As a general fan of the X-Men franchise (though not every single installment) I have been looking forward to Fox’s next addition, The New Mutants.

Then this trailer came out just today:

(fair warning: it’s a horror film)

What? What? I mean, WHAT?!

Ok, obviously, they’re doing something new with this one: a superhero horror story. So, apparently you’ll all be enjoying this one without me, have fun! 😛

Here’s what I can tell from the trailer:

It’s set in a creepy hospital, far too big and with too few people in it to be entirely what it seems.

There’s an entire graveyard nearby, and the tombstones are marked with numbers. The people buried there weren’t considered human.

There’s a doctor watching over the entire place and the people within. There are chemicals and injections and blood samples, and she shares bits of trivia with them to help the mutant youths in her care understand themselves and their abilities.

It has Maisie Williams. Another Game of Thrones star taking on the role of a mutant. Sort of cool, I suppose, and she’s got pretty good acting chops from what I’ve seen.

That kid in the cap makes me think of Theon Greyjoy. Different actor, I think, but strong resemblance.

And now we get to the spooky bits. Machines moving without cause, specters, injuries, axe murderers in masks, trapped souls in the wall, quite a bit poltergeisting going on, lots of screaming, pain, and blood, which, as this is an X-Men movie, I was completely unprepared for, and have spent the last few minutes just going, “WHAT?!”

Then I go to Wikipedia and find the cast includes Magik, Wolfsbane (Maisie Williams), and Danielle Moonstar/Mirage. So, a witch, a werewolf, and a mutant who summons illusions drawn from people’s fears.

Ah! This makes much more sense now!

I can see where this idea came from, creating a horror story unlike most others by making it the result of mutant abilities. I remember my first introduction to Moonstar on the cartoon X-Men Evolution, that had a number of horror story elements to it as well. The normal rules of reality are suspended when superpowers come into play, especially when they deal with psychic abilities and being trapped within our nightmares. Anything can happen. Anything. Which, really, is very frightening, even without monsters and ghosts and axe murderers involved.

So how do they survive?

…you know, I think I’ll just let all of you find out that answer and then listen in on the inevitable spoilers. Have fun!

(why is this not being released around Halloween or something? that is the perfect time for horror movies!)