Director Joel Schumacher recently spoke with a Canadian news service about the next movie he's filming, the Nazi-horror film Town Creek. First of all, "there is blood in it, but it's not really a vampire movie," he says. Schumacher also said the first part of the film will be set in 1936, at the height of Hitler's power, and the second half will be set during the present day, the theme being 'ghosts of the past rising up to confront today's world.' "It's about Hitler and Himmler and Goebbels' association with the occult -- this is what they based the Master Race on." He continues "the one thing about the Nazis is that they so loved themselves that they documented everything, and there are these great documentaries on Hitler's obsession with the occult. So it's a 'horror' movie based on that by a very intelligent young writer."

The writer in question is Dave Kajganich, whose sole prior credit is writing the Nicole Kidman thriller The Invasion. The film will hopefully have some impressive visuals -- the effects are being handled by Ian Wingrove, who has worked on everything from Alien vs. Predator to Mission: Impossible to The Avengers, so it doesn't sound like this is a Merchant Ivory drama. No solid plot points were discussed in the interview, nor were any further casting announcements made -- the current roster includes Dominic Purcell, Jesse Metcalfe and Joy McBrinn. Schumacher fans might also be interested in the rest of the article, which delves into Car Wash, St. Elmo's Fire and Schumacher's unlikely mentorship from Woody Allen.

Hey, remember way back in August, when the rumor mill suggested Dominic Purcell would take the lead role in Marvel's mulligan Incredible Hulk film? Yeah, okay, neither do I. But the rumor mill did suggest it, and is just now getting around to resolving the issue. As we all know (which is really a nice way of leading into an explanation for those of you who don't know), Marvel wasn't entirely pleased with their recent attempt at a Hulk film, and rather than going for a sequel with Eric Bana and Ang Lee, decided instead to pretend like the film didn't happen and just reboot the franchise. Naturally, this means a new actor will be needed for Bruce Banner, and Purcell's name was among those who popped up early on the list of potentials.

SuperheroHype spoke this week with Purcell, and quizzed him about the late-summer rumors. Purcell confirmed expectations by denying an involvement with the film. He said he was never approached by Marvel, and has absolutely no plans for being a part of the film. Not that he wouldn't be interested if they came knocking, of course -- everyone wants to be a cool superhero, right?

With very little in the way of publicity or announcements, Disney Buena Vista Touchstone Hollywood Pictures has decided to bump their horror flick Primeval from April to January 12. Yep, next weekend! I'm guessing they decided to jam their murder thriller into the early-year horror slot that was going to go to either Hostel: Part 2 or White Noise 2: The Light, but both of those flicks bailed for later release dates.

No word yet on if Primeval will be screening for the press, but I'm not holding my breath, and that kinda sucks because A) I'm scheduled to review it, and B) I'm kinda looking forward to seeing it. It's about an American news team who travels to South Africa to get the scoop on "the world's most prolific serial killer," which seems like a specious designation when you realize who the killer actually is ... but I don't want to spoil the fun. (Check out a new pair of TV spots right here.)

Written by Michael Ferris and John Broncato (The Game, Terminator 3, Catwoman), Primeval comes from veteran TV director Michael Katelman, and it stars the likes of Dominic Purcell, Orlando Jones, Brooke Langton and Jurgen Prochnow. Special note for the horror freekz: Primeval has been rated R for "strong graphic violence, brutality, terror and language." Cool.

Gotta give it up to the trailer-makers this time out. On the surface this brand-new trailer for a horror flick called Primeval looks like your typical Carnage & Chaos clip, but I think the promo does a pretty slick job of piquing the curioisity. As in ... so, like, who (or WHAT) is this legendary serial killer who's killed over 300 people while never getting caught? Who???

OK, so it's not exactly rocket science, but it's nice to see a little ambiguity and creativity in a horror flick trailer. Consider me suitably intrigued by Primeval, which stars Dominic Purcell, Brooke Langton and Orlando Jones. The director is longtime TV helmer Michael Katleman and the screenwriters are Brancato & Ferris, also known as the guys who wrote The Game, Terminator 3 and ... Catwoman.

Plus it looks like Primeval is set to become one half of a "competing projects" story, kinda like what happened with Deep Impact vs. Armageddon, Dante's Peak vs. Volcano or A Bug's Life vs. Antz. But if I told you the title of Primeval's direct competition, that would spoil the mystery laid down in the trailer! (OK fine, if you must know, click here.)

