I was first introduced to Lars von Trier through the horror and thrills of The Kingdom (Riget). I had never even heard of Lars before, but for some reason, I let myself be talked into buying the DVD -- at full, foreign import price -- and it was worth it. I was quickly engulfed in the strange world and hungered for more chills, von Trier style. Unfortunately, I've had to wait a good decade. Now, through the haze of depression, and reports that trickled out all the way back in September of 2006, Variety tells us that the English-language Antichrist is still on, Lars is still shooting it, and it will launch production in Germany this summer. Yes, that means von Trier is traveling to Germany -- a big step for the filmmaker.

Early reports were tight-lipped on the plot, but now there's a few nibbles. The film will focus on "a couple who retreat to a cabin in the woods to recover from the death of their child." Cabin in the woods, ooo, cabin in the woods, yeah. Oh, there's nothing like a cabin in the woods. But that's not all that's being said about it. Talking to the Telegraph back in February, the filmmaker said that it's a "psychological thriller that evolves into a horror film."

If this can even tap into some of the essence of The Kingdom, this should become one sweet cinematic journey. Thoughts?

Could Lars von Trier's filmmaking career be over? Earlier this year, the director was hospitalized for depression, and he is still suffering from it -- enough that it is affecting his work. He told the newspaper Politiken that he can't make a film while he's so depressed, and he's unsure if he will be able to start work on his next project, the horror film Antichrist, as planned. He didn't exactly say that he'd never make another film, but he does seem pretty worried. He told the paper that normally he is thinking about at least three projects in his head at one time, but right now he can't even focus on one. According to the award-winning filmmaker, depression has left him, "like a blank sheet of paper."

While this might be good news for some people, it has me terribly upset. Von Trier may not be the most appealing filmmaker, but at least he keeps things interesting. He really needs to keep working, if only to finish the "America the Beautiful" trilogy, which so far consists of Dogville and Manderlay and is supposed to end with a film called Wasington. I have to say that I'm actually surprised that anything, even depression, could bring von Trier away from making films. After all, this is the man who said that film should be like a rock in your shoe. I think that he meant this for himself as much as for the audience, because he always seems to be challenging himself with each new project. I would have thought that depression could actually drive his work in the way that it has motivated other artists throughout history. But if not, I really hope that he gets well soon. Von Trier's latest film, The Boss of it All, is scheduled to open in the U.S. next week.

The typically maverick filmmaker Lars von Trier is entering more common territory. Following the premiere of his latest "automavision" film, The Boss of it All, at the Copenhagen International Film Festival last Thursday, he announced plans to make a horror film called Antichrist. He didn't give anything away in terms of the plot, but did mention an affinity for Asian films like The Ring and Dark Water. He also said that it would be in English, will feature three main characters, and is likely to begin shooting next summer if financing goes as planned. He added that, "anything can happen in a horror film," suggesting that nothing about the project is definite. According to the report by ScreenDaily, producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen gave away too much plot info two years ago, prompting von Trier to completely rewrite the script and keep most of the details a secret from him.

Von Trier dabbled in horror a bit with his miniseries The Kingdom, which was recently remade for U.S. television by Stephen King, but it was more weird than scary (I know people who disagree with me there), and in that sense it shares with Asian horror the lack of slashing and hacking that is common with the American brand. I would prefer to see what the filmmaker would do with killings more than with hauntings, the latter being too permitting of free-form, surreal randomness, but hopefully he'll have something interesting to add to the genre no matter what he has in store.

As for Wasington, the third installment of von Trier's "America the Beautiful" trilogy (Dogville; Manderlay), which he previously said wouldn't happen, the film is not completely dead yet. He told reporters,"I'm quite sure it will happen one day," but says that right now it is an avoidable project.

The remake of The Omen comes out next week (on 6-6-06, of course), and there's a chance that it will come to your theater with a curse attached to it. John Moore, who directed the new version, spoke to Sci-Fi Wire about mysterious problems he encountered during the making of the film. These problems include ruined footage, difficulty with equipment and, here's the kicker, a computer that kept having a system "error 666" (wouldn't you know, the software is supposed to have no such error?), and Moore thinks that these problems were the result of the same misfortune that affected the first film.

Richard Donner's original was reportedly plagued by a curse, which brought about lightning, mad dogs, a bombing, a car accident, a plane crash and a beheading. I guess the curse got weaker after 30 years. Or maybe the curse couldn't be bothered with a movie that probably won't be as good? Who knows? My guess is that Fox just isn't creative enough to successfully sell the curse angle for marketing purposes and so they gave up on the idea (after messing up the production on purpose, perhaps).