There’s a recurring argument often used in the defense of artificial intelligence that claims that the rise of generative AI is actually the first step towards the complete democratization of art. According to a certain kind of tech enthusiast, these emerging technologies will finally allow disabled and underprivileged folks with artistic aspirations to usher in a new era of creative freedom unbound by the limitations involved in actually having to develop a skill set in order to make something “beautiful”.

As any real artist will tell you, this is obviously a ridiculous notion, as there exists no limitation that can keep a human being from creating at least some form of meaningful art. Not only that, but aesthetic perfection has never been a requirement for creating great artwork. For instance, AI grifters love to talk about how their cheap imitations of Blockbuster cinematography will soon replace the film industry, but if the horror genre has proven anything over the years, it’s that great stories can be told without the need for Hollywood visuals, just think of lo-fi classics like 28 Days Later and even The Blair Witch Project.

The Children Under the House is a found footage experience completely made up of static drawings and narration from a single character, this minimalist scary movie contains all the supernatural thrills of a Conjuringverse flick without any of the associated costs and one of the most criminally underappreciated horror movies in recent memory.

Before he was posting eerie kids’ drawings on Catalanotto’s YouTube channel, Vintage Eight, the Louisiana-based Catalanotto was already a hardworking filmmaker with credits dating all the way back to the mid-2000s. This industry experience is actually what inspired the writer-director to start working on smaller online projects that he could develop without the need for a complete cast and crew or even a traditional budget.

The Children Under the House wasn’t even the director’s first attempt at analog horror, nor would it be his last. This 2022 project only stood out because Catalanotto decided to turn a recurring horror trope into the main attraction of an epistolary ghost story. Naturally, the trope in question is that of crude children’s drawings that scary movies traditionally use to illustrate the horrific forces besieging our protagonists without actually showing them to us via special effects.

While the project was initially conceived as a serialized web series, the scale of the story grew once Catalanotto realized the narrative potential of such an evocative format. Not only that, but fan reactions encouraged him to expand the scope of the project even further. Of course, the sheer amount of artwork required to bring this feature-length ghost story to life meant that Catalanotto eventually resorted to recruiting outside help from fellow horror enthusiasts, though his most important collaborator ended up being his wife, Mary Nguyen Catalanotto.

In the finished project, which was initially released as eleven episodes on YouTube before being compiled into a feature film, we follow a collection of mysterious recordings left behind by child therapist Doctor Julia Luu (Mary Nguyen Catalanotto). The footage mainly consists of strange drawings made in crayon accompanied by Doctor Luu’s audio recordings commenting on the strange case of Jess Daniels. A young girl who became mute after encountering something in the basement of her new home, Jess communicates with her therapist through crude scribbles and limited text. Over the course of Jess’ treatment, Doctor Luu slowly uncovers a supernatural mystery involving the young girl’s “imaginary friends” and the dark history behind the house that refuses to let her go.

As I mentioned before, using children’s drawings to depict disturbing creatures and horrific events is nothing new, with the idea having been successfully implemented in everything from Insidious to Orphan, but the minimalist nature of Catalanotto’s film keeps viewers trapped in a warped perspective of reality. Each new “imaginary” friend comes with the horrifying realization that what Jess is seeing is infinitely worse than what’s actually making it onto the screen, and her simple doodles inspire mental imagery that’s much more upsetting than anything that could ever be achieved through traditional special effects.

Catalanotto’s approach to the ghost story behind these images doesn’t exactly reinvent the genre wheel, and veteran horror fans will likely see the ending coming from a mile away despite the novel presentation, but there’s enough care put into the development of both Jess and her Doctor as believable characters that we start to accept them as ordinary people dealing with an extraordinary situation.

Sure, there are small blunders like Jess’ overly-adult grasp of the English language and certain convenient plot points that feel like Catalanotto wrote himself into a corner, but the presentation really makes it feel like you’re watching and listening to something genuinely forbidden. Hell, despite the crayon-based visuals, I’d argue that The Children Under the House boasts some of the most unsettling monster designs of the 2020s – it just so happens that you’re helping to design these creatures as you interpret Jess’ drawings.

From the disturbing montage revealing the true identity of Jess’ colorful friends to the realization that the real horror of the story is far from supernatural, the film plays out as a classic Creepypasta brought to life. You just have to be willing to play along and engage with the material on its own terms for the story to be effective.

This is also why The Children Under the House works just as well in other formats, with the film, web-series and book versions of the story all counting on you to uncover the mystery alongside Doctor Luu (though I’m partial to the movie because of Mary Nguyen’s deadpan narration and its surprising adherence to the classic three-act structure). Of course, it’s the fact that this level of narrative connection can be achieved through crayons and diary entries that makes Catalanotto’s opus such a poignant reminder of the power of human creativity, regardless of the available resources.

The Vintage Eight channel has gone on to post more snalog horror experiments (as well as a handful of interesting essays about genre cinema), but none of these projects have been quite as ambitious as The Children Under the House. That being said, I think it’s just a matter of time before Catalanotto resurfaces with another feature-length fright-fest, though I’ll be even more excited to see it if Hollywood decides to give him a proper budget this time around.

In the meantime, The Children Under the House is currently streaming for free on Tubi and YouTube, with a graphic novelization also available on Amazon.

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The action begins in 1985 as single mother Jacqueline (Sara Jane Redmond) grows increasingly uncomfortable with the intimacy of the relationship between her fifteen-year-old daughter Shelley (Molly Saunders) and family physician Dr. Joseph Charalambous (Matthew Morrison).

However, when Jacqueline tries to interject and cut off contact between the two, Shelley quickly moves in with Joe and cuts Jacqueline out of her life. A six-year time jump follows and, before ten minutes have passed in the film’s runtime, Shelley is a twenty-something mother with an abusive husband, two children, and no social support network.

Initially, it seems as if writer Jason Bourque has jumped over a few crucial details. As The Monster She Married settles in, however, it’s not hard to deduce how Joe’s control over his wife has kept her isolated and subservient. (There are a few key flashbacks along the way that confirm Jacqueline didn’t simply abandon her daughter to a pedophile, as well as why Joe wasn’t immediately arrested for statutory rape).

Initially it seems as if the film will focus on the next cycle of Joe’s predatory grooming habits as he targets a pair of underage sisters, Sian (Olga Petsa) and Katie Simmonds (Matreya Scarrwener). When the teens tell their parents about the unwanted touching, however, charges are brought against Joe and – when it becomes clear that mere intimidation won’t keep them silent – events escalate quickly.

If this weren’t based on a true story, the events of the middle section of The Monster She Married might seem ridiculous or even melodramatic. Unfortunately, they’re tragically based in fact. The remainder of the film follows Shelley’s growing awareness that she’s being abused, gaslit, and used by her husband as a shield, as well as her plot to escape.

Tellingly, director Caitlyn Sponheimer doesn’t lean too heavily into the sensational aspects of Shelley’s terrible marriage. There are scenes of intimate partner violence, certainly, but they aren’t overdone or exaggerated for dramatic effect. In fact, nearly all of the incidents of violence (sexual or abusive) are framed and edited in a tasteful, non-exploitation fashion – be it slightly out of frame or only briefly appearing on camera before we cut away.

While Saunders is laughably unconvincing as a teenager in the early scenes and flashbacks, her performance as adult Shelley anchors the film. One of the most compelling aspects of the film is Shelley’s “complicity” (as a prosecutor infers late in the film) in her husband’s crimes – she’s aware of his plot against the Simmonds’ sisters, and she knows her husband is capable of lies and violence, but she doesn’t speak out.

Anyone familiar with Intimate Partner Violence will understand why Shelley remains silent and why she stays with Joe for as long as she does. The first half of the film occasionally struggles to capture the depth of the manipulation and the effect of the abuse and isolation, but by the second half, when Joe’s behavior becomes more erratic and more people in Shelley’s life acknowledge her abuse, it all comes together. It’s challenging, but realistic, how The Monster She Married doesn’t sugarcoat how difficult it is for domestic abuse survivors to flee their situations, even when their lives are being threatened.

As the villain of the piece, Morrison is ok. At times he overplays the menace, particularly in the back half of the film, but the actor’s charm – verging into smarmy territory – works well, as does the “nice guy” persona he carries forward from his stint on Glee.

None of the other actors make a huge impact because the film is principally a two-hander. Redmond is there to be supportive and cry over Shelley from her parked car outside Joe’s house every morning, and the police – represented by Corporal J. Reid (Ben Cotton) – are models of supportive protection, which is arguably the film’s least realistic element.

The expedited ending feels a little perfunctory, but it’s ultimately less about the specific details and more about Shelley’s arc. A closing postscript, as well as the contact information for RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization and operator of the National Sexual Assault Hotline, provides the necessary amount of catharsis and resources.

Ultimately, The Monster She Married is part of that less obvious Lifetime movie canon which doesn’t lean into sensationalism or melodrama to achieve its goals. Perhaps because this story skews much more closely to the real-life details than some other “ripped from the headline” adaptations, the goal is simply to present the difficult realities of women trapped in the spiral of domestic abuse. As it stands, the film is both sobering and effective.

The Monster She Married airs on Lifetime Movie Network on Oct 10.

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Anything But Ghosts will release in theaters on May 7, 2027.

Check out the official title treatment and expect more soon.

Curry Barker directs the film from a script he co-wrote with longtime creative partner Cooper Tomlinson (Milk & Serial, Obsession). The duo also stars as wannabe ghost hunters who must face real ghosts while dealing with the deception of their own fraudulent business.

“It’s all going to feel like the same brand,” Curry Barker previously told Bloody Disgusting. “It’s slightly different. It’s so different than Obsession, because the idea itself just lends itself better to comedy, because it’s literally about two ghost hunter con artists.”

Barker teased of the film’s tone, “It’s Cooper and me doing our thing, so it lends itself better to comedy, but it’s still set in this super grounded world. It’s ghosts being real in a world where ghosts are not real. Just like [Obsession] is a wish going wrong in a movie where magic doesn’t exist or in a world where magic doesn’t exist, right? That’s kind of what I try to do.”

Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”), Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), Chris Reinacher (“Superstore”), and Violet McGraw (M3GAN) also star in Anything But Ghosts.

Blumhouse’s Jason Blum produces with Roy Lee & Steven Schneider of Spooky Pictures (Hokum) and Adam Hendricks & Greg Gilreath of Divide/Conquer (M3GAN). Executive producers include Barker & Tomlinson for That’s a Bad Idea and Ben Ross for Image Nation (Late Night with the Devil).

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The series has spawned a number of spin-offs focusing on all sorts of communities, with there being immense potential to translate the concept into other mediums. Because of this, a live-action adaptation of the project has been in the works for years, with various iterations seeing starts and stops in their development.

We finally got some significant news about a movie adaptation of the book, as it was confirmed at Blumhouse‘s Blumfest panel at New York Comic Con that a the movie would be directed by Craig Zobel. The filmmaker previously helmed the thriller Compliance, based on real-life events, the post-apocalyptic sci-fi adaptation Z for Zachariah, and the horror satire The Hunt. He also has a number of TV credits on his resume, including The Penguin and Mare of Easttown.

This new announcement makes good on a promise from Tynion from earlier this week, in which he teased significant momentum on the franchise.

“What I can say about Blumhouse … is they are not afraid of stories that put children in peril,” Tynion shared with Entertainment Weekly. “This time around, I am much more directly involved in the development as it makes the jump into other media, in ways that I can’t fully say yet.”

He added, “Jason Blum himself has been a huge advocate of the series, and I know he feels the potential for what this could be beyond a comic, beyond a novel, beyond all of this. I think Erica Slaughter is a character who has the potential to resonate with people all over the world. She already has in publishing, and I am thrilled that we’re going to have the potential to see her come to life in a whole bunch of different ways.”

The movie is currently being developed alongside an adult animation adaptation of the story. There are no details yet about when either project could be released.

Are you excited by the pick for director? Let us know in the comments below!

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His subsequent releases have been a bit of a mixed bag, first with Dashcam and then with the Stephen King adaptation The Boogeyman. The filmmaker continues to explore all facets of the genre, with his latest, Other Mommy, just landing in theaters this weekend. At today’s Blumfest panel at New York Comic Con, his next project was confirmed.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Savage’s next film is set to be Molepeople. The movie has enlisted actors LaKeith Stanfield and Ben Mendelsohn, which is based on a script by Nathan Elston. The movie focuses on “a man who descends into the abandoned tunnels beneath New York City, where he discovers a twisted society lurking beneath the streets.” Reports of the project date back to 2024, though Anthony Ramos was previously attached.

Even though the effectiveness of Savage’s post-Host movies have been debatable, what’s exciting is that he continues to push himself into uncharted territory. Host was about a group of friends conducting a seance over Zoom, only for otherworldly spirits to target them one by one. Dashcam followed a conservative conspiracy theorist who was livestreaming her visit to London, resulting in a series of unsettling encounters along the way. The Boogeyman focused on a family attempting to overcome their grief all while they were stalked by a malevolent presence.

Other Mommy is an adaptation of the novel Incidents Around the House, in which a young girl is being stalked by a nefarious figure who looks identical to her real mother. While it’s too early to tell exactly what we’ll get in Molepeople, these initial details about the project could mean we get a more straightforward creature feature about disfigured individuals, or if they aren’t physically transformed, they might adhere to cult-like beliefs that wouldn’t be acceptable for the surface world.

Stanfield has a handful of horror movies to his name, including Get Out, Death Note, Haunted Mansion, and the TV series The Changeling. Mendelsohn might not have had as many significant horror roles in his career, but he has had important roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in the Star Wars franchise, and he also starred in the Stephen King TV series adaptation The Outsider.

Production on Molepeople is currently set to start later this year and it will hit theaters on August 27, 2027.

Are you looking forward to the new movie? Let us know in the comments below!

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The excitement doesn’t stop there, as we now have a full trailer for the upcoming movie, which you can see below. Scarlett Johansson (The Avengers), Jacobi Jupe (Hamnet), Diane Lane (Unfaithful), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Sasha Calle (The Flash), and John Leguizamo (John Wick) star in the movie, which is set to hit theaters on March 12, 2027.

The new trailer confirms details teased earlier this week, namely how the movie will pivot away from characters who become possessed by otherworldly forces and will instead unfold more like a serial killer movie. Thirteen years ago, New York City detective Julie Miller (Johansson) ended the terror reign of satanic serial killer Father Sunday. The case made her a hero, and she has thrown herself into her work ever since. Now a new killer scrawls her name in an altar boy’s blood on the walls of a church crypt, dragging her back into the darkness she believed she had buried with him.

Aided by former prison chaplain Father William (Ejiofor), who heard Father Sunday’s final confession, and sharp rookie detective Gina Restrepo (Calle, The Rip), Detective Miller will discover a filament linking a lineage of serial killers, from H.H. Holmes to the Zodiac, that could corrupt everything, and everyone, she loves with an evil that goes well beyond the mortal.

While Martyrs might not initially appear as a traditional Exorcist movie, anyone familiar with the franchise will recognize the overall narrative similarities the movie looks to have with The Exorcist III. That movie similarly focused on an investigation into a series of murders with all the hallmarks of the “Gemini Killer,” who was already dead.

Speaking with Esquire, Flanagan explained his approach to the concept and how he didn’t want to merely try to replicate the original movie.

“I think the first job is to tell people they’re not seeing a retread of The Exorcist,” he shared with the outlet. “They’re not seeing any attempt to reboot or remake or to step into the [William] Friedkin film. They’re actually seeing a story within the Exorcist universe that has not been told before, that is unique within the franchise and taking it in a very different direction than it’s gone in the past. That’s what I’m hoping. We’re doing something very, very different than what people might’ve expected.”

The Exorcist: Martyrs hits theaters on March 12, 2027.

What do you think of this first trailer? Let us know in the comments below!

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The new teaser, unveiled this afternoon at New York Comic Con, reveals that the new season will arrive on December 30.

Adapted from Anne Rice‘s Lives of the Mayfair Witches novel trilogy, the third season  will dive deeper into the mythology of witchcraft, introduce new “spellbound” families, and feature some of the historical happenings of Salem, MA, the infamous town of witch trials and folklore.

Returning stars Alexandra Daddario, Harry Hamlin, Tongayi Chirisa, and Alyssa Jirrels will be joined by  Michiel Huisman (“The Haunting of Hill House”), Betsy Brandt (“Breaking Bad”), James Frain (“True Blood”) and Eliza Scanlen (“Sharp Objects”) .

Thomas Schnauz (“Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul”) has joined as co-showrunner alongside Esta Spalding, who co-created the series with Michelle Ashford.

Mayfair Witches premiered in 2023 as the second series in AMC’s Anne Rice Immortal Universe following Interview with the Vampire.  The Anne Rice Immortal Universe also includes the now-canceled Talamasca: The Secret Order.

Ancient magic and rituals meet the modern age in the teaser below.

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Given how evocative the iconography of that franchise is, it didn’t take long for plans to start for the concept to be adapted into a movie. Even though it took the better part of a decade, Blumhouse eventually released Five Nights at Freddy’s in 2023 and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in 2025.

Blumhouse is looking to expand their footprint when it comes to live-action adaptations of video games, and during today’s Blumfest panel at New York Comic Con, the studio confirmed it was setting its sights on adaptation Amanda the Adventurer into live-action. As of this time, there are no writers or directors attached to the project, though Matthew “MatPat” Patrick is set to produce the movie.

