Movies
‘Johnny Gruesome’ Trailer Doesn’t Rock
Red Hill Movies LLC released the first trailer for Johnny Gruesome, the upcoming horror thriller based on the award-winning novel by Gregory Lamberson (Slime City, Killer Rack), who directed the film adaptation in Western New York last July.
Johnny Gruesome is the story of a murdered high school student, Johnny Grissom, who returns from the grave for revenge in classic E.C. Comics’ fashion.
Anthony De La Torre (Lords of Chaos) stars as the title character in makeup created by Craig Lindberg (SNL, Boardwalk Empire). The trailer looks raw and boasts footage that feels unfinished. While the character Johnny Gruesome looks cool, the footage feels like a Troma film and carries some questionable special effects. I cringed a few times…
Byron Brown II (The Romans) co-stars as Johnny’s guilt-wracked best friend, singer-songwriter Aprilann portrays Johnny’s girlfriend, and Michael DeLorenzo (star of TV’s New York Undercover and Resurrection Boulevard) plays his grief-stricken father. The cast also includes Chris Modrzynski, Kim Piazza, Richard Lounello and Madison Amey.
Lamberson co-produced Johnny Gruesome with Tamar Lamberson and John R. Renna, who has a role in the film. De La Torre serves as associate producer, and Erin Elizabeth Heald is the executive producer. Chris Cosgrave and John Vincent (Freaked) created the visual effects, and Armand Petri and Joe Rozler are composing the score. The soundtrack includes songs from the Gruesome rock CD created by Dean Italiano and Giasone Italiano to promote the novel, which was based on the original screenplay Lamberson wrote in 1984.
After multiple delays, Blumhouse Atomic Monster finally launches the newest android that is sure to light your fire while keeping you on the edge of your seat: SOULM8TE is set to release soon.
SOULM8TE arrives on Digital on August 1, 2026, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Lily Sullivan (Evil Dead Rise, Monolith) stars alongside Claudia Doumit (“The Boys”). The spinoff is described as a ’90s-style erotic thriller with a “new technological twist.”
David Rysdahl also stars in the upcoming SOULM8TE.
The film follows “a man (Rysdahl) who acquires an Artificially Intelligent android (Sullivan) to help him cope with the recent loss of his wife. In an attempt to create a truly sentient partner, the man inadvertently turns a harmless lovebot into a deadly soulmate.”
Kate Dolan (You Are Not My Mother) directs. The filmmaker rewrote an original draft from Rafael Jordan (Salvage Marines), based on a story by James Wan, Ingrid Bisu and Jordan.
“When Blumhouse Atomic Monster first approached me about an erotic thriller set in the M3GAN-verse, I thought, are you insane? But something drew me in. We exist in a bizarre time where companies sell us ‘connection’ through apps, algorithms, and AI. Yet those are the same forces pulling us apart. The lonelier we get, the more dependent we become on the tools doing the pulling,” states Dolan. “SOULM8TE is a movie about that vicious cycle. It is a satirical, unhinged movie that explores desire, obsession, autonomy, and control. It’s a movie that knows how ridiculous it is, and I’d argue it’s best watched the way you’d watch Basic Instinct or Showgirls now, with friends, a drink in hand, and zero shame about shouting at the screen.”
Producer and Blumhouse Atomic Monster CEO, Jason Blum says, “Kate Dolan has expertly blended tech paranoia with erotic thriller in SOULM8TE, which is just as fun as that sounds, but also has more on its mind than you might think.”
Watch the new trailer below that unleashes a new killer AI bot, this time for an older demographic. SOULM8TE is rated “R” for “Strong violence, gore, sexual content, graphic nudity, and language.”
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