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Since they like to release eight indie-style or foreign horror films on one specific day each year, I'm always a little bit fascinated by the latest goings-on at After Dark. The fact that I don't actually like the majority of their films is sort of beside the point. Being a hardcore fan gives you the right to be critical, of course, but it also means you should always give a new flick a fair break. And the AD gang has given us access to some half-decent titles, and so I opt to focus on the good (Borderland, The Gravedancers, Frontier(s)) instead of the bad -- which is just about everything else. Although your mileage may vary.

And even though the next infusion of After Darkness won't arrive until January, I'm happy to note that they're putting together a rather solid slate. They'd already snagged a cool British chiller called The Broken (which I saw at Sundance ... and enjoyed) and a low-key occult thriller called From Within (which I saw at Tribeca ... and didn't), but now comes word on two new additions: The first one is also a Tribeca title, and it's an Aussie horror tale called Dying Breed. (Here's my review. I nagged Tim to play it at Fantastic Fest, but it ended up in the "very close but no cigar" bin.) The second is an American flick called Autopsy, which comes from screenwriter / first-time director Adam Gierasch (Toolbox Murders, Mother of Tears), and while I haven't seen this one yet, I've heard some quiet-yet-positive rumblings from my sources in the L.A. horror-geek scene.

The Broken, From Within, Dying Breed, and Autopsy will join Slaughter (aka Faithless), Perkins' 14, and The Butterfly Effect: Revelation when After Dark kick-starts on January 9. The eighth title has yet to be announced. Could it be this movie?

[Thanks to BD.com]

When the After Dark Horrorfest popped up in November of 2006, I caught about half of the offered 8 Films to Die For, despite a transparently sensationalized campaign of just how horrendously extreme these titles must've been to get such a specialized release. My experiences ranged from not bad (The Abandoned and The Gravedancers) to pretty dreadful (Penny Dreadful), but between the ratio of enjoyment that year and the yanking of actually-possibly-horrific Frontier(s) the next, I just passed entirely in 2007.

One might assume that, in an effort to meet me halfway, the Horrorfest has skipped out on itself this year, but while this is technically true, it's merely shuffled away into the doldrums of this coming January 2-9 instead. Scott Weinberg had already pointed out that The Broken and The Butterfly Effect 3 were among this year's (next year's?) selected batch of titles, and now The Hollywood Reporter reports that From Within -- about a rash of suicides in a small town -- and three After Dark productions: the aforementioned Effect, Slaughter, and Perkins' 14.

That leaves three more titles in the running. Any guesses? Just remember now: they can't be too scary.

We're going to have plenty of Tribeca Film Festival coverage here as the festival revs up in the next week. In the meantime, if you're fortunate enough to be headed to the pricey, exclusive fest, Variety has posted a primer to the movies that have a good chance of getting picked up for distribution based on their reception there -- movies that are "piquing interest among execs." Making the list are the William H. Macy comedy Bart Got a Room; a psychological thriller called From Within that sounds oddly similar to this summer's The Happening; a documentary about a senior citizen hip hop dance team called Gotta Dance (also known as Young@Heart 2); Tennessee, a road movie starring Mariah Carey; and 6 others.

Not too much is known about most of these, but I can tell you that Bart Got a Room features the big screen debut of one Brandon Hardesty, who became a YouTube sensation by posting dead-on reenactments of famous movie scenes in which he played all the characters. He's one of the few instances of YouTube popularity that stems from actual talent -- he's an amazing impressionist, and a really funny guy -- so I'm thrilled for him. I hope the movie's good.

Stay tuned for Erik Davis's dispatches from Tribeca, including his own must-see list.

It doesn't look much like him, but that's Adam Goldberg in the photo above. He looks tired. He has a gun. Things can't be going right for him on this particular day. Cinematical has just received two exclusive photos (see both in larger formats in the gallery below) from the upcoming film From Within -- which happens to be one of the more buzzed-about films hitting the Tribeca Film Festival later this month. From Within also stars Elizabeth Rice, Thomas Dekker, Laura Allen and Rumer Willis. Additionally, it was directed by Phedon Papamichael, who worked as a cinematographer on films like 3:10 to Yuma, The Pursuit of Happyness and The Weather Man. Check out the synopsis below:

"The small, serene community of Grovetown is shaken by the dual suicide of a young couple. When more suicides quickly follow, people in the evangelical town turn a blind eye and cling firmly to their deep-seated beliefs. Lindsay (Elizabeth Rice), a local student and girlfriend of the pastor's son, is not so dismissive. She begins to prod deeper into the mystery and befriends Aidan (Thomas Dekker), a non-believer whose family has stirred controversy before. Lindsay soon discovers that something evil and indescribable is at work, moving parasitically from victim to victim. As the frightened locals begin looking for revenge, Lindsay is convinced she will be the next to die and realizes that Aidan may be the only hope of eradicating the suicidal plague."

If you watch any amount of television, or keep your eye on TV news sites, you've probably heard of Thomas Dekker -- the kid who played Zach, the cheerleader's gay friend on Heroes. The actor found himself in the middle of controversy when his character was "de-gayed" on the show. There were claims that it was Dekker's agent who started the mess, while the actor says that Zach was always straight. From Heroes, he nabbed the role of John Connor in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and now he's going to star in Phedon Papamichael's indie thriller From Within. Presumably, everyone is on the same page this time about his character's sexuality.

Anyhow, the film is about a God-fearing town and a young girl who lives in it. She's torn between her Christian roots and her desire to experience the outside world. Her urge to leave increases when people of the town being to die suspiciously. I imagine that Elizabeth Rice, also listed to star, will be the girl, and that Dekker is her something or other -- friend? Boyfriend? Sexually-confused counterpart? Who knows. Medium co-star Jake Weber is also starring, along with Adam Goldberg of all people. That's right -- the Hebrew Hammer is in the Christian thriller movie -- as the token character, perhaps, or maybe the guy who whets Rice's out-of-town desires? The script was written by Brad Keene, whose sole writing credit is last year's The Gravedancers, which Christopher Campbell described as: "good, stupid entertainment that knows its ghosts and has a lot of fun introducing them to you." Production on the movie begins next month in Maryland.