New to Tubi October Horror Films

Evil Dead (2013)

• Premise: Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of the Necronomicon leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods.
• Why Watch It? Opinions vary on whether Fede Alvarez‘s 2013 reboot is to blame for the grim and nihilistic bent that recent Evil Dead films have taken, but there’s no denying that the Jane Levy-fronted entry goes hard. From the blood rain climax to the moment that Mia slices her tongue with a boxcutter, this blood-soaked film is not for the faint of heart. That means that it’s also easy to miss the underlying story about addiction, the struggle to get clean, and the need for found family and sibling support. Maybe that’s understandable given that the character work is hidden amidst some truly gnarly horror shit going down in cabin?
• Streaming: October 1

The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (2005)

• Premise: A lawyer (Laura Linney) takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest (Tom Wilkinson) who performed an exorcism on a young girl (Jennifer Carpenter).
• Why Watch It? Before he blew up with the Sinister and The Black Phone films, Scott Derrickson was cutting his teeth making “better than they need to be” thrillers like this. The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a curiosity: it’s much more of a legal thriller than a religious/paranormal film, though the movie has a devoted following thanks to its cast (which includes Shohreh Aghdashloo, Colm Feore, and Campbell Scott), a stunning break-out performance by future Dexter star Carpenter, and Derrickson’s slick work behind the camera. It’s not high art, but Emily Rose is a solid bet. In fact, if the movie has a drawback, it’s a nearly two hour runtime. Ouch!
• Streaming: October 1

Fright Night (2011)

• Premise: When a new neighbor moves in next door, a young man (Anton Yelchin) discovers that the strange neighbor is an ancient vampire who preys on the community.
• Why Watch It?  I’ll never fully forgive Buffy writer Marti Noxon and original helmer Tom Holland for de-gaying the remake of one of the 80s big three queer vampire films (the other two are The Hunger and The Lost Boys, obviously). Setting aside that qualm, Fright Night 2011 is a lot of fun. It doesn’t hurt that the cast is outstanding: Yelchin (RIP) is a solid Charlie and he’s joined by Toni Collette as his mom, Imogen Poots as love interest Amy, and Dave Franco as best friend Mark (admittedly he’s barely present). But let’s be honest: if you’re watching this, it’s likely for David Tennant (cosplaying in leather as a knock-off Chris Angel) and a devastatingly attractive Colin Farrell as antagonist vampire Jerry. Overall Fright Night is a bit slight, but as far as 21st century remakes go, this once has aged surprisingly well.
• Streaming: October 1

Gretel & Hansel (2020)

• Premise: In a distant land, two siblings, Hansel (Samuel J. Leakey) and Gretel (Sophia Lillis), wander through the woods in search of food and work. When a mysterious lady (Alice Kirge) offers them a way out, they accept without thinking about the consequences.
• Why Watch It? Before he broke the box office with Longlegs, Oz Perkins was known for two things: his famous father and making “vibe” movies. Gretel & Hansel definitely falls into the latter category: it uses a well-known fairytale as its narrative foundation, but the visual look of the film is lush and textured (the golds and reds are perfect for autumn!). Oh, right, and Kirge is <chef’s kiss> perfect as the witch; it’s seriously genius level casting.
• Streaming: October 1

Heretic (2024)

• Premise: Two young Mormon women (Sophie Thatcher & Chloe East) are drawn into a game of cat-and-mouse in the house of a strange man (Hugh Grant).
• Why Watch It?  Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the writer/director pair behind this film, are famous for their high concept films. In addition to 2019’s underrated Haunt (a perennial fave around this time of year), they wrote the screenplay for A Quiet Place 1 & 2, as well as Adam Brody’s silly dinosaur movie 65 (a solid guilty pleasure). Heretic may be their most sophisticated film because it’s almost like a play: a three-handed wherein Thatcher, East and Grant debate religion, philosophy, and…board games? Make it a double bill with Barbarian and stay out of the basement!
• Streaming: October 1

The Human Centipede (2009) / The Human Centipede II (2011) / The Human Centipede III (2015)

• Premise:
  • First Sequence: A mad scientist (Dieter Laser) kidnaps and mutilates a trio of tourists in order to reassemble them into a human centipede, created by stitching their mouths to each others’ rectums.
  • Full Sequence: Inspired by the fictional Dr. Heiter, disturbed loner Martin (Laurence R. Harvey) dreams of creating a 12-person centipede and sets out to realize his sick fantasy.
  • Final Sequence: Taking inspiration from The Human Centipede films, the warden of a notorious and troubled prison (Laser again) looks to create a 500-person human centipede as a solution to his problems.

• Why Watch Them? I won’t pretend that these films are everyone’s cup of tea. For a lot of folks, these are either one and done or none and done. But if you’re looking for schlocky exploitation films where the title is exactly what you get, then Tubi has you covered. The Human Centipede films are ridiculous; they’re offensive; and they’re often garishly made. Credit to Tom Six for stumbling on to an utterly ridiculous premise and then driving it into the ground in just three movies. We’ll always have those internet memes, though!
• Streaming: October 1 

Late Night with the Devil (2023)

• Premise:A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.
• Why Watch It?  A brilliant play on real time/live TV event concept (see also: Ghostwatch), this low budget Australian film finally broke David Dastmalchian out of character actor jail and into leading man territory. It’s also got several great set pieces (my favorite is the hypnosis/worms bit).
• Streaming: October 1

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

• Premise:Four young friends bound by a tragic accident are reunited when they find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town.
• Why Watch It?  If you feel like this list was missing some quality slasher content, then rest assured that there’s at least one notable 1990s hack and slash making its Tubi debut this month. IKWYDLS is the not-at-all-faithful adaptation of Lois Duncan‘s YA thriller in which a group of kids commit vehicular manslaughter, cover up the crime, then pay the price the following year. Starring a WB-worthy foursome in SMG, Freddie Prince Jr, J. Love Hew, and Ryan Philippe, this Kevin Williamson film was derided as a Scream knock-off at the time. And so what if it is?! It’s a damn good time and features arguably the best chase scene in contemporary horror movie history.
• Streaming: October 1

Mr. Crocket (2024)

• Premise: A mother (Jerrika Hinton) embarks on a perilous quest to rescue her son (Ayden Gavin) from a demonic children’s show host who is kidnapping kids.
• Why Watch It? If the recent success of Buddy is any proof, horror audiences love a homicidal children’s show entertainer. Mr. Crocket quietly went under the radar back in 2024 when it debuted on Hulu, but it’s worth checking out for Elvis Nolasco‘s performance as the titular character, in addition to offering a nearly all Black take on the horrific concept.
• Streaming: October 1

X (2022) / Pearl (2022) / Maxxxine (2024)

• Premise:
  • X: In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in a rural Texas farm, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the crew find themselves fighting for their lives.
  • Pearl: In 1918, a young woman on the brink of madness pursues stardom in a desperate attempt to escape the drudgery, isolation, and lovelessness of life on her parents’ farm.
  • Maxxxine: In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.

• Why Watch Them? Ti West‘s X trilogy being available to stream in its entirety is the marathon we’ve been waiting for since we found out about Pearl and Maxxxine. What’s fun about the trilogy, aside from Mia Goth‘s outrageously entertaining trio of performances, is how each film has its ardent defenders. As a franchise, there are ups and downs, but the X films truly offer something for everyone depending on what you’re into. Why not settle in and make it a Goth night?
• Streaming: October 1

October Tubi Originals

R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2 (2026)

• Premise: Inspired by R.L. Stine’s beloved The Haunting Hour, R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2 follows Sam (Bean Reid) and Becka (Adeline Lo) as they race to stop a new Pumpkinhead curse from claiming the entire town of Redhaven. Read my review of the first entry here.
• Streaming: October 9

Bite Size Terror (2026)

• Premise: From executive producer Peter Rice and GJMD Studio, Bite Size Terror is an anthology of ten short-form horror stories that explores every corner of the genre — from the supernatural and occult to body horror, dark comedy, monsters, and the macabre.
• Streaming: October 11

Psycho Side Chick (2026)

• Premise: After being dumped by her married lover, a crazed woman fights to win him back and will get rid of anyone who stands in her way.
• Streaming: October 16

One Night Stand (2026)

• Premise: When a married man sleeps with a calculated serial killer, he must fight for his family’s survival before she obliterates everything he loves.
• Streaming: October 30

What’s your favorite from the list above? Will you check out the new Originals? Sound off in the comments below.

The post The Best Horror Movies Streaming on Tubi [October 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Scripted by Suzanne Keilly, the film concerns Nora (Siena Agudong, Carrie), a Sigma sorority sister who is more than a bit of a disaster. At the start of the movie, Nora is the designated sober sister on the night of a big party, but she fails in her duties, leaving sorority president Sarah (Frances Sholto-Douglas) irate. Not helping matters is the fact that Sarah has just broken up with her boyfriend, James (Dean Goldblum), and is about to get murdered.

Five weeks later, the rest of the Sigmas are ready to move on, but Nora can’t let the past go. As the only (partial) witness to the crime, Nora is adamant that James, who is now in custody, isn’t the killer. Nora believes that she saw something in her inebriated state, and the only way to recover those memories is to get wasted and activate Drunk Nora.

The first act of Buzzkill expeditiously kills off Sarah, lays out Nora’s drunken ambitions, and briefly stages a house intervention with the other sorority girls, among them Brec Bassinger’s southern belle Kendell, Angela Daytona Wu’s meek and agreeable Beth, and OCD cleaner Mika (Jessie Diepeveen). From there, the film is off to the races as the Sigmas contend with pranks from their rivals – the Deltas, host the first stop of a Greek beer crawl, and endeavor to keep Nora sober, lest she sabotage their plans.

Oh, and the killer is taking them out one by one.

Admittedly, the slasher elements, such as the murder set pieces and the killer’s university-themed mask, are fine, but they’re not the main reason to tune in. Rather, Buzzkill’s single greatest assets are watching Nora attempt to get drunk and Beth’s attempts to help her.

Not only is Agudong a charming disaster, but she brings plenty of comedy and warmth to a character that could be grating. Drunk Nora is a terror, but her determination to help, often by folly, makes for some great slapstick moments, and Agudong’s timing is impeccable.

Then there’s Daytona Wu AKA Buzzkill’s secret MVP. The Sigma sister who is routinely forgotten by the other girls is so hilariously amenable to helping Nora that she, at different points in the film, becomes her willing accomplice but is also game to wear a lampshade over her head for most of the third act. One very amusing sequence involves a large number of handcuffs.

In addition to being silly fun, Garrard directs the hell out of the film, deploying whip pans, flipping the camera during scuffles and, in the most inspired directorial touch, deploying red hued freeze frames to denote Drunk Nora’s memories of the past. These interludes are visually distinct from the rest of the film, and the way that Nora moves among the frozen figures to remember things her conscious/sober self has forgotten is visually evocative.

These memories, partnered with scribbles and words that Drunk Nora writes on herself in black sharpie, are the clues that help Nora to solve the mystery of Sarah’s murder and identify the killer. Of course, because Nora was drunk when she crafts them, they’re often ludicrously and maddeningly unhelpful, including the words “A Slut” Nora discovers on her forehead early on.

Watching Nora and Beth as they investigate while trying to procure more alcohol and avoid the judgement of their fellow sorority sisters proves to be great fun. The biggest challenge is that Buzzkill is so focused on its drunken Sherlock and helpful Watson pairing that it doesn’t leave a lot of room for the other girls to make an impression. Bassinger’s aspiring sorority President plays like a mean Elle Woods until her motivations are unpacked in the last act, but most of the other girls are one dimensional, defined by a single characteristic, and/or feel slightly interchangeable.

Despite this, Buzzkill goes down easy. Clocking in at a brief 95 minutes, with decent violence (think a slightly more bloody version of the Happy Death Day films) and featuring fantastic comedic work from Agudong and Daytona Wu, Buzzkill is another solid addition to Tubi’s growing list of comfort horror titles.

Buzzkill begins streaming on Tubi on September 25.

The post ‘Buzzkill’ Review: Siena Agudong Slays in Tubi’s Drunk Slasher Film appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It even, in the climax, attacks in mid-air.

Sometimes this is handled very seriously, and the personified object has a dangerous appeal. Just as often, however, the self-seriousness of Trees are Watching is at odds with its execution, which slips into silliness and occasionally even outright comedy. Expect at least some folks to mockingly refer to this as “the Eva Green flying chair movie.”

Green is Darya, a London-based writer whose area of expertise is the city of Mardin, Turkey, where she grew up. At the start of the film, she and her hearing-impaired daughter Connie fly in for a month-long writing retreat. Darya elects to stay at the home of a childhood friend, and the large, isolated house – with its two large and distinct trees – immediately becomes a visual focal point. The trees will, naturally, have an important role to play in the narrative.

Almost immediately, strange events begin to occur: Darya’s rental car breaks down unexpectedly on the road, and a news report on the radio indicates that this is the second consecutive summer with unexplained forest fires. Then there’s the mysterious figure of a woman that Darya first sees on the road, and then again in the backyard by one of the trees.

All of this precedes the moment when Connie, then Darya, realizes that one of the chairs is moving of its own accord.

The threatening furniture is part of a larger backstory involving Darya’s childhood, twin classmate sisters Nihal and Spin, and their relationship with their mother (Ozlem Tas). This unfolds in lengthy flashbacks and features a pair of great child actors, though the twists and turns of the past are not as complicated or twisty as Ghobadi’s screenplay believes them to be.

Nihal upsets her mother with a series of drawings which anticipate a dark, calamitous fate for the family matriarch. Nihal herself is then scared by (an admittedly creepy) plumber who tells her a tall tale while fixing the family’s toilet; as a result, the young girl is scarred to such a degree that she becomes fearful of going to the bathroom by herself. This pair of events – angering mom and being scared to flush – initiates a disastrous series of events* that carry deadly implications that reverberate from past to present.

*One of these is a sequence that can only call to mind the log truck crash that opens Final Destination 2, but sadly features unconvincing CGI logs, which flattens the visual impact. Still, it nevertheless earns a hearty chuckle.

Meanwhile, Darya processes her role in these events while contending with the return of adult Spin (Zeynep Çamci), who appears and disappears like a specter. The disgruntled childhood friend urges Darya to exact revenge on several authority figures from their childhood, which in turn takes Darya to plenty of scary locations, such as the house’s secluded basement, as well as the file room of their former school (sadly there’s no montage with microfiche, but it’s not far off).

So far, so familiar. Thankfully, Green, who has never met a genre project she doesn’t fully commit to, anchors the film along with the dedicated child actors. For long stretches, it’s the performances that carry Trees are Watching.

Even when the plot meanders or becomes fairly predictable (ie: the truth about what happened to the sisters and their mother or what is happening with the chair), Trees are Watching is visually appealing. Ghobadi and cinematographer Saba Mazloum favor plenty of overhead shots of the landscape to emphasize the clear-cut logging in the area, and a brief, but gorgeous survey of Mardin’s underground city feels sponsored by Turkey’s tourism board. Many of the scary bits are surprisingly effective, such as when Connie glimpses the shadow of the chair’s legs moving beneath a door or a fleeting, uncanny glimpse of the chair nuzzling one of the trees.

The visuals can only carry the movie so far, though. The nearly 1 hour 50 minute runtime doesn’t feel entirely earned, especially with regard to the mystery from the past. It’s far too obvious, though Ghobadi’s screenplay doesn’t seem to realize that, as evidenced by the fact that the climax treats the truth as a reveal.

By this point, the disconnect between the film’s more poetic, environmental, and philosophical underpinnings and its genre elements is clear. An earlier passage explores the often ironic way that individuals are reincarnated as wooden objects. This is a fascinating proposition, but it feels completely incongruous with other aspects of the film, such as Darya battling a flying chair in an empty pool or pleading with police officer Vedad (Murat Yildirim) about her sanity and going off her meds.

The tonal and narrative imbalance results in a film that feels at odds with itself. Trees are Watching simply never comes together, despite solid performances and several intriguing ideas. Chalk this one up as an interesting misfire. 

Trees Are Watching had its world premiere at TIFF 2026. Release information TBD.

The post ‘Trees Are Watching’ Review: Eva Green Can’t Save Imbalanced Supernatural Thriller [TIFF 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Adapted by Pisanthanakun, Thamsatid Charoenrittichai, and Chantavit Dhanasevi from the horror novel Tayard Asoon (“The Demon’s Heir”), Inherit introduces its antagonist roughly seven minutes into its 128-minute runtime and every moment afterwards that Hoorne isn’t on screen, the audience is left asking “where is Woranart?”

This is largely because Hoorne is doing exceptional work as the film’s vampy femme fatale: an 85-year-old woman who looks like a twenty-something (Hoorne is 34 IRL). The “grandma” maintains that she has used a sophisticated skincare and beauty regiment to maintain her youth, but the reality is, of course, that she is actually…a centipede demon.

Oh, and Woranart is on the hunt for a new human host because her current body is turning into a husk.

None of this is a spoiler because Inherit makes no effort to disguise where it’s going. Or at least not from the audience.

The characters populating the screen alongside Woranart are a whole other story, however, which is one of the film’s two fatal flaws: Woranart is so incredibly compelling that her relatives, the Manasvanichs, ie: the protagonists and the people the audience is meant to root for, are incredibly bland and uninteresting by comparison.

Grandma Woranart arrives following the death of Su’s (Sinjai Plengpanich) mother and, in no time at all, she worms her way into the family’s life. Her target is teenage daughter Oui (Baipor Thitiya Jirapornsilp), who has been chronically ill since childhood and (half) resents her sheltered life. Rounding out the family is Olarn (Tin Settachoke), the patriarch, and Oui’s two brothers: youngest Rangsan (Pakin Kunaanuwit) and oldest Roj (Pongsatorn Jongwilas). None of the men make much of an impression; in fact, both brothers could be removed entirely without affecting much of anything.

Woranart quickly gets to work undermining each member of the family, principally through visions that expose their greatest secrets and fears. Intriguingly each person has something to hide – ranging from a chemical leak at the factory owned by Olarn to Roj’s taboo sexual perversion – but these secrets never really amount to anything. Most of the film’s first two acts is taken up by Woranart tormenting the family, but none of these secrets carry any weight or impact, and – in at least one instance (Rangsan’s) – it is only revealed to the audience.

The suggestion that the whole family is corrupt or fallible should be an interesting counterpoint (or complement) to the “evil” that Woranart is inflicting on them, but the screenwriters never make that connection. Instead Inherit simply paints Woranart as the villain, while the family are the heroes that we’re meant to cheer on.

Things pick up dramatically in the last act as Woranart plots to possess Oui at her 18^th birthday party. By this time several disposable characters have been eliminated and a plan is enacted, leading to a heist-like climax that demands each member of the family play a specific role at a particular time.

After such a lengthy, often unwieldy runtime, the film’s other flaw, it’s nice that Inherit finishes with an exciting and sustained finale. Oddly enough it is Tien’s daughter, who is introduced more than halfway through the film, who gets the lion’s share of the interesting stuff to do, including a sequence where she and her associates must weave their way through an army of life-size sentient stone statues who attack at random.

While some of the film’s CGI looks a little dodgy, the aesthetic of these creatures, as well as a mummy-like creature who scares Rangsan under the house, feels appropriate for a supernatural thriller featuring a centipede demon. These scenes are hokey fun and play better than the more serious-minded social commentary about the Manasvanich family.

Ultimately, Inherit never overcomes its two greatest flaws: its boring non-Woranart characters and its drawn-out, over two-hour runtime. By the time the very fun climax kicks off, it feels like Inherit has overstayed its welcome and, since only Oui and Su really matter, everything to do with the bland family members feels like a chore.

Which is a shame, because the film is worth seeking out for Hoorne alone. Garbed in skin-tight outfits and blood red glasses, Woranart is alternately seductive, dangerous, and deceitful. It’s an exceptional performance that absolutely commands the screen and brings the entire movie to life.

If only the rest of the film around her were half as good. 

Inherit had its world premiere at TIFF 2026. Release information TBD.

The post ‘Inherit’ Review: Davika Hoorne Steals Supernatural Thriller From ‘Shutter’ Director [TIFF 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Stanislav is a writer with an aggressive form of bone cancer. Even after his surgery, his doctor doesn’t offer much of a hopeful prognosis: Stan’s body could easily reject the anti-cancer rod they inserted as a substitute; the risk of infection is high; and even if everything heals well, it’s still likely he’s only bought himself around five years.

With all of these mitigating factors, it’s no wonder that the rest of L’AUTRE plays out like a paranoid mid-life crisis around death and mortality. The film is purportedly based on a real-life traumatic hospital stay by Franchi, who does a nightmarishly good job of mining the horrors, discomforts, and inconveniences of the modern medical system, all while exploring Stan’s fragile state of mind following his life-changing surgery.

The title L’AUTRE loosely translates to The Other, which is where the more traditional (ie: genre) source of conflict comes from. Soon after Stan’s surgery, he acquires a roommate: gang member Darius (Bilel Chegrani), who was shot by the police and is in a coma.