DreadXP describes the game, “Having inherited their Aunt Kate’s house, Riley Park starts exploring what the reclusive woman left behind. In the attic, Riley is surprised to find a stack of VHS tapes next to an old TV set. The tapes seem to be episodes of an early 2000s era children’s cartoon they have never seen before. Intrigued, Riley pops the first tape into the VCR.

“Not the highest budget production from the looks of it. It appears to have been made locally and features a little girl named Amanda and her loyal yet shy best friend, Wooly the Sheep. While the episode appears charming and simple on the surface, an uneasiness starts to settle in as Riley realizes that Amanda and Wooly seem to be communicating directly through the television set. A gnawing feeling in the back of their mind presses them to stop, but Riley is compelled to continue watching the tapes. It’s almost as if Amanda needs something, and Riley becomes fascinated with finding out what that something may be.”

Despite the game initially appearing cozy and lighthearted, though the juxtaposition between the children’s show and the empty household creates an eerie and unsettling experience. Much like the recent movie Buddy, Amanda the Adventurer sounds like it could be the next entry in the growing list of analog terror.

Stay tuned for details on the Amanda the Adventurer movie.

Are you looking forward to the adaptation? Let us know in the comments below!

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Of course, one particular aspect of the show drew the most praise, and that was the pitch-perfect way that Samoa Joe and Will Arnett came together to bring the killer clown Sweet Tooth to life. The folks at Peacock appear to be aware of the character’s reputation as a fan-favorite driver, as the streaming company has partnered with Sony in order to produce a tongue-in-cheek web series titled Sweet Tooth Presents, where the masked murderer discusses life in post-apocalyptic America.

While there’s only one episode available so far, where Sweet Tooth riffs on the Criterion Closet style of video by presenting us with his wacky opinions on several of his favorite movies, the series promises to deliver new episodes every week throughout the month of October.

These minisodes are obviously meant to tide fans over while we wait for more news about the upcoming third season of the main show, though I’m also holding out hope that this little project might culminate in an announcement regarding a new Twisted Metal video game.

Either way, you won’t find me complaining about new Sweet Tooth content, so I’ll be there every week to keep up with America’s favorite killer clown in an ice cream truck.

The first two seasons of Twisted Metal are streaming now on Peacock, and a third season was confirmed back in November of 2025.

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Another very real reason people are afraid of clowns is that, back in 2016, there was a bizarre series of sightings of clowns in unexpected places. Even though these appearances didn’t result in grave crimes, the sightings alone were enough to disturb anyone who experienced them.

The new documentary Clown Panic explores the strange sightings, both in how they started and ended with no real warning. In an exclusive clip from the documentary, which you can see below, one individual who had a close encounter with a clown explains exactly why they hate them.

When children in a small South Carolina community report seeing clowns hiding in the woods in 2016, few believe them. But as sightings spread across the country, panic escalates into school lockdowns, police investigations and a nationwide media frenzy. Featuring chilling archive footage, viral internet videos and revealing interviews with witnesses, law enforcement, clowns, and cultural commentators, Clown Panic examines the collision of fear, social media and modern America at a moment of deep national anxiety. Darkly funny, unsettling and unexpectedly emotional, the film uncovers how a bizarre urban legend spiraled into a global moral panic that has echoes that resonate today.

Director Ed Perkins shared with Bloody Disgusting of the movie, “There’s something fascinating about clowns because they’re supposed to make us laugh, yet for so many people, they inspire genuine fear. What struck me about the events of 2016 was how quickly that fear spilled out of the world of horror and into everyday life. Suddenly, something that felt like it belonged in a scary movie was being treated as a very real threat. With Clown Panic, we wanted to explore how something so seemingly absurd could take hold across an entire country, and what that tells us about the way fear spreads.”

“The story behind Clown Panic was plain weird on one level, but also very revealing about human psychology and politics. It’s the story of how something quite small can develop into a full-blown moral panic. It’s not a new phenomenon; it goes back through the McCarthy era ‘reds under the bed’ and all the way to the Salem witch trials and beyond,”  producer Jonathan Chinn added. “But what made this perhaps the first modern era moral panic was the use of social media in particular, and the circular way it interacted with local news to really blow up into something big – not just in the US but globally. In the US, it took place around the same time as the Trump-Clinton election campaign, the North Korea nuclear crisis, race riots, and of course following the huge success of Stephen King’s It. All these things came together and when society starts to freak out, it tends to find a scapegoat. In this case, it was a group you would never have expected: clowns.”

Clown Panic premieres on Hulu on October 12.

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But what about this week’s brand new horror movies?

Here are the new horror movies that released October 5 – October 11, 2026!

The killer tomatoes are back in Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence, and the new film brought the 47-year-old horror-comedy franchise back to life this week.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence is now available on Digital.

In Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence, a young biotech prodigy develops a revolutionary genetically engineered vegetable designed to solve humanity’s problems. But when the experiment spirals out of control, it unleashes a new generation of killer tomatoes, setting the stage for another outrageous chapter in the long-running cult franchise.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes co-creators Costa Dillon and J. Stephen Peace return to write and executive produce. David Ferino directs.

The film features an ensemble cast led by icon John Astin (The Addams Family), reprising his role as Professor Gangreen, comedy legend David Koechner (Anchorman), Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight), horror favorite Catherine Corcoran (Terrifier), comedy veteran Dan Bakkedahl (Veep), Myrna Velasco (Star Wars Resistance), Vernée Watson (Shrinking, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), and Paul Bates (Coming to America).

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes launched in 1979, followed by 1988’s Return of the Killer Tomatoes, 1991’s Killer Tomatoes Strike Back, and 1992’s Killer Tomatoes Eat France.

The franchise also spawned an animated series in 1990.

A dream wedding spirals into a blood-soaked nightmare in Last Chance Motel, which was written and directed by Halloween franchise favorites Scout Taylor-Compton and Danielle Harris. Scout Taylor-Compton and Danielle Harris also star in the motel horror movie.

Last Chance Motel is now available on Digital.

Last Chance Motel follows a newlywed couple whose dream wedding spirals into a bloody nightmare when they uncover that their secluded venue, a desolate motel deep in the Nevada desert, is run by a relentless bloodthirsty family with dark secrets.

Described as a pulse-pounding psychological thriller with horror elements, the film pays homage to classic slashers while injecting a modern psychological twist.

Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Sierra McCormick (The Vast of Night), Zachary Roozen (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence), Robert Allen Mukes (House of 1000 Corpses), Shane West (“Salem”), and Monica Keena (Freddy vs. Jason) also star.

“We knew exactly what kind of film the genre is missing right now: a tight, mean, character-driven slasher that doesn’t apologize for being horror,” said Harris. “We’ve been on the receiving end of the camera for 40 years between us. We know what works. We know what fans actually want to see. Last Chance Motel is built from that DNA.”

“Horror has always been the genre that holds a mirror up to what scares us most — and right now, audiences are hungry for stories that feel both visceral and personal,” added Taylor-Compton. “Last Chance Motel is a film I’m incredibly proud of, and I think it speaks to something universal: the idea that danger can hide in the most ordinary places.

“Danielle and I poured everything into this — as producers, as directors, as performers — and I genuinely believe this is a film that will stay with you long after the credits roll.”

Jason Isaacs (“The White Lotus”) casts a vampiric spell on Nell Verlaque (Thanksgiving) in the gothic horror fantasy Vampire Carnival, which hit select theaters on Tuesday.

Vampire Carnival follows a grieving young woman drawn to a mysterious traveling carnival that appears without warning in her small town. Seduced by its eerie spectacle and promises of escape, she soon discovers that the carnival is a gateway to a hidden world where vampires feed not on blood, but on human despair.

As she becomes ensnared in its seductive illusions, she must confront the trauma she’s been running from—or risk becoming the carnival’s next permanent attraction.

David Charbonier & Justin Powell (The Boy Behind the Door, The Djinn) direct from a script by Jason Filardi (17 Again, “Chapelwaite”) and Peter Filardi (The Craft, Flatliners).

Paulina Chávez (“Landman”), Kieron Moore (“Vampire Academy”), Eoin Macken (Resident Evil: The Final Chapter), Alicia Sanz (“From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series”), Cedrick Cooper (“Boots”), Corrado Martini, Alvise Rigo, and Elisabeth Sanjuán also star.

Jessica Chastain stars in Other Mommy, now playing in theaters nationwide.

From director Rob Savage (Host) and producer James Wan, Other Mommy is an adaptation of Josh Malerman’s (Bird Box) novel Incidents Around the House.

The film promises a terrifying trip into the darkening world of a young girl, Bela, who forms a relationship with a sinister entity in her home who looks uncannily like her own mother.

Jay Duplass (Transparent, Industry) plays Daddo, Bela’s father, and Arabella Olivia Clark (The Housemaid, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle) plays Bela. The impressive supporting cast includes Actor Award nominee Dichen Lachman (Severance), Emmy and Tony Award nominee Arian Moayed (Succession) and screen legend Karen Allen (Indiana Jones).

Other Mommy is directed by Rob Savage (Host, The Boogeyman) from a screenplay by WGA award winner Nathan Elston, writer for the Emmy-winning sensation Succession.

Part of this year’s Terror on Tubi celebration, R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2 is now streaming.

Based on the story by R.L. Stine, this continuation of the popular movie begins when a new Pumpkinhead curse awakens in Redhaven, and Sam (Bean Reid) and Becka (Adeline Lo) must stop it before it claims the entire town. Jem Garrard returns to write and direct the sequel.

Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson will play a witch named Cassandra.

Paul Le writes in his review for Bloody Disgusting, “If you took a shine to the previous Tubi film Pumpkinhead, its successor should also be to your liking. It’s more on the dark fantasy side than before; horror icon Cassandra Peterson is crucial to the story’s magic element. The sense of originality is a bit lower this time around, but even so, Pumpkinhead 2 is a fine patchwork of familiar and popular ideas. Plus, it’s never a bad thing to have more gateway horror.”

There’s a niche subgenre of genre thrillers that sees its lead trapped in a toilet as circumstances grow increasingly deranged. That’s certainly the case for Flush, now available on Digital.

Directed by French filmmaker Grégory Morin and written by David Neiss, the premise for Flush sounds suitably insane. In the film, “Trying to win back his girlfriend in a shady nightclub, Luke finds himself caught in the middle of a drug deal gone wrong. Left for dead with his head stuck in the hole of a squat toilet, he must survive a nightmarish odyssey involving violent dealers, a junkie rat, and an ever-spiraling series of deranged and chaotic events.“

Jonathan Lambert, Élodie Navarre, Elliot Jenicot, and Rémy Adriaens star. 

Flush received a successful festival run leading to its release, screening at Beyond Fest, Sitges Film Festival, Fantasia, The Overlook Film Festival, Chattanooga Film Festival, and Phoenix Film Festival. It won Best International Feature at Fantasia’s 2025 edition, and Sitges described the film as “scatological horror in its purest form,” that’s “unlike anything you’ve seen before.

“Flush was born out of a desire to push the boundaries of genre and explore the chaos of human desperation through humour and horror. Dark Sky Films has a legacy of bold storytelling, and it’s the perfect home for the film’s US release,” said WTF Films’ Gregory Chambet.

Distributor Dark Sky Films added in a statement, “Flush is a wildly entertaining and unforgettable ride – just the kind of fearless, boundary-pushing horror we are known for at Dark Sky.” 

The music-themed V/H/S/MIXTAPE is now streaming only on Shudder.

Directors for this latest V/H/S installment include Ernest Dickerson (Demon Knight), Flying Lotus (Ash), Ghost’s Tobias Forge, David Moreau (MadS), RZA and Renee Zhan, with the film featuring GWAR and effects from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

Shudder previews, “V/H/S/MIXTAPE cranks the signature found-footage horror up to eleven with an electrifying new anthology where music and sound become the source of terror. United by a theme that explores the power of music, rhythm, and audio to haunt, possess, and destroy, the film blends cosmic horror, psychological suspense, outrageous splatter, and groundbreaking practical effects into one unforgettable mixtape of nightmares.”

V/H/S launched in 2012, followed by 2013’s V/H/S/2, 2014’s V/H/S: Viral, 2021’s V/H/S/94, 2022’s V/H/S/99, 2023’s V/H/S/85, 2024’s V/H/S/Beyond, and 2025’s V/H/S/Halloween. The tenth installment, V/H/S: SCP, will be the first to head to theaters in 2027. Stay tuned for more.

Okay so this isn’t a NEW horror movie, but bear with us…

Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth is back in theaters for its 20th anniversary this weekend, the classic film being presented for the first time in 3D and non-3D 4K.

Bloody Disgusting’s parent company Cineverse teamed up with Fathom Entertainment for the Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth 20th Anniversary release, in theaters NOW!

Grab your tickets from AMC Theatres, Regal, Fandango, and Fathom Entertainment.

Pan’s Labyrinth will be presented theatrically for the first time by Cineverse and Fathom in 4K, and with versions available in both 3D and HDR by Barco – the dedicated HDR viewing solution offering up to 6 times higher peak luminance.

Each version for this re-release has been overseen by Guillermo del Toro.

Pan’s Labyrinth takes place in 1944, in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.

Young Ofelia and her pregnant mother have been brought to live in the countryside, where her brutal stepfather Captain Vidal’s job is to wipe out the remaining rebels camped in the local forest.

Nearby, in a hidden labyrinth, Ofelia meets an ageless Faun, who tells her that she is really a princess from an enchanted world. He gives her three tasks which she must complete in order to reclaim her rightful place. As her mother’s failing health threatens the life of her unborn child, Ofelia undertakes a quest to complete the Faun’s tasks.

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That risk paid off, as Paranormal Activity Live first became a hit in London before it came to Broadway. Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Stage opened this past August, and in response to a number of sold-out performances, Playbill confirms that the production has extended its run. Initially set to close on January 3, 2027, it will now run until February 28, 2027.

Directed by Felix Barrett and written by playwright Levi Holloway, the stage show follows James and Lou, who move from Chicago to London to escape their past. Upon discovering a haunting presence in their home, they use a camera to document the unsettling shadow. The production stars Cher Álvarez as Lou, Travis A. Knight as James, Shannon Cochran as Carolanne, and Eva Kaminsky as Etheline Cotgrave.

Earlier this year, Barrett explained his interest in the project to Bloody Disgusting and his overall approach to adapting a found-footage phenomenon into a theatrical event.

“I jumped on this because I loved the film. I immediately said yes to adapting it before actually really thinking it through. Then, as soon as Levi [Holloway] was on board, it was a discussion about the presentation style,” the director shared. “Found footage works very well for the medium of film, but if we’re doing something live for the stage, then we need to adapt the medium for the stage. There was actually an earlier version of the script where we started inside the theater, and we were being quite literal about everything.”

He continued, “Very quickly we decided that we can’t have cameras everywhere because it will remove the audience from the experience and create some distance from the thrills, tragedy, and shock of it all. So we instead went back to the element from the films that this is a real couple. They weren’t famous actors. It was shot as completely truthfully as possible. So we took that plausibility and tried to apply it to the stage. We really wanted the audience to feel like they’re the camera and voyeuristically looking into this house. Nothing is played out to the front of the stage. It needs to feel quite intimate because you, as an audience member, are essentially in the same role.”

Will you be checking out the production? Let us know in the comments below!

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Director Gregory Morin and writer David Neiss actually do manage to deliver, not just on the film’s wild premise but on some genuinely upsetting horror imagery, loads of dark humor, and a surprisingly emotional core. What could have been forgettable gimmick horror instead becomes something from which you cannot look away, no matter how much you might wish you could.

Luc (R. Jonathan Lambert) just wants to get his family back together. An addict who’s struggled with child custody issues, he’s finally got the opening that will allow him to reunite with his seven-year-old daughter. All he has to do is convince his ex, Val (Elodie Navarre), to come along and present the image of a united front. Because Val doesn’t want to talk to him, he heads to the bar where she works to plead his case, but not before slipping into a bathroom stall to do a line of coke.

This is where we meet Luc, on the verge of getting what he really wants, making one dumb decision. An encounter with the bar’s shady owner (Elliot Jenicot) and his drug dealer (Remy Adriaens) later, and Luc finds himself face down in the toilet, his head stuck in a pipe, unable to move lest a shard of the busted porcelain cuts his throat and kills him. His only hope is to somehow reach Val, but that’s easier said than done when you’re trapped in a bathroom stall, and the only thing you can see is the disgusting drain below you. 

So yeah, this is a movie about a guy who gets his head stuck in a toilet, a European-style one that’s basically a hole in the floor on a slightly raised platform. Luc can move his arms and legs, and can even lower very small objects down through the cracks in the porcelain around his head, but that’s about it. And we’re trapped there with him. The movie opens with Luc inside the stall, really just a short hallway with a toilet at one end and a door at the other, and never leaves it. There are no flashbacks, no cutaways to supporting characters in the bar outside, and no breaks from the disgusting surroundings. 

Narratively, it’s an exercise in creative problem solving, and we watch as Luc goes through every stage of survival horror instinct, from trying to use voice commands on his phone to picking at the porcelain around his head, hoping to dislodge some of it. And, as you might expect from a movie about a guy stuck in a toilet, things get weird. 

