Patel confirmed the news in a chat with The Direct, while reiterating that he and Deadwyler play new characters.

“I don’t want to say anything that’s going to get me disappeared. Needless to say, myself and Danielle Deadwyler are playing completely new characters, and we just wrapped on the pilot. If we get to do more… we’ll see where we go from there,” Patel said.

That last sentence is noteworthy, as Patel is reminding that Hulu has only ordered the pilot so far. A full series order has yet to be greenlit. 

It’s a good reminder, considering that Hulu also ordered a pilot for the “Buffy: New Sunnydale” reboot that was filmed and delivered earlier this year, only for the streamer to send shockwaves when it opted not to move forward with the series.

As for “The X-Files” pilot, Sinners filmmaker Ryan Coogler writes and directs the pilot. Jennifer Yale (“The Copenhagen Test”) serves as showrunner.

Himesh Patel and Danielle Deadwyler play two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents who form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.

Patel and Deadwyler previously co-starred together on “Station Eleven.”

Other actors who have signed on for guest roles include Amy Madigan, Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster, Devery Jacobs, Lochlyn Munro, Tantoo Cardinal, Joel D. Montgrand, and Sofia Grace Clifton.

“The X-Files” originally ran for nine seasons between 1993 and 2002, with two additional seasons arriving in 2016 and 2018. 218 episodes were produced in total, along with two feature films: 1998’s The X-Files: Fight the Future and 2008’s The X-Files: I Want to Believe.

Himesh Patel in “Station Eleven”

The post Ryan Coogler’s ‘The X-Files’ Reboot Has Wrapped Production on Pilot appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The new series premieres on July 17, 2026.

“The East Palace” hails from director Choi Jung-kyu (The Devil Judge) and writers Kwon So-ra and Seo Jea-won (Son: The Guest). Production companies for the film include Showrunners and Imaginus.

Nam Joo-hyuk, Roh Yoon-seo, and Cho Seung-woo star.

The official synopsis reads: “When the crown prince is found dead in a pond, a chilling rumor paralyzes the palace: the pond spirit has returned to wipe out the King’s bloodline. The King (Cho Seung-woo) fiercely dismisses the killings as mere conspiracy, until his last remaining son, Prince Yeongan, collapses.

“Driven to desperation, the King secretly summons Gu-cheon (Nam Joo-hyuk), who can traverse the Realm of Gwi and defeat them. To ensure his loyalty, the King pairs him with Saeng-gang (Roh Yoon-seo), a court lady born with the ability to hear spirits.

“Gu-cheon embarks on the life-or-death mission to destroy the spirit and lift the curse of the East Palace, or die within its walls. But as Gu-cheon hunts the spirit and Saeng-gang secretly spies on his every move, the two draw closer to the dark truth of the East Palace that lies beneath the pond.“

Watch the official trailer for the dark fantasy horror series below.

The post The Spirit World Collides With Ours in Official Trailer for Netflix Series ‘The East Palace’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Set against Rico Nasty’s “You Can’t Run From Me”, the trailer shows off plenty of gunplay, blood and the neon of Night City. Rather than a continuation of the previous season, Season 2 features a brand-new, standalone 10-episode story that’s described as “a raw chronicle of redemption and revenge.”

The teaser also gives us our first look at the new crew of edgerunners:

• Roman Carax: A young boy who is constantly filming the chaos with an old-school camcorder.
• Talia Yang: A woman sporting pink hair, a tactical face mask and dual pistols.
• D: A spiky-haired netrunner that sports a red facial scar.
• Weak “King” Kingsley: A veteran edgerunner wearing tinted shades and wielding a massive cannon.

The same animation studio from the first season, Trigger, is back, although this time led by Kai Ikarashi after handling storyboarding for the first season. Story writer and producer Bartosz Sztybor returns as the showrunner.

The post New Teaser for Season 2 of ‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ is a Bloody Affair [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Diane Ademu-John (Dune: Prophecy) and Declan de Barra (The Witcher: Blood Origin) will co-showrun the project and executive produce.

The show’s logline reads: “In the dark underworld of New Orleans, the Winters family builds an empire around a powerful new drug—crafted from the ashes of the dead—that grants users vivid, haunting visions of the past. But as demand surges, rival factions, deadly secrets, and supernatural forces close in, pulling them deeper into a violent and inescapable nightmare of crime, horror, and family legacy.”

The graphic novel by writer Cullen Bunn (The Empty Man) and artist Jonas Scharf was published by BOOM! Studios; the publisher’s Stephen Christy and Mette Norkjaer will executive produce.

“I’ve always been drawn to stories that break the mold, and Bone Parish does exactly that. It takes crime, family, and power, and mixes it with something dark and supernatural, in a way that feels fresh. Exploring what happens when the world of the living gets mixed up with the world of the dead, this story has incredible depth, and we’re building a series that’s going to keep audiences locked in from the first episode,” Jackson said in a statement.

“We love going on new journeys with Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson, and this one is unlike anything we’ve done before: a world steeped in horror and the supernatural, but still grounded in the family and crime storytelling our audience can’t get enough of. It’s a wild, bold swing, and exactly the kind of risk we want to be taking,” said Kathryn Busby, President, Original Programming at Starz.

The post Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson Teams With Starz on Supernatural ‘Bone Parish’ TV Adaptation appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

No word at this time on who Ritter will play in the upcoming season, including whether or not this means the series may resurrect her serial killer character also known as Lady Vengeance.

It is a series that has brought characters back from the dead before, after all. And that’s if Mia died at all; even Ritter has teased not to count her character out yet.

Ritter joins the previously announced Uma Thurman, who reprises her character Charley in season two.

The new season finds Dexter Morgan caught between two killers  — one notorious and the other terrorizing New York in ways no one ever anticipated — all while battling his greatest enemy yet: a mid-life crisis. Harrison continues his own pursuit of justice as father and son face their darkest chapter.

Michael C. Hall will be back as Dexter Morgan in the upcoming “Dexter: Resurrection” Season 2, starring alongside Uma Thurman, Jack Alcott, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Kadia Sarif, Dominic Fumusa, Desmond Harrington, and James Remar.

They’ll be joined by series newcomers Dan Stevens as The Five Borough Killer, Bokeem Woodbine as NYPD Homicide Captain Mixon, Nona Parker Johnson as Harrison Morgan’s new love interest Fiona Mixon, and Brian Cox as The New York Ripper.

You can stream the first season on Paramount+ now. Daniel Kurland wrote here on Bloody Disgusting last year, “Somehow, against all odds, Dexter: Resurrection is good. Really good.” He continued, “With any luck, Dexter: Resurrection’s second season will maintain this momentum and consistency, rather than going off the rails like in the past.”

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That’s why I’ve developed a habit of mostly ignoring the moral quandaries behind many of film and television’s biggest “hoaxes” in favor of appreciating the narrative elements that drive productions like Mermaids: The Body Found and even Animal Planet’s highly underrated The Cannibal in the Jungle. However, if there’s a definitive case of a highly publicized broadcast fooling the world into taking it seriously, it has to be Fox’s infamous 1995 TV special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.

It’s been over three decades since that eerie footage first haunted television screens right at the peak of the ’90s ufology craze, and in that time, the video has taken on a life of its own. From countless parodies and references in everything from The X-Files to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (as well as John Dower’s recently released tell-all documentary The Alien Autopsy Scandal, which I’d highly recommend to genre fans everywhere), there’s no denying the legacy of the Alien Autopsy video. However, I rarely see the tape discussed as what it truly is: a highly convincing found footage film directed by a passionate stage magician and brought to life by masterful practical effects work.

That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me on a deep dive into one of the most infamous broadcasts of all time in an attempt to reevaluate the footage as a fascinating narrative experience rather than a complete hoax.

The TV Special That Convinced Millions It Was Real

Ray Santilli next to Extraterrestrial replica in ‘The Alien Autopsy Scandal’

For starters, regardless of whether or not you believe that there was in fact an extraterrestrial crash in Roswell during the summer of 1947 and that some form of autopsy was performed on the victims, the producers behind the black & white recordings, Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield, insist that their video was a “restoration.” Though I’d argue that the proper word is “remake”of genuine footage that was too damaged to air on television. That’s why the duo went on to recruit filmmaker and eccentric magician Spyros Melaris and sculptor/monster designer John Humphreys to bring their version of the autopsy to life and sell it to the highest bidder.

This is where the story of the Alien Autopsy as a narrative experience really begins. Melaris claims that his approach to the faux recording consisted of striving for extreme period accuracy in both shooting equipment and setting while also planting subtle details that would initially seem like mistakes but could later be revealed to actually fit the time period. That being said, the filmmaker was under the impression that the short would be released for free as a PR stunt, with the team later producing and selling an informative documentary chronicling exactly how the footage was faked and commenting on how easy it is to manipulate public perception with a good old-fashioned magic trick.

This obviously isn’t how things went down, and that’s likely the reason why Melaris has since distanced himself from everyone else involved with the project. Yet, no amount of behind-the-scenes drama can undermine the genuine effort that went into making the short as impressive as it is. From the sourcing of real animal organs from a local butcher to make the organic part of the creature more lifelike to the highly detailed sculpt that made use of a hollowed-out underlayer that could be filled with fake blood and assorted viscera, there’s a reason why so many Hollywood specialists are still impressed with the artistry on display here.

Of course, the believability is only half the story, as I think that the best part of the autopsy is how Melaris builds on the existing tension by obscuring certain details and often embracing the chaos of what a real examination of extraterrestrial life could feel like. The camera often goes out of focus at just the right time to make certain effects hit even harder, and we can only speculate as to what the hazmat-suited doctors are gesticulating about during the operation. There’s a real air of mystery to the whole thing that almost makes it feel like a cosmically terrifying, cursed film containing forbidden knowledge that civilians were never meant to see.

So when Fox’s Fact or Fiction brings in the specialists to comment on the film and its otherworldly subject, it’s no surprise that we end up with one of the most memorable mockumentaries of all time – albeit one where the participants are unaware that the footage they’re commenting on is basically a large-scale practical joke. A joke that the network was obviously in on, as many participants claim that the TV special cut out significant portions where guests point out that they believe the footage to be an elaborate hoax.

The Lasting Impact of the Hoax Turned Cultural Event

Regardless, I remember going to bed terrified after watching reruns of the special and thinking about the respected pathologist who claimed that the body was almost certainly inhuman, with even effects maestro Stan Winston commenting on how difficult it would be to recreate some of these visuals through practical puppetry. That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Frakes’ dramatic hyping up of the disturbing imagery as if he was talking about the tape from The Ring, with his spooky demeanor here likely being responsible for his later role as the host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction a few years later.

Personally, I’d argue that the Alien Autopsy phenomenon had just as much of an impact on me as a horror fan as The Blair Witch Project, a film that was almost certainly influenced by the success of this immensely popular hoax (to the point where they even produced their own TV special commenting on Heather’s found footage). Even if Fox didn’t intend to produce a narrative feature about the aftermath of the Roswell crash, the end product still holds up remarkably well as a highly entertaining mockumentary exploring the idea that we may not be alone in the universe.

While neither Santilli nor the rest of the production team has ever commented on this, I also think it’s very likely that the idea of a faux Alien Autopsy could have been influenced by Dean Alioto’s The McPherson Tape/UFO Abduction. I’ve already written about how this granddaddy of found footage was co-opted by rogue ufologists who began selling bootlegs of the tape at conventions as if it were real evidence of a close encounter, so it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that Santilli and company could have heard about this phenomenon and been inspired to come up with their own highly profitable hoax.

At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that the Alien Autopsy film is recreating any real footage from Roswell, but I can still appreciate the short and the accompanying television event as a standalone horror story that still influences the way we see found footage to this very day.

After all, the possibility that something could be real is often much scarier than finding out for sure – and that’s why I think Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is still worth revisiting three decades down the line.

The post Before ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Alien Autopsy’ Showed How Real Found Footage Could Feel appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Created by Dan Curtis, “Dark Shadows” aired between 1966 and 1971, starring Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins. Tim Burton turned the show into a movie back in 2012.

This brand new project is described as an “adult animated series.”

The “Dark Shadows” animated series will continue the saga of the Collins family.

“Blending gothic, horror, and supernatural genres, this coming adaptation promises all the dark twists and romantic intrigue that defined the transformational series across its 1200-plus episode run.”

Lisa Holdsworth (“Dreamers”) is showrunning and executive producing.

The original series documented the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport, Maine, where a number of supernatural occurrences take place.

Stay tuned for more on the return of “Dark Shadows” as we learn it.

