Coming Attractions- The Exorcism (2024)

 

Director- Joshua John Miller

Cast- Russell Crowe, Sam Worthington, Ryan Simpkins, Chloe Bailey,  David Hyde Pierce, Samantha Mathis, Adrian Pasdar, Adam Goldberg, Tracey Bonner, Marcenae Lynette

Release Date- June 7, 2024

The Final Girls is one of my all time favorite slasher films, so I’ll always make an effort to watch anything that involves Joshua John Miller and M.A. Fortin. 

The Exorcism? I’m actually optimistic about this one. Some fourth wall breaking, with Chloe Bailey mentioning strange occurrences on the sets for The Omen and The Exorcist, and how all the weird events will obviously play a role in Russell Crowe’s possession. I wonder how far they’ll go with the movie within a movie approach, because the trailer clearly shows a strong effort. 

There’s a lot of material to work with here. Crowe having to fight his personal demons. How he’s seemingly possessed by the forces surrounding the movie, and well, you get the feeling he’s a burnt out has-been actor, who had to take this role because he’s out of options. That’s a big cliche. Still, the positives in the trailer outweigh the negatives. I’m just really hoping they don’t go overboard with the zany theatrics for the exorcism finale. 

Coming Attractions- The Watchers (2024)

 

Director- Ishana Night Shyamalan

Cast- Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, Olwen Fouere

Release Date- June 7, 2024

A promising trailer that doesn’t show a lot, but they still managed to drop a few clues. I’m leaning towards a big twist. Creatures? Watching a bunch of strangers in the middle of nowhere? It’s obviously some kind of experiment, and I’m guessing Dakota Fanning is the final girl. Or maybe it’s a post-apocalyptic film, and the creatures want to see, who should live or die?

Ishana Shyamalan’s directorial debut has a lot of potential. I haven’t read the book the movie is based on yet, but it’ll be interesting to see, if Shyamalan decided to make any major changes. 

Coming Attractions- Alien: Romulus (2024)

 

Director- Fede Alvarez

Cast- Cailee Spaney, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu

Release Date- August 16, 2024

Prometheus had an excellent cast, but overall the movie was weirdly too preachy and overly pretentious. Covenant was forgettable, so I always have a hard time feeling any real excitement for an Alien film. A good friend made a comparison for the Alien and Terminator franchises a while back. Alien and Terminator eerily share a familiar pattern. The first two films in both series are iconic, bonafide classics. Everything after that ranges from solid to mediocre for quality, with a few memorable moments and scenes, but nothing ever comes close to the early stages of either franchise. 

The Alien VS Predator films never lived up to the hype. AVP 2004 was too tamed and dull, and while Requiem compensated for the lack of gore and brutal violence in the 2004 film, Requiem still had its own problems. 

In a perfect world, I still believe Alien 3 could’ve been the definitive finale for the series. It just made too much sense for Ripley to be the one to sacrifice herself, finally putting an end to the madness. 

I’ll always have my doubts, but Romulus’ first trailer looks good. Romulus truly looks and feels like an Alien film so far, and saving the only appearance from a Xenomorph for the last shot of the trailer was a nice touch. Don’t Breathe was fantastic. Evil Dead 2013 is a top three Evil Dead film, so Fede Alvarez is a great choice for a director. 

Coming Attractions- Trap (2024)

 

Director- M. Night Shyamalan

Cast- Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, Allison Pill, Marnie McPhail, Vanessa Smythe

Release Date- August 9, 2024

M. Night Shyamalan, the man of many twists and shocking swerves! Sometimes that’s a good thing, and sometimes the surprises in Shyamalan’s films are horribly disappointing. The Sixth Sense is a shining example of Shyamalan at his best, you can also add Signs to that list. 

But it’s hard to forget about the misfires throughout Shyamalan’s career. The twist for The Village was too far fetched and ridiculous. The Happening? A big letdown after so much anticipation for the reasons behind the pandemic, which basically led to a borderline silly film, that’s about people offing themselves in creative ways.

Shyamalan can be streaky with his films, but Trap has a lot of potential so far. A unique premise, and I’m having a hard time believing Josh Hartnett is actually the killer. Surely there’s no way they would reveal a big storyline in the trailer? It’s just too straightforward, considering Shyamalan’s track record.

Setting a trap in a packed arena? Why would the authorities put so many innocent lives in danger? Something BIG has to happen, a lot of paths and different possibilities to go with. 

Coming Attractions- Bad Boys: Ride Or Die (2024)

 

Directors- Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah

Cast- Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Nunez, Eric Dane, Tasha Smith, Joe Pantoliano, Rhea Seehorn, Jacob Scipio, DJ Khaled, Tiffany Haddish

Release Date- June 7, 2024

Killing off Joe Pantoliano in Bad Boys For Life was a good “anything can happen” surprise for a series that plays it safe for deaths from the main cast of reoccurring characters. The main villains are usually forgettable, but the duo of Martin Lawrence and Will Smith is the main attraction in Bad Boys’ films.

Bad Boys For Life actually has an intriguing mystery, with someone trying to frame Captain Howard. Interested to see what role Mike’s son, Armando plays in the series going forward, and how Theresa Randle’s absence will impact the movie. 

Coming Attractions- Tarot (2024)

 

Directors- Spenser Cohen, Anna Halberg

Cast- Harriet Slater, Jacob Batalon, Avantika Vandanapu, Olwen Fouere, Wolfgang Novogratz, Larsen Thompson, Adain Bradley, Humberly Gonzalez

Release Date- May 3, 2024

Tarot is based on the novel Horrorscope by Nicholas Adams. The trailer? It’s really hit and miss for me. The spooky atmosphere looks good, but I see one too many scenarios, where the main characters will make stupid decisions that could’ve easily been avoided. A lot of jump scares in the trailer, and it’s a trick that loses its shock factor, if you rely on it too much. The kids trapped in the car, with the proximity sensors going off could’ve been a nice surprise. It’s something I haven’t seen before, but by the looks of things, they showed most of the sequence in the trailer. 

Tarot has an intriguing premise with a lot of promise. Although, if this trailer is an accurate sign of things to come, Tarot will stick to the usual cookie-cutter formula for mainstream PG-13 horror films.

Coming Attractions- MaXXXine (2024)

 

Director- Ti West

Cast- Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Lily Collins, Halsey, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Bacon, Bobby Cannavale

Release Date- July 5, 2024

While X was a solid slasher throwback, Pearl truly took everything to another level. Mia Goth’s performance was phenomenal in Pearl. Unhinged, disturbing, and delusional, Goth nailed every layer of that character. And they’re clearly sticking with the storyline for the obsession to achieve stardom by any means necessary.

AHS 1984 is the last time I remember seeing The Night Stalker/Richard Ramirez playing a role in a movie or TV show, but I’m banking on a swerve for MaXXXine. They never say his real name, and Ramirez doesn’t make an appearance in the trailer. Is it possible that Maxine is The Night Stalker? She is determined to be a star, so murdering the competition is a possibility.

I’m interested to see how things play out after the audition scene. The disastrous fallout with Pearl not being to handle rejection was one of the bigger highlights in Pearl, and a major turning point in the movie. I’m a sucker for 80’s vibes and 80’s nostalgia. The 80’s setting fits perfectly with the boom period for slasher films, and I’m curious to see how Bates Motel and any possible Psycho references are related to the story. The cast looks great, so hopefully MaXXXine delivers for Ti West’s unconventional trilogy.