While Luc languishes in the toilet that could soon become his tomb, the other major characters come and go, none of them wanting to call the cops but all of them thinking they should probably do something about, y’know, the guy stuck in the toilet. The story unfolds like a bizarre comedy of errors, everyone dancing around each other, trying to achieve their own ends and stumbling over themselves at every turn.

The violence, when it arrives, arrives with the impish wit of a Coen Brothers film, and visually the film has a lot of fun with its confined space, taking us down the drain with Luc, introducing new wrinkles to his predicament, and bathing the whole affair in a wonderful greenish hue that adds a layer of surreality. It’s like an even more disgusting version of the strange French dark comedies of filmmakers like Jean-Pierre Jeunet, with an added dose of really violent sitcom energy. 

But none of what’s happening around him works if Luc is not absolutely committed, and we’re lucky there, because Lambert is phenomenal in the lead role. It’s hard to imagine many more vulnerable places than the one in which he finds himself, and he injects loads of emotional heft into what could have been a wacky B-movie premise. Luc is kind of a loser, a druggie who lost his partner and his child and now has to beg and scrape to get them back, even while still sneaking drugs and trying to pretend that he’s got everything figured out.

Yet he’s also capable of tremendous ruthlessness when it’s required, and you can see perhaps who he was at his worst, when the drugs rule his whole life. There are plenty of reasons to dislike him, and yet you can’t help but be on his side, because he feels so close to a breakthrough, to getting past that one shitty (pun intended) situation and back to the person he feels he should have been all along. That’s powerful stuff, and as much as the script never lets us forget it, it’s Lambert who keeps it all feeling alive.

I did not expect to be this moved, or this intellectually curious, about the movie where the guy gets his head stuck in a toilet, but that’s exactly the kind of film Flush is. It brings the high-concept fun, then it hits you with the gory details, and then it hits you in the heart. And it does it all without ever leaving the bathroom. 

Dark Sky Films’ Flush is now available on Digital.

The post ‘Flush’ Review: A Wild, Darkly Funny Single-Location Toilet-Bound Horror Thriller appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

All episodes of “Crystal Lake” premiere Thursday, October 15, only on Peacock.

A camp counselor greets campers with warnings to follow the rules to stay alive, with none the wiser that the true threat may be lurking among them in Pamela Voorhees (Linda Cardellini).

She’s been unable to shake her grief after her young, sickly son Jason tragically drowned in the town lake almost a year before. When two strangers arrive at Pam’s door digging into her past, a disturbing chain of events is set into motion, leaving the townspeople of Crystal Lake wondering: just who is Pam Voorhees?

Callum Vinson (“Chucky”) is playing young Jason in “Crystal Lake,” which will tell the origin story of the masked slasher who has stalked the grounds of Crystal Lake for decades.

Based on Friday the 13th and the opening scene of Crystal Lake, we know where Jason gets his killer instincts from already. But showrunner Brad Caleb Kane (“IT: Welcome to Derry”) promises his prequel series will carve up an impressive body count, too.

“I went into the season knowing that we are going to spend a couple of episodes on Pam[ela Voorhees’] blossoming, her journey, her psychology. But I also know what the Friday the 13th fans are here for because I’m here for it, too — that’s really creative kills and a whole lot of them. So if you’re wondering if we’re ever going to go full fathom Friday the 13th, we go there and we drop a lot of bodies in really creative ways. It’s a lot more brutal. I think it’s even more brutal in many ways from some of the movies,” Kane told THR.

The show’s cast also includes William Catlett (Abigail), Cameron Scoggins (“Nashville”), Devin Kessler (“Godfather of Harlem”), Gwendolyn Sundstrom, Nick Cordileone (“Warrior”), Joy Suprano (“Fleishman Is in Trouble”), Danielle Kotch (Sinister), Christopher Denham (“Shining Girls”), Nancy Nagrant (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), and Phoenix Parnevik.

Follow the rules, stay alive. Crystal Lake premieres on @Peacock October 15. https://t.co/99kfDiQQNP

— A24 (@A24) October 9, 2026

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Trapped underground, you and your friends are forced to play a game of cards. When a player loses the game, they become the hunted, while everyone else buys weapons. Then the hunt begins. You either seek out your friends, or become the hunted and do whatever it takes to survive. Hunters have until the countdown ends to find their target. Run out of time and the tables turn. The hunted gets a shotgun, and the hunters become the prey.

At the table, win chips and spin your personal slot machine for extra chips, strange effects and gameplay modifiers. Expect desperate escapes, terrible decisions, proximity chat screaming, friends turning on each other, and Janky Disco.

The demo will remain available through Steam Next Fest, which runs from October 19 to 26, and will be switched off on October 29.

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Continuing the good news is that, per Deadline, Play House has been acquired by Focus Features and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster for release in 2027. The outlet claims this was a seven-figure deal, which makes it at least worth ten times the budget of the $100,000 movie.

The movie is described, “While renovating a dilapidated house to win back his ex, a young man discovers VHS tapes of an unaired TV show in the basement. But as the show’s dark history surfaces, it seeps into his life, threatening his last chance at reconciliation.” Play House was directed by Nicolas Curcio, which he co-wrote with Kirby Gladstein. The film stars Will Harrison, Jessica Sula, Jordan Gonzalez, and James Urbaniak.

Play House is only one of many recent releases that tapes into the unsettling world of lost media and analog horror. The filmmakers aren’t merely chasing a trend, as they expressed their personal connection to the story’s inspiration.

“We lived in South Pasadena in LA, and we were constantly walking and driving past this stretch of dozens of homes that were all abandoned and had security guys outside, and they were just falling into disrepair,” Gladstein shared with Bloody Disgusting at Fantastic Fest. “We looked into it, and it was this freeway expansion project that started back in the ’50s and ’60s, where they bought close to 400-500 houses, and then they never built the freeway. So they just held onto these houses, and we started to wonder what could have happened in these houses for this many decades that they’ve sat, and started to think about somebody buying one of those houses because they’re starting to sell the actual Caltrans houses now. That was really the impetus of it.”

Earlier this year, Blumhouse released Obsession, one of the biggest success stories of the year. While it’s too early to tell if Play House will generate the same buzz, we won’t be surprised if it gets the same promotional push as the Curry Barker film.

Play House doesn’t yet have a release date.

Are you looking forward to checking out the movie? Let us know in the comments below!

The post ‘Play House’ Acquired by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster After Fantastic Fest Premiere appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Through a new partnership with IDW Dark, The Purge, M3GAN, and Happy Death Day are all set to continue as comic series. The initiative will start next year with The Purge in a series from Eisner award–winning writer Dan Watters (Batman: Dark Patterns, TMNT: Shredder) and artist Juan José Ryp (Wolverine: Blood Hunt, Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever).

“I’m a really big horror nerd. It was my entry point into comics and geeky stuff to begin with,” Watters shared with the outlet. “I can’t tell you anything about Star Trek, can’t tell you anything about Star Wars, but I can tell you about every Friday the 13th movie and I can rank them for you. So once we started talking about the fact that there was this Blumhouse stuff in the works, I immediately went, ‘Well, what about Purge?’”

No details about the book’s plot have been released, though IDW Dark lead editor Heather Antos has met with the filmmakers behind the respective franchises. To date, there have been five The Purge movies and two seasons of The Purge TV series, with the last live-action release being 2021’s The Forever Purge.

There have also been no details released about the Happy Death Day comic, though Antos has met with filmmaker Christopher Landon to learn his plans for a Happy Death Day 3. The editor confirmed that the comic continuation does not take the place of a third movie, which Landon and star Jessica Rothe still hope to make.

“He got to tell me exactly what his plan is for Happy Death Day 3, should they ever get to do it,” Antos confirmed. “Are there ways in the comics that we can lean into that while also leaving room for them to tell the story that they want to tell should they get to?”

M3GAN, meanwhile, got off to a strong start with the debut movie in 2023, both financially and critically, though the sequel M3GAN 2.0 and spin-off SOULM8TE had lackluster receptions. At this point, there are no confirmed plans for another live-action installment in the series, which is where IDW Dark can really embrace the madness of the concept.

“The world needs more M3GAN stories,” Antos noted. “She can do anything and go anywhere that we want her to. She has that uncanny valley appeal to her that works really, really well in the horror franchise. She is Katie’s companion. As Katie continues to get older, M3GAN is going to have to go with her to different things. So that means high school, that means all the things that go along with high school.”

She added, “I really want M3GAN at prom … I don’t know if we’ll get to do that, but I just personally want that. We’re talking with a writer that I think folks are gonna be really excited to see their name appear alongside M3GAN.”

The Purge is expected to be released sometime in 2027, with more titles to be announced in the future.

What do you think of the series continuing in comic form? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Blumhouse’s ‘M3GAN,’ ‘The Purge,’ and ‘Happy Death Day’ Getting New Comic Books appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“It’s on the back burner at the moment,” director Danny Boyle told Deadline at the London Film Festival of 28 Years Later 3‘s current status. Boyle reiterated that he “hopes” the third installment will be made if they secure funds. 

Writer Alex Garland‘s busy schedule is also another reason for the pause. “Alex has been off doing his own film, which is a big project,” Boyle said. That project? A24’s Elden Ring, which is slated for a March 2028 release. As for Boyle, he’s settled on Antarctica as his next project, pushing 28 Years Later further down the pipeline.

The filmmaker’s previous comments were hopeful, though, promising that we’ll see a lot more Cillian Murphy when it eventually arrives. “28 Years 3, or whatever it ends up being called, will get made because people keep asking about it. Quite when I’m not sure, but there’s a script – a very good script by Alex Garland,” Boyle shared previously. The filmmaker then joked about Murphy having a full-frontal nude scene in the original, noting, “[It will have] a lot of Cillian Murphy in it. Whether he’ll take his kit off anymore, that I don’t know. He’s got the Oscar now.”

That’s certainly the expectation set up by The Bone Temple‘s closing moments, which saw Alfie Williams’ Spike running from the Infected straight toward the home of Cillian Murphy’s Jim, 28 Days Later‘s protagonist.

Sony was developing the third installment — with Garland penning the script, Danny Boyle attached to direct, and Murphy in talks to star — but there have been no updates in the wake of The Bone Temple’s release.

By the sounds of Boyle’s latest comments, it may be a while yet before any new developments on this trilogy arrive.

The post Danny Boyle Shares Disappointing Update on ‘28 Years Later 3’: “It’s on the Back Burner” appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Flanagan explains in response to a fan question, “It’s so funny to me because I spent a lot of my career thinking I wouldn’t do franchises or sequels, and – whoops – but I really love getting to play in a world I know and respect and adore, and put my own spin on it.”

“Honestly, I wish to hell I could make a JAWS movie,” he admits.

“Another example where no one will EVER get close to the original, but there is a ton of room for improvement on the sequels,” Flanagan continues, making reference to The Exorcist franchise that he’s putting his stamp on next year. Flanagan of course directed brand new movie The Exorcist: Martyrs, the latest installment in a long-running (and once prestigious) horror saga.

Much like JAWS, The Exorcist sequels became a case of diminishing returns.

But JAWS isn’t the only Steven Spielberg movie Flanagan would like to take a crack at…

Flanagan continues in his response to the same question on Reddit, “A JURASSIC movie could be a blast too, I’d want to go really scary with it. A true dinosaur horror film would be a blast.”

While the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise is still quite active, with a new movie currently in the works and on the hunt for a director (hmmm…), we haven’t seen or heard from the JAWS franchise since the maligned sequel Jaws 4: The Revenge way back in 1987. It’s likely that the franchise will SOMEDAY return to the screen, but for now the killer shark remains asleep.

Would you like to see Mike Flanagan wake Bruce back up for a new JAWS movie?

The post Mike Flanagan Wants to Direct a ‘JAWS’ Movie appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Section 9 co-founder Marcus Ottvall took some time to answer a few questions about the making of this unique game.

Little Nightmares was a moody puzzle platformer that guided you through strange areas with horrific creatures, but End of Abyss felt closer to something like an isometric Metroidvania, forcing you to explore the various locations to continue to progress. Even though the games are very different gameplay-wise, the previous experience was valuable to getting End of Abyss off the ground, especially given Section 9’s smaller team size.

“We hope that we have learned a lot from the previous projects we’ve worked on. We are using a similar workflow but tried to tweak it for our preference to make things as effective and forward-moving as we could for our smaller team. The approach for this game came out of a desire to create something that had a lot of different gameplay functions while traversing an atmospheric world.”

When starting the project, the team looked to some of their favorite media of the past for inspiration on not only what tone they wanted to set, but what kind of gameplay they wanted to explore.

“We grew up with different types of media from the ’80s and ’90s and gravitated towards horror movies like The Thing, Alien, anime like Akira and Ghost in the Shell, and video games like The Legend of Zelda and Metroid. Those older video games and movies put a higher demand on manual craftsmanship, which we think gives them a certain style that we like. There are other inspirations as well, but those, along with some others, are the ones that were top of mind  and kept us largely on track.”

Not only does the game focus heavily on transversal, giving you tools and abilities to slowly make different parts of the map available as the game goes on, but it asks you to confront enemies in a manner akin to a twin-stick shooter, albeit with a slower, more methodical pace. Ottvall says that this came from an earlier version of the project that had a slightly different focus.

“The project actually started off as a more action-focused game, but as we chose to explore a more atmospheric style and combined that with the semi-top-down action that we already had, we found that to be a pretty unique combination. From there, we tried to find the balance between the action, adventure, and horror.”

One of the things that impressed me most about the game was how little it felt like it held your hand as you made your way around the world. But like any good game, if you look close enough, you could see the deft hand of the designer subtly guiding you. After starting off with a relatively linear section, it opens up much more, allowing the player to figure their own way through the game.

“From pretty early on, we wanted the project to start off linear with hints of exploration, then have largely free exploration in the middle of the game, to then go back to have a more linear end game. Towards the end, the player would be able to choose to go to the very end or to go back and explore more areas that they had seen hints of, but couldn’t reach before. With this in mind, we tried setting a scenario that would present this option to players while giving them some side scenarios that would make it interesting to backtrack to. Since we hadn’t done this type of game before, we had to explore ways to do this, but once we set that premise, we didn’t deviate from it.”

Exploring is made dangerous by strange mutated enemies that are as deadly as they are horrific-looking. This added a satisfying layer of difficulty as you backtracked through areas, but Section 9 worked hard to get that challenge dialed in to the right level.

“The approach was challenging but not overly difficult. We wanted a pretty lightweight game system, not a fully fledged RPG system. The idea for enemies was to mix having them waking up from sleeping states with those who would instantly attack you, to keep you on your toes. For some areas, we also change enemies depending on how far you have progressed to try and make the world state a little more dynamic. Some enemies and bosses are more narratively focused than others. In all cases though, we wanted them to make sense in their environments and have gameplay patterns that would differ a lot or slightly from each other.”

Taking inspiration from the aforementioned influences, End of Abyss’ creature design is not only impressive in a visual sense, but also does a great job of communicating the type of challenge each enemy will pose to the player. Lots of work went into crafting the enemies and bosses, and it clearly paid off.

“In most cases, we started the process by discussing gameplay mechanics for an enemy or boss. From there, we sketched a lot of concepts and created mockup models, animations, and effects to see how they could look when performing their attacks and how they would move. It was the best way to have the gameplay control the visuals, and kind of necessary in order to know how we would develop the systems for the enemies. That said, there are some enemies and bosses that came to life from wanting to explore something that we found visually interesting. Sometimes that would make it hard to find fitting behaviors and attack patterns, but the other way around could make it hard to find the visual aspect.”

To bring the moody and atmospheric world to life, the team crafted an enigmatic tale that strikes a good balance of giving you enough details to be intriguing but never enough to give you the full picture.

“We wanted to set a mysterious tone and build from there. It triggers our curiosity when we see only hints of things. For the narrative, we wanted to make the characters have their own knowledge of things, and they don’t speak much more than they have to. The idea was that the characters should be able to express hints of emotions by their poses or their movements, or that a pause in their dialogue could indicate that they are thinking. For the larger story, the idea was that you should be able to figure out more of how things are connected by exploring and finding clues in the environment, and putting that together with what the characters are saying. The thought was to have the environment tell the foundation of the story and setting.”

There are two endings to the game, with one of them hidden behind an elaborate item collecting quest that requires you to revisit areas with late game abilities to uncover previously inaccessible secrets. While Section 9 considers either ending to be ‘complete,’ they wanted to make sure to reward players for engaging with the game’s many secrets.

“The thought was to tell a little more of the story, and to give the players who take the time to explore a little badge of honor for completing most of the game. We considered having more parts of the story being revealed by the second ending, but landed on having it as a small change that would reveal a small story part that also has a big impact on [the main character] Cel’s outcome.”

End of Abyss is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via the Epic Games Store.

The post ‘End of Abyss’ Developer Breaks Down the Horror, Exploration, And Secrets Behind The Sci-Fi Metroidvania appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The update also adds new permanent content including the Haunted Hotel map, filled with deadly tricks and permanently home to Halloween-themed Zeds, new single-weapon Gunslinger primary weapons, new Supply Pass and store cosmetics and much more.

