Upstart genre studio FilmDistrict have released a new trailer for Saw creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell upcoming supernatural frightener Insidious. The film made its debut at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and was picked up for distribution by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group.

The film stars Australian actress Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later) and Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) as a married couple who discover that the body of their comatose son is hosting evil spirits. Paranormal Activity’s Oren Peli and Jason Blum produce.

Insidious (originally entitled The Further) will be in theaters on April 1.

Peep the trailer:

The cat’s out of the bag: Warner Bros. announced today that sexy 28-year-old starlet Anne Hathaway will suit up as Selina Kyle (AKA: Catwoman) for director Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, the final chapter in his Batman trilogy.

Says Nolan (via press release):

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story.

Joining Hathaway in the new sequel as roided-out villain Bane will be Inception scene-stealer Tom Hardy. Together they star opposite franchise players Michael Cane, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and—the Batman himself—Christian Bale.

Hathaway’s genre creds are limited to the TriStar supernatural thriller Passengers and Tim Burton’s overrated 3-D vanilla-turd Alice in Wonderland. However, she makes up for it by baring all in the indies Havoc, Rachel Getting Married (for which her breasts received an Oscar nom) and last year’s very funny Love and Other Drugs.

The Dark Knight Rises on July 20, 2012.

The folks at Summit Entertainment are pulling out all the stops to promote director Patrick Lussier’s insanely awesome supernatural road-rager Drive Angry 3-D. Along with releasing a nude clip of former “NYPD Blue” starlet Charlotte Ross banging Nicolas Cage, the studio has provided photos of female lead Amber Heard for your viewing pleasure.

Drive Angry 3-D marks Lussier’s return to the big screen since his hit 2008 remake My Bloody Valentine 3-D. The flick stars Cage as a damned soul looking to run down the pricks that murdered his daughter and abducted his grandchild before Satan’s accountant forces him back to hell. Heard aids him on his quest.

Costars include scene-stealers William Fichtner (”Invasion”) and Billy Burke (Twilight Saga), good-guy David Morse (Disturbia), and a very nude Christa Campbell (2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams), who engages in a cat-fight with Heard (praise Jesus!).

Amber Heard made Clatto’s list of The 20 Hottest Women Working in Horror/Sci-fi Today.

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Here you see the first image showcasing the cast of director Matthew Vaughn’s eagerly anticipated origin story X-Men: Tweens First Class, due in theaters on June 3.

Pictured left to right are: Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert), January Jones (Emma Frost), Jason Flemyng (Azazel), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Lucas Till (Havok), Zoe Kravitz (Angel), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), and James McAvoy (Professor Charles Xavier).

I am so digging January Jones in that Emma Frost costume. Still, gotta wonder how Alice Eve would have filled out the suit. As for the rest of the mutants … they kinda look like Power Rangers meet Stryper.

More pics:

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Beauty queen Shandi Finnessey (Miss USA 2004) made her acting debut last year in the ridiculous Roger Corman/Syfy creature-feature Sharktopus. The flick, which follows a military-produced half- shark/half-octopus killing machine terrorizing a Mexican beach community, arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on March 15.

Distributor Anchor Bay has released a trailer for the film that includes a generous peek at the Sharktopus creature, an especially cheesy performance from bad actor Eric Roberts, and—most importantly—a bikini-clad Finnessey.

Here she is … Miss America:

Gracais to Horror Asylum for heads up.

A leaked trailer for director Darren Lynn Bousman’s long-postponed thriller Mother’s Day has hit the web. A remake of the 1980 Troma rape/revenge thriller of the same name, the film stars Rebecca De Mornay (Hand That Rocks the Cradle) as the demented matriarch of two low-life criminal sons who get in over their heads when they inadvertently home-invade vacationing  folks.

Filling out the cast (rather nicely too) are Jaime King (My Bloody Valentine 3-D), Deborah Ann Woll (”True Blood”), A.J. Cook (”Criminal Minds”), Briana Evigan (Burning Bright), Sara Paxton (The Inn Keepers) and genre babe Alexa Vega (Repo! The Genetic Opera).

The film hits theaters on April 1.

Actor James Franco (127 Hours) and his fabulous head of hair are set to make their directorial debut with the big screen adaptation of true-crime author Philip Carlo’s bone-chilling Richard Ramirez bio “The Night Stalker.” Franco plans to get the project going over the summer and will reportedly play the satanic serial rapist/killer himself.

