Horror Movies 2010 – Guide

It’s time to look at the potentially great horror movies of 2010. The line-up features the usual mix of sequels (Resident Evil: Afterlife), remakes (A Nightmare On Elm Street), sequels to remakes (Friday The 13th: Part 2), and original fare (Daybreakers). Japanese horror and torture porn have gone. Big name old school slashers are back in business, as are cheesy 80′s remakes, and 3-D. But overall the horror movie genre is still in flux, waiting for the next big trend.
So here’s Movie-Moron’s definitive guide to the best new horror movies, 2010:
- JANUARY -
Case 39
Release Date: 1 January 2010 pushed to 1 October 2010
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Ian McShane, Jodelle Ferland
Director: Christian Alvart
A social worker (Zellweger) takes in a troubled 10 year old after her parents try to kill her, only to discover the girl may not be an innocent as she seems. The movie has been sitting on the shelf for two years. Expect it to please no one.
Daybreakers
Release Date: 8 January 2010
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill
Directors: Peter and Michael Spierig

In 2017 a plague transforms most of the world into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the vampires farm the remaining humans and look for a new system to continue their existence. Meanwhile a secret team of vampires, including Ethan Hawke, uncovers a way to rescue the human race. While this is from the directors of the not-particularly-impressive Undead, Daybreakers does star three of the most underrated actors around and early reviews are very good.
Legion
Release Date: 22 January 2010
Starring: Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson
Director: Scott Stewart

And lo the battle between the angels and mankind will be decided at a truck stop diner. So said the Bible, somewhere. In the midst of a terrifying biblical apocalypse, a group of strangers unwittingly become humanity’s last line of defence when they discover the diner’s young waitress is pregnant with the messiah. Paul Bettany plays an angel who’s come down to give them an assist. Sounds like the Christian version of The Terminator, with Bettany in the Kyle Reese role. Dennis Quaid’s in there somewhere too with his magical touch of mediocrity.
- FEBRUARY -
Psych: 9
Release Date: 5 February 2010 7 May 2010 (UK), TBA Late 2010 (US)
Starring: Sara Foster, Cary Elwes, Michael Biehn, Gabriel Mann
Director: Andrew Shortell
Whodunit horror-thriller about an unstable woman working alone in a recently closed hospital, while the ‘NightHawk’ serial killer embarks on a murder spree in the surrounding area. Cary Elwes plays a sympathetic doctor, Michael Biehn the investigator on the case. Elwes is always good value and why Biehn never became a Hollywood star is one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century.
The Wolfman
Release Date: 12 February 2010
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Art Malik, Hugo Weaving
Director: Joe Johnston
Writer: Andrew Kevin Walker

The Wolfman got rid of its original director at the last minute (One Hour Photo’s excellent Mark Romanek) and replaced him with the bland Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park III). The fact that the release date has been pushed back so many times, and that it recently hired a new editor, is not a good sign at all. But it has a strong cast, a screenwriter capable of greatness, and make-up effects by the maestro Rick Baker, so hopefully it will surprise us. And it’s set in the 1880s, which is a brave choice.
The Crazies
Release Date: 26 February 2010
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell
Director: Breck Eisner

In this remake of George Romero’s 1973 chiller, a plane crash spills a biological weapon into the water supply of a small Kansas town, causing the inhabitants to turn murderously insane. Imagine a small town version of 28 Days Later. Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell are capable actors, but can the director of Sahara do horror?