Movies
[Review] MTV’s ‘Death Valley’ Episodes 3 and 4
After a brief hiatus, we’re checking back in with the most recent episodes of MTV’s new comedy/horror series, “Death Valley“. When vampires, zombies, and werewolves wreak havoc in the San Fernando Valley, it’s up to the Undead Task Force to investigate undead malfeasance and dispatch swift justice. The last two weeks have introduced a running storyline and featured the series’ funniest episodes so far. As the cast begins to click, Death Valley has slowly evolved from the episodic, sometimes aimless comedy bits that dominated the first two episodes. This show might actually live up to its potential.
Read on for a detailed discussion of Episodes 3 and 4.
I was out of town last week and neglected to submit a review of Episode 3, (“Blood Vessels”). My apologies to the growing fan base of what has slowly progressed into a consistently funny series. With episodes clocking in at around 21 minutes, it’s difficult to devote thousands of words to each week’s program, but I’m still committed to giving Death Valley the coverage it deserves. Once not so long ago I ignored my instincts to cover something called Scream Queens–a show so godawful it practically begged to be mocked on a weekly basis–a decision I’ll regret for the rest of my life.
I understand that Death Valley still has its detractors, and yes, I’ll admit, it can be very uneven and not always as funny as it wants to be. But the attractive cast has proven that they’re game for anything, and as the comic rhythms have improved over the last two weeks, each episode has been progressively funnier. Take Episode 3, “Blood Vessels”, for example: when zombies trap an ammo-less John John and Rinaldi in a overturned blood-mobile, Stubek and Pierce are only willing to lob boxes of ammo if animal crackers and fruit punch is lobbed in return. What could have been a scene of high-tension zombie claustrophobia straight out of The Walking Dead degenerates into laughs as Stubek and Pierce munch cookies and argue about whether being a varsity high school baseball catcher is more valid than being a JV high school quarterback. Meanwhile, still trapped in the blood-mobile, John John utters those timeless words known to zombie hunters everywhere: “The bat never runs out of ammo.”
Captain Dashell (who’s strangely absent from Episode 4) becomes concerned when his teenage niece is invited to a party that promises “G.B.G.B.”, and he sends Officer Landry undercover to investigate. Although Dashell speculates madly as to the possible meaning of the initials (“Get beers, get banged; green bananas, Gary Busey”), it turns out to stand for “Give Blood, Get Buzzed”, and with a little sparkle from its magic wand, Death Valley introduces some mythology: the black kiss. According to the urban legend Landry hears at the party (and Caity Lotz can spend the whole series in that little black strappy thing, as far as I’m concerned), if you donate blood and then get kissed by a vampire, it gets you high and tastes like Jager. Sleazy vampire Rico shows up to kiss all the female blood donors, and a curious Landry gives in to the seduction. I doubt this will be the last we see of Rico.
In Episode 4, “Two Girls One Cop”, the gang finds themselves “waist-deep in porn” as they investigate a werewolf attack on the set of an adult movie, a set-up that provides some of the series’ funniest moments to date. With the werewolf on the loose, Stubek and Rinaldi search the area for a missing make-up girl so talented she can “make a vagina look like a pair of Swedish baby thumbs.” John John and Pierce decide to hole up on set with the porn stars, taking a particular interest in “the insert guy”, whose role in the adult film perpetually confuses poor Stubek. Even without the always reliable banter of Bryan Callen, the banter during the first 15 minutes of “Two Girls One Cop” depicts Death Valley at its finest and funniest. Yeah, it’s too bad about the wasted subplot that had Landry checking homes for “werewolf compliance” ahead of the full moon, or the somewhat stiff final third, but as I get to know the characters, I’m digging this show more and more each week.
Is anybody still watching? (Cue crickets.)
This week kicked off with the release of hippo horror movie Hungry at home, and four more horror movies have arrived for at-home viewing as we head into the final weekend of June.
Here are the new horror movies that released on Friday, June 26, 2026!
