I ain’t afraid of no ghost

The end of January brings all things scary, and the fourth annual After Dark Horrorfest is showing eight movies sure to give you the heeby jeebies. Amongst them is Pål Øie’s Norwegian psychological horror flick Hidden. Like The Eclipse, (not to be mistaken for the similarly-titled third instalment of the Twilight Saga) this movie favours ghosts over vampires. Are apparitions becoming more desirable than our fanged friends? 

Hidden sees Kai Koss aka KK (Kristoffer Joner) inheriting his family home after the death of his cruel mother. Returning after running away 19 years previously, KK discovers he is also left with dark secrets - causing him to become tangled in a sticky mess of murders and other strange events.

From the look of the trailer (you can watch it here) this movie appears to be a mixture of all the horror films we’ve already seen and not really loved. The house is reminiscent of The Amityville Horror, KK’s dead mother is suggestive of the evil crone in Drag Me To Hell and there’s a touch of The Village to the woods. But there must be something to it: Norway’s Amanda Awards gave it Best Production Design and nominated it for Best Sound Design and Joner for Best Actor. If these awards are anything like the Oscars we know it’s going to be great, right? Er, right? 

Talking horror films, you can’t avoid the majorly successful Paranormal Activity. What shouts success more than a sequel? And what better time to release a horror film than on Halloween? Ah, you’ve guessed it: Paranormal Activity 2 is indeed set for release this Halloween. Michael R Perry has been drafted in to pen the script with Kevin Greutert directing. The title and story are all being kept hush-hush, although we can say the success of the first film had a lot to do with surprise. Something you can’t really do twice. Ho hum.

Speaking of Paranormal Activity, did you ever wonder what it would have been like if it was created as an actual film rather than home video-esque shaky cam? Stop your ponderings as Conor McPherson’s The Eclipse could answer your question. Well, in the non-scary ghost story side of things, anyway.

Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds) is a widower, left alone with the task of bringing up his two children. Strange things begin to happen at his house during the night and he is unsure whether or not he is being haunted, or having nightmares. A local book festival attracts horror novelist Lena (Iben Hjejle) who writes about ghosts and the supernatural. Michael confides in her and the two investigate the disturbances, becoming very close in the process. At the same time Lena is propositioned by American writer, Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn) who tries to regain her affection after having had an affair with her.

The Eclipse hits US cinemas on March 26.