Exclusives
‘Daddy’s Head’ Exclusive Clip – Strange Nighttime Sirens Leads to a Terrifying Discovery
Filmmaker Benjamin Barfoot brings eerie atmosphere and new nightmare fuel in the form of a terrifying creature in Daddy’s Head, and an exclusive new clip introduces just one of many bone-chilling scares.
Daddy’s Head debuts exclusively on Shudder on October 11.
In the film, “In the wake of his father’s untimely death, a young boy is left in the eerie solitude of a sprawling country estate with his newly widowed stepmother. Struggling to navigate the overwhelming task of parenthood, his stepmother grows distant, leaving their fragile bond at risk of collapse. Amidst the growing tension, the boy begins to hear unsettling sounds echoing through the corridors and is soon haunted by the presence of a grotesque creature bearing a disturbingly familiar resemblance to his late father.
“As the boy’s warnings are dismissed as the imagination of a grieving child, the sinister entity tightens its grip on their crumbling lives.”
Julia Brown, Rupert Turnbull, Charles Aitken, and Nathaniel Martello-White star.
Watch the new clip below, which sees Laura (Brown) woken in the middle of the night by strange sirens. It’s worth noting that Laura and Lewis (Turnbull) live in the middle of the woods, with no nearby neighbors. Naturally, the atmospheric, dreamlike wandering into the woods results in a terrifying encounter.
In my review from Fantastic Fest, I wrote, “Barfoot draws from folk horror, both in setting and storytelling, for his unique creature feature. That means that the horror builds slowly, relying on atmosphere and the isolated, stunning wooded setting to create unease as Lewis and Laura struggle with their loss.” And, “Whether you’re on this movie’s wavelength or not, one thing is certain: Daddy’s Head is creepy as hell.”
“Daddy’s Head is a very important film for me as it intertwines personal feelings about family, grief, and trauma with my desire to experiment with the horror genre,“ Barfoot previews.
Matthew James Wilkinson and Patrick Tolan of Stigma Films produced Daddy’s Head.
Those seeking a good scare this Halloween season won’t want to miss Daddy’s Head when it arrives on Shudder tomorrow.
Exclusives
‘Family Dinner’ Director Peter Hengl Returns With Gothic Short ‘The Fated Hour’ [Exclusive]
Family Dinner filmmaker Peter Hengl is back with “The Fated Hour“, a nightmarish Gothic short film executive produced by Kier-La Janisse (Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror), and we have the exclusive first look.
“The Fated Hour” will begin its festival run this summer, with Severin Films handling the film’s North American release.
The synopsis: “Austria, 1810. Three days before her wedding, Florentine visits the grave of her younger sister Seraphine — brilliant, otherworldly, and gone too soon. As the ceremony approaches, Florentine finds herself unable to share in her bridegroom Bruno’s joy. Over dinner, she recounts to him the strange and melancholy story of Seraphine’s life and death — and of the dark legacy she left behind. Soon it becomes clear that Florentine is not merely mourning her sister…“
Alina Schaller (Breaking the Ice), Fanny Altenburger (Counterpart), Cornelius Obonya, and Daniel Holzberg (The Zone of Interest) star.
The short is a 19th-century period piece set in Austria based on Friedrich Laun’s short story “The Relationship with the Spirit World,” famously cited as a key influence on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Shot on location in Austria, the film is produced by Hengl and Lola Basara of Vienna-based Capra Film with support from Stadt Wien Kultur (MA7) and the Lower Austrian Film Commission.
“The Fated Hour” was commissioned by Kier-La Janisse with Severin’s founders, David Gregory and Carl Daft, as Executive Producers.
“I’m very excited to have Peter Hengl’s Austrian ghost story joining our growing family of original gothic shorts,” said Janisse. “Especially with all the incredible heritage locations and rich period detail.“
Hengl added: “The oldest gothic dread is always the most modern: that fate cannot be outrun. I was fortunate to explore this timeless story alongside performers who understood completely that the past and the present are never truly separate—that some things bleed through. For the production, we used analog distortions like various lenses and mirrors not just to evoke a retro vibe, but also to represent the spirit world in the film.“
Check out the first images below, and be sure to watch Family Dinner on Screambox while we wait for “The Fated Hour”.
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