Right now horror anthologies are about as popular as they’ve ever been in theaters, with flicks like V/H/S and its sequel, plus ABCs of Death and its upcoming follow-up, building hype and finding an audience mostly through the reputations of the filmmakers involved (not to mention the recently announced sequel to Trick 'r Treat. But it is no small feat for MPI/Dark Sky Films and XYZ Film to develop XX, which isn’t a softcore porn, but an all-female horror anthology from celebrated directors old and new. I’m more excited about this one than any of the others that have come out in the past few years.
Led by big names like Mary Harron and Jennifer Lynch, XX will feature five different segments, each with a strong female lead, and will all be tied together by interstitials from stop-motion animator Sofia Carrillo, who will also tackle what is sure to be a memorable title sequence. Women love horror, so why aren’t more of them making it? Hopefully this film and its creative minds will do something to change that.
Leading the pack is Harron, responsible for filming the once-thought unfilmable Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho, turning in a viciously biting adaptation that will probably feel modern for many more decades, despite its encapsulation of 1980s yuppie culture. Most recently, she directed the so-so horror The Moth Diaries, and also directed the Lifetime biopic melodrama for Anna Nicole Smith.
Next up is Lynch, the understandably offbeat daughter of mastermind David Lynch. Arguably most famous for directing the disturbing near-horror romance Boxing Helena, she last directed 2012’s thriller Chained, as well as some episodes of Psych and Warehouse 13. She’s next set to take on the mystery thriller A Fall From Grace, in which her father will star.
Karyn Kusama gave the world Megan Fox’s finest acting in 2009’s Jennifer’s Body, and also directed Charlize Theron in 2005’s Aeon Flux and Michelle Rodriguez in GIrlfight. Something tells me her short will feature a character getting beat the hell up by the lead.
Sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska also have a short being filmed for ABCs of Death 2, and they’re responsible for writing, directing and/or starring in a handful of genre shorts. As far as films go, they created 2009’s little seen Dead Hooker in a Trunk and the more enjoyable horror American Mary, which came out earlier this year.
The least known of the bunch is Canadian director Jovanka Vuckovic, who is most known for her fantastical 2012 short The Captured Bird. You can check it out below to get a feel for her work.
"One of the givens of so many horror films has been the objectification of young women," XYZ’s Todd Brown told The Wrap, "and we thought it was time for a different approach to scaring audiences and letting the female voice be heard."
I’m all about this idea, though it may have something to do with my horror bias. Rom-com anthologies probably wouldn’t be my thing.
