Nicolas Cage has played many roles in his storied career, including some famous horror roles. He’s been a guy who thinks he is a vampire (Vampire’s Kiss), to someone who definitely did not like bees (The Wicker Man). And, more recently, he starred in the cult film Mandy. Now, he’s finally playing a serial killer, in the upcoming film Longlegs. The upcoming film is from director Osgood Perkins, who comes from quite the horror pedigree himself. His father was Anthony Perkins, the iconic Norman Bates in the Psycho franchise. You can check out the trailers for the upcoming serial killer horror film from NEON Films right here.

The movie centers on Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) a fledgling FBI agent, who is attempting to crack a long-unsolved case of a serial killer. Eventually, the investigation becomes more complex, when they uncover some occult evidence. We glimpse a book about the Nine Circles of Hell in the trailer. Eventually, Harker discovers that he has a personal link to the killer (Nicolas Cage), and has to race against the clock in order to prevent another murder from happening.

Longlegs also stars Alicia Witt (The Walking Dead, Twin Peaks) and Dear White People’s Blair Underwood. Nicolas Cage is producing via his company Saturn Films.

Despite suggesting a horror film that connects to spiders, the tagline for the film says in a very cryptic way “You’ve got the teeth of the Hydra upon you.” So it looks like we’re seeing some Hydra ancient mythology that connects to this particular mystery.

We’re a sucker for a good cult-themed horror story like True Detective: Night Country. A story that has ties to some kind of mythological being.

The poster art for Longlegs says “The Man Downstairs is Coming.” It appears this mysterious man will arrive in theaters on July 12.

Originally published on February 5, 2024.

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Light spoilers ahead for MaXXXine.

MaXXXine is the climactic—or should I say anticlimactic—end to Ti West’s trilogy. Rather than a crescendo with a peak, it struggles to even race beside the previous two. Gore and violence are sparse with a plot that lacks focus. It’s more of a pick-your-poison “choose your own adventure” film. With Maxine Minx in Hollywood attempting to transition from porn star to movie star, her past rears up and puts an unnecessary kink in her plans. While audiences won’t walk away hating MaXXXine, it’s a lackluster film that drifts from the mind after viewing.

Directed and written by Ti West, MaXXXine marks the final chapter in the trilogy. Maxine, played by Mia Goth (Suspiria, Infinity Pool), is so close to breaking into Hollywood from the porn industry. But with a snoopy P.I. John Labat (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Leave the World Behind) in the mix, deaths adding up around her, and cops sniffing at her heels, her career might be dead on arrival. However, Maxine is not someone anyone should cross. She still possesses her self-preservation edge. With all the promise built from the other films with Mia Goth’s star performance, it’s a wonder this final film falters so much. 

MaXXXine Takes Audiences From Say Something to Say Nothing

X was astounding because of its gore and how it subverts traditional horror. Rather than the stereotypical “pure” final girl, they have a woman who is literally shooting a porn film to survive. Religion and the restrictions women face play out underneath. There is plenty to draw from rewatching X.

The second film, Pearl, was a prequel focused on gender constraints through a warped Wizard of Oz tale. There’s also the nature versus nurture question of whether Pearl was always prone to violent outbursts or if her mother’s restrictive rearing led her down that path. By its climax, Dorothy does not ever leave Kansas. She remains trapped, building up her bitterness and resentment for a life never lived. 

Then there is MaXXXine, a less refined version of the two. MaXXXine lacks cohesion. It has too much happening, and few parts meld together. There are ideas that the movie wanted to explore, including gender and religion, the entertainment industry, and the thin line between entertainment and reality. However, it fails to nail any of them. 

Pointless Parts in MaXXXine Taint the Whole Picture

A familiar refrain will haunt viewers, and it’s one word; “why.” Unfortunately, too much feels unnecessary or designed for laughs. The in-universe film director, Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki), feels jammed in without a purpose. Maxine has brief mental struggles with what happened at the farmhouse, but it never amounts to anything. So much hinders the film, like the inclusion of the ’80s real-life serial killer, the Nightstalker. 

At first, it seems as though the infamous murderer is stalking the streets and explicitly targeting those close to Maxine. But it takes little effort to realize who may resent Maxine and her “life of sin.” The movie tries to tease the threat, only showing the individual’s gloved hands, but it does not even take three guesses to identify her foe. So, while it tries to go the mystery route, it fails miserably. MaXXXine‘s uncertainty with what it wants to be. Is it a callout to the industry? Or is the film perhaps a mystery, Giallo horror, etc.? It is unclear.

Mia Goth Still Rocks as Maxine, But There’s Too Much Camp

In MaXXXine, religious zealotry and moments of bright, violent girl power run throughout its narrative. Mia still delivers a forceful and deadly performance. From nutcracker to face-keying, whenever Maxine unleashes her violence on the men around her, it’s always fun and deserved. Still, because of the breadth of what the film takes on, even Mia Goth feels underutilized in the final film. Too much attention goes to flat jokes and exaggerated religious zeal. You nearly forget that Maxine is trying to make a movie. 

Detective Williams (Michelle Monaghan) and Detective Torres (Bobby Cannavale) are excess baggage in an already bogged down film. Their whole schtick is Torres being an obnoxious man, talking down to Maxine, then Williams steps in, and Maxine leaves. Rinse and repeat. Many attempts at comedic moments with these two do not land. It’s more obnoxious and will likely leave audiences bewildered. They are not even essential to the final fight.

That Death Was Certainly a Choice

Another strike for MaXXXine, tying in with the gore, is how one death is handled. A Black person has one of the only gruesome deaths that takes place onscreen. Sure, it’s set in the ’80s, and few Black characters in predominantly white films survived. However, if we were going by the checklist of the time, Maxine herself would not have made it out of X intact. 

An argument can be made regarding the fact that the most gruesome deaths are men—although only one is her friend. But there was not enough done to cement that aspect. It’s ruddered in crudely. (If you’re a fan of Cardi B, you can insert her “what was the reason” GIF here.) Because choosing to have one of the most gruesome deaths be a Black person is a jarring disappointment.

MaXXXine had all the promise and goodwill engendered by the two preceding films. Unfortunately, it does not earn much beyond a shrug and “That’s it?” It would be fine if it weren’t part of a trilogy that rose beyond gore and violence while still delivering both. But the final act is “Yikes” in cinema form. MaXXXine forfeits it all, devolving into a messy puddle of obscurity, where whatever themes viewers say the movie explores is more of a wish than reality. The further you get from the theater, the less you’ll like or want to remember this film. 

MaXXXine ⭐ (2 of 5)

The film hits theaters on July 5.

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Finding new and interesting takes on vampire stories is a pretty tough row to hoe at this point. They’re among the oldest and most famous folklore monsters and the lore surrounding them, at least as laid out in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, feels mostly concrete. It’s strange, then, why more movies don’t explore the folklore in a different way, from a different part of the world. Adrien Beau’s debut feature The Vourdalak does this, exploring the Russian/Slavic vampire legend through its most popular written work. Oh, and it also makes the vampire a creepy puppet. That helps.

The Vourdalak adapts Aleksey K. Tolstoy’s 1839 novella, The Family of the Vourdalak, which predates both Le Fanu’s 1873 Carmilla and Stoker’s 1897 Dracula. Vourdalaks differ from our traditional understanding of vampires. They drink blood, sure, and they are undead, but the sun has little to no effect on them, and they tend to only feast on members of their family. That aspect forms the foundation of the story. It’s the breakdown of a family unit in a time and culture that values family, and respecting elders of the family, above all else.

The movie places the action in the late 1700s wherein French nobleman Marquis Jacques Antoine Saturnin d’Urfe (Kacey Mottet Klein) finds himself stranded in Eastern Europe, looking for a place to spend the night. The Turks had recently raided the village, but the villager tells the Marquis to seek shelter at the house of an elder named Gorcha. On the way, the Marquis meets Gorcha’s daughter Sdenka (Ariane Labed) and immediately becomes infatuated. Unfortunately for him, Sdenka—who desperately wants to leave for a better life—has other things on her mind.

The Gorcha household, we and the Marquis learn, consists of the aged Gorcha, Gorcha’s three children—eldest Jegor, Sdenka, and younger son Piotr—and Jegor’s wife and son. Jegor left to find the Turkish raiders and, returning after a month, discovers Gorcha himself went out after the Turks. Gorcha told his family if he does not return in six days, they should assume he’s dead. If he returns after the six days, they should assume he’s a vourdalak and refuse him entry. Jegor finds this absurd and the Marquis finds it peculiar.

However, after assuming the missing Gorcha had indeed died, the old man appears at the edge of the forest at exactly six days, to the minute. He looks like a corpse, clearly little more than a skeleton with skin, but he holds so much sway over his children, especially Jegor, they allow him to stay. Would you be surprised to hear he’s a vourdalak?

Beau makes a couple of really clever choices that set this movie apart from other adaptations. Famously, Mario Bava’s 1963 anthology film Black Sabbath adapts the story with Boris Karloff as Gorcha. Less famously, the 1972 Giorgio Ferroni film The Night of the Devils moved the action to the modern day. But Beau in fact moves it further back in time, so that our French nobleman is a ridiculous, white-makeup-faced fop. He’s a ridiculous sight to us, but it makes him especially ridiculous to the locals who know nothing of French courtiers. He’s an outsider.

