Over the years horror features have steadily enticed intense musicians to turn moviemaker. First White Zombie founder Rob Zombie began writing and directing his own wacky brand of horror with flicks like House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. Then, Guns 'n Roses guitarist Slash created Slasher Films as a means to spawn his own satanic cinema, like the upcoming Nothing to Fear. Now, hip hop impresario Dr. Dre is diving into the horror game, producing Thaw, a creepy thriller conceived by his Crucial Films partner Daniel Schnider.
According to Variety, Thaw will focus on the chaos caused by an ancient evil that's unleashed from its icy Yukon prison once the thaw sets in. Vik Weet, a former reality show story editor turned screenwriter, has been tapped to pen the project after pleasing Dre and Schnider with the screenplay for an untitled thriller that explores the eerie true story of nine hikers who died mysteriously on Russia's Ural Mountains. While Deep Blue Sea director Renny Harlin is lined up to helm that nameless feature, there's no word yet on who Crucial Films will pursue for Thaw.
Likewise, it remains to be seem if Dre intends to produce and star in the feature as he did in the 2001 comedy The Wash. Personally, I hope he does. I have a soft spot for rappers appearing in horror features, from Leprechaun in the Hood which starred Ice-T and featured an out of nowhere cameo from Coolio, to 13 Ghosts with Rah Digga and Deep Blue Sea in which LL Cool J not only played a wise-cracking cook, but also provided its bonkers theme song. I know horror purists may scoff at these movies, but it's hard to deny that they offer plenty of wild fun and often surprising scares.