Or so everyone says.

When no one else is around, Darius awakens to threaten to hurt or even kill Stan, as well as his girlfriend Bénédicte (Karine Gonthier-Hyndman) and her sister Fleur (Nahéma Ricci). But the threats only happen when the two men are alone, and Stan is on a lot of painkillers that call into question what he’s experiencing. The rest of the movie plays up the tension between whether Stan is, in fact, an unreliable narrator, or if he and his loved ones are actually in danger.

As far as conflicts go, this is relatively straightforward fare, and while the single location hospital room is clearly meant to feel claustrophobic, L’AUTRE occasionally just feels limited in scope. Franchi and cinematographer Steve Asselin help alleviate this by keeping the camera moving and varying their shot composition. This results in several striking visuals, such as a sequence where shadow and light make it seem as though Darius is looming over Stan behind the dividing curtain.

Even when Darius isn’t the threat, however, Stan is subjected to a thousand forms of discomfort thanks to a system that is both too crowded and chronically understaffed. From mixed-up medical charts and wrong medicine, to catheters getting pulled on, to nearly having his injured foot caught in an elevator door, Stan’s stay is just one messed up incident after another.

Anchoring everything is Cardinal, who appears onscreen for the entire film. Relegated to a bed for the movie’s runtime, Stan is, by default, a reactive character, but Cardinal imbues him with nothing but pain, rage, and desperation. The character may be physically immobile, but Cardinal has no difficulty conveying Stan’s struggles with his own mortality, his loss of agency, and what the future holds for him as a man, a boyfriend, and a wannabe father.

In that last capacity, Franchi does use a narrative and visual crutch to explore Stan’s complicated history with cancer and death. Early on, it is revealed that the character’s mother also died of the disease, and there are repeated dream sequences where Stan either remembers his mother or flees, as an adult, from the hospital in order to escape into the woods.

These moments aren’t bad, but they do come off a bit cliché, particularly when they dovetail into Stan’s strained relationship with his father and the fights Stan picks with Bénédicte about their future together. It should be good character work, but at times it just feels like the film is spinning its wheels and covering the same ground again.

What works best are the satirical elements that poke fun at everything from the gaps in the medical system to the way that people don’t know how to interact with the sick and dying. One of the strongest recurring gags is how everyone advises Stan to read a reductive book about staying positive while battling cancer. At best he finds it trite; at worst, it’s condescending. Either way, each time it pops up, the cancer book is a good bit.

Ultimately, while the threat posed by Darius isn’t always the most original or compelling source of conflict and the film’s limited scope occasionally feels too contained, it’s hard to deny the visceral impact of L’AUTRE. Ironically, the clear take-away is that the hospital is the least safe place for Stan to be. As a slice of medical horror – especially for anyone who has endured a traumatic stay within the chaos of the public health system- L’AUTRE is definitely triggering. 

L’AUTRE had its world premiere at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. Release info TBD. 

The post ‘L’AUTRE’ Review: A Paranoid Medical Satire Highlights Hospital Horrors [TIFF 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It’s no real surprise considering how often violence and sexuality intersect in his movies. Add in religion, and you get the trifecta of politically and culturally sensitive topics, which is why The Devils is his most notorious text.

Released in 1971 and starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, The Devils was a lightning rod for outrage and controversy. Six minutes of cuts were made by Warner Bros. before the film was even submitted to the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC), including the infamous “Rape of Christ” sequence in which nuns masturbate using a statue of Jesus.

Now, more than fifty years later, the film has been completely restored, and several scenes, notably those featuring graphic nudity, have been restored according to Russell’s original vision.

These scenes were technically reincorporated for the 117-minute Director’s Cut in 2002, though the quality of these previously unseen scenes was considered inferior. This new restoration hails from Warner Bros. Clockwork label and updates the entire film to 4K using the negative of the original 35mm.

In a bold move, when the film is released theatrically in October, it will be with an NC-17 rating from the MPA for “sexual content/graphic nudity.”

The Devils focuses on the town of Loudon, France, in 1634 in the wake of the religious wars between the Catholics and the Protestants. As a plague ravages the fortified town built into the mountains, Father Grandier (Reed) has assumed temporary leadership in the wake of the death of the Governor. This leaves the city vulnerable to the whims of opportunistic Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue), who is pressing King Louis XIII (Graham Armitage) to consolidate power (and eliminate the Protestant threat) by centralizing the government, removing feudal lords, and destroying any fortifications individual cities have.

When he vocally opposes this mission by publicly speaking out against the Baron de Laubardemont (Dudley Sutton), Grandier (and by extension Loudon) inadvertently puts himself in the crosshairs.

Not helping matters is the fact that, at the movie’s start, Grandier is something of a playboy scoundrel. His mere appearance in the Governor’s funeral procession is enough to cause a tizzy at the Ursuline convent, and he immediately breaks off his sexual affair with Philippe Trincant (Georgina Hale), the daughter of the Magistrate (John Woodvine), as soon as Grandier discovers she’s pregnant. Early on, he’s more than a bit of a charlatan, but over the course of the film, Grandier matures, finds the love of a good woman (Gemma Jones’ Madeleine de Brou), and even marries her.

Naturally, all of this growth occurs at the same time that his enemies are moving against him. In addition to Richelieu and Laubardemont’s plot, Grandier offends “the chemist and the surgeon” (Max Adrian and Brian Murphy), the local witch doctors whose experimental cures are worse than any malady, as well as the hunchbacked Sister Jeanne des Anges (Redgrave), the Mother Superior of the convent who is so sexually obsessed with Grandier that she has divine (sexy) visions of him as Jesus.

Grandier offends Jeanne by refusing to become Usuline’s official Confessor (he sends Murray Melvin’s sniveling, bowl-cut Father Mignon in his place), then makes matters worse by marrying Madeleine, prompting Jeanne to – in a moment of petty jealousy and spite – lie that Grandier colluded with the Devil to seduce her and her charges.

This accusation allows Laubardemont to circumvent the King’s reticence to make an example of Loudon, and the Baron quickly brings in an inquisitor, Father Pierre Barre (Beatles-lookalike Michael Gothard), to assist him. In short order, Sister Jeane has been raped under the guise of an exorcism, the entire convent has gone completely (sexually) insane, and Grandier, upon his return, becomes the subject of a literal witch hunt as he is arrested, tried in a circus court, and ultimately burned at the stake as the lone rational figure in town.

The Devils is based on a real-life religious figure, though Russell principally based his screenplay on Aldous Huxley’s novel The Devils of Loudon. The film is a masterclass of satire and condemnation of religious hypocrisy, unfettered power, and the way that truth can become lost to hysteria. It’s hard not to see the direct parallels to modern politics in the film, particularly in the climax when Grandier is subjected to terrible torture and ordered to confess to imaginary crimes by his oppressors, all of whom claim to represent the divine but willfully overlook truth and justice to serve their own desires.

The tragedy of The Devils is that the people in power do not care about the truth or the people of the town/convent; they simply use them to get what they want, collateral damage (ie: innocents) be damned.

Thematics aside, The Devils is a stunning visual feast. The scale and the scope of the set design, created by first-time film production designer Derek Jarman, is a glory unto itself, particularly the clean white tiles of Ursuline and Grandier’s rocky attic chamber with its circular stairwell. A personal favourite is the single scene set within the Catholic library where Richelieu is wheeled around by nuns on a dolly; this set boasts a set of doors two stories tall in the shape of a blood red cross.

Russell and director of photography David Watkin shoot the film like a beautiful nightmare, framing characters through barred windows, tongue piercers, and Dutch angles. During the feverish “Rape of Christ” sequence, as naked nuns use the fallen statue of Jesus to rub their dirty bits, the camera frantically zooms in and out while Mignon stands high above on a ladder, watching and masturbating.

These scenes of interior debauchery are contrasted by the soft ethereal glow of Sister Jeanne’s Nature-based religious visions and nicely juxtaposed by the Misery-level torture porn inflicted on the Christ-like figure when Barre gleefully breaks Grandier’s legs. The beauty and the grotesque splendor of the film have never been so evident as in this restored version.

All of this sexual hysteria and religious mania is grounded by two career best performances by Redgrave and Reed. Jeanne could have easily been a pathetic figure, but Redgrave imbues her Mother Superior with such incredible sexual longing and desperation; like the oft misunderstood girls of The Crucible, the character is equal parts villainous and tragic. It’s a vibrant and committed performance, with an incredible physicality to it, that one wishes Jeanne was in the film more.

The other half of the equation is Reed, who is arguably saddled with the more conventional de facto protagonist role. Still, Grandier’s arc is the foundation of the film: he starts off as a mostly well-intentioned leader who is also a complete scoundrel when it comes to women. By film’s end, he is a Christ-like martyr who symbolically represents everything wrong with politics and the church. But Reed never forgets to make Grandier a mere mortal man: he is grounded by his love for Madeleine; he rages against injustice; and he screams in agony and admits to being scared before he dies. It’s a deeply human performance…all while rocking one of the most glorious handlebar moustaches ever committed to celluloid.

Since its debut, The Devils has been one of the most difficult-to-screen films in cinema history due to censorship and rights issues (ironically enough, blame WB for keeping it out of the public eye for most of the last fifty years). This new restored 4K is the defining version of the film; this is how it was meant to be seen – both technically and with its previously censored scenes restored. The result is one of cinema’s most controversial works, resplendently preserved in all of its outrageous button-pushing glory.

The Devils is Ken Russell’s defining film; it is incredibly important cinematically and historically, and – more importantly – it’s just a really, really great movie. 

The 4K restoration of The Devils screened at TIFF and releases in theaters for one week on October 16 in North America and October 30 in the UK and Ireland.

The post ‘The Devils’ Review: Ken Russell’s Masterpiece Has Never Been More Relevant Or Beautiful [TIFF 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

New to Tubi September Horror Films

1408 (2007)

• Premise: Author Michael Enslin (John Cusack), who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences, checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel in New York City, settles in, and soon confronts genuine terror.
• Why Watch It? We’ve rarely had a period without a slate of Stephen King adaptations, though there are certainly fallow periods (and bad titles). 2007 was a mixed bag: sure, this is the year The Mist came out, but it was a financial failure at the time. Both The Mist and this were also coming out in the wake of films like Secret Window (mixed reception) and Dreamcatcher (an abysmal failure). 1408 won’t go down as the best King adaptation, but director Mikael Håfström gets the job done visually and Cusack, even when he’s being a bit of a dick, provides a warm likability that anchors the production. This one’s solid.
• Streaming: Sept 24

3 From Hell (2019)

• Premise: After barely surviving prison, the demented Firefly clan goes on the run, unleashing a whole new wave of murder, madness, and mayhem.
• Why Watch It? Although 3 From Hell isn’t the magnum opus of the Firefly trilogy (that would be The Devil’s Rejects for my money), for fans of Rob Zombie‘s brand of redneck grindhouse/exploitation / horror, this trilogy caper has its appeal. Tragically, Sid Haig was quite ill, so Captain Spaulding’s more expansive role was cut back in favor of Richard Brake‘s Foxy (he fits in well in this world, but it’s hard not to want more of Haig and Spaulding). Still, if you wanna see the epic conclusion to the tale, as well as plenty of genre faves – including Dee Wallace, Danny Trejo, Clint Howard, and Barry Bostwick (as the narrator) – why not make the trip to Mexico?
• Streaming: Sept 1

Beau Is Afraid (2023)

• Premise: Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man (Joaquin Phoenix) confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic odyssey back home.
• Why Watch It? Fancy a panic attack? While Ari Aster’s 2023 film wasn’t received any where as warmly as his more popular films (Hereditary, Midsommar), this nearly three hour opus is one slow anxiety-inducing nightmare. Similar in tone to the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems, this is a secret horror movie that continually tightens the noose the further Beau’s journey takes him.
• Streaming: Sept 1

The Descent (2005) 

• Premise: A caving expedition goes horribly wrong when six explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.
• Why Watch It? Neil Marshall‘s spelunking film is, to this day, one of the most terrifying contemporary horror films. Expertly crafted using a specific lighting strategy to denote characters, featuring dancers as creatures, and boasting a compelling human drama, nothing Marshall has done since has come close to recapturing this film’s power. It’s feminist AF; it’s a gory creature feature; before that, it’s a really claustrophobic climbing film. It’s a perfect film!
  • The inferior sequel is also a movie that exists that you can watch this month.
• Streaming: Sept 1

Dracula 2000 (2000)

• Premise: Dracula (Gerard Butler) slakes his blood thirst and renews his search for love in New Orleans.
• Why Watch It? If you’ve never seen this movie, then you are in for a cheesy good time. This is a BAD movie, but it is also an enjoyable one. Bless Butler, who is playing this incredibly straight while his brides, including Jennifer Esposito and “Graduation (Friends Forever)” Vitamin C (!) hilariously vamp it up. Patrick Lussier was desperate to get out from under Wes Craven’s shadow and prove his chops as a theatrical feature writer/directo and while this may appear to be a terrible calling card, Lussier would go on to helm not just the 2003 sequel, but also the 2005 threequel!
• Streaming: Sept 1

Ghostbusters II (1989)

• Premise: The discovery of a massive river of ectoplasm and a resurgence of spectral activity allows the staff of Ghostbusters to revive the business.
• Why Watch It? Look, no one is going to pretend the 1989 sequel is superior to Ivan Reitman‘s 1984 classic. But it is sorta fun to see the band get back together for a new adventure. Peter MacNicol gets plenty to do as human antagonist Janosz Poha (incredible name), the haunted painting has always been creepy, and the river of slime is a pretty evocative image. If anything, the sequel suffers from depreciating returns because it is too much of a carbon copy, but time has softened some of those criticisms. Ghostbusters II is inoffensive and overdue for a rewatch, especially if you’ve watched the OG a billion times already.
• Streaming: Sept 1

My Bloody Valentine (2009)

• Premise: Tom (Jensen Ackles) returns to his hometown on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine’s night massacre that claimed the lives of 22 people. Instead of a homecoming, Tom finds himself suspected of committing the murders, and it seems like his old flame (Jaime King) is the only one who believes he’s innocent.
• Why Watch It? This is a MUCH better time than Lussier’s other title on this list (the aforementioned Dracula 2000). Because it’s a late aughts horror film, it is (naturally) also a remake of an 80s slasher. The trick to enjoying this film is to ignore the logistical impossibilities of its ill-advised “twist” in favor of appreciating sequences like the grocery store set piece. Simply settle back and revel in a time when every star on the CW got their kick at a slasher remake. (Also: Tom Atkins!)
• Streaming: Sept 1

Presence (2024)

• Premise: A family becomes convinced they are not alone after moving into their new home in the suburbs.
• Why Watch It? In addition to featuring Lucy Liu as the mother, this high concept Steven Soderbergh film was hailed for its novel premise. It’s definitely a slow burn, but worth checking out if only to marvel at how Soderbergh, working as his own cinematographer under the name “Peter Andrews”, shoots the film from the ghost’s perspective. Just be warned: the script from David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Panic Room, etc) thinks it’s a bit more clever than it actually is.
• Streaming: Sept 7

The Ruins (2008)

• Premise: A leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when a group of friends and a fellow tourist embark on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins.
• Why Watch It? Writer Scott B Smith’s adaptation of his own bestseller was always going to be a tough sell (vines that kill?), but in queer director Carter Smith‘s capable hands, the body horror carnage inflicted on the film’s American College students is pure nightmare fuel. Come for underrated scream queen (and frequent Smith collaborator) Jena Malone and stay for the horrible shit that happens to Laura Ramsey’s Stacy.
• Streaming: Sept 1

Sorority Row (2009)

• Premise: A killer threatens to expose the fatal secret binding a group of sorority sisters.
• Why Watch It? The recent announcement of a brand new 4K release has reignited interest in this title, which is another remake of an 80s slasher (sound familiar?) The difference is that Sorority Row has a campy mean streak to it, unlike many other films of this era. Not only are some of the kills verging on cruel (RIP Carrie Fisher’s house mom Mrs. Crenshaw), but the film has a secret MVP in Leah Pipe’s abhorrent (ie: delightfully bitchy) sorority girl Jessica. Yes, the Greek sisters are lacking in camaraderie, but you’ll hardly notice when you’re having a blast.
• Streaming: Sept 1

September Tubi Originals

The Deliver Girl (2026)

• Premise: An insurance adjuster’s mundane life spirals into a nightmare when a food delivery worker develops a deadly obsession with him.
• Streaming: Sept 11

What’s your favorite from the list above? Will you check out the new Original? Sound off in the comments below.

The post The 10 Best Horror Movies Streaming on Tubi [September 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

We couldn’t think of a better title than one of the queerest films of all time: Richard O’Brien and Jim Sharman‘s cult classic, midnight musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).

In this campy, vampy ode to science fiction films of the past, Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) find themselves stranded at a strange Frankenstein castle during a storm. There they meet a strange band of residents, including handyman Riff Raff (O’Brien), maid Magenta (Patricia Quinn) and the mad doctor himself, Frank-N-Furter (the incomparable Tim Curry).

After being shown the lab, the group finds a specimen of a man on the slab: Rocky (Peter Hinwood), who throws the castle into chaos. Add in biker Eddie (Meatloaf), his lover/groupie Columbia (Little Nell) and a myriad of “Transylvanian” conventionalists and there’s plenty of music, madness, and mania to go around!

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 400: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Come do the Time Warp with us as Horror Queers celebrates 400 episodes with The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).

Created by Richard O’Brien and Jim Sharman, we track the film’s origin from successful stage musical to box office failure to midnight cult phenomenon.

Plus: all things Tim Curry; shadow casts; our favorite musical numbers; contemporary complaints of misogyny and ableism; and celebrating unapologetic queer sexuality.

Cross out The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

Coming Up Next: We’re travelling back to 1971 to discuss a film that’s bounced around our schedule more than any other. For its 55th anniversary, we’re looking at Let’s Scare Jessica To Death.

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 513 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S03 Episodes 7 & 8, Influencer, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Insidious: Out of the Further, and an audio commentary on 2022’s Fall in anticipation of its sequel, Fall 2: Deadpoint, coming out next month.

The post Celebrating 400 Episodes With Queer Cult Classic ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In the sequel to 2022’s Influencer, CW (Cassandra Naud) has miraculously escaped being stranded on a Thai island and made her way to Paris, where she’s begun a relationship with Diane (Lisa Delamar). Meanwhile, life has gone to hell for her victim/survivor Madison (Emily Tennant), who is doxxed and disbelieved on the internet.

Determined to prove her side of the story, Madison follows a social media trail that takes her from France to Bali as prey becomes predator.

Do new influencers like Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) or conservative couple Cameron (Dylan Playfair) and Ariana (Veronica Long) stand a chance? Can Madison figure out CW’s new pattern or will she be thwarted a second time? And when the two women inevitably meet, will one of them finally end up dead?

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 399: Influencers (2025) Audio Commentary

We’re trying something different: an original audio commentary on the Main Feed! Simply queue up Kurtis David Harder’s Influencer sequel, Influencers (2025), on Shudder and hit play to watch – and listen – along with us!

The sequel follows the continuing battle of wills between Cassandra Naud’s CW and Emily Tennant’s Madison, with new influencers caught in the mix.

Plus: why the sequel works even better for us; Joe’s inability to remember Georgina Campbell’s character’s name; alt-right cucking; and the ending that has us cackling and pleading for a trilogy capper.

Cross out Influencers!

Coming Up Next: We’re celebrating a milestone that’s ~7 years in the making as Horror Queers hits 400 episodes on the Main Feed! To commemorate this momentous occasion, we’re doing the Time Warp with 1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 513 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S03 Episodes 7 & 8, Influencer, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Insidious: Out of the Further, and an audio commentary on 2022’s Fall in anticipation of its sequel, Fall 2: Deadpoint, coming out next month.

The post ‘Influencers’ Is The Rare Sequel That’s Better and Gayer Than The Original [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In the film, two teenagers come together in 1996 over a Buffy-coded genre TV show called The Pink Opaque. Owen (Justice Smith) is awkward and sheltered, while Maddy (Jack Haven) is wise and determined. They bond over the show and…something else, but things change when Maddy disappears one night.

A decade later, Owen and Maddy reconnect for a single, devastating night when the latter returns to make the former an offer to leave their worldly existence behind. Will Owen accept a once in a lifetime offer, even if it seems scary? Or will he live to regret his choice?

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 398: I Saw The TV Glow (2024) feat. Robyn Adams and Ari Drew

Pack your episode guide and look out for Mr. Melancholy because we’re hunkering down for a Saturday night viewing of The Pink Opaque in Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow! Tagging in for the conversation are former guests Robyn Adams and Ari Drew, who provide some much-needed musical expertise.

Join us as we go all in on this abstract little film that packs one hell of an emotional wallop. From its trans allegory to its ’90s nostalgia, there’s a lot to unpack here!

Cross out I Saw The TV Glow!

