One of the more interesting developments of the past few years has been the ascendance of Osgood Perkins (son of, yes, the late Anthony Perkins), who - over the course of just two films - has quickly become one of the most interesting and reliable voices in the horror genre. 2015's The Blackcoat's Daughter was straight-up one of the better horror films of the past decade, and 2016's chilly I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House further cemented the dude's status as a genre filmmaker worth paying attention to.
Then it was announced that Perkins would next helm a retelling of Hansel & Gretel, and I will confess that this news did not set my world on fire. Yet another Hansel & Gretel take? Like Robin Hood or A Christmas Carol, the story of Hansel & Gretel is not one I felt I needed to see brought to the screen again; its narrative bones have been picked over so thoroughly at this point that I honestly couldn't imagine anyone, even Perkins, making a meal of it.
Then the first trailer arrived, and Perkins' Gretel & Hansel looked pretty darn good! Spooky and atmospheric and cold in all the same ways that have made this director's other efforts so memorable. If, like us, you were sold on the film based on that first trailer, I would now like to draw your attention to Gretel & Hansel's newest (and, presumably, final) trailer, which just took us from "Sold" to "Very goddamn excited".
Check this out:
This looks great! One meticulously-composed shot after another, an oppressive and foreboding tone, a cast that appears to be treating the material with deadly seriousness (material which may or may not be threaded with a delightfully dark sense of humor)...I didn't think I needed to see Hansel & Gretel adapted again, but I will absolutely show up to see what Perkins has done with it. This thing looks wild.
Also, excellent news: we won't be waiting for this one for too much longer. Gretel & Hansel hits theaters on January 31st. Here's hoping it's the first big horror hit of 2020.