Horror’s on-and-off relationship with urban legends dates back to the ‘70s, give or take. That particular decade was an age of substantial cultural changes, and one method of acknowledging the world was different was telling these friend-of-a-friend stories. It was only understandable that the more dreadful myths would then make their way to the screen; “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs”, for example, was the starter material for Black Christmas and When a Stranger Calls.

Fast forward to the ‘90s, and we had another discernible uptick in urban legend movies. Horror remained the favorite destination, if you wanted to get these stories made and seen; the proof being Campfire Tales, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Last Broadcast, and of course, Urban Legend. However, there was the occasional switch to other genres.

Twin films are not an uncommon occurrence in the industry, and they happen for a number of reasons. Even still, having two movies about the same campus legend was as freaky as it was refreshing. While their peers were more keen on turning the grislier myths into slashers, The Curve and Dead Man on Campus acted on their shared influence with humor.

The “Pass by Catastrophe” (or “The Suicide Rule”) legend first began to pop up in—where else?—the ‘70s. Although there have been plenty of variations since then, the original outcome endures; because of an obscure college policy, students are granted an automatic passing grade after enduring some kind of hardship. The version used for both The Curve and Dead Man on Campus, and the one I grew up hearing, has a roommate’s suicide being the deciding factor in that instant 4.0. These two movies, however, take the myth even further by having the students take the initiative, rather than waiting for fate to get involved.

The Curve and Dead Man on Campus were each shot in ‘97, but the former was the first to premiere. Before its title was changed from Dead Man’s Curve, Dan Rosen’s directorial debut was screened at Sundance. Initial reviews were more lukewarm than expected, but that wasn’t because of the cast. Coming hot off of Scream, Matthew Lillard was a certified scene-stealer here. That one-half of the original Ghostface duo proved he could work alone, even though he technically was partnered up in this wicked college thriller. Nonetheless, upstaging everyone came easy to him, and he did it with a deranged gleam in his eye.

Michael Vartan and Keri Russell, prior to their own breakout roles in the then-near future, were also mixed up in this messy murder plot to score passing grades. Vartan is Lillard’s more subdued accomplice who is still willing to kill for a spot at Harvard Business School, and Russell is his not-so-innocent girlfriend. As for the victim, who’s played by Randall Batinkoff, he was no slouch when it came to demanding your attention; that increasing misogyny is enough to make you side with his killers. 

If The Curve lacks anything, it’s a stronger saboteur for the young criminals (other than themselves). The two detectives (Anthony Griffith, Bo Dietl) on the case do have some clue as to what’s really going on among these dangerous collegiates, yet this duo is so unremarkable, they may as well have been left on the cutting room floor. Or at the very least, their parts should have been transformed into more screentime for Dana Delany’s underused character.

Accusations of mean-spiritedness have been thrown around in regard to The Curve, but surely, isn’t that the whole point? Entitled, desperate, and unfeeling college kids off one of their own just to get ahead—that concept alone is worthy of an “A”. The twisted conclusion is also the stuff of classic YA suspense; my own rewatch ended with the same sort of amusement I got from reading the works of R. L. Stine and Christopher Pike. It’s so overworked that it’s almost brilliant.

Had it not been for Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Disturbing Behavior and Blade, the summer of ‘98 would have been a dry season for horror. And even though the plot of Alan Cohn’s Dead Man on Campus comes across as horror, I assure you, it is most definitely a college comedy. Granted, it’s darker than most—college freshmen are typically looking for fun, not at-risk students.

The Curve saw its cast committing murder, whereas Tom Everett Scott and Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s characters in Dead Man on Campus never draw blood. Hoping to score a suicidal roomie, so as to secure perfect grades that semester, is bleak stuff. Even so, the scenario here is one more akin to instant wish fulfillment. The two main characters ask for what seems like the impossible, then they eventually receive it.

Enter Dead Man on Campus with certain expectations, and it just might satisfy your craving for black comedy. Mind you, it’s neither pitch black, nor does it go as far as its setup suggests. For a more grim college comedy, I point you toward Douglas Curtis’ The Hazing (a.k.a. The Curious Case of the Campus Corpse) and Doug Liman’s Getting In. Those two movies, which aren’t without their own tone issues, are even bigger oddballs than this one.

These movies are of that “you had to be there” category of ‘90s cinema. It’s hard to think that either of them would be produced today, at least not without advisory warnings. Of the two, though, The Curve is the least likely to shock, on account of it being a thriller. Death comes with the territory. With Dead Man on Campus, its era-specific approach to mental health is perhaps too indelicate for modern, more enlightened audiences. Proceed with caution if you think the pitches sound iffy.

I can’t speak for everyone, but laughing about my own dark times is how I cope with them. It’s likely why I enjoy the urban legends that give shape to our innermost fears, and make life feel more manageable (logic be damned). Absurd as they are, they can also be weirdly comforting. It only makes sense that the movies they inspire have a similar effect.

The post ‘The Curve’ and ‘Dead Man on Campus’: The Twisted Urban Legend That Inspired Two Very Different Movies appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Most of them are live action: 1990’s superior remake, 2006’s Night Of The Living Dead 3D, or a new 2026 remake co-starring wrestler Rob Van Dam. Filmmakers can’t help but try to exploit Romero’s legacy for their own gain, challenging the Godfather of Zombies like fools.

But in 2021, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment tried something different: an animated remake. Night of the Animated Dead, how clever. A shot-for-shot, made-to-look hand-drawn version of Romero’s undeniably influential film. What you’ve seen before in a whole new (visual) package. They brought in Jason Axinn to direct, hot off his animated action-horror feature, To Your Last Death. If there was any way to milk a few bucks from Night of the Living Dead in the 2020s, Warner Bros. hoped a switch in media helmed by an experienced animation director would do the trick.

They were wrong. They were so f@$king wrong.

The Approach

Axinn directs using the original Night of the Living Dead script, so credit Romero and co-writer John A. Russo again. Or, maybe out of respect to their reputations, don’t. Night of the Animated Dead hackily plods through Romero and Russo’s story beat by beat, making bare-minimum tweaks without adding an iota of freshness. Yet the running time clocks in at an insignificant 71 minutes, compared to Romero’s gripping 96 minutes.

The draw, I guess, is a voice cast including Josh Duhamel, Katharine Isabelle, Dulé Hill, and other notable actors. Isabelle voices Barbara, who’s introduced on her Pennsylvania cemetery visit with brother Johnny (Jimmi Simpson). From here it’s to the isolated farmhouse, complete with a gas pump. Enter Ben (Hill), another hopeful survivor, and ornery Harry Cooper (Duhamel), who’s protecting his family in the basement. Tom (James Roday Rodriguez) and Judy (Katee Sackhoff) round out the group, as we all remember—no surprises, no twist, just a lazy reanimation of iconic source material.

It takes more than the rambling of genre icons and the Psych boys to justify watching a new Night of the Living Dead instead of the million-times better original. Even worse, the animation comes off as Archer with no effort meets early-internet Flash videos (Newgrounds would never). Worse still, the vocal performances are emotionless and flat, giving the impression that the actors recorded separately while on handfuls of Valium. It’s the fan film equivalent of a pre-teen’s passion project, except backed by a major studio and with B-List names, which makes the whole package impossibly embarrassing.

Does It Work?

Night of the Animated Dead has the same problem as Cabin Fever (2016): why do you exist? The “Animated” angle, yes. But then why half-ass said animation? Or, frankly, quarter-ass? Two-tenths-ass? Even Cabin Fever throws in a gender swap of the deputy for a different flavor. Axinn does nothing of the sort, shaving down an efficient and meaty storytelling blueprint. There’s no added value, no dare to update decades-old details. No creative integrity; literal copy-and-paste slop.

When I ask what “justifies” a remake, Night of the Animated Dead is the reason why. Michael Haneke remade Funny Games nearly one-for-one in America because of those evil subtitles. That makes sense (by studio thinking)! Cabin Fever? A lady deputy ain’t enough; you’re just poorly regurgitating what already exists. Night of the Animated Dead is even worse because there’s nothing to point at and say, “Hey, at least the remake tried [x] or gave us [y].” Nada. Zilch. In fact, what’s removed is detrimental, since Axinn’s iteration feels more cumbersome and meaningless … yet magically twenty hours longer.

So no, Night of the Animated Dead does not justify why Warner Bros. Home Entertainment commissioned such a phoned-in, scribble-doodled, absolute waste of company vault space. There are, like, thirty other Night of the Living Dead remakes one should gamble on first, including two that aren’t live action. Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated is a collaborative art project—an anthology of sorts—featuring segments that use claymation, puppetry, and even tattoo ink. Night of the Living Dead: Darkest Dawn is a computer-animated feature that reimagines Romero’s flick inside a New York City apartment. How novel—remakes that sing their own tune! Axinn should take notes.

The Result

I know this sounds hyperbolic, but I mean it: Night of the Animated Dead is currently, and will probably forever stand as, the worst title I watch for these remake articles I write for Bloody Disgusting. I’m still at a loss, hours separated from my viewing. Every time I try to scrape off a crumb of compassion, I’m reminded of Sackhoff’s whisper-drowsy line reads, or backgrounds that feature still-drawn “ghouls” that can’t even blink, let alone lunge at Ben as he choppily scampers from the one moving zombie they can animate on screen. Sure, there’s a bit more gore added, but why get excited when the visual quality is lifeless, one-dimensional, and resembles a rough draft?

Demente Animation Studio, what happened? A brisk scroll through their demos for collaborations with Cartoon Network, Bento Box, and DreamWorks Studios spotlights impressive results … that are nowhere to be found in Night of the Animated Dead. Don’t be fooled by the film’s promotional poster, hyper-characteristically designed like a comic book cover. The artistic merit of Demente’s 2D frame-by-frame animation barely notches higher than rushed storyboard drawings. Landscapes are inorganically static, details are glossed over (a wall’s color spills over a door, barely seen), character faces sport zero distinguishable depth … the list goes on. It’s wild because Warner Bros. Home Entertainment recently put out a few Mortal Kombat animated features that rip and tear with illustrated beauty, with more attention to detail in a single sequence than the absolute garbage Axinn oversees, which an intro to graphic design professor might barely pass.

What’s added is moronic. Ben’s flashback to Beekman’s Diner where he finds a truck is really that important? Did we need to see Ben’s corpse be dragged by meat hooks to the body pile and then be lit ablaze, bringing the photography under Romero’s credits to life? Tom and Judy get a more gruesome death—head trauma and exposed brains when the car explodes—but it’s all junk additives. Perhaps with better animation, the graphic violence would be a highlight, but that’s not the case. These glimpses bring further attention to the bafflingly abysmal technical flaws. It’s no wonder that on Demente’s website, when you look up Night of the Animated Dead, they put “Low Budget” in parentheses when describing their animation style for the project.

The Lesson

I don’t know. Stop writing these entries? I’ve said a few times now, “It can’t get worse.” Reader, it did. Night of the Animated Dead is a putrid animated remake that does everything wrong. It’s barely over an hour, and yet the experience plays like a Guantanamo-level torture method. Excuse the hyperbole, but at this point, the venom of every keystroke is cathartic, cleansing my soul so I can tackle the next remake/original pairing with naivety and vigor.

So what did we learn?

• Warner Bros. apparently has no quality standards for animated remake cash grabs (how shocking).
• Using an original script for your remake is basically a death sentence, especially so when you have no artistic value to boast.
• People who think Bob’s Burgers is “bad” artwork might have their lives changed if they watched Night of the Animated Dead.
• Even a film critic who’s seen what he considers the worst of the worst has his breaking points, and this is one of them.

You know the adage, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all?” I disagree, at least for my profession. Champion the good; be a cheerleader for what deserves an audience. But the basis for thoughtful criticism is putting both positives and negatives under an analytical microscope. My glowing reviews and effusive praise mean nothing if I’m not willing to suffer through titles like Night of the Animated Dead and warn the masses. You have my promise that I’ll always give you my authentic feelings on any movie: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Today’s just one of those uglies—the ugliest of the ugly, in fact.

The post ‘Night of the Animated Dead’ Proves That Faithful Remakes Aren’t Always Better appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The film unleashes a rabid chimpanzee on a group of young adults partying in Hawaii, and it delivers genuine tension and thrills alongside some wonderfully gruesome carnage and kills. The chimp is a practical creation – a guy in a suit – and the combination of performance, direction, editing, etc. makes it easy to suspend disbelief and simply go along with the frightening ride.

Roberts is no stranger to the subgenre, having also directed both 47 Meters Down and its superior sequel, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged. (He also made the excellent The Strangers: Prey at Night, which makes Renny Harlin’s laughably bad sequel trilogy even more embarrassing for everyone involved.)

Now keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary for…

Primate (2025)

Commentator: Johannes Roberts (co-writer/director), Walter Hamada (producer)

1. The opening cage assault was filmed three times – with three different actors – before they finally felt like they got it right with Rob Delaney and the faceless dummy.

2. The film originally opened with the introduction of the characters en route to the house, but early audiences were apparently unsure about the film’s tone. Insane. The fix was to move the cage scene to the very start so audiences would know it’s a scary horror flick from the start. “It completely changed the audience’s enjoyment of the movie,” says Hamada. Happy for them, but I’m no fan of test audiences or in medias res openings that we immediately jump backwards from – just start your damn movie and trust the audience to keep up and stay interested!

3. The opening face rip was the toughest thing to film, and they had to do it numerous times. Ten people operated the whole thing, and early attempts saw either too little or too much skin tear off from the face. “Technically, it was just a fucking nightmare.” They eventually got the percentage of carnage just right.

4. Roberts is a huge fan of David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone, and he thinks the title credits here bear a resemblance which makes him very happy.

5. Ben the chimp is played by Miguel Torres Umba, and he has a cameo out of the suit at 4:58 as the man seated across the aisle on the airplane. “He was really annoyed that I didn’t use him eating a banana.”

6. Interestingly (to no one but me), they shot the airplane scene a couple times because early takes felt too “dour.” They wanted to lighten the mood, but that only seems necessary because audiences just saw a guy’s face get ripped off, no? Filmmakers control the film’s tone!

7. The film is set in Hawaii, but most of the filming was done just outside London with some second-unit work done in coastal Portugal. The airport scene was filmed in a British high school, and “if you look carefully you can see a basketball hoop.” The house exterior is an actual home just outside London.

8. Roberts asks Hamada why he chose Primate as the first film from his new production company, 18Hz Productions, and he says both the premise (“Cujo with a chimp”) and the chance to work with the director of 47 Meters Down made it a no-brainer.

9. The film was originally being set up with Netflix – it was about two rabid dogs, and it was called The Pool – but the streamer told them audiences don’t want to see dogs in jeopardy. They changed it to a chimp and called it Chimpanzee, and Netflix immediately lost their phone number. Roberts credits the break in communication to the tepid audience response to his film, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.

10. Hamada asked Roberts how he wanted to create the chimp, and the director mentioned that he had just seen some behind-the-scenes footage from 2023’s He Went That Way featuring Jacob Elordi and a practical chimpanzee costume. (Not Jacob Elordi *in* a practical chimpanzee costume, sadly.)

11. The father character wasn’t written as a deaf man, but Hamada likes to peruse lists of Academy Award nominees/winners when casting his films. They came across Troy Kotsur’s name, sent him the script, and were thrilled that he accepted.

12. Roberts fought to get Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night” to play over the pool montage, but he lost that fight and had to settle for a Charlie XCX track instead.

13. By contrast, he also fought to get the wide pull-back shot of the house on the cliff at 20:43, and he won. It was still a compromise, though, as they wanted it done via a scale model miniature, but the money folks ran the numbers and said it had to be visual effects instead.

14. Umba is five feet tall, so filming him as the chimp required some creative thought when it came to angles and scale. There were different prosthetic heads used for different angles and shots – ones with more motors inside were best filmed from head-on as they looked incredibly bulky from the side.

15. The pool was actually only five feet deep, so the actors had to pretend it was deeper by treading water in every shot where they’re not hanging onto the side. Dialogue was written and filmed to explain why the pool has no shallow end, but they ultimately decided that audiences neither needed it nor cared.

16. Nick (Benjamin Cheng) was originally meant to live to the end, but they realized that surely someone would try to push Ben off the edge of the pool and cliff – and Nick was nominated. They didn’t have the budget to film his actual impact and demise, but Roberts inserted storyboards during post-production with sound effects and screened it for test audiences. The reactions were positive every time, so the suits gave them the extra cash to shoot it right.

17. Adam (Kotsur) was written as someone who heads up construction projects, but they ran into issues when prepping to shoot a scene showing him on the job. The scale and necessary visuals showing a hotel under construction eluded them, so Roberts said, what if he’s just a writer? They made him the author of a successful series of mystery thrillers about a deaf detective, and Roberts adds that they would love to make one into a movie. “So Troy, if you’re listening, you can be the detective!”

18. The studio didn’t think the film could be done on a reasonable budget given the cost of a CG chimp, so Roberts and Hamada borrowed the chimp suit from He Went That Way, hired a young girl to wear it, and shot the closet sequence. They then showed it to the execs who were rightfully impressed and greenlit the film. The sequence wasn’t even part of the original script, but it played so well that they added it.

19. The studio was concerned that Ben, being a household pet, would be too empathetic and audiences would feel sad for him. Hamada recalled telling them, “We’re gonna make sure that you hate Ben, that he’s a complete asshole,” and they succeeded brilliantly as he’s a real prick.

20. All of the young actors, regardless of which character they were auditioning for, had to audition with Hannah’s (Jessica Alexander) 911 call scene. The filmmakers wanted to see who could convey fear while still maintaining a character, sharing information, etc. Hamada actually used the scene for auditions on a different film of his, too.

21. There were concerns that the two sisters, Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) and Erin (Gia Hunter), were escaping mostly unscathed while everybody else was being mauled to death, so they went back and found areas where reshoots could really mess them up without worrying about continuity issues. The beat where Erin’s pummeled and has her back clawed was a reshoot, and it works because her back is covered for the following scenes, which were all filmed before then.

22. Hamada says he tried to get Sequoyah to say “Welcome to whore mansion!” before she slams Ben with the shovel, but she didn’t quite buy that he was serious. Would have been a fun but silly callback!

23. The shot of Ben standing back up after they think they’ve killed him was filmed in reverse, “Carrie style.”

24. Some test audiences thought the shot of Ben’s blood spilling into the pool somehow meant the whole Hawaiian island’s water supply was going to get infected with rabies? I would make another jab at test audiences, but also, if I’m being honest, I would also watch the hell out of that movie.

Quotes Without Context

“I’ve been told I can’t sing, but I’m allowed to swear.”

“I wrote this fucking thing in Hawaii.”

“Simon Bowles, the production designer, did an absolutely incredible job, unlike some of the extras.”

“We live in an algorithm world.”

“After Resident Evil, I never thought I’d get a film again.”

“When he screams at them, and they look scared, they’re scared.”

Keep up with more horror commentary breakdowns here.

The post 24 Things We Learned from the ‘Primate’ Commentary appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Caving, or spelunking, is not a universal hobby. So for those who do have the urge to crawl around inside of caves, they go about it seriously. Hence, that team of experts found in director Bruce Hunt’s movie. As opposed to those who mistakenly wandered into their subterranean nightmare, these characters chose to explore the vast cave system beneath an old abbey that dates back to the thirteenth century. Up until some Cold War-era looters stepped foot inside—and then never left—it stood mostly intact.

There is a long history of churches building themselves inside of natural caves and other rock formations. Security was one reason for this practice, but as The Cave brings up, sometimes these places were built “as a display of God’s protective power”. Caves were seen as hellmouths in desperate need of plugging up. Putting down a place of worship was then the best way to stave off any potential scourges from the underworld.

That unique method for keeping evil at bay turns out to be true in The Cave, seeing as how the movie’s spelunkers encounter a colony of monsters down there in the dark. These are anything but mere creatures that exist only to feed; on top of devouring the intruders, they use them to increase their numbers. Before anyone cringes at the prospect of interspecies breeding, the expansion I speak of here is more along the lines of zombism. One scratch from these cave-dwelling abominations (who were portrayed by Brian Steele), and you’re bound to become a lifetime member of their club.

It would be remiss of me not to bring up The Descent. It and The Cave are a glowing example of “twin films”; their plots are eerily similar, and Neil Marshall’s movie premiered in the U.S. two weeks before The Cave did. So although their on-paper parallels were enough to make audiences feel some déjà vu back then, their executions are quite different. And just because The Descent is the standard by which all below-ground horror is now measured, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for others. Especially one as well made as The Cave.

The Descent pulled the rug out beneath audiences by having its monsters (a.k.a. the Crawlers) come out of nowhere. Whereas in this movie, the creatures are known from the start. Those aforementioned looters gave us a preview of these nocturnal demons before the present-day cast got up close and personal with them. What happened to the plunderers after their falling into the cavern, and before they mutated, would have made for a viable prequel. Nonetheless, the one movie we did get is a treat for those of us who don’t always want their monsters to be mysterious.

The Cave is largely driven by its plot, as opposed to the characters. That’s not to say there isn’t a little something brimming beneath the surface; the main character of this group, Eddie Cibrian’s Tyler, has a thorny relationship with his brother Jack (Cole Hauser). A certain level of distrust fuels that rift between siblings and business partners. Meanwhile, their peers, namely the other athletic members of this expedition, can’t ever seem to ditch their competitive streaks, even as danger approaches. 

What happens when you put a bunch of stubborn thrill-seekers in a bad situation? According to The Cave, nothing good. Save for Tyler, as well as scientists Kathryn and Alex (Lena Heady and Daniel Dae Kim), erring on the side of caution is really no one’s strong suit. Luckily, that recklessness keeps the action high and the boredom low. The movie being PG-13 does prevent any major blood loss on screen, but that rating also doesn’t rule out violence. The monster-on-human carnage is plentiful, if not noticeably inhibited. You just have to use your imagination a bit more whenever a creature claims its victim.

It’s only fitting that there would be an emphasis on setting; the titular location is easily the real star of this movie. Out of all the things that get criticized, that mazelike cavern shouldn’t be one of them. The Dante’s Inferno-esque environment, which was designed by Pier Luigi Basile, gives the movie some teeth, as well as a sense of wonder. Yes, all its studio-built constructions are enhanced by digital effects, but the care and work are also undeniable. Your admiration for the production values and visuals during key scenes, such as Piper Perabo’s rock-climbing clash with a suddenly triphibian monster, is understandable.

Even if The Descent had never existed, critics very likely would have still hated The Cave. The low innovation, in terms of story and characters, was more offensive than its resemblance to a then-recent release. In my own biased defense of the movie, though, it’s overly, not to mention bitterly, hated. 

Admittedly, the quality of the script doesn’t match the movie’s craftsmanship. Not in the slightest. Yet if all you crave is a well-produced, stylized creature-feature that boasts an easy-on-the-eyes cast and some underrated monsters, then you’re in luck. Once you realize what you’re in for, The Cave is a hell of a lot more enjoyable. 

The post ‘The Cave’ Hides One of the 2000s’ Most Underrated Movie Monsters appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

This phenomenon is precisely what makes Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm such a fascinating feature, as this strange entry in Full Moon’s fan-favorite vampire series is an undeniably satisfying farewell to Radu and the old-fashioned evil he represents despite being compromised by real world production issues. That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow horror fans to join me as we continue our journey through the Subspecies franchise and explore a film that feels torn between letting go of the past and exploring brave new heights.

As we discussed in our previous retrospective, the gothic romance of 1997’s underrated Vampire Journals may not have been an all-out failure, but it was clear that Full Moon fans were more interested in Radu’s villainous exploits than the undead plotting of his slightly less monstrous fledgling. That’s why it was only natural that Charles Band would once again approach series co-creator Ted Nicolaou with an offer to return to Romania and bring Radu back for one final vampiric romp.

Interested in the idea of developing a horrific coda of sorts, where the director could combine the Anne Rice-inspired politics and theatrical aesthetics of Vampire Journals with the more overt horror of the original Subspecies films in order to give his extended cast the farewell they deserved, Nicolaou soon came up with a script meant to get the band back together for the most ambitious Subspecies film yet.

Reuniting the Subspecies Team…Almost

Unfortunately, enough time had passed at that point that many of the series regulars couldn’t commit to another trip back to Transylvania. Not only did this result in the hiring of a different effects supervisor this time around (with the absence of genre icon David Allen explaining the lack of the stop-motion demon minions in this sequel), but it also meant that both Melanie Shatner and Kevin Blair had to be hastily written out of the story despite the new film taking place immediately after Bloodlust. Hell, the team even lost the original Bloodstone prop, leading to the use of a digital replica in this sequel.

Released in 1998, the finished Bloodstorm takes place immediately after the events of the previous film and once again follows Denice Duff as Michelle – an American student in Romania who was turned into a reluctant vampire after encountering the undead Radu (Anders Hove). When an unexpected car crash kills Michelle’s sister and her lover, the well-intentioned Doctor Ana Lazar (Ioana Abur) rescues the surviving vampire and takes her to the secluded hospital where she works. Unfortunately, Ana’s enigmatic boss, Doctor Niculescu (Mihai Dinvale), harbors secrets of his own, and his treatment of Michelle’s condition once again puts her at the mercy of Radu.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Radu has decided to permanently relocate to Bucharest in order to expand his empire against the wishes of his conniving fledgling Ash (Jonathon Morris, who reprises his role from Vampire Journals.

While it’s a little jarring to see the “definitive” death of Radu be so easily undone in the opening moments of Bloodstorm, the film at least gives us an explanation for the vampire’s stubborn refusal to die (he can apparently only be permanently killed by a mortal who is pure of heart). Of course, the most interesting ideas here come from the juxtaposition of science and the occult as Dr. Niculescu experiments on Michelle and slowly reveals his own villainous nature as a “reformed” vampire.

Combine these themes with Radu’s plans to invade a modern metropolis and wrest control of the city from his more urban fledgling, and you get the most Dracula-adjacent entry in the entire Subspecies franchise.

Practical Gore Still Saves the Day

Speaking of modernity, this is also the first Subspecies film to be shot entirely on video. This is something of a mixed bag, as the near-impressionistic visuals and artifacting can be aesthetically pleasing in their own ’90s way, but this cheaper approach often clashes with the established gothic setting – especially when compared to the gorgeous cinematography of the previous two movies.

Some of the effects also feel a bit rushed this time around, with Radu’s makeup varying from homemade Halloween prop to the scariest it’s ever been, often within the very same scene. Thankfully, a healthy amount of practical gore effects and plenty of narrative intrigue help to make this an effective send-off for the series even if it lacks the old-fashioned polish present in the original trilogy.

In fact, the absence of Blair and Shatner’s budding romance means that the film is free to explore its more speculative side with few distractions, with Ana Lazar being the only real human core of the movie until she realizes that she’s destined to become a vampire slayer. Romanian actor Mihai Dinvale also returns from Vampire Journals in a brand-new role that comes the closest to dethroning Radu as the de facto worst person in the franchise.

His scientific study of the vampire infection also makes for the most interesting addition to the franchise’s mythology in any of the sequels, with all of these seemingly contradictory ideas combining to make the best-paced Subspecies film so far. There’s never a dull moment as we switch between vampiric mutinies and bloody kill scenes in the blink of an eye – all without the need for exposition since we dealt with all that in previous films.

The digital imagery and more fast-paced approach to storytelling may not please hardcore fans of the early Radu movies, but this definitive exploration of everything the character stands for manages to be an impressive send-off despite years of existing near-death experiences involving impalings, burnings and decapitations.

Of course, you can’t keep a good vampire down, so stay tuned for the final entry in our Subspecies retrospective as we tackle 2023’s legacy prequel in the near future.