Here’s the rundown for the event:

• Survival Map – Haunted Hotel: Rumors of hauntings in the Hotel Iorga in Vladislav, Romania, line up with anomalies Nightfall has tracked in the location. Specialists will investigate the multi-story hotel ripped apart by a ritual that’s gone catastrophically wrong and unleashed untold horrors. Be careful fighting on higher floors, it’s a long way down.
• Future Zeds Meet Classic Horror: The Halloween spirit has even compelled the Zeds to join in on the fun! All base Zed models and Dr. Moorcroft have been replaced during the event and Specialists will now find themselves fighting against enemies inspired by classic horror movie monsters. Halloween Zeds are available on all maps through Nov. 5, and are a permanent addition to the Haunted Hotel map.
• Stronghold Seasonal Update: The Stronghold gets a macabre new makeover as Nightfall welcomes the spookiest season in style. Enjoy the festive home base through Nov. 5.
• Gunslinger Single-weapon Variants: Following the introduction of the Gunslinger class and their unique dual-wield pistol primary weapons, a cheaper single-weapon variant of all those weapons has been added. Players now have greater granular control over how they upgrade their primary pistols.
• Halloween Supply Pass: Play and earn 208 new rewards with the latest Supply Pass via both free and paid tracks, with cosmetics including the Commando Chicken, Chickenator, Weapons Skins, Trinkets, Player Cards and stickers. The store has also been updated to include cosmetics including the Skeleton Jumpsuit, Pumpkin Mask and Monster Mask.
• Much More: New Main Menu Music, Daily Challenges, Wave and Weekly Mutators, Milestone Challenges, Quality of Life improvements, bug and crash fixes and ongoing balance and optimization work continues. A new system for veteran players with excess Supply Pass Points has been introduced, allowing players to spend them on Double XP boosters for Perks once per day.

For full details on all the changes and additions with the update, you can check out the patch notes in the Tripwire Interactive forums. The devs have also provided sneak-peak at progress on the game’s upcoming content and features in the latest Office Hours video.

Killing Floor 3 is available on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series.

The post “Halloween Horrors: Ghastly Getaway” Event on Now in ‘Killing Floor 3’ [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

From the second its hapless protagonist, Aidan Lynch, opens up the Genesis Configuration — and inadvertently summons the Cenobites to whisk his girlfriend away for an eternity of torment — the game doesn’t once relent.

To give you a fighting chance at surviving against this title’s hordes of pain-worshiping zealots, towering gimps, winged dominatrices, and flayed psychopaths, we’ve pulled together a quick guide of helpful tips for beginners. Some of these are things that we worked out for ourselves over the course of a playthrough, some are mere suggestions based on our own personal experiences, and some relate to secrets that the game doesn’t even tell you about.

But they’ll all give you an edge when it comes to facing off against the legions of hell.

Wait Until The Last Minute to Heal

This one might require you to unlearn a deeply entrenched Pavlovian response, but you don’t need to use up recovery items in Hellraiser: Revival unless there’s no other choice. You may be accustomed to frivolously healing every time you so much as scrape your knee in Resident Evil or Silent Hill, yet that instinct won’t serve you too well here. In fact, it’s actually a bit of an extravagance when you consider just how many crafting resources it takes to craft a simple bandage.

Even when your vitals are in the worrisome amber region, you can usually refrain from applying a dressing. That’s because there will often be smarter, more economical alternatives nearby for replenishing your vigour.

For instance, you could perform a takedown finisher on a moribund enemy (not only rewarding you with HP, but also topping up the “Suffering” meter that powers your Genesis Configuration abilities) or you could just chow down on some food. Leftovers are abundant in the game’s many orgy dens and BDSM sex clubs — got to have a good spread at those kinds of functions— and if you root around in any given trash can, you’re likely to find a half-eaten apple or a strangely phallic sausage (the consumption of which is apparently Aiden’s equivalent to Popeye guzzling spinach).

We just shudder to think about how many times we wasted a full health-pack after an encounter, only to then stumble across a lavish banquet in the next room that could have sustained us. Because, trust us, you’re much better off holding onto the proper medical supplies here until you truly, desperately need them.

Horde Lockpicks 

Another item that you can never have too many of is the good old lockpick! Granting you access to the storage cupboards scattered around the world of Hellraiser: Revival, these handy little tools are absolutely indispensable but also quite fragile. Apply too much pressure at the wrong angle, and you can wear them out fast, leaving you completely unable to access certain containers.

That’s an issue that could really bite you in the ass later! Sometimes breaking into a cupboard will only yield crafting resources and ammo that can be easily acquired elsewhere. Yet other lockers harbour more beneficial prizes, including rare weapon upgrades and extra inventory pouches.

You really don’t want to miss out on either of these, so it’s best to just stock up on lockpicks at every available opportunity. Even if it means choosing to buy them over shotgun shells when you next visit Zora the merchant.

Complete Optional Puzzles 

Speaking of which, you’re gonna want to make the most of your shopping sprees in Hellraiser: Revival, as you can never know when the next opportunity for a bit of retail therapy will arise.

Zora periodically refreshes her inventory with new guns, new upgrades, new crafting recipes, and other tantalizing merchandise, so you don’t want to come up short when that shiny magnum finally arrives in stock. As such, it’s best to get scrounging early and build up your cash reserves pronto.

Though it might seem counterintuitive for a horror title, where judicious use of resources is often paramount, we’d recommend going out of your way to kill every Scarlet Church cultist you come across. They tend to drop coin purses upon death and, hey, any ammo that you do expend on them can be claimed right back with the fiscal earnings.

You’ll also need to keep your eyes peeled for hidden, optional puzzles dotted throughout the nao. These don’t always stand out from the grotesque furnishings and non-interactive decorations that clutter up the levels, and the game never explicitly tells you about them either. But they’ll reward you with valuable treasures should you manage to locate and complete them.

Case in point, there’s a recurring one involving a monolithic piece of (literal) body art — fashioned by the Scarlet Church’s deranged prophet, Bruno — that provides clues to help you track down fleshy pustules in the nearby area. If you manage to destroy all of these growths, then you’ll be showered with coins upon your return to the gory column. Enough to make a high-roller purchase from Zora.

Don’t Buy Every Upgrade

As for what you should be buying from the merchant, that’ll obviously depend on your whims as a customer. We’ve already stressed that lockpicks are worth a thousand times their weight in gold here, but you’re naturally going to want to own every firearm you can get your hands on.

There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, and we’d encourage you to build up a formidable arsenal. What we would advise, however, is that you be extremely selective when tuning up these weapons.

Certain upgrades are unalloyed positives, like the one that gives added kick to the pistol’s firepower or the one that mitigates the double-barrel’s recoil. Others are perhaps not worth shelling out for.

In particular, it’d behove you to make sure that you’re not purchasing mutually exclusive attachments for the same gun. For instance, you can’t have the scope and hollow-point upgrades equipped for the magnum at the same time, nor is it possible to have the extended magazine fitted to the assault rifle alongside the extra bullet penetration mod. In those instances, you’ll have to make a decision about which is going to complement your playstyle best, because there’s no point whatsoever in having both.

Again, you’d be better off spending the money on precious, precious lockpicks.

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is now available for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series, and the Nintendo Switch 2.

The post ‘Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival’ Beginner’s Guide – 4 Essential Tips To Survive Hell appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Alongside the release date announcement at the Convergence Showcase, the devteam has released a new trailer, giving players a glimpse into the dynamic between the game’s main characters – Katherine and Ava.

Focusing on the soulful bond between a parent and child, players navigate a ruined world as Katherine, guiding and protecting her daughter, Ava, from monsters driven by a primal hunger. By trading mindless carnage for story-driven survival, The Road Of Dust And Sorrow blurs the line between necessity and cruelty, forcing players to ask how far they will go to protect the only light left in the dark.

“Crossing 150,000 wishlists is completely overwhelming,” says Roman, Developer at Painted Black Games. “We set out to build a game that felt close to our hearts. Seeing so many players connect with Katherine and Ava’s journey shows us that there’s a real hunger for stories that represent deeply human experiences.”

A remedy engineered to end hunger has had the unfortunate side effect of turning people into ravenous addicts known as Dusters. Ten years after humanity’s fall, Katherine and her daughter Ava wander the ruins of civilization, clinging to a fragile hope for a better future.

The post Cozy Horror Game ‘The Road Of Dust And Sorrow’ Comes Home December 3 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

For instance, his 1999 anthology book, The Nightmare Hour, provided the basis for one of the best children’s horror shows around. As of last year, stories from that omnibus have become the source material for a new series of movies. This includes Pumpkinhead, as well as its sequel, R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2.

In the first movie, a folk horror-inspired plot to improve the town of Redhaven had been exposed; in exchange for a prosperous harvest, a child had to be sacrificed—turned into a “pumpkinhead”. To make that offering easier on everyone else, though, the victim was wiped from the townspeople’s memories. It was as if they never existed.

So although Sam (Bean Reid), the central character in Pumpkinhead, was successful in both saving his older brother Finn (Seth Isaac Johnson) and putting an end to the pumpkinhead ritual, he himself became forgotten. Well, by everyone apart from his two confidants: the sheriff’s daughter Becka (Adeline Lo) and an adult outlier named Rusty (Matty Finochio). The latter took in Sam now that his mother and brother’s minds had been wiped of him.

It’s been a year since the events of the last movie, and all but Sam is calm before Halloween. Reid’s character simply can’t accept that his family doesn’t remember him, and he’s insistent on finding the magical tome that could put an end to his ordeal. No luck yet, but that’s only because the book has found its way to another boy: a mistreated classmate named Evan (Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez).

As with the first movie, Pumpkinhead 2 has little to do with the source material. Even less so here, on account of Stine never issuing a sequel to his short. Jem Garrard’s own continuation certainly has nothing to do with “Return of the Pumpkinheads”, an episode from the Haunting Hour series. No, Garrard’s sequel is more high concept, even if it does end up like a mix between the Care Bears movie, Hocus Pocus and Stranger Things.

As sequels tend to do, or rather, they should, Pumpkinhead 2 aims for bigger and better. The stakes are raised, and not just for Sam. His emotionally stunted but likable guardian gets his own arc, and it proves effective. As for the secondary antagonist, who’s only outranked by the town’s curse, Evan is never fleshed out. He merely exists as a sort of sad parallel for Sam, whose own domestic situation could be worse. After all, he has someone like Rusty in his corner, whereas Evan has no one.

There is also an upgrade in monsters. While the last movie housed just the one scarecrow enforcer, Evan is assisted by a brigade of walking and stalking pumpkinheads. They’re still very much actors in costumes, but there is more effort in concealing that fact.

If you took a shine to the previous Pumpkinhead, its successor should also be to your liking. It’s more on the dark fantasy side than before; horror icon Cassandra Peterson is crucial to the story’s magic element. The sense of originality is a bit lower this time around, but even so, Pumpkinhead 2 is a fine patchwork of familiar and popular ideas. Plus, it’s never a bad thing to have more gateway horror.

R. L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2 is now streaming on Tubi.

The post ‘R. L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2’ Review: The Gateway Horror Sequel Raises The Stakes appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Since launching into Early Access in 2020, Phasmophobia has continually grown, with Kinetic Games expanding and evolving the game with new content and seasonal events. Until November 1st, Crimson Eye brings ghost hunters spectral rewards, frights and bone-chilling challenges, with rotating event maps featuring blood moon weather for even more terrifying hunts. Ghosts have increased speed and your sanity drains quicker, but if you endure, you’ll earn higher rewards in return.

“So much has changed since I started making Phasmophobia on my own at my parents’ house,” says Kinetic Games CEO and Phasmophobia Game Director, Daniel Knight. “My initial goal was to sell 1000 units in the first year, so it’s hard to believe we’re celebrating 30 million. I’m so grateful to everyone who has played, and to the team who have worked alongside me on it. There is plenty more to come as we head towards 1.0.”

And speaking of 1.0, Kinetic Games is gearing up for the highly anticipated release, which is slated for the second half of 2027. Beginning next year, the studio will share sneak peeks into the update’s development, including major overhauls to ghost design and overall gameplay.

Meanwhile, here’s what players can expect for this year’s Crimson Moon event:

• Community Goals: Earn the Beholder ID Card and Badge, and the Blood Moon Trophy.
• Personal Goals: Unlock the Blood Moon Charm, seasonal event tee and upgrades to the Crimson Eye trophy. For players who have previously unlocked the trophy, rather than unlocking a new trophy you’ll earn points towards your existing one.
• Twitch drops: Unlock a Crimson Eye t-shirt cosmetic in-game by watching 2 hours of Phasmophobia streams from now until October 15th.
• Double XP and Rewards Event: The higher the risk, the higher the reward. Between October 15th-22nd, all investigations completed will grant boosted rewards.

Phasmophobia is available in Early Access on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR2, and the Xbox Series.

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Nathan Elston‘s script, adapting Josh Malerman‘s Incidents Around the House, skips past explaining how Other Mommy arrived to an already forged bond between the maternal doppelgänger and a young child protagonist coping with a new school and parents who can barely mask their dysfunction. Daddo (Jay Duplass), Bela’s stay-at-home fun dad, and the career-focused Mommy occasionally steal glances that signal domestic woes bubbling beneath the surface, but they’re quickly tamped down for the sake of preserving the facade that everything’s ok.

The entity desperately wants into Bela’s heart, though, and has no qualms about interrupting, then wrecking the family’s lives to get it from practically the very start.

Savage zips from set piece to set piece, like a film edited and cut to death, linking empty jump scare sequences and uncanny valley-based disturbances with flashy camerawork that signals a stronger vision that never comes to pass. Other Mommy contorts not just her body, but reality and spaciality. Anniversary parties and playground ball pits that end in calamitous bendings of physics give the outward appearance of a haunted house movie trying something new, but it steadfastly adheres to formulaic mundanity. Half-hearted attempts to subvert familiar clichés and tropes, like the magical guide or the classic seance, amount to nothing more than quick punchlines before the family races off to the next scare sequence.

Other Mommy plays with visual perspective in its demonic machinations, but forgets to address storytelling perspective. It leads to baffling narrative choices, like having the 7-year-old Bela witness a gory evisceration mere feet from her, only to shake it off as if it was temporary indigestion in the next scene at a playplace (cue the next surreal scare attempt). Or the even more confounding climax, which picks the exact wrong moment for unearned heartfelt confessions too oddly placed to land with anything other than jarring bewilderment.

It all feels like the wrong approach to its child protagonist. Much like Other Mommy’s attempts to woo Bela through whimsically designed nightmares and distortions of childlike wonder, Savage mistakes the camera’s focus on Bela for interiority and perspective. We’re as passive as she is in her own clumsily stitched together story, as much in the dark outside of a few scattershot clues signaling a messy emotion based explanation. Don’t expect any supernatural worldbuilding or explanation here beyond its loose metaphors; Other Mommy has zero interest in logic, either.

Chastain gives it her all, playing Mommy and Other Mommy with heightened melodramatic flair, but it almost feels out of place in a film where everyone else is content to drift through paper-thin characters trapped in an outrageous scenario. Not even the film’s characters find the events as scary as they should be. Even when the insanity spills out into public view, it’s all met with a concerned, then confused, shrug.

It instills apathy in the viewer, too. Other Mommy is so flat and devoid of tension that by film’s end, you’re more likely to laugh or groan at the absurd lengths this family will go to avoid therapy than root for their triumph over an ultimately forgettable demonic entity. Even the briskly paced 94-minute runtime feels too cumbersome for such an inert and empty scarefest.

Other Mommy releases in theaters on October 8.

The post ‘Other Mommy’ Review: Jessica Chastain’s Demonic Doppelgänger Fails To Generate Scares appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

That means that, once October rolls around, the movie is in heavy rotation. Freeform, in particular, broadcasts virtually every chapter in the long-running franchise as part of its 31 Nights of Halloween programming.

In honor of it being the best time of year, a new commercial for Rivian, known for their electric vehicles, enlists Ghostbusters icons to highlight their cars’ new “Halloween Mode.” The spot first focuses on Slimer and a feast he’s having, only for Bill Murray to show up as Venkman to capture his familiar foe. The promo also shows off what Rivian’s Halloween Mode looks like, though goes the extra mile to trick out their Rivian with ghostbusting equipment.

You can see the new promo below.

Rivian describes the spot, “PKE readings were off the charts. Good thing Dr. Peter Venkman and the Ecto-R1 were ready to take the call. This year, we teamed up with Sony Pictures to bring Ghostbusters to every Rivian. With the press of a button, Halloween mode turns your vehicle into an all-electric ghost-busting ride, with eerie lighting, iconic sounds and a few special tricks. It’s available through November 1, and is just one of the software updates every Rivian gets throughout the year to make your vehicle more fun and more capable. Find a Rivian location near you to see it in action.”

While it’s always exciting to see Bill Murray in the beloved role, it’s not necessarily that surprising. After all, Murray has appeared in all five live-action Ghostbusters movies, though he played a different character in the 2016 reboot.

Murray last played Venkman in 2023’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. As of this writing, the only confirmed new Ghostbusters project on the horizon is the animated series Ghostbusters: Night Shift for Netflix, which takes place in the ’90s and is set to be released in 2027. There are multiple rumored projects in various stages of development, including a potential live-action sequel to Frozen Empire.

