Movies
[TV Bites] All Hands On New “Cult” Poster; “The Originals” & “Dracula” Cast Grows
Daniella Pineda, pictured, has landed a regular role in the potential “Vampire Diaries” spinoff “The Originals,” which will be introduced as an upcoming episode of TVD that airs April 25, reports Deadline. “The Originals” stars “TVD’s” Joseph Morgan, Daniel Gillies and Phoebe Tonkin reprising their roles. Written by “TVD” co-creator/executive producer Julie Plec, the show “Centers on the Original family of vampires, as Klaus (Morgan) returns to the supernatural melting pot that is the French Quarter of New Orleans — a town he helped build centuries ago — and is reunited with his diabolical former protégé Marcel. Elijah (Gillies), intent on helping his self-destructive brother find redemption, must side with Marcel’s enemies in order to keep Klaus in line.” Pineda will play Sophie, a witch whose magic has been silenced but not snuffed. A leader and a sexy, sharp-tongued social force, she is quietly sowing the seeds of a revolution amongst her peers.
Irish actress Victoria Smurfit has been tapped to play Lady Jayne in the NC’s 10-episode “Dracula,” The Hollywood Reporter reports. “The series takes place in the 1890s and finds Dracula (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) living a double life in London as an American businessman interested in bringing modern science to Victorian society. But his true plan — to exact revenge on those who burdened him centuries ago — is derailed when he falls in love with Mina (Arrow’s Jessica DeGouw), who seems to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.” Smurfit will play Lady Jayne, a fashion-forward graceful and beautiful woman instantly attracted to Dracula who pursues him.
All hands on deck for the new promo poster for CW’s “Cult,” which promises that seeing is deceiving. ““Cult” follows Jeff (Matt Davis), who’s a journalist blogger (all of us professional bloggers are extremely handsome and heroic, don’t you know, and it’s about time broadcast TV recognized it). He teams with Skye (Jessica Lucas), a production assistant on a popular television crime series called Cult, as they investigate the fans of the series who are re-creating the crimes on the show.” Added meta twist: The fictional version of Cult airs on a fictional version of The CW within the show. “Cult” premieres Tuesday, February 19.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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