The post Flawed But Essential: Why ‘Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm’ Is The Definitive Radu Film appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It is a love letter to horror, science fiction, fantasy, film noir, and much more that came before it, but still has the edge of modernity even forty years after it appeared and, sadly, quickly disappeared from theaters in August of 1986. Those who have discovered it over the years understand why it is so great. It has it all—aliens, brain parasites, zombies, an axe murderer, a hard-boiled detective, a flamethrower, Dick Miller, and Tom Atkins at peak mustache. And that’s just for starters.

The writer/director of Night of the Creeps, Fred Dekker, has analogized the creation of the film to the making of a stew. The stock, if you will, of that stew had been simmering for some time as the horror, science fiction, and fantasy films of his childhood—and perhaps teen movies and hard-boiled detective fiction as well—swirled around in his head. While at UCLA, the image of a grizzled detective answering a phone and urging the person on the other end to “thrill me” came to him. He combined this idea with a film story he had been working on about a young heart-sick guy and his sidekick and made some antics they were up to the impetus for the crime the detective was investigating. He realized there should be a pretty girl in this mix as well. With this meat and potatoes base established, it was time to add some flavors.

Dekker began adding more ingredients from his years of movie watching—zombies, aliens, brain parasites, more pretty girls, antagonistic frat guys; “taking all of the B-movie crap,” Dekker later explained, “and just throwing it all into the blender and hitting the purée button.” This kind of approach can sometimes spell certain doom for first-time filmmakers, fearful that they will never have the opportunity to make another film. In the case of Night of the Creeps, however, its packed-to-the-brim nature is a feature, not a bug.

It’s also a very assured, even gutsy, movie. Most of the prologue is not only set in the late fifties but is shot in black and white. The sequence, which homages classics like The Blob (1958) of a mysterious object falling from space, ends on a cliffhanger before cutting ahead to 1986 and pledge week at Corman University and the introduction of our protagonist, Chris Romero (Jason Lively), and his buddy James Carpenter “J.C.” Hooper (Steve Marshall). But Dekker trusts the audience to follow the shifts between past and present and deftly fits all the pieces together by the end while still maintaining just the right amount of mystery along the way.

Nobody Delivers a One-Liner Like Detective Ray Cameron

After the prologue, Chris and J.C. attempt to pledge a fraternity they are not suited for to gain the approval of Cynthia “Cindy” Cronenberg (Jill Whitlow). They run afoul of Cindy’s boyfriend, Brad (Allan Kayser), who sends them on a doomed mission to obtain a cadaver and deliver it to a rival fraternity, with the promise of allowing them to pledge the frat. This is all in the vein of a classic college romp like Animal House (1978), but the twist soon comes when our heroes accidentally turn loose a corpse that has been cryogenically frozen in a lab at the University since…you guessed it…1959, which brings our detective into the picture.

Detective Raymond Cameron (likely an elision of the names Raymond Chandler and James Cameron), played by horror legend Tom Atkins, is given one of the best character introductions of the ’80s. Lounging on a beach in a white tuxedo and sunglasses while being served a drink in a coconut by a pretty girl in a bikini, Cameron is cool incarnate—then he wakes up. He answers his ringing phone with what will soon become the film’s refrain, “thrill me.” There is more to this phrase than first meets the ear.

Cameron is a man who has been driven to numbness by the death of the love of his life, who was killed years before by an escaped mental patient with an axe. He is well aware that there is practically nothing left in his god-forsaken world that will make him feel anything at all, much less the lofty notion of being “thrilled.”

But soon he follows the evidence of the break-in at the University lab to Chris and J.C., whom he calls “Spanky and Alfalfa,” one of his many references to a bygone era. I imagine he never would have thought that a couple of geeky freshmen would give his life a bit of a thrill after all. But then it’s probably more the corpse-reanimating brain parasites that did the trick.

A Love Letter Packed With Horror References

As I’m sure is clear from this beginning of a plot synopsis, which I will halt here for those who have not seen the movie, Night of the Creeps is practically overflowing with references to horror and science fiction filmmakers and their movies. In addition to the names already mentioned, characters include Detective Landis (Wally Taylor), Sgt. Raimi (Bruce Solomon), police officers Dante and DePalma, and Mr. Miner (Robert Kino). There is a black cat named Gordon, possibly a reference to Stuart Gordon, whose first feature, Re-Animator (1985), also featured a reanimated zombie black cat. The sorority House Mother (Evelyne Smith) is watching Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space on television, a film about space aliens who reanimate the dead, a nice meta touch before the concept was discussed all that much.

One of the best extended in-jokes of the film is the cameo by the great Dick Miller. First of all, he is called “Walter” by Cameron and is wearing a nameplate that reads “W. Paisley.” Walter Paisley is the name of Dick Miller’s character in Roger Corman’s horror comedy A Bucket of Blood (1959) and would be reprised time and again for several characters he played in the years to come. The scene is a play on a similar one in The Terminator (1984), in which Miller plays a pawnshop owner, which is in itself a modernization of scenes from The Public Enemy (1931) and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) in which a criminal asks a shop owner to show them a gun only to rob the store with it. In this case, Chris and Cameron procure a flamethrower, which plays a major role in the film’s action-filled climax.

As Fred Dekker has rightly said, Night of the Creeps is “a pastiche but not a spoof,” and much of the humor comes from the overall tone of the picture and the audience’s grasp of its references. That said, there are funny lines and situations. In one scene, Cynthia, not realizing that Brad is a zombie, sits on the porch with him for a heart-to-heart talk as slug parasites spew from his mouth behind her. Soon after, Cameron delivers the film’s most famous exchange. Holding aside the curtain, he says, “I’ve got good news and bad news, girls. The good news is your dates are here.” One of the sorority girls asks, “What’s the bad news?” “They’re dead,” Cameron deadpans.

Practical Effects That Perfectly Capture B-Movie Magic

Those dead dates, and indeed all of the special makeup effects, were created by David B. Miller, fresh off Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and his team, which included Howard Berger and Robert Kurtzman, who within a few years would become two-thirds of the famed KNB EFX Group. Miller and his team had very little time and even less money to create the effects that are not only effective but manage to capture the classic B-movie quality of the film’s antecedents. That the seams show from time to time is perfect for the atmosphere of Night of the Creeps.

In addition to the humor, the scares are effective, the gore is plentiful and well-executed, and the stakes feel genuine. There is a great deal of fun, but also sophistication and heart. Ray Cameron delivers some of the film’s wittiest dialogue, but he also has great psychological depth, lending his actions as the film progresses a sense of purpose and gravitas. It’s no wonder why Tom Atkins has often named Night of the Creeps his favorite of the films he has made and Detective Cameron his favorite of the characters he has played. The bond between Chris and JC is palpable, making the scene where Chris listens to a recording of JC’s final message to him truly heartbreaking. Cynthia is a complex young woman with brains and autonomy. Plus, she’s an absolute badass with that flamethrower.

Even though its cult has grown considerably over the years, I still feel like Night of the Creeps is underdiscussed. And from those rubber-suited aliens, the “Stryper Rules” and “Go Monster Squad” graffiti in the men’s room, and “It’s Miller Time,” to the hairspray and cigarette torch, the wall of stop-motion slugs, and which ending each viewer prefers, there is so much to discuss. So, as ever, I will continue to declare the greatness of Night of the Creeps as I have from the moment I first discovered it. And every time I watch it, which is often, it always has the ability to—say it with me—thrill me.

The post It’s Miller Time: ‘Night of the Creeps’ Still Thrills at 40 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

I was already expecting the film to be a good time, especially since Alex DiVincenzo praised it as an experience that “subverts expectations and turns conventions on their head throughout”, but nothing could have prepared me for the fact that this highly atmospheric genre romp feels so much like a tribute to some of my favorite Survival Horror games.

From the moody Oregon wilderness that permeates the entire experience to the mysterious small town with idiosyncratic residents who all seem to harbor their own dark secrets, and that’s not even mentioning the Dostoyevskyan exploration of guilt and morality that culminates in an inevitable conclusion, Alma & the Wolf feels like the spooky love child of Silent Hill 2 and Twin Peaks – with a dash of Alan Wake thrown in for good measure.

The final act even has horrific monsters that our traumatized protagonist has to mow down as he continues to search for the truth behind his son’s disappearance.

Obviously, Jann’s film is by no means an adaptation, with the story apparently being inspired by the process through which a person might go mad after being forced to confront the narratives that sustain their life. However, even if these similarities are coincidental, I’d still recommend this strange blend of folk, psychological, and even body horror to fans of the interactive genre classics of yesteryear.

Just be sure to watch until the very end if you really want to understand what’s going on, as the bizarre imagery and nightmare logic here actually lead to a less introspective finale than you might have initially expected.

Alma & the Wolf is currently streaming on Pluto TV.

The post Streaming Horror ‘Alma & the Wolf’ Feels Like ‘Silent Hill’ Meets ‘Twin Peaks’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Bennett began, and still works, in television. His wheelhouse of animal documentaries served The Dinosaur Project well. For starters, there’s a visual admiration for nature that even the pressing POV format can’t undo. Bennett, plus cinematographer Tom Pridham, put a welcome coat of gloss on those scenic parts. Another thing to consider is the fact that some of the characters are professional cameramen. That means the found-footage genre’s necessary evil of shaky cam is, at least in a comparative context, kept to a minimum.

The South Africa-shot The Dinosaur Project seems pretty groundbreaking for found footage, but at its core, this, too, is another movie about people dying in the unforgiving outdoors. Of course, this more singular instance saw an official expedition taking a turn somewhere in the Congo, as opposed to everyday folks getting lost in the deep, dark woods of Anywhere, America. Nevertheless, the ingredients are indeed different here, but the recipe is roughly the same.

As things tend to go in these kinds of movies, one’s profound curiosity soon turns into deep regret. Yet in The Dinosaur Project, there is more than just pure speculation that spurs a voyage to the Congolese forests; the British Cryptozoological Society is responding to worldwide news of a not-so-hidden cryptid. It’s found footage within found footage.

Who better to lead that journey of a lifetime than renowned adventurer Jonathan Marchant (Richard Dillane)? He’s this universe’s Josh Gates, albeit way less cheery and not drunk on his own wanderlust. But to keep Marchant from becoming a basic man of action, the movie gives him something of a foil; his teenage son, Luke (Matthew Kane), demonstrates more attention-seeking behavior by crashing the trip and causing trouble at every turn.

Luke’s youthful presence, along with the potential for father-son drama playing out in between dino chases, smells of a family movie being passed off as a toothless creature-feature. Yet as the Jurassic Park franchise has proven time and time again, there’s no need to sacrifice thrills or carnage just because there are young characters among the cast. If anything, including kids fuels the dread. The story is also wise not to draw focus away from the main attraction. You came for dinosaurs, and that’s essentially all you get here. I mean it as a compliment when I say the human characters take a back seat to their larger-than-life co-stars.

Regardless of their extinction status, surviving dinosaurs are often more plausible than the most common subjects in horror found footage, which includes a variety of paranormal entities and mystifying monsters. In the same breath, that’s where this movie runs into an issue—are living dinos that much more scary than the unknown?

It goes without saying that Jurassic Park put dinosaurs on everyone’s radar well before Bennett and co-writer Jay Basu ever conceived this story of prehistoric peril in the present day. So there is a bit of desensitization that comes with this, and really any newer genre movie about dinos. The oohing and awing toward these animals is not quite as loud as before. Our habituation, though, is put on pause once we’re forced to identify with the characters on screen and see everything through their eyes.

First-person narratives in found footage sometimes have a way of making the unreal feel real, even when the artifice is recognized. However, The Dinosaur Project is never able to execute that same sort of feat; for obvious reasons, nothing depicted here comes across as credible. Surely no one will walk away from this movie and think dinosaurs are alive again. That said, you may still be impressed by those methods used to manifest their cinematic return.

Jellyfish Pictures were the digital wizards behind this movie’s creature visuals. The London-based company, which has since merged with another production studio to become JFX, had a hand in a variety of other non-dino media, including Black Mirror and the Fear Street trilogy. Most beneficial here, though, was Planet Dinosaur (2011). That BBC docuseries was like a good dry run for The Dinosaur Project, although Jellyfish had clearly stepped up their game for the movie. Undoubtedly, now having humans in the same scenes as the CG dinos required more care and effort on the artists’ part.

A smaller budget than what Steven Spielberg was working with means this movie shows a lot fewer dinosaurs. Don’t go in expecting to see a Tyrannosaurus like the one found on some of the posters; that iconic theropod is nowhere to be found. In the T-Rex’s place, however, are other familiar species, such as Pteranodon, Elasmosaurus and Liopleurodon. Those last two are notable for their shared set-piece—the best one—as well as for their mere inclusion in the movie. After all, giant marine reptiles wouldn’t appear in the Jurassic films until a few years after The Dinosaur Project was first released.

This was one of several well-funded, high-concept movies from the 2010s era of found footage. While The Dinosaur Project has little in the way of complex characters and storytelling, it remains unique among its peers. Anyone who enjoys atypical POV offerings, prehistoric fauna, or simply both, is urged to hunt this movie down. It may just end up surprising you.

The post ‘The Dinosaur Project’ Is the ‘Jurassic Park’ of Found Footage appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Above all, it’s remembered for its iconic scene that captures the excruciating pain and terror of transforming from human to werewolf.

American backpackers David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) trek across the Yorkshire moors, despite warnings, and get attacked by a beast. David barely survives, but his pal does not. David wakes three weeks later in the hospital, where he meets and falls for nurse Alex (Jenny Agutter) and suffers horrific visions of his dead friend. Jack warns David to kill himself before the next full moon to prevent more deaths and end the curse, but David ignores what he presumes to be a delusion and moves in with Alex.

The unforgettable moment finally arrives when David is alone in Alex’s apartment. The hours of the day blur into the night as David paces about her place, trying to stave off boredom. Cut to Alex on her shift, tucking in a young patient. The camera pans up to gaze at the full moon in the sky, then back to the apartment. David is struck with searing pain in his skull; he rips his clothes off to free his burning skin, and the slow, painful change into wolf begins.

David trembles and screams in pain for three long minutes as his limbs stretch and rip in inhuman ways. His torso elongates, hair erupts all over his body, and his teeth grow sharp. His face morphs, and his screams eventually become guttural growls. The transformation into wolf swallows David whole, and a howl that echoes into the night signals the shift as complete.

Rick Baker’s Academy Award-winning makeup effects design and creation go a long way, making this transformation so powerfully unforgettable. Baker and his team put in many months of work to prepare. They created numerous heads and limbs, which they dubbed “Change-o” heads, hands, and feet to swap out through various stages of David’s transformation. The actual sequence took a whole week to shoot, working backward with the hair growth. They applied all of the hair to Naughton, and Baker trimmed a little off to mark the progression. Naughton’s lower body was secured beneath the floor for some of this scene, with fake legs attached above. Baker and his team approached this with ingenious simplicity, inventive techniques, and an insane amount of hard work and preparation, working in riveting unison with Naughton’s performance to sell the horror and pain of the transformation.

But Naughton deserves a lot of credit, too; the physicality of this scene and his anguished cry work in tandem with Baker’s effects to sell the horror. The stretching sounds and how director John Landis shoots this scene, capturing the terrifying transition from multiple angles, wide and close-up, create a symphony of terror.

It’s a pivotal moment narratively, too, as it’s the point of no return for David. David wakes up naked and back in human form, but he’s no longer the person he once was. He’s now a murderer responsible for claiming the lives of many. Poor David’s fate was sealed that night on the moors, but now it’s a matter of how much collateral damage he’ll cause to end his curse.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on October 19, 2021.

The post Rick Baker’s ‘An American Werewolf in London’ Transformation Scene Is Still Unmatched 45 Years Later appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Two all-time classics from that year have never left the conversation in the 50 years since their release: Brian DePalma’s Carrie and Richard Donner’s The Omen. Both have been franchised, remade, discussed, discoursed, analyzed, and put through the academia grinder over the last five decades. And both are worthy of all the accolades they continue to receive.

Beyond those monumental films are many others that are less discussed but are well worth revisiting or discovering for the first time. Here is a list of ten horror films that fall into this category, celebrating their fiftieth anniversary this year.

Alice, Sweet Alice (aka Communion)

Directed by Alfred Sole.

Alice Spages (Paula E. Sheppard) is a mischievous and even cruel young girl, but is she a killer? Someone wearing the yellow raincoat and plastic glamor mask she is known to wear killed her sister Karen (Brooke Shields) and attacked her aunt. Alice swears it wasn’t her. Featuring an iconic killer look, infused with plenty of Catholic guilt, and ambiguous enough to leave the audience questioning whether or not Alice is so sweet, Alice, Sweet Alice is one of the great unsung horror films of the 70s. Built on a Hitchcockian plot and filmed with plenty of style, it still feels subversive, and even a bit perverse and dangerous to this day.

Where to watch: Prime Video, Tubi, Kanopy. Arrow Blu-ray.

Burnt Offerings

Directed by Dan Curtis.

Dan Curtis is best known for his prolific television work, but he also directed this unique and effectively creepy haunted house feature. Ben and Marian Rolf (Oliver Reed and Karen Black) rent the beautiful but decaying Alardyce manor for the summer and move in along with their son David (Lee Montgomery) and Ben’s feisty old aunt Elizabeth (Bette Davis). The longer they stay, the house seems to regenerate as the family disintegrates. Some of the film’s most memorable elements include some playful roughhousing in the pool that takes a turn toward attempted murder, the creepy grinning hearse driver played by Anthony James, and the demise of a character that involves their face smashing through the windshield of the family station wagon. Burnt Offerings is a subtle film, bridging the gap between The Haunting (1963) and The Shining (1980), that demands patience and focus but rewards those willing to fall under its spell.

Where to watch: Prime Video, MGM+, Tubi, Roku. Kino Lorber Blu-ray.

Eaten Alive

Directed by Tobe Hooper.

Tobe Hooper’s follow-up to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) has some similarities in substance to his savage masterpiece but is very different in style. Eaten Alive stars Neville Brand as Judd, the redneck owner of an isolated and run down hotel in the East Texas Bayou. Various guests check in, with several running afoul of either Judd’s grim reaper-style scythe or his man-eating pet crocodile, which he takes great pains to confirm is not an alligator. Eaten Alive crosses the gritty anarchic savagery of Texas Chain Saw with a stage-bound aesthetic that lends the film a bizarre, dreamlike energy. The film features memorable supporting performances from Stuart Whitman, Mel Ferrer, Morticia Addams herself, Carolyn Jones, Marilyn Burns returning from Chain Saw, and future horror icon Robert England delivering the immortal line, “My name is Buck, and I’m rarin’ to fuck.”

Where to watch: Tubi, Fandango, Night Flight. Arrow Blu-ray

God Told Me To

Directed by Larry Cohen.

Larry Cohen was the master of the great story “hook.” From killer babies to a dragon guarding its egg in the Chrysler Building, and a healthy snack that eats you, he never seemed to run short of ideas. In this interrogation of faith and fanaticism, several people commit horrible murders, and when asked for a reason, they freely and remorselessly answer, “God told me to.” Tony Lo Bianco plays detective Peter Nicholass whose investigation into these murders leads him further and further into bizarre territory that forces him to confront his faith, not only in a higher power, but in his own identity. Featuring some of Cohen’s most daring trademark guerilla filmmaking, especially a sequence involving Andy Kaufman infiltrating the real New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade dressed as a police officer, God Told Me To is entertaining, thought-provoking, and thoroughly bizarre.

Where to watch: Prime Video, Tubi, PlutoTV. Blue Underground Blu-ray and 4K.

Grizzly

Directed by William Girdler.

Jaws became the top-grossing movie of all time up to that point in 1975, so imitators were inevitable. Grizzly does little to hide that it is essentially “Jaws on land,” including its minimalist approach to showing the bear, a mayoral authority who refuses to close the park, a group of deficient vigilante hunters, an explosive climax, and a thumping rhythmic score. It also involves a trifecta of men searching for the creature: a park ranger, a wildlife expert, and a grizzled veteran who is now a helicopter pilot who delivers a monologue not too far removed from Quint’s USS Indianapolis speech. But despite the plot similarities, it also has its own unique sense of style and moves at a breakneck pace. Now to be clear, Grizzly is no Jaws and William Girdler is no Steven Spielberg, but the film is still one hell of an entertaining “when animals attack” picture.

Where to watch: Prime Video, Tubi, Roku. Scorpion Releasing Blu-ray

The House with the Laughing Windows (La casa dalle finestre che ridono)

Directed by Pupi Avati.

Technically speaking, The House with the Laughing Windows is giallo rather than pure horror but filled with enough thrills and chills to belong on this list. Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) arrives in a remote village to restore a fresco discovered on a church wall. He learns that it was painted by the mad artist Buono Legnani and soon uncovers sinister secrets about the painter, the church, and the town. The film culminates in a truly bonkers climax, but the story also plays fair, planting the seeds for it all along. Though different from Carrie in almost every way, it does share some surprising images with DePalma’s film, including a woman in white covered in blood and St. Sebastian, a Christian martyr usually depicted as being pierced by several knives or arrows.

Where to watch: Rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV. Arrow Blu-ray and 4K

Massacre at Central High

Directed by René Daalder.

Though the title suggests it is a formulaic slasher, Massacre at Central High is far more innovative and sharp than one might expect. New student David (Derrel Maury) is welcomed by the wealthy students that rule Central High but also stands up for the poor kids that they bully. When their wrath eventually turns on David, he begins to orchestrate accidents that kill the bullies off one by one. However, the vacuum created by their absence is quickly filled by the formerly bullied, who in turn torment those they deem to be below them. Featuring a number of memorable kills along with its intelligent examination of class and power structures, Massacre at Central High is one of the most unique exploitation films of the era. Its reputation as a cult classic has grown over the years due to its inclusion in critic Danny Peary’s Cult Movies 2 and its clear influence on another cult classic, 1989’s Heathers.

Where to watch: Tubi, Hoopla, Fandango. Synapse Films Blu-ray.

The Tenant

Directed by Roman Polanski.

The slowest of slow burns in which the tension is ratcheted up throughout its runtime like the steady turning of a screw. It is the story of the new tenant of a Parisian apartment building who finds himself taking on the identity of its previous occupant and sent barreling headlong toward her fate. The Tenant features colorful and eccentric supporting performances by Isabel Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, and Shelley Winters, among others who may or may not be in on the whole thing. I debated whether or not to include this title due to the controversial nature of its director/star, and would not begrudge anyone for skipping this one, but for those who do choose to watch it, the efficacy and influence of The Tenant is undeniable.

Where to watch: Hoopla, Kanopy. Several Region Free Import Blu-rays and 4K are available.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Directed by Charles B. Pierce.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown is one of the early examples of a true crime feature film and is still one of the best. It follows the reign of terror of “The Phantom Killer,” who murdered several young people in the town of Texarkana in 1946. Though it does take significant dramatic license, it also generally sticks to the broad stroke facts of the real case, and its influence on other genre classics is clear. Without the look of The Phantom Killer, we may not have gotten “baghead” Jason in Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981). The film also features one of the most memorable kills in all of slasher cinema when the killer attaches a knife to the end of a trombone slide (in reality, this victim was a saxophonist) and stabs a teenage girl while blatting out sour notes on the instrument. Because of its fusion of exploitation with the real-life story, The Town That Dreaded Sundown remains controversial, as addressed in the 2014 meta sequel/remake.

Where to watch: Prime Video, Tubi, Kanopy. The Scream Factory Blu-ray appears to be out of print.

Who Can Kill a Child? (¿Quién puede matar a un niño?)

Directed by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador.

An English couple on holiday in Spain travel to an island in the Mediterranean to find it practically deserted except for a group of children. After spending some time exploring the island, trying to figure out what is going on, they witness a young girl gleefully beating an old man to death with his cane. It soon becomes clear that the children have been infected with a kind of telepathic urge to kill every adult. The children in the film behave in a way somewhat akin to the avian attackers in Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963), sometimes waiting and watching, sometimes savagely assaulting. In neither film is there a thorough explanation for their sudden homicidal behavior, only theories and conjecture. Though it has a lot of competition, Who Can Kill a Child? is arguably the most disturbing “killer kids” movie ever made.

Where to watch: Rent or buy on Prime Video. Mondo Macabro Blu-ray

Honorable Mentions

Of course I can’t possibly just limit myself to ten (well, twelve with Carrie and The Omen), so here are a few others if you need more. Schizo is a very Hitchcockian but quite entertaining British thriller. House of Mortal Sin would make a great pairing with Alice, Sweet Alice. To the Devil a Daughter, the last horror film of Hammer’s original run, may not be great but it certainly has its moments, especially for Hammer fans. Finally, I can’t help but love the remake of King Kong, especially for the work of the great Rick Baker, who, while working for Carlo Rimbaldi, fabricated and performed in the Kong suit.

Of course, there are always more movies to discover. In fact, I discovered quite a few new movies from 1976 of varying quality while preparing to write this article. That’s one of the great beauties of the movies: if you’ve never seen it, then it’s new to you. You can do a lot worse than diving into the horror of 1976.

The post Beyond ‘Carrie’ and ‘The Omen’: 10 Horror Gems Turning 50 This Year And Where To Watch appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In 2022, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett revived the dormant series, reuniting our favorite final girls alongside a new duo of female survivors. Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and her half-sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) are connected by blood to the Ghostface murders and now find themselves caught in the fray. 

But linking these two eras of Scream queens is one of the genre’s most surprising final girls.

First introduced in the severely underrated Scream 4, Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) merges several slasher tropes, reimagining the female survivor and besting the killer at his signature game. Though her fate remained unclear for twelve long years, Kirby makes a triumphant return in Scream VI, cementing her status as a final girl and one of the most inspirational characters in franchise history. 

Kirby’s Introduction in Scream 4

We first meet Kirby on the fifteenth anniversary of the Ghostface murders. A Woodsboro teen, she zooms down a residential street, barely avoiding a speeding ticket from series stalwart Dewey Riley (David Arquette), now serving as Chief of Police. Shaking his head, he begrudgingly waves, signaling trust in the reckless yet relatable teen. Kirby’s best friend Jill (Emma Roberts) just happens to be the younger cousin of Sidney herself, who’s returned to town on a book tour.

En route to school, Kirby shares her love for the famous survivor, claiming the Stab films – an in-world franchise that closely mirrors the events of Scream – are the reason she loves scary movies. This brief yet endearing statement invites in a new wave of self-reflection while endearing Kirby to female fans who also fell in love with horror through Sidney’s story. 

Not only a fan of scary movies, we learn that Kirby is a “genre nut” and boasts an impressive DVD collection. While flirting with film geek Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin), she insists she could “trivia [his] ass under the table.” Kirby’s knowledge is put to the test in a harrowing recreation of Scream’s opening scene. As Charlie sits, bound, outside the door, the frightened teen bargains for his life by answering a series of rapid-fire questions. Though she insists that she’s not an expert, Kirby easily blazes through Ghostface’s list, correctly identifying the signature weapons of Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and Freddy Krueger. 

Her only miss is a trick question in which the killer erroneously calls Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom the film that kicked off the slasher craze. While Ghostface is correct that the 1960 film is the first to align audiences with the killer’s point of view, Peeping Tom is widely considered a proto-slasher, along with Psycho, the answer Kirby gives. Ghostface’s gotcha ignores earlier films like The Leopard Man and The Spiral Staircase while forgetting that the POV gimmick is merely one element of a complex slasher formula that would solidify in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

Beating Ghostface at His Own Game

Perhaps I’m a bit protective of Kirby and miffed by this subjective question that reeks of film bro narcissism. Also frustrated, Kirby begs for another chance and, upon hearing the word remake, rattles off titles from the horror remake boom of the aughts.