The other major change, obviously, is that Gorcha himself when we see him is so inhuman, so far gone down the road of undead monster, that he’s not even a person. Gorcha is head to toe a full-size rod puppet, with Beau providing the voice. He has full scenes of dialogue, in full light—more than enough to make it clear, this ain’t a man. This is entirely the point! It’s easy to look at Boris Karloff and, even with some makeup, recognize he’s the man you used to know. It’s impossible to look at the thing in this movie and see anything but a grotesquery. And yet…

The Vourdalak uses its uncanny visuals to its benefit, heightening a story that certainly feels pretty familiar to horror fans. In addition to the puppetry, we have some lovely, gloomy dream sequences and bloody set pieces. The cast acquit themselves very nicely, perfectly playing the severity of the situation, even amid the unreality of the threat. Klein also manages a compelling protagonist who is at once compassionate and forthright, and a ridiculous buffoon who is a rich creep.

I think if The Vourdalak has any downside, it’s that none of it is particularly scary. Parts of it, especially later in the story involving Gorcha’s feeding, should be eerier than they are. Perhaps that isn’t the point, however the aforementioned Italian versions certainly slanted toward a growing creep factor I don’t think The Vourdalak ever comes close to. Doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie, and if grotesqueness is all you’re after, this French-language offering has plenty for you. The puppet alone is worth the 90 minute watch.

The Vourdalak ⭐ (3.5 of 5)

The Vourdalak opens exclusively in US cinemas on June 28th from Oscilloscope Laboratories.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

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Door-to-door evangelizing seems like a lot of hard work. You have to be out in the elements and spreading the word of your Lord and Savior, often to people who really don’t want to hear it. I’d imagine there are a ton of people who either ignore you, slam the door in your face, or curse you out. And, if you’re a woman, there’s always that extra risk of a guy doing or saying something to make you feel super uncomfortable. But I never thought that a missionary occupational hazard would be running into a lunatic who holds you hostage in their house for weird mental games. That’s what happens in Heretic, an A24 psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, Yellowjackets’ star Sophie Thatcher, and Chloe East with a trailer that teases a house of horrors. 

In the clip, Thatcher and Chloe are two young missionaries trying to spread knowledge about Jesus Christ. Their somewhat meek demeanors mean they are dismissed by most people. Nevertheless, they continue to bike around town and try to save souls. They go to a random, secluded house (red flag #1) where Grant’s far-too-friendly Mr. Reed lives. He invites them inside (red flag #2) and insists that it’s okay because his wife is there (red flag #3).

Things soon go down a dark path when they realize they are locked in. Mr. Reed says they can go but they have to choose between two doorways: one for believers and one for those who do not believe. I’m pretty sure there are terrible things behind both doors. The Heretic trailer is a fun peek that doesn’t give away too much but gives us the gift of a diabolical Hugh Grant. We love when he plays a villain.

Here’s the synopsis for Heretic: 

Two young missionaries are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

What Is the Release Date for A24’s Heretic Movie Starring Hugh Grant? 

Heretic will hit theaters on November 15, 2024.

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When you think of iconic horror movie actors, you think of names like Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee,, Jamie Lee Curtis….and Robert Englund. The man responsible for bringing slasher icon Freddy Krueger into our nightmares will now share an honor with those other horror legends. Englund has announced via Twitter that he’s receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at long last. The beloved actor will receive his star in a ceremony taking place sometime in 2025.

Robert Englund became a household name playing the dream stalker in Wes Craven’s original A Nightmare on Elm Street. A film that turns forty this year. Yet he has a long and storied career outside of Freddy. As he detailed in the documentary about his life, Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares, he was a working character actor for years. Long before his breakout role in the sci-fi mini-series V. A year after V, Craven cast him as deranged serial killer Fred Krueger. This was his career-defining role a part he would play in six sequels and the crossover Freddy vs. Jason. He also starred in films like Phantom of the Opera, Hatchet, and most recently, on season four of Stranger Things.

Will his Elm Street co-star Heather Langenkamp, who played Nancy Thompson, present him with the honor? We kind of hope she does. It would perhaps finally facilitate an on-screen legacy sequel reunion between the two. So many legacy sequels have come out for horror classics like Halloween, The Exorcist, and others over the past several years. Ever since, the fans have been clamoring for a “one more time” visit to Springwood for Robert Englund, especially after the less-than-beloved A Nightmare on Elm Street remake from 2009. In any event, we are just thrilled that Robert Englund is finally getting his flowers.

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Nosferatu. That one word causes a shiver to go down horror fans’ spines. We all know the story of the famed vampire Count Orlok, who is unofficially based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula vampire. And, no matter how many times it gets retold, we want to see it over and over again. Gothic vampire horror narratives will always reign supreme, and the original Nosferatu movie is legendary. The trailer for Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu hits the perfect notes, giving away none of its plot and simply leaning into disturbing imagery. We learn one thing throughout its narrative: He is coming. 

I don’t know the name of the casting director who brought on Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok. I do know that they deserve every good thing in life. What a perfect choice. He’s opposite Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter, the object of this vampire’s affections. The Nosferatu teaser trailer promises a dark and twisted tale centering on these two characters. 

Here’s a quick synopsis to bring things into focus: 

Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

The remainder of Nosferatu’s cast is as follows: 

What Is the Release Date for Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu Movie? 

Nosferatu will hit theaters on December 25, 2024. What a haunting Christmas present.

The post Bill Skarsgård Comes for Lily-Rose Depp’s Blood and Body in NOSFERATU Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

Back in 1998, R&B singer and actress Brandy famously fought with Monica over a boy in “The Boy Is Mine,” a song that still rules karaoke nights to this day. Now, in 2024, Brandy is telling an evil, racist mother-in-law that the house and the child are mine in The Front Room, an upcoming A24 horror film. That’s right, Brandy, who famously played Karla Wilson in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, is coming back to the genre! The first trailer for The Front Room shows Brandy battling against an old woman with a sinister agenda. 

Here’s a synopsis of The Front Room by A24: 

Everything goes to hell for newly-pregnant Belinda (Brandy) after her mother-in-law (Kathryn Hunter) moves in. As the diabolical guest tries to get her claws on the child, Belinda must draw the line somewhere…

The trailer for The Front Room certainly shows Belinda’s mother-in-law trying to do some weird ritual and being a real pain in general. She needs to give it up. Brandy has had about enough. It’s not hard to see…

We don’t know how things will end but we do know that Max and Sam Eggers are the writers and directors of this vehicle. Let’s see what these brothers will bring to the screen with Brandy leading the way alongside Andrew Burnap.

What Is the Release Date for Brandy’s Horror Movie The Front Room?

The Front Room will hit theaters on September 6.

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One of the best and most creative horror films in recent years is undoubtedly Smile. Everything from the film’s concepts to its characters and even its marketing blitz were pretty darn close to perfection. With Smile’s resounding success, it was inevitable that Paramount Pictures would order a sequel. The first teaser trailer for Smile 2 introduces us to a new set of characters and that familiar sinister smirking.

Ya know, I am not sure about this second venture. I will definitely check it out when it hits theaters. But I think that certain concepts are cooler when they aren’t stretched to their limits. I absolutely love Parker Finn’s Laura Hasn’t Slept and didn’t mind that concept getting stretched out to a full film with Smile. Now, it feels like it could be wearing the novelty thin, if you get what I mean. No shade to anyone involved because I totally hope this film rules. It’s good to see Parker Finn is writing and directing once again!

Here’s a synopsis for Smile 2 to bring the trailer into focus: 

About to embark on a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control. 

The Smile 2 cast includes Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson.

What Is the Release Date for Smile 2?

Smile 2 will hit theaters just in time for Halloween on October 18.

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Jordan Peele is not only a master of horror but also a master of enigma. The horror director and producer caught many fans attention with Us, Get Out, and Nope. And, he still has us in his hooks with Him, a football-centric film he’s producing starring Marlon Wayans. That film is set to hit theaters in September 2025 but it seems there’s yet another Jordan Peele project on the rise. We know absolutely nothing about it except one thing: It’s coming just in time for Halloween 2026. Jordan Peele posted a message on X (forever Twitter in our hearts) with a photo that has nothing but the date October 23, 2026. Maybe it will be called Her…

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the upcoming 2026 Jordan Peele film is on Universal Pictures upcoming slate. There is no title nor any details but fans are speculating quite a bit already. Is it Candyman 2? Maybe. He’s known for promoting all things under Monkeypaw Production’s umbrella, whether he is directing it or not.

Maybe it’s a quirky Marvel film or The People Under the Stairs remake that is supposed to be in early stages of development. Who knows. We will have to wait a long time and see what Jordan Peele has coming our way with this mysterious 2026 movie.