Coming Up Next: We’re double dipping into Kurtis David Harder’s cautionary travel tale with a Main Feed audio commentary on Influencers (2025) and a Patreon minisode on the 2022 original.

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 513 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S03 Episodes 7 & 8, Influencer, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Insidious: Out of the Further, and an audio commentary on 2022’s Fall in anticipation of its sequel, Fall 2: Deadpoint, coming out next month.

The post There Is Still Time to Revisit ‘I Saw The TV Glow’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The rest of the film, written by Katie Boland and directed by Annie Bradley, follows adult Elizabeth (now played by Sara Paxton) on the anniversary of her mother’s death. Liz is in a stable relationship with lawyer Dan (Hamza Haq), manages her own book store/consignment shop/bar (the details are confusing), and is expecting her first child. But when she encounters an old clown at the annual fair and is subsequently accosted by Maddie (Hannah Forest Briand), a belligerent true crime podcaster, on her front lawn, Liz almost immediately miscarries.

In the aftermath of the dual traumas, Liz embarks on an investigation to uncover the details of her mother’s unsolved murder. In the process, she digs up new information that makes her question the nature of her father Reed’s (David Cubitt) relationship with stepmother Ana (Mary Krohnert), butts heads with unhelpful Sheriff Vernon (James Burke), and reaches out to her schizophrenic aunt Helen (Fiona Highet), whom she’s never met.

Killer Clown could have easily been called Who’s Gaslighting Liz? because it’s evident early on that people have been lying to Liz her whole life. She’s repeatedly made to question her own sanity, and even Dan – whose support initially seems unwavering – at one point asks her to give up her search in order to protect their relationship.

Part of his concern is that Liz has begun seeing the same clown that attacked her mother when she was five. It lures her out of her house with a bouquet of balloons that explode fake blood on her face; it stalks Liz in the parking garage of her doctor’s office; and it even attacks Aunt Helen in her house. Tellingly, though, the clown never appears when other people, especially men, are around, which makes Liz (and, by extension, the audience) question whether her mind is playing tricks on her.

It’s telling how often the men in Liz’s life question whether the trauma of the miscarriage and the anniversary are playing with her mind. At one point, Liz’s father even suggests that there’s a history of mental illness on the female side of the family. This is well worn territory for female-led thrillers and horror films, and for good reason: women continue to be disbelieved and told they’re hysterical when they try to speak out. It’s a trope of the genre not only because it makes for good conflict, but because the problem persists in real life.

One of the more enjoyable aspects of the film, though, is how often Liz pushes back against the gaslighting. When asked how she is, Liz frequently exclaims a variation of “not great!” and even when Dan, Reed, or Ana suggests she take it easy, Liz refuses to let her investigation go. As heroines go, Paxton mostly plays Liz as somewhat passive, but her doggedness is endearing, particularly in the back half of the film when it’s clear that folks aren’t being entirely truthful with her.

Of course, the other interesting element about Killer Clown is its connection to true crime. WARNING: Spoilers Ahead! The film is based loosely on reality, with ties to the murder of Marlene Warren in May 1996.

According to People.com: “Warren opened the door of her home…to what appeared to be a delivery person dressed as a clown with balloons and a basket of flowers. Moments later, the assailant shot Marlene in the mouth and calmly walked to the LeBaron parked in the driveway and drove off.

“For years, authorities suspected Sheila Keen, then 26, who was having an affair with Marlene’s husband, Michael Warren, but said they didn’t have enough evidence at the time to convict her.”

Sheila would eventually marry Michael, but 27 years later, DNA evidence implicated her in Marlene’s murder, and she was sent to jail (she has since been released).

It’s worth noting that in real life, Marlene’s son Joseph was home and witnessed his mother’s death, just like Liz does in Killer Clown. And while the killer’s identity in the film doesn’t map onto the real-life details of the case 1-for-1, the motivation and details behind the crime aren’t too far off. It’s an intriguing adaptation choice for a film that otherwise takes a lot of liberties.

Considering its title, Killer Clown isn’t as campy or salacious as Lifetime audiences may have hoped for. The reality is that the film is more rooted in Liz’s trauma and her inability to move past the thirty-year grief that has defined her life. As a drama with elevated stakes, it’s solid, and Paxton’s understated performance helps to ground the narrative with a real sense of emotion.

As for horror beats: there are a few unsettling clown-related moments, and Bradley makes good use of the fair-set scenes, including a climax that heavily features both a hedge maze and a purple-lit funhouse full of mirrors.

Killer Clown premiered on Lifetime on August 1.

The post ‘Killer Clown’ Review: Gaslighting is the Real Villain in Lifetime Killer Clown Thriller appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Starring Jimmy Stewart as a cad photographer with a broken leg and Grace Kelly as his too-perfect girlfriend, the film documents the perils of voyeurism as L.B. Jeffries (Stewart) becomes obsessed with spying on his neighbors.

When he begins to suspect that Thorwald (Raymond Burr) has murdered his wife, Jeffries puts his life, as well as the lives of his girlfriend Lisa (Kelly) and his nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter), in danger to discover the truth.

Will they find the missing body or is the crime all in their head?

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 397: Rear Window (1954)

Break out that telephoto lens because we are spying on the neighbors with Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 masterpiece, Rear Window.

Part technical exercise (a la Rope), part treatise on marriage and gender roles, the film finds Jimmy Stewart debating Grace Kelly while trying to solve a potential murder across the courtyard.

Plus: remakes (both official and not); immaculate wardrobes; Raymond Burr’s real-life queerness; and debate about who “wins” at film’s end.

Cross out Rear Window!

Coming Up Next: In honor of Jane Schoenbrun’s latest film, we’re opening up the Patreon vault for our supersized episode on their second film, I Saw The TV Glow (2024).

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 513 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S03 Episodes 7 & 8, Influencer, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Insidious: Out of the Further, and an audio commentary on 2022’s Fall in anticipation of its sequel, Fall 2: Deadpoint, coming out next month.

The post Voyeurism is On The Menu in Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

New to Tubi August Horror Films

Bambi: The Reckoning (2025), Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare (2025), and Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood And Honey 2 (2024)

• Premise: Piglet, Owl, and Tigger take their fight to Ashdown. A mutated, vengeful deer stalks a mother & son following a car accident. Meanwhile, Wendy Darling strikes out in an attempt to rescue her brother Michael from the clutches of the evil Peter Pan.
• Why Watch Them? Look, you can refuse to submit to the Twisted Childhood Universe (aka Poohniverse), but the reality is that Jagged Edge Productions are building up to a literal film called Monsters Assemble in the next year or so. Plus: some of these films are the very definition of dumb fun. Stop resisting and give in to the madness – it’s free!
• Streaming: All August 10

The Blackening (2022)

• Premise: Seven friends go away for the weekend and end up trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not.
• Why Watch It? In a just world, The Blackening would have done the same kind of business as Scream or even Scary Movie. This slasher movie satire is just as witty as the former, as arguably more funny than the latter. To be clear: the Tim Story movie did fine ($18.6M gross on a $5M budget), and it has a sequel in development (though it’s been a while since we’ve gotten an update), but it still feels like a lot of horror fans slept on The Blackening. Rectify that immediately!
• Streaming: August 1

Ghost Rider (2007) & Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance (2011)

• Premise: A motorcycle stuntman who sold his soul becomes a supernatural agent of vengeance. In the sequel, Johnny Blaze gets a chance of redemption by protecting the Devil’s son, whose father is pursuing him.
• Why Watch Them? If you saw the fuss at ComicCon earlier this week, you know that Ghost Rider is returning with Ryan Gosling playing the lead role. Expect the Shawn Levy version to look very different from the Mark Steven Johnson-directed original and its sequel, which hails from Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the duo behind the Crank films. Obviously the draw for both of these original films is Nicolas Cage  (in full Nic Cage mode), though the not-great CGI is a slight deterrent. Still, with Blaze back in the public consciousness, aren’t you curious to revisit?
• Streaming: August 1

Ghost Stories (2017)

• Premise: After receiving a file with details of three unexplained cases of apparitions, skeptical professor Phillip Goodman embarks on a terrifying trip.
• Why Watch It? This UK anthology is based on Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman‘s 2010 stage play of the same name. The film got good reviews upon its release (we’re looking at an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes), and it has Martin Freeman in a supporting role. I’ve never seen it, but considering the slim pickings this month, this is arguably one of the best options if you’re cruising Tubi for free content.
• Streaming: August 1

Imaginary (2024)

• Premise: A woman returns to her childhood home to discover that the imaginary friend she left behind is very real and unhappy that she abandoned him.
• Why Watch It? Alright look, by now you’ve probably realized that Tubi is treating August like the dog days of summer and giving us the scraps. Imaginary is a dog of a film: boring, full of wasted potential, and a criminal waste of star DeWanda Wise. It’s real bad, so why not stock up your guilty pleasure snacks, grab a drink or two, and do a Jeff Wadlow double bill with this and his new Amazon shark movie?
• Streaming: August 4

Mimic (1997)

• Premise: Three years ago, entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler genetically created an insect to kill cockroaches carrying a virulent disease. Now the insects are out to destroy their only predator: mankind.
• Why Watch It? Guillermo del Toro‘s first US film was famously a disaster as he butted heads with the Weinstein brothers at Dimension. Even though parts of the film don’t work, however, it’s still very much a del Toro film, including his trademark practical creatures. Throw in a subject matter that feels oddly prescient (humanity playing god accidentally creates something even worse) a totally solid Mira Sorvino, and it’s a decent time. Plus: anytime you see Jeremy Northam, it feels like a blast from the past! (See also: The Net)
• Streaming: August 1

Scream: The TV Series (2015)

• Premise: A serialized series that follows a group of teenagers being targeted by a masked serial killer.
• Why Watch It? Credit to the series for trying something kind of different. Four years after the failure of Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s Scream 4, MTV tried their hand at a TV show that discarded Sidney, Gale, Dewey and even the traditional Ghostface mask. Starring a then-unknown Willa Fitzgerald, the series tried to improve on the model that CBS’ Harper’s Island never managed to crack: a weekly serialized slasher. It kinda worked: the TV series ran for two years before it went dark, before returning in anthology form in 2019 for one final abbreviated season. Scream: The TV Series isn’t wholly successful, but it is a curiosity, especially if you missed it a decade ago.
• Streaming: August 1

They (2002)

• Premise: A psychology student and her friends start to have nightmares, resulting in strange marks appearing on their bodies.
• Why Watch It? Speaking of Wes Craven! Remember when the master of horror used to “present” – ie: throw his name onto – any generic piece of sh*t horror film? This is one of them! (Or if it “one of they”?) Yeah, look, no one is pretending that The Hitcher director Richard Harmon made a masterpiece, but the cast, which includes Buffy‘s Marc Blucas, Dead Silence‘s Laura Regan, and Ethan Embry suggests this should be watchable (spoiler alert: it’s not!)
• Streaming: August 1

August Tubi Originals

A Good Man 3 (2026)

• Premise: When Ethan starts using a secret dating app for spouses seeking affairs, a romantic connection forces him to question his morals as police close in.
• Streaming: August 7

My Husband’s Sister (2026)

• Premise:After surviving cancer, a millionaire real estate mogul finds love—until her new husband’s obsessive foster sister turns it into a nightmare.
• Streaming: August 21

What’s your favorite from the list above? Will you check out the new Original? Sound off in the comments below.

The post The 10 Best Horror Movies Streaming on Tubi [August 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After walking Amanda through a Primer on the case, which seems like an open and shut indictment of Albert DeSalvo (until it gets muddied by conspiracy and possible corruption by the Boston PD), we tackled three very different films:

1. 1964’s The Strangler: Burt Topper directs Whatever Happened to Baby Jane actor Victor Buono in a slice of 60s pop psychology that tries to inject a weird doll fetish into the proceedings. The real life details of the case mostly fall by the wayside, in large part because DeSalvo wasn’t implicated in the murders until after this film’s release. Still, Buono’s performance is pretty astounding!
2. 1968’s The Boston Strangler: The best of this month’s three films, though it is less for Tony Curtis‘ take on the killer than its use of split screens by cinematographer Richard H. Kline and editor Marion Rothman. It’s magnificently entertaining, though the back half slows down too much when it comes time to let Curtis do his thing.
3. 2023’s Boston Strangler: This is the film that finally prioritizes women…although not the victims. The straight-to-Hulu film (which I reviewed for Bloody back in the day) stars Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon as Record American reporters, but writer/director Matt Ruskin’s thesis, which boils down to “it’s hard for women in the workforce,” feels overly simplistic. In hindsight, this one is mostly just a boring misfire.

Next month: For August, we’re turning our attention to John List, the family annihilator who went on to inspire 1987’s The Stepfather. We’ll partner that up with the 2009 remake, starring YOU‘s Penn Badgley (!), as well as the 2026 Tubi version starring Taye Diggs (!!)

Want even more true crime adaptations and Murder Made Fiction? Support the show on Patreon to listen to our coverage of Elle Fanning in The Girl From Plainville and Ryan Murphy’s The Watcher Netflix series, as well as full-length primers and 160+ hours of bonus content.

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As fans of Shimizu’s work know, it’s never quite so straightforward. The Japanese director, best known for the Ju-on films, delights in non-linear narratives and haunting specters. In this capacity, The Mouths more or less adheres to formula.

The screenplay was written by Masahiro Yamaura and adapts Sesuji’s novella A Questionnaire About the Mouth. The source material provides a framing device that opens the film before it is swiftly forgotten, only to return in the film’s closing moments in highly amusing fashion.

In between, the film tells the story of four friends who investigate an urban legend of a cursed tree, including soft-spoken Shota (Rihito Itagaki), sensitive Mirei (Momona Kasahara), outgoing Ann (Ai Yoshikawa), and her boastful boyfriend Tatsuya (Keito Tsuna).

Initially, the action seems straightforward: the four teens drive to the cemetery, discussing what Shota heard about the tree with a brief pause at a convenience store in between. Throughout all of these early scenes, the interaction among the teens hints at a complicated dynamic, including a minor spat between Ann and Tatsuya, and Shota’s brief but meaningful glance at Ann in the rearview mirror. These sequences are regularly interrupted by direct address police interviews as present-day Shota, Tatsuya, and Mirei make ominous declarations about the events of that evening.

The first act works because The Mouths is slowly building tension around what happened. It’s obvious from their statements that things will go awry, but Yamaura’s script teases things out. Even when they arrive at the cemetery, rather than proceed directly to the cursed object, the action pauses so Shota can propose a specific course of action: they will proceed to the tree, individually, in a specific order. The wait for the action to kick in is both tantalizing and agonizing.

First up: Shota, followed by Tatsuya, then Ann. Mirei, meanwhile, becomes increasingly reticent, which alarms the others who have already noted her sensitivity to otherworldly phenomena.

When Ann disappears, the film moves into a new act as the remaining members of the group search for her while seemingly being haunted by both her and the tree. This is where Shimizu’s penchant for ghostly figures lurking in the background and peeking around corners comes to the forefront, including one stand-out moment that leans into the curse’s origin: the visual of a hanged woman with a grotesquely stretched neck.

The middle stretch feels a little too familiar to the director’s work, however, so it’s exciting when the last act upends much of what we thought we knew. There is a reason that the film is called The Mouths: not only are most of these people revealed to be unreliable narrators, but it is revealed that several interactions throughout the film were manipulated by characters with malicious intent. These people are not quite what they seemed.

This revisionist filter on the events of the movie’s first half is provocative and enticing, though the creative team struggles to execute it without devolving into messy confusion. There’s at least one plot beat that should be a massive revelation, but both the visuals and the dialogue render it quite confusing, which robs the moment of some of its power. This is a shame, because the last act is what makes the film stand out from other curse/ghost movies.

The performances of the main four teens are solid, with Itagaki getting to show the most range. Many of the supporting characters, including a pair of frenemies who also become involved in the curse, as well as the detective investigating the case, feel a bit superfluous; the film would have benefitted from cutting back some of these scenes or, alternately, beefing up a few of these roles to justify their inclusion.

The Mouths’ other big element is its sound design. The area around the tree is surrounded by wet mud that slurps and sucks at shoes, while the cursed bark is covered in cicadas, whose distinctive buzz and crunchy shells provide evocative foley.

Overall, The Mouths is a solid but slightly inessential addition to Shimizu’s filmography. For the auteur’s fans, there’s plenty to appreciate, particularly the way the Japanese master sets up scares and pays them off, including good moments in a library and later when the detective is driving. On the other hand, the film’s big reveal is handled so clumsily that its potency is disappointingly muted.

The Mouths is a decent time, but it’s hard to overlook some of its weaknesses.

The Mouths made its North American premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival. Release info TBD.

The post ‘The Mouths’ Review: Takashi Shimizu’s Cursed Tree Horror Stumbles at the Finish [Fantasia 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The action starts off immediately as a teen girl (Morgan Saunders) survives a brutal encounter that requires a sad familial sacrifice. This is eventually revealed to be a haunting incident from Lucia’s (Toni Ellwand) childhood; the woman is now a mother of three adult children: Franky (Oliver Renaud), Angela (Cristina Rosato) and protagonist Gino (Marc Bendavid).

Gino isn’t exactly the black sheep of the family, but he is the subject of the family’s judgmental commentary. Whereas his older siblings have promising careers and are married, to Marissa (Celia Owen) and Trevor (David Light) respectively, Gino still lives at home, works as a paint specialist, and hasn’t dated anyone since his ex, Rene (Shailene Garnett). The fact that they broke up because he never told his family they were dating speaks volumes about both Gino and his relationship with his family.

When the extended clan gathers for Christmas dinner, the reverie is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Gino’s Nonna (Jacqueline Robbins) in the kitchen making her famously too-salty pasta sauce. The only problem: Nonna has been dead for a while.

Unlike most other zombie films, Unholy Dead gets a lot of mileage out of its unique depiction of zombies. Plural, because Nonna isn’t the only one who came back for some Christmas cheer. The film taps into another traditional aspect of the holiday, embodied by the classic A Christmas Carol, in which the living and the dead interact and make amends. At least initially, it seems as if the ritornati have some regrets or unfinished business to attend to before the night is out.

As a concept, there’s plenty of potential here. These zombies aren’t here for brains; they have the capacity for conversation, which allows Gino to apologize for the way he acted in the last days leading up to Nonna’s death, or for Lucia to confess that she wasn’t always sure if her mother loved her. The cathartic interactions between the living and the dead are where Unholy Night works best.

This is still a horror film, however, and a bloody one at that. Nonna’s introduction has a body count because – while these creatures have the capacity for dialogue – they’re also prone to fits of rage, accompanied by a supernatural strength that facilitates plenty of bloody damage. Gabriele visually cues the audience that a rampage is imminent by changing the ritornati’s eyes to reddish orange; this tends to precede characters having their heads slammed against walls, being choked to death, having their necks broken or, in one of the film’s best FX moments, a wooden spoon being forcibly shoved all the way down someone’s throat.

Between Lucia’s opening attack and Nonna’s rampage, Unholy Night certainly gets off to a violent, visceral bang. After that, the film settles into something of a siege film as the remaining family members hunker down. Additional details eventually come to light which confirm that other people are under attack, causing Gino and Rene to hypothesize about who or what has prompted the return of the living dead.

Unfortunately, when it comes to lore and the rules governing these creatures, that’s where Unholy Night loses its way.

Gabriele’s screenplay takes a page from It Follows by having characters make assumptions that don’t entirely pan out, but while there’s power in subverting expectations, both the characters’ and the audience’s, Unholy Night is seemingly unsure of its own internal logic. Why does a ritornati react in one way, but another does not? There’s a lack of consistency that, rather than generate surprise or suspense, becomes increasingly frustrating as the film progresses. The rules of this world don’t make sense, and Gabriele seems unconcerned by the fact.

There are also too many people onscreen, both living and undead, leading to a wealth of underdeveloped characters and half-conflicts. This becomes more challenging in the climax when the film introduces a brand new location and supernatural element. It looks cool, but the film’s final set piece feels incongruous with what came before and raises more questions than answers.

Overall, the second half of the film is the weaker of the two. The longer Unholy Night goes on, the more repetitive and depreciating its attacks become, and the film never recovers the highs of its opening. By the time the existential crisis of the climax arrives, Unholy Night has stalled out.

Not helping matters are the low stakes of the last act when the film actively begins to pull its punches by allowing multiple characters who should be dead to miraculously survive. While its sentimental emotional beats are doing a lot of the heavy lifting keeping the film afloat, the back half of Unholy Night nevertheless still feels like a bit of a slog.

The film may have some good violence, and the central relationship between Gino, his critical family, and his romance with Rene are solid, but by the time the credits roll, Unholy Night has long overstayed its holiday welcome.

Unholy Night made its world premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival. Release info TBD.

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The latest entry hails from Jenn Wexler, the director of The Ranger and The Sacrifice Game, who co-writes the script with Matt Angel from a story by Angel and Suzanne Coote (The Wrath of Becky). Temptation opens on a now-adult Becky on her latest mission with the CIA. The caper is a complete failure, ending unsurprisingly in extremely bloody fashion.