Until then, this new Venkman commercial will have to hold us over.

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Kirkman’s powerful storytelling sensibilities were evident from early on, which is why Marvel Comics enlisted him to develop the limited comic series Marvel Zombies. This wasn’t the first time characters in that universe had come up against the living undead, but this storyline made some of the most iconic heroes of all time grotesque and deformed versions of their former selves. The series was an immediate success, paving the way for sequel series, spin-offs, and crossovers.

The Disney+ series What If…? capitalized on that excitement with the Season 1 episode “What If… Zombies?!” and, much like the comic book, it only scratched the surface of the storytelling potential. That one-off episode paved the way for last year’s four-episode animated series Marvel Zombies, and at today’s Marvel Television & Animation panel at New York Comic Con, it was revealed that three new Marvel Zombies specials are on the way.

Coming in 2027 is Marvel Zombies: The Winter Soldier, which will likely focus on Bucky Barnes and his battles with the undead. In 2028, we’ll get Marvel Zombies: The Fist of Khonshu, which will put Moon Knight at the forefront of the fight against the ghouls. Then, in 2029, we’ll get Marvel Zombies: The Last Guardian, which we expect to center around the Guardians of the Galaxy. Who will be the “Last Guardian,” though, is yet to be revealed.

While none of these specials have confirmed release dates, Marvel did reveal that they would be timed for Halloween, so they likely will hit the streamer each October.

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One lingering question, however, is whether we could ever get a live-action Marvel Zombies. Back in 2022, Disney+ released the Special Presentation Werewolf by Night, in which the titular character battled with a variety of monsters in gruesomely violent black and white. In 2019, Marvel Studios announced they were developing a new Blade, which would star Mahershala Ali, only for that project to stagnate and be scrapped.

There’s clearly a demand for more horror-oriented stories set in the Marvel Universe, though it also seems like the studio is struggling to find the best ways to deliver those types of outings. Still, we’ll gladly accept new Marvel Zombies specials for as long as the streamer offers them.

Which special are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below!

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Here’s the official synopsis: “What if a mischievous Christmas elf brought you what you wanted when you were nice, but made you regret what you asked for if you were naughty?”

Matt Hullum will write and direct, while Burnie Burns will Executive Produce.

Bad Toys is expected to release in theaters for Christmas 2027.

“Around the holidays, my wife loves to prank us by hiding Christmas elf dolls in unexpected places — including the knife drawer — and has given me quite a few jump scares over the years!” Hullum said in a statement to Variety.

“I began researching ancient elf lore, mostly Scandinavian, and discovered that there is a rich and bizarre history of mischievous and even deadly elves spanning back centuries,” Hullum’s statement continues. “Bad Toys is my take on turning those spooky old fairy tales into a modern-day holiday adventure … and an excuse to reunite with some of my Rooster Teeth family and our millions of fans from YouTube and around the world.”

Burns added in a statement of his own, “The moment I heard Matt was launching a new project, I jumped at the opportunity to collaborate again. It’s always an honor to work together, and I can’t wait to help bring his creative vision for Bad Toys to the screen.”

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Well Go USA describes the new movie, “An elite military unit ventures into a Colombian jungle on a mission to eliminate an enemy target. What begins as a tactical operation quickly descends into a frenzied nightmare when a primeval force awakens in the darkness. Five hundred years earlier, a Spanish conquistador expedition was consumed by the same relentless curse. Separated by centuries but connected by the same hostile territory, both groups fight to survive the jungle’s curse.”

You can check out the trailer for The Awakening below. The Awakening hits Digital on November 10 and hits Blu-ray and DVD on December 15.

The movie stars Claudio Cataño (Pacific), Alejandro Buitrago (Narcos), Héctor Sánchez (Mi Bestia), Andrea Olaya (Thousand Fangs), Quique Sanmartín (Pepe Caceres), Jaisson Jeack (Thousand Fangs), Carlos Mariño (The Initiated), Andres Londono (Narcos: Mexico), Salvador Bridges (Adiós al amigo), and Ricardo Leguizamo (Vampire Academy).

The movie was written and directed by Jaime Osorio Marquez (The Squad), who sadly passed away before finishing the movie. Co-creator and producer Federico Durán and director José Luis Rugeles (Alias Maria, Rebellion) completed work on the film.

“With The Awakening, we recover the magic of a magnificent filmmaker like Jaime Osorio, for us the best creator of magic realism horror in Latin America. This film, curated by some of the best directors in Colombia – his friends responsible for his legacy – is a great example of his vision for action, horror, fun and amazing directing. We are proud to be part of this film and this adventure,” Latido Films’ founder-managing director, Antonio Saura, shared in a statement earlier this year.

Durán added, “The Awakening is a gripping and deeply moving journey into the heart of darkness – not only for the story that unfolds on screen, but also for the story behind it: that of a director who passed away before seeing it completed and the remarkable effort to preserve and restore his vision and his work.”

The Awakening hits Digital on November 10 and hits Blu-ray and DVD on December 15.

Will you be checking out the movie? Let us know in the comments below!

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“There’s something nostalgic about Flock Off! – fighting through hordes of mutated farm animals reminds me of the days when Left 4 Dead was the ultimate friend co-op, except in Flock Off!, sometimes your friends are the weapon,” says Keith Kawamura, CEO of Shoreline Games. “It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s what makes it fun. I’m looking forward to seeing the clips that come out of this once we put it in players’ hands.”

“We wanted to develop the kind of game you can jump into with friends that creates a lot of little ‘what the flock’ moments, leaving you with stories you’re still laughing about later,” adds Matthias Gudmundsson, Bunkhouse Games co-founder. ” The idea that you can pick up anything, a bed, a lawn mower, a port-a-potty, even your own friend, gave us exactly the kind of chaos we were aiming for. We’ve put a lot into making Flock Off! as ridiculous as possible, and we’re excited to finally put the full game into players’ hands and see what mayhem they create for themselves.”

In Flock Off!, four unlikely survivors find themselves stranded in the remote Scottish Highlands with a slight problem: something has gone very wrong with the local scientists’ sheep cloning experiments. They’re seemingly everywhere, and apparently… armored? With the countryside overrun, getting out means fighting through the flock and making questionable decisions with whatever happens to be lying around.

Fortunately, the Highlands are littered with plenty of things to arm yourself with, whether you prefer swinging, throwing, or letting your own two hands do the work. Desperation will have you grabbing anything, and everything, in arm’s reach.

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Rarely does he mention Chamberlain, Maine, or those touched by the dreaded “Black Prom.” Carrie exists in a fairly closed loop, a singular nightmare of telekinesis gone wrong. 

By now we all know the story of Carrie White. Continuously bullied for most of her life, the quiet teen’s rage finally explodes after a prank sees her elected Prom Queen then “crowned” with a bucket of pig’s blood. Drenched in the disgusting liquid, Carrie responds by using her powers to destroy the school’s gymnasium, killing most of the senior class. Her rage then spreads throughout the small town as she walks home to confront her abusive mother, Margaret. 

Fifty years after Brian De Palma first brought Carrie to the screen, Mike Flanagan has reimagined the harrowing story, updating it for the modern age. In eight episodes, the writer/director substitutes social media for 70s-era bullying while exploring the ecosystem of a 21st-century high school. While much of this modern iteration differs from its source material, Flanagan does follow King’s lead in avoiding major Easter eggs. However, there are a few cheeky references hidden within the teenage angst, some that nod to King himself and others that point to the wider genre. 

Mike Flanagan Regulars Return For Carrie

After eight films and five miniseries, Flanagan has built a crew of faithful collaborators, those adept at capturing his signature blend of empathy and terror. One of these familiar faces is Samantha Sloyan, who stars in Carrie as Margaret White. In 2016, the veteran actress made a brief appearance in Flanagan’s third feature, Hush, as an ill-fated neighbor to the film’s tormented heroine. In the last decade, she has starred in many of Flanagan’s genre projects, including memorable roles in The Haunting of Hill House, The Life of Chuck, and The Fall of the House of Usher.

But perhaps her most powerful performance is as the villainous Bev Keane in the 2021 miniseries Midnight Mass. A devout catholic, Bev dooms her tiny island congregation by blindly following a careless priest. In many ways, Bev could be seen as a precursor to Sloyan’s Margaret White. Both women hide their close-minded cruelty behind a thin veil of good intentions. 

While Carrie’s teen cast are newcomers to the director’s cinematic universe, Michael Trucco, Katee Sackhoff, Rahul Kohli, and Ruth Codd are Flanagan regulars, appearing in a number of projects from Oculus and The Midnight Club to The Fall of the House of Usher and The Haunting of Bly Manor. The show’s most exciting casting is Matthew Lillard as Principal Grayle. The seasoned Scream King first collaborated with Flanagan for a brief but memorable role in his 2024 tearjerker (and King adaptation) The Life of Chuck.

This casting feels particularly exciting considering Lillard’s breakout role as Stu Macher in Wes Craven’s meta-slasher Scream. Remembering that Stu kills his own principal, it’s particularly exciting to see Lillard play Grayle as a compassionate if toothless administrator.  

Careful listeners may also recognize the voice of Flanagan’s most trusted collaborator. Mirroring the novel’s semi-epistolary structure, an unseen narrator can be heard previewing prom night’s destructive arc while detailing historical examples of the TK phenomenon. In episode eight, this voice is revealed to be Kate Siegel, Flanagan’s wife and frequent creative partner. Siegel plays a silent yet terrifying ghost in Flanagan’s sophomore film Oculus before going on to star in Hush. Also credited as a co-writer, the couple mapped out the largely dialogue-free film by blocking scenes in their own home.

Since then, Siegel has been featured in most of Flanagan’s projects with surprising appearances in Gerald’s Game and The Haunting of Bly Manor and an emotional turn in Midnight Mass. Should Carrie continue in future seasons, it’s likely Siegel will lead the adult cast. 

Stephen King Character Referenecs and Adaptation Veterans Hidden Throughout 

Other characters reunite us with alumni from additional King adaptations. Heather Graham adds a bit of rationality to the story’s chaos as the estranged mother of bully Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton). While not particularly known for horror, Graham appeared as troubled survivor Rita Blakemoor in the 2020 adaptation of King’s The Stand. Though desperate to save her flailing daughter, Mrs. Hargensen has recently left her husband John (Trucco) and moved in with another man.

Gil Bellows plays Chris’ would-be stepfather three decades after his shocking appearance in Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption. As Tommy, he arrives at the titular prison with proof that Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is innocent. 

Several other names found throughout the series may be familiar to Constant Readers. The social worker who first helps Carrie register for school is named Ms. Piper, honoring the late Piper Laurie who terrified audiences with her operatic performance as Margaret White in De Palma’s 1976 adaptation.

Flanagan’s Carrie (Summer H. Howell) is also assisted by Officer Irving (Jason Tremblay) and Officer Katt (Camille Atebe), nodding to Amy Irving and William Katt, De Palma’s original Tommy and Sue. We also see that as Carrie is exploring her powers, she unknowingly causes a bunch of mailboxes to open on their own, one of them labeled Robinson. Though they do not appear in the series, perhaps this is the home of Jerome Robinson or his sister Barbara, recurring characters in King’s Hodges Trilogy and subsequent Holly novels. 

Arguably most exciting is a younger Snell sibling named Tabby (Ashley Cartwright). This familiar nickname references King’s own wife, Tabitha, a fellow writer and savior of Carrie herself. King has candidly admitted to throwing out his first draft of the 1974 novel, daunted by the story’s spiraling length and complex female characters. It was Tabitha who found the pages in the wastebasket, dusted them off, and started to read. She became interested in the burgeoning story and urged her husband to continue writing, promising to help him write this heavily female world.

The rest is history! Carrie would spark King’s breakout success and the beginning of an unparalleled career. 

Mike Flanagan’s Hidden Callbacks to His Own Films and De Palma’s Carrie

Other landmarks in Flanagan’s Chamberlain, Maine reference his own cinematic world and additional King collaborators. As Carrie walks down Maine Street, we see her pass the Hush Day Spa, nodding to Flanagan’s 2016 home invasion film. Months later, Carrie dances amidst the flames of her destruction in front of the tiny town’s movie theater. The marquee advertises a film festival honoring De Palma titled Retrospective in 35 MM. The doors are flanked by classic posters from the director’s impressive career, highlighting Blow Out and Dressed to Kill. The blood Chris pours on Carrie’s head comes from Sombra Pig Farm, referencing the sinister Sombra Corporation, a conglomerate headed by the Crimson King.

Alongside the Ewen High seniors, a pair of surprising chaperones can be found in the crowd on prom night. Bryan Fuller may now be known for Hannibal, but before reimagining the iconic cannibal, he rebooted King’s original source material. In 2002, Fuller penned David Carson’s Carrie, a two-part special for NBC starring Angela Bettis and Patricia Clarkson. Flanagan’s own version mirrors the writer/director’s shocking conclusion, which sees Carrie escape the fiery prom and drive off into the wider world.

Known for creating the Child’s Play franchise, Don Mancini has no official ties to the King universe, but is a champion of the author’s work. He frequently names Carrie as his favorite film and took inspiration from King’s catalogue when creating Chucky season 3. 

Well before Carrie destroys the gym, another fun Easter egg can be found lining its walls. As Chris and her friends run endless line drills — punishment for their locker room prank — we notice a trio of banners commemorating Ewen High’s successful basketball run throughout the 1970s. It seems the team won the state championship in 1973, ‘75, and ‘77. Missing are the years 1974 (the year King’s Carrie was first published) and 1976 (the year De Palma’s film premiered). Considering the high school burns down in both versions, a basketball championship would be highly unlikely. 

Stephen King Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed

Other references are deeper cuts and thematic nods to King’s catalogue. Episode one sees Carrie experience her first active shooter drill, an unfortunately common occurrence in modern high schools. However, they were virtually unheard of in 1977 when King — writing as Richard Bachman — published the novel Rage. The story follows a troubled teen named Charlie Decker who uses a firearm to hold his class hostage.

While King’s story in no way glorifies Charlie’s actions, copies of the disturbing novel were found in the possession of several subsequent school shooters. After a Kentucky assailant was found with Rage in his locker, King decided to pull it from publication. He would go on to write about this decision in his 2013 essay “Guns.” However, this plotline feels like Flanagan’s own statement on the heartbreaking topic. Shocked by Carrie’s experience, Margaret rushes into the principal’s office and questions this disturbing practice. Though she will emerge as the story’s central antagonist, in this moment she makes a good point.

Much of Margaret’s story is informed by the death of her husband Ralph White (Tahmoh Penikett). Though deceased before Carrie’s birth in the source material, Flanagan begins the series with his death, which leads to the discovery of his daughter’s existence. While grieving this tremendous loss, Carrie begins seeing visions of her late father, often lurking in the shadows of her darkened room.

These visions resemble another shadowy figure in Flanagan’s filmography. His 2017 adaptation Gerald’s Game sees the story’s heroine tormented by the Moonlight Man (Carel Struycken), a monstrous figure who watches the trapped woman from the corner of her own bedroom. Helplessly handcuffed to the bed, Jessie (Carla Gugino) cannot tell whether he is an actual intruder or a harbinger of her approaching death. Ralph serves a similar function here. Are these visions remnants of a troubled relationship or a warning of the horrors to come? 

In a similar moment of foreshadowing, Chris and her new blended family discuss the second half of her senior year, referring to the spring semester as “back half.” While possibly a casual term, “back half” brings to mind another group of King’s powerful kids. The 2019 novel The Institute, and Jack Bender’s series adaptation, see a group of children with psychic powers kidnapped by a covert government agency. Held in a cruel hybrid of hospital and prison, the kids are eventually taken to the ward known as Back Half, where unthinkable torture truly begins. Chris seems to be entering a similar stage of pain, and the “back half” of her own senior year will conclude with a grisly burst of telekinesis. 

Could These Easter Eggs Set Up ‘Carrie’ Season 2?

Frustrated with her crumbling life, Chris takes her rage out on Carrie and Margaret. Along with her delinquent boyfriend Billy (Arthur Conti), she breaks into the White’s house intending to turn picture frames upside down, break small objects, and spit in their mugs. An expert in this type of misdemeanor, Billy first attacks a knick knack shelf. He redirects an elephant figurine but ignores the tiny bird to its right.

This tense moment will likely remind King devotees of a terrifying sequence in Rob Reiner’s Misery. Having escaped his guest room prison, writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan) wheels himself around the deserted parlor of his captor Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), inadvertently knocking over a ceramic penguin. It’s this telltale bird that alerts Annie to Paul’s subterfuge, leading to the film’s notorious Hobbling scene. 

In addition to Carrie’s supernatural gifts, Flanagan introduces us to a wider network of telekinetic girls. In her aforementioned narration, Siegel mentions a young woman gifted with pyrokinesis, the ability to start fires with her mind. Constant Readers will no doubt be reminded of Charlie McGee, the protagonist of King’s 1980 novel Firestarter.

Clearly the leader of this shadowy collective, Seigel’s character demonstrates powers of mental domination previously wielded by Charlie’s father. Could Siegel be playing another survivor of The Shop, the government agency responsible for Charlie’s gifts? Should Carrie return for season two, this strange coda promises additional connections to King’s larger world and most memorable characters. 

