Who knows what exactly is going to surprise us in calendar year 2012.  Well I guess there is only one way to find out, I’ll see you at the movie theater! Lets get this party started

Clown (Dir: Jon Watts- 2012)

Synopsis: A loving father dons a clown outfit, wig, bulbous nose and pancake makeup to entertain at his son’s sixth birthday after the clown-for-hire is a no-show. Unable to take off the clown garb, dad’s personality changes in horrific fashion. He and his family race to break the curse of the evil outfit before he undergoes a complete transformation into a homicidal killer with over-sized shoes.

My Thoughts: Ok, so this is the second “horror clown” movie in 2012 and for some reason I’m not interested in this one at all.  It sounds like that Simpsons episode where Homer gets the hair transplant from the criminal Snake and he dons his personality through some sort of scalp mind control.  I’m sure that is probably a spoof of an older horror film but I’m not going to look up what it is, because this movie just seems silly.  Hopefully it’s silly-good, but I’m not holding my breath.

Growl (Dir: Sxv’leithan Essex – 2012)

Synopsis: A traveling underground fight club called ‘The Brawlers’ arrive at a derelict ghost where they meet the town’s only residents, the Maxilla family who want to buy on to the fight card. But the Maxilla family’s true intentions are soon revealed in teeth and claws. Some will be hunted, some will be feed, and some will become part of the family…whether they like it or not.

My Thoughts: Being described as “Fight Club meets werewolves” it appears to me that this one could go either way.  Who wouldn’t want to see an underground Fight Club of werewolves (Which kind of already happened last year if you keep up with True Blood for some reason) taking out easy prey in the most fantastically gory ways imaginable?  This is said to be the first part of a trilogy so it looks like if things go well we may have a new franchise on our hands.  Hopefully it doesn’t disappoint.

Rosewood Lane (Dir: Victor Salva – 2012)

Synopsis: Radio talk show therapist, Sonny Blake, moves back to her childhood home after her alcoholic father dies.  Upon her return to the old neighborhood, Sonny discovers her neighbors are terrified of the local paperboy who is a cunning and dangerous sociopath.  One who may have killed her father, and several others.

My Thoughts: The last horror film Victor Salva did was Jeepers Creepers 2 back in 2003.  That being said Rose McGowan stars as the Radio Talk show Therapist (may be a little stretch there) and the film created a little bit of buzz when it premiered at Screamfest last year.  Suburban thrillers always have a good shot of being profitable and legitimately scary when they actually have a shot at happening in the real world.  If it manages to be scary while staying in the realm of possibility, it has a shot.

Stitches (Dir: Conor McMahon – 2012)

Synopsis: Stitches is the macabre story of Richard ‘Stitches’ Grindle, a jaded workaday kids’ birthday clown, whose one-liners are witty in a way that’s just not for kids. Stitches falls victim to a fatal party mishap at the hands of a group of particularly nasty children. Years later the group of now teenagers attend a party at which Stitches is the uninvited guest of honor, returning to avenge his untimely death.

My Thoughts: Now we have three.  That makes three horror movies coming out in 2012 that revolve around clowns.  Now, it would be unfair of me to say this one is the most unoriginal because I just so happened to run into it 3^rd past two other clown films, so I’m just going to say it sounds unoriginal due to its premise.  Now, as we all know, just because a film doesn’t sound original doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be a good film.  Quentin Tarantino makes a career off of this.  I’m thinking at one point this year I’ll just have a  marathon of clown films then right about it, well only if I find at least one more clown related horror film.

Blood was Everywhere (Dir: Jason Torrey – 2012)

Synopsis: The nightmare of the unsolved, random murder is brought to life: A faceless killer wreaks havoc on the lives of average people in a small Massachusetts town.

My Thoughts: At this point, Blood was Everywhere has no distribution that I can tell so we aren’t even sure if we’re going to see it at all in 2012.  The film appears to be a very low budget film with a teaser trailer (seen below) that exists to ask more questions about the film rather than answer them.  To answer your question, yes this looks like something that doesn’t look that great, but I’m not writing it off before I actually see it.  Plus, the title “Blood was Everywhere” is probably the most alluring title of any film coming out in 2012.  I’m intrigued.

