We almost finished out 2007 Year in Review (Read Part 1 – Read Part 2) look for part 3 — 2007′s Best Alternative, Overlooked, Unappreciated, Direct to Video Horror Films soon, but 2007 is done and over with so what do we have to look forward to in 2008? Lets take a look. I tried to leave out remakes.

Amusement – April 25, 2008

Directed by John Simpson

Starring – Katheryn Winnick, Jesica Lucas, and Laura Breckenridge

I can’t find much info on it but he poster looks cool. The teaser doesn’t offer much hope (Watch Here), if that killer-clown is real then this looks awesome, if this is some dumb psychological, thriller and it is all in her mind it could be lame.

Tagline – It’s Funny… Right?

Plot Outline – Three women are stalked by a killer with a grudge that extends back to the girls’ childhoods.

Midnight Meat Train – May 16, 2008

Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura

Starring – Bradley Cooper, Vinnie Jones, and Brooke Shields

Unlike Stephen King, Clive Barker’s books have had more good movie adaptations than bad, Hellraiser, Candyman, Lord of Illusions, alright he has had way less, but that is my point. What took so long for someone to start making the stories from the Books of Blood into films? Besides The Yattering and Jack appearing on Tales from the Darkside (Read Review) The Books of Blood have pretty much been ignored.

Midnight Meat Train follows a NYC photographer who attempts to track down a serial killer dubbed the “Subway Butcher” and discovers more than he bargained for under the city streets.

This is one of Barker’s better short stories so hopefully the movie will do well and we will get plenty more. The horror genre has gone on too long without the once dubbed “Prince of Horror.” Plus it stars Brooke Shields.

The Happening – June 13, 2008

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Starring – Mark Wahlberg

I thought studios stopped returning this man’s calls! Don’t know why I even listed this. SPOILER WARNING: There is a SURPRISE ENDING!

Plot Outline – A couple are on the run from an apocalyptic, Stand-size disaster.

Trick ‘r Treat – October 2008

Directed by Michael Dougherty

Starring – Quinn Lord, Brian Cox, and Anna Paquin

The man who brought us Superman Returns and the not-so-bad Urban Legends: Bloody Mary directorial debut. This film has had a lot of buzz about it. Will it deliver?

Plot Outline- It is said that Halloween is the night when the dead rise to walk among us and other unspeakable things roam free. The rituals of All Hallows Eve were devised to protect us from their evil mischief, and one small town is about to be taught a terrifying lesson that some traditions are best not forgotten. Nothing is what it seems when a suburban couple learns the dangers of blowing out a Jack-o-Lantern before midnight; four women cross paths with a costumed stalker at a local festival; a group of pranksters goes too far and discovers the horrifying truth buried in a local legend; and a cantankerous old hermit is visited by a strange trick-or-treater with a few bones to pick. Costumes and candy, ghouls and goblins, monsters and mayhem… the tricks and treats of Halloween turn deadly as strange creatures of every variety-human and otherwise-try to survive the scariest night of the year.

Quarantine – October 17, 2008

Directed by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle

Starring – Columbus Short, Jay Hernandez, and Jennifer Carpenter

A news crew that captures a “quarantine” zone after a major epidemic breaks out, apparently turning people into rabid maniacs.

Saw V – October 24, 2008

Directed by David Hackl

Starring – Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, and Costas Mandylor.

Will 2008 be the year the Saw franchise goes away? We can only hope so. I am ready for some direct to DVD Saw movies with a cyborg Jigsaw!

UNDATED:

My Name Is Bruce

Directed by Bruce Campbell

Starring – Bruce Campbell, Janelle Farber, and Dan Hicks

Sick of hearing about this movie? Me too just release the damn thing already.

Three Amigos type film where Bruce Campbell directs and plays himself. When supernatural forces strike a town, Campbell is enlisted to fight them.

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane

Directed by Jonathan Levine.

Starring – Amber Heard, Anson Mount, and Whitney Able

Plot Outline – A group of high schoolers invite Mandy Lane, a good girl who became quite hot over the summer, to a weekend party on a secluded ranch. While the festivities rage on, the number of revelers begins to drop quite mysteriously.

Sometimes the MPAA rating reads better than the synopsis: Rated R for strong disturbing violence, pervasive drug and alcohol use, sexuality/nudity and language – all involving teens.