In a post-mission debrief, CIA director Baker (Fiona Marr) explains to the young agent that she’s too much of a loose cannon, but as flashbacks to her psych evaluations and select events from the first film confirm, Becky has never truly recovered from the murder of her father by white supremacists.

It makes sense, then, that this outing brings Nazis back to the forefront as a kind of full circle moment. Becky’s new adversary is General Wilhelm Reuss (Neil Patrick Harris), a devout member of the Reich who believes so strongly in the cause that he recently moved his family, along with enforcer Russell and Dr Friedrich Metzger (James Urbaniak), to the Wolf’s Lair in Poland.

Turns out that despite the passage of several in-universe years between films, Becky still hasn’t learned how to play well with others or follow the rules, despite the guiding touch of handler Montana (Kate Siegel, Hush) and the model set by fellow agent Rigby (Brandon Flynn, Hellraiser). When Becky is given one final opportunity to prove her worth to the CIA, it sets up a collision course between her and Reuss that is guaranteed to be an all-out bloodbath.

The series continues to get good mileage casting against-type for its villains, although it should be noted that NPH doesn’t get as much to do as either the first film’s Kevin James or the sequel’s Sean William Scott. That’s because, in part, Reuss’s family comes as an evil package. Introduced in a great comedic scene when Becky checks in – all smiles – to the family’s Nazi motel, mother Helga (Catherine Walker), daughter Luisa (Aiofe Hughes), and son Otto (Noah Leggott) are as much of a threat as the patriarch.

Of course, the main selling feature of the film is Becky, and Wilson continues to have a blast bringing the prickly, quippy, and trigger-happy character to life. Wilson remains an absolute delight, from her delicious voiceover (“Mission ‘find out what these fuckers are up to’: commence”) to her dinner table banter with the Reuss family (“Where do you heil from?” she asks them). Three films in, there’s no fear that Becky could actually die, but the film isn’t afraid to put its characters through the wringer – Becky sports a broken nose for most of the film’s last act – and there are, naturally, some extremely cathartic Nazi casualties.

While there’s a disappointing lack of rocket launchers in this entry, by employing the tropes of the spy movie, The Last Temptation of Becky does get to have its James Bond/Q moment when Montana walks her pint-sized agent through a litany of Chekhov’s items that are inevitably used to destroy Nazis later. Ditto Becky’s newfound interest in fencing with Rigby, which serves her well when she goes up against Luisa in a duel. This sequence also includes the best exchange of the film, when Becky enquires where the girl went to Hitler Youth Camp and Luisa replies: “Mississippi.”

The Nazis are rightfully portrayed as a legitimate threat and, simultaneously, the subject of complete mockery. The brownies – armed guards who do the dirty work of patrolling the woods and escorting prisoners – are comprised of men who explain they’re just following orders or they are “media and Performing Arts majors from Ohio State.” They’re idiots who are the brunt of multiple jokes and insults throughout the film, including Becky’s immediately iconic jacket emblazoned with “Fuck Nazis” on the back.

Then there’s the hilarious reveal of Reuss and Dr. Metzger’s master plan, which is simultaneously pathetic and hilariously short-lived…because even The Last Temptation of Becky understands that the only logical response to Nazis making a literal comeback in 2026 is to barf on them, punch them in the face, or blow them up. Preferably all of the above.

If there’s a misstep, it’s the film’s uneasy mix of practical FX and CGI. An early death involving a drone and a landmine would be much more compelling if the accompanying explosion and fire were real, and a decapitation winds up looking cheap because of the digital blood. Compare this to another death later when someone bleeds from every facial orifice: it’s clearly practical and, as a result, looks great.

There are a few other instances of violence that miss the mark. A potentially brutal knife in the mouth is partially obscured; some of the hand-to-hand combat in the last act doesn’t hit terribly hard. But overall, it’s impossible not to cheer on Becky as she fucks Nazis up at every opportunity.

If that’s what your heart desires, then The Last Temptation of Becky will be right up your alley. Here’s hoping that, despite the possible implications teased by the title, Lulu Wilson decides to return to the role every three years (or less!) for a new Becky film.

The Last Temptation of Becky made its world premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival. Release info TBD.

The post ‘The Last Temptation of Becky’ Review: Threequel Has A Blast Destroying Nazis [Fantasia 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Populating this environment are two babies – one swaddled in red; the other in blue – who grow up, in an immediate time jump, to become pre-teens: Red (Emma Ho) and Blue (Ian Ho). What is going on, including how these children survive, is part of the film’s central mystery.

The kids have familiar language, albeit with a few tweaks: catch becomes “ball catch”, milk becomes “milky”, and hide and go seek becomes “hide and look”, etc. They have familiar activities, such as coloring and watching VHS tapes of a puppet show called “The Barn”. Most intriguingly, they have a parental figure in Papa, voiced by the director, who is visually represented by a rectangle with a lit circle in the middle and kept secluded in a room with an intercom that Red and Blue must buzz to get into.

For the most part, however, Red and Blue’s lives are dictated by routine and the rules that Papa ominously dictates. They parent themselves, with Blue preparing three meals a day that transform in the microwave, a bun becomes a loaded hot dog, for example. They put themselves to sleep in their color-coordinated beds when it’s time for lights out. The food replenishes whenever they run low on supplies, and waste is left at the bottom of the cellar stairs, vanishing in the blink of an eye when the word “garbage” is repeated three times.

It’s a perfect, uncomplicated dystopian life that screams “social experiment.”

Their sterile, repetitious life is complicated when, on the 42nd Noel, ie: Christmas, Blue and Red are confronted by another living being lurking behind the tree. This is Pal (played by The Boys and Motherland: Fort Salem non-binary actor Ess Hödlmoser), so named by Papa because Red and Blue are in need of one, but also because they’re at the age when they can – and must – take care of something.

The introduction of Pal immediately upends the social order within the environment. Blue, the more rule-abiding and domineering of the two, is uncomfortable with Pal’s non-verbal status and tendency to lurk (Hödlmoser never speaks, but they do plenty of acting with their eyes and stiff body language). Red, meanwhile, is more open-minded: she not only has empathy for Pal, but quickly strikes up a friendship that Blue naturally finds threatening.

One of Papa’s unbreakable rules is that the children must not hurt each other. To do so is to invite punishment, which is established when they break a window playing ball catch, and Papa reminds Blue about a large scar he bears on the back of his hand from a previous infraction. So while the children have been forced to parent themselves, they still live at the mercy of the voice that controls every aspect of their environment – from the heating to the food and water supply.

If there is a weakness to Home Bodies, it is that screenwriters Adrian Murray and Marcus Sullivan establish the world of the film and its corresponding rules in such a way that it is relatively easy to anticipate where the narrative will go. In many ways, the film feels like a parable: a dystopian recreation of the Garden of Eden (with a brother/sister pair filling in for Adam and Eve) or a tweaked version of Cain and Abel. The fact that Pal’s introduction is swiftly followed by violence, distrust, and anarchy is wholly anticipated, though that doesn’t necessarily detract from the overall enjoyment of the film. It feels akin to an episode of The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror.

As the situation becomes increasingly dire, the fact that we are observing children who are being controlled and lied to also becomes harder to ignore. While the film’s half-hearted final reveal about what is happening (kind of?) doesn’t fully satisfy, it is tantalizing and brazen in a speculative sci-fi kind of way.

There are two main reasons to watch the film: the acting from the Ho siblings and the visual aesthetic. The former confirms that the brother/sister pair are ones to watch because the film lives and dies on the relationship between Red and Blue. They’re distinct, fully fleshed-out characters in their own right and the escalating tension between them, particularly following Pal’s arrival, feels extremely authentic and believable.

As for the film’s distinctive look, production designer Chareese Steinhoff and art director David-William Martel have crafted something unique. The aesthetic feels like a bunker combined with an ’80s home, complete with wood paneling, flat matte walls and a distinct blue/red colour scheme in the bedroom, mirroring Red and Blue’s costumes. Interspersed among this somewhat familiar environment, however, are thin vertical light panels, triangular throw pillows, and geometric patterns in the windowpanes. It’s striking and tactile, with a lived-in feel that contrasts with the usual antiseptic or futuristic look these films tend to employ.

In contrast to the twins, Pal has a shaved head and wears a cream/nude colored latex suit. This obviously distinguishes them from the other two, but also distinctly avoids the traditional gender binary embodied by Red and Blue. Intriguingly, in the script, Red identifies Pal as female, while Blue switches back and forth between she/her pronouns and it – which tracks due to his dislike of the interloper, but also plays into the casting of a non-binary actor in the role.

Walker’s direction toes the line between claustrophobic and innovative. He ensures the space feels restrictive in order to emphasize Red and Blue’s experiences, but finds plenty of ways to keep the film visually interesting for the audience. This includes plenty of angled shots, including some choice Dutch angles when things go to shit, as well as a 360-degree pan around the breakfast table, and a dimly lit hallway sequence that emphasizes both the literal and emotional distance between the siblings.

Then there’s the sequence in the cellar. Beginning with an extreme wide shot and plenty of echoes to emphasize how big and threatening the space is, we follow Red as she is swallowed up in piles of squelchy, maggoty garbage. It’s completely nightmarish and the closest the film comes to full-blown horror (interestingly, Natalie Erika James’ latest, Saccharine, has a nearly identical sequence; there must be something in the garbage).

Overall, despite some telegraphed narrative developments and an ending that teases rather than satisfies, Home Bodies is fascinating. Featuring two fantastic child performances and a unique production design, Home Bodies is a distinct and compelling dystopian parable.

Home Bodies had its world premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival.

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But he yearns for something more.

The easy answer is that he wants to go explore the world. Despite being isolated, the islands are frequented by ships that stop for trade, and there are 19th-century equivalent seasonal workers who pass through, which provides Baldur with a glimpse of the outside world that he’s missing out on.

When Baldur rescues Danish man Helge (Pilou Asbæk) after the latter has an accident in the foggy waters, the young man’s life begins to expand. While the two aren’t fluent in the other’s language, they can communicate on a rudimentary level, and Baldur quickly becomes entranced by Helge’s transient stories. To say the other man is more worldly is an understatement. The appeal becomes more significant and complicated when Baldur and Helge begin to act on their mutual attraction, sneaking in bouts of lovemaking under Ásla’s nose.

Obviously this is where the film’s conflict lies, but screenwriter Rasmus Birch’s languid script takes its time, chronicling dinners and late-night talks between the men in order to develop their romance. As the intimacy deepens and Baldur becomes increasingly enamored, he imagines a life for himself away from the islands and his mother.

Ásla inevitably discovers what the men have been up to, but the issue truly comes to a head when Baldur declares his intent to ship off with Helge. Ásla protests, laying the emotional blackmail on thick to the point that her son relents, leaving Helge to go off on his own.

Then a massive storm strikes. And Helge dies. No Rest for the Wicked shifts gears dramatically because the dead man begins to come back to haunt Baldur – continuing their nocturnal dalliances with such intensity that Baldur’s body is left bloody.

No Rest for the Wicked is teased as a vampire narrative, but it is unlike other predatory queer horror texts. Helge’s return is damaging, yes, but it is clear that the intent is romantic; these are men whose love was cut short, and that connection persists after death via supernatural means. Of course, the other islanders don’t react as such when the truth comes out, resulting in some classic visual tropes of the subgenre, albeit with several intriguing subversions.

The film is more than content to take its time, though, which means that the hour and forty-minute runtime can occasionally feel narratively rudderless. When an unexpected development arises in the last act that dramatically affects the other townspeople, it’s genuinely exciting and unusual, but it also makes it clear how intimate and contained the story has been. We barely know these other characters, which makes their fates less involving to audiences.

It’s also challenging to distinguish between several of these men, a fact not helped by cinematographer Jacob Møller’s dim lighting. It’s candlelight romanticism, but there are several points where I was happy that the film was in Faorese because the subtitles helped to identify which character was which.

Writer/director Kasper Kalle has crafted a beautiful and atmospheric supernatural romance that capitalizes on the beauty of the Faroe Islands. Seriously, the scenery is so stunning that large swaths of the movie play like an advertisement for the tourism board. Aside from being gorgeous to look at, the film lives and dies based on the relationship between Baldur and Helge, which is romantic and forbidden in the film’s first half and melancholy and tragic in the back half.

It’s also quite hot, with great chemistry between the innocent, naïve Venned and the more experienced and worldly Asbæk. When Helge returns after the Biblical-level storm, the result is unnerving, sure, but it also feels like the universe correcting a misstep. In this capacity, the film plays like a sweeping historical romance about the lengths that true love will go to persist.

Despite the laggy pacing, due to a strong romantic component and the fascinating complications introduced in the film’s last act, No Rest for the Wicked is an easy recommend for fans of queer horror.

No Rest for the Wicked had its world debut at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival.

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Mackay’s latest, Our Effed Up World, is something of a departure. It’s still a low-budget film with a talented young cast, yes, but it’s more of a science fiction film than a horror title. But while the genre trappings may differ slightly from the vampires and the witches of her other films, Mackay and her regular co-screenwriter Benjamin Pahl Robinson haven’t completely abandoned one of their defining traits: the (queer) community at the center of the narrative.

Our Effed Up World follows Sheri (Sara Thompson, One of Us Is Lying), a young woman grieving the death of her grandmother Grace (Kerry Armstrong). They were close ever since Sheri and her father moved in at the start of high school, but, with Grace gone, Sheri finds herself increasingly angry at the world.

As her father Hank (Scott Major) withdraws into his work tracking meteorites for the government, Sheri spends her days hanging out with best friend Poppy (Annapurna Sriram, Fucktoys), non-binary video rental store owner Finn (Jess McLeod, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma), and Finn’s co-worker and roommate, Ash (Karis Oka). Oh, and Sheri’s also in a terrible relationship with a dimwit named Harry (Jordan Dulieu, The Serpent’s Skin), who has a great body and poor sexual techniques.

Everything changes when a meteorite lands on the outskirts of town and Harry, dejected after Sheri finally dumps him, is infected by an alien that assimilates him. From there, other people in town are gobbled up, as Sheri, her father, and her friends must find a way to stop the invasion.

Sidebar: as a bonus for attentive audiences, keep an ear out for vocal cameo performances by Hellraiser’s Brandon Flynn and I Saw The TV Glow’s Jack Haven during the extended flashback that explains Hank’s backstory.

The stakes may seem high, but the reality is that outside of a few tense sequences, Our Effed Up World is more of a hang-out movie and character study than a full-blown science fiction film. There are a few FX shots of a green-tentacled meteorite and a humanoid alien creature with a blurred face, but the low budget limits the visuals and the scope of the storytelling.

In general, the sci-fi elements feel a little too familiar, particularly Sheri’s discovery that what remains of Harry (and his affection for her) offers her a measure of protection from the creature. We’ve seen similar developments in other films, and the short runtime (the film barely clocks in at an hour before credits) means the film doesn’t have time to explore its alien aspects in any detail.

Our Effed Up World still works, though. Because of the budget confines and the lack of visual effects, the film wisely keeps the focus on Sheri and her friends as they hang out and get into adventures. What’s impressive is how seamlessly the screenplay unpacks Sheri’s grief and engages in a philosophical debate about what it means to be human amidst lived-in character beats such as Poppy’s concern about Sheri’s anger, Sheri’s attempts to entice her father into conversation using food, and Finn’s financial woes after inheriting a failing business from their uncle.

Mackay and Pahl Robinson’s trademark acerbic dialogue helps this all to go down easily. For example: Sheri describes herself to Harry as “a living fleshlight” after she suffers through a particularly unsatisfying sexual encounter. The quips are particularly applicable to Finn, who is easily the film’s MVP – largely because McLeod gets all of the best lines, but also because the It’s A Wonderful Knife actor knows exactly how to stand out.

All in all, Our Effed up World is almost enough to make you wish that Mackay would dispense with the genre trappings entirely and simply make a fun, queer Mallrats-esque hang-out film. As it stands, the film is fun, breezy, and brief!

Our Effed Up World made its international premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival. Release info TBD.

The post ‘Our Effed Up World’ Review: Alice Maio Mackay’s Alien Invasion Hang-Out Film [Fantasia 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

On the surface, Mariana Cruz (Christina Milian) has a great life. She’s the Head of Personnel at Pana Optic Security, where she’s introduced calmly and confidently dealing with Herbert (Andrew E. Wheeler), a predatory CFO who has abused his company status with a female subordinate. It’s a lengthy sequence, but one that serves to both introduce Mariana’s talent for reading body language, as well as what appears to be the film’s antagonist.

It’s the former aspect that provided the film’s original title, and director Cory Miller provides ample visual cues to help the audience see the world through Mariana’s eyes. Tight close-ups on Herbert’s hands as he fiddles with his cufflinks, or the movement of his feet, confirm when he’s lying, all of which is clocked by Mariana and then unsubtly confirmed by screenwriter Robert Belushi’s dialogue: “Your mouth can lie, but your body won’t”.

After Herbert escapes security and flees the building, He Couldn’t Let Go resets to flesh out the rest of Mariana’s life, including her relationship with hunky fiancé Nick (Gregg Wayans); a plucky best friend in co-worker Fay (Annie Gonzalez); and a beautiful, semi-isolated home in the burbs.

The plot kicks back into gear when Nick is delayed at work, and Mariana is forced to entertain his old College friend Dylan (Steven Strait), a chef visiting from Hong Kong. Shocking no one, there’s nothing but red flags when it comes to Dylan. He’s too perfect: he cooks a near-perfect mofongo, a favorite dish of Mariana’s; he’s familiar with her Bogotá hangouts, and he’s ready to learn salsa moves from her in the living room.

But Mariana’s FBI training (!) means that eventually she begins to pick up on his deceptive body language, and, as the evening progresses, she chips away at his pat answers. What keeps this cat-and-mouse section interesting, since we obviously know there’s more to Dylan than he’s letting on, is how Dylan manages to subtly get under Mariana’s skin while she’s reading him.

Dylan does so by undermining her faith in Nick by suggesting that he has a questionable past, which deftly ties back to the events of the opening with Herbert. The questions Dylan raises also allow the introduction of Calvin (screenwriter Belushi), a red shirt who is called into action when Mariana covertly tries to fact check Dylan’s claims about Nick.

Of course, there’s never any doubt about who will meet a violent end or where the true danger lies. This means that despite the brief 90-minute runtime, the film’s second act drags a little because we’re waiting for the profiler to catch up to what the audience already knows.*

*Sidebar: It’s here that the FBI training element doesn’t fully work because it takes Mariana far too long to catch on to Dylan.

Thankfully, the last act kicks the violence into overdrive as the house becomes a battlefield. While one wishes that Milian was given more to do in the first two acts than simply react to Dylan’s revelations, the character never comes off as dumb. In fact, there are several moments when she makes the best possible decision available and circumstances – or Dylan – cut her off at the pass.

The reveal about who Dylan is and what he wants isn’t particularly revelatory, but the extended climax, which features several chases and violent set pieces, is effective. Milian and Strait also have good chemistry, which helps to carry the saggy pacing of the middle stretch, while the height difference between the actors ensures that Dylan is appropriately menacing when they’re in close quarters.

Aside from the surprising detail about Mariana’s FBI training, He Couldn’t Let Me Go doesn’t stray far from the typical Lifetime formula. For fans of domestic thrillers, however, that won’t be an issue; there’s comfort to be found in these kinds of narratives, so why mess with a good thing?

He Couldn’t Let Go premiered on Lifetime Movie Network on July 11.

The post ‘He Couldn’t Let Go’ Review: Lifetime’s Latest Psychological Thriller Sticks to the Formula appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After spending June on explicitly queer texts like Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (listen) and William Castle’s Homicidal (listen), it’s only appropriate that Horror Queers celebrate the American holiday with a blockbuster film with a not-so-secret gay connection.

In Independence Day, an unlikely group of people come together when the human race faces extinction from a threatening alien race. After spaceships destroy every major city, pilot Steven Hiller (Will Smith) must team up with secret tech genius David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), as well as the US President (Bill Pullman), to execute a daring plan to save the planet from annihilation.

Along for the ride are the two saviors’ romantic partners – WH Communications Director Constance (Margaret Colin) and stripper Jasmine (Vivica A. Fox) – plus eccentric scientist Dr. Okun (Brent Spiner), who is at the center of the film’s most horrific set piece.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 393: Independence Day (1996)

Today, we celebrate our Independence Day…courtesy of gay German director Roland Emmerich.

As the summer blockbuster celebrates its 30th anniversary, we’re looking back on an alien disaster film that scared young Trace (thanks to that alien autopsy scene) and turned Will Smith into a star.

Plus: the death that upsets the most; bemoaning Vivica A. Fox’s career; pondering what could have been with the casting; why Smith’s bravado and the film’s patriotism doesn’t always work for Joe; and plenty of riffing on the atrocious sequel.

