I just wanted you to know that I tried really hard to work in a crack about Denise Richards being thrilled about this particular headline ... but I've never really enjoyed cheap shots all that much, so I'll just leave it at that. Bloody Disgusting is now reporting that Charlie Sheen has been hired by Twisted Pictures to star in their new untitled horror flick. It was last April when the news first hit that the duo behind the Saw franchise were hard at work on a new story to gross out audiences with.

This one will center on a happy couple whose child is kidnapped and then killed by a pedophile. Unsatisfied with the results of the court system, the two decide to kidnap their son's killer and exact a little revenge of their own. The film had originally been titled Tortured, which is pretty self-explanatory, but it looks like Mark Burg and Oren Koules might have dropped the title to avoid confusion with an upcoming crime thriller starring Laurence Fishburne.

Rob Lieberman has already been hired to direct Marek Posival's script. Liberman has mainly worked in TV but he has directed a few features, including Fire in The Sky back in 1993. Posival is a relative newcomer and this will officially be his first feature film. Now that Saw is hopefully wrapping up for good, it will be nice to see Twisted Pictures try something a little different -- with maybe the exception of the odd musical.

One of the most ferociously entertaining horror flicks of the past several years is Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's Inside (aka A l'interieur), which will be hitting DVD a little later this year. We already knew that the Frenchmen had been tapped to direct the Hellraiser remake for Dimension, but the project recently got bumped back to 2009.

Now that the strike is over, the producers can take some steps towards getting the flick moving. To that end, horror-lovin' screenwriters Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton have been hired to help get the new (Barker-approved) Hellraiser ... raised. Genre fans will remember Marc and Pat from their debut flick Feast, plus they also joined the Twisted team last year when they provided the screenplay for Saw 4. (And yes, they also worked on Feast 2. And Saw 5. Oh, and Feast 3.)

According to Shock, the duo also have The Midnight Man in production with Dimension, so obviously the studio likes these guys. More word on Hellraiser, Inside, Saw 5, The Midnight Man, and the new Feasts as it becomes available.

If it's Halloween, it must be Saw. And it is. So it must be. Cinematical attended a press junket this week for Saw IV. It consisted of three interviews, with reporters from various outlets throwing out questions. The first was with Jigsaw himself, Tobin Bell (phoning in because he lives in Malibu, so wish him and his family well). The second was with Lyriq Bent (Rigg), Scott Patterson (Agent Strahm), and franchise producer Mark Burg. The third was with Costas Mandylor (Hoffman), Betsy Russell (Jill -- Mrs. Jigsaw), and franchise producer Oren Koules. Lionsgate hadn't screened the movie for critics (or even the actors!) as of this junket, as the representatives are extremely secretive about its plot, particularly a final twist. All we know is, despite having seemingly died at the end of Saw III, Jigsaw is back. Oh yes, and we know that there will be blood. Lotsa blood. We discussed what makes the franchise so popular, the phrase "torture porn," and the future of the Saw series.

Can you tell us what attracted you to the role yet again?

Tobin Bell: He's a big character. There could be nothing better for an actor than to have an opportunity to play a role where the character is sort of a multi-faceted guy. I mean, he is a scientist and a very well read guy and a man of conviction and passionate about what he does. There is something Shakespearean about him in a way. And there is a lot more story to be told. I feel like the Saw story doesn't play out in a linear way. It doesn't happen in sequence, necessarily. Whenever you have the opportunity to develop a guy like this, it's a blessing. It's what actors become actors for.

It's interesting to hear you talk about the thought process that goes into creating his back-story. Because if you ask an audience after they see a Saw film, they were there for the gore. They want to see someone's guts spill out on the floor. Are you rationalizing the character for yourself? Or do you really care about the characters in these films?

TB: I think that anybody who goes to one of these films wants to care about the characters. I think you can accomplish the same thing in the horror genre that you can accomplish in any other genre, whether it's a period piece, or a romantic comedy. I think there is an opportunity in a drama of any kind for the viewer to get involved with the characters. If you sell out completely on that, and I think that is what the horror genre has done for many years, people will not think of it very highly as a genre. Many genre films of the fifties and sixties were interested in the special effects, or interested in the scare factor, or the sci-fi factor. Jacob's Ladder is a very smart, well-crafted script. It is very scary. The Dead Zone with Christopher Walken. On its face, you have a man that looks at things and lights them on fire with his eyes. Look at the film. Christopher Walken draws you in. He makes you care about him. That's what makes the film work.

