Horror News: May 6, 2011

We’ve got some photos and details for The Dead Must Die, a new webseries premiering on DailyMotion.

I usually try not to just re-post articles that aren’t breaking news, but this piece about the history of zombies on film and their evolution over time is actually really interesting. (The Film Pilgrim)
We’ve got some casting details that show off a b-grade star studded ensemble that will come together for Zombex, the zombie musical. Even if it is strikingly similar to Dead Rising 2, it’s got Corey Feldman so I’m in.

After a few failed attempts by McFarlane to produce a quality action figure, toy giant NECA has obtained exclusive rights to produce figures based on the horror classic The Evil Dead. (Dread Central)
We spoke a while back about Night of the Little Dead, an indie film starring Adam Savage, Bill Moseley, and Penn (of Penn and Teller) Jillette. Well after the break we’ve got a teaser trailer that shows a lot of promise.

Thanks to Dimension Extreme the U.S. was the last place on the freakin' planet to see Michael Bartlett'ss pretty-OK The Zombie Diaries, and it looks to be a continuing trend. While the rest of the planet sits back and waits, World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 will be opening in the UK on June 24, 2011. The sequel, directed by both Kevin Gates and Michael Bartlett, begins three months following the first film. Click the title above for more info.

In addition, Darren Lynn Bousman's Mother's Day, the quasi-remake of the classic '80s Troma film, will open in UK cinemas on June 10 via Optimum Releasing. The pic follows "Three brothers on the run from the law head for home, only to discover that their mother lost the house in a foreclosure. Mother ingeniously orchestrates her sons' escape, teaching the house's new owners and their guests a few lessons along the way."

More pre-Cannes news as Anchor Bay Entertainment has nabbed Robin Hardy's The Wicker Tree for U.S. distribution. Wicker Tree, starring Christopher Lee, Joan Collins, Graham McTavish, Paul Wesley, Susie Amy, Morgan James and Natalie Parnes, is a companion piece to The Wicker Man that follows "young Christians Beth and Steve, a gospel singer and her cowboy boyfriend, whom leave Texas to preach door-to-door in Scotland. When, after initial abuse, they are welcomed with joy and elation to Tressock, the border fiefdom of Sir Lachlan Morrison, they assume their hosts simply want to hear more about Jesus. How innocent and wrong they are." Click the title for images, art and the trailer.

In addition to the previously released images, poster and trailer, inside you'll find a second (and much better looking) one sheet for Lars Von Trier's end-of-the-world drama Melancholia. "Justine (Dunst) and Michael (Skarsgård) who are celebrating their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of her sister (Gainsbourg) and brother-in-law (Sutherland). Meanwhile, the planet, Melancholia, is heading towards Earth..." The world ends on November 4, thanks to Magnolia Pictures.


Summit Entertainment has picked February 24, 2012 as the release date of Heitor Dhalia's thriller Gone, which stars Amanda Seyfried as "a young woman named Jill who returns home from her night shift to find her sister's bed empty. She's convinced the serial killer who kidnapped her two years before has come back to finish the job. But the police do not believe Jill, who knows time is running out. With no one to turn to, she sets off to find her sister and face her abductor once and for all."

On the TV front, Evan Peters and Taissa Farmiga (both pictured here) are joining Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott in Ryan Murphy's FX pilot "American Horror Story," says THR. "The thriller centers on husband and wife Ben ("The Practice" 's McDermott) and Vivien Harmon ("Friday Night Lights" ' Britton) who move their family from Boston to a haunted San Francisco home in an attempt to rebuild their family after a miscarriage and affair."

With even more details leaking, Farmiga will play Violet Harmon, the couple's smart gothic daughter who befriends Tate Langdon (Peters), a handsome and charismatic teen described as a cult leader with movie star looks who isn't what he seems. Living next door to the Harmons are Constance (Jessica Lange) and her daughter with down syndrome, who knows more about the house than everyone realizes. Denis O'Hare ("True Blood") also co-stars as Larry the Burn Guy, a former resident of the creepy house.