John Dies at the End (Dir: Don Coscarelli – 2012)

Synopsis: It’s a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. On the street they call it Soy Sauce, and users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can’t.

My Thoughts: It’s been far too long since Don Coscarelli has given us a horror film and I for one greet his projects with open arms.  Written by Cracked.com’s David Wong, this trailer looks creepy, weird, unrelenting, and straight up disturbing.  I’ll be there day 1.

Suspension (Dir: Patrick Tatopoulos – 2012)

Synopsis: Set in the German Alps as a raging fire burns and a rescue helicopter is forced to make an emergency landing on an old suspension bridge. Trapped, the passengers’ hope for survival go up in flames as they face a new kind of creature.

My Thoughts: From what I can tell at the moment, this film hasn’t even stepped foot in front of the camera yet.  No cast exists and the last word on it was that Patrick Tatopoulos (Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) was working with producers to find the financing.  Hopefully this one makes the 2012 target because I’m a sucker for horror films that start with a bad situation and just keep getting worse.

The Village of Shadows (Dir: Fouad Benhammou – 2012)

Synopsis: A group of friends take two separate cars while on a trip to a small village called Ruiflec for the weekend. They will soon discover that the town is void of any people and their means of communication is dead. They soon must learn to fight for their survival and attempt to find a way out of the mysterious town.

My Thoughts: This French horror film currently doesn’t have North America distribution at the moment but judging from a bunch of user reviews on imdb, there isn’t much positivity surrounding the film.  Since there are only 165 user reviews so far, that doesn’t mean a whole lot so I’ll wait until I see it to reserve judgment.  These French horror films have been on a quite a roll lately.

The Butcher Bride (Dir: David Hackl- 2012)

Synopsis: Thirty years ago, a depraved assault during a Halloween costume ball shattered a young woman’s mind, turning her into a brutal mass murderer. Dressed in her rival’s blood-soaked wedding gown, the legend of the Butcher Bride was born. Now, decades later, everyone who enters the Silas Mansion will encounter a frightening spirit ravenous to satisfy perverse appetites. Death is the only escape. Here comes The Bride…

My Thoughts: I’m not exactly sure what the deal with this film is considering David Hackl’s next job on the script appears to be something called Red Machine.  This is in development and may never even happen which normally would warrant an exclusion from this list, but for some reason I foresee an interesting take on the High School slasher film with a little bit over Carrie in it.  I hope that the inclusion in this list will help get it made by drumming up some interest.  I also have delusions of grandeur.

Tape 407 (Dir: Dale Fabrigar- 2012)

Synopsis: The film opens with two teenagers flying from New York to Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve. A relentless weather attack causes panic and terror amongst the passengers until the plane ultimately crashes in a remote government-testing area. The handful of survivors from the crash, bloody and disoriented, are then insistently pursued in the darkness by unknown predators that, unbeknownst to them, are part of the government’s top-secret Mesa Experiment.

My Thoughts: This was screened right around Halloween in 2011 to some very positive audience reception in LA.  Considering that this is a low budget dialogue driven film while relies on words to given characters depth rather than broad stereotypes of character traits, that’s a really good sign.  Maybe those audience’s perceptions of the film were skewed because it was the night before Halloween that they first saw the film, so I guess I better make the decision for myself.

The Corridor (Dir: Evan Kelly- 2012)

Synopsis: A group of high school friends reunite years later for a weekend of partying and catching up on old times. Isolated deep in the snow covered forest they stumble upon a mysterious corridor of light. Like a drug, the corridor’s energy consumes them, driving them to the point of madness. One by one, they turn on each other, taking their evil to the next level. Mayhem leads to murder as they race to outlast each other, and the corridor’s supernatural powers.

My Thoughts: There is nothing like a character driven film that takes a group of friends and relentlessly pits them against each other.  The corridor of light in this case may work to bring out under the surface jealousy and betrayal amongst the friends and it’s not a secret that the success of the film is going to entirely rely on good acting which isn’t exactly copious in low budget horror films.  I hope that they pull it all off thought because this one sounds interesting.

