Movies
TV: Action-Packed ‘The Walking Dead’ 30-Second Promo
*Updated with a new “dispatches from the set” as director Michelle MacLaren (pictured below) describes planning a zombie attack with military precision and why she’d prefer being eaten by ticks over seeing a fake rat. Interview inside!
Airing during last night’s “Breaking Bad”, AMC shared with viewers a new action-packed 30-second promo from the upcoming second season of The Walking Dead, which premieres Oct. 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC.
Returning for 13-episodes this October, “‘The Walking Dead’ tells the story of the weeks and months that follow a pandemic zombie apocalypse. County Sheriff Rick Grimes travels with his family and a small group of survivors, constantly in search of a safe and secure home. But the constant pressure of fighting off death on a daily basis takes a heavy toll, sending many to the lowest depths of human cruelty. As Rick struggles to keep his family alive, he will discover that the overwhelming fear of the survivors can be far more dangerous than the mindless walkers roaming the earth.”
Q: You directed the second episode of Season 1, “Guts.” What’s it like to go from downtown Atlanta to a rural farm?
A: There’s a lot more bugs! And there’s ticks! And gnats! And I’m covered in Deet all the time! I loaded up in Los Angeles, and I’m wearing all the bug-sprayed clothing that Amazon.com has been kindly delivering to me. But I would say that the biggest difference is the beauty, really. In the city, it has its own beauty but it has a lot of concrete and it was very hard and very severe: Skyscrapers, hard cement, that kind of thing. And then you come out here and you’re in this gorgeous location — everywhere you look is stunning, and I love the contrast to the horrible zombie world that we’re in. So you’ve got the stark contrast between beauty and post-apocalyptic zombies and death.
Q: You’ve directed several episodes of (and are an Executive Producer on) AMC’s Breaking Bad, which is known for depicting vast landscapes. Does this feel like more familiar territory?
A: We do shoot a lot in the desert in Breaking Bad. And there’s a lot of starkness and it’s gorgeous and a lot of light. Actually, I was looking at the light here the other day and it reminded me of New Mexico. It’s just stunning when the sun’s setting and rising. And a large part of that are the golden browns in the fields here.
Q: Last season you had to contend with rats. Which is worse: rats or bugs?
A: [Laughs] I knew you were going to ask me that. Hmm. I don’t know, we haven’t shot in the swamps yet. We went into the swamp to scout, and our driver Will had shorts and a T-shirt on. And we had to traipse through bushes and things like that. And Will is actually a biologist and he was telling us all about it and I was asking him about ticks while we were walking through these bushes, and he goes, “See, I’ve got ticks on me right now,” and he took 10 ticks off his body. Also, the other day I was giving Jon Bernthal [Shane] notes and he pulled a tick off my neck. That was pretty gross. But rats were pretty bad, I have to say. Funny enough, I’d probably rather deal with this than rats. Greg Nicotero came up to me at lunch one day to show me the fake rat for approval, and I turned around and I just screamed. [Laughs]
Q: Your episode of The Walking Dead this season features a large action set-piece. How does it compare to the action scenes you’ve done on Breaking Bad?
A: I actually approach both of them the same way, which is I plan everything out ahead of time, like a military operation, basically. In order to really pull this off you’ve gotta be really prepared. This one is different, though, because there are a lot more people. I looked at the call sheet and I have never seen so many people on a call sheet before. You’ve got your cast, then you’ve got your hero zombies, then you’ve got your stunt zombies, and suddenly the entire page is filled with actors. It’s a challenge, because it’s a lot of coverage.
Q: What are some strategies you’ve picked up for filming such a complicated scene with so many people?
A: We actually had to think of a lot more logisitics: The amount of time it takes for the makeup, the amount of time it takes to resquib, the amount of people that we have to cover. So we came up with a plan to have different groups of zombies so that while we shoot one group we’re squibbing the other, and while we’re resquibbing the first group we turn around and shoot coverage on the shooters. I don’t think you’re gonna get everything you need unless you approach it that way. But also — and this is the hard part for me — you have to let go of some of your shots. Because you’re not going to get everything. So right before lunch we got a fair amount of squibbing, but we don’t have everything that I would like to have. But we made the decision to move on to the next piece of the puzzle, so at the very least we get the basic story and we can cut it together. And then hopefully, we can have enough time to go back and get some more zombie squibbing later.
Q: Your first The Walking Dead episode was named for its gore; this episode has a fair amount of blood and guts as well. Are you becoming desensitized to Greg Nicotero’s handywork yet?
A: I always judge the effectiveness by the “ew” factor. I mean, it grosses me out — I love looking at it first of all for the story, I know it’s not real, but if I’m grossed out by it, that’s awesome. I suppose I’m not used to it… I’m still not used to it, but I love it.
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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