“Halloween, uh, Texas Chain Saw, Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, Amityville Horror, uh, Last House on the Left, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street, My Bloody Valentine, When A Stranger Calls, Prom Night, Black Christmas, House of Wax, The Fog, Piranha. It’s one of those, right? Right?” Clearly outmatched, the killer falls silent, and Kirby assumes she’s won the game. She rushes outside to free Charlie and walks directly into a trap. As Kirby unwinds the tape from his feet, Charlie plunges a knife into her stomach. Giving incel vibes, he’s angry that after four long years, she’s only now paying attention to him. 

Upon second watch, this attack feels especially cruel. Logic tells us that Kirby must be talking to the second killer. But remembering her flirtatious challenge, it feels like she’s matching wits with Charlie himself. His unprovoked act of violence feels less like a response to romantic rejection and more like punishment for her genre expertise. It’s a heartbreaking moment that lays bare the fallacy of Ghostface’s trivia games. Though dressed up as devotion to the art of horror, each masked killer eventually reveals that they are driven by misplaced anger and jealousy. By beating the villain at his own game, Kirby echoes Sidney’s discovery in Scream 3, proving that each Ghostface kills, “because [they] chose to” while hiding behind a mask of artistic expression. 

We eventually learn that Jill is the second killer. Tired of living in Sidney’s shadow, she’s orchestrated a plot to remove her rival and emerge as the new celebrity survivor. Meanwhile, Sidney is confronting her own legacy. Her memoir, entitled Out of Darkness, sees the perpetual final girl reject a life defined by tragedy, rewriting her narrative as one of strength and perseverance. She passes on this knowledge to Kirby in a brief scene that occurs just moments before the fateful trivia game.

Discovering Charlie with blood on his hands, Sidney encourages Kirby to listen to her instincts and lock out anyone she doesn’t trust. Though brief, this scene is a touchstone connecting two generations of final girls. 

For most of its run-time, Scream 4 mirrors the structure of Craven’s 1996 original, bringing us back to Woodsboro with a new batch of terrified teens. Jill is poised to become the next final girl while Charlie embodies the late Randy Meeks (Jaime Kennedy), explaining the updated slasher rules while leading a meeting of Cinema Club. But when Jill and Charlie turn out to be killers, a hole appears in the slasher structure. Surprisingly, Kirby steps in to fill both roles. She becomes the story’s young heroine, fighting a masked killer to save her friends. And she serves as a film geek and harbinger, fretting about who will die before who and easily sussing out the story’s false conclusion.

After viciously stabbing Kirby twice, Charlie simply walks away, leaving her to bleed out in her own backyard. But as any seasoned horror fan knows, you can never trust an off-screen death.

How Scream VI Completed Kirby’s Story

Twelve years after this brutal attack, Kirby makes her long-awaited return in Scream VI, which takes the carnage to New York City. Explaining her horrific ordeal, she remembers, “I almost died after I was stabbed. Technically, I did die… for four minutes. When I recovered, I got mad. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life being afraid of monsters. I wanted the monsters to be afraid of me.”

She is now an FBI Agent with a special interest in Ghostface murders and offers her help in the latest attacks. 

Reminiscent of Craven’s original trilogy, Scream and Scream VI introduce a pair of final girls who survive by leaning on each other. Along with their friends, Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding), twin niece and nephew of Randy Meeks, they battle a new generation of Ghostface killers who’ve grown up obsessed with the Stab series. Though Scream (2022) features heavy involvement from Sidney and Gale, Scream VI is a franchise anomaly. Not only is Sidney not present at all, but Gale is sidelined for the final showdown.

Once again, Kirby steps in to fill the void and becomes a legacy character. 

In a touching scene, she offers Tara advice on how to survive the unthinkable, mirroring Sydney’s own journey “out of darkness.” Kirby also has an endearing exchange with Mindy, who is following in her uncle’s footsteps as the franchise’s newest genre expert. Rather than a life-or-death trivia game, the two women quiz each other about franchise favorites, marveling at all they have in common while accepting where they disagree. We remember that Kirby once walked so Mindy could run and female horror fans see themselves reflected onscreen. It’s not often that we watch two confident women indulge in their love of genre lore without a hint of shame or diminishment. 

With Dewey also absent from the narrative, tragically killed off in the previous film, Kirby steps into his law enforcement role while combining Gale’s investigatory skills. Though briefly framed as the newest killer — in the Scream world, everyone’s a suspect — Kirby makes it to the film’s climactic battle. Surrounded by Ghostface memorabilia, she’s stabbed by the very knife Charlie once used. Also shot several times, Kirby manages to stay alive and even lands the final kill, an honor reserved for Scream royalty. As the last of the three new Ghostfaces rises for a final blitz, Kirby crushes his head with a TV set, nodding to Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), the saga’s fan-favorite killer.  

Kirby’s Place Among Horror’s Greatest Final Girls

What has always differentiated the Scream series from a glut of similar slasher films is its willingness to reflect on itself while pushing stagnant tropes into modern times. More recent installments depict Gale and Sidney as battle-weary sister survivors, reuniting to guide Sam and Tara through their own empowerment. But Kirby is the key to linking both pairs.

The secret heart of Scream 4, she emerges as a relatable heroine and passes the torch to the next generation. She is a microcosm of the film’s most famous archetypes, simultaneously serving as law enforcement, investigator, horror expert, and final girl. But perhaps most impressive, she’s the only character to beat the killer at his own game, defanging the horror aficionado and forcing Ghostface to reveal his true colors. 

Sadly, Panettiere’s untimely death means we must say goodbye to Kirby Reed. Though this loss is devastating, we leave the beloved character in a moment of strength. Wounded, but optimistic, she offers support to a new generation of final girls, reminding Sam and Tara, “If you ever need me, call. We’re all part of the same fucked up family now. And the legacy doesn’t have to be a bad thing.” 

Through tears, I’m reminded of lines from Scream VI written to honor Sidney and Gale, which now apply to Kirby as well. After narrowly escaping a Ghostface attack, Gale sends a poignant message. “He didn’t get me,” she whispers while preparing for another recovery. “Tell Sidney, [Ghostface] never got me.”

Kirby has also survived two brutal massacres and risen from the ashes to guide a new generation of women. Like Sidney, “she deserves to have her happy ending.” Though we deeply mourn the loss of Panettiere, we honor her contribution to horror itself. As Kirby, she’s reimagined several long-standing archetypes, some first embodied only by men. She’s expanded our understanding of female empowerment and allowed horror fans from all walks of life to see themselves as a welcome part of their favorite story.

The post Kirby Reed’s Legacy: Hayden Panettiere Created A ‘Scream’ Horror Heroine We’ll Never Forget appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

But before them all was Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns).

The star and sole survivor of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre burst onto the scene in October of 1974 and forever changed the way we view women in film. On a road trip through Texas, Sally crosses paths with some of the most depraved villains in the history of horror and manages to live through a night of sheer hell. Though Hooper’s gritty masterpiece has stood the test of time, spawning five decades of sequels and imitators, Sally never seems to receive the love bestowed on her final girl peers. But given the atrocities she survives and the epic way in which she escapes, Sally Hardesty is arguably the strongest female character the genre has ever seen. 

We first meet Sally enjoying a road trip with her brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain), boyfriend Jerry (Allen Danziger), and friends Pam (Teri McMinn), and Kirk (William Vail). Recent reports of local graverobbing have left the teen concerned that her grandfather’s remains may have been disturbed and they’re driving out to the Texas countryside to ensure that everything’s still in order. After a disturbing run in with a local Hitchhiker (Edwin Neal), the group swings by the old Franklin house, a family estate now left to the elements. Having run out of gas, Kirk, Pam, then Jerry each wander into the house next door and meet an enormous man wearing a mask made from human skin. Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) butchers them each in turn like livestock headed to the slaughter. When Sally and Franklin try to track their friends down, Leatherface bursts through the moonlit trees and brutally murders the screaming man with his trademark saw. This kicks off just over 30 minutes of terror in which the masked giant and his cannibalistic family chase and terrorize Sally, intent on making her their next meal.  

When The Texas Chain Saw Massacre premiered in 1974, Sally was the primary heroine and star of the film, but she would soon become something more. In her book, Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, Carol J. Clover names Sally as the first final girl, a term bestowed on the sole remaining protagonist at the end of a slasher film and a conduit through which the audience perceives the story’s unique horror. “The one who would not die,” the final girl is cursed with the knowledge of her friends’ deaths and must survive long enough to be rescued or defeat the slasher killer on her own. This archetype would continue to evolve through 50 years of genre filmmaking while essentially defining one of its most popular iterations.

Not only the first, Sally arguably suffers more than any of her peers and carries this iconic film through its jarring final act. Surprised while pushing her brother’s wheelchair through the dark forest, she watches a maniacal killer rip him to pieces. With branches tearing at her long hair and clothes, she runs to a nearby farmhouse for help, inadvertently entering Leatherface’s home. Upstairs, she finds two rotting corpses posed in arm chairs, then jumps out the second story window rather than face the monster currently chainsawing through the front door. Struggling to her feet, Sally continues to run and takes refuge in a familiar gas station. Unfortunately, the Old Man (Jim Siedow) she finds closing up shop offers only the illusion of safety. He binds Sally in a burlap sack, dumps her body on the floor of his truck, then drives back to the terrible farmhouse, giggling as he pokes her with the handle of a broom. We learn that he, the Hitchhiker, and Leatherface are all members of a depraved family of former slaughterhouse workers who have been selling human meat disguised as barbeque to oblivious patrons who stop by the gas station. 

Once inside this nightmarish home, Sally is forced to attend a dinner from hell. Tied to a chair outfitted with dismembered human arms, she watches this heinous family bring down one of the attic’s presumed corpses. To feed and revive the man they call Grandpa (John Dugan), Sally’s finger is sliced open and placed in his slack mouth. The ancient man begins to suckle like a baby, finally coming alive with the taste of her blood. Having passed out during this mind-breaking scene, Sally wakes up just in time for a family meal. Under a chandelier made from a human head, the cannibalistic men mock her screams and fondle her hair while dining on meat likely cut from her friends. Hooper zoom’s in on Sally’s terrified eyes, moving the camera ever closer as they dart around in panic. Clover describes the final girl as, “abject terror personified,” while noting this abjection as distinctly female. In this revolutionary moment, Hooper captures the audience’s empathy by aligning us with his frightened protagonist and regendering our collective understanding of strength and endurance. We’ve been conditioned to accept the suffering of women in narrative art and everyday life, but Sally becomes the blueprint for female empowerment through survival.

Fondly remembering their days on the slaughterhouse floor, the family assures Sally that Grandpa is the best killer in the business and that her imminent death “won’t hurt a bit.” In this abhorrent yet strangely comedic scene, the Hitchhiker holds the screaming woman over a bucket on the floor while Leatherface assists Grandpa in trying to smash her head with a hammer. But the decrepit man can barely hold the weapon and makes feeble attempts to land a killing blow. In the midst of this chaos, Sally fights her way free and jumps through a second window, landing on all fours like a wounded animal. Limping down the farmhouse’s long driveway, she’s once again attacked by the Hitchhiker who slashes into her back while Leatherface retrieves his trusty chainsaw. Though she is injured, Sally runs to the road and watches as a truck pulverizes the depraved murderer directly on her heels. As Leatherface approaches, the truck’s driver attempts to help her into the cab, but panics when the chainsaw’s blade hits the driver’s side door. Sally must ultimately flag down a second truck and hop into the bed. She screams in a mix of terror and triumph as a frustrated Leatherface waves his chainsaw in the early morning sun. 

Because of this ending and the meager assistance she receives, Sally has frequently been called a passive final girl. Like Laurie Strode in the original Halloween, she requires male intervention to survive and does not fight the killer off on her own. While this may be technically true, the word “passive” seems to undercut Sally’s impressive physicality and many feats of survival. Setting aside the fact that she jumps through two windows, Sally must endure thirty-one minutes of mind-bending terror, completely carrying the second half of the film. Not only does she fight her way out of certain death, she evades three separate killers and forces two truck drivers to stop and come to her aid. The first would-be savior buys her precious minutes by throwing a literal wrench into Leatherface’s plan, but Sally must adjust in the moment and force another truck to pull aside. Though injured and stunned, she climbs aboard all on her own and commands the driver to speed away. The truck and its male driver may physically move her away from Leatherface, but Sally has reached salvation all on her own. 

Adding verisimilitude to this cinematic ordeal, the working conditions on Hooper’s set were also reportedly horrific. Due to a miniscule budget, the cast and crew worked 12-16 hours seven days a week for more than a month in the Texas summer where temperatures would routinely break 100 degrees. The poorly ventilated house was filled with rotting animal carcasses causing the actors to vomit or lean out the windows for fresh air between takes. By the end of filming, Sally’s costume was drenched in so much blood–some of it real–that it could stand up on its own. Hansen’s own attire could not be washed for fear that it would change color or shape and smelled predictably terrible by the time filming wrapped. The set was also reportedly quite dangerous and the special effects were unreliable. When a blood tube could not be fixed, Hansen solved the problem by simply slicing into Burns’ finger to “feed” Grandpa with her actual blood. A real hammer was reportedly used during some takes of the bucket scene, which could easily have caused a devastating injury. Considering these stories and many more, It’s safe to assume this was one of the most grueling behind the scenes scenarios in horror history, adding weight to Sally’s impressive performance. 

Despite this heroism, Sally has not become a franchise mainstay. An introduction to the third film, Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III tells us that she died three years later in a mental institution. Burns makes a brief reappearance in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation as a catatonic patient wheeled past the film’s own final girl, symbolically passing the torch to Leatherface’s newest survivor. Eight years after Burns’ death, actress Olwen Fouéré would take on the iconic role in the 2022 sequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Taking a nod from Laurie Strode, who’s continuing story helms a trilogy of modern Halloween sequels, this Sally has become a hardened Texas Ranger still searching for the masked man who murdered her friends. She does eventually track down Leatherface (Mark Burnham) and bravely diverts his attention long enough for two new heroines to escape. However, the beloved survivor dies at the end of her enemy’s chainsaw and falls into the street among bags of garbage–an egregious end to her harrowing story.  

But Sally’s legacy will reach far beyond her cinematic death. Not only does she anchor one of the greatest horror films of all time–a symphony of depravity unlikely to ever be reproduced–she is the first official final girl and helped create a trend that would go on to redefine the genre. In addition to this distinction, Sally is unique in one other aspect of the now-famous trope: she never turns to face her attacker, instead only fighting her way towards freedom. Later final girls would go on to pick up then “drop up the knife,” a trope that describes the masculinizing effect of using the killer’s phallic weapon against him. Clover describes this phenomenon as seen in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 which concludes with final girl Stretch (Caroline Williams) wielding a chainsaw atop a high hill, mirroring Leatherface’s own grotesque dance at the end of Hooper’s film.

Over time, this element of the final girl’s legacy has become contentious and could be interpreted to mean that a feminized victim can only find empowerment by adopting the distinctly masculine strength of her attacker. But Sally escapes on her own terms. Not only does she survive a grueling thirty minutes of sheer torture, she fights her way out of a seemingly impossible trap and orchestrates her own miraculous rescue. She never loses her sense of self and survives by remaining precisely what she has always been, an empowered survivor with an unrivaled will to live, and one of the greatest characters in the history of horror.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on October 11, 2024.

The post Texas Chain Saw Day – Celebrating 50 Years of Horror’s Original Final Girl appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Or perhaps you have kids in that age range and are still trying to figure out what skibidi means while parsing out your child’s fascination with a sardonic purple bunny flashing a Cheshire grin. The Netflix series feels like polished brain rot with its uncanny jumble of quasi-familiar cartoon imagery.

But lurking beneath this candy-colored bizarre is a deep exploration of Gen Alpha horror. Created by the YouTuber known as Gooseworx, the eye-popping extravaganza is perhaps the first piece of mature art to highlight the experience of growing up alongside the creation of generative AI. 

For an adult, watching The Amazing Digital Circus — or TADC for those in the know — feels like flipping over a massive toy box and rapidly assembling a story from whatever falls out. Some vigilant parents may be reminded of the bizarre children’s videos where green gorillas raced through electronic streets while peering out of giant toilets.

But the series has more prestigious origins. Gooseworx was reportedly inspired by Harlan Ellison’s award-winning short story “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream”, a terrifying sci-fi tale about life under an oppressive supercomputer.  

Setting the Stage for Gen Alpha Terror

Episode one begins when a young woman suddenly materialises on an animated stage. Confused, she tries to pull off an invisible headset while gaping at her digitized self. We have no idea what she used to look like, and she cannot remember her own name. The player we will come to know as Pomni (Lizzie Freeman) now wears a blue and white court jester’s suit complete with a matching pom pom-tipped hat. Her black-rimmed eyes are fields of stark white around dizzying octagonal pupils that perfectly match her outfit’s hues. Pomni frantically tugs at her chunky, dark hair with cartoon-style gloves only to find that she can do nothing to alter her appearance.

She’s trapped in an avatar she had no part in creating. 

As other human residents cautiously approach, Pomni is welcomed by the Circus’ bizarre ringmaster. Caine (Alex Rochon) is a shocking amalgamation of humanoid imagery and iconic toys whose “face” is a pair of detached eyeballs perched inside massive chattery teeth. Dressed in a top hat and tails, he’s flanked by an equally eerie sidekick named Bubble (Gooseworx), a semi-translucent shimmering sphere with shark-like eyes and jagged teeth. Though obviously designed to be whimsical, Caine and Bubble are menacing in their soullessness, empty code trained to mimic fun. 

The rest of Pomni’s human companions — or prisoners — are similarly jarring in their appearance. Jax (Michael Kovach) is the aforementioned purple rabbit while Ragatha (Amanda Hufford) is a ragdoll with a button eye. Kinger (Sean Chiplock) is a chess piece with lopsided eyeballs hovering above a royal robe, and Gangle (Marissa Lenti) is an eerie swirl of blood-red ribbon supporting an alabaster tragedy mask. Zooble (Ashley Nichols) appears to be a collection of shapes, toys, and craft supplies haphazardly constructed to approximate bipedal form. Some more welcoming than others, they try to explain this new existence and the virtual hell in which they’ve been trapped. 

Desperate to escape, Pomni dashes for a door labeled Exit, regardless of the fact that it’s a disconnected passageway. The portal takes her to an unassuming office filled with droopy plants and drab furniture. Rushing towards another sign, she finds no escape, just more of the same. Each door leads her through an interminable maze of dismal and nondescript offices.

Pomni does eventually reach the end of this chain, stumbling into a liminal space known as the Void. With shimmering chords of multi-layered geometry stretching out as far as the eye can see, this unnerving expanse shows the massive code that forms the appearance of a three-ring circus. Caine rescues her from this digital nightmare by pulling her back into the tent, once again covering coded reality with a distracting image.

Pomni’s Identity Crisis and the Horror of Losing Your Humanity

Each day, Caine sends the humans on a bizarre adventure constructed solely to keep them from getting bored and pondering the true nature of their confinement. Pomni’s first quest is a bizarre amalgamation of Candy Land and George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, a mission to return a hijacked maple syrup truck to a whimsical world made of sugary treats. When she sinks beneath the virtual map, Pomni meets a stranded NPC (non-playable character) and watches him become self-aware.

Gazing at an inanimate variation of himself, the gummy crocodile hijacker realizes that every one of his memories, including the sick mother he claims to be fighting for, is nothing more than fleeting details in someone else’s ridiculous game. When Pomni tries to bring the NPC back to the circus, Caine disposes of the sentient character, erasing him from existence by simply snapping his fingers.  

Next, the humans are sent on a quest to the eerie Mildenhall Manor. So scared that her eyes literally pop out of her head, Pomni is dragged by these disembodied organs into the basement where she meets a mummified corpse. A disembodied voice explains that the mansion’s owner murdered his family and now waits to use her body as a vessel to return to the living world. Dropped into hell itself, Kinger and Pomni must traverse this barren realm without taking a breath that will invite spirits in. Thankfully, they remember that respiration is a remnant of their human lives and clutch hands as they wade through a river of ghosts.  

This dehumanization continues in the sixth episode, entitled “They All Get Guns.” After explaining a disturbing Russian Roulette-style trust exercise, Caine abandons an increasingly convoluted setup and simply stashes various weapons around the circus. In pairs, the guests must retrieve these guns and shoot each other. The last one standing will win the game. Cartoon hearts hover above their heads to indicate how many lives they have left. What follows is a shocking juxtaposition of extreme violence and childish role play. Stuffing explodes out of Ragatha’s body as Jax continues to shoot her at point-blank range.

Finally, she turns the tables on him and reverses fire by simply plugging the gun’s barrel with her finger. Just seconds after they’ve been murdered, the characters reappear, emotionally shaken, but physically unharmed. 

How The Amazing Digital Circus Reflects Gen Alpha’s Real-World Anxieties 

Teamed up with the nihilistic Jax, Pomni survives by embracing villain mode. The grinning bunny has convinced her that nothing is real and there are no consequences for their actions, except the emotional toll of living through a massacre. This disturbing episode exposes the unique pain of growing up with active shooter drills.

Since kindergarten, Gen Alpha kids have been tasked with pretending to hide from a gunman rampaging through their schools, then returning to math class moments later. Gooseworx seems to say that the only way to emotionally navigate this horrifying reality is to retreat into the mindset of a video game. 

As he makes plans to hunt down and kill the other guests, Jax explains that the longer they stay in this electronic realm, the more they revert to archetypes. The self-professed “funny one,” Jax pulls on sitcom tropes while slowly losing his grip on reality. As his pupils begin to scramble, the walls dissolve into pleasing light, muzak filling his private room. Jax has begun to abstract. Without corporeal bodies, the circus’ only means of death is this frightening state of disconnection. Though pleasing from the inside, this oblivion looks much different to outside observers.

Rather than a whimsical avatar, an abstracted soul is a monstrous creature of Vantablack, covered with blinking neon eyes. Constantly pulsing with sharp angles, the creature rampages from room to room, beating their friends into glitching submission. 

Caine is One of Horror’s Most Disturbing AI Villains 

To rid the circus of these threats, Caine pulls the abstracted soul into a basement lair, dooming them to endless oblivion. But as Jax succumbs to digital distraction, Caine also begins to lose control. Distressed by negative feedback on his adventures and dissatisfaction from his human guests, the AI grows increasingly hostile, eventually declaring himself their god. He plans an intensely cruel adventure, dangling hope of escape in front of their eyes. Next, Caine begins a system of outright torture, putting the guests through increasingly dehumanizing tasks.

They eventually find a way to delete Caine’s file, saving themselves from the maniacal machine. But the AI’s absence leaves them stranded in this electronic realm. They have no way to change their environment or protect themselves from abstracted Jax. Like our youngest generation, they’ve been trapped in a hell they did not create and denied the power to save themselves.  

It’s only by retreating into darkness that Kinger remembers his complicity. Employed by a tech company, he explains that each of the residents’ brains has been scanned, replicated, then uploaded to the digital circus. While perhaps reassuring to know that their true selves are out there living their lives, the digitized prisoners must face the fact that they will never have a human form. The only way to escape their cartoonish avatars is to permanently delete themselves.

It’s a stunning recreation of the dehumanizing effects of prolonged online socialization. Pomni’s consciousness only exists in this electronic space, a world in which everything is possible but nothing is real.  

While his guests struggle to define themselves in the wake of this distressing news, Caine recovers his source code and hesitantly tries to make amends. With no alternative, the guests accept his offer to help them manage the circus’ infinite hell. Caine begins by genuinely listening to their requests instead of overriding their feelings with empty logic. Pomni and her friends broker a fragile peace, saying goodbye to their human forms and soothing the abstracted Jax monster. Though bittersweet, this conclusion does not talk down to its audience by suggesting a return to normalcy or a victory that does not exist. 

An Animated Warning

The Amazing Digital Circus has deeply resonated with Gen Alpha kids, wrapping poignant social commentary in candy-colored fun. On the surface, it’s a quirky cartoon filled with strangely delightful characters. But at its core, TADC shows the struggle to cope with a lack of control in an increasingly dangerous world. We do not yet know the ramifications of generative AI, but our children will be left to figure it out.

Eventually, they will pierce through the dazzling distractions we’ve created to hide our shortsided selfishness. It’s no coincidence that Kinger’s aging boss created this brain-scan technology, then himself abstracted, leaving no way out of the mess he built. 

While exploring the seductive nature of online oblivion and the importance of bodily autonomy, The Amazing Digital Circus is perhaps best described as a story about the horrors of generative AI. Gooseworx seems to argue that we cannot put the genie back in the bottle and must find a way to coexist with rapidly expanding technology.

While oddly affirming to Gen Alpha viewers, TADC should serve as a warning to adults. Like the humbled Caine, we must earnestly listen to those who will inherit our mistakes and find the courage to relinquish control before we end up destroying humanity.

The post ‘The Amazing Digital Circus’ Is Gen Alpha’s First Great Horror Story About AI appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In addition to the TV series was an ancillary line of YA novels. Think Goosebumps, except here the show preceded the books. While most of the entries were original, there was the occasional novelization. Naturally, the intended audience is also young; however, these stories remain worthwhile reads, even if you’re well past the target age.

Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, here are ten Are You Afraid of the Dark? stories that can only be found in the books.

The Tale of the Shimmering Shell

In The Tale of the Shimmering Shell, written by David Cody Weiss and Bobby JG Weiss, Glynis is spending her summer at a beach house with her father, her stepmother, and her stepbrother. Early on, though, it’s made clear that Glynis is unhappy with this new family arrangement. So much so that she accidentally made everyone disappear; the strange shell she found granted her wish.

And little does Glynis know that same shell housed an evil entity: Typhon from Ancient Greek mythology. It’s only once Glynis works with her stepbrother, as well as the neighborly mermaid in charge of keeping Typhon imprisoned, that the old threat finally stays a thing of the past.

Midnight Society member Sam (played by Joanna Garcia in the series) served up this offering about wishes. Although, the wish part here is so small in the grand scheme of things. The Tale of the Shimmering Shell, like the majority of these books, ultimately has big ideas that would have never been feasible in the original TV show. This is a fantastical story that can only be told with the kind of production and effects that the classic Are You Afraid of the Dark? couldn’t provide.

The Tale of the Souvenir Shop

Betty Ann (Raine Pare-Coull) dropped this exciting slice of underworld horror. In Alice Eve Cohen‘s The Tale of the Souvenir Shop, Julianna, her parents, and her younger sister, Emily, stop at the worst tourist trap imaginable: the Self-Guided Volcanic Cave Tours. But while the parents get themselves lost for most of this tale, the daughters end up being sealed inside a giant snow globe, then sent to the story’s equivalent of Hell.

The culprit behind the snow-globing is the owner of the caves’ souvenir shop, although he’s been working under duress for the last ten-plus years. A bad deal with a subterranean society of modern yet cruel cyclopes, and the fact that he’s working to save his granddaughter, is why he involved Julianna and Emily. When the cyclopes refuse to make good on their end of the deal, though, it’s up to the two main characters, plus the granddaughter, to save themselves.

This adventurous tale boasts another high concept that would have required a lot of special effects. The last act alone has the three main characters escaping their one-eyed captors via a toy car!

The Tale of the Mogul Monster

In The Tale of the Mogul Monster (also written by the Weisses), snowboarder Dee was dealt a bad hand; he’s rich now only because his parents died. So even though he’ll never have to worry about student loans, having friends who actually like him, and not just his money, proves difficult. This issue plays out as Dee and two of his hangers-on get lost outdoors.

An off-course excursion at a snow resort leads to avalanches and injuries. Making matters worse, the main character then suspects he’s being followed by the Bigfoot-like monster said to live around these parts.

With one friend badly hurt, and another acting like a selfish coward, Dee’s odds of surviving the harsh and cold wilderness seem low. However, the pro shredder who went missing out here—turns out he rejected his fame and chose to live among these civilized Bigfeet—comes to his rescue.