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Over the past several years, it seems like they’ve remade almost every ’70s and ’80s horror classic. Probably some you’re not even aware of. (Someone remade John Carpenter’s The Fog, for reasons). Yet one cult horror film from that era has remained untouched by the remake craze, until now. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 1981’s Possession is getting the remake treatment soon, as Smile filmmaker Parker Finn and Robert Pattinson are joining forces to remake the supernatural thriller. Polish filmmaker Andrzej Zulawski wrote and directed the original. Pattinson is on board as producer, and may also star in the film.

The original film wasn’t your typical ’80s horror movie. It wasn’t even a financial success in its day, only achieving cult hit status over time, thanks to home video. Possession took place in West Berlin, and featured future Jurassic Park star Sam Neill as a spy who returns home to his wife and son. This meditation of martial drama eventually spirals out, and before you know it, there are strange doppelgangers and a tentacled alien. So, not exactly Friday the 13th. The U.K. banned Possession, and an American release cut out a third of it to be less bizarre. We must say however, it does sound exactly like the kind of weird stuff producer Robert Pattinson would totally be into.

Parker Finn is riding high after his directorial debut Smile became the biggest horror hit of 2022. That film cost $17 million to produce, and made $217 million at the box office. It was originally intended for Paramount+. Yet wiser heads prevailed after positive tests screenings, and Smile made quite a return on investment for the studio. And now Finn is making the sequel. So it seems Finn is using his Smile clout to do his version of the relatively obscure cult film. It remains to be seen if the final film could possibly live up to the strangeness of the original, which was made in a completely different climate for horror films.

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The first hour of writer-director Ishana Night Shyamalan’s debut film The Watchers is instantly forgettable and totally uninteresting in almost every way. Despite being a horror movie there’s nothing—not one single moment—that qualifies as scary. It’s poorly edited, poorly paced, and poorly scored. Its characters are so shallow I couldn’t even muster energy to hope they’d get killed off. The film simply thinks eschewing basic plot elements and putting people in a literal mystery box is compelling enough on its own to make it good. It is not. But after the last 41 minutes of this disastrous, laughable script, I was longing for a return to the first hour. Its mind-numbing nothingness was far better than the absurdity that followed.

The Watchers is a perfect case study in why things like exposition, plot, characterization, theme, and narrative structure are important in storytelling. It lacks all of those things. It actually seems to actively hate them, but not in a fun way. The film isn’t playing against expectations or convention. Instead it just doesn’t care about them. Vital information, which would have been wildly interesting to know at the start, is held back until the last 20 minutes of the movie.

As a result you don’t care what’s going on or why because the film never even hints at its actual story. It’s genuinely shocking when you find out what it’s really about. There’s a hidden premise here that is actually a good idea for a movie. But by the time you you’re told it, it’s not only far too late, it will make you actively hate it for trying to be so coy. This film is like getting served cake after getting force fed literal slop for 80 straight minutes. No cares about cake at that point! You’re sick from the slop!

Even when the movie does finally bother to provide us necessary exposition, it does so in the most ham-fisted way imaginable. My mostly full screening groaned during some info dumps. Characters deliver many of them during scenes while claiming they must keep moving at all costs. The rest of the dialogue isn’t much better, either. Characters speak in an uncanny valley manner that makes you think their off-ness might be intentional. Nope, it’s just really bad writing.

Who are these people, though? It doesn’t matter. What brought them here? It really doesn’t matter. Who are the titular “watchers” observing them at night? I was more worried about everyone having to watch this awful movie to care.

I know this all sounds harsh, but the truth is, it’s actually much worse. This is film is so inane that its big ending made me laugh out loud. That was definitely not the reaction the film was trying to get. I wasn’t alone, either. Many in the audience started laughing, too. It was the most/only cathartic moment of the entire evening. Laughing at this silliness was a physical release of the frustration-turned-disbelief we’d all obviously been feeling.

Thematically, The Watchers is just as bad as its plot and characters. It presents potentially engaging ideas in the first 10 minutes only to completely forget about them until the last ten. Meanwhile it abandons other themes are completely. It’s almost incomprehensible how bad this screenplay is. (There’s part of me that wants people to see it for that very reason.) It really lacks the most basic elements of a coherent story, let along a decent one.

Sometimes the cast can save a bad movie from itself, but that didn’t happen here. (In fairness, Daniel-Day Lewis and Meryl Streep couldn’t have saved this movie with a script this bad.) Star Dakota Fanning technically gives the best performance, but only technically. Her Mina is intentionally flat and emotionally broken, but it doesn’t work when everyone in this movie is flat. Mina is like Melatonin the character. All the other characters are Valium.

The only thing keeping this film from being an historic disaster is, strangely enough, the person most responsible for it. Shyamalan is unable to generate any kind of dread, interest, or sense of place, but the film does feature some nice shots. She clearly knows how to both light and frame a scene. And she knows where to put her camera. As long as she’s shooting someone else’s script, she clearly has potential as a director.

It’s going to be hard for many people to see that potential initially. Not because they can’t appreciate the only redeemable part of an awful movie, though. They’ll be too angry they actually watched The Watchers.

The Watchers ⭐ (1 of 5)

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post THE WATCHERS Is Unwatchable in Almost Every Way appeared first on Nerdist.

On the surface, living in a rustic house nestled on green acres miles away from society seems like a vibe. You don’t have to worry about annoying neighbors and you can enjoy some sweet scenery. Life is good… unless you’re in a horror movie. Then there’s something sinister waiting to disturb your peace and tear your family apart, especially if you have a child. That’s what we get in Starve Acre, a folk horror film starring Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark with an unsettling yet intriguing trailer. 

The clip shows a couple beginning to splinter after their son Owen starts experiencing something strange. Richard believes everything is okay but his spouse is not so sure. And we totally agree with her, based on all the wild imagery we see in the Starve Acre trailer, including the recurring appearance of a not-so-friendly rabbit. In fact, this furry superstar is the face of Starve Acre‘s excellent poster. We love a legend!

We also love seeing two of our favorite stars, The Rings of Power‘s Morfydd Clark and House of the Dragon‘s Matt Smith, in one movie. Both series will be sharing their second seasons right around when Starve Acre releases. It will be fun to see these talented actors inhabiting such different roles. Starve Acre‘s trailer definitely gives us a taste of the excellent performances in store.

In addition to knowing Starve Acre‘s stars, you might also think this movie’s name sounds familiar. That’s because Starve Acre is based on the book by Andrew Michael Hurley. Here’s a synopsis to make things even clearer: 

When their son starts acting strangely, a couple unwittingly allow dark and sinister forces into their home, awakening a long-dormant ancient evil rooted deep in the countryside.

What Is the Release Date for Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark’s Starve Acre?

Who can resist a film with a creepy kid and an evil entity? We certainly can’t. This film is written and directed by Daniel Kokotajlo, with Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Derrin Schlesinger, and Emma Duffy as its producers. Starve Acre will release in theaters and on-demand on July 26.

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Horror comes in an array of subgenre flavors to satisfy the tastes of different audiences. Some viewers eschew copious amounts of blood and brutality, instead opting for lighter fare that infuses comedy into its narrative. Others seek a horror film that leans more into building a tense atmosphere that toys with the protagonist’s—and, by extension, the viewer’s—psychological stability. And some just want to see some good old fashion slicing and dicing in the fashion of classic slasher flicks.

In all of these cases, the vantage point almost exclusively comes from a killer’s target(s) versus the harbinger(s) of death. But, what if we got a story with a slice-of-deadly-life POV from a hulking mass in the vein of Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers? How does that shift the experience? Is it one that works better in concept versus execution? Chris Nash’s arthouse horror flick In a Violent Nature takes this brave swing with mixed results. 

The film’s main character and silent antagonist, Johnny, arises from under the brush of an absolutely gorgeous yet haunting Ontario woods after a couple of teens swipe an item that belongs to him. He gets up and goes on a mission to kill anyone who crosses his path, whether they have this item or not. He finds a strange old fireman’s mask and a few solid weapons, including an ax. (Love your look, Johnny.) That’s the overall gist of the film.

His awakening begins the first of several sequences of us walking a few steps behind him as he trudges through the woods in search of blood. It certainly gives third-person video game vibes. This is a recurring instance in the film and, except for the first time, it is not particularly thrilling. Those walks in the woods are brilliantly shot but they always go on for a touch too long. At a lean 94 minutes, In a Violent Nature still feels like it can shave off about half an hour or, better yet, just be a short film.

If you like a preponderance of exposition and a strong backstory, you won’t find it here. Johnny’s main targets are a roster of teens who gather together in the woods for a weekend of fun. Thanks to one guy’s love of spooky campfire tales, we learn the legend of Johnny in a brief plot dump. (Johnny hilariously lurks quietly behind them in the dark woods, even staying in place to join their selfie.) All of the characters in the story are forgettable, save for the person who takes the sole survivor throne. Much of their final moments buck the normal battle royale style of standard slasher affairs while maintaining the actual tension that fans crave. Their frazzled escape makes you scan every corner of the frame for danger. (Unfortunately, this fizzles into an underwhelming ending.)

