Movies
House (V)
“Completing Roadside Attractions’ HOUSE was physically draining, which is something a viewer should never have to endure when in theaters. The adaptation of the novel by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker is preachy, whiney and painfully cliché.”
*Major spoilers follow…
Completing Roadside Attractions’ HOUSE was physically draining, which is something a viewer should never have to endure when in theaters. The adaptation of the novel by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker is preachy, whiney and painfully cliché.
In the film Jack (Reynaldo Rosales) and Stephanie (Heidi Dippold) become stranded at the Wayside Inn where they meet another couple who also had some “car issues”. Immediately the family who own the inn (Bill Moseley and Leslie Easterbrook) get pushy and pull out their creepy cards. The “dinner table scene” is uncomfortable and leads us to believe our hosts are a little off their rockers. After a little altercation, Stephanie storms out of the dining room only to be stopped at the front door by a killer known as “The Tin Man”. The killer eventually gets his message into the house via a tin can:
House Rules:
1. God came into my house and I killed him.
2. I will kill anyone who comes to my house
like I killed God.
3. Bring me one dead body and I might let
rule #2 slide.
Immediately following, weird things begin to happen and our stranded couples are confronted with their own personal demons. This little horror film becomes a tale of redemption and letting go of sin (sigh). While the couples have visions of their tormented past, they also are fighting to stay away from the demonic family who possess the Wayside Inn. The demons are trying to force the couples to kill each other, to accept the rules posted on the tin can.
Cue pale stupid girl, who is attempting to help the couples make the “right decision”. She explains to them that they don’t have to kill each other, they don’t have to follow the rules and can defeat the Tin Man. How can they defeat him? Well, light kills darkness. Did you know that?! Following a few corny twists, our Tin Man is revealed and kills our ghostly girl ally. Then guess what happens? The light explodes killing the dark! Talk about a total cop out, unless your only goal is to tell the audience that light always beats dark, even if it makes no sense. But wait, there’s more! When Jack and Stephanie exit the Wayside Inn after watching someone else defeat the Tin Man, they arrive back at their cars to discover that they’ve been blown up… and that they’re dead. They were in the middle plain the whole time fighting for their lives!
If I hadn’t seen this in REEKER, DEAD END and about 600 other movies it might have been interesting, but the fact of the matter is this was a bland, tasteless, generic horror film only constructed to teach us a lesson about living our lives without sin and making the right decisions. I go to see movies to be entertained – not to be told what do to or how to live my life. Maybe if the message had been covered by with a unique plot and wasn’t slammed in my face I could have handled it… but no, probably not.
Beyond the story that didn’t make a lick of sense, the acting was astoundingly horrid (with the exception of the always fantastic Bill Moseley) and the directing was so safely done that every shot was laid out like a made-for-TV movie. There’s not a single thing that can be recommended in this film and it’s suggested you avoid it at all costs – even on DVD.
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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