Movies
From Within (Horrorfest 09) (V)
“FROM WITHIN continues After Dark’s trend of buying up horror films that aren’t necessarily bottom-of-the-barrel offerings, as much as they’re undaring and mediocre (i.e. stuff that no one else would buy). Usually AD manages to produce one diamond in the rough per Horrorfest, but this one certainly isn’t it.”
A good religion-based horror film is hard to come by. For every FRAILTY, there’s always a LOST SOULS, BLESS THE CHILD and STIGMATA that precedes it. FROM WITHIN, the latest effort from cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (W, 3:10 TO YUMA), employs the often-used subject of fanaticism, which, in theory, should work since almost everyone hates fire-and-brimstone practitioners. However, much like a lot of its contemporaries, the religious aspect does nothing but work side-by-side with terrible acting and poor writing to deliver a ham-fisted message of an otherwise interesting subject.
Grovestown is your typical Bible-belt town, where the church rules over everything and anything that doesn’t fit into their definition of normal is considered satanic and must be “dealt with” in the name of God. After the suicides of Sean (Shiloh Fernandez) and Natalie (Rumer Willis), the town accuses Sean and Aiden’s (Thomas Dekker) family of putting a curse on the town for their mother’s death a few years prior, after she was unjustly convicted of killing a local. Lindsay (Elizabeth Rice) comes to Aiden’s rescue after being beat up by her boyfriend, Dylan (Kelly Blatz), who spouts out one-liners like, “Thy pain is thy cleansing”, as a justification for harming others as part of God’s will.
Befriending Aiden costs Lindsay her reputation and she soon becomes the town outcast, being ridiculed and shunned by everyone, including her alcoholic stepmother, Trish (Laura Allen). As more and more suicides begin to pile up in Grovestown, Lindsay uncovers the truth behind the mysterious deaths and must help Aiden stop a curse that, if allowed to run its full course, could very well bring about the apocalypse.
FROM WITHIN isn’t attempting to reinvent the wheel with its secret-in-a-small-town angle, nor is it trying to tackle the concept of fundamentalists vs. outcasts in a way that hasn’t been done similarly or better in the last 10 years, and that’s the problem. I get that as long as people unjustly persecute others simply because they’re different, we’re going to get films like FROM WITHIN until the end of time, and I’m okay with that, as long as they give me something to latch onto: compelling characters, good performances, an interesting twist, or, really, just anything to make it different. FROM WITHIN feels so determined to just be an average, run-of-the-mill X-FILES episode, without Mulder and Scully, that I can’t help but hold its plain-Jane attitude against it. The chemistry between the characters feels forced and unconvincing, with the actors delaying their reactions in a manner that is the exact opposite of the phrase, “cat-like reflexes.” The supernatural element of the film is heavily influenced by J-Horror, creating a JUON and RINGU-like scenario, and even going as far as to give it the appearance of the SHUTTER entity. The plot points are particularly lazy and uninspired, as two of the characters are placed in the film just long enough to move the entity from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible, while we’re left scratching our heads as to if there was ever another reason to use them, other than to be cannon fodder.
FROM WITHIN continues After Dark’s trend of buying up horror films that aren’t necessarily bottom-of-the-barrel offerings, as much as they’re undaring and mediocre (i.e. stuff that no one else would buy). Usually AD manages to produce one diamond in the rough per Horrorfest, but this one certainly isn’t it.
This week kicked off with the release of hippo horror movie Hungry at home, and four more horror movies have arrived for at-home viewing as we head into the final weekend of June.
Here are the new horror movies that released on Friday, June 26, 2026!
The Halloween season can no longer be contained to the months of September and October, with “Summerween” becoming a thing in recent years. Essentially, it allows for Halloween to bleed into the warmer Summer months, and the first ever Summerween movie has arrived.
The Asylum released Summerween onto Digital outlets today.
In the film from writer/director Ryan Ebert, “On Summerween, a former circus clown escapes a mental institution to return to his abandoned mansion and hunt the teens partying there.”
Cole Chapleski, Chase Breithoff, Logan Roe, Sophia Sabol, and Clint Morrison star.
Director Ryan Ebert is the man behind a string of recent indie horrors we’ve covered, including Shark Side of the Moon, The Jolly Monkey, Jurassic Reborn, and Predator: Wastelands.
A witchy coming-of-age story from Dark Sky Films, Camp is now playing in select theaters.
Check your local listings to find a theater near you.
Camp is from writer-director Avalon Fast (Honeycomb, The Serpent’s Skin).
“Emily is the root cause of two devastating tragedies very early in her life, and she feels the weight of these accidents as though cursed. At her father’s suggestion, she takes a position at a summer camp for troubled youth to ease her guilt. When Emily arrives, she is welcomed by the other counselors, who accept her as she is and surround her with peace and forgiveness.
“As Emily begins to believe in a new kind of life, she starts to hear a voice whispering from deep in the woods — one that urges her to go home, and one that may be impossible to ignore.”
The film stars Zola Grimmer in her screen debut alongside Alice Wordsworth, Cherry Moore, Lea Rose Sebastianis (Castration Movie Part 1 & 2, In A Violent Nature), Ella Reece, Austyn Van de Kamp (This Too Shall Pass), Sophie Bawks-Smith (Honeycomb), Izza Jarvis, and Aiden Laudersmith.
Producers Tyler Perry and Jason Blum have joined forces for Peacock Original Strung.
The film is now streaming only on Peacock.
“A talented violinist takes a prestigious job as a music tutor for the gifted daughter of an influential and enigmatic family. As she becomes entangled in their opulent world, unsettling secrets begin to surface, forcing her to question her safety, her dreams, and even her sanity.”
Malcolm D. Lee (Scary Movie 5, Space Jam: A New Legacy) directs from a script written by Alan B. McElroy (Wrong Turn, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers).
Chloe Bailey (“Swarm“), Lynn Whitfield (Jaws: The Revenge), Lucien Laviscount (“Scream Queens”), Anna Diop (Us), Coco Jones (Vampires vs. the Bronx), Langley Kirkwood (“Banshee”), and Romy Woods star in Peacock’s Strung.
Produced by Diablo Cody, director Meredith Alloway’s Forbidden Fruits brought a new coven of witches to the big screen earlier this year, and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
Lola Tung (“The Summer I Turned Pretty”), Victoria Pedretti (“The Haunting of Hill House”), Alexandra Shipp (Tragedy Girls), Gabrielle Union (Breaking In), and Emma Chamberlain star in Forbidden Fruits, released by IFC and Shudder.
Free Eden employee Apple secretly runs a witchy femme cult in the basement of the mall store after hours. But when new hire Pumpkin challenges the group’s ‘girl boss’ ways, the women are forced to face their own poisons or succumb to a bloody fate.
“Forbidden Fruits grabbed me by the neck the very first time I read it,” Diablo Cody said. “It’s one of the craziest, most creative, beautifully bonkers projects I’ve ever worked on.”
Meagan Navarro writes in her review for Bloody Disgusting, “Forbidden Fruits may not necessarily forge new terrain in the teen satire space, but Alloway brings so much style and energy to her well-cast single-location stage play adaptation for the Gen Z crowd.”
The film is an adaptation of playwright Lily Houghton’s stage play Of the Women Came the Beginning of Sin and Through Her We All Die. Alloway and Houghton co-adapted.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by HUNGRY.
All aboard the swamp tour from hell – this hippo isn’t playing games…
HUNGRY is now available on Digital. Watch it now!
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