Cross out Independence Day!

Coming Up Next: We’re retreating to the country for some questionable therapy courtesy of Joe Dante’s 1981 classic,  The Howling!

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 503 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Forbidden Fruits, Saccharine, Evil Dead Burn, an audio commentary on the utterly ridiculous sequel Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf (1985), and the conclusion of our Requel Tier coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat.

The post There’s Something Queer About 1996’s ‘Independence Day’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

New to Tubi July Horror Films

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

• Premise: Searching for a cure to Alzheimer’s disease, a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the prey as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.
• Why Watch It? Let’s be frank: Director Renny Harlin has made some absolute dogs in the last few years (the less said about The Strangers trilogy the better, though this year’s Deep Water was actually ok). Deep Blue Sea remains one of the Finnish director’s best contemporary efforts, though. Between the great cast (Samuel L. Jackson, Saffron Burrows, Stellan Skarsgård, Michael Rapaport, LL Cool J, Thomas Jane, and Jane’s sleeveless wetsuit), the ridiculous premise, and that damn/dumb song (“My hat is like a shark’s fin”), you basically can’t go wrong with Deep Blue Sea. It’s one of two great shark films gliding onto Tubi this month, so why not stay out of the water and watch this instead?
• Streaming: July 1

Exorcist II: Heretic (1977)

• Premise: Reagan (Linda Blair), a girl once possessed by a demon, finds that it still lurks within her. Meanwhile, Father Lamont (Richard Burton) investigates the death of the priest who performed her exorcism.
• Why Watch It? August sees the release of documentary Boorman and the Devil, which is about the troubled production of this sequel. The notoriety surrounding Heretic has undoubtedly kept plenty of horror fans away from the sequel, but this truly is a “seeing is believing” kind of film. Real talk: it’s undeniably a disaster, but the John Boorman film has also become a minor cult film. Don’t you want to see it to make up your own mind? 
• Streaming: July 1

Hostel: Part III (2011)

• Premise: Four men attending a bachelor party in Las Vegas fall prey to the Elite Hunting Club, who are hosting a gruesome game show of torture.
• Why Watch It? What does Hostel look like without Eli Roth? Part III kinda answers the question. Technically Roth is still a writer, but he hands over the directorial reins to Scott Spiegel (best known for acting in Evil Dead films). The result is a film with a terrible pedigree; it’s also the first (and last) entry to skip theatres before the franchise was permanently shelved (until that TV show with Paul Giamatti shows up?). For some horror fans, however, there’s something exciting about a bad low-budget sequel. Just bear in mind that the Hostel: Part III‘s biggest star is Kip Pardue…so adjust your expectations accordingly before hitting play.
• Streaming: July 1

Insidious 1-3 (2010/2013/2015)

• Premise: A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.
• Why Watch It? It’s hard to believe that the sixth (!) Insidious movie is coming out in a month and a half, but James Wan and Leigh Whannell‘s other horror franchise has been steadily chugging along for sixteen years. It’s a shame that Tubi doesn’t have all five films available to watch, but in terms of quality, you can do far worse than the original trio. The first film is iconic, and the second is basically an extended coda (with some admittedly problematic stuff going on). I’ll go to bat for Whannell’s 2015 directorial debut, though: there’s a few banger sequences in that film that people slept on.
• Streaming: July 1

Man Finds Tape (2025)

• Premise: After finding mysterious video clips, siblings investigate the strange recordings and uncover a disturbing secret spreading through their Texas town.
• Why Watch It? Writer/directors Paul Gandersman and Peter S. Hall‘s well-received found footage film did an extensive tour of the festival circuit, so now is a great time to check out one of the most contemporary titles debuting on Tubi this month. Surely a title that hails from producers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Spring and The Endless) is worth a free look?
• Streaming: July 2

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

• Premise: A depressed musician Adam (Tom Hiddleston) reunites with his lover Eve (Tilda Swinton). However, their romance, which has already endured several centuries, is disrupted by the arrival of her uncontrollable younger sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska).
• Why Watch It? This beautiful, melancholy vampire film is courtesy of writer/director Jim Jarmusch, who doesn’t often dabble in genre fare. As always, some will quibble if this artsy drama qualifies as horror, but the existential ennui of an eternal life certainly qualifies (bonus: there’s also something inherently sexy about watching Hiddleston and Swinton just lay about). Plus: if Leviticus has you hankering for more Wasikowska, this is an under the radar pick.
• Streaming: July 1

The Shallows (2016)

• Premise:A mere 200 yards from shore, surfer Nancy (Blake Lively) is attacked by a great white shark, with her short journey to safety becoming the ultimate contest of wills.
• Why Watch It? What better time to watch a shark movie than July? The temperatures are soaring and the idea of escaping into the water is so tantalizing. This tight, contained thriller features a great performance by Lively (and that damn seagull!), but it’s the direction from genre fave Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan; the House of Wax remake) that keeps the movie clicking along like clockwork. At 86 minutes, this is a perfect summer flick.
• Streaming: July 1

Vacancy (2007)

• Premise: Stranded in an isolated motel, a couple (Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale) become the unsuspecting subjects of a snuff film.
• Why Watch It? I’m not going to pretend that this Nimród Antal-directed home invasion film is high art, but it is a good time. You’ll likely wish there were deeper characterizations for Wilson and Beckinsale’s David and Amy in Mark L. Smith‘s screenplay, but this mid-aughts thriller is tense, exciting, and just the right amount of grimy. Plus: another short runtime, clocking in at an expeditious 85 minutes!
• Streaming: July 1

July Tubi Originals

The One Next Door (2026)

• Premise: When a mysterious stranger moves in next door to Robert and Tabitha, boundaries are tested, loyalty is questioned, and danger comes for all.
• Streaming: July 10

I Know Where You Live (2026)

• Premise: Sarah thinks she’s found “the one” until his flaws emerge. When she pulls away, chilling threats suggest he’s watching her from inside her own home.
• Streaming: July 24

What’s your favorite from the list above? Will you check out the new Original? Sound off in the comments below

The post The 10 Best Horror Movies Streaming on Tubi [July 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In 1924 Chicago, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb plotted to commit the perfect murder when they abducted and killed 14-year-old Bobby Franks. As Amanda outlines in her primer on the case, the men were caught almost immediately and the media circus that followed was billed “the trial of the century”.

Listen to Leopold and Loeb mini primer.

The fallout has reverberated throughout the last century as countless books, plays, musicals, and films have drawn on the case for inspiration. Some are more faithful than others, such as Richard Fleischer‘s 1959 drama Compulsion, which stars a young Dean Stockwell as Leopold and Orson Welles as the boys’ lawyer, John Darrow (named Jonathan Wilk in the film).

Listen to Leopold and Loeb: Compulsion (1959).

Then there are the texts that use the idea of queer-coded killers as a jumping off point, but confuse (or flat-out disregard) the details of the real life case in favour of jumbled fiction. That’s what happens in Barbet Schroeder‘s Murder by Numbers, which awkwardly introduces a tortured backstory for lead actress (and executive producer) Sandra Bullock. The result is an uneven film that misunderstands which of its two competing storylines are actually interesting (hint: it’s the Leopold and Loeb stuff with Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt).

Listen to Leopold and Loeb: Murder by Numbers (2002).

We ended up discussing other (often more successful) titles on Patreon, including 1992’s Swoon (a New Queer Cinema art-house take on the crime), Michael Haneke‘s 2007 Funny Games remake, and gay screenwriter Kevin Williamson‘s Scream, which proved to be a much more reverent and sly interpretation of L&L than we anticipated.

We wrapped up the month with a final summary episode about our favorite adaptations before chatting with author and archivist Erik Rebain, who literally wrote the book on Leopold (Arrested Adolescence) and maintains one of the foremost websites on the crime.

Watch our discussion on YouTube below (or listen here):

Next month: For July, we’re turning our attention to the Boston Strangler, with a look at films from 1964 and 1968, as well as the most contemporary version from 2023, starring Kiera Knightley and Carrie Coon.

Want even more true crime adaptations and Murder Made Fiction? Support the show on Patreon to listen to the aforementioned episodes, as well as a full-length primer on the case and 160+ hours of bonus content.

The post Celebrating Pride with Queer Killers Leopold and Loeb [Murder Made Fiction Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Written and directed by Christopher B. Stokes, the new film stars Taye Diggs as Leon/Kennedy/Darnell, a man in search of the perfect family and willing to kill for it. Following Panic Room-inspired opening credits stretched across downtown buildings, Stepfather opens in 1990 when 10-year-old Leon talks with therapist Marsha Sanders (Lisa Ann Loggins) in the wake of his stepfather Harold’s (Kenneth J. Morgan) death.

In flashbacks, it’s revealed that Harold beat young Leon and, in the process, instilled a key tenet that would define Leon as an adult: “too bad you don’t get to pick your own family.” It’s also evident that Leon allowed Harold to die: following a pretty upsetting beating, the boy watched his stepfather pass from a heart attack rather than call 911.

The film then flashes ahead to the present as adult Leon, now named Kennedy, murders his latest family (this will later be revealed to be his third, stretched across Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico). He then introduces himself to Asia (Tamar Braxton) and her youngest daughter, Sasha (Kalani Jules), as Darnell in a grocery store meet-cute.

Asia has just moved her family away from her cheating ex, Timothy (TJ Shaw). Emotionally vulnerable and susceptible to flattery, Asia and Darnell quickly hit it off and, six months later, they have eloped.

The biggest issue with Stokes’ film is that it is both too slight and too familiar. Surprisingly, no one, Darnell is a model husband and stepfather right up until the moment his “perfect” family fails to meet his expectations. When Sasha repeatedly refuses to refer to him as Dad because she misses Timothy, there’s a visual fake-out of Darnell striking and/or yelling at her. These interior glimpses of Darnell’s rage eventually escalate into real-life outbursts, often when he confuses Asia and the kids for the families he’s killed in the past.

One novel visual choice occurs when Darnell accepts that he must terminate his latest imperfect family. As the police close in, he rents a cheap motel room and engages in a three-way conversation with phantom hallucinations of Leon and Kennedy, each of whom has their own distinct costume, vocal mannerism, and personality.

It’s a moment that’s reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan’s Split, not just for Diggs’ solid performance as three different personas, but also for its questionable pop psychology about mental health. When the police interview Marsha, she unloads a torrent of exposition about her patient’s condition (without a warrant!), explaining: “Leon suffers from extreme trauma…bipolar and schizophrenia, as well as hallucinations,” which he apparently can’t distinguish from reality. Marsha is quick to explain that Leon/Darnell doesn’t even know he’s committed a crime.

It’s an outdated and tired line of thinking, which is unfortunate because it undercuts Diggs’s performance, which is the only reason to check out Stepfather. While Braxton is fine as the deluded housewife torn between husbands new and old, Asia lacks any kind of interiority. The character exists solely in relation to Darnell, a criticism that applies to both of her two daughters, Sasha, the obstacle to Darnell’s fantasy family life, and Melanie (Jessica Jarrell), the College-aged daughter who is more than happy to call Darnell “dad” because she sees how happy her mother is.

Alas, Stokes never pushes the plot or the characters beyond the most obvious situations, which leads to plenty of predictable dinner and bedroom scenes as the female characters inadvertently trigger Darnell’s psychosis and he fantasizes about murdering them. Any men who wander into the proceedings, such as Timothy or Melanie’s boyfriend, Brad (Koda Kalani Beschen), are obvious Red Shirts destined for slaughter. By contrast, Asia’s curious (and possibly queer-coded) brother, Brett (Troy Brookins), is never given an opportunity to do anything.

And then there are the cops, who occupy a substantial amount of screentime and repeatedly threaten to launch the film into camp territory. With the exception of Detective Bronson (Darrell Philip), who takes “Kennedy’s” statement after the murder of his wife and stepdaughter, every single member of law enforcement in the film is inept, belligerent, or flat-out rude.

Young, boastful Detective John Simmons (Ma‘s Dante Brown) joins the squad late with an introduction that is both ageist, condescending, and completely out of left field. When Bronson outlines their profile of the killer, Simmons’ response is: “Ok, blah blah blah. It’s a lot of information on this killer dude. It’s like a movie.” Like…what?!

He immediately butts heads with new partner Detective Andrews (Janeline Hayes), who one expects might be more open-minded, but proves just as standoffish. Late in the film, when questioning a witness who has tangled with Darnell, Andrews berates the battered victim: “You assumed he was dead, but you didn’t wait to see?!” Even a random police officer gets in on the asshole behavior, heavily inferring that Asia’s promiscuous behavior is to blame for a fight between Darnell and Timothy that leaves the latter with multiple broken ribs.

The baffling human responses across the board feel out of place with the more serious threats of domestic violence, making for an extremely uneven viewing experience. If the film played up its ridiculous elements more, Stepfather could be a fun diversion in the Hallmark/Lifetime vein. Unfortunately, most of its perplexing elements feel accidental, rather than intentional.

Despite Diggs’ commitment to the bit, there just isn’t enough here to recommend. Stepfather could have been a fun guilty pleasure, but Stokes is too content to stick to well-tread narrative beats without offering anything new. Underdeveloped characters and fleeting violent set pieces simply don’t cut it, which makes the brief 93-minute runtime drag badly.

File this under a disappointing missed opportunity.

Stepfather is now streaming on Tubi.

The post ‘Stepfather’ Review: Taye Diggs Can’t Save Tubi’s Familiar, Uninspired Retread appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Trace and I are nearing the end of Pride month, which has included the tepid adaptation of Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned (listen), as well as Ben Stiller’s homo-tinged black comedy The Cable Guy (listen). Now it’s time for British writer/director Emerald Fennell‘s “Eat the rich” thriller/satire Saltburn (2023).

In the film, Oliver (Barry Keoghan) struggles to fit in at Oxford until he befriends ultra-rich Felix (Jacob Elordi), who takes him on as a kind of poverty project. This doesn’t sit well with Felix’s cousin Farleigh (Archie Madewke), who perhaps sees a little too much of himself in the bootlicker/social ladder climber.

Tensions explode when Oliver is invited to spend the summer at Felix’s palatial family home, Saltburn. Overseen by flighty but cruel mother Elspeth (Rosamund Pike) and slightly loony father James (Richard E. Grant), with promiscuous sister Venetia (Alison Oliver) lurking on the periphery and outside windows, it’s a world of rich opulence where Oliver doesn’t understand the rules.

Or does he? The further the film progresses, the clearer it becomes that not everything about Oliver adds up. As Catton members fall by the wayside, it’s clear that Oliver will stop at nothing (and sleep with everyone!) to fit in among the elite.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 391: Saltburn (2023)

Slurp up that cummy bath water because we are talking about writer/director Emerald Fennell’s divisive satirical thriller Saltburn (2023).

From its sublime cast to its gorgeous visual aesthetic, there’s a lot to love here. But does Fennell push her class critique hard enough and are these characters too despicable?

Plus: “pug faced” (hung) king Barry Keoghan; Trace’s hatred of Farleigh; wanting more Rosamund Pike; and debating why the film is so polarizing.

Cross out Saltburn!

Coming Up Next: We’re covering the pod’s first William Castle with the 1961 Psycho rip-off, Homicidal.  

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 498 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal Season 3 Episodes 5 & 6, Backrooms, Passenger, Leviticus, an audio commentary on the original Scary Movie (2000), and the return of our Requel Tier as we begin our episodic coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat.

The post Slurping Up Emerald Fennell’s Class Critique with ‘Saltburn’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

May was a busy subgenre-switching month. After kicking things off with disaster “slasher” The Poseidon Adventure (listen), we watched American Giallo The Fan (listen), then wrapped things up with Vincent Price’s horror comedy Theater of Blood (listen).

Now, in honor of Pride Month and the return of AMC’s Interview with the Vampire (renamed The Vampire Lestat for S03), Trace and I had to check out the straight-washed second attempt to bring Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles to life.

Back in 2002, director Michael Rymer pitched Hollywood on his vision for Rice’s second Chronicle book, The Vampire Lestat. Instead, the suits opted to adapt the third book, Queen of the Damned (likely due to the ancillary opportunities of the soundtrack, written entirely by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis).

In the film, Lestat (Stuart Townsend) awakens from slumber to reinvent himself as a leather-pant-wearing rocker. Lestat’s very public vampire persona attracts the attention of Talamasca novice Jesse (Marguerite Moreau), as well as the vampire’s maker Marius (Vincent Perez). But the nu-metal has the greatest impact on Akasha (Aaliyah), who awakens and promises to take over the world if her old foe Maharet (Lena Olin) doesn’t stop her.

Whose side will Lestat join? Will Marius help his fledgling or abandon him to public sacrifice? And does anyone actually care about Jesse? (Please note: that last question is rhetorical.)

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 389: Queen of the Damned (2002)

Practice your Egyptian accent and bare that midriff because we are talking the troubled “adaptation” of Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned (2002).

Directed by Australian Michael Rymer, this one was doomed by the suits before it was even greenlit (which happened AFTER all of the songs were written by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis). It’s a bit of a clusterfuck.

Plus: praising everything Aaliyah (RIP); critiquing everything Stuart Townsend (aside from his abs and leather pants); a soft queer reading of Marius; and bemoaning boring protagonist/audience surrogate JESSE.

Cross out Queen of the Damned!

Coming Up Next: We’re tackling Ben Stiller’s horror-adjacent dark comedy The Cable Guy (1996), in anticipation of its 30th anniversary!

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 495 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal Season 3 Episodes 5 & 6, Backrooms, Passenger, Leviticus, an audio commentary on the original Scary Movie (2000), and the return of our Requel Tier as we begin our episode coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat.

The post The Failed Attempt to Adapt Anne Rice’s ‘Queen of The Damned’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

New to Tubi June Horror Films

Alien Vs. Predator (2004)

• Premise: During an archaeological expedition on Bouvetøya Island in Antarctica, a team of archaeologists and other scientists find themselves caught up in a battle between the two legends. Soon, the team realizes that only one species can win.
• Why Watch It? Nothing says summer like a trip to Antarctica, right? The reality is that Alien Vs Predator is the perfect popcorn flick: it’s completely mindless fluff. No real characters of substance. No philosophical lore or mythology building. It’s just classic Paul W.S. Anderson action nonsense, featuring two iconic horror franchises coming together with a lot of Red Shirt collateral damage in between. Oh, and poor Sanaa Lathan, doing her best to inject some characterization into Alexa. To be clear: Lathan is great, but there’s just nothing in Anderson’s screenplay for her to work with, though she acquits herself well in the action sequences.
• Streaming: June 1

All Of Us Strangers (2023)

• Premise: A screenwriter drawn back to his childhood home enters into a fledgling relationship with his downstairs neighbor while discovering a mysterious new way to heal from losing his parents 30 years ago.
• Why Watch It? Celebrated queer writer/director Andrew Haigh‘s loose adaptation of Taichi Yamada‘s novel features a deeply affecting pair of performances from leads Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. On the surface, this is a sad drama about a pair of men struggling to connect, and the difficulties of loving someone when you don’t love yourself. It’s also <spoiler alert> a secret ghost film, albeit more in the “curl up in a fetal position crying” than in the “scary boo” sense. Which is to say: perfect for Pride season!
• Streaming: June 1

Blink Twice (2024)

• Premise: When tech billionaire Slater King meets cocktail waitress Frida at his fundraising gala, he invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. As strange things start to happen, Frida questions her reality.
• Why Watch It? Actor Zoë Kravitz made her feature film directorial debut with this twisty thriller that features a criminally under celebrated lead performance by Naomi Ackie. The film isn’t an easy watch, especially when you figure out what Channing Tatum‘s Slater and his cadre of shitty dudes are up to, but it’s brilliantly shot and features one hell of a cathartic finale. Plus, said shitty dudes are played by Christian Slater, Simon Rex, and Haley Joel Osment in the best against-type casting since Promising Young Woman.
• Streaming: June 1

Brightburn (2019)

• Premise: An alien that looks like a human boy uses its powers in sinister and destructive ways.
• Why Watch It? The simplicity of Brightburn is arguably its biggest selling feature: what if a child with Superman’s powers was bad? Writers Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn don’t really do much more than that, which may be why the David Yarovesky film was considered something of a disappointment at the time of its release. (In the film’s defence: it made $33M worldwide on a $6M budget). Still, if you’re looking for some cool sequences, a solid performance by Elizabeth Banks as a perturbed mother, and a super dark ending that begs for a sequel, this is an easy way to kill 90 minutes.
• Streaming: June 1

Congo (1995)

• Premise: When an expedition to the African Congo ends in disaster, a new team is assembled to find out what went wrong.
• Why Watch It? There’s no denying that this is a bad film. Made at the height of Hollywood’s enthusiasm for all things Michael Crichton, this adaptation of the 1980 book was always doomed to be a silly mess. But guess what? It’s partially filmed on location and has a totally solid cast (come for Laura Linney, try not to focus on bland Dylan Walsh, and yearn for more of whatever Tim Curry is doing). Also: do you like gem-powered lasers and men-in-suit gorillas? Because the climax features our intrepid humans laying waste to a cacophony of the latter using the former during a volcanic eruption. It’s extremely dumb…and very fun.
• Streaming: June 1