Frontier(s)

Directed by Xavier Gens

Starring Maud Forget, Samuel Le Bihan, and Estelle Lefébure.

Some French film I can’t find any info on. Psycho neo-nazies terrorize some group of people.

Simon Says

Directed by William Dear

Starring – Crispin Glover, Margo Harshman, and Greg Cipes

I have seen this and it is not really worth your time. I should write a review for it but that isn’t really worth my time either. Not as good as it may look or sound…sorry.

Plot Outline – Five college friends choose to spend their vacation debauching at the riverside. They find the perfect place to camp out, but end up crossing paths with twin brothers, both played by Crispin Glover.

Wizard of Gore

Directed by Jeremy Kasten

Starring – Crispin Glover, Bijou Phillips, and Kip Pardue

Another Glover movie and a remake of Herschell Gordon Lewis’s classic 1970 film. I included it because it does not look that bad.

Montag the Magnificent (Glover) is a master illusionist who performs at underground venues, selecting female volunteers from his rave-like audiences. To their hysteria, it appears he’s dismembered their bodies, but his sleigh of hand has fooled them. However, female bodies show up dead from the same wounds performed on stage. Investigators are baffled, and the chase to find the killer begins. Jeffrey Combs also stars.

Zombie Diaries

Directed by Michael Bartlett and Kevin Gates

Starring – Russell Jones, Craig Stovin, and Jonnie Hurn

In the early part of the 21st Century, an unknown virus began spreading among the populace. Within weeks it had engulfed the entire planet, from the smallest rural communities to the greatest cities. Upon the death of its host, the virus would reanimate the corpse until it was no longer able to support itself. Soon, the planet was infested with a new threat – the undead. So begins our journey into the dystopian world of The Zombie Diaries.

Mothers of Tears

irected by Dario Argento

Starring – Asia Argento and Daria Nicolidi

In the first two installments of the “Witches Trilogy,” Dario Argento told the stories of two “Mothers”: Mater Suspiriorum in Freiburg (Suspiria) and Mater Tenebrarum in New York (Inferno).

In The Third Mother, the focus is on another Mother–Mater Lacrimarum–the only survivor of the trio. This witch has been ‘sleeping’ in Rome for centuries and is awakened by Sarah Mandy, a young American student from the Ancient Art Museum.”

Eden Log

Directed by Franck Vestiel

Starring – Alexandra Ansidei, Antonin Bastian, and Gabriella Wright

This film has already hit screens in France. It’s awesome multi-lingual trailer was a huge Internet hit. Here’s the basic story: A man wakes up in the bottom of a cave with no memory as to how he got there. There’s a corpse next to him. To escape a monster that’s after him down there, he has to get to the surface through tunnels erected by a bizarre cult known as “Eden Log.” The film will be distributed in the U.S. by Magnet Releasing – Esplatter.com

Donkey Punch

Directed by Olly Blackburn

Starring – Robert Boulter, Sian Breckin, Tom Burke

Definition: When you are having anal sex with a girl and punch her in the back of the head to make her butt clamp down.

Plot Outline – After meeting at a nightclub in a Mediterranean resort, seven young adults decide to continue partying aboard a luxury yacht in the middle of the ocean. But when one of them dies in a freak accident the others argue about what to do, leading to a ruthless fight for survival.

Hell Ride

Directed by Larry Bishop

Starring – Larry Bishop, Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen

Quentin Tarantino presents this bloody, sexy tale of motorcycle revenge. It’s a modern-day take on 1960s motorcycle flicks, with bikers who hit the road to avenge the death of one of their “old ladies” at the hands of a rival motorcycle gang.

OTHER RANDOM CRAP:

Case 39: Directed by Christian Alvart – Starring Renee Zellwegger, Jodelle Ferland, and Ian McShane – A social worker (Zellweger) tries to save a girl from her abusive parents, but gets much more than she bargained for.

Plague Town: Directed by David Gregory. Starring Josslyn DeCrosta, Erica Rhodes, and David Lombard. Heading home to Ireland to connect with their roots, a family encounters plague-infested evil children in a film reminiscent of .

Hurt: Directed by Barbara Stepansky. Starring Melora Walters, William Mapother, and Joanna Braddy. A recently widowed family is forced to move into their uncle’s salvage yard, and soon after the arrival of a mysterious foster child, a family secret starts to threaten their lives.

Most Plot Outlines taken from IMDB.com.