At The End of the Day (Dir: Cosimo Alema- 2012)

Synopsis: A game of paintball turns deadly when three unhinged and deranged ex-soldiers play a twisted mind game of catch and release with their unsuspecting victims. This quickly leads to a bloody man hunt where everyone is a target, and no one is safe.

My Thoughts: It kind of sounds like a mix between Surviving the Game and that one Friday the 13^th film where Jason is killing those paintball players back when paintball was something that no one played except rich business men on corporate retreats as some kind of lame team building exercises.  It also reminds me of the third Child’s Play movie that took place at the military academy where the fake paintball ammo was changed with live ammo.  None of these movies I mentioned are any good at all, so full disclosure, this isn’t peaking my interest.

Episode 50 (Dir: Joe Smalley, Tess Smalley- 2012)

Synopsis: Focuses on two television crews of paranormal experts: one team of skeptics looking to de-bunk myths about ghosts and another consisting of believers looking to prove their existence. Teaming up for the first time for a special episode, the crews get more then they bargained for when they actually make contact with a spirit of tremendous power and must ban together to stop it before it destroys them all.

My Thoughts: The synopsis uses the term “more than they bargained for”.  Seriously?  Is this Commando or Cobra?  Is Stallone or Schwarzenegger in this one?  C’mon now.  That synopsis really doesn’t bode well for the rest of the film but if I can get past that really lame phrase, this kind of does sound interesting.  I’ll be waiting for a trailer.

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (Dir: Michael Bassett – 2012)

Synopsis: The sequel follows Heather Mason and her father, who have been on the run – always one step ahead of dangerous forces that she doesn’t fully understand. Now, on the eve of her 18th birthday, plagued by horrific nightmares and the disappearance of her father, Heather discovers she’s not who she thinks she is. The revelation leads her deeper into a demonic world that threatens to trap her in Silent Hill forever.

My Thoughts: This sounds like a sequel to the original film that is only going to pull some imagery from the actual games as a nod to the fans.  I enjoyed about 90 percent of the original Silent Hill film (The end Is awful) so if they can work out the kinks from the first one, this sounds like it very well may be a good film.  Although I feel like just like the new Resident Evil film and the new Underworld film, you already know if you’re going to see this one or not.

6 Miranda Drive (Dir: Greg Mclean- 2012)

Synopsis: The movie is about a family that unwittingly brings a supernatural force home with them from vacation. Feeding off their own fears, the evil presence threatens to destroy them from within as it takes over their lives and home, with terrifying results.

My Thoughts: First thing that comes to mind is that how does a person piss off a ghost so much that it actually follows them home from vacation and exists just to torment them?  A lot of supernatural films start off with a curse, or some kind of relic that causes the spirit unrest and therefore creates a reason as to why the ghost is there in the first place.  So what did they do?  I kind of want to find out, and I hope that the excuse is good enough to keep me entertained.

Silent House (Dir: Chris Kentis, Laura Lau – 2012)

Synopsis: Sarah returns with her father and uncle to fix up the family’s longtime summerhouse after it was violated by squatters in the off-season. As they work in the dark, Sarah begins to hear sounds from within the walls of the boarded-up building. Although she barely remembers the place, Sarah senses the past may still haunt the home.

My Thoughts: This would be the English version of the 2010 film of the same name so at least we know that the story is interesting enough to keep everyone entertained.  That doesn’t necessarily mean this will be good (like the disappointing Quarantine), or that it will be bad (Let Me In was great) so we are going to have to wait and see.  I just noticed that this year seems like there aren’t a whole lot of remakes coming down the pipe.  This could be a good trend because I’m fine with remakes as long as they are good films.

Evidence (Dir: Olatunde Osunsanmi – 2012)

Synopsis: The flick’s story’s set with police arriving at an abandoned gas station following a brutal massacre — with the only evidence at the crime scene the victims’ personal electronic devices, including a camcorder, flipcam, and two cell phones. With nothing else to go on, a detective must analyze the bits of found footage to piece together the identity of the killer.

