Movies
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
“Predictably, the dialogue sucks, the plot is practically incomprehensible, and the acting is patently wooden. But hey, it’s Argento… The film is brilliantly shot and edited, it features a top-notch stalk and kill sequence, and the flashback scenes, while brief, are picturesque and haunting.”
While some directors spend their entire lives chasing the success of their first few films (Tarantino comes to mind), the career of Dario Argento has been more of a “slow burn”, with a trilogy of comparatively light gialli released in 1970-71 eventually giving way to the explicit, imaginative, and jarringly scary movies of the late 70s/early 80s, movies that would come to define his legendary status as one of the most revered horror film directors of all time. Four Flies on Grey Velvet, the conclusion to his “Animal Trilogy” (which also includes The Bird With the Crystal Plumage and The Cat o’ Nine Tails), has finally received a DVD release from Mya Communications, and although this early entry in the Argento canon isn’t the most revered film in his extensive oeuvre, it remains a highly coveted release for lovers of Italian horror.
Exploring a handful of the techniques and images that Argento would perfect in later years, Four Flies begins as our protagonist Roberto, a musician laying down a (supremely lame) track in the studio, becomes increasingly frustrated with a mysterious man in sunglasses and an overcoat who has been stalking him for the past week. Forcing a confrontation in an empty—and beautifully depicted—old theater, Roberto accidentally stabs his stalker and watches him fall into the orchestral pit as a looming figure in a creepy bug-eyed mask photographs the violence from up in the balcony. Yep, it looks like poor Roberto has been framed.
After discovering that the murder has been reported in the next day’s newspaper, Roberto enlists the help of a pair of shady hobo friends: Godfrey, a bearded fisherman who looks like he doesn’t smell too good; and The Professor, a hammock-loving eccentric sporting a pair of horn-rims and a sloppy beard. The Professor is instructed to watch Roberto’s house over the next few days, and to report “anything strange, like murderers, blackmailers, and the like.” But even The Professor’s (admittedly limited) protection skillz can’t prevent Roberto’s cat from getting stolen, and his maid from getting whacked. So Roberto is forced to turn to a gay Private Investigator (imagine a more flamboyant version of Kilmer’s “Gay Perry” from Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) for further assistance in capturing the masked villain. Four Flies is packed with ill-advised attempts at flat-footed humor, a weakness that Argento obvious discovered and curbed while making subsequent films.
Predictably, the dialogue sucks, the plot is practically incomprehensible, and the acting is patently wooden. But hey, it’s Argento. As a P.O.V. shot parts thick red velvet curtains during an early scene, a technique that he would later repeat in Suspiria, you can feel your heart swell with the kind of warm familiarity that only a thick, rich Dario Argento movie can provide. The film is brilliantly shot and edited, it features a top-notch stalk and kill sequence, and the flashback scenes, while brief, are picturesque and haunting. Four Flies is a worthy experimental effort from the Master, a bizarre and slightly whimsical giallo that’s too memorable to miss.
DVD Extras: The feature film is preceded by a message from Mya Communications stating that around a minute of footage had been originally cut for US distribution, but that those scenes have been added back into the film for the DVD release (subtitled instead of dubbed). The missing seconds occur near the end of the movie, during the final explanatory scene. It’s hard to tell why those particular moments were excised for U.S. distribution, although I thought I caught a vague reference to incest buried in the reinserted dialogue. The print looked good, but the sound was occasionally crackly, and a few of the scene transitions seemed choppy (although I’d never seen the film previously on VHS like many B-D readers, so I can’t say for sure). Extras include a sizeable photo gallery and a couple of trailers.
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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