the lab, and living in huge, beautiful apartments.

How do we know this?

The Lazarus Effect.  A film which we originally told you about here.

Essentially, The Lazarus Effect is about a group of medical students, including Olivia Wilde (Rush), Mark Duplass (The League), Evan Peters (American Horror Story) and Donald Glover (Community) who discover a way to bring the dead back to life, because science:

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As one would expect, it appears that what they have done is brought something evil into the world, a thought that apparently did not pass any of the students’ minds when they were starting out on this path toward resurrecting the dead.

Whether this is just a medically re-skinned Pet Sematary with flashier effects, or if The Lazarus Effect stands on the shoulders of its solid cast as an interesting addition to the ‘playing God and bringing monsters to life’ sub-genre, remains to be seen.

Out of the Dark

Out of the Dark or Aguas Rojas is an English language, Spanish-Columbian produced horror directed by relative newcomer Lluís Quílez, wherein an American couple and their young, oddly British sounding daughter move to Santa Clara, Columbia to take over a paper manufacturing business, but unfortunately move into an haunted house.  Starring Scott Speedman (Underworld), Julia Styles (The Bourne Ultimatum) and Pixie Davies (Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger, which as you can see, is a real thing), Out of the Dark, while seemingly very similar in plot to a lot of other haunted house films, does show promise with the unconventional setting (jungle haunted house!) and a talented cast:

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Out of the Dark premiered at the German Fantasy Film Fest in August of 2014, but is just now going to see a limited release in cinemas (and is sparsely available already on demand) in North America.

 

There you have it: four very different (and solid) looking horror films coming out this February, with a pair of interesting looking horror-comedies, a ‘science gone wrong’ horror, and an haunted house story to choose from, it is a good month to get your new horror on.

What do you think of this months’ slate of releases?  Let us know below, and happy horror!