The ’90s set thriller series “Cruel Summer” premiered in 2021 and spawned a second season this past summer, but THR reports today that the series won’t be getting a third season.

Freeform has cancelled “Cruel Summer” after just two seasons, THR informs us. Additionally, “Good Trouble” has also been cancelled at Freeform after five seasons.

THR notes, “Sources say Freeform executives wanted to bring back both shows but the ratings for both Good Trouble and Cruel Summer didn’t justify the costs of doing so.”

Season One of “Cruel Summer” took place over three summers in the ’90s when a beautiful and popular teen goes missing, and a seemingly unrelated girl transforms from a sweet and awkward outlier to the most popular girl in town, eventually becoming the most despised person in America.

“Cruel Summer” Season 2 followed the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship. Approaching the story from three different timelines surrounding Y2K, the season twists and turns as it tracks the early friendship between Megan, Isabella and Megan’s best friend Luke, the love triangle that blossomed, and the mystery that would impact all of their lives going forward.

The two seasons of “Cruel Summer” featured different casts and different characters, but followed the same unique approach of telling their stories across three different timelines.

You can stream both seasons of “Cruel Summer” on Hulu now.

The post Freeform Cancels “Cruel Summer” After Two Seasons appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In the wake of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes being resolved, Deadline reports this afternoon that filming on “Stranger Things 5” is finally kicking off in a matter of weeks.

“Things are still in flux but according to multiple sources, Monday, January 8 is a target start date, with January 5 also being mentioned,” Deadline notes in their report.

“Stranger Things 5” will be the FINAL season of Netflix‘s hit series, and Netflix recently announced during their TUDUM event that Terminator icon Linda Hamilton will star.

The director behind last year’s Hulu hit Prey, Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) is headed to the Upside Down to direct an episode of “Stranger Things 5,” we also learned.

The Season 4 finale set the stage for a final season that will bring the action entirely back to Hawkins, with the rift between Hawkins and the Upside Down now completely opened up by the monster behind it all, Vecna. When can you expect Season 5 to premiere? Likely 2025.

Of course, just because the main series is coming to an end doesn’t mean future “Stranger Things” projects aren’t on the way. Could we be seeing spinoff shows in the future?

The Duffer Brothers tease, “There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes.”

For starters, an animated series has already been confirmed.

The post “Stranger Things 5” Filming Will Finally Get Underway in January 2024 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It’s the most wonderful time … for your fears! Without stating the obvious, Horror is a lifestyle — why else would we pledge to cover the genre 24/7/365? — and the holidays are no exception to that truth. Fortunately for us, Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, the producers of world-class live events and location-based entertainment, have conjured up another year of Krampus: The Fright Before Christmas (“Krampus”) at Chicago, Denver, Houston, Jacksonville, New Orleans, and Austin.

Below, we have details for each location. Use code BLOODY13 for 13% off any ticket!

13th Floor Chicago – 12/8 to 12/10

13th Floor Chicago has transformed the beloved haunted house into a Christmas wonderland, although it won’t be all glitter and snowflakes. Horrifying Christmas characters will haunt all those who enter, trading Christmas cheers for Christmas fears. In addition to the main haunted maze attraction, guests will enjoy themed photo ops, and special holiday drinks provided by Hala Kahiki. For those who want to take the terror one step further, guests will be able to add-on additional experiences including: Mini Escape Rooms and the new Respawn Pass, allowing you to experience the thrills again and again.

During Krampus, 13th Floor Chicago will be hosting a toy drive for Children’s Hospital of Chicago, which brings care to children and their families from diagnosis through treatment. “As much as we love to bring the screams and fear to our guests, it’s incredibly important for us to give back to our community and spread joy to those who may need a little extra this holiday season,” General Manager Bryan Kopp states. Guests who bring a new, unopened toy to donate will receive a 20% discount towards merchandise on-site (*exclusions apply).

Get Tickets Now! Use code BLOODY13 for 13% off any ticket!

13th Floor Denver – 12/15 to 12/17

13th Floor Denver has transformed the beloved haunted house into a Christmas wonderland, although it won’t be all glitter and snowflakes. Horrifying Christmas characters will haunt all those who enter, trading Christmas cheers for Christmas fears.

In addition to the main haunted maze attraction, guests will enjoy themed photo ops, and special holiday drinks and treats (alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available). For those who want to take the terror one step further, guests will be able to add-on additional experiences including: a photo with Krampus, The Sacred Skull: A Tiki Tarot Experience (21+), 5 for $5 axe throwing, Santa’s Secret Shot Spot (21+), and the new Respawn Pass, allowing you to experience the thrills again and again. This year’s Krampus is moving fully indoors for an entirely heated experience.

This holiday season, 13th Floor Denver will be collecting donations for Bayaud Enterprises, created to alleviate barriers to self-sufficiency for adults living with mental health conditions and other disabilities. “13th Floor Denver has been around for a long time,” General Manager Nick Melton states, “It’s important for us to be able to give back to our community that has supported us for so long, and we’re thrilled to be able to collect donations for such an impactful program.” Guests who bring new, unopened hygiene products, office supplies, or food pantry staples will receive a 20% discount towards merchandise on-site (*exclusions apply).

Get Tickets Now! Use code BLOODY13 for 13% off any ticket!

13th Floor Houston – 12/15 to 12/16

13th Floor Houston has transformed the beloved haunted house into a Christmas wonderland, although it won’t be all glitter and snowflakes. Horrifying Christmas characters will haunt all those who enter, trading Christmas cheers for Christmas fears. In addition to the main haunted maze attraction, guests will enjoy themed photo ops, and special holiday drinks and treats (alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available). For those who want to take the terror one step further, guests will be able to add-on additional experiences including: Mini Escape Rooms, Zombie Apocalypse Live, Santa’s Hideout Secret Bar (21+) and the new Respawn Pass, allowing guests to experience the thrills again and again.

This holiday season, 13th Floor Houston will be hosting a toy drive for Texas Children’s Hospital, which brings care to children and their families from diagnosis through treatment. “We are in the business of fear, but this season we are thrilled to give back to our community and bring a little extra cheer to those in need,” General Manager Jeremy Tucker states. Guests who bring a new, unopened toy will receive a 20% discount towards merchandise on-site (*Exclusions apply).

Get Tickets Now! Use code BLOODY13 for 13% off any ticket!

13th Floor Jacksonville – 12/8 to 12/9

13th Floor Jacksonville has transformed the beloved haunted house into a Christmas wonderland, although it won’t be all glitter and snowflakes. Horrifying Christmas characters will haunt all those who enter, trading Christmas cheers for Christmas fears. In addition to the main haunted maze attraction, guests will enjoy themed photo ops, and special holiday drinks and treats. For those who want to take the terror one step further, guests will be able to add-on additional experiences including: Mini Escape Rooms, Return of the Dead Zombie Shoot, 5 for $5 axe throwing, a photo with Krampus, and the new Respawn Pass, allowing you to experience the thrills again and again.

During Krampus, 13th Floor Jacksonville will be hosting a toy drive for Wolfson Children’s Hospital, which brings care to children and their families from diagnosis through treatment. “We are in the business of fear, but this holiday season we are thrilled to give back to our community and bring a little extra cheer to those in need,” General Manager Mari Ramirez states. Guests who bring a new, unopened toy will receive a 20% discount towards merchandise on-site (*exclusions apply).

Get Tickets Now! Use code BLOODY13 for 13% off any ticket!

New Orleans Nightmare – 12/8 to 12/9

New Orleans Nightmare has transformed the beloved haunted house into a Christmas wonderland, although it won’t be all glitter and snowflakes. Horrifying Christmas characters will haunt all those who enter, trading Christmas cheers for Christmas fears. In addition to the main haunted maze attraction, guests will enjoy themed photo ops and special holiday drinks at Bar 13 (alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available). For those who want to take the terror one step further, guests will be able to add-on additional experiences: Phobia: Sensory Overload, a photo with Krampus, Mini Escape Rooms, the Shot in the Dark Secret Bar (21+), and the new Respawn Pass, allowing you to experience the thrills again and again.

During Krampus, New Orleans Nightmare will be hosting a toy drive for Children’s Hospital New Orleans, which brings care to children and their families from diagnosis through treatment. “New Orleans Nightmare has been part of this community for years,” General Manager Ashley Hill states, “It’s so important for us to be able to give back to the people that have supported us for so long, and we are thrilled to be working with Children’s Hospital to bring a little extra joy this holiday season.” Guests who bring a new, unopened toy to donate will receive a 20% discount towards merchandise on-site (*exclusions apply).

Get Tickets Now! Use code BLOODY13 for 13% off any ticket!

