From the mainstream to shoestring-budget YouTube movies, 2024 has continued the creative hot streak horror has been on for the better part of the last decade. Supporting said creative endeavors in the hugely profitable and popular genre is an esteemed group of horror mainstays, A-list stars, and aspiring newcomers working to make the stories as memorable as they can while cementing their individual legacies into the world of cinema.

The diversity of the horror genre has never been more apparent than the output seen in 2024. This year, we’ve seen a devious and bloody concoction of body horror, psychological torment, evil crime stories, and the return of everyone’s favorite clown and that isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. Despite the variety, the common thread binding these subgenres is killer performances from a talented cast of actors elevating their respective films to higher degrees.

Which of these performances are the most notable? Read on to find out!

15. David Dastmalchian – Late Night with the Devil

Character actors are the unsung heroes of movies and TV shows, serving as one of the workhorses of the industry for their willingness to showcase their talents in a versatile set of roles. David Dastmalchian is among the most notable character actors of the modern era, carving out his legacy in Hollywood through small, yet memorable roles in films such as The Dark Knight, Ant-Man, Oppenheimer, and Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune: Part One. A consistent supporter while rarely leading the cast, one of the few deviations of this pattern being films that he’s written like 2014’s Animals and 2018’s All Creatures Here Below.

The other deviation is this year’s indie horror breakout Late Night with the Devil, a horror film that was partially sold on the concept of Dastmalchian leading a movie again. A great selling point that was backed up by Dastmalchian’s strong work as film protagonist and fading talk show host Jack Delroy. Tasked with adding tragic humanity to a clout-hungry TV host with some seriously grim secrets, Dastmalchian plays Delroy with a curious and melancholic charisma that simultaneously gives him a classic 70s TV actor charm while highlighting the fact that something is definitely…off about the guy.

While Delroy is ultimately not the main antagonist of the film, the ripple effects of his actions are a driving force for the story and Dastmalchian’s compelling performance turns an already-fun and kooky supernatural horror into a darkly comedic character study. In a film populated with a talented lineup of supporting performances, Dastmalchian’s lead work is disarming in the man’s lowkey charm that morphs into a morbid window into entertainment politics.

14. Justice Smith – I Saw the TV Glow

After the success of Jane Schoenbrun’s breakout horror hit We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, it set forth the expectations that their next project would serve as a bigger and better creative endeavor. What followed was a similar descent into horror through the glow of a bright screen, this time in the form of nostalgic 90s children’s sitcoms in I Saw the TV Glow. Switching up from YouTube challenges to immersive lore dives into old shows, Schoenbrun’s own experience with discovering their identity bleeds heavily into I Saw the TV Glow and is personified through the work of one Justice Smith.

Smith plays a character who, through the exposure of a fantastical children’s show, begins to question the reality of his identity and who he truly is. A potentially upsetting situation in the real world, the horror that Schoenbrun adds to an internal crisis is propelled by Smith’s devastating performance. Playing the isolated Owen with a dash of charm and innocence, Smith makes his eventual decay as heartbreaking as it is horrifying.

Much of the film’s horror comes from Owen’s confusion clashing with the cold reality of a world indifferent to his entire being. Smith’s performance is shy, quiet, physically tiring, and passive to Owen’s detriment, only bursting when he can’t hold it in anymore. It’s a testament to Smith’s ability to take his timid presence as an actor and frame it through Schoenbrun’s identity horror with stellar results. I Saw the TV Glow is simply made better and legitimately scarier thanks to Smith and the rest of the cast.

13. David Howard Thornton – Terrifier 3

Words alone cannot express how genuinely cool it is to finally have a new slasher icon after what feels like an eternity of the classic slasher fading into obscurity. Horror trends change all the time and the move away from old-school slasher mayhem invading the mainstream was simply a casualty to changing times. So it’s refreshing and badass to see David Howard Thornton’s Art the Clown sidestep the trends of modern horror whilst embracing the current social environment that many people argue is the type of environment that’s designed to see Art the Clown’s penchant of bloody ultraviolence disappear.

The reality is that everyone has that secret hankering of seeing balls-to-the-wall slasher violence and the success of Terrifier 3 is proof. Thornton’s now-iconic turn as the macabre madman in clown makeup drove hordes into theaters and became a box office sensation in the process. And all of that success hinges not just on the wacky and wildly over-the-top violence that Art the Clown revels in, but Art himself. Despite two other movies also having Thornton appear as Art, it wasn’t until 3 where Thornton’s silent comedy stylings finally meshed with the playfully deranged clown.

David Howard Thornton’s Chaplin-esque performance is at its strongest in the third installment, being free to interact with a varied and far more memorable cast of supporting characters that occasionally match his manic energy. Hell, the bar scene on its own is a true window into the series’s massive improvement in matching the tone of the film with Art himself. Art the Clown is just as fun to watch goofing around as he is maiming people beyond recognition and David Howard Thornton’s hilarious, charismatic, and genuinely terrifying performance as Art goes to show the hidden versatility of the world’s most dangerous clown.

12. Jung Yu-mi – Sleep

Imagine being married to and carrying the unborn baby of a sleepwalker who not only walks in the middle of the night, but displays the kind of behavior that may or may not be endangering you in the process. It’s this pitch that director Jason Yu ran with all the way to the completion of his feature length debut film, the South Korean dark comedy horror-thriller Sleep. Yu’s story of a woman and new mother dealing with both her infant baby and her husband’s mysterious nocturnal behavior quietly released digitally in the States to minor fanfare and on the back of the film’s central performance, it’s a damn shame this isn’t being discussed enough.

Jung Yu-mi’s captivating performance as our lead Soojin hits the ground running with dramatic and surprisingly hilarious results. Soojin’s plight with her husband (played by the late Lee Sun-kyun of Parasite fame) begins to physically and mentally burden her, leading her down a path of madness that Yu-mi always manages to make both horrific and entertaining. Watching Soojin “husband-proof” their apartment is a morbid delight that blends seamlessly with the reality of watching a woman fall apart at the seams and Yu-mi’s endlessly entertaining screen presence is a joy to watch even at the mental expense of Soojin.

Though it isn’t until the third act where Yu-mi’s blend of horror and comedic timing comes to a boiling point. I won’t spoil exactly what happens, but Yu-mi’s portrayal of Soojin’s worsening mental state goes into some genuinely unexpected places that are a blast to watch. A curiously placed PowerPoint presentation that is somehow crucial to the plot’s progression sounds like a true “jumping the shark” moment, but Yu-mi’s deliberately confusing performance manages to make it work in spades. It’s something I can say about Sleep as a whole, as it is a solid horror-thriller elevated to another level on the strength of Jung Yu-mi’s work.

11. Margaret Qualley – The Substance

When reviews came pouring in for Coralie Fargeat’s latest project, just about all of them raved and glazed The Substance as one of the year’s craziest movies. It was a sentiment proven right by concept alone, using the cyclical nature of an actor’s shelf life in Hollywood to conjure up grade-A body horror insanity. An exceptional showcase of Fargeat’s brand of feminist horror mixed with a directorial flare inspired by the likes of Cronenberg and Carpenter, The Substance is a cracking slice of cinema on her talents alone.

As important as she is to the success of the film though, it’s the commitment of its cast that puts it over the top. Enter one Margaret Qualley. Playing the artificially created younger copy of Demi Moore’s Elisabeth Sparkle, Qualley is tasked with heightening the arrogant and selfish side of Sparkle’s personality while differentiating herself enough from the original base. A pretty TV persona built on bubbliness quickly morphs into a spoiled brat at home and Qualley excels at the balance, ironically enough.

Qualley’s energy builds and builds to a performance that is equal parts fearless and frenzied, completely giving herself to the film’s disgusting body horror in the third act. Anyone willing to go through the makeup process for these films should be applauded and Qualley’s transformation into the abomination known as Monstro Elisasue is no different. A magnetic performance that awards circuits slotted under the Supporting category, but Margaret Qualley is as much a lead as Demi Moore and is an essential aspect of one of the year’s most acclaimed horror films.

10: David Jonsson – Alien: Romulus

Much has been said about the decision to deepfake the late Ian Holm into the latest xenomorph nightmare in space and I certainly don’t believe it to be a necessary addition to the otherwise solid Romulus. But spending my time bemoaning the inclusion of an uncanny digital face reminiscent of a realistic SpongeBob closeup does nothing but besmirch and taint the great work provided by the living actors in Alien: Romulus. In particular, nobody should be sleeping on David Jonsson.

Joining the ranks of Holm, Lance Henriksen, and Michael Fassbender as one of the androids living in the Alien universe, Jonsson’s work as Andy, adopted brother of protagonist Rain, borrows from the best of the android performances while adding in his own unique touches to the universe. A closed-off being with intense loyalty to his sister, Jonsson squeezes sympathy from the audience right from the get-go, despite the memories of Fassbender’s David still fresh in everyone’s minds.

Jonsson’s fantastic work doesn’t stop with his likability either. Effectively switching gears as his programming alters, Jonsson’s performance becomes a complicated combination of emotionless soldier and loyal ally that he sells with ease. And as much as nostalgia bait makes me cringe, his recreation of Ripley’s most iconic line was a gargantuan task that he pulls off with fiery gusto. Whatever the future holds for the Alien franchise, I hope there’s room for David Jonsson in it.

9: Laurie Pavy – MadS

The one-shot in films and shows has occasionally felt like too much of a gimmick in the modern era. Coordinating seamless and sweeping camera movement and blocking are sound technical achievements, but if they don’t serve the story or vice versa, then what’s the point? Director David Moreau avoids this pitfall with his single-take zombie film MadS, depicting a trio of paranoid and toxic friends experiencing a bad trip with a growing zombie outbreak. Seeing just how fast shit hits the fan is the kind of visceral terror you only see in films like Train to Busan and 28 Days Later.

While the main trio of the film are wonderful across-the-board, MadS kicks into high gear with the shift to Anais’s point of view. Anais, the girlfriend of leading man Romain, is played by Laurie Pavy and is one of the three perspectives we’re shown throughout the film. While Romain’s journey is a paranoid drug trip gone horribly wrong, Anais is a far more tragic tale of a woman stuck in a hopeless situation and Pavy’s hypnotic performance as the loopy and eventually feral woman is a sight to behold.

The one-take allure of MadS is practically one-and-one with Pavy undergoing a zombie transformation in real time. We often only get glimpses of a person’s decay into a flesh-muncher, but Anais withering away in front of our eyes is made all the more gut-wrenching by her seemingly denying the reality of her situation. Even when mostly gone, shades of her former self peek out thanks to Pavy’s expertly crafted acting, constantly switching between scared woman and twitchy zombie-in-progress. If there’s any one reason to watch MadS, it’s the frightening work Laurie Pavy puts into her craft.

8: Curry Barker – Milk & Serial

When exactly is the breaking point of content brain? How long can you keep the bit going before it starts to bleed over into reality? Filmmaker and YouTuber Curry Barker attempts to answer such a post-YouTube question with his 3-figure budget found footage horror-comedy Milk & Serial. Starring Barker himself, the unlikely YouTube hit puts content brain and shameless prank videos under a grainy microscope when a couple of prank YouTubers end up going too far during a series of prank-offs between the two.

It’s a short, but impactful trip through one man’s mind and the deterioration accelerated by a combination of YouTube brain rot and an abundance of skeletons in his closet. Said man is played by the filmmaker himself as Curry Barker is front and center of the film and the marketing. The writing, directing, producing and perhaps most strikingly, the unnerving cover star that is but a taste of Barker’s unhinged performance that showcases so much in a mere hour.

Barker’s unsettling work bleeds through in every facet of his acting. The disturbing smile he flashes the camera while talking to the audience, the slimy way he manipulates his friends, the way he can barely hide who he truly is to them and us watching. Barker feels like the personification of the uncanny valley every second he’s onscreen and when he’s playing a heightened version of your average content farm YouTuber, it’s concerningly appropriate and fitting. Easily one of the ickiest performances of the year, horror and beyond.

7: Nell Tiger Free – The First Omen

I feel as though horror audiences (including myself) were genuinely sideswiped by the surprisingly high critical reception to The First Omen. A horror prequel that seemingly nobody asked for was surely a recipe for disaster. What more can you squeeze out of a franchise and through the shameless formula of needless origin story nonsense. Yet here we are at the end of the year glazing The First Omen as an effective possession horror and a spectacular vehicle for Nell Tiger Free.

Serving as a novice nun in the same orphanage where infamous demon child Damien’s mother resides, Free’s Margaret starts off as a promising and kindhearted nun struggling to adapt to a new setting, Needing a push just to let loose and party for a night, Free portrays Margaret as a sheltered soul walking headfirst into a turmoil she can’t even begin to understand as things get progressively worse. And boy do we feel every crushing instance of Margaret’s physical and mental crisis thanks to Nell Tiger Free’s completely hopeless and fearless performance.

Even before the bonkers final act, seeing Free devolve further into fear for both herself and the girl she vows to protect is more frightening than the usual possession tropes present in the film. She sells the hopelessness of fighting an uphill battle against an entire organization and that is before the third act sees her and her physical body become entwined into the demonic conspiracy. Of course, most people will point to the car crash scene as Tiger Free’s acting reel moment (which it definitely is), but her work in the film as a whole is a magnificent exercise in misery and paranoia.

6: Hugh Grant – Heretic

It’s baffling to me that anyone who is only familiar with Hugh Grant’s work post-2012 may not truly realize how insane it is for him to be front and center of an outright horror-thriller. He has worked in the genre before, but anybody who grew up on films in the 2000s likely remembers Grant as the go-to charming comedy actor relying on his wit and good looks to engage audiences. It wasn’t until the 2010s and onward when Grant gradually shifted towards more character actor roles and his starring role in Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’s religious horror film Heretic is only the latest example of his versatility

Playing a seemingly polite Englishman set out to test the faith of two Mormon missionaries through conversation, debate, and a pair of mysterious doors, we see Hugh Grant using his latent charm and warm attitude to disarm the girls in a further instance of the man shedding his previous reputation. The Bridget Jones alum uses the same familiar cadence in his voice and line delivery as he casually tells the girls that they’re locked in his labyrinth-like home to terrifying effect. What’s worse than a callous sociopath that feels at peace with himself even in the face of scared girls begging to be let go? Hugh Grant utilizes everyone’s perception of him in-universe and reality to get his way and he steals the entire show as a result.

Much of his strongest work in the film is him slowly unveiling his intentions to the girls while rigidly, but calmly forcing them to confront their beliefs and the religion they’re attached to. A debate he often starts with innocuous questions related to fast food and board games too. Grant is a blast to watch as he constantly flips the switch on the girls and even as the film becomes more overtly horror over the runtime, he never once feels out of place in a film that simply wouldn’t be the same without his charmingly sardonic performance.

5: Alisha Weir – Abigail

Radio Silence’s follow-up to their hit horror-comedy Ready or Not and Scream 5 and 6 is something that plays to the strengths of a film collective that knows a thing or two about delivering laughs with the blood and guts. Abigail follows closely in the footsteps of Ready or Not by sticking our main cast of characters in a lavish mansion serving as their potential tomb. While Ready or Not’s central performance was Samara Weaving’s badass heroine in a bride’s dress, Abigail flips it around with the central performance of Alisha Weir’s villainous ballerina vampire.

It’s truly unfortunate just how hard the marketing went on Weir’s transformation from would-be kidnapping victim to bloodthirsty vampire cutting rugs and biting necks. Part of the fun is watching Weir play the part of scared little girl in an effort to throw off her captors/lunch menu and even then, it’s obvious there’s something fishy afoot. Abigail’s mocking apology to Melissa Barrera’s Joey for what’s going to happen to them is just sinister enough to cast suspicion on her without revealing outright what that actually means.

Then the vampire shenanigans begin and Alisha Weir is fully unleashed, both in her dropping the facade and amping up her wild and feral side. Learning ballet for the role, the young musical theater actress incorporates the grace of a ballerina to clash with the various instances of her biting, jumping, and stabbing her poor victims to sadistic glee. To go from the lead role in a Matilda adaptation to the lead in a horror film where she dances a nice waltz with a headless body is crazy whiplash on its own, but something that Alisha Weir somehow makes look easy.

“What color are MY eyes, Frank?”

4: Maika Monroe – Longlegs

When the promotion for Osgood Perkins’s newest horror film Longlegs officially began, audiences were immediately captivated by the cryptic marketing and downright evil atmosphere that permeated from every teaser. Depicting Nicolas Cage as a frizzy-haired killer who always sounds like he’s on the verge of either crying or yelling is an immensely smart use of his sensibilities as an actor and it’s fair to say that the marketing is wholly made by him, combined with a great performance in the final product as well.

But I think we’re all kidding ourselves if we can’t see that Maika Monroe is the real star of Longlegs. In-between the Fincher-esque atmosphere and the crazed Cage performance, our lead is reserved and possibly clairvoyant FBI agent Lee Harker. A stark contrast to Cage’s far more bombastic performance, Monroe also plays to her own strengths and delivers a similarly subtle and meticulous masterclass in acting not unlike her performance in the 2022 horror-thriller Watcher. The power in Monroe’s performance is in the subtleties of her facial expressions and body language.

Always looking off as if staring at something we can never see, Monroe displays the kind of reserved cynicism one typically needs to handle a high-stress job like Harker’s. But she always reminds us of her hidden humanity in her interactions with kids and her co-workers and it’s the kind of weathered quirkiness that makes her such an engaging presence to watch in a film where Cage chews the scenery any chance he gets. It’s equally fun watching her attempt to talk to a child as it is watching her decipher a criminal’s location just by sensing it Dragonball Z-style.

Maika Monroe may not get the showy performance recognition that Cage is receiving, but her silence in Longlegs makes her role her most expressive performance to date and the best from the film itself.

3: Hunter Schafer – Cuckoo

Horror can be as physically demanding of a genre as action and thrillers, thanks in large to the wide variety of films and shows under the horror umbrella. Actors need to sell like they’ve just made a narrow escape from a seemingly inescapable hellworld and that’s exactly how Hunter Schafer looked at the end of Cuckoo. A pulpy thrill ride from the director of Luz, Cuckoo borrows from the well of Eurocentric horror, complete with a story set in a small resort town located in the Bavarian Alps.

In that town is melancholic rocker Gretchen, played by Schafer, becoming entangled in an unusual family conspiracy that may or may not involve a strange humanoid woman. And that’s all we need for set-up before we bear witness to almost 2 hours of Schafer getting chased, run off the road, beaten up, you name it. Just about everything and everyone is against her in some way, all the while the mental toll of her mother’s death is weighing heavy on her mind and increasingly bandaged head.

It’s an honest joy seeing the Euphoria actress embrace her inner John McClane in such a maddening horror film, regularly having to get out of situations through clever thinking, luck, and inhuman endurance. Some may not find that believable with a teenage girl like Gretchen, but Schafer communicates the rush of adrenaline one can feel in a life-or-death situation to a tee while understanding the weird vibes of the film. Even when the film begins to flirt with creature feature tropes, Hunter Schafer grounds the story through her determination to live, her ability to absorb insane levels of pain and punishment, and a realistic teenager sass towards the unusual adults in the town. Schafer’s performance is frantic, scrappy, lived in and an undeniable highlight in this year of indescribable horrors.

“That’s a fucking weird way to put it!”

2: Juliette Gariépy – Red Rooms

Each time I’ve done this year-end list for horror performances, I always have an internal debate on what exactly qualifies as something under the horror umbrella. The genre’s sheer expansive library and hybrids with other genres can stir up discourse on what is considered horror or thriller. It’s a surprisingly touchy subject, but I believe the answer is in examining how a film or show tackles transgressive topics and what the filmmaker intends the audience to feel. It’s why I ultimately feel confident in Juliette Gariépy’s unhinged beauty of a performance in Red Rooms fitting this list like a glove.

Telling the story of a woman dangerously obsessed with an alleged serial killer on trial for the murders of young girls, Red Rooms feels procedural on the surface with many scenes set in cold and static courtrooms and a lavish apartment. But Juliette’s level of obsession morphs this morbid psychological thriller into an outright evil and disturbed film right out of your worst nightmares. Gariépy’s Kelly-Anne camps outside of the courthouse just to see him while her gambling habit leads her into a section of the dark web that further fulfills her desire to see the forbidden snuff films he’s made of his victims in the “Red Room.”

Kelly-Anne goes beyond mere fangirling and fully relies on the sensation of the trials just to feel something in her life. It’s this surgical method of looking at a case of a possible child murderer where Gariépy’s alien and inhumane performance truly stands out. She is as calm as an undisturbed pond when reading the gruesome details behind the case, with one scene in particular of her watching a teenage girl brutally slaughtered as though she’s watching an NFL replay displaying the lack of humanity or empathy she feels towards anything at all.

It feels like a genuine nightmare watching the otherwise beautiful face of Gariépy’s Kelly-Anne (a successful model in-universe) coated in the red glare of her computer screen while watching a child’s life end. All the more frightening by her lack of reaction. Yet that doesn’t even compare to the lows she’s willing to go towards in a scene in the courtroom involving fake braces and if you watch this scene and not think that Juliette Gariépy’s performance is arguably the scariest of the entire year, I don’t know what to tell you. It is a brilliant, deeply uncomfortable, and downright freaky performance that can and will be talked about in best-of conversations over the years.

1: Demi Moore – The Substance

Margaret Qualley is one-half of the equation that makes The Substance work as well as it does. But it’s the original that pulls everything together. For all the heightened satire present in Fargeat’s horror-comedy, the peak of the film lies within the deliberately less campy core of its leading star. Elisabeth Sparkle’s career as an Oscar-winning actress-turned fitness TV star pairs a little too well with Demi Moore, an extremely successful actress of the 90s making her monster comeback (literally!) in a film about an industry she knows far too well.

Beyond the meta aspect of casting Moore in this role, it’s rare to see an actress of her caliber give herself so completely into an unhinged horror vision that is only a mere misstep away from turning into a laughable farce. A woman creating a younger copy of herself that leads to a dynamic of one of them literally feeding off the other? It’s a balls-to-the-wall concept and yet Moore’s Sparkle tumbling down the path of obscurity and desirability is an appropriate and realistic fear for a woman in an industry so laser-focused on age and beauty.

Yet when she takes the substance and lives it up as Qualley’s Sue during her week of activity, Moore channels the very real sensation of feeling worthless in your body in the midst of a midlife crisis. Like nothing you do truly matters, so might as well let yourself go. Much of the first half of the film is watching Moore trapped in her bubble of self-hatred and every second of it feels like an eternity in the best way. She’s melancholic, isolated, and too tired to even put up a fake smile in public most of the time, demonstrating Moore’s ability to portray a woman silently suffering.

However, her steep decline as Sue feeds off of her body is where Moore’s performance enters the point of no return. Morphing from sadness to jealousy and anger, her work is suddenly completely in-tune with the world Fargeat has created and it is marvelous. A delightfully unhinged Demi Moore is the stuff dreams are made of and combined with the insane makeup work she goes under, it makes for a wonderful disaster of epic proportions. Demi Moore’s performance is bonkers, hilarious, tragic, and completely deserving of its recognition as one of the best horror performances of the decade, period.

“I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”

What were your favorite horror performances of 2024? Sound off below!

The post Bloody Disgusting’s Top 15 Best Horror Film Performances of 2024 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In MadS, “Eighteen year old Romain has just graduated and makes a stop at his dealer’s place to try a new pill. As he heads off to a party, he sees an injured woman on the side of the road and decides to help her, but when she gets in his car, she suddenly smashes her own head against the dashboard, bleeding out until she dies. Is this a bad trip? Or is it something else? One thing is for sure, it’s only the beginning of the night.”

Milton Riche, Laurie Pavy, and Lucille Guillaume star.

In the clip below, Julia (Guillaume) has just evaded an unhinged attacker that’s left her doused in blood, only to become trapped in an elevator. That may or may not be a good thing, judging by the sounds of a massacre taking place outside of the elevator.

“The fundamental choice to shoot this film in a single shot stems from the desire to make this hallucinatory journey as authentic as possible. By closely following Romain, Anaïs, and Julia without interruption, the camera becomes a direct witness to this descent into hell, capturing every moment without filter or escape,” Moreau said in a statement.

I wrote in my review out of Fantastic Fest, “Moreau and cinematographer Philip Lozano ensure the fluid camerawork and inspired closing moments make an impact. We’ve seen viral outbreak horror movies before, following the exact same path. But MadS’ innovation is in the way it tells it. Limiting the perspective solely to a single person at a time, obscuring how the rest of the world is coping, adds to the suspense. Laurie Pavy’s performance is also worth the price of admission to this horror filmmaking experiment.”

Add MadS to your Halloween watchlists this weekend now that it’s available to stream on Shudder.

The post ‘MadS’ Exclusive Clip Teases Real-Time Outbreak Horror with Claustrophobic Elevator Attack appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

MadS debuts exclusively on Shudder on October 18.

In MadS, “Eighteen year old Romain has just graduated and makes a stop at his dealer’s place to try a new pill. As he heads off to a party, he sees an injured woman on the side of the road and decides to help her, but when she gets in his car, she suddenly smashes her own head against the dashboard, bleeding out until she dies. Is this a bad trip? Or is it something else? One thing is for sure, it’s only the beginning of the night.”

Watch the new trailer below for glimpses into the outbreak horror and the single-take hook.

Milton Riche, Laurie Pavy, and Lucille Guillaume star.

“The fundamental choice to shoot this film in a single shot stems from the desire to make this hallucinatory journey as authentic as possible. By closely following Romain, Anaïs, and Julia without interruption, the camera becomes a direct witness to this descent into hell, capturing every moment without filter or escape,” Moreau said in a statement.

I wrote in my review out of Fantastic Fest, “Moreau and cinematographer Philip Lozano ensure the fluid camerawork and inspired closing moments make an impact. We’ve seen viral outbreak horror movies before, following the exact same path. But MadS’ innovation is in the way it tells it. Limiting the perspective solely to a single person at a time, obscuring how the rest of the world is coping, adds to the suspense. Laurie Pavy’s performance is also worth the price of admission to this horror filmmaking experiment.”

MadS arrives just in time for Halloween.

The post ‘MadS’ Trailer Tracks Single-Take Outbreak Horror from ‘Them’ Filmmaker appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The French horror film begins with Romain (Milton Riche), an affluent late teen/early 20-something snorting lines of a red-hued designer drug with his dealer in preparation for the night’s festivities with friends. Romain gets sloppy with his cigarette on his drug-hazed drive home, prompting him to inspect his dad’s Mustang for damage. A terrified, bandaged woman unexpectedly hops into the car while stopped, unable to speak but refusing to leave- the only form of communication is a tape recorder, indicating that she’s the subject of grotesque experimentation.

Romain attempts to take her to a hospital but instead heads home to hide the evidence when she stabs herself in the throat and gets blood everywhere- including his mouth. It’s the start of a transformative night of terror, even when Romain tries to carry on as if everything is normal. 

Moreau locks the camera onto a single character at a time, using Romain as our entry point into the madness. The camera tracks Romain first through his shock at the strange woman’s behavior and sudden self-harm, then through his almost amusing attempts to hide her existence as girlfriend Anais (Laurie Pavy) drags him to a nearby house party. It’s here where MadS springs to life, letting the pulsing beat of the dance floor enhance the mysterious new affliction taking root. 

MadS hits its peak when the baton is passed from Romain to Anais, with a spirited performance by Pavy stealing the entire film. She toggles between frantic survivor and unhinged lunatic, both riveting turns. It’s here where Moreau injects the most scares, too, with Pavy’s chilling performance working in tandem with clever camera and blocking trickery for maximum effect. 

But it takes a while to get to Pavy’s knockout portion of the story, and once the baton is passed yet again to another key player, MadS‘ deceptive one-shot tracking has fewer places to hide narratively. The energy all but deflates after a particularly nerve-fraying chase sequence, with the third act succumbing to your conventional outbreak plot beats reminiscent of George A. Romero or 28 Days Later.

It’s here where the commitment to the single-take bit exposes narrative limitations. Everything must be carefully blocked in advance, and Moreau achieves this through simplicity. Light is meant to enhance the strength of the affected, and save for some style flourishes, it brings nothing to the mix. Outside of Pavy’s riveting section, MadS is prone to sparse stretches that only further highlight the familiarity of how this scenario will play out. 

And it does ultimately play out how you’d expect, though Moreau and cinematographer Philip Lozano ensure the fluid camerawork and inspired closing moments make an impact. We’ve seen viral outbreak horror movies before, following the exact same path. But MadS‘ innovation is in the way it tells it. Limiting the perspective solely to a single person at a time, obscuring how the rest of the world is coping, adds to the suspense. It’s just too bad that too little time is spent with the film’s liveliest and most compelling character in Pavy’s Anais.

MadS screened at Fantastic Fest and debuts on Shudder on October 18, 2024.

The post ‘MadS’ Review – A Single-Take Outbreak Horror Movie from the Director of 2006’s ‘Them’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The three-month celebration of the best in horror will also bring back an all-new Ghoul Log, Shudder’s popular Halloween Hotline for those in need of horror movie recommendations from Shudder’s Head of Programming Samuel Zimmerman, and spotlight popular horror franchise films from Friday the 13^th to Children of the Corn, a press release tells us. Shudder will also feature a special limited-time offer for horror connoisseurs craving scares all year long, with an annual plan available at a 31% discount for the 31 Days of October.

Shudder’s Season of Screams features highly anticipated films such as the acclaimed In A Violent Nature, a new installment in the popular V/H/S franchise – V/H/S/Beyond – and the Russell Crowe-led The Exorcism, as well as a new season of The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula and the debut of the highly anticipated series, The Creep Tapes. These new films and series join Shudder’s extensive library, including the Friday the 13^th franchise (all 8 films), the Rob Zombie catalogue (all 7 films), cult classic It Follows, the streaming return of Mike Flanagan’s Hush, popular Halloween-set found footage horror The Houses October Built (2011), and the addition of Chucky Season 3 to complete the full series availability.

Fans can join Shudder for frights every Friday with LIVE Watch Parties at 9pm ET on Shudder TV spotlighting new premieres and curated double features, including:

• September 13: Neo-Slasher – In A Violent Nature and Lake Bodom
• September 20: Zombie Weekend – The Sadness and Undead
• September 27: Modern Master – Damian McCarthy’s Oddity and Caveat
• October 4: Found Footage – V/H/S/Beyond and Hell House LLC
• October 11: Horrifying Households – Daddy’s Head and Metamorphosis
• October 18: Shocking Scourges – MadS and Virus:32
• October 25: TBA
• October 30: Late Night with the Devil on Devil’s Night
• October 31: Halloween on Halloween
• November 1: Day of the Dead on Day of the Dead – Day of the Dead Collection

Also returning is Shudder’s popular Halloween Hotline (Dates TBA). Whether viewers are looking for a slasher film, ghost story, or monster flick, Samuel Zimmerman, head of programming for Shudder, will be on hand to offer personalized picks for a perfectly scary weekend based on each caller’s mood and preference. And the team behind the new Shudder original series, Horror’s Greatest resurrects everyone’s favorite jack-o-lantern just in time for spooky season with The Rise of the Ghoul Log. The new hour-long video of the chilling, candlelit pumpkin sets the scene for horror fans beginning in October.

Shudder’s Season of Screams programming highlights below in chronological order (also available on AMC+):

In A Violent Nature (Shudder Original Film)  –  September 13

When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year-old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it. The undead golem homes in on the group of vacationing teens responsible for the theft and proceeds to methodically slaughter them one by one in his mission to get it back – along with anyone in his way. Groundbreaking gruesome slasher from writer and director Chris Nash (ABCs of Death 2).

Horror’s Greatest (Shudder Original Series) – New Episodes Every Tuesday Until Season Finale on September 24

Celebrating the very best the genre has to offer, Horror’s Greatest is a deep dive into everything we love about horror. From fresh looks at classics to unearthing scores of hidden gems, this series has something for every fright film enthusiast. A gallery of ghoulish pros, including actors, directors, writers, composers, and special effects artists, draw on their unique knowledge to answer the big questions: What are the must-see films in horror’s many sub-genres? What’s the appeal of horror tropes, and how do today’s filmmakers subvert our expectations? What shape does horror take in countries outside of the United States? The answers encompass the breadth of the nightmares we watch for our entertainment. The series features interviews with David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil), Joe Hill (Locke & Key, NOS4A2), Tom Holland (Fright Night, Child’s Play), Jenn Wexler (The Sacrifice Game, The Ranger), Jonah Ray Rodrigues (Destroy All Neighbors), Gigi Saul Guerrero (Satanic Hispanics, El Gigante), Alex Winter (Destroy All Neighbors), Tananarive Due (Horror Noire), Swanthula and Dracmorda Boulet (The Boulet Brothers Dragula) and more. Tuesday Terror – new installment of Horror’s Greatest paired with films featured in the episode will air every Tuesday in September at 9pm ET on Shudder TV

Oddity (Shudder Original Film) – September 27

Dani is restoring an old castle in rural Cork County, Ireland, with her husband Ted, a doctor at a facility for the criminally insane. When Dani is brutally murdered, her blind occultist twin sister Darcy goes after those responsible using inherited haunted items as her tools of revenge. From writer/director Damian McCarthy (Caveat) and starring Carolyn Bracken and Gwilym Lee.

Hush (Shudder Library Film) – October 1

A deaf and muted writer who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears at her window.

The Houses October Built 2011 (Shudder Library Film) – October 1

Looking for a good fright for Halloween, five friends set off on a road trip to discover the scariest underground haunts. As their trip appears to reach a dead-end, whispers of a haunt like no other draws them to the darkest corners of haunted attractions. The original, unreleased 2011 haunted house documentary that went on to inspire the cult theatrical release of the same name. THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT – ORIGINAL VERSION goes deeper behind the scenes of extreme Halloween haunted attractions, introducing an entirely new narrative and unexpected conclusion.