One overlooked aspect of Are You Afraid of the Dark? is the characters. Yes, their designs are more simple than complex, but the writers were still decent about fleshing out these young protagonists in peril. The books do more of the same, albeit to a greater extent. They can afford to look beneath the surface a little longer.

The Tale of the Curious Cat

The Tale of the Curious Cat (written by Diana G. Gallagher) is a story from Betty Ann, and out of everything here, it feels the most like an episode of the show. A teen named Natalie is always giving in to her nagging curiosity and then not owning up to the consequences. Usually, though, her worst trait causes minimal damage. That is until she meets Wanda, a strange and rather vengeful merchant at the town fair.

Despite the “do not touch” sign put in plain sight, Natalie messed with Wanda’s enticing cat statuette. Except, it wasn’t the object that came to harm; Wanda’s real cat, Shadow, got scared by the girl and ran out in front of a moving car. This freak occurrence led to Shadow’s death, as well as the unrelenting curse placed upon Natalie, her young sister, and any others caught in the protagonist’s orbit.

This tale, like plenty of others in Are You Afraid of the Dark?, features a very harsh lesson that only the supernatural could deliver. From her sister withering to nonexistence to her friends nearly dying, Natalie gets an unmistakable message about her thoughtless behavior.

The Tale of the Restless House

John Peel a.k.a. “Nicholas Adams” provided the inspiration for 2024’s Tarot. He also wrote books for Doctor Who, Carmen Sandiego, Eerie, Indiana, and various Star Trek franchises. In his second-ever Are You Afraid of the Dark? contribution, Peel tossed a group of unsuspecting kids into a temporal anomaly.

In another Sam-narrated story, a prank on an unpopular classmate goes terribly wrong. Kendra and her pals tricked Adam into going into the creepiest place in the neighborhood: the old Hawkins House. In due time, they embark on a trip that defies all logic. The characters are trapped inside this living house, which punishes them whenever they try to leave, or rewards them whenever they accept their fate. In their travels across time, they encounter saber-toothed cats, dinosaurs, and trigger-happy Revolutionary War soldiers.

The supposed scaredy-cat of the group isn’t the nerdy Adam, but rather his would-be pranksters. All except Kendra, who realizes her friends are losers and Adam is actually pretty cool. Finally, once they all understand the house is alive and is simply trying to make friends in its own weird way, the group finds a way back to their time. Oddly enough, Adam and Kendra step foot back inside, even though they’re free, and befriend the not-so-malevolent Hawkins House. That way, there should be no more incidents like this one.

The Tale of the Stalking Shadow

The Tale of Stalking Shadow unearthed the tragic history of one town. In this other Sam story, Vailmonton owes a lifetime of gratitude to Mrs. Vailmon, hence the residents always going out of their way to help her. If not for that old woman’s philanthropy, the town wouldn’t have survived its hardships.

An old caregiving program for Mrs. Vailmon was recently reinstated, and Hadley jumped at the opportunity to sign up. Mind you, her motives aren’t entirely altruistic; she wants comfort and answers that only this old woman can provide. But as she digs into the town’s origins, Hadley reveals a disturbing truth. There’s also the monstrous shadow creature that has manifested from Mrs. Vailmon’s years’ worth of guilt.

While the Weisses’ morality tale doesn’t absolve Vailmon of her wrongdoing, they do grant her some leniency in the end. Most of which comes from Hadley, a girl who contemplated all sides of the story.

The Tale of the Ghost Riders

John Vornholt didn’t write the scariest story, but at the same time, The Tale of the Ghost Riders centers on grief and anger. Both of those feelings are frightful and confusing for any young person. Here, one boy is given a second chance after nearly losing his soul.

According to narrator Gary (Ross Hull), Josh has a lot to be mad about. His older brother and his father are dead, and his family farm now belongs to the town baron, Henry Akers. Josh, along with his friend Carlos, then uses the local legend of the Ghost Riders to scare Akers. The only problem is, the Ghost Riders are real—and they’re prepared to add Josh to their herd, so long as he continues to act out and go down the same road as his late brother.

The stereotype of Native Americans as mystical beings is in use here, yet the story’s key message is still worth some consideration.

The Tale of the Virtual Nightmare

This spin on the body snatcher idea, courtesy of Ted Pedersen, has a computer geek learning the importance of screen time management. In The Tale of the Virtual Nightmare, Gary warned of what might happen if someone became too reliant on technology.

Sam (no, not that Sam) loves computer games, and his latest obsession almost culminates in a total invasion. It all began with Sam acting differently; he’s cleaned up, more social, and generally not the Sam who Cady had come to know and care about. Yet once Cady looks into her bestie’s bizarre behavior, she discovers the source of that sudden switch.

Cady learns that Sam has been replaced with a cyber version of himself, and this impostor plans on doing the same process to everyone else at school. It’s only once Cady enters the computer world and joins forces with the real Sam that the villains return to the virtual realm, at least for the time being.

The Tale of the Deadly Diary

Brad and Barbara Strickland thought up a story that would have also been prime material for a screen adaptation. In Betty Ann’s The Tale of the Deadly Diary, Beth is, like many kids her age, fed up with her little sister. Not only does Beth despise Karen’s constant snooping, but she blames her for their parents’ divorce. After Karen leaks the embarrassing details of her big sis’ diary to the whole school, albeit inadvertently, Beth tears up what she once considered her best friend.

Soon enough, Beth wanders into that mysterious shop run by a recurring character from Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Dr. Vink “with a vuh-vuh-vuh“! He gives Beth a brand-new personalized diary that makes its entries come true. Unfortunately for everyone, a made-up story intended to scare the prying Karen becomes too real; Beth wills horrible goblins into existence.

The Tale of the Deadly Diary neither goes as far with the manifesting diary concept as it could have, nor does it quite resolve the tension between the siblings, but it does boast a notably sinister appearance from fan-favorite villain Dr. Vink.

The Tale of the Sinister Statues

In that first novel, The Tale of the Sinister Statues, Gary kicked things off with a story that may as well have come from the TV series. Here we have Brianne and Dustin, siblings who don’t get along, on account of their very different attitudes. While Brianne likes to joke around with her friend, Tim, Dustin is more uptight. He has to be with a sister like his.

At the museum, Tim’s immaturity gets him in trouble—this time with the ominous curator named Dr. Stone. To avoid any legal action, Stone has Tim stay behind to work off his punishment. That was the last time he was also seen. Pretty soon, Brianne and Dustin uncover what Stone has been doing at the museum; he’s using people’s energy to make inanimate things, like statues of a gargoyle and Anubis, come to life. Luckily, Anubis is a judge of what’s right and wrong, and he turns on Dr. Stone. The Egyptian god then sets everything straight, including returning Tim to his normal form.

What it lacks in potential body horror, The Tale of the Sinister Statues makes up for in weird science. The final product indeed becomes less and less scary, due to its overexplained story, but it’s also never dull. It’s a good way to begin one’s journey into the Are You Afraid of the Dark? books.

The post 10 ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ Stories That Exist Only In The Classic Book Series appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

All that changed, albeit briefly, back in 1999. That was when one movie saw the potential for Komodos as monsters. Unfortunately, this effort went unseen by most, and apart from two unrelated movies directed by Jim Wynorski, these dragons have all but vanished from the screen.

For most of the world, the abovementioned Komodo went straight to video; in the mid-2000s, Sci Fi Channel/SYFY also aired it alongside their made-in-house movies. Back then, though, video store patrons’ hesitation toward renting Komodo was understandable. The cheapish, vague cover we got in the States not only concealed the beast within, but it also didn’t convey the movie’s actual quality.

Having said that, those who took a chance on Komodo were in for a surprise. They may even agree that it’s a bit of an underrated creature feature.

While Komodo was primarily shot in the wilds of Queensland’s Gold Coast, the movie is set in the Crystal Coast. Neither location, though, is a natural habitat for these dragons. No, the Varanus komodoensis is native to a number of Indonesian islands, including its namesake, Komodo. Before accusing screenwriters Hans Bauer and Craig Mitchell of relocating these animals to America, just to suit their story—lest anyone forget how Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid decided anacondas suddenly live in Borneo—there’s a good reason why these voracious lizards have now taken up residence in North Carolina. Their unfortunate misplacement reflects the sad reality of wildlife smuggling.

Returning to the scene of the crime, especially for cathartic reasons, is an evergreen setup in horror. In Komodo, a mildly arrogant therapist named Dr. Victoria Juno (Jill Hennessy) thinks she can fix a boy named Patrick (Kevin Zegers). Her work is cut out for her because this tight-lipped, traumatized teen saw his family be devoured by mysterious creatures, and ever since then, he blames himself for their deaths. Patrick’s aunt (Nina Landis) is vocally opposed to Juno’s confrontational form of therapy, but nonetheless, she accompanies the doctor and her nephew to that accursed summer home where dragons dwell.

Patrick’s visit to the island where he spent his vacations, and where he last saw his parents alive, is barely peaceful before the monsters reveal themselves in gruesome fashion. The cast pruning seen in other horror movies is comparatively spaced out, whereas in Komodo, those insatiable lizards are itching to kill. Here the early victims are more of those closest to Patrick. First it’s his aunt, whose agonizing demise is among a few that challenge this movie’s PG-13 rating, then eventually the kind boat captain (Michael Edward-Steven) who ferried Patrick to and from the island every summer. So, indeed, the body count reaches a decent size before the second act can even begin.

In exchange for those somewhat premature deaths, the story introduces more human fodder. These new characters are nothing substantial, but they do prevent this from becoming a two-hander. Creature features typically need more prey—not less. On top of that, ex-biologist Oates (Billy Burke), who got roped into exterminating the Komodos with his more relaxed partner (Paul Gleeson), is the movie’s additional villain; the entity responsible for all the needless carnage in this movie is a greedy businessman (Simon Westaway).

Komodo boasts non-indigenous animals as the main antagonists, yet that doesn’t stop it from expressing ecological concern. That messaging, however, is more undercooked than anything found in the classic cycle of these kinds of movies. The Komodos having to locate new food sources because of a local oil company’s operations is neither original nor belabored. Needless to say, the company covering up the dragons’ presence resembles the mayor’s actions in Jaws.

Special effects guy Michael Lantieri had a pretty stacked résumé well before he signed on to direct his first, and so far only, feature film. On top of the first two Jurassic Park flicks, he had previously worked on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Hook, Death Becomes Her, Dracula, Congo, and Mars Attacks!. So if anyone was to helm an effects-driven movie like Komodo, perhaps there was no one more capable, or enthusiastic, than Lantieri.

The premise of Komodo is rather simple, and the execution is even simpler. For what it lacks in storytelling and character work, it makes up for in action and effects. Mind you, Lantieri never delivered anything here along the lines of Spielberg’s T-Rex/Jeep scene; the closest is Burke going full dark and seemingly setting himself ablaze to kill off a dragon. Seeing as how Lantieri’s main goal was to insert higher-grade effects into a relatively smaller, cheaper movie, Komodo is something of a success.

It’s worth noting that the budget here was said to be $15 million. That’s a sizable chunk of change for what’s labeled an indie horror movie, yet for the most part, that money went to good use. Even through today’s lens, the effects hold up better than expected. Just go watch Deep Blue Sea, also from ‘99, and see how hit-or-miss that era’s CGI could be—and that movie cost way more to make than Komodo did. Sure, shooting nearly everything at night, and in the rain, helped hide the imperfections, but that method doesn’t account for the entire production. 

On the special effects front, Phil Tippett, John Cox and Don Elliot all filled in for Lantieri, and their combined work is easily the highlight of Komodo. The digital dragons do outnumber the tangible ones, and you’re bound to notice the obvious head prop that routinely creeps into frame. Overall, that craftsmanship is certainly flawed, but it’s never so much so that you’re pulled out of the movie.

Komodo’s general intensity and gloominess would be a lot less bearable without its big bag of tricks. Those, of course, being the visual feats that distract from the slight script and the cursory characters. To its credit, though, Komodo does make the most of its concept.

Until modern nature horror branches out and looks elsewhere in the animal kingdom for inspiration, this remains the best movie about these living dragons.

The post ‘Komodo’ Turned Nature’s Largest Lizards Into A Surprisingly Effective Creature Feature appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Three years ago, I reviewed the Blade Runner RPG and praised it for that exact specificity, but was concerned about the idea of maintaining a campaign where you are essentially playing the evil system of power oppressing Replicants. The recently released Replicant Rebellion supplement for the game flips the script on the setup, casting the players as freedom fighters pushing back at the system of repression. It’s an interesting exercise in reframing the game’s laser-focused mechanics to give you a fresh perspective on such an iconic world.

After a brief history lesson about the Blade Runner timeline, you’re introduced to the Replicant Underground, a decentralized network of crews that all work for the same cause. It’s a drastic change from playing as a Blade Runner, allowing you to finally fight the injustice that keeps the replicants down.

Instead of reporting to the police force like in the base game, as a member of the underground you’ll report to a handler who gives you your mission briefings that come from the unseen leadership.

From Blade Runner to Rebel Operative

What’s cool about the player sections of the book that explain your role in the rebellion is that it’s written in a voice that is meant to lightly mimic recruitment information, speaking to you, the player, as though you’re being inducted into the group through this rulebook. Aside from a few pages that are inspired by zine culture, it’s still laid out in pretty standard rulebook fashion that matches the base game, but it’s a nice touch that sells the fantasy a bit more.

Given that you’re using different archetypes as members of an underground resistance than you would as an investigator, Replicant Rebellion contains a handful of new character classes for you to choose from. When you’re creating your character, you’re given the option of being either one of two models of replicant or a human, and that choice will be important in coloring your character.

Classes in Year Zero-based games have always felt a little less consequential to me, but there’s a decent variety here to give you something to work off of when you start thinking about who you want to be.

The best part about character creation in this new version of Blade Runner is that, as a distributed network of agents, you all have other lives that you’re living before you’re activated by the underground. Not only do these provide great flavor for the action, as it’s really fun to play out the scene where you’re going about your regular life and get the coded message to report for duty, but there are also mechanical repercussions for your choice as well. This supplement still uses the base game’s concept of tracking time through shifts, carefully regulating the way you spend your time each day, and in order to keep your cover, you need to make sure you spend at least one shift a day doing business as usual.

Building a Life in the Shadows

If you’re lax on your responsibilities, the noose starts to tighten as you get closer to being identified as a member of the rebellion. Time management is one of my favorite mechanics that this game uses, so adding this extremely character-focused wrinkle to the game just adds that much more texture. A critical moment where you have to decide between an urgent objective and keeping up with your cover is rife for drama, giving GMs a perfect way to put the screws to their players.

Maintaining your normal life will give you Cover Points, while helping the rebellion will give you Rebel points. These are the two currencies that allow you to improve your character, giving you the ability to purchase new specialties or improve your skills, respectively. I love it when level-up mechanics can come from different activities in this way, as forcing you to make a narrative decision for mechanical benefit creates a nice tension in the choices you make as you evolve both your character and the overarching narrative.

Since your resistance group is technically a criminal organization in the eyes of the law, things aren’t going to be easy for you as mission preparations get underway. Each day has four shifts, and you can visit one location per shift, but movement between places can require rolls that can have dire consequences. There’s also a table of encounters that the GM can pull from to complicate things for players, whether that’s someone from their cover life showing up or a Blade Runner walking into the scene.

Doing illegal activities in public can raise your Heat, which will slowly ratchet up the danger for players as it climbs as a consequence of your actions. Increases in Heat can cause various types of rolls to be given disadvantage, making any move you make more challenging. Certain areas will count as home turf, where Heat is considered to be one level lower, while others are hot zones that act as one higher, making you think carefully about every step you make during your operations.

A Campaign Built Around High Stakes Operations

Much like the base game, a lot of the action will be talking to people or staking out locations, but inevitably things are likely to get violent. In order to keep that fresh, there are a couple of new weapons that this new book adds, along with updates to the rules for autofire weapons. It’s not the most substantial part of the book, but it’s there if you need something more unique and want to have a stat block prepared for it.

The real draw of the book is the GM section, which gives you a wealth of resources to use Replicant Rebellion’s new structure and focus. With how much you’ll be pushing your contacts to help set up your missions, the book thankfully lays out a web of NPCs that you can reach out to, each with their own background and use case.

My favorite was the explosives expert named Gimmick whose expertise is simply listed as “watching the world burn.” There’s just enough information about each of them that it’s easy to slip into the character after reading their background, making it easy for GMs to populate the game with compelling personalities that your players will latch on to.

Not only is there good advice for creating your own adventures, but there’s also a series of five prewritten operations that build into a campaign for you to run your players through. These are the real meat of the book, taking up about a third of the page count. While it includes standard prep elements like maps and NPCs associated with the mission, the coolest thing about these is the timelines provided, giving each mission a ticking clock that the GM can use to put pressure on the players.

Why Replicant Rebellion Improves on the Base Game

As I mentioned, the Blade Runner RPG has a shift system used to keep track of time, and each mission has a series of events that happen at specific shifts if the players don’t take action to prevent them. They’re all pretty drastic turning points for the narratives they are trying to tell, giving you a natural pacing mechanism to keep the action moving towards its thrilling climax.

While there is a lot of detail that’s provided for the setup of the mission, it’s the type of setup that leaves a lot of room for the players to come up with their own plans. There are plot points for the players to experience and discover, but the book doesn’t have one specific solution that the players are required to use to solve the operation’s problems. They almost feel like Hitman missions, with a playground of characters and locations that operate on their own logic, waiting for the players to figure out the best place to jam a wrench in the machinery to bring it all crashing down in their favor.

The five missions provide a decent variety of mission types, not only keeping things fresh for players but demonstrating to GMs the kinds of new operations they can plan for themselves.

As much as I love the neo-noir detective vibe of the base game, I think Replicant Rebellion reworks the system to tell the type of adventures I find more compelling to both run and play. Cyberpunk games seem built for stories of fighting back against systems of power, and the tense structure of Blade Runner’s ruleset allows you to easily create adventures that feel cinematically-paced with daring plans and thrilling twists.

Even though you’re fighting for the right side this time, there’s still plenty of morally compromising decisions for your characters to make, bringing the best parts of Blade Runner stories to the forefront. It’s an impressive example of recontextualizing a very specific game that improves upon the original, making for a great book that complements, but doesn’t replace, the base game.

Follow along for more Tabletop Terror, highlighting roleplaying games new and old. 

The post ‘Blade Runner RPG: Replicant Rebellion’ Turns the Cyberpunk Classic Into a Resistance Thriller appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

John Frankenheimer’s much-maligned creature feature is a serious, B-movie riff on the dangers of pollution with its story of chemicals callously spilled into a Maine river. The monster effects are iffy but entertaining, the cast and performances are all solid, and the themes, while potentially silly in their presentation, are sadly still relevant. It’s a movie with issues, and its intentions outweigh its execution, but forgiving fans of the subgenres will find a lot to enjoy.

Kino Lorber released the film to 4K UHD in 2025 – it looks great and is worth an upgrade – and among its extras is a new commentary track featuring a pair of film journalists.

Now keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary for…

Prophecy (1979)

Commentator: Bryan Reesman (entertainment journalist), Max Evry (entertainment journalist)

1. The original one-line idea for the film came from the new head of Paramount at the time, Michael Eisner. He suggested it to David Seltzer in his office one day, and the writer took the reins from there. It’s rare for a studio head to kick off a film in this way, but Evry shares another instance of it involving the 2017 film Life, which found life in an idea by then Skydance president (and lifelong prick) David Ellison.

2. This was the first film in a three-picture deal that director John Frankenheimer signed with Paramount after directing Black Sunday for the studio.

3. Frankenheimer kept security tight on the film’s production after seeing his previous movie, Black Sunday, get beaten to the screen by a knock-off called Two Minute Warning. Cast and crew had badges, the script was kept locked in his office, call sheets were written in code, and the movie was referred to only by a fake title, The Windsor Project, which was a reference to one of the entrance gates at the Paramount lot.

4. The film was budgeted at $7 million but hit $9 million before it was finished, and that made it the most expensive film shot in Vancouver, BC at the time. It was part of a trend that led to Vancouver being dubbed Hollywood North.

5. The first scene outside of the woods takes place at an orchestral concert with Talia Shire as a cello player. It was filmed at a Vancouver high school – despite looking like a proper concert hall – and the woman next to Shire is Frankenheimer’s wife, Evans Evans.

6. Robert Foxworth was asked to read for the lead part, but they wanted him to shave his beard. He refused, and Frankenheimer wound up liking both his audition and the beard.

7. The film features Native American characters as central to the storyline, and they point out that it was a trend to add Native mythologies, beliefs, and characters into horror films at the time, with the likes of Nightwing, The Manitou, and Wolfen as examples.

8. The filmmakers attempted to hire Rick Baker for the film’s creature effects, but his request for eight months of pre-production time was a deal breaker. Stan Winston was offered the gig, but he asked for too much money. They eventually went with Tom Burman and his team, effects artists whose credits would go on to include Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Cat People, Teen Wolf, and more.

9. The mutated bear costume was referred to on set as both Barbara and Pizza Bear, “the latter stemming from the sloppy facial appearance.”

10. Frankenheimer was reportedly not much of a fan of gore and violence, and he would sometimes turn his head away while filming those beats. Sadly, some of the grislier sequences were trimmed to maintain a PG rating, meaning we haven’t seen those beats either.

11. Armand Assante turned the role of John Hawks down four times, in part because he wasn’t sure about being an Italian American playing an indigenous character. Frankenheimer told him not to worry about it, as he had already cleared the casting with Paramount. His early career also saw him playing “a Latino man in Mambo Kings, an Arab man in The Pirate, and Belizaire the Cajun.” Assante said he was referred to at the time as “the ethnic everyman.”

12. Two early preview screenings in Austin, TX went over well, but another at Mann’s Chinese Theatre was interrupted by non-union effects artists who worked for Baker. They booed, heckled, and complained during the screening, saying that Baker’s team should have gotten the gig. Burman later confronted Baker, but the legend claimed he had no part in the fiasco.

13. Seltzer also wrote a novelization of the film, but it’s not often referred to as such because he wrote both – the script and the novel – concurrently. He’s not a fan of the film, and Evry recalls another journalist, the great Michael Gingold, asking Seltzer what happened to the film, seeing as the book is so good. “John Frankenheimer happened,” replied Seltzer.

14. The creature in the novel is not a mutated bear. “The initial design was actually more bird-like, the idea being that it was supposed to be an amalgam of all the creatures in the forest, and it was supposed to have noticeable breasts because it’s a female.” The book does mention that the monster lives in a bear cave, so it’s possible that’s where the design choice ultimately came from.

15. Foxworth has a few other horror efforts among his filmography, including Ants!, Damien: Omen II, and Death Moon, but his biggest genre presence is arguably in the first four Transformers movies in which he voices Ratchet. There’s a second, far more interesting connection between Frankenheimer and Michael Bay, though. “For years, Bay was living under the assumption that his actual biological father was Frankenheimer. Adopted as a baby, Bay eventually found his biological mother, who had had a one-night stand with Frankenheimer in 1963 while making Seven Days in May.” She went to him claiming that the child was his, and she was paid off at the time with $7,500. Frankenheimer finally took a DNA test around 2001, which proved that he was not Bay’s real dad.

16. Frankenheimer is on record as not being a fan of Prophecy. He apparently acknowledged that he was the weak element in the production for various reasons, including his growing alcoholism, clashes with the studio over his desire to make this an R-rated film, and his decision to show the creature a bit too much.

17. The bear creature is a mix of animatronics, puppetry, and a large costume. There were two alternating performers who wore the suit – Kevin Peter Hall, who also portrayed the title creatures in Predator and Harry and the Hendersons; and Tom McLoughlin, who had been trained as a mime before going on to direct films like One Dark Night and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.

18. The greatest sleeping bag kill in cinema history occurs at 57:03 as a young boy, zipped up in a sleeping bag, tries hopping away from the beast only to be violently slapped against a rock where he explodes into a flurry of feathers. The commentators don’t mention it – insane to me as I would have talked about nothing else for a full ten minutes – so I’ll just use this opportunity to rank the remaining four best sleeping bag kills in horror. As mentioned, Prophecy takes the top spot, and it’s followed by #2, the uncut version of Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (a hugely underrated sequel); #3, 1980’s Bigfoot romp Night of the Demon; #4, Jason X; and #5, 2009’s Friday the 13th reboot.

19. Cinematographer Harry Stradling Jr. shot 43 films, including numerous classics such as Little Big Man, Rooster Cogburn, and The Way We Were, and Prophecy is his only horror movie. He went out with something of a whimper, though, as his final film was Caddyshack II.

20. As potentially goofy as some elements are, the third act features some genuinely well-crafted scenes, including the tunnel escape and the slow drive in the Jeep on the hillside road at night. Frankenheimer asked Assante to drive the Jeep for the entirety of the sequence, but the actor – after surveying the dangerous road with a flashlight – politely refused and requested a stunt driver.

21. The finale sees the surviving characters jump into the water for a short swim, and bad weather on location forced the production to head back to Paramount’s studio lot to film it in a pool and on a stage. It’s a noticeable change, but if you’re with the film that far, it’s not enough to knock you back out again.

Quotes Without Context

“Christopher Walken does not do, bears.”

“A mutant bear will beat rabid bats any day of the week.”

“Rex Reed is such a bitch.”

“If Trevor Isley was a real guy, I’m sure he’d look at the mutant bear, blame it on DEI hires, and then sue the EPA and win.”

“They never really reveal what happened to her baby at the end, but I think we all know now that baby became Jason Schwartzman.”

“Prophecy definitely is a good ‘issue’ movie, I mean, obviously, it’s an issue that’s not been resolved, and we’re probably all gonna die.”

Keep up with more horror commentary breakdowns here.

The post 21 Things We Learned from the ‘Prophecy’ Commentary appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Sometimes, however, a filmmaker would come along and manage to recognize why a certain idea was trending, with this brave artist then attempting to seamlessly implement these elements into their own work. This is precisely what happened with Full Moon Pictures’ Ted Nicoloau, co-creator of the Subspecies franchise. The director may have ended his initial trilogy of vampire movies with a swan song concerning the demise of old-fashioned horror cinema, but he would return three years later with a bizarre gothic romance set in the same universe but telling a completely different kind of story.

Naturally, I’m referring to the unfairly maligned Vampire Journals, the black sheep of the Subspecies franchise that has more in common with Anne Rice’s particular brand of undead literature than anything we previously saw in the Radu movies. However, despite alienating both fans and critics with this different approach to genre filmmaking, Journals has a lot more up its stylish sleeves than you may initially realize. That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me once again as we continue our deep dive into the Subspecies series!

As I mentioned in the last retrospective on 1993’s Bloodlust, by that point it was more or less accepted that the antiquated Nosferatu of yesteryear were on their way out. From Tom Cruise’s memorable take on Lestat to Gary Oldman’s Dracula and his understandable seduction of Winona Ryder as Mina Harker to undead sex symbols like Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys, the sexual nature of the vampire was now their greatest weapon when it came to getting butts into seats.

Leaving Radu Behind

With Nicolaou and the folks at Full Moon having already established a forward operating base in Romania after joining forces with the locals to produce the Radu trilogy, producer Charles Band saw no reason to stop making vampire movies just because they’d run out of story. That’s where the idea of a tonally distinct spin-off came from, with Band challenging Nicolaou to helm a sexier and more elegant take on vampires that could appeal to the Anne Rice and Vampire: The Masquerade crowd more than aging genre fans who pined for the golden years of Hammer Horror.

Like previous films in the series, Vampire Journals, which was obviously meant to sound like Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, benefited from plenty of local cooperation as the filmmakers enlisted Romanian actors, music students and even an entire working casino in order to bring their hyperreal re-imagining of Bucharest to life. However, Nicolaou decided to approach the project differently this time around, with the director making use of exaggerated lighting and over-the-top art direction that would make the film look much more blatantly theatrical than its predecessors.