The post Every Stephen King, Mike Flanagan, and Horror Easter Egg Hidden in Prime Video’s ‘Carrie’ Series, Explained [Spoilers] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

As confirmed by Deadline, the new movie from filmmaker George Tillman Jr. will be coming to Prime Video and will star The Invisible Man‘s Aldis Hodge and Sinners‘ Wunmi Mosaku.

“I’ve wanted to work with Aldis and Wunmi for years. We’ve talked in the past about collaborating, but I’ve been looking for the right project for us to do together, and I’m very happy we found it in One Night Out,” Tillman shared in a statement.

When it was released, The Invisible Man earned massive praise from critics. Previously, Tom Cruise‘s The Mummy was set to revive the Universal Monsters with a Dark Universe of reboots, only for the movie to be received so poorly that it canceled all future plans for that franchise. When the Dark Universe was announced in 2017, Johnny Depp was revealed to be taking on the role of the Invisible Man at some point in the future, only for that project to be one of the many abandoned ideas.

Instead, Leigh Whannell put a more contemporary spin on the concept, with his The Invisible Man focusing on a woman (Elisabeth Moss) who was stalked by her abusive boyfriend from what appeared to be beyond the grave. The movie scored 91% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but weeks later, the coronavirus pandemic saw theaters around the world close, cutting short The Invisible Man‘s theatrical run.

Last year, Ryan Coogler released his From Dusk Till Dawn-esque horror movie Sinners, in which Michael B. Jordan starred as a pair of twins who ran a juke joint that became the target of vampires. The brutal, R-rated horror movie had major success at the box office, scoring $371.6 million worldwide, in addition to earning 97% positive reviews from critics.

Mosaku herself was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, with the movie winning Coogler an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, Jordan an Oscar for Best Actor, and Autumn Durald Arkapaw an Oscar for Best Cinematography.

Deadline says One Night Out “follows a married couple with marital issues who leave a babysitter at home with their three kids during a rare night out. When they see someone in their house on the nanny cam, the night goes horribly awry, and they must race home and work together to save their kids.”

Stay tuned for updates on One Night Out.

Are you looking forward to the new thriller? Let us know in the comments below!

The post ‘The Invisible Man’ and ‘Sinners’ Stars Unite for New Orion Thriller ‘One Night Out’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The sequel to 2020’s Becky and 2023’s The Wrath of Becky will release in theaters on November 4, 2026.

In the film, “Now a CIA field agent, Becky (Lulu Wilson) goes undercover in Poland to infiltrate a family running an inn at The Wolf’s Lair, one of Hitler’s WWII bunkers. When she learns the father, Wilhelm Reuss (Neil Patrick Harris), plans to spark the Fourth Reich, Becky must stop him.“

Jenn Wexler (The Sacrifice Game, The Ranger) directs from a script she co-wrote with Matt Angel (The Wrath of Becky), from a story by Angel and Suzanne Coote (The Wrath of Becky).

Becky’s main foe this time? Neil Patrick Harris (“How I Met Your Mother”) as General Wilhelm Reuss.

Brandon Flynn (“13 Reasons Why”), James Urbaniak (Oppenheimer), Catherine Walker (House of Gucci), and Kate Siegel (“The Haunting of Hill House”) round out the cast.

Joe Lipsett wrote in his Fantasia review that, “overall, it’s impossible not to cheer on Becky as she fucks Nazis up at every opportunity.” While that means a return to the series signature violence and a whole lot of bloodshed, it also means a more action-based sequel with lower stakes: “Three films in, there’s no fear that Becky could actually die, but the film isn’t afraid to put its characters through the wringer – Becky sports a broken nose for most of the film’s last act – and there are, naturally, some extremely cathartic Nazi casualties.”

From Post Film and BoulderLight Pictures, producers include Russ Posternak & Chadd Harbold of Post Film, Larry Greenberg of Quiver Distribution, Paul Kennedy & Aideen Hand of Village Films, Jordan Yale Levine, and Jordan Beckerman.

Quiver’s Berry Meyerowitz and Jeff Sackman are executive producers, along with Wilson, Harris, Louis Winters, Nick Morris, Joe & Mike Huguenot, Kevin & Brian Debold, Nicholas Emanuel, Aaron Dalla Villa, and Carl Moellenberg.

The post ‘The Last Temptation of Becky’ Trailer Sends Lulu Wilson’s Violent Antiheroine To Poland To Take On Nazis appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Set in 1977, the story centers around Henry Gray, who regains consciousness in a bathtub inside a psychiatric ward. Blood is everywhere—but it isn’t his. It soon becomes clear that the hospital has turned into a trap, and the events unfolding are tied to a tragedy from Henry’s past.

As the narrative progresses, it gradually moves beyond the asylum’s walls. Henry finds himself in grim locations connected to his past, where the line between reality and madness grows ever more blurred. Enemies include deranged patients, cannibals, ghosts, victims of brutal experiments, cybernetic creations, and other otherworldly beings.

Alongside the psychological horrors you’ll encounter in the game, one of the standout features of FIRE AND ASHES revolves around sound. Using voice recognition technology, the game reacts to your breathing, whispering, and panic. Sound becomes both a tool and a threat—being too loud can draw enemies straight to you.

Progressing through the game involves solving puzzles and piecing together fragments of the story to reconstruct what really happened. However, danger doesn’t come only from the ghosts and supernatural entities that lurk in the hospital. You’ll also face human (and inhuman) enemies in the other patients, but also the hospital’s guards and the hospital’s own experiments.

The post Psychological Horror Game ‘FIRE AND ASHES’ Launches October 14 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

At the center of it is Samantha Sloyan, the longtime Flanagan collaborator behind unforgettable performances in Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Hill House, The Fall of the House of Usher and Hush.

Ahead of the series’ premiere, Sloyan joined Bloody Disgusting’s The Boo Crew to talk about stepping into the role of Margaret White, working opposite Summer H. Howell’s Carrie, and continuing a creative relationship with Flanagan that has produced some of her most memorable work.

When Flanagan first approached Sloyan about playing Margaret, however, she had one immediate concern: Midnight Mass’ Bev Keane.

“I was really lucky. For some reason, Mike was hearing my voice as Margaret from the beginning,” Sloyan recalls. “When he talked about Margaret, to be honest, my first concern, the first thing I thought was, ‘But I did Beverly.’ I don’t want people to feel like I’m just always going to be in Beverly.”

Flanagan quickly made it clear that this Margaret would be something very different.

“He was like, ‘Oh, no, no, no. That’s not my Carrie. That’s not what we’re doing.’ And when he explained that in this piece, Margaret loves Carrie, it’s a loving relationship between a mother and a daughter, then I was like, ‘Oh, well, absolutely.’”

That single distinction fundamentally reshapes Margaret White.

Samantha Sloyan isn’t playing a mother devoid of love. In fact, it’s Margaret’s love for Carrie that makes their relationship so complicated and, eventually, so devastating.

Sloyan found her way into that contradiction by thinking less about Margaret as an iconic horror character and more about the complicated ways people within families can hurt one another.

“I don’t have kids, so I couldn’t come at it from that angle,” Sloyan explains. “The only memories that I had to inform Margaret were memories of being a daughter and a child with parents.

“In the best-case scenarios, we love each other, and yet we can hurt each other so terribly. Sometimes it can feel that the other person is incapable of showing up for you in the way that you need in that moment.”

For Sloyan, Margaret’s tragedy lies in her inability to separate what Carrie needs from what Margaret needs herself.

“Margaret was doing what was best for Margaret,” she says. “I think her failure is she’s unable to let her kid grow. She’s unable to let go that necessary amount to let them be their own person.

“She just couldn’t ever let Carrie be her own person. But it was because she loved her. It was never that she wanted to hurt her.”

That doesn’t mean this version of Margaret has lost her teeth.

Sloyan revisited previous adaptations of Carrie, particularly Piper Laurie’s legendary performance in Brian De Palma’s 1976 film, while developing her own take on the character.

“There’s something that Piper did that’s so incredible, which is she’s terrifying and unpredictable and dangerous as hell,” Sloyan says. “And I didn’t want to lose that in this loving relationship.”

The challenge became preserving that danger while making Margaret’s love for Carrie feel equally truthful.

“I needed her to have nowhere to go,” Sloyan says of Carrie. “She’s stuck between this school experience, which is horrific, and then her home life, which is not much better. I just wanted to make sure that my Margaret, in her moments of terrorizing Carrie, could be just as unnerving, even though different.”

Much of Sloyan’s ability to find this version of Margaret came from Howell herself.

Flanagan gave the cast something relatively unusual in television: rehearsal time before filming began. It was there that Sloyan first saw Howell’s Carrie come to life.

“With Summer, it was so instantaneous,” Sloyan recalls. “This is so in her bones in a way that you never catch her acting. None of it feels performative. It really feels like it originated from inside her.”

Seeing Howell’s interpretation also solved pieces of Margaret that Sloyan hadn’t yet been able to access on her own.

“Once I saw who her Carrie was, it made sense of things that I hadn’t quite figured out for Margaret,” she says. “It was like having the key to an encryption or something. ‘Oh, okay. Now I understand what that says.’”

Sloyan adds, “Her performance is so complete. The character she built is so complete. More so than really anybody I can think of that I’ve worked with. It was really remarkable.”

That intimacy between the two actors is especially important in a series that often slows down enough to simply let its characters talk, listen and exist together.

Sloyan’s extensive background in theater proved particularly useful.

“Mike works a lot like that in a lot of ways,” she says. “You really do feel like you’re a part of something that, personally, I feel when I do theater.”

One of the biggest lessons Sloyan carried from the stage is deceptively simple: listening.

“There’s never a point on stage where you’re off camera,” she explains. “You have to be involved in everything that’s happening all the time. I think just listening, you’re always paying attention, you’re always in, is really what I valued most from what I learned from stage.”

That same sense of attention is present in Sloyan’s distinctive delivery as Margaret. There’s a tension between what the character says and everything she is fighting to keep beneath the surface.

“I think so much of it has to do with there’s so much they’re not saying,” Sloyan says of characters like Margaret and Bev.

With Margaret in particular, she imagined an enormous amount happening beneath the character’s controlled exterior.

“I kind of imagine Margaret is always screaming in a way,” she explains. “But then what comes out, it’s so measured and thought through. And then that pops through. Where does she lose control of it? Where does the volume get turned up?”

After so many projects together, Samantha Sloyan and Mike Flanagan have also developed the kind of shorthand that allows them to explore those moments without overexplaining them.

“As a director, Mike truly loves actors. He loves us, and it’s fabulous,” Sloyan says.

“He is exacting, don’t get me wrong. He knows exactly what he wants. But there’s something about knowing exactly what he wants that gives him the freedom to allow new ideas to play around.”

Sloyan says Flanagan also understands that every performer requires something different from a director.

“He really is so great at reading what each individual person might need. For me, he knows when to give me a note and when to give me a second.”

Their history together has also created a deep level of trust.

When Flanagan first gave Sloyan the role of Bev Keane in Midnight Mass, she says there was little in their previous work together that would have suggested she could play the character audiences would eventually love to hate.

“There was nothing I had done with him or that he would have seen that would have given him the idea that I was capable of doing that,” she recalls. “But he just kind of knew that I was.

“That faith, you’re like, ‘Well, I guess I do know how to do it. Let’s go.’”

Sloyan believes Flanagan now knows when she has more to give in a scene and, just as importantly, when she’s revealing something too soon.

“He might be like, ‘Don’t give this to us now. That’s going to be later. So now have that emotion, but let’s not see it.’ Just that understanding of the full story and the patience to tell it.”

That patience is essential to Carrie, which has eight episodes to explore characters and relationships that previous adaptations had only a couple of hours to unpack.

The series also surrounds Sloyan and Howell with a sprawling ensemble that includes Matthew Lillard, whose performance particularly impressed Sloyan.

“Working with him is a dream,” she says. “I grew up with Scream.”

After recently revisiting Lillard’s work in Twin Peaks: The Return and The Descendants, Sloyan remembers wondering, “Why are we not watching Matthew Lillard all the time on everything?”

“But he’s just so great,” she adds. “His love of acting and theater… he’s just such a force for good in the world.”

For all of Carrie’s cruelty, rage and horror, Sloyan ultimately sees something else running through Flanagan’s work. Hope.

Asked what Flanagan understands about being human that keeps making her willing to “walk into the dark with him again,” Sloyan’s answer is beautifully simple.

“I think that he has hope. He just has hope for the world,” she says. “For me, I think that’s something that we need so desperately.

“I think he is always showing us, through how difficult things are, that there are people who want to be kind and there are people who want to make things better and who care about each other.”

And as for whether she’ll continue taking that journey with Flanagan?

“He’s got me for the rest of my life if that’s what he’s doing.”

Listen to Samantha Sloyan’s full conversation with Lauren and Trevor Shand on The Boo Crew Podcast Episode 482 for more on becoming Margaret White, working with Summer H. Howell and Matthew Lillard, her creative relationship with Mike Flanagan, and bringing this new interpretation of Stephen King’s Carrie to life.

All eight episodes of Mike Flanagan’s Carrie are streaming exclusively on Prime Video now.

The post ‘Carrie’ – How Samantha Sloyan Found Love and Terror Inside Margaret White in Mike Flanagan’s Series [Interview] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

More than merely being family members, the pair have also worked together professionally, most notably on the critically acclaimed Gravity. To say the collaboration was a success would be a bit of an understatement, as it scored ten Oscar nominations and would take home seven Academy Awards, the most of the ceremony that year.

Jonás Cuarón has a new film this year, Campéon Gabacho, with the pair appearing at the Busan International Film Festival in support of the release. While that movie has been making the festival rounds, Jonás teased his next project during a press conference, per Dispatch, where he revealed, “I am writing a new screenplay. A story in the horror genre … It is very interesting.”

What makes this update exciting is that, while Gravity would understandably be called a sci-fi thriller, with countless moments of immense tension, calling his next project “horror” implies much more intense subject matter. And, given the amount of anxiety produced in Gravity, we can only imagine what he has in store for audiences.

“My father viewed my screenplay favorably … From brainstorming to each stage, we proceeded organically. It was a work from which I learned a great deal,” Jonás recalled. “In extreme environments, a character’s psychology and choices are revealed transparently … A woman left alone in space confronts her deep sorrow. The story is that she must overcome that to embrace hope.”

Campéon Gabacho is a film full of humorous punches, telling the story of Liborio, an endearing and mischievous young man and Mexican migrant looking for a better life in the United States. Through fists, love, and his words, he becomes a hero in an unknown land, facing the cultural walls and prejudices that threaten all his hopes.

Stay tuned for updates on Jonás Cuarón’s future projects.

Editor’s Note: Jonás Cuarón’s quote was initially attributed to Alfonso Cuarón in a previous version of this story.

The post ‘Gravity’ Co-Writer Jonás Cuarón Says His Next Project Is a Horror Movie appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The reimagining, written and directed by Charlie Polinger (The Plague), was announced in 2025 and began filming in February 2026, but A24 has kept mum on plot or release details so far. Madison reveals we can look forward to the new Poe-inspired film sometime in 2027, thanks to a new chat with ScreenRant for The Social Reckoning. 

“I think next year, definitely. I’m so excited for people to see that. Again, it’s something completely different than I’ve ever done before in terms of this medieval time period, and the tone is beyond anything I have ever read before. I don’t even know if I quite understand it yet, but it’s at times very slapstick and very dramatic and interesting and weird. I play two characters, and it was fun. It was really fun and crazy,” Madison told ScreenRant.

Madison plays twin sisters in a story that sees a mad prince take in the noble class into his castle while a plague devastates the peasantry. The long-lost twin, hidden among the lower class, enters the castle and into a decadent world of orgies, opium, power schemes, revenge, and decapitations. Her comments confirm that it will, indeed, be a medieval period piece.

Léa Seydoux (Dune: Part Two, Crimes of the Future) also stars as a scheming lady-in-waiting who is conniving her way to the top.

As for the tone the actress refers to, The Masque of the Red Death won’t be as somber and serious as Poe’s story. “It’s definitely more in a dark comedy world,” Polinger previously told Bloody Disgusting. “It has a much more maximalist tone but explores some similar things [as The Plague] on a very basic level, like group dynamics within a claustrophobic space.”

The original Poe short story follows a prince who attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death was originally published in 1842, and the tale was notably brought to the big screen as part of the Corman-Poe Cycle back in 1964. Roger Corman directed the adaptation for American International Pictures, with Vincent Price starring.

The post Mikey Madison Teases A24’s “Weird” ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ 2027 Release appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After its North American Premiere at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival on October 21, Split Rock will debut on Shudder on December 25.

Clark Backo (Yaga, The Changeling, Venom: The Last Dance) and Drew Ray Tanner (Netflix’s Riverdale, Boot Camp) lead the cast that also includes Olivia Luccardi (It Follows, The Deuce) and Graham Verchere (The Fall of the House of Usher, Summer of ‘84).

The shot-on-16mm horror movie follows “geologists Lauren (Backo) and Ben (Tanner) as they investigate a strange anomaly discovered deep within the remote badlands. After unearthing an ancient force hidden in the hills, the couple and their team must face a series of ever-intensifying horrors.“

“I am very excited and thankful to be teaming up with Shudder again for the release of Split Rock, my bloodier, and far more ambitious second film,” said director Ryan Glover. “Shudder is home to the most passionate genre audience in the world, and I can’t wait for them to unearth the horrors and tragedies of Split Rock later this year.”

