Assault Girls
The first look at Mamoru Oshii's Assault Girls is out and filled with beautiful but deadly women hunting for prey in a washed-out world. And we mean seriously washed-out... The filter on this trailer is thick. Thanks to Nippon Cinema for alerting us to the trailer. Already I'm completely enraptured with the hunters, especially Lucifer and her little hat. I yearn for a future where film like this become the Sex And The City replacement go to banter talk: "Oh, you're such a Lucifer with your sass and spunk!" But all kidding aside, I cannot wait to see more of this film, based off his previous short of the same name.

Synopsis:

In the aftermath of global thermonuclear war, the Earth's surface has been turned into a desert battlefield. Three beautiful female hunters: Gray (Meisa Kuroki), Lucifer (Rinko Kikuchi), and Colonel (Hinako Saeki) traverse the barren landscape armed with powerful assault rifles to fight a group of deadly sand-dwelling monsters called "sunakujira" (sand whales). When the the epic battle eventually seems to be coming to an end, the sparkle of muzzle flash dies down and assault ship flies overhead. Suddenly, a gigantic super mutation called "Madara Sunakujira" attacks.

Cyclops
Set in the future world of New Madrid, the futuristic story wraps around two police brothers. One of the brothers is plagued by nightmares and can't come to grips with his position in life and as a member of New Madrid's police team. Then one of them makes a terrible mistake... and that's all I got, sorry. My guess? One dies, the other loses an eye and gets his dead brothers eye, and now his brother can talk to him through the dead eye. Well, that's what I would do anyways. Check out the trailer and tell me what you suspect.

Trailer:

The Dark Lurking
An Aussie creature feature The Dark Lurking has released its first rough clip. Thanks to 24 Frames per second for pointing this little gem out. Looks like a Down Under combination of viral outbreaks and The Thing, but with more pus.

Synopsis:

2017: Something has gone terribly wrong at outpost 30, a secret international research facility some five hundred meters beneath the snow blown arctic wilderness. All communications are gone, all means of escape destroyed and an extremely dangerous horde of ancient creatures is on the loose after a doorway to an unspeakable evil has been unleashed. Eight survivors, two former research patients, three SOCOM Troops, two research technicians and a cleaner barricade themselves inside a remote area of the facility with little food, almost no ammunition and little hope of rescue. Their one possible escape route is through thirteen levels of terror that will lead them to the surface. And one of them is not who they seem to be, the darkness

Trailer

Clip

Electronic Girl
Will we ever be rid of robots and their infernal feelings? New film called Electronic Girl takes place in the future where the human population is so low a robot work force is built, and of course eventually there's a need for sexy pouty robot women, as is so often the case. So a little she-bot is made, and then given feelings because why not make the future sex slave learn of its own shame or what not. The robot escapes but not before putting on a costume maid outfit and growing wings. Still the look to the film is interesting enough that I'll keep tabs on it.

The Hollywood Reporter announced yesterday that Fessenden, who has worked mostly on limited release thrillers like Wendigo and The Last Winter, would remake the 2007 film, about a woman who, with her husband and adopted son, returns to her hometown to fix up the orphanage where she grew up, only to find her son befriended by the ghosts that haunt it. The original film, which was also produced by del Toro and directed by his protege Juan Antonio Bayona, received critical acclaim upon its release, and great success with audiences worldwide.

New Line bought the rights to remake The Orphanage with del Toro back in 2007, and now it seems likely we'll see that remake in the next few years. And with the American remake of the 2008 Swedish vampire film already scheduled for a 2010 release, it's apparent that studios believe these foreign horror films are a sure thing — at least when they're in English.

But won't a remake of The Orphanage so soon after its original US release feel like a retread? Maybe not where the box office is concerned. The Orphanage earned ten times more abroad than it did from its US release, and New Line probably hopes to replicate the film's foreign success at home. So why not simply give these foreign films a bigger marketing push in the first place and avoid the cost of remaking them? It's likely another example of studios playing it safe with stories that are already hits instead of taking risks on fresh scripts. As Bayona himself said after his film's release:

The Americans have all the money in the world but can't do anything, while we can do whatever we want but don't have the money...The American industry doesn't take chances, that's why they make remakes of movies that were already big hits.

[The Hollywood Reporter]

Symbol
The writer and director of Big Man Japan will be showing his latest work Symbol at the Toronto Film Festival, and Hitoshi Matsumoto's latest work really has me scratching my head with wonder. The latest teaser shows... well, I'm not really sure what, but some poor fella is obviously getting attack by tiny naked CG cherubs. I'm still not sure what to make of the dog reference. Creeeepy.

Here's the full synopsis... sounds like a trip:

In the central tale, a Japanese man (Matsumoto) wakes up alone in a brightly illuminated white room with no windows or doors. When he presses a mysteriously phallic protuberance that appears on one wall, a pink toothbrush materializes from nowhere, clattering to the floor and setting in motion a genuinely bizarre chain of events. Soon the imprisoned man is engaged in absurd and hilarious attempts to escape the gleaming room, releasing random objects from the walls, creating a life-sized Mouse Trap game in which a rope, a toilet plunger and an earthenware jug full of sushi might just be the keys to his escape.

Meanwhile, in a dusty town, a green-masked Mexican wrestler known as Escargot Man prepares for an important match. His family gathers around him, worried about his seeming impassivity before battle. As the nameless prisoner appears closer to escape and Escargot Man steps into the ring, Matsumoto amplifies the baffling yet suspenseful atmosphere to a crescendo of ridiculous excess.

