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Last time we heard anything about the remake of Juan Antonio Bayona and Guillermo Del Toro’s The Orphanage, it was bad news. Filmmaker Larry Fessenden had been attached to the project as a director, but was now no longer involved with the film in that capacity. With no director, things got pretty quiet.

Variety says that’s about to change, however, with today’s news that Mark Pellington (he of The Mothman Prophecies and Arlington Road fame) is in final negotiations to direct the film. It’s an interesting choice, but I still think a Larry Fessenden version would have been more impressive. I liked Arlington Road so maybe Pellington can bring something interesting to this film.

Fessenden’s not totally out of the production, either. He may not be helming the project, but he did write a script for it with Del Toro. Current reports indicate that’s the script that will be in use when filming eventually commences.

The original film is a spooky ghost story about a woman who takes over the orphanage where she spent her childhood. Things get creepy when she realizes her son is playing with the same “imaginary friend” who terrified her as a kid. It’s one of the more interesting  films of the past decade and I say give it a rental if you haven’t checked it out.

I’ll keep you posted on production dates and the like for the remake as the details emerge.

When news broke not too long ago that Larry Fessenden had been hired to direct the English language remake of the Juan Antonio Bayona directed, Guillermo Del Toro produced film The Orphanage, horror fans were excited. If they were going to remake the film, at least they were getting an interesting and edgy director for the job. Unfortunately, it appears as though that’s no longer the case.

Fessenden shared the following with our friends over at Arrow in the Head:

“The Orphanage was two years of waiting. Working on the script with Guillermo was a very exciting experience, but then I got into a casting miasma and that’s where the thing is; I think they’re gonna do it another way, actually. So I think I’m out of it. Hopefully they’ll still use my script, but I’m not sure I’m directing it anymore. That’s Hollywood for ya.”

While the news is certainly depressing, it appears as though there may be a silver lining in it. Fessenden’s attachment to The Orphanage may help him get more work.

“I have like three movies that I wanna do that are, ironically, at this level. Just because that project [Orphanage] got my foot in the door with studios and managers, agents, all good people working hard – but the fact is I don’t trust whether or not it’ll work. You know, after you get bitten once, you’re just a little more wary.”

Here’s to hoping Fessenden gets to make some of these projects. He’s one of the genre’s best kept secrets, and it would be nice if is his work found a wider audience.

If you’ve ever wondered (and god knows there have been nights where I’ve pondered this very thing…) what would happen if you crossed the period horror aesthetics of Hammer’s classic cinema with the more inventive and slapstick stylings of Sam Raimi, I’ve got the answer for you: you’d wind up with something that looks a lot like Glenn McQuaid’s I Sell the Dead.

This humorously macabre period piece captures the cheap ambience of countless Hammer flicks and deftly mixes it with the inventive camera work, bizarre characters, and ghoulish humor of Raimi’s Evil Dead films. Add in a cast filled with solid actors (and cult favorites like Angus Scrimm to appeal to the horror geek contingent) and you have the recipe for one of the more entertaining independent horror films emerge this year.

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I’m generally opposed to remakes. I’m especially opposed to remakes of films that aren’t even ten years old. Using these guidelines, I should be very opposed to a remake of Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Orphanage–and I was, but I’m softening my position a bit with today’s news (courtesy of THR) that states that filmmaker Larry Fessenden has been tapped by producer Guillermo del Toro to lead the production.

Fessenden is an interesting pick for the project–an indie horror director with a unique approach to the genre. He should be able to bring the Spanish language original’s moody atmosphere and creepy aesthetics to the screen while making the film more accessible for American audiences. I don’t entirely accept the idea that the film needs to be made more accessible to American audiences (the original works quite well as is), but I think Fessenden will do more than just churn out the stereotypical Hollywood re-imagining.

If you’ve never seen the original, here’s the plot description:

The Orphanage centers on a woman who, upon returning to the orphanage where she grew up, discovers that her son’s imaginary friend is the same person who terrorized her when she was a child.

No casting news yet, but that would seem to be the next step in The Orphanage’s development cycle.

Director Glenn McQuaid’s horror comedy I Sell the Dead is set to hit limited theaters on August 7th and then take to the airwaves courtesy of IFC’s Video-On-Demand service on the 12th. In preparation for that, they’ve released a new trailer for the film (starring Dominic Monaghan, Larry Fessenden, Angus Scrimm, and Ron Perlman). Check it out below.

If you’ve not heard of I Sell the Dead prior to now, here’s the official synopsis. I think the film looks and sounds incredibly cool–hopefully it lives up the potential hinted at in the preview.

In I SELL THE DEAD, 19th century justice has finally caught up with two of the craftiest grave robbers in town. With only a few hours to go before his date with the guillotine, body-snatcher Arthur Blake (Dominic Monaghan / LORD OF THE RINGS, Lost) tells his life story to the peculiar Father Francis Duffy (Ron Perlman / HELLBOY, THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN). Before long, Arthur spills the beans on how he got started in the grim corpse peddling usiness with seasoned ghoul Willie Grimes (Larry Fessenden / WENDIGO THE LAST WINTER, HABIT). As the whisky flows Arthur’s tales get stranger and stranger. From their graveyard discoveries of vampires and zombies to tales of vicious gang rivalries with the infamous House of Murphy, Arthur’s confessions are the stuff of legend! Whether pillaging in fog drenched grave yards or plotting on blood soaked coast lines, Grimes and Blake leave no graves unturned. Their colorful and peculiar history is one filled with adventure, horror, and mayhem that threaten to drag all involved down into the very graves they’re trying to pilfer.

It’s funny, but you just don’t see much horror revolving around graverobbers these days. We still have movies where corpses are gained through illegal means, but the days when tales of slimy deviants snuck into graveyards to dig up the recently interred seem to be long gone–or at least they did, but now I Sell the Dead looks to exhume one of horror’s most enduring stereotypes.

Here’s your first look at the new one-sheet for the forthcoming film (being brought to us by IFC). I like it–the old pulp novel approach works for the story, and I’m glad they managed to get Ron Perlman and Angus Scrimm both into the image.

In the film, body snatchers Arthur Blake and Willie Grimes have pillaged their last grave. With just five hours before Arthur follows Willie to the chopping block, he recounts his life story to Fr Francis Duffy. It soon becomes clear that Blake and Grimes were no ordinary grave robbers. And through his stories the priest learns that not all corpses are equal.

The film boasts a solid cast (Ron Perlman, Larry Fessenden, Angus Scrimm, and Dominic Monaghan) and has generated positive buzz at various festival screenings here and abroad.

I Sell the Dead, a Slamdance Film Festival selection, will hit limited theaters and VOD on August 14.

I have to say that IFC has really stepped up their horror game in recent months. If their Midnight Movie revival announcement wasn’t enough to make your horror-loving heart sing with joy, then perhaps the following will:

I Sell the Dead, a Slamdance Film Festival selection, will hit limited theaters and VOD on August 14.

In the film, body snatchers Arthur Blake and Willie Grimes have pillaged their last grave. With just five hours before Arthur follows Willie to the chopping block, he recounts his life story to Fr Francis Duffy. It soon becomes clear that Blake and Grimes were no ordinary grave robbers. And through his stories the priest learns that not all corpses are equal.

The film boasts a solid cast (Ron Perlman, Larry Fessenden, Angus Scrimm, and Dominic Monaghan) and has generated positive buzz at various festival screenings here and abroad. Check out the trailer and see for yourself.