“With Split Rock, Ryan Glover has delivered a meticulously crafted world of psychological tension and haunting performances from its intimate cast.  We can’t wait to share this unsettling tale with Shudder audiences,” said Emily Gotto, Shudder’s SVP of Acquisitions & Productions.

Brian Robertson of Low End (Cursed Films, V/H/S/Beyond, Darkest Miriam), Jefferson Moneo of Prowler Pictures (Flapjax, Welcome to Kittytown) and Krista Dzialoszynski of Observer Effect (The Strings) are producers. Executive producers are Ryan Glover, Kate Melville, Fabiola Caraza, Patrick Hackett, and Daniel Futa, with Joey Montenarello serving as casting director.

Look for a trailer to arrive soon, ahead of this supernatural horror film’s Christmas release.

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Exclusively watch the NSFW teaser trailer for Crossed below!

Crossed comic creator Garth Ennis, who also created The Boys and Preacher, wrote the screenplay, based on the original 10 issues of his Jacen Burrows-illustrated comic book series.

The post ‘Crossed’ Teaser Trailer – ‘The Boys’ Creator and ‘The Sadness’ Director Preview Their Extreme Horror Experience appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Music plays a central role in bringing the tone of Stupid Never Dies to life. Rather than adding music to the final game after development concluded, the team started with Davy’s theme song first and used the inspiration from that to shape the game. As Davy’s adventure starts with the classic “boy-meets-girl scenario”, the team knew right away that the pop-punk songs they loved in their youth would be the perfect genre to capture the unabashed joy of young love.

From there, the team delved into the different characters and enemies that Davy would face along the way, asking themselves “if they made music, what would they make?”. To match the diversity of the game, the team expanded genres, blending everything – from metal, to rock, to electronic music, even traditional Japanese instrumentation and motifs – to create what they like to call “Neo Pop Punk”.

Music is also the backbone to the flow of the game, with songs that dynamically shift between tense exploration, high energy battles, and calmer rest spots while Davy explores KOM’s domain, to chill, Low-Fi Beats to Get Battle-Ready to in Davy’s Mall home base. Sound is deeply rooted in the player’s experience of the game: if the gameplay changes and evolves, the music changes and evolves alongside.

Stupid Never Dies will launch October 21 for PC via Steam and PlayStation 5. You can get a taste of the game via the demo that’s available on Steam and the PlayStation 5.

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Creator Jesse McKeown injects modern anxieties in to a limited series that harkens back to the simpler aquatic creature features of yesteryear, especially Jaws and 1996’s The Beast. It gives ample time to fall hard for the small Newfoundland town that’s already facing extinction before the arrival of a mysterious oceanic beast.

Set in a remote fishing town, Snooks Arm, the series takes place during “Come Home Year,” a Newfoundland tradition that welcomes those who moved away to reconnect with their family and friends for larger-scale reunions and festivities. It’s a perfect backdrop to allow lead protagonist Calvin Penney (Josh Hartnett) to reconnect with his children but with the bonus of a larger pool of potential fodder for the aquatic monster lurking in the very waters that provide the town’s livelihood.

But Calvin is a bit preoccupied struggling to make ends meet; not only is the relocation initiative that resulted in his father’s death in 1986 still an ongoing issue due to dwindling resources, but his ice-fishing business hardships are compounded by the arrival of a massive iceberg filled with contaminants in the harbor. He brings it to local scientist Fonda Howander (Mackenzie Davis) for answers, putting them both on the front lines of a battle against an ancient creature from below, one that’s been there before.

In Jaws-like fashion, Below bides its time, revealing its ultimate threat, building mystery as characters find initial traces of foul play that slowly escalate to the discovery of mutilated bodies, or pieces of them at least. Reported disappearances give way to severed limbs, pieces of blooded scalp, and partially digested moose that stumps the locals. This steady build allows for ample time to get acclimated to Snooks Arm’s many endearing quirks and traditions, while establishing the friction-filled dynamics of the Penney clan. 

Calvin’s close sister Ruth (Willow Kean) acts as the group’s true adult, while his daughter Mary (Ruby Stokes) brings her boyfriend home for the first time to meet dad. Prized son Jay (Rohan Campbell, Silent Night, Deadly Night) uses his gregarious personality to hide his vices and debts, while the son who remained behind with dad, Wade (Charlie Heaton, Stranger Things), struggles to measure up to his dad’s eyes. While the family drama itself is paper thin, it works; there’s a lived-in quality to the Penney family and their bickering that feels authentic and relatable.

It’s also what adds hefty emotional stakes when the slow build of early tension-building, dread, and scares gives way to take-charge action as characters attempt to go on the offense. Snooks Arm is so effectively cut off from the rest of the world that it creates a claustrophobic atmosphere, trapping the residents in place without many options. McKeon keeps viewers on their toes with piecemeal revelations about the beast, and unexpected byproducts of its presence; like the way the contaminated ice disrupts a small town accustomed to plucking ice from the water for everyday use.

This is where McKeown and crew inject the most variety with the horror, yielding a few surprises along the way. It’s also here where Below diverts from its parallel path with The Beast, turning its thoughts instead toward prevalent worries over the ocean’s increasing (and increasingly worrisome) warming waters. It builds to a suitable and climactic conclusion, though one that’s all but abandoned its horror waters by the final episodes.

The brief 6-episode format means lean efficiency that keeps you hooked, but it also means certain peripheral story elements and plot developments are more perfunctory than satisfying.

It’s a minor complaint as it ultimately amounts to simply wanting to spend more time with this hardy bunch. In truth, the creature feature elements are rather straightforward and familiar, though affecting and effective all the same. It’s the richly complex town and its characters that paint a sobering picture of rural communities devastated by the powerful and rich that anchors an entertaining aquatic horror series, one as full of vibrant personality as resilience. It’s also gorgeously shot by cinematographer William Baldy, making it even clearer why this picturesque Newfoundland town is worth wading into the treacherous sea to fight for.

Even better is that McKeon never gets too dour with its eco-messaging; Below isn’t afraid to poke fun at itself either or get playful with its editing and humor. There is a final hook that leaves the door ajar enough for continuation, but as it stands, this cozy, self-contained series is close to perfect as is, an entertaining, compelling, and genre-bending new entry in the realm of aquatic horror thrillers.

Below premieres globally on Netflix today, October 8.

The post ‘Below’ Review: Josh Hartnett Anchors Netflix’s Best Aquatic Horror Offering Yet appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

I’m here to help bolster that notion with these five top shelf horror home video promos that were served up expressly for excitement at your local video rental destination.

THE INFLATABLE GHOULIES TOILET

It’s undeniable that the Ghoulies franchise ruled rental shelves in the 1980s. It also spawned the royal flush of promo pieces with an INFLATABLE TOILET featuring the creatures from the cover art.

I’ve seen a recreation of these, so pay close attention when you spot one, if you can at all!

BONUS: GHOULIES II TOILET PAPER

What’s an inflatable toilet without some matching TP? Vestron Video were genius level when creating video promo, and this twofer drop for Ghoulies 2 is exemplary in that notion. 

THE HOUSE VHS CLAMSHELL CASE

This was the ultimate counter topper showstopper.

A custom-shaped embedded clamshell design held a screener copy of the film and all the electronic guts that helped illuminate the window and other parts of the display. These have since become a highly coveted collectors piece, and a jaw-dropper for anyone who hasn’t seen this House.

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART II CERAMIC BUST

A stunning recreation of the arresting and unforgettable box art, this Return of the Living Dead Part II ceramic bust measures about 8×8 inches, as you can see from the by-the-box comparison.

This has been one of the most coveted pieces out there for many years, captivating collectors with its unique and spectacular presentation. 

THE STREET TRASH CERAMIC MUG

Don’t drink any Viper from this trash can! Vestron does it again with some clever crossover marketing.

This is a fairly common customizable mug (with a lid) but slapping a Street Trash logo on this in the late ’80s meant you weren’t gonna miss this title once it hit the shelves. 

THE PHANTASM II SILVER SPHERE HAT

This is the current holiest of grails, and one of the most creatively tailored promo hats ever to grace the heads of horror fans. There appears to be a bloody and bloodless version, but I’ve only encountered three in my tape-driven travels.

Imagine your video store clerk rocking this hat when you lay down your rentals. How do you not ask about the movie and when it’s available to rent?

This is intricate, pure genius promo and that’s why it sits at the top of this list. 

What’s your favorite video store promo?

Shout it out in the comments below. We’ve got more where these came from…

Josh is an eternal champion of the VHS format. He has steadily spread the rewind-inclined word with Lunchmeat Magazine and LunchmeatVHS.com, along with the book and supplement series STUCK ON VHS. He is also one of the founders of Drive-In VHS Fest, which is the largest VHS film festival in the world. His passion for the VHS format has allowed his voice to be featured in The New York Times, L.A. Times, and Washington Post, while a number of his written works are preserved in the Yale Library. When he’s not watching tapes, he enjoys playing basketball and eating nachos, but not at the same time. Though he’s willing to try.

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Josh Lucas, David Arquette, and Alyssa Milano star in The Night Driver.

The film follows a traveling pharmaceutical salesman (Josh Lucas) who survives a bloody run-in with a psychotic killer, and is subsequently pursued by the psychopath across the country.

Watch an exclusive clip from The Night Driver below and expect release information soon.

Here’s the full synopsis: “Traveling pharmaceutical salesman Hurdis Matheson (Josh Lucas) is desperate to return home to his wife Cheryl (Alyssa Milano) and family after surviving a run-in with a psychotic killer, only to be stalked relentlessly by him across the country and framed for several murders along the way. The police are on a nationwide manhunt for Hurdis, and it is up to Detective Granger (David Arquette) to prove Hurdis’ innocence.”

The cast for The Night Driver also includes Charlotte Kirk (The Reckoning), Eileen Dietz (Halloween II), Danielle Vasinova (The Madison), and Gina La Piana (Meet Dave).

Sean S. Cunningham (Friday the 13th) Executive Produces. John Cork wrote the screenplay.

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A fresh take on the gory 1981 horror classic is first up from the Hangtime and Severin remake slate, which will see the two companies “secure remake rights to genre films for theatrical, streaming and physical media.” Variety details in their exclusive report this morning, “The Beyond is the first of several planned remakes over the next two years from the partnership.”

The Beyond was the second movie in Italian horror master Lucio Fulci’s Gates of Hell trilogy, which followed City of the Living Dead and was followed by The House by the Cemetery.

“The impetus for this partnership was our shared commitment to fans of the genre and our desire to deliver for new horror audiences,” Frank Murray, co-CEO of Hangtime, said in a statement. “This is a rare opportunity for an established director to reimagine The Beyond, contemporize it as a classic of experiential horror and further the ever-growing cultural significance of Fulci’s work. We also love the built-in sequel opportunity afforded us by Fulci’s Gates of Hell universe.”

“Severin Films has devoted two decades to restoring and releasing genre films with the utmost respect for their originality and ongoing legacy,” David Gregory, co-founder, president and CEO of Severin Films, said. “Reimagining these classic titles for a new generation presents a unique opportunity for the genre community, and we look forward to what this partnership will bring forth.”

“We are very excited to see this remake project moving forward, and especially to have found such strong and passionate partners to bring this classic to a new audience,” said Severin’s Claudia Marra. “There is already a great deal of excitement around the project, and we believe this is a fantastic way to start this new journey. We can’t wait to see it take shape and move forward together.”

Written by Dardano Sacchetti (Demons) and Giorgio Mariuzzo (The House by the Cemetery), the 1981 Italian horror cult classic The Beyond chronicles the supernatural bedlam that ensues when a gateway to Hell is opened beneath a New Orleans hotel.

Alex DiVincenzo reflected here on Bloody Disgusting last year, “The Beyond plays like a fever dream through a haunted attraction. Lucio Fulci brazenly merges discordant genre tropes — from zombies and possession to a chilling mystique a la The Shining and his penchant for outrageous splatter — into an economical 87 minutes that succeeds despite itself.”

Alex went on to note in his retrospective review, “Lucio Fulci explored similar themes in City of the Living Dead and The House by the Cemetery, but The Beyond remains his masterpiece.”

No word yet on the other horror classics Hangtime and Severin plan to remake. Stay tuned.

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The six-episode series opens a new corner in the Talk to Me universe, which also includes the bleak Bring Her Back, bringing the hand and its deadly rituals to entirely new characters, a new setting, and an immersive format. I Let You In is currently in post-production after wrapping filming in Spain earlier this year.

It follows “a group of young travelers chasing the ultimate party in Ibiza as they become hooked on the thrill of conjuring spirits —a supernatural high deadlier than any drug.“

Aubri Ibrag (The Buccaneers), Charlotte Maggi (Rebel Moon), Sofia Hublitz (Ozark), Julio Peña (Berlin), Raff Law (Masters of the Air) and Charlie Hiscock (Ted Lasso) star as the doomed travelers who toy with the wrong party game.

All six episodes are directed by Craig William Macneill (Them, The Terror) and written by Trent Atherton (The Wheel) based on a pitch from Brandl and Atherton. 

The immersive 3D I Let You In series was commissioned by Meta and produced by XRTV and created for Meta Quest headsets and the newly unveiled Meta VR Glasses. Talk to Me creators Danny & Michael Philippou executive produce for Blue Bear alongside showrunner Darren Brandl and Jack Davis for XRTV, Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton for Causeway Films (Talk to Me, The Babadook), and Andreas Michael Wentz and Juan Antonio Cano Trujillo for Sur Film. Jeff Rich is producing for Meta.

Brandl said, “Talk to Me is the perfect immersive IP because it’s about young adults who seek the Hand to experience the euphoria of possession but end up tormented by breaking through to the spirit world. It made possession fun, and the scares unforgettable. Maybe we’re crazy, but we’re betting you’re going to want to feel possessed too, and with Meta’s new technology, we think for the first time you’ll believe it!”

Released in 2022, Talk to Me follows a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, and became a smash hit in theaters following its breakout reception at Sundance. The Philippou brothers are currently developing a direct sequel.

Check out the first official poster from the upcoming series.

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The genre-bending holiday film releases in theaters on October 30, 2026.

Everything seems standard for a feel-good holiday movie in the trailer below, but there’s something off with the neighbors. Soon enough, violence enters the equation, then death, followed by a holiday-themed leather daddy. 

Ron Livingston (The Conjuring, Office Space) leads as a man over Christmas who finds himself teaming with Santa (Rob Riggle) to survive it.

Expect a wild ride ahead as Willy’s Wonderland and Pig Hill director Kevin Lewis helms from a script by Zack Imbrogno (Slayers, Fear, Inc.).

Christmas at the Kringles follows “the Seversons, a family starting fresh in a quiet suburban neighborhood, whose next-door neighbors, the Kringles, celebrate Christmas year-round. What begins as charming quickly turns unsettling, as Mark and Julie grow concerned about their son’s growing attachment to the family.

“After a heated confrontation, Mark heads next door to bring his family home, only to uncover the Kringles’ true intentions: to hypnotize and indoctrinate them. What follows is a life-or-death rescue mission, as Mark teams up with a rogue, badass Santa in a high-stakes, action-packed fight to save his family.”

Rachel Bilson, Arden Myrin, Beverly D’Angelo (Violent Night), and David Wain, with Thomas Lennon and Donald Faison also star.

Willy’s Wonderland and Pig Hill director Kevin Lewis helms from a script by Zack Imbrogno (Slayers, Fear, Inc.).

Lewis previews, “I have been looking to do another zany and bonkers genre film in the vein of ‘Willy’s Wonderland‘ and I found it in Zack Imbrogno’s unique and original screenplay. I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by such a talented cast and crew to bring this crazy train of a movie to life.”

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“It’s much more expensive… I don’t care,” del Toro said, speaking about the painstaking process of bringing the film into the 4K 3D format by hand. “What we’re protecting is the beauty and redeeming power of art. We are protecting a lineage of art.”

Del Toro added, “You have to put in time. You have to do every element by hand.”

But just how many human artists were part of the process? Guillermo del Toro reveals this week that around 1,300 human artists were required to bring new life to Pan’s Labyrinth.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker explains, “I dare say there’s more than 1,300 people that worked on it. I don’t want to say the exact number, but I think I’m right. We started last year, but we did it in increments. First it was a test, to see if we could do it. And I was so blown away that we decided to go for it.”

Along with the 3D version and the 4K restoration, Pan’s Labyrinth has been given a new color grade and sound mix. Indiewire details, “the 3D conversion retains the spirit and emotional impact of the film del Toro made 20 years ago while taking advantage of several technological advancements that have transpired in the years since.”

Aaron Parry of SDFX Studios oversaw the film’s 3D conversion, and he tells Indiewire that Del Toro insisted the texture and grain of Pan’s Labyrinth remain in tact for the 3D version.

Parry details during his conversation with Indiewire, “He wanted to really say, this is the film, but playing it in 3D is going to add so many more layers of fear and anxiety and mystery. So we worked really hard to be non-destructive and preserve everything.” Parry continues, “Pan’s Labyrinth made a lot of sense [in 3D], because you’ve got the real world and the fantasy world, and we can use 3D to separate those story points and tell the story in a new and elevated way. Guillermo just wanted to bring people deeper into the story, and I think 3D was his solution.”