House of Torment Austin – 12/8 to 12/10

House of Torment Austin has transformed the beloved haunted house into a Christmas wonderland, although it won’t be all glitter and snowflakes. Horrifying Christmas characters will haunt all those who enter, trading Christmas cheers for Christmas fears. In addition to the main haunted maze attraction, guests will enjoy themed photo ops, a holiday light show, and holiday drinks at Torment Tavern (alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available). For those who want to take the terror one step further, guests will be able to add on additional experiences: Phobia: Sensory Overload, a Haunted Selfie Museum, Hades Zombie Simulation, Mini Escape Rooms, the Neon Coffin Secret Bar (21+), and the special “Naughty” or “Nice” Alternate Endings, only available at Krampus.

This holiday season, House of Torment has partnered with Austin Pets Alive!, a local pet shelter that rescues animals from high-risk situations and finds them loving homes. “Animals only ask to be loved unconditionally & in return give unconditional love.” General Manager Michael Faust states, “And as much as we like to give theCharacters we create a home, it’s extremely important to us that pets have a home too. That is why House of Torment wanted to team up with Austin Pets Alive!, which is home grown just like House of Torment. Adopting a pet doesn’t have to be scary, but them not finding a home is.” During Krampus, guests who bring in a donation of new, unopened pet food and/or pet supplies will receive a 20% discount towards merchandise on-site (*exclusions apply).

Get Tickets Now! Use code BLOODY13 for 13% off any ticket!

The post ‘Krampus: The Fright Before Christmas’ Returns for 2023 Haunted Holiday Pop-Up appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

This is it. The season two finale of the HBO Original Series “30 Coins” arrives on Monday, December 11, concluding a season long, high stakes battle between our heroes and ruthless enemies led by sycophant billionaire Christian Barbrow (Paul Giamatti).

Expect things to get wild as hell.

Directed and co-written by Álex de la Iglesia, along with co-writer Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Max’s “30 Coins” takes viewers into a world where nothing is as it seems, and nobody can be trusted. Bloody Disgusting spoke with de la Iglesia about Season 2 last month, where the horror filmmaker touched on his overarching plans for the series as well as casting acclaimed actor Paul Giamatti in the role of this season’s terrifying villain.

This week, Bloody Disgusting caught up with Giamatti to find out how he came to play Christian Barbrow, the inspiration behind the character, and his love of horror. 

There were a few reasons that Giamatti was drawn to the role of Christian Barbrow, with “30 Coins” giving the actor the chance to finally play a James Bond villain chief among them.

He explains of joining season two, “I’m a horror fan. I’d heard of it, and I thought, ‘Oh, I should watch that, it sounds kind of crazy,’ but I never have. So, when it came to me, I thought, ‘Oh, I have heard of this thing.’ The script was forthcoming. My manager, who knows I like stuff like this, said, ‘They’re interested in you, but I think you should just watch it first.’ And I watched it. I watched about five minutes of it, and I was like, ‘I’ll do anything.’ I knew who [Álex de la Iglesia] was, and I’d seen some stuff of his. So, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do anything, sure. What is the part?’ She gave me the thing, and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s like a Bond film. Sure, I’ll do this, absolutely.’ Yeah, no question about it. He’s a Bond villain. This is my shot at playing a Bond villain. I’m never going to play a Bond villain other than this.‘

“Then, when I read the whole thing, it got to the ending with the UFO, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is crazy! It’s got the Necronomicon and the UFO.’ For me, it was the fulfillment. I have a friend. I kept sending him pictures from the UFO set, and he was like, ‘This is like the weirdest, most profound childhood dream of yours coming true. You’re on a UFO reading the Necronomicon out loud. You’ve somehow manifested the most fucked-up interests you’ve had your whole life. I said, ‘Yes, yes, I have.’ It was like nothing’s made me happier in my life than to be on a UFO reading the Necronomicon covered in blood. I was like, ‘This is fantastic.'”

Barbrow gets introduced early in season two as a powerful man that even Hell fears, and that only grows the more the season continues. That was definitely part of the appeal for Giamatti.

“That’s the idea that the only thing scarier than Satan is an out-of-control billionaire,” he explains. “The whole thing appealed to me immediately. I talked to Álex very briefly before I took the [role], and he said, ‘He’s, he’s like a sorcerer. He’s like a wizard a little bit.’ And it set off all of these things in my head. He’s like Aleister Crowley crossed with Jeff Bezos. He’s like Anton LaVey. So, all of that stuff started firing off in my head: L. Ron Hubbard and Anton LaVey, and Church of Satan, and all this crazy stuff. I have a podcast, by the way, called CHINWAG, in which I talk about stuff like this with a friend of mine. We haven’t been able to promote it because the strikes knocked it out of the box. I’ve always been interested in stuff like this.

“It’s an interesting thing because I really liked the fact you didn’t know anything about him. What will it be like to play somebody who, even if he has a past, no longer has one because he’s just become this thing? That idea that somebody, well, these guys, at some point, a switch gets flipped, and they’re just like, ‘I am the most powerful person in the world. Wait a second, I’m the smartest man in the world. Hold on.’ Then, it’s all just, like, all of it falls away. So, that’s where I think the guy was. He’s at that place where the switch got flipped. And you’re just like, ‘That’s it, man. I have all the answers. I’m not a person anymore. I’m like a God. I’m just, like, I’m infallible.’ It’s interesting to play somebody in that state. It’s just all falling away, and you can do nothing wrong; you cannot make a wrong move anymore.“

Other than an extreme determination and an insatiable appetite for power, Christian Barbrow is a bit of an enigma regarding backstory. Instead of building one, Giamatti leaned into it.

“This guy, none,” The actor said of building out Barbrow’s history. “And that’s what I mean; I like the fact that it just doesn’t matter what his backstory was with this guy anymore. That’s all gone. Whoever he was is gone. That’s really awesome. I don’t know if it’s in the show, but there was a thing they did that was supposed to be in it. They had a thing where, if somebody finds photographs of me, you can’t really see my face. I’ve got a hat on. It might not be in the show, but I thought it was a really fantastic thing, this idea of not being able to see him all the time. Like, ‘Who the fuck is this guy really?’ The fact that he doesn’t explain it is awesome. I really like that about it.”

“30 Coins” isn’t afraid to nestle in contemporary reflections of our current sociopolitical landscape within a wild world of horror that involves spider-like demons and high-stakes battles for world domination on a biblical scale. Giamatti reflects on this and horror’s ability to hold a mirror to prevalent anxieties and fears.

“It’s one of the things I love about it is that it’s always transgressing and doing fantastically fucked up things and talking about incredibly interesting things and interesting ways. For some reason, everybody lets that happen with horror, and it’s great. Because I do think, in some ways, it can get at those things in a way that isn’t necessarily on the nose. So, it’s more comfortable, maybe, for people, I don’t know. But it’s also been a devalued genre. It’s looked down on in some ways. So, nobody’s paying attention in the same way. And it’s talking at really deep levels about stuff. It’s getting at unconscious, fucked-up things, and so it’s a good way to talk about this stuff because it really hits you at a visceral level, not necessarily an intellectual level. But I do think a lot of it is because it wasn’t taken seriously.”

Even at a time when horror is at its most accepted and mainstream than ever, “30 Coins” still remains unlike anything else thanks to its wild, anything-goes approach.

Giamatti reflects, “That’s true. That’s a really good point, too, because to some extent, this renaissance of horror is lovely, but I’m also like, this stuff is too accepted now. You’re actually not going to be able to deploy it in the same way. I’m a little like, ‘Nah, I don’t love a lot of this. I like the more trashy shit,’ because the exploitative stuff gets at the more fucked-up stuff better, and it hits you at a deeper level. I actually really liked Barbarian because I thought Barbarian served up that stuff really well, but it was still getting at that stuff more. It’s hitting your weird animal brain better than a lot more of the stuff. The stuff that people are doing is great, but it feels more decorous, and it’s being, I don’t know, elevated. And I’m like, ‘I don’t give a shit about it being elevated, and I don’t give a shit about it being quoting all this other stuff or homage to something.’ I don’t care. And Álex’s stuff is bananas. He’s throwing everything in there. In some ways, I don’t even know if the plot makes any fucking sense. That’s good because it’s the chaos of it is making your mind go somewhere else. It’s blowing your mind in a way that it should, the way that older stuff does.”

While Christian Barbrow’s fate remains yet to be determined heading into the season finale, would Giamatti be up to return to Álex de la Iglesia’s wild world of “30 Coins” for season three?

“I can only tell you that I know that they plan to do a third one; I would love to do it and would happily do it. There’s talk of it happening, so hopefully. I’m on board if they want me. Yeah, I’m on board. If they want me, I’ll do anything that guy wants to do. If he wants to do another movie or something, I’ll do anything with that guy. He’s fantastic.”

Don’t miss Giamatti’s villainous turn in “30 Coins” season two. Catch up ahead of the finale.

The post “30 Coins” Season 2 Finally Gave Paul Giamatti the Chance to Play a James Bond Villain [Interview] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Yet another trio of Dark Sky Films titles have made their way onto SCREAMBOX, joining previously dropped classics Willow Creek, Minor Premise, and The Deeper You Dig (details), as well as Ghost Killers vs. Bloody Mary, Landlocked, and Possum (details), and even Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 1 & 2 and Emelie (details).

