DECEMBER 10
GODZILLA DROP

And

BRIGHTBURN
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
James Gunn (DAWN OF THE DEAD [2004], SLITHER) is back in Horror territory and Sony has him.

A bow to Jeffrey Reddick (FINAL DESTINATION) and his Twitter feed where I first saw this.

Plus

THE ADDAMS FAMILY
Review by
E.C. McMullen Jr.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY begins with Christmas carolers at the door of the Addams' estate. High over the caroler's heads, the family looks down upon them.

Merry Mishaps occur. Every hardcore Chas. Addams fan knows this scene from a particular comic one pane.

It would seem an impossible task. Please all the folks who remembered and loved the old THE ADDAMS FAMILY television show.

They were a small but significant audience, who were still keeping the syndicated series alive. Yet they were as mysterious and spooky as THE ADDAMS FAMILY themselves (no one knew if they were as ooky). But since this was in the days prior to the Internet, and there weren't people like me on message boards, ready to trash the flick if it displeased us, Orion and Paramount thought it was worth the risk: Make a movie about THE ADDAMS FAMILY without a single member of the original cast. Star Trek had a much larger audience, and they wouldn't dare try such a plot!

Also

HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Actor Monique Gata Dupree (POT ZOMBIES, BACHELOR PARTY IN THE BUNGALOW OF THE DAMNED, SKELETON KEY 2, TIMO ROSE'S BEAST, HEAVY MENTAL, ZOMBTHOLOGY, CAGED LESBOS A-GO-GO, BIKINI BLOOD BATH CHRISTMAS, THE HORROR VAULT 3, SPIRIT, SATAN HATES YOU, POST MORTEM AMERICA 2021, DEAD WOMAN'S HOLLOW, SKELETON KEY 3, THE CHAINSAW SALLY SHOW SEASON 2, NO STRINGS 2, LITTLE BIG BOY, PLAN 9, THE CREIGHTONVILLE TERROR, SHERIFF TOM VS. THE ZOMBIES, SEX, BLOOD, AND FAIRY TALES, SICKNESS) is 44.
Look for Monique in the upcoming 2019 Horror Thrillers, SHAKESPEARE SH*TSTORM.
Actor Nia Peeples (DEEPSTAR SIX, IMPROPER CONDUCT, DEADLOCKED: ESCAPE FROM ZONE 14, MR. STITCH, TERMINAL [1996], BLOODHOUNDS II, ALONE WITH A STRANGER, INSIDE OUT [2005], CONNOR'S WAR, BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES [2011], WEREWOLF: THE BEAST AMONG US, DARK DESIRE, 23 MINUTES TO SUNRISE, LAVALANTULA, MNEMOSYNE) is 57.
Actor Xavier Samuel (THE LOVED ONES, ROAD KILL, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, ANONYMOUS, BAIT, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 2, PLUSH, FRANKENSTEIN [2015], THE DEATH AND LIFE OF OTTO BLOOM, BAD BLOOD [2017]) is 30.
SUNDAY -
Actor Michael Dorn (DEMON SEED, GARGOYLES [TV], STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT, STAR TREK: NEMESIS, THE PROPHET'S GAME, SHADOW HOURS, SHADE, DESCENT [TV], DANNY PHANTOM [TV], A.I. ASSAULT, FALLEN ANGELS, NIGHT SKIES, THE DEEP BELOW, STRANGE FRAME, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES [TV - 2012 - 2017], ARROW [TV], MAN FROM EARTH: HOLOCENE, UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!) is 65.
Look for Michael's 2019 Thriller, AGENT II.
Actor Jesse Metcalf (INSANITARIUM, BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, THE TORTURED, CHASE [TV]) is 39.
SATURDAY -
Make-up Artist Rick Baker (IT'S ALIVE, SQUIRM, KING KONG [1976], THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN, THE FURY, THE HOWLING, THE FUNHOUSE, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, VIDEODROME, SOMETHING IS OUT THERE [TV], GREMLINS 2, WOLF, ED WOOD, THE FRIGHTENERS, MEN IN BLACK, MODERN VAMPIRES, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG [1998], PLANET OF THE APES [2001], MEN IN BLACK II, THE RING, HELLBOY, CURSED, THE RING II, X-MEN III, THE WOLFMAN, MEN IN BLACK 3, TRON: LEGACY, MALEFICENT and way more) who is 68.
Actor Dominic Monaghan (HOSTILE WATERS [TV], THE LORD OF THE RINGS [all], LOST [TV], I SELL THE DEAD, FLASH FORWARD [TV], THE DAY, THE MILLIONAIRE TOUR, THE UNKNOWN [TV], PET, QUANTUM BREAK [TV], ATOMICA, A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHTMARE, MUTE) is 42.
Look for Dominic's upcoming 2019 Thriller, RADIOFLASH.
Dominic shares a birthday with fellow LOST alumni,
Actor Ian Somerhalder (PULSE, THE LOST SAMARITAN, FIREBALL, LOST [TV], THE VAMPIRE DIARIES [TV], THE ANOMALY) is 40.
Look for Ian in the 2019 Horror Thriller, V-WARS [TV].
Actor Mary Woronov (KEMEK, SUGAR COOKIES, "SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT", SEIZURE, DEATH RACE 2000, JACKSON COUNTY JAIL, EATING RAOUL, NIGHT OF THE COMET, THE MOVIE HOUSE MASSACRE, HELLHOLE, TERRORVISION, CHOPPING MALL, WARLOCK, THE HALFWAY HOUSE, FROG-G-G!, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, and far more) is 75.