Outside of the Baby Geniuses pictures, I can't think of a more joyless, humorless, lifeless movie series than the Saw films. I watched the previous three alone at home, and each just sucked the life right out of me. But since I'd be seeing Saw IV with an audience, I expected to finally understand why people love these grisly flicks so much. I thought I'd hear yelling, cheering, people shouting "Gross!". I thought it would be fun. But the crowd remained completely silent until the credits rolled. Then everyone quietly got up, quietly walked to the doors, and quietly headed for their cars. How has this become the most successful horror franchise of all time?

Jigsaw is dead, and the film opens with his naked corpse laid out on a slab. Yes folks, I don't know why this hasn't been mentioned more in the marketing, but you do get to see 65 year-old Tobin Bell's genitals. That oughta sell some more tickets! What follows is an autopsy scene so astonishingly graphic that I removed the organ donor sticker from my driver's license. Seriously, if you had trouble with the brain surgery sequence in Saw III, get to Saw IV 15 minutes late. A new cassette recording is found in Jigsaw's stomach, and the games begin all over again. Two FBI profilers (played by Scott Patterson and Athena Karkanis) join Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) to put together the Jigsaw puzzle (nice little play on words there, if I don't say so myself). SWAT Commander Rigg (Lyriq Bent) is abducted and has 90 minutes to overcome the usual series of traps and save an ex-New Kid on the Block (Donnie Wahlberg). In other words, it's exactly like the other Saw flicks.

I don't think I'm alone in feeling that the Saw franchise should probably call it a day after the release of the latest installment on October 26th. What could possibly be next? For now, Saw producer Mark Burg is still looking to branch out with a loose remake of the film that gives women's studies majors everywhere the chills; Adrian Lyne's Fatal Attraction. Burg tells Shock Til You Drop that it will not be a straight remake and instead will be the "Twisted Pictures take on Fatal Attraction." Titled Kept, the script is based on the novella by Jason Rothwell.

Burg tells Shock Til You Drop that the story focuses on a married man who sets out for a night of infidelity and ends up in life or death situation. Since this is a film from Twisted Pictures, you can only assume that this guy is going to have one heck of a bad night. Shock claims they managed to score a few extra tidbits about the twists in the plot, but they were sworn to secrecy.

The last time Burg and company were looking into remakes, they had committed to redoing some classic horror films. Beyond those, he is also producing Repo! The Genetic Opera and the thriller Silence, about a man searching for his wife's murderer. The latter is the second script from Saw creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell. These projects are not exactly groundbreaking, but definitely a step up from the other two projects he has listed on his IMDb page -- both of which sound like made-for-TV crime flicks that you catch on the USA network at three in the morning. Compared to those movies, a Fatal Attraction rip-off sounds downright delightful.

Lionsgate has been nice enough to provide Cinematical with the second poster for the Saw IV blood drive (click on the photo for a larger image) -- an event held annually since the first Saw was released. We previously brought word of the first poster in the series (I believe there will be a total of 4 or 5 of these) which showed a side-profile of the mannequin-like nurse. This time she's sitting in a padded chair, gently pulling up her nurse's skirt to seductively reveal a little sumthin' sumthin' ... if you know what I mean.

Unfortunately, we cannot promise that the nurse pictured (or someone who looks like her) will indeed be the one drawing your blood, but we can promise that your donations can (and most likely will) save lives. Since 2004, 38,000 pints of blood have been donated (a figure that's doubled each year), all of which have helped to save the lives of as many as 112,500 people. Partnering once again with the American Red Cross, Lionsgate's Saw IV blood drive will run through the first week of the film's release, and folks can give blood at a number of locations across the country. For more info on the blood drive and the film, head on over to the official website of the American Red Cross. Saw IV opens nationwide on October 26.

