Movies
[Fantastic Fest ’13 Review] ‘Almost Human’ A Gory Throwback That Really Hits Its Marks!
You know who’s awesome? John Carpenter. You know what’s awesome? Aliens. You know where’s awesome? New England. You know who knows all of these things? Writer/director Joe Begos and producer/actor/sound designer Josh Ethier. Well, obviously other people know how awesome all of those things are and knew how much a combination of all of these things would appeal to genre fans. It might be the Massachusetts in me, but seeing a big bearded guy roam around the woods and murdering people really made me feel homesick.
Seth (Graham Skipper) rushes over to his friend Mark’s (Ethier) house to tell him about seeing a friend of theirs vanish in front of him, only to have Mark disappear in a giant blue light as well. Two years later, Seth and Mark’s girlfriend Jen (Vanessa Leigh) are trying to move on with their lives with varying success. Jen has gotten engaged, but Seth still has nightmares and unexplainable nosebleeds. A group of hunters stumble across Mark’s body in the woods, naked, and full of life. Well, full of life might be an overstatement, but he’s not dead. When he comes to, he’s super pissed and starts blazing a trail of murder and bearded fury on his way back home. It’s unclear exactly what’s happened to Mark and where he’s been, other than aliens of course, but even the people closest to him are at risk. There’s blood, screams, aliens, parasitic incubations, and some hot alien tongue to bathing suit area action in this sci-fi/slasher mash up.
Almost Human combines a lot of really fun stuff and brings in things that we’ve seen before in low budget horror films and really pulls it off well. A lot of low budget films resort on slashers because as long as you come up with a few cool effects, it doesn’t really matter why or how these events take place because story and dialogue doesn’t cost any money. All of the kills in the film (which use basically every object you could think of being available in Maine in 1987) are really fun and done really well, so I could easily see Almost Human having been another average slasher. Instead, it was really refreshing to see the filmmakers take sci-fi elements, which generally don’t do well in a low budget setting, and really changes the tone of the whole thing.
Casting is another challenge that low budget films face, but the whole cast is really played to their strengths. Skipper’s presence as a paranoia-filled eccentric should come as no surprise, given his theatrical representation of Re-Animator’s Herbert West. Different from a lot of similar films, it was interesting to see that it wasn’t the female love interest grasping to the memory of Mark, but rather the best friend. And when you need a bearded giant tearing ass through the woods with an axe, it’s pretty convenient that a film’s producer quite naturally takes to being a bearded giant tearing ass through the woods. Almost Human isn’t something we’ve never seen before, but it took a lot of elements familiar to genre fans and brought them together in a deliberate way. Just barely hitting the 80 minute mark, with credits, Almost Human is a gory throwback that really hits its marks and makes you want to follow it with a John Carpenter marathon.
You can also read Mike Pereira’s review out of TIFF here.
For more reactions out of Fantastic Fest and plenty more caps lock nonsense, make sure to follow @TheWolfman on Twitter!
July may not be as densely packed with horror releases as May, but it brings one of the year’s most anticipated titles along with a few new surprises and a long-awaited return of a visionary director.
It’s also the month of sharks. July marks the return of Shark Week, and horror is following suit accordingly with new shark horror.
Here are five new horror movies releasing in July 2026.
Lockbox – In Theaters July 3
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, adapting Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
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.
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.”
Watch the official trailer for Lockbox below.
Evil Dead Burn – In Theaters July 10
After shattering nerves with spider creature feature Infested, director Sébastien Vaniček will unleash Deadite carnage in what might be a continuation of Evil Dead Rise. The filmmaker co-wrote the screenplay with Florent Bernard.
Evil Dead Burn is said to “unleash the franchise’s most savage and terrifying ride to date, blazing onto big screens with an all-new chapter of carnage and demonic mayhem.”
Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, and Hunter Doohan lead the cast of the brand new Evil Dead movie alongside Luciane Buchanan, Errol Shand and Maude Davey.
In the film, “After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home. As one by one they are transformed into Deadites—turning the gathering into a family reunion from hell—she comes to discover that the vows she took in life… live on even in death.”
Watch the official trailer for Evil Dead Burn below.
The Bay – In Theaters and on VOD July 17
Thanks to Jaws, July belongs to shark horror and the next shark attack horror movie swimming our way this summer features an animatronic shark that’s been created by SFX and animatronics company Bischoff’s.
“I’m delighted with the scale and performances we’ve delivered onscreen,” writer/director Phil Volken said. “The Bay’s going to completely immerse and terrify audiences worldwide!”
Francesca Eastwood (M.F.A., Clawfoot), Alexander Wraith, Dani Oliveros, and Ta’imua star.
In The Bay, “When their tour boat sinks in a shark sanctuary, two best friends must fight for survival to escape the shark-infested waters.”
Watch the official trailer for The Bay below.
Pinocchio Unstrung – In Theaters July 24
The “Poohniverse” continues to expand, this time with a gory reimagining of a certain little wooden puppet. Rhys Frake-Waterfield (Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey) writes and directs the fifth entry in the Twisted Childhood Universe, following Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and its sequel, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, and Bambi: The Reckoning.
Richard Brake (Barbarian) stars in Pinocchio Unstrung as the obsessive Geppetto, with horror icon Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street) as the voice of Cricket.
Pinocchio is voiced by Jude Evan Lloyd and brought to life via a practical animatronic created by Todd Masters (“Tales from the Crypt,” Slither). Cameron Bell, Jessica Balmer, Jack Art Gray, and Peter De Souza-Feighoney round out the horror movie’s cast.
Pinocchio Unstrung unfolds “inside an elite London prep school. Created by Geppetto and influenced by a sinister Cricket, Pinocchio launches a violent crusade to carve himself into a real boy like his brother, one piece at a time…”
Watch the official trailer for Pinocchio Unstrung below.
Her Private Hell – In Theaters July 24
The Neon Demon director Nicolas Winding Refn gives his visionary spin on giallo film with his first feature in a decade, co-written with Esti Giordani (“Vida”). Pino Donaggio (Carrie, Don’t Look Now) composed the score. Expect vibrant style here.
Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackets”), Charles Melton (“Riverdale”), Kristine Froseth (How to Blow Up a Pipeline), Havana Rose Liu (No Exit), and Diego Calva (Babylon) star.
The ensemble also includes Dougray Scott (Hitman), Aoi Yamada (Perfect Days), Shioli Kutsuna (Deadpool & Wolverine), and Hidetoshi Nishijima (Shin Ultraman).
In the film, “when a mysterious mist engulfs a futuristic metropolis, unleashing a deadly and elusive entity, a troubled young woman searches for her father. Her quest collides with an American GI on a harrowing odyssey to rescue his daughter from Hell.”
Watch the official teaser for Her Private Hell below.
Which of these July 2026 horror movies are you most excited for?
Other new nightmares this month include the psychological thriller Night Nurse releasing in select theaters on July 10 and dark fable Nightborn debuting on Shudder on July 31. Throwback horror Dead Media arrives in theaters on July 16 ahead of its Digital release on July 28, while Kathryn Newton kickstarts July with YA shark horror The Devil’s Mouth on Prime Video.
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