The post ‘Dark Shadows’ – WB Animation Announces Adult Animated Series Based on 1960s TV Show appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

But “Hannibal” is at least returning to Netflix this Summer…

All three seasons of “Hannibal” will be streaming on Netflix July 27, 2026.

The hope from fans has always been that a streaming service like Netflix will bring “Hannibal” back to life, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt if a whole lot of fans stream the existing three seasons whenever they pop up on the service. What’s the latest update on a potential return?

Bryan Fuller told Bloody Disgusting’s Horror Queers podcast late last year, “Everybody wants to return. Hugh [Dancy], and Mads [Mikkelsen], definitely. But also Lawrence Fishburne, Katie Isabelle, Caroline Dhavernas, Lara Jean Chorostecki, Aaron Abrams, and Scott [Thompson] all want to come back to the story.”

“Right now, it’s a little complicated since Martha de Laurentiis‘ passing. The rights are in the process of reversion to Thomas Harris. MGM/Amazon has some,” Fuller explained. “They’re all being navigated in a way that is going to be a little trickier to iron out now. They’re in process, and I keep on touching base and trying to encourage folks to get back together.”

Fuller continued in his chat with the Horror Queers last year, “I’ve talked a little bit about wanting to do a The Silence of the Lambs adaptation, which may be free of certain obligations to include Gaumont [International Television], who is the studio on Hannibal. You can’t copyright a performance, you know? So there are things that we’re trying to figure out if we can get away with that would make it an easier path that might shake the possibilities loose of things that we might be hindered from doing at this point, given the status of the rights.”

For now, keep streaming “Hannibal.” And keep the hope alive. #RenewHannibal

[Related] The Queer Legacy (and Future) of “Hannibal”: An Open Letter to Netflix

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Here’s the official logline for “Joker: Laugh Riot”…

“When Batman is murdered, the Joker launches a ruthless crusade through Gotham’s underworld to find the killer who took away his greatest adversary.

“But as his violent quest for answers pushes him closer towards vigilante than villain, Joker is forced to confront the truth that without Batman, he doesn’t know who he is.”

Yasuhuro Aoki will direct “Joker: Laugh Riot.”

Jim Krieg (“Watchmen”) is executive producing the Joker anime series. Japan’s Sola Entertainment is working with DC and Warner Bros. Animation on the upcoming series.

The post ‘Joker: Laugh Riot’ Anime Series in the Works from DC and Warner Bros. Animation appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation announced the series adaptation of Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta’s best-selling DC comic book series, THR reports. 

Absolute Batman reimagines the Dark Knight for a new generation as a working-class hero, instead of rich, up against impossible odds on a mission to save a much more violent Gotham. 

Snyder will serve as executive producer and showrunner, with Dragotta as producer.

In his deep dive into the comic series’ vision of horror, Aaron Boehm writes, “The series is all gas, no brakes, moving at a breathless pace with big narrative swings that frequently upend the status quo and move things forward narratively with reckless abandon. I’ve enjoyed Batman in various movies, cartoons, and comics since the animated series, but this book still finds ways to surprise me with its radical new takes.“

It’s bold vision, especially where Batman’s villains are concerned, should make this series stand-out in a crowded field for Batman adaptations and series.

Launched in 2024, the comic series has sold more than six million copies, with the first volume on its 11th print run.

The post ‘Absolute Batman’ To Get Animated Series from DC Studios & Warner Bros. Animation appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Prime Video has announced this morning that “Batman: Caped Crusader” Season 2 will premiere on July 31 on Prime. In the meantime, watch the new official trailer down below.

In “Batman: Caped Crusader” Season 2, there are new villains on the streets of Gotham City and there’s only one man for the job. This season, it’s not a fight anymore. It’s a WAR…

The animated series “Batman: Caped Crusader” is a “reimagining of the Batman mythology” from J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, Bruce Timm, Sam Register and Ed Brubaker.

“Welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear. Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne becomes something both more and less than human—The Batman.

“His one-man crusade for justice attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications.”

Daniel Kurland wrote in his review of the first season, “Batman: Caped Crusader’s unique, terrifying take on established corners of the DC universe is sure to resonate with horror fans, comic book aficionados, and everything in between. Caped Crusader’s immersion into EC Comics ideology and a true indulgence in horror is a superpower that’s more fascinating and dangerous than any WayneTech gadget or Kryptonite-powered super-suit.”

Hamish Linklater voices Batman/Bruce Wayne in the series, alongside Mckenna Grace, Reid Scott, Dane Donohue, Gary Anthony Williams, Jason Watkins, John Dimaggio, Krystal Joy Brown, Michelle C. Bonilla, Eric Morgan Stuart, Tom Kenny, Minnie Driver, Diedrich Bader, Jamie Chung and Christina Ricci.

Based on DC characters, “Batman: Caped Crusader” hails from Warner Bros. Animation, Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions and Reeves’ 6th & Idaho. Along with Abrams, Reeves and Timm, “Batman: Caped Crusader” executive producers include Ed Brubaker, James Tucker, Daniel Pipski, Rachel Rusch Rich, and Sam Register.

The post ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ Season 2 Trailer – The Dark Animated Series Returns July 31 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“Primal” creator Genndy Tartakovsky is developing a “Conan the Barbarian” animated series for Cartoon Network Studios and Prime Video, The Wrap exclusively reports!

The project’s official title? Conan the Barbarian: Queen of the Black Coast.

‘Primal’

Here’s the official logline for the Conan animated series…

“After finding love in the pirate queen, Bêlit, a battle-hardened Conan defies gods, fate and even death to save her from a dark sorcery that threatens to destroy everything.”

Genndy Tartakovsky will serve as the series’ executive producer and showrunner.

The Wrap notes in their report, “Conan will mark the first time that Tartakovsky has worked with a preexisting IP since his Clone Wars micro-series for Lucasfilm back in 2003.”

Tartakovsky’s own original animated series “Primal” is of course heavily inspired by the work of Robert E. Howard, who created the Conan the Barbarian character back in the 1930s.

Official ‘Conan’ Art from Cartoon Network Studios

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Additionally, we’ve learned that the upcoming “Ghostbusters: Night Shift” is set in the early 1990s, five years after the events of live action movie Ghostbusters II!

Netflix previews, “New York City, 1994. Five years after the Ghostbusters took the Statue of Liberty for a walk, a new supernatural threat hits the Big Apple. Now, a group of young New Yorkers must suit up, face their fears, and bust some ghosts.”

Expect “Ghostbusters: Night Shift” to clock in on Netflix in 2027!

“The new series marks the next chapter in the franchise’s ghoul-catching legacy, bringing supernatural comedy and paranormal action back to animation.”

The upcoming animated series from Netflix will be executive produced by Ben Hibon, Elliott Kalan, Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan, Amie Karp, and Dan Aykroyd.

Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman, director of the original Ghostbusters features, and Kenan co-wrote the franchise’s most recent installments, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Frozen Empire.

“This isn’t the first time the Ghostbusters universe has gone animated,” Netflix reminds in their press release today. “The 1980s and ’90s saw The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters take over the small screen. For now, you can rest assured: If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, a Ghostbuster will be on the job — even if it’s after hours.”

“Ghostbusters: Night Shift” is from Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation.

The post ‘Ghostbusters: Night Shift’ – First Look at Netflix Animated Series Set 5 Years After ‘Ghostbusters II’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

What’s more is that Sweetheart filmmaker J.D. Dillard has been set to direct the pilot episode.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi” showrunner and “Monarch” executive producer Joby Harold will serve as showrunner on the as-yet-untitled spinoff.

The series will follow Colonel Lee Shaw, an American operative who in 1984 went on a secret mission behind enemy lines in an attempt to stop the Soviets from unleashing a horrific new Titan big enough to destroy the U.S. and turn the tide of the Cold War.

Details beyond that remain scarce, including what characters Asbaek and Brady will place. The Cold War setting suggests a very different direction and tone from the spinoff’s parent series, though.

The series will reunite Pilous Asbæk with his Overlord co-star, Wyatt Russell.

Expect the Legendary’s MonsterVerse to continue to grow; Harold has also signed an overall deal with Legendary to oversee the Monsterverse franchise for Apple TV, featuring both new and fan-favorite Titans.

Producers on the upcoming spinoff include Kei Banno, Brian Rogers, and Kenji Okuhira. Russell and Harold will executive produce alongside Tory Tunnell, Chris Black, Kyle Bradstreet, Alex Boden, Max Borenstein, Andy Goddard, Hiro Matsuoka, and Takemasa Arita.

Wyatt Russell in “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” now streaming on Apple TV.

The post Pilou Asbæk & Millie Brady Join Wyatt Russell-Led ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Spinoff Series appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The hit series begins production on its third season this month in Los Angeles.

The series based on the video games tells “the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have. Two hundred years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind—and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird, and highly violent universe waiting for them.“

The series stars Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets, Sweetpea), Aaron Moten (Emancipation, Father Stu), Walton Goggins (The White Lotus, The Righteous Gemstones), Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks), Moisés Arias (The King of Staten Island), Frances Turner (The Boys), Annabel O’Hagan (Rent Free), and Dave Register (FBI).  

Aaron Paul (Anything But Ghosts) has also joined the cast for Season Three, as previously announced.

Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner serve as executive producers, creators, and showrunners. 

Catch up on both seasons ahead of Season Three on Prime Video now.

[Related] Six Things We Want to See in ‘Fallout’ Season 3

The post Emily Mortimer, Manny Jacinto, and Thomasin McKenzie Join ‘Fallout’ Season Three appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The new series premieres on July 17, 2026.

The official synopsis reads: “When the crown prince is found dead in a pond, a chilling rumor paralyzes the palace: the pond spirit has returned to wipe out the King’s bloodline. The King (Cho Seung-woo) fiercely dismisses the killings as mere conspiracy, until his last remaining son, Prince Yeongan, collapses.

“Driven to desperation, the King secretly summons Gu-cheon (Nam Joo-hyuk), who can traverse the Realm of Gwi and defeat them. To ensure his loyalty, the King pairs him with Saeng-gang (Roh Yoon-seo), a court lady born with the ability to hear spirits.

“Gu-cheon embarks on the life-or-death mission to destroy the spirit and lift the curse of the East Palace, or die within its walls. But as Gu-cheon hunts the spirit and Saeng-gang secretly spies on his every move, the two draw closer to the dark truth of the East Palace that lies beneath the pond.“

“The East Palace” hails from director Choi Jung-kyu (The Devil Judge) and writers Kwon So-ra and Seo Jea-won (Son: The Guest). Production companies for the film include Showrunners and Imaginus.

Nam Joo-hyuk, Roh Yoon-seo, and Cho Seung-woo star.

Watch the teaser for the dark fantasy horror series below.

The post Netflix Unveils First Teaser for Supernatural Series ‘The East Palace’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The eight-episode show was created by showrunners Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews (“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance”) and premiered on May 21.

The series logline reads, “In a seemingly picturesque retirement community in the New Mexico desert, a group of unlikely heroes must band together to stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don’t have… time.”

Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters, Bill Pullman, Carlos Miranda, Jena Malone, Seth Numrich, and Alice Kremelberg starred in the series.

The cast also featured Ed Begley Jr., Dee Wallace, Eric Edelstein, Rafael Casal, Mousa Hussein Kraish, Beth Bailey, Karan Soni, and Jane Kaczmarek.

Ben Taylor (“Sex Education”) directed the first two episodes, with Augustine Frizzell (“Euphoria”) and Kyle Patrick Alvarez (The Stanford Prison Experiment) also helming episodes.

Our own Daniel Kurland wrote in his season one review, “Outside of its heartfelt performances and brief flashes of inspiration, The Boroughs is unfortunately as forgettable as the very people who have been shipped off to its community.“

“The Boroughs” may not have seen the same level of success as “Stranger Things“, but it has remained a fixture in Netflix’s Top Ten ranking since its premiere.

The series’ cancellation after only one season is largely attributed to the series’ expensive sci-fi budget, and the fact that Executive Producers The Duffer Brothers (“Stranger Things”) are leaving Netflix for Paramount, where they’ll next tackle an untitled event film expected in 2028.

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This connection can be observed in everything from the cannibalistic serial killers of Frank Miller’s Sin City to the disturbing criminal plots fueling neo-noir thrillers like Stuart Gordon’s underrated King of the Ants. That’s why it came as no surprise when I finally sat down to watch all eight episodes of Prime Video’s recently released Spider-Noir series and was confronted with plenty of classic horror tropes.

What did come as a surprise, however, was how showrunners Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot approached these horror elements when compared to the 2009 comic book that the show is based on. From the heavily altered rogue’s gallery to an equally terrifying yet completely different origin story for Nicolas Cage’s take on the webslinger, there are plenty of changes here that I feel might be of interest to genre fans.

