Year of fear: Horror movies still creeping towards us in 2017
Sure, you know Pennywise the murderous clown is coming back to terrify us, but Leatherface and Jigsaw are returning too -- and don't forget Chucky.
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
2017 has already been pretty darn scary, and we're not talking about politics.
In a horror movie, for a couple of hours, you can forget about the very real terrors of war, disease, natural disasters and political division. On the screen, there might be zombies, vampires, aliens or sadistic murderers, but once the lights go up, they all disappear back into the projector. If only our real fears could be banished so easily.
The year has already seen some terrifying tales hit the theaters.
Annabelle, the creepy doll, landed her own origin story in "Annabelle: Creation" Samara, of die-in-seven-days videotape fame, kept on crawling out of TVs, this time flat-screens, in "Rings." And classic monsters lived again in"The Mummy," "War for the Planet of the Apes," and "Kong: Skull Island."
But with Halloween still on the way, there are plenty more chills in the air.
Stephen King's horror classic "It," which reminded us all how much we hate clowns and sewers and especially clowns in sewers, is getting a new look. Those nosy med students who thought they could cheat death in 1990's "Flatliners" are back for a new generation, led by "Juno" star Ellen Page. Creepy torture-trap killer "Jigsaw" is returning, and "Leatherface" of "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" fame is getting an origin story. Even Chucky of "Child's Play" fame wants to play once more in "Cult of Chucky."
And don't think you can hide from all these killers in technology. Whether it's the vintage camera of "Polaroid" or the social-media network of "Friend Request," our devices are out to get us, too.
Here's a look at the scary cinema offerings still looming in 2017.