In the finished film, which was released in 1997, we follow the vengeful vampire Zachary (David Gunn) as he embarks on a murderous quest to take down the vampire lord Ash (Jonathon Morris) after he becomes obsessed with Sofia (Kirsten Cerre), an American musician performing in Romania. Along the way, Zachary is forced to navigate the internal politics of Ash’s vampiric household, with his quest unearthing long-concealed grudges among the lord’s treacherous fledglings.

While there is a brief mention of Radu here as Ash’s unseen sire, this new story only barely connects to the main Subspecies franchise. Not only is there no word of the rest of the Vladislav legacy, but even the undead rules have been updated to be more in line with more popular depictions of vampiric lore. Thankfully, most of these changes were made in the interest of telling a larger and more intriguing story with more moving parts.

The Franchise’s Most Visually Ambitious Entry

At times, watching Vampire Journals feels a lot like speed-running a horror-tinged telenovela, with the expanded cast of side-characters, like the diabolical Cassandra, gleefully played by Romanian actress Ilinca Goya, making the undead world feel more alive than ever. While I actually like our stylish new protagonist and his heroic mission even if he’s not particularly good at his job, Jonathon Morris was so perfectly cast as the antagonist that I often found myself rooting for Ash despite his cruel antics.

This is also the best-looking Subspecies film by a wide margin, with Nicolaou and his team expertly combining the architectural beauty of Romania with gothic sets and carefully framed cinematography in ways that harken back to Baroque paintings. Of course, Ted still engages in plenty of Expressionism-inspired shadow-play when it comes to the vampires’ powers, and I appreciate that the film’s romantic elements don’t make it any less violent than previous entries in the franchise.

Vampire Journals may have been made for a very different kind of horror fan when compared to the original Subspecies trilogy, but it’s no less entertaining because of that. Sure, the lack of Radu makes the endeavor less charming (and one wonders why they felt the need to connect these films in the first place), but the gorgeous cinematography and overwhelmingly gothic atmosphere still make this a satisfying low-budget alternative to the other classy vampire movies of the 90s.

Besides, knowing that Radu would eventually return for more Subspecies shenanigans makes Vampire Journals feel more like a much-appreciated detour into a completely different style of filmmaking rather than a betrayal of everything that made the series such a hit with fans. That being said, Radu’s inevitable return is a story for another time, so suffice to say that this underrated spin-off is still worth a watch nearly thirty years later – so long as you can avoid comparing it to its scarier predecessors.

The post ‘Vampire Journals’ Revisited: The Black Sheep ‘Subspecies’ Spinoff That Embraced Gothic Romance appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

However, one thing that has remained constant during all these years of pantheon-slaying is the franchise’s penchant for brutal boss battles that usually end in blood-soaked executions. In honor of the recently announced remake of the original God of War trilogy, and Prime Video’s series adaptation on the way, we think that this is the perfect moment to look back and celebrate six of the bloodiest and most disgusting kills in God of War history!

As usual, this list is based on personal opinion, but don’t hesitate to comment below with your own gory favorites if you think we missed a particularly gnarly kill.

With that out of the way, onto the list.

6. Heimdall – God of War: Ragnarok

I was never much of a Norse mythology fan, so I’ll forever associate Heimdall with the sultry sounds of a golden-armor-clad Idris Elba in the MCU, but even I was aware that Sony’s take on the Norse God of Foresight was meant to be a subversion of his usually wise demeanor. Of course, Heimdall’s new and infuriating personality is meant to provoke players into a fit of rage alongside Kratos himself, with their inevitable duel making for one of the most impactful moments in the entire game.

From slicing off limbs to squeezing the very life from Heimdall’s body, there’s no denying that things get pretty violent, but it’s really the emotional stakes that make this such a vicious fight. In fact, the only reason this kill ranks so low on the list is the fact that it’s not quite as over-the-top as some of Kratos’ other gruesome interactions with villainous divinities.

5. Aegaeon/Megaera – God of War: Ascension

Here’s a hot take for long-time GoW fans: I actually enjoy God of War: Ascension just as much as the other spin-offs. Sure, it suffers from awkward power-scaling due to its nature as a prequel, and the story simply isn’t as strong as the other games, but in the end, the formula still works – and that includes the gory boss battles.

One of my personal favorite fights here has to be the multi-part encounter against both a mutant arm of the multi-limbed giant Aegaeon and the vengeful Fury Megaera, with this grueling example of simultaneous combat requiring plenty of maiming, amputations, and impalings until Kratos is finally done silencing the wretched pair of enemies.

4. Baldur – God of War (2018)

Regardless of whether or not you prefer the old God of War formula or the recent toning down of the series’ mean-spirited violence, I think we can all agree that having an immortal being repeatedly hassle the player while taking on unimaginable levels of punishment was an incredibly clever idea for a game all about the consequences of blind rage.

While Baldur’s whole invincibility shtick would have gotten old after a while, finally taking him down in that brutal final battle is made even more thrilling due to the hours and hours of gory build-up. That’s why I can still remember that chilling neck-snap like it was yesterday.

3. Zeus – God of War II/III

I know including both fights against Zeus in the same entry seems like cheating, but you have to understand that it’s precisely the complete experience of getting your ass kicked by your dad and then returning from the literal depths of Hades twice that makes the climactic showdown so shocking.

When Kratos’ rage becomes so great that the camera itself changes to first-person perspective to reckon with what you’re doing – as Zeus’ death also brings about the final stage of the Greek apocalypse – there’s a split second where the screen is filled with blood and players might find themselves realizing that they were actually playing as the bad guy all along.

Now that’s brutal.

2. Helios – God of War III

I used to play that original God of War III demo on a loop back before a friend of mine finally lent me the full game (PS3 games weren’t exactly affordable here in Brazil at the time), so if there’s one gaming memory that is absolutely burned into my retinas it’s Kratos’ incredibly violent murder of the Greek God of Sight.

From blasting him out of the sky to beating him to a pulp and finally ripping Helios’ shining head from his shoulders like a piece of lukewarm string cheese, this moment was a perfect microcosm of the kind of gory thrills that GoW3 had to offer.

1. Cronos – God of War III

My favorite moments in the God of War franchise involve Kratos taking on enemies many times larger than him, so it stands to reason that Cronos remains my favorite boss fight in the entire series. It also happens to be one of the most violent as well, with Kratos killing the titan from the inside out in a lengthy sequence where you maim his innards, remove fingernails and finally end Cronos’ misery in a spectacular display of Spartan Rage.

The best part is remembering that this gigantic boss is technically carrying a significant part of the first God of War game on his back, making the whole thing feel weirdly nostalgic for long-time fans!

The post 6 of the Bloodiest & Most Disgusting Kills in ‘God of War’ History appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

And yet, President Curtis excels with its supernatural “monster of the week” vantage point that’s already tackled vampires, werewolves, and leprechauns only three episodes in. This isn’t exactly unexpected for a series that exists in the same universe as Rick and Morty. However, it’s exciting to see President Curtis adopt more of a horror-centric perspective, rather than Rick and Morty’s science fiction obsession. In this respect, a Daniel “Candyman” Robitaille cameo isn’t so much a random reference as it is justified territory that’s par for the course.

There’s been a curious trend where animated comedies have embraced notorious horror icons, whether it’s Solar Opposites‘ tribute to the Crypt Keeper, Rick and Morty’s copyright-free Freddy Krueger analog, Scary Terry, Damien Thorn and Jason Voorhees showing up in South Park, or Death Note’s Ryuk wreaking havoc in one of The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror” specials. Many of these genre crossovers can feel like style over substance and merely an entertaining Easter Egg for horror aficionados.

That being said, President Curtis rises to the occasion and makes Candyman not just a key figure, but the hero. President Curtis’ “Ex” puts Candyman front and center in an episode that’s all about werewolf and robot rights that ties into a deeper commentary on rehabilitation that’s surprisingly in sync with the Candyman film franchise’s messaging.

“Ex,” the third episode of President Curtis, is built around the president’s lingering feelings towards his ex, Beverly Mills, who has worked her way to become governor-elect of Chicago. This is a successful enough premise for a series that’s still fleshing out its core cast and their relationships. However, it’s also quite appropriate to incorporate Candyman in an episode that explores tumultuous relationships, considering how flawed, toxic, and socially stigmatized romances are the catalyst for Daniel Robitaille’s execution and the birth of the Candyman legend. 

Candyman’s role in “Ex,” which is written by President Curtis’ showrunner, James Siciliano, isn’t just a gratuitous non-sequitur. He’s a pivotal piece of electioneering that ties together with Beverly’s past as Chicago’s mayor. Beverly views this urban boogeyman as an exaggerated talking point for reform that’s akin to unhoused individuals, data centers, or potholes. Candyman’s rehabilitation is viewed as a controversial gambit, albeit one that’s proven to be one of Beverly’s greatest accomplishments and the pivot that helped kickstart her career as governor.

President Curtis playfully exaggerates Candyman’s lore to take this vengeful, spiritual boogeyman and turns him into a friendly, neighborhood icon of optimism and rebirth. Beverly Mills’ campaign video explains that in Candyman, she “didn’t see a horror story. She saw hope.” It’s like using Freddy Krueger in a PSA about insomnia. This horror heightening reaches a fever pitch when Beverly moves beyond Candyman and starts running “Babadook Book Drives.” She stands tall as an icon in monster/crime relations and rehabilitation.

Beverly harnesses Candyman’s power to create CPEP — the “Candyman Perpetual Energy Project” — which involves a convoluted system of mirrors and automated “Candyman” chants. CPEP results in infinite energy that’s then used to singlehandedly power Chicago and solve its energy crisis. It’s a brilliant concept that leans into Candyman’s ludicrous lore and the circumstances behind his summoning, only to exploit its loopholes for good, rather than evil. It’s a deeply silly idea, albeit one that’s thematically poetic in the sense that this figure of urban reform and racial/social injustice becomes Chicago’s savior. President Curtis takes Candyman’s subtext seriously and uses it in a poignant post-modern context that’s not hard to imagine as the plot of some futuristic Candyman reboot.

There’s plenty to unpack in “Ex,” including an entertaining B-story in which Special Agent O’Doyle (Jim Rash) and Chief of Staff Banks (Stephanie Beatriz) are sent to “West Wing World,” a clever Westworld parody that involves a simulated society that’s populated by state-of-the-art robots for the purpose of re-educating government aides. By the end, it’s Candyman who is ultimately the one who saves the day, and with a creative use of his hook hand — which is now a champagne flute hand — and his signature bee ability, at that. This results in a top-tier kill that’s among the best set pieces from any of the Candyman movies. 

Somehow this 22-minute cartoon does justice to this legendary horror icon and gives him the redemption arc that many believe 2021’s polarizing Candyman reboot/legacy sequel failed to achieve. It’s the most interesting and intense that Daniel Robitaille has been in decades.

With any luck, President Curtis’ second season can deliver the Candyman vs. Leprechaun showdown that failed to materialize in the 2000s. They’ve already assembled all the right pieces and proven that they’re up to the challenge. Here’s hoping.

Candyman Vs. Leprechaun.

Candyman Vs. Leprechaun.

Candyman Vs. Leprechaun…

The post ‘President Curtis’ Resurrects Candyman As A Sweet Savior In Latest Episode appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Of course, there’s no discussing grimdark fiction without bringing up Warhammer 40,000 – a whole universe of games, books and collectable miniatures that practically codified the genre (with plenty of help from the legendary artist John Blanche). And with the wonderful news that horror maestro Mike Flanagan might be joining Henry Cavill’s long-gestating adaptation of the 40k franchise over at Prime Video, I’ve decided to come up with a list recommending six Grimdark movies to prepare you for the upcoming show!

For the purposes of this list, I’ll be defining “grimdark” as a genre of speculative fiction where bleak philosophy and gory ultraviolence meet classic sci-fi and fantasy tropes. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own grimdark favorites if you think we missed a particularly grim example.

With that out of the way, onto the list!

6. Dredd (2012)

The 2000 AD comics were a major influence on Warhammer (with parent company Games Workshop even producing official Judge Dredd miniatures at one point), so it stands to reason that the most faithful cinematic adaptation of this dystopian universe would make it onto the list.

In fact, the Judges of 2000 AD inspired the Adeptus Arbites faction from 40k, and one could even argue that Olivia Thirlby’s Judge Anderson is something of a sanctioned Psyker due to her telepathic powers. Of course, it’s the oppressive atmosphere that really pushes this production into grimdark territory.

If you like this one, I’d also recommend checking out 1990’s Hardware – an unofficial 2000 AD adaptation that manages to be even darker than Dredd.

5. Event Horizon (1997)

Space travel in Warhammer 40k depends on navigating a treacherous alternate reality known as The Warp – a mysterious realm inhabited by chaos demons and Lovecraftian abominations that can drive the average person insane. That’s why it makes sense that Event Horizon would show up on this list, as Paul W.S. Anderson’s sci-fi horror film revolves around a spaceship that accidentally opens a portal to a hell-like dimension.

Screenwriter Philip Eisner would later admit to being influenced by the Warhammer universe during the writing process, as both he and Anderson wanted the flick to feel more like a haunted house /possession movie in space rather than a retread of Alien.

4. Pandorum (2009)

One of the most underrated entries on this list, Christian Alvart’s Pandorum takes place entirely within a colony ship in the distant future. When a malfunction leads to two members of the original flight crew waking up ahead of schedule, they find out that the vessel has been overrun by homicidal creatures.

I won’t get into further details in order to avoid spoiling the experience for new viewers, but suffice to say that this bizarre monster movie has a lot more up its sleeve than techno-horror action. The flick could also easily have taken place inside one of the Warhammer universe’s massive Voidships, which is why it’s included on this list.

3. Mutant Chronicles (2008)

I’ve already written about howMutant Chronicles plays out like a b-movie prototype for a Warhammer 40k production, but this criminally underseen RPG adaptation also features some surprisingly effective storytelling in between the glorious slaughter of disgusting mutants.

The Sin City-like blend of exaggerated CGI and old-school practical effects may not work for everyone, but I’d still recommend giving this indie experiment a try if you like your monster movies served with a side of retro-futuristic thrills.

2. Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie (2010)

The only official Warhammer adaptation on this list, Ultramarines may suffer low-res textures and janky animation, but it still manages to provide a classic space marine yarn written by genre veteran Dan Abnett.

The flick is a little hard to get into if you’re not already familiar with some of the extensive 40k mythology, but I’d argue that it’s still an entertaining gateway experience for folks who are still on the fence about diving into this grimdark universe.

If you’re a fan of this one and would like to see more animated Warhammer, I’d also recommend checking out the fan-made adaptation of my personal favorite 40k novel, Helsreach – which is available for free on YouTube!

1. Hard to be a God (2013)

Based on the other classic sci-fi story by the Strugatsky brothers, authors of the must-read Roadside Picnic (which would later be adapted into Stalker), Aleksei German’s final film is just as brutal as it is thought-provoking.

Following a group of scientists as they travel to a distant planet that appears to be stuck in the dark ages, this disturbing parable soon forces the scientists to confront the limits of human depravity when intellectualism is seen as a crime. The source material also appears to have influenced some of the backstory of 40k’s Emperor of Mankind, and that’s why I consider Hard to Be a God a grimdark classic!

The post Prepare For ‘Warhammer 40K’ With These 6 Grimdark Sci-Fi Horror Movies appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Based on its blurb—“Nine teenagers enter an abandoned cemetery […] Before the night is over, most of them will die“—it was pretty clear what Joyride was emulating, not to mention cashing in on. Keep in mind, though, not a lot of publishers back then were as quick to follow the lead (not counting novelizations of slasher movies, of course). So, at the very least, this was a unique literary venture for its time.

Even better, it rivals some of the best one-and-done slasher movies from that same time period.

Joyride was originally released under Ronald Francis Patrick’s nom de plume of Stephen Crye. Before the author introduced the world to that bloodthirsty, cemetery-lurking killer named Cleats, Patrick wrote about another disturbed individual who worked around corpses. Patrick’s previous novel, Beyond the Threshold (1978), centered on the macabre proceedings, as well as sexual fluidity, of a mortician. Indeed, this is a sleazy and repugnant story, but at the same time, the way Patrick considered queer sexuality is still worth reading. Of particular interest is the novel’s sympathetic portrayal of its gay side character:

“Cleats stood back and watched without expression as the multiple wounds in her throat began to spurt in giant pulsating arcs…”

Meanwhile, Joyride has a less complex narrative. It also trades complicated characters for more cursory ones; in lieu of some interesting roles, there’s now a whole cast of paper-thin players who practically walked in off the sets of the most straightforward ‘80s slasher movies. All the requisite archetypes are in attendance here: the jock, the brain, the mean girl, the virgin, the loose girl, the loser, and the younger sibling (really a cousin) who tagged along on the wrong night.

Patrick did his homework with Joyride; the novel never feels like it was written by someone who had never seen a slasher, much less hated them. If he did object, that sentiment didn’t come across in the writing. There is, though, that proclivity to explain the killer, as opposed to keeping him or her an enigma. Some movies do the bare minimum for backstories, such as only sharing a campfire tale in the beginning. This book, on the other hand, goes that extra mile by devoting half of itself to the antagonist’s origins.

Upon first read, it seems as if Joyride lacks a compelling villain. After all, Cleats—whose nickname comes from his choice of footwear—is yet another slasher killer born from abuse, hardship, and humiliation. By now that kind of origin story has been exhausted in the genre. However, all those extensive flashbacks to Cleats’ past make this novel somewhat different from the average ‘80s slasher.

Immediately setting Joyride apart from the likes of Halloween and Friday the 13th is its opening scene. Teens caught in mid-coitus are a popular choice for first victims, whereas this novel opted for a less probable target. Wandering into the story’s dreaded destination, ahead of the human targets, is a plump dachshund who, unfortunately, doesn’t stand a chance against Cleats. One’s own tolerance for animal cruelty in fiction will be tested here, as the novel doesn’t relent when it comes to describing that poor pup’s demise. This early display of Cleats’ ferocity is possibly too much for the average slasher fan; even the human deaths aren’t as meticulously told. So, skipping the prologue would be understandable if someone wants to be spared the gory details.

Joyride forgoes further appetizers and serves up the main course with readiness. Several unsuspecting high schoolers soon roll up to the deadest part of town, searching for fun in the least likely of places. Their choice of hangout spot makes zero sense, but Cleats is like any other territorial murderer; he can’t kill if they don’t come. In this case, they come of their own accord—two cars worth of hormonal, adolescent quarries enter the beast’s lair without even an old-timer around to warn them. With the gate now suddenly closed, leaving proves difficult.

Patrick dishes out the death almost instantly, before then tapering off until the third act. In a bit of a twist, though, Joyride subverts expectations by disposing of the ostensible final girl ahead of everyone else; a goody-goody gets the first taste of Cleats’ fury after she hightails it for the cemetery’s entrance/exit. From there it’s anyone’s guess as to who’s next on the kill list—is it the amorous couple who disappeared for a quickie, or is it that slovenly glutton who goes by the nickname of “Twinkie”? Surely Patrick wouldn’t allow any harm to befall the youngest of the bunch.

“Priscilla’s jaws flapped uncontrollably but emitted no sound as she watched her boyfriend’s skin sizzle and pop like frying bacon.”

Reading horror, versus watching horror, forces one to sit with certain imagery and thoughts. This is very true of Cleats’ murders. Patrick, like other authors, is enthusiastic about the ways in which these characters perish. What would have been over in mere seconds on screen is now prolonged on paper. “Agonizing” is a good way of summing up the kills here. As one would expect from a tawdry ‘80s horror paperback, the sexual parts range from titillating to plain uncomfortable.

While there isn’t a lot of substantial food for thought in Joyride, it does offer the theory that monsters aren’t born—they’re made. Robert, before he became known as Cleats, was once a teenager who grew up around death. And having been raised in the mortuary business, Robert would have naturally developed a different outlook on life. He knew of the inevitability of death, the fleetingness of everything, better than anyone his age. So when Robert was adamant about giving his classmate a love letter, because he was afraid of never seeing her again after graduation, it stood to reason that his fear was based on firsthand knowledge that people can’t wait around for life to happen. In his point of view, lives often ended without warning and without closure. 

“His trembling fingers slid across the wet pulp of shredded flesh that dangled from his exposed jaw…”

Cleats’ backstory is nothing unprecedented. Boy wants girl, girl doesn’t want him. Boy is bullied, bullies take things too far. Internal loathing is then manifested as a horrific disfigurement. It’s a formula still in use today. In Joyride, though, that process of going from outcast teen to madman is laid out more hurriedly. The inclusion of Robert’s specific home life, which includes his being a caregiver to a cruel, disabled father, does at least add more grounds for his dramatic transformation. However, this isn’t the sort of novel where everything will, or has to, make sense all the time. Most likely, readers are going to be more invested in Cleats’ story rather than Robert’s.

The abrupt jumps to the past are perhaps unnecessary, and they can make it hard to stay focused on the current events. Then again, Joyride has barely a plot to begin with. Its strong suits are really those scenes of violence and luridness, all of which are written with gusto.

Most slasher fiends will prefer to watch, not read, stories of stalking killers, dead teenagers and growing body counts. Yet if they ever want to switch things up, especially with a novel that feels and acts like a classic slasher, then Joyride is absolutely a trip worth taking.

Fathom Press resurrects Joyride on August 20, featuring a new introduction by Will Errickson.

The post Forgotten ’80s Slasher Novel ‘Joyride’ Is Finally Back In Print This Month appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Horror assures us that trouble is underway once the characters set foot into nature. With the great outdoors being a popular backdrop in the genre, there is no shortage of camp horror.

Now, if you want to go off the well-beaten path and look beyond the likes of Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp, then you’re heading in the right direction.

These ten less-seen movies not only capture the spirit of camping, they also show the potential dangers.

Rituals (1977)

In this punishing account of camping gone horribly, horribly wrong, we head to Northern Ontario, Canada. Peter Carter‘s Rituals follows the unlucky doctors-turned-outdoorsmen who, over the course of this tragic story, are targeted by both an unseen madman and the harsh, rural landscape. Overall, Rituals doesn’t take its story lightly—and nor should you.

Body Count (1986)

From that sea of Friday the 13th emulators is this one Italian import. Although Body Count is almost egregiously low on originality, it’s rather high in aesthetic appeal. Cannibal Holocaust director Ruggero Deodato, along with cinematographer Emilio Loffredo, draws on the autumnal backdrop of this Italo slasher. The giallo-esque score is also another highlight in this attractive yet ultimately uninspired movie.

The Deadly Camp (1999)

While Bowie Lau‘s spin on the camping slasher movie is hardly any different from what’s plentifully available in the West, it’s also one of the few campout horrors from the late ’90s. By then, the genre had largely relocated to cities and suburbs, before then returning to nature, so to speak. The Deadly Camp premiered during a hot trend, specifically that fresh crop of post-Scream, postmodern slashers, and delivered something retro and straightforward. The end result is more along the lines of classic hixsploitation, albeit with some bandaged maniac running around with a chainsaw. As for its sense of humor, don’t go in expecting anything meta; you’re instead treated to that regional style of comedy that was so prevalent in Hong Kong horror.

Wilderness (2006)

In the 2000s, British cinema saw itself opening up to more kinds of horror stories. The genre wasn’t just haunted Victorian houses and wailing ghosts anymore. Among this new wave of Brit horror were the more extreme tales of survival, such as M. J. Bassett‘s Wilderness. Here, adolescent delinquents are thrown on the chopping block after they’re brought to an uninhabited island for team-building and disciplining. Yet it’s not their proctors who are doling out the grisly punishments. No, it’s that masked archer who’s picking them off, one by one, and using a pack of bloodthirsty dogs whenever one of his arrows misses its target. So, Lord of the Flies this movie ain’t, but it definitely offers coming-of-rage thrills.

The Barrens (2012)

A family campout can feel like a horror movie all on its own. But what if the trip occurred somewhere as eerie as the Pine Barrens? The titular location for this slow-burner is supposedly home to one of America’s most iconic cryptids: the Jersey Devil. Darren Lynn Bousman is sure to include New Jersey’s most infamous resident. You may come to loathe the human characters, but rest assured, your waiting for the Devil to show up will not be in vain.

Evidence (2012)

Given the popularity of found footage back then, it’s really no surprise that movies like Howie Askins‘ Evidence became so overlooked. However, this is a bona fide hidden gem that more found-footage fans should see, if they haven’t already. Here we have what looks like a very standard Bigfoot story; some unsuspecting campers spot a strange creature out in the forest. Soon enough, those same characters are thrown into a hellish situation that has to be seen to be believed. After watching, you might agree that “Endurance” would have been a better title for this movie.

Cub (2014)

As the Belgian movie Cub shows, camping isn’t always about having fun and relaxing. Sometimes it’s for learning, bonding, and confidence-building. In Jonas Govaerts‘ debut, some cub scouts and their guardians set up base in werewolf territory. Or so that’s what the boys have been told. According to their scout masters, a legendary wolf-boy named “Kai” is said to live around these parts. Well, they’re not exactly wrong. Cub may look like kiddie horror, on account of its young cast, but don’t let their ages fool you—there’s a lot of death in these woods.

The Pool (2014)

This horror story from the Netherlands doesn’t immediately disclose its threat. No, in Chris W. Mitchell‘s movie, you have to wait a short while before finding out what’s really after these two city families. Who, by the way, were asking for trouble. They incurred the wrath of someone, or something, after camping in a spot that was clearly marked off-limits. Their behaviors don’t make their trespassing any less offensive. Keep in mind, The Pool is not remotely trying to be scary, but it is intriguing and, quite often, darkly humorous.

Cruel Summer (2016)

Craig Newman and Second Sight Films producer Phillip Escott‘s ripped-from-the-headlines movie, one about an autistic teen who goes camping, lives up to its name and then some. This dark and disturbing dramatization makes fellow “hoodie horror” Eden Lake feel almost tame by comparison. Most likely you’ll not want to revisit this story too soon after watching, but that just speaks to its efficacy. It’s astonishing how unwaveringly evil this story becomes.

Marshmallow (2025)

Daniel DelPurgatorio treated us to Marshmallow, an atypical horror movie about summer camp. It’s a bit hard to discuss this unique story without getting into specifics, and also totally spoiling you. So, for the best viewing experience possible, avoid reading too much about Marshmallow. Just know it features a grieving boy, a mysterious summer camp, and an ending that is truly unexpected.

The post 10 Camp Horror Movies You Might Not Have Seen appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Of course, the truth is that a movie’s overall quality depends more on who’s making it than whether or not it’s based on an existing idea, and that’s why I wasn’t so quick to judge when I heard that the popular found footage movie Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum was getting another re-imagining (the film has also been remade in Indonesia as Haunted Korean Hospital) in the form of Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital, that was quietly added to Netflix late last year.

A Philippine production set in Taiwan, writer-director Kerin Go’s latest film is less of a retread of Gonjiam’s localized thrills and more of an original found footage experience that just so happens to borrow elements from the South Korean original. In fact, Strange Frequencies isn’t a remake at all, with the film’s own characters referencing Gonjiam as a kick-ass horror film and the leader of the group even admitting that he got the idea for the team’s elaborate camera harnesses from Jung Bum-shik’s 2018 hit.

That’s why I think it’s worth comparing both of these pictures, as it says a lot about Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum that the feature is so well-suited for international remakes – especially when these productions turn out to be surprisingly entertaining homages with their own unique spin on the same premise.

The first major element that stands out when looking at these films is the fact that both productions are based on real abandoned hospitals that spawned countless urban legends over the years. In Gonjiam’s case, the real-life Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital had at one point been featured on a CNN list highlighting some of the most haunted locations in the world, with both urban explorers and government officials claiming that the place was rife with unusually aggressive paranormal activity. However, a little digging reveals that the hospital’s eerie reputation is based more on bad vibes than anything else, as there’s nothing about the institution’s history remotely resembling a horrific backstory.

