News
NOT SO SCARY: Family Films from Horror Directors!
Written by Dr. Jose
Imagine reading on Twitter tomorrow that Adam Wingard was helping write the next Pixar movie. Or seeing that Robert Eggers was directing a heartwarming family dramedy about an elderly couple. Or that James Wan‘s next project was adapting If You Give a Mouse a Cookie for the big screen. It might be a bit disorienting – these are horror directors, after all. The only time they should be associated with ‘warm fuzzies’ is if they happen to be describing the deadly space creatures from their next movie.
However, it’s actually not that strange for horror directors to dip their toes into family friendly waters, and in fact a lot of the big, established names in horror have done it – multiple times, for some. Perhaps filming blood and guts day in and day out gets boring. Or maybe they shoot softer stuff as a way to decompress. Or maybe – just maybe – they’re simply trying something new.
As for Wingard, Eggers, Wan, and the rest of the new generation of horror directors, they’re all still relatively new and just now making names for themselves. There’s still time for them to give the family stuff a shot – and who knows, sooner or later they just might.
Below I’ve compiled a short list of some of the “softer” works by some of horror’s more talked about directors. Some are familiar, others may surprise you. Have any to add? Leave a comment below!
A decade after writing and directing The Slumber Party Massacre, Amy Jones shifted her focus from driller killers to drooling canines. Along with John Hughes, she wrote the much-beloved ’90s family flick Beethoven. It proved to be quite the success – as of this writing, it has spawned four sequels.
Chuck Russell wrote and directed two of the most memorable horror films of the late-’80s: The Blob and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. His penchant for pun-cracking weird-faced dudes who can defy the laws physics carried over into the early-’90s when he produced and directed the massive hit, The Mask.
Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna, the deranged duo who collectively brought us cult hits like Re-Animator, From Beyond, and Dolls, and who individually brought us films like Society, Return of the Living Dead III, and Castle Freak, joined forces once more to write one of the most successful films of 1989, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. (It beat out Back to the Future II, Ghostbusters II, and even The Little Mermaid.)
Speaking of the Honey franchise, Thom Eberhardt, best known for directing Night of the Comet and the underrated Sole Survivor, wrote the sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. But the horror connections don’t stop there: HIBUtK was produced by Slumber Party Massacre II writer and director, Deborah Brock, and Empire Pictures president, Albert Band!
Is there anything scarier than a group of feisty senior citizens who want to break out of a retirement home and go on one last adventure before they kick the bucket? Less than a year after writing and directing one of the most successful and influential horror films of all time – Halloween, duh – John Carpenter tried something completely different by writing a few TV movies that were decidedly not horrific: the comedic Zuma Beach and the heartfelt Better Late Than Never.
David Lynch’s films are known for their unsettling subject matter, freaky surrealism, and general bat-shit craziness – which is why it’s so surprising that the director decided to make a G-rated Disney film in the mid-’90s. (That’s not hyperbole, by the way – The Straight Story is literally a G-rated Disney film.) While the film wasn’t a financial success, it was met with critical acclaim, winning 12 awards and 29 nominations – including an Academy Award for Best Actor.
It’s hard to conceive how John D. Hancock, director of Let’s Scare Jessica to Death – one of the great low-budget weirdo spook movies of the ’70s – could also direct one of the many beloved Christmas movies of the ’80s, Prancer. That is, until, you realize the little girl in Prancer is also named Jessica, and then it all makes sense. (I don’t know, I’m grasping at straws here.)
Speaking of Christmas, Bob Clark is probably best known for his two films Black Christmas and A Christmas Story. And while A Christmas Story is a family film to be enjoyed by those of all ages, Clark somehow made an even more family-friendlier film, the talking toddler film Baby Geniuses, which is clearly aimed at…well, actually I don’t know who it’s aimed at. It’s pretty bad.
David Lynch wasn’t the only one on this list to dip his toes into Disney waters – horror maestro Wes Craven was also briefly on Mickey’s payroll when he directed an episode of the TV program Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, entitled “Casebusters”. But perhaps Craven’s best known diversion from the horror genre was his true story drama, Music of the Heart, starring Meryl Streep and Gloria Estefan.
Sometimes you just gotta go where the money is. After writing The Howling and directing The Nest, director Terence Winkless found himself some job security by directing over 40 episodes of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, as well as their full length feature, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Ninja Quest.
After directing The Gate, Gate 2: The Trespassers, and the underrated I, Madman, Director Tibor Takács also found himself in the TV game: he directed Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which inspired the long-running television show (for which Takács directed the pilot episode). He followed it up by directing the sequel, Sabrina Goes to Rome.