All of them have a taste for blood…

First, Stake Land, the Jim Mickle-directed vampire classic that set the stage for his cannibal horror We Are What We Are and the Netflix series “Sweet Tooth”.

In the film, “America has fallen. A vampiric scourge sweeps the nation, turning brother on brother and parent on child as the blood-hungry beasts take deeper and deeper hold upon the land. It’s hard for the survivors to know whether to be more afraid of the creatures themselves or the violent religious groups that have sprung up in response, but there is clearly only one choice: fight or die.

“Connor Paolo (Alexander, Mystic River) stars as Martin, a teenager whose family has been slaughtered. His traveling companion is a taciturn, hardened vampire killer known simply as Mister (Nick Damici), and together they trudge across the land in search of the rumored safe haven of New Eden.“

Drawing on the post-apocalyptic frenzy described by Richard Matheson (author of the novel I Am Legend) and George A. Romero, Stake Land is a road movie with fangs. It co-stars new horror movie icon Danielle Harris (Halloween, Hatchet II) as a pregnant young woman and Kelly McGillis (Witness, Top Gun) as a traumatized nun who are picked up by Martin and Mister along their journey. The movie was produced by indie horror director Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter, Wendigo)!

In Summer of Blood, a vampire horror-comedy classic, indie maven “Onur Tukel turns in a hilarious performance as the monumentally lazy, socially oblivious and commitment-shy Erik Sparrow, who is dumped by his career-woman girlfriend (Anna Margaret Hollyman) when he rejects her rather charitable marriage proposal.

“Feeling lost, he turns to a disastrous string of online dates that successively eat away at his already-deteriorating confidence until a lanky vampire turns him into an undead ladykiller.

“Soon, Eric is prowling the streets of Brooklyn in search of anything to satisfy both his maniacal sex drive and his hunger for blood.

“A collision of absurd, self-deprecating wit and existential curiosity, Summer of Blood is a hilarious horror-comedy with a clever bite all its own.”

Lastly is Bitter Feast, a culinary classic produced by indie horror director Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter, Wendigo)!

In Joe Maggio’s film a food critic can dish it out, but can he take it? Revenge is on the menu for notorious blogger J.T. Franks (The Blair Witch Project‘s Joshua Leonard) when he publishes a rumor that leads to the demise of TV chef Peter Grey’s culinary empire.

“Grey (James Le Gros) kidnaps the writer, confines him in a remote cabin and presents him with a series of deceptively simple food challenges – from preparing a perfect egg over-easy to grilling a steak precisely medium rare – punishing him for anything less than total perfection.”

“Bitter Feast is an exploration of the creative impulse gone tragically and ferociously awry.”

Revenge is a dish best served to order – raw and bloody on SCREAMBOX!

The post Dark Sky Films Classics ‘Stake Land’, ‘Summer of Blood’, & ‘Bitter Feast’ Now Streaming on SCREAMBOX! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

We’ve all got that friend. The one who convinces us to push our boundaries or take that crazy risk, even though we have a hunch we’ll probably get hurt. They’re exciting, they’re cool, maybe even supportive, but they tend to lead us down the road to trouble, only to duck out when the consequences roll around. Film has a long history of these toxic troublemakers. Looking back, the Horror/Thriller genre was practically built on the backs of these smiling devils, who lure us in with their fun-loving wiles, then lead us off the side of a cliff.

Director William Oldroyd plays with this treacherous archetype in his adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh’s 2015 novel Eileen. At first, Rebecca (Anne Hathaway) seems like a breath of fresh air to Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie). She’s the glamorous new educational director at a boys reformatory, who encourages Eileen to stand up to her alcoholic father. But when one holiday celebration pushes their relationship to the edge, Eileen finds herself spiraling towards disaster. The friendship that once led her to empowerment might ruin her life.

Rest assured, Hathaway’s Rebecca isn’t the only toxic friend on screen; she joins a terrifying rogues gallery of vicious BFFs. As we’re wont to do, Bloody Disgusting has rounded up the faces that’ll make you second guess the next friend you bring into your life.

Chris Hargenson – Carrie (1976)

One of horror’s original mean girls, Chris Hargenson (Nancy Allen) rules the hallways of Bates High School with an iron fist. Rich and beautiful, she thrives on cruelty and spends her days torturing lonely outcast Carrie White (Sissy Spacek).

When this shy teen unexpectedly gets her first period in the girl’s locker room, Chris participates in an especially heartless prank, and then becomes enraged when she’s asked to atone for her actions. She convinces her sheep-like friends and dimwitted boyfriend to orchestrate an elaborate prank designed to humiliate Carrie at the senior prom.

Unfortunately, Carrie chooses this mortifying moment to unleash her telekinetic powers and uses the sprinkler system and electrical equipment to set the gym ablaze. Chris slips out the door just in time to watch as Carrie roasts the senior class alive. Not only do Chris’ friends pay the ultimate price for following her lead, but this cruel prank eventually winds up destroying the entire town.

David and Eden – The Invitation (2015)

The only thing worse than going to a dinner party and having to sit through a surprise sales pitch is realizing the offer your friends are extending leads to enrollment in a suicide cult. Will (Logan Marshall-Green) accepts an invitation from his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) in hopes of reuniting with old friends and finding a way to move past the devastating death of their young son.

Unfortunately, Eden and her new boyfriend David (Michiel Huisman), have become involved with a dangerous group obsessed with the spirituality of death. They deliver an awkward and upsetting presentation that features an assisted suicide, then invite their dangerous new friends to give their own uncomfortable testimony.

The trouble continues as David and Eden serve poisoned wine to their guests, hoping to take the whole group with them on a murder-suicide mission. The evening devolves into carnage and mayhem as Will and his friends try to survive the dinner party from hell.

David – The Lost Boys (1987)

Few people on earth can make the party lifestyle look as effortlessly cool as Kiefer Sutherland. Joel Schumacher’s cult classic follows Sutherland’s David — and his group of disaffected teen vampires, mind you — as they wander the beaches and piers of Santa Carla, California. Together, they stir up trouble, all while feeding on unsuspecting locals. New in town, Michael (Jason Patric) finds himself drawn to David, channeling his own adolescent angst into the vampire’s devil-may-care lifestyle.

Perhaps sensing a kindred spirit, David courts Michael with powerful visions and membership in his crew of “bloodsuckers.” Meanwhile, Michael’s little brother Sam (Corey Haim) falls in with a pre-teen duo of would-be vampire hunters determined to take David down. Caught up in the town’s complicated ecosystem, the brothers must find and kill the head vampire before Michael becomes a permanent member of David’s undead gang.  So, win-some, lose-some in this scenario.

Hedy – Single White Female (1992)

Finding an apartment in this hellish housing market can be murder. Software designer Allie Jones (Bridget Fonda) is still reeling from a painful breakup when she realizes she must find a roommate to supplement her ex’s half of the rent or she’ll lose her coveted apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

After placing a personal ad and conducting a series of disastrous interviews, Allie meets Hedy (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a shy, young woman with a tragic past. At first, the new roommates seem like a match made in heaven, but Hedy’s devotion to Allie takes a dark turn. Not only does she intercept contrite messages from Allie’s ex, she fills her closet with a duplicate wardrobe.

When Hedy gets a carbon copy of Allie’s signature haircut, the frightened woman decides to rid herself of this clingy new friend. Unfortunately, this proves easier said than done, and Hedy will not exit Allie’s life without a fight. Struggling to reclaim her identity, Allie must evict this sociopathic “friend” before Hedy takes over her life for good.

Ben – The Innocents (2021)

Most of the toxic friends on this list may be adults, but Eskil Vogt’s chilling Norwegian film proves that children can be just as dangerous and sometimes even more frightening. Anna (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad) and Ida (Rakel Lenora Petersen Fløttum) are young sisters spending the summer wandering around the grounds of their large apartment complex. Along with neighborhood kids Ben (Sam Ashraf) and Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim), Anna develops telekinetic powers that appear to strengthen when the foursome is together.

Initially, the kids have fun exploring the limits of these newfound gifts, but the troubled Ben begins to use his psychic abilities to harm others. He delights in torturing animals and begins to overpower the rest of the group. When Ben’s playful games take a deadly turn, the sisters must band together to defend themselves against his invisible strength. The playground turns into a warzone as Ben decides that the only way to maintain his dominance is to take out his former friends once and for all.

Juno – The Descent (2005)

Juno (Natalie Mendoza) is definitely that girl. She’s not only incredibly beautiful and athletic, she’s a natural leader who excels at anything she tries to do. She also happens to be sleeping with the husband of her best friend Sarah (Shauna Macdonald). One year after a devastating accident, Juno leads Sarah and their adventurous friends on a challenging spelunking trip in the Appalachian Mountains. Unbeknownst to the group, she’s actually taken them to an undiscovered cave in hopes that they will explore the new system and name it for themselves.

