Movies
‘Centurion’ Madness: Neil Marshall Dumps Buckets of Blood on Goriest Battle Flick Ever
In anticipation of the nationwide theatrical release of Neil Marshall’s latest thriller, Centurion, Magnolia Pictures has tapped renowned British comic artist Simon Bisley to create a one of a kind poster featuring the film’s main characters played by Michael Fassbender and Olga Kurylenko! In addition, inside you’ll also find our exclusive interview with Marshall, along with two brand new blood-soaked clips. The action- thriller is now available On Demand, Xbox and Amazon. Let’s just refer to today as “Centurion Day.”
Neil Marshall isn’t new to bloodshed. He thrives on it. Over the past decade, from DOG SOLDIERS to THE DESCENT and DOOMSDAY, Marshall has perfected his own brand of gritty ultra-violence. When the director decided to tackle the mysterious disappearance of the Roman Ninth Legion, it was only natural that he take the same approach.
Historical battle epics might bring to mind three-hour running times, detailed character development, slow motion and stylized action like that seen in 300. Coming in at a breezy and bloody 97 minutes, Marshall’s CENTURION is none of that.
Set in AD 117, General Virilus (Dominic West) leads the Roman Ninth Legion along with a fleet of soldiers including Quintus (Michael Fassbender), Macros (Noel Clarke) and Bothos (David Morrissey) under orders to wipe out the mysterious and savages Picts tribe. Lead by the beautiful and deadly Etain, hellbent on her own brand of bloodthirsty revenge, the Picts will defend their freedom at any cost. Based partially on historical events, no one really knows what happened to the Ninth Legion. Marshall also wrote the script, offering his own theory on the ultimate fate of the legendary Ninth.
BLOODY-DISGUSTING spoke with Marshall about the action-intensive, violent-as-hell CENTURION, an epic in the form of a streamlined, unapologetic action flick.
Originally released in the U.K., Marshall had a surprisingly easy time bringing the release stateside, without so much as a murmur from the historically unpredictable MPAA. “I haven’t had any problems at all with it,” Marshall tells BD. “Who I was making it for, they never questioned the blood and guts. It was always going to be blood and guts. If anything I kind of enhanced that along the way and added in some extra stuff in the edit. When Magnolia picked it up, it was the same thing. They showed it to the MPAA and we haven’t had any bother with it. Maybe I’ve become immune to it, but I don’t really see it as being as ultra-violent as it probably is.”
Although Marshall has become known for the level of violence in his films, the director says he’s never had a ratings issue. And while battle epics are traditionally steeped in violence, Marshall truly takes it to a whole new level. “In any other film, a brief incident might just be somebody gets punched in the face or whatever,” says Marshall. “But in this film somebody gets a knife stuck through their arm and then they get their head smashed against a table or their throat slashed. There are lots of moments of extreme violence.”
As Marshall stated above, he did add a bit of blood in post, although his preference was to spread the red practically on set. “ Of the gore effects, there’s only line five or ten percent that is CG-enhanced. The rest is practical on set. There was lots of blood around. I just wanted to have it on standby. Quite a lot of it gets used not just during the battle, but after the battle where we’re literally going around with buckets throwing them over the bodies and drenching the whole place in blood. It’s also used for squibs and blood knives and other forms of gratuitous violence.”
Marshall hits you over the head with the violence from the opening moments. These battles are fast and brutal. Limbs are lost, heads are lopped off and swords are pierced through bodies, coming out the other side with a slice and a splatter. “When you’re going after each other with spears and swords, there’s no nice way of killing somebody with those weapons,” says the writer/director. “It’s a battle for survival as far as the Picts are concerned. They’re fighting for their land and their existence and their lives. So yeah, they’re going to go all the way. It’s brutal times and if you read about it, there is far worse stuff than what we put in the movie. It was commonplace.”
CENTURION debuted on VOD July 23rd. It will open in a limited theatrical release on August 27th, 2010.
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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