A Scottish horror/comedy – a zom-com, to be more specific – that’s also a musical and a coming-of-age tale? A difficult combination in the wrong hands, but the filmmakers were able to shape it into something special that holds up years later and after numerous rewatches.

Now keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary for…

Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

Commentators: John McPhail (director), Alan McDonald (co-writer), Roddy Hart (co-composer), Tommy Reilly (co-composer)

1. The opening song over the credits is “Christmas Means Nothing Without You,” and while it’s meant to be a recognizable hit, the song was actually written and recorded for the film. They couldn’t afford to snag an existing song.

2. The film was originally meant to open with a musical number featuring all the extras who we otherwise first meet after they’ve become zombies. It was going to follow them through town, singing and dancing, but they weren’t able to do it due to increasingly terrible weather. The song would have been “What a Time to Be Alive.”

3. McDonald was a school teacher before being able to write full-time, and he was thrilled with the look of the building they used for the school here as it reminded him of the one he previously taught at.

4. Co-writer Ryan McHenry is credited with conceiving the story for the film – he reportedly was watching High School Musical with his girlfriend and recalled wishing that Zac Efron would start eating someone’s brains – and even made a short film of the idea that eventually became this movie. He tragically passed away from cancer before the film was made.

5. Chris’ (Christopher Leveaux) showreel ends with a wicker man ablaze at 6:43, and it’s a nod to Leveaux’s grandfather, Robin Hardy, the director of 1973’s cult horror classic, The Wicker Man.

6. Sarah Swire, who plays Steph, also choreographed all the dance numbers for the film. Part of her process was to film herself doing each of the moves and then editing them together for a better sense of how it would all look.

7. “Hollywood Ending” is their big song and dance sequence, all shot in two days, but one of their favorite moments is at the very end. The bell rings, and everyone leaves, but one of the extras goes the wrong way to a non-exit at 17:17 and has to hide behind the wall.

8. The male dancers’ Christmas costumes at 21:06 are modeled on a look from 1983’s Sleepaway Camp.

9. Musical artists they mention as inspirations for the score and song styles include Taylor Swift, Hall & Oates, Bon Jovi, Poison, Queen, ABBA, Sex Pistols, Danny Elfman, and John Carpenter.

10. Anna (Ella Hunt) walks out into her neighborhood at 27:18, and the Christmas decorations all belong to the folks who actually live there. It wasn’t shot in December, but they all volunteered to put them out for the sequence.

11. “Human Voice,” the song sung while the teens are stuck in the bowling alley, wasn’t actually written for the film, although it was written by the duo around the same time. Someone let producer Naysun Alae-Carew hear it, and they immediately insisted it be added to the movie. McDonald agreed and rewrote the scene in question to make its inclusion feel more in sync with what the characters are trying to do.

12. That’s an Evil Dead reference in the ball pit at 47:13 as Sarah’s arm bursts up through the balls.

13. That’s a Toy Story 3 traffic cone reference at 48:36 as the characters walk outside under the empty ball pit.

14. They’ve caught flack and hashtags (#justice4john) over killing off John (Malcolm Cumming) when he gets bitten outside the Christmas tree warehouse, but it had to happen. “This is not a story about two friends, and then the girl comes around to the boy and realizes he’s what makes her happy, and they walk off together in the end. This is about Anna… it isn’t about a man making her life better.”

15. The sequence with Savage (Paul Kaye) singing “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now” almost featured zombies singing backup. It was intended to complement Savage’s clear descent into madness, but they ultimately decided not to do it as they had a general rule about no singing zombies.

Quotes Without Context

“Every single time he’s onscreen, he just makes your skin crawl.”

“These penguins were dancing to something completely different on the day that they shot it.”

“You don’t get into songwriting unless you can write a song about fish.”

“Nobody ever brings up the fact that we eat a baby.”

Anna and the Apocalypse remains a delightful holiday treat for fans of mayhem and musicals. It’s just a fun movie that marries silliness, horror, heart, and loss into an unlikely gem, and the filmmakers’ commentary shows how all four of those attributes got there. From the tragic death of the film’s co-writer to the struggles with Scottish weather, it’s an indie production that succeeded despite the odds with hugely satisfying and entertaining results. Great film, very good commentary.

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While Christmas horror has become as rampant as shark flicks, quantity doesn’t always equate to quality. As with any crowded subgenre, there are more cinematic lumps of coal than not in the holiday horror sphere, but that doesn’t mean that the 21st century hasn’t delivered a few noteworthy entries worthy of quintessential holiday viewing status. But what makes a worthy Christmas horror movie?

The ideal Christmas horror movie captures the essence of the holiday through theming, both in imagery and spirit. In other words, the film should be saturated in holiday iconography (with few exceptions, of course), with the holiday having a direct impact on the film’s events. It should also be horror, which means that crowd-pleasing genre adjacent thrillers like Violent Night don’t count, even if bloody enough for a horror fan.

With that in mind, we’ve selected the six best Christmas horror movies of the 21st century so far…

Inside (2007)

Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s debut begins with a tragedy, plunging its pregnant lead character into a depression and kickstarting an intense, visceral bid for survival over Christmas. It’s a ruthless entry in home invasion horror that doles out punishment and pain, a peak of New French Extremity. Béatrice Dalle’s La Femme makes for a bone-chilling villainess that ensures there’s no shortage of Christmas reds splattered all over the home. The excess of bloodshed is about the only prominent reference to the holidays in this grim holiday shocker, but you’ll be too busy holding your breath from the relentless tension to notice. There’s also a strong argument to be made that few films capture the melancholy the holidays can evoke like this movie, as it centers on a woman too grief-stricken to celebrate, leaving her vulnerable to attack while the neighborhood is quiet.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

A holiday horror story from Sisu director Jalmari Helander that hearkens back to Santa’s darker roots, this Finnish fantasy horror follows Pietari, a boy whose belief in Santa is the very thing that will save everyone when an archaeological dig unearths the real thing. Too bad the real thing is the stuff of nightmares. Filthy elves galore, reindeer, gingerbread, and one monstrous version of Santa bring the yuletide fun and chaos. Rare Exports puts precedence on the elves when it comes to Santa’s reign of terror; the mythical patron of Christmas is relegated to looming threat while his naked helpers do the dirty work of rounding up naughty children.

Krampus (2015)

When Max’s (Emjay Anthony) dysfunctional family won’t stop fighting, and nothing goes as planned, he turns his back on Christmas and accidentally summons Krampus. All hell breaks loose as Krampus and his horde of minions punish Max and his family in Michael Dougherty‘s fan favorite holiday horror movie. Arguably the definitive holiday horror movie of the century so far by pure Christmas theming alone; every single plot point, creature, and detail is in service of the holiday here. It’s both naughty and nice, in terms of festive horror spirit and warm cozy feels.

Better Watch Out (2016)

Chris Peckover’s home invasion horror movie breaks all the rules. Better Watch Out follows 12-year-old Luke Lerner (Levi Miller) as he’s left alone for the night with babysitter Ashley (Olivia DeJonge) while his parents attend a holiday party. Harboring a longtime crush, Luke is hoping to seduce Ashley. Their quiet night of pizza and horror movie watching is interrupted first by Luke’s best friend Garrett (Ed Oxenbould) and then by a masked intruder who means harm. Full of biting, pitch-black humor, expect this one to get mean.

Anna and the Apocalypse (2018)

There’s no such thing as a holiday ending in this coming-of-age zombie musical, which means that there are some devastating losses for the high school teens who find themselves dealing with an apocalypse over Christmas. But it’s hard to feel too down with such upbeat, earworm songs and choreography that embrace the holiday spirit in a massive way. Director John McPhail packs this winsome horror musical full of Christmas iconography before splattering the snow red with zombie carnage.

Terrifier 3 (2024)

In Damien Leone‘s sequel, Sienna and her brother attempt to embrace the Christmas season and put their trauma behind them. That’s precisely when Art the Clown pops back up to spread holiday fear. Terrifier 3 decks the halls when it comes to holiday theming, with Art gleefully trying his hand at playing Santa in the way only this horror icon could manage. Also true to Christmas, it’s a sequel that really leans into the bible when it comes to its lore and iconography, too. That it became such a box office smash hit and is Certified Fresh on both the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and Popcornmeter solidifies this carnage-fueled movie as one of this century’s most significant holiday horror releases.

The post The 6 Best Christmas Horror Movies of the 21st Century (So Far) appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. Tradition tells us to spend quality time with family and friends while surrounding ourselves with holiday cheer. But what do we do when joy is unavailable?

Sometimes, financial hardship, random tragedy, or death in the family prevents us from spending the season in Hallmark style. John McPhail’s Anna and the Apocalypse explores this isolating experience with a picturesque Christmas plagued by zombies. 

Anna (Ella Hunt) is ready to turn her life around just in time for a gap year abroad. But her father is still mourning her mother’s death and doesn’t want to let his only daughter go. Complicating matters, her best friend John (Malcolm Cumming) clearly wants a romantic relationship, and her crush Nick (Ben Wiggins) may be responsible for rumors about their recent hookup spreading through their small private school. Steph (Sarah Swire) has been abandoned by her parents and girlfriend and must deal with bullying from Principal Savage (Paul Kaye). The only people with any holiday cheer are Lisa (Marli Siu) and Chris (Christopher Leveaux), who have fallen head over heels for each other.

But all this drama takes a backseat when a zombie apocalypse ravages the UK, and they must come together in order to survive.

In the latest episode of Bloody FM’s The Lady Killers Podcast, co-hosts Jenn Adams, Sammie Roffman, and Rachel Reeves conclude a month of horror musicals while making way for a new snowy theme. Are John and Nick spreading toxic masculinity? Why do Anna and Steph feel the need to leave town? What’s up with songs about fucking Santa, and how could an audience watch a penguin-fueled rap not erupt into massive applause? They’ll answer these questions and more while singing along to this crowd-pleasing film.

Stream below and subscribe now via Apple Podcasts and Spotify for future episodes that drop every Thursday.

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In honor of these undead hidden gems, I’ve decided to come up with a list recommending six underrated zombie movies that you might have missed. After all, there’s only so many times you can rewatch George A. Romero‘s filmography before you start to crave for fresh meat, and there’s plenty to go around if you’re willing to dig through streaming sites and bargain bins!

While this list is obviously based on personal opinion, I’ll try to limit entries to less popular movies that deserve more love, so don’t expect to see major releases like Overlord or even Train to Busan on here. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own undead favorites if you think a particularly fun one was missed.

With that out of the way, onto the list.

6. Zombeavers (2014)

The idea of zombified animals has always fascinated me, as critters like the undead dogs from Resident Evil always seemed much scarier than their human counterparts. Of course, scary movies tend to avoid depicting these creatures due to the expensive special effects required to bring this kind of monster to life. Fortunately, there are exceptions to this rule, and Jordan Rubin’s 2014 horror-comedy Zombeavers is one of the best.

Through the use of charming animatronics and plenty of lo-fi visual trickery, Zombeavers tells the story of an ill-fated group of college students vacationing at a cabin near a beaver dam. Unfortunately for our young protagonists, a chemical spill ends up turning the once-peaceful beavers into undead predators thirsting for human flesh, with the film proceeding to poke fun at all of our favorite zombie tropes while still serving as a sincere love letter to the genre.

5. Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

Genre mashups are tricky enough without adding original music to the mix, but the added difficulty didn’t seem to faze Scottish filmmaker John McPhail when he set out to make the world’s first Christmastime Musical about an undead uprising. While Anna and the Apocalypse certainly won’t appeal to everyone, you’ve got to admit that this ambitious little horror comedy deserves a bigger following.

From the catchy songs to the clever subversion of infamous zombie tropes (as well as a lovable main character brought to life by Ella Hunt), there are plenty of reasons to check this one out, even if you think that undead horror-comedies peaked with Shaun of the Dead.

If you like this one, I’d also recommend checking out Gregg Bishop’s criminally underseen high school horror-comedy Dance of the Dead.

4. La Horde (2009)

Benjamin Rocher and Yannick Dahan’s La Horde tends to be outshone by other gruesome French productions from the 2000s, but this hyper violent tour-de-force is just as action-packed as it is terrifying. In fact, I believe that La Horde’s frenetic pacing and gritty aesthetics would have been better received today than back in 2009, especially since portions of the flick play out like a kick-ass videogame.

Fortunately, this highly underrated film has been blessed with something of a second life thanks to online word-of-mouth, though it’s still rather difficult to track down for American audiences. That’s why I’d only recommend this one to fans of high-octane splatter cinema willing to jump through a few annoying hoops in order to purchase an imported Blu-ray.

3. Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane (2007)

I still have no idea how my dad came across a DVD of this obscure gem, but I’m still glad that he gifted it to me all those years ago. Briefly known as Plane Dead before being hastily retitled after its festival premiere, Flight of the Living Dead suffers from low production value, wooden acting, and a derivative script, but I’d be lying if I said that this wasn’t one of the most entertaining entries on this list.

A tongue-in-cheek splatter flick with enough practical violence to keep even the most demanding of gore-hounds satisfied, Outbreak on a Plane feels a lot like an ’80s movie that somehow fell through a time portal and landed in the 2000s. It may not be perfect, but it’s definitely worth a watch if you’re in the mood for some self-aware undead thrills.

2. The Dead (2010)

Another bizarre time capsule of a film that would have been a huge hit had it been released during the 80s, The Dead follows an American mercenary who must team up with a local soldier after crash-landing in West Africa during a zombie outbreak. Of course, what really makes the movie so damn impressive is just how much tension the directing duo of Jon and Howard J. Ford manages to extract from such a small budget.

Shot on location in Burkina Faso and Ghana, this daring indie production achieved the impossible by combining local culture with Hollywood filmmaking without the need for a meddling studio – and that alone already warrants its place on this list as a zombified hidden gem that looks far more expensive than it actually is!

1. Fido (2006)

If you’ve ever wondered about what might have happened to the world after the events of Shaun of the Dead, then have I got a movie for you! Taking place in an alternate timeline where humanity overcame the zombie apocalypse and proceeded to turn the living dead into remote-controlled servants, this charming horror comedy follows a young boy and his pet zombie as they navigate the trials and tribulations of a 1950s-inspired dystopia.

Some horror fans have accused the film of being a cheap attempt at cashing in on the Zom-Com craze following the success of the aforementioned Shaun of the Dead, but Fido had actually been in the works since the 1990s until Andrew Currie came along and decided to direct the project through his own production company. And while the film still contains quite a bit of traditional undead violence, I’d argue that it also functions as a surprisingly sweet gateway horror flick about a naïve kid and his troublemaking pet.

The post 6 Underrated Zombie Movies That You Might Have Missed appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The good news is that there’s no shortage of Christmas horror available. This week’s streaming picks bring double the dose of holiday horror fun to help you get through the week.

As always, here’s where you can stream these holiday horror movies this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Adult Swim Yule Log 2: Branchin’ Out – Max

Casper Kelly’s surprise sequel drops the kitchen sink approach in favor of a more streamlined horror movie that understands just how silly Hallmark holiday movies can be. That’s both good and bad news for the first film’s survivor, Zoe (Andrea Laing). Zoe finds herself in a small-town Christmas wonderland, colliding with hot, available men every time she walks down the street. The bad news is that the entity isn’t done wreaking havoc, leading to a surprising creature feature that’s just as zany and extreme as it sounds.

Anna and the Apocalypse – Pluto TV, Roku Channel, Tubi

There’s no such thing as a holiday ending in this coming-of-age zombie musical, which means that there are some devastating losses for the high school teens who find themselves dealing with an apocalypse over Christmas. But it’s hard not to feel too down with such upbeat, earworm songs and choreography that embrace the holiday spirit in a massive way. Director John McPhail packs this winsome horror musical full of Christmas iconography before splattering the snow red with zombie carnage. Anna and the Apocalypse walks the impossible line between traditional, feel-good holiday fare and grim zombie story, making for a contemporary holiday horror classic.

Another Wolfcop – Hoopla, Pluto TV, Roku Channel

Lowell Dean’s follow-up to the raucous horror-comedy WolfCop is bigger, better, sillier, and more monster-filled. It also happens to be set over Christmas. The sequel’s central plot toe dips a bit into sci-fi territory as Lou, his partner Tina, and a few unexpected allies team up to solve a new evil plot involving a brewery. Dean’s love letter to Canada and B-movie fun delivers no shortage of wacky werewolf moments, including a certain alcoholic werewolf cop getting inappropriately festive for the holidays. There’s also the matter of Willie (Jonathan Cherry), who has a pesky new alien problem to deal with.

The Day of the Beast – Fandango at Home, Kanopy, Pluto TV, Midnight Pulp, Prime Video, SCREAMBOX, Shudder, Tubi

A Catholic priest teams up with a metalhead and a television occult specialist on Christmas Eve to stop the Antichrist’s birth, an apocalypse triggering event. What does that entail? Racking up as many sins as possible. That creates no shortage of comedic moments amongst an unlikely trio, but the horror equally matches the humor. Alex de la Iglesia’s unique sense of humor and heavy metal spirit means this holiday horror movie should have a bigger following than it does. The Day of the Beast also made Satanic goats cool long before The Witch. While Christmas is vital to the plot, expect the wacky sinning hijinks to take precedence over yuletide theming.

Deadly Games – AMC+, Shudder

Also known as 36.15 code Père Noël and Dial Code Santa Claus, this French holiday home invasion movie follows young computer-loving Thomas, a boy stuck at home alone with his grandpa on Christmas Eve. It’s a quiet evening until a twisted, bloodthirsty Santa Claus crashes through the chimney. Released a year before Home Alone, the plot has an eerie similarity as Thomas booby traps his house to ward off the intruder. Thomas’s Rambo aspirations and trap laying provide a sense of fun, even when Deadly Games gets serious with its evil Santa menace. It’s fun holiday horror that’s unafraid to put its young protagonist and his loved ones in peril.

Night of the Comet – Hoopla, MGM+, Pluto TV, Roku Channel

This cult horror classic gives a very California spin on the horror holidays. A passing comet turns most of humanity into zombies, leaving very few survivors left. That includes teen sisters Reggie and Sam, who take on zombies, mad scientists, and rogue scavengers in style. It’s not your typical zombie movie, nor does it encapsulate the usual vision of Christmas. But Reggie and Sam embrace holiday shopping, and a supporting character dons a Santa Suit to keep up the merriment at the end of the world. It’s a rare zombie apocalypse that brings a level of charm and fun worthy of its central Valley Girls.

The Sacrifice Game – AMC+, Shudder

Teens Samantha (Madison Baines) and Clara (Georgia Acken) are stuck at boarding school with chaperones for the holiday break, which is bad enough before the arrival of a murderous cult. What begins as something all too familiar eventually gives way to something more satisfying and charming in Jenn Wexler’s sophomore feature. Wexler’s instincts for pacing, tension building, and knowing when and where to pull the rug out from viewers elevate this holiday horror entry. While the ’70s set Christmas horror movie might be a grim downer for some of the unlucky characters, it winds up a charming treat for audiences. The power of friendship amidst a Satanic holiday invasion winds up a seasonal delight.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker – Roku Channel, Tubi

Mickey Rooney plays a toy maker who wears a Santa suit and makes lethal toys for all naughty boys and girls in this raucous franchise entry. The very premise of killer toys invading homes and slaughtering families on Christmas makes for a fun concept that doesn’t pop up too often, and this sequel ensures it’s as over-the-top as the concept demands. It builds to a wild sci-fi finale, which might be saying something, considering how wacky this holiday horror franchise gets as a whole. If you want to get even weirder and Pagan with your holiday horror, Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation is also streaming on Tubi.

There’s Something in the Barn – Netflix

Director Magnus Martens pits an unwitting American family against an army of pissed off elves in this light gateway horror movie. The family fulfills their dream of returning to their roots after inheriting a remote cabin in the mountains of Norway only to find it comes with a major caveat: there’s an old elf that lives in their barn and, Gremlins-style, requires specific rules to be followed. Naturally, only the youngest believes in elves, resulting in an accidental grudge match that sparks a violent, bloody bid for survival. The horror-comedy puts an emphasis on the comedy, with a splash of holiday cheer for good measure. Expect this one to operate more on lighter scares and yuletide merriment.

Violent Night – Starz

Santa Claus (David Harbour) gets introduced in this fun genre actioner as a cynic drowning his frustrations in booze at a bar on Christmas Eve. Then he crosses paths with Trudy (Leah Brady), a sweet girl caught up in an intense hostage situation. That opens the doors for Santa to get violent when it comes to his naughty list. Director Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow) infuses his gore-soaked sense of humor into a story that pulls from a variety of familiar holiday fare, ushering a new crowd-pleasing Christmas-set actioner that’s more than willing to get violent. With a sequel on the way, this Christmas might be a great time to catch up.

You can also watch other holiday horror movies this week including stone cold classic Black Christmas on SCREAMBOX, Gremlins on Max, or Krampus on Max and Peacock.

The post 10 Fun Holiday Horror Movies to Stream This Week appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After dealing with cryptids in The Mothman Prophecies, giallos in Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key and killer baby mamas in Inside (2007), we’re closing out our film coverage for the year with a holiday classic.

Director John McPhail‘s Anna and the Apocalypse finds a group of disaffected teens struggling with the usual holiday-related concerns (absent family, desire to escape, unrequited love for your best friend) but throws in the complication of a zombie apocalypse.

Oh and it’s a musical!

Come celebrate the holiday as we unpack all of the songs, the choreography and why Mr. Savage sucks.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, and RSS.

Episode 261 – Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

We’re tired of pretending that there’s no such thing as a Rom Com Zom Musical!

The time has finally come to discuss John McPhail’s Anna and the Apocalypse (2017), which has charming Scottish actors, a Canadian choreographer, and three (?!) different versions.

Plus: Joe’s issue with villainous Mr. Savage, our fave songs, the sad Ryan Gosling connection, nearly good queer representation, and why we need more horror movie musicals pleeeeease

Cross out Anna and the Apocalypse!

Coming up on Wednesday: With no film to discuss, we’re closing out the year with our Best of 2023 picks, reflections on the year’s horror trends, and more than a few bloopers!

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for 280 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on A Creature Was Stirring, When Evil Lurks, Leave the World Behind and It’s a Wonderful Knife, plus an audio commentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Exorcist(1973).

The post Singing for the Holidays with ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’! [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The 12 Days of Creepmas continues on Bloody Disgusting, this time with 3 genre-bending double features that bring the holiday spirit.

Keep track of the 12 Days of Creepmas here.

Holiday Action/Horror/Sci-fi Mashups:

Horror pairs well with everything, from holiday fare to action and sci-fi. This double feature is for those that want it all.

Cobra

Director George P. Cosmatos (Leviathan, Of Unknown Origin) gives a horror spin on this holiday actioner starring Sylvester Stallone. Stallone plays tough street cop Marion Cobretti, whose tough edge and knack for rule breaking gets him assigned to protecting Ingrid (Brigitte Nielsen) from an evil cult. It’s the murderous cult, led by the Night Slasher (Brian Thompson), and the pervading feeling of paranoia as allies dwindle that infuses horror sensibilities to this survival action movie. And if the evil cult’s machinations aren’t horror enough for you, the way Cobretti eats his pizza will surely horrify you. That it’s all set over the holidays means it’s officially a holiday action/horror staple.

I Come in Peace

Also known as Dark Angel, this sci-fi action hybrid offers a holiday twist on the buddy cop movie. Dolph Lundgren stars as renegade detective Jack Caine as he’s forced to team up with a by-the-books fed agent, Larry Smith (Brian Benben), to take down a drug ring. Dealing with a bookish new partner would be enough of a hassle for Jack, but their case quickly reveals itself to be far more dangerous and weirder than anyone could’ve imagined; the perp is a merciless and violent extraterrestrial. This 1990 holiday set action hybrid retains the ’80s spirit in every way, from silly buddy cop tropes to big explosions and a wild, “anything goes” attitude thanks to its alien villain.

Christmas Fables for the A24 Fan:

This double feature delivers stylish Christmas fantasy fables that occasionally veer into horror.

Lamb

Maria (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snaer Gudnason) live a peaceful, uncomplicated life running their sheep farm in the Icelandic countryside, though the desire for children goes unspoken between them. On Christmas Eve, an unseen, inhuman presence enters their barn. Later, Maria and Ingvar discover one of their sheep has given birth to a strange lamb/human hybrid. With a passing glance, Maria and Ingvar decide to take the lamb child, named Ada, into their home to raise it as their own. Valdimar Jóhannsson, who co-wrote the script with Sjón, relays the strange saga of Ada over three chapters. Lamb dabbles in horror briefly but stays content to spend time in a quaint little folk tale open to interpretation, making for a strange journey unlike anything else.

The Green Knight

Writer/Director David Lowery’s adaptation of the anonymously written, 14th-century poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” makes for one epic feast of a movie. Lowery deconstructs it, creating an intensely robust sword and sorcery feature thematically, visually, and narratively. The Green Knight doesn’t just ensnare you in its captivating spell piecemeal; it consumes you wholly from the opening frame. It’s an intoxicating, eerie atmosphere, whether foggy landscapes, haunted houses nestled in the woods, stately castles, or sprawling battlefields adorned in corpses. And it all begins with an invitation by Ralph Ineson’s Green Knight to play “the Christmas Game.” The holiday drives this beguiling story.

Holiday Horror-Comedies with Tragic Underpinnings

When it comes to holiday horror, warm and merry sentiments often belie tragedy. That’s the case with this horror-comedy double feature, which goes full throttle on infectious yuletide energy until it pulls the rug out from under you.

Anna and the Apocalypse

A high school-set Christmas musical collides with the zombie comedy in a surprising mashup. What should be a recipe for disaster becomes an infectious and affecting coming-of-age holiday tale that isn’t afraid to go bleak when needed. It helps that the cast is so charming, and the tunes utterly catchy. There’s no such thing as a Hollywood ending.

Pooka

Director Nacho Vigalondo’s holiday entry of Hulu’s Into the Dark anthology series introduced a playful new holiday horror mascot, Pooka. Unemployed actor Wilson Clowes (Nyasha Hatendi) accepts a job to don the furry Pooka suit and portray the holiday’s hottest new toy to earn a buck. It sparks a rapid mental deterioration in the process. Wilson develops two personas: one as himself and another as Pooka. Mischief turns sinister, and a body count ensues. There’s far more than meets the eye to this twisty little tale, and the catchy jingle eventually gives way to a more somber tale.

The post 3 Genre-Bending Holiday Double Features for the Horror Fan [12 Days of Creepmas] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

As always, here’s where you can stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Adult Swim Yule Log (aka The Fireplace) – HBO Max

Look no further if you’re in the mood for something brand-spanking new and more than a little unhinged. Adult Swim’s 2022 holiday yule log presentation unravels into a gory feature film, courtesy of director Casper Kelly (“Too Many Cooks”). Kelly takes a kitchen sink approach to the horror madness that must be seen to be believed. Bring the spiked egg nog and buckle up.

Anna and the Apocalypse – AMC+, Kanopy, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, Shudder, Tubi

A high school-set Christmas musical collides with the zombie comedy in a surprising mashup. Instead, what should be a recipe for disaster becomes an infectious and affecting coming-of-age holiday tale that isn’t afraid to go bleak when needed. It helps that the cast is so charming, and the tunes utterly catchy. There’s no such thing as a Hollywood ending. 

The Children – Plex, The Roku Channel, Tubi, Vudu

Children have a penchant for creepiness in horror, and The Children ranks high among the killer kid subgenre. An isolated family and friend gathering over the Christmas/New Year’s holiday winds up pitting children against parents when a gruesome virus breaks out. If you think the holiday setting means tamer kills, you’d be wrong; these children are malicious little killers.

The Day of the Beast – AMC+, Fandor, Pluto TV, Screambox, Shudder, Tubi, Vudu

Set on Christmas Eve, a Catholic priest teams up with a metalhead and a television occult specialist to stop the Antichrist’s birth, which will trigger the apocalypse. The lengths the trio is willing to go to thwart the end of the world brings the laughs, but the horror equally matches the humor. A sort of spiritual cousin to the earlier works of Sam Raimi but with Alex de la Iglesia’s unique sense of humor, this should have a bigger audience than it does. The Day of the Beast also made evil goats trendy long before The Witch. 

Dead End – Freevee, Plex, Tubi

It’s late, and Frank Harrington (Ray Wise) still has a long way to get to his in-laws on Christmas Eve. His eyelids are growing heavier by the mile; Frank decides to try a shortcut in the middle of nowhere. After narrowly avoiding a car crash, Frank’s detour becomes a nightmare when he and his family become haunted by paranormal activity and a strange hearse. Dead End is a small, quiet little haunter with a great cast. Lin Shaye plays Frank’s wife, with Alexandra Holden as Frank’s daughter. Toggling between eerie chills and dark comedy, Dead End offers an underseen and creepy holiday haunter with a twist.

Dead of Night – Fandor, Kanopy

This British horror anthology tells multiple tales of terror, but only one relates to the holiday. Even still, it’s a stone-cold classic, and there’s no better time than now to watch or revisit it. “The Christmas Party” spins a chilling story of a ghostly encounter during a children’s Christmas gathering. Hide and seek becomes the perfect recipe for one partygoer to encounter the unexpected when she finds a great hiding spot. Come for this children’s party of terror and stay for the other substantial segments.

Night of the Comet – AMC+, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, Shudder, Tubi

Everything about this horror-comedy screams Christmas, from the setting to the décor to a major character dressing up as Santa to surprise our favorite sisters from the Valley. Besides, any excuse to watch our favorite Valley girls take on zombies, mad scientists, and ruthless survivors is worthy.

P2 – Freevee, Plex, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, Tubi, Vudu

This horror-thriller will make you think twice about devoting too much of your life to work. Rachel Nichols’s Angela is a corporate workaholic, the last to leave the office on Christmas Eve. That makes it the perfect time for a psychopath to hold her hostage in the parking garage. This one’s intense, effective, and pretty savage.

Scrooged – Paramount+, Pluto TV, Prime Video

No haunted holiday horror list would be complete without at least one adaptation of Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” While there are a few memorable genre-leaning takes on the classic, we’re going with Richard Donner’s beloved ’80s film. Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a cynical, selfish TV executive haunted by the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future in this ’80s retelling. Sure, it’s a comedy, first and foremost, but some of those ghosts can be pretty terrifying. Thanks to Frank’s heavily decayed mentor Lew (John Forsythe) and nightmarish visions of Death, Scrooged presents a family-friendly PG-13 holiday viewing that doubles as gateway horror.

Sole Survivor – AMC+, Shudder

The lone survivor of a plane crash is dealing with a severe case of survivor’s guilt. Haunted feelings of unworthiness become literal when Death comes to finish what it started, sending undead corpses after her. This eerie, atmospheric creepfest plays like a cross between Final Destination and Carnival of Souls, and it’s set during Christmas time.

The post 10 Holiday Horror Movies to Stream at Home for Christmas 2022! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

That’s why it’s no surprise that the TWD universe would eventually be expanded with specialized spinoffs like Fear the Walking Dead and the more recent World Beyond, which focuses on the first generation of teenagers raised in this apocalyptic wasteland. And to get you in the mood for the final season of The Walking Dead: World Beyond, which is releasing on Blu-ray and DVD on March 8th, we’ve come up with this list celebrating six of the best teenage zombie slayers in media!

Adolescence is terrifying enough under normal circumstances, so you’ve got to be an extra-skilled zombie killer to put up with head-shotting the undead while also dealing with hormones, dates and high-school drama. While some of the characters on this list don’t exclusively hunt zombies, they’re all great examples of teens doing their best to fight off the living dead.

Naturally, these aren’t the only teenage Z-slayers out there, so be sure to comment below with your own favorites if you think we missed one!

Now, onto the list…

6. Buffy Summers – Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

I know it might seem like blasphemy to have the literal Chosen One on the bottom of this list, but Buffy only ever faced proper zombies once, going up against the living dead in Dead Man’s Party. In this season 3 episode, a mystical Nigerian mask causes a zombie uprising in Sunnydale, resulting in the Scooby Gang having to fight for their lives during a horrific house party.

Obviously, the legendary Slayer easily managed to dispatch these undead goons with her usual wit and hand-to-hand combat abilities, and that’s why she earns her spot on this list as a skilled zombie killer. After all, be they vampires, ghosts or zombies, you can always count on Buffy to defeat the undead.

5. Silas Plaskett – TWD: World Beyond (2020-2021)

My personal favorite out of the main cast of World Beyond, Silas Plaskett stands out as one of the most psychologically complex characters on the show. Harboring a dark past and severe emotional issues, this haunted seventeen-year-old still insists on proving that he has a heart of gold despite being shunned by most other survivors.

His relationship with Dennis was also one of the highlights of the second season, and this is one spin-off character that I actually wouldn’t mind seeing again in future projects set in the Walking Dead universe.

4. Ben Goudy – Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)

The Boy Scout organization isn’t without its flaws, but you’ve got to admit that scouts would have a serious advantage in a real-world zombie uprising due to their particular set of survival skills. That’s why the protagonist of Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse makes it onto this list, as Ben Goudy’s leadership skills and impressive undead kill-count make him one hell of a good scout.

Ben’s teenage urges may sometimes get the better of him, but his practical knowledge and survivalist know-how make for some creative zombie-slaying in a highly entertaining zom-com. In fact, I’d actually love to see both Tye Sheridan and Christopher Landon team up again for an even wackier sequel.

3. Reggie & Sam Belmont- Night of the Comet (1984)

Featuring a couple of lovable Valley Girls fighting zombies after a mysterious comet-induced extinction event, Night of the Comet isn’t just a charming sci-fi satire, it’s also the origin of one of the most memorable and influential zombie-killing duos in media. Reggie and Sam Belmont might not be your average horror protagonists, but they definitely earn their place on this list as competent Z-slayers with a sense of humor.

Fighting off zombies while shopping and going on joyrides, the Belmont sisters and their teenage antics are notable for making the apocalypse seem fun, which is a rare occurrence in most zombie flicks. Interestingly, the duo was also one of the inspirations behind Buffy Summers, making them even more important to the horror genre.

2. Anna – Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

A blood-soaked British musical, Anna and the Apocalypse introduces us to an unusually cheerful protagonist as she sings and dances her way through a horrific zombie outbreak. The film itself can get surprisingly dark in a few places, but Anna is on this list precisely because of how she refuses to let the grim situation affect her own lovable nature.

Already having a lot on her plate even before the zombies attack, Anna is a great example of how a high-schooler might realistically process the end of the world, and I particularly enjoy her evolution from oblivious theater kid to ass-kicking zombie killer as she insists on saving her loved ones.

1. Ellie – The Last of Us (2013)

The Last of Us’ “infected” may not be zombies in the traditional sense, with their horrific condition being caused by a brain-destroying fungus, but if there was ever a trophy for the ultimate teenage zombie slayer, I’d argue that it belongs to Ellie. Not only is this traumatized fourteen-year-old miraculously immune to the infection, but she’s also a hardened survivor due to having grown up on her own during this hellish outbreak.

While Ellie is set to be played by the talented Isabella May Ramsey in the upcoming HBO adaptation, it remains to be seen if the show will portray her as the relentless yet vulnerable badass featured in the game.

Season two of “The Walking Dead: World Beyond”, on Blu-ray and DVD on March 8th, concludes the epic story of Iris (Aliyah Royale), Hope (Alexa Mansour), Elton (Nicolas Cantu), and Silas (Hal Cumpston) — four friends who journeyed across the country on a mission that transformed everything they knew about themselves and the world. As they face off against the mysterious Civic Republic Military and fight for control of their own destiny, goals will shift, bonds will form and crumble, and innocence will be both lost and found.

The post Celebrating 6 of the Best Teenage Zombie Slayers Ahead of ‘The Walking Dead: World Beyond’ Final Season on Blu-ray and DVD! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

Silent Night – AMC+

For the most part, writer/director Camille Griffin’s feature debut, Silent Night, plays like many comedies set around holiday gatherings. It features typical awkwardness that comes from a large makeshift family coming together during one of the most stressful times of the year, attempting to cast aside grudges, secrets, or bad manners for the sake of yuletide cheer. But it becomes clear there’s something quite sinister bubbling beneath the surface of forced merriment, and Griffin’s debut slowly evolves into a harrowing horror story rife with tragedy. The ensemble cast brings the laughs and tears in equal measure.

Inside – Criterion Channel

Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s debut is one mean sucker punch of a movie. It’s a ruthless entry in home invasion horror that doles out punishment and pain, a peak of New French Extremity. The plot sees a very pregnant but depressed woman forced to fight off another woman determined to claim her unborn baby at any cost. It’s grim and gruesome, and it happens to be set over Christmas. Does Inside get into the holiday spirit beyond a few tell-tale signs of setting? No, but you’ll be too busy holding your breath to notice.

A Christmas Tale – Plex

Before horror director Paco Plaza broke onto the international horror scene with the first three entries in the beloved [REC] franchise and Netflix’s Veronica, he married an Amblin-like kids story with yuletide terror in the made-for-TV movie A Christmas Tale. It follows five twelve-year-old friends in 1985 who come across a pit in the woods, with an unconscious woman dressed as Santa Claus at the bottom. The friends are divided on whether to help or use her for gain, leading to grisly horror for all. It’s a mean little tale that separates the naughty from the nice.

Anna and the Apocalypse – Kanopy, Pluto TV

This charming horror musical sees its characters contending with teen problems followed by a zombie apocalypse at Christmas. Director John McPhail embraces the holiday spirit in a big way while painting the snow red with zombie carnage. The transition from adolescence into adulthood gets sobering fast thanks to unexpected losses, ensuring that there’s nothing at all fluffy and trite about this seasonal delight. An early song’s lyrics sums it up best here: “There’s no such thing as a Hollywood Ending.”

Cronos – HBO Max

Guillermo del Toro’s feature debut reframed the vampire mythos at nearly every turn. Antique dealer Jesús Gris discovers a strange mechanical scarab hiding within a statue. It stings him, injecting Jesús with a solution that restores his youth, increases his energy levels, and instills a powerful thirst for blood. Throw in a dangerous businessman that’s been after the scarab for years, and Jesús’s newfound vampirism causes a wake of destruction. While vampires are often portrayed as romantic figures of eternal life, del Toro centers his story around an aging grandfather. It also happens to be set over Christmas and New Year’s Eve. If you need a more uplifting pick, this is the one.

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Although, as it turns out, Anna and the Apocalypse is a lot more complicated — and a refreshing change-up for its genre — of a movie than its title, and synopsis, might suggest. For one thing, it’s a zombie/musical hybrid; picture it like Zombieland crossed with The Prom. But while that sounds tantalizing enough on its own, it’s actually a bit misleading. While it claims to be something more jovial and irreverent on the surface — which it certainly is, to a degree — the film is shockingly morbid and devastating in all the most profound ways. 

The story is fairly simple: Anna (Ella Hunt) is on the verge of finishing her last semester before going off to study at university before a zombie plague breaks out and sends the town, and the rest of the country, into chaos. Anna and her crew of friends find themselves stuck in the middle of full-blown zombie anarchy, featuring musical numbers, run-ins with douchey guys you’re not exactly on good terms with, and plenty of the ole’ zombie smashing. Hey, Anna even ends up using a candy cane prop as her weapon of choice in the slaying! Fun! Sure, it’s a dire situation, but who amongst us hasn’t ever romanticized the idea of warding off zombies with our friends?

But then there’s, well, everything else. In Anna and the Apocalypse, one minute you’re watching a genuine banger of a zombie-killing-musical-montage, and before you know it Anna’s best friend is being mauled to death just before he can express the feelings he has for her. It’s shocking, exceedingly sad, and somewhat abrupt — but not necessarily in a bad way. Nearly the entire movie is filled with moments like these. Encased within its shell of jovial musical aesthetic and disregard for the rules is a tale that feels vulnerable; it feels a lot like an allegory for what it’s been like these last several months trying our best to keep pushing forward even as the world burns around us.

We — us internet folk, especially — often make jokes about the atrocities that life launches our way as some sort of safety mechanism. In a literal pandemic, and a literal storming of the US Capitol building, one only needs to log onto that blue bird app and you’ll be greeted by any number of funny posts that’ll distract you from the potential atrophy your mental state is undergoing. The pessimistic among us might say only the most privileged and unaffected of people could produce, or appreciate, humor during times like these, but that’s probably a bit unfair. Humor is comforting, and necessary, man. In real life, we have the internet and memes, and in Anna and the Apocalypse, there’s musical cheer. They’re distractions, but sometimes that’s all there is. 

There’s one scene, in particular, that might resonate with this the most. Early on in the film, Anna and her friends camp out inside of a bowling alley just after the outbreak has truly started kicking off. As the night goes on, the group watches through the window as the army begins to move in, bombing the town to oblivion in an effort to keep things under control, all accompanied by a musical number. It’s a surreal, almost resplendent, sequence of characters standing by as the world is literally on fire. Yet the beauty of it, is that’s all the characters can do — that ever-familiar feeling of helplessness that sometimes, just as the crew does, you’re forced to simply go to bed and attempt to keep chugging along through. 

By the end of Anna and the Apocalypse, nearly all of the gang is dead — including Anna’s own father, who she had been searching for the entire movie — and we’re left with the unlikely trio of Anna, her douchey one-night-stand pal Nick (Ben Wiggins), and Steph (Sarah Swire), who’s barely close with either of them, driving off, completely beaten-down, mortified, and unaware of what this horrible timeline has in store for them next. Getting to the end of 2020 was a lot like that. You’re (hopefully) not giving up, but it’s hardly an upbeat affair. The pain is still there, in spite of all cheerfulness you try to muster, and it sends a message about what it’s like living with tragedy and how, sometimes, all you can do is keep moving. Will it get better? Hopefully, yes, but that’s hardly even the point. 

I consider myself a misunderstood ghoul; often times people are surprised and perplexed by what movies I find to be the most depressing. Sure, I’ve cried after watching any number of sad moments, from the ending of A Star is Born to Avengers: Endgame, but that’s different than the depressingly sad reality that the totality of this zombie/musical hybrid created. A movie that seems to be connecting to something deeper — something more real, almost in an exceptionally ordinary way — is what’s toughest for me. It sticks with you, because of how unceremonious it all feels. 

Deciding to watch Anna and the Apocalypse this year, of all times, made for an incredibly depressing experience. It broke me; it chewed up my naïve and presumptuous self and spit me out onto the street to be run over; it enveloped whatever little serotonin I had with a dark fog of dread. In a way, it was as surprising, and relentless, of a movie experience as any I’ve had this year. It channels that feeling of existential angst we all have when witnessing the atrocities of the world more than its happy-go-lucky exterior would have you believe. But, at the same time, it also made the experience all the more powerful, and, unfortunately, relevant.

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For horror fans, this is the time of the year to watch as many holiday horror movies as possible, and with so many to choose from, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Do you revisit all your favorites that you’ve already seen countless times, or do you seek out new gems to add to the rotation? Perhaps a wintry mix of both?

If you’re looking to expand your holiday horror horizons beyond the tried and true staples, like Black Christmas or Gremlins (they’re covered too), we’ve compiled a massive guide to help. What exactly does that mean? Any horror movie that fully embraces the holiday iconography and is set around (or on) Christmas earns a spot, whether naughty or nice.

With over 120 holiday genre titles on this list, well, there’s a lot to unwrap.

So, let’s get straight to it!

A Cadaver Christmas

When the cadaver lab at a university creates a horde of zombies on Christmas Eve, thanks to a nutty professor, the campus’s janitor enlists a bunch of town locals to help him save Christmas. A splatstick indie horror-comedy, A Cadaver Christmas aims to paint the snow red.

A Christmas Horror Story

This horror anthology set on Christmas Eve connects five seasonally themed tales of terror via a radio DJ (William Shatner). High school students investigating a holiday suicide, a son behaving eerily after the family obtains their Christmas tree, another family stalked and terrorized by Krampus, and poor Santa Claus battling zombie elves at the North Pole all put the ho-ho-ho in holiday horror.

A Christmas Tale (2005)

Part of Spanish television series Films to Keep You Awake, Paco Plaza (Veronica, REC) centered his feature-length episode around Christmas. Set in 1985, a group of kids spending their holiday at a coastal village stumble across a woman dressed in a Santa suit trapped in a pit. When they discover the woman is an infamous thief, they decide to keep her trapped and torture her in the hopes she shares where she hid her loot. They realize the error of their ways after the woman frees herself and seeks bloody revenge.

Alien Raiders

A few days before Christmas, shoppers and employees are wrapping up before closing time at a small-town store when masked gunmen burst in, kill a few people and take the rest hostage. They’re not robbers, though, but rogue scientists trying to determine which of the remaining hostages are aliens in disguise. This one’s a low-budget sci-fi horror flick in the vein of The Thing, but at Christmas.

All the Creatures Were Stirring

An awkward first date on Christmas Eve at a bizarre theater unveils multiple tales of yuletide horror all centered around the holiday. Segments about white elephant gift exchanges at the office, last minute holiday shopping and demons, a vengeful Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and more offer up different twists on holiday horror.

All Through the House

A deranged masked killer dressed as Santa comes to town to wreak havoc and pile up a hefty body count. The blood flows free and the killer leaves a trail of corpses in his wake as he merrily slaughters his way to the town’s most infamous home.

American Exorcist

Paranormal investigator Georgette Dubois investigates reported paranormal activity in a skyscraper on Christmas Eve. Naturally, she finds far more than she bargained for when she becomes trapped by evil on the top floor. Bill Moseley stars.

Anna and the Apocalypse

High school just got a lot tougher for Anna and her friends when a zombie apocalypse threatens her small town. They’ll have to band together to fight, slash, and sing their way through a horde of the undead to reach their loved ones. Yes, this is a high school musical, but for all the Christmas cheer there’s an equal amount of bleakness and bloodshed.

Another WolfCop

The stockings were hung from the, uh, wolf cock with cheer in this holiday set follow up to B-movie romp WolfCop. Alcoholic officer Lou Garou, now far more comfortable in his werewolf skin, and his partner Tina team up to save their town from an evil businessman that seduces the residents with beer and hockey.

ATM

After leaving their office Christmas party, three co-workers find themselves trapped in an ATM booth late at night due to a stalking hooded figure outside. Their fight for survival in the cat-and-mouse game with the serial killer is compounded by the winter conditions.

Await Further Instructions

Christmas day gets weird when a family finds themselves trapped inside their home by a mysterious substance outside. The only clue is a TV message that tells them to “Stay indoors and await further instructions.” Holidays are hell as it is, but paranoia escalates into violence.

Babes in Toyland (1934)

Also known as March of the Wooden Soldiers, this yuletide children’s fantasy film isn’t horror, but some of these characters offer up pure nightmare fuel. Set in a Nursery Rhyme town, an evil landlord tries to marry Little Bo Peep when her mom can’t pay the mortgage. When Laurel and Hardy try to save the day, the landlord unleashes his Bogeyman.

Batman Returns

I know, I know. This is a superhero movie. But it’s directed by Tim Burton, who can’t help but create a lush Gothic atmosphere for Gotham. Set over Christmas, Batman takes on the Penguin (a very horror-centric approach to the character), an evil businessman, and a love/hate battle with Catwoman. The eerie look of the circus gang, the cold set pieces, the sadistic villains; all with Burton’s unique, macabre aesthetic. It’s genre adjacent enough for horror fans to embrace, anyway.

Bikini Bloodbath Christmas

The third entry in the Bikini Bloodbath series that parodies ‘80s slashers sees Jenny and Sharon once again stalked by a killer chef. This time, it’s during Christmas. Debbie Rochon reprises her role as the volleyball coach, Miss Johnson.

Better Watch Out

The suburbs just got a whole lot weirder with this mean Christmas twist on home invasion horror. A babysitter must defend herself and her ward from intruders, but nothing is remotely what it seems. Remember that scene in Home Alone where Kevin McCallister swung paint cans from the upstairs railing to thwart his intruders? Look for writer/director Chris Peckover to take it to the next level.

Black Christmas (1974)

During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger. A seminal holiday horror staple; look for obscene phone calls, Margot Kidder to steal all of her scenes, and one eerie killer.

Black Christmas (2006)

In the first remake of the 1974 classic, Billy gets a backstory. On Christmas Eve, an escaped maniac returns to his childhood home, which is now a sorority house, and begins to murder the sorority sisters one by one. It’s a much bloodier affair this go ‘round.

Black Christmas (2019)

In the newest remake, the formula gets a major shakeup. A group of female students are stalked by a stranger during their Christmas break. That is until the young sorority pledges discover that the killer is part of an underground college conspiracy.

The Blackout (2009)

Residents of an apartment building find themselves trapped inside during city-wide blackouts and tremors on Christmas Eve. When something monstrous hatches in the building’s basement, the residents find they’ll have to band together to survive.

Blood Beat (1983)

A young woman decides to accompany her boyfriend when he heads home to rural Wisconsin for Christmas. Probably not a great call, because they have to then contend with a woman possessed by the spirit of a Japanese samurai warrior in this weird sort of holiday slasher. Oh, the ‘80s.

Body (2015)

Holly, Cali and Mel are celebrating the holidays together on Christmas Eve. Cali convinces the friends to head out for a night of fun at her uncle’s mansion, deserted for Christmas. After hours of enjoying the place, it quickly becomes clear that Cali lied. This expansive home doesn’t belong to her family at all, and the night goes catastrophically awry with deadly consequences.

Caesar and Otto’s Deadly Xmas

In the fifth entry in the Caesar and Otto series, Caesar and his half-brother Otto take on the role of Santa and his elf. When a fellow store Santa develops a serious grudge against the pair, the body count starts piling up. Look for appearances by horror vets Linnea Quigley, Felissa Rose, Brinke Stevens, Lloyd Kaufman and more.

Calvaire

Marc is a traveling entertainer on his way home for Christmas when his van breaks down near a backwater town. A town that just so happens to have some very peculiar residents. Marc’s holiday is about to get very depraved and uncomfortable.

Cannibal Claus

A disgruntled mall Santa finds himself without a job on Christmas Eve, so he does what any cannibal does; head out onto the town to find himself some victims to chop up for Christmas BBQ.

The Children (2008)

A relaxing Christmas vacation among friends and family turns into a terrifying fight for survival when a sickness begins spreading among the children. It turns them into homicidal maniacs with grisly designs on their parents.

Christmas Blood

After a 13-year reign of terror on Christmas in Norway, a psychopath is finally caught and kept in solitary for years. That is, until he breaks out and sets his sights on a new little town over the holidays. A group of friends celebrating in that fateful village find themselves on this killer Santa’s naughty list.

Christmas Cruelty!

A killer Santa strikes again in Norway in this holiday horror slasher. It follows both the group of unwitting survivors and the killer as he plots his invasion and murder schemes. Over Christmas, of course.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Also known as La Nuit du Reveillon, this French holiday thriller sees a group of friends gathered for dinner on Christmas Eve. They all seem to lead happy, successful lives until a masked stranger arrives to take them hostage and force them to confess their dark secrets and lies.

Christmas Evil

After a traumatic childhood experience over learning the truth about Santa Claus, a toy factory employee suffers a nervous breakdown. As a result, he dons a Santa suit and embarks on a killing spree.

Christmas Presence

A group of friends gather for the holiday season at a remote lodge, but one of the friends goes missing. The truth behind why the lodge was booked for the holiday comes to light, and chaos ensues. Deadly chaos.

The Christmas Season Massacre

As a child, Tommy was gifted an eye-patch on Christmas as a token of humiliation inflicted by his school bullies. He snapped. Tommy spent years slaying all of his tormentors, until only six remained. Those six decide to band together and attempt to turn the tables in this SOV horror movie.

Christmas Slay

A trio of college friends head to the idyllic Mistletoe Lodge in the Scottish Highlands, but their festive plans are interrupted by a psycho in a Santa suit.

Christmas With the Dead

Calvin seeks to fulfill a promise made to his wife, correct his mistakes, and make it the best Christmas ever. He refuses to let a horde of the undead or the fact that it’s June get in his way. Calvin teams up with a zombie slayer to make his holiday dreams a reality.

The Conjuring 2

Ed and Lorraine Warren head to the London suburb of Enfield to make one struggling family’s holiday bright and merry. Or rather, they’re helping a struggling mother and her four children contend with a seriously menacing supernatural presence in their home. Christmas isn’t as prominent in this one, but it does make its presence known.

The Curse of the Cat People

The sequel to 1942’s Cat People is a very different beast from its predecessor. It’s a yuletide ghost story that follows the young daughter of Oliver and Alice. She’s lonely and friendless, and finds herself befriending her father’s deceased first wife, Irena.

Darkest Night

A family gathers for a reunion and marriage announcement on Christmas Day at an isolated mansion in the Philippine mountains only to encounter a series of bizarre, horrifying, and demonic events. By way of found footage, that is.

The Day of the Beast

A Catholic priest discovers that the Antichrist will be born on Christmas Eve, and so he sets about committing a series of sins in an effort to thwart the birth. He enlists a heavy metal aficionado and an Italian occult expert to aid his quest. Are we all doomed this Christmas? Alex de la Iglesia brings the blasphemous humor.

Dead by Christmas

Christmas Past rears its ugly head when a group of former orphans are reunited for the holidays. Stalking and mayhem ensues.

Dead End

For the first time in 20 years, Frank decides to take a shortcut on his way to his in-laws for Christmas. He and his family wind up getting lost in the middle of nowhere, but that’s not even the worst of it. Things get pretty spooky on Christmas Eve, but there’s also some humor to match.

Dead of Night (1945)

This British horror anthology tells multiple tales of terror, but only one relates to the holiday. “The Christmas Party” spins a chilling story of a ghostly encounter during a children’s Christmas gathering.

Deadly Games

Also known as Game Over and Dial Code Santa Claus, this French horror thriller follows a lonely but resourceful young boy obsessed with Rambo as he’s left alone with his grandfather on Christmas Eve. When a psycho dressed as Santa Claus breaks into his mansion, the boy pulls out all the stops to save himself and his grandpa.

Deadly Little Christmas

An eight-year-old boy slaughters his entire family on Christmas day. He’s locked away in an asylum for fifteen years, until he breaks out with plans to start anew. Now that he’s much older, his Christmas massacre plans are much grander.

Deathcember

A new holiday horror anthology that collects 24 short films from 24 international directors with wide-ranging style. It takes a look at the dark side of the festive season. These shorts are linked by animated segments revolving around the Advent calendar.

Deep Red

Dario Argento’s giallo masterpiece. In it, a jazz pianist and a journalist are pulled into a complex web of mystery and death after the jazz pianist witnesses the brutal murder of a psychic. For the most part, Deep Red isn’t a Christmas horror movie, but the holiday is particularly meaningful to the killer- especially in flashbacks.

Dismembering Christmas

A large group of high school kids decide to spend the holidays together at a remote winter lake house. It wouldn’t be holiday horror if they weren’t stalked and killed by a psycho, and so they are.

The Dorm That Dripped Blood

Instead of going home for Christmas, a group of college students volunteers to stay behind to help clear out a dorm for imminent renovations. They find themselves stalked and gruesomely murdered by an unknown assailant. Sometimes going home for the holidays is the better option.

Don’t Open Till Christmas

One serious Christmas grinch is slaying anyone dressed as Santa over the holiday season. The Scotland Yard have their hands full trying to crack the case before Christmas is canceled.

The Elf (2017)

Nick, who witnessed a murder as a child, inherits an old toy shop as an adult. In it he finds an elf doll locked away inside an old chest alongside a list with his family’s names on it. It turns out that the doll is an evil conduit that unleashes a killing spree once freed.

Elves (1989)

A woman discovers that she is the focus of an evil Nazi experiment involving selective breeding and summoned elves, a bizarre attempt to create a race of super elf men. She’s trapped with friends inside a department store with an evil elf on the loose, and only Santa can stop it. If you’re looking for utterly weird ‘80s Christmas horror, add this to the list.

Elves (2018)

The sequel to 2017’s The Elf, and this time there are multiple elves unleashed from old chests. Each elf represents one of the seven deadly sins, and only a woman named Clover can save Christmas.

Feeders 2: Slay Bells

The sequel to Feeders gets into the holiday spirit. Aliens invade Earth over the Christmas holidays, and it’s up to Santa Claus and his elves to save the world.

Follow

A man receives an early Christmas present from his girlfriend and blacks out shortly after. When he wakes up, he finds a gun in his hand and his girlfriend dead. Christmas has just become a waking nightmare.

The Gingerdead Man

After a serial killer is executed by electric chair, his ashes are sent to his mother, a witch. She mixes them into a gingerbread mix, which is then baked into a cookie, and voila. The killer is reborn in gingerbread cookie form to continue his killing spree once more. Gary Busey plays the killer.

Good Tidings

A homeless war vet with an unsavory past is forced to lean into that past when he and his friends are targeted by a trio of psychos in Santa suits on Christmas day.

Gremlins

When a dad brings his son a mysterious new pet for Christmas, the son wastes no time breaking three vital rules in the pet’s care. He unleashes a horde of dangerous and mischievous green minions that threaten to destroy Christmas and the entire town. A holiday classic.

Hide & Seek

Hailing from India, this holiday horror sees five former friends abducted and held captive in a mall by a person dressed as Santa. That person demands they play a deadly game of hide-and-seek.

Holiday Hell

On Christmas Eve, a shopkeeper regales a last-minute shopper with four tales of terror based on items in his shop. Jeffrey Combs plays the shopkeeper in this anthology, and the segments each take aim at a different holiday, including Hanukkah.

Holidays

A horror anthology that features eight segments, each representing a different holiday. The second to last segment, “Christmas,” revolves around the holiday’s hottest gift item- virtual reality glasses. Things get deadly, but perhaps not in the way you’d expect.

Home for the Holidays (1972)

Four sisters have been estranged from their wealthy father for years after their mother committed suicide. Ailing in health, he summons them home for Christmas, but it comes with a proposition. He asks his daughters to kill his new wife, who he suspects is poisoning him.

I Trapped the Devil

Matt and his wife Karen show up unannounced at the home of his estranged brother Steve to celebrate the holidays. They’re worried about Steve’s paranoid mental state, but they become downright horrified when they discover he has a man locked in his basement. A man Steve is adamant is the devil.

I’m Dreaming of a White Doomsday

After an apocalypse, a mother struggles to keep her 8-year-old son alive in their bomb shelter. It’s the holidays; does this bleak landscape offer any Christmas miracles for the pair?

Infinite Santa 8000

A thousand years after war, greed, and famine destroyed the human race, only mutants, robots, and scum are left to fend for themselves. It’s a kill or be killed situation. Including Santa Claus. Infinite Santa 8000 is an animated feature film with a motion comic aesthetic.

Inside (2007)

Still reeling from the loss of her husband, a very pregnant woman is tormented in her home by a strange woman determined to claim her unborn baby. It’s set on Christmas, though the holiday’s presence is minimal.

Inside (2016)

A remake of the 2007 French film, with an identical plot setup; a pregnant woman is stalked by a stranger obsessed with her unborn baby.

Jack Frost (1997)

A freak accident involving a genetic research truck exposes a serial killer to chemicals. Those chemicals cause the killer to dissolve and fuse with snow, turning him into a homicidal snowman hellbent on revenge.

Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman

Killer snowman Jack Frost is back to attack! This time he’s taking on Christmas at a tropical beach resort. Wacky hijinks ensue.

Jaws: The Revenge

Shark revenge is personal in this Christmas-set sequel. Chief Brody’s widow believes that her family is deliberately being targeted by another shark in search of revenge.

Killer Christmas

Six friends decide to explore an abandoned hotel near a Christmas tree lot. It turns out to be a horrible decision, when they find themselves stalked and murdered by a psycho in a Santa mask.

Krampus (2015)

When Max’s dysfunctional family won’t stop fighting and nothing goes as planned, he turns his back on Christmas and accidentally summons Krampus. All hell breaks loose as Krampus and his horde of minions punish Max and his family.

Krampus: The Christmas Devil

As an adult, Jeremy is a police officer still desperate to solve the mystery of his kidnapping as a child. When other children begin to go missing, Jeremy discovers that his kidnapper is none other than Krampus, and it’s up to him to stop the ancient creature from claiming any more victims.

Krampus: The Reckoning

Zoe is a strange little girl with an imaginary friend named Krampus. Only he’s not so imaginary after all; Krampus seeks to punish all the naughty residents of Zoe’s small town.

Krampus 2: The Devil Returns

A sequel to Krampus: The Christmas Devil. Five years after the murder of his wife and disappearance of his daughter, former police offer Jeremy is brought back to hunt Krampus. He learns shocking truths along the way, in his bid to save Christmas.

Krampus Origins

During WWI, a group of soldiers find an artifact that contains the spirit of Krampus. Naturally, they send it to an orphanage, and the orphans accidentally summon Krampus.

Krampus Unleashed

The Christmas demon has been awakened once again thanks to a group of treasure hunters. It turns out that centuries of slumber have left Krampus seriously hungry for blood.

Lake Alice

Ryan decides to accompany his girlfriend on her family trip to their cabin in the woods for the holidays. He’s seeking approval from her father, but instead, the trip turns into a fight for survival when both a blizzard and a killer show up.

Last Stop on the Night Train

Also known as Night Train Murders, this one borrows heavily from The Last House on the Left and The Virgin Springs. The plot sees two girls on an overnight train to Italy for Christmas get brutalized by a trio of criminals. Those criminals unwittingly wind up at the girls’ parents’ home.

The Lodge

A stepmom-to-be tries to bond with her fiancé’s two children over Christmas at the family’s remote lodge. Just when it seems as though icy relations between the trio will thaw, the power goes out and strange things start happening. Sadly, this eerie release was bumped back from November of this year to February 2020, but it’s close enough that it’s going on this list.

Lucky Stiff (1988)

After being left at the altar by his fiancée, a jilted loser is invited by a beautiful woman to celebrate Christmas with her family. Little does he know that her family are cannibals and he’s intended to be Christmas dinner. This horror-comedy was directed by Norman Bates himself, Anthony Perkins.

The Melancholy Fantastic

A slow-burn Christmas tale for the arthouse crowd, this one is a yuletide portrait of grief and loneliness told through the perspective of an isolated girl and her life-sized doll.

Mercy Christmas

Like Lucky Stiff, this horror-comedy follows an unwitting fellow that meets the woman of his dreams. He’s elated when she invites him over to her family’s for Christmas dinner; but he soon learns that he’s on the menu. With a name like Michael Briskett, he’s the main course.

Mother Krampus

Based on the Alpine legend of Frau Perchta, the Christmas Witch. For the 12 days before Christmas, children of a small town went missing. When it happened again, the locals hung a woman they believed to be the killer, and before dying she placed a curse so that Frau Perchta would avenge her death. This Christmas, both children and adult alike are in mortal danger.

Mother Krampus 2: Slay Ride

Four women are completing their mandatory community service over Christmas, which entails making visits to the elderly. On their final stop of the night, a cheery old woman invites them inside for the evening. But this is Mother Krampus 2, and things aren’t what they seem.

Mrs. Claus

A sorority house with a nefarious past is hosting a Christmas party for college co-eds. They find themselves stalked and slayed by a killer, but this time the killer is dressed as Mrs. Claus.

The Munsters’ Scary Little Christmas

Poor little Eddie Munster has the blues, and his family is determined to get him into the holiday spirit in this Munsters Christmas special. The feature film is loaded with all the Christmas feels and Munster gags you could ever want.

Nekrotronic

This horror-comedy centers around a man that discovers he’s of a lineage of demon hunters, which proves vital in the modern world where demons have taken over the internet. The epic battle of good versus evil happens to take place over Christmas time.

Night of the Comet

It’s Christmas time in the Valley when a comet passes by, wiping out most of humanity. It leaves two sisters battling against zombies, ruthless scientists, and more. A fun ‘80s classic that doesn’t hang its plot on the holiday, but the iconography is present enough throughout that it definitely counts.

The Night of the Hunter

A terrifying Southern gothic, fairy tale noir film that sees Robert Mitchum as a ruthless killer who terrorizes two young children for the location of hidden money after murdering their mother. Christmas only factors into the plot at the tail end, but it’s worth seeking out.

Night Visitors (1987)

The Whitmore family home is decked out in Christmas décor and all prepped and ready for the holidays. Their holiday cheer is threatened by the arrival of a bizarre gang that takes over the home and forces the family to participate in weird rituals to appease their leader.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

After another successful Halloween, Jack Skellington is looking to shake things up. Upon discovering Christmas Town, he decides to bring Christmas to Halloween Town. It doesn’t just confuse the residents; it threatens to ruin Christmas for everyone. Tim Burton nails Gothic Christmas once again.

Nixon and Hogan Smoke Christmas

Stoners Nixon and Hogan have to help Santa deliver presents on Christmas after Santa accidentally toked some bad weed. Weed that turned him into a zombie.

Once Upon a Time at Christmas

In the twelve days leading up to Christmas, a psychotic Santa and Mrs. Claus go on a murder spree in a small town.

One Hell of a Christmas

Carlitos is released from prison around Christmas after serving hard time. He intends to turn a new leaf and set an example for his son, but his friend involves him in a stolen claw scheme and demonic forces will do anything to get it back.

P2

Workaholic Angela finds herself the lone employee working late at the office on Christmas Eve. When she finally attempts to leave to visit family, an unhinged security guard holds her captive in the parking garage. Co-written by Alexandre Aja and directed by Franck Khalfoun (2012’s Maniac).

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

A family moves into a new house and discovers a video camera and a box of tapes in the garage. When they look through the camera’s lens, they begin to see the paranormal activity happening around them – including the re-emergence of young Kristi and Katie. This not-quite final entry in the popular found footage series happens to take place at Christmas.

Pastorela

Agent Jesus Juarez has always played the Devil in his town’s Nativity Play (Pastorela). This Christmas, the new pastor has recast the part, angering Juarez, and the two men engage in a battle between good and evil.

The Path (2012)

A chess player invites his estranged wife and son to travel with him to a remote cabin in the woods for Christmas. He grows jealous when he thinks his wife is interested in the handyman. He invites that man over for Christmas Eve, and things spiral out of control thanks to a paranoid mind.

Pooka!

An actor lands a seasonal job as a plush, life-sized version of the holiday’s hottest toy. The more he wears the suit, the more he seems to lose track of time. The Pooka suit seems to be taking over his persona. This is the third entry in Hulu’s Into the Dark series.

Psycho Santa

On the drive to a Christmas gathering, a man taunts his wife about a local urban legend of a psychotic Santa. It turns out to be true, and their holiday party becomes a bloodbath.

Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys

This Puppet Master and Demonic Toys crossover event takes place on Christmas Eve. A group of evil toymakers seek to use Andre Toulon’s formula to give life to killer toys; luckily Toulon’s nephew is there with the puppets to stop the sinister plot.

Rabid (1977)

An experimental surgery post-accident leaves Rose with an insatiable thirst for blood. Her victims become crazed zombies, causing a city-wide epidemic in this David Cronenberg favorite. Though the holiday connection is minimal, a memorable scene takes place at a mall with Santa.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

On Christmas Eve, an archaeological dig on a Northern Finland mountaintop unearths Santa Claus. Only this Santa is an ancient yuletide nightmare. When local children begin to disappear, it’s up to young Pietari to save the day. This Christmas, everyone will believe in Santa.

Red Christmas (2016)

Christmas past comes back to terrorize a mother who simply wants a nice Christmas with her family. Instead, she finds herself doing whatever she can to stop the figure from destroying them all.

Santa Claus (1959)

Featured in the fifth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000, this oddball film sees the devil Pitch attempting to ruin Christmas. Santa has to team up with Merlin the Magician to save the day.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Featured on both Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Elvira’s Movie Macabre, Santa Claus and two children are kidnapped by Martians and brought back to Mars. The group teach the Martians the joy of the holiday.

Santa Claus versus the Zombies

A suburban family finds themselves barricaded in their homes with couple of elves and an actor who may, or may not, be the real Santa Claus after a zombie outbreak. The president and his advisers concoct a plan to save them all.

Santa Claws (1996)

After a man finds his mom having sex with a Santa, he snaps and kills them both. Years later he’s convinced that he’s Santa and begins stalking the object of his latest obsession; a horror movie star named Raven (Debbie Rochon).

Santa’s Slay

Once upon a time, Santa was an evil demon who made a bet with an angel and lost. As a result, he was forced to become the benign Christmas toy giver he’s associated with. When that bet is off, he returns to his evil ways and the body count starts piling up.

Saint

On the full moon of December 5, the murderous evil spirit St. Nicholas comes to town to unleash terror and mayhem along with his zombie-like Black Peters. From Dick Maas, the mind behind Amsterdamned.

Secret Santa (2015)

A group of college kids stressed over their exams plan an alcohol-infused party with a Secret Santa gift exchange. It’s all fun and games until a killer shows up for some yuletide terror.

Secret Santa (2018)

A dysfunctional family gathering for Christmas turns into a gruesome nightmare when someone spikes the punch with a mysterious drug. It renders them crazed and homicidal. This one is from Jason Goes to Hell’s Adam Marcus.

Scrooged

Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a cynical, selfish TV executive haunted by the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future in this ‘80s retelling of A Christmas Carol. Sure, it’s a comedy, but some of those ghosts can be pretty spooky. As well as Frank’s dead mentor Lew. A festive gateway horror movie, perhaps?

Sheitan

Translated as Satan, Sheitan follows a group of friends that decide to spend Christmas Eve partying at a club. They run into a shepherd that’s prepared a night of pure insanity and Satan worshipping. Things get disturbing.

Sick for Toys

Roy is a self-identified nice guy tired of coming in last. It prompts him to accept a Christmas dinner invitation by the beautiful and strange Emilia. If you’ve been reading along, then at this point in the list it should come as no surprise that this mysterious dinner won’t end well.

Silent Night

A very, very loose remake, or reimagining, of Silent Night, Deadly Night. A killer dressed as Santa embarks on a murder spree on Christmas Eve, leaving the police scrambling to catch him.

Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972)

When a man inherits a mansion, he returns home to sell it. In the process, he discovers harrowing truths about the mansion’s history. It unsettles the locals and sparks horrific consequences.

Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming

A low budget reimagining/remake of 1972’s Silent Night, Bloody Night.

Silent Night Bloody Night 2: Revival

A direct sequel to 1972’s Silent Night, Bloody Night. A pair of siblings head home to pay respects to a deceased loved one and stumble upon the journal of Jeffrey Butler. Once more the dark secrets are unearthed.

Silent Night, Deadly Night

After his grandpa tells him that Santa punishes the naughty, Little Billy witnesses his parents being murdered by someone dressed as Santa. It does a real number on his psyche. Fresh out of the orphanage at 18, Billy picks up the Santa slaying mantle to punish those he deems naughty. One of horror’s requisite holiday staples.

Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2

“Garbage day!” It turns out that Billy’s murderous ways traumatized his younger brother Ricky. After Billy’s death, Ricky decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps to become a serial killer as well.

Silent Night Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out

Ricky (Bill Moseley!) awakens from a six-year coma after being kept alive by a mad doctor that experimented with ESP. As a result, Ricky targets a clairvoyant blind woman that’s on her way to grandma’s house for Christmas. The death toll rises in his wake.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation

A strange case of a woman leaping from her apartment building in flames has a reporter investigating. She gets caught up in a witch coven’s plot that intends to make her their Christmas sacrifice.

Silent Night Deadly Night 5: The Toymaker

An older toymaker and his son make and deliver toys that are designed to kill their owners. Meanwhile, a boy witnesses his father getting slain by one of these toys and falls mute. His mother is desperate to get to the bottom of it.

Silent Night, Zombie Night

In the days leading up to Christmas, Los Angeles is stricken with a plague that turns its residents into the walking dead. A Police Officer becomes trapped with his partner and his estranged wife.

Slay Belles

On Christmas Eve, a trio of cosplayers cross paths with the evil Krampus. To save the world, they team up with Santa (Barry Bostwick), a biker.

Sole Survivor

The lone survivor of a plane crash is dealing with a serious case of survivor’s guilt. Haunted feelings of unworthiness become literal when the dead come to collect her. Essentially a reworking of Carnival of Souls, this chiller is set over Christmas.

Stalled

Poor maintenance worker W.C. finds himself trapped in a stall in the women’s restroom during a zombie outbreak. On Christmas Eve, no less.

Tales from the Crypt (1972)

This horror anthology kicks off with a yuletide tale, “…And All Through the House.” A woman has just murdered her own husband when a psycho Santa comes along. She can’t exactly call the police, and so things escalate from there. Based on an E.C. Comics story, this tale was also redone for the Tales from the Crypt TV show.

To All a Good Night (1980)

Surprise, surprise, this Christmas slasher sees a group of teens stalked by a maniac dressed as Santa at a holiday party.

The Traveler

Val Kilmer stars as Mr. Nobody, a mysterious man that walks into a police department on Christmas Eve to confess to multiple murders. Of course, his plans are more complicated than that, and the six deputies on duty learn he’s a vengeful killer with a past that threatens them all.

Trees 2: The Root of All Evil

The plot of this movie picks up where its predecessor, Trees, left off. Ranger Cody now has a fear of trees. When killer Christmas trees invade the town of Hazelville, no one believes him.

Two Front Teeth

A tabloid reporter is determined to uncover a Christmas conspiracy involving a flight taken down by a creature with a red nose. His investigation has put him on Santa’s naughty list, and the big guy sends his undead elves to keep the reporter from the truth.

Ugly Sweater Party

An ugly sweater party gets bloody when an evil Christmas sweater possesses its wearer and renders them homicidal. This one stars Sean Whalen and Felissa Rose.

While She Was Out

Out shopping late on Christmas Eve, a woman leaves a note on a double-parked vehicle in the mall parking lot. The owner of that vehicle and his three friends don’t take kindly to the note and decide killing her is the best recourse.

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?

Hansel and Gretel gets a holiday makeover. Shelley Winters plays a demented widow that lures children to her mansion under the pretense of an annual Christmas party. She intends to keep one of the little girls. Things get weird.

Wind Chill

Two college kids share a ride home for the holiday break. The car breaks down on an isolated road, and they’re preyed upon and haunted by the ghosts of those who died there. This one stars Emily Blunt.

XX

This anthology features four segments of horror, but only the first is holiday-related. Jovanka Vuckovic’s “The Box,” based on Jack Ketchum’s short story of the same name, sees a family stricken by an unexplained illness after taking a peek at a stranger’s present on the train. Christmas is bleak for this family.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on December 20, 2019.

The post Bloody Disgusting’s Massive Guide to Over 120 Christmas Horror Films appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Merging horror and comedy templates might be cinema’s greatest challenge. Tip the scales either way, risk driving away audiences who aren’t expecting a one-sided affair. Zombie outbreaks, household hauntings, even deadly children’s games can all benefit from comedic engagements so long as terror or chaos aren’t forgotten. Horror comedies, as the best prove, trojan horse fears under blankets of laughter to create a more effective brand of scare tactics.

Over the decade, we’ve had our share of horror-comedy blunders and highlights. I, for one, would like to honor the latter. I love cackling heartily through my horror films, for the right reasons of course (well, there’s nothing wrong with a Demon Wind watch either). It’s been a righteous ten years for meta horror-comedies, as well as workplace follies morphed into cutthroat enterprise takedowns. Also, anal cavity creatures? Let’s pay homage to those films that snap through every funnybone and put a smile on your face that’ll last an eternity.

23. Bloodsucking Bastards (2015)

“I track how many paper clips we use per quarter, do you think I wouldn’t notice a vampire company takeover?”

Work sucks, especially when your department is being turned vampiric employee by employee. Well, let me rephrase that sentence. Work sucks when you’re part of a company being turned vampiric – but watching actors such as Fran Kranz, Pedro Pascal, and Joey Kern portray the scenario on screen? Bloodsucking Bastards takes a bite out of “Worksploitation” horror and elevates the idea of soulless salespeople to batty new heights. First acts are a bit like a more grounded episode of Workaholics, but as the vampire theme starts to slowly creep in, comedic elements don’t wane in response. A horror comedy, in my opinion, that never found the initial audience it deserves.

22. Piranha 3D (2010)

“[last words] Wet t-shirt…wet t-shirt!”

Alexandre Aja isn’t known for his jokiness, but Piranha 3D injects aqua-horror-humor into the vacation nightmare subgenre. Between shots of flesh being torn from spring-breaker bones, characters find themselves the butt of many a carnivorous gag. Jerry O’Connell, the sleazy “Girls Gone Wild” hack whose latest masterplan has no legs to stand on. Ving Rhames and his lawman’s brute tenacity. Paul Scheer being Paul Scheer. Even the gruesomeness of Greg Nicotero’s practical effects get a laugh as gore smashes Eli Roth’s head in broad daylight, or baked-in callbacks recreate classic horror sequences (Jaws). Fun in the sun, with an emphasis on “F-U-N.”

21. Bad Milo (2013)

“[shrugs] You got a thing in your butt.”

Bad Milo is a touching intestinal comedy about one man’s misunderstood butt demon, and a quite humorous one at that. Ken Marino’s chemistry with Milo is nothing short of a miracle, whether he’s losing cool after another dead body or cuddling his big-eyed little buddy. You know how fans got all meme-happy after Shudder dropped “The Finger,” a Creepshow episode featuring an “adorable killer sidekick?” Bad Milo presented the scenario first, executes more than gimmick filmmaking, and features Peter Stormare. Check and mate in my book. Shout out to some expert puppetry that brings Milo alive, this curious little colon camper with a heart of gold (massacring for daddy is sweet!).

20. Witching & Bitching (2013)

“What eyes? Pull them out!”

This might be an underdog pick to some, but anyone who studies Álex de la Iglesia’s catalog can attest to the filmmaker’s black-as-night funnybone. In this case, criminals find themselves on the lam and hiding in Zugarramurdi. Everyone knows Zugarramurdi, yes? If not, I can assure you nothing good happens there given how all types of witches run rampant through village streets. A Spanish cast including Carolina Bang and Hugo Silva either must bring upon or thwart an oncoming coven apocalypse, as Iglesia unleashes bedlam on broomsticks that comes in all shapes and sizes. Hellion curses, merciless conjurers, and unprepared heroes collide in an international satanic panic not to be missed.

19. Juan of the Dead (2011)

“[answering phone] Juan of the dead, we kill your beloved ones, how can I help you?”

I earnestly hope y’all haven’t passed over Alejandro Brugués’ Juan of the Dead. Cuba’s “first” horror film takes a page out of the commentative messaging of George A. Romero’s best while opting for more Shaun of the Dead vibes. Juan and his rag-tag assembly must fight the undead while government wavelengths and media sources claim the reanimated corpses are dissidents revolting against Cuban rule. Come for the obvious sociopolitical skewering, stay for Juan’s raucous capitalist revolution. This zombie killer for hire comes at a bargain price and with gleeful corpse-decimating kills.

18. Mayhem (2017)

“This – this – this meditation & this incense, it’s all bullshit. You think I like the taste of kale? Come on! I’m fucking dead inside.”

Joe Lynch and “Worksploitation” horror is a match made in Satan’s boardroom. His contagion thriller Mayhem drives a stake through the heart of corporate manipulation and beats political office games into an unrecognizable pulp. It helps to have Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving at the top of their cubicle-crushing game, as Weaving herself steps into the forefront in terms of unhinged comedic potential. Mayhem is an angry movie about being taken advantage of by incorporated entities, yet it’s enraged catharsis makes for an insanely punchline-worthy watch. Rage viruses aren’t exactly “funny,” but it’s more in the reactions when co-workers start primevally laying smackdowns on one another when the film’s true humor bubbles over. Maybe that’s just coming from someone who’s been chained to a desk since graduating college?

17. Stitches (2012)

“You’re not our charge, but know this: a clown who doesn’t finish his party act can never rest, and a joke is never funny the second time round.”

What do you get when comedian Ross Noble plays a back-from-the-dead party clown hellbent on murdering the now teenage children who caused his death? Stitches, the 2012 slasher about red noses and vengeful brutality. Egregious puns are Noble’s calling card, as deaths all carry a carnival vibe and practical playfulness. Eyes stabbed out with umbrellas, brains scooped with utensils, heads popped like balloons. In a world where we’re still clamoring for new slasher franchises, I’m still disappointed “Stitches” never returned with his face-painted cult. At least the mad clown’s origin story is more entertaining than your lamest friend who brings his magic kit to co-ed parties.

16. Little Monsters (2019)

“I fucking hate those little Kiddlywinks.”

Can petting zoo zombie outbreaks be heartwarming and saccharine sweet? Yup! Just watch Little Monsters. Lupita Nyong’o shines ever-so brightly as “Miss Caroline,” a teacher tasked with protecting her young students from flesh-tearing threats without spooking the innocent kiddos. A mission made harder when children’s entertainer Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad at his most monstrously hilarious) snaps and would be perfectly fine sacrificing each child for his own life – but not on Miss Caroline’s watch. Cue Taylor Swift ukulele covers, “strawberry jam” stains, and hard-knock sidetalks between Miss Caroline and her nastily rude adult tag-along. I know everyone points to Us as Nyong’o crowing 2019 genre role, but dare I hoist Little Monsters higher? A performance that blasts sunflower happiness despite entrails covering animal pens.

15. Tragedy Girls (2017)

“To make an omelet, you have to kill some ex-boyfriends.”

Whichever scientist figures out how to harness the charismatic energy of Brianna Hildebrand and Alexandra Shipp into usable power will solve the world’s wattage troubles. Tragedy Girls hacks and slashes social media culture to shreds, but would be completely different with any other combination of female leads. Points are awarded given Tyler MacIntyre’s “Behind The Mask, but way more fetch” setup, as goth-queen true crime obsessors attempt to heighten their online personas by, well, slicing through the competition. It’s Mean Girls wittiness influenced by Leslie Vernon’s “serial killer mockumentary” vibe. Peppier than a state championship cheer squad, funnier than your high school grade’s class clown, and still a serious murder spree. Smash that share button, yo.

14. The Final Girls (2015)

“Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve dreamed of being the final girl.”

The Final Girls impresses most as Todd Strauss-Schulson ravages audience emotions to the tune of “Bette Davis Eyes.” Second most impressive is how M.A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller script a pretty damn hilarious satire of 80s slasher cinema. As Taissa Farmiga’s gang finds themselves sucked into (some of) their favorite horror franchise Last Action Hero style, bonehead character archetypes cycle through the usually plotted motions of campfire massacres. Adam Devine and Angela Trimbur shine as horny sexpots – Trimber especially during her climactic striptease – while Thomas Middleditch’s superfan watches on with (somewhat perverse) glee. Take your pick of reasons to love The Final Girls, but I’ll always appreciate how hard it makes me chuckle (before flooding the waterworks).

13. Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

“Christmas is fast becoming my least favorite “C” word.”

Ugh, *another* Christmas-theme horror musical comedy from Scotland about zombies. Good thing John McPhail’s holiday singalong nails every aspect, “comedy” included. While songs are pop-catchy and undead attacks choreographed with aggression, what’s most impressive is a cast that never allows rather dark thematic reaches to snuff holly-jolly humor. Festivities are splattered with blood (and…urine), and characters aren’t granted the “Hollywood Endings” other films might have allowed, but you’ll still sit with a beaming smile throughout Anna’s entire campaign thanks to supercharged spirits making seasonal slayings bright. Humor is delivered as sharp and dangerous as Anna’s pointed candy cane weaponry. Merry Killsmas!

12. Stage Fright (2014)

“Break a leg!”

Those Bloody Disgusting fans who listen to Horror Queers on the regular already know my opinions on Stage Fright are not widely shared. Well phooey on you, Trace. Now it’s MY turn to say Stage Fright wears its horror musical badge like the pride of theater camp. Meat Loaf leads a troupe of budding summer songsters in a new kabuki production that hopes to put his little outpost on the map, but a heavy metal killer starts slashing through stuck-up pupils. Cue singalong lyrics that poke fun at theater kid tropes, wailing guitar riffs behind vicious deaths, and comedy any theater camp graduate I’ve shown Stage Fright to feels on a deep, self-mocking level. Truthfully, one of my favorite horror-comedy rewatches of the decade. Doesn’t bother me if I’m alone.

11. Cheap Thrills (2013)

“Cut your pinky off. It’s your pinky. You use it for, like, nothing.”

Should I feel pity or remorse for laughing throughout E.L. Katz’s Cheap Thrills? Writers David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga are some mean ‘sombitchs given their penchant for denying characters basic humanity. You’ve got David Koechner throwing out increasingly harmful “dares” with dollar amounts tied to completion, meant to pit “buddies” played by Pat Healy and Ethan Embry against one another. Sara Paxton watches on, a housewife indulging in gladiatorial entertainment. Again, should I laugh as animals are endangered? Men piss on one another? Friendships are broken within hours? The answer is yes, because Cheap Thrills is a special brand of psychotic competitiveness. One that marinates in a bath of the most delicious delinquency expendable money can buy.

10. Detention (2011)

“It’s just high school. It’s not the end of the world.”

A pinch of John Hughes, a dash of Wes Craven, a sprinkle of Diablo Cody, and voilà! You’ve cooked-up Joseph Kahn’s criminally underappreciated Detention. A meta wrecking ball of sci-fi and slasher influences rolled into one hyper-attentive afterschool special. Shanley Caswell, Josh Hutcherson, and all their high-schooler supporting parts sell student body comedics while dodging a slasher villain named Cinederhella. There also might be some time paradox teleportation, insectoid arms, and mentions of the band Hoobastank. What the hell am I talking about? Find out and see, given how most everyone I’ve interacted with has been sleeping on my man Kahn.

9. Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead (2014)

“I’ve seen a thousand zombie movies, and this is not in any of them. You’ve created a whole new genre here, man.”

To steal a quote that will forever be used to describe Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead, it’s “the sequel you did Nazi coming.” How does a Nazi zombie horror movie top itself as a continuation? Introduce body-swapping aspects, American “zombie hunters,” festering Russian allies (still undead), and full committal to Tommy Wirkola’s bonkers concept. I adore Dead Snow, but it’s just a gory snow top tease. The furthered journey of Martin against reanimated German platoon leader Herzog is one for the undead history books. You know, the chapter that covers Norwegian horror-comedies based on WWII soldiers hunting gold and turning tourists into bloodthirsty, boot-steppin’ grunts.

8. Housebound (2014)

“You know, the closed mind is the worst defense against the paranormal, Kylie. What are you gonna do against a hostile spirit? You just gonna crack jokes?”

New Zealand knows their way around a horror-comedy, and Gerard Johnstone’s Housebound is proper proof. A woman sentenced to home arrest listens to stories of paranormal possibilities from her mother once returning to the nest, but she ignores such talk. Actress Morgana O’Reilly stands out as the incarcerated Kylie Bucknell, who begins to suspect her new living arrangements may indeed be “haunted” by some presence. No spoilage here as to what Kylie encounters, but just know it’ll have you rolling with laughter thanks in part to Rima Te Wiata’s motherly counterpart. A film about bumps in the night that’s smooth sailing as far as dysfunction and humorous genre setups are concerned. One that’s rumored to be getting a US remake…despite the film already existing in the English language?

7. Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015)

“After watching seventeen of my best friends get killed by some crazy lady, I guess you can say I’m a little bit afraid of women.”

As someone who’s consumed Natural Light hard seltzers *multiple* weekends in a row, by choice, it should come as no surprise that 5-Second Films’ Dude Bro Party Massacre III stands as one of my favorite horror-comedies of the decade. Slam brewskis with the Delta Bi Theta brothers as they once again must defeat a mass-murdering slasher villain named “Motherface” while repressing their most homoerotic urges. It’s *shockingly* witty, gratuitously juvenile, and every bit of 80s after-dark exploitation you would have recorded on cable after mommy went to sleep. So many sensual and complicated handshakes, torn-off shirts, and tapped kegs – which is frankly but a fraction of the masterful mockery that propels this third franchise entry without any accompanying releases.

6. This is the End (2013)

“Something, um, not-that-chill happened last night.”

No horror-comedy has grown on me more over the decade than This is the End. Humor may largely stem from celebrity cameos of actors playing exaggerated and egotistical versions of their true selves (or so they say), but This is the End is also a knowledgeable horror satire. Maybe not Cabin In the Woods savvy, but genre rules and regulations are still taken to task by Hollywood’s favorite stoner crew. Plus, has Danny McBride ever been better? My newest Halloween tradition is programming horror marathons that always culminate with This is the End, capping a night of screams with a whole subterranean basement full of laughs. Exorcisms, hellfire sinkholes, creatures from beneath – tell me all the boxes aren’t ticked.

5. Ready or Not (2019)

“What the fuck is wrong with you, you fucking asshole piece of shit little tiny dick licker fucking asshole fucking die!”

Dysfunctional lifestyles of the rich and famous are all the rage in modern cinema these days given current classism climates. Eat the rich, sacrifice the rich, face off against the rich in a murderous game of mansion-wide hide and seek – take your pick. Ready or Not, 2019’s representation of the last example, completes a triumvirate of genre performances for lead Samara Weaving that anoint her horror’s new queen to watch. Be it take-no-shit aggression, snarky laughs, punchy instincts, or a host of other qualities, Weaving devours the screen as a wife attempting to survive her own wedding night. Crossbows, hidden passageways, and a tabletop gaming empire all stand in her way, but one thing’s for sure. Entertainment and bleak, bastardized nuptial humor comes at a premium.

4. Deathgasm (2015)

“Look, I’m gonna help you do this, but only because you suck at it. Also, it’s kind of fun stabbing shit.”

Underworld demons. Unhallowed hymns. Furious thrash solos. Dildo assassinations. Wait. Dildo assassinations? Deathgasm plays like a rebellious pre-teen anarchist’s Trapper Keeper full of angsty doodles animated into the form of a horror-comedy rebel yell. Filmmaker Jason Lei Howden, a professed headbanger himself, brings upon decibel damnation as moronic metalheads summon an apocalyptic curse through their garage-band amps. Think Sam Raimi, with plenty of shouts at the devil and projectiled practical gore.

My Deathgasm watch count is somewhere around eight or nine by now, with each viewing only getting funnier. Between Zakk’s (James Joshua Blake) “brutal” machismo satire, Brodie’s (Milo Cawthorne) hopeless-romantic-in-corpse-paint act, and Medina’s (Kimberley Crossman) leather-clad conversion? Whether they’re splitting possessed skulls or striking a metal-horn handshake, laughs remain at a premium. “Do it again!” is still one of my favorite horror jokes of the decade. Home run number two for New Zealand!

3. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

“Okay, I’m drawing a line in the fucking sand, here. Do not read the Latin.”

Do you think Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard knew the brilliance they hatched after writing The Cabin in the Woods? In every scene, through almost every line, there’s a roasting of some offhand genre trope turned into an anecdote or norm-busting zinger. Sure, Fran Kranz plays the collapsable-bong-smoking jester – but he’s hardly the film’s shining comedy star. Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford punch their timecards as factory workers in control of real-life horror scenarios who’re part of a bigger sacrificial undertaking. Cut to Whitford’s “Merman” obsession, random dance sequences, a whiteboard of bets, and countless instances of satirical buildup before one *glorious* kitchen-sink payoff. All worth the long-shelved wait it took for The Cabin in the Woods to finally reach mainstream theaters.

2. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

“What am I supposed to say, Dale? ‘Oh hidy-ho officer! We’ve had a doozy of a day. There we were minding our own business, just doing chores around the house when kids started killing themselves all over my property.'”

If Brianna Hildebrand and Alexandra Shipp are the female horror-comedy duo of the decade, Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine steal male honors. Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil is such an ingenious reinvention of slasher tropes that flips the backwoods slasher script. What if stereotyped, creepy slack-jawed yokels were just two buddies fixing up their vacation homes, and kids just kept killing themselves through incredulous means on their property? One of those “why didn’t I think of that” scenarios that assuredly keeps other filmmakers up at night, cursing Eli Craig’s name for crafting a horror-comedy that’s twelve cuts above.

1. What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

“I think of it like this. If you are going to eat a sandwich, you would just enjoy it more if you knew no one had fucked it.”

Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi gifted horror fans the vampiric Real World mockumentary we never knew we needed with What We Do in the Shadows. Is there a more effortlessly quotable horror-comedy in the last twenty years, let alone ten? My “Dead But Delicious” Cavity Colors baseball tee disagrees. “We’re Werewolves, not Swear-wolves!” comes to mind. What an outrageously enjoyable spoof that encompasses all eras of vampire representation – Nosferatu to Twilight. Plainly put, there are too many top-notch gags to begin naming favorites. That, readers, is telling enough to the film’s satirical weight in humor-happy gold. Take a bow, New Zealand! You’ve made quite a lasting mark on the horror-comedy subgenre these last years.

The post Matt Donato Breaks Down the Best Horror-Comedies of the 2010s appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Sorry Netflix, you need to step up your game.

Without further ado, here are 15 great holiday horror picks at your fingertips!

Anna and the Apocalypse – Hulu, Amazon Prime Video

A high school-set Christmas musical collides with the zombie comedy in a surprising mashup. What should be a recipe for disaster instead becomes an infectious and affecting holiday coming of age tale that isn’t afraid to go bleak when it needs to. It helps that the cast is so charming and the tunes utterly catchy.

Better Watch Out – Shudder

For those that like their holiday horror full of pitch-black humor and one nasty mean streak, this is for you. A babysitting job in the quiet suburbs turns into a harrowing night for the babysitter when her ward’s house is under siege by intruders. There’s far more than meets the eye in this twist on home invasion horror, and it’s vicious. A bone-chilling villain and one brutal kill that riffs on a family holiday favorite makes this a memorable and crowd-pleasing pick.

Black Christmas – Prime Video, Shudder, Tubi, Vudu

There’s no excuse to miss this holiday staple over the holiday season; it’s available on four different streaming platforms. A precursor and pioneer for the slasher craze that followed a few years later, this atmospheric gem sees a sorority stalked and hunted by a stranger over the Christmas break. While Olivia Hussey’s Jess is a final girl for the ages, Margot Kidder threatens to upstage her at every turn with her performance as lively sorority sister Barb.

The Children – Tubi

An isolated family and friend gathering over Christmas winds up pitting children against parents when a gruesome virus breaks out. Children have a penchant for creepiness in horror, and The Children ranks high among the killer kid subgenre. If you think the holiday setting means tamer kills, you’d be wrong; these children are malicious little killers.

Dead End – Tubi

Ray Wise and Lin Shaye lead in this road trip horror movie set on Christmas Eve. When Ray Wise’s Frank opts to take a scenic route on the long drive over to Frank’s in-laws, things go awry quickly. But never quite how you’d expect. Essentially a small chamber piece, mostly set within the confines of the car, Dead End is an intelligent horror film with a great cast and unpredictable twists. There’s plenty of humor to help alleviate the tension, too.

Deadly Games – Shudder

Thanks to Shudder, a long-hidden gem finally surfaces to become a new holiday favorite. Released in France a year ahead of Home Alone, with a similar setup, the plot follows the resourceful Thomas as he’s left to protect and thwart an unwanted and dangerous home intruder on Christmas Eve. The stakes are far higher and more shocking than anything Kevin McAllister had to overcome.

Maniac Cop 2 – Tubi, Vudu

Yeah, yeah, so Christmas is about as important to the plot as St. Patrick’s Day was to the original, but this sequel is set around the holiday and makes excellent use of the décor and iconography. Plus, it’s just a damn fun sequel worth watching. This time undead Officer Cordell teams up with a serial killer. A lot of peoples’ holidays are ruined in the process.

Night of the Comet – Vudu

Everything about this horror-comedy screams Christmas, from the setting to the décor to a major character dressing up as Santa to surprise our favorite sisters from the Valley. Besides, any excuse to watch our favorite Valley girls take on zombies, mad scientists, and ruthless survivors is a worthy one.

The Nightmare Before Christmas – Disney+

If you’re looking to bring in the little ones on your holiday horror viewings, this is the perfect fit. Tim Burton’s gothic aesthetic unleashes a slew of monsters when the citizens of Halloween Town attempt to take over Christmas. Chaos and mayhem ensue.

P2 – Tubi

This horror-thriller will make you think twice about devoting too much of your life to work. Rachel Nichols’s Angela is a corporate workaholic, the last to leave the office on Christmas Eve. That makes it the perfect time for a psychopath to hold her hostage in the parking garage. This one’s intense, effective, and pretty savage.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale – Hulu, Prime Video

A holiday horror story that hearkens back to Santa’s darker roots, this Norwegian fantasy horror follows Pietari, a boy whose belief in Santa is the very thing that will save everyone when an archaeological dig unearths the real thing. Too bad the real thing is the stuff of nightmares.

Sint – Hulu

St. Nicholas is an evil, undead bishop who murders children whenever there’s a full moon on December 5. If it sounds outlandish, well, it’s supposed to be. It’s from Dick Maas, the mind behind Amsterdamned. A rip-roaring raucous time, full of gore and glee. In other words, don’t take this one seriously; it’s the perfect popcorn horror flick for the holidays.

Santa’s Slay – Vudu

Once upon a time, the demon Santa made a bet with an angel and lost. As a result, he was forced to become a benevolent holiday giver of toys and happiness. When the bet runs its course, Santa eagerly returns to his evil ways. Played by Bill Goldberg, Santa gets downright naughty this Christmas. It’s a B-movie romp full of over-the-top humor, and the opening scene aptly sums up the zany horror that follows.

Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 – Shudder, Tubi, Vudu

“It’s garbage day!” You can skip the first one and get straight to its sequel; it spends an inordinately lengthy amount of time recapping the events of Part 1 anyway. The real reason to tune in to this one, of course, is for Ricky Caldwell (Eric Freeman), this film’s killer Santa. Freeman’s performance is camp gold.

Wind Chill – Crackle

When honoring the old holiday tradition of telling ghost stories, Wind Chill is a worthy option. A pair of college students opt to share a ride home for the holidays over Christmas break, but the car breaks down on a deserted stretch of road. They’re haunted and preyed upon by the ghosts of those who have died there. The isolation, weather conditions, and psychological horrors make this ghost story stand out among the usual holiday horror offerings.

The post 15 Fun Christmas Horror Titles You Can Stream Right Now appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

First up is John McPhail‘s Christmas horror musical Anna and the Apocalypse (read Trace’s 4-star review), which will be hitting Amazon Prime on November 13th.

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

And then there’s the Fred Durst-directed, John Travolta-starring The Fanatic (read William’s review), wherein Travolta plays a deranged madman stalking one of his favorite actors.

“Moose (Travolta) gets cheated out of meeting his hero, Hunter Dunbar (Devon Sawa). Moose then hunts down Dunbar to get the celebrity interaction he feels he deserves. Harmless at first, Moose’s actions begin to take a dark turn. Moose begins to make frequent visits to his hero’s private home. As the visits continue to escalate, Dunbar finds himself in increasing danger.”

The Fanatic comes to Amazon Prime on November 20th.

Other horror films hitting Amazon Prime in November include Overlord (2018) and The Ring (2002) on November 1st and Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) on November 6th.

The post ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ and Fred Durst’s ‘The Fanatic’ Coming to Amazon Prime in November appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Via Rue Morgue, we’ve learned today that Orion’s Anna and the Apocalypse will be receiving a Digital and VOD release next week, on Tuesday, February 12th!

Trace Thurman reviewed Anna and the Apocalypse for us out of its World Premiere at 2017’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a joyous celebration of zombies, musicals and Christmas!”

Check out the Red Band trailer below, while you wait.

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script (with Alan McDonald).

The post Holiday Horror Musical ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ Getting a VOD Release Next Week! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

If there are two things that can summarize the horror genre in the 2010s, they are the rise of think pieces using the term “elevated horror”, and people complaining about the horror genre being overdone. When The Walking Dead first aired on AMC it paved the way for genre shows to become huge cultural phenomena like Game of Thrones. It also paved the way for thousands of hot takes that declare that the sub-genre is dead and there are no more stories to be told with zombies.

The past two decades have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of zombie films, which is not a surprise given the political and social climate of the past two decades. Director Julius Avery thinks zombies are popular because they are simple, yet primal. “They embody our fears of death and that on the other side there is nothing but suffering and more hunger.” The 21^st century also made the threat of zombies as real as it had ever been. Zombie films draw from our fear of other people – you must avoid crowds to survive, as an infected could be hiding among us at any time – and the threat of a biological attack with unforeseen consequences, so we live in the best time for zombie stories. Of course, like any other genre that becomes popular, there are enough zombie films made constantly to make the bad ones stand out, causing audiences to dismiss the entire genre (funny how no one thought of saying “superhero fatigue” until bad films like Fantastic Four came out).

But it only takes one Shaun of the Dead or a Train to Busan to prove that the sub-genre is anything but dead. This year has seen a wave of high-quality zombie films that put unique twists on old tropes. One Cut of the Dead, Anna and the Apocalypse, Overlord, Rampant, Cargo – these are not only the breakthrough zombie films of the year (some already out, some seen in the festival circuit), but they show us just how little ground we have actually covered when it comes to the undead.

The undead can also be funny

The revival of the “zom-com” is attributed to Shaun of the Dead becoming a box office hit. So it isn’t surprising to see most of the best zombie films of the year try to at least homage it. Of the films listed above, two stand out as the clearer heirs to Shaun’s laugh empire. The little Japanese film that could, One Cut of the Dead is already replicating the success of Edgar Wright’s modern classic. After opening in just two theaters back in June, it just passed 2 million tickets sold in over 300 screens and received multiple audience awards at film festivals around the world. The other film is the Scottish Christmas High-School Zombie Musical Comedy Anna and the Apocalypse, which had its world premiere last year and has had a successful tour of the festival circuit.

The best zom-coms work because they juxtapose the carnal horror of your loved ones coming back to feast on your flesh, with funny gags to deflate the tension. One Cut of the Dead and Anna and the Apocalypse use zombies to cast a shadow on situations that on the surface seem light-hearted and cheerful but are also anxiety-inducing and in the process, they bring plenty of laughs. A small film crew trying to make a zombie film that finds itself in the middle of a zombie uprising, or a group of high-schoolers that must fight both their teenager issues and the actual undead on Christmas morning. Both use zombies as reflections of the characters’ real problems, and their setting.

Writer-director Shinichirou Ueda uses the zombie as a metaphor for a film crew. The camaraderie and reliance you have towards your fellow apocalypse survivors reflects the bond created between members of a film crew. The fear that a zombie could be at any corner, and the fear that an actor isn’t on cue, or that the camera crane breaks minutes before shooting stop sounding so different. Zombies are scary, but the stress of being overbudget and on a deadline can also be terrifying. And yet, One Cut of the Dead and its titular 37-minute-long one-take also shows how fun it is to be in the middle of a film shoot, how exhilarating it is to come out the other end alive and having made something of your own with your fellow filmmakers. If you’ve read anything about this film, you’ve read about how tired the beginning is, as the initial long-take sequence looks like just another schlocky riff on the genre. But then this marvelous matryoshka doll of a film reveals its true intent, and it becomes a satirical tribute to DIY filmmaking and how the walking dead have always been the no-budget horror filmmaker’s best friend in ways no other zombie-comedy has done. Then the film goes beyond meta to comment not only on the zombie genre or horror films, but became a satirical testament to filmmaking in general and even on itself, as it makes you re-examine just what the hell you were watching this whole time with sight gags that reference earlier scenes in the film. By the end, you will want to pick up a camera, call some friends, and make something of your own.

Similarly, Anna and the Apocalypse uses “the most wonderful time of the year” and the glee of the holidays to showcase the horrors lurking at every corner of a teenager’s life. Anna and the Apocalypse may not be the first horror musical, or the first zombie Christmas film, but it may well be the first to combine all those sub-genres with a little Scottish flavour and a high-school setting. Director John McPhail thinks it’s the mixing of colors that make Christmas horror films so popular: “Even as it is freezing cold outside, people are smiling because it’s Christmas, but then you add those vibrant reds and people screaming and you’ve got a whole new thing going.” Like One Cut of the Dead, this film uses the zombies as an external representation of the titular Anna’s problems. Her bully of an ex-boyfriend, of course, turns out to be the stereotypical macho zombie-killer, and the headmaster of her school turns out to be the actual psychopath they always joked he was. The use of the Christmas setting sets this film apart from other comedies or musicals, as McPhail uses color to juxtapose the white snow and the bright holiday yellows with the blood-soaking reds of a zombie apocalypse. The film also takes advantage of Christmas traditions to introduce new riffs on classic holiday songs that you will instantly want to add to your annual playlist. It is when all these elements come together – the Christmas setting, the catchy music, the high-school plot, and the zombies – that you realize how easily Anna and the Apocalypse balances its different genres and becomes more than the sum of its parts, but a whole new twist on known tropes.

Zombies can make you cry too…

On the opposite end of the “fun” spectrum, is the tear-jerker zombie film Cargo, which fellow Bloody Disgusting writer Matt Donato pointed at in his piece about parental horror. This Martin Freeman-led film about a father having to care for his infant daughter while fighting the walking dead speaks not only about fears too real to any parent but is also a damn good zombie film. Sure, you have your standard zombie tropes make an appearance, mostly anything involving not trusting other humans. But the real standout is the father-daughter relationship at the center of the story. Writer-director duo Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling make an interesting addition to the zombie mythos like having the undead literally burrow their heads in the sand, and having the infection take control of your body in exactly 48 hours. The result is more than just Australian The Walking Dead – though it does share a lot of plot points and tone with the show, but done better – but a loving story about parental sacrifice. We have seen zombie dramas before (remember Maggie?) that really make the effort to make you care about the characters, but Cargo makes the entire film revolve around that core relationship in an intimate way we haven’t seen before.

And now we turn back the clocks…

Making a completely original zombie film is not impossible, but it is really hard without at least touching upon things already done by older films. What the best ones do is take those old tropes and give them a fresh perspective in order to breathe new life into them. We’ve seen zombie films about WWII before, and other period pieces like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but those lean more towards camp, and don’t have nearly the same level of craftmanship (or budget) as these two 2018 productions. The idea of a film featuring Nazi zombies or medieval Korean zombies could easily fall flat, but Overlord and Rampant both make their settings into the starts of the film, which makes for more serious films that make the descent into chaos even more entertaining. While Overlord takes a while to embrace its outlandish premise by being a war film first, Rampant goes for epic scale Lord of the Rings-inspired set pieces and enough characters to rival Game of Thrones. Yet when the period setting finally gets mixed with zombies, they make for highly entertaining and fresh takes on the genre.

Overlord achieves its dramatic tone by making the zombies take a backseat to the trials and tribulations of war. From the start, we are thrown into a gritty viewing experience – and that’s even before we see a detached head in a jar talking. The opening scene alone is a nerve-wracking display in craftmanship, as we are placed inside an aircraft about to drop in Nazi-occupied France on the eve of D-Day, before the planes start getting shot down in brutal fashion taken straight out of Saving Private Ryan. Director Julius Avery uses this opening scene to make you care for the characters, which was important for him. “You have to care for your characters before they step into a crazy world, before John McClane hangs off the side of the building, we know about his family situation.” He does the same in Overlord through its opening scene. By prioritizing wartime intensity over B-movie shenanigans, Overlord tricks you into thinking you’re seeing a compelling war drama through its first half, and by sticking to its gritty and serious tone it makes the more fantastical elements of the story feel like a natural progression. When the zombies finally show up, we don’t consider it a left-turn because they serve as an instinctive extension of the monstrosity of the Nazis – think Predator and how we don’t bat an eye at how it goes from being Rambo into a full-blown sci-fi bro-fest.

Likewise, Korean period zombie film Rampant sets the stage by focusing on its period setting. After a thrilling opening scene featuring the naval boarding of a pirate ship, a group of medieval Joseon soldiers find a not-so-dead crewmember that bites one of them. For better or worse, the film kind of forgets about the zombies for a while, in order to explore a complex political conspiracy involving the monarchy and an attempt to take over the kingdom. Director Kim Sung-hoon makes Rampant feel like a prestige epic drama, with grand sets, elaborate costume designs and gorgeous cinematography. More akin to a biblical epic than say, Day of the Dead, once the zombies start attacking the medieval Korean castle, the film’s setting truly shines. If there is one thing we haven’t seen in a zombie film before is a big-budget The Two Towers-style siege of the royal palace with swarms of exquisitely dressed zombies being hacked and slashed via stunning choreography and very, very sharp swords.

A bright future

The thing about zombies is that they are quite versatile, you can make a film and add zombies as a metaphor for almost anything, and it wouldn’t be too outlandish. Likewise, as a horror villain, zombies can be easily explained in any circumstance, from films going back to the beginning of time, across cultures, to even the distant future. The simplicity of the concept gives the genre infinite potential, and as seen with the commercial success of films like One Cut of the Dead, the only thing making the genre feel overdone are bad ideas. It only takes one good and original film to breathe new life into the genre that refuses to die and make us believe in the walking dead once more.

The post How 2018 Proved That There is Still Life Left in the Zombie Genre appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

*Takes one long, contemplative drag from a halfway ashed cigarette while gazing hard into the distance.*

Putting my wealth of “knowledge” to positive use, I’ve reached deep into my sack of goodies and pulled out the oddest, least discussed, “see these right now” Christmas horror tiles for your late seasonal viewing. If you *have* caught any of these, you’re my kind of people. If not, multiple streaming platforms – Shudder, Amazon Prime, Hulu – offer ways to remedy festive malaise. Oh, and before you go all “BUT WHERE’S KRAMPUS AND ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE AND [INSERT XMAS HORROR MOVIES FANS TALK ABOUT MORE FREQUENTLY], I’ve listed them below. Too many sites already did that job already – let’s get even weirder.

Honorable, More Widely Promoted Mentions: Anna And The Apocalypse, Rare Exports, Krampus, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Better Watch Out, Santa’s Slay, Silent Night, Deadly Night 2.

Santa Jaws

Santa Jaws might remind of the same SYFY/Asylum collaborations not worth more than a title gimmick, but save your hasty judgments. Low budgets and Christmas themes bring to life a “nerdy” child’s comic book creation (magical pen backstory) – SANTA JAWS! Her eyes glow like Rudolph’s nose, a candy cane horn skewers victims, colored strands of Xmas lights double as lassos, and a Santa hat covers the beast’s dorsal fin. As Bloody Disgusting’s own Chris Coffel already mused, it’s not the most technically proficient shark attack film in terms of CGI deaths. Good thing the cast’s deep-end dive into tonal absurdity sells Santa Jaws as the pun-a-minute entertainer that deserves a few glasses of eggnog (or just bourbon to save those calories). Give this one a stream on SYFY’s website!

Deadly Games

Thanks to Fantastic Fest, I caught René Manzor’s Deadly Games (1989) – aka Game Over, aka 36.15 code Père Noël – earlier this year and all my wildest Christmas horror dreams came true. Thomas (Alain Lalanne) is a wee Rambo-in-training/technology guru who must evade an unstable Santa Claus (Patrick Floersheim) inside his family’s mansion. Thomas spreads on facial camouflage, sets multiple traps à la Home Alone (which came *after*), and evokes adolescent adventure inside massive rooms filled by with his mother’s department store take-homes (toybox goodies from French retailer Printemps). Not to mention how Floersheim’s desire to “play” sets an uncomfortable tone that balances playground hide-and-seek with assumed death.

There’s no current North American release as of yet, but I could see Deadly Games ending up on Shudder (better decades late than never). It’s also touring Alamo Drafthouses and arthouse theaters alike, so keep an eye out. Impossibly fun, loaded with trickster turns, and everything that screams genre entertainment through a holiday lens.

The Day of the Beast

When you have a chance to plug Álex de la Iglesia, you plug Álex de la Iglesia. In this case, his cult Christmas horror tale The Day of the Beast. It’s the end of the world as we know it, unless three unlikely “wise” men can prevent a religious apocalypse. The priest who must sin every chance he gets, the record store metalhead obsessed with black hymns, and the Italian celebrity occultist. Much like Iglesia’s future films, El Día De La Bestia is a blend of morbid humor and genre manipulations such as satanic goat forms. Bonus points for deconstructing Christmas’ religious background in the process.

Dead End

An open-road psychological horror film that traps Ray Wise and Lin Shaye on a time-loop stretch of unending backwoods highway? Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa write/direct this sensationally underrated masterclass in character acting from two veterans who chew Christmas frustrations like succulent chunks of roast beast. Dead End is far more intriguing than its brief premise. Tensions, paranoia, and insanity fog car windows as souls are claimed one by one. Excuse my brevity, but it’s better knowing less about this one – trust the process of Shaye and Wise here.

Blood Beat

Fabrice A. Zaphiratos’ Blood Beat is quintessential 80s after-dark absurdity from start to finish. “A woman who lives in deer-hunting country in rural Wisconsin is possessed by the spirit of a Japanese samurai warrior.” THAT’S THE REAL SYNOPSIS. Is it any surprise this was a Vinegar Syndrome re-release? Even better, Zaphiratos delivers a slasher pastiche of bloody deaths and oddly sensual bedroom interludes all during a family’s Christmas getaway. Glowing samurai ghost forms and all. Why do I have to say any more? Blood Beat, beers, and buddies. Crank up your merriest memories this year midnight movie style.

Silent Night, Bloody Night

Theodore Gershuny’s Silent Night, Bloody Night predates Bob Clark’s Black Christmas by two years, but despite noticeable similarities, Clark’s classic never screams copycat outrage. These two deadly lullabies play tremendously well together, both evoking the horrors of home invasions around the holidays. Gershuny goes a more “Hammer Horror” route with his relator’s nightmare, a small-town home with a nasty repeating history. Quite the slow burn, boiled and overheated until sleepy rustic isolation leads to a most disturbing enacting of posed threats that prove themselves true. Not to be confused with Silent Night, Deadly Night, that’s for certain.

La Nuit Du Réveillon (Silent Night, Bloody Night)

Search Amazon Prime for Silent Night, Bloody Night and this French made-for-TV hostage flick appears after Theodore Gershuny’s 70s broiler of the same (translated) name. Don’t be fooled – these titles couldn’t be more different. La Nuit Du Réveillon exposes corporate scumminess and infidelity during an intruder’s impromptu gift-giving game. A dinner amongst friends sabotaged by an armed Santa Claus who dares to reveal everyone’s nastiest secrets. Energy, tension, and an entertaining take on more generic plotted fare make this import worth the stream.

The Children

Who Could Kill A Child? begs the unanswerable question that Tom Shankland’s The Children answers. Movies like Krampus gobble children, but what plays out in this wonderland rage-virus tragedy is one of the season’s most gruesome treats. Sons and daughters smile impishly as they attack their parents. It’s not even enough to ask if you could kill a child – could you kill your *own* child? Unspeakably dark, situationally depraved, and massively f#*ked up on levels that Christmas horror rarely ever reach – this adolescent manipulation on weaponized innocence is anything but child’s play.

Sheitan (Satan)

Admittedly the least Christmassy of the bunch, Kim Chapiron’s Sheitan runs on the enigmatic, xenophobic, backwoods-devil-worshipping power of Vincent Cassel. Clubbers end up accompanying potential hookups back to a farmhouse maintained by Cassel’s wackjob, Joseph. Things get predictably odd, thoughts of sexual conquest morph into hopes for survival, and Cassel’s performance deeply discomforts as Christmas Eve passes. Deliciously mad escapism dreadfulness for the holiday season you can only expect from France. Improper, artistic, and stark raving mad.

Silent Night

Why don’t more Christmas horror fans talk about Steven C. Miller’s Silent Night? My gut balked at considering 2012’s loose Silent Night, Deadly Night remake “underrated,” but I’ve recommended it to far more first-time watchers than anticipated. Alongside Black Christmas (2006), it’s one of the few recent larger-budget Xmas slashers that rolls deep into festive kills, rich coats of gore, and psycho Santa depravity (comparatively, of course). That wood chipper kill? The whole sequence, really? Miller knows how to deck the halls in practical goop. Malcolm McDowell, flamethrowers, and a cynically bleak view on Christmas are just added benefits.

A Christmas Horror Story

A Christmas Horror Story crossroads two of my favorite scary subgenres: Christmas horror and anthology collections. William Shatner plays radio DJ “Dangerous” Dan, the film’s wraparound storyteller who narrates the chaos that plagues Bailey Downs each winter. Stories range from schoolyard investigators documenting their trespassers’ investigation, a Christmas tree outing gone wrong, and even – wait for it – zombie elves! Truthfully, this might contain my favorite cinematic ode to Krampus’ style with Rob Archer’s frostbitten horned warrior. Not every segment tracks as well as the anthology’s peak content, but what works does so at the top of Christmas horror lists. Decapitated undead elves, alcohol-soaked Shatner, a Krampus vs. Santa throwdown worth pay-per-view numbers – A Christmas Horror Story is one of my favorite underseen December stocking stuffers.

The post 10 Underrated Christmas Horror Movies! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The exclusive capsule collection includes Tees, Baseball Raglans, and Lapel Pins – and is available now in limited supply.

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

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Specifically for horror fans, here are 8 songs to add to your holiday playlist!

Misfits – “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”

The original song was created for the 1966 cartoon based on Dr. Seuss’ book How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Seuss wrote the lyrics himself. I suppose a family Christmas cartoon doesn’t exactly scream horror, but the lyrics are one endless stream of insults. Catchy and mean! It’s even catchier as a cover by horror punk band Misfits, released on their EP Horror Xmas.

Christopher Lee – “Jingle Hell”

At nearly 92 years old, horror icon Christopher Lee became the oldest living performer to enter the Billboard music charts, and with a heavy metal take on a Christmas classic no less. His second Christmas album A Heavy Metal Christmas Too, features another round of rousing metal covers of well-known holiday songs, but “Jingle Hell” is a great place to start.  Lee began his music career singing on The Wicker Man soundtrack, but who knew he’d eventually melt Santa’s face off with heavy guitar riffs?

Tales from the Crypt – “Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas”

Remember when the Cryptkeeper released a holiday album, titled Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas? Released in 1994 and now long out of print, it was full of spoofs and puns of popular holiday songs sung by John Kassir as the Cryptkeeper. This means that the entire album is appropriate for your holiday horror playlist, but this song in particular features a dramatic reenactment over the song of horror comic story “And All Through the House” that accompanied the comic reprint in the CD’s booklet.

Anna and the Apocalypse – “It’s That Time of Year”

The entire soundtrack for this Christmas set zombie musical is worth a listen, but “It’s That Time of Year” sung by actress Marli Siu is a holiday standout. It’s a tongue-in-cheek Christmas song in the vein of “Santa Baby,” and it’s dripping with sexual innuendo. Once you see it performed in the film, the comical number will forever be etched in your brain.

Krampus – “Karol of the Bells”

Composer Douglas Pipes gave a haunting twist to popular Christmas song “Carol of the Bells” for the holiday horror-comedy’s end credits. But director Michael Dougherty wanted to include a children’s choir so he added lyrics that served as a cautionary tale and called upon his nephew’s show choir at California’s Brea Olinda High School to record it. Thus, “Karol of the Bells” superior horror twist to a familiar Christmas tune was born.

A Christmas Horror Story – “It’s Christmas Eve”

Alex Khaskin’s opening theme to holiday horror anthology A Christmas Horror Story begins as seemingly normal Christmas music, with saccharine vocals and light-hearted instrumentals. Even the lyrics are traditional. But then the music gets heavier and more ominous, and the chanting kicks in. The lyrics also take a decidedly dark turn, making references to the changelings, demons, and dark spirits in the film.

The Nightmare Before Christmas – “Making Christmas”

Tim Burton’s stop-motion animation feature that sees the gothic, monstrous residents of Halloween Town attempt to take over Christmas is a holiday classic. It helps that the music by Danny Elfman is extremely catchy. “Making Christmas” perfectly encapsulates the spooky holiday tone, in which the town gets to work creating creepy holiday toys and décor. As an alternative to the movie’s version of this song, Rise Against covered the song for Disney’s cover album Nightmare Revisited.

The Gremlins – “The Gremlin Rag”

One of six songs composed by Jerry Goldsmith for the soundtrack, “The Gremlin Rag” is the main theme song to this seminal holiday horror movie written by Chris Columbus and directed by Joe Dante. The theme will embed itself in your head on its own, but this clip from the movie that shows the pint-sized terrors caroling to their own theme song is the best.

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The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle: Final Girls and a New Hollywood Formula – Alexandra West

Horror academic and co-host of the Faculty of Horror podcast, Alexandra West’s latest is an in-depth study of the politics and subculture of the ‘90s applied to the teen horror scene that gave us Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Craft and more. She brings her critical eye to an oft-maligned decade in horror, and builds a case for these films’ recurring themes of feminism. In short, West champions the horror films written off as teen schlock and offers historical context and deeper meaning.

Ad Nauseam: Newsprint Nightmares from the 1980s – Michael Gingold

Michael Gingold has been a well-known Fangoria writer and editor for nearly 30 years, as well as a Rue Morgue contributor, and he’s taken his life-long love of horror and turned it into one of the coolest hardcover books in recent years. Featuring a collection of horror ads from newspapers that he clipped himself for years, Ad Nauseam is a deep dive into ‘80s horror featuring more than 450 ads and commentary by Gingold, bringing new insight to one of horror’s most beloved decades.

Anna and the Apocalypse – Katharine Turner with Barry Waldo

Inspired by the musical zombie film of the same name, Anna and the Apocalypse makes for perfect holiday reading. Anna Shepherd is a high school student still coping with the loss of her mother, the fallout from a fling, and typical friend drama. She’s counting the days until she can skip town, but her plans are derailed when a zombie apocalypse arrives with the holiday season. This one brings the laughs, holiday cheer, and all the feels.

Baby Teeth – Zoje Stage

This debut novel is a button pusher. Little Hanna adores her father so much that her mother, Suzette, needs to die so she can have dad to herself. Stage alternates the story’s perspective, from evil Hanna to panicked Suzette, upping the ante on this homicidal Bad Seed-like tale. Creepy and full of twists, Stage intends to disturb, which has proved to be polarizing for readers.

The Cabin at the End of the World – Paul Tremblay

Tremblay leaves behind the supernatural horrors of A Head Full of Ghosts and Disappearance at Devil’s Rock to put his horrific spin on home invasion horror in his latest. Wen and her parents Eric and Andrew think they’ve begun an idyllic vacation at a remote cabin with no neighbors in sight. It is, until the arrival of four strangers bearing strange weapons changes everything. The strangers present the family with a choice that begins a tumultuous tale of sacrifice, paranoia, survival, and the fate of the world.

Halloween: The Official Movie Novelization – John Passarella

Considering the original 1978 film’s novelization by Curtis Richards, this is yet another way in which the new Halloween has come full circle. A faithful adaptation of the film, in which Laurie Strode and Michael Myers face off once again after forty years, Passarella gets into the headspace of the characters and even includes scenes cut from the film. For collectors, Halloween franchise fanatics, and those that are just curious about added content, this novel is for you.

Harrow County Library Edition Volume 1 – Writer Cullen Bunn, Artist Tyler Crook

Essential horror graphic novel series Harrow County has been around and ongoing for a few years now, but 2018 brought the new release of the oversized Library Edition, in all its hardcover glory. Containing the first two volumes with a new cover, sketchbook art, essays, and bonus stories, this edition makes for a great gift for longtime fans and those just getting started. As for plot, it follows Emmy, a girl who learns she may be connected to the monsters and ghosts that live in the woods near her home on her 18th birthday.

Our Lady of the Inferno – Preston Fassel

Here’s your chance to get ahead of the curve, as this Fangoria publication was recently announced to have a feature length film adaptation in the works. Fassel, who has also written for Scream Magazine, Rue Morgue, and Fangoria, penned a 1983 set serial killer thriller that’s unafraid to get brutal. A collision course between prostitutes and a religiously-motivated psychopath, Our Lady of the Inferno delivers great character work and gritty horror.

True Indie: Life and Death in Filmmaking – Don Coscarelli

The director/creator behind Phantasm, The Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-tep and John Dies at the End delivers a candid, tell-all memoir that spans his entire career. It isn’t just full of great anecdotes and insights to Coscarelli’s catalog of films, but it also provides helpful advice for the aspiring indie filmmaker. Coscarelli will make you laugh, and he’ll also make you cry- his touching chapter on Angus Scrimm is a heartfelt tearjerker. In short, if you’re a fan of his films or in any way interested in filmmaking, this book is a must.

We Sold Our Souls – Grady Hendrix

As evidenced by Horrorstor, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and Paperbacks from Hell, Hendrix is a captivating storyteller and We Sold Our Souls further proves that.  1990s heavy metal band Dürt Würk was on the verge of breakout stardom when lead singer Terry Hunt left his bandmates high and dry for new band Koffin. Twenty years later, former guitarist Kris is broke and unhappy, stuck working at a hotel on the night shift. A chain of traumatic events coinciding with Koffin’s farewell tour sets Kris off on a larger-than-life journey as she suspects the fateful night that changed everything might have been rooted in something far more sinister. An epic voyage filled with metal, supernatural terror, conspiracies and paranoia, We Sold Our Souls is an addictive read for the metalhead and horror hound alike.

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Dial Code Santa Claus

Also known as 36.15 code Père Noël and Deadly Games, this French horror film was doomed to obscurity as it was only available on hard to find bootleg VHS. Until now that is, thanks to a brand-new restoration by American Genre Film Archive. As for plot, it follows young computer loving Thomas, a boy stuck at home alone with his grandpa on Christmas Eve. It’s a quiet evening until a twisted, bloodthirsty Santa Claus crashes through the chimney. Released a year before Home Alone, there’s an eerie similarity in plot as Thomas booby traps his house to ward off the intruder. The key difference, though, is that Dial Code Santa Claus leans hard into horror, bringing the pain and bloodshed that Home Alone wouldn’t dare. If you happen to live near an Alamo Drafthouse cinema, look for special screenings of this one early December.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

This Finnish dark tale of holiday folklore revolves around the Joulupukki, a pagan tradition literally translated as Christmas goat. The Joulupukki is essentially the Scandinavian counterpart to Santa Claus, complete with red robes and reindeer, but this figure is far more frightening for children who misbehave. In Rare Exports, a research team unearths the long-buried Christmas figure, unleashing holiday filled horror for the nearby village. It’s up to young Pietari to save Christmas Eve from the horrors of Santa Claus. A darkly humorous, yet twisted take on a holiday fairy tale, Rare Exports brings a Christmas horror film the whole family can enjoy. If you’re not bothered by a lot of nude Santa’s helpers, that is.

Don’t Open till Christmas

For those that love Silent Night, Deadly Night, but need a change of pace, this slasher from the U.K. should be right up your alley. Instead of a homicidal maniac dressed as Santa, though, this slasher has its killer targeting those who dress as Santa. It’s up to the Scotland Yard to stop him before Christmas is ruined. Fans of gory ‘80s slashers will recognize lead actor Edmund Purdom, who also directed this feature, from his memorable role as the Dean in wacky slasher Pieces. While Don’t Open till Christmas never quite reaches the same level of gore and insanity, there are still plenty of inventive deaths to various Santa Clauses, like the poor soul who gets his chestnuts roasted over an open fire. In a sub-genre inundated with homicidal Santas, this slasher offers a pleasant change of pace.

Saint

Also known as Sint, this Dutch horror comedy focuses on Sinterklaas. Only this version isn’t the benevolent patron saint of children, but a ghost that kidnaps and murders children on the night of a full moon that coincides with his annual celebration. Saint is over the top in gore and silly humor; writer/director Dick Maas doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously here and delivers on a holiday horror film that aims to offend as well as entertain. Sinterklaas is a corpse-like entity atop a horse, and his Black Pete helpers are problematic in their own right. There’s not much depth here, just a fun sleigh ride full of carnage and mayhem.

The Day of the Beast

Alex de la Iglesia is a Spanish director whose genre work often defies easy categorization, and his underseen Christmas horror comedy is no exception. Set on Christmas Eve, a Catholic priest teams up with a metalhead and a television occult specialist to stop the birth of the Antichrist, which will trigger the apocalypse. The lengths the trio is willing to go to thwart the end of the world really brings the laughs, but the humor is equally matched by the horror, too. This film is so all over the place it shouldn’t work, but it really does. De la Iglesia will creep you out one moment and have you spit-taking your beverage in laughter the next. A sort of spiritual cousin to the earlier works of Sam Raimi but with de la Iglesia’s unique sense of humor, this should have a bigger audience than it does. The Day of the Beast also made evil goats trendy long before The Witch.

Anna and the Apocalypse

Arriving in limited theaters this week before expanding nationwide in the following weeks, Anna and the Apocalypse is Scottish holiday horror film that deftly blends the zombie apocalypse, comedy, and Christmas musical. Yes, musical. Trace reviewed this one favorably out of Fantastic Fest, saying it’s “Filled with solid performances, a fantastic score and buckets of blood, Anna and the Apocalypse is sure to find a sizable audience once it gets released.” I’d have to agree. This zombie musical isn’t afraid to let the blood flow, and it definitely doesn’t shy away from death. The bleakness of the zombie sub-genre intercuts well with the chipper cheer of holiday fare. It’s the holiday horror musical you didn’t think you needed.

The post Christmas Around the World: 6 Must See International Holiday Horror Films appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

As for Orion’s zombie musical Anna and the Apocalypse (read our review), the film opened in limited theaters (5) and conjured up a $10k per-screen average for a whopping $50k weekend. It expands this Friday, let’s see if it can continue the momentum into the first weekend in December.

ALSO READ: 6 Underrated Horror Musicals to Watch After Anna and the Apocalypse

The post [Box Office] ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ Makes Some Noise; ‘The Possession of Hannah Grace’ DOA appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In the spirit of Christmas gratuity, I’ve gone ahead and wrangled some of my favorite underappreciated horror musicals. Some pulpy 70s schlock, some festival discoveries, and others just good ol’ monster mashes. Mixing your midnight massacres with foot-tappin’ Sondheim sophistication is ok. Here’s hoping you dig these gallows grooves.

P.S. If anyone can find a copy of Midnight Ballad For Ghost Theater in the US, hit a horror musical lover up! My interwebs investigating ended in disappointment minus that one guy on the Dark Web who wanted three of my toes in return.

Stage Fright

If you’re a fan of Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion’s musical campfire short The Legend of Beaver Dam, you’ll *love* their theatrical sing-along slasher Stage Fright. (For the record, not a remake of 1987’s owl-headed hack-em-up.) The SXSW Midnight sensation tells of future stage divas who are perfecting their summer camp’s yearly production. The play? A kabuki variation on The Haunting Of The Opera (direct The Phantom Of The Opera riff). The problem? A black-leather figure who wears their Phantom’s new mask starts chopping performers and crew to bits while screeching 80s metal threats.

Horror musicals sometimes showcase imbalance when kill sequences are weakened by too committed a focus on musical interludes or vice versa – but that’s not Stage Fright. From Minnie Driver’s backstory cameo that ends in tragedy (a setup for her children years later) and onward, Sable’s out to soak his symphony pit in splattery gore. Then you mix in Batalion’s original compositions – from cheery counselor spirit builders to epic Iron Maiden howls – and a cast that sells every slice of egotistical backstage drama? We’re talking infectious entertainment so good I’m *just* getting around to namedropping Meatloaf as Center Stage producer Roger McCall. Or lead starlet Allie MacDonald. Or Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil veteran Melanie Leishman. You catch my drift.

Suck

Suck is a 2009 rock n’ roll fantasy kissed by vampire lips that’s written, directed by and starring Rob Stefaniuk. All the fun of a 2000s era rise from dingy punk clubs to legendary status packed full of rockstar cameos from Moby as carnivorous Secretaries of Steak frontman Beef Bellows to Alex Lifeson as a border officer to Alice Cooper’s demigod bartender. As fictional band The Winners rises in fame due to their vampire conversion, Eddie Van Helsing’s pursuit intensifies (none other than Malcolm McDowell). Suck has every right to be the tone-deaf VOD skip it sounds but plucks catchy horror musical notes with a seductive on-the-road bite.

Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins, Dimitri Coats – Suck could program one memorable weekend festival from its cast alone. Better yet, it doesn’t solely rely on recognizable rockstars to earn points. Jessica Paré stands out as the band’s sultry first convert (after a night with dreamboat vamp Queenie), then her friends turn one-by-one. Their need to feed is followed by hangovers and roadie Hugo’s (Chris Ratz) unenviable new duty as clean-up crew. Nothing astounding or new on the vampirism front, but as a sucker for goth club crowds and catchy, crunchy riffs, Suck’s my kind of pop-sexy bloodlustin’ playlist. Miss Paré, my emo-hypnotic Queen Of The Damned.

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead

Fact: Troma’s most accomplished satire is about a fast food restaurant built atop an ancient Native American burial ground. Slaughtered chickens demand revenge, customers/employees start transforming into zombified alien cluckers, and environmental commentaries fueled by corporate greed come in musical packages. Character names all reference famous in-and-out burger joints (Wendy and Arbie). Bodies sizzle in hot fryer oil or churn through a meat grinder as the uncooked poultry of American Chicken Bunker make use of any and all available kitchen machinery. Oh yeah, this is full-on Troma campiness doused in finger-lickin’ vats of gooey goodness.

Skimming Wikipedia’s plot synopsis of Poultrygeist: Night Of The Chicken Dead is a literary delight, full of boggling winners like this sentence: “They run out of beer and are saved by Hummus (who is still alive, despite having exploded a few minutes earlier).” Logic dissipates whenever Troma is involved, but Poultrygeist is a special kind of “no fucks given.” Coarse rhetoric hides not from political incorrectness, but Troma surprisingly stays fixated on crudely boxed messages while getting sewer-grade sloppy. Everything from businessmen crapping out mutant chicken eggs to inerts being pulled straight out of body cavities. An immediate failing grade from any health department, but horror fan reactions detail their passing acceptance. Who doesn’t love a heartwarming, gory musical that amplifies the most Tromafied lyrics imaginable, unafraid to mutilate without mercy (and serve it up fresh)?

The Devil’s Carnival/Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival

From the creators of Repo! The Genetic Opera comes a carnivalesque war between Heaven and Hell serenaded by sad clowns, angelic protectors, even Lucifer himself. Darren Lynn Bousman directs both unholy operas, each penned by Terrance Zdunich who doubles as The Devil’s vessel. Wait, “both” films? I’m cheating because the indies listed above play back-to-back (unfortunately trilogy plans don’t seem likely to reanimate). Admittedly, The Devil’s Carnival hits upon my oddest intersecting interests between horror musicals, big-top damnation, and, yes, Hell represented as a three-ring freakshow of deviants. Heaven’s a lot glitzier in Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival, but not without blasphemous depictions of corruptions upstairs.

Performers range from motormouth rappers to German megastars to classical goth-punk icons. Paul Sorvino as an illustrious God, Ivan Moody a somber hobo storyteller, Emilie Autumn, David Hasselhoff, Tech N9ne, Marc Senter, Zdunich’s bellowing broiler of a voice, and many more lend their chords to a sometimes Vaudevillian, exquisitely deranged biblical sideshow. Sean Patrick Flanery, Bill Moseley, Barry Bostwick, Briana Evigan, Jessica Lowndes, Kristina Klebe – noteworthy genre talents you’ve seen before, doo-wopping and lamenting to a chorus of eternal judgment. Underseen, underrated, and in need of a closing third act!

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

John De Bello’s 1978 weaponization of plump garden produce is, to this day, one of the strangest exercises in late-night camp. Barely a horror movie, minimally a musical, but this “Hitchcockian” riff by way of David Zucker spoofs is too unconventional to ignore. If birds can be scary, why can’t tomatoes? Cue scene after scene of increasing-with-size tomato props rolling after their victims like beach balls in the wind. Chaos and calamity in the form of scale city models burning while street riot footage intercuts live action. There’s a *real* helicopter crash left edited in – no injuries – so some realistic destruction flashes even for a split-second, but “attacks” aren’t ever more vicious than tomatoes stop-motion rolling over deceased grocery store patrons.

Surprise: that’s the charm of Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes!

Understand that De Bello’s execution never replicates Airplane! or The Naked Gun, nor does it recreate The Birds in vegetative form. What does it do, then? Cobble together a deceptively entertaining threat against humanity on the thinnest of budgets and premise. Gags like “master of disguise” Sam Smith – introduced wearing novelty glasses with a fake nose – who’s seen sitting around an enemy campfire in a full tomato suit. An ongoing theme of selling marketing space starts in the credits – “This Space For Sale” instead of a title card – and continues in song form. “Hammy” doesn’t even begin to describe the slapstick yucks De Bello and company strive for (cut to one official calling another a “wiener” as actual dialogue), but that’s what makes this scrappy underdog such an underestimated horror comedy musical (if you’re willing to laugh at Olympic swimmers batting away lobbed-from-off-screen tomato balls).

Proceed with caution those in need of structure, unnoticeable ADR, sharp scripts, challenging content, and everything else you might expect from a more serious endeavor. That’s not this juicy, not-quite-ripe hilarity. For the better.

Dead & Breakfast

Matthew Leutwyler’s Dead & Breakfast comes with a caveat because it isn’t a traditional musical. The film’s only performer is Zach Selwyn’s narrator/gas station attendant Randall Keith Randall. As six friends – including Jeremy Sisto, Oz Perkins, and Gina Philips – stop off in Lovelock for the night, Mr. Randall’s country twang ensemble sing about the zombie possession outbreak that unfolds. Storytelling through All-American pickin’ until Randall Keith Randall himself becomes zombified, then his style turns straight “hick-hop.”

Did I mention this movie randomly includes Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the town sheriff? David Carradine as “creepy bed and breakfast owner with secrets?” Portia de Rossi? Diedrich Bader? Beheadings, graveyard bone rituals and lots of squeamish practical zombie carnage? An entire undead line dance as Randall raps “We’re Comin’ To Kill Ya” before an all-out genre onslaught? Dead & Breakfast is a goofball horror-musical-comedy that serves it up greasy and chicken fried. Maybe not everyone’s speed, but Leutwyler’s recipe is my kind of junky genre comfort dish. Major stress on the “comedy” classification amidst gruesomeness, calling back to Peter Jackson’s early work.

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In anticipation of Orion Pictures’ new holiday film a group of Austinites & zombies participated in a surprise flash mob to the original song from the film, “Hollywood Ending” while runners/bikers continued their daily workouts. Fons PR produced/directed while Austinite, Melody Afkami, founder of Melody Dancefit, choreographed the dance inspired by the film and zombies from Scream Hollow came to join in on the fun too.

Anna and the Apocalypse dances onto the big screen in select markets including Austin this Friday, November 30th, with it further expanding a week later.

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for Bloody out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

The post Orion Orchestrated an ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ Flash Mob in Austin [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for Bloody out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

The post ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ Featurette Documents Film’s Sad Backstory [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for BD out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Also, watch this previously released clip in which a zombie meets his death by tiolet.

The post Watch Anna Sing and Dance Through the Zombie Apocalypse [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

There’s also art for CBS Films’ Hell Fest, their theme park slasher already heading to home video here in the States on December 28th.

The Arctic poster art comes out of France. In the film, “Hannibal’s” Mads Mikkelsen plays a man stranded in the Arctic is finally about to receive his long-awaited rescue. It opens in theaters this February.

Lastly, new art for Lizzie, on Blu-ray Dec. 11.  Starring Academy Award Nominee Chloë Sevigny (Boys Don’t Cry) as the accused murderess Lizzie Borden, alongside Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga), the film is based on the infamous true story of the 1892 axe murder of the Borden family in Fall River, Massachusetts.

The post [Poster Roundup] ‘Hell Fest’, ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’, ‘Arctic’ and ‘Lizzie’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for BD out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords), Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones) star.

The post Zombie Meets Its Death By Toilet In ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for Bloody out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script (with Alan McDonald) and was due to direct the feature, but he sadly died of cancer back in 2015.

The post Blood-soaked ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ Trailer Sings, Dances and Slaughters the Undead [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for BD out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords), Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones) star.

The post Orion’s ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ Gets an Art Poster Ahead of the NYCC appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Anna and the Apocalypse (the book) promises an extended look at Anna and her friends as they navigate the teen angst-filled halls of high school and wage an all-out war against a zombie invasion, expanding on the creative vision of Anna and the Apocalypse creator, the late Ryan McHenry and director John McPhail.

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a wonderfully realized world, full of strong characters, epic friendships and gripping adventure,” said the novel’s co-authors Katherine Turner and Barry Waldo. “The book gave us the chance to delve deeper into relatable, kick-ass characters and really dig into their lives and relationships. The Anna universe is so full of heart and so much fun to explore, it was just a gift to us as writers. It’s definitely the best zombie high school Christmas horror comedy book we’ve ever written!’

The Anna and the Apocalypse book, based on the original screenplay by Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry, is available for pre-order now at major online book retailers and
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250318800 and will be released on October 23, 2018.

The post Zombie Christmas Musical ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ is Getting a Tie-In Novel appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In the meantime, check out the new poster below, packed with rave reviews!

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for BD out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords), Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones) star.

The post New ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ Poster Promises a Bloody Christmas Hit appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The first wave offers a diverse line-up of guest authors and an eclectic mix of anticipated features, including films about black metal mayhem and a zombie Christmas musical. It also includes a true cult classic and a bulk of the incredible short films, featuring known alumni and plenty of newcomers.

Read on for the entire first wave of guests, features and shorts!

GUESTS:

Stephen Chiodo
GUEST DIRECTOR
Director of 1988’s cult classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Stephen Chiodo has since established himself as a highly creative special effects director with an expertise in stop-motion animation, working with such noted directors as Francis Ford Coppola, John Landis, Joe Dante, Sam Raimi, Jon Favreau, and Trey Parker & Matt Stone. Most recently, Mr. Chiodo has developed and directed pilots for CNN, Showtime, and the Disney Channel and has been sharing his expertise by teaching stop-motion animation at the California Institute of the Arts. Mr. Chiodo joins the 2018 Telluride Horror Show for a special 30th anniversary presentation of Killer Klowns from Outer Space and will participate in a conversation following the film.

Paul Tremblay
GUEST AUTHOR
Paul Tremblay is the award-winning and best-selling author of seven novels including The Cabin at the End of the World, A Head Full of Ghosts, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, and The Little Sleep. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the Shirley Jackson Awards, and his essays and short fiction have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly.com, and numerous “year’s best” anthologies. He has a master’s degree in mathematics and lives outside Boston with his wife and two children. Paul Tremblay joins the Telluride Horror Show as our 2018 Guest Author and will participate in a public reading, conversation, and book signing.

Jeremy Robert Johnson
GUEST AUTHOR
Jeremy Robert Johnson is the author of the critically-acclaimed collection Entropy in Bloom as well as the breakthrough cult novel Skullcrack City. His fiction has been praised by The Washington Post and Publishers Weekly, authors such as David Wong, Chuck Palahniuk and Jack Ketchum, and has appeared internationally in numerous anthologies and magazines. Jeremy Robert Johnson, our guest author in 2017, returns to this year’s Telluride Horror Show to host the conversation with guest author Paul Tremblay and will participate in a public reading and book signing.

Meredith Borders
GUEST HOST
Meredith Borders is the managing editor of the newly-revived Fangoria magazine and a writer for Bloody Disgusting. She lives in Houston, Texas, where she owns City Acre Brewing with her husband Matt. Meredith Borders, our guest host in 2017, returns to this year’s Telluride Horror Show to moderate conversations with special guests and other visiting filmmakers.

FEATURE FILMS:

Anna and the Apocalypse
Scotland/UK | 2018 | 92 min | Director: John McPhail
COLORADO PREMIERE
A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven – at Christmas – forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other…
Wear your ugly Christmas sweater to this one!

CAM
USA | 2018 | 94 min | Director: Daniel Goldhaber
COLORADO PREMIERE
CAM is a technology-driven psychological thriller set in the world of webcam porn. It follows Alice, an ambitious camgirl, who wakes up one day to discover she’s been replaced on her show with an exact replica of herself. As this copy begins to push the boundaries of Alice’s internet identity, the control that Alice has over her life, and the men in it, vanishes. While she struggles to regain what she’s lost, she slowly finds herself drawn back to her show and to the mysterious person who has taken her place. CAM is the rare film about sex work openly written by a sex worker, and is an authentic, immersive dive into the world of internet performance.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space
USA | 1988 | 88 min | Director: Stephen Chiodo
30TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENTATION WITH DIRECTOR STEPHEN CHIODO
Teenagers Mike (Grant Cramer) and Debbie (Suzanne Snyder) investigate a comet crash and discover a deranged species of aliens who look like circus clowns. While they attempt to warn the local authorities, the klowns terrorize the unsuspecting town with a series of deadly carnival “candy coated” kills and devour most of the town. Join us for a special 30th anniversary presentation of this true cult classic, followed by a Q&A with director Stephen Chiodo!

Lords of Chaos
USA | 2018 | 113 min | Director: Jonas Åkerlund
A teenager’s quest to launch Norwegian Black Metal in Oslo in the early 1990s results in a very violent outcome. This 2018 horror-thriller film directed by Jonas Åkerlund is based on the 1998 non-fiction book of the same name by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind, which follows a series of crimes that occurred in Oslo, Norway in the early 1990s surrounding the black metal bands Mayhem and Burzum. Starring Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen, and Sky Ferreira.

Mega Time Squad
New Zealand | 2018 | 81 min | Director: Tim van Dammen
U.S. PREMIERE
A low-level criminal from the small town of Thames in New Zealand steals an ancient Chinese time-travel device that helps him pull off a heist and start a new life. But he may not survive the demonic consequences of tampering with time. From the FX creator of Deathgasm.

A young woman who had previously set her serial killer boyfriend on fire is now seeking normalcy by getting a job working the overnight shift at a 24-hour convenience store, where things are most definitely not going to be normal. Previous horror films by Padraig Reynolds include Rites of Spring and The Devil’s Dolls.

The Cleaning Lady
USA | 2018 | 90 min | Director: Jon Knautz
U.S. PREMIERE
Followed by Q&A with director Jon Knautz and lead actor Alexis Kendra.
As a means to distract herself from an affair, a love-addicted woman befriends a cleaning lady, badly scarred by burns. She soon learns, these scars run much deeper than the surface. Previous horror films by Jon Knautz include Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer and The Shrine.

The Dark
Austria | 2018 | 95 min | Director: Justin P. Lange
COLORADO PREMIERE
On the outskirts of a small town lies Devil’s Den, a mysterious tract of woods where many have entered but no one has ever left. The local rumor is that the spirit of a young girl who was horrifically murdered there haunts and hunts in this dense forest, brutally slaying anyone who dares to step into her terrain. When a man with a dark past crosses her path, a series of events are set in motion that may lead to a peculiar kind of redemption for two tragically tortured souls. Part gothic fairytale and part chilling horror, director Justin P. Lange’s debut feature balances rich imagery with a brutal and bloody story of unlikely kindred spirits who must defend themselves against the villainous powers of the ‘normal’ world.

The Dead Center
USA | 2018 | 93 min | Director: Billy Senese
COLORADO PREMIERE
Followed by Q&A with director Billy Senese.
A doctor in an emergency psychiatric ward begins to question his own sanity when a mysterious John Doe shows up in the hospital convinced that he has died and brought something back with him from the other side. From director Billy Senese (Closer to God, 2014 Telluride Horror Show Official Selection) comes a new supernatural thriller starring Shane Carruth (Primer, Upstream Color), Poorna Jagannathan (The Night Of, Gypsy) and Jeremy Childs (AMC’s Preacher).

The Guilty
Denmark | 2018 | 85 min | Director: Gustav Möller
When police officer Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren) is demoted to desk work, he expects a sleepy beat as an emergency dispatcher. That all changes when he answers a panicked phone call from a kidnapped woman who then disconnects abruptly. Asger, confined to the police station, is forced to use others as his eyes and ears as the severity of the crime slowly becomes more clear. The search to find the missing woman and her assailant will take every bit of his intuition and skill, as a ticking clock and his own personal demons conspire against him. This innovative and unrelenting Danish thriller uses a single location to great effect, ratcheting up the tension as twists pile up and secrets are revealed.

The Witch in the Window
USA | 2018 | 77 min | Director: Andy Mitton
COLORADO PREMIERE
Followed by Q&A with director Andy Mitton.
When Simon brings his twelve-year-old son, Finn, to rural Vermont to help flip an old farmhouse, they encounter the malicious spirit of Lydia, a previous owner. And now with every repair they make – she’s getting stronger. Previous horror films by Andy Mitton include YellowBrickRoad and We Go On.

You Might Be the Killer
USA | 2018 | 92 min | Director: Brett Simmons
COLORADO PREMIERE
Followed by Q&A with director Brett Simmons.
Counselors are being killed off at summer camp, and Sam (Fran Kranz, The Cabin in the Woods) is stuck in the middle of it. Instead of contacting the cops, he calls his friend and slasher-film expert (Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) to discuss his options.

SHORT FILMS:

Baghead
UK | 2017 | 16 min | Director: Alberto Corredor
COLORADO PREMIERE
Haunted by grief, a man asks questions only the recently-deceased can answer. The dead get their say in the hidden chamber of a mysterious pub. She will see you next. You may not like what you hear.

BFF Girls
USA | 2018 | 13 min | Director: Brian Lonano
COLORADO PREMIERE
Three dorky American girls magically transform into beautiful Japanese Superheroes and fight a tampon monster as they begin their journey into womanhood.

Big Data “L1ZY”
USA | 2018 | 10 min | Directors: Brandon LaGanke & John Carlucci
WORLD PREMIERE
A typical family is terrorized in a series of commercials for a revolutionary new A.I. product.

Black Mist
USA | 2018 | 4 min | Directors: Will Kingston & AJ Koch
Black Mist is the new music video for the 40-member electronic percussion-centered group itchy-O. It was produced by Stranger Studios, a Colorado-based animation production house.

Catcalls
Ireland | 2017 | 9 min | Director: Kate Dolan
COLORADO PREMIERE
Paul cruises around late at night, looking for something. He pulls in to ask two young girls for directions, only to flash them to get a cheap thrill. Unfortunately for him, he has picked the wrong girls.

Chowboys: An American Folktale
Canada | 2018 | 8 min | Directors: Astron-6
COLORADO PREMIERE
Three hungry idiots are lost in the woods on the coldest night of the year without anything to eat.

Control
USA | 2017 | 15 min | Director: Kimmy Gatewood
COLORADO PREMIERE
A dark and touching comedy about a woman suffering from OCD who contemplates taking her own life…if she can just get everything in order first.

Crying Bitch
Japan | 2018 | 14 min | Director: Reiki Tsuno
COLORADO PREMIERE
A man, who is having an affair with a young woman, gets home late as usual. But that night, he finds something wrong with his wife.

Deep Sleeper
USA | 2017 | 1 min | Director: Ty Huffer
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: Amber Hargett & Ty Huffer
Barbara’s sleep is abruptly interrupted and she can sleep through almost anything… almost.

Drum Wave
Australia | 2018 | 10 min | Director: Natalie Erika James
COLORADO PREMIERE
A young pianist is forced to confront her fear of motherhood when she marries into a remote island community with bizarre fertility rituals.

Fetish
USA | 2017 | 22 min | Directors: David Lee Hess & Richard H. Perry
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: David Lee Hess
Oddball Clark finally meets a girl he connects with, but his foot fetish threatens the relationship.

Floor 9.5
UK | 2017 | 2 min | Director: Toby Meakins
COLORADO PREMIERE
If ever an elevator stops on a floor you don’t recognize, and the doors open to a quiet plea for help, pray you hold your ground…

Gwilliam’s Tips for Turning Tricks Into Treats
USA | 2018 | 4 min | Director: Brian Lonano
COLORADO PREMIERE
This is what you wanted! Gwilliam is back and offers some tips for getting special treats this Halloween.

Hair Wolf
USA | 2018 | 12 min | Director: Mariama Diallo
In a black hair salon in gentrifying Brooklyn, the local residents fend off a strange new monster: white women intent on sucking the lifeblood from black culture.

Home
Norway | 2018 | 9 min | Director: Paul Gustavsen
COLORADO PREMIERE
A young woman is awakened by her boyfriend coming home after a night of drinking, but who actually came home that night?

Look What the Cat Dragged In
Austria | 2018 | 6 min | Director: Ioanes H. Sinderman
A lonesome hunter, a wildlife photographer, and a camera in the woods that took one photo too much.

Mama’s Boy
USA | 2018 | 11 min | Director: Samantha Kolesnik
COLORADO PREMIERE
A young man’s life spirals into depravity and madness when he confronts the trauma of his childhood.

Maw
Belgium | 2018 | 20 min | Director: Jasper Vrancken
COLORADO PREMIERE
Richard has an unusual fantasy: he is sexually aroused by the idea of being eaten by an animal or monster. Through a contact ad he meets the mysterious Max and with that encounter the chance to fulfill his depraved fantasy. Can Richard escape his dark desires or not?

Milk
Canada | 2018 | 10 min | Director: Santiago Menghini
COLORADO PREMIERE
On a late night, a young teen goes into the kitchen for a glass of milk. Upon encountering his sleepless mother, he quickly realizes things are not as they seem.

Mirror
USA | 2017 | 9 min | Director: Hadley Hillel
COLORADO PREMIERE
When Laura picks up a free mirror on the side of the road and begins to notice strange distortions, she realizes that it may have a sinister agenda.

Mongers
USA | 2017 | 7 min | Director: Jim Valosik
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: Gray Creasy & Jim Valosik
A lonely man stalks a family that may not be what they seem in this combative, chaotic horror hell-ride of hunting demons both inward and outward.

Monstagram
USA | 2017 | 3 min | Director: Jerome Sable
COLORADO PREMIERE
An Instagram mom meets the monster that lives in the internet.

Mother of a Sacred Lamb
USA | 2018 | 12 min | Director: Aman Johnson
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: Aman Johnson
The sudden reappearance of a missing boy brings hope and fear face to face.

Netflix & Chill
Netherlands | 2017 | 7 min | Director: Michael Middelkoop
After months of flirting and texting, a young man finally gets the message he’s been waiting for: the girl of his dreams invites him over. Her parents are gone for the weekend and she’s ready for a romantic night. As the night progresses, one guy hoping to get lucky finds out that there’s more at stake than his virginity.

No One Will Ever Believe You
Canada | 2018 | 6 min | Director: Frédéric Chalté
U.S. PREMIERE
It’s Halloween season and Lucy wants to prank her sister Maggie by giving her a good scare. However, Lucy is the one who’s about to be terrified.

Pandora
Germany | 2017 | 14 min | Director: Daniel Rübesam
COLORADO PREMIERE
Matt and Sherman are sent out to find Pandora, a legendary supreme being which is capable of deciding the fate of the world.

Penny Whistle
Canada | 2018 | 9 min | Director: Robert Cuffley
U.S. PREMIERE
When a little girl blows into an old tin whistle she finds in the dirt, something follows her home.

Petite Avarie
France | 2018 | 20 min | Directors: Leo Hardt & Manon Alirol
COLORADO PREMIERE
Laura is scared. Laura is sick. But Sylvain, her lover, is here to help. Really?

Post Mortem Mary
Australia | 2017 | 10 min | Director: Joshua Long
COLORADO PREMIERE
A mother and a daughter, Mary, who suffers from a crippling fear of death run a post mortem photography business. As Mary confronts her phobia she must do all she can to make the dead look alive…

Prey
USA | 2018 | 5 min | Director: Bill Whirity
COLORADO PREMIERE
While on a first date, a young couple finds themselves pursued by more than just each other.

Right Place, Wrong Tim
UK | 2018 | 7 min | Director: Eros Vlahos
COLORADO PREMIERE
A 90s British sitcom is taken over by clones of the lead actor and descends into chaos.

Riley Was Here
USA | 2018 | 14 min | Directors: Jon Rhoads & Mike Marrero
COLORADO PREMIERE
Several years ago, a horrific pandemic destroyed a large part of the world’s population. A vaccine was eventually created, leaving vast communities mourning their gruesomely departed loved ones. Today, a man will knock on the door of a woman who lost her child to the disease, having sought her out to explore a very particular need.

Sam Did It
USA | 2017 | 10 min | Director: Dominic Burgess
Sam is about to meet his celebrity idol… the only problem is, Sam works in a morgue… and his idol is dead.

Special Day
USA | 2018 | 7 min | Director: Teal Greyhavens
Emily is a quiet girl who comes from an unusual family. On the night of her 18th birthday, they gather together to reveal an important secret to her. It’s a secret that will shape the rest of her life…

Suspended
USA | 2018 | 8 min | Director: William Elder Groebe
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: William Elder Groebe
Ana’s nightly bus ride home makes an unscheduled and deadly stop. What will she do?

Tater
USA | 2018 | 8 min | Director: Spencer Lenzie
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
A young boy scientist must stop a space potato from killing his entire family.

The Blue Door
UK | 2017 | 9 min | Director: Paul Taylor
COLORADO PREMIERE
A district nurse, played by Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones, The Crown), is assigned a new patient living alone in a dilapidated bungalow. The nurse soon discovers that her dying patient, and the home she inhabits, are hiding a dark secret.

The Day My Mother Became A Monster
France | 2017 | 23 min | Director: Josephine Darcy Hopkins
COLORADO PREMIERE
Candice is a nine-year-old girl who lives alone with her mother since the divorce of her parents. As her birthday approaches, she is delighted at the thought of seeing her father again. Only, her mother’s attitude starts to change…plunging the fragile balance of their relationship into a terrifying nightmare.

The Front Door
UK | 2018 | 7 min | Director: Andrew Rutter
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Upon locking the front door, Steven notices some rather odd intruders.

The Hidebehind
USA | 2018 | 10 min | Director: Parker Finn
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: Parker Finn
Lost deep in the forest, a lone backpacker encounters a mysterious stranger.

The Sermon
UK | 2018 | 11 min | Director: Dean Puckett
In an isolated church community in the English countryside, a powerful hate preacher prepares to deliver a sermon to his flock, but his daughter has a secret that could destroy them all.

There’s A Monster Behind You
UK | 2018 | 11 min | Director: Evan Richards
WORLD PREMIERE
Three nights. Two friends. One monster.

Time Enforcer
USA | 2018 | 11 min | Director: Jimmy Nickerson
COLORADO PREMIERE
A Time Enforcer must stop illegal time travel at any cost.

Who’s That at The Back Of The Bus?
UK | 2018 | 5 min | Director: Philip Hardy
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Alone on the top deck of the night bus, an old lady is haunted by an unlikely apparition.

ANIMATED SHORT FILMS:

THE HORROR….THE ANIMATED
Grisly, Ghastly Animated Shorts at Telluride Horror Show
Mark Shapiro from LAIKA, the Portland-based animation studio behind Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, and Kubo and the Two Strings, returns to Telluride with a special animated shorts block gleaned from major film festivals across the globe. The creative, visual program includes drawn, computer-generated and stop-motion animation films. But you heard it here first: Do NOT bring the kiddies…

All Your Favorite Shows!
USA | 2015 | 5 min | Director: Danny Madden
Anything you wanna watch in the palm of your hand. Crazy convenient…crazy.

Attack of the Potato Clock
USA | 2018 | 3 min | Directors: Victoria Lopez & Ji young Na
WORLD PREMIERE
In an 80s elementary school, a mutated potato clock rises from death on a stormy night to get revenge on Hilda, the cafeteria’s lunch lady who is chopping potatoes, creatures of his own kind.

Drawn & Recorded: Blondie Escapes
USA | 2017 | 3 min | Director: Drew Christie
Before she was blond(i)e, Debbie Harry was a brunette bunny, which made her prey for one of the most notorious serial killers in U.S. history.

Drawn & Recorded: Johnny Horton’s Last Ride
USA | 2017 | 4 min | Director: Drew Christie
Rockabilly star, Johnny Horton, had a dark premonition. Would it come true?

First Bite
USA | 2014 | 4 min | Director: Drew Christie
This animated vampire tale is based on an original 18th Century written account from the Balkans.

Hybrids
France | 2017 | 6 min | Directors: Florian Brauch, Kim Tailhades, Matthieu Pujol, Yohan Thireau, Romain Thirion
When marine wildlife has to adapt to the pollution surrounding it, the rules of survival change.

Nothing to Declare
Scotland | 2017 | 8 min | Director: Will Adams
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
An adventurous young backpacker returns home on Christmas Eve, eager to see his beloved family. He discovers that, despite meaning well, a contraband package that he sent his sister from the Amazon jungle has inadvertently had catastrophic consequences for everyone at home.

Sog
Germany | 2017 | 10 min | Director: Jonatan Schwenk
After a flood, some fish got stuck in old trees. In danger of drying out, they scream sharply. Woken up by the noise, the inhabitants of a nearby cave don’t feel happy about the unintended gathering.

The Autopsy of Sven Svensson
Israel | 2017 | 6 min | Directors: Shir Pakman & Hadas Coen
A pathologist’s daily routine is being interrupted when he encounters a body in his image.

The Death, Dad & Son
France | 2017 | 14 min | Directors: Denis Walgenwitz & Winshluss
COLORADO PREMIERE
Death’s son doesn’t want to take over the family business. His secret dream to become a guardian angel triggers a succession of mishaps – and his dad will have to get him out of this mess.

The Other
Poland | 2018 | 5 min | Director: Marta Magnuska
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
While waiting for the arrival of the mysterious newcomer, people keep on guessing who is he. The blurry vision of the stranger takes shape the way his presence feels almost real. The initial excitement of the crowd turns into anxiety.

The Subject
Canada | 2018 | 10 min | Director: Patrick Bouchard
COLORADO PREMIERE
An animator dissects his own body, extracting memories, emotions and fears that will nurture his work. As he cuts into his skin with a scalpel, various symbolic objects recalling his past emerge. Reaching the heart after cracking his ribs, he succeeds in identifying the burden he’s been dying to cast off.

Winston
USA | 2017 | 6 min | Director: Aram Sarkisian
Through a series of letters written to his younger brother Marcus, we get inside the mind of a man (Winston), who slowly falls into his own hell, by his own means.

The post Telluride Horror Show 2018 Lineup Announced, Including ‘Killer Klowns’ 30th Anniversary Screening! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Now, we have a trio of brand new shots from the film that stars Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords), Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones).

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for Bloody out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse isa Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

The post ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ Images Go Shopping and Approach an Undead Snowman appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for Bloody out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script (with Alan McDonald) and was due to direct the feature, but he sadly died of cancer back in 2015.

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Cold Skin – September 7

Based on a novel of the same name by Albert Sánchez Piñol, the latest by director Xavier Gens (Frontier(s), The Divide) follows a young man who takes a post at a remote island near the Antarctic Circle as a weather observer only to find himself in the middle of a war between the island’s signal official Gruner (Ray Stevenson) and hostile aquatic humanoids that inhabit the island. While Kalyn’s review out of Fantasia praises the film’s stunning cinematography and creature effects, the narrative runs too long. For fans missing The Shape of Water, this period creature feature might be for you.

Mara- September 7

Olga Kurylenko stars as criminal psychologist Kate Fuller, assigned to a murder case involved a man strangled by his own wife. The further she digs into the case and the mystery of a demon that kills people in their sleep, she begins experiencing the same symptoms as previous victims. Another horror movie revolving sleep paralysis, there’s been very little buzz on this one so far. Considering we’re just weeks away from release that doesn’t signal confidence. Horror favorite Javier Botet also stars as the titular demon Mara.

The Nun – September 7

The latest entry in The Conjuring universe is a spinoff revolving around The Conjuring 2’s terrifying demon Valak. A prequel spinoff set in 1952, this one follows a Catholic priest and a novice nun sent to Romania by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun. Written by Gary Dauberman (It, Annabelle: Creation) and directed by Corin Hardy (The Hallow), The Nun stars Demian Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, and Bonnie Aarons, who reprises her super creepy character from The Conjuring 2. The marketing has been surprisingly light, but effective. This is a safe bet to be another big hit for the franchise, and one of the biggest releases this fall.

Lizzie – September 14

Not quite horror so much as a psychological thriller biopic based on Lizzie Borden and the infamous 1892 murders of the Borden family, Lizzie looks to delve into what drove the infamous killer to slaughter her family with an axe. Directed by Craig William Macneill (The Boy, Channel Zero), Lizzie stars Chloe Sevigny as Lizzie and Kristen Stewart as her maid, Bridget. Though this may focus more on what drove Lizzie to her homicidal tendencies, we can at least expect things to get pretty bloody.

Mandy – September 14

Co-Writer/director Panos Cosmatos’ latest looks downright insane in the best possible way. Starring Nicolas Cage, who recently revealed that he drew character inspiration from Jason Voorhees, this ‘80s set cult action horror film sees his character hunting a religious cult for murdering the love of his life. Colorful, intense, and bloody, the trailer gave us all we needed to know to be completely sold. If you need more, however, then here’s two promising words: Chainsaw Battle.

The Predator – September 14

While the posters for this sequel have been amazing, the trailers have been a little lackluster. But with Shane Black at the helm, and a screenplay that he co-wrote with Fred Dekker, there should be some interesting surprises in store. The plot for this entry has the lethal hunters returning to earth thanks to an accidental summoning by a young boy. An assembled crew of ex-soldiers and a science teacher is the only thing standing in the way of the end of the human race. Starring Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Thomas Jane, Boyd Holbrook, Jake Busey, Keegan-Michael Key, and Yvonne Stahovski, The Predator looks to pay homage to the previous films while carving out its own space in the series.

Assassination Nation – September 21

“This is a thousand percent a true story about how the quiet, all-American town of Salem absolutely lost its mind.” Between this and our own Fred Topel’s review out of Sundance, who says “the climax does not disappoint,” all signs are pointing to a thriller steeped in ultra-violence. And we can’t wait. Written and directed by Sam Levinson, and starring Odessa Young, Hari Nef, Suki Waterhouse, Abra, and Bill Skarsgard, Assassination Nation looks insane.

The House with a Clock in its Walls – September 21

This kid-friendly genre film follows a young orphan named Lewis who assists his uncle in trying to stop the end of the world. Based on the gothic horror children’s novel by John Bellairs, this adaptation has the potential to turn into a series like its book counterpart. It stars Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, and Kyle MacLachlan, and the trailer indicates a festive Halloween set family film of spooky magic and holiday-themed iconography. All of that is enticing enough, but the biggest reason we’re intrigued? The director is Eli Roth.

Hell Fest – September 28

A masked serial killer makes a Halloween themed amusement park his playground, with attendees none the wiser. That is, until a group of friends start to suspect something might be very, very wrong. Directed by Gregory Plotkin, editor of Happy Death Day and Get Out and director of Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, Hell Fest marks the potential resurgence of the slasher just in time for the Halloween season. The film stars Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, and Bex Taylor-Klaus with appearances by horror vet Tony Todd.

Hold the Dark – September 28 (Netflix)

This thriller doesn’t sound remotely connected to horror at all; the plot follows a writer hired by parents to help with the search for their missing son in the Alaskan wilderness after the deaths of three children suspected to be by wolves. But the director is Jeremy Saulnier whose previous film was the edge-of-your-seat intense thriller Green Room. Saulnier has recently stated that Hold the Dark has the highest body count of all his films so far, which sounds right in our wheelhouse. This one is a Netflix exclusive.

Venom – October 5

Thanks to the marketing so far, it’s still unclear whether this will be an ultra-violent introduction to the cinematic iteration of this Marvel antihero, or a turd on the wind. Either way, it’s long overdue for Venom to get his own feature, and just in time for Halloween. Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock, a down on his luck journalist that comes into contact with an alien symbiote that grants him superpowers and really, really sharp looking teeth. Venom also stars Michelle Williams and is directed by Ruben Fleischer, who also helmed Zombieland and the upcoming Zombieland Too.

Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween – October 12

The sequel to the 2015 family-oriented horror movie based on the works of R.L. Stine follows two boys who unwittingly release Slappy on Halloween Night. The boys then must enlist help to stop Slappy from teaming up with his monster allies to unleash a Halloween Apocalypse. Personally, a Halloween Apocalypse sounds like something that should actually exist, which means that this sequel should be a fun time. Featuring a whole new cast led by Jeremy Ray Taylor (It), Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween might become a new holiday staple for the burgeoning horror fan.

Apostle – October 12 (Netflix)

In 2014, Dan Stevens impressed as the badass but creepy villain David Collins in the Adam Wingard directed, Halloween set action horror film The Guest. Four years later he looks to be playing another badass in period action thriller Apostle, a Netflix exclusive. Written and directed by Gareth Evans, who previously wrote and directed the ultra-violent film The Raid and the V/H/S 2 segment “Safe Haven,” we can anticipate that Evans will unleash the carnage and mayhem here, too. Stevens plays a man attempting to rescue his sister from a religious cult. We’re so in.

Halloween – October 19

The biggest event of the Halloween season; the highly anticipated sequel set 40 years after final girl Laurie Strode’s first battle with boogeyman Michael Myers finally arrives. Directed by David Gordon Green, based on a script that Green co-wrote with Danny McBride, Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle reprise their roles from the original film for one epic final showdown. This sequel ignores everything that came after the first film and instead follows a Laurie Strode that spent the last four decades preparing for the return of Myers. John Carpenter serves as executive producer as well as handles the new score. Go ahead, box office, take our money now.

Suspiria – November 2

By now, the post-Halloween blues are setting in, which makes this release a surprising salve. What was once a maligned reboot of a beloved classic has since become one of the year’s most anticipated thanks to a killer trailer and brilliant marketing. Written by David Kajganich and directed by Luca Guadagnino, this reboot is smartly taking a very different approach to the vivid colored world Dario Argento introduced in 1977. Dakota Johnson stars as Susie Bannion, the ambitious young dancer who finds her world-renowned dance school may harbor some dark, deadly secrets.  The cast also harbors some intriguing secrets. Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Jessica Harper, and Chloe Grace Moretz also star, but so does a mysterious Lutz Ebersdorf, an elder actor with no other prior film credits and a rather intriguing IMDb profile. Well played, Suspiria, well played. This is the reboot we may not have wanted, but we absolutely need.

Overlord – November 9

A World War II set horror film by producer J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot production company finds its American paratroopers at the center of the film contending with more than the grim realities of war when they discover monstrous Nazi experiments lurking behind enemy lines. Abrams has announced that Overlord is not a part of the Cloverfield series, which I hope is the truth as it’d be nice to have a straightforward action horror film. We can always use more creature features. Wyatt Russell stars.

Anna and the Apocalypse – November 30

The perfect signal for the conclusion of Fall is this Christmas zombie musical, which Trace said is “sure to earn a spot on your annual holiday viewing list” and promises that “the blood flows.” The quiet town of Little Haven becomes inundated with zombies at Christmas, forcing Anna and her friends to fight, and sing, their way through the horde of undead to get to their loved ones. This looks to be much grimmer than any high school musical we’ve seen before. Ella Hunt stars as Anna.

Climax – TBD

The latest by Gaspar Noe (Irreversible) by way of A24 is said to be a “Satanic Step Up.” A hallucinatory descent into madness over one night of partying when a celebrating dance troupe pounds drinks laced with LCD, we can expect Climax to be a surrealistic nightmare. And judging by Noe’s previous films, this could very well be brutal, too.  Starring Sofia Boutella, Climax doesn’t have a release date yet but should be coming this year.

Slice – TBD

Another A24 film, writer/director Austin Vesely’s feature debut should have a release date soon. Not much is known about it yet, other than an intriguing plot synopsis: “When a pizza delivery driver is murdered on the job, the city searches for someone to blame: ghosts? drug dealers? a disgraced werewolf?” Yes, please. All of it. Especially the bit about the disgraced werewolf. If that’s somehow not enough to get you on board, Slice also stars Chance the Rapper.

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Collider shares this Comic-Con exclusive poster, the first in a series of four designed by award-winning artist Jim Evans (T.A.Z), who has also created posters for films including American Ultra and The Green Inferno as well as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Saw franchises. Music fans may recognize him for his work with bands like U2, The Beastie Boys, Foo Fighters, Blink-182, The Wu Tang Clan, Rage Against The Machine, and Pearl Jam.

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for Bloody out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script (with Alan McDonald) and was due to direct the feature, but he sadly died of cancer back in 2015.

The post ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ Comic-Con Art Shows a Holiday Bloodbath appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for Bloody out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script (with Alan McDonald) and was due to direct the feature, but he sadly died of cancer back in 2015.

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Trace Thurman reviewed the film for Bloody out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script (with Alan McDonald) and was due to direct the feature, but he sadly died of cancer back in 2015.

The post New ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ Image Breaks Out Dancing [FrightFest] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for Bloody out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script (with Alan McDonald) and was due to direct the feature, but he sadly died of cancer back in 2015.

The post Orion Plans Holiday Release for ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Trace Thurman reviewed the film for Bloody out of its World Premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival, writing:

“Anna and the Apocalypse is a Joyous Celebration of Zombies, Musicals and Christmas!”

In the film, “When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script (with Alan McDonald) and was due to direct the feature, but he sadly died of cancer back in 2015.

The post Orion Releasing Hyped Horror Musical ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script (with Alan McDonald) and was due to direct the feature, but he sadly died of cancer back in 2015. Directing duties were taken on by John McPhail, director of 2016 rom-com Where Do We Go From Here.

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Anna (Ella Hunt, a revelation) is living a rather unremarkable life in the small town of Little Haven with aspirations of traveling the world before heading to university. One morning, she wakes up to discover that a zombie apocalypse has started in her neighborhood. Aided by her friends Lord Friend Zone John (Malcolm Cumming), Steph (Sarah Swire) and Chris (Christopher Leveaux), Anna must travel to her high school which has been marked as a rendezvous point for the army. Along the way they much overcome obstacles such as zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party, and high school hormones while singing, dancing and bludgeoning the occasional zombie horde along the way.

Anna and the Apocalypse originated as the short film Zombie Musical from creator Ryan McHenry. McHenry had planned on making a full-length feature out of the short, but he tragically passed away from cancer before he could even start production on the film. In an effort to honor his wishes, McHenry’s childhood friend and producing partner Naysun Alae-Carew set out to make a feature-length version Zombie Musical a reality. Screenwriter Alan McDonald was brought in to produce a script and Anna and the Apocalypse was born.

[Related] All Fantastic Fest 2017 News and Reviews

Performances are solid across the board, with relative newcomer Hunt turning in a remarkable performance as Anna. A mixture of Amber Tamblyn, Anne Hathaway and Emmy Rossum (with the singing talents of the last two), Hunt is simply wonderful. While Anna is most definitely the lead of the film, she does not carry the film by herself. The supporting players are each given plenty of moments to shine. Swire (who pulls double-duty as the film’s choreographer) is the standout, given a multitude of solos that she belts with the appropriate amount of gravitas. Cummings’ John is awkwardly endearing as he pines after Anna and Leveaux, admittedly the least served of the quartet, still has one catchy number.

Speaking of, you want to know about the songs, right? When it comes to musicals there are always going to be a few songs that don’t fully work (aka filler songs). I like to think that if at least 75% of the songs do work then it is a successful musical. Out of the 10 musical numbers (11 if you count the animated opening credits number), there is only one clunker. That is a remarkable success rate for a musical. Trust me when I say you will want to purchase this soundtrack the second the credits roll (I practically begged for one when I interviewed the cast). The majority of the songs are duets or group numbers, with the occasional solo making an appearance (the audience favorite was the hilarious solo  “Unload My Sack”, which is sure to be a popular number at karaoke bars every holiday season). A late-in-the-game number from Ben Wiggins’ bad boy Nick also proves to be one of the more memorable numbers in the film, if only for its brilliant combination of dance and fight choreography. Swire’s does a phenomenal job with all of the choreography in the film. So many a movie musical seem to forget about the importance of choreography (just look at Mamma Mia!), and it’s refreshing to see Anna and the Apocalypse is not one of those films.

Lest you think that Anna and the Apocalypse goes easy on the gore, rest assured that McPhail injects plenty of macabre moments into the proceedings. The blood flows. The only area where Anna in the Apocalypse truly falters is in innovation. This is a zombie movie through and through and McDonald and McHenry don’t seem to want to do anything new with the sub-genre (other than make it a musical). The story plays out with all of the familiar beats as most other zombie movies, with the most comparable film being Shaun of the Dead, a film which McPhail and editor Mark Hermida pay considerable homage to with rapid quick cuts and a similar style of humor. There are jokes aplenty in Anna and the Apocalypse and most of them land, but the ones that don’t stick out like a sore thumb. This is to be expected from comedies, of course, but there are times when the film seems to think it’s a lot more clever than it actually is.

But really, who cares about any of that when the movie is just so much fun. McPhail, McHenry and McDonald (whoa) have injected so much heart into Anna and the Apocalypse that it overshadows nearly all of its negative qualities. McHenry would be proud of the film his friends have made. It is an earnest and joyous film that doesn’t talk down to its audience. If you enjoy musicals, Anna and the Apocalypse is sure to earn a spot on your annual holiday viewing list (right next to Gremlins and the upcoming Better Watch Out). Don’t miss this when it gets released!

Anna and the Apocalypse had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest. This review originally ran on October 2, 2017.

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I managed to see 26 films this year, 23 of which belonged to the horror or thriller genres.*  There were a few amazing films, a lot of decent (or as I like to call them, “meh”) ones and only one total dud (seriously though, that one is bad).

The 10 horror films listed below were among the strongest present at Fantastic Fest this year and should absolutely be on your radar. You won’t want to miss these when they eventually get released. Of course, it’s possible you may have to wait a while for some of these to get distribution. Some of my “Best Of” list from last year are either just now getting released (Better Watch Out) or have yet to see a release (Another WolfCop).

*Despite my best efforts, I was not able to catch every single horror or thriller film this year. The ones I missed were: Cold Hell, Let the Corpses Tan, Radius, Super Dark Times, The Originals and Les Affamés.

1. The Killing of a Sacred Deer

My favorite film of the Fantastic Fest was actually one that our own Benedict Seal gave a negative review (1 out of 5 skulls, to be exact) to just four months ago when it screened at Cannes. What can I say? I’m a glutton for misery. As I said in my own review, Yorgos Lanthimos’ (The Lobster, Dogtooth) latest film is most certainly not a film for everyone (there were quite a few walkouts at my screening), but I loved all 120 of its excruciatingly unsettling minutes. It will receive a limited theatrical release from A24 on October 20, 2017.

2. Good Manners

As I state in my 4.5-skull review for Good Manners: don’t read anything about it and don’t watch a trailer for it. Go in as blind a possible and you will most likely fall in love with it the same way I did. The Brazilian-French production is a heartwarming fairy tale that has plenty of surprises in store for patient viewers (at 135 minutes, it is a little too long). Good Manners is still seeking distribution but with any luck it will get snatched up soon because it’s a real gem.

3. Gerald’s Game

Mike Flanagan does the seemingly impossible and adapts Stephen King’s “unfilmable” novel Gerald’s Game into one helluva film. Carla Gugino gives a bravura performance in a film which sees a woman talking to herself while handcuffed to a bed for the majority of its runtime. The best part? It’s already streaming on Netflix so you can watch it now!

4. Anna and the Apocalypse

Who doesn’t love a good Christmas-themed zombie movie musical? Made with love by the friends of the creator (who sadly died from osteosarcoma before filming could begin), Anna and the Apocalypse is a joyous time at the movies, filled with buckets of blood, exciting dance numbers and a killer soundtrack. It is currently seeking a distributor, but I’m betting it won’t take long for someone to snatch this up. It’s simply that good.

5. My Friend Dahmer

Anyone expecting Marc Meyers’ adaptation of John Backderf’s graphic novel My Friend Dahmer to be a serial killer slasher film may find it to be a bit of a tease. The film is a quietly chilling slice-of-life film chronicling Jeffrey Dahmer’s senior year of high school. It’s a slow burn that doesn’t necessarily build up to anything, but it features a phenomenal performance from Disney Channel alum Ross Lynch as Dahmer as well as a strong supporting turn from Anne Heche as his mother Joyce. My Friend Dahmer will get a limited theatrical release on November 3, 2017.

6. Thoroughbreds

This film will garner a lot of attention for being Anton Yelchin’s (R.I.P.) final film role, and while he is a hoot in newcomer Cory Finley’s viciously dark comedy (think Heathers), Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Split) are the standouts as former childhood friends who hatch a plan to murder the latter’s stepfather. It drags a bit in the middle, but there are enough dark little treats for viewers to merit a watch. Thoroughbreds is was picked up for distribution by Focus Features and is set for a limited theatrical release on March 9, 2018.

7. Tigers are Not Afraid

Issa López brings us another horror fairy tale in the form of Tigers Are Not Afraid, a lovely and tragic story about a young girl who, after losing her mother, joins a gang of children who find themselves up against dangerous members of a drug cartel. Reminiscent of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, Tigers Are Not Afraid is a confident and soul-crushing third feature from López. It wasn’t really on my radar, but after hearing about all of the festival-goers walking out sobbing I had to give it a shot. I’m so glad I did. Tigers are Not Afraid is still seeking distribution.

8. Rift

The second feature from Child Eater director Erlingur Thoroddsen is a slow burn if there ever was one, which may turn off more impatient viewers, but it certainly pays off in the third act. The film manages to be a horror film about a gay couple without it being about their sexuality, a refreshing quality in this age of cinema. It wasn’t my absolute favorite of the festival, but our own Ari Drew writes in his review that Rift is “a cohesive, subversive, and effectively emotional narrative experience. That it also features two exceptionally multi-dimensional gay protagonists while tackling themes of love, loss, guilt, and fear in the context of same-sex relationships is absolutely refreshing, in the name of both Icelandic horror and queer horror cinema alike.” Rift was acquired by Breaking Glass Pictures back in June for North American distribution. It will be getting a concurrent VOD and DVD release with a mini theatrical run in November.

9. The Endless

If there’s one thing you should do before seeing The Endless, the third feature from writing/directing duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (who also star in the film), it’s seek out their debut feature Resolution (our review) and watch it immediately. As Brad mentioned in his review out of Tribeca, The Endless will fuck your mind (his words, not mine). The film sees two brothers (Benson and Moorhead) return to the cult that they escaped years ago, and that’s really all you need to know about this slow burn chiller. It was acquired for distribution by Well Go USA and  should see a release sometime in early 2018 so be on the lookout!

10. Rabbit

Rabbit is the debut feature from Australian-born Luke Shanahan, but you wouldn’t know it just from watching it. Rabbit, which tells the story of a young woman (Adelaide Clemens, ) searching for her presumed-dead twin sister, is an impressive debut from the filmmaker. Like so many other films on this list, it is a slow burn that will likely test the patience of many a viewer (there were a lot of those at Fantastic Fest this year…..), but as I said in my review its gorgeous cinematography and compelling lead performance from Clemens make it worth the watch alone.

Honorable Mention: Bodied

I couldn’t include Joseph Kahn’s (Detention, Torque) Bodied on the list since it is far from horror, but it was my second favorite film of the festival (after Sacred Deer) and won the Audience Award at Fantastic Fest. It is an incendiary film about such hot-button issues as racism and stereotyping that will undoubtedly spark plenty of heated debates. Set in the underground world of rap battling, the film follows Adam (Calum Worthy) on his journey to becoming a competitive rapper while writing his graduate thesis on the subject. It is refreshing to see Kahn tone down his music video rapid-editing style after the all-over-the-place (in the best way) Detention, but the film belongs to Worthy, who turns in a star-making performance (The Flash‘s Grant Gustin, who backed out of filming a month prior to shooting, is probably kicking himself right now). Bodied is currently shopping to distributors, and whichever company gets it has a surefire hit on their hands.

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“It’s been a really long journey but I guess most movies are. This had a few more downs than most movies I guess obviously it centers around Ryan McHenry who first came up with the concept. We made the short together in 2010 and…obviously Ryan being diagnosed with osteosarcoma and then passing away two years later was horrific. But the fact that we got the movie made feels like the best thing that we could ever do to honor his memory. And what the guys have done here is make a film that has so much of Ryan in it but is also entirely their own thing. I couldn’t imagine that it would possibly turn out so well.”

It’s a tragic story but that the result was Anna and the Apocalypse is simply wonderful. I feel like McHenry would be proud of what his friends have accomplished. Let’s be honest though, a horror movie musical isn’t exactly the easiest thing to pitch. Can you name the last financially successful horror movie musical? There aren’t many. Sure, we’ve got The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Little Shop of Horrors, Phantom of the Paradise and even Repo! The Genetic Opera (and those last two weren’t even financially successful), but an original movie musical, much less an original horror movie musical, it not an easy sell. When asked about the difficulty in pitching the film, Anna herself (Ella Hunt) confidently stated:

“I thought [they] pitched it so well from the start, or at least when we actors came on board. They were so clear that they wanted it to be rooted in it being a coming-of-age story about young people and playing the emotion and experience for real. To make them three-dimensional characters. That would be our driving force through the horror and the music.”

The film is still shopping distributors, but I don’t think they’ll have to much trouble finding a buyer since the film is just that good. For the conclusion of my interview, I asked the cast something that I like to ask a lot of actors (especially those in horror films): what was the most difficult scene to shoot? The majority of them claimed that the dance numbers were the most difficult, mainly because of keeping continuity. Continuity errors in films will always gets a lot of laughs, but most people don’t understand how difficult it can be to maintain. It is even more difficult in a film like Anna and the Apocalypse, as mixing dance choreography, fight choreography and blood splatter locations can prove to be a bit challenging. Because resetting the scene for another take can take a long time, there is more pressure to get everything right on the first take so that the crew doesn’t have to reset the whole scene again. Actor Malcolm Cumming, who plays Anna’s best friend John in the film, was the most passionate about this subject, exclaiming:

“When you’re doing something like this and you have zombie kills and…you’re actually using prosthetics and these effects and stuff like that, it’s really challenging. There were some scenes where you had to walk into the right spot and hit your mark really well. When you knew the turnaround to set it back up would take a long time on a really tight schedule, the pressure is crazy. Then it comes around to actually doing it you’re like ‘Oh man don’t mess this up!'”

Anna and the Apocalypse had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest and is currently shopping distributors.

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In the film…

“When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her high school pals must fight, sing and slash their way to survival. Teaming with her best friend John, Anna and her crew try to save family and faculty alike as they encounter zombified snowmen, a manic bachelor party and teenage hormones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and the only people they can truly rely on are each other.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). The cast also includes up-and-comers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script (with Alan McDonald) and was due to direct the feature, but he sadly died of cancer back in 2015. Directing duties were taken on by John McPhail, director of 2016 rom-com Where Do We Go From Here.

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In the movie set to premiere at the forthcoming Fantastic Fest:

“A girl and her friends must fight – and sing – their way through a zombie invasion to reach the supposed safety of their school, not knowing if their parents and friends will still be alive when they get there.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) who plays her father and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones), who plays the wicked antagonist Savage.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script and was due to direct the feature but the filmmaker died of cancer in 2015 aged 27, ScreenDaily originally reported. Directing duties were taken on by John McPhail, director of 2016 rom-com Where Do We Go From Here. Writers are Alan MacDonald and McHenry.

Rounding out the ensemble cast are newcomers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Producers are Naysun Alae-Carew and Nicholas Crum of Blazing Griffin and Tracy Jarvis of Parkhouse Pictures. Executive producers are Tracy Brimm of Forward Films (Grabbers), Allan Niblo, Todd Brown, Mark Thomas and James Norrie.

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In the movie, “A girl and her friends must fight – and sing – their way through a zombie invasion to reach the supposed safety of their school, not knowing if their parents and friends will still be alive when they get there.”

Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) who plays her father and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones), who plays the wicked antagonist Savage.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” upon which it is based, wrote the original script and was due to direct the feature but the filmmaker died of cancer in 2015 aged 27, ScreenDaily originally reported. Directing duties were taken on by John McPhail, director of 2016 rom-com Where Do We Go From Here. Writers are Alan MacDonald and McHenry.

Rounding out the ensemble cast are newcomers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Producers are Naysun Alae-Carew and Nicholas Crum of Blazing Griffin and Tracy Jarvis of Parkhouse Pictures. Executive producers are Tracy Brimm of Forward Films (Grabbers), Allan Niblo, Todd Brown, Mark Thomas and James Norrie.

The post First Look at Zombie Musical ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

ScreenDaily is reporting that shooting is underway in and around Glasgow, Scotland on Anna and the Apocalypse.

In the movie, “A girl and her friends must fight – and sing – their way through a zombie invasion to reach the supposed safety of their school, not knowing if their parents and friends will still be alive when they get there.”

Emerging UK actress Ella Hunt (Our Robot Overlords) stars in the title role alongside Mark Benton (ITV drama The Halcyon) who plays her father and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones), who plays the wicked antagonist Savage.

Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the 2010 short film “Zombie Musical” (below) upon which it is based, wrote the original script and was due to direct the feature but the filmmaker died of cancer in 2015 aged 27. He was best known for creating viral hit Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal.

Directing duties have now been taken on by John McPhail, director of 2016 rom-com Where Do We Go From Here. Writers are Alan MacDonald and McHenry.

Rounding out the ensemble cast are newcomers Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu.

Producers are Naysun Alae-Carew and Nicholas Crum of Blazing Griffin and Tracy Jarvis of Parkhouse Pictures. Executive producers are Tracy Brimm of Forward Films (Grabbers), Allan Niblo, Todd Brown, Mark Thomas and James Norrie.

Fans of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, Repo! The Genetic Opera and Stage Fright get a taste of what’s to come in the original short film…

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