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[Telluride Horror Show Review] ‘Scare Package’ is a Horror-Comedy Anthology That Gives Us the Goods

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Horror comedies are tricky, and horror anthologies are tricky. Horror-comedy anthologies, then, make for an extra thorny endeavor, one with booby traps around every corner. Is the scary-to-funny ratio in check? Does the wraparound device tie in every piece while also working on its own merits? Is there a weak link segment that will be relegated to the default bathroom break?

Scare Package, from writers and directors Aaron B. Koontz, Courtney Andujar and Hillary Andujar, Anthony Cousins, Emily Hagins, Chris McInroy, Noah Segan and Baron Vaughn, takes on just such a thorny endeavor and succeeds with brio. It’s got seven segments and a wraparound, and I’ll be damned if each entry isn’t hilarious and disgusting in its own right. Okay, Scare Package is never quite scary, but it’s gross as hell – slimy, sticky and squirty practical effects are provided by Satanic Panic and Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich’s Tate Steinsiek – and there are no easy bathroom breaks in this anthology. You may not miss a jump scare that will stay with you once your head hits the pillow, but you’ll definitely miss a couple dozen laughs or so.

First, we’ve got the aptly titled “Cold Open,” by My Sucky Teen Romance’s Hagins, and it’s a meta-meets-meta puzzle box chuckler about a horror film stock background character who aspires to more. Then we’re introduced to the framing device, Koontz’s “Rad Chad’s Horror Emporium,” which takes us into a video rental store run by a Joe Bob-aping horror obsessive whose tapes make up each segment. “One Time in the Woods” started as a short that premiered at Telluride Horror Show last year, and the gooey camping trip gone awry by We Summoned a Demon’s McInroy fits right into the whole, with some of the funniest and grossest gags Scare Package has to offer. Longtime genre actor Segan (Looper, The Mind’s Eye, Starry Eyes) has his directorial debut with “M.I.S.T.E.R.,” a twisty, progressive take on the typically dude-heavy monster movie. Acclaimed production designers Courtney and Hillary Andujar (Girl on the Third Floor, Body at Brighton Rock) give us “Girls’ Night Out of Body,” an entry that belongs, as Rad Chad’s emporium tells us, squarely on the “post-modern feminist slasher body horror” shelf. Cousins’ channels the slasher sequel in “The Night He Came Back Again! Part IV: The Final Kill,” and Vaughn creates a CW series-within-a-segment I’m dying to see in his snarky take on spoiler culture “So Much To Do.” Finally, Camera Obscura’s Koontz (who guided the overall production of the film) returns for Scare Package’s extremely satisfying Cabin in the Woods­-riffing conclusion, “Horror Hypothesis.”

That’s a lot, right? And yet it doesn’t feel like it when you’re watching Scare Package. Each segment rolls neatly into the next, with every filmmaker maintaining a unique but cohesive tone that keeps the film fun, propulsive and easy to watch. There’s a diverse array of perspectives here, and the anthology feels fresher and more inclusive than many of its ilk. It is, as Koontz laughingly pointed out in his intro, ridiculously self-aware, but never obnoxiously so. Yeah, Scare Package is gory and silly as hell, but this is a movie made by people who love horror movies for people who love horror movies. It’s charmingly aware of the tropes that make up the genre it cherishes, and it leans into them with heart, blood, entrails and laughs. You’ll have a good time with Scare Package – and you should hit up the bathroom beforehand, because you won’t find any weak links here.

Meredith Borders is the Managing Editor of FANGORIA and a freelance writer and editor living in Houston, where she owns a brewery and restaurant with her husband.

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‘Humane’ Exclusive Clip Sees Emily Hampshire Weigh Killer Odds in Caitlin Cronenberg’s Feature Debut

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Humane clip - Jay Baruchel and Emily Hampshire

The daughter of horror master David Cronenberg, Caitlin Cronenberg, is making her own mark in the genre filmmaking space with Humane, a dark horror satire set in an overpopulated world with grim government sanctions. We’ve got a new exclusive clip that highlights the intense stakes for a family torn apart by the government’s euthanasia program.

Humane will first be arriving in theaters courtesy of IFC Films on April 26, 2024. The film later comes home to Shudder July 26.

The film is described as “a dystopian satire taking place over a single day, months after a global ecological collapse has forced world leaders to take extreme measures to reduce the earth’s population.”

“In a wealthy enclave, a recently retired newsman has invited his grown children to dinner to announce his intentions to enlist in the nation’s new euthanasia program. But when the father’s plan goes horribly awry, tensions flare and chaos erupts among his children.”

Jay Baruchel (This Is The End), Emily Hampshire (Schitt’s Creek), Peter Gallagher (Grace and Frankie), Sebastian Chacon (Emergency), Alanna Bale (Sort Of, Cardinal) and Sirena Gulamgaus (Transplant) will star in Caitlin Cronenberg’s Humane.

Watch the exclusive clip below, which sees ruthless older sibling Rachel York (Emily Hampshire) weighing her odds, both for survival and the family inheritance. With the family forced to make an unthinkable choice, the clip sets up the tense scenario and the film’s dark sense of humor.

“Caitlin has crafted a provocative directorial debut exuding a timeliness and evocative social critique that highlights one of the most assured and exciting new voices to contend with,” Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks’ Film Group, said. “We are honored to distribute Caitlin’s first full-length feature for its theatrical release and presence on our streaming platform, Shudder.”

“With ‘Humane,’ Caitlin has delivered a wickedly smart, humorous and socially relevant thriller with exceptional performances from its outstanding cast,” added Emily Gotto, Shudder’s VP of global acquisitions & co-productions. “We can’t wait to share this chilling, prescient satire with Shudder members.”

Michael Sparaga wrote the script and also produces the movie.

Humane poster

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