Independence Day (1996)

• Premise: The aliens are coming, and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind’s best weapon is the will to survive.
• Why Watch It? Leave behind your pedantic definitions of what constitutes a horror movie and embrace the disaster flick, everyone! This is the grand-daddy of contemporary examples, helmed by out gay director Roland Emmerich at the height of his destructive powers. Seriously: name another director with a greater appetite for making movies where things go BOOM (my kingdom for a reality show pitting him against Wolfgang Petersen). The film turns 30 next month, and the titular holiday is similarly on the horizon, so what better time to revisit Will Smith at the height of his box office prowess? “Welcome to Earth” indeed.
• Streaming: June 15

I Saw The TV Glow (2024)

• Premise: In late-90s suburbia, a lonely teenager meets a girl at school who introduces him to a mysterious late-night T.V. show. As time goes on, however, questions begin to arise about why the show sometimes seems more real than their own lives.
• Why Watch It? Where to begin: this is arguably one of the most important pieces of queer (horror) media produced in the last few years. It features incredible performances from stars Justice Smith and Jack Haven. It scratches the nostalgic itch for Buffy the Vampire Slayer while also gently reminding us that making fandom our personality can have dangerous implications. It’s also a stunningly gorgeous film that’s filled with evocative and unsettling imagery (trigger warning for body dysmorphia). Oh, how about this reason: writer/director Jane Schoenbrun‘s latest, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, debuts in August, and it’s Pride month!
• Streaming: June 1

The Last House Of The Left (2009)

• Premise: After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging to the parents of one of the victims: a mother and father who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.
• Why Watch It? There’s no denying the fact that this is a tough watch. The sexual assault scene more than merits a content warning, but for audiences who can stomach a rape/revenge film, this brutal remake is worth checking out. By this point in the 2000s, horror audiences’ enthusiasm for remakes was waning heavily, which unfortunately means that this redo of the Wes Craven original doesn’t get talked about much. This is another title with a stellar cast, though: Monica Potter and Tony Goldwyn are the parents; Garret Dillahunt, Rikki Lindhome, and a pre-Breaking Bad Aaron Paul are the baddies. Just overlook the very stupid closing scene, and you’re good to go!
• Streaming: June 1

Overlord (2018)

• Premise: A small group of American soldiers find horror behind enemy lines on the eve of D-Day.
• Why Watch It? Overlord is one of those wild adrenaline horror movies that feels like the creative team brainstormed a bunch of gnarly FX, tense set pieces, and a variety of subgenres before blitzing them all in a blender. I’d be lying if I said I remembered much about the plot of Julius Avery‘s revisionist history Nazi experimentation/infection film, but I do remember thinking that the action and the violence go hard. Plus: the cast is composed of a ton of now recognizable folks, including Wyatt Russell, Agents of SHIELD‘s Iain De Caestecker, IT: Welcome to Derry‘s Jovan Adepo, Interview with the Vampire‘s Jacob Anderson, Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn, and Bokeem Woodbine.
• Streaming: June 1

June Tubi Originals

Stepfather (2026)

• Premise: After years of eradicating any family that falls short of perfection, Darnell (Taye Diggs) believes his new wife, Asia (Tamar Braxton), and her daughters might finally be the real deal. That is, until tensions rise and they uncover his deadly pattern. Now, getting rid of them won’t be as easy as he planned.
• Streaming: June 19

What’s your favorite from the list above? Will you check out the new Original? Sound off in the comments below

The post The 10 Best Horror Movies Streaming on Tubi [June 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

May has been a delightfully odd mix of titles, including Robin Williams’ One Hour Photo (listen), Aussie/UK thriller Like Minds (listen), and seminal disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure (listen). Adding to the fun is our most recent film: a revisit of the classic stalker title, The Fan (1981).

*We previously tackled the film in our editorial series here.

In Edward Bianchi‘s feature directorial debut, Michael Biehn is Douglas Breen, a music store employee whose singular obsession is with theatre actress Sally Ross (Lauren Bacall). The aging starlet is about to debut in a Broadway musical called ‘Never Say Never,’ but her assistant Belle (Maureen Stapleton) hasn’t been passing along Douglas’ increasingly unhinged letters.

When the young twink’s dangerous behaviour begins to escalate, Sally’s support network – including Inspector Raphael Andrews (Héctor Elizondo) and her ex-husband Jake (James Garner) – is called in. But can anyone stop the determined queer-coded antagonist? Or is Sally doomed to die on opening night?

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 387 – The Fan (1981)

Stay out of the pool and work on your singing because we’re talking Edward Bianchi’s The Fan (1981) starring Grand Dame Lauren Bacall and a twinky Michael Biehn.

Joining us for the discussion is returning guest Michael Varrati, who dubs the film “parasocial peril” and praises Bacall’s emotionally vulnerable performance as aging starlet Sally Ross.

Look for adaptation questions about Bob Randall’s pulpy source material; critiquing James Garner’s autobiography; and highlighting the subway stalking and pool slicing sequences.

Plus: the queer coding of Douglas Breen; the film’s uneasy place in (horror) history; and trying to figure out the plot of in-movie musical Never Say Never.

Cross out The Fan!

Coming Up Next: We’re realized there’s an enormous gap in the podcast’s coverage: we’ve never discussed a Vincent Price title! We’re rectifying that mistake with a look at one of his favourite roles in 1973’s Theater of Blood.

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 488 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on shark movies Thrash and Dark Water, Hokum, Mortal Kombat II, Obsession and an audio commentary on Wolfgang Petersen’s Poseidon.

The post Stalker Twinks and Aging Grand Dames Anchor 80s Thriller ‘The Fan’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Born Elizabeth Short, the infamous LA murder from 1947 has been the subject of several films and TV shows, but these titles rarely focus on the woman herself. Usually it’s the gory/salacious details of her case, which Jenn unpacks in her mini-primer on the real life 22 year old.

The case was made into a made-for-TV movie called ‘Who is the Black Dahlia?’ in 1975.

Director Joseph Pevney and screenwriter Robert W. Lenski‘s film presents Elizabeth Short as an aimless, unknowable figure (possibly even to herself).

As played by Lucie Arnaz, the movie is well researched and actually gives Short much more screen time than we expected, but it doesn’t entirely satisfy. As a kick off, this is solid, but inessential.

Still, there’s something commendable about how interested the film is in giving Short the spotlight, in addition to focusing on attempts to solve her case following her death. The film also has a dark sense of humour, frequently contrasting dialogue that’s hopeful and optimistic with editing contradicts such sentiment by confirming that Elizabeth is about to die.

It’s unexpected, but reminiscent of how TV movies are often smarter and more subversive than anticipated. See also: NBC’s Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan movie that we covered back in February (listen).

Want even more Murder Made Fiction? Be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and I have 150 hours of bonus content, including episode by episode coverage of Netflix’s 2019 limited series Unbelievable, starring Toni Collette and Kaitlyn Dever. C/W: Sexual Assault

The post TV Movie ‘Who Is The Black Dahlia?’ Puts Elizabeth Short Front and Center [Murder Made Fiction Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

April has been a month of alien slugs (Slither – listen), Universal Monsters (The Mummy – listen), disaster “comedies” (The Happening – listen), and character studies (One Hour Photo – listen). Horror Queers ushered in May with an underseen co-production between the UK and Australia: a bizarre little 2006 psychological thriller called Like Minds, written and directed by Gregory J. Read and starring the one and only Toni Collette.

In the film, Alex Forbes (Eddie Redmayne in his film debut) is arrested and questioned by police for the suspicious death of his schoolmate, Nigel Colbie (Tom Sturridge). Detective Inspector McKenzie (Richard Roxburgh) is convinced of Alex’s guilt, but he needs the help of forensic therapist Sally Rowe (Collette) to charge the teenager.

What begins as a simple case quickly spirals into a complicated backstory involving taxidermy, night trains, absent parents, and ritualistic murder. Can Sally trust Alex’s story that Nigel corrupted him? Or is the teenage boy a masterful liar who’s using her sympathy to get away with literal murder? Only the Knights Templar know for sure!

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 385: Like Minds (2006)

Pack your taxidermy kit and catch the night train because we are discussing writer/director Gregory J. Read’s Like Minds (2006).

The film explores the Gestalt relationship that develops between two boys, Nigel and Alex (Tom Sturridge and Eddie Redmayne – in his feature debut) at a boarding school, as well as a series of murders that forensic psychologist Toni Collette (and her bangs) is investigating in the present.

It’s a wild ride, filled with way more bizarre shit than expected. Expect plenty of debate about what exactly is going on here! Big thanks to listener Rachel for bringing this odd little Aussie/UK co-production to our attention!

Cross out Like Minds!

Coming Up Next: We’re “celebrating” the 20th anniversary of Wolfgang Petersen’s Poseidon with a look at the 1972 film that kick started the disaster movie trend: The Poseidon Adventure.

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 487 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on shark movies Thrash and Dark Water, Hokum, Mortal Kombat 2, Obsession and that aforementioned audio commentary on Poseidon.

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After spending April laughing at James Gunn’s horror comedy Slither (listen), revisiting Boris Karloff in The Mummy (listen), and debating M. Night Shyamalan’s “comedy” The Happening (listen), we’re closing out the month with an underseen Robin Williams gem.

In 2002’s One Hour Photo, writer/director Mark Romanek developed one of the darkest roles of Williams’ career. As Sy, the photo technician at a “don’t call it Walmart” style megastore, Williams’ character develops an unhealthy fixation on the Yorkin family. Headed up by absent father Will (Michael Vartan), but kept together by matriarch Nina (Connie Nielsen), Sy envisions himself playing Uncle to the couple’s young son, Jake (Dylan Smith).

As the framing device with detectives James Van Der Zee (Eriq LaSalle) and Outerbridge (Clark Gregg) proves, though, Sy’s interest in being a member of the family has tumbled over into a dangerous – potentially deadly – obsession. Has Sy truly only “taken photos“?

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 384: One Hour Photo (2002)

Prep your photo wall and cancel the room service because we’re talking Mark Romanek’s One Hour Photo (2002). C/W: Childhood sexual abuse

Starring Robin Williams, this combination character study/thriller finds the comedian playing against type as an awkward photo technician who fantasizes about the perfect life of one particular family.

Plus: Detective Photographer; 2000s hairdos; early influencer horror; and plenty of debate about when and how the “twist” is used (with comparisons to other texts like Psycho and Mysterious Skin).

Cross out One Hour Photo!

Coming Up Next: We’re kicking off May with the Aussie/UK psychological thriller Like Minds (2006) starring Toni Collette and a baby faced Eddie Redmayne (in his film debut!).

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 484 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on shark movies Thrash and Dark Water, Hokum, Mortal Kombat 2, Obsession and an audio commentary on Wolfgang Petersen’s Poseidon for its 20th anniversary.

The post Character Study Meets Thriller: Robin Williams’ Villain Turn in ‘One Hour Photo’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

New to Tubi May Horror Films

American Carnage (2022)

• Premise: After a governor issues an executive order to arrest the children of undocumented immigrants, the newly detained youth are offered an opportunity to have their charges dropped by volunteering to care for the elderly.
• Why Watch It? This title from Diego Hallivis (who co-writes with Julio Hallivis) received mixed reviews upon its release, but its subject matter is even more timely and relevant now, considering what’s going on with ICE. There may be some catharsis to be found in a satirical take on real-life horrors, especially when the biting jokes are delivered by someone as likeable and talented as star Jenna Ortega.
• Streaming: May 1

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

• Premise: When a group of rich 20-somethings plans a hurricane party at a remote family mansion, a party game turns deadly.
• Why Watch It? In hindsight, one of the biggest selling features of Halina Reijn’s millennial satire is its stunning cast, which includes Amandla Stenberg, Myha’la, Maria Bakalova, Lee Pace, Chase Sui Wonders, and Rachel Sennott (Pete Davidson is also there). The buzzy A24 title is centered around a dangerous distraction during a storm, but that’s hardly the point of this takedown of wealth, privilege, race, and sexuality. Double bill this title with Clue (see below) for a night of fun and games with two films that have more on their mind than meets the eye.
• Streaming: May 1

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

• Premise: Centuries-old vampire Count Dracula (Gary Oldman) comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker’s (Keanu Reeves) fiancée Mina Murray (Winona Ryder) and wreak havoc in a foreign land.
• Why Watch It? Oozing sensuality and boasting Oscar-nominated costumes by the incomparable Eiko Ishioka, director Francis Ford Coppola‘s lavish period piece features incredible in-camera FX and no less than two fantastic performances (Oldman is perfect, but it’s Anthony Hopkins‘ scenery-chewing turn as Dr. Van Helsing that steals the show). It’s classy, sexy, and gory (the Brides eat a baby!). 1992’s Dracula is the most opulent adaptation of Stoker’s work to date and remains the one to beat (nice try, Luc Besson!)
• Streaming: May 1

Clue (1985)

• Premise: Six guests are anonymously invited to a strange mansion for dinner, but after their host is killed, they must cooperate with the staff to identify the murderer as the bodies pile up.
• Why Watch It? The board game adaptation is one of the best comedies ever made, but it’s also a very fun murder mystery. There are plenty of deaths, secret passageways, ulterior motives, and outsized personalities scattered throughout the film. Scratch beneath the surface, and there’s also a healthy dose of commentary about both politics and queerness, just to name a few issues. The cast is composed of nothing but legends (Madeline Kahn’s infamous – and purportedly ad-libbed – line about “flames on the sides of my face” will never not be iconic). Plus: Star Tim Curry just celebrated his 80th (!) birthday last month, so what better way to fete the living legend? 
• Streaming: May 1

The Dead Zone (1983)

• Premise: Five years after a traffic accident left him in a coma, Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) awakens to discover that he has the ability to foresee future events and even prevent tragedies from happening. Will these new abilities prove to be a blessing or a curse?
• Why Watch It? It’s impossible to go a month in the horror world without brushing up against a Stephen King adaptation. This month, check out the icy coolness of director David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone, which follows Johnny as he tests his newfound abilities in an effort to save the world. The threat is courtesy of a (what else?!) corrupt politician, Greg Stillson (a perfectly cast Martin Sheen), with his finger on the nuclear option, though for my money the film is at its most exciting when Cronenberg leans into full slasher mode with a serial killer bathroom sequence.  
• Streaming: May 1

De Palma (2015)

• Premise: An American documentary film directed by Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow about director and screenwriter Brian De Palma
• Why Watch It? Breaking away from narrative options, why not check out this 2015 A24 documentary about Brian De Palma that premiered at the Venice Film Festival? The title verges on autobiography as the infamous director reminisces about his varied career, which includes multiple genre titles such as Sisters, Blow Out, and, of course, Carrie. There are plenty of clips, anecdotes, and archival footage included from his films, which makes for a solid primer for those who may be less familiar with his work.
• Streaming: May 1

Don’t Breathe (2016)

• Premise: Three delinquents break into the house of a war veteran (Stephen Lang) who is blind to steal his money. However, they discover that the man is not as defenseless as he seems.
• Why Watch It? Fede Alvarez‘s reverse home invasion film is one of the most viscerally impactful genre films of the last decade. The tension that he crafts as the noose slowly tightens around Rocky (Jane Levy, returning to work with the director after 2013’s Evil Dead) is palpable, and the film features incredible sound design that makes the set pieces even more nerve-wracking. Sure, the film’s last act has a big sexual assault content warning, but if audiences can overcome the ick factor, Don’t Breathe is an adrenaline rush from start to finish.
• Streaming: May 1

Let The Right One In (2008)

• Premise: A bullied boy forms a unique friendship with his new neighbor, a peculiar girl with a dark secret.
• Why Watch It? The adaptation of Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist‘s coming-of-age Middle Grade story is sweet (the relationship between Oskar and Eli), chilly (snow-bound horror has never felt so frigid), and filled with surprising amounts of gore. The quiet and moody horror film isn’t afraid to go hard for maximum impact: simply consider the all-timer swimming pool-set climax, which features exquisite camera blocking about what’s happening above and below the water.
• Streaming: May 28

Practical Magic (1998)

• Premise: Two witch sisters (Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman), raised by their eccentric aunts (delightful pair Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest) in a small town, face closed-minded prejudice and a curse which threatens to prevent them from ever finding lasting love.
• Why? Griffin Dunne’s adaptation, which boasts frequent genre writer Akiva Goldsman, is mostly a whimsical romantic drama. But what audiences may have forgotten in the 28 years since the film’s release is that the entire last act of the film is a straight-up horror film. Sure, most of the film involves a cutesy plot wherein Bullock tries to prevent Aidan Quinn from dying from a paramour-killing family curse, but the Kidman side of the story features her dead domestic abuser (ER star Goran Visnjic) coming back from the grave as a vengeful ghost.
• Streaming: May 1

Slice (2018)

• Premise: When a pizza delivery driver is murdered on the job, the city searches for someone to blame: Ghosts? Drug dealers? A disgraced werewolf?
• Why Watch It? This Zazie Beetz film came and went without much fanfare back in the day, but now that she’s back in the conversation with They Will Kill You, perhaps the horror comedy deserves a reappraisal? The cast alone suggests a decent time: along with Beetz, you’ve got Hannibal Buress and Joe Keery.  There’s also something to be said for easy going horror fare. I mean, who doesn’t love pizza and bloodshed? Pop an edible, order a pie, and double bill this one along with Disney’s recent Pizza Movie.
• Streaming: May 1

May Tubi Originals

Give Me Back My Baby (2026)

• Premise: When a couple chooses a surrogate for their baby, they unknowingly open the door to an obsession that could cost them everything.
• Streaming: May 8

I Didn’t Do It (2026)

• Premise: A detective rejects the claim that his daughter took her own life, chasing deadly secrets that lead to baffling questions and shocking truths.
• Streaming: May 22

What’s your favorite from the list above? Will you check out the new Originals? Sound off in the comments below.

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At the same time, on Patreon, we’ve been discussing Nuclear Disasters, focusing primarily on Craig Mazin‘s five-part limited series Chernobyl, as well as two films chronicling the near-meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan.

Jenn and I have discovered a surprising amount of crossover between the two themes, including discussions about who knew what and when; what could have been done differently to prevent disaster; and the environmental fallout that continues to affect citizens.

Thrown into the mix is Brad Parker‘s delightfully silly Chernobyl Diaries (2012), which has a shocking amount of real-life facts embedded in the narrative. Or at least it does in the film’s more successful first act…before things quickly devolve into a pretty conventional B-movie in the back half.

In the film, a group of tourists goes on an ill-advised “extreme” tour of Pripyat, located in the cordoned off exclusion zone near the abandoned Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Older brother Paul (Jonathan Sadowski) takes the lead in finding guide Uri (Dimitri Diatchenko), while younger brother Chris (Jesse McCartney) has plans to propose to his girlfriend Natalie (Olivia Taylor Dudley).

Tagging along is Natalie’s friend – and Paul’s love interest – Amanda (Devin Kelley), as well as international couple Michael (Wolf Creek‘s Nathan Phillips) and Zoe (Cold Prey‘s Ingrid Bolsø Berdal). But after an accident strands them in hostile territory, and with radiation levels spiking, can the group survive a night among the mutated residents living among the ruins of Reactor 4?

Listen to find out!

Want even more Murder Made Fiction? Be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and I have 150 hours of bonus content, including the aforementioned episode-by-episode coverage of HBO’s Chernobyl miniseries, as well as episodes on HBO’s 2026 documentary, Fukushima: Nuclear Nightmare, and the 2020 Japanese fiction film Fukushima50 on the events following the 2011 tsunami.

The post ‘Chernobyl Diaries’ Gets Caught in the Fallout [Murder Made Fiction Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Matched with disorienting camerawork from cinematographer Carmen Cabana and alternately squelchy and roaring sound effects on the soundtrack, the opening is both a standard horror movie cold open and deeply emblematic of Hive as a whole. The narrative messaging is deeply influenced by class and race, while the technical elements are playful and high energy.

The film’s protagonist is Sasha (Xochitl Gomez), a low-income girl with aspirations of living in an affluent gated community like Coral Grove. It’s her first day working as a nanny to a rich, entitled brat named Zaley (Victoria Firsova), whose mother Camille (Tanya van Graan) is the kind of stereotype who condescendingly refers to Sasha as “sweetpea” while fretting about the dangers of consuming sugar or playing with other kids.

Sasha puts on a brave face through all of this ridiculousness because she needs the money and a reference to a prestigious school. As her landscaper brother Marco (Aaron Dominguez) reminds Sasha, “We need this gig.” The money is tied to their livelihood, and it’s clear from an early call with her father that this job is an opportunity to help not just Sasha and her family, but also to ensure a future that extends beyond domestic labor.