The Halloween season can no longer be contained to the months of September and October, with “Summerween” becoming a thing in recent years. Essentially, it allows for Halloween to bleed into the warmer Summer months, and the first ever Summerween movie has arrived.
The Asylum released Summerween onto Digital outlets today.
In the film from writer/director Ryan Ebert, “On Summerween, a former circus clown escapes a mental institution to return to his abandoned mansion and hunt the teens partying there.”
Cole Chapleski, Chase Breithoff, Logan Roe, Sophia Sabol, and Clint Morrison star.
Director Ryan Ebert is the man behind a string of recent indie horrors we’ve covered, including Shark Side of the Moon, The Jolly Monkey, Jurassic Reborn, and Predator: Wastelands.
A witchy coming-of-age story from Dark Sky Films, Camp is now playing in select theaters.
Check your local listings to find a theater near you.
Camp is from writer-director Avalon Fast (Honeycomb, The Serpent’s Skin).
“Emily is the root cause of two devastating tragedies very early in her life, and she feels the weight of these accidents as though cursed. At her father’s suggestion, she takes a position at a summer camp for troubled youth to ease her guilt. When Emily arrives, she is welcomed by the other counselors, who accept her as she is and surround her with peace and forgiveness.
“As Emily begins to believe in a new kind of life, she starts to hear a voice whispering from deep in the woods — one that urges her to go home, and one that may be impossible to ignore.”
The film stars Zola Grimmer in her screen debut alongside Alice Wordsworth, Cherry Moore, Lea Rose Sebastianis (Castration Movie Part 1 & 2, In A Violent Nature), Ella Reece, Austyn Van de Kamp (This Too Shall Pass), Sophie Bawks-Smith (Honeycomb), Izza Jarvis, and Aiden Laudersmith.
Producers Tyler Perry and Jason Blum have joined forces for Peacock Original Strung.
The film is now streaming only on Peacock.
“A talented violinist takes a prestigious job as a music tutor for the gifted daughter of an influential and enigmatic family. As she becomes entangled in their opulent world, unsettling secrets begin to surface, forcing her to question her safety, her dreams, and even her sanity.”
Malcolm D. Lee (Scary Movie 5, Space Jam: A New Legacy) directs from a script written by Alan B. McElroy (Wrong Turn, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers).
Chloe Bailey (“Swarm“), Lynn Whitfield (Jaws: The Revenge), Lucien Laviscount (“Scream Queens”), Anna Diop (Us), Coco Jones (Vampires vs. the Bronx), Langley Kirkwood (“Banshee”), and Romy Woods star in Peacock’s Strung.
Produced by Diablo Cody, director Meredith Alloway’s Forbidden Fruits brought a new coven of witches to the big screen earlier this year, and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
Lola Tung (“The Summer I Turned Pretty”), Victoria Pedretti (“The Haunting of Hill House”), Alexandra Shipp (Tragedy Girls), Gabrielle Union (Breaking In), and Emma Chamberlain star in Forbidden Fruits, released by IFC and Shudder.
Free Eden employee Apple secretly runs a witchy femme cult in the basement of the mall store after hours. But when new hire Pumpkin challenges the group’s ‘girl boss’ ways, the women are forced to face their own poisons or succumb to a bloody fate.
“Forbidden Fruits grabbed me by the neck the very first time I read it,” Diablo Cody said. “It’s one of the craziest, most creative, beautifully bonkers projects I’ve ever worked on.”
Meagan Navarro writes in her review for Bloody Disgusting, “Forbidden Fruits may not necessarily forge new terrain in the teen satire space, but Alloway brings so much style and energy to her well-cast single-location stage play adaptation for the Gen Z crowd.”
The film is an adaptation of playwright Lily Houghton’s stage play Of the Women Came the Beginning of Sin and Through Her We All Die. Alloway and Houghton co-adapted.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by HUNGRY.
All aboard the swamp tour from hell – this hippo isn’t playing games…
HUNGRY is now available on Digital. Watch it now!
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