Nato – Cooties
Ok, I’m doing a last minute edit here because I CAN’T BELIVE I forgot to mention Cooties. I’ve been a huge Leigh Whannell fan since he broke onto the scene, showing off some serious scripting chops as well as an illuminated on-screen presence, so when I heard he’d be tackling a script involving teachers fighting back against infected children – my heart skipped a beat. Leigh Whannell scripting a horror comedy (my other guilty pleasure) about adult teachers against little zombie like kiddies? How could it get better?! Easy – by adding the names Elijah Wood, Alison Pill, Jack McBrayer, and Rainn Wilson as Whannell’s fellow teaching staff. Yes, please!
I absolutely loved Elijah Wood in 2013’s Maniac remake, so to put him back in a horror film is a huge deal to me – plus now that he’s older, he can play a teacher character after already playing a horror student in The Faculty. In addition, Wilson and McBrayer are both equally funny comedians, and judging by their character costumes, McBrayer will play a neat and clean personality like he usually does, but I’m going to take a guess and say Wilson will go out-of-character and become a masculine gym teacher? With those three talents alone, there’s so much potential for some seriously dark comedy and gleeful horror fun. Plus, let’s not forget that Whannell’s good buddy is long-time collaborator James Wan, and it’s hard to think Whannell hasn’t learned a thing or two from watching Wan work.
We’ll see what directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion can do with Whannell’s script, but in a scenario where the students are usually fighting the undead (infected, or whatever the “sickness” is), I can’t wait to see the teachers fight back.
