You know, I've seen a lot of 'behind the scenes' photographs over the years, but these latest from Crank 2: High Voltage win the "what the heck is going on here?" award, hands down. The LA Times is now hosting 19 new images from the set of the follow-up to the 2006 action film. In fact, I have to be honest with you: I can't for the life of me figure out why directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor would need a giant foam head of Jason Statham -- but now that it has my interest piqued, it had better be good.

This time around, our favorite hit man Chev Chelios (Statham) has to chase down a Chinese mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart and replaced it with a bum ticker. But that's not all: on top of everything else, Chev has to keep his heart running on jolts of electricity (where's James Bond's dashboard defibrillator when you need it?). Joining in on the fun are Amy Smart (who we saw on set a few months ago in a 'questionable' costume), Dwight Yoakum, Bai Ling, and a cameo from '80s cautionary tale, Corey Haim (and for his sake I hope things went better on the set here than they did on Lost Boys 2).

Crank 2: High Voltage is expected arrive in theaters in 2009 -- maybe by then we'll know what all those big foam heads were about.

...and here's where I usually shake my virtual fist at the horror heavens and ask "Why? Holy sweet sausage on rye, WHY the holy hell are they offering up a sequel to Pulse, which is easily one of the lamest of all the very lame J-horror remakes?" (Dramatic pause) "Why?!?"

But I won't. There's obviously some sort of fan-base for this title, because movie studios don't bang out sequels (even DTV sequels) if they don't expect some sort of return on their investment. If we're looking for silver linings, we could note that both White Noise 2 and Wrong Turn 2 were more entertaining than first expected -- but if we choose to go the snarky route we could remind you that the star of Pulse ended up mocking it (to hilarious effect) in Forgetting Sarah Marshall! (Dang that scene made me laugh.)

Written and directed by Joel Soisson, Pulse 2: Afterlife stars Jamie Bamber from Battlestar: Galactica and a whole bunch of actors I've never heard of. (I don't mean that in a nasty way.) I'm assuming the plot has something to do with supernatural technology. Visit Shock for the brand-new cover art, and circle September 30 on your calendar if this is a title you're after. And hey, at least it's not PG-13, right? Matter of fact: Rated R for violence, disturbing images, some sexuality, nudity and language. Already it's better than the first one.

As someone who's only grown decreasingly fond of the Saw franchise (at least since the second one) and still marvels at the fact that we as a world find ourselves facing the prospect of a fifth (and possibly sixth!) one this coming Halloween and the next, I must attest to being weirdly admirable of how creatively macabre the series' marketing campaigns have been.

Case in point: the first revealed poster for Saw V, included in full after the jump and courtesy of IMP Awards. Following up the magically MPAA-approved acts of amputated limbs, dislodged teeth, and bent fingernails is the face of actor Tobin Bell acting as a mask on another body entirely, in spirit with the films' perpetual acknowledgement that Bell's character, John Kramer/Jigsaw, kinda died at the end of Saw III and sorta went through an autopsy at the beginning of Saw IV.

As Bell remains flaunted and credited in equal measure - as does the similarly deceased Shawnee Smith - I think it's safe to expect A) more flashbacks, a la #4, and B) more exceedingly gruesome demises, a la #1-4. However, at a combined worldwide gross of $553 million to date, it's also safe to say that there are many who'd hope -- who'd pay -- for nothing less.

Once the Weinsteins (finally) got around to releasing Project Greenlight Movie #3 (aka Feast), it found a rather warm reception on the horror circuit. And while screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan were invited to join the Saw series and the Hellraiser remake, that doesn't mean the team doesn't have time for a sequel or two. (And that includes director John Gulager, who's also big for two more swings.)

We've been hearing little rumblings about Feast 2: Sloppy Seconds and Feast 3: The Happy Finish (?) for a little while now, but Fango brings us new word on a release date: Looks like Part 2 will be hitting video shelves on October 21. And since I've actually seen a few moments of Feast 2's unfinished gore-geyers, I can tell you one thing: They got the "sloppy" part right. Plot-wise, the sequel picks up right where we left off, with the crazy monsters now set to invade a nearby town. Expect a few familiar faces, several new victims, a lot of monsters, and tons of splattery mayhem. (It's like the Tremors series all over again, only in glorious "R"!)

If you were watching Get Smart this past weekend (and many of you had been) and thought to yourself, "Self, whatever were those two gadget-crafting nerds played by that guy from 'Heroes' and that other dude up to while Steve Carell was off being less funny than he tends to be back home on the television set?," then do I have an answer for you!

And by I, I mean Warner Premiere, the studio's direct-to-DVD arm. See, for over a year now, they've had it up their sleeves to release a spin-off entitled Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control*, which would correspond to the events of that film's story and arrive on shelves within weeks of that film's release (next Tuesday, July 1, to be exact).

If the official website and its trailer are to be believed, the 71-minute supplement involves Bruce (Masi Oka) and Lloyd (Nate Torrence) as they construct, test, and tweak robotic agent Hymie (Patrick Warburton), who made an appearance at the end of Smart.