The lack of character development is probably on purpose, as it is not the victims’ stories. This eliminates the typical emotional sting of seeing someone you’ve built some degree of connection with getting obliterated. So, instead of jump scares, standard slasher tension, and the anticipatory dread of when the killer will emerge, there’s the uncomfortable experience of communing with evil and knowing that each kill will offer sheer brutality. It has a strange way of drawing the viewer in but also not allowing them past an arm’s length. There are no human drama or true interpersonal relationships to grasp.

This stripping of the slasher elements could prove to be alienating for viewers. It is all a bit disconcerting at times, creating a disconnection makes it hard to stay engaged. As someone who experienced this film on my flat screen TV at home alone versus a film festival or general movie screening, I had to run a couple of scenes back thanks to wandering thoughts. So many elements are so quiet (almost hypnotic) that you get lost in the forest of your own mind. The spurts of action are often too sparse to reel you back in.

Now, if you’re all about the kills, you’ll get some thrills. In a Violent Nature doesn’t shy away from this element. Johnny hacks up and disfigures bodies in a couple of ways that I, a longtime horror aficionado, have never seen before. The film uses its modest budget effectively to create gratuitously violent murders, one of which will stick with you for a while. In nearly every moment, murderous or not, the sound design and cinematography reign supreme. Johnny’s sluggish steps, nature’s ambient noises, muffled voices/screams, and more replace a film score to create an unsettlingly grounded environment.

In a Violent Nature boasts an understated and artistic aura but doesn’t shy away from the inherent, well, violence of the wild and, by extension, Johnny’s killing machine persona. Cotton candy sunsets and rotting animal flesh, lush green foliage and decaying trees, peaceful waters and pools of blood are all a part of the experience, the cycle of life, death, and whatever stage Johnny is in.  Who knew that horror could have a soothing element?

In a Violent Nature takes some strong creative swings and performs an experiment with slasher horror. As a tighter film with a steadier pace, I could see this working. But, the sluggish crawls to get to the crux of the story (like, you know why we are here!), lack of foundational lore, and zero characters that etch a notch in your memory left me feeling cold. In a Violent Nature is a flick that avid horror fans will be exploring and discussing. So it’s your choice if you’ll allow Johnny to lead your deep into the abyss of the woods.

In a Violent Nature ⭐ (2.5 of 5)

In a Violent Nature hits theaters on May 31.

The post IN A VIOLENT NATURE Bucks Slasher Norms for a Slice-of-Life Look Into a Killer’s Day appeared first on Nerdist.

The Insidious franchise will continue to bring The Further’s horror to the big screen with yet another sequel. Honestly, anyone who watched Insidious: The Red Door isn’t shocked after that post-credits scene with the light flickering over that door of terrors. The next Insidious installment will once again come from Blumhouse Productions and hit theaters on August 29, 2025. 

Of course, there are no other details at this time. We don’t know if we will see the Lambert family again or if the Insidious franchise will branch off in another direction. But, thanks to Variety, we do know that this sequel will not have any ties to Thread: An Insidious Tale, which is an in-universe spinoff series that will star Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani. We will have to wait and see what The Further offers us next.

The post Another INSIDIOUS Sequel Will Revive The Further in 2025 appeared first on Nerdist.

Melissa Barrera can’t stop getting stabbed and drenched in blood. The Mexican actress’ transition to Hollywood has largely been in the horror genre. After gaining a new legion of fans as Sam Carpenter in Scream (2022) and Scream VI, Barrera is continuing her journey in the genre with Abigail. In it, she portrays Joey, a woman with a dark past who, along with a group of fellow criminals, kidnaps the daughter of a wealthy crime boss for money. But, she gets way more than she bargained for because, well, this kid is a ballerina vampire who is thirsty for blood. We caught up with Melissa Barrera to chat about her love for horror, getting physical in Abigail, and more. 

Nerdist: You’ve become quite the horror movie queen over the past couple of years. What is it about the genre that keeps you coming back to it as an actor?

Melissa Barrera: There’s so much about it that I love. I grew up loving horror movies. I love the thrill, love the adrenaline rush, I love being scared. I’m kind of a masochist in that way. And I learned that making horror movies is so much fun. It’s like being a child and playing in your living room with your siblings. It’s like that level of imagination and having to pretend to be scared and scream your heart out is kind of ridiculous if you want to be rational about it. So you really have to let go and let your inner child kind of come out and be fearless and do all these crazy things that horror requires. So I love that. And I also just love that it’s a genre that has a great fandom. The horror fans are the most loyal and the most dedicated.

We are indeed very loyal to what we love!

Barrera: Yeah, and I think there’s just so much room for expansion in the genre. It constantly surprises me where these new creatives are taking horror stories and getting wackier and crazier and more creative. And I think the most interesting stories come out of horror. But I love that they’re always metaphorical. There’s a way to talk about really deep and important issues in horror in a way that feels entertaining and not didactic. They’re not trying to teach you something. They’re just trying to make you think and entertain you. And if you grab onto the metaphor of it, then your mind is blown and then you want to talk about it and peel back all the layers.

There’s just so much of horror that I love, and I know that there’s a lot of incredible directors that have started in horror and a lot of incredible actors that also started in horror. And I also love that it’s a very noble genre in that people show up for it no matter what. You don’t need a big movie star for people to show up to the theaters to see a horror movie. And that’s always something that I’ve loved about it. It feels very generous, and I love that because I think we need to keep showing up to theaters. People show up to theaters for yes, big franchises and superheroes and the big movie star movies, but I think horror is keeping theaters alive.

Indeed, especially with so many inventive recent films. I think Abigail is such a fun take on the vampire genre. Just when you think that there’s not a new way to spin a vamp story, this movie does something totally cool. How did you find out about the film?

Barrera: I found out about the film through my team. They told me that [Scream directors] Matt [Bettinelli-Olpin] and Tyler [Gillett] had this new movie at Universal and that it was a vampire movie. And they were like, “Do you want us to pitch you for it?” I mean, I’ve been obsessed with vampires my whole life. I love all the monsters. Van Helsing, I was obsessed with that movie growing up. And I’ve always loved vampires and I always wanted to play a vampire. So when I found out that Joey was not a vampire, I was kind of disappointed. I’m not going to lie. [laughs]

But I was still like, “You know what? I just want to be a part of this. It sounds super fun working with Matt and Tyler again, if they’ll have me it would be a dream because I adore those guys and I think they’re brilliant.” So yeah, that was basically how I found out about it. It was right before Scream VI came out in theaters and then shortly after I got the role and I was so excited to stay in the genre, but to try something new and have more creative freedom with a character. 

For sure. What was it about Joey that drew you to her?

Barrera: I love complicated gray area women, as I call them, where you’re like, “You’re not all good. You’re not a good person, really. You’re a criminal, so you’re kidnapping a girl. What the hell?!” But you also have to root for her. I loved trying to find that humanity in her and play her with vulnerability. I always like to flip things a little bit on their head and allow for women to be complicated and to have a softer side, even though they’re supposed to be badasses. 

We get to see a soft maternal side to Joey as well. And I like the veteran aspect of her also because I’ve always been deeply heartbroken by the situation of so many veterans in the United States and how they live and how the government doesn’t really take care of them or follow up on the trauma that they experience. And a lot of them end up being homeless. They’re on the streets and losing their lives because they’re carrying so much pain. And so I really was interested in that aspect of Joey.

I love that. Now, Joey got super bloody and did some pretty physically challenging things too. Did you get a chance to do any of that stunt work or get physical? And what was that all over you?!

Barrera: I did. That final sequence, we rehearsed for that for two weeks, and then it was another two weeks of shooting it. I wanted to do all the stuff, but they wouldn’t let me because of insurance and stuff like that. They were throwing me through glass and stuff like that they don’t really let actors do. But I rehearsed all of it. I could do all of it. They were just like, “If you don’t have to do this, if you don’t have to be thrown from the first floor to the second and break the banister and crash into the wall and then fall to the floor, we’re not going to have you do it.”

Hannah and Ifa were my stunt doubles, and they were doing the hard stuff with falling on the bookcase and breaking it and flipping and all the very painful looking stuff. And I was just doing the final falls and I did all the punching and the stake through the chest, which was super fun.

The rehearsals are actually super fun because you get to do everything in the rehearsals. They teach you to do everything in the rehearsals, and then when you get to set, the directors are like, “Yeah, no, we’re not going to want you to do that. That feels dangerous.” So it was incredible. It was an amazing experience.

Totally makes sense to keep you all safe! But you did get to throw punches, which is awesome.

Barrera: Yeah! And the blood is like syrup, I guess. I know that it’s gooey and sticky. Actually I don’t know what the blood that they put on me and my clothes is. I know that it’s a syrupy blood because if it goes in your mouth, it tastes sweet. It’s a combination of a syrup or a gel and food coloring and all this good stuff that is so hard to get off afterwards because it stains you, it’ll stain. I kept finding blood even after we wrapped in places where I was like, “Oh, behind my knee. There we go.” And it goes through clothes. You’re just completely red. And the key to taking it off is shaving foam, shaving cream.

Ah yes, I remember Jack Quaid saying the same thing about getting rid of The Boys blood. 

Barrera: That’s the only way! You got to get in the shower with a bottle of shaving foam and put it on a wet towel and then just go in all your body. That’s the only way. I don’t know who figured that out, but thank God.

Sounds like a good time. If you could describe Abigail in three words, what three words would you use?

Barrera: I would describe it as bloody, funny, and surprising!

ABIGAIL is now available to watch at home exclusively on digital platforms from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

The post Melissa Barrera on ABIGAIL’s Pools of (Literally) Sweet Blood and Her Love for Horror appeared first on Nerdist.

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who are a major part of the Radio Silence creative collective, have become two maestros of horror. With titles like V/H/S 94, Ready or Not, Phobias, Scream (2022), and Scream VI under their belts, the duo continues to expand the genre with innovative (and deliciously bloody) takes on classic subgenres. Their latest foray, Abigail, is a wild blend of a heist movie and a horror comedy. It starts with the former as a group of kidnappers abduct a crime lord’s ballet-loving daughter for ransom. Quickly it transitions into the latter when they discover that she’s actually a vampire. Abigail is as wild, funny, and chaotic as you’d imagine, so we had to catch up with the Radio Silence co-founders to get all the behind-the-scenes details. 

Nerdist: Abigail is one of my favorite films that I’ve seen this year so far. 

Tyler Gillett: So glad you liked it. Thank you. That means so much.

You’re welcome! What was it about Abigail that made you two want to come on board and direct this film?

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin: I think it was a kind of a mixture of things, but we loved the simplicity and fun of being able to do a thriller that gets hijacked by a monster movie. That, to us, was just such an exciting movie to get into. And the characters all were really great on the page, and there was a lot of room to grow them with the actors. The possibility of [the film] was really exciting when we got the script, and then the chance to actually get to work with all those actors and get them to bring a lot to their characters. 

I’m glad that you mentioned that there are so many different characters and a genre mashup. There’s a lot going on in Abigail with that as well as tonal shifts. How do you all navigate it and keep things streamlined from a director’s standpoint?

Gillett: I think a lot of it is just getting really clear with the tone between the two of us, and making sure that what the actors are reading is really representative of that tone, even if things are going to change on the day and there’s going to be improv, and we maybe don’t fully have the scene 100% figured out in the script. At the very least, the tone is crystal clear.

And for us, at the end of the day, that’s really just placing characters, who feel really real and really nuanced and like they exist in the real world, in a situation that is just totally f*cking absurd and insane. For us, that means that then you get to have these incredibly tense, scary moments, but because it all exists under the umbrella of this crazy absurd concept, it also can be funny at the same time.

The same goes for Ready or Not and the two Scream movies that we made. That, for us, is really the hack in making that tone something that works. It never feels like you’re in a movie that’s too funny to be scary or too scary to be funny. You’re walking through the experience with the characters, and they’re as wacky and crazy as their point of view may be, but they’re also relatable to a certain extent. And you believe that their reaction is real and grounded in a reality that you and I, as an audience member, would understand.

Absolutely. You definitely had an excellent cast to be able to pull that off! You two got to work with Melissa Barrera again, and Scream fans are excited to see you all come together once more. How has your working relationship with her evolved over the years?

Bettinelli-Olpin: We’ve grown together a lot. I think Scream V was a really big step up for Tyler and I, and it was also a big step up for Melissa. The Scream V experience left all three of us in a place where we were really happy with what we had done, but we also had a lot of things we still wanted to do. So, we went into that next one together like, “All right, cool, we did that. Now, let’s go to another level with this.” So, we really were invigorated going into Scream VI.

But then for Abigail, we wanted to make sure that we weren’t doing the same stuff we had already done together. She really brought a lot to her character to make sure that Joey is not Sam Carpenter. And there’s still something quintessentially Melissa about it. I think her essence comes through in all three [films]. And I think a lot of that is her vulnerability and her just strength and her will. But going into this, we wanted to keep working together and we wanted to do it in a way that we could all grow. I think at the end of the day, that’s what we hope we’re doing with Abigail.

It’s a different type of playground. You went from an established and very popular franchise to this wholly unique film. You definitely got to play more.

Gillett: Totally.

Bettinelli-Olpin: Exactly.

Abigail is such an awesome vampire story with a twist. And a lot of what makes it work is the main location. I love the house! What was the scouting process like and what were the requirements that you had for the perfect location?

Gillett: We saw a bunch of different places… traveled out the November before we started shooting with the express task of finding a place that could hold all of the scene work that exists in the story. I think we probably saw half a dozen places. What we were really looking for is to not just find a place where you go, “Yeah, this could work. We could put this scene in this room. We could see this scene in that room.” 

[What we wanted was] to walk into a place that actually feels like it’s going to inspire new ideas. That it’s not just, oh, this is the box that we need to fit the script in. We need to find these specific things. But finding a place where you go, “Oh shit, it is much cooler to put this scene here!”

When we walked into the Glenmaroon House, it was just that. It was not only large enough to contain what was originally scripted, but there were so many interesting anachronistic, bizarre little corridors and rooms that made the house really feel like it existed through time and that it was maybe Abigail’s house for hundreds of years. It had this sense of a bizarre history to it. The layout of the house and the physical limitations and restrictions of it actually allowed us to look at the story and go, “Oh, what if we just choreographed this differently? And instead of building sets, [we can] use what we have available and retrofit the story and the action to fit.” That, for us, is always so exciting. There’s such an exciting opportunity to build something that feels really alive and really tactile because it exists in a real physical space.

That house had so many fun opportunities that existed within it. We’re so grateful. Then, of course, you have a great production designer and an amazing art department to come in and fill it with all of those textures, and it just comes alive.

I really love the way that the space was utilized, specifically in that final fight scene between Joey, Abigail, and Frank. I’m curious about the details behind shooting that scene because there were so many different moving parts. Joey’s getting thrown from one floor to the other and there’s just blood and stuff everywhere! 

Bettinelli-Olpin: That scene took two and a half weeks? Does that sound right, Tyler?

Gillett: Yeah. It was very technical.

Bettinelli-Olpin: And it was a giant scene on the page, too. There were no scene breaks… So with the ADs and everyone, we had to break it down. But it was a lot to shoot just technically. There were a ton of stunts, there was a ton of blood, and all of the effects work. Then we were also trying to keep the tone and the characters alive within that chaos. One of the things that was the weird silver lining of the [actor’s] strike for us was that we shot mostly everything up to that prior. Everything except the cellar where [Abigail is] locked up and the library, that end scene, we shot before the strike.

So, we got to watch the movie. We put together the movie and got to watch it. The studio got to watch it before we went back to shoot that scene. One of the things that Universal Pictures said was, “Hey, we really love this. Let’s really blow out the third act and make it awesome.” So we got Wade Allen, who’s incredible, to come in as a second unit director to help us with all of the stunts and the choreography. It really elevated that scene to something that throws you into this whirlwind where all of a sudden two characters who were trying to kill each other are now teaming up against Frank, who you’ve always known is an asshole.

Oh god, yes. He’s the worst. 

Bettinelli-Olpin: The whole combination of the movie takes place in that room. So we really had to make sure that we did it right.

Gillett: Yeah, and that we were using all of [the space]… I mean, for obvious reasons there are production challenges. When you want to do any stunt work with any form of verticality, you’re talking about stunt rigging and wire work and all of that. That stuff is so time-consuming and there’s obviously a safety component to it that you have to be really aware of. But as Matt said, to Universal’s credit, they were like, “Look, let’s just take the time and deliver on this big, fun blowout of a vampire fight.” There’s only one way to do that, right? And it is taking time and shooting a little bit every day. Eventually you realize, “Holy shit, we’re at 380 something setups and we finished this crazy scene!”

Well, you pulled it off and it’s brilliant, just like the two of you.

Bettinelli-Olpin: Thank you. That’s so kind!

ABIGAIL is now available to watch at home exclusively on digital platforms from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

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It’s an unnerving feeling when someone is watching you. Even if they are not in your eyesight (or your eyes are closed), that strange tingle in your spine that alerts you to their surveillance is chilling. Usually, it is just your active imagination or someone (or something) that is no threat at all. But what if it is something far more mysterious and possibly sinister? How do you prepare to fight against the unseen and unknown? The Watchers—an upcoming film produced by M. Night Shyamalan and written/directed by newcomer Ishana Night Shyamalan—will explore this in a remote location with creatures lurking about. The trailer for The Watchers is very strange in a great way.

I especially love the round of applause that the main character gets at the end. It’s delightfully baffling and makes me want to check this film out even more. The Watchers gives us a weird trailer, but hopefully this synopsis from Warner Bros. Pictures will clear things up a bit: 

From producer M. Night Shyamalan comes “The Watchers,” written and directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan and based on the novel by A.M. Shine. The film follows Mina, a 28-year-old artist, who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.

“You can’t see them, but they see everything.” is a great tagline.

The Watchers has some great cast members whom we meet in its trailer. The cast includes Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, and Olwen Fouere. Hopefully, Campbell’s character is much smarter than the one she portrayed in Barbarian. And Fouere deserves far better than what she got as Sally Hardesty in 2022’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I’m rooting for everyone, honestly.

When Will The Watchers Debut in Theaters?

The Watchers will hit theaters on June 7.