As Parry explains, the 3D comes into play when Pan’s Labyrinth transitions into the fantasy realm. Del Toro himself further details, “It opens in the ‘real world’ and cruises nicely with the 3D. Then the fairies come in and the film transforms through the 3D ‘into the labyrinth.'”

Del Toro promises, “It is quite a revelation!”

The 20th anniversary re-release of Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth begins playing in theaters TONIGHT as part of a collaboration between Bloody Disgusting’s parent company Cineverse and Fathom Entertainment. If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, get on that now!

Pan’s Labyrinth will be presented theatrically for the first time in 4K, and with versions available in both 3D and HDR by Barco – the dedicated HDR viewing solution offering up to 6 times higher peak luminance. Each version for this re-release has been overseen by Guillermo del Toro.

Pan’s Labyrinth takes place in 1944, in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.

Young Ofelia and her pregnant mother have been brought to live in the countryside, where her brutal stepfather Captain Vidal’s job is to wipe out the remaining rebels camped in the local forest.

Nearby, in a hidden labyrinth, Ofelia meets an ageless Faun, who tells her that she is really a princess from an enchanted world. He gives her three tasks which she must complete in order to reclaim her rightful place. As her mother’s failing health threatens the life of her unborn child, Ofelia undertakes a quest to complete the Faun’s tasks.

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Experience a new original story and canonical addition to the infernal world of the legendary Hellraiser series, where those who enter will face horrors beyond the darkest nightmares known to man.

“The day has finally arrived,” says Clive Barker, horror legend and creator of Hellraiser. “Working closely with Saber Interactive has been an extraordinary experience. Watching the team take the Hellraiser mythology to apocalyptic extremes—evolving our vision into a wicked new horror masterpiece that will blow audiences away using iconic Hellraiser imagery to create a dark, unforgettable, and visionary journey full of twisted suffering and temptation—has been amazing. There’s beauty in pain, and I can’t wait for fans to unravel its torturous secrets and delights.”

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival features the return of Doug Bradley as the voice of Pinhead, the role he first carved into our collective nightmares nearly 40 years ago.

In the game, players take on the role of Aidan, who must unlock the dark powers of a mysterious puzzle box known as the Genesis Configuration in order to help his girlfriend from a hellish abyss. As Aidan, you’ll harness the box’s infernal abilities to survive your pact with the sinister Pinhead and battle against the twisted cult that worships him and the Cenobites.

The post ‘Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival’ Has Such Sights to Show You Today on PC, Consoles [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

At one end of the flock, we can see a woman being [REDACTED] as she [REDACTED] on a fellow parishioner’s [REDACTED] and, at the other, there’s a trio engaged in what can only be described as a particularly acrobatic session of [REDACTED].

Scanning the wider venue, we also bear witness to another congregant satisfying themselves with a [REDACTED] — said to be so prodigious that it’s big enough to [REDACTED] — as well as people kneeling on all fours in front of rows of [REDACTED], presenting their orifices for whatever may happen to come through the other end. All the while, their spiritual leader goes on sermonising to his faithful about the indivisibility of pleasure and pain until they all [REDACTED] in perfect synchronicity.

In short, it’s a very raunchy situation all round. But you might be surprised to learn that it isn’t especially graphic by the standards of Hellraiser: Revival. At least the holes being penetrated are of the naturally formed kind, and not man/demon-made. That’s more than you can say for some later bits in the story!

As a game, Saber Interactive’s new first-person shooter certainly doesn’t hold anything back. To plainly and clinically describe most of the acts that occur in it, we’d have to employ language that’d call for the enforcement of age verification methods in some countries. If we were to instead insinuate our meaning via coy euphemisms, this review would end up being so mired in innuendo and double entendre that it’d resemble the script of a bawdy sex comedy from the 1970s (Carry on Cenobite).

Pleasure and Pain

It’s not just the lasciviousness either. Hellraiser: Revival is dripping with every bodily fluid imaginable and confronts you with such a staggering amount of gore that it puts Mortal Kombat to shame. Before you’ve so much as completed the tutorial, it’s already forced you to prise rusty nails out of your palm, walk through a trail of cascading intestines (draped over the entrance to a hallway like PVC strip curtains) and perform combat slides over all manner of unidentifiable viscera. In the nude, no less!

Then, once you’ve finally got your paws on some weapons for self-defence, it turns into a no-holds-barred bloodbath of Countess Báthory proportions. One that shows absolutely zero chill until the credits roll. You’ll be hacking off limbs, shotgun-blasting chunks of meat from opponents’ torsos, singeing the flesh of blasphemous abominations, embedding blunt objects into skulls, telekinetically launching spikes into cultist nether-regions, yanking folks apart with chains, and generally painting every room you enter a different shade of claret.

It’s essentially the nightmare scenario for those hysterical moral campaigners who always warn of the evils of video games, and who are currently reacting to the upcoming release of GTA 6 as though it were foretold in the Book of Revelation. Yet, if anything, this is the 2026 title they should be worried about. In addition to the orgies, the spanking, the maiming, and the constant gun violence, it even has you shooting up at one point!

Another, more positive, way to look at it (as opposed to as an assault on good taste and polite society) is as a wonderfully authentic and uncompromising take on the Hellraiser mythos. One that contains more than enough salacious depravity, boundary-pushing vice and hedonistic delights to make you overlook some of its negatives. Much like a thrill-seeker deciding that the pros of opening the Lament Configuration vastly outweigh the cons.

An Experience Beyond Limits

There’s actually a different puzzle box at the centre of Revival, though, albeit one that still possesses a similar allure for those inexorably drawn to the further regions of experience.

Said explorers in this case are Aidan (the player character) and Sunny (his girlfriend), who are constantly seeking ways to spice things up in the bedroom. We’re introduced to the pair mid-coitus — surrounded by ball gags, needles, and even a speculum — as they try to tick a few new kinks off their bucket list.

One of their most daring experiments involves the use of a peculiar sex aid, known as the Genesis Configuration, the activation of which summons the infamous Order of the Gash (Hellraiser’s mascot quartet) to Aidan and Sunny’s fuck pad. Honouring the contract implicitly signed by the box’s solver, these extradimensional beings then proceed to whisk Sunny away to their cosmic realm of the Labyrinth (as seen in Hellbound: Hellraiser II), where they plan to subject her to an eternity of exquisite torment.

Even though she seems weirdly cool with this, Aidan resolves to do everything in his power to break his paramour free. What follows is a “one-crazy-night” story in which you go up against the profane Scarlet Church, a sect of fanatical Cenobite LARPers, as well as the original Pinhead and Co., and several botched attempts to create new “angels” in their image. All of which you must endure in the name of true love.

Or so it would seem at first. As it turns out, Aidan’s motivations aren’t quite as chivalrous as he’d like everyone, himself included, to believe.

Sunny gives off the distinct impression that she’s entirely on board with the whole eternal torture thing and appears to consent to the Cenobites’ every treatment of her, squealing with ecstasy and begging for more. The vibe of your rescue mission is less that of a hero trying to rescue a damsel in distress, then, and more that of a possessive boyfriend refusing to let his partner go.

Living up to the intelligent ideas of Clive Barker’s literary works, the game’s writing is very introspective about this. It doesn’t shy away from the ugly side of its protagonist and raises thoughtful questions about his inability to fill the void inside of him, as well as his failure to distinguish between love and need.

Red flags abound, indicating that the nature of his relationship with Sunny was never healthy to begin with. Recurring flashbacks show that, while they were always willing to be physically vulnerable with one another, the same level of intimacy did not extend to real emotions. Collectible Post-it notes scattered throughout the levels provide more damning evidence to support this theory, with the missives depicting a couple that is utterly incapable of communicating, other than when expressing their carnal desires.

Meanwhile, an intriguing parallel is drawn between Aidan’s addiction to drugs and his insatiable lust for the supposed love of his life. When reflecting on all this testimony, you do have to wonder if Sunny truly needs rescuing and, if so, whether Aidan is the right man for the job.

Combine this subversive character dynamic with the usual Barker themes of people searching to push the limits of human experience, the transgressive beauty of the grotesque, as well as sex, death and the link between the two, and you’ve got a narrative that’s worthy of the Hellraiser licence. It’s more than just cheap provocation and taboo-breaking for the sake of taboo-breaking. It has something to say about people and the destructive ways that we try to satisfy the emptiness within us.

Such Sights to Show You

If that makes the game sound like it might be a bit of a downer, rest assured there’s plenty of illicit fun to be had. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that Hellraiser: Revival is one of the most entertaining titles we’ve played all year, with Saber Interactive understanding the assignment and maximising every last opportunity to cram NSFW depravity into the experience.

Whether you’re getting up-close-and-personal with melee weapons or plugging away at foes using the submachine gun, combat is always super visceral. When it comes to the dismemberment and deformation of character models, in particular, there’s no skimping on the messy details. It makes you feel every cut, every impalement, every burn and every face-full of buckshot that you inflict upon victims. If you allow certain foes to get right up in your grill, you’ll have a chance to marvel at your handiwork in greater propinquity; scrutinising the exposed cartilage and bone in a way that’s sure to elicit a sadistic chuckle from gorehounds.

It’s not just the action, though. Every facet of Revival screams “M for Mature”. The brainteasers are all appropriately perverse, whether they’re getting you to piece together an obscene mosaic, correctly sequence a timeline of erotic positions, or retrieve a collection of sex toys (in one adventure game style puzzle that’s almost like a Clive Barker riff on Monkey Island).

The behaviour of hostile NPCs is similarly on brand, with Scarlet Church cultists relishing the punishment you dole out. They’ll cry out in sweet release as you wail on them. They’ll remark on how their genitals are engorging whenever you pierce their flesh. They’ll even heckle you and come up with suggestions for how you could hurt them better.

Elsewhere, the written notes are extremely explicit; you save your progress by thrusting Aidan’s hand into a gaping, throbbing wound, and the mere act of opening a door will sometimes require you to stimulate a severed, waggling tongue. There’s one scene in a prison that gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “beat ‘em up”!

That doesn’t account for half of the nasty shit Revival will have you doing over its 11-hour runtime. Indeed, most of the objectives here would be enough to make Frank Cotton blush. In other words, it’s kind of everything you could ever want from a Hellraiser outing!

Angels to Some, Demons to Others

One thing that might prove contentious with fans, however, is the relatively minimal involvement of the Cenobites. Despite the fact that the developers managed to get Doug Bradley to reprise his role as Pinhead, he and the rest of the Order of the Gash make only fleeting appearances here.

You don’t ever fight them and, for the most part, your interactions are limited to either negotiating or resisting their temptations. The Chatterer does at least pursue you as a stalker in a number of supremely effective and panicky chase sequences. But, as a document later clarifies, that’s only because he was a young child when he first ascended to demonhood, and so still likes to play hide and seek from time to time.

Other than that one member of the Fab Four not getting the memo, the rest of the Cenobites are consistent in leaving Aidan be. In fact, they actually seem to go out of their way to offer assistance, as they see untapped potential in his capacity for causing suffering. Whenever you do parlay with one of them, they’re always egging you on, encouraging you to be more barbaric, and trying to make you see that this is all in accordance with your true nature. They even imbue you with some of their eldritch S&M powers, just to give you a nudge in the right direction.

While fans might have gotten a kick out of dealing with the Order in more direct gameplay terms, we have to admit that this is probably the right way to handle these specific antagonists. After all, the Cenobites were never meant to be blunt-force slashers or rabid movie monsters, but rather elegant, almost stately figures who conduct themselves with poise. To bludgeon the Female to death with a baseball bat or to get into a vulgar firefight with Butterball would likely rob them of that mystique. A seduction narrative feels far more in line with their previous depictions and with Barker’s original vision, allowing them to preserve their dignity.

And as for the screen time issue, Pinhead doesn’t show up properly in the first Hellraiser until there’s only like 30 minutes left of film. So, there is definitely a precedent for withholding the characters like this.

You’ll Tear Their Souls Apart with the Genesis Configuration

The Order’s grooming of Aidan is best illustrated by how they lend him the Genesis Configuration and mentor him on its usage throughout the game. A catalyst of immense power, this occult device has the ability to manipulate the world around you and can channel energy from the Labyrinth dimension itself.

Across your adventure, you’ll rely on it to solve all kinds of problems. For instance, it can be used in environmental puzzles to rotate bridges, levitate structures, and transfer heat from one source to another. As its name suggests, it can also be reconfigured into various shapes to act as a kind of skeleton key for doors with differently profiled locks.

Of course, being a gift from the Cenobites, the box’s main purpose is to inflict immeasurable pain. When wielded creatively, it makes for a more devastating weapon than any conventional firearm in your inventory.

Alas, the Genesis Configuration will only reveal these combat functions to users who manage to successfully woo it. When you’re in the awkward early phase, you’ll be limited to psychically flinging a few projectiles around. However, once you’ve impressed the box with your voracious appetite for destruction and completed the necessary courting ritual, it will let you get past first base.

At that point, you’ll be able to cast blistering fireball spells, execute grisly finishers, and perform ultimate attacks that summon chains from the Labyrinth to literally rip everybody to shreds. A delicious power trip, it makes you feel like a Cenobite in training and does a very persuasive job of luring you to the dark side! Indeed, every time you enter a room and see that the floor is littered with circular sawblades, propellers and open flames — just seductively waiting to be launched into a cultist’s head — it’s guaranteed to bring a wicked grin to your face.

Telekinesis might not be anything new in video games, but the grisly, uniquely Hellraiser way in which it’s implemented here is novel. It reminded us of the fun gimmicks that defined a lot of shooters in the Xbox 360 era, such as Singularity’s time manipulation device, Dark Sector’s elemental glaive, or, to evoke another Clive Barker property, Jericho’s body hopping.

Like them, the box is incredibly versatile and can be abused by players with twisted imaginations. Case in point, we once laid a bear trap behind an enemy and then giddily catapulted them into it with a projectile railway spike. Another time, we used telekinesis to douse a field of monsters in gasoline and then promptly switched to pyrokinesis to set them all ablaze.

There are some supremely inventive combat arenas in the late game as well that are built explicitly around the configuration’s powers. One example has you taking advantage of a certain booby trap and bending it to your will, so that you can wipe out hordes upon hordes of creatures without wasting a single bullet.

A Worthy Journey Into the Labyrinth with Some Minor Hiccups

There are a lot of these ingeniously designed and varied set-pieces in Revival. A mid-game cabin siege introduces Call of Duty Zombies mechanics out of the blue, with you boarding up windows and frantically trying to defend all possible entry points. Then there’s a great bit where Aidan finds himself trapped in a suspended cage, fending off leaping ghouls that try and claw at him through the bars.

Whenever you explore the Labyrinth, you’re inevitably put through a series of gruelling obstacle courses that resemble Wipeout challenges, as devised by the Marquis de Sade, all meat grinders, spiked ceiling traps and lacerating whirligigs.

The enemy roster is equally diverse. In lieu of the Order of the Gash, you’ll be going toe to toe with the Scarlet Church, as well as with their failed attempts to create “angels” in the image of the Cenobites. These rejected martyrs take on a number of increasingly gruesome guises as the campaign rolls on, ranging from towering gimps to manacled homunculi and a slug-like beast that’s an amalgamation of human flesh, demon cast-offs, and the metallic structure of an iron maiden. They’re extremely imaginative wretches, and their constant evolution prevents the scenarios from ever getting stale.

Special mention should also go to the freaky (in every sense of the word) boss fights. In terms of visual design, arena layouts, and mechanics, there’s not a dud in the set. One particular standout is a recurring battle against a deranged artist whose skin has been flayed and whose condition visually deteriorates as you subject him to every punishment under the sun. But don’t discount the thrilling duel with a masochistic mutant susceptible only to fire attacks, and whose lair is conveniently an arsonist’s wet dream, or the winged dominatrix who seems to think she’s providing a service as she pounds you into oblivion.

Yet for all of its many, many positives, Revival isn’t completely without sin. Compared to his retinue of colorful minions — all of whom have fascinating personalities and backstories — the head of the Scarlet Church is a disappointingly vanilla antagonist.

Meanwhile, the obligatory crafting mechanic adds nothing to the experience, and yields such meagre rewards that it barely feels worth it. The stealth is similarly half-baked and, during at least one frustrating encounter, didn’t work as intended with our hunter blanking every distraction and somehow perceiving us through solid objects. On that note, we did experience our share of AA jank throughout, most notably in the form of missing audio and textures.

These technical hiccups can be forgiven to an extent and will likely be patched out by the time of release. Nevertheless, they did impact our experience somewhat, and we can’t just let that slide.

It is a testament to how much we enjoyed Hellraiser: Revival, however, that niggles like these didn’t dull our enthusiasm for it one iota. On the contrary, we’re remarkably fond of this sleazy little title. Perhaps more than it objectively deserves.

But, man, the action is just so satisfyingly brutal; it’s thoroughly debauched in all the right ways, its visual imagination is messed up, and it’s got an astute understanding of what makes Clive Barker’s world so enthralling. More than anything, though, we just loved its sheer commitment to the bit.

Review code provided by publisher. Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is out now for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC via Steam.

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