Movies
Blood River (Adam Mason’s) (V)
“RIVER is a genre-blending mind-f*ck that will give the viewer a taste of the Old West along with their blood-soaked drama. The film finds a way to be intense from start to finish leaving the flaws few and far between. Mason had delivered a rare indie film that everyone should be looking forward to.”
The American Film Market has left a bad taste in my mouth. After covering the event for the past four years it’s become apparent that 99% of the films being sold there are complete crap. With that said, there’s still that 1% that shine. Last year the Spanish horror flick [REC] blew all of our minds, while this year the honor goes to Adam Mason’s BLOOD RIVER, a low budget horror-thriller shot under the radar.
Reteaming Mason with writer Simon Boyes (Broken, The Devil’s Chair), BLOOD RIVER also reunites Mason with DEVIL’S CHAIR star Andrew Howard, who deserved a lot more credit than was given to him in our review of the film. Co–written by Boyes and Mason, RIVER is a psychological thriller, which explores the destruction of a young couple’s seemingly perfect marriage when they become stranded in the desert with another man by the name of Joseph (Howard).
Without a shadow of a doubt, BLOOD RIVER is Adam Mason’s best film yet proving that this young director insists on learning from his previous mistakes and translating the lessons into his new films. What’s so incredibly astonishing about his latest film is how minimal the locations are and yet somehow the film remains interesting from start to finish. Boyes and Mason deliver a solid screenplay that’s exposition heavy, but done in such a way that it carries the film instead of hindering it.
Without a solid actor to carry the film on his shoulders, a film loaded with so much chitchat could easily become a mega-disaster. Thankfully, Mason brought back Andrew Howard who plays his role with such dedication that it’s impossible to imagine that he’s anyone BUT Joseph, the seemingly sociopathic killer that’s stringing the married couple along for one hell of a ride.
Mason’s directing style, blended with phenomenal cinematography, deliver a dark, desert-like yellow gritty look that puts the viewer on immediate edge the second the first frame hits the screen. For such a low budget film, it’s incredible some of the shots Mason delivers as he makes it look like he had a crew of a 1,000.
And while BLOOD RIVER finds a way of blasting some Old Testament in your face, it’s never preaching to the viewer. The delivery is focused on the characters in the film and solely on them. At no point do you feel as if Boyes and Mason are trying to teach you a lesson (like that piece of crap HOUSE).
RIVER is a genre-blending mind-f*ck that will give the viewer a taste of the Old West along with blood-soaked drama. The film finds a way to be intense from start to finish leaving the flaws few and far between (some scenes run a bit too long). Mason had delivered a rare indie film that everyone should be looking forward to and I only expect more from his film.
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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