Originally published on February 27, 2024.

The post THE WATCHERS Trailer Puts Voyeuristic Creatures in the Irish Woods appeared first on Nerdist.

Would you like a solid piece of life advice? Sure you would. Do not go hang out with people in some random location unless you know them really, really well. If you just met a couple on vacation and they invite you to their not-so-humble abode in the middle of nowhere, think twice before you accept that invitation. This may seem like common sense, but if you look around, you’ll see that common sense is not so common. Speak No Evil unveils the very obvious dangers of not using your common sense in its creepy new trailer. 

If this film seems familiar, that’s because it already exists, basically. Speak No Evil is a remake of the (quite excellent) 2022 Danish film of the same name (also known as Gæsterne) where the general plot is very similar. Only this time, James McAvoy is playing an unsettling estate owner whose behavior gets increasingly more disturbing. And, there will probably be some cultural differences considering the couple that accepts the invitation is from America.

As we see in the Speak No Evil trailer, the Daltons (played by Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy) connect with Paddy (McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), a British couple, on vacation. They accept an invite to their abode and things get increasingly weird. I certainly won’t tell you what happens in the original Danish film for two reasons. First, I think it is worth watching. And, I get the feeling that this remake will travel down a similar (if not identical) road. There’s one scene with the Dalton daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) and Paddy’s son Ant (Daniel Hough) that really sets things in a dark direction. 

Here’s a synopsis of Speak No Evil: 

When an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare. 

From Blumhouse, the producer of The Black Phone, Get Out and The Invisible Man, comes an intense suspense thriller for our modern age, starring BAFTA award-winner James McAvoy (Split, Glass) in a riveting performance as the charismatic, alpha-male estate owner whose untrammeled hospitality masks an unspeakable darkness. 

What Is the Release Date for the Speak No Evil Remake?

If ever there were a person to play an unhinged yet charming man, it is James McAvoy. Speak No Evil will hit theaters on September 13.

The post James McAvoy Is Charming and Unhinged in SPEAK NO EVIL’s Unsettling Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

I know for the rest of my life every time a beloved character enters the public domain someone will immediately turn them into a serial killer in a low-budget horror movie. Mickey Mouse didn’t even finish saying, “Oh boy, intellectual property laws!” before we got the trailer for his uninspired slasher flick. And yet, despite knowing the inevitability of these movies, I truly did not see the latest public domain film news coming. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey‘s killer bear is teaming-up with other iconic characters in the free IP crossover horror movie Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble.

But Bambi, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio are getting their own standalone films first.

Variety first reported the burgeoning Blood and Honey cinematic universe already has its big event planned. Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will see the murderous Winnie the Pooh partner Avengers-style with other famous free-to-use icons. He’s joining with Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tigger, Piglet, The Mad Hatter, and Sleeping Beauty. The group movie already has a poster, too. It shows Pooh swinging a bear trap atop a feral Bambi’s back.

If you’re concerned Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios are jumping the gun on a rushed crossover movie ala Batman v Superman DON’T WORRY! Some characters will get their own standalone horror movies first. They’re part of what is now being called the “Twisted Childhood Universe.” Those upcoming films include Bambi: The Reckoning, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, and Pinocchio Unstrung.

“It will be complete carnage,” said director Rhys Frake-Waterfield in a press release. “We are heavily influenced by Freddy Vs Jason and The Avengers. We would love to see a horror movie where the villains group together and are going after their survivors. We have some incredible set pieces in mind and some sequences I think will truly shock people. The movies we are working on now as standalones are all building towards Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble.”

Things won’t be entirely sweet as honey between the murderous beings, though. The movie will also see the creatures battling each other at various points. Cause why not at this point, right?

Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will star Scott Chambers as Christopher Robin, Megan Plactio as Wendy Darling, Roxanne Mckee as Xana, and Lewis Santer as Tigger. More casting news will be shared later. The new slate of films will all arrive in 2025. This announcement comes right before Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 comes to theaters, which debuts on March 26.

You can thank/blame public domain laws for that anytime you like.

The post WINNIE THE POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY Launching POOHNIVERSE Crossover Movie with Bambi, Pinocchio, and More appeared first on Nerdist.

The expression “desperate times call for desperate measures” is common for good reason. Desperation often leads people to stretch the boundaries of their morals—or ignore those lines altogether—in an effort to acquire something they wish to obtain. That something could be as vital as food for sustenance, which is understandable in a sphere of scarcity. But oftentimes, it is far more trivial, like adoration from strangers who have parasocial attachments to them. They want the most viewers, the biggest platform, the unyielding attention.

People will lie, manipulate, kill, and exploit to satisfy those kinds of goals, sometimes at the expense of others. Exploring these sins is recurrent in horror narratives. But I’ve never seen anyone do what director/writer brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes do in Late Night with the Devil. This found-footage flick, with a haunting and sensational leading performance by David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy, takes us to Halloween night in 1977 to watch sensationalist efforts spiral into a demonic train wreck on a late-night television show. 

Late Night with the Devil honors films like The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby alongside the effervescent appeal of ‘70s-era late-night TV legends à la Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett. Its found footage narrative successfully blends humor, heartbreak, and dread, all of which are bolstered by the glorious style of gore that only Cronenbergian-style practical effects can offer. From its opening scene that puts the state of the world and the construction and crumbling of late-night host Jack Delroy’s life and career into focus to its absolutely batshit ending, Late Night with the Devil draws you in and refuses to release its grip. 

The film follows Delroy’s last-ditch effort to save his television show, which is rapidly falling out of favor with viewers. He’s grappling with a personal tragedy and just can’t seem to nab the #1 spot. His membership in a mysterious arcane organization and wacky on-air efforts still don’t move the rankings needle. With cancellation and Satanic panic creeping over the horizon, Delroy and his production staff pull one last stunt. They plan a Halloween episode with several strange guests who will both mesh together and hate each other. 

There’s Christou the medium (Fayssal Bazzi), Carmichael the former magician and supernatural skeptic (Ian Bliss), and Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), a parapsychologist and author. The latter is the true key to Delroy’s trick, thanks to her patient Lily (Ingrid Torelli). She’s a teenager with a harrowing backstory and an unsavory spirit living inside her. Jack pulls a fast one on the good doctor, coercing her in front of a live-audience to do something never seen before on live television: summon and commune with the Devil. This can’t go wrong in any way, right? Of course it can and it does in spectacular real-time fashion. We get a holistic and voyeuristic view of it all from two perspectives: in front of and behind the camera.

The film runs at a cool 93 minutes, which could have felt sluggish with a less captivating cast. David Dastmalchian is the foundation and master of this narrative. He brings Delroy’s smarmy and smug yet oddly endearing persona to life with every wide-eyed stare of disbelief and scathing remark. He’s a clear connoisseur of the genre, so much so that his Fangoria article about regional TV horror talk shows caught the eyes of the Cairnes brothers, leading to his casting. Anyone who’s seen Dastmalchian in, well, anything knows this leading role has been long overdue.

The new (to US audiences, anyway) standout in this film is undoubtedly Torelli as Lily. Her soulless stares and unsettling smirks into the camera will send chills down even the most fearless viewers’ spines… and that’s before the titular Devil takes over. Her quiet yet commanding screen presence slowly pushes an already eerie atmosphere over the edge of destruction. Torelli’s physicality and delivery play perfectly alongside Laura Gordon’s mounting perturbance and controlled panic. It is easily one of the best supporting horror performances in recent memory. 

Late Night with the Devil’s ending feels a bit rushed and convoluted. However, the big creative swings and pure chaos help soothe those issues. Questions are left unanswered, and that’s okay. Instead of tying up loose ends into a neat knot, things are delightfully unraveled and uncertain. Deliciously dark, frighteningly fun, super strange, and full of thoughtful thematic choices, Late Night with the Devil is poised for horror classic status.

Late Night with the Devil hits theaters on March 22 with a later release on Shudder on April 19.

Late Night with the Devil ⭐ (4.5 of 5)

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The past couple of years have given us some great original horror content. Films like Smile and Barbarian are a reminder that the genre is still finding fresh ways to deliver ample terror. But, even those successes are not stopping the larger moviemaking powers-that-be from still trying to mine cash from old franchises. Sometimes it works, as we saw with Evil Dead Rise and Saw X, both of which got high critical and commercial praise for their storylines and leading performances. Other times, it is an epic failure, like The Exorcist: Believer. This year, we will see which side The First Omen ends up on. Like Saw X, this film takes us back into the past of a world that we are highly familiar with to tell a previously unknown saga. If the trailer for The First Omen is any indication, we will certainly learn something new that changes everything. 

This clip of The First Omen doesn’t give us too much context to its story, but we do get some interesting imagery and many unsettling scenes. That smile certainly reminds us of an unsettling one that we’ve seen before. There’s nothing like nefarious or downright demonic activity to contort a person’s face into a creepy grin, right? Anyway, this synopsis of The First Omen will make the trailer make a little more sense: 

When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her own faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.

What Is the Release Date for The First Omen?

Well, that trailer gives us the warm and fuzzy feelings. This film might be absent one creepy kid who is the Antichrist, but we can see what else awaits us in Rome. The First Omen will hit theaters on April 5.