Whether it turns out to be actually amusing or just superfluous, the whole deal's a smart move on Warner Premiere's part; I suspect that they just shot stuff amidst regular filming, which in turn cut down both production and promotion costs, as opposed to the relative gamble of dusting off titles such as House on Haunted Hill, The Cell, and The Lost Boys.

Regardless, GS'sB&L:OOC hits shelves on DVD and Blu-Ray - and on-demand - next week.

*Get it? Because Control's the name of the government organization they work within. No, not because they got booted from their Joy Division cover band.

"You know what, Ted?"

"What, Frank?"

"There's been a whole bunch of them sequels lately - we got that Hulk and another Narnia, heck, even another Indiana Jones movie..."

"Yep."

"...and you know what I've been waiting for another one of?"

"What's that, Frank?"

"A Cinderella Story."

"Huh?"

On June 5th, production began on Angels and Demons, the sequel (wait, wasn't the book a prequel?) to tepid religious mystery/global mega-hit The Da Vinci Code.

On June 9th, Jessica Barnes brought to our attention a couple of photos from said shoot.

And as of June 16th, the Vatican has formally denied the long-awaited request on behalf of the filmmakers to film crucial scenes within the critical churches of Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria.

According to Variety, the proper permits require cooperation between the Italian government and the Vatican. However, since "the film pursues a type of fantasy that damages common religious sentiment," they were not approved. The production has already relocated to near Naples in an effort to double the needed interior shots, and the film is still scheduled to open on May 15, 2009.

Tom Hanks' hair could not be reached for comment at the time of this post.

Any regular readers of the site know and love Scott Weinberg, who knows and loves the horror genre like nobody's business. He has already (rightfully) sung the praises of a freaky foreign handheld horror flick called [REC] (the American remake of which, Quarantine, is due out Stateside this October), and while I'd add my own voice to that choir, today comes news of a sequel to the original, vividly titled [REC] 2 (hey, it's a step above The De2cent).

Originally featured on Spanish-language site Aullidos, a simple and striking teaser poster comes bearing the news that a sequel was even in the works, touting precious little information besides the promised reunion of original helmers Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. The original is good enough that I fear for any attempt to re-catch lightning in a bottle, but while it didn't beg for any sort of follow-up, it didn't quite eliminate the potential for one either.

Since this puppy doesn't even have an IMDb page yet, we'll keep you posted on more details as they come in. Otherwise, enjoy the trailer for [REC] included after the jump, since it reveals less about what goes down that fateful evening than what its American cousin has already managed to spoil.

[Thanks to Bloody-Disgusting for the heads-up.]

If you mashed Jeepers Creepers and Jeepers Creepers 2 into one flick, you'd have a very long and very familiar horror film that starts off on the right foot and then slowly gets a lot more stupid. But hey, they both made money so nobody act surprised when I tell you that writer/director Victor Salva is about to get rolling on Jeepers Creepers 3.

According to Fango, both Salva and actor Ray Wise will be returning for the follow-up -- which I've no doubt will debut on DVD. Here's what the director told Fangoria: "It's tentatively titled Jeepers Creepers 3: The Creeper Walks Among Us*. It includes a prologue in the Old West and might bring back several characters from the first two films 20 years later. The script and story will be big on scares and give us plenty more of the traditional Creeper creepiness, with a few more bits thrown in about what it might be and where it came from."

He then goes on to lobby MGM for a theatrical release: "Each [ Jeepers flick] went on to make over $100 million apiece on DVD. I believe a theatrical release is critical to this kind of success on video. I don't think you can have one without the other, and it would be a shame not to be able to see what I have planned for Jeepers III up on the big screen." Uh, Vic? Have you seen Wrong Turn 2? Not to be nasty, but it's a whole lot better than Jeepers Creepers 2, and I highly doubt its distribution plans had anything to do with it. Just make a good flick and let the studio worry about its venue, eh?

(* Yes, I do believe this is a spin on The Creature Walks Among Us (aka Black Lagoon 3). Slightly clever, but a bit too wordy if you ask me.)

More news from the world of direct-to-video sequel-dom: Looks like MGM aims to do a video-store follow-up to the 2000 Rupert Wainwright occult thriller in which Patricia Arquette bleeds all the hell over the place. Co-starring Gabriel Byrne and Jonathan Pryce, Stigmata grossed about $50 million bucks -- and probably did pretty well on DVD too. Hence the late-arriving semi-sequel.

According to Shock, the sequel will be written by one Sean Hood, the art director turned screenwriter that horror freaks will no doubt remember from flicks like Cube 2, Crow 4, and Halloween 8. No word yet on who'll be directing the sequel, but hey, Rupert Wainwright's last gig was that abysmal remake of The Fog, so he's probably up for this assignment.

[ Note: The film is not actually going to be called Bleed Harder, but man wouldn't that be funny? ]

UPDATE: Screenwriter Sean Hood has a few things to say about the project (and working in the horror field in general) at his brand-new blog. Check it out.