Movies
Atrocious (limited)
“While it doesn’t know any new tricks, Atrocious is a dog that perform the old tricks just fine. As the camera whips through the trees in well-edited POV shots, there’s something about the long sequences of night-visioned hedge maze stumbling that are completely hypnotic.”
The Slamdance Film Festival (which is sort of the meth-head nephew of the Sundance Film Festival) used to screen films at theaters in Salt Lake City, but a few years ago they moved their whole operation to the Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City, in an obvious attempt to take advantage of Sundance‘s sloppy seconds. Skeptical of the new digs, I didn’t attend the Slamdance festival for several years, and missed 2008’s Paranormal Activity as a result, a fact that devastated me at the time. (Until I actually watched Paranormal Activity, that is, and realized how little I’d missed out on.) Slamdance has been frantically fondling itself ever since Paranormal’s unlikely (and some would say, undeserved) catapult to the top of the indie flick box office, desperate to recreate that level of success. Which may partially explain why Atrocious––a very Blair Witch-ey found footage flick with Paranormal Activity undertones––was accepted into this year’s festival.
Having never before attended a screening at Treasure Mountain Inn, I have to say, I was extremely disappointed in the venue. (Let me apologize in advance for this one-paragraph rant…if you choose to skip to the end, no hard feelings). Padded metal chairs were stacked in Army-tight rows on a barely inclined surface. Because the chairs rows were aligned perfectly––and not staggered––the ONLY thing you could see was the back of the head of the person sitting in front of you. People stretched and leaned to see more of the screen. Experienced journalists crowded the aisle, sitting on the snow-soaked floor, since that was the only way to really watch the movie, but I was not privy to such secrets. No matter how much I craned my neck, I could not see the entire bottom half of the screen…and Atrocious was subtitled. I ended up leaving after the short feature, feeling that it would be impossible to objectively review a movie under conditions so uncomfortable. Now I don’t want to come across like a movie snob––I’d be perfectly happy to watch a movie screened on the back of a building in 1950s Italy, no problem––but in this case, I simply felt bad for the filmmakers. Many of them were screening their films in front of their first public audience (some of which were reviewing the film for publication), and half of the crowd couldn’t even see the damn screen. Luckily, the publicist was kind enough to send me a link, so that I could enjoy the movie online at home.
And surprisingly, Atrocious turned out be a well-executed little film. It’s easy to dismiss it as just another POV shaky-cam spectacular, all heavy panting and night vision. But the film follows a very basic––and very effective––found footage template. The setting is established, the details of the setting are explored, mysterious items or landmarks are discovered, and then something unusual, bizarre, or scary occurs. In this case, the setting is an old house in Sitges, where two teenage siblings document the surrounding property with their movie cameras. Cristian and Lucy have been reluctantly dragged to Sitges by their parents for some sort of family vacation. They half-heartedly consider themselves paranormal investigators, and so they’re eager to search the area for ghosts.
For the benefit of their “documentary”, a family friend recalls a story about the ghost of a girl named Miranda, lost or fallen in a well, who will lead you home if you see her at night. The teens discover a rusty gate behind the property, which leads to an enormous maze of shrubbery that they immediately scour with their video cameras. In those initial moments director Fernando Barreda Luna perfectly captures that childhood experience of using your imagination to create a mystery to solve, a way to make yourself scared. When the teens find an old abandoned stone well buried in the maze of shrubs, their excitement is palpable. It’s a moment that recalls a giddy childhood fear, those times when a nighttime game of hide-and-seek turned suddenly, inexplicably terrifying. (With the Spanish accents and kid-centric sense of adventure, the first half of Atrocious is like something straight out of Spy Kids 4: Ghost Hunters.)
In strict adherence with the Found Footage Horror Code, events begin to escalate. Their father mysteriously demands that the kids remain indoors, so Cristian sets up a night-vision camera to record whatever drives the family dog into a barking frenzy each night. When the dog goes missing the next day, the two teens sneak out with their video cameras to investigate. Once past the rusty gate, the kids find a blood trail…that leads to the old stone well.
While it doesn’t know any new tricks, Atrocious is a dog that perform the old tricks just fine. As the camera whips through the trees in well-edited POV shots, there’s something about the long sequences of night-visioned hedge maze stumbling that are completely hypnotic. Being blissfully basic and only 75 minutes long, Atrocious doesn’t promise much in the way of plot revelations, and as a result, it’s not expected to deliver. It is what it is, a rock solid indie horror film made by an indie filmmaker who set out to make a rock solid indie horror film. Mission accomplished.
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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