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Psych 9, a new British horror film from Andrew Shortell and starring Cary Elwes and Michael Biehn, has sort of flown under the radar–but that’s about to change with today’s unveiling of the official trailer. After watching this clip, I’m definitely more interested in checking out the full feature.

Our friends in England will get their chance to see what Shortell and company have come up with on April 9th, when the film hits theaters. Plans are currently in the works for a limited theatrical release here in the States as well, but the official release dates haven’t been hammered out yet.

If you’re interested in learning more about the film, my Horror Squad colleague Alison Nastasi recently posted a lengthy interview with Shortell over at her Screamstress blog. I highly recommend checking it out.

As always, here’s the plot breakdown:

A young woman with a troubled past takes a job at a recently closed hospital to collate the hard copy patient records. Working alone in the building after dark, she experiences a series of unsettling events that lead her to believe the hospital may be connected to a number of recent murders in the area. To uncover the truth, she has to solve the mystery of her own disturbing past.

We’re all about to go to Hell with the upcoming release of EA’s Dante’s Inferno and its ancillary tie-in, Dante’s Inferno: The Animated Epic. The game’s set to hit retailers later this month, and the film makes its DVD and Blu-ray debut next Tuesday.

To help get everyone in the mood, here are two short new clips entitled Gluttony and Limbo.

I got nothing else to add, so here’s some press-released style info on what you can expect from the film:

“Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery! These are the 9 Circles of Hell made famous by Dante Alighieri in his famed masterpiece, Dante’s Inferno, his first story of The Divine Comedy. Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic will take you on a harrowing trip through Hell as Dante braves the forces of evil, slaying demons and monsters of extraordinary imagination, all to save his love Beatrice, from the clutches of Hell’s master – Lucifer.

The companion piece to the hit Electronic Arts game, Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic, is inventively told through eyes of visionary animation directors from around the world, including Shuko Murase (Ergo Proxy) and Yasoumi Umetsu (Kite: Liberator) among others. 6 Directors, 6 terrifying visions of Hell, 1 heart-stopping epic adventure!“

I posted news and some still photos for a film entitled In the Mouth of Ubaldo Terzani a few weeks ago–and today I bring you the first trailer.

As a hardcore fan of Italian horror, I’m hoping that Gabriele Albanesei’s film might help get the country back into the horror business. Granted, I wasn’t blown away by the director’s last film, The Last House in the Woods, but it did have its moments. This trailer looks interesting enough, even if the whole thing feels like an Italian version of Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness. That’s not a negative as far as I’m concerned–I love Carpenter’s film, and some of the best Italian horror films were rip-offs of other western movies.

Anyway, here’s the plot breakdown:

Alessio Rinaldi, a 25 years old director, is hired by a producer to write the script for his first movie with Ubaldo Terzani, a well known writer of horror novels. Alessio moves into Terzani’s house to start this collaboration and a strange relationship of psychological dependence grows between them: Ubaldo Terzani unveils his dark side and Alessio falls into a desperate depth of craziness and nightmares.

There is a reason why Terzani’s bestsellers are so frightening…Alessio will discover that reality can be unexpectedly more terrifying than every brainchild and he will have to fight hard to break free of Ubaldo Terzani’s jaws.

La Casa Muda is another horror film that may not have appeared on your radar. The Latin American production is supposedly “inspired by true events”, but more interesting is that it’s shot with a professional photo camera, was made for roughly $6,000, and was filmed in one long continuous 72-minute take. That last part is what sets my inner film geek off. I nerd out over five minute shots with no cuts in them–hearing something’s going to run for 72 minutes is crazy. I can’t think of another horror film that’s attempted something similar.

A new subtitled teaser trailer for the film turned up online this week. You can find it below. According to the Dread Central gang, the film is currently in post-production and should meet its March 2010 completion date. No info on a release date yet, but here’s the plot synopsis:

Laura (Florencia Colucci) and her father Wilson (Gustavo Alonso) settle down in a cottage that seems to be off the beaten track in order to update it since its owner (Abel Tripaldi) will soon put the house up for sale. They will spend the night there in order to start the repairs the following morning. Everything seems to go smoothly until Laura hears a sound that comes from outside and gets louder and louder on the upper floor of the house. Wilson goes up to see what is going on while she remains downstairs on her own, waiting for her father to come down. The plot is based on a true story that happened some time ago in a small village in Uruguay. La Casa Muda focuses on the last seventy-eight minutes, second by second, while Laura attempts to leave the house, which hides an obscure secret, unharmed.

REAL FEAR IN REAL TIME is the most remarkable underlying feature of the film, which will not go unnoticed by all those who may be willing to experience this different and disturbing filming experience.

