The Scary Bits: Saw, Splinter & Jack Brooks 2

I've been pretty impressed with our teams' Casting Bites pieces, so I thought I'd borrow the format and use it for genre-style news that might not be HUGE information, but is interesting enough (to me) to bear repeating.

For example, I knew that director Jon Knautz was planning hoping to turn his scrappy little Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer into a franchise, but now we're getting some early details on where Mr. Brooks might be headed next. The filmmaker promises more action the next time around, plus they have a few unlikely partners for the angry hero to deal with. The screenplay isn't finished yet, but apparently the project is a go. (Check out this report at Filmstalker for more.)

Also, a very cool little horror flick called Splinter is opening this weekend in limited release, and if you're the sort who doesn't mind driving a few extra miles for your claustrophobic bio-terror monster movies, then you'll be pleased to hear about my raves, the equally enthusiastic thoughts from Variety, and a bunch of nifty gizmos at the flick's official site. Yay, that was all one sentence. (Oh yeah, and Splinter is available via video-on-demand in several markets, so check the official site for more info.)

Ever seen the original Saw? No, not the feature-length flick. The short. If not, click here.

The director of The Killing Gene (aka WAZ) has a new flick called The Children, which as far as I know is not a remake of this film. Check out that trailer here.

New website for the Friday the 13th remake. Also, New Line just announced a triple-feature DVD of their Jason titles, so check out that stuff at Shock.

Also, check out Joe Leydon's review of Anaconda 3: The Offspring. This sort of stuff is beneath Leydon, but he's really good at writing about crap movies.

Last but not least: My awesome pals at EFC have put together an article called Halloween Treats, in which a few under-the-radar offerings are made to Samhain. Oh, and this is handy. The new & improved Horror's Not Dead blog has a weekly recap of its own. Expect to see this linked again. (Thanks to our own Willy G. for the nifty banner. More to come.)