In between writing some of the most fun and popular horror movies of the ’80s – movies like Fright Night, Child’s Play, and Psycho II – Tom Holland tore a page out of the Spielberg/Dante handbook and tried his hand at writing one of those “child in danger” fantasy movies that were becoming so widespread at the time. Despite being well-received, as of this writing, Cloak & Dagger has been Holland’s only attempt at such a genre.
Sadly, the horror community lost one of its greatest and most important figures just a few weeks ago. Herschell Gordon Lewis, the Wizard of Gore himself, passed away in September – and with him went an era of goopy, sleazy, low-budget drive-in B-movie gold that was and is as important to cinema as French New Wave, New Hollywood, or any other cinematic movement over the last century. But it wasn’t all sex and splatter for ol’ H.G. Not long after directing Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs!, Lewis directed two kid’s films: Jimmy, the Boy Wonder and The Magic Land of Mother Goose.
Last but not least, we have Nicolas Roeg, director of the horrifying Don’t Look Now, and the equally-horrifying-but-still-kid-friendly The Witches. If you squint hard enough, you can find a few parallels between the films which makes it seem like not so much of a stretch that Roeg would’ve directed both films. But the graphic sex and violence in Don’t Look Now stands in glaring contrast to the ultimately playful and goofy nature of The Witches.
Honorable mentions: frequent Bob Clark collaborator Alan Ormsby, who wrote Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things, Deranged, Deathdream, and Popcorn, who also happened to helped write Disney’s Mulan. And George A. Romero, who directed the authorized biography, O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose. And while it’s not necessarily a family film, it’s pretty damn weird.
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News
Chilling New Alt Poster for “Mickey Vs Winnie” Unveiled
Buzz is growing around “Mickey vs Winnie,” a new slasher film that reimagines Mickey and Winnie as twisted, monstrous adversaries. Directed by Glenn Douglas Packard, the movie follows a group of friends who stumble upon these nightmarish characters in a cursed forest. While the plot sounds straightforward, it promises unexpected twists that horror fans will relish. The newly released alt poster captures the film’s eerie essence with a dark, Rob Zombie-esque album cover vibe, enhancing its sinister appeal.
This alt version adds a vibrant, edgy tone, setting the stage for a unique slasher movie experience that blends childhood memories with nightmarish twists. This new version suggests that as the silhouetted girl runs deeper into the forest, she delves further into the sinister realm dominated by the twisted incarnations of Mickey and Winnie. Stay tuned for more updates and set photos as production continues for “Mickey vs Winnie”.
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Editorial
Baffling Footage of “Time Traveler” Captured on Ring Cam
Some physicists think that time travel is possible and in a recent social media story we might believe them.
It all started when a homeowner named Alec Schaal checked his outside security camera remotely. He saw a young gentleman walking aimlessly around the yard seemingly looking for something. The trespassing individual with a backpack over his shoulder entered the homeowner’s tool shed and closed the door. It seemed like a simple case of unlawful intrusion. But as the homeowner reviewed the entire footage he noticed something strange and ended up calling the police.
It became a concern when the interloper never exited the shed. Worried, the homeowner had law enforcement check on the situation but the investigation turned up nothing: the stranger was nowhere to be found, he seemingly disappeared into thin air.
That would have been the end of it, but what happened next is even stranger.
The next day, someone who looks like the first guy emerges from the shed but he appears 30 years older!!
Since this weird story broke, Schaal’s TikTok has been blowing up and he has given several updates. Of course, some people are outright skeptical about the whole thing, while others want more proof which Schaal provides.
In the most recent update, Schaal says TikTok is trying to remove the story from his feed saying that it violates their guidelines about…gambling. He’s appealed but was declined.
Take a look at the videos for yourself and let us know what you think.
@alecschaal I’ve literally watched this 1 million times and he never leaves. Where did he go? 😭👀
♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound
@alecschaal Replying to @Dmonynet ♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound
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Movies
‘Violent Night’ Director’s Next Project is a Shark Movie
Sony Pictures is getting in the water with director Tommy Wirkola for his next project; a shark movie. Although no plot details have been revealed, Variety confirms that the movie will start filming in Australia this summer.
Also confirmed is that actress Phoebe Dynevor is circling the project and is in talks to star. She is probably best known for her role as Daphne in the popular Netflix soap Bridgerton.
Duo Adam McKay and Kevin Messick (Don’t Look Up, Succession) will produce the new film.
Wirkola is from Norway and utilizes a lot of action in his horror films. One of his first films, Dead Snow (2009), about zombie Nazis, is a cult favorite, and his 2013 action-heavy Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is an entertaining distraction.
But 2022’s Christmas blood fest Violent Night starring David Harbour made wider audiences familiar with Wirkola. Coupled with favorable reviews and a great CinemaScore, the film became a Yuletide hit.
Insneider first reported this new shark project.
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