TOO MUCH HORROR!!!

The watchword these days continues to be: "If you can't innovate; imitate," as distributors continue to snap up last week's next hot thing: Asian horror movies. It used to be that martial arts movies were the big thing from Asia, then action movies, and now it's horror, and if you want to know what I think of most of these movies then click here for more of my big fat mouth flapping in the wind.

AFM is where the action's happening these days, and France's Wild Side Films has picked up Thai horror flicks ALONE and DORM, while Tartan has picked up Korea's THE RED SHOES. ALONE is the next project for SHUTTER directors Parkpoom Wongpoom and Banjong Pisanthanakun, and it goes into production in March 2006 with a Korean lead actress. DORM is getting released in Thailand in Feb 2006 and is by the director of MY GIRL, and it takes place at a boarding school. While I enjoyed SHUTTER for what it was, DORM sounds like a Thai version of the Korean girls school ghost flicks.

THE RED SHOES has gotten terrific reviews and sounds at least interesing, more like a creepy fairy tale than a straight-up imitation of J-horror. Interestingly, neither SHUTTER nor THE RED SHOES has made a big mark at their local box offices.