Bio-Slime

Aaaah, a new evil, gooey bio-killer. Here's the trailer for small budget slick Bio-Slime, which is your basic alien species monster flick. A bunch of strangers are trapped in an isolated area and one by one they get picked off until one clever member devises a plan to get back at the beast... Check it out.

Kung Fu Cyborg:
The latest Kung Fu Cyborg trailer is out, offering more Kung Fu Robots, but also showing off the movie's love story a little bit more. I mean, it's not called "metallic attraction" for nothing. We need more robots in love that don't look like Wall-E and an ipod. Jeffrey Lau's latest work should be out within the month, we'll see how long it takes to reach little old me.

Cold Souls
The funny little flick about soul extraction, starring Paul Giamatti as himself, is getting a limited release in New York and LA on August 7th. So to celebrate, check out this new clip. The film follows the saddened actor who looks to release a little stress by removing his soul from his body. But when his soul is mistaken for Al Pacino's soul and swiped by the Russian mob, the actor is sent on a journey to reclaim what is rightfully his.

New Cold Souls Clip:

Cold Souls Trailer:

Lesbian Vampire Killers
Hunting down lesbian vampires isn't all pillow fights and soft fanged kisses. Sometimes you gotta get your hands dirty. Dread Central has a few stills from this British comedy horror including stills of The Descent's adorable MyAnna Buring on the job. Lesbian Vampire Killers will be released on March 20, 2009 in the UK, and hopefully we'll get more news about possible US dates.

Ricky
It's been too long months since any news on the French film Ricky about the magical flying baby. We've been patiently waiting for actual flight footage and low and behold the trailer finally reveals some flying baby footage, complete with adorable little wings. The movie will be competing at Berlinale film festival, we'll keep you posted on additional release dates.

Ricky trailer

Carriers
Quiet Earth has nabbed the first trailer for Carriers the virus thriller. And we feel the need to say: It's about time the virus bad boy movies got back in the game. Here's a synopsis:

A deadly virus has spread across the globe. Contagion is everywhere, no one is safe and no one can be trusted. Four young attractive people race through the back roads of the American West to the pounding beat of a vacation soundtrack. Their aim is to retreat to secluded utopian beach in the Gulf of Mexico, where they could peacefully wait out the pandemic and survive the apocalyptic disease. Carriers follow their getaway through a surreal and dangerous world where laws and rules no longer apply. Their plans take a grim turn when their car breaks down on an isolated road starting a chain of events that will seal the fate of each of them in an inexorable and horrifying voyage of hell through a western landscape populated by only the hideous dead or the twisted living. Their desperate retreat south turns into a deadly battle against infected children, homicidal doctors, crazed survivalists, rabid dogs, and, finally each other. The virus is the least of their problems as horrible choices must be made in the face of lost humanity.

Grace
Paul Solet's film Grace premiered in Sundance this year (or right now, I should say), and here's a look at the teaser trailer. Grace is about a mother whose baby dies in the womb, but the mom decides to carry it to term nonetheless. After the delivery, the baby comes back to life - but now has an insatiable thirst for blood. I've said if before and I'll say it again, children = evil.

Romeo & Juliet vs. The Living Dead:
What if Romeo and the rest of the Montagues clan was made up of the undead? And poor dear Juliet fell desperately in love with the zombie boy himself? Well that story would probably go a little something like this.

The Horde
Hooray! There are finally stills from Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher’s zombie French film La Horde (The Horde) which blends cops, robbers, zombies and skyscrapers. The zombies are absolutely gorgeous (I'm especially enjoying the teeth)... there is nothing like a well crafted corpse. I cannot wait to see this horror on the big screen.

[MySpace]

Dead Snow follows a group of students on a snow trip. Everything is going smoothly until a hiker shows up at their cabin door telling them stories about how this snowy mountain side was a occupied by the Nazis in World War II. The townspeople eventually revolted against their horrible oppressors and drove Cololnel Herzog (above) and his minions into the high mountains. Supposedly they froze to death. But many years later, when the youngins show up with their sexin' and drinkin' ,it brings the remaining Nazis back to life. Seriously, that has to be one hell of some serious partying these kids were up to.

Here are two clips from the movie.

Zombie Nazi's hate pigtails

Gettin' Busy Where The Business Is Done:

Hells Angels brings together Yoshiki Yamakawa (who worked on the manga version of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi) as the director, Yasushi Nirazawa (one of the minds behind the Hellboy beasties) and character designer Kazita Nakagawa (who worked with Shinichiro Watanabe on Samurai Champlo). As of right now, I can't tell what this flick is about... but I will tell you that the demon Elvis is outstanding.

Trailer:

In other creature news, Deep in the Jungle is bringing us even more sexy snake ladies. The Thailand film follows a secret service agent who falls for a snake lady, and I can only assume the snakey sex and hilarity ensue. Here is the official synopsis:

Nawin, an army secret service agent decided to withdraw from a scientific investigation because of unlawful procedures that involved International forces. Although he had tried desperately to avoid the illegal acts of the armed forces, it seems the harder he tried the more involved he became. He was constantly under surveillance no matter where he went or what he did which made him realize there was more to the situation that meets the eye.

Jin, a young woman who Nawin once saved from a brutal attack is undergoing a strange transformation within her body as her blood circulates through mutation. This transformation on Jin, is what Nawin believes the International forces are after. The half breed mix between animal and human.

Nawin decides to help Jin by taking her back to her birth place. As he leads her home, her illness seems to subside. They will soon grow close and fall in love. When it comes time for Nawin to choose between her and his life, he awakes to find that it has all been an image of his imagination…or was it?

Trailer