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Max Landis Talks Using Practical Effects in American Werewolf in London Remake

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When it comes to iconic horror monsters, few are more recognizable than the werewolf. Dating back to the early days of cinema, the creature has howled at the moon during countless films, from The Wolf Man to Ginger Snaps.

Sure to be near the top of just about every list of best werewolf flicks though is John Landis’ 1981 classic An American Werewolf in London, starring David Naughton as a backpacker whose life is turned upside down after an unfortunate encounter with a lycanthrope leaves his friend Jack dead and him wounded.

An American Werewolf in London - Griffin Dunne as Jack

One of the greatest blends of horror and comedy to date, AAWIL is unquestionably a classic of the genre, and also sports some of the most amazing werewolf transformation effects ever created.

Artist Rick Baker deservedly won an Oscar for his work, and many would cite David Kessler’s painful visual journey to man to beast as the benchmark for such things.

Last year, it was announced that Universal had brought on Max Landis – John’s son, and a filmmaker in his own right – to write and direct a remake of An American Werewolf in London for modern audiences.

Little has been heard regarding the film since, but during an appearance on The Rugged Man podcast, the younger Landis took the opportunity to talk about what he’d like to do in regards to the remake’s werewolf effects. Thankfully, it seems he’d prefer to go practical as much as possible. Here’s his full quote:

“The thing I would do with CGI, were I directing this film, would be leg movement, and I would have the entire wolf’s face, back, and body be practical, and then I would fully CGI the legs for organic movements. If you remake American Werewolf and the transformation scene isn’t practical, you have fu*ked up.

Hell yeah. Commendably, Landis wants to go almost completely practical, using CGI only for more complex movement. In today’s age, it’s hard to imagine a Hollywood production not using at least some CGI, so realistically the best fans could really hope for is a blend of practical and computer work.

That said, as you may have noticed by his wording, there is apparently some question now as to whether Landis will actually get to direct the AAWIL remake. Last year’s announcement aside, if the man himself seemingly isn’t sure of his status on the project, that’s definitely cause for concern.

What do you, the iHorror faithful think? Should there be an An American Werewolf in London remake? If yes, should Max Landis write and direct?

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

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Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

Happy Sad Confused

Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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