Movies
It Came From Kuchar
“It Came From Kuchar is an important document of one man’s never ending quest to create art—whether or not you like it or not, it’s immaterial to George Kuchar. He lives and breaths cinema, it defines him, it motivates him and it has immortalized him and all his celluloid madness.”
Unless you’re a serious cinematic student of John Waters and underground trash cinema or an actual student at the Art Institute of San Francisco, the odds are you’ve never heard of George Kuchar. With 215 credited directorial films on the IMDB in a career spanning 5-decades, the only 2 notable productions that George Kuchar ever attached his name to were 1965’s Sins of the Feshapoids (which was directed by George’s twin brother Mike) and the 1975 post-modern-horror-porno-comedy Thundercrack! (Directed by Curt McDowell).
Sure, you may not know George Kuchar’s name, but the company he and his brother Mike kept as they screened 8mm opuses in the Manhattan underground included such superstars as Andy Warhol and Kenneth Anger (Hollywood Babylon). In 1971 George moved to San Francisco to teach film at the Art Institute (where he still resides). There his contemporaries included the likes of comic book artists Bill Griffith (Zippy the Pinhead) and the legendary Robert Crumb (Fritz the Cat). With a ready made cast of students at his disposal, Kuchar’s incredible output has never ceased. In fact, between 2003 and 2004, George Kuchar directed an astounding 14 short films.
The hallmarks of a Kuchar film include wildly inexplicable dialogue and situations, near surrealistic settings in worlds inhabited by women with crazy Joan Crawford eyebrows and bi-sexual men with thick, very thick, mustaches. It would really take no effort at all to draw a direct line between the characters that populate George Kuchar’s universe in the 1960’s to the Multiple Maniacs of John Waters’ 1970’s. The influence and homage are absolute fact.
Documentary filmmaker Jennifer M. Kroot gathers together an impressive array of talent and fans recount the influence of George and Mike Kuchar—including John Waters, Screenwriter Buck Henry (The Graduate), Director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter), Christopher Coppola and Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club). That such a broad and diverse band of filmmakers would call George Kuchar, friend and mentor, speaks to the genius that hides inside the addled brain of a very complex man.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of It Came From Kuchar is the breadth of interview footage with George and Mike about life experiences as varied as Mike’s trips to Tibet and George’s springtime sabbaticals to the Midwest in pursuit of his passion for Tornados. Somewhere under the barrage of dialogue that spews—almost unfiltered—from George’s brain and mouth right into the camera lens, we can catch a glimpse of an accomplished artist who can only see the world through his unique eyes.
Watching a George Kuchar interview is akin to listening to 3 different radio stations simultaneously while vacuuming and talking on the telephone. It’s a lot of information to process. It’s endlessly fascinating and mildly annoying. But, what is revealed in these interviews and indeed in the interviews with those whose careers are so much more distinguished than his—in 50-years, George Kuchar has never compromised his artistic vision. That singular vision that has plowed right through the original Underground Film movement, the Trash Cinema seventies and the No Wave/Transgressive period and landed smack dab in the new media, digital video revolution of today. It’s an unrivaled feat and the highway is littered with bizarre filmmakers that either got respectable or got lost. John Waters went on to make more or less mainstream Hollywood (or at least Baltimore) productions, Kenneth Anger stepped away from the camera for nearly 25-years. Warhol gave up filmmaking’s 15-minutes of fame abandoned the Factory and settled into the decadence of the Studio 54 set. If and when Richard Kern and Nick Zedd direct today, they rarely deliver the shocks they once shoved down throats in the early 80’s and 90’s with films like Geek Maggot Bingo and Sewing Circle. But George Kuchar is still here at 67 churning out films that are uncompromising in their surrealistic sexuality and unbridled imagination.
It Came From Kuchar is an important document of one man’s never ending quest to create art—whether or not you like it or not, it’s immaterial to George Kuchar. He lives and breaths cinema, it defines him, it motivates him and it has immortalized him and all his celluloid madness.
This week’s new releases offer everything from giant monsters to Spielberg aliens to ass-kicking martial artists and even an ash-eating medical student. Do we have your interest?
Here’s all the new genre movies that released on Friday, June 12, 2026!
These aren’t all HORROR movies, but we want you to be aware of them all the same…
Norwegian creature feature Kraken is now available on Digital.
The film was also unleashed in select theaters. Check your local listings.
In the monster movie Kraken, “unnatural behavior in wild salmon, followed by inexplicable deaths in Norway’s deepest fjord, points to the mythical Kraken. The ancient, multi-armed monster has awakened, ready to crush everything that moves or makes a sound.”
Pål Øie (The Tunnel) directs Samuel Goldwyn Films’ Kraken from a script by Vilde Eide, Kjersti Jelen Rasmussen, and Natasha Arthur. Sara Khorami, Mikkel Bratt Silset, Øyvind Brandtzæg, Jenny Evensen, Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes, Jon Erik Myre, Hans Morten Hansen, Steinar Klouman Hallert, and Filip Bargee Ramberg star.
An all girls trip into the desert for escapism fun instead implodes in violence in the revenge thriller Find Your Friends, now streaming only on Shudder.
In the film, “Amber and her four best friends flee Los Angeles for a girls’ trip in Joshua Tree, only to find themselves unwelcome in a desert town simmering with quiet hostility. As isolation sets in and encounters with aggressive locals grow more threatening, festering resentments within the group begin to surface.