Naturally, the conflict is that Coral Grove hides a nefarious secret (though, to be clear, it’s not exactly a Get Out situation). While the people are definitely part of the problem, the children are under the influence of something living beneath the ground that is fond of gobbling people up. And since people don’t miss nannies, housekeepers, and landscapers because they’re typically people of colour, Sasha and Marco are next on the hit list.

The commentary in Hive isn’t subtle, and it does tend to belabor the point a few too many times, particularly in the film’s last act, but that’s mostly forgiven because – despite its dark racial implications – it’s a surprisingly fun time. The majority of the film takes place around colorful playground equipment, weaponizing familiar items like swings, merry-go-rounds, kiddie pools, and slides in a variety of set pieces.

Sasha, Marco, and Marco’s co-worker Darius (Thulani Nzonzo) learn from the film’s harbinger, housekeeper Frances (Zenobia Kloppers), that Coral Grove has been infected by a creature that uses these items as traps. Unsuspecting targets are lured in, usually by infected children, and then swallowed up into a subterranean world that looks like a combination of construction site and abandoned children’s playroom.

Considering this is a relatively small film, Hive has a lot going for it with regard to sound, production design, and make-up. The camera is constantly on the prowl, which ensures that even in the more sedate interior scenes, it feels as if Sasha and the others are being stalked. Sound mixer Derek Mansvelt rachets up the tension by accentuating the sounds of the playground, along with hungry rumblings and angry roars from the entity, particularly as Sasha, Marco, and (eventually) Frances discover ways to fight back.

The bright visual aesthetic of the playground, including the ball pit in Zaley’s backyard, is sharply contrasted by the world below. For example, Hive gets plenty of mileage by turning the interior of a slide into a threatening tarp with laughing, chanting children lurking around the bend.

It doesn’t hurt that the action sequences tend to involve a horde of infected individuals. Since the creature itself is never visually seen, Vargas’ screenplay wisely uses the Coral Grove residents as a stand-in. Sasha and Marco routinely find themselves surrounded by a circle of children who move and chant in unison. They’re not acting of their own volition, though; as Frances will explain later, they’re in a kind of spell, snapping to command before violent outbursts; then they’re released, bewildered, and none the wiser about the horrors that they’ve committed.

These moments, with their child-like rhymes mocking victims, herky-jerky motions, and acrobatic feats (expect back bends aplenty!), effectively toe the line between threatening, silly, and exciting. There’s something delightfully Goosebumps-y about Hive that makes it feel both familiar and distinct, so even though the film sometimes pulls its punches when it comes to stakes or leans too heavily into obvious messaging, it’s still a fun time.

Tubi originals can be a little inconsistent, but thanks to its candy-colored production design, evocative sound design, grotesque scabby yellow make-up, and prowling camerawork, Hive is a solid watch. 

Hive is now streaming on Tubi.

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From hails from creator John Griffin, who writes the teleplay for most episodes, alongside regular co-writer Jeff Pinkner and LOST‘s Jack Bender, who usually directs.

The series is set in a mysterious town that residents can’t escape. They usually find themselves stuck after a detour on the highway thanks to a fallen tree. Once inside the town, which has a diner, a bar, a police station, and lodging in the form of Colony House, residents must stay inside after dark or risk being horribly killed by smiling Creatures who look human.

Buildings are protected by a limited supply of talismans that series protagonist Sheriff Boyd Stevens (Harold Perrineau) discovered before the start of the series, but these only prevent the Creatures from entering and multiple residents have been lured outside to their deaths.

The series was recently renewed for a fifth and final season.

The Main Characters Trapped in From

• Boyd is the emotional core of the ensemble. Each season, he is put through a series of gruelling physical and mental obstacles, often to the point that he debates giving up. Boyd is also contending with the unresolved guilt of murdering his wife, Abby (Lisa Ryder), and has an adult son, Ellis (Corteon Moore), and a daughter-in-law, Fatima (Pegah Ghafoori).
• Colony house is run by Donna Raines (Elizabeth Saunders), a gruff, no-nonsense woman who secretly has a heart of gold. She’s the other de facto leader of the town alongside Boyd.
• The Matthews family’s arrival in town kicked off the series back in the pilot. Patriarch Jim (Eion Bailey) and wife Tabitha (Catalina Sandino Moreno) were working through a separation that neither of their two children, teenage daughter Julie (Hannah Cheramy) and pre-teen son Ethan (Simon Webster), knew about. Jim spends most of his time with narcissistic software developer Jade (David Alpay) because they are convinced they can find a way to uncover the town’s secrets and get everyone out.
• Ethan develops a friendship with Victor Kavannaugh (Scott McCord), the man who has survived in town the longest. He witnessed a town massacre as a boy that claimed the lives of both his mother and sister; as a result of his trauma, Victor is emotionally stunted as an adult.
• Kenny Liu (Ricky He) is Boyd’s deputy. Over the seasons, Kenny has lost both his parents to the town. His father was murdered by Sara Myers (Avery Konrad) after she was manipulated by voices, and his mother Tian-Chen was tortured to death by the Creatures near the beginning of season three. Kenny is also getting over a crush on the town’s young doctor Kristi (Chloe Van Landscoot) following the arrival of her nurse girlfriend, Marielle (Kaelen Ohm), in season two.
• Other notable characters include folks who arrived on a bus in the season two finale, including Elgin (Nathan D. Simmons), a quiet Black man who experiences visions and déjà vu; Randall (AJ Simmons), a belligerant disbeliever who routinely butts heads with Boyd; and bus driver Bakta (Angela Moore), who took over responsibilities at the diner after Tian-Chen’s death.
• Finally, there’s Acosta (Samantha Brown), a hot-headed police officer who showed up mid-season three.

So where did we leave off with the major storylines?

Fatima, Elgin, and the “Hysterical” Pregnancy

Fatima’s long-gestating arc began in season two and then escalated in season three as she contended with an impossible pregnancy. Early in the series, it was established that she couldn’t have children, but in season three, she began experiencing pregnancy symptoms that included the need to eat blood and rotting food. Kristi and Marielle believed she was having a hysterical pregnancy (ie, she was imagining it), but in the two-part season three finale, “Revelations: Chapter One & Two,” Fatima was abducted by Elgin and locked in a cellar before going into labor.

The normally reserved man did this at the urging of ‘Kimono Woman‘ (Shoxin Fu), an apparition that only he and Fatima could see (in his defense, Kimono Woman spent the season getting into his head). First Boyd, then Sara tortured Elgin for information, which led to Fatima’s rescue, but not before Boyd saw her newborn baby grow into Smiley Creature (Jamie McGuire) – the only Creature that Boyd has managed to kill.

Tabitha, Jade and Repressed Memories

To date, Tabitha remains the only character to have escaped from town.  After being pushed out of a lighthouse in the season two finale, Tabitha spent part of season three trying to find her way back and rescue the family she left behind. Her search led her to Henry (Robert Joy), Victor’s father, but they soon wound up back in town, along with Officer Acosta.

Tabitha spent the rest of season three investigating her ties to Henry’s wife, Miranda. She and Jade were eventually lured out to the bottle tree by the good-intentioned-but-freaky looking ghost children who dress in white. The pair discovered hidden musical notes in bottles that, when played, activated their repressed memories of previous lives.

As a result, Tabitha now knows that not only is she Victor’s mother, Miranda, but that she and Jade, who has the memories of Victor’s childhood friend, Christopher, also have a romantic history. They were in town at the beginning, had a child together, and have been trying (and failing) to save the children ever since.

For those keeping track, that also means Tabitha has now been married to Jim, Jade, and Henry.

Time Moves Differently for Julie the Storywalker

Give Griffin credit for not his absolute cruelty because From is shockingly unafraid of whittling down its cast by at least one or two main characters every season.

Arguably, the biggest cliffhanger of season three found the Grim Reaper coming for Jim in the form of The Man in the Yellow Suit (Douglas E. Hughes). This character, who has verbally antagonized Boyd, Jim, and Jade via the phone and the radio, finally appeared in the flesh in the daytime to rip out Jim’s neck.

Admittedly Jim’s death wasn’t entirely shocking: it was telegraphed in the last few episodes of season three as the shitty father began taking tentative steps towards a reconciliation with Tabitha. Regardless of whether audiences anticipated Jim’s death, however, it’s what The Man in the Yellow Suit says and who else appears at the crime scene that sent shockwaves through the Fromily community.

Just before killing Jim, The Man in the Yellow Suit explains, “Knowledge comes at a cost,” and that the murder is in retaliation for Tabitha digging a hole in their basement back in season one (that event led to a cascade of discoveries about how the town functions).

Additionally, moments before The Man in the Yellow Suit appears, Jim is confronted by his desperate/screaming daughter. She is NOT, however, the Julie that we know. This iteration has shoulder-length hair and seemingly knows that her father is about to die because she desperately warns him that “it’s not safe” and “you need to get back to town now.”

At this point, we should concede that this is not the first time that characters have magically appeared out of the blue. Typically, though, characters on the show move through space, not time (the Farway Trees have famously dropped Boyd into a well in the season 1 finale, and poor Dale wound up half-stuck in a swimming pool wall and died. See also: Tabitha and the lighthouse).

So this isn’t exactly new territory, but no one has come from the future before. So why Julie? How far into the future does she hail from? And why is she wearing a terrible wig? Considering how adept the series is at balancing out mysteries and answers, these are extremely tantalizing questions that will undoubtedly drive the narrative as we head into season four. 

What are your outstanding questions as From enters its penultimate season? Who is your favorite (or least favorite) character? What do you hope to see in this new batch of episodes?

From season four debuts Sunday, April 19, on MGM+.

.

The post ‘From’ Series Refresher: Everything You Need To Know Ahead of Season Four’s Premiere appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After a month in London’s Whitechapel district discussing different permutations of Jack the Ripper, including Johnny Depp’s From Hell (listen) and Michael Caine’s 1988 miniseries (listen), it’s time for Murder Made Fiction to explore a new subject: whistleblowers.

In Mike Nichols‘ 1983 drama Silkwood, Meryl Streep plays real-life activist and attempted whistleblower Karen Silkwood. The first woman to ever join the union bargaining committee at Kerr-McGee was set to expose a potentially deadly cover-up at the company’s Cimarron Plant in Crescent, Oklahoma, back in the early 70s.

Instead, after being deliberately exposed to 400 times the legal limit for plutonium contamination on Nov 5, 1974, Karen’s car was rear-ended on Nov 13. She was impaled by the steering wheel and pinned to the roof of the car in what many believe to be a (successful) attempt to keep her silent. 

Screenwriters Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen don’t focus on the end of Karen Silkwood’s life, though; instead, the film is more about her radical turn to activism, the cost of her determination, including the dissolution of friendships (with Cher!) and romances (with Kurt Russell!), and the shady corporate behavior of Kerr McGee.

Listen to find out more.

Want even more Murder Made Fiction? Be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and I have 143 hours of content, including episode-by-episode coverage of HBO’s Chernobyl miniseries (in honor of the 40th anniversary of the disaster this month), as well as the near meltdown of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant in the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami.

The post ‘Silkwood’ Focuses on Dramatics Until It Kills Its Protagonist [Murder Made Fiction Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In March, in addition to celebrating one of 2026’s three Friday the 13s with Steve Miner’s Friday the 13th Part III (listen) and the arrival of Spring with Robin Hardy‘s The Wicker Man (listen), we also snuck in a rewatch of the OG Ready or Not (listen).

Now we’re celebrating Easter with Mick Garris‘s feature directorial debut: Critters 2: The Main Course (1988).

In the film, bounty hunters Ug (Terrence Mann) and Charlie (Don Keith Opper) return to Earth, along side Lee, who takes on the form of a Playboy playmate (Roxanne Kernohan) when they touch down. It turns out that several Critter eggs have laid dormant in Grover’s Bend and it’s up to them, as well as disgraced figures Brad Brown (Scott Grimes) and former Sheriff Harv (now played by Barry Corbin), as well as Brad’s new love interest Megan (Liane Alexandra Curtis), to rally the town to fight back.

Will the Critters eat all of the meat? Will the town’s sanctuary – the Church – fall? And will there be far too many resurrection/Easter jokes? No, no, and absolutely yes.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 380: Critters 2: The Main Course (1988)

Prep your Critter ball because we are celebrating Easter with Mick Garris’ feature directorial debut, Critters 2: The Main Course (1988).

Two years after the events of the first film, the town of Grover’s Bend is once again beset by alien Critters and bounty hunters, but this time the fight expands to include the whole town and Lee has adopted a sexy Playboy image (we have thoughts!)

Plus: Justice for skeleton man, death for little Cindy, statutory rape charges for Megan, practical FX from the Chiodo Brothers, and a Canadian vodka detour from Joe.

We might be delirious for this one.

Cross out Critters 2: The Main Course!

Coming Up Next: We’re doubling down on small towns invaded by alien threats with a look at James Gunn’s Slither, just in time for its 20th anniversary!

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 477 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S03 Episodes 3 & 4, the Faces of Death remake, They Will Kill You, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy AND a corresponding audio commentary on Tom Cruise’s abysmal remake of The Mummy from 2017. Plus the wrap up of our coverage of Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House (2018) on the Requel tier.

The post Celebrating The Resurrection of the Crites with ‘Critters 2: The Main Course’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It’s been a month of Jack the Ripper texts on Murder Made Fiction podcast and while the quality has been consistent, the approach to arguably one of the most famous unsolved murders in true crime history has varied widely.

Naturally made-for-TV movies like 1997’s The Ripper (listen here) and the Michael Caine-led Jack The Ripper miniseries from 1988 (listen here) have been a bit more sedate, while Alfred Hitchcock’s 1927 silent film The Lodger (listen here) and Hugo Fregonese’s 1953 Man in the Attic (listen here) were “classier” affairs.

We left our most contemporary, big budgeted, big screen adaptation for last and boy, do the Hughes Brothers lean into the gore! While From Hell isn’t on par with the wave of Torture Porn titles that would come out of Hollywood only a few years later, compared to every other Jack the Ripper text, this one is quite a bit more salacious.

In the film, Detective Frederick Abberline (Johnny Depp) is assigned to the case of the Whitechapel murders. A killer is targeting a specific group of sex workers, lead by Heather Graham‘s Mary Kelly (and her terrible wig!). The deaths appear to be tied to the inner circle of people who know about the marriage and out of wedlock birth of a baby with ties to Prince Albert Victor (Mark Dexter).

Over time it’s revealed that a shadowy cabal, the Freemasons, are actively working behind the scenes to manipulate events in favour of the monarchy, leaving Abberline and his partner Sergeant Peter Godley (Robbie Coltrane) to go up against Queen Victoria’s royal physician, Sir William Gull (Ian Holm – fantastic) and his lackey, coach driver Netley (Jason Flemyng), who will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden.

Can Abberline protect Mary Kelly? Will the Freemasons and Queen Vic throw Sir William under the bus? And how many people will end up lobotomized by the end of the 2+ hour film?

Listen to find out!

Want even more Murder Made Fiction? Be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and I have 140 hours of content including episode by episode coverage of S01 of AMC’s The Terror and, starting in April, coverage of nuclear disasters like HBO’s miniseries, Chernobyl.

The post ‘From Hell’ Upped The Gore for Jack The Ripper Films [Murder Made Fiction Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

New to Tubi April Horror Films

Carrie (2013)

• Premise: A shy girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), outcast by her peers and sheltered by her religious mother (Julianne Moore), unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom.
• Why Watch It: Tubi has several double bills this month, including the remake of Child’s Play and the Tom Holland ’88 original, but for my money, this remake is the more intriguing option. I won’t pretend that Kimberly Peirce‘s 2013 entry is flawless (blame studio interference and a possibly miscast Grace Moretz), but Moore taking over the religious zealot role is kinda genius, and the creative team is excessively queer (besides lead Grace Moretz, there’s director Peirce, and screenwriter Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa). Plus, as my Horror Queers co-host Trace loves to say, the punishment for Portia Doubleday‘s Chris in the car crash climax is fantastic and mean. That sequence alone is worth the price of admission.
• Streaming: April 1

Child’s Play (2019)

• Premise: A mother (Aubrey Plaza) gives her 13-year-old son (Gabriel Bateman) a toy doll for his birthday, unaware of its more sinister nature.
• Why Watch It: Full confession: Back in 2019, I rallied people to dismiss this non-canonical entry because it was unclear if the film was actively hurting Don Mancini‘s attempt to get the TV series going (we would, of course, get Chucky S01 on Syfy back in 2021). While I haven’t revisited Lars Klevberg‘s update, I remember liking Plaza and a few of the deaths. The reality is that this franchise reboot can’t shake off accusations of a cash grab, and the screenwriting isn’t particularly innovative, but, in an alternate dimension, this was the last entry of the killer doll series. It’s a bizarre little fork in the franchise timeline that (maybe?) merits a fresh set of eyes.
• Streaming: April 1

Deadly Class S01 (2018)

• Premise: Marcus (Benjamin Wadsworth) is a disillusioned teen who is recruited into a storied high school for assassins. He struggles to maintain his moral code while navigating a ruthless curriculum and vicious social cliques.
• Why Watch It? Miles Orion Feldsott and Rick Remender‘s Syfy adaptation of Remender’s own comic series (co-created with Wesley Craig) wasn’t a success, but it was an ambitious curiosity. The one-season series takes a familiar premise (rich and powerful teens make life hell for the new kid), but thanks to a 10-episode run (and a back catalogue of comics to draw from), there was room for the show to breathe a little. It’s an extremely Canadian production (keep an eye out for Incident in a Ghostland‘s Taylor Hickson!), but the show still featured recognizable faces like Lana Condor and Benedict Wong. Plus: expect plenty of action and bloodletting; it is a school for assassins, after all.
• Streaming: April 1 (All 10 episodes)

Lamb (2021)

• Premise: A childless couple discovers a mysterious newborn on their farm in Iceland.
• Why Watch It? This month’s slow burn recommendation is a gorgeous folk horror title by writer/director Valdimar Jóhannsson. For some, Lamb doesn’t qualify as a horror film, but for my money, it has enough unsettling imagery and moments to merit a recommendation. Besides the absolutely gorgeous scenery, the sweater game is on point, and anything Noomi Rapace does is essential viewing (she’s eminently watchable). Sure, it’s a bit high brow and weird, but maybe a child/sheep wearing a flower crown is exactly the vibe you’re going for as we transition into Spring.
• Streaming: April 1

Predator (1987) / Predator 2 (1990)

• Premise: A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle finds themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior. Then, in the 1997-set sequel, Los Angeles police hunt a new alien creature in the urban metropolis.
• Why Watch Them? The Predator franchise has had a creative resurgence in the last few years (thanks primarily to Dan Trachtenberg‘s steady hand on no less than three different titles). It’s fascinating to revisit the OG titles, however, in no small part because they’re so different. The first film is a classic Arnold/McTiernan machismo-fest that oozes 80s-hangover charm; the sequel tackles urban politics (i.e., racism) and has some pretty gnarly gore. They feel worlds apart (almost literally), and in just the first two entries, it’s clear that the boundaries of what constituted a Predator film was already being tested and played with.
• Streaming: April 15 (both films)

Queen of the Damned (2002)

• Premise: In this loose sequel to 1994’s Interview with the Vampire, the vampire Lestat (now played by Stuart Townsend) becomes a rock star whose music wakes up the equally beautiful and monstrous queen of all vampires (Aaliyah).
• Why Watch It? We’re only a few months away from the third season of the AMC series, renamed The Vampire Lestat for its renewed focus on Lestat (Sam Reid). For the uninitiated, both S03 and Queen of the Damned are based on the third novel in Anne Rice‘s book series, though let’s all cross our fingers that the TV show improves on the shortcomings of Michael Rymer‘s 2002 film. The less said about Townsend’s performance the better, but if there is ONE reason to check out the film, it’s Aaliyah. She’s incredible and almost single-handedly makes the film watchable. The problem? Her screen time ranges from supporting character (if you’re being generous) to cameo (if you’re not). There simply isn’t enough of her!
• Streaming: April 1

Scary Movie 1-3 (2000; 2001; 2003)

• Premise: A year after disposing of the body of a man they accidentally killed, a group of dumb teenagers is stalked by a bumbling serial killer. In the sequel, the survivors are tricked by a professor into visiting a haunted house for a school project. In the threequel, Cindy (Anna Faris) must investigate mysterious crop circles and videotapes, and help the President in preventing an alien invasion.
• Why Watch Them? I’m not going to pretend that the Scary Movie films are horror titles, BUT with the Wayans Brothers returning to relaunch the parody franchise in just a few months with Scary Movie (2026), there’s no better time to revisit the films. The first film is the cinematic equivalent of a WayBack Machine that (re)captures the ubiquitous impact of Scream and the second cycle of slashers in the late 90s. Scary Movie 2‘s ability to pivot and mock The Haunting and J-Horror titles is a reminder of how quickly horror subgenres come and go, while Scary Movie 3 (when the Zucker brothers take over) has arguably the funniest gags in the series (Camryn Manheim‘s changing hats; the cold-open mocking The Ring). Fun fact: thank The Last of Us‘s Craig Mazin for that last one, he’s a co-writer on the script.
• Streaming: April 1 (all three films)

Volcano (1997)

• Premise: A volcano erupts in downtown Los Angeles and a city official and a seismologist try to stop its inevitable flow through the city.
• Why Watch It? This was that uniquely specific time in Hollywood when we got two versions of seemingly every film (see also: the 1998 rivalry of Armageddon and Deep Impact). Volcano was in direct competition with another 1997 lava-themed flick, Dante’s Peak…and the Tommy Lee Jones/Anne Heche title lost. It’s a shame because Volcano‘s urban setting lends it a very different feel than the small town vibes of its Pierce Brosnan counterpart. Not only is Jones doing his usual gruff, dependable leading man, but Volcano features at least one all-timer set piece set in the Los Angeles subway (hint: it involves a man leaping from a subway car into the magma). There’s a bunch of visceral body horror stuff here and audiences slept on it!
• Streaming: April 1

April Tubi Originals

The Caretaker (2026)

• Premise: After a car accident leaves Miles paralyzed, his wife hires a live-in caretaker who will stop at nothing to become the man of the house. Read more here
• Streaming: April 10

Hijacked (2026)

• Premise: A ride-share abduction sparks a deadly race as a father hunts to rescue his influencer daughter and their loved ones from a deranged driver.
• Streaming: April 24

Hive (2026)

• Premise: When a strict, anxious teen loses the child she’s babysitting, she’s forced to confront a sinister presence hiding among playground children as her grip on reality slips. Read more here
• Streaming: April 17

What’s your favorite from the list above? Will you check out the new Originals? Sound off in the comments below.