The Night Stalker film will focus on the events that led Ramirez to become one of history’s most gruesome serial killers. Chris Cornell of rock outfit Soundgarden and screenwriter Nicolas Constantine are producing.

Constantine tells The NY Post:

Phil Carlo painted such an amazing portrait of Richard Ramirez, the human being, and it’s that which drew us all to the project. Sure, Ramirez was a monster — but Phil investigated how he became that monster, and that’s what this film is about.

This isn’t a horror film, nor does it glorify Ramirez in any way. James Franco shares that vision, and we all agree that he is absolutely the one actor, and now director, who can truly do this very intense role and story justice.

Hmm. I just hope it isn’t a snoozefest like David Fincher’s Zodiac. Regardless, I’m looking forward to the soundtrack (AC/DC!).

Richard Ramirez terrorized Southern California for most of 1985. He was finally captured on August 29th by outraged residents of East L.A. who recognized him from mug shots printed on newspapers and gave chase when he was seen attempting to steal a vehicle in an effort to flee police.

Found guilty on 13 counts of murder, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries, Ramirez was sentenced to death in 1989. He awaits execution at San Quentin State Prison.

Author Philip Carlo sadly lost his fight against Lou Gehrig’s disease back in November. His widow, however, tells the NY Post that Carlo had met with Cornell and Constantine in regards to the project and was “impressed with their vision for his film.”

If you haven’t read Carlo’s “The Night Stalker,” do so. It will scare the pubes off you.

Starz has chosen Australian actor Liam McIntyre to step into Andy Whitfield’s sandals for the eagerly anticipated second season of its hit series “Spartacus: Blood and Sand.” McIntyre, whose modest resume includes an appearance on HBO’s WWII miniseries “The Pacific,” will now play the titular hero.

McIntyre tells NY Times:

It’s been the toughest thing. Every actor dreams of getting a big break, a big opportunity. Andy’s such a wonderful actor. I don’t want to follow that guy, and everybody hurts that he’s had to give up the role, myself included.

Andy’s Spartacus is always going to be Andy’s Spartacus, and I would never try and emulate that. Or try to be him. I think that should stand alone as his legacy.

All I know is my foreseeable future is living in the gym. They’ll tell me when I can start doing the lines and doing the performance. There’ll be some acting there eventually, I’m sure.

“Spartacus: Blood and Sand” debuted last January to over a million viewers, making it the Starz network’s most watched program. Whitfield’s on-going battle with Stage 1 non-Hodgkin lymphoma forced him to step down as the show’s Spartacus character back in September.

“Spartacus: Gods of the Arena” is a six-part prequel series originally created to buy Whitfield some time back when he was first diagnosed. The show follows Batiatus (John Hannah) and his wife Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) as they strive for power and influence over the city of Capua. It premieres on Friday.

Starz plans to air “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” season two in September.

After five years of spooking old people on the CBS series “The Ghost Whisperer,” Jennifer Love Hewitt appears to really be getting into the spirit of horror. The 31-year-old starlet and vajazzling enthusiast will make her feature directorial debut with an adaptation of author Mary Downing Hahn’s novel “Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story.”

Barnes & Noble provides the book’s synopsis:

Heather is such a whiny little brat. Always getting Michael and me into trouble. But since our mother married her father, we’re stuck with her…our “poor stepsister” who lost her real mother in a mysterious fire. But now something terrible has happened.

Heather has found a new friend, out in the graveyard behind our home — a girl named Helen who died with her family in a mysterious fire over a hundred years ago. Now her ghost returns to lure children into the pond…to drown! I don’t want to believe in ghosts, but I’ve followed Heather into the graveyard and watch her talk to Helen. And I’m terrified. Not for myself, but for Heather…

Hewitt, who directed several episodes of “The Ghost Whisperer” during its run, will also serve as producer through her Fedora Films imprint. Cameras are expected to roll in summer.

“Californication” fans jonsing for another glimpse of Eva Amurri and her glorious breasts will want to take note of director Stephen T. Kay’s upcoming medical frightener Isolation. The 25-year-old stunner plays an amnesia-stricken med school student who wakes up to find that she is infected by a mysterious disease .

Amurri got her start in Hollywood starring alongside her mother Susan Sarandon in the 2002 comedy The Banger Sisters. She is best known, however, for  playing busty student-turned-stripper Jackie on the third season of Showtime’s hit dramedy “Californication.”

See why: