Movies
‘Faceless After Dark’ Review – ‘Terrifier’ Star Jenna Kanell Slashes Toxic Fandom in Meta Horror Movie
In the wake of Terrifier‘s breakout success, star Jenna Kanell has gone on to book supporting roles in the likes of Renfield, WandaVision, The Bye Bye Man, and NCIS: New Orleans — but Art the Clown casts a long shadow. Kanell reconciles her unconventional journey while holding a mirror up to the industry in Faceless After Dark, which she co-wrote with Todd Jacobs for director Raymond Wood, both frequent collaborators.
Kanell stars as Bowie Davidson, an actress struggling to break out from the shackles of B-horror after starring in a killer clown movie. She’s no stranger to fandom — peddling herself at conventions, recording Cameo videos, combating social media harassment — but when an obsessive fanatic in a clown mask breaks into her house, Bowie assumes the role of the final girl to fight back against her oppressors.
The home invasion is ostensibly propelling toward a tense game of cat-and-mouse between Bowie and her stalker, but the plot instead swerves in an unexpected direction. Faceless After Dark ultimately lands alongside such works as Gone Girl, Midsommar, and Promising Young Woman in the “good for her” genus of movies in which women take back their autonomy on their own terms. While context varies, the protagonists’ unhinged behaviors may not be wholly justifiable, yet catharsis can be found in the perverse fantasy fulfillment.
It’s unfair to judge a movie based on what you want it to be rather than what it sets out to do, but I struggled to fully invest in Faceless After Dark‘s empowering revenge tale after its cleverly meta setup — reminiscent of New Nightmare but more grounded in reality — was abandoned. Rather than a calculated subversion akin to From Dusk Till Dawn or Barbarian, Faceless After Dark‘s narrative shift feels like two disparate concepts indiscriminately forced together.
To assuage the tonal whiplash, the film’s style subtly evolves as the story unfolds; its visual palette becomes more refined while the soundtrack progresses from scrappy punk to pulsating electronic to elegant opera. Wood assaults the viewers’ senses to illustrate Bowie’s anxieties at key moments, and impressionistic editing techniques are employed to further convey the character’s overwhelmed psyche.
Kanell made a good showing in Terrifier, but like all other aspects of that film, she was overshadowed by Art the Clown and the splattery special effects. Here, she’s given free range to shine with a raw performance. Between the script and her role, Kanell crafts a vitriolic, self-reflexive outing that addresses toxic fandom, parasocial relationships, cyberbullying, media consumption, and mental illness all while satirizing the horror genre.
Those who decry Terrifier as misogynistic will likely appreciate Faceless After Dark‘s cerebral, feminist approach to the material. Kanell by no means shows contempt for her horror roots (Terrifier director Damien Leone receives a “special thanks” credit, and co-star Catherine Corcoran appears in the film); rather, she draws from personal experiences to provide an honest, if heightened, portrayal of modern life under a microscope.
Faceless After Dark played at the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival. It’s due out later this year via MPI/Dark Sky Films.
Ghostface is back on the big screen this weekend… well, sort of… with the release of Scary Movie, which marks the Wayans brothers’ return to the horror spoof franchise for the first time since Scary Movie 2 back in the day. It’s likely to be the talk of the horror community for the weekend, but don’t overlook the other six genre movies that were freshly unleashed today.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Friday, June 5, 2026.
The horror spoof franchise is back with Scary Movie now playing in theaters!
Marlon Wayans (“Shorty”), Shawn Wayans (“Ray”), Anna Faris (“Cindy”), and Regina Hall (“Brenda”) reunite for the new Scary Movie, with the cast also including Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Jon Abrahams, Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, and Felissa Rose.
Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer (“Ghostface”), the Core Four are back in the killer’s crosshairs and no horror movie IP is safe…
Scary Movie will slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every “final chapter” that absolutely isn’t. A whole lot has changed in the horror genre since the Wayans Brothers were in charge of the franchise; their involvement ended with Scary Movie 2 back in 2001!
Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House) directs Scary Movie 6 from a script written by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, original Scary Movie director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans (Scary Movie 2), and Rick Alvarez (A Haunted House).
From IFC, shark attack movie Chum is now available on Digital.
Alice Eve (Haunting of Queen Mary) stars in shark attack movie alongside Eric Michael Cole, Jim Klock, Elle Haymond, Lisa Yaro, Johnny Gaffney, and Sarah Siadat.
