Studio News: Universal Pictures' Fall Slate

Just in time for Halloween, a batch of thrillers await adrenaline-junkie filmgoers, all courtesy of Universal Pictures.

Compiled by R. Kurt Osenlund, The Good Life film critic

Devil
Release date: September 17, 2010
Genre: Supernatural thriller
Cast: Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Geoffrey Arend, Bojana Novakovic, Jenny O'Hara, Bokeem Woodbine, Jacob Vargas
Directed by: John Erick Dowdle
Screenplay by: Brian Nelson
Story by: M. Night Shyamalan
Produced by: M. Night Shyamalan, Sam Mercer
Executive Producers: Drew Dowdle, Trish Hofmann

Welcome to Universal Pictures' supernatural thriller with M. Night Shyamalan's (The Sixth Sense, Signs) signature touch, Devil. Directed by John Erick Dowdle (Quarantine, The Poughkeepsie Tapes) from a screenplay by Brian Nelson (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) and a story by Shyamalan, Devil stars Chris Messina (Julie & Julia), Logan Marshall-Green (Brooklyn's Finest), Geoffrey Arend (500 Days of Summer), Bojana Novakovic (Drag Me to Hell), Jenny O'Hara (Mystic River), Bokeem Woodbine (The Last Sentinel) and Jacob Vargas (Death Race).

In the film, a group of people is trapped in the elevator, and one of them is the devil. Devil is produced by Shyamalan and Sam Mercer (The Sixth Sense) and executive produced by Drew Dowdle (Quarantine) and Trish Hofmann (The Ruins). http://www.thenightchronicles.com/devil


Catfish
ROGUE PICTURES
Release date: September 17, 2010 (Limited)
Genre: Reality thriller
Cast: Nev Schulman, Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost
Directed by: Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost
Produced by: Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling, Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Executive Producers: Ryan Kavanaugh, Brett Ratner, Tucker Tooley

In late 2007, filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost sensed a story unfolding as they began to film the life of Ariel's brother, Nev. They had no idea that their project would lead to the most exhilarating and unsettling months of their lives. A reality thriller that is a shocking product of our times, Catfish is a riveting story of love, deception and grace within a labyrinth of online intrigue.


My Soul To Take
Release date: October 29, 2010
Genre: 3-D Suspense thriller
Cast: Max Thieriot, John Magaro, Emily Meade, Nick Lashaway, Denzel Whitaker, Shareeka Epps, Paulina Olszyinski, Raúl Esparza
Written and Directed by: Wes Craven
Produced by: Wes Craven, Iya Labunka, Anthony Katagas

From writer/director Wes Craven comes My Soul to Take, a suspense thriller that warns us evil is working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And if you have any chance at beating it, you'll have to fight for your life 25/8. In the sleepy town of Riverton, legend tells of a serial killer who swore he would return to murder the seven children born the night he died. Now, 16 years later, people are disappearing again. Has the psychopath been reincarnated as one of the seven teens, or did he survive the night he was left for dead? Only one of the kids knows the answer.

Adam "Bug" Heller (Max Thieriot) was supposed to die on the bloody night his father went insane. Unaware of his dad's terrifying crimes, he has been plagued by nightmares since he was a baby. But if Bug hopes to save his friends from the monster that's returned, he must face an evil that won't rest...until it finishes the job it began the day he was born.


Skyline
Release date: November 12, 2010
Director: Greg Strause, Colin Strause
Screenwriter: Joshua Cordes, Liam O'Donnell
Starring: Eric Balfour, Donald Faison, Scottie Thompson, Brittany Daniel

After a late night party, a group of friends are awoken in the dead of the night by an eerie light beaming through the window. Like moths to a flame, the light source is drawing people outside before they suddenly vanish into the air. They soon discover an other-worldly force is swallowing the entire human population off the face of the earth. Now our band of survivors must fight for their lives as the world unravels around them.