Her plan goes awry, however, when the women stumble upon a clan of humanoid monsters who’ve lived for centuries in the pitch-black darkness, feasting on the flesh of previous explorers. If that weren’t enough, unresolved trauma rears its ugly head and the women find themselves warring with each other, in addition to the killer cave-dwellers. It would appear that Juno has finally pushed her luck too far, and her bright idea may end up costing her friends their lives.

Eileen is currently playing in select theaters. Get your tickets now.

The post Bad Idea, Right? The Scariest and Most Toxic Friends in Horror appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The following contains major spoilers for the short story “I Know What You Need.”

Ever since Brian De Palma’s Carrie set fire to the silver screen, Stephen King has been one of the hottest names in cinematic horror. With hundreds of titles in his extensive catalog, there’s seemingly no end to the list of adaptable text. King’s stories exist in all iterations of film and TV, from big-budget blockbusters to intimate indie films, but you didn’t always need the backing of a major studio to take a crack at an adaptation. For many years, the Master of Horror sold the limited rights to a select list of short stories for the affordable price of $1.

Affectionately called Dollar Babies, this arrangement allowed burgeoning filmmakers to try their hand at adapting the work of Stephen King without blowing most of their budget on expensive licensing fees. One such director is Julia Marchese. The actress, director, writer, producer and film programmer, worked with the Dollar Baby Program to adapt “I Know What You Need” which she filmed entirely in Maine. An underappreciated short story in King’s Night Shift–the same collection that birthed Children of the Corn and The Boogeyman–this story follows a popular college student and her eerie relationship with a classmate who has an unsettling knack for knowing just what she needs.

Bloody Disgusting sat down with the fiery creator to talk about her very own Dollar Baby and the process of bringing the chilling story to life.

Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted prior to the Dollar Baby program being disbanded in December 2023.

You adapted this film as a part of Stephen King’s Dollar Baby program. Can you tell me how the program works and what it was like securing the rights to the story?

The Dollar Baby program has been running for decades, and the deal is you get the rights to the story for $1.00 for 1 year. There is no limit on what you can do with the story, script wise – that’s completely up to you, but the contract restricts you so you can’t sell it or put it online and the film can be no longer than 45 minutes. But the contract also states that you have to send a copy of the film to Stephen King himself to watch, so you know going in that the endgame is that he will see it. So I pretty much made the movie to please myself and to please him. Many people who have seen the film say it feels like a combination of Stephen King and Julia Marchese, so that’s the best compliment I could ever receive. 

What drew you to “I Know What You Need” and why was it important for you to tell this particular story? 

I kind of fell for Edward (William Champion) as Elizabeth (Caroline Renee) does in the story – the description of him with his too big jacket, glasses, unkempt hair and mismatched socks, along with the fact that he came bearing strawberry ice cream, won me immediately. Obviously it’s a Stephen King story, so you know things are going to go wrong, but finding out how specifically it would go wrong was fascinating. 

I have a thing for Cute Boy Killers – we talk about this on my podcast Horror Movie Survival Guide a lot. Think about Arnie Cunningham from Christine or Norman Bates from Psycho – when you meet them they seem lost but sweet and somehow mesmerizing. I feel like Edward falls into this category – there’s obviously something not right about him, but maybe it’s not so bad? (Note – it’s very bad!)

I found this story engrossing as well because I am obsessed with the concept of obsession. If you like someone and they are obsessed with you, you’re super into it and it’s great. But if you don’t like someone and they are obsessed with you, the very same actions become creepy. It’s really all in the eye of the beholder. 

I think the theme of this story is just as relevant today as it was when Night Shift was published. Why did you choose to set the film in the 70s and did that present any challenges?

I set the film in 1976 because that’s when the story was first published in Cosmopolitan magazine, and because it’s my own personal aesthetic. Also, the story would absolutely fall apart if the internet existed and it was as easy as it is now to do your own personal search on someone’s past. Moving the movie into modern day would have forced me to alter the story considerably, and I wanted to keep it as close to the source material as possible. 

It was pretty easy and fun to work with vintage/retro costuming and set decoration (a lot of things in the dorm room actually just came from my house). The only challenge we had with the time period was one day we were supposed to shoot an outdoor picnic scene and it had rained the night before so the ground was muddy. We wanted to move inside to find an empty classroom – but it had to be a 70’s classroom, so no computers, no projectors, no white boards or anything else modern. Luckily we found a lecture hall that had giant chalkboards, so it worked out fine!

I love the 70s vibe of the film including the soft camera focus. You also use a split screen technique during the musical montage that reminded me of Brian DePalma’s Carrie. Did you have any specific visual references in mind when developing the aesthetics of the film? 

You hit the nail right on the head! My visual references were afterschool specials from the 1970’s and Brian De Palma! I’m thrilled you caught that! He is one of my favorite directors, particularly his work in the late 70’s and early 80’s. While Carrie was definitely a reference, I watched Phantom of the Paradise with my director of photography, Alex Simon, and also my editor, Rick Dominicus, and we broke that movie down visually. De Palma has so much fun with camerawork and editing, and who doesn’t love a split screen? It was a Constant Reader’s dream come true! 

To be able to shoot this film in the EXACT locations from the short story, including the library and Stephen King’s dorm, was out of control amazing. We shot the film during the summer of 2021, when the university was mainly empty, and we all stayed in the dorms together, so it was a bit like summer camp. I had to hire my cast and crew via zoom, so I hadn’t met the majority of them in person before we started filming. I was a little nervous to throw 22 people who hadn’t met together for this production, some of them sharing dorm rooms, which could go very pear shaped, but everyone got along so splendidly and gelled together so quickly it was fantastic. We definitely became ka-tet, and everyone (myself included) seemed slightly amazed that it all came together as easily as it did. Everyone said the shoot felt dreamlike – we entered a world of Stephen King in the seventies for a week, closed off from the world. The fact that I got to sleep in King’s very dorm room during production was mind blowing. I know he wrote a lot during college – including one of my favorites, The Long Walk – so it’s possible he could have written it in that very room! A girl can dream! 

I noticed quite a few Stephen King Easter eggs such as 1919 Deschain Court, Garraty Elementary, Dr. Kaspbrak, and Nozz-a-la. How did you approach incorporating them into the story?

Since I was making the film for myself, King, and Constant Readers like me I wanted to make sure that us hardcore King nerds would have a good time finding a lot of easter eggs. The first thing I wanted to do was to put Stokely’s peace sign from Hearts in Atlantis onto the back of Edward’s jacket. Edward really is described as wearing a fatigue jacket in I Know What You Need, but adding the sign from the other story (which also takes place at the University of Maine) was just a fun crossover that very few people would notice. And that’s with a lot of these – it’s okay if you don’t catch them, but fun if you do. One of the things I love most about King adaptations is when they are made by real lovers and readers of King, and the deep cut hints always delight me, so I wanted to do the same for mine! You’ll notice that the film starts with a shot of a bottle of Nozz-A-La Cola (shout out to Mike Baird for helping me design the label!) Tower Junkies will know that means the story is actually not taking place in Keystone Earth, but in one of the parallel worlds. All things serve the beam! 

How did you approach developing Ed’s character and what kinds of conversations did you have with William Champion?

I gave Will movies to watch to prepare – Christine, Psycho, Fade to Black, Martin – to give him the sense of the nerdy outsider, cute boy killer vibe I was going for. Edward is a hard role to play – within the story he goes from super nerd to romantic lead to scary villain and I needed an actor who had that range. Will and I had a lot of fun talking about Edward’s backstory, how and why he committed all of the acts that he had done and what he was like when he was alone. Getting to dive super deep into the characters and story was so much fun for me. As you personally know, talking at length about Stephen King gives me immense pleasure! 

I love the symbolism of the ice cream dripping all over Ed’s hands. He wants to control the uncontrollable, but just winds up making a big mess. Was this intentional or just me projecting?

That’s a cool way of looking at it! I just think Edward is an absolute mess, weirdo and fuck up. That’s what I find so fascinating about his character. He has incredible powers that could potentially give him the life of his dreams, but he keeps messing up and giving himself away – the menthol cigarette slip-up, telling Elizabeth he saw Alice in the summer when he didn’t – these are small mistakes that end up getting him caught. If he was a more organized, disciplined person everything would probably work for him, but he’s just naturally haphazard and mixed up. That interested me so much – this is what happens if you give someone huge powers who just doesn’t have the personality and mental capability for them. 

Ed’s reaction after Elizabeth tells him she has a boyfriend is terrifying. What were you hoping to convey in this moment? 

Thank you! That was a scene I fought hard for – movies in the 1970’s were much slower and not afraid to hold and give space within the scene, so I wanted to be sure to bring that feeling to the table. Will really gave you everything you needed to know about Edward on his face in his reaction shots, so I left them as is and purposely didn’t cut away. It’s really the moment where he realizes he’s made a mistake by overlooking Elizabeth’s boyfriend, and also comes to understand that he needs to kill him, but he also needs to play it cool and win Elizabeth back a bit by pulling out the secret nickname she likes from her head. All of that is in his face and I think it reads. Up until then you don’t really get a feel for what’s going on underneath for the character, and this is the first hint. Edward is a creepy character, no doubt, but I wanted to start him off more shy and dorky and non threatening, so there would be larger shifts for him within the movie. I think this is the first time the audience really sees that he is up to no good. 

