Movies
[Mile High Horror ’15 Review] World Premiere: ‘Even Lambs Have Teeth’
The sixth annual Mile High Horror Film Festival kicked off in a vicious way last night with the world premiere of Terry Miles’ Even Lambs Have Teeth. Sitting down in the Alamo Drafthouse Littleton, I had prepared myself for a violent “shevenge” thriller following the well-worn beats we’ve all seen before. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – it’s exactly what I was in the mood for. After a day of travel, that familiar cathartic tear was just what the doctor ordered. Miles had other plans though and completely pulled the rug out from under me. My expectations were crushed, for the better.
While the initial premise of Lambs sounds like your run-of-the-mill rape-revenge tale, Miles’ film throws some well-aimed curveballs and reaches an almost giddy level of revenge in its third act. But before the sweet, sweet comeuppance must come the nasty bits. There’s no way to work in the rape-revenge niche and not deliver disturbing material. So yes, much of Lambs first act is upsetting as BFFs Sloane (Kirsten Prout) and Katie (Tiera Skovbye) get abducted by a family of charming backwoods creeps. The girls are drugged and wake up chained to freight shipping containers used as rape dens for locals who are willing to pay. It’s not pretty.
The assaults in Lambs occur off-screen, making them much worse in our imaginations. It’s an effective less-is-more approach that’s done tastefully considering the material. The girls manage to escape after days of vile abuse, but instead of hightailing it back home, they decide to U-turn back into the wolf den to make their abusers bleed.
Typically there’s a “transformation” moment in rape-revenge films. Sometimes it’s physical (shaving the head, dyeing hair), but the heavier stuff goes on psychologically. Sloane and Katie’s transformation is essentially a switch that goes off. There’s no big moment emotionally, but there’s a big, bold, bloody moment of rage where the girls flip the script. From then on, Even Lambs is like watching a video game in “god mode.” The girls are indestructible, untouchable, and extremely volatile. Each kill gets more creative than the last and during the whole rampage, the girls are never harmed again.
There’s not much tension there, but after a few kills it doesn’t matter. What we’re watching is pure unadulterated vengeance with a deeply playful tone. The girls and Katie’s uncle Jason (Michael Karl Richards) run into a stable of colorful characters – from a set of heavily-painted elderly twins to a coffee jerk who’s a little off – that add to that light vibe.
With a lack of tension and low-feeling stakes, you’d think Even Lambs would be really, really dumb. It’s not. It’s clever without feeling like it’s trying too hard and it all just works.
Aside from the therapeutic kills, the cast is another big reason the film works as well as it does. The chemistry between Prout and Skovbye is terrific – all their in-jokes and shared, knowing looks feel organic. Both girls are really good at playing baaad too. The backwoods creeps Jed (Garrett Black), Lucas (Jameson Parker), and Boris (Patrick Gilmore) aren’t cliché – each of them have their own unique villainous flavor. Jed comes off like a slave owner, with this concrete sneer he throws the girls. Lucas has a quiet menace to him with a heavy dash of compassion. His family bums him out, that’s clear. And Boris is the casual, tight-lipped threat who makes sure the business runs smoothly. He runs a tight ship and later on, he suffers what could be described as a “tight shit.”
Then there’s the pastor in the pig mask. He’s a real piece of work. Played by Christian Sloan (Black Christmas), the pastor isn’t on screen for very long but he makes a venomous impact.
As the producers from Random Bench Productions (Toad Road, Felt) explained at our screening, the cut we saw was fresh out of the editing suite. As rapid fire as the film is, it would benefit from some shaving here and there, particularly during reaction shots that go on a few seconds too long. Knowing there’s more editing to come, do take my skull rating with a grain of salt.
Even Lambs reaches a nice balance of human horror, dark comedy, and violent revenge flick. Usurping expectations while delivering a rowdy crowd-pleaser is a tough one. Even Lambs does it well. It’s one to see with a crowd and will hopefully be making the next round of the festival circuit.
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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