DECEMBER 7
AVENGERS: ENDGAME
Superhero comics are always thrilling. Sometimes they deal with mystery and often suspense.

For the Marvel movie fans who have been tracking the MCU since the first IRON MAN or CAPTAIN AMERICA, 2018's AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR added heartbreaking, nihilistic Horror to the mix: Powerful insane, evil disguised as empathy, won.

Today, Marvel dropped this,

And

GREMLINS
Review by
E.C. McMullen Jr.
GREMLINS is funny and action packed, but incredibly balanced and perfectly timed with some truly scary scenes. Director Joe Dante (THE HOWLING, GREMLINS 2, Masters of Horror: HOMECOMING, THE SCREWFLY SOLUTION), back in his SciFi Boy days, realized the fun Horror Thriller movie fans would have with a film that was fun as well as funny. GREMLINS is gross and horrific, without taking itself too seriously. Working off a script by Chris Columbus (Producer and Director of HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN), Joe Dante found the perfect balance and mix of everything that a Horror Thriller fan would love.

Plus

HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Actor Shiri Appleby (THE KILLING TIME, THE BITE, THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR, ROSWELL [TV], SWIMFAN, THE SKIN HORSE, UNDERTOW, THRILL OF THE KILL, THE KILLING FLOOR, UNSTABLE, THE DEVIL'S CANDY) is 40.
Actor Emily Browning (GHOST SHIP, DARKNESS FALLS, LEMONY SNICKET'S: A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, THE UNINVITED, SUCKER PUNCH, MAGIC MAGIC, PLUSH, AMERICAN GODS [TV]) is 30.
Actor Jennifer Carpenter (LETHAL EVICTION, THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, DEXTER [TV], QUARANTINE, SEEKING JUSTICE, THE FACTORY, GONE, THE FACTORY, THE DEVIL'S HAND) is 39.
Look for Jennifer in the upcoming 2019 Suspense Thriller THE ENEMY WITHIN [TV].
Jennifer shares a December birthday with her GONE alumni, Amanda Seyfried.
Writer, Actor, Director Adam Gierasch (ASYLUM, SPIDERS, CROCODILE, PANIC, DERAILED, RATS, TOOLBOX MURDERS, THE HOLLOW, MORTUARY, MOTHER OF TEARS, AUTOPSY, ROMAN, RED SANDS, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS, FERTILE GROUND, FRACTURED, BIG ASS SPIDER!, EXTREMITY, HE KNOWS YOUR EVERY MOVE) is 57 or something.
Actor C. Thomas Howell (THE HITCHER, TREACHEROUS, DARK REFLECTION, PAYBACK, KINDRED: THE EMBRACED [TV], PURE DANGER, ASYLUM DAYS, NURSIE, NET GAMES, THE HITCHER II, THE LOST ANGEL, THE HILLSIDE STRANGLER, A KILLER WITHIN, H.G. WELL'S WAR OF THE WORLDS, GLASS TRAP, TOXIC, THE THIRST: BLOOD WAR, HOME INVASION, RESTITUTION, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, WEDDING DAY, MoniKa, THE DEVIL'S DOZEN, AN AMISH MURDER, BIGFOOT WARS, GRIMM [TV], THE SIN SEER, BLOOD LUST, ATTACK OF THE KILLER DONUTS, THE SHADOW PEOPLE, SICK PEOPLE, OUTCAST [TV], STICHERS [TV], THE PUNISHER [TV], BEAST MODE, and more) who is 52.