How do you view Elizabeth as a character and what direction did you give Caroline Renee?

Elizabeth needs to be sweet and naive enough to not be suspicious of Edward – a tall order, since pretty much ANY girl would be leery of him immediately. We talked about her character a lot, and I had her watch Christine, The Outsiders, and Grease for that feel of an ingénue who has hidden strength, but a naturally unsuspecting innocent nature that takes everyone at face value. Caroline was only 19 at the time of filming, and I think her youth and friendliness helps the audience accept her falling for Edward. 

I’m fascinated by the relationship between Elizabeth and her roomate Alice (Giovanna Drummond). How did you approach their confrontation scene?

Giovanna is so incredible, and she really nails this scene – she has a tremendous amount of dialogue, but she’s a theater actor, so we had her run her big monologues all the way through from different angles and she killed it every time. Alice knows this is her only chance for saving her best friend and really has to get through to her hard about what a monster Edward is in one fell swoop. Hopefully the audience is on her side here. I think we have all had a friend who started dating someone that made you uneasy, but what if you found out that person really was hoodwinking your friend and maybe had a murderous, supernatural past? You’d give your argument 1000%, which I think she does here. 

In the story Alice really does say “Maybe I happen to love you a little.” That sentence can be read however you like – I certainly love my best friends in a non-romantic way, but it’s possible Alice really IS in love with Elizabeth, and that changes her motivations entirely. Iit’s left up to the audience to decide. Either way you slice it, Alice is a good friend and Giovanna plays her perfectly. 

The last scene with Ed is so terrifying, particularly the change in Champion’s voice. How did you approach showing the audience the real Ed?

Something else that will shock you about his voice – Will is from the UK and has an English accent! You would never know it! He naturally has a deep voice, so I asked him to pitch it way up throughout the film until Edward’s evilness is revealed at the end. The idea is that the Edward we see at the end – buff and deep voiced – is who he really is when he is alone, and that he has been wearing a costume and changing his voice to seem harmless and to charm Elizabeth this whole time. Another example of his chaotic nature – if Edward’s plan had worked, he would have been stuck in his nerd persona forever, a kind of prisoner in a character of his own devise, only pleasing Elizabeth and never being himself for the rest of his life. What was he thinking?

You made an interesting change to King’s text. Instead of “he forced you to love him,” Alice uses the word “pushed.” Was this a nod to Andy from Firestarter?

Aha! Good catch! Yes, Edward has Andy’s pushing powers from Firestarter, complete with nosebleeds. In the story, when Elizabeth finds Edward’s box in the closet it’s full of voodoo objects and a copy of the necronomicon. When I Know What You Need was written, in 1976, when the story was written, the necronomicon would have been an obscure Lovecraft reference, but today everyone associates it with The Evil Dead series, so I thought that would be confusing. Edward still needs tokens to have power over someone, but I think the pushing power is an excellent replacement, and keeps it within the King universe as well. 

What do you make of Ed’s powers? What do you think it is that he’s able to do? Why does he choose to use his powers on Elizabeth?

As we learn in Firestarter, pushers can pretty much do anything, but at a cost – small brain hemorrhages every time you use the power. Edward fell in love with Elizabeth in elementary school and she has been his obsession ever since. I think he felt that if he could just make her fall in love with him, he would be happy. And as he says, everything he did was just to make HER happy. In his head his actions are completely justified, and getting her boyfriend Tony (Colin Fin) out of the way was better in the long run, since he could please her better than Tony could.

Really think about it, though. If you met someone who knew everything you wanted without you having to ask for it, wouldn’t you be sucked in? Watched every movie you wanted, brought you the food you were craving before you asked, knew exactly what you liked in bed, ALL of it. I think anyone would be hard pressed to turn away from that, and Edward knows it. 

Is there any part of you that finds Ed sympathetic?

For sure. He has gigantic powers that could be used for anything, even drastically changing the world at large, but he chooses to use it to make one girl fall in love with him. There is something pathetically romantic about that.

Elizabeth says she could have loved him on her own. This is an addition to the original text. Why was it important to add this to the story?

In the story Edward gives Elizabeth a big speech at the end, and she turns away and says nothing. I wanted Elizabeth to be able to tell him how she feels as well. I tried to think about how I would react in her shoes. Besides the obvious repulsion of his true nature and revelation of his ability as a killer, she feels hurt that he would feel the need to push her and not give her a chance to control her feelings independently – he took that option away. It’s a smaller, deeper wound, but one I think is justified. She is shoved around a lot in this story – from Edward to Tony to Alice, who all tell her what to do, and this is the first time she really stands on her own and thinks about what SHE wants. 

What was the premier like? Have you gotten any feedback from King?

The film premiered, fittingly, at the Maine International Film Festival, which was great! Good audiences and lots of questions. Some had a King connection to the story, or went to the University of Maine, or told me how excited they were that this story was directed by a female filmmaker, in an after school special style that is unusual for a Stephen King film. I think it’s important that this particular story is told from a woman’s point of view, so I am very glad I was given the opportunity. The film has been sent to King! Fingers crossed! 

I also want to say thank you to everyone who has helped with the film. The movie was financed with two Indiegogo campaigns, one run by me and one run by The George A. Romero Foundation, so I need to give many thanks to everyone who donated to the film, I literally couldn’t have made it without them.

Also everyone at the University of Maine, who made filming there such a joy, and of course my cast and crew. Filmmaking is such a collaborative art, and I made that clear to everyone on set.  I am always open to suggestions, and wanted everyone who worked on the movie to feel like they had the freedom to express their own personality and abilities in it as well. As a director I may be wrangling the shoot, but there were 20+ people on set as well and all of them are just as important to the production. So thankee to my very own filmmaking ka-tet. 

The film has been received incredibly well, I have gotten such amazing feedback, and I am very grateful for that. It’s a hindrance that I can’t release the film online, but as with any artist, the hope is that someone will see the film and wants to work with me on my next project. 

The post ‘I Know What You Need’: Julia Marchese on Maine, Monsters, and Directing a Stephen King Dollar Baby appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Up next from indie filmmaker Todd Verow (Frisk) is a thriller titled You Can’t Stay Here, which will first be exclusively opening in New York City on January 5, 2024.

The exclusive engagement at the IFC Center in NYC will feature live Q&As from director Todd Verow and star Guillermo Diaz (Party Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, Bros).

The movie takes place in NYC in the mid-90s at the height of the AIDS epidemic and follows photographer Rick (Diaz), who spends his nights cruising in Central Park.

After Rick witnesses the murder of a gay man in the park, he throws himself into a game of cat and mouse with the black leather-clad murderer.

“While set in the 1990s, the film’s themes of homophobia, social hysteria, and finding oneself in a dangerous and intolerant world are as resonant as ever today,” Verow recently said.

Check out the poster and some exclusive stills below, along with the official trailer.

The post ‘You Can’t Stay Here’ Exclusive Poster – Todd Verow’s Queer Thriller Stars Guillermo Diaz appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It’s a happy coincidence that Resident Evil Village‘s VR mode won Best VR/AR Game last night, as today Capcom has released the free VR Mode DLC for their Resident Evil 4 remake. Available exclusively on the PlayStation VR2, there’s also the VR Mode Gameplay Demo available for download via the PlayStation Store.

Resident Evil 4 VR Mode puts players directly to into the game’s nightmarish world allowing them to truly become Leon S. Kennedy. Players can now get up close and personal with Ganados and the other frightening foes. The vividly rendered environments look even more tangible now, thanks to the PlayStation VR2’s 4K HDR display, and the 3D audio completes the immersion.

The PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers allow for immersive inputs across puzzle-solving, exploration, and combat. Every weapon and item is represented in detail, with haptic feedback making each firearm feel unique right down to the trigger. Weapons also include specific mechanics that are performed with authentic gestures, such as reloading shotguns with pumping actions or swinging Leon’s knife to execute parries and melee attacks.

As for the gameplay demo, players who have yet to pick up Resident Evil 4 can get a taste of the game’s action-packed opening. The demo also includes the mode’s new Shooting Range, which shows off the VR controls and realistic weapon mechanics.

Resident Evil 4 is now available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam. The title is also coming to iPhone 15 Pro models and all iPads and Macs with the M1 chip or later on December 20.

