It has been three years since Takashi Shimizu stood beside a film camera and worn his directorial hat—literally. Eschewing the black leather cap that was seemingly glued to his head throughout the production of the Japanese JU-ON and American GRUDGE movies that made his name, Shimizu is not only sporting new headwear for his newest feature, but is also shooting with a new, custom 3-D digital system, the first for such a production in Japan.

With a Darren Lynn Bousman-directed remake on the way, the time is right for a look back at the 1980 exploitation classic MOTHER’S DAY. The film follows three women whose lives are drastically changed forever when they are kidnapped by a sadistic family.

Last week, the church of heavy metal lost a god. Ronnie James Dio is dead. He didn’t die fighting wizards, knights, demons, dragons or any other mythical beast he wrote about. No, he left this mortal world on a hospital bed in Houston after a six-month battle with stomach cancer. There were rumors of his death spreading around the Internet as early as last Saturday night, however it wasn’t until Sunday afternoon that his wife and manager, Wendy Dio, posted this announcement on her late husband’s official website:

It’s a mild Saturday night, the evening before Mother’s Day. I should be home with the mother of my three kids, but I’m standing on a line in front of New York City’s Cinema Village at 9:30 p.m. Why? At 11:30 p.m., I’m going to see a free FANGORIA-sponsored screening of the new sci-fi/horror film SPLICE, starring PREDATORS’ Adrien Brody and DAWN OF THE DEAD’s Sarah Polley. Attending will be none other than the film’s director, Vincenzo Natali (the man behind CUBE and CYPHER). So I am really pumped.

FANGORIA’s FrightFest (see previous item here and go to www.fangoriafrightfest.com for more details) is nearing its debut this summer. One of the films yearning for your on-line votes to win theatrical release is the Australian DUEL-esque thriller ROAD KILL (see below for exclusive photos).

By now, plenty of fans out there have seen the cult-fave schlocker TROLL 2 numerous times. But probably no one has viewed it more than its star, George Hardy, who’s also the centerpiece of BEST WORST MOVIE (opening today in New York City, with more playdates to follow), the documentary about TROLL 2’s fervent following and its impact on those involved.

At first glance, it’s tempting to refer to THE NEW DAUGHTER (arriving on DVD and Blu-ray May 18) as young actress Ivana Baquero’s English-language debut, but such is hardly the case. Although she has spent nearly half of her 15 years before the cameras in her native Spain—often in fright fare—a significant percentage of the bilingual Baquero’s credits have seen her speaking English. THE NEW DAUGHTER does mark her first time in an U.S. production—albeit one directed by a fellow countryman, [REC] co-scripter Luis Berdejo, making his own American debut.