The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula (Shudder Original Series) – New Season Premieres Tuesday, October 1

Dubbed “Season 666,” the next chapter of Emmy-nominated The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula is the most ambitious and terrifying yet, with world-renowned actors and directors joining the judges’ panel, raising the stakes to hellish new heights. Every episode promises spine-chilling, extreme physical feats that will push the cast of drag superstars to confront their darkest fears. This 10-episode season is bigger, bloodier, and more brutal than anything that’s come before, featuring expanded “on location” challenges, twisted new themes for the floorshows, cinematic sequences dripping with dread, and innovative drag that will leave viewers gasping. Season six of the Shudder original series boasts a star-studded lineup of guest judges, including Jennifer Tilly (Actor, Bride of Chucky, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), Mike Flannagan (Director, Midnight Mass, Haunting of Hill House), Jamie Clayton (Actor, Hellraiser), Tatiana Maslany (Actor, Orphan Black, She-Hulk), Don Mancini (Creator and Writer of Chucky), Justin Simien (Director, The Haunted Mansion, Dear White People), David Dastmalchian (Actor, Late Night with the Devil, Dune, Suicide Squad), Akela Cooper (Writer, Malignant, M3gan, The Nun 2), Joe Bob Briggs & Darcy(Hosts of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs), Violet Chachki (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Alaska Thunderfck (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Tananarive Due (Author, Horror Historian), Darren Stein(Director, Jawbreaker), Mathieu Cote (Creator of Dead By Daylight), Landon Cider (Winner of The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula Season Three) and Niohuru X (Winner of The Boulet Brothers’ DragulaSeason Five).

V/H/S/Beyond (Shudder Original Film) – October 4

The popular film anthology will feature six new bloodcurdling tapes, placing horror at the forefront of a sci-fi-inspired hellscape.

Segments include:

“Stork”: Directed by Jordan Downey, screenplay by Downey and Kevin Stewart
“Fur Babies”: Written and directed by Christian Long and Justin Long
“Live and Let Dive”: Directed by Justin Martinez, story by Martinez and Ben Turner, screenplay by Turner
“Dream Girl”: Directed by Virat Pal, written by Pal and Evan Dickson
“Stowaway”: Directed by Kate Siegel, written by Mike Flanagan
And a special presentation by Jay Cheel.

Chucky (Shudder Library Series) – Season 3 Available Starting Friday, October 4: Seasons 1 and 2 Currently Available on Shudder

The comedy horror-drama television series from Child’s Play film franchise creator Don Mancini sees Chucky take Washington DC in season 3 as the diabolical doll poses a threat to the President of the United States’ staff.

Daddy’s Head (Shudder Original Film) – October 11

In the wake of his father’s untimely death, a young boy is left in the eerie solitude of a sprawling country estate with his newly widowed stepmother. His stepmother, struggling to navigate the overwhelming task of parenthood, grows distant, leaving their fragile bond at risk of collapse. Amidst the growing tension, the boy begins to hear unsettling sounds echoing through the corridors. Soon, he is haunted by the presence of a grotesque creature bearing a disturbingly familiar resemblance to his late father. But as the boy’s warnings are dismissed as the imagination of a grieving child, the sinister entity tightens its grip on their crumbling lives.

MadS (Shudder Original Film) – October 18

Eighteen-year-old Romain has just graduated and makes a stop at his dealer’s place to try a new pill. As he heads off to a party, he sees an injured woman on the side of the road and decides to help her, but when she gets in his car, she suddenly smashes her own head against the dashboard, bleeding out until she dies. Is this a bad trip? Or is it something else? One thing is for sure, it’s only the beginning of the night.

Azrael (Shudder Original Film) – October 25

In a world in which no one speaks, a mysterious, devout community hunts down a young woman named Azrael who has escaped their imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, she is to be sacrificed to pacify an evil which resides deep within the surrounding wilderness – but Azrael will stop at nothing to ensure her own freedom and survival. From the seeds of this gritty, relentless parable of sacrifice and salvation, comes an immersive, real-time, action horror tale from the visionary minds of Simon Barrett and E.L. Katz and starring Samara Weaving.

The Exorcism (Shudder Exclusive Film)  – October 30

Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe stars as Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg, and David Hyde Pierce.

The Creep Tapes (Shudder Original Series) – New Series Premieres Friday, November 15

The Creep Tapes continues to unravel the mind of a secluded serial killer who lures videographers into his world with the promise of a paid job documenting his life. Unfortunately, as the tape rolls, the killer’s questionable intentions surface with his increasingly odd behavior and the victims will learn they may have made a deadly mistake.

The post Shudder’s “Season of Screams” Includes “The Creep Tapes,” ‘In a Violent Nature’ and More appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.