Originally published on January 3, 2024.

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Halloween night is the perfect time for something sinister to happen. The veil is thin between the world of the living and the realm of the dead. People are wandering the streets in strange garb while seeking candy and mayhem. And, if you’re in Haddonfield, there just might be a tall man in a white mask who stalks babysitters and wanders the streets. Nowhere feels truly safe except maybe the confines of your own home. Even then, evil can somehow find you through your television, especially if there’s some greedy dude who succeeds at “communing” with the Devil. Now that’s one hell of a horror movie premise. In fact, it’s the plot of Late Night with the Devil, IFC’s upcoming flick with a trailer that promises live television chaos. 

The film stars David Dastmalchian as a late-night TV show host who hopes to get his ratings up. Of course, there’s nothing like the drama and spine chilling fear of summoning evil to do the trick. This seems like the absolute worst idea, especially when America is on the cusp of all-out Satanic Panic. 

Here’s the synopsis: 

October 31, 1977. Johnny Carson rival Jack Delroy hosts a syndicated late night talk show ‘Night Owls’ that has long been a trusted companion to insomniacs around the country. A year after the tragic death of Jack’s wife, ratings have plummeted. Desperate to turn his fortunes around, Jack plans a Halloween special like no other, unaware that he is about to unleash evil into the living rooms of America. 

Well, this sounds absolutely delicious. I can’t say I envy those folks in the live audience. The trailer for Late Night with the Devil reads almost like a surreal documentary and looks delightfully ‘70s. 

What Is the Release Date for Late Night with the Devil?

Late Night with the Devil will hit theaters on March 22.

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Hold onto your hats, kids. There’s more to come from director Ti West and his X series of movies. Yes, A24 officially greenlit MaXXXine, the third movie in the bonkers horror franchise from the director. And we have our first look at Mia Goth reprising her role as the titular Maxine alongside Halsey. MaXXXine also officially has a release date. Per Deadline, the movie will release on July 5.

You can even watch a teaser trailer for MaXXXine below. The X horror movie delight never stops.

According to a release, Ti West will write and direct MaXXXine. A synopsis for MaXXXine shares:

The film follows Maxine (Goth), after the events of X, as the sole survivor who continues her journey towards fame setting out to make it as an actress in 1980s Los Angeles.

We love a sole survivor, that’s for sure. And we love Ti West’s horror movies even more. Although MaXXXine‘s trailer doesn’t reveal much to us, it’s fun to see. Well, we guess now we won’t have to wave goodbye to the franchise indefinitely after we watch Pearl.

As for the rest of MaXXXine‘s cast, it is finally coming together. Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Lily Collins, Halsey, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon have come aboard the film. Their roles have not yet been revealed.

For now, the second movie in the X franchise, Pearl, is available to watch “It is a prequel set decades before the grisly events of X, Mia Goth returns as the future psycho-biddy Pearl, here a starry-eyed farm girl with a short fuse and a deadly ambition.” As you get excited by the prospect of MaXXXine, don’t forget to check out our review of Pearl, here. And our review of X, here.

We can’t wait to see what X‘s third movie has in stock for us. If we had to guess, we’d say… something bloody, chaotic, but absolutely incredible. After all, what’s bloodier than an actress trying to make it in LA? Here’s to you MaXXXine.

Originally published on September 13, 2022.

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The Blaxploitation film era is, for better or worse, a cornerstone in the foundation of modern Black history. The subgenre, a portmanteau of Black and exploitation, came at critical time between the late 1960s when social turbulence and Black Pride intertwined and the 1970s era of superfly style, disco and funk music, and the continued reign of the all-mighty Afro. Blaxploitation gave audiences films that centralized our communities and made us the protagonists, infusing our stories with socioeconomic commentary Black slang and music, Black fashion, and much more. 

Many of the behind-the-scenes creatives were also Black, at times putting a realistic eye on their content. Their work was not without controversy from some prominent Black leaders about how these stories reflected the collective. To be fair, not every portrayal shined a positive light on Black communities. However, this explosion soon led to Hollywood’s continuous capitalization and curious outside eyes. A flurry of stories that were, well, exploitative and leaned into harmful stereotypes about Black people came about. (I’m looking directly at Dino De Laurentiis’ Mandingo.) These non-Black filmmakers and directors would take any story and “Blacken it up,” usually to the point of pure nonsense. 

Blaxploitation’s meteoric rise and decline took place in the same decade. But its influence continues to resonate in Black media of all genres. Most people rightfully point to films like Shaft, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, and Foxy Brown as the pivotal films of this genre with a profound influence on their descendants. But Blaxploitation horror is arguably just as important with stories centered around crimes, rituals, and period drama with supernatural narratives. Oftentimes, exploring the full scope of what it meant to be a Black American during this time period—or any time period, honestly—involved some aspect of horror, even if it was only clear to the intended audience. Let’s explore the history of a few pivotal (and maybe not-so-great) Blaxploitation horror films. 

When you consider the scope of filmmaking in any genre from decades past, it is often hard to pinpoint definitive “firsts.” We tend to largely filter genres through a mainstream or highly-lauded indie perspective, so many films fly under our radars. Who knows if an indie filmmaker made a lost-to-time Blaxploitation horror in, say, 1967? But, we do know that one of the earliest Blaxploitation horror films is also one of the most successful films of this era, period.

William Crain’s brilliant Blacula (1972) is more than just a “Black Dracula.” It makes a profound metaphorical connection between slavery and vampirism through Mamuwalde’s misfortunes. He is a wealthy African prince who goes to Transylvania to petition Count Dracula to stop the slave trade. In return, Dracula refuses to comply, bites him, and curses him with the name Blacula. He’s resurrected in the 1970s and falls in love with Tina, a Los Angeles native.

At this time, horror was only a couple of years from giving birth to a golden age of slashers. Filmmakers leaned heavily into remakes in the early 1970s, including several Dracula flicks. So, taking that trend, putting Black people on both sides of the camera, and crafting a moving horror film with a love story undercurrent struck the perfect nerve. There were imitators, like the rightfully panned Blackenstein (1973), but zero duplicators. The Black vampire energy continued to permeate the air with a slightly less successful sequel, Scream Blacula Scream (1973). In 2021, plans for a Blacula reboot were underway.

But the true standout Blaxploitation horror film of 1973 was Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hess, a moody vampire film that dances with some tenets of Blaxploitation films like dealing with “The Man,” overt sexuality, and Afrocentrism. Night of the Living Dead’s Duane Jones starred as Dr. Hess Green, a wealthy anthropologist whose assistant stabs him with an ancient ceremonial dagger. Hess becomes a vampire as a result and falls in love with Ganja (Marlene Clark), his assistant’s widow. Ganja & Hess is a smart and sexy film with themes of assimilation, respectability politics, and more through the ebb and flow of the protagonists’ relationship. While Ganja can be perceived as the stereotypical “seductress,” there’s more depth to her character that she likely wouldn’t have gotten if written from a non-Black perspective.

Overall, Ganja & Hess resides on the more favorable side of Blaxploitation offerings. The film’s off-screen journey took a strange turn when its producers sold it to Heritage Enterprises. The company drastically recut the movie and packaged it as Blood Couple. I suppose the new owners thought it was a little too “smart” for audiences. Needless to say, Gunn wasn’t happy about the chopping of his movie, which was thankfully preserved in its original format. Ganja & Hess continues to resonate with modern audiences, from thoughtful examinations for its 50th anniversary to a discussion of the film in the documentary Horror Noire. Famed director Spike Lee’s remake of the film, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, brought it to a new generation’s attention in 2014, with many agreeing that there’s nothing quite like the original. 

This film set off a deliciously dark and creative spark that carried into 1974 with more Blaxploitation horror films. In fact, two of them came to us courtesy of American International Pictures (AIP). There’s the wildly silly yet enjoyable Abby, which follows a woman who is possessed by (or, depending on how you interpret it, influenced by) a West African spirit of chaos and lust. (The creators’ limited understanding of orishas is slim to none, obviously.) And that’s exactly what this film dishes out in ample amounts as Abby Williams (Carol Speed) becomes a hypersexual one-woman wrecking crew—a lifestyle not befitting of a preacher’s wife. (Abby also stars William Marshall, a.k.a. Blacula himself, as Abby’s archaeologist father-in-law.)

Abby became a financial success; however, it ran into a legal issue with Warner Bros. claiming it was far too similar to The Exorcist and therefore violating a copyright. There’s a noticeable influence but Abby’s writer G. Cornell Layne and producer/director William Girdler didn’t copy every single test answer. Still, it was pulled from theaters at the height of its fame. Abby spent decades out of print until its inclusion in CineFear’s Collector’s Edition in 2006. Since then, copies are hard to find with the “clean,” original copy of the film still unreleased. As of February 2024, Abby is available to watch for free on Plex. 

Much of Abby is quite campy and ridiculous. However, it does find some grounding in its decidedly good performances and unorthodox approach to a possession tale. The juxtaposition of chaos/evil spirits in a religious Black family and watching a “respectable” and proper Black woman completely turn from those notions offers food for thought but only if you want to go down that pathway. Otherwise, it is a great example of horror fun that’s so bad, it’s kinda good.