For the record, I'm not a huge fan of the recent crop of "horror" films such as House of a Thousand Corpses, Hostel or Captivity. I prefer my horror with more brains and a little less seemingly senseless over-the-top gore. As Alfred Hitchcock once said: "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it." I tend to agree with him. After all, he did make a few pretty good films. That said, I did actually like the first Saw film and found it to be the most clever and intelligent of the franchise so far.

Of course, my opinion didn't stop the Saw franchise from becoming hugely successful, and it shouldn't have. Many people obviously love this kind of film and that's great for them to feel that way. To each his (or her) own. Naturally, as the films were so successful, we were treated to a Saw II, III and the soon-to-be-released Saw IV. Which brings us to today and the fact that, via IESB, you are now able to watch the supposed first five minutes of the new Saw IV right now online.

After watching the footage, however, I don't know for sure if it is, in fact, the first five minutes of the film. What I can tell you for sure is that this is the same footage shown during the Comic-Con presentation given by Lionsgate. At the time, it wasn't identified as the first minutes of the film, but it's definitely the same footage. Given the quality of the video, I would bet that it was probably recorded during the Comic-Con panel even though that is a strict no-no and it was repeatedly announced that anyone caught video taping during the panels would be ejected. I guess maybe someone was able to make a recording after all. Then again, judging by the amount of time it's been up on IESB, perhaps it was "leaked" on purpose.

While Kevin Bacon was absent from the Death Sentence breakfast, we did manage to corral Garrett Hedlund over eggs and ... bacon. He talked to us about starring in the movie, his relationships with co-stars Kevin Bacon and John Goodman, how he grew up with guns, and shooting very long action sequences with a lit cigarette in his mouth.

Garrett Hedlund isn't a household name just yet, but you've probably seen him on the big screen at Patrocles in Troy. He played the brash, young cousin of Achilles (Brad Pitt), and is somewhat of a chameleon. He's also been in Friday Night Lights, Eragon, and Four Brothers. With a shaved head and tribal neck tattoos in Death Sentence, he's looking to extend that streak. Click on his picture for the audio interview and read the highlights below.

• He plays Billy Darly, the son of Bones Darly (John Goodman) and is the older brother of Joe Darly (Matt O'Leary).
• He leads a gang of thugs who run a meth lab in an abandoned insane asylum. Sounds like a nice place.
• There is a great scene between John Goodman and Kevin Bacon in the movie, where John realizes that Kevin Bacon is after his son ... who in turn had killed Kevin's son.
• He's worked with everyone from Brad Pitt, to Terrence Howard, to Billy Bob Thornton, but his dad was most impressed when he told him he was working with John Goodman. "He finally feels proud of me."
• "I don't care for working with actors that just come in and read the lines and pretend that the character is them, instead of them the character. A lot of people think that they're the one to bank off of, as their personality as a celebrity. They feel that people just want to see them. Where I like trying to do something different with each role."
• They did extensive research for the role by gathering as a "gang" at strip clubs and bars, and calling each other by their gang names.
• "I had my rifle permit when I was eleven, kids couldn't wait to deer hunt ... even girls. I grew up with an environment of guns. I've always used them, and always learned how to be safe with them. If I did something like pointing the gun at the sun or did anything stupid with it, I'd get slapped in the back of the head."

Some more exciting news coming out of Comic-Con yesterday. This time around I had the fortune to attend the special preview of upcoming Lionsgate releases and a panel convened for just such a purpose. Some of the films discussed during the panel include upcoming releases 3:10 to Yuma, Good Luck Chuck, Midnight Meat Train and the inevitable Saw IV. An interesting and eclectic mix of genres and talent represented at the panel to be sure. Ok, settle in because here's the scoop.

First up was the very amusing Dane Cook and the supremely attractive Jessica Alba -- looking fantastic in a tight black dress and her, as Dane Cook joked "C-3P0 shoes" -- discussing their upcoming film Good Luck Chuck. We've talked about this film before here at Cinematical, but this time around I got a chance to see some exclusive footage from it -- including a scene where Alba takes a bubble bath and tries to have phone sex with Cook's character.