The post The 10 Best Horror Movies Streaming on Tubi [April 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Jenn and I have spent the month discussing adaptations of one of true crime’s most classic cases: the unsolved murders of Jack the Ripper.

We began with a primer courtesy of the documentary To Kill and Kill Again, followed by Alfred Hitchcock’s silent film adaptation of The Lodger (listen). We followed that up with Jack The Ripper (listen), a 1988 two part miniseries starring Michael Caine and Jane Seymour that was simulcast in the UK and the US and cost $11M (!).

Now we’re up to another made-for-TV movie, 1997’s The Ripper, written by Robert Rodat – the screenwriter of The Patriot and Saving Private Ryan – and the only title directed by a woman, Janet Meyers.

In the film, Patrick Bergin (and his legendary moustache) is Inspector Jim Hansen, who is ordered by his superior Sir Charles (Michael York) to solve the murder of sex workers in Whitechapel in 1888. He quickly falls in love with Florry Lewis (Gabrielle Anwar, playing a stand-in of Mary Kelly) after she witnesses a murder.

What’s unique about The Ripper is that it wastes no time unmasking the villain. At approximately the 22 minute mark, it is clear to the audience that the killer is none other than Prince Albert Victor (Samuel West, also sporting an incredible moustache). 

The rest of the film is a queer-coded cat and mouse game between Hansen and the Prince as they circle each other at society parties and other functions, all while Prince Victor plots to kill Florry to keep her quiet. There’s even a (too brief) role for The Babadook‘s Essie Davis as the socially acceptable romantic match that Hansen turns down in favour of Florry.

What’s interesting about The Ripper is its interest in its female characters (as well as their sexual pleasure and agency) while also heavily critiquing the class structures of 19th century England. It also doesn’t hurt that West is having the time of his life, camping it up heavily as the syphilis-ridden monarch (in the climax, he actually wields a mace in a head to head battle with Hansen. It’s incredible)

It’s a fun little oddity that’s hard to track down, but surprisingly worth the effort!

Want even more Murder Made Fiction? Be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where you can get 140 hours of bonus content including episode by episode coverage of S01 of AMC’s The Terror, as well as every season of Ryan Murphy’s Monster series and all three seasons of Yellowjackets.

https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=BDA9263140738

The post 1997’s ‘The Ripper’ Blames The Monarchy For Jack The Ripper [Murder Made Fiction Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Following a cold open featuring lesbian-coded Jessy Griffin (Jesse Anderson) and Becca Lipshits (Rebekah Cianci) ill-advisedly hanging out in the DeFeo house, the action pivots to friends Trey (Trey Ball) and Jib (Jib Haddan). The besties are spending the weekend in Amityville, largely because Trey is Jessy’s jokey brother who is housesitting her cat, but also because he plans to attend the Skull Crusher concert on Friday and throw a rager on Saturday. Jib, meanwhile, is less enthusiastic about…well, everything; all he wants to do is drink a few beers and relax.

The gentle tension between the friends helps to power at least 50% of Amityvillenado, which is reminiscent of ‘opposites attract’ buddy comedies, complete with plenty of fart and poop jokes (courtesy of Trey’s poor diet and reflective of a long, random tradition among Amityville titles). It’s not as if Trey and Jib dislike each other, though; they simply have different goals, and Jib is constantly dragged along on the more high-energy Trey’s escapades (this is code for: expect a falling out around the 2/3 mark of the film, which is typical of the subgenre).

The fractured friendship occurs at the same time as a spate of deaths kicks off around Amityville. Meteorologist June Weathers (Elizabeth McCoy) believes that there’s something supernatural occurring, though her efforts to inform the public about the connection between the suffocation deaths and a rash of seemingly sentient tornadoes draw the ire of her misogynist boss, Brent Baculum (Kyle Wigginton).

As the death toll climbs, the survivors, including June, Jib, Trey, Becca’s cop husband Richard (Clay Aleman), and priest-turned-paranormal investigator O’Haharan (Will Debeest), must band together to uncover the truth about the soul-sucking tornados before Amityville (and maybe the world?) is devoured.

Amityvillenado is something of a mixed bag. On one hand, there’s a clear reverence for other entries in the “franchise” as evidenced by mentions of the real-life DeFeo and Lutz family (who even have a lake named after them!), as well as other entries. Tucker and Van Gerwen also understand their budgetary limitations and how to work within them. Case in point: after destroying the Amityville house (offscreen) in the opening sequence, the remainder of the film features frequent on-the-nose expository dialogue confirming that something supernatural is behind the unassuming empty lot where the house once sat. As the friends observe, “I’m amazed at how quickly they cleaned up all of the debris.”

On the flip side, the film’s single greatest sin is its punishing 1:51-minute runtime. Sure, the film contains secret identity reveals and even a stellar shadow puppet flashback sequence, but there’s still no justification for dragging the narrative out this long. On top of this, the acting is (expectedly) a little amateurish*, with some performers faring better than others (McCoy and Haddan are decent, while Debeest tends to scream/yell all of his lines and Ball is too one-note).

*It’s helpful to have a single stand-alone scene featuring frequent Amityville writer/director/actor Shawn C. Phillips to remind us how, um, *challenging* the acting can be in these films.

All this to say that Amityvillenado is unlikely to change purists’ perspective about the inclusion of DTV entries in the “franchise”. For individuals who have seen some of the output from the last two decades, however, this entry is heads and tails above recent duds like Amityville Bigfoot and Amityville Backpack.

Amityvillenado at least tells a coherent story, with identifiable character arcs and the requisite self-awareness evident in the best contemporary entries.

Amityvillenado is out on VOD as of March 24.

The Amityville IP Awards go to…

• Tornado Warning: The storm FX are the most demanding effect of the film, so it’s wise of Tucker and Van Gerwen to mostly imply the tornadoes until the climax, which principally shifts the action into B/W and green screen. The rest of the time, characters simply look to the sky as their souls are sucked out like a black mist. The reality is that it doesn’t look half bad. If anything, it’s on par with your average genre cable TV show.
• Amityville Awareness: From Jib swiping at flies and acknowledging that “There’s like a million [Amityville] movies…” to his rant about the items that Trey expects to find in the Amityville wreckage (examples include: a mirror/painting, dollhouse, clock, and spooky toilet), it’s pretty clear that these filmmakers have done their homework. Which makes sense, considering they literally host an Amityville podcast called “For God’s Sake, Get Out: An Amityville Podcast.”
• Shadow Puppetry: It worked the charm in Nia DaCosta’s Candyman remake, and it works here, as well. The sad historical backstory about the tornadoes is depicted late in the film via a shadow puppet sequence, and it’s arguably the best/most gorgeous part of the film. Kudos to the team, which includes Puppet Maker Jacob Bursch and puppeteers Jeff Van Gerwen, Paul Tucker, Clay Aleman, and Bradley Greer. Let me tell you: none of the other Amityville films have displayed this level of creative experimentation, and I, for one, greatly appreciated it!
• Scream Homage: In addition to June’s hilarious meteorology name (we eventually learn she changed it from Brittany June Cummings, so…BJ Cummings), the news anchor June aspires to replace is named Gale Thunder, which is spelled the exact same way the Scream character spells it. This, in addition to a specific sound cue evoking Angelo Badalamenti’s score, is an obvious homage to Wes Craven’s slasher classic.
  • June also drops “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” at one point, confirming Tucker and Van Gerwen’s media literacy.
• Queer Coding: Considering that the film more or less insinuates that Becca was cheating on her police officer husband, Richard, with Jessy, it’s interesting that the film never pulls the trigger on the queer chemistry between Jib and Richard. All of their interactions have an antagonistic/mocking tone that suggests a sexual attraction (Jib repeatedly – and deliberately – calls Richard “Dick Lips” throughout the film). Sure, Jib’s main storyline is about his strained friendship with Trey, but the climax seemingly goes out of its way to pair Richard and June as if they’re destined to be a couple, despite Aleman and Haddan’s stronger chemistry.
  • Don’t even get me started on the poly implications of “Storm Chasers”, the band that the survivors propose in the film’s denouement.

The post ‘Amityvillenado’ Review – An Overlong, but Reverent Entry in the “Franchise” appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The Serpent’s Skin is a world filled with supernatural entities. Chief among them is protagonist Anna (Alexandra McVicker), a trans girl who escapes from her unsupportive parents’ house to move to the big city and live with her older sister, Dakota (Charlotte Chimes).

Almost immediately, Anna meets a dark-haired tattooist named Gen (Avalon Fast), who is drawn to her. The two quickly realize that they share powerful abilities, including the ability to “push” people, which ranges from manipulating their mental faculties to causing them to bleed from the eyes, ears, and nose. Think the teen feminism & sorcery of The Craft meets the bloody telepathy of Scanners.

Obviously, the film needs a villain, but unlike Mackay’s other texts, the antagonist of the movie is more insidious than an intolerant jerk or a shitty dude. In fact, for nearly half of the runtime, it’s unclear who or what the threat is because the most prominent male character, Danny (Jordan Dulieu), seems like a pretty decent guy. Despite hooking up with Anna on her first night in the big city, he has no jealousy issues when she awkwardly confesses that she’s with Gen now.

It’s a little messy, but considering these are early twenty-something characters, it’s expected.

Mackay and co-writer Benjamin Pahl Robinson give us time to settle in and get to know the characters before the action ramps up. Sure, there’s a predatory thief, Switch (Patty Glavieux), prowling about, but he’s more of a test subject for Anna to learn how to hone and control her powers.

When other people, including several teens, begin showing signs of dementia or lacking all personality, however, it’s clear that Anna and Gen have to step in to help. And if the last act feels slightly rushed and a bit undercooked, it’s forgivable because by this time we’ve sufficiently invested in the girls’ relationship and intrigued by the rules of this world.

It doesn’t hurt that McVicker and Fast have good chemistry. Anna is introduced in a bad place (she’s a cutter, so C/W for self-harm right off the top), but once she moves in with Dakota and is allowed to live how she wants, even her sister notices that Anna has “blossomed.” Anna is empathetic, but she’s also determined and loyal when it comes to her friends.

These qualities are balanced nicely by Gen, whose wit is a little bit dry and whose perspective is a little more world-weary. Mackay and Pahl Robinson deliberately avoid naming the pair “witches”, though the insinuation – not unlike a certain witchy teen film of the 90s – is that there is a strong female component to their powers.

There’s also an open lament about the generations of information and tradition that have been lost due to fear and persecution (this reads both feminist and queer). It’s not the focal point of the film, but the idea of a current generation of women forced to discover how to make their way through the world (without mentorship or a road map) echoes throughout the text.

But The Serpent’s Skin isn’t a dreary drama by any means. Mackay brings back her Carnage for Christmas editor, Vera Drew (who helmed the enormously entertaining trans Batman parody, The People’s Joker), to keep the film moving at a brisk pace, as well as reinforce the empathic connection between the girls’ romance and the villain’s cruising behaviour. In one of the film’s stand-out sequences, Drew cross-cuts between Anna and Gen’s lovemaking and a sexualized attack, symbolically linking them but easily distinguishing them using colored filters (golden amber for the attack; emerald blue for Gen and Anna). It’s hot, unexpected, and – despite not being particularly graphic – the sex is sustained in a way that the majority of contemporary films shy away from.

Shout-out also to special effects make-up artist Dom Keeley for the titular serpentine imagery, which looks appropriately scaly and great. Some of the close-up work on the villain is too reminiscent of the vampires on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, though Mackay enthusiasts may understandably also feel it’s a callback to the vampire make-up of Mackay’s breakthrough 2021 film, So Vam (which was itself indebted to Buffy).

As someone who has always admired Mackay’s punk rock aesthetic while occasionally lamenting the thin characterizations and speedy plotting of her early films, The Serpent’s Skin feels like a solid step in the right direction. The characters are still relatable, but thanks to the measured pacing of the narrative, they also have room to breathe and interact outside of the genre-oriented elements. The result is a film with endearing characters, an intriguing mythological hook, and a healthy dose of sex and violence.

It’s another solid entry in Mackay’s rapidly expanding filmography.

Dark Star Pictures releases The Serpent’s Skin in select theaters starting March 27 before releasing on Digital on April 21, 2026.

The post ‘The Serpent’s Skin’ Review – ‘The Craft’ Meets ‘Scanners’ in Alice Maio Mackay’s Latest appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After spending February discussing Olympic Crimes, Jenn and I are in the thick of classic true crime stories with one of the OGs: Jack the Ripper! We began with a primer courtesy of the documentary To Kill and Kill Again, followed by an early Alfred Hitchcock silent black and white beauty, The Lodger (listen).

Now we’re tackling a two-episode miniseries from 1988. Directed by David Wickes (who co-wrote the teleplay with Derek Marlowe), the series follows Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline (Michael Caine) of Scotland Yard as he investigates the murder of sex workers in Whitechapel.

Accompanied by his trustworthy partner, Sergeant Godley (Lewis Collins), the pair investigate no shortage of suspects, including:

• Richard Mansfield (Armand Assante), an American Stage actor who is performing in a fantastic-looking stage production of Jekyll and Hyde
• Coroner Dr. Llewellyn (Michael Hughes)
• Sir William Gull (Ray McAnally), physician to Queen Victoria
• Dr. Acland (Richard Morant), Sir William’s son-in-law
• Robert James Lees (Ken Bones), Queen Victoria’s psychic medium, who has visions of the killer; and
• Coach driver/low-class doctor John Netley (George Sweeney)

But as the killer grows more brazen, the question becomes: will Abberline identify the murderer before more women are killed?

In episode two, Michael Caine wraps up the case after a gruesome package that is sent to the media contains a pivotal clue that allows our fearless detectives to identify the Ripper from a bevy of suspects.

But will the world learn the identity of the notorious killer or will the truth stay buried for 100 years?

Want even more Murder Made Fiction? Be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and I have 137 hours of content including episode by episode coverage of S01 of AMC’s The Terror.

The post Michael Caine Investigated Jack The Ripper in 1988 Miniseries [Murder Made Fiction Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In March, we bracketed Spanish language hit Thesis (listen) and the 3D Friday the 13th – aka Part III (listen) with a celebration of two Radio Silence films. We began the month with a look at their second Scream film – VI (listen) – and now we’re covering their 2019 hide and seek horror comedy, Ready or Not, in anticipation of the sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.

In the film, Grace (Samara Weaving) is an orphan in search of a family. She thinks she’s found it in her ultra-wealthy fiancé, Alex LeDomas (Mark O’Brien). The only issue? His family – headed up by patriarch Tony (Henry Czerny), matriarch Becky (Andie MacDowell), and ne’er do well siblings like Daniel (Adam Brody), appear to have weird ulterior motives.

When Grace is forced to pick a card in a bizarre midnight ceremony, the fun and games begin. As she desperately tries to survive “Hide and Seek”, the LeDomas family will do anything to kill her before sunrise. Jaunty records, carcass-ridden goat pits, and plenty of screaming blood sacs ensue.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 378: Ready or Not (2019)

Lace up your yellow chucks and rip that wedding dress because we are revisiting Radio Silence’s Ready or Not (2019).

Starring Scream Queen Samara Weaving (in her break-out role), the “Explode The Rich” horror comedy is as good as ever (Trace) or even better than before (Joe).

Plus: Grace as a “Final Girl”, a cast of Canadians, speculations about the mythology, and the original ending that would have been completely unacceptable.

Cross out Ready or Not!

Coming Up Next: We’re celebrating the arrival of Spring with a look at the original Wicker Man from 1973.

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 474 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Psycho Killer, The Bride!, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Scream 7, a new audio commentary on Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and our continuing coverage of Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House (2018) on the Requel tier.

The post Saying I Do to Radio Silence’s ‘Ready or Not’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

And it is used incredibly well.

The film follows Evy Babic (Nina Kiri), a horror podcaster who has moved home to care for her dying mother (Michèle Duquet). Mama is very near death: she hasn’t eaten or drunk anything for several days and a nurse clarifies to Evy to keep an ear out for the “death rattle” that will signal her mother’s impending death.

In between changing soiled sheets and talking to her mother, Evy hops on mic to chat with Justin (voiced by Kris Holden-Ried, who never appears onscreen), her co-host on All Things Creepy. Justin is the believer and Evy is the skeptic, though repeated references to “getting into character” suggests that these may simply be roles they have adopted for entertainment purposes.

The plot kicks in when Justin reveals that the pod was anonymously emailed ten mysterious audio files. Large chunks of the film are made up of the audio from these files, which document the domestic drama of couple Jemma (voiced by Keana Lyn Bastidas) and Mike (voiced by Jeff Yung), who appear to be the victims of a supernatural event. It begins with Jemma talking in her sleep and sleepwalking, but quickly escalates with each successive audio file.

What makes Undertone unique is how focused the film is on sound. The entire movie takes place in Evy’s mother’s house and Kiri is usually acting by herself (98% of Duquet’s role involves laying in bed and wheezing). As a result, writer/director Ian Tuason‘s film is primarily made up of a single character listening attentively and reacting to sounds, including the tapes, Justin’s verbal commentary, and the sounds of the empty house around Evy whenever she removes her noise-cancelling headphones.

It shouldn’t work, but Ian Tuason, along with sound designer David Gertsman, cinematographer Graham Beasley and Kiri, have created the film equivalent of an immersive aural horror experience. As Evy and Justin listen to the tapes, they discover anomalies in the audio, including sound cues that point them to the horrific history of children’s nursery rhymes, as well as a demon named Abyzou.

One of the film’s creepiest recurring elements is the creepy use of Baa Baa Black Sheep, which is played backwards and at various unsettling speeds. A key feature of the film is that Jemma and Mike’s audio files aren’t always clear, which requires Evy to frequently pause and restart sections, or crank the volume, or isolate a portion of the audio track and play it on a repetitive loop. Tuason shoots this in close-up inserts, as if to remind us that the audio is literally the most important element.

The result is both hypnotic and engrossing; these long stretches of Evy struggling to decipher what she’s hearing are so well done that audiences may find themselves empathetically leaning in and straining alongside her. Undertone creates an immediate and undeniable alignment with Evy. We’re along for every desperate web search; every creak from the floorboards above; every hair-raising development as Evy and Justin close in on the end of the ten audio files and inevitable doom. By the time the film reaches its sonically-oriented climax and all hell breaks loose, viewers have been primed to listen attentively to every aspects of the soundtrack – from the cheerily warped children’s voices all the way to the demonic voices.

That such a simple concept works as well as it does is a minor miracle. There’s nowhere for Tuason to hide if any element of the film were off balance: the entire enterprise rests on Kiri, the sound, and the slow, methodical movement of the camera, which slowly and frequently pans to fill the screen with negative space that anticipates something terrifying. Occasionally something is there (a tease of a specter in the mirror; a head turn from Mama), but just as often nothing happens. As a result even the simplest motion feels like it could erupt into a full-blown panic attack.

All of this anticipation comes down to the resolution, which incorporates all of the movie’s bag of tricks to stunning effect including an extended black-out sequence that relies entirely on the audio to produce spin-tingling thrills. While some may find the ending slightly disappointing, there’s no denying the film’s visceral impact right up until the final frame. I can’t remember the last time a movie made every hair on my body stand up, but Undertone got me good.

A24 will release Undertone in theaters Friday, March 13.

Editor’s Note: This Fantasia review was originally published on July 28, 2025.

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