The post VR Mode Now Available For ‘Resident Evil 4’ on PlayStation VR2 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

If there’s one director whose entire filmography is consistently horror-adjacent, it would have to be Yorgos Lanthimos. The Athenian filmmaker is mostly known for his absurdist dramas, but nearly all of his movies feature some form of horrific undercurrent beneath the offbeat dialogue and odd characters. And while his 2023 feature Poor Things wears its horror influences on its Frankenstein-inspired sleeves, today I’d like to look back on the director’s most effortlessly terrifying film – 2017’s psychological thriller The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

After reaching mainstream critical acclaim with 2015’s The Lobster, Lanthimos was basically given carte blanche on his next strange project. Borrowing the premise of an ancient Greek play, his next film would be a modern-day tragedy co-written by Efthymis Filippou and financed by Irish and British production companies. And like Yorgo’s previous English-language project, The Killing of a Sacred Deer would also benefit from a star-studded cast of both returning collaborators and newcomers.

In the finished film, Collin Farrell stars as Steven Murphy, a Cincinnati heart surgeon whose family becomes the subject of a mysterious curse once he meets Martin (Barry Keoghan), the son of a patient who died on the operating table. As Steven’s wife (Nicole Kidman) and children slowly succumb to a seemingly supernatural illness, Martin reveals that the only way out of this “curse” is to sacrifice a member of Steven’s family.

The flick mostly plays out like an arthouse drama rather than a traditional scary movie, but both critics and audiences were quick to call it one of the most unsettling experiences of 2017 back when it first came out. In fact, plenty of writers referred to the film as a great example of psychological horror despite the movie not really featuring any overt scares or aesthetic elements commonly associated with the genre.

SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is just as meticulously crafted and visually compelling as Yorgos’ previous output, though I’d argue that there’s an increased amount of polish here that makes it stand out among the director’s other films.

I mean, the visuals alone are stunning, with cinematographer Thimios Bakatakis going so far as to incorporate elements from the art of Edward Hopper into certain shots so that the picture feels appropriately lonely. There’s an intentional distance (not to mention awkwardness) to every frame, and it’s amazing to watch Lanthimos extract tension from virtually nothing as these characters go about their days even before they get sick.

That’s not even mentioning the incredible performances, with nearly every character being given a chance to shine as a part of this eerie hyper-reality. Colin Farrell has always been one of my favorite actors, so I may be a little biased when I say that this is one of his meatiest roles, but even I have to admit he’s actually outshined by Nicole Kidman’s desperate housewife (who has some of the most uncomfortable scenes in the film) and our bizarre “antagonist.”

After all, the real stand-out here is Barry Keoghan. From his overall strange demeanor to his ominous line-deliveries, Martin is half the reason that this is such a memorable film in the first place. It takes a real thespian to make eating spaghetti feel like a genuine threat, and kudos to Keoghan for making his awkward dialogue feel completely spontaneous.

AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?

There are plenty of legitimately scary movies out there, but I’d argue that dread is much more difficult to convey on celluloid than passing frights. We’ve all had nightmares about being chased by a monster or haunted by a demon, but how exactly do you depict that nagging irrational feeling that things aren’t exactly what they seem and we’re heading towards imminent doom?

Naturally, “difficult” isn’t the same as “impossible,” and The Killing of a Sacred Deer is the rare film that actually manages to scare viewers purely through the use of atmosphere. Between the unseen entity bringing pestilence down on the family and a remarkably eerie soundtrack, the general vibe here makes you feel like you’re only moments away from disaster. Hell, Yorgos even doubles down on the uncomfortable factor by including real footage of heart surgery in the flick, as well as some intentionally cringe-inducing moments of uncomfortable sexuality.

And when it comes to the aforementioned performances, some of the strange character interactions here remind me of the peculiar voice-acting in early survival horror games like the Silent Hill series, with the odd voices giving the experience an otherworldly feel that enhances the horror instead of detracting from it. This may sound like a jab at the film, but I honestly think that it wouldn’t be as impactful without the awkward deliveries.

There’s also the matter of that shocking finale (which still hits like a brass-knuckled gut-punch despite being hinted at during the entire experience), but I’d rather not spoil the moment for readers who haven’t yet seen the film. Suffice to say that Yorgos doesn’t shy away from the brutal bits of the story.

Bizarre yet meaningful, eerie yet compelling, it’s hard to put The Killing of a Sacred Deer into a box. Objectively, much of the film is comprised of wide shots of an upper-class family walking around looking worried and occasionally getting into stiff conversations, but it’s still somehow one of the most uncomfortable cinematic experiences in recent memory. That’s why I’d recommend it to horror fans who don’t mind their horror with a side of ambiguous Greek tragedy.

There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.

The post Uncomfortable Cinema: Finding Awkward Terror in ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Toho’s Godzilla Minus One continues to rule over the domestic box office, with the success of the film up to this point paving the way for an expanded release here in the United States.

As Godzilla Minus One expands to more U.S. theaters heading into its second weekend, we’ve learned that the critically acclaimed Kaiju movie has yet again made box office history.

The film is now the highest grossing live-action Japanese film in North America — grossing $15.72 million!

Worldwide, Godzilla Minus One has stomped its way to $42.35 million.

Celebrate the film’s box office success with a brand new clip below. And get your tickets now – the film will be in 2,500 locations in the US & Canada starting today, December 8.

Matt Donato writes in his 4.5 star review for Bloody Disgusting, “Minus One is a blessing to Toho’s kaiju franchise and a towering accomplishment for the entire kaiju subgenre.”

The rave review continues, “After thirty-plus films and nearly seventy years, Toho confidently delivers one of their best Godzilla movies to date.”

Toho’s Godzilla Minus One, written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, sees an already devastated post-World War II Japan facing a new threat in the form of Godzilla.

The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki, with music by Naoki Sato.

Godzilla Minus One is rated PG-13 for “creature violence and action.”

The post ‘Godzilla Minus One’ Is Now the All-Time Highest Grossing Live Action Japanese Film in North America! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It was reported back in February that both Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. were “in talks” to return for an I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel from Sony Pictures, but Freddie Prinze Jr. called that report into question just one month later. According to the actor, he hadn’t actually been offered anything at all – at the time, at least.

So what’s going on here? Is Sony actually even developing a sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer? And if so, are Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt even interested?

Well, in a new interview with the podcast Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum, Jennifer Love Hewitt made it clear that she’d love to reprise the role of Julie James one more time.

When Rosenbaum asked the actress if she’d make an appearance in a new I Know What You Did Last Summer movie, she excitedly exclaimed that she’d “100%” be on board.

“I loved making those movies. I’d do it. For sure,” she added.

Stay tuned for more as we learn it. And watch the full interview below.

Last we heard, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) was on board to direct the franchise’s next movie with Sony, with Leah McKendrick on board to write the script.

Jim Gillespie directed the original I Know What You Did Last Summer back in 1997, written by Kevin Williamson (Scream) and based on Lois Duncan’s novel. The film spawned sequels in 1998 and 2006. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. only came back for that first sequel.

In the 1997 slasher movie, “Four young friends bound by a tragic accident are reunited when they find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town.”

The post Jennifer Love Hewitt Says She Would “100%” Return for ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ Sequel appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The Losers’ Club continues their journey through Stephen King‘s time-traveling drama: 11/22/63. In the third of six episodes, the Losers head back to Derry, Maine, all before road trippin’ down south to Sunset Point, FL, then to Dallas, TX, and finally to Jodie, TX. Things take a dark turn along the way, proving – as King writes – it wasn’t all Andy-n-Opie back in 1958.

Join the gang as they discuss Jake Epping’s cross-country adventure (?) that reveals the gritty underbelly of the shiny ’50s. They’ll also hit the history books for some talk about the New Orleans mafia, remark on some of King’s most beautiful prose as he kicks back in the deep Maine woods for a few cribbage lessons, and share our high school theater experiences.

Stream the episode below and return next week when the Losers continue their coverage with “Pt. 4: Sadie and the General”. For further adventures, join the Club via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS.

You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon).

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The post ’11/22/63′: Stephen King Removes the Rose-Tinted Lenses While Living in the Past [The Losers’ Club Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Godzilla Minus One Figure from Super 7

Currently decimating theaters, Godzilla Minus One will stomp onto toy shelves in September 2024 as part of Super 7’s Ultimates action figure line.

Up for pre-order for $85, the King of the Monsters stands 8.4” tall and 14.22″ long. Two interchangeable heads (neutral and roaring) are included.

Willy’s Wonderland 4K UHD from Scream Factory

Want more animatronic fun in the vein of Five Nights at Freddy’s? Willy’s Wonderland will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray in Steelbook and standard packaging on February 13 via Scream Factory.

Nicolas Cage stars with Emily Tosta, Ric Reitz, Chris Warner, Kai Kadlec, Christian DelGrosso, Caylee Cowan, Terayle Hill, Jonathan Mercedes, David Sheftell, and Beth Grant also star. Kevin Lewis directs from a script by G.O. Parsons.

The 2021 horror-comedy is presented in 4K with Dolby Vision. Special features include: “Inside the Fun,” “Fresh Meat,” and “Colorful Darkness and the Demon-atrons” featurettes; a set tour with DelGrosso; the trailer; and image galleries.

