“Open House”
Raúl Castillo has played some very lovable characters (like in “Looking” and “Vida”), but he’s also got a dark side (as in “We the Animals”). “Open House,” the upcoming horror movie from writer-directors David Charbonier and Justin Powell (“The Djinn”), follows a realtor who must survive a night of terror when a deranged client shows up at her open house. And since Castillo is currently the only male cast member not billed as playing a police officer, we’re guessing he’s playing the villain to Alicia Sanz’s (“From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series”) protagonist. Castillo and Sanz also both executive produced the film. “The Djinn” was a solid first feature from Charbonier and Powell, and this seems like it could be another low-key gem in the making.
Release date: TBD.
“The Outwaters”
Early reviews of “The Outwaters,” a small festival flick that follows four travelers on an ill-fated desert camping trip, are a little polarized. While critics seem to agree that “The Outwaters” marks a new, bold chapter in found footage filmmaking, Letterboxd users have not been so easily swayed, calling the film overly abstract and plodding. (If you’ve been following the viral indie “Skinamarink,” this might sound familiar…) Still, it’s always exciting to see burgeoning filmmakers’ hard work pay off — and Robbie Banfitch, who directed, wrote, shot, produced, sound designed, acted in, and did special effects for this film — has certainly put in the work. Plus, this bloodsoaked trailer looks gnarly.
Release date: Hits theaters in February via Cinedigm, then streaming on Screambox.
“Perpetrator”
If you want outré, feminist arthouse horror, look no further than Jennifer Reeder. Like her first horror feature, “Knives and Skin,” “Perpetrator” looks like it will tackle the bizarre fetishization of missing and murdered teenage girls. In the film, Jonny (Kiah McKirnan, “Mare of Easttown”), a reckless teen sent to live with her estranged aunt (Alicia Silverstone), exacts revenge on the person responsible for disappearing several girls at her new school. Newly feral thanks to a mythical metamorphosis, Jonny is out for blood. As a filmmaker, Reeder is completely insane, and we mean that as a compliment. We’re excited to see where this goes after its Berlinale debut.
Release date: Premieres this February at Berlin, then TBD.
“Poor Things”
Any Yorgos Lanthimos film is already guaranteed to be a little intense, but this synopsis takes the cake: Upon drowning herself to escape her abusive husband, a “volatile, oversexed” woman has her brain replaced with that of her unborn child. (Is this what Taylor Swift was talking about when she wrote about sexy babies?) The film sees Lanthimos reunited with his “The Favourite” star Emma Stone, who plays our infantile protagonist. Willem DaFoe plays her father, who conducts the brain transplant, and Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”), Jerrod Carmichael (“The Carmichael Show”), Christopher Abbott (“Possessor”), and Margaret Qualley (“Novitiate”) round out the supporting cast. And Stone isn’t the only “The Favourite” alum on this project: co-writer Tony McNamara also penned “Poor Things,” based on the novel by Alisdair Gray, and Robbie Ryan (“American Honey”) will once again be Lanthimos’ cinematographer. To put it simply: This movie sounds horrible in all the best ways.
Release date: TBD via Searchlight.
“The Pope’s Exorcist”
Ah, Catholicism and horror, may your love affair never end. This next act of blasphemy comes from director Julius Avery (“Overlord”) and screenwriters Evan Spiliotopoulos (“Beauty and the Beast”), R. Dean McCreary, and Chester Hastings. Russell Crowe stars as Father Gabriele Amorth, a real-life priest who acted as chief exorcist of the Vatican and who performed more than 100,000 exorcisms in his lifetime. Franco Nero (“John Wick: Chapter 2”) will play The Pope, with Alex Essoe (“The Haunting of Bly Manor,” “Midnight Mass”) and Daniel Zovatto (“Station Eleven,” “It Follows”) in the supporting cast. Here’s hoping this one is full of good, Gothic fun.
Release date: April 7 via Screen Gems/Sony.