“What begins as fun and reckless escape spirals into a violent struggle for control and survival, as past wounds and present dangers collide in a night that turns their trip into a nightmare.”
Bella Thorne (The Babysitter), Chloe Cherry (“Euphoria”), Helena Howard (I Saw the TV Glow), Sophia Ali (Uncharted), Zion Moreno (“Gossip Girl”), and Chris Bauer (“True Blood”) star in the feature debut by writer/director Izabel Pakzad.
Steven Spielberg is more sure today than he was when he made Close Encounters and ET that aliens are very real, and with Disclosure Day, he aims to make you a believer too.
Okay so it’s not a horror movie, but the sci-fi blockbuster is now playing in theaters.
The vague synopsis for Disclosure Day reads: “If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to seven billion people. We are coming close to Disclosure Day.”
The film stars SAG winner and Oscar® nominee Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer, A Quiet Place), Emmy and Golden Globe winner Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown), Oscar® winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Kingsman franchise), Eve Hewson (Bad Sisters, The Perfect Couple) and two-time Oscar® nominee Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, Rustin).
Based on a story by Spielberg, the screenplay is by David Koepp, whose previous work with Spielberg includes the scripts for Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Combined, those films earned more than $3 billion worldwide. Koepp also wrote the script for Jurassic World Rebirth.
Steven Spielberg is of course no stranger to extraterrestrial encounters, directing two of the greatest alien movies of all time: Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977 and E.T. in 1982. It’s an arena he returned to in 2005, directing an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds.
Here in 2026, Steven Spielberg sees hope in the existence of aliens. He notes in the final trailer for Disclosure Day, “How will disclosure change us? I believe for the better.”
Another movie that’s not a horror movie but worth mentioning here is the violent martial arts revenge thriller The Furious, which is now playing in theaters from Lionsgate.
Xie Miao (The New Legend of Shaolin) and Joe Taslim (Mortal Kombat) star.
After his daughter is kidnapped by a criminal network and he receives no help from the corrupt police, Wang Wei sets out on a rampage to find her himself.
His only ally is Navin, a relentless journalist whose wife has mysteriously disappeared. Fueled by a furious vengeance, the unlikely duo ruthlessly fights against the kidnappers.
Kenji Tanigaki (Enter the Fat Dragon) directs from a script by Mak Tin Shu (Kung Fu Jungle), Lei Zhilong, Shum Kwan Sin (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In), and Frank Hui.
A disturbing weight loss craze involving human ashes opens up a haunting world of hurt for a young woman in Saccharine, which is now available on Digital outlets at home.
From writer/director Natalie Erika James (Relic, Apartment 7A), the Australian supernatural body horror film follows lovelorn medical student Hana, who becomes terrorized by a sinister force after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes.
Midori Francis (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$), and Madeleine Madden (“The Wheel of Time”) star in Natalie Erika James’ latest nightmare.
From directors Arturo Ambriz and Roy Ambriz, I Am Frankelda is billed as the first ever full length stop motion movie from Mexico, and it’s now streaming on Netflix.
The history-making stop-motion film is a dark fantasy set in a world of monsters.
Here’s the synopsis: “In 19th-century Mexico, Frankelda is a gifted writer whose dark tales are ignored and dismissed. Forced to suppress her voice, she refuses to give up, even as many try to silence her. But when she is thrust into her subconscious, the very monsters she created come to life.
“Guided by Herneval, a tormented prince trapped between dreams and nightmares, she must restore balance between fiction and reality before both realms collapse. Meanwhile, the sinister writer Procustes and his conspirators plot to seize control. As Frankelda and Herneval grow closer, their bond becomes both a strength and a curse.
“To rewrite their fate, she must confront a love that defies existence and reclaim her power as a storyteller—before dark forces consume her imagination and reveal horrors beyond her creation.”
The directors said in a joint statement, “As brothers, we grew up inventing worlds together, drawing, playing, imagining. Over time we understood that fictional characters were not only companions but guides. Sometimes they felt closer than the people around us. They provided us courage, wisdom, and solace. We believe fiction is not an escape from reality but a way of understanding it. A way of converting truth into palatable chunks. I Am Frankelda comes from a lifelong love of storytelling.”
Mireya Mendoza, Arturo Mercado Jr., and Luis Leonardo Suarez lead the voice cast.
Meagan Navarro writes in her review for Bloody Disgusting, “Mexico’s first stop-motion animated feature is a macabre beauty.” Meagan also notes in her review, “I Am Frankelda is a gothic fantasy feature whose boundless creativity is matched by its ambition.”
The lines of reality and delusion blur in Time of Death, now available on Digital.
Michael Kelly (“The Penguin,” Dawn of the Dead 2004) stars with Kevin Pollak (End of Days), Mena Suvari (Vampires of the Velvet Lounge), and Dennis Haysbert (Send Help).
In the horror-thriller, “When a prisoner vanishes without a trace, Detective Frank Morley (Michael Kelly) is sent to a decaying prison on the verge of shutdown. What begins as a routine investigation quickly spirals into a dangerous search for answers.”
Will Wernick (Escape Room 2017, Follow Me) directs from a script by Jason Rosen. They also produce alongside Kelly Delson, Jeff Delson, and Kyle David Crosby.
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