Movies
Crowley (Chemical Wedding) (V)
“As audience we’re left with little more than a script that’s obviously made out of love or fascination for Crowley’s writings, but that the uninitiated will have no chance of finding their feet in.”
If you have just a slight horror-fan in you, you will most likely have heard the name Aleister Crowley. A mystic, almost mythological person nowadays, Crowley is basically the father of modern occultism, satanism, Scientology and so on. Now I’m not one who has read his books, studied his person or engaged in his magic rituals, but hey, like everyone I’m intrigued by this guy. So without knowing to much about the actual person Crowley I sat through Julian Doyle and Bruce Dickinson’s “Chemical Wedding”. I figured a movie directed by Terry Gilliam’s editor and written by the lead singer of Iron Maiden had to at least be interesting.
Phooey, was I wrong! Absolutely nothing is done right here. Literally everything, from acting and direction through script, tempo, music, locations and casting is just basically wrong. The premise is fun, Dickinson’s script taking offset in the idea of Crowley’s spirit inhabiting a boring Cambridge University professor, but the execution is a complete misfire. I mean, I really want to say something positive here. I’m totally in love with the idea, I know there’s a lot of metaphysical reference going on in the script and there are loads of insider Crowley-nods to the annointed, but as an outsider this was just boring cliche to me. After watching I have no idea how ironic the filmmakers intended to be, because this feels like a classic b-movie, but has way to much high-brow dialogue and to little gore to be one. Consequentially it has way to many poor acting performances and stupid Dickinson-music to be taken seriously (the music is mixed at a volume that almost makes dialogue inaudible). So I’m at a loss. I have no idea what the intention of this film has been. I was baffled watching it and my brains reaction was boredom. I couldn’t laugh even though I wanted to. I couldn’t follow the completely lame plot and I didn’t care for the characters – I wasn’t even sure who the protagonist was supposed to be.
There is a little fun to be had in the company of brit character-actor Simon Callow, who plays the fuzzy Professor Haddo who’s mind is chemically married to Aleister Crowley, but the dying torch of his performance is the only light in the darkness Doyle clumsilly tries to guide us through. Every other actor seems to be fumbling with a script that nobody really understood. The fact that no single character seems to be our main protagonist further undermines any chance of this becoming an engaging story. The second half of the film is basically the Haddo-Crowley guy and his scarred familiar trying to bag this redhead reporter for some ritual, but watching it I wasn’t sure which side I was routing on. That basically goes for the entire film. Two many balls are in play, making it impossible to find a dramatic foothold and engage in the film. As audience we’re left with little more than a script that’s obviously made out of love or fascination for Crowley’s writings, but that the uninitiated will have no chance of finding their feet in.
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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