Horror Prints from Dan Mumford

Dan Mumford’s artwork inspired by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Friday the 13th, Ghostbusters, Aliens, Predator, and The Terminator is available as part of Gallery 1988’s “Both Sides” exhibit.

Each 12×12 screen print is limited to 50 for $40 and has a foil variant limited to 30 for $50.

Seven Vinyl Soundtrack from Waxwork Records

Seven’s soundtrack is coming to vinyl for $40 via Waxwork Records. The score is composed by Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings, The Silence of the Lambs, The Fly).

Shipping in January, the 2xLP album is pressed on 150-gram “Lust & Sloth” colored vinyl. It’s housed in a gatefold jacket with matte satin coating and an 11×11 insert.

Funeral Home Blu-ray from Scream Factory

Funeral Home will be released on Blu-ray on January 30 via Scream Factory. The 1980 Canadian slasher film is also known as Cries in the Night.

William Fruet (Killer Party) directs from a script by Ida Nelson. Lesleh Donaldson, Kay Hawtrey, Jack Van Evera, Alf Humphreys, and Harvey Atkin star. Mark Irwin (Scream, The Fly) serves as director of photography.

New special features include: a commentary by film historians Jason Pichonsky and Paul Corupe; interviews with Irwin, art director Susan Longmire, set assistant Elinor Galbraith, and Premier Drive-In Theatres president Brian Allen; audio interviews with Donaldson, first assistant director Ray Sager, production assistant Shelley Allen; and music historian Douglass Fake; and original filming location footage.

For more merch madness, peruse the Killer Collectibles archives. You can also visit Broke Horror Fan.

The post 5 of This Week’s Coolest Horror Collectibles Including Super 7’s ‘Godzilla Minus One’ Action Figure appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Despite missing out on Game of The Year last night at The Game Awards, Remedy’s Alan Wake 2 still walked away with three wins. And to add an extra treat on top, Sam Lake and company announced that the long-awaited New Game Plus mode for Alan Wake 2 will arrive next week!

Called “The Final Draft”, the mode doesn’t just allow players who have already completed the game to run through Alan Wake 2 again, but actually includes a brand new ending. “The Final Draft unveils a new ending to the layered story of Alan Wake, sure to spark speculation and theories among our dedicated fans,” according to the blog post. “Additionally, there is new lore to be found in the form of a few new videos and manuscript pages that have been added to New Game Plus experience, along with other subtle additions.”

The new mode allows players to carry over all of their weapons, charms and player upgrades from their first playthrough (as expected), but also unlocks a new Nightmare Difficulty level. You don’t start right way with your weapons, however. You’ll find them in the first available shoebox for the character.

The new mode also includes numerous bug fixes and slight performance optimizations. To access “The Final Draft”, you simply need to load a completed playthrough of Alan Wake 2.

Alan Wake 2 is out now for PC via the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series.

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With a love of cinema woven into its DNA, The Monster Squad helped indoctrinate ’80s kids to the classic monsters. The generation that grew up watching it on home video and HBO look back on the 1987 film with the same reverence director Fred Dekker (Night of the Creeps, RoboCop 3) had for the Universal monster movies, and now they’re passing it down in a similar fashion. There’s no better way to introduce the next generation than with the new 4K edition.

Conceived as “The Little Rascals meets the Universal Monsters,” the cleverly-plotted film clocks in at a tight 82 minutes. The punchy script by Dekker and Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3) doesn’t have an ounce of fat on it, save for the casual homophobia, misogyny, and body shaming of the time. Drawing inspiration from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, human characters offer well-placed levity and a bevy of memorable one-liners, but the monsters are played straight.

The Monster Squad consists of a ragtag group of adolescents — fearless leader Sean (Andre Gower), loyal sidekick Patrick (Robby Kiger, Children of the Corn), cool older kid Rudy (Ryan Lambert, Kids Incorporated), timid “fat kid” Horace (Brent Chalem), runt Eugene (Michael Faustino), and Sean’s cherubic little sister, Phoebe (Ashley Bank) — who bond over their mutual appreciation for horror movies.

The club’s monster knowledge is put to the test when their suburban town is invaded by real-life monsters: Dracula (Duncan Regehr, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Frankenstein (Tom Noonan, Manhunter), Wolfman (Napoleon Dynamite‘s Jon Gries pre-transformation; Carl Thibault after), Mummy (Michael Reid MacKay, Batman & Robin), and Gillman (Tom Woodruff Jr., Alien vs. Predator).

Like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Goonies, and other coming-of-age classics of the era, The Monster Squad isn’t afraid to offset its Spielbergian whimsy with a fair share of darkness. Approaching the story from the perspective of relatable kids makes it accessible to younger viewers, but it doesn’t coddle them when it comes to the frights. That sense of danger is precisely what makes gateway horror so effective.

The kids’ dialogue is realistic, warts and all, and even the adult characters are nuanced. The neighborhood’s “Scary German Guy” (Leonardo Cimino, Dune) is subtly revealed to be a Holocaust survivor. Sean’s police officer father (Stephen Macht, Graveyard Shift) and homemaker mother (Mary Ellen Trainor, The Goonies) are given additional dimension with marital strife that plays out in the background. The snappy repartee between Sean’s dad and his partner (Stan Shaw, Snake Eyes) is a precursor to Black’s Lethal Weapon dynamic.

Regehr channels the fearsome menace of Christopher Lee in his memorable turn as Dracula. Frankenstein’s tear-jerking finale puts Noonan’s performance among the best in the classic monster’s long history. Wolfman earns a couple of clever transformation scenes — and, of course, he’s got nards. Despite a frail demeanor, Mummy is the subject of a great monster-in-the-closet gag and unraveling demise. Gillman is underutilized, but the fact that the design rivals that of original Creature from the Black Lagoon is praiseworthy in and of itself.

Universal passed on the movie, crushing Dekker’s hopes of recreating Jack Pierce’s classic monster makeup, but the blessing in disguise allowed special effects guru Stan Winston (Jurassic Park, Terminator 2, Aliens) to evoke the iconic designs while putting his own spin on them. Winston sketched concept art for each creature then delegated the builds to trusted collaborators: Alec Gillis (Aliens) for Dracula, Tom Woodruff Jr. (Aliens) for Frankenstein, John Rosengrant (Terminator 2) for Wolfman, Shane Mahan (Terminator 2) for Mummy, and Matt Rose & Steve Wang (Predator) for Gillman.

In celebration of its 35th anniversary, The Monster Squad has made its way to 4K Ultra HD via Kino Lorber with a three-disc set that also includes the film on Blu-ray, archival extras, and the 2018 documentary Wolfman’s Got Nards. It features reversible artwork: a piece by Abrar Ajmal on one side, and a revised version of the original poster — righting a 35-year-old wrong by adding Phoebe to her rightful place among the squad — on the other.

The film has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision/HDR, allowing the detailed creature effects to shine with new clarity. Colors are bold, from the vibrant green glow of the hallowed amulet to the red fabric of Sean’s oft-parodied ‘Stephen King Rules’ shirt. The warmth is practically palpable during the memorable shot in which the squad walks off into the golden rays of sunset. While a new Dolby Atmos soundtrack would have been grand, the existing DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 options are more than adequate.

Two commentaries originally recorded for Lionsgate’s 2007 DVD are ported over. Dekker and director of photography Bradford May deliver an informative look at the technical aspects of the production. They’re both proud of the result despite some hardships endured. The second track is a fun one with Dekker, Gower, Lambert, and Bank. Viewers will once again long to join their club, as the camaraderie among the child actors on screen is still present into adulthood.

Previously only available separately, Wolfman’s Got Nards is not just a glorified bonus feature. Gower directs the 88-minute doc, giving it a sentimental touch — although I would’ve liked for him to delve even deeper into his personal connection with the subject matter. It’s neatly segmented into 10 parts: “The Film,” “The Script,” “The Production,” “The Effects,” “The Release,” “The Discovery,” “The Cult,” “The Resurgence,” “The Loss,” and “The Impact.” “The Effects” is a highlight for practical effects fans, “The Loss” is a moving tribute to Chalem, who tragically passed away in 1997, and “The Impact” brings it to a close with poignant fan stories.

Gower sits down with many of the cast and crew along with notable fans and genre favorites like The Goldbergs creator Adam F. Goldberg, filmmakers Chuck Russell (The Blob), Adam Green (Hatchet), and Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2), and actors Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Zach Galligan (Gremlins), and Seth Green (It) — who reveals he auditioned for the film. Another important figure is Eric Vespe (then of Ain’t It Cool News, now co-host of The Kingcast), who hosted a reunion screening in 2006 that made Dekker and company aware of the film’s rapid fanbase and eventually led to the push for the film’s DVD debut.