With that in mind, I’d like to invite readers to take a closer look at all the adjustments that Spider-Noir made to the story in order to bring this incarnation of Spider-Man to life in all of its monochromatic glory (unless you watched the True-Hue color version of the show, in which case you’ll be treated to a surprisingly comic-booky palette that you don’t usually see on television).

The Dark Origins of Marvel’s Spider-Man Noir

Our first order of business should be to examine the origins of the Noir comics themselves. Originally published as part of the Marvel Noir alternate universe that reimagined several characters as hard-boiled crime-fighters, Spider-Man Noir became the most successful book in the entire run. This highly politicized story about Peter Parker coming to terms with the capitalist evils of the Great Depression seemed to have struck a nerve with audiences looking for a darker take on the wall-crawler, which is likely why we’d soon see several sequel stories as well as a video game adaptation of the character in 2010’s underrated Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

Of course, it wasn’t just Spider-Man’s darker disposition that made this version of the character a hit, as 1930s New York City was depicted as being much more hostile than what we generally see in the standard Marvel Universe. From Peter’s powers coming from an Eldritch Spider God that spawns man-eating arachnids to Vulture being an ex-Freak-Show Gimp with a taste for human flesh, you can definitely understand why this Web-Head isn’t pulling his punches.

Unfortunately, this alternate universe was a little too popular for its own good, with each subsequent sequel/adaptation further diluting the political anger and classic horror influences that fueled the original comic-book run in order to appeal to a wider audience. Spider-Man Noir was nearly unrecognizable once we got to the Spider-Verse crossover that turned the character into a household name, though this would at least lead to an interesting adaptation in 2018.

The Classic Horror Influences Hidden Throughout Spider-Noir

Jack Huston as Sandman in ‘Spider-Noir’

When Phil Lord and Chris Miller finally translated Spider-Man Noir to the big screen, with Nicolas Cage bringing the character to life in an unexpected case of pitch-perfect casting, he was still mostly relegated to comic relief as his nazi-punching antics and over-the-top edginess were played for laughs. However, while this version of the character had little to do with the comics that spawned him, Spider-Noir’s newfound popularity eventually resulted in the announcement of a darker live-action spin-off – a spin-off that I was cautiously optimistic about.

While the showrunners ultimately decided to go in a completely different direction than the 2009 comic, the new team of writers appeared to understand Noir as a genre in ways that even the folks at Marvel Noir couldn’t quite grasp. That’s likely why 2026’s Spider-Noir boasts plenty of horror elements, just not in ways we’ve seen them before.

The series is obviously borrowing tropes and aesthetics from period-accurate monster movies, with Universal’s 1930s output being a particularly big influence. From the re-imagining of Sandman and Tombstone as tragic figures to The Spider even being operated on by a mad scientist with hilariously antiquated techniques, this bizarre collection of super-powered freaks could have easily shown up in a classic creature feature.

The scares aren’t all retro, however, as the showrunners also injected plenty of body-horror into the mix during their attempt at unifying the origin stories for all these larger-than-life characters. Hell, the Spider himself is now revealed to have gained his powers after being bitten by a half-mutated Man-Spider during World War I, and the aforementioned mad scientist keeps a disturbing collection of failed experiments in her basement, proving that not all of her patients were lucky enough to simply gain superpowers after being experimented on.

Nicolas Cage Reinvents Spider-Man Noir for Television

Ben Reilly/Spiderman (Nicolas Cage) in SPIDER-NOIR
Photo: Aaron Epstein/Prime
© Amazon Content Services LLC

I also really appreciate how Cage insists on depicting Ben Reilly as an arachnid trapped inside of a human body, with his uncanny physical performance and classic Hollywood impressions keeping your eyes glued to the screen while also providing some of the show’s funniest moments.

I still think it’s a shame that the character is no longer politically motivated, and I miss the detail about Uncle Ben having been cannibalized by Vulture after his social activism ruffled too many feathers, but at least this time our protagonist actually feels like someone who could have been written by Raymond Chandler if he were a fan of Superheroes.

In fact, the writers nailed the snappy back-and-forth that Noir authors like Dashiel Hammett used to refer to as the “riposte”, and it’s fun to see supervillains being depicted as horrific movie monsters instead of specialized henchmen – with The Spider feeling like just as much of a Freak Show attraction as the rest of them. Purists might be put off by the lack of reverence for the source material, but I think that’s a small price to pay when even the show’s most clichéd moments intentionally harken back to the golden age of Hollywood.

That’s why I’d argue that Amazon’s Spider-Noir isn’t really an adaptation, but rather an equally valid take on the same premise that inspired Marvel back in 2009. And in a world filled with recycled storylines that only serve to advertise future releases, I’d rather have two completely different visions of the same character than a straight-up retelling of the same handful of ideas.

At the end of the day, there’s enough space inside this comic fan’s heart for both man-eating Vultures and a Cronenberg-inspired Man-Spider. And if you’re also a fan of nostalgic creature features with comic book flair, I’d highly recommend this street-level superhero story with a spooky twist.

The post ‘Spider-Noir’ Comic Changes Explained: How the TV Series Reinvents Marvel’s Darkest Spider-Man appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The outlet reports, “Deadline can reveal exclusively that Mark Hamill will play Pope Charlie Kane, the leader of the Eastern Sovereignty and estranged father of Sweet Tooth.”

The news was first reported by Jeff Sneider in his newsletter The InSneider.

“For Mark Hamill to come into this world with us is amazing. He’s someone I’ve admired for a long time — a true legend who’s influenced generations of actors. Being able to now call him a castmate is an incredible honor, and we’re excited to see what he brings to the world of Twisted Metal,” executive producer and star Anthony Mackie said in a statement.

David Reed (“The Boys,” “The Magicians”) will serve as showrunner and executive producer for Season 3. He replaces co-creator Michael Jonathan Smith, who’s exiting the show.

Based on the classic PlayStation video game series, the high-octane action-comedy series was developed by Michael Jonathan Smith, Rhett Reese, and Paul Wernick.

In Season 1, which premiered in 2023, motor-mouthed outsider John is offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland. With the help of badass axe-wielding car thief Quiet, John faces savage marauders driving vehicles of destruction and other dangers of the open road.

In Season 2, John and Quiet find themselves entering the deadly Twisted Metal tournament, a sinister demolition derby hosted by a mysterious man known as Calypso. As they try to survive an onslaught of dangerous new foes and familiar faces alike, things get complicated for John when he reunites with his long-lost sister, the vigilante Dollface.

Season 2’s finale saw John and Quiet prepare to take on Calypso after he framed them for murdering the spectators at the tournament, starting a war between Insiders and Outsiders.

Stephanie Beatriz, Joe Seanoa, Will Arnett, and Anthony Carrigan also star.

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So while it might seem like Tales from the Crypt covered plenty of EC Comics’ works, a lot still remains unadapted.

These ten great stories would have made fine additions to the series.

“Bats in My Belfry!” (Tales from the Crypt)

When an actor named Harry began to lose his hearing, a friend put him in contact with a special “doctor”. After receiving the gift of super-hearing—a taxidermist implanted a bat’s auditory system inside of Harry—the protagonist learned about his wife’s affair. On top of that, she and her paramour were planning to kill Harry. Of course, they didn’t realize Harry had transformed into a humanoid vampire bat.

Something Tales from the Crypt didn’t do enough of, on account of whatever reason (budget and time restraints seem most likely), was stories about monsters. But Crypt once had the best contacts in the business, so you can bet that were-bat would have been in good hands.

“The Beast of the Full Moon!” (The Vault of Horror)

Tom and his girlfriend, June, were fearful of the werewolf who’d been on a recent murder spree in their area. Tom already suspected his brother Andrew, who may have been infected after a trip to Corocoa. And when Tom had an encounter with the werewolf, he stabbed the creature’s right paw before it could flee. Later, Tom’s suspicions were all but confirmed when he saw Andrew’s bandaged right hand.

So, Tom laid a trap for the monster—a pit—, and he waited nearby with a gun full of silver bullets. One thing led to another, and Tom ended up in the pit with the werewolf. Luckily, someone above shot and killed the beast. That’s when Tom saw Andrew above ground and June in the pit, the latter dead from her gunshot wound.

While Tales from the Crypt did have lycan episodes, like “Werewolf Concerto” and “The Secret”, there was still room for one more. With the comic having such a small cast, though, it may have been too easy to figure out the culprit. But surely someone on staff could have punched up the original story for television.

“Pipe Down!” (The Haunt of Fear)

Lila hated her older husband, Andrew. After beginning an affair with a handyman named Howard, Lila plotted Andrew’s death. She and Howard got away with Andrew’s murder, but now they couldn’t marry for a year; otherwise, it would look suspicious. In the meantime, Lila purchased a pet monkey that was born on the same day that Andrew died.

When Howard found what looked like evidence of Lila having another lover—he spotted a lit cigar and two half-empty glasses—Howard flew into a rage and murdered his girlfriend. That’s when the cops arrived, saying a phone operator reported the disturbance. However, all she heard on the other end of the phone was an animal’s shriek. Once Howard was arrested, Lila’s monkey went back into the house, picked up a book, and smoked a pipe. Just like Andrew used to do.

This story would have fit in with the wackier episodes of Tales from the Crypt. There are quite a few of those—especially later on as the series moved away from the more macabre material. “Pipe Down!” also spices up the typical adultery-and-murder plots that were so common in EC’s output.

“Swamped” (The Haunt of Fear)

Deep in the Okefenokee Swamp, a cannibalistic hermit fed on those who traveled near his shack built over the water. He fed on visiting hunters and then disposed of their remains beneath his home. Anyone who revolted or came after him only ended up in the quicksand. Finally, though, the hermit suffered the same fate as his victims; he, too, slipped into the muddy graveyard below his crumbling shack. Yet now waiting for him were the hungry souls desperate to get back at their killer.

It’s unclear who the writer was behind “Swamped”, but their work here is intense. The insight and colorful descriptions are unexpected for that mere tale of the cannibal who got his just desserts. That kind of writing, along with Reed Crandall‘s artwork, makes this one of the most engaging stories from EC’s horror run.

“The October Game” (Shock SuspenStories)

Mitch, a deeply resentful and growingly mad father and husband, hosted his young daughter’s Halloween party. Kids and other parents soon all piled into the basement. The night of fun then ended with one last parlor game: Mitch passed around the body parts of a witch (an arm, her heart, and so on). One of the young guests assumed these were really things like chicken innards.

Mitch’s wife, Louise, looked for her daughter among the crowd, wondering if Marion was scared. That’s when Louise realized the girl wasn’t there—or alive. She begged everyone not to turn on the lights in the basement, out of fear of them seeing what Mitch had done to her poor daughter. Unfortunately for Louise, her plea was in vain.

Tales from the Crypt usually refrained from child-endangered stories, and it much rather focused on adult characters. But the show also lacked Halloween entries, apart from Season Six’s “Only Skin Deep“. Perhaps the need for Halloween, as a validation of any eerie goings-on, was unnecessary.

This Ray Bradbury adaptation (originally a short found in Weird Tales) is well deserving of a read. It’s a glowing example of suspense storytelling. The comic also never shows a lick of violence, yet it feels incredibly violent.

“Strictly from Hunger” (The Vault of Horror)

A posse of men stood before a cave, awaiting something horrible inside. One of the men, Doc, explained the uncanny and dangerous creature; he’d seen it before. Doc told everyone about how his patient, Pete, was diagnosed with a malignant, cancerous lump on his arm. There was nothing Doc could do to help him. Pete then sought assistance from an old witch in the mountain. Using magic, she made sure Pete would never die, although his cancer remained intact and unhealed.

Over time, the cancer cells in Pete’s body consumed all his healthy cells. To keep living, Pete turned into a giant blob that ate others’ healthy cells. Back in the present story, the posse fought the emerging creature until it retreated into the cave. The characters all finally blocked the entrance to prevent Pete from ever escaping again.

Obviously, Tales from the Crypt didn’t have the budget to support a story like this one, but imagine if it did. A body horror episode of this degree could have been fantastic, not to mention outright disgusting.

“Marriage Vow” (The Haunt of Fear)

Martin and Eva’s marriage was no longer a happy one. Eva, who’d become controlling and slovenly a few years after their wedding, refused to let Martin out of her sight. “Till death do us part,” she would always say. Eventually, Martin killed Eva; he loosened the wrought iron bars on the balcony where Eva liked to spend time, and she fell to her death. However, Eva didn’t stay dead, as she came back as a zombie intent on honoring the “till death” part of their vows.

