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.

Horror fans are already well aware of a little horror flick called The Hole. Despite it debuting in the States as a direct-to-video title, The Hole offered not only Keira Knightley in sexy mode, but the adorable Thora Birch too. (OK, fine. And Desmond Harrington.) Plus I happened to really enjoy the Nick Hamm flick -- which happens pretty seldom where DTV titles are concerned. (Whatever happened to Mr. Hamm? He got one shot at Hollywood product -- the seriously lame Godsend -- and then vanished!)

This story is not about that movie. It's about another project called The Hole, one that screenwriter Mark L. Smith (of the rather underrated Vacancy) just sold to the production companies known as Bold and Benderspink. According to Variety, the plot is about two brothers who discover a mysterious hole in their basement -- only to realize that the hole leads somewhere decidedly horrific. Cool.

No word yet on who'll be starring, directing or even distributing -- but given how much I dug the old-school vibe of Vacancy (arriving on DVD August 14), I'll be keeping an eye out for The Hole. (Although I bet you the title changes before the movie hits the streets.)