This one sounds very similar to last year’s Dangerous Animals…
Here’s the plot: “A newlywed couple joins friends on a Mediterranean yacht excursion, only to find themselves caught between a predatory shark and a psychopathic killer in their midst-transforming a sun-drenched escape into a fight for survival.”
Jonathan Zuck directs Chum, from a script by Jonathan Zuck and Joe Leone.
Samara Weaving (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) and Kyle Gallner (Strange Darling) come together in Carolina Caroline, a sexy crime thriller now playing in theaters.
It’s not a horror movie, mind you, but it’s worth a mention here all the same.
Kyra Sedgwick (Family Movie) and Jon Gries also star in the romantic crime thriller.
Director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s film stars Samara Weaving as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast.
Adam Rehmeier previously directed the films Dinner in America and Snack Shack.
Tom Dean wrote the screenplay for Carolina Caroline.
Similar to Steven Spielberg’s upcoming big screen blockbuster Disclosure Day, Signal One explores humankind’s enduring question: what if we aren’t alone in the universe?
The sci-fi thriller is now available on Digital.
Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), Josh Hutcherson (Five Nights at Freddy’s), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Raoul Bhaneja (Possessor), Emma Ho (“The Expanse”), and Dennis Quaid (The Substance) star in Signal One from director Jonathan Sobol (The Art of the Steal).
When tech billionaire Sam Houston (Quaid) hires the brilliant computer scientist Annika (Fuhrman), she ventures to an isolated facility run by the brilliant, nihilistic creator of LITTLEMOUTH, a machine which can communicate with alien intelligence.
Annika soon learns some humanity-altering facts: that we are not alone in the universe, that alien intelligences are communicating around us at every moment, and that we are likely too primitive to even remotely understand what they are trying to tell us.
When the goal of the endeavor shifts from listening to talking back, the project rapidly devolves into chaos. With contact comes consequences, and soon Annika and the team must work to ensure the very survival of our species.
A schoolyard dare becomes an urban legend in the creepypasta-inspired horror anthology The Summoning. The indie film is now available on Digital from Brainstorm Media.
“A babysitting gig becomes a nightmare of urban legend when three teens summon Baby Blue. Survival depends on uncovering the past to escape a mother’s wrath from beyond the grave.”
Felipe Vargas (Rosario, Hive), Sergio Gonzalez, Brandon Piskorik, Corey Benson Powers, and Brian Sepanzyk direct the segments. Valeria San Martín, Justina Ceballos, Daniela Flombaum, Nannu Spannauss, Agustín Olcese, and Giovanni Onetti star.
The Summoning is written by Camilo Zaffora.
Happy Death Day actress Jessica Rothe stars as a mom struggling to keep her grip on her sanity and memory in the mind-bending Affection, now available on Digital at home.
In Affection, “Afflicted by a mysterious condition that resets her memory, Ellie becomes trapped in a cyclical nightmare with a man who claims to be her husband. She soon must uncover the horrifying truth of her existence—before she forgets it all again.“
Joseph Cross (“Big Little Lies”) and Julianna Layne (“Chicago P.D.”) also star in the sci-fi horror thriller. Affection marks the feature debut by writer/director BT Meza.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review out of the film’s premiere, “Affection is steeped in existential questions and fears that plague modern society, while it embraces the ethos of the ’80s through bold body horror. Add to that Rothe’s revelatory performance, and Affection is a hidden gem that will connect with your mind, body, and soul.”
Lucile Hadžihalilović’s latest dark fairy tale, The Ice Tower, loosely reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s fable “The Snow Queen,” and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
In the ’70s set film, “Jeanne, a 15-year-old orphan, witnesses the shoot of a film adaptation of the fairy tale The Snow Queen, and she becomes fascinated by its star Cristina (Marion Cotillard), an actress who is just as mysterious and alluring as the Queen she is playing.“
Clara Pacini stars as Jeanne. August Diehl and Marine Gesbert also star in The Ice Tower, and look for a cameo from director Gaspar Noé (Climax, Irréversible).
“For me, The Ice Tower solidified Lucile Hadžihalilović’s place amongst the most fascinating creators of fairy tales today,” said distributor Yellow Veil Pictures co-founder Joe Yanick.
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