DECEMBER 6
ALIEN RAIDERS
Review by
E.C. McMullen Jr.
ALIEN RAIDERS is hardcore Horror Thriller and not in the gory sense (though there is that). This movie puts your adrenalin into overdrive with its fast paced timing, razor-wire threat, and the inability to know if these people are for real or if they are part of some whacked out conspiracy cult.

When that question is gruesomely answered, ALIEN RAIDERS goes turbo-charged.

This is thanks in large part to the direction of Ben Rock and writers Julia Fair (THE BELIEVERS) and David Simkins. Simkins career has particularly involved the weird. Simkins wrote or produced (or did both) TV shows like Bruce Campbell's The Adventures of Brisco County Junior, FREAKY LINKS, ROSWELL, CHARMED, ANGEL, DARK ANGEL, The Book of Daniel, BLADE: THE SERIES, and THE DRESDEN FILES.

Kudos must also go to Cinematographer, Walt Lloyd, for creating the mood of the scenes. The small spaces were suitably claustrophobic and the large areas felt exposed and dangerous. Seriously: such is the direction, camera blocking, and lighting that you actually feel the fear, which is exactly what a Horror Thriller movie should deliver first and foremost. Shot entirely in real night (not filter night), ALIEN RAIDERS is often unexpectedly dark and unexpectedly lit, and the threat stays manifest both ways. The audience never has a "safety zone".

And

HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Visual Effects Artist Richard Edlund (THE MANITOU, THE CHINA SYNDROME, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, POLTERGEIST, GHOSTBUSTERS, FRIGHT NIGHT, POLTERGEIST II, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, THE MONSTER SQUAD, GHOST, ALIEN3, SPECIES, THE STEPFORD WIVES [2004], ANAMORPH, BULLET TO THE HEAD) who is 78.
Actor Ryan Kennedy (CATEGORY 6: DAY OF DESTRUCTION, SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM, THE INVISIBLE, WHISTLER, OGRE [2008], STORM CELL, POISON IVY: THE SECRET SOCIETY, ICE TWISTERS, SUPER HYBRID, EMBRACE OF THE VAMPIRE, DEFIANCE [TV]) is 36.
Actor Colin Salmon (TOMORROW NEVER DIES, IMMORTALITY, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, RESIDENT EVIL, DIE ANOTHER DAY, THE STATEMENT, FREEZE FRAME, AVP: ALIEN VS PREDATOR, SEA OF SOULS [TV], HEX [TV], CREDO, PUNISHER: WAR ZONE, BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE, EXAM, ANNIHILATION EARTH, K, DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND, STALKER, MOVING TARGET, RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION, ARROW [TV], LONDON HAS FALLEN, KRYPTON [TV]) is 56.
Look for Salmon in next week's release of MORTAL ENGINES.
And for 2019, RAPTURE.