EA’s Dante’s Inferno started a Hollywood bidding war before it was even announced. Now, it’s not only being adapted as a live-action film for the big screen, it’s getting an animated feature as well. That’s pretty impressive for a brand new IP…

This anime tie-in to EA’s forthcoming God of War clone marks the second time in recent years that the company has taken a game title and released an ancillary cartoon in an attempt to drum up extra interest. They also did it in 2008 with Dead Space: Downfall (an animated prequel to the main game) and that turned out fairly well.

Unlike Downfall, Dante’s Inferno doesn’t appear to be a prequel, but instead is simply an animated version of the game’s narrative. Despite my general disinterest in all things anime, this title has piqued my curiosity with its mixture of melodrama and violent death. If nothing else, it should serve as a pleasing appetizer to tide us all over until the Dante’s Inferno feature film (already in pre-production) eventually releases.

The animated feature is set to make its DVD debut on February 9th–and in preparation, here’s the new clip.

Hey, what do you know, another After Dark Horrorfest trailer! This one’s for Nick Cohen’s The Reeds–which looks intriguing even though I have no idea what exactly is going on in it. That’s usually not a good sign, but I’m being a “glass is half full” kinda guy today.

Here’s the plot breakdown:

In The Reeds, a weekend boating trip through the Norfolk Broads becomes a deadly ordeal for six 20-something year old friends who lose their bearings in the vast reedy tidewaters. Chances of escape and hopes for survival diminish as inexplicable forces terrorize the lost and terrified group.

This year’s Horrorfest begins on January 29th and will run for one week only in select theaters. A DVD box set of the titles has already been announced for March. Check out the official site for more info.

There’s not much left to say about After Dark’s 4th annual Horrorfest–it starts later this month, features another 8 Films to Die For, and here’s yet another trailer.

Bloody-Disgusting scored the exclusive to this one, which is for the Norwegian film Hidden. I’m phoning this one in completely, in case you were wondering. Here’s the synopsis and trailer. The film will be in theaters on January 29th.

Kai Koss, upon the death of his cruel mother, unwillingly returns to the small town he ran away from 19 years ago. He is left in charge of the family home and the dark secrets that come with it. Kai soon finds himself tangled up in a series of murderous events that are beyond anyone’s control and his troubles begin to overwhelm him. He has spent the past two decades trying to forget a tortured past only to find that there are some things you just can’t run from.

Alex Aja’s Piranha 3D sure has been in the news a lot lately. First it was for the trailer debut (attached to prints of Avatar), then it was because it was delayed until August (for any number of reasons–it depends on who you asked and who you believe). Now there’s finally a watchable version of that trailer online (replacing the really awful and nearly unwatchable one that’s been making the rounds for the past week or so–thanks Trailer Spy!). I’ll say this: The movie looks more interesting when you can actually see what’s happening in the trailer.

Here’s the plot synopsis. I don’t really care what the movie’s about–it’s got Richard Dreyfuss playing a character modeled after his role as Hooper in Jaws. That’s all I needed to hear to get my ass in theater seat.

“A new type of terror is about to be cut loose on beautiful Lake Victoria. After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area’s new razor-toothed residents. But our heroine (Elisabeth Shue) is seriously outnumbered, and with only one chance to save the lake and her family from totally being devoured, she must risk everything to destroy the aquatic carnivores herself.“

Piranha 3D is now tentatively slated to hit theaters this August–unless the Weinsteins go broke between now and then.

Another day, another After Dark Horrorfest trailer. As the 4th annual installment of the “8 Films to Die For” series prepares to kick off (it starts on January 29th), we’ve been getting a peek at lots of new trailers for the featured films. This morning, Dread Central scored an exclusive new clip for The Final.

Here’s the brief plot breakdown:

The scenic Workley Ranch in Rocky Branch, TX, becomes the setting for retribution and revenge. In the midst of a wild costume party, five previously powerless and picked upon students are giving a “Final Exam” with just one question: “What did you do to deserve this?”

Directed by Joey Stewart, The Final joins Dread, Lake Mungo, Zombies of Mass Destruction, Kill Theory, Hidden, The Graves, and The Reeds as part of the event, which runs for one week. You can learn more about all of the films featured in this year’s festival by visiting the official website.

The guys over at Dark Sky films are really going all out for the House of the Devil DVD and Blu-ray release. First they made all of us horror nerds drool with their promo VHS release of the film (which only select people received) and now they’ve taken things to another level with this new viral marketing ad in The Village Voice.

The guys over at Dread Central were cool enough to post a photo the ad (click the link to see it for yourself), which says “baby sitter needed”, followed by an 800 number. I haven’t had time to dial it for myself yet, but I suggest you all give it a whirl and see what you discover.

House of the Devil is set to hit DVD and Blu-ray on February 2nd. Have a peek at the trailer below and see why it’s turned up on so many Best of ‘09 lists.