EC did more than its fair share of stories like “Marriage Vow”, as did Tales from the Crypt. Spousal murder was pretty common. This comic, though, delivers a strong implication as the zombified wife tells her husband to “come to bed”. That line makes a reader’s imagination run wild.

“Dog Food” (Crime SuspenStories)

A prisoner named Tom swore revenge on the warden, Lester, after a fellow prisoner was tortured and killed under his command. However, to get past Lester’s voracious guard dogs, so that he could enter his house and kill him, Tom started saving meat from his meals. The other prisoners also contributed to his collection.

Tom set off on his journey to Lester’s dog-guarded house, but he ran out of meat before reaching his destination. So, Tom did the next best thing and fed parts of his own body to the dogs.

Once again, Reed Crandall elevated a gruesome, vengeful story with his realistic style. It’s so lurid. At any rate, it was just too graphic for Tales from the Crypt to adapt—and that’s really saying something here.

“Master Race” (Impact)

Carl Reissman was on a subway, remembering his “bloody war years” in Germany. Even after a decade had passed, he remained paranoid. And as he spotted a certain other passenger coming his way, a man in all black, Carl became afraid and started running. His mind flashed back to the events of the Holocaust during this “chase”.

Finally, before Carl fell on the tracks and in the path of an oncoming train, he revealed he wasn’t a prisoner in a concentration camp; he commanded one. The stranger in black said to those onlookers, asking what happened; he didn’t even know the victim. This Carl had simply run from him on the platform.

While Tales from the Crypt did occasionally go beyond what was available in their more horror-centric source material—the war-themed Two-Fisted Tales, for instance—it didn’t ever go near Impact. This short-lived series is considered toned down for EC. Even still, that didn’t make “Master Race” any less shocking. It’s a potent entry that wouldn’t have fit in with the Tales from the Crypt show we now know, but nonetheless, it’s a thought-provoking piece of storytelling.

“Forty Whacks!” (Crime SuspenStories)

A twenty-two-year-old woman named Fanny was frustrated by her parents; they flipped out when she put on makeup. However, when the daughter discovered a mysterious hatchet in her attic, she became possessed by a strange power and did the unthinkable. One after the other, Fanny used that hatchet to kill her parents.

The detective assigned to Fanny’s case was interrupted by his wife and son. The former had an out-there theory: the hatchet belonged to the infamous Lizzie Borden, and it was now capable of causing children to kill their own parents. The detective didn’t buy his wife’s idea, but that was until his entranced son picked up the murder weapon and took a swing at his pop.

Here, EC dipped into historical crime for a ghoulish story that sounds like something out of Friday the 13th: The Series. Maybe it’s a bit in bad taste, but that has never stopped Tales from the Crypt—which is why we love it.

The post 10 Great EC Comics Stories Not Adapted for ‘Tales from the Crypt’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Now, I would be remiss to not bring up how very off that last season felt, in comparison to past ones. If not for the Crypt Keeper’s bookends, it was like a different show at that point. Essentially, it was when you assessed how much had changed. Producer Gilbert Adler was responsible for those divisive renovations; his moving production to England was an attempt to give Crypt “a shot in the arm”. What he instead did was create obstacles for both himself and the series. Some could be overcome, whereas others were less yielding.

Fans decry Season Seven, but in all fairness, Season Six wasn’t all roses, either. And like Six, Seven does have a few bright spots. The move to merry England couldn’t completely undo what we love about the series. Yes, there was a decline in gore; the dial had especially been turned down on those big, bloody conclusions we all love. It must be said, though, that the final season was hardly the only one to be gruesome-lite. Plenty of past episodes also did without copious amounts of the red stuff. 

At the time, traveling abroad may not have been seen as a bad thing. The new season was off to a strong start, based on favorable reactions to the premiere. The Natasha Richardson-starring opener, “Fatal Caper” (Bob Hoskins, Colman deKay, A. L. Katz, Gilbert Adler), is as ridiculous as it is clever. However, it would soon become apparent that not everything to come in Season Seven was up to the same standards as that first episode. It was going to be a bumpy ride, to say the least.

Most will agree that the seventh season wasn’t a complete bust. The blood-soaked “Horror in the Night” (Russell Mulcahy, John Harrison) is atmospheric and trippy; there, a jewel thief (James Wilby) experiences a nightmarish evening while hiding out in a haunted hotel. Then there is what many consider to be the season’s standout, and perhaps even the last great episode of the series. In the gritty “Confession” (Peter Hewitt, Scott Nimerfro), a detective (Ciarán Hinds) suspects a screenwriter (Eddie Izzard) is behind a string of murders. Although it is a strange way to end things, “The Third Pig” (Bill Kopp, Pat Ventura) also has its admirers; this animated entry is a demented new spin on the classic fairytale “The Three Little Pigs“, as opposed to anything out of EC Comics‘ vault.

Another fine episode is “A Slight Case of Murder”, which I find a bit lighthearted for Tales from the Crypt. In spite of all the killing, of course. It also makes good use of the scenery change; an upside of the show’s relocation is the real estate. A Tudor-style home sits at the heart of this amusing episode, written and directed by Brian Helgeland (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, 976-EVIL). Cozy mystery lovers should be quite smitten with the story’s choice of venue.

A common complaint about Season Seven is its lack of star power. Gone were the days when anyone who was anyone in Hollywood stopped by and played a role. That said, it wasn’t as if the series was now just hiring nobodies off the street; the problem was that many American viewers weren’t as familiar with the new casts. “A Slight Case of Murder” was such a case, given how Francesca Annis, Elizabeth Spriggs, and Christopher Cazenove weren’t exactly household names in the States. Naturally, the English would have an easier time recognizing the leads of this and other Season Seven episodes.

“A Slight Case of Murder” is an example of a crabby author getting what’s coming to them. Generally speaking, the horror genre has never cared much for depictions of kind writers. And here, Annis plays that rather irritable novelist whose next bestseller is at risk of being published posthumously. After brilliantly insulting her neighbor, an aspiring author named Mrs. Trask (Spriggs), Sharon Bannister detects a prowler. She then takes no comfort knowing the intruder is just her ex (Cazenove). He’s not here to reminisce about old times.

The last page from “A Slight Case of Murder!”, as seen in EC Comics’ The Vault of Horror.

The episode, while amusing, feels like it belongs in another anthology. The one I’m thinking of, on account of the British actors and the story being centered around jealousy, is Tales of the Unexpected. That series, by the way, also eventually went overseas; some later episodes cast Americans and were set in the U.S. So, yes, “A Slight Case of Murder” isn’t a thing like classic Crypt, but it is awfully charming.

By now, no one should be shocked to learn that an episode of Tales from the Crypt is different from its basis. In fact, the “A Slight Case of Murder!” found in EC’s The Vault of Horror bears no resemblance to Helgeland’s adaptation. An old doctor returns to his hometown to solve a bunch of murders—the victims were all women. At each crime, there was no sign of a break-in, seeing as how the women’s doors and windows were locked from the inside. The sheriff says the only other way in, in one case, was a hot-air vent. He concludes no human could have fit through that, but the doctor suggests the culprit is “not an ordinary human”.

The doctor meets with the sheriff at an old house formerly known as the Bates Mansion. Yet before revealing the killer’s identity, the doctor tells a story about a local widow named Amelia Bates. After her newborn turned out to be—and I’m merely quoting writers Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein—a “misshapen monster”, Amelia asked the doctor to tell everyone her child was a stillborn. She kept that underdeveloped, slithering boy a secret from everyone; only the doctor knew.

Years later, that same child went on to murder a series of women. All of whom rejected his love. And who, pray tell, did that baby become? The town’s sheriff, that’s who! The last frame of the comic, one showing the sheriff’s hidden mechanical body, is so startling that it’s actually disappointing that Tales from the Crypt didn’t properly adapt this story. It would have fit in so well with the older seasons.

As they say in the biz, the show must go on—and Tales from the Crypt did just that, even when the quality had noticeably dropped. But like I always tell myself during the lesser episodes, any Crypt is still better than no Crypt.

Along with Seasons One through Six, Season Seven of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on June 12.

A delightful shot from “A Slight Case of Murder” suggests Elizabeth Spriggs’ character, Mrs. Trask, is more devilish than she first seemed.

The post Tales from ‘Tales from the Crypt’: Exhuming The Final Season’s “A Slight Case of Murder” Episode appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

What’s interesting is that Sarsgaard will play a new, original character not featured in the Naughty Dog video game on which the series is based: Amon, one of the leaders of The Seraphites.

The casting news arrives as production on season three takes a pause for what’s expected to be a month, as the FIFA World Cup takes over Vancouver as one of its host cities. Once filming resumes, production is expected to continue through the year in preparation for the planned premiere in 2027. 

Season 2 picked up five years after the events of the first season, which centered on a hardened survivor smuggling humanity’s last hope out of an oppressive quarantine zone, two decades after modern civilization was decimated. Plot details for season three haven’t been revealed yet, other than that it will shift to Abby’s perspective and factor the Seraphites heavily.

Kaitlyn Dever stars as Abby, who will be the centerpiece of the upcoming season, alongside Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Isabela Merced, Gabriel Luna, and Jeffrey Wright also star.

Season 2 cast members Ariela Barer, Tati Gabrielle, and Spencer Lord have been promoted to series regulars. Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring), Jason Ritter (Freddy vs. Jason), Clea DuVall (The Faculty), Li Jun Li (Sinners), and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Bumblebee) will also appear in Season 3.

HBO renewed “The Last of Us” for a third season ahead of its Season 2 premiere, but it’s expected to be the final chapter of the post-apocalyptic drama series.

The Last of Us video game co-creator Neil Druckmann stepped down as co-showrunner last year, leaving Craig Mazin (“Chernobyl”) as the sole showrunner for Season 3.

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The season one finale is set to arrive on Wednesday, June 17, on Apple TV, but don’t worry, Major Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) has declared the island safe and open to visitors next season in an announcement video below. 

“Season two is about how everything is great on the island, and there’s nothing to worry about,” said creator, showrunner, and executive producer Katie Dippold.

“From the moment audiences arrived in Widow’s Bay, they’ve been hooked on every eerie mystery, unexpected laughs, and cursed secret that Katie, Hiro, Matthew, and the entire team have created,” said Matt Cherniss, head of programming, Apple TV. “It’s become one of those shows everyone’s talking about, and we’re thrilled to see audiences continue to embrace it. We can’t wait to return for another season.”

The series takes place in a “quaint island town 40 miles off the coast of New England.  But something lurks beneath the surface. Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) is desperate to revive his struggling community.  There’s no wifi, spotty cellular reception, and he must contend with superstitious locals who believe their island is cursed.  He wants these people to respect him.  They don’t.  They think he is soft and cowardly.  And he is.

“But Loftis is determined to build a better future for his teenage son and turn the island into a tourist destination.  Miraculously, he succeeds: tourists are finally coming. Unfortunately, the locals were right.  After decades of calm, the old stories that seemed too ludicrous to be true start happening again.”

Stephen Root, Kate O’Flynn, Kingston Rumi Southwick, Kevin Carroll, and Dale Dickey also star.

Daniel Kurland wrote in his “Widow’s Bay” review for Bloody Disgusting, “Season One makes a perfect first impression, and its debut is strong enough that viewers will want to set up permanent residency there. There’s an excellent sense of storytelling, character development, and an engaging mystery that’s strengthened through pitch-perfect horror and comedy.

This is the best news, especially as Apple TV announced a new, multi-year overall deal with Dippold. Here’s to hoping Widow’s Bay never closes to visitors.

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Prime Video will premiere all ten episodes of season two on Friday, July 31.

“Batman: Caped Crusader” is a hard-boiled look at the vigilante’s early years, reimagined by J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, Bruce Timm, Sam Register, and Ed Brubaker.

“Welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant, and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear. Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne becomes something both more and less than human—The Batman.

“His one-man crusade for justice attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications.”

The new premiere date comes with a suitably dark first look at some of Gotham’s denizens, including Edward Nygma, Carrie Kelly, and Roxy Rocket, who will be featured in the upcoming season. 

Returning voice cast includes Hamish Linklater as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Jamie Chung as Harley Quinn/Harleen Quinzel, Jason Watkins as Alfred Pennyworth, Eric Morgan Stuart as Commissioner Jim Gordon, Krystal Joy Brown as Barbara Gordon, Michelle C. Bonilla as Renee Montoya, and Bumper Robinson as Lucius Fox.

Executive producers J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, and Bruce Timm are back for “Batman: Caped Crusader” Season 2. James Tucker, Geoffrey Thorne, Sarah Geismer, Rachel Rusch Rich, and Sam Register also executive produce.

You can catch up on season one now on Prime Video. Our own Daniel Kurland described this noir series as having more in common with EC Horror Comics than DC Comics.

He wrote that the series‘ “immersion into EC Comics ideology and a true indulgence in horror is a superpower that’s more fascinating and dangerous than any WayneTech gadget or Kryptonite-powered super-suit.”

The post Prime Video’s Hard-Boiled Animated Batman Series Returns This July With 10 New Episodes appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The third season will premiere on July 26, 2026.

In “The Walking Dead: Dead City” Season 3, “Maggie and Negan finally put aside their differences to build the first thriving community in Manhattan since the apocalypse, but when chaos in the city begins to arise, they are forced to question: have they learned from their old wounds or will their dark past spell doom for the entire city?”

There’s a lot of humor in the new trailer below, which introduces a few new faces among the New York City community.

Fan favorites Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan star alongside Gaius Charles, Lisa Emery, Logan Kim, Keir Gilchrist, Aimee Garcia, Jimmi Simpson, and Michael Emery. 

Raúl Castillo (Army of the Dead, Smile 2) has also joined “Dead City” Season 3.

Seth Hoffman (“The Walking Dead”, “Prison Break”) is the showrunner for Season 3.

The series is executive produced by Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer of The Walking Dead Universe, Showrunner Seth Hoffman, Cohan, Morgan, Brian Bockrath, and Colin Walsh. 

Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan – The Walking Dead: Dead City _ Season 3, Episode X – Photo Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan – The Walking Dead: Dead City _ Season 3, Episode X – Photo Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan – The Walking Dead: Dead City _ Season 3, Episode X – Photo Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

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Look for “The Shards” to premiere on FX and Hulu on August 5 at 6 p.m. PT.

Igby Rigney (“The Fall of the House of Usher”), Homer Gere (“The Agency”), Graham Campbell, Kaia Gerber (Shell), Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld”), Igby Rigney, Wes Bentley, and Hayes Warner star.

Set in 1981 Los Angeles, the semi-autobiographical, dark coming-of-age tale follows a 17-year-old Ellis during his final year at the elite Buckley prep school. Upending the character’s world is the arrival of a mysterious new student, Robert Mallory, whose unsettling presence coincides with the activities of a serial killer known as The Trawler.

In the series, Rigney will portray Ellis, and Campbell will play Thom. Gere, son of actor Richard Gere, has been cast as Robert Mallory. Frequent Murphy collaborator Max Winkler (“American Horror Story,“ “Grotesquerie”) is attached to direct. 

The series is produced by 20th Television in association with Ryan Murphy Television. 

The series is produced by 20th Television in association with Ryan Murphy Television. Murphy, Ellis, and Winkler will executive produce alongside Nick Hall, Kathleen McCaffrey, and Brian Young.

Author Bret Easton Ellis previously attempted to launch an adaptation of The Shards at HBO, with both Luca Guadagnino (Bones and All, Suspiria) and Kristoffer Borgli (Dream Scenario) eyed to helm the adaptation, though the project didn’t move forward at that time. Guadagnino is currently attached to tackle a different Ellis adaptation, though, with American Psycho.

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Expect “Scooby-Doo: Origins” on Netflix in 2027.

The new series is “a modern reimagining of the iconic mystery-solving group of teens and their very special dog. During their final summer at camp, old friends Shaggy and Daphne get embroiled in a haunting mystery surrounding a lonely lost Great Dane puppy that may have been a witness to a supernatural murder.

“Together with the pragmatic and scientific townie, Velma, and the strange, but ever so handsome new kid, Freddy, they set out to solve the case that is pulling each of them into a creepy nightmare that threatens to expose all of their secrets.”

As previously revealed, Maxwell Jenkins (“Lost in Space”) will play Fred, Tanner Hagen (“The Pitt”) will play Shaggy, and Abby Ryder Fortson (Ant-Man) will play Velma, joining Mckenna Grace (Scream 7) as Daphne, and and Paul Walter Hauser.

Addional cast includes:

• Rusty Schwimmer (The Pitt, Righteous Gemstones)
• Peter Macon (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, The Orville)
• Maxwell Simkins (Shifting Gears, Sleepover)
• Jona Xiao (The Pitt, Eyes of Wakanda)
• Dani Deetté  (The Runarounds, FBI: Most Wanted)
• Elysée Sanvillé (72 Hours)
• Alex Isles (Normal with a Capitol N)
• Avery Kristen Pohl (General Hospital, Never Have I Ever)
• Pamela Mitchell (1883, Perry Mason)
• Ross Kimball (Jury Duty, Masterminds)
• Sara Gilbert (The Connors)
• Wynn Everett (Chad Powers, She Dances)
• Sauriyan Sapkota (Midnight Club, House of Usher)
• Bruce McGill (Lioness, Reacher)
• Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks, Of Mice and Men)

Josh Appelbaum (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) and Scott Rosenberg (Venom, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) serve as showrunners and writers.

Toby Haynes (“Andor,” “Black Mirror”) will direct the first of eight episodes, in addition to serving as an executive producer.

Launched by Hanna-Barbera with the 1969 animated series “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!,” Scooby-Doo has remained one of pop culture’s most recognizable characters with more than a dozen animated series, three theatrical films, and more.

The post Netflix Rounds Out ‘Scooby-Doo: Origins’ Cast with Rusty Schwimmer, Sherilyn Fenn, and More appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The animated series will premiere June 26 on Disney+ with 22 half-hour episodes, along with a new short-form series featuring four episodes: “Doug Unfiltered,” “Ghosted By A Ghost,” “Creepy Crepe,” and “What Is That Thing?” 

The official synopsis promises all sorts of monster mayhem: “When best friends Bobby and Romy accidentally open a portal to evil, their tranquil coastal town transforms into a hotspot for terrifying creatures of doom. As the ordinary teens navigate this extraordinary mystery, they face off against literal and inner monsters in this epic comedy that combines thrills, chills, and emotional spills.“

The voice cast includes Max Mittelman as Bobby, Madison Calderon as Romy, Noel Gibson as Kim, Jon Bailey as Doug, and Zehra Fazal as Jenny.

“The Doomies” is produced by Academy Award®-nominated studio Xilam Animation for Disney Television Animation and co-created by Andrès Fernandez, Pozla (aka Rémi Zaarour), and Henry Gifford.

Fernandez directs all 22 episodes, and Xilam’s Marc du Pontavice serves as producer.

Check out the charming new trailer and key art below that introduce a group of kids joining forces to deal with their town’s pesky supernatural problem. Nothing appears safe from monsters, not even cake.

Coinciding with the series’ debut on Disney+, “The Doomies” was also officially selected to screen in competition at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival in the TV Films category. The episode “Night of the Fishing Dead” was selected from more than 2,400 submissions and will be screened alongside other official selections from June 21-27. 

Look for “The Doomies” later this month.

The post ‘The Doomies’ Trailer Opens Portal to Evil in Disney+ Supernatural Animated Series appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

All eight episodes of  “Human Vapor” will premiere July 2 on Netflix.

Watch the brand new official trailer below.

Here’s the full official synopsis: “Kenji Okamoto (Shun Oguri), a detective on suspension, is recruited to hunt down the criminal behind a series of unprecedented murders. It all starts when a college professor suddenly swells and explodes on live television.

“Before anyone can process this bizarre event, a man calling himself the Human Vapor (UTA) announces that he will perform a series of murders, sending society into a great panic.

“Kenji and reporter Kyoko (Yu Aoi) devote themselves to uncovering the truth and catching the culprit, who seems to be mocking the authorities as they struggle to close in on him. With each new killing, he corrodes society with a formless, pervasive fear.”

“A legendary Toho film is rebooted with a brand-new story,” Netflix previews. “VFX by the Academy Award-winning team Shirogumi that amazed the world with its work on Godzilla Minus One is combined with an extraordinary sense of scale, represented by grand car chases. A visual experience of a new dimension that far surpasses past Japanese drama series.”

Shun Oguri, Yu Aoi, Suzu Hirose, Kento Hayashi, and Yutaka Takenouchi star.

Shinzo Katayama directed “Human Vapor,” written by Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan) and Ryu Yong-jae. This marks the first collaboration between Netflix and Toho Studios.

The post ‘Human Vapor’ Official Trailer – Classic Toho Film Gets a Netflix Reboot Series This Summer appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Created by Owen Dennis and produced by CBS Studios and Innersloth, all ten episodes of Among Us are now available to stream exclusively on Paramount+. 

The series follows “a group of eccentric, monochromatic Crewmates of a ship transporting junk across the galaxy who must root out an Impostor in their midst before they fall victim to its villainous designs.”

It’s based on the globally popular multiplayer social deception game of the same name, which has been brought to life in the brand new trailer below.

Among Us boasts a star-studded voice cast, too:

• Yvette Nicole Brown as “Orange”
• Kimiko Glenn as “Cyan”
• Liv Hewson as “Black”
• Ashley Johnson as “Purple”
• Wayne Knight as “Lime”
• Phil LaMarr as “Brown”
• Randall Park as “Red”
• Dan Stevens as “Blue”
• Debra Wilson as “Yellow” and “Computer”
• Elijah Wood as “Green” 
• Patton Oswalt as “White”

Animation studio Titmouse is behind the series. 

Among Us became a global sensation in 2020, generating more than 4 billion views on YouTube and over 1.22 billion viewing sessions on Twitch.  In October 2020 alone, it ranked #1 on Google Play in 66 countries and #1 on iOS in 55 countries, with Top 100 placements in nearly every market worldwide. The game is available on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series.

The paranoid phenomenon now heads to Paramount+ in animated series form. Watch the new trailer below as all episodes launch on streaming today.

The post Surprise Animated Series Adaptation of ‘Among Us’ Begins Streaming Today appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Meet the real-life Scooby-Doo below!

Maxwell Jenkins (“Lost in Space”) will play Fred, Tanner Hagen (“The Pitt”) will play Shaggy, and Abby Ryder Fortson (Ant-Man) will play Velma, joining Mckenna Grace (Scream 7) as Daphne in the upcoming live action prequel series, “Scooby-Doo: Origins.”

The new series is “a modern reimagining of the iconic mystery-solving group of teens and their very special dog. During their final summer at camp, old friends Shaggy and Daphne get embroiled in a haunting mystery surrounding a lonely lost Great Dane puppy that may have been a witness to a supernatural murder.

“Together with the pragmatic and scientific townie, Velma, and the strange, but ever so handsome new kid, Freddy, they set out to solve the case that is pulling each of them into a creepy nightmare that threatens to expose all of their secrets.”

Josh Appelbaum (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) and Scott Rosenberg (Venom, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) are showrunners and writers.

Toby Haynes (“Andor,” “Black Mirror”) will direct the first of eight episodes, in addition to serving as an executive producer. Greg Berlanti (“Riverdale,” “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”) will executive produce the upcoming Netflix series with Sarah Schechter and Leigh London Redman via Berlanti Productions and its overall deal with Warner Bros. Television.

Look for “Scooby-Doo: Origins” on Netflix in 2027.

For more than 50 years, Scooby-Doo has been a pop culture powerhouse — three theatrical films, more than a dozen animated series, and nearly 40 animated home entertainment movies later, Mystery Inc. is stronger than ever. As one of the most recognizable and iconic franchises in entertainment, Scooby-Doo continues to thrill fans across generations.

Here is your first look at the live action Scooby-Doo in Netflix’s upcoming SCOOBY-DOO: ORIGINS.

The brand new series premieres in 2027.pic.twitter.com/FtTVTTweWF

— Bloody Disgusting (@BDisgusting) June 8, 2026

Scooby-Doo: Origins. Scooby on the set of Scooby-Doo: Origins season 1. Cr. Steve Dietl/Netflix © 2026

The post ‘Scooby-Doo: Origins’ – Netflix Reveals the Real Dog Playing Scooby-Doo in Live Action Series appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Expect “Ghostbusters: Night Shift” to clock in on Netflix in 2027!

Netflix previews, “Ghostbusters: Night Shift, a series from Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation based on the beloved Ghostbusters franchise, will debut exclusively on Netflix in 2027.

“The new series marks the next chapter in the franchise’s ghoul-catching legacy, bringing supernatural comedy and paranormal action back to animation.”

The upcoming animated series from Netflix will be executive produced by Ben Hibon, Elliott Kalan, Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan, Amie Karp, and Dan Aykroyd.

Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman, director of the original Ghostbusters features, and Kenan co-wrote the franchise’s most recent installments, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Frozen Empire.

“This isn’t the first time the Ghostbusters universe has gone animated,” Netflix reminds in their press release today. “The 1980s and ’90s saw The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters take over the small screen. For now, you can rest assured: If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, a Ghostbuster will be on the job — even if it’s after hours.”

The post ‘Ghostbusters: Night Shift’ – Brand New Animated Series Comes to Netflix in 2027! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Daughters Emily and Daisy Head said in a statement to the BBC that their father “passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family.”

Their statement continues, “It has been, and forever will be, an honour and a privilege to be his daughters, and to have witnessed firsthand the impact both he and his work have had on so many. We know how dearly he will be missed by friends, colleagues, and fans of the shows he was in — he loved his job very much, and he always considered himself incredibly lucky, to have been able to work alongside such exceptionally talented people, in such wonderful productions, across a career that spanned several decades.”

Anthony Head more recently played Rupert Mannion in 18 episodes of “Ted Lasso,” with the English actor’s film and television credits dating back to 1978. On the horror front, Anthony Head starred in Darren Bousman’s Repo! The Genetic Opera, as well as 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Let the Wrong One In, “Warehouse 13,” and “The Canterville Ghost.”

Also of note here in the world of horror, Anthony Head once played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in a London stage production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show back in the 1990s.

Outside the horror world, Anthony Head’s film and television credits well exceed 100 different productions and include “Highlander,” “NYPD Blue,” “Silent Witness,” “Doctor Who,” And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, “Little Britain,” The Magic Door, “Sensitive Skin,” Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, “Free Agents,” The Iron Lady, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, “You, Me & Them,” “Dominion,” A Street Cat Named Bob, and Batman: Gotham by Gaslight.

“Buffy” actor James Marsters writes on Instagram, “There’s a hole in the World. Anthony Head has passed on from us. He was an unflaggingly kind and steady presence on the set of Buffy, and the best actor in the cast. He was the best of us. I was lucky to have known, and learned from him. He left the world a better place for his presence. Thank you Tony for all you gave.”

The post Anthony Head – ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Actor Has Passed Away at 72 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Sandwiched between “Let the Punishment Fit the Crime” (Russell Mulcahy, Ron Finley) and “Whirlpool” (Mick Garris, A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler) is the most severe episode of the bunch. Maybe the entire series? William Malone and Dick Beebe’s “Only Skin Deep” traded the show’s typical sense of fun for startling amounts of bleakness and kink.

“Only Skin Deep” is, apart from the Crypt Keeper’s intro and outro, noticeably unfunny. There are no considerable attempts at making the viewer laugh. Come to think of it, if those bookends had been replaced, and there was more of a sci-fi element in the story, HBO could have easily squeezed this tale into that successor anthology, Perversions of Science (1997). In Crypt, though, “Only Skin Deep” is much too grim for an audience that had become accustomed to campiness and levity.

What makes “Only Skin Deep” feel dark, among other things, is its protagonist. Showing up to a Halloween party where he’s not welcome, and where his former girlfriend (Diane DiLasco) is attending, Carl Schlag (Peter Onorati) first comes across as your standard bitter ex. You soon realize it’s much worse than that, once Carl threatens Linda (“You know, silly me, thinking I gave you what you deserved. If I’d have done that, I’d have killed you”). Now, I haven’t forgotten that Tales from the Crypt was teeming with vile men who did women harm. Yet Carl’s brand of misogynistic menace hits differently—it borders on being too realistic for this kind of series.

Mike Vosburg’s EC-style comic cover for “Only Skin Deep”, as seen in the Tales from the Crypt episode.

Despite donning a party mask for much of the episode, Carl can’t ever mask his true nature. The invitation did say “come as you are”, after all. That inability to change and be better, however, is why Carl ends up in such a karmic predicament. His outburst of anger at the party attracts the attention of one loner partygoer named Molly (Sherrie Rose, who was also in Season Four’s “On a Deadman’s Chest”). Her bone-white, featureless “mask” and body-bag costume don’t initially register as too strange, especially on a night like this. But at a party chock-full of colorful, cartoonish, and lighthearted ensembles, it does look out of place.

Darkness attracts darkness as Carl ditches the party and accompanies the mysterious Molly to her place. Which, by the way, should have been an immediate red flag. But perhaps she’s so hot, he doesn’t seem to mind the serial killer aesthetic. Resembling a warehouse that has been converted into living spaces, but never then decorated to remove the cold, industrial look, Molly’s home (or lair) is as gloomy as this whole episode feels. It’s like the set of a grungy music video, albeit a tad cleaner. The environments in a typical Crypt episode tend to be small, overfilled, and broken-in. Warm, regardless of any weird goings-on. All that empty space in Molly’s hovel, on the other hand, elicits a creepy feeling that Carl was unwise to ignore.

Tales from the Crypt featured more sex than it didn’t, but hands down, “Only Skin Deep” boasts the steamiest scene in the show’s history. Pushing it over the line, in addition to Onorati showing bare buns and the camera never turning down one of his pelvic thrusts, is the twisted dirty talk. Carl stays in the moment, whereas Molly unleashes charged lines like “the hurt, the anger, give it to me” and “take it out on my flesh like you want to”. It’s all quite kinky, as well as tied into the story’s theme of pain.

How else “Only Skin Deep” differs from other episodes is its twists. Or rather, its lack thereof. Nothing comes as a great surprise here, particularly because the deuteragonist’s ulterior motives are so obvious. By no means is Molly a wolf in sheep’s clothing; her face is a fright mask, she practically reeks of death, and she lives in what can best be described as a serial killer’s hideout. That last-act revelation of Molly’s mask really being her face is also nothing shocking. Cleverness is certainly not this episode’s strength.

A page from “…Only Skin Deep!”, as seen in EC Comics’ Tales from the Crypt.

While “Only Skin Deep” isn’t the most universally loved episode of Tales from the Crypt, it’s an interesting preview of William Malone’s future as a director. Most notably, he went on to helm House on Haunted Hill (1999) and FeardotCom (2002), the former of which was co-written by Dick Beebe, this episode’s writer. Dark Castle Entertainment, that genre house founded by Crypt producers Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler, was instrumental in bringing out Malone’s gruesome, over-the-top vision in House on Haunted Hill. However, FeardotCom and Malone’s Masters of Horror episode, “Fair-Haired Child”, are the most stylistically compatible with “Only Skin Deep”.

As one might guess, this episode is nothing like its source material. The “…Only Skin Deep!” found in the pages of EC Comics is set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and save for its last couple of pages, is pretty sweet in nature. There, a man named Herbert is enamored with a woman he met five years prior to the present-day story. Every year, he has come down to Mardi Gras to see Suzanne, who’s always dressed as a hag-faced witch. Well, this time, Herbert plans on popping the question and marrying someone who is, for the most part, a total stranger. Suzanne accepts his proposal, but with one condition: they stay in costume until they’re officially hitched. You can probably see where this is going…

Once they are married, Suzanne remains incognito, even when she and Herbert have consummated their vows. A semi-predictive nightmare then rattles Herbert; he dreamt that Suzanne’s real face was as wizened as her mask. Finally, in his haste to find out the truth, Herbert winds up killing his new wife. Faceless and well on her way to bleeding out, the dying Suzanne manages to say she never wore a mask.

For more traditional EC-style ghastliness, your best bet is reading the comic. It’s wickedly sad. For something less conventional, as far as Tales from the Crypt goes, the role-reversing adaptation is worth watching. It’s not the best this show had to offer, although Malone’s visual style, plus the sexual abandon, does set the episode apart. If nothing else, “Only Skin Deep” leaves an impression that, even years later, shows no signs of fading.

Season Six of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on June 5.

Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.

Carl discovers Molly’s collection of human ‘masks’ in the Tales from the Crypt episode, “Only Skin Deep”.

The post Tales from ‘Tales from the Crypt’: Exhuming Season Six’s “Only Skin Deep” Episode appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Created by “Castlevania” showrunner Adi Shankar, the animated adaptation of the popular Capcom game introduces a world where sinister forces seek to open a portal between the human and demon realms. 

Caught in the middle is orphaned demon-hunter-for-hire Dante, unaware that the fate of the balance falls to him.

Across its two seasons, the series has appeared on the Netflix Global Top 10 for four weeks, with season one accumulating  21.7M views in 2025, and season two already off to a strong start, accumulating 6.4M views in just two weeks. All of which to say that the rapid renewal for the third and final season doesn’t come as a surprise.

“For those of you who have been paying attention to the episode names, I have been showing you the structure the entire time. This was always Dante’s Divine Comedy with guns and a red coat. Season 1 was Inferno. Season 2 was Purgatorio. Season 3 will be Paradiso. These three seasons make up ‘The Force Edge Saga.‘ Since its inception, ‘The Force Edge Saga‘ was designed as a movie trilogy disguised as a television series,” Shankar said of the announcement.

The voice cast for “Devil May Cry” Season 2 is led by Johnny Yong Bosch (“Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”) as Dante, Robbie Daymond (“Critical Role”) as Vergil, and Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie’s Halloween) as Lady.

Daniel Kurland wrote in his second season review for BD, “Winning chemistry between Dante and Vergil, as well as a narrative that isn’t afraid to put other characters in the spotlight, helps this season overcome some of the past season’s hurdles. This is a tight, economical season that doesn’t overstay its welcome, but part of the charm and impact is weakened the second time around. “

Created by Hideki Kamiya, the first Devil May Cry game was released in 2001. There are now five main games in addition to several reboots, spin-offs, special editions, and mobile games.

Catch up on the first two seasons now streaming on Netflix.

The post Netflix Renews ‘Devil May Cry’ For Third and Final Season appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Which has led to a very mixed bag of results that’s usually viewed as a hollow exercise in IP renewal that’s become a growing cliche that’s something to mock. Dead Ringers, Fatal Attraction, Presumed Innocent, and even The Birds are just some of the most recent titles in the movie-to-limited series pipeline. Admittedly, this formula can still work. It just needs to actually have not only a point of view, but a point, otherwise it’s destined to disappear into the vast streaming abyss.

Cape Fear definitely has a point of view and is well aware that it’s the fourth proper adaptation of this story — fifth if The Simpsons’ masterful “Cape Feare” parody is included. It’s an adaptation that’s not only aware of its past’s baggage, but intentionally embraces it and uses it to its advantage. Nick Antosca’s Cape Fear is so exciting because it functions as a remix of every version of this story — the ’60s film, Martin Scorsese’s ’90s remake, and John D. MacDonald’s original novel, The Executioners — to create this glorious amalgamation of the narrative. It’s not unlike what was done with Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal series and how it remixed the breadth of Thomas Harris’ works and their cinematic adaptations. 

This approach is most effective when certain iconic scenes from the ’90s film are recontextualized and given to different characters in order to make grander thematic statements. It’s a really striking approach that reflects the generational ripples and overlap between these adaptations, yet it’s never distracting or ostentatious to anyone who is experiencing this story for the first time. It helps this series feel different from the deluge of forgettable adaptations that are flooding the market.

On paper, Antosca is the perfect showrunner to tell this story. He has an impressive body of work to pull from that includes horror series like Channel Zero, Hannibal, and Brand New Cherry Flavor, but also lots of true-crime titles like The Act, A Friend of the Family, and Candy. This series falls squarely within these two extremes as it blurs the lines between these genres and styles of horror storytelling. It’s Big Little Lies on bath salts. Cape Fear perhaps doesn’t need to exist, but it’s still a hell of a terrifying experience that has something timely to say.

Horror is full of stories in which one bad day is all it takes to break someone and turn them into a completely different person. Cape Fear isn’t doing exactly this. It’s more of a psychological waterboarding until the target’s sense of self is eroded to rubble. However, it takes the kernel of this idea and expands it onto the pristine ideal of the picturesque American family. It plays with the self-aware realization that the stories we tell are not necessarily what we think they are.

It’s a story about forgiveness, salvation, and revenge that blows up the Bowden family when a violent offender, Max Cady (Javier Bardem), is released from prison and systematically sets his sights on the people he holds accountable. Anna and Tom Bowden (Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson), the married couple who represented his case in court, receive a rude awakening when Cady’s psychological torture tour begins. Cape Fear, as a property, is most famously known for being the ultimate cat-and-mouse psychological thriller. This rendition culminates in such an explosive climax that’s right out of a slasher film. 

Antosca was involved with an unproduced Friday the 13th reboot draft back in 2015, and there are certainly moments in which Max Cady moves with the hulking intensity of Jason Voorhees. So much of what makes all this work rests on Bardem’s complex performance. He’s very careful not to just copy Robert Mitchum or Robert De Niro’s versions of Cady, while he also taps into a terrifying intensity that feels completely different from what he brought forward with No Country for Old Men’s Anton Chigurh.