In fact, the Hospital’s ultimate closure was the result of economic mishaps and concerns regarding plumbing/sewage issues, with this actually being one of the reasons why the filmmakers ultimately opted to recreate the location inside of an abandoned elementary school rather than shoot the entirety of the film on location.

On the other hand, Strange Frequencies’ Xinglin General Hospital has a much more disturbing backstory despite being much less famous. Once a bastion of Taiwan’s highly advanced public healthcare system, the hospital closed down in the early ’90s due to multiple reports of medical malpractice, including wrongful deaths, and years of budgetary fraud. Since then, locals began telling stories about ghostly patients and orderlies who still roam the building’s decayed halls. Xinglin was also the setting of another horror movie back in 2020, appropriately titled Hospital.

Despite not being quite as famous as Gonjiam Psychiatric, Xinglin’s sordid history is much more well-documented, with claims of murdered patients seeming more plausible under the sleazy hands of a corrupt administration.

Beyond the settings, both films also share the same premise of having an exaggerated group of internet celebrities attempt to stay the night at these haunted locations before their own hubris leads to their doom. However, each movie goes about criticizing these characters in a different way. Strange Frequencies approaches the idea through a more meta lens, with some of the victims here being real actors and film producers risking it all in order to further their careers in an industry that has come to value likes and followers more than genuine talent.

There are still plenty of jabs at influencer culture and online engagement farming despite the sensitive nature of the hospital’s gruesome history, but it’s clear that what the movie really wants us to question is why we’re so entertained by the exploitation of a morbid past in the first place.

This also leads to a completely different ending this time around, with director Kerwin Go reworking certain story-beats from Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum in order to question if building cinematic success over a foundation of human suffering is worth the results.

It’s also interesting to note that, while the backstory of each haunting is remarkably different (with the original film presenting us with a ping-pong-obsessed hospital director who went mad and Strange Frequencies suggesting that otherworldly entities were involved in Xinglin’s collective downfall), both films focus more on the consequences of our main character’s actions than any master plan by the supernatural antagonists.

That being said, the very end of Taiwan Killer Hospital suggests that the success of the livestream may not have been natural, though I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoilers if you’ve yet to see the film.

At the end of the day, I’m more comfortable referring to Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital as a spiritual successor to Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum rather than a remake or even a pseudo-sequel. Both films share enough of the same base DNA to obviously be related, and they both borrow heavily from the cult favorite Grave Encounters, but there are so many creative differences in both story and presentation that the movies end up feeling like completely unique dishes based on the same ingredients.

While I still think Gonjiam is the superior film due to Jung Bum-shik’s incomparable eye for scares, both films are worth watching for completely different reasons.

If you really think about it, there are (allegedly) haunted hospitals in almost every single country in the world, each with their own unique histories and plenty of potential for ghostly scares. That’s why I wouldn’t mind seeing even more international “remakes” of Gonjiam so long as they’re as creative as this one and manage to include some local flavor into the mix.

The post Netflix’s ‘Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital’ Is More Than Just a ‘Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum’ Remake appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

That’s why I’ve always thought that handhelds were the perfect medium for horror gaming, as they allow you to cozy up to an immersive experience much like a good scary book. Unfortunately, not every developer sees things this way, and that’s why there are so few horror titles specifically produced for handheld devices. With that in mind, today I’d like to highlight five underrated portable horror games that broke the mold.

For the purposes of this list, I’ll only be considering games that were developed for handhelds first, so no ports like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories on PSP. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own portable favorites if you think a particularly spooky one was overlooked.

With that out of the way, onto the list!

5. Dementium: The Ward (2007)

It’s hard to imagine a disturbing psychological horror game made for the same console that gave us Nintendogs, but Renegade Kid’s Dementium: The Ward is probably the scariest game on this list. In fact, the only reason it ranks so low is that it recently received a remastered Steam port – meaning that it’s no longer quite as underrated as it once was.

Originally meant to be a Silent Hill spin-off before Konami shot the team down, Dementium wears its classic survival horror inspirations on its sleeves by putting you in the shoes of an amnesiac who wakes up inside a dilapidated hospital. Naturally, nightmarish (and technically impressive) frights ensue as you’re soon pursued by monsters.

If you like this one, don’t forget to check out the equally terrifying sequel.

4. Resident Evil Gaiden (2001)

The Resident Evil series saw some amount of portable success through the first Revelations game back in 2012, but that 3D spin-off was by no means their first attempt at handheld scares. The very first portable Resident Evil experience actually came out all the way back in 2001 on the Game Boy Color, and I’d argue that it’s even more impressive now than it was back in the day.

A remarkably faithful recreation of the early series’ gameplay loop, albeit with a top-down camera and RPG-inspired instances of first-person combat, this underrated standalone title follows Leon S. Kennedy and Barry Burton as they investigate a luxury ocean liner that appears to have been targeted by Umbrella’s latest assortment of bioweapons.

3. Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare (2001)

2001’s Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare may have gotten a lot of flak back in the day for following the familiar Survival Horror formula and not really innovating with anything except the game’s compelling narrative, but I’m of the opinion that not every horror game needs to reinvent the wheel. In fact, having the game’s GBC version be a faithful recreation of the home console experience (complete with pre-rendered backgrounds and static camera angles) makes this edition of the title the most impressive one of the bunch!

The New Nightmare’s commitment to classic Survival Horror aesthetics may result in gameplay itself taking a back seat as combat is relegated to a frustratingly difficult mini game that functions like an isometric shoot ‘em up, but the gorgeous pixel art and genuinely creepy story more than make up for the overall jank.

2. Infected (2005)

It was established in the beginning of this article that I’m a PSP apologist, and weird launch titles like 2005’s Infected are part of the reason why. An arcade-y third-person shooter that drops you right in the middle of a zombie outbreak and expects you to mow down hordes of enemies while listening to an appropriately brutal Nu-Metal soundtrack, this criminally underplayed title is one of my personal favorite games on the list.

While the action can get kind of repetitive and your enjoyment of the experience really depends on how much Nu-Metal madness you can take over the course of a single play session, the bite-sized levels and visual flair make this zombie shooter worth revisiting even two decades later.

1. Aliens: Infestation (2011)

When it comes to retro licensed experiences, WayForward is likely one of the best videogame developers out there. However, long before RetroRealms and Shantae’s much-appreciated revival, the studio was already applying their skills to lesser-known titles like the Nintendo DS’ Aliens: Infestation.

A stylish Metroidvania with roguelike elements and plenty of acid-green blood and guts, Infestation was originally meant to be a tie-in to the ill-fated Aliens: Colonial Marines but ended up outshining its big-budget sibling with its comic-book aesthetics, courtesy of Canadian artist Chris Bachalo, and addicting gameplay.

Just don’t get too attached to your squad, as Permadeath is very much a reality in this prescient little shooter!

The post 5 Underrated Handheld Horror Games That Time Forgot appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In each iteration of the salacious story, a hardened ex-con named Max Cady emerges from prison with a horrifying grudge. Rather than relish his newfound freedom, the unrepentant villain becomes obsessed with destroying the lawyer who put him away.

Antosca’s version of the story expands the narrative to miniseries length, remixing the details of Max’s story to eviscerate the criminal justice system. But what begins as a timely exploration of legal corruption transforms into a story of distinctly male toxicity. Nearly seventy years after readers first met Max Cady, we’ve watched the strangely magnetic villain evolve to reflect generational fears of masculine strength and women’s place in a dangerous world. 

Warning: Plot spoilers ahead.

Cape Fear (1962)

Named for the ominous North Carolina river, J. Lee Thompson’s 1962 film actually begins in southeast Georgia where we first meet lawyer Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck) debating trial strategy with a friendly judge. You see, the southern courtroom does not provide air conditioning, and hot juries have been known to express their discomfort in the form of retributive guilty verdicts. This discussion has little to do with the story that follows, but will plant thematic seeds for remakes to come. 

Peck stars as the esteemed attorney just months before his celebrated role as the noble Atticus Finch in Robert Mulligan’s To Kill a Mockingbird. With his stiff, gray suits and moral high ground, Peck’s Sam is the epitome of absolute justice corroded in the face of a dangerous threat. By contrast, Robert Mitchum is relaxed and suave, casually flouting the law in shirtsleeves and a Panama hat. At the time of filming, Mitchum was perhaps best known as Reverend Harry Powell, a serial killer masquerading as a revival preacher in Charles Laughton’s 1955 horror film Night of the Hunter. At opposite ends of the criminal spectrum, Peck and Mitchum perfectly epitomize the legal manifestation of good vs. evil. 

Mitchum’s Max is a sardonic rapist imprisoned for assaulting a teenage girl. After witnessing this atrocious crime, Sam testified for the prosecution, essentially assuring a guilty verdict. While serving out his full sentence, Max has been nursing a grudge and vows to destroy Sam’s happy life. He stalks the family, poisons their dog, and fixates on fourteen-year-old Nancy Bowden (Lori Martin). When Sam hires goons to teach Max a lesson, the ex-con leans into victimhood and threatens to have Sam disbarred. 

The story takes a disturbing turn when Max follows the Bowdens to the titular river, easily outwitting their naive trap. He forces himself on Peggy Bowden (Polly Bergen), offering the frightened wife a horrific deal. If she will “consent” to sex, he will leave her daughter alone, painting coercive rape as a mother’s noble sacrifice. Max explains that Sam will never recover from the knowledge that his wife has been with another man, forever destroying their relationship. Thompson intentionally downplays mention of sexual assault to avoid the dreaded X-rating, but the implication is clear. Befitting the time period, Max views Peggy and Nancy as dehumanized extensions of Sam himself and seeks to punish the man by harming his women. 

After a thrilling fight on the banks of Cape Fear, Sam finally gains the upper hand and prepares to deliver a killing blow. But the altruistic lawyer ultimately has a change of heart, explaining, “That would be letting you off too easy, too fast…You’re gonna live a long life… in a cage!” We leave the Bowdens flanked by police, reassuring audiences that the nightmare is over and Sam has reclaimed his integrity.  

Cape Fear (1991)

Three decades later, Martin Scorsese would put his own spin on the classic film while creating one of cinema’s most memorable villains. Robert De Niro’s Oscar-nominated performance blends Mitchum’s now-iconic roles. An outwardly suave lothario, his Max sports ominous prison ink, directly referencing “Preacher” Henry Powell’s legendary knuckle tattoos. The son of a revival minister, Max attributes an almost supernatural tolerance to pain—not to mention a thick southern drawl—to life growing up around snake handlers. It’s an interesting turn for the New York actor who had most recently starred as the menacing Jimmy Conway in Scorsese’s masterful Goodfellas.

Rather than a straightforward story of good men protecting their women, the updated Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) is a conflicted anti-hero. Once again charged with the brutal rape of a teenager, Sam served as Max’s defense attorney, though we learn that he was concealing evidence of the victim’s promiscuity. This omission is painted as a shameful dereliction of duty and the reason Max was sent to jail. But Sam will later remind audiences that a teenager’s sexual history has nothing to do with the crime Max committed. He is not a wrongly convicted man, but a vicious rapist denied the bias that would likely lead to an unjust acquittal. 

Rather than cast blame on Sam for this understandable omission, Scorsese doubles down on Max’s toxicity. Describing his time in prison, Max recounts the experience of being “a woman,” implying his own history of sexual assault. Yet his experience as a victim of the very crime he committed has done nothing to expand his empathy. Max has emerged from prison determined to reclaim the power he enjoys through sexual domination. He begins grooming the Bowdens’ teenage daughter Danielle (Juliette Lewis) and once again threatens to punish Sam by raping the women in his life. 

Shortly after getting out of prison, Max brutally attacks Sam’s coworker and would-be lover Lori (Illeana Douglas), sending a warning in the form of a woman’s pain. Seriously wounded in an intensely disturbing rape scene, Lori tearfully explains why she will not report the crime. She has seen how victims are treated in court and will not allow intimate details of her heinous ordeal to become water-cooler fodder for her colleagues. She also knows she will be blamed for the attack because she had been drinking alone at a bar. It’s an early condemnation of the pervasive rape culture that keeps so many women from reporting sexual assault. This devastating conversation also reminds us that Sam has not sinned against his client, but has been punished for putting a rapist in jail.  

Once again, hero and villain clash on the Cape Fear River as the family’s houseboat sails into rocky water. But rather than suffer for their men, the Bowden women fight for themselves. Leigh distracts Max via feigned seduction, and Danielle throws boiling water in his face. Handcuffed to the crumbling boat, Max begins speaking in tongues as the wreckage sinks. This time Sam allows him to die rather than spare him for incarceration. A disturbing coda confirms the family’s survival while hinting at a long recovery. This updated conclusion not only gives the audience a definitive ending, but implies that healing is more complex than a simple declaration of moral superiority.  

Cape Fear (2026)

Antosca’s version of the Southern Gothic swaps most of the rape commentary for an unflinching look at the failures of the criminal justice system. The modern Max (Javier Bardem) has been wrongly convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and sentenced to life without parole. The series opens with his former mistress dying by coerced suicide, leaving behind a cache of exonerating evidence. Perhaps best known as the chilling Anton Chigurh in Joel and Ethan Coen’s No Country for Old Men, Bardem adds surprising relatability to the infamous villain. His Max may be covered in De Niro’s prison tattoos while sporting Mitchum’s Panama hat, but he genuinely mourns his wife and unborn child and volunteers to help others escape their own wrongful convictions. It’s not until late in the miniseries that he becomes the story’s primary villain. 

In the wake of Max’s release, we learn that he was convinced to accept a plea deal by his defense attorney Anna Deveraux (Amy Adams). Pregnant during the lengthy trial, she would go on to marry Tom Bowden (Patrick Wilson), the prosecutor in Max’s case. Denying her client a fair defense, Anna conspired to send him away for good. She now works at an approximation of The Innocence Project, likely seeking atonement by freeing others who’ve been unjustly imprisoned. While hypocritical on its face, later revelations shed light on her actions. We learn that Max is probably the father of Anna’s child, now a teenage girl named Natalie (Lily Collias). Honestly believing in Max’s guilt, Anna betrayed her client to protect her baby from a monstrous father.  

In another shocking revelation, we learn that this conception happened while Anna was blackout drunk and legally incapable of consenting to sex. Anna stopped drinking because of her pregnancy and has been sober ever since, though she unfortunately relapses under the stress of Max’s continued attacks. Though Antosca avoids explicitly stating this fact, Anna’s drunken conception is an echo of the rape committed by previous iterations of the Max Cady character. 

While early episodes serve to soften Max, the ex-con grows increasingly evil as the story unfolds. Though he openly mourns the son he never got to meet, he is outright disdainful of his two living daughters—another child born to a prison employee. Offering only conditional love, Max maneuvers his girls like chess pieces, then simply tosses them away, sending both teenagers to jail as casualties in his quest for revenge. Returning to his childhood home, Max burns his abusive family alive in a brutal confrontation on the Cape Fear River. 

Back in Georgia, Max attempts to force a confession from Anna and Tom before executing the entire family. But Natalie turns the tables on her villainous father, leaving the Bowdens poised to drown Max in their backyard pool. Reviving Peck’s merciful Sam, Anna reluctantly drags the dying man to safety, condemning him to life “in a cage.” But we’re left to wonder if the struggling family will ever be free of Max’s shadow. The series ends with Anna looking over her shoulder while Tom scans the yard for lurking threats. Blending Thompson’s and Scorsese’s disparate conclusions, Antosca allows Anna to make the virtuous choice while hinting that she may live to regret her decision.  

When viewed as a whole, the Cape Fear saga exposes a flawed criminal justice system. Whether wrongly convicted or maniacal, all three iterations of Max Cady exploit the inherent goodness of their victims while twisting structures designed to protect. In the face of unrelenting attack, the Bowden family must subvert the law and face severe repercussions for understandable acts. A master of gaslighting and manipulation, each Max Cady reflects his generation’s understanding of destructive masculinity. But perhaps a more hopeful message lies in this distressing southern story.

With each successive adaptation, the women on the other side of Max’s crimes find increasing empowerment. From dehumanized symbols to flawed protagonists, three generations of Cape Fear show an evolving line of female strength and a condemnation of toxic men. 

The post The Evolution of Max Cady: How ‘Cape Fear’ Reflects Changing Cultural Fears appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

I didn’t say it had to be a GOOD reason.

I’ll start with Cohen’s own reaction to Rusnak’s 2009 update: “It’s a terrible picture. It’s just beyond awful … I would advise anybody who likes my film to cross the street and avoid seeing the new enchilada.” A blunt take, but I agree. Rusnak justifies his remake by diverting drastically from Cohen’s exploitation-y flick about a newborn monster killinPreview (opens in a new tab)g Los Angeles residents, but it’s such a bafflingly weak reimagining. Cohen remains faithful to tenets of creature features while tugging at our hearts with commentaries about parents caught between morality and adoration, whereas Rusnak asks, “What if we punished a mother for trying to have an abortion?”

As Cohen says, cross the damn street.

The Approach

It’s Alive (2009) is one of those women-focused horror projects that make you scoff, derogatorily, “This was written and directed by dudes, wasn’t it?” Cohen’s original screenplay isn’t airtight, yet it does well to respect Sharon Farrell‘s “shaken mother of a monster,” Lenore Davis. Paul Sopocy and James Portolese, on the other hand, pen a screenplay that reductively focuses on Lenore protecting her bitey offspring, with a bent-out-of-shape abortion subplot thrown in. That’s not to say Cohen’s Lenore doesn’t display the same protective maternal instincts, but Rusnak plays in a sandbox of lame-duck tropes, dooming Lenore for the supposed sin of a mother’s love.

Teenage party-girl turned actress Bijou Phillips stars as Lenore Harker, a New Mexico college student who quits to live with her architect boyfriend, Frank (James Murray), and raise their incoming baby. She’s ditching pizza nights and girl talk with bestie Marnie (Ty Glaser), moving into the Albuquerque woods, where Frank has a secluded homestead with brother Chris (Raphaël Coleman), who is wheelchair dependent. Lenore goes in for a pregnancy checkup, where she learns her unborn child has doubled in size, requiring a cesarean section birth. So the surgical team opens her up and extracts “Daniel,” only to be murdered by the newborn, found resting on Lenore’s stomach, taking a post-slaughter rest.

The immediate deviation is how Daniel is found nuzzling Lenore in the hospital, and doesn’t look “freakish” at first glance. Daniel comes home with Lenore and Frank, setting up the happy lil’ family dynamic. It’s no longer a conspiratorial hunt-and-hide scenario; the “home sweet hell” take on Cohen’s original. Which, frustratingly, dissolves the core suspense that Cohen achieves. For Daniel to kill, victims have to come knocking on Lenore’s door, which becomes a repetitive cycle of visitors and hidden bodies that remove any excitement and surprises.

Does It Work?

Rusnak earns points for trying something new. Remakes have historically been less willing to put unique spins on existing stories (see: Cabin Fever). But there’s also a question of retaining the essence of the source material. Why remake a movie if you’re going to spin so far from the original that you don’t even need to use the title? It’s the Child’s Play of it all. If you wanted to make a killer AI toy movie, why use the Child’s Play legacy to do so (outside of market familiarity)?

It’s Alive doesn’t fully abandon Cohen’s ideas, but it does feel thinner than expected. There have been plenty of killer baby movies since It’s Alive—Cohen hardly has the concept trademarked. What’s fun about Cohen’s It’s Alive is how Frank chases his mutant kin around Los Angeles, eventually into the sewer system, culminating in the Los Angeles (drained) river. Rusnak directs what’s essentially a one-location thriller that minimizes the scope to meet not only its lower budget, but lesser ambitions. Where Cohen pushes farther, Rusnak pulls back, losing the idiosyncratic quirks of Cohen’s superior It’s Alive.

There’s nothing wrong with a good chamber piece, but the psychological torments Sopocy and Portolese opt for are soft as fresh-out-the-bag marshmallows. So much of the film hinges on Lenore’s cover-up tactics when she realizes her wee one is a maneater, which becomes one-note in the process. Frank wanders around, ignoring red flags, and Chris is removed from the picture for a small bit to keep the massacre going. In both films, Lenore has trouble turning against her child—but Cohen is much more thoughtful about Lenore’s state through it all. Rusnak’s direction is short-sighted, rudimentary, and flat, as it has nothing interesting to say about the fears of parenthood that drive Phillips’ Lenore to nurture the vengeful child she once wanted to terminate.

The Result

In It’s Alive (1974), Cohen makes a point of referencing Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, as John P. Ryan’s Frank recalls having the epiphany that Dr. Frankenstein is the villain, not his creation. It’s what drives Cohen’s screenplay, as we learn how the doctors tried to kill the original baby, since its deformities made it look like a melon-headed, fang-toothed freakshow. There’s none of that in Rusnak’s remake, which diminishes the creature’s origins and motives to anger. It’s an uninteresting modification because the point of Cohen’s picture is to question what makes a monster, and how its creators process their hand in the chaos. Rusnak’s not interested in such explorations, except when the screenplay shoehorns what foolishly appears as an anti-abortion undertone when we learn about Lenore’s sketchy internet baby-be-gone pills.

Even worse, the technical merits of Rusnak’s It’s Alive are unfortunate. Credit to the original’s cast, because Ryan and Farrell bring dramatic acting chops that accentuate their film’s tragedy; a legitimate heartbreaker. None of Rusnak’s cast are hitting on such a high caliber of talent, especially since there’s nothing meaty about Sopocy and Portolese’s character designs. It’s very Horror 101: ignore the obvious, act gobsmacked when the obvious happens, and bring it home. Phillips has been better in films like Bully and Hostel: Part II (maybe even The Wizard of Gore), while Murray is your average 2000s straight-to-video throwaway boyfriend. The rest of the supporting cast, sadly, barely even register.

There’s a charm to Cohen’s monster SFX, whipped up by Rick Baker—but also an opportunity. Cohen decided to use this three-mirror-blur vision, seeing through the baby’s eyes to show the beast as little as possible. If Rusnak wanted to make a stronger impact, he could have gone all-in on Daniel’s appearance to say, “Hey, at least we developed a rad creature!” But, alas, Rusnak might show even less of Daniel. When he does appear in the basement, or leap out of a trash can in the film’s climactic finale, it’s CG augmentation that distorts a puppet reportedly crafted by SFX superstar Tony Gardner. Cohen accomplishes infinitely more by putting his then-girlfriend Elaine Parkyn in a full-head monster mask, a pair of pointed gloves, and a partial body suit that benefit from optical tricks—because practical always wins.

The Lesson

It’s not hard to wonder why Millennium Films lost faith in Rusnak’s It’s Alive and opted for no theatrical release. In a time when horror remakes were all the rage, Millennium buried It’s Alive so deep that it’s not even watchable or rentable on streaming (ain’t even worth Tubi). No hyperbole, this remake stinks with the stinkiest of ’em. It’s slight on innovation, filled with awful genre generics, and is a slap in the face to what Cohen accomplished. There’s something so fresh about a killer baby flick that focuses on the suit-and-tie-wearing father, who is forced to challenge the stern, macho gender roles of the 70s, and something so disappointing about a 2000s horror movie that falls right back into outdated mindsets.

So what did we learn?

• Yes, for the hundredth time, some of those 2000s horror remakes are as bad as the haters made them all out to be.
• Ex-David Lee Roth, Ozzy Osbourne, and Alice Cooper bassist Todd Jensen plays Lenore’s doctor for some reason (which I wouldn’t have known without the internet).
• You can appreciate a remake for trying something different, but you can also detest a remake for how poorly it does something different.
• Why does Daniel look like a baby shark (doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo)?

Watching both It’s Alive flicks back-to-back gave me whiplash. When John P. Ryan (as Frank) confronts his cowering, terrified child-monster in the bowels of Los Angeles, I nearly shed a tear. That whole scene really, as Ryan realizes he’s become the Dr. Frankenstein of sorts, and his miserable, deformed boy craves his father’s affection in a time of need. Then you have Rusnak’s film, which brutally kills the pro-abortion character, insinuates Lenore is being punished for trying to abort Daniel early in the pregnancy, and deserves to die with her demon spawn engulfed by the worst CG flames this side of Birdemic: Shock and Terror. I just … kudos to Cohen for richly developing a sci-fi curio with a tremendous sense of emotional understanding, and nothing but thumbs down for Rusnak’s remake, which comes off as plenty boneheaded and hella halfhearted in the process.

The post Larry Cohen’s ‘It’s Alive’ Still Towers Over a 2009 Remake That Maybe Should’ve Stayed Unborn appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It’s the story of a spineless twat who makes a magical wish for the girl he likes to love him back, and she does… with grotesquely tragic results. Think “The Monkey’s Paw” for a new generation, and you’ll have an idea of the themes at play here. It’s most definitely a horror film, a pretty great one at that, but it’s also one of the year’s best comedies (even if too few people are acknowledging it as such).

The film is new to home video, and the 4k UHD/Blu-ray release includes a feature commentary from Barker. It’s a strong track, despite more than a few long silences, as he shares his thoughts on the production, the choices he made along the way, and the cast/crew he was lucky to have by his side.

Now keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary for…

Obsession (2026)

Commentator: Curry Barker (director, writer, editor)

1. Capstone Pictures financed the film, but it was picked up by Focus Features after the film played TIFF “and it was life-changing.”

2. The opening diner scene with Bear (Michael Johnston) practicing his speech was part of additional filming when Barker decided to change up the film’s start. “The opening of the movie was actually on the TV, and then it goes down to the dead cat, and then it goes upside down, and we’re looking at Bear looking at the couch.” That’s the final shot of the film, too, and Barker really wanted to have the open and close mirror each other. “I really held on to that,” he says, but test screenings led him to realize the film needed a stronger opening, making it clear how much Bear loves Nikki (Inde Navarrette). “I ended up loving this way more anyway.”

3. The girl sitting across from Bear in the diner is Chloe Breen. She’s a regular on Barker’s YouTube sketch comedy channel, That’s a Bad Idea. Barker’s partner in the channel, Cooper Tomlinson, plays Ian here.

4. Barker found it difficult to track the background players in the diner scene as far as making sure they weren’t doubling up or appearing where they shouldn’t be as the camera captured both sides of the conversation between Bear and Ian. He’s so focused on story and character, instead, but the crew paid attention and let him know when new takes were needed.

5. It’s difficult to hear, but the TV commercial playing when Bear arrives home to find the dead cat is a “creepy” one about weight loss that includes someone saying they starve themselves.

6. The title appears on the screen at 5:53, and Barker is over the moon about how it looks. He wanted it to be physically in the scene, but he was blown away by what the production designer, Vivian Gray, ended up delivering.

7. The scene of Bear on his bed talking to Nikki on the phone was also a reshoot. They had to redo it as the dialogue needed to change to make sense of other reshoots. It was a big headache, though, as by the time they came back for the reshoot the house’s owner had already completely changed up the interior for a couple other projects that filmed there.

8. The box for the One Wish Willow was designed by Barker’s mom, and he’s thrilled by the end product. “I’m always shooting for the stars,” he says about his hope that the One Wish Willow could become something iconic in pop culture. “That was the dream, at least.” Barker’s dad plays the guy hosting the trivia night at the bar. “He weaseled his way in.”

9. “Feels really self-indulgent to name the bar Barker’s Pub,” he says, “but I actually didn’t come up with that idea.” It was his mom’s idea, and she worked with the crew to surprise him.

10. He has nothing but praise for Navarrette and says he expects her to have a huge career because of her performance in this film.

11. The scene with Bear and Nikki in the car starting at 15:35 was originally “much longer.” It used to include a long monologue from Nikki about the difference between love and romance. Barker wanted to keep it as it adds more to her character and motivations, but it was dropped for pacing.

