If you've been following what's rising on the horror event horizon, then two films that are probably on your watchlist are the Russian horror legend Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor), and the Hills Have Eyes remake.  Fox Searchlight pictures announced that they will be holding a private press screening for both films on Monday, February 6th, and HoH will be on hand to bring you full reviews of both films.

Recent news here reported that the remake for Hills Have Eyes had initally been given an X rating, due to the excessive amount of violence and personal invasion, shown graphically and in length.  Needless to say its been brought down to an R rating -  for strong gruesome violence, language, and "terror throughout" - which usually means relentless scenes that disturb deeply and don't give you a chance to catch a breath.  It seems like director Alexandre Aja is serving a remake made with respect to the elements of the original, and theater-goers may be in for a quality lump in the throat.

Night Watch is interesting, being a full Russian production, and the first of a horror-fantasy trilogy unlike anything seen before.  This film broke the record and became the highest grossing Russian movie in less than two weeks.  And in the country, Day Watch the sequel was just released - making a record 2 million plus on opening day.  Why all the hype?  Judging by some of the posters released months ago for the film, it looks odd.  Strange colors and imagery.  A bit Matrix-y, but what's fresh about this film is its non-hollywood origin and different form of storytelling.  If you view the trailer, you'll see that this is an optical feast of a film that looks to be as deep in storyline and characters as it is a dark piece of horror artwork.  Only thing left to see, is how the two movies play out on the big screen.

You can visit the following links to see some full length trailers and synopses for both films.  Check back here the week of February 6th for both reviews, and Ill let you know the body counts...  (drool)  Check below for information on each film, provided by Fox Searchlight, as well as the links to media player and quicktime trailers.

HILLS HAVE EYES

Release: March
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Written by: Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur
Producers: Wes Craven, Peter Locke, Marianne Maddalena
Cast: Aaron Stanford, Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw, Emilie de Ravin, Dan Byrd, Robert Joy

A new take on Wes Craven's 1977 film of the same name, THE HILLS HAVE EYES is the story of a family road trip that goes terrifyingly awry when the travelers become stranded in a government atomic zone. Miles from nowhere, the Carters soon realize the seemingly uninhabited wasteland is actually the breeding ground of a blood-thirsty mutant family...and they are the prey.

TRAILER SITES:
Yahoo  Movies (media player) http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808716060/trailer
Fox Searchlight trailer (quicktime) http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/thehillshaveeyes/

NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR)

Release: February 17, 2006
Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
English screenplay adaptation by: Timur Bekmambetov and Laeta Kalogridis
Russian screenplay by: Sergei Lukyanenko, Timur Bekmambetov
Producers: Anatoly Maximov, Konstantin Ernst
Cast: Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov, Valery Zolotukhin, Maria Poroshina, Galina Tunina, Victor Verzhbitsky, Dima Martynov

Featuring the cinematic vision of cutting-edge Director/Writer Timur Bekmambetov, NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR) is the first installment of a trilogy based on the best-selling sci-fi novels of Sergei Lukyanenko entitled "Night Watch," "Day Watch" and "Dusk Watch." Set in contemporary Moscow, NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR) revolves around the conflict and balance maintained between the forces of light and darkness -- the result of a medieval truce between the opposing sides. But, an ancient prophecy is about to come true: a powerful "Other" will rise up, be tempted by one of the sides, and tip the balance, plunging the world into a renewed war between the dark and light, the results of which would be catastrophic. NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR) was the official Russian contender for Best Foreign Language Film for the 2004 Academy Awards ...

TRAILER SITES:
Yahoo Movies (media player) http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808640168/trailer
Fox Searchlight trailer (quicktime) http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/night_watch/