Monster Squad Forever, a 2007 retrospective with the cast and crew, is also included. Newly tightened up by director Michael Felsher (Just Desserts: The Making of Creepshow), it now clocks in at 74 minutes instead of 88. It consists of five parts: “The Monster Master,” delving into the project’s origins; “The Monster Makers,” about the special effects; “The Monsters and the Squad,” dedicated to the cast; “Lights, Camera, Monsters,” detailing the production and scoring; and “Monster Mania,” exploring the film’s legacy.

A lot of information is repeated between the commentaries and the documentaries, but each one offers different perspectives. Other special features include: an on-set interview with Noonan in character discussing Frankenstein’s career; 13 deleted/extended scenes; a storyboard-to-scene comparison of Mummy’s final encounter with the squad; a gallery of stills, lobby cards, and artwork; two TV spots; and the theatrical trailer.

At its core, The Monster Squad is a movie about outsiders. Frankenstein’s monster is the archetypal misunderstood monster. The squad members are motley misfits; even Rudy, who’s portrayed as the epitome of cool, hangs out with younger kids. Scary German Guy is ostracized by his community. The film itself is a maverick; a flop upon release that nearly tanked Dekker’s career is now a beloved cult classic. The evergreen feeling of being the “other” and searching for belonging allows The Monster Squad to continue to resonate after 35 years.

The Monster Squad is available now on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray.

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Between Thanksgiving and It’s a Wonderful Knife, it’s been an especially rewarding year for seasonal slasher fans, an esteemed group that Santa Isn’t Real does not join. Writer and director Zac Locke’s low-budget Christmas massacre barely has a pulse until the final few minutes, only thanks to a few teaspoons of gore. Performances are stiff, characters have no spatial awareness with a killer on the loose, and technical elements can get pretty ugly, all dooming this snoozy Christmas Horror dud to the naughty list.

The film opens with the eggnog-sipping Nikki (Kaya Coleman) cozying up by the fire after setting red frosted cookies and milk by a decorated tree per Christmas traditions. Much to Nikki’s surprise, Santa shimmies down her chimney — and slices her arm open with a kitchen knife before bashing her unconscious with a snowglobe. A year later, Nikki wakes from her coma to see her best friend Jess (Scarlett Sperduto) and boyfriend Nathan (Trey Anderson) standing by her side. Nikki doesn’t care to spend her holiday with parents who were ready to pull the plug (and converted her bedroom into a gym), so she accompanies Jess and Nathan to third friend MJ’s (Cissy Ly) woodland vacation home. No obnoxious relatives, no supervision, it’s the perfect escape — unless Santa’s back in town.

To say Santa Isn’t Real is more complicated than the above summary is giving the screenplay too much credit. Still, there’s more to Nikki’s predicament because the masked intruder she swears is Santa framed her attempted murder as a suicide. Nikki is pegged as an untrustworthy protagonist by her “supportive” friends when she tries to blame jolly old St. Nick for her slashed wrist, which is met with hilariously dodgy dialogue by Jess as she tries to wrap her head around not only believing in Santa Claus, but his apparent bloodlust. Locke chooses too icy and stern a tone for the absurd conceit, drowning out any excitement with mechanical character motivations and inept plot devices (let’s not pretend it’s impossible to find dropped smartphones in a few inches of snow).

Nikki’s friends are absolute trash humans who we’re forced to spend the entire movie with because of a small body count. Everything is so poorly hidden from Nathan and Tess’ redefined relationship to the killer’s identity, which flatlines suspense when taken so foolishly serious. There are sporadic outbursts of metal music and slick do-it-yourself gore when licked-sharp candy canes puncture [redacted], but those highlights (mediumlights at best) make up a handful of seconds in an already truncated seventy-five-minute duration. The rest bumbles through excruciatingly uninspired melodrama delivered like an off-primetime horror soap opera devoid of wit or bite. It’s painfully predictable, frustrating to endure, and exceptionally underwhelming across all components.

Quality standards aren’t up to par, whether an ADR line read jumps in volume and static or midnight cinematography becomes an ugly, hard-to-see-through dark blue. It’s a shame because the few violent interactions where horror sensibilities finally rise above a whimper are passable — but some of the easiest conversational executions are a sloppy slog. Locke tries to poke cheeky fun at multiple religious Christmas beliefs and how you can’t spell “Santa” without “Satan,” but the film’s technical chops aren’t sharp enough to accentuate these seasonal commentaries. Not to mention how dismally Locke handles the lingering question of Nikki’s sanity, and whether or not Santa is actually shimmying down chimneys with murderous intent (another laughably horrendous effect as red pant legs and booties drop into view).

Santa Isn’t Real never feels properly calibrated as a Christmas Horror slasher, whether it wants to be taken seriously or shared over beers after midnight. It’s the wrong kind of holiday nightmare, barely held together by hateable characters and subpar filmmaking features (not the memorable ha-ha horror kind). Don’t expect Krampus or Deadly Games achievements, more Once Upon a Time at Christmas or Mother Krampus 2: Slay Ride inferiority. I’ve seen over one hundred Christmas Horror movies, so I can confidently make that claim (trust me). Santa Isn’t Real doesn’t do anything to elevate the subgenre, and fails even to have the decency to come with a return receipt.

The post ‘Santa Isn’t Real’ Review – Latest Christmas Horror Movie Fails to Make the Season Bright appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Baldur’s Gate III got the better of Alan Wake 2 last night at The Game Awards 2023. Despite both games having 8 nominations, Larian Studios’ RPG snagged five wins, including the coveted Game of the Year. Baldur’s Gate III also won the awards for Best Community Support, Best RPG, Best Multiplayer, and the Player’s Voice.

Fortunately, Alan Wake 2 didn’t walk away empty-handed. Remedy’s return to Bright Falls won the awards for Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Art Direction. Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 4, however, was not so fortunate. The remake was shut out of all of its nominations, while Resident Evil Village won its only nomination in the Best VR/AR Game category.

Resident Evil 4 had company in the goose egg category, as Dead Space, DREDGE, Diablo IV, Mortal Kombat 1, Dead Island 2 and Remnant II were all shut out.

HBO’s adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us won in the Best Adaptation category, beating out Castlevania: Nocturne, and Twisted Metal.

The biggest surprise of the night was Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which was nominated in seven categories, but walked away with no wins.

You can view the entire list of winners from The Game Awards official site.

The awards season isn’t over yet, however. For horror gamers, The Horror Game Awards 2023 are coming up fast, with the show airing next week on December 16, live on YouTube, starting at 11am PST / 2pm EST / 7pm GMT / 8pm CET.

The post ‘Baldur’s Gate III’ Wins Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2023; ‘Alan Wake 2’ Earns Three Wins appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

All good things must come to an end. And for 10 Chambers, that end is the final chapter for their horror co-op shooter GTFO. “Rundown 8.0: Duality” is available now as a free content update, raising the number of missions to 80.

The Duality expansion is the nerve-wracking conclusion to the game’s story arc, which tasks a four-player team of prisoners to escape a hellish underground complex known as Garganta. GTFO has continually evolved since the game’s launch in 2019, with Rundown 8.0: Duality being its twelfth free major content update, adding new missions (expeditions) to the game for more than 80 total. The content-packed GTFO: Final Edition treats hardcore cooperative players with hundreds of hours of paranoia, tension, and fear to last for years to come.

“The GTFO story began at The Game Awards when the game was revealed back in 2017, so of course, we felt that it was right to also announce the final chapter at this year’s show,” said Ulf Andersson, 10 Chambers founder and creative director. “It’s important to note that while the story of GTFO comes to a close, the game will continue to be alive and kicking. Whether you’re a new player or part of the existing GTFO community, the full game with four years worth of content is available to complete from start to finish — if you and your squad are up for the challenge, that is.”

GTFO will continue to receive support in the form of bug fixes. Previously released Rundown content updates, which were cycled in and out of the game quarterly since the game’s launch in 2019, will still be freely accessible, and will remain available to the game’s existing fanbase and new players alike.

GTFO: Final Edition is available on Steam (and is Steam Deck Playable) on a 40% off sale until January 4, 2024. Prospective prisoners can play GTFO during the free weekend Steam promotion from December 7 to December 11, 2023. Rundown 8.0: Duality is available now as a free update to owners.

The post [TGA 2023] Final Rundown Expansion “Duality” for Horror Co-op Shooter ‘GTFO’ Available Now [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After being hit with a delay from its original winter release window, Saber Interactive has now announced that Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 will instead arrive on September 9, 2024. Saber Interactive revealed the date change in a new trailer debuting at The Game Awards 2023.

In a statement courtesy of IGN, Saber Interactive COO Tim Willits stated that the team has “poured their passion and creativity into this game, and we can’t wait for players to experience it at last.”

Space Marine 2 features a gripping narrative that follows fan-favorite Lieutenant Titus, portrayed by actor Clive Standen. Embody the superhuman skill and brutality of the Emperor’s greatest warriors by unleashing deadly abilities and an arsenal of devastating weaponry on the relentless Tyranid hordes, solo or cooperatively with friends or AI in three-player co-op.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 is in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam.

The post [TGA 2023] ‘Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2’ Arrives September 9, 2024 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.