12. He’s very fond of the shot at 18:56 where the car window frame is blocking Nikki’s head when she walks towards the car. “When you can’t see someone’s face, you can’t see their intentions, and when you can’t see their intentions that’s creepy.”

13. Barker wrote the little tune that plays when you remove the One Wish Willow from its box using an app on his phone.

14. Nikki returns to the car after Bear makes his wish, and Barker points out that they’re making tiny digital tweaks to Navarrette’s face. “Ninety-nine percent of it is performance, and you gotta give her her flowers, but we do these tiny little things to her eyes and her smile to make her just that much more off.”

15. Navarrette doesn’t like to rehearse, apparently, and she limits her performance when doing so. “I didn’t know what she was capable of,” he says, in regard to the beat where Nikki is kissing Bear only to suddenly seem shocked. “So when she freaked out like that I looked at my producer and thought ‘okay, wow, this movie might work.’”

16. “I learned a lot of lessons as a director,” he says, from making his feature debut here. One big one involved his love of oners. “I don’t like to cut, unless I have to,” but shooting that way leads to issues as you don’t have room to fix problems in post-production if the actors are too slow, if you need to make later dialogue changes because of reshoots, etc. “It’s not that I learned not to do it, it’s that I learned to do it better. I’ll never not do it.”

17. Nikki comes to Bear’s door at 35:44, and it’s intentionally shot in a way that’s “breaking the line.” The term refers to line of sight between characters when the angle flips back and forth – it should match up, but here Barker shows Bear looking camera left and then shows Nikki doing the same. “The inspiration for this was The Invisible Man, which is one of my absolute favorite horror movies. Leigh Whannell directed that.”

18. The montage of happy times that starts at 38:07 was lit, colored, and shot at a different frame rate than the rest of the film.

19. The movie was shot in twenty days, not counting the handful of reshoots they came back for later.

20. Barker edited the film on Adobe Premiere Pro. He thinks it’s an awesome program.

21. Nikki gives Bear a gift at the restaurant, and Barker wanted the box to look like it could contain a One Wish Willow. “The effect doesn’t really work that well, but that was the idea.”

22. He says at 44:55, just after Bear and Nikki finish having sex, that “this is clearly where Bear becomes a little bit of a villain.” I’d argue he’s been a villain since making that wish, but yes, his conscious decision to have sex with her – knowing it’s outside of her control – is where he locks fully into his assholery.

23. Some viewers miss it in the dark bedroom, but Nikki is in the shot at 45:39 before making herself known the next time we cut to the wide shot. She’s also wearing makeup to up the creepiness factor, and Barker had asked the makeup department beforehand to go watch some uncanny valley TikTok videos as a reference. “They did a great job, I think she’s terrifying.”

24. “I don’t like my dreams,” says Nikki, and I had interpreted that to mean that she’s free of the spell in her dreams and subconsciously knows that she’s being forced into loving Bear – and that knowledge upsets and confuses her when she’s awake. Basically, her dreams are the screaming we hear on the later customer service call, and I think her talking in her sleep around the 1:23:00 mark – and asking Bear to kill her – backs up that theory. Barker sees it differently, though. “I think when Nikki goes to sleep, she’s the real Nikki, and when she says she doesn’t like her dreams, she’s referring to she doesn’t like a reality where she’s not in love with Bear.”

25. Nikki side-walking across the bedroom at 47:53 with the flowers in front of her face is actually performed by a dancer double. This is a side note, but Bear not turning on his bedside light during this entire sequence makes me hate him even more.

26. Nikki was supposed to bite Bear’s lip at 51:00 while they’re kissing, but neither Navarrette nor Johnston wanted to do it. “I thought it was cool.”

27. Barker’s agent told him that Andy Richter was interested in the part of Sarah’s (Megan Lawless) dad despite it being a very small role. He just wanted to be a part of the film.

28. The camera move in the parking lot from right to left at 58:19 is meant to mirror the earlier shot that showed Ian’s car parked next to Bear’s. “It was a cool idea in theory,” he says, “it’s kind of just a weird camera move now, it doesn’t really work.”

29. All of the driving shots from inside the cars are filmed with giant LED screens outside the windows projecting previously filmed street scenes. It looks pretty good, but the film’s cinematographer, Taylor Clemons, hates the way some of it looks. The shot at 1:00.20 of a garage door outside the car’s windshield is also actually an LED screen. “It was actually cheaper to shoot on the LED wall than to find some random person’s house who’d let us shoot in their front yard.” I get it, and I know I’m just an old guy yelling at the clouds of progress, but that’s still unfortunate.

30. Barker cameos as the voice of the customer service representative for the One Wish Willow manufacturer.

31. The more choices he has with his footage, the more difficult it is for Barker to edit. He typically makes his edits in his head before and during filming, but sometimes – it’s the party game scene here that triggers the thought – he’s “overwhelmed” by the amount of footage he has to choose from.

32. Nikki’s monologue at the party was written mostly by Barker’s father. He didn’t want it to sound like his own writing, and he’s thrilled with the result. “It’s really disturbing.”

33. “This scene was really, really scary to shoot,” he says about the scene where Bear and Nikki argue after the party. He’s referring to her backwards walk, lunge, and weird gibberish, and he adds that it was difficult to convey to cast and crew what exactly he was going for here until it was fully edited together. It was a challenge to trust himself at the time. “I didn’t even know if it was going to work out or be scary.” The scene ends with her monologue in the shadow of the doorway, and they shot different versions, including one where she cuts herself with the knife. Barker decided her performance and the mere presence of the knife was enough.

34. He’s not happy with the insert shots of the phone starting at 1:21:04. It was on a rig to hold it still, but it didn’t satisfy him. “Ari Aster does them really, really well. I almost want to text him.”

35. Barker wanted to put loud music over the beat where Bear is sneaking out of bed without waking Nikki, but the film’s sound mixer, Ben Zarai, offered up some smart advice. He told Barker that the music should be quiet if he wants to build tension in a scene “because you want there to be room for something crazy to happen.” Loud music and sounds make audiences think there’s no additional possibility of a scare or a jump.

36. They only had three fake car windows for Nikki to smash her head through. The art department accidentally broke the first one. The second one was used, but chunks of styrofoam from the door frame fell into the shot immediately after her head crashed through. The third one was the charm.

37. It was Tomlinson’s idea to have Bear open Sarah’s last college application letter after she’s been murdered, and it’s a great suggestion as it twists the knife even deeper for both Bear and viewers.

38. The house used as Ian’s house – where they held the party, and where Bear asks Ian to make a wish – burned down in the L.A. fires.

39. Barker “got a lot of pushback” from producers, readers, and execs on the scene where Ian wishes for a billion dollars and it immediately falls from the ceiling. They thought it “didn’t fit in this world, and felt kind of silly,” but the filmmaker stuck to his guns.

40. “That is a sex doll,” he says when Sarah’s spread-legged corpse is glimpsed in the chair. It was cheaper to buy the doll than have a prosthetic corpse made.

41. Barker shows he’s one of the good ones by keeping the commentary going through the end credits when too many others wrap it up as soon as they start. Even better, he uses the time to praise numerous people whose names scroll by in the credits.

Quotes Without Context

“It’s the least thing I care about in the world, but it still matters.”

“It’s not the most realistic dead cat ever.”

“I’ve been listening to this song for so long. I love this song. It’s an indie song. I don’t think everybody knows this song, but it’s a pretty well-known song. I think people know this song. I’d be surprised if nobody knew this song.”

“I wanted this movie to have theme songs.”

“That’s very gross, but it’s mostly beans.”

“I was in marching band in high school.”

“This to me is just the classic rom-com moment at the end of a rom-com movie, in just a fucked up, twisted way, obviously.”

Keep up with more horror commentary breakdowns here.

The post 41 Things We Learned from the ‘Obsession’ Commentary appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.

That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.

A Trilogy Planned on the Fly

Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.

At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.

The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.

In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.

Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.

The Evolution of Radu

Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.

In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.

The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.

Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.

Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last

Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.

Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.

Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.

The post ‘Bloodlust: Subspecies III’ Remains One of Full Moon’s Greatest Achievements appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

At the very least, Stranger Things: The Complete Series puts emphasis on “complete.” That’s evident in its special features alone.

Special and Deluxe editions of Stranger Things: The Complete Series are available for purchase now, featuring an array of exclusive bonus content, including bloopers, interviews with the cast and crew, and behind-the-scenes featurettes, designed for the ultimate Stranger Things experience.

The Deluxe Edition is presented in custom packaging featuring newly-commissioned artwork, alongside a wealth of extra material: a 148-page booklet, exclusive art cards, a Hellfire Club patch, double-sided posters for each season, and much more.

This limited-edition release features all 42 episodes of the show’s five season run on more than 25 discs, all housed in a set featuring gorgeous artwork by Juan Ramos. “We always dreamed that Stranger Things could be owned in its entirety,” said Matt and Ross Duffer, “not just as a collector’s set, but as a way to preserve the show for decades to come.” 

Their imprint looms large over the release, including writing in the 148-page book that also includes original design sketches, concept art, and storyboards. All of which would warrant the steep price tag alone for the diehard Stranger Things fan, but Arrow Video upped the ante with collectible surprises as well. Arcade patches, stickers, Hellfire Club dice, and an extremely detailed map of Hawkins, Indiana- double-sided to account for the Upside Down, of course – are among the highlights for this all-ages set.

Adorn your walls with posters representative of your favorite season! That’s also an option with this set’s offerings.

All of which to say that it’s rare for Netflix to make the jump into physical media, and they’ve enlisted Arrow Video to give it the best possible treatment. They certainly brought utmost care and attention to this release. As such, both the standard and deluxe sets come with steep price tags that start at $160 depending on format. While that’s likely a deterrent to the casual viewer, it’s more than worth it for fans.

It may be less convenient than hitting play on Netflix, sure, but there’s a lot to be said about the potential for quality upgrades to your viewing. No spotty internet or compression issues to be found here when it comes to the 4K Ultra HD or Blu-ray discs.

That’s really the biggest takeaway from this release: the untapped potential still of Netflix’s streaming library of originals that are ripe for similar treatment. Series and films that could receive Arrow Video levels of treatment on physical media.

Fans of Stranger Things can venture into the Upside Down one last time this spooky season at Halloween Horror Nights, but there may be no better way to ring in the series’ tenth anniversary than a rewatch with this expansive, well-curated box set.

The post Arrow Video’s ‘Stranger Things: The Complete Series’ is the Ultimate Collector’s Box Set for Fans appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Carrie follows a high school misfit who seeks revenge for a hideous prank by psychically destroying her senior prom. The name Carrie White has become synonymous with the concept of a formal dance thanks to a flawless adaptation from Brian De Palma. Now fifty years after the film’s release, Mike Flanagan is putting his own stamp on the troubling story.

Rather than a feature film, the writer/director will expand King’s relatively slim debut novel into an eight-episode miniseries for Amazon Prime set to premiere on October 7.

Flanagan is no stranger to the world of Stephen King. A long-time Constant Reader, he first made waves with his daring adaptation of Gerald’s Game (2017), a novel many fans considered un-filmable. His underrated Doctor Sleep merges the disparate plot of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining with King’s original source material, and his 2024 genre-bending tearjerker The Life of Chuck faithfully executes one of the author’s most metaphysical novellas.

He’s currently mired in pre-production for an expansive adaptation of The Dark Tower series, keystone to King’s connected universe, and Warner Bros. recently announced that Flanagan will helm a new version of The Mist, King’s 1980 novella which sees a small Maine town overrun by otherworldly monsters. 

Considering the vast array of the author’s previously unadapted material, an obvious question arises. Why reimagine Carrie in 2026? Noting the timeless nature of the content, Flanagan expressed his desire to bring the story of a bullied girl into modern times, mirroring his approach to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. He explained, “The only way to approach it was to build something new out of the ingredients of Carrie. Otherwise, there’s really no purpose in trying to retread ground that’s been so beautifully walked before.”

His miniseries will maintain the novel’s bloody bookends while delivering “big surprises” along the way. 

A New Prom Night Nightmare

The roughly 60-second teaser introduces Summer H. Howell as Carrie White just before the moment of catastrophe. Standing in a prom dress, she smiles at her applauding classmates with an ominous crown perched upon her head. Moments later, Carrie unleashes a rage-filled scream into the night air while promgoers rush for the exit doors. But careful examination of this scene shows Carrie wearing a different, albeit dirty dress as she seems to telekinetically punish her peers. 

In an exclusive first look with Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan explains that in his version of the story, “the events of that prom are going to be completely different.” An open trunk emitting a crimson glow does hint at the pig’s blood dumped on Carrie’s head, but it’s likely Flanagan’s formal dance will be a different kind of horror altogether. Despite these changes, the series may end with the widespread destruction outlined in the source material. Unlike any previous adaptations, King’s novel ends with the near-total destruction of Chamberlain, Maine. A flaming street in Flanagan’s trailer promises similar carnage no matter what prank sparks Carrie’s deadly revenge. 

The Monstrous Addition of Social Media

On the opposite end of this fiery conclusion is an extreme act of bullying that brings together the story’s main cast. King’s novel begins as Carrie gets her first period while showering in the girls’ locker room. Completely unaware of the concept of menstruation, the sheltered girl thinks she’s bleeding to death. Her classmates respond with vitriolic rage. Led by ultra-mean girl Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton), they mock the terrified teen while pelting her with tampons. Glimpses of this disturbing event reveal that Flanagan has excised the scene’s nudity while adding a seismic update. As Carrie sobs in the shower stall, Chris and her friends film the breakdown with their phones.

Other scenes note the presence of social media, bringing King’s fifty-year-old story into the digital age. 

Flanagan’s adaptation promises to explore the destructive power of social media, an often invisible entity with a potential for harm rivaling Carrie’s own powers. While King’s tormented heroine suffers in front of a small group of girls, Flanagan’s version of the incident will likely become a viral video, potentially circling the globe on social media. Similar to Katt Shea’s criminally underrated The Rage: Carrie 2, which includes elements of revenge porn exploitation, Flanagan’s modern retelling will distinguish itself by exploring the nebulous cruelty of online bullying, a force ten times more powerful than the irl pranks King first envisioned. 

A Completely Reimagined White Family

In addition to modernizing these canon events, Flanagan hints at updates to Carrie’s oppressive upbringing at the hands of her mother, Margaret White (Samantha Sloyan). Dead before the novel begins, we never meet Carrie’s domineering father Ralph, known to carry a bible alongside his gun. Flanagan’s White household will be an altogether different beast. In his version of the story, Carrie and her mother have been hidden away in the unassuming home, forced out of hiding by Ralph’s unexpected death. Perhaps we will finally meet this elusive man whose shadow hangs over his wife and child. Considering the White family’s fundamentalist lifestyle, this reimagining hints at tradwife culture and a home ruled by staunch patriarchal control.

Whereas King’s Carrie has been tormented by her classmates since Kindergarten, Flanagan’s Carrie will be a wide-eyed newcomer to public school, eager to make friends and engage with her peers. We glimpse Carrie cozying up to Chris and the equally popular Sue Snell (Siena Agudong) as she navigates a new social scene. Of course, we know this kindness is part of an elaborate plot designed to lull Carrie into a false sense of camaraderie, setting up an atrocious act of public humiliation. These brief moments of feigned compassion put Sue’s own complicity into question. Will Flanagan’s version of the character find the courage to defend Carrie from vicious bullies or will she succumb to peer pressure and join in the mob mentality? 

Perhaps the biggest deviation from King’s original text is the relationship between Carrie and her mother. King’s Margaret White is a horrifically abusive religious zealot whose worldview has been hardened by internalized misogyny. She shames Carrie for menstruating, locks her in a closet to “pray,” and regrets not killing her child in infancy. She’s also responsible for Carrie’s social ostracization. Known to berate her neighbors for their “sins,” Margaret forces her daughter to live by an extreme code of conduct and disallows any potential friends lest they corrupt the girl with their worldly ways.

Flanagan’s version of the character is perhaps just as much a victim as Carrie herself. Also trapped inside her home, his Margaret is overly vigilant, her own trauma manifesting as strict control. Describing a more sympathetic depiction of the iconic villain, Flanagan explains, “Our Margaret White is a woman who fiercely loves her daughter and wants to protect her from this world … [She] doesn’t know how to do that and thinks the way to protect her is to close her off; not punitively, but to create this private utopia.”

Despite this potential softening, Sloyan’s Margaret may still have a sharp edge. Though she has appeared in many Flanagan projects, from Hush (2016) to The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), she is best known for her role as the abhorrent Bev Keane in the poignant saga Midnight Mass (2021). Perhaps inspired by King’s Margaret White, Bev is pious and sadistic, willing to punish anyone who does not adhere to her warped approximation of Catholicism.

Flanagan specifically wrote Margaret with Sloyan in mind, likely remembering the actress’s eerie ability to create deceptive empathy and shift our allegiances on a dime.   

Expanding Stephen King’s Telekinetic Universe

While most of King’s story deals with an unthinkable prom night in Chamberlain, Maine, large sections of the semi-epistolary novel see experts debating the nature of telekinesis. Do Carrie’s frightening abilities represent a new phase in human evolution or is the prom night carnage merely a fluke? King settles the debate with a shocking denouement in which a young mother recounts her infant daughter’s ability to dangle her crib toys in midair. We’re left to wonder if she will become another tormented girl who surprises the world with metaphysical strength. 

Flanagan plans to build out this brief scene while amplifying themes of female empowerment. After introducing our main cast of characters, episode two will open with an unrelated story in which we meet another girl with the TK gene. Each subsequent chapter will expand this world, building out a roster of telekinetic young women. Considering King’s fondness for stories about powerful kids, often described as possessing “the shining,” Constant Readers will no doubt have their eyes peeled for various Easter Eggs nodding to the author’s vast catalogue. 

Giving Carrie Her Own Voice

Perhaps the most striking distinction in Flanagan’s new trailer is the extent to which we hear Carrie’s voice. The sneak peek is fully narrated by the titular prom queen as she demands accountability. “I want to know why,” she explains while detailing Chris’ elaborate plan. Aside from the aforementioned coda, King’s book essentially ends with the aftermath of the prom night tragedy, leaving little time for Carrie to reflect. His shifting narrative does bring the reader into her fragile mind, though not before she’s been cowed by relentless cruelty. We watch Carrie sink into bloodthirsty revenge, but never hear a considered desire for justice or repair. 

Flanagan’s original monologue allows Carrie to voice her pain and mourn the life she could have had. We’re also treated to a mug shot-style photo of Chris with a bruised and bandaged face, implying that the mean girl will have to answer for her senseless sadism.

Flanagan is known for filling his series adaptations with heartwrenching speeches that cut to the heart of his thematic intentions, and this teaser seems to follow suit. After years of fans, critics, and scholars analyzing Carrie’s pain, perhaps his modern retelling will offer the titular anti-hero a chance to finally speak for herself. 

The post What Mike Flanagan’s ‘Carrie’ Teaser Reveals About His Bold New Adaptation appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Couple that with the fact that the movie is being helmed by a genuine horror auteur and I think it’s safe to say that the latest iteration of the first modern ghost story is in good hands.

That being said, one detail that immediately jumped out at me during the brief teaser (other than a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nod to Johnny Depp’s iconic bedroom death scene from the original A Nightmare on Elm Street) is the fact that many of Ebenezer’s ghosts appear to have been directly lifted from the iconic John Leech illustrations that accompanied the first edition of Dickens’ novel.

Here are a couple of stills from the trailer compared to the original artwork:

Mainly working with old-school wood and steel engravings that would later be transferred to print, Leech was instrumental in crafting the iconic look of history’s most influential phantoms – especially since Dickens is said to have been deeply involved with the creation of these so-called “comic illustrations.”

And since the novel is commonly said to have popularized spiritualism in Victorian England, much of the ghostly iconography that we still see in genre media to this very day (including some of Ti West’s previous films) can be traced back to the author’s partnership with Leech.

Ebenezer won’t be the first A Christmas Carol adaptation to borrow heavily from these designs, but I can appreciate how Ti West is incorporating an important part of horror history into his latest film.

Ebenezer will be available in theaters starting November 13.

The post Taking a Closer Look at the ‘Christmas Carol’ Ghosts of Ti West’s ‘Ebenezer’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Englund has a long and storied career as a performer that’s covered far more than horror alone. However, there’s such a sublime, sinister synergy between Englund and this heightened genre that’s made him one of horror’s most revered names.

Englund is set to scare audiences again as a malevolent reimagining of Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio Unstrung, but he’s also been responsible for many more macabre monsters.

The Cricket (Pinocchio Unstrung)

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey has somehow spun a morbid experiment in public domain exploitation into its own cinematic universe, the Twisted Childhood Universe. There’s been increasing promise in the TCU’s various films, which has also led to a growing list of capable horror guest stars, such as Roger L. Jackson, Richard Brake, and now Robert Englund. Englund is by far the most impressive name to attach himself to one of these movies, and Pinocchio Unstrung certainly doesn’t squander the opportunity to have him on board as its terrifying take on Jiminy Cricket. Englund’s performance as “The Cricket” in Pinocchio Unstrung becomes a sinister subversion of the classic character who is meant to function as Pinocchio’s conscience and moral compass. 

Englund’s Cricket is instead the ultimate instigator who perpetually pushes Pinocchio into greater violence that condemns humanity and its many misgivings, rather than idolizing all the “real boys” in the world. Pinocchio Unstrung is a love letter to practical effects and old-fashioned animatronics and puppetry. This means that Englund just provides the voice for Cricket, but it’s still a deeply sinister performance and one of the most unnerving characters to appear in the Twisted Childhood Universe. Once again, Englund is careful not to just repurpose his Freddy Krueger persona, and he instead develops an original voice that plays into past renditions of the character. There’s a palpable rage and disdain in Englund’s Cricket that turns him into a threatening loose cannon and makes the audience forget that he’s only a few inches tall.

The Phantom of the Opera (The Phantom of the Opera)

The Phantom of the Opera is a foundational horror story that’s still being explored over a century later. 1989’s cinematic adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 classic doesn’t always get the respect that it deserves, despite it containing one of Englund’s most nuanced horror performances. Directed by Dwight H. Little, who previously helmed the underrated Halloween 4, The Phantom of the Opera operates as a gorier take on Leroux’s source material that feels like a lost Hammer Film picture. The titular Phantom is the perfect role for Englund following A Nightmare on Elm Street, and his participation in the picture was initiated by Englund promising his agent that he’d do another horror project after Elm Street’s success.

Englund was excited to tackle an iconic character who had previously been portrayed by formative horror legends like Herbert Lom, Claude Rains, and Lon Chaney. Englund beautifully fits the mold and is sublime casting for this ‘80s take on the character. Englund taps into a powerful dichotomy between the Phantom’s brutal and tragically sympathetic nature. It’s a role that’s significantly deeper than Freddy Krueger and better explores Englund’s range as an actor, which helps get him away from cheesy one-liners. It also doesn’t hurt that Little concocts a uniquely twisted take on the Phantom’s disfigurement, which was achieved by sewing human skin onto Englund’s face. The modern-day sequences that bookend the film were meant to tie into a planned sequel, The Phantom of the Opera 2: Terror in Manhattan, which unfortunately never came to fruition.

Victor Creel (Stranger Things)

Love it or hate it, Stranger Things assembled some impressive guest stars that took advantage of their respective legacies as ‘80s genre legends, such as Linda Hamilton, Matthew Modine, Cary Elwes, and Robert Englund. Englund’s turn as Victor Creel in the streaming hit’s fourth season is one of the series’ best performances and a role that rises above the mediocrity around it. Victor Creel is an opportunity for Englund to actually subvert expectations and play against type. It’s brilliant casting that initially conditions the audience to be wary of Creel and view him as a frightening threat. This perception is reinforced when Creel is encountered in a psychiatric ward and horrifically blinded. 

Creel’s disturbing eye-gouged appearance is revealed to actually be a symptom of his tragic life and the psychological torment he received from Vecna. Creel is hard to look at, but there’s nothing to fear about him. He’s led a sad life that’s filled with inescapable guilt. He’s more like one of Freddy Krueger’s victims than Freddy himself. Englund goes above and beyond as Victor Creel, and the emotional monologues that he delivers are among some of the actor’s best work and proof that Englund’s still got it.

Marquis de Sade (Night Terrors)

Tobe Hooper’s Night Terrors is a particularly forgettable ’90s horror film that faced a litany of production problems and changes that certainly didn’t do it any favors. The story is a mess, even for a Cannon Video production, but it provides the novelty of Englund pulling double duty as the cruel Marquis de Sade and his modern day descendant, Paul Chevalier. Night Terrors banked on the novelty of Hooper directing Englund as one of history’s greatest monsters, and his performance is easily the best thing about this movie.

There’s an unabashed glee to Englund’s work as the Marquis de Sade that’s reminiscent of Freddy Krueger’s twisted jubilation over his creative murders, yet it doesn’t just feel like a carbon copy of Englund’s iconic role. There’s an appreciated degree of restraint going on before the film goes off the rails and incorporates supernatural elements and abstract dream sequences. Chevalier and his modern cult worship the Marquis de Sade as a deity of torture and liberation.  The nightmare sequences that involve the Marquis de Sade are the most chilling and make this figure look as frightening on the outside as he is on the inside. There’s enough to latch onto here, even if the film as a whole is a mess, and Englund doesn’t squander the opportunity to play two sides of the same creepy coin.

Scarecrow (Injustice 2)

Robert Englund is no stranger to voiceover work, and he’s voiced his share of macabre and memorable characters over the years. That being said, one of his most inspired roles is the work that he did in NetherRealm’s dark DC Comics-based fighter, Injustice 2, where he plays Jonathan Crane, better known as the Scarecrow. There’s a certain tongue-in-cheek brilliance to having Englund voicing the Batman rogue who is the self-appointed “Master of Fear.” There’s certainly a meta quality to Englund’s casting here, right down to how some of his dialogue explicitly references Freddy Krueger one-liners like “Welcome to your nightmare” and “Now I’m playing with power.”

Englund doesn’t just phone in this performance or replicate his work as Freddy. The actor cultivates a unique voice for Scarecrow that cuts to the core of this character in a menacing manner. Englund’s Scarecrow is raspy, erratic, and honestly one of the better takes on Dr. Crane. It makes one wonder what he’d be able to accomplish if he were playing the part in live-action. He takes a simple role and breathes fresh life into it. Curiously, it’s not his first time playing a Batman villain. He does comparably interesting work as The Riddler in The Batman and the more obscure sorcerer, Felix Faust, in Justice League.

Evil Bloodthirsty Brian (The Hughleys)

There’s a surprising relationship between horror icons and sitcoms, with Robert Englund being no stranger to adding a devious dose of terror to a farcical comedy. Englund shows up as a playful take on Lucifer in Married…with Children, but he also provides a genuinely chilling performance in the first season of The Hughleys. Season one’s “Storm O’ the Century” is centered around the Hughleys and Rogerses getting stranded at a seemingly haunted hotel during an intense blizzard.

“Storm O’ the Century” functions as a proper love letter to horror fans, with genre guest stars that include The Addams Family’s John Astin, The Shining’s Shelley Duvall, and Robert Englund as the comically-named Evil Bloodthirsty Brian. The episode certainly prioritizes its comedy, but it manages to also be legitimately creepy thanks to a locked-in performance by Englund. He’s used sparingly, but always to punctuate a particular scene and function as a jump scare. Evil Bloodthirsty Brian sports a ghastly scar and has a look that’s just frightening enough to be included on a ’90s sitcom. Anyone who is curious about Englund’s performance can check it out for free on Tubi.

