Cinematical

Want to know why movie nerds of my approximate age have a real fanboy affection for director Joe Dante? Here's why: Piranha, Rock 'n' Roll High School, The Howling, Gremlins, Explorers, Innerspace, The 'burbs, Gremlins 2, and Matinee. Hell, I even enjoyed his last movie, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, although I seem to be in the vast minority on that one. Unfortunately Mr. Dante is not nearly as prolific as his fans would like, so when word comes down that the flick-lovin' filmmaker has not one but TWO new projects on the horizon, we get all excited. Ooh, and both of 'em are horror movies!

We'd already heard a little bit about Bat Out of Hell, which looks to be a flick that combines air travel, hijackers, and vampires. That script comes from the horror-geek writing team of Scott Swan and Drew McWeeny, and it's one I'm certainly looking forward to. But now comes Shock with some info on another Dante assignment, and it sounds interesting enough: The Hole will be about a family of fugitives who "hole" up in a house that has a very strange ... PIT ... in the basement. Shock's Ryan Rotten says this one will be a PG-13-style horror flick, and in most cases that'd irritate me -- but Joe Dante has never really gone for the hardcore gore or nasty ultra-violence, so in this case I don't feel so bad. (I bet The Howling would be PG-13 if it came out today.)

More on these projects as the info becomes available. I'm still hoping the director decides to remake a certain Dario Argento flick, just so we can see a movie poster that says "(Joe) Dante's Inferno." That'd make me chuckle.