Early 2013’s Horror and Paranormal Movies of Note

If you are a fan of The Walking Dead and caught any of the commercials during the mid-season finale, you might’ve seen ads for a couple of the movies discussed below. They caught my eye. I decided to include them with some of the other horror and paranormal movies of note coming in early 2013.

Whether you like zombies, remakes, spoofs, or even a touch of romance with your fright, the first part of 2013 looks to offer some interesting horror and paranormal movies choices.

CARRIE

This is the first of the remakes discussed in this post. Hopefully it’ll be better than the made for TV remake from 2002. I’m partial to the original though. My expectations are not high for this one, but it’d be nice to be pleasantly surprised.

The synopsis posted on IMDB pretty much sums it up. Can’t stray from the basic plot line too much on that front.

A sheltered high school girl unleashes her newly developed telekinetic powers after she is pushed too far by her peers.

Here’s the trailer:

 

EVIL DEAD

Fans of the original Evil Dead seemed pretty psyched when it was announced Sam Raimi would be involved in the remake, and that Bruce Campbell would appear in it too. The wait to see it will be over come Spring 2013. Here’s the premise:

Mia, a young woman struggling with sobriety, heads to a remote cabin with her brother and a group of friends, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads to danger and horror.

Here’s a trailer to whet your appetite.

HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS

Not sure what to make of this one. I’m also waiting for a backlash from the Wicca community over witches being villainized and witch hunters being glamorized. Here’s the description from IMDB:

In this dark spin on the fairy tale, siblings Hansel and Gretel are a formidable team of bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world.

And here’s the trailer:

A HAUNTED HOUSE

Marlon Wayans is one of the people behind this spoof on haunted house movies. (I think it’s even set in the same house used for Paranormal Activity.) As the synopsis from IMDB describes it:

Malcolm and Keisha move into their dream home, but soon learn a demon also resides there. When Kisha becomes possessed, Malcolm – determined to keep his sex life on track – turns to a priest, a psychic, and a team of ghost-busters for help.

The trailer confirms it looks as silly as it sounds –but I was LOLing like crazy as I watched it. I’m hoping the whole movie is that funny. If so, this one will be great!

MAMA

This was one of the movies advertised during The Walking Dead’s 2012 season finale. O…M…G. It’s not often I get creeped out by movies period. It’s even less frequent trailers give me the heebie jeebies, but Mama? Spooky stuff. No wonder. Guillermo del Toro “presents” it. (Not sure what that means. According to the credits on IMDB, he’s not one of the directors or writers, but he is somehow involved.)

Anyway, the movie is about Annabel and Lucas, who find themselves raising their young nieces who were left alone in the woods for five years and somehow survived. But when the little girls move in, they’re not alone. They bring something with them…

Here’s the trailer for your freaking out pleasure.

MOUNTAIN DEVIL: THE SEARCH FOR FRANK PETERSON

Eric Altman, Director of the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society and co-host of Beyond the Edge Radio, included me in some pre-press he sent out about this movie. I’ve cheated and copy and pasted what he passed along:

I’m pleased to announce the 2013 release of the brand new Docudrama DVD release of Mountain Devil: The search for Frank Peterson. It is a DVD movie mixed with both fiction and documentary filmed in Southwestern Pennsylvania and Central Pennsylvania. It has been written, directed and produced by Ryan Cavalline of Raw Footage Films and is about the subject of Bigfoot. The fictional story of the disappearance of Frank Peterson Bigfoot Researcher and Documentary film footage of the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society and members Eric Altman, David Rupert, Ron Gallucci. Also included are Pennsylvania Bigfoot/UFO Investigator Stan Gordon, independent researcher Dwayne Pintoff along with several other investigators. The movie is currently in post production and Ryan and Raw Footage Films hopes to have the film available for purchase by early 2013. There has even been discussion of having a movie theater debut when the film is ready complete with characters and cast of the film in attendance. More information the film will be made available when it is released. To find out more visit https://www.facebook.com/raw.footage.7.

TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D

I’m not sure how many times you can make and remake the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but it seems Hollywood is bound and determined to find out. However, I have to admit when I saw the preview it piqued my interest (until I realized it was just Leatherface being resurrected once again). Oh well, he’s always a popular spooky Halloween character at haunted houses and costume, so I predict there’ll also be a rise in Leatherface costumes during Halloween season 2013.

Here’s the trailer:

WARM BODIES

I hope this is as funny as the previews made it look. It’s a “zombie love story” and reminds me of Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland. Has that same kind of feel.

It also introduces us to a new kind of beast: The Bonies. I’m going out on a limb and predicting we’ll see Boney costumes for sale for Halloween 2013.

Here’s the blurb about Warm Bodies from IMDB:

After a zombie becomes involved with the girlfriend of one of his victims, their romance sets in motion a sequence of events that might transform the entire lifeless world.

And here’s the trailer. This one is supposed to be out in time for Valentine’s Day, appropriately enough.

WORLD WAR Z

This won’t be out until summer 2013, but I had to include it. There’ll be a few zombie movies released in 2013, but this is the one I’m most anticipating. The book was pure genius. I’m praying the movie does it justice. (I really wish they’d create a World War Z TV series, though. But I’ll take it in viewing form whichever way I can get. Plus, Brad Pitt’s in it. He’s certainly easy on the eyes!)

Unfortunately, judging from the synopsis on IMDB and the trailer, it looks like it takes a lot of liberties with the book’s style.

A U.N. employee is racing against time and fate, as he travels the world trying to stop the outbreak of a deadly Zombie pandemic.