Of course, that clip was met with huge approval by the entranced attendees. Sadly, as much as I like Dane Cook and Jessica Alba (who doesn't?), I had a hard time getting too excited about the film -- Alba and bubbles notwithstanding. The crowd, however, mostly reacted positively to the previews, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Or, maybe I'm just jaded from seeing too many less-than-stellar movies? Either way, we'll know for sure if the film is good or not when it hits theaters on September 21st.

I wasn't crazy about the last poster that was released for the upcoming Death Sentence, but this latest one -- a ComicCon exclusive -- more than makes up for that big red canvas with a little Kevin Bacon in the center. What's up with that poster, anyway? So odd. Check out the new poster to the right of your screen (click on it for a larger version over at /Film). This one is a whole lot better; not only has Bacon grown in size, but it's got this great disturbing vibe to it (those old Death Wish and Reservoir Dogs posters immediately came to mind). And if it does sort of remind some of Death Wish, that's because the movie is based off a novel by Death Wish author Brian Garfield. Thus, some of the same elements are present, although the story goes in a slightly different direction.

Another reason to look forward to Death Sentence (which also recently released a trailer) is that James Wan directed the flick. Wan, as you know, helmed the first Saw film, but didn't do so well with his latest, Dead Silence. Wan is great at establishing an unsettling mood, while slowly rising the tension. Unlike some of his other projects, he's got a great lead actor this time in Bacon, and a decent supporting cast in Kelly Preston, John Goodman and Aisha Taylor. Essentially, the story centers on a nice, suburban guy (Bacon) who, after witnessing his son's murder, decides to personally hunt down those responsible ... while they subsequently hunt him. And although the premise feels familiar, I have a good feeling about this one. Bacon scares me when he's angry, and I've been waiting for Wan to deliver a thriller that's on par with the stuff he gave us in the first Saw film. My fingers are crossed that Death Sentence is it. Look for the flick to hit theaters on August 31.

The "torture porn" genre may be on its way out, but don't tell that to the Saw folks who are already making plans to extend their horror franchise to at least six. Bloody Disgusting has received word that David Hackl has been handed the directorial torch for Saw V and Saw VI, replacing Darren Lynn Bousman ( who's currently finishing up a stint as director on back-to-back-to-back Saw flicks). Hackl was the production designer on Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV, as well as second unit director on Saw II and Saw IV. He was also in the running at one point to helm Saw IV until Bousman decided to give it another go. I'd say he's the right man for the job -- then again, I stopped watching this series after the first installment because, as my friends say, I'm a word that rhymes with schmussy.

It will be interesting to see how well Saw IV does at the box office when it arrives on October 26. While the horror franchise definitely carries a massive fanbase, audiences have made it clear that this whole torture shtick has run its course. We'll also have to wait and see whether the film leaks online, and if that damages its overall box office take. As with most sequels, additional Saw installments are not guaranteed; if Saw IV should fail to hit a certain mark, I imagine the boys will cash in their chips and congratulate one another on a highly-successful run. The decision will have to come quick, though, as Hackl and his team will have to begin work immediately on Saw V in order to have it completed by the following Halloween. Does there come a point when enough is enough? Would you Saw fanatics keep watching through part six, or do you lose interest after awhile?

As Erik Davis posted yesterday, the fourth installment of the Saw franchise has completed filming, and now Movieweb has posted a teaser poster. The fact that it doesn't conform to the normal dimensions of a movie poster should make it pretty noticeable, as will the images of the blood-covered surgical instruments that remind me a bit of that scene following The Joker's botched plastic surgery in Tim Burton's Batman. The poster shows the gore-soaked implements on a square plate flanked by silverware. The only things missing are some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

The Saw movies have shown quite a bit of showmanship/gimmickry with previous ad campaigns, including mixing a vial of star Tobin Bell's blood with the printer's ink for a limited run of posters to promote Saw III. A poster design for Saw II that used two severed fingers to represent the Roman numeral in the title failed to get approval from the MPAA which, intentional or not, probably generated a lot of word of mouth. All of the Saw movies have also sponsored blood drives to coincide with their respective release dates, with posters for the Saw III drive upsetting the folks at the American Red Cross by using their well-known (and trademarked) symbol. Given the odd dimensions and the content of this new poster, I wouldn't be surprised to see promotional placemats given out at some point. Saw IV will be splattering all over theaters on October 26.