Anyway, the flick looks like it could be pretty spooky / icky / gory, so I'm down. Then again it could be Anaconda 3, right? We won't get to find out until April 13.

I'm not entirely convinced the world was waiting with bated breath for the upcoming horror film Primeval, but it looks like the movie is on it's way. Back in February, Martha Fischer gave us the heads up on this crowning achievement of storytelling about a news team, some warlords, and a killer crocodile named Gustave. It just goes downhill from there, really, I'm speechless. The flick seemed tailor-made to die a quiet death and make its way to its rightful place in the DVD bargain bin, but it looks like that is not to be.

Ain't it Cool news has the first look at the poster for the upcoming horror flick starring Dominic Purcell of Prison Break fame and Orlando Jones. Noticeably absent from the poster are any images of crocodiles or warlords, but it does have a boatload of skulls, so at least they seem to be promising some carnage. Other than a double bill with Dimension Film's upcoming crocodile flick Rogue, I can't imagine what Touchstone was thinking when they put this one into production. You never know, it might be a surprise hit -- but then again, it is about a killer crocodile named Gustave, so I wouldn't count on it.

Dave Kajganich has had a lot of lucky breaks. Originally a teacher from Ohio, he decided to hone his skills by writing a screenplay. From there, it was one swift jump to Tinsel Town. First, he sold his Town Creek spec to Warner Bros. Then, he penned Nicole Kidman's upcoming film, The Visiting. Christopher Campbell reported that the Wachowski brothers were brought in to re-write its ending, but Kajganich is still going strong. He signed on for a Pet Sematary remake and is working with Sam Raimi on Monkey's Paw. Top all those goodies off with a spot on Variety's "10 Screenwriters to Watch", and the man is flying high.

Now, his favourite script and first sale, Town Creek, is preparing to be filmed next Spring. In September, Erik Davis reported that Joel Schumacher signed on to direct the film. Now the main roles have been cast. Dominic Purcell of Prison Break and Jesse Metcalfe from Desperate Housewives will star as the revenge-filled brothers who find themselves part of an occult experiment. I assume that "occult experiment" is another word for "vampire Nazis," or Kajganich did some script re-jigging.

While I'm interested to see Schumacher's first vampiric film since the eternally entertaining The Lost Boys, I'm also apprehensive. Can he make a film without the leads needing to be nipply? Better yet, will it be able to stand out in the influx of German-themed movies lately? And, is it about vampire Nazis or not?!

The reason that many film festivals have a "midnight" category is that they need somewhere to throw the horror films, and they're sure not going to include them in the competitive sections. And yet, horror earns a place at most FIlm Festivals. The genre is a big part of independent filmmaking, partially because horror films can cost so little to make, and partially because they are so easy to write. No other kind of film allows for nearly as much suspension of logic and belief, and many errors, inconsistencies and far-fetched twists can be excused by either paranormal subject matter or by just plain pardoning of horror in general.

The annoying thing is that with so many films being made, so few have anything to offer. The horror genre, primarily divided into either the slasher or the haunting variety, basically only has one plot: characters run from something frightening and try to stay alive. As long as there are shocks and scares, there is no need for surprises. As your typical ghost story, The Gravedancers is pretty straightforward and predictable, but it has something that I -- a longtime enthusiast of paranormal true-crime but never a fan of horror fiction -- could appreciate and enjoy. It gives its ghosts their own back stories.

Though you may have managed to make it until today without hearing the news, I feel compelled to tell you that a movie about a giant, killer crocodile is currently filming in Australia. It's called Rogue and, while it surely will never approach the awesomeness that was Anaconda (the former's tragic lack of Ice Cube assures that), it nevertheless is very likely to be crappy, campy goodness. In fact, Touchstone Pictures is so incredibly excited about the idea of oversized, deadly crocs that they're going to make their own damn movie about them.

Primeval, Touchstone's newly-announced project, tells the heart-warming story of "a news producer, reporter and cameraman who travel to South Africa on an assignment to bring back alive a 25-foot croc named Gustave." Yes, you read that right: his name is Gustave. Apparently the team is shocked that the creature would rather snack on humans than hang out with them, and things get even worse when (get this) "a feared warlord targets them for death." Warlords? A deadly crocodile named Gustave? Screw Rogue, man, Primeval is where it's at!

The movie, which will star Orlando Jones and Dominic Purcell, will begin shooting in South Africa in April. There's no word yet on who will play Gustav.