Apple TV’s new series also introduces a mental injury to Cady that adds psychological fractures that pull him between different versions of events as he struggles to grasp the truth. It’s an element that’s not exactly necessary and often feels like a convenient obstacle that can be activated whenever necessary. However, it allows for some creative visual flourishes and more opportunities for Bardem to get lost in Cady’s complexities.

Opposite Bardem’s Cady, Adams and Wilson do some of their best work as Anna and Tom. Anna is much more front and center than Tom, and Cape Fear is really Adams and Bardem’s time to shine. Wilson still does amazing, understated work, especially whenever the rug gets pulled out from under him regarding someone in his family. The visceral, brutal violence that Cady introduces to the Bowden family hits hard and highlights the anger and intensity that’s fundamental to this story.

What Cape Fear does best is its enlightening deconstruction of the ideal American family, how much work it takes to preserve such a pure thing, and the lengths that people go when they feel like the sanctity of this union is under fire. All it takes is for one of these foundational pillars to weaken before the whole unit becomes compromised. It moves the damage and pressure from one family member to the next as everyone struggles, and it’s unclear what will be left of this family when all is said and done.

This dynamic makes Cape Fear’s story so much more layered and interesting than if the series were just focused on Cady, Anna, and Tom, rather than making their children as much of a priority. Each member of the Bowden family experiences their own obstacles and arcs, although Natalie (Lily Collias) and Zack’s (Joe Anders) storylines are often the most grating. It all boils down to forgiveness, identity, and wanting to be perceived as the person we think we are, versus how we’re viewed by the public, and the dangerous dissonance that can exist between these separate selves.

These ideas are at their most potent when Cape Fear taps into the growing paranoia that bubbles up to the surface and becomes unbearable, so that even the littlest action is triggering. These moments are usually captured through a more erratic filming style that ramps up the tension for both the characters and the audience, unsure of what will strike and when. 

Cape Fear never struggles to create uncomfortable setpieces where the anxiety just crescendos and hangs over the scene. On this note, the series’ musical score really captures the perfect aesthetic. It immediately evokes the suspenseful power of the previous Cape Fear films whenever Bernard Herrmann’s virtuosic original theme kicks in. It’s magic every single time.

Antosca delivers an exhilarating update to a classic thriller that pushes its source material to exciting, new places that justify its existence. It’s an exciting story that’s full of terrifying performances and cataclysmic consequences. Admittedly, Cape Fear could have been shortened to eight episodes rather than ten. There are a few plot threads that feel unnecessary and artificially expanded upon, but every episode is still an adrenaline-pumping experience.

If nothing else, it reminds audiences why Cape Fear is such an evergreen story that’s lasted the test of time and will continue to unnerve and get under the skin of whole new generations.

The 10-episode series will make its global debut on June 5 with a two-episode premiere on Apple TV, followed by new episodes every Friday through July 31, 2026.

The post ‘Cape Fear’ Redefines A Cutthroat Classic & Turns The American Dream Into A Psychological Nightmare [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In “Crystal Lake,” Mrs. Voorhees finally takes center stage. And star Linda Cardellini talks a little bit about that in a new chat with The Hollywood Reporter this week.

“With Crystal Lake, A24, Peacock and [creator] Brad Caleb Kane all came together and they just had this concept for making this story about Pam Voorhees,” Cardellini (who is playing Mrs. Voorhees in the show) explains. “And if you watch the original movie, it really operates like a whodunit. Spoiler: at the end, you find out that it was Pam Voorhees.”

Cardellini continues, “She’s only in the movie for the last little bit, but she leaves this impression on the entire franchise. There’s so many movies subsequent that you’d think Jason’s always been in that mask doing what he’s doing. But that wasn’t the case. It just seemed like something that I had never done.

“I haven’t seen that many female slashers like that. To dive into who she might have been, I thought, well, that’s something I’ve never done. When I’m looking for things to do next, I ask myself what’s something I haven’t done yet. And that was one of them.”

“There’s fertile backstory there,” the actress also notes, explaining that the original Friday the 13th left the door wide open to examine the backstory behind the Camp Crystal Lake carnage. And that’s exactly what we’re getting when “Crystal Lake” premieres October 15 on Peacock.

Callum Vinson (“Chucky”) is playing young Jason in “Crystal Lake,” which will tell the origin story of the masked slasher who has stalked the grounds of Crystal Lake for decades.

Linda Cardellini stars as Pamela Voorhees, a mother who gave up a singing career to raise her special needs child, only to take a dark turn when she loses her son — Jason.

From A24 and streamer Peacock, “Crystal Lake” will notably be the first official Friday the 13th project since the Platinum Dunes remake of the original classic way back in 2009.

The post ‘Crystal Lake’ – Linda Cardellini Teases the Show’s Approach to Mrs. Voorhees appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.

In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.

“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”

The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”

O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“

Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold. 

“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.

New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.

Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.

The post ‘Widow’s Bay’ Star Kate O’Flynn on Patricia’s Triumphant Final Girl Transformation appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.

The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.

It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.

For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.

It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim. 

Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.

To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.

This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.

For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.

The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?

It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.

Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!

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“The Hunting Party” ultimately ended up feeling like “Hannibal”-lite, but it wasn’t without its fun. Unfortunately, the NBC series has now been cancelled after just two seasons.

The Hollywood Reporter notes, “sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Universal Television, which produces the series, will look to find a new home.”

The viewership just wasn’t there, with “The Hunting Party” averaging “3.7 million viewers after a week of DVR playback” for Season 2, “down 13 percent from its first season.”

It’s always possible that “The Hunting Party” could find a new home on a different network or a streaming service, but at this time the series is completely dead in the water.

In the series, which also streamed on Peacock, “a small team of investigators are assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers our country has ever seen, all of whom have just escaped from a top-secret prison that’s not supposed to exist.”

Melissa Roxburgh, Nick Wechsler, Patrick Sabongui, Josh McKenzie, and Sara Garcia star. JJ Bailey created the series and was the show-runner alongside Jake Coburn.

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Billy Barratt (Bring Her Back), Emily Carey (“House of the Dragon”), Esther McGregor (“We Were Liars”), Faly Rakotohavana (“UnPrisoned” ), and Mia Isaac (“American Horror Stories”) are the latest additions.

They join previously announced leads Maisy Stella (My Old Ass) and newcomer Tatum Grace Hopkins, who play childhood best friends Chloe and Max, respectively.

The series follows Max, who is, per the official synopsis, “a photography student, who discovers she can rewind time while saving the life of her childhood best friend, Chloe (Stella). As she struggles to understand this new skill, the pair investigates the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student, uncovering a dark side to their town that will ultimately force them to make an impossible life or death choice that will impact them forever.”

Barratt will star as classmate Nathan; Carey is set to play one of Nathan’s close friends, Victoria Chase; McGregor will play missing student Rachel Amber. Rakotohavana has been cast as Warren, and Isaac is set as Kate Marsh, both good friends of Max’s.

Tom Cullen (“Downton Abbey”), Leisha Hailey (“The L Word”), Raúl Castillo (Smile 2), and Owen Teague (IT) also star.

“Life Is Strange” is created by showrunner and executive producer Charlie Covell (“The End of the F**king World“), with Mackenzie Dohr (“Widow’s Bay“, “WandaVision“) writing and executive producing.

As if all the aforementioned talent isn’t enticing enough, Karyn Kusama (The Invitation, Jennifer’s Body) will direct the first two episodes and executive produce under her Familystyle production banner. 

Life Is Strange, developed by Don’t Nod Entertainment and later Deck Nine with Square Enix’s External Studios serving as publisher, has amassed over 20 million players since its launch in 2015.

The Twin Peaks-inspired game has since launched a franchise that includes 2017’s Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, 2018’s The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, 2018’s Life Is Strange 2, 2021’s Life Is Strange: True Colors, 2022’s Life Is Strange Remastered Collection, 2024’s Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, and this year’s Life Is Strange: Reunion.

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The novel was published by Orion Books in 2019, and Stephen King is one of the twisted tale’s many fans. He called it a “nightmarish story” that’s “incredibly propulsive and original.”

“You won’t shake it for a long time,” King added.

Deadline reports that Michael Sarnoski (Pig, A Quiet Place: Day One, The Death of Robin Hood) will executive produce the series for HBO, and he’s also directing the pilot episode.

Jodie Comer will star in HBO’s “The Chain.” In the eight-episode series, Comer plays Rachel, a suburban mother who must consider the unthinkable when her daughter is kidnapped.

Damon Lindelof (“Watchmen”) is show-running “The Chain” for HBO.

Damon Lindelof also co-wrote the pilot episode with Carly Wray (“Mad Men,” “Westworld”), based on a story by Lindelof, Wray, and Breannah Gibson (“The Penguin”).

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Not just loss. Not just unsuccessful inadequacy. But true, all-encompassing, cataclysmic failure.

The Vampire Lestat, much like the two seasons of Interview with the Vampire before it, is a series that’s profoundly interested in failure. The type of failure that can only be understood by someone who has been making the same mistakes for over 250 years. The Vampire Lestat is utterly consumed by failure, but also temptation, regression, obsession, and evolution. It remains unparalleled when it comes to sprawling, epic love stories that endure for centuries. 

The new season reminds us that we’re all slaves to the past, whether it’s in terms of repeating it or trying to rise above it. This season is such a potent cocktail of pain, vanity, fear, and regret that’s shared between this sad collection of lost souls that culminates in such explosive bursts of tremendous emotion. Human, vampire; nobody wants to burn alone. It’s all too appropriate that a season that functions as a sweeping ode to failure is genuinely one of the year’s most perfect pieces of television, horror or otherwise.

At first, The Vampire Lestat’s transition to rock and roll may seem like a radical pivot. However, this is a series that continues to creatively mythologize and normalize vampires. It presents them as a crucial societal pillar and creates rewarding parallels between vampires and rock stars, right down to their parasitically adoring groupies. Lestat goes so far as to argue that vampires are the original rock stars, and it uses Lestat’s latest metamorphosis as a way to highlight these toxic, unbalanced relationships.

Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt and Jennifer Ehle as Gabriella – Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat _ Episode 02 – Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC

It’s a truly perfect setup that’s a beautiful extension of the previous two seasons as well as a sublime rebirth into a new “hedonistic pursuit of extremity.” It’s an inspired way to continue the franchise’s “interview” and unreliable narrator concept, while also doing something completely original with the construct. Each episode of this season takes Lestat’s traveling menagerie to a different city on his band’s 54-stop tour, while a foreboding sense of dread accumulates over the global catastrophes that are the consequence of this tour and its corresponding album.  

Lestat is like a virus that passes through these metropolitan cities, leaving them ravaged and changed by the time that he leaves. It leads to some stunning commentary and visuals of the New World Order that gradually sets in over the season. Additionally, there’s a powerful apathy to the idea that Daniel Molloy’s (Eric Bogosian) published exposé on Lestat would fizzle out after a year and that humanity would move on and stop caring as they flock to the next big thing that they’re supposed to care about. It’s a cynicism that makes so much sense for this universe and individuals who have been around for centuries and seen it all.

That being said, those who are hoping for more of a direct adaptation of Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned are going to need to be a little more patient. Much like how the series’ first two seasons are companion pieces and halves of a longer story, The Vampire Lestat leaves its Akasha (Sheila Atim) teases to its final episodes. These perfectly set up a hypothetical fourth season, which would presumably tackle the rest of Damned’s material.

Jacob Anderson as Louis De Pointe Du Lac – The Vampire Lestat – Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC

It’s amazing that Letstat’s whole rockstar persona functions as a petty, egotistical response to regain control of the narrative so that his songs are the definitive text that usurps Daniel’s novel. It’s the perfect distillation of Lestat as a character and one that facilitates a deeply entertaining and even campier season of television that goes places that would have previously been impossible. The series’ evolution remains one of the most fascinating and impressive things about this season.

The Vampire Lestat’s rebirth is a reflection of life’s cyclical nature and how everything old is new again. This is highlighted both explicitly and subtly through not just the season’s messaging, but also through some clever and ambitious casting choices. Several actors pull double duty this season. This could easily be a disaster in less-skilled hands, and yet it’s never a distraction here. If anything, it manages to beautifully enhance the series’ obsession with duality.

The series digs deeper than ever into its characters, but the filmmaking artistry has never been better. It’s a self-indulgent display of aesthetic extremes that underscores how much care is put into every single frame. Much of this season is presented like a rock band doc that shifts between different film styles. It’s such a natural fit that meshes with the series’ broader tendency to be a cinematic magpie. There are so many different directions that The Vampire Lestat could take for its band material. The decision to explicitly pull from Madonna: Truth or Dare is so gonzo but perfect. It’s a strong way to put Lestat on a pedestal and simultaneously demystify him as his many sides are portrayed through the season’s fractured, nonlinear meta-narrative.

Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt – The Vampire Lestat – Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC

To this point, there’s so much effort going into Lestat’s music. These are immaculately written by Daniel Hart, and they all feel like actual songs that could top charts and get audiences screaming and dropping drugs, even without any vampire glamor influencing their opinion. It’s hard territory to authentically nail, and it makes all the difference that The Vampire Lestat knocks it out of the park in this department and features a season that’s full of genuine bangers, rather than one half-decent song that’s repeated ad nauseam. It also doesn’t hurt that this season Baz Luhrmanns the fuck out when it comes to these grandiose musical spectacles. 

Sam Reid embodies the rock star persona so effortlessly that it’s wild to think that this wasn’t always the role that he was playing. It fits him as snug as leather pants. Lestat’s fame becomes so intense that there are literally people cosplaying as him in crowds so that his ego can reach even more untenable heights. This artificial future is powerfully juxtaposed against Lestat’s past, including some key formative moments from his life. There’s also a heartbreaking confrontation that arguably hits even harder than season two’s best moments. It’s so encouraging and exciting to see that The Vampire Lestat continues to top itself and that its best work is not behind it. It’s still finding new ways to thrive.

The series’ narration has always been on point. However, it’s easy to forget just how precise every word is and how perfectly Rolin Jones sticks the landing with his interpretations of these characters and Anne Rice’s universe, while still making it his own. ”Serving cunt has its consequences” might also be the most Lestat line to ever Lestat. Alternatively, the new role Daniel takes on as the director of a Lestat documentary is such a fun position for him to slide into that it becomes another playful echo of the past. It all reinforces the idea that we filter ourselves through the company we keep and that there’s conflict when we’re confronted with the truth.

The Vampire Lestat is everything you could want and then some. It’s a moving meditation on fame, fandom, and legacy that pushes its characters and relationships to their most satisfying places yet. Admittedly, this season throws a lot of new characters at the audience, but this never feels overwhelming or that this influx of new faces is superfluous.

I genuinely don’t know how these seven episodes could be any better. It’s the best Anne Rice adaptation to date and a series that truly feels like it’s just getting started and has greater highs to hit. Bring on the Queen of the Damned.

The Vampire Lestat premieres on June 7 on AMC and AMC+.

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Another big fan of “Widow’s Bay”? Master filmmaker Guillermo del Toro!

Guillermo del Toro took to social media this weekend to rave, “If I may- in my estimation- #WidowsBay may very well be the best streaming series in a long time… and hands down one of the most mesmerizing acts of narrative prestidigitation in Horror.”

If I may- in my estimation- #WidowsBay may very well be the best streaming series in a long time… and hands down one of the most mesmerizing acts of narrative prestidigitation in Horror.

— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 30, 2026

Daniel Kurland wrote in his “Widow’s Bay” review for Bloody Disgusting, “Season One makes a perfect first impression, and its debut is strong enough that viewers will want to set up permanent residency there. There’s an excellent sense of storytelling, character development, and an engaging mystery that’s strengthened through pitch-perfect horror and comedy.”

A cursed coastal town is plagued by the supernatural in Apple TV series “Widow’s Bay.”

The series takes place in a “quaint island town 40 miles off the coast of New England. But something lurks beneath the surface. Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) is desperate to revive his struggling community. There’s no wifi, spotty cellular reception, and he must contend with superstitious locals who believe their island is cursed.”

“But Loftis is determined to build a better future for his teenage son and turn the island into a tourist destination. Unfortunately, the locals were right. After decades of calm, the old stories that seemed too ludicrous to be true start happening again.”

Katie Dippold (2016’s Ghostbusters, Haunted Mansion) is the series creator & showrunner. New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.

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Deadline notes that the high profile package is “being taken out to buyers,” with Tom Spezialy (The Leftovers, Watchmen) attached as the writer of The Birds limited series.

Universal International Studios and Heyday Television are behind the project.

Deadline details, “The Birds limited series is described as a visceral, present-day reimagining of Hitchcock’s classic set in Spezialy’s home state of Alaska with a murder mystery at the center and new characters, led by a new female protagonist, Myra Massey (Sarah Snook).”

“The Birds introduces traveling magistrate Myra Massey (Snook) as she returns to her isolated Alaskan hometown for a routine presumptive death hearing, expecting a simple cold case. Instead, she finds her childhood friend’s bullet-ridden body,” Deadline further details. “When Myra is forced to step outside her role as judge to untangle the mystery, nature itself turns hostile with a wave of bird attacks. Now, Myra isn’t just trying to close a case, she’s fighting to survive in a place where death lurks in both the shadows and the skies.”

Released in 1963, Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds was based on the same-named story by Daphne du Maurier, published in 1952. The film spawned a mostly-forgotten sequel in 1994.

Sarah Snook in ‘Run Rabbit Run’

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Even then, the profit-driven machinations behind film distribution can still result in movies becoming unavailable to legally stream or purchase – and that’s not even mentioning the recent trend of studios scrapping completed projects in order to guarantee a bigger tax break.

However, for every Batgirl and The Golem, there’s a case where dedicated fans have managed to unearth elusive media and make it available for everyone. This month had one such pleasant outcome when dedicated cinephile Darren Payne announced via film preservation FB Group Film is Fabulous that he’d recovered a long-lost episode of the BBC’s 1968 anthology series Late Night Horror.

Directed by Paddy Russell and written by I Am Legend scribe Richard Matheson, “No Such Thing as a Vampire” is a 25-minute short following a doctor’s wife who becomes ill and soon suspects that she’s actually being visited by a blood-sucking vampire. What follows is a gruesome tale that pushes the limits of 1960s horror programming with a surprising amount of disturbing imagery.

Pictured: BBC’s ‘Late Night Horror’ Title Card

This story is only the second of Late Night Horror’s six episodes to be recovered (with Russell’s other grim tale, The Corpse Can’t Play, having been found back in 2016), as the program’s terrifying reputation led to the BBC scrapping and allegedly destroying the show entirely after receiving numerous complaints from sensitive viewers.

As Doctor Who fans are sadly aware, the BBC also had a nasty habit of taping over “unwanted” recordings as a cost-saving measure back in the day, so the fact that Payne recovered a private 16mm telerecording of the show after inquiring about a collection of mystery reels at England’s Regent Theater is nothing short of a small miracle.

That being said, while No Such Thing as a Vampire was originally broadcast in color, the surviving copy is limited to black-and-white (though Payne guarantees that the film remains just as terrifying without the added color). There’s also talk of an experimental color recovery process being planned for the print, though there’s no guarantee that it’ll work out.

The high-resolution digital scan of No Such Thing as a Vampire is set to make its public debut during this year’s edition of the UK’s Grindfest on September 20, with the footage then being returned to the BBC for a wider release!

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Mickle is directing as well as co-writing the FX series with Katz.

Deadline notes that the neo-noir series is billed as “Cormac McCarthy meets John Carpenter.”

The outlet details, “That Texas Blood is a neo-noir Western following Sheriff Joe Bob Coates of Ambrose County, Texas, who questions his place in an increasingly violent world when a man returns home following the sudden disappearance of his brother, causing a spiral down into a past filled with treachery and blood.”

Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips are behind the comic book series from Image.

Jim Mickle directed the films Stake Land, We Are What We Are, and Cold in July, and he more recently directed the television shows “Hap and Leonard” and “Sweet Tooth.”

E.L. Katz, meanwhile, directed the movies Cheap Thrills and Azrael. His TV directing credits include “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” “Channel Zero,” “Swamp Thing,” and “Teacup.”

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By the 1990s, Curry had made a considerable transition to voice acting. His chops could be heard in a number of children’s shows, including The Pirates of Dark Water, Darkwing Duck, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, and The Wild Thornberrys. Of course, Curry didn’t completely stay off camera back then; one particular live-action role of his still stays with me and, undoubtedly, plenty of others who grew up on Tales from the Crypt (1989–1996).

Having first seen Season Five’s “Death of Some Salesmen” at a pretty young age, I didn’t invest a lot of thought into who played the characters in these macabre stories I loved. So I most certainly didn’t stop to notice that all three members of the Brackett family were played by Tim Curry. My awareness of this awesome triple play came later in life, but I also wasn’t surprised. By then, I had become much more aware of Curry’s skills as an actor.

Like other episodes of Tales from the Crypt, “Death of Some Salesmen” doesn’t exactly match up with its source material. The destinations are the same in either story; the door-to-door protagonist meets an untimely end during his travels. In EC Comics’ version, though, you may actually feel some sympathy for the main character. Here we find a man who was just looking for help, as opposed to his next sucker.

Mike Vosburg’s comic-style artwork for “Death of Some Salesmen”, as shown in the Tales from the Crypt episode.

In a story written by Al Feldstein and drawn by Jack Kamen, “Death of Some Salesmen!”—EC loved its exclamation points!—began with Stuart Thatcher getting caught in a heavy downpour. His recent failed attempts at selling some mysterious item have led him to give up and go home. It’s only once Stuart’s car stalls that he goes knocking on the wrong door in the middle of the night. At a house on a hill, Stuart is taken in by a woman who bears a resemblance to the Crypt-Keeper, the hosting GhouLunatic of A Crypt of Terror (which was later retitled Tales from the Crypt). This Henrietta and her husband, Eban, don’t waste any time before they let their guest feel threatened.

Had it not been for Stuart mentioning his line of work, perhaps he would have lived longer. Mr. Thatcher wasn’t even there to pull a fast one on this gruesome couple, much less sell whatever he was selling. All he simply wanted was to use their phone (and understandably, they didn’t have one). Nonetheless, Henrietta and Eban have been burned in the past, so their mouths start foaming at the mere mention of “traveling salesman”.

Stuart, like Ed Begley Jr.’s character in the TV adaptation, learns what’s up early on. And that’s only because Henrietta and Eban give their unwelcome guest a ghastly tour of all their new appliances, as well as the salesmen who provided them. Mind you, not every one of those peddlers ripped them off, but alas, even the decent ones didn’t go unpunished. Henrietta and Eban killed them just the same as the dishonest salesmen. The couple also stored their victims’ bodies inside of said appliances (e.g., one corpse is found inside a freezer). More or less, this is what happened in the Crypt episode before Begley’s character is knocked unconscious by “Pa” Brackett.

Shifting into the adaptation, which was directed by Gilbert Adler and co-written by Adler and A. L. Katz, that salesman truly got what was coming to him. After all, he was selling fake cemetery plots to the grief-stricken. And after swindling Yvonne De Carlo’s poor character in a scene that really sold how unscrupulous this Judd Campbell guy is, there was no turning back. Thankfully, the episode also doesn’t disappoint by not delivering the most logical outcome for Begley’s role: to make him dig his own grave.

A page from “Death of Some Salesmen!”, as seen in EC Comics’ The Haunt of Fear.

Now, the comic showed Stuart getting what wasn’t owed to him; Henrietta and Eban were just taking out their grievances on whoever was available. That same story also ended more straightforwardly, seeing as how the couple didn’t bother to trick Stuart. No, they made their plan clear from the beginning. And after Eban retrieved that enigmatic piece of merchandise from Mr. Thatcher’s car—a handy-dandy meat slicer—these potential customers tested the product in the only way they saw fit.

Meanwhile, in Tales from the Crypt’s version, there was some attempt at deceiving the deceiver. The logic of that scheme isn’t especially brilliant, or even sound, but Curry’s presence more than makes up for the so-so writing. He disappeared into all three of his roles here—and not because of the heavy makeup and prosthetics. No, Curry got absolutely lost in his characters, and the outcome is as brilliant as it is repulsive.

Tales from the Crypt was never too apologetic about itself; that’s something its fans can attest to, as well as appreciate. And although “Death of Some Salesmen” does become an endurance test at times—it seemed almost hellbent on making the audience gag and squirm—that depravity, along with Curry’s total extraness, is its selling point. Above all, this episode is a shining example of bad taste done very well.

Season Five of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on May 29.

Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.

Tim Curry as Winona Brackett in “Death of Some Salesmen”.

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Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.

The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.

The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”

Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.

“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”

“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”

Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”

The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.

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Does that grab hold of your attention? Because it damn sure snatched up mine!

Mac Smullen (Children of the Moon) wrote the pilot for Sunken Meadow on spec, with North Road Television Studios picking up the hot series project “in the seven-figure range.”

Deadline also notes in today’s exclusive report, “Insiders also add that [Margot Robbie’s] LuckyChap is potentially coming on as a producer but no deal has been reached yet.”

North Road’s Amy Israel, Josh Stern, and Peter Chernin will executive produce.

Stay tuned for more much on the intriguing Sunken Meadow as we learn it.

‘Six Feet Under’

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