I was really surprised when Boogeyman went on to gross over $45 million last January, but I guess that's what happens when you snag a simplistically slick title and market the thing to 14-year-old kids. And yes, there's now a sequel coming (very) soon. We've already reported on the writer, the director and some of the initial cast members, but here's a mini-bombshell that could cause gorehounds the world over to give Boogeyman 2 a fair shake: They just cast Tobin Bell as one of the sequel's leads. Yes, that's right: Jigsaw himself is moving over to the Boogeyman franchise -- and that sound you just heard was Bell joining the ranks of actors like Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), Doug Bradley (Pinhead), Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface) and Kane Hodder (Jason Voorhees).

Also added to the cast were folks with names like John Simmons, Matt Cohen and Chrissy Griffith; they'll be joining Danielle Savre, David Gallagher and Mae Whitman in the Boogeyman 2 cast. What is the plot? A chick with a boogeyman phobia checks into a mental health facility, then things go terribly wrong. Editor Jeff Betancourt makes his directorial debut on this one, and he'll be working from a screenplay by equally green screenwriter Brian Sieve. Jigsaw or no, this project still screams Netflix rental to me -- at best.

I slept with a cross in my hand for a month after watching The Exorcist. I did. I swear. I was terrified after seeing the film -- I think I was thirteen at the time -- and definitely old enough to be able to handle such a film. Well, apparently not. I might have benefited from attending a support group for people terrified by fictionalized stories of horrifying situations (do those exist?). What I didn't realize was that filmmakers of horror films had a support group of their own.

Horror film directors have made it a mission to reinstall the bloodiest and most gruesome situations in this cult favorite genre. To be honest, the last film that I saw of this type was The Descent -- which I very much enjoyed and only ragged on the acting abilities of the cheating husband once -- but think that amount of blood may be all I can handle. Films such as Saw and Hostel, I think, go beyond what I find as an audience member to be pleasurable to watch. These films are different in the sense that they are borderline NC-17 flicks and mostly revolve around endless torture of hapless victims. In Variety's article they describe a scene where a victim's face is blow torched off and the torturer then clips off the victim's eyes (not exactly something I want to think about while eating lasagna at Christmas dinner).

This group of filmmakers has been dubbed the Splat Pack. I must say, I do love the name even though my stomach can't handle the majority of what they're making. Give me Dawn of the Dead or any zombie movie for that matter, but the torture genre I just can't take. Even though I can't bring myself to buy a ticket to see their films, I love knowing that the Splat Pack has been offering up a great deal of support for one another as they do face issues with ratings; inspiration to go further with gruesome ideas, and even funding films. Rob Zombie and Quentin Tarantino have become the godfathers to many up and coming horror filmmakers. Tarantino was described as "showing the ropes" to Hostel director Eli Roth. Horror films definitely have an audience -- the films often times gross more than large blockbuster films -- therefore the work will continue to be made. They just need the backing of each other to make sure that the ratings board doesn't take a chainsaw to the final cut of their films.

Anyone who's seen Saw 3 knows that it'll be pretty tough to come up with a viable screenplay for Saw 4. Not saying it's impossible, but let's just say the incoming Sawmakers will have to pull a few fancy tricks ... and fast, since Saw 4 has already been scheduled for an October release date.

It's been widely reported that James Wan, Leigh Whannell and Darren Lynn Bousman participated in Saw 3 only out of respect for their deceased producer/friend Gregg Hoffman -- and while I'm sure the trio didn't exactly complain about their Part 3 paychecks, the guys probably have other things they want to do with their careers besides Saw 17, right? Right. Which is why Lionsgate is presently fielding ideas from a wide array of screenwriters, two of whom (according to Bloody-Disgusting.com) just released their very first horror flick.

Yeah, the two Project Greenlight knuckleheads who wrote Feast are (allegedly) among the running for the Saw 4 gig. Also known as Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, the pair have a variety of projects on numerous back-burners, but a Saw sequel has to seem sort of like a lottery ticket to guys like this.

Also, Feast is a whole lot of wet, splattery, gore-soaked fun. So there's that.