The post Beyond Freddy Krueger: 6 of Robert Englund’s Most Memorable Monster Roles appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The closest I ever got to wanting to run D&D was after my party played the Curse of Strahd campaign in fifth edition. The Ravenloft setting was perfect for me, forcing our intrepid band of heroes to face down all sorts of vampires, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night. One of my all-time favorite moments as a player was entering someone’s home, slowly realizing she was a witch, and pushing her into an oven “Hansel and Gretel” style before she could spring her trap. Leaning into the horror got my mind racing with the possibilities for a campaign, but nothing ever came of it.

Recently, Wizards of the Coast released Ravenloft: The Horrors Within for the latest edition of D&D, revamping the legendary setting for the updated ruleset. While I still have plenty of games I would turn to first for spooky roleplaying games, after flipping through the book, I was impressed with the wide range of horror that the new setting manual allows for. To be clear, this isn’t a beat-by-beat campaign book with full prep for a long-running adventure, but rather a series of settings, creatures, villains, and character creation options that can be added to the world, allowing you to explore the darker side of D&D.

Character Options With a Horror Twist

The introduction of The Horrors Within outlines the main narrative concept of the book, the Domains of Dread. These are isolated areas that can be accessed by traversing through mysterious mists. Each domain has a Darklord, who is both a ruler and prisoner in the land. Their domain acts as a dark reflection of their past in a way that makes for a cohesive space that’s backed up by interesting character drama.

While much of the book is dedicated to GM-facing tools for creating a horror campaign within the Domains of Dread, the first chapter is all about new subclasses for players to use as their characters level up. There’s not a new one for every class, only seven of them, but they do add some supernatural flavor to the traditional character archetypes, along with smartly thought-out mechanical additions. None of them are terribly game-changing in my opinion, but they do help you create characters that feel like they are becoming monsters themselves. My favorite of these is the Reanimator subclass for the artificer, who assembles corpses into undead companions that can help you out.

The book also has a bard that summons ghosts, a cleric who worships the forces of death, a ranger who communes with dark creatures, a rogue who gets trinkets from the dead, a sorcerer who draws power from the shadows, and a warlock who made a pact with an undead patron.

To round out character creation, there’s a new set of horror-tinged backgrounds and species to layer on top of your character. Variants of werewolves, vampires, and zombies are now available to you, in addition to some fun concepts like paranormal investigator and spirit medium. While none of these excite me a ton on their own, I can see the possibilities forming in my mind as I come up with different ways to mix and match the classes, backgrounds, and species, making it enticing for players who are looking for creepier ways to build their new character. It doesn’t elevate the class creativity to something along the lines of Heart: The City Beneath or Mork Borg, but it’s definitely more flavorful than the standard D&D archetypes I’ve been using for years.

Darklords, Domains, and Dark Gifts

As you level up, you’re given access to a new set of feats called Dark Gifts. These can be bestowed on you from the GM at narratively interesting points, or can be selected any time you would gain a feat from the origin category. These are once again very thematic, combining mechanics and fiction in clever ways, but importantly, they come with a price to be paid when you roll a critical failure.

For example, the Gathered Whispers feat allows you to not only cast Message, but also to use a reaction to summon spirits to defend you when you would be hit by an attack. As a cost, if you roll a one, the haunting voices get so loud that you need to make a saving throw or take the condition deafened. I’m always in favor of a tabletop RPG making failure more interesting, so this is a step in the right direction for me personally, and I would love to see the concept pushed even further, especially with the focus on horror.

The bulk of the book, about half of the page count, is spent outlining the various domains of Ravenloft and their associated Darklords. This chapter is extremely thorough, highlighting the various horror subgenres and hallmarks that each domain explores so you can find one that aligns with the story you are trying to tell. Want to do something about gothic horror and political intrigue? Send your party to Borco and have them caught in the battle between the two Darklords, Ivana Boritsi and Ivan Dilisnya. Looking for a dark fantasy adventure about doomed quests and cursed items? Then you’ll want to use the Shadowlands, where the sentient sword Ebonbane torments would-be heroes.

Is your group begging for cosmic horror? Well, among the Domains of Dread in this book is Innsmouth itself, giving you the tools to put your players against the ultimate Lovecraftian evil, Cthulhu. There are sixteen fully-realized domains in here, as well as about two dozen others with brief, but still intriguing descriptions. I wouldn’t say any of them are mind-blowingly creative, but they certainly push the limits of what I’m used to seeing in D&D, with lots of options to explore your subgenre of choice.

While they don’t lay out full, beat-by-beat campaigns for each of the locations, there’s definitely enough information here to get the gears turning on hooks to draw the player in. There are several points of interest laid out for each domain, as well as a full history of the area and the associated Darklord. Each Darklord also has a full stat block, preparing you to craft that epic boss fight when the time comes. My favorite part of each entry is the suggested campaign overview, which outlines ideas for what characters should be doing during specific level ranges.

These are only about a page long, but they also come with plans for a full mini-adventure within that overview, complete with NPCs, plot twists, and often a map for you to use at the table. I’m a big proponent of the GMing philosophy of “draw maps, but leave blank spaces,” so while some may be disappointed that there’s not more detailed prep contained in this chapter, this is just the right amount of info for me to start creating my own campaign.

A Worthy Collection of Horrors

The following two chapters are focused on giving you the tools to start writing your own campaigns within the Ravenloft setting, providing solid advice for how to think about how you want the horror to manifest at your table. Given how goofy players can get at the table, it can be hard to maintain an atmosphere of menace between friends, but the tips and tricks in these chapters are a great start. Ravenloft: The Horrors Within also gives you the framework to build your own domains and darklords to tell the story that you want to tell, including tables to roll on to help you generate ideas.

To round out the book, the final chapter is a bestiary full of horrors to throw at adventurers. They all still end up getting broken down into D&D mechanics, so they aren’t anything extremely wild and out there, but there are some gnarly creatures rendered in compellingly moody artwork. My personal favorites were the Boneless, an animated skin of a flayed corpse, the cleverly named Carrionette, a doll animated by sinister magic, and the Relentless Killers, a series of supernatural murderers that take inspiration from slashers. Included among the monsters are some good NPCs that can be worked into your campaigns, either as friend or foe. It’s not as clever as the surreal monsters in Mothership or as truly horrific as the terrors outlined in Mork Borg, but these are definitely some of D&D’s darkest creations, allowing you to weave horror into your standard encounters.

There are definitely games better equipped to do horror in tabletop RPG form, but if you’ve got a group of players who love D&D and don’t want to try a new system, this setting book is the best way to inject the horror you’re looking for into the classic game. Not only does it lay out a wealth of options for you to pull from, between the domains, darklords, and monsters, it also provides you the tools to come up with your own ideas to prepare compellingly terrifying campaigns of your own.

Even if it sticks to well-worn genre tropes, any horror-loving GM will get a kick out of flipping through this book and seeing how their favorite subgenres have been translated into the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

Ravenloft: The Horrors Within is available now from D&D Beyond in Digital and Physical versions.

Follow along for more Tabletop Terror, a monthly column highlighting roleplaying games new and old. 

The post Despite Treading Familiar Territory, ‘Ravenloft: The Horrors Within’ Provides a Wealth of Gameplay [Tabletop Terror] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

While rushed productions like Morbius and Kraven the Hunter didn’t quite turn out as I had hoped, it’s a relief to see James Gunn and the DC Extended Universe learn the right lessons from Marvel’s flops by investing in supervillain stories that aren’t afraid to step into the horror genre.

The new trailer for James Watkins’ upcoming Clayface movie is a great example of this, as the new footage confirms our suspicions that the movie is set to be a full-on piece of body horror focusing more on telling a standalone scary story than setting up a brand.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to take a closer look at the trailer in order to find out what we can expect from this highly anticipated comic-book adaptation from hell.

So without further ado, here are four things we learned from the new Clayface trailer!

4. Matt Hagen is a Club Vesuvius Regular

A seedy nightclub owned by “former” mobster Johnny Sabatino, the comic books have established Club Vesuvius as a hotspot for criminal activity and metahuman action since 2009. Throughout the years, the club has seen everything from an attempted arson by Firefly to magical acts performed by Zatanna herself.

The trailer for Clayface appears to suggest that Vesuvius will feature prominently in this story as well, as the footage shows us several shots of Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) casually attending the club as well as a couple of more concerning moments where Gotham City Police roll up to the establishment to deal with some kind of emergency.

3. The Movie Will Not Adapt Any Single Specific Comic

As I mentioned before in my Clayface primer for horror fans who aren’t all that familiar with the character, the initial teaser for the film had me convinced that the project would be more of an adaptation of Batman: The Animated Series’ two-part episode Feat of Clay rather than any specific comic-book.

This latest trailer has only confirmed my suspicions, with Hagen’s predicament here feeling much more in line with Marv Wolfman and Michael Reaves’ sympathetic vision of the character than the more traditional criminal that we usually see in the comics. That being said, I’m curious to see how the filmmakers intend to connect this tragic version of Clayface to the more unpleasant monster we saw in Creature Commandos now that it’s been confirmed that these are indeed the same person.

2. James Watkins is Combining Practical and Digital Effects

I’ll always prefer a well-executed practical effect over CGI simply because the former is closer to the stage magic that inspired early moviemaking. That being said, there’s an undeniable artistry to well-crafted visual effects, and I’d argue that a character like Clayface requires the best of both worlds in order to be convincingly brought to life on the big screen.

I’m clearly not the only one who thinks so, as the trailer has shown us that Watkins is combining digital imagery with prosthetics and plenty of flesh-colored goop to depict Hagen’s unique brand of monstrous body horror. James Gunn had already promised us that the film would feature plenty of old-school practical effects wizardry, so it’s exciting to see that this approach in action.

1. Hagen Will Eventually Transform into Clayface’s Iconic True Form

In the comics, whenever Clayface isn’t pretending to be someone else, the character spends most of his time in his “natural” form resembling a gigantic golem-like monster. This look has certainly evolved over the years, but, at this point, most artists have settled on a vaguely humanoid shape accompanied by a gaping maw (though the villain’s terrifying re-imagining in DC’s Absolute Universe is a bit more complicated than that).

While fans were initially skeptical regarding whether or not the upcoming adaptation would even feature this admittedly outlandish design, the trailer has basically confirmed that Hagen’s condition will get progressively worse until he finally resembles the hulking monstrosity from the comics!

Be sure to comment below if you think we overlooked any interesting details in the trailer, and keep in mind that Clayface will be hitting theaters on October 23.

The post 4 ‘Clayface’ Trailer Details That Put Fan Fears to Rest with Comic Ties and Body Horror appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

However, the scarceness of The Kiss, while a bit annoying, makes it like catnip for ‘80s horror completists everywhere. Hopefully, a lot of them will walk away satisfied after watching this hidden gem.

Even though The Kiss was intended as the first of several horror collaborations between Astral Pictures and TriStar, as well as the first feature produced by Densham, Richard B. Lewis and John Watson’s Trilogy Entertainment Group, it ended up being the only one produced from that former union. Once the movie was released, TriStar’s distribution jitters—they opted for a regional rollout—did the $6-million flick no favors. TriStar’s cold feet toward horror releases have been well noted, but The Kiss still did a tad better than Night of the Creeps (1986), another genre outing that flopped due to its regional opening.

Shot in Montreal, but set in Albany, New York, The Kiss—which was still called The Host just a few months before its October premiere—concerns an average middle-class family and their forthcoming situation. The uncanny problem in store for them was, in fact, set in motion some years earlier. As that hot and dusty flashback to the Belgian Congo shows, a familial curse was set upon the two Dunbar sisters well before Meredith Salenger’s teenage character was born.

The Kiss, which was based on a story by co-writer Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch) and penned by both Volk and Tom Ropelewski, has the outward appearance of The Stepfather (1987). This movie, though, is anything but a gender-flipped retread of that classic domestic disturber. For starters, The Kiss is far less grounded in reality—that much is clear from its unsettling opening scene. There, a trusting girl (Priscilla Mouzakiotis) is the victim of her own deceptive aunt (Céline Lomez); the movie’s titular act, and the story’s first shock, becomes the means of transferring an ancient evil from one host to another.

In the present day, Salenger’s role of Amy Halloran, a religious schoolgirl, is dealt a harsh blow in life once her mother, Hilary Halloran née Dunbar (Pamela Collyer), suddenly dies in a freak accident. But rather than a complete stranger sweeping the Halloran widower (Nicholas Kilbertus) off his feet some months later, Joanna Pacula’s character is that chosen temptress. Here, Pacula plays the grown-up version of the afflicted girl last seen in the movie’s opener. Since Amy’s mother is insistent about there being no reunion between estranged sisters, and she even contemplates buying a gun shortly before her tragic demise, it’s presumable that Aunt Felice poses a threat to her family.

The Kiss isn’t a movie ever too concerned about its own predictability. The audience is indeed often one step ahead of the story here, but also keep in mind how every one of those steps is loud. Take, for instance, the death of Amy’s mother; the Halloran matriarch goes out in garish, gruesome fashion, as a supernaturally commandeered truck sends Collyer’s character through a store window first, then leaves her one leg short. The directorial enthusiasm truly comes out in horrific moments such as these.

The Kiss is always sure to revel in its characters’ ills and misfortunes. So if the plot doesn’t impress, then its lurid parts should. Amy’s mother’s exit scene was proof of an eager, first-time horror director proving his worth. Then, bestie Heather (Sabrina Boudot) survives to tell the tale of a bizarre escalator mishap that, despite showing relatively less gore, spikes viewers’ empathy meter. The wilder bits of this movie, however, commence with that inevitable hookup between Felice and Amy’s bewitched father; their kitchen coitus is paralleled by Amy’s feverish classroom terror. The outcome there is a disquieting cross-cut of sex magic and a young woman’s menstrual onset plus hallucinations.

From foam appliances to bladders, that parade of special effects in The Kiss casts its own spell on the audience. Felice’s familiar, a visibly malevolent cat, was realized here with several models, some more articulate than others. Admittedly, the demon cat’s not as convincing as most of the effects here, but accepting that artifice, as opposed to fighting it, will make the whole experience way more enjoyable. As for the makeup used to manifest Felice’s inner villainy, it is more minimal and subtle than one might like; yet the work done to turn Pacula into an antithesis of herself is nonetheless compelling.

The otherworldly perils and dreadful goings-on wouldn’t work half as well as they do in The Kiss without the story’s contrast effect. Finding frights in picturesque, extremely ordinary settings was something that took off in the ‘80s, thanks to that sweeping shift to locales like the suburbs. And Amy’s home, a replica of a real Montreal suburban house, is the ideal battleground for any proper good-versus-evil story. It’s also prime real estate for this movie’s satanic panic-inspired horrors.

Because of their ostensibly similar plots, The Kiss has been compared to The Exorcist (1973). Except in Densham’s movie, the sinister, non-Christian entity targeting a teen girl lies within something less apparent and, perhaps, more devastating upon its exposure. To an outsider, Pacula’s Aunt Felice is too beautiful and unobjectionable to ever suspect of being a monster. More suspicious is how quickly she rips into the fabric of the Halloran home. Felice’s mere presence upsets the “texture of family life,” according to the director.

Taking out Amy’s mother and best friend, and distracting her father, would suggest The Kiss is playing by a different set of rules. It is initially leaving its adolescent target unsupported in a rather grim scenario. In contrast, though, this story offers up a surrogate parent who does her best to fill in the holes of Amy’s eroding home life. Mimi Kuzyk does good work as that family friend and doctor, Brenda, who guides the lost child without also steering her in any one direction; she is naturally skeptical of Amy’s accusations until it’s almost too late to do anything about them. So although The Kiss does an admirable job of undoing the main character’s support system, it never leaves her without a lifeline. This dark movie, in spite of everything that’s transpired, doesn’t deprive itself of light and hope.

The Kiss is a potent mélange of familiar ideas. If not for the director’s surprise flair for horror, though, the movie would have been less effective. What a shame that Pen Densham didn’t continue with the genre. As for Joanna Pacula, she is, too, owed credit as the wicked vixen opposite Meredith Salenger’s pitiable Amy; she never fails to be unsettling in her role. Pacula makes Aunt Felice a sexy yet intimidating character.

For horror that steadily doles out madness and menace, while also delivering a flashy and ghastly conclusion, The Kiss is certain to please. Yes, it’s cheesy all the way, but most favorably, everyone involved plays everything straight. That kind of commitment goes a long way with this movie.

The post Forgotten ’80s Satanic Panic Horror Gem ‘The Kiss’ Is Worth Rediscovering appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Of course, coming up with visual depictions of otherworldly horror is no easy task, and that’s why I’ve decided to highlight six of the scariest demon designs in horror. After all, a creature feature is only as good as its antagonist, so this is one situation where the uglier the better!

For the purposes of this list, we’ll only be including movie monsters that are explicitly described as being demons from an established religion/folkloric tradition. We’re also only considering the demons’ scare factor – not the overall quality of the movie it came from. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own demonic favorites if you think we missed a particularly freaky one.

One more thing – while we won’t be including it on the list since it technically never made it into the movie, I’d also like to give a shout-out to Valak’s tragically unused true form from The Conjuring 2.

With that out of the way, onto the list:

6. Violator – Spawn (1997)

I’ve already written about how this ’90s Blockbuster Bomb is nowhere near as bad as most people say it is, but I’ll never get tired of insisting that John Leguizamo’s Clown/Violator is one of the greatest movie monsters of the ’90s. Not only was this ambitious union of digital and practical effects remarkable for its time, but it’s a genuine miracle that the crew was able to faithfully translate Todd McFarlane’s exaggerated design to the big screen.

While the comic book version of this hellish shapeshifter was already frightening, and I’d argue that the soft-spoken telepath of the HBO adaptation is even scarier, the special effects here really make it feel like Violator is about to leap off the screen and gobble up your entire family.

It’s just too bad that the rest of the film isn’t equally impressive!

5. The Demons – Hellboy (2019)

The 2019 Hellboy reboot may not be a good movie, and it left an especially sour taste in fans’ mouths after the cancellation of Guillermo Del Toro’s final entry in his proposed trilogy, but there’s still plenty of stuff that this ill-advised adaptation gets right. Among this R-rated romp’s good ideas, I’d argue that the film’s demonic antagonists are at the top of the list, especially if you suffer from some form of megalophobia.

While the film only briefly unleashes an assortment of hellish monsters upon the world during the final act, the Eldritch designs and Neil Marshall’s expert direction make these some of the scariest scenes in the entire Hellboy franchise. To be honest, I’d like to see an entire movie about kaiju-sized fallen angels wreaking havoc on modern society.

4. Satan – End of Days (1999)

End of Days is a deeply strange movie. A supernatural action-horror thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as he attempts to thwart the biblical apocalypse, there are moments here that feel like they came out of a parody. Yet, it’s precisely these idiosyncrasies that make the movie so much fun, especially when the filmmakers do their best to make Lucifer himself a formidable opponent for the man who took down both the Predator and the T-1000.

If you ask me, special effects maestro Mark ‘Crash’ McCreery knocked it out of the park with his surreal and undeniably Eldritch design for Satan. Hell, this winged monstrosity appears to have more in common with Cthulhu than anything you’d see in your average exorcism flick, which makes it all the more tragic that the finished film ultimately replaced most of the demon’s practical effects with CGI.

3. The Lipstick-Face Demon – Insidious (2009)

There’s no discussing iconic demon designs without bringing up one of the most popular supernatural antagonists of the past few decades, the Red Face Demon from Insidious. Also known as the Lipstick-Face Demon and The Man with Fire in His Face, he may have only been the main antagonist of that first Insidious film, but this memorable villain has since become the mascot of the entire series as well as proof that familiar iconography can still be scary if presented properly.

That being said, it’s Joseph Bishara’s consistently freaky performance that makes Red Face such a haunting character, with his exaggerated movements and facial expressions helping to bring the design to life. Of course, I’m of the opinion that the demon’s affinity for Tiny Tim songs might just be the scariest thing about him!

2. The Mimic – The Mortuary Assistant (2026)

The live-action adaptation of Brian Clarke’s The Mortuary Assistant may not be quite as scary as its source material, but you’ve got to hand it to the filmmakers for recreating the game’s paranormal antagonists so faithfully – especially since they weren’t exactly working with a Hollywood budget.

Sure, the team benefited from the fact that the most popular of these demonic entities, the grinning Mimic, boasts a relatively simple design consisting of a pale, emaciated body and a doll-like face with uncanny proportions. But I love how they added a corpse-like texture to its skin. Mark Steger’s eerie performance also enhances the effects work and helps to make this one of the most memorable monsters on the list.

My only real gripe with this design is that they gave the Mimic a nose, removing some of the charm of that original design.

1. Porcelain Jesus – Belzebuth (2017)

Emilio Portes’ Belzebuth is a criminally underrated religious horror flick, so it stands to reason that it also features one of the scariest demons on this list. I know I’m technically bending the rules here, as the creature that appears in the film isn’t really the demon itself but a statue that was possessed and corrupted by it, but I believe this blasphemous design speaks for itself.

Over the course of the film, the demonic antagonist possesses a series of unfortunate victims before eventually settling on a porcelain recreation of Jesus, with the ensuing monstrosity chasing our lead characters during the flick’s scariest sequence. As with any piece of religious horror, your fright-mileage may vary depending on your respect for holy iconography, but I’m of the opinion that this design is scary enough to transcend religious barriers.

The post 6 Of The Scariest Horror Movie Demon Designs That Still Haunt Our Nightmares appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

If you’ve seen Nolan’s recently released The Odyssey, you’re likely aware that a scary movie helmed by the legendary director could be a very good idea.

After all, Nolan insisted on making use of old-fashioned movie magic and in-camera practical effects when shooting his adaptation of Homer’s epic. This retro approach made Odysseus’ encounters with mythological beings such as the giant cyclops that much more terrifying. By now, fans are undoubtedly aware that the massive creature was partially brought to life by an enormous puppet enhanced with near-invisible CGI, but there were also plenty of forced perspective shots where actor Bill Irwin actually chomped on disturbingly realistic replicas of Ithican soldiers.

As you can see in the below behind-the-scenes test footage shared by the Los Angeles-based Hamer FX, Irwin was given an assortment of latex dolls filled with fake blood and breakable skeletons that he could tear apart on camera. The darkness of Polyphemus’ cave covers up most of the gore in the finished film, but the moment remains a terrifying highlight in a movie that has a lot to say about the horrors of war.

Nolan actually requested these tiny edible soldiers for the flick because his vision for the iconic cyclops encounter was partially inspired by Francisco Goya’s disturbing mural of Saturn Devouring His Son. This mysterious piece is actually one of the artist’s infamous “Black Paintings,” which were found painted directly onto the walls of his old house near Madrid before a French baron ordered that the collection be transferred to canvas and assigned names for public viewing.

Details like these are what make me think that Nolan could pull off a genuinely scary horror picture if he came across the right idea. That being said, between the Fear Gas sequences in Batman Begins and Circe using body horror magic to transform men into pigs in The Odyssey, one might argue that he’s been preparing for such a task throughout his entire career.

The Odyssey is currently playing in theaters everywhere, though it’s definitely worth seeking out an IMAX screening if you can find one near you.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Hamer FX (@hamer_fx)

The post The Disturbing Practical Effects Behind the Cyclops Feast in ‘The Odyssey’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It turns out that this trailer was for Rob Savage’s Other Mommy, an adaptation of Bird Box author Josh Malerman’s horror novel, Incidents Around the House. With the teaser now available online and revealing that the award-winning Jessica Chastain is playing the titular antagonist (as well as her ill-fated human counterpart), not to mention the fact that the picture is being helmed by the director of hits like Host and The Boogeyman, genre fans are understandably hyped for this upcoming thriller.

That’s why I’ve decided to take a closer look at the trailer and share four things we learned from this sneak peek at Other Mommy!

4. Rob Savage is Going Back to His Supernatural Horror Roots

I know I’m in the minority when I admit that Dashcam is my favorite Rob Savage movie, but even I understand why the filmmakers’ fans have been waiting a while for the director to get back to telling more grounded paranormal stories as he did with 2020’s Host.

Other Mommy obviously isn’t a found footage movie, but moments like the poltergeist activity on the kitchen table combined with the nature of the source material, which actually features a full-on exorcism, indicate that this adaptation is more than a simple creature feature. That’s why I think Savage is once again going to borrow from the same ghostly narratives that made his debut film such a viral hit.

3. Other Mommy is a More Convincing Doppelganger in the Adaptation

Part of the horror from Malerman’s original novel came from the fact that the entity taking on the form of Bela’s (Arabella Olivia Clark) mother wasn’t very good at passing itself off as human. This resulted in several uncanny moments where other characters began to notice that there was something visibly wrong with the family and decided to keep their distance.

Savage’s film appears to be taking a different route, with the trailer showing a version of the entity that can, at least physically, imitate Chastain’s character perfectly. This change is likely the result of the filmmakers wanting to incorporate more paranoid scenes where Bela and her father, played by Jay Duplass, are confused about which Mommy is safe to interact with.

2. The Family is Also Better Off This Time Around

Incidents Around the House featured some interesting subtext about how poverty can negatively affect American family dynamics. After all, the main characters were already feeling scared and isolated before the entity emerged from Bela’s closet and began scratching at their emotional wounds. The trailer for the movie, however, depicts the family as being relatively well off before these incidents begin to occur.

I can only imagine that this part of the story was changed so that the family’s fall from grace can be even more dramatic as the mom and dad’s pasts are revealed and Bela falls further into the clutches of the demonic antagonist.

1. Jessica Chastain is Embodying Evil Dead Rise’s Alyssa Sutherland

Mothers turning against their children is one of the most disturbing horror tropes out there (just check out classics like Hereditary and Carrie if you need proof), but it takes a remarkably skilled actress to pull off such a monstrous transformation. This is especially true when both a regular, loving mother and the Other share the screen in the same film.

That’s why I appreciate how Chastain appears to be channeling another evil redhead mother that recently traumatized audiences with her performance. It’s too early to be sure, but I’m fairly confident that Chastain’s character has at least some amount of Ellie in her cinematic DNA – Ellie being the iconic deadite brought to life by Australian actress Alyssa Sutherland in 2023’s Evil Dead Rise.

Let us know in the comments if you think we missed any important details from the trailer, and don’t forget to check out Other Mommy when it hits theaters on October 9!

The post ‘Other Mommy’ Trailer Hints at Big Changes from Novel ‘Incidents Around the House’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

That’s quite a feat for an R-rated sword and sandal epic based on a story that was first put to papyrus over 3,000 years ago. Of course, mythology has been a film standard practically since the beginning of the medium and has proven to be fertile ground for storytellers. One of the great tellers of these tales is not a writer or director but an innovative special effects master and producer, Ray Harryhausen, and among his greatest achievements is Jason and the Argonauts (1963).

The story of Jason and the quest for the golden fleece predates the Homeric period by a generation or two, and there are certainly similarities to the later works, specifically The Odyssey. Both are seafaring adventures captained by men of both strength and wit. Their crews are filled with colorful characters as well, including Hercules and Argos in the Jason tales and Eurylochus and Polites among Odysseus’s men. Both encounter the beautiful and bizarre on their journeys. The major differences are in tone and theme. The Odyssey is a more contemplative piece about men of war finding it is practically impossible to truly return home.

Jason and the Argonauts, especially in the hands of Harryhausen, producer Charles H. Schneer, director Don Chaffey, and writers Beverly Cross and Jan Read, is a tale of adventure, romance, betrayal, gods, and perhaps above all—monsters.

Strictly speaking, nearly all the Harryhausen films are fantasy films, but all are filled with some of the most incredible monster creations in all of cinema. Telling mythological stories was a way of making monster movies that parents would not object to their children seeing. That whiff of the movie-going experience being educational gave him license to bring to life dozens of indelible creations, starting with The 7th Voyage of Sinbad in 1958 all the way to Clash of the Titans in 1981. So, rather than spoil the story of Jason and the Argonauts, I will be focusing on its main attraction, its unforgettable monstrosities.