Movies
Dead of Night (V)
“Like the three-legged puppy in a litter of show dogs, DEAD OF NIGHT is an unfortunate smear on Matheson’s otherwise brilliant resume, best forgotten completely, or quietly smothered out in the barn after chores are done.”
If you could somehow take the pedigree of made-for-TV horror anthologies and depict it in a “family tree” format, you’d see Richard Matheson’s name repeatedly popping up in the lineage like some sort of horny bulldog that keeps getting studded out to his cousins. After writing episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, NIGHT GALLERY, and THE NIGHT STALKER in the late 60s/early 70s, Matheson cranked out a couple of stand-alone horror anthologies for the networks: TRILOGY OF TERROR for ABC in 1975, and DEAD OF NIGHT for NBC in 1977, both directed by Dan Curtis.
Everybody’s seen TRILOGY OF TERROR even if they don’t remember seeing it. It’s the one with Karen Black getting chased by a screaming African Zuni doll brandishing a tiny knife. And even if you don’t remember seeing the 1975 version, you’ve probably stumbled across the inferior 1996 remake that was broadcast on the USA Network. The fact is, if you can fondly recall a particularly good anthology segment from 1970s television, there’s a good chance it was penned by Matheson, a prolific television writer who regularly switched between NBC and ABC like they were swinging wives at a 70s key party.
DEAD OF NIGHT certainly doesn’t start out very promising, especially for genre fans, with the narrator gravely informing the audience that “dead of night is a state of mind” (whatever that means) before pulling a bait-and-switch by announcing that only ONE of tonight’s three tales is actually horror-themed. The other two will involve “mystery” and “imagination”, respectively. Cue the groans and complaints. “Mystery and imagination”? What is this, AMAZING STORIES?
Being in a “dead of night” frame of mind might make it difficult to enjoy the first tale, “Second Chance”, a whimsical, soft-focus bore starring Ed Begley, Jr., as a young man who loves to fix up old cars like Moon Roadsters and Haines Speedsters and such, and drive them through miles of repetitive day-for-night footage. One day his Jordan Playboy travels back in time as far as the television budget will allow, and just as things start to get interesting, the tale simply ends, with Begley, Jr., taking over narrating duties to explain that he’d rather just drive off into the sunset and move on to the next story.
“No Such Thing as a Vampire” steps up to the plate, with a smarmy Patrick Macnee as a wealthy home-owner whose wife has apparently been bitten by a vampire. His servants attempt to assist him by providing garlic and vampire-related advice, but Macnee is insistent that vampires do not exist, and so the servants hit the bricks in exasperation. Macnee calls on an old buddy to perform an examination, but once the buddy arrives it becomes obvious that Macnee is up to something sneaky. A talky segment that’s short on atmosphere despite its surface-level, horse-and-buggy trappings. With an ending so anti-climactic it makes the ending of the Begley segment look like the lat five minutes of SEVEN, “No Such Thing as a Vampire” is thankfully not the horror tale.
That dubious honor would be left to “Bobby”, the final story, about a grieving mother’s attempts to bring her dead son back to life with the help of occultism. Remade as one of the tales in the aforementioned TRILOGY OF TERROR II for USA Network, “Bobby” still manages to provoke a few admirable chills. With “Bobby” the anthology finally bears horror fruit, but it can’t combat the sheen of mind-numbing boredom that comes with the first two segments. Like the three-legged puppy in a litter of show dogs, DEAD OF NIGHT is an unfortunate smear on Matheson’s otherwise brilliant resume, best forgotten completely, or quietly smothered out in the barn after chores are done.
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes from “No Such Thing as a Vampire”, a few cuts from Robert Cobert’s music score, a photo gallery, and the a 1969 pilot for a possible DEAD OF NIGHT television series. Titled “A Darkness At Blaisedon”, it’s a muddled mess.
Ghostface is back on the big screen this weekend… well, sort of… with the release of Scary Movie, which marks the Wayans brothers’ return to the horror spoof franchise for the first time since Scary Movie 2 back in the day. It’s likely to be the talk of the horror community for the weekend, but don’t overlook the other six genre movies that were freshly unleashed today.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Friday, June 5, 2026.
The horror spoof franchise is back with Scary Movie now playing in theaters!
Marlon Wayans (“Shorty”), Shawn Wayans (“Ray”), Anna Faris (“Cindy”), and Regina Hall (“Brenda”) reunite for the new Scary Movie, with the cast also including Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Jon Abrahams, Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, and Felissa Rose.
Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer (“Ghostface”), the Core Four are back in the killer’s crosshairs and no horror movie IP is safe…
Scary Movie will slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every “final chapter” that absolutely isn’t. A whole lot has changed in the horror genre since the Wayans Brothers were in charge of the franchise; their involvement ended with Scary Movie 2 back in 2001!
Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House) directs Scary Movie 6 from a script written by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, original Scary Movie director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans (Scary Movie 2), and Rick Alvarez (A Haunted House).
From IFC, shark attack movie Chum is now available on Digital.
Alice Eve (Haunting of Queen Mary) stars in shark attack movie alongside Eric Michael Cole, Jim Klock, Elle Haymond, Lisa Yaro, Johnny Gaffney, and Sarah Siadat.
This one sounds very similar to last year’s Dangerous Animals…
Here’s the plot: “A newlywed couple joins friends on a Mediterranean yacht excursion, only to find themselves caught between a predatory shark and a psychopathic killer in their midst-transforming a sun-drenched escape into a fight for survival.”
Jonathan Zuck directs Chum, from a script by Jonathan Zuck and Joe Leone.
Samara Weaving (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) and Kyle Gallner (Strange Darling) come together in Carolina Caroline, a sexy crime thriller now playing in theaters.
It’s not a horror movie, mind you, but it’s worth a mention here all the same.
Kyra Sedgwick (Family Movie) and Jon Gries also star in the romantic crime thriller.
Director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s film stars Samara Weaving as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast.
Adam Rehmeier previously directed the films Dinner in America and Snack Shack.
Tom Dean wrote the screenplay for Carolina Caroline.
Similar to Steven Spielberg’s upcoming big screen blockbuster Disclosure Day, Signal One explores humankind’s enduring question: what if we aren’t alone in the universe?
The sci-fi thriller is now available on Digital.
Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), Josh Hutcherson (Five Nights at Freddy’s), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Raoul Bhaneja (Possessor), Emma Ho (“The Expanse”), and Dennis Quaid (The Substance) star in Signal One from director Jonathan Sobol (The Art of the Steal).
When tech billionaire Sam Houston (Quaid) hires the brilliant computer scientist Annika (Fuhrman), she ventures to an isolated facility run by the brilliant, nihilistic creator of LITTLEMOUTH, a machine which can communicate with alien intelligence.
Annika soon learns some humanity-altering facts: that we are not alone in the universe, that alien intelligences are communicating around us at every moment, and that we are likely too primitive to even remotely understand what they are trying to tell us.
When the goal of the endeavor shifts from listening to talking back, the project rapidly devolves into chaos. With contact comes consequences, and soon Annika and the team must work to ensure the very survival of our species.
A schoolyard dare becomes an urban legend in the creepypasta-inspired horror anthology The Summoning. The indie film is now available on Digital from Brainstorm Media.
“A babysitting gig becomes a nightmare of urban legend when three teens summon Baby Blue. Survival depends on uncovering the past to escape a mother’s wrath from beyond the grave.”
Felipe Vargas (Rosario, Hive), Sergio Gonzalez, Brandon Piskorik, Corey Benson Powers, and Brian Sepanzyk direct the segments. Valeria San Martín, Justina Ceballos, Daniela Flombaum, Nannu Spannauss, Agustín Olcese, and Giovanni Onetti star.
The Summoning is written by Camilo Zaffora.
Happy Death Day actress Jessica Rothe stars as a mom struggling to keep her grip on her sanity and memory in the mind-bending Affection, now available on Digital at home.
In Affection, “Afflicted by a mysterious condition that resets her memory, Ellie becomes trapped in a cyclical nightmare with a man who claims to be her husband. She soon must uncover the horrifying truth of her existence—before she forgets it all again.“
Joseph Cross (“Big Little Lies”) and Julianna Layne (“Chicago P.D.”) also star in the sci-fi horror thriller. Affection marks the feature debut by writer/director BT Meza.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review out of the film’s premiere, “Affection is steeped in existential questions and fears that plague modern society, while it embraces the ethos of the ’80s through bold body horror. Add to that Rothe’s revelatory performance, and Affection is a hidden gem that will connect with your mind, body, and soul.”
Lucile Hadžihalilović’s latest dark fairy tale, The Ice Tower, loosely reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s fable “The Snow Queen,” and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
In the ’70s set film, “Jeanne, a 15-year-old orphan, witnesses the shoot of a film adaptation of the fairy tale The Snow Queen, and she becomes fascinated by its star Cristina (Marion Cotillard), an actress who is just as mysterious and alluring as the Queen she is playing.“
Clara Pacini stars as Jeanne. August Diehl and Marine Gesbert also star in The Ice Tower, and look for a cameo from director Gaspar Noé (Climax, Irréversible).
“For me, The Ice Tower solidified Lucile Hadžihalilović’s place amongst the most fascinating creators of fairy tales today,” said distributor Yellow Veil Pictures co-founder Joe Yanick.
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