My Thoughts: First thought is that it sounds like an episode of Law and Order.  You know what though; horror films that bond with police procedurals usually turn out pretty good like Seven and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.  I’m willing to definitely give this one a chance because we may be in for an interesting ride sitting shotgun with the detectives as they figure it all out.

Mama (Dir: Andres Muschietti – 2012)

Synopsis: Tells the story of a couple who take in their long-lost young nieces and nephews. The kids were found after living in the forest for five years but now murderous events begin to unfold and it becomes clear that a supernatural force is intent on claiming the kids.

My Thoughts: This film just wrapped and honestly this one just doesn’t seem like my cup of tea right out of the gate.  Who knows though, maybe this could be the best horror film of 2012.  I know this sounds like a few generic sentences that you could really apply to any film on this list but honestly that’s all I got for this one, no initial feelings right now, check back with me later.

Monster Love (Dir: Joe Dante – 2012)

Synopsis: After PETE, a young dogwalker, gets dumped by his girlfriend, his slacker buddies convince him to run naked through the city park. As the moon rises, the boys laugh, howl, and transform…Later, a distraught young woman named Maggie is contemplating suicide when she’s surprised by an enormous wolf. She snarls, baring her vampire fangs. The wolf grins and barks: Let’s play!  They get together obviously.

My Thoughts: Joe Dante made Gremlins and The Burbs, so that pretty much entitles me to see anything the man creates.  I hated his Masters of Horror entry called Homecoming, and I hope this film can completely reverse the ship.  That’s just my personal opinion because I know a lot of you enjoyed Homecoming but it wasn’t for me.  I know you may not want to hear this either, but this sounds like a Twilight rip off and I know that if it were any director I would have given up on this one immediately.

Monster Brawl (Dir: Jesse T. Cook – 2012)

Synopsis: Set in the tradition of a Pay-Per-View main event, comes a grotesque and hilarious fight to the death featuring a cast of eight classic combatants in all. Along with their colorful managers, these Monsters compete in visceral bloody combat in the ring to determine the most powerful monster of all time.

My Thoughts: So UFC is popular right now, reality show-like horror films are also popular, and Monsters will always be popular.  I know next to nothing about this film but it kind of sounds awesome.  Who doesn’t want to see a werewolf completely destroy a mummy just like we all know would happen?  Will this solve the great horror debates of who could kick whose ass.  I have no idea, but I want to find out.

Shadow People (Dir: Matthew Arnold- 2012)

Synopsis:  Small town radio personality Charlie is thrust into the mystery when a strange caller relates a terrifying experience during Crowe’s late night call-in show. At the same time, CDC Public Health Agent, Sophie, is hot on the trail of the cause of the rare medical condition known as SUNDS. Her investigations entwine her with Charlie’s own discoveries and take them both into a dark world and a decades old cover-up about the phenomenon we now call, The Shadow People.

My Thoughts: A lot of feelings are coming up right now that reminds me of the fantastic film PontyPool.  Something about the existence of a disease and a radio talk show host may be a bit of a nod to PontyPool or it may be completely different.  It wrapped production as far as I can tell it doesn’t have a release date so hopefully this gets released and lives up to all these ridiculous expectations I have just set in my mind right now.  If it’s half as good as PontyPool, I’m so in.

Sleep Tight (Dir: Jaume Belaguero- 2012)

Synopsis: Cesar works as a doorman in a Barcelona apartment building. Happiness eludes him and he feels the need to reaffirm his reasons for living on a daily basis.  In Clara he has found the perfect target, and he will go to extreme lengths to make her life miserable. But Cesar is starting to get a bit too cocky, and soon his carefully thought out plans will start to unravel… Luckily for him, he has one last ace up his sleeve.

My Thoughts: From the man who directed Rec, we have a film that seems a lot like P2 (remember that movie?) and for all intents and purposes, doesn’t sound all that great.  But then again, Mr. Belaguero gave us the fantastic REC on no budget and one location so I’m honestly excited about this one.  Hopefully we get to see it on this side of the ocean.