The horror genre at large needs its vampires and evil spirits for sure, but there’s nothing quite like a zombie flick. 1974 gave us a supremely fascinating and entertaining offering with Sugar Hill. Despite its behind-the-scenes creatives being largely white, Sugar Hill manages to tell a Black-led story that’s engaging and unique without much of the overt (and thinly veiled) racism of other horror flicks at the time. Is the representation perfect by any means? No. But it could certainly be much, much worse.

The titular character, played by Marki Bey, exacts revenge against a mob boss and his henchmen who killed her nightclub owner boyfriend Langston. Sugar goes to a voodoo queen (we love a voodoo queen) who summons Baron Samedi, the lord of the dead. Samedi raises an army of zombies to kill the mobsters. It’s an inspired premise with dialogue that is as classic Blaxploitation as it gets. Sugar Hill doesn’t lean into the excessive gore or brutality that we see in more current offerings like The Walking Dead; however, it establishes an unsettling atmosphere with its zombies.

Speaking of them, they are deceased African slaves who almost exclusively kill white people. There’s much to be said about a long lineage of Black pain, righteous anger, and, to a lesser degree, ancestral power and veneration. Bey’s Sugar Hill is one of the most badass women to ever grace a horror flick. She certainly laid the foundation for the Selenas, Michonnes, and Jerylines to come. As today’s youth would say, she was mothering.

Of course, there are other films that I won’t dive into, like the ridiculous Vampira (1974) that shows Dracula’s wife transforming into a “foxy lady” or the downright nauseating Poor Pretty Eddie (1975), with its touches of Blaxploitation and dousing of sexual assault. Gross. We can’t talk about them all, right? But we can move towards the end of the classic Blaxploitation horror era with 1976’s Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde. Under the direction of Blacula‘s William Crain, the story does an obvious play on the Jekyll/Hyde dynamic. Funnily enough, the doctor’s last name is not Black, but instead Pride (Get it?!).

He’s an LA-based wealthy gentleman who wants to cure liver cirrhosis. He experiments with potential cures on himself and attempts to force experiments on others. Pride turns into a white-skinned, freakish monster who kills sex workers and pimps before the police gun him down . Respectability issues aside, this film touches on historical and unethical experimentation against Black people. It also flips the Black-coded/othered monster trope established in earlier (and very racist) horror films on its head. Pride himself is supposed to be aspirational or a sell-out, depending on the viewers’ perspective. Predictably, (overwhelmingly white) reviewers at the time hated this film. But it continues to hold a special place in old-school horror fans’ hearts. 

That adoring sentiment also exists for J.D.’s Revenge (1976). It’s a rather somber Blaxploitation horror-thriller with some serious actors in leading roles. Glynn Turman stars as the quiet law student Ike who somehow channels J.D.’s superfly spirit during a hypnosis show. Decades prior, J.D. (David McKnight) was unjustly murdered for a violent crime against his sister that he didn’t commit. As J.D. overtakes Ike, the latter begins to act uncharacteristically while also trying to solve the aforementioned crime. It’s a mental trip that moves at a slower pace yet deftly explores the devolvement of one man’s mind. Good stuff, indeed. 

By the late 1970s, the Blaxploitation era as a whole began its decline; however, these films made a lasting impact on cinema. The ‘80s brought us offerings like The Last Dragon, a martial arts film with heavy Blaxploitation influence. But Black-led horror suffered despite the rise of franchises like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. Many Black characters became tropes like the sidekick, Magical Negro, and sacrificial lamb. (Yes, exceptions exist, including Grace Jones’ campy Vamp (1986) and the no-good, very-bad Black Devil Doll from Hell (1984).)

Blaxploitation horror’s influence is stronger in the ‘90s and early 2000s, with the anthology series Tales From the Hood (1995), Leprechaun in the Hood (2000), Def By Temptation (1990), Candyman (1992), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), Bones (2001) and a string of “hood” based films with titles ending in a Z (hello Zombiez). These films would explore issues affecting Black communities, like AIDS, abuse, and poverty, through the lens of scary stories. The continuous rise of hip-hop music further fueled these Blaxploitation-inspired films, with rappers Snoop Dogg, Coolio, and Ice-T stepping into acting.

Now, it’s much more commonplace to see Black horror movies like Get Out, Us, The Blackening, The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster, Eve’s Bayou, and Vampires vs. the Bronx. There’s also the lower budget “hood” films like Amityville in the Hood (2021) and the wildly titled Bitch Ass (2022). (The latter actually isn’t as bad as you’d imagine, btw. It is not a masterpiece but better than those awful “Z movies.”) 

Many Blaxploitation horror films certainly had problematic elements; however, the idea that Black stories have a place in this genre space laid a foundation for great things to come. Whether introspective, silly, or downright bizarre, Black horror stories from the 1970s were truly a special time in cinematic history. 

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After screenwriter Diablo Cody won the Oscar for her work on Juno, it surprised many when her next film was a feminist, supernatural horror film starring Megan Fox called Jennifer’s Body. Although a box office bomb upon release, it’s now a true cult classic. And according to Cody, it’s definitely a movie she’d like to see a sequel to. While promoting her upcoming film Lisa Frankenstein, directed by Zelda Williams, she told Bloody-Disgusting that she really wants to make a Jennifer’s Body follow-up. Here’s what she had to say:

YES! I wanna do a sequel. I am not done with Jennifer’s Body. I just need to find… I need to partner with people who believe it in as much as I do and that hasn’t really happened yet. I need someone to believe in it who has a billion dollars.”

As with most cult films, critics mostly eviscerated it upon release. But over the last 15 years, the audience for Jennifer’s Body has only grown and grown. These days, Cody says, “At first, I was excited about it obviously, but I was also a little bit salty. Because I remember thinking, well where was this audience when the movie came out? It was a critical, commercial failure. I was pretty humiliated to be perfectly honest with you. It was a rough experience having that movie come out. It was rough for me, it was rough for Megan [Fox]… [then] people started suddenly talking about it like it was a good movie, which I had thought all along.”

Could a Jennifer’s Body sequel actually happen? We don’t see why not, as it now has a built-in audience. Although Cody is following up Lisa Frankenstein with another horror movie first, we hope she gets back to the world of Jennifer’s Body at some point.

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There’s nothing quite as scary as religious horror. Even if you’re not religious yourself, it still somehow manages to always get under the skin. From The Exorcist to The Omen, to modern films like The Nun franchise, evoking religion in your horror film just makes it that much creepier. And now, we’ve got a new religion-themed thriller guaranteed to freak you out from NEON Films. Coming this spring is Immaculate, starring Euphoria and The White Lotus star Sydney Sweeney. You can watch the unsettling new trailer for Immaculate right here, as well as check out the first poster:

The film centers on a young American-born nun named Cecilia, who lives in a convent in the Italian countryside. She suddenly discovers she has become pregnant with what appears to be an immaculate conception. But soon, she realizes something far more sinister is going on, and it’s maybe not as holy as she originally thought. There appears to be some kind of cult-like conspiracy going on in the convent, and she finds herself at the center of something that does not appear to be very godly.

Michael Mohan is the director behind Immaculate, with a script by Andrew Lobel. In addition to Syndey Sweeney, it also stars Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Dora Romano, Giorgio Colangeli, and Simona Tabasco. In some ways, it sounds very similar to the 1985 Jane Fonda film Agnes of God, about a young nun who insists her baby was the result of an immaculate conception. Although this film seems to be far creepier than that one was. It definitely leans more into the horror overtones of it all. This is turning into quite a big year for Sweeney. She’ll also soon star as Spider-Woman Julia Carpenter in the upcoming Madame Web.

Immaculate hits theaters on March 22.

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Hard to believe, but the Saw franchise turns 20 years old this year. Yes, it’s been two decades since Jigsaw came into our lives, asking us to play a little game. To celebrate, Lionsgate is releasing the Saw 10-Film Collection 20th Anniversary Edition, which arrives on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on March 5. After the critical success of Saw X last year, and the franchise officially grossing over $1 billion, this collection’s release arrives with perfect timing. The Saw 10-Film Collection 20th Anniversary Edition will be available for the suggested retail price of $79.99 for Blu-ray, DVD, and digital. You can see the packaging artwork right here, as well as read the official synopsis below:

Here’s what we know about this Saw collection:

All 10 films from the franchise that created a new horror subgenre – including the latest chapter, Saw X – are collected here in one terrifying set. Rewind to the beginning when Jigsaw first springs his diabolically ingenious traps on the morally wayward, then travel his long road of pain all the way to Mexico in the newest entry’s untold story of John Kramer’s quest for a cancer cure, inspiring his most personal game yet.

The original Saw the big screen debut of director James Wan. It became a surprise sleeper hit when they released it in 2004. Almost overnight, Jigsaw and Billy the Puppet became horror icons on par with the likes of Freddy and Jason. In addition, Wan became a modern horror maestro, following up Saw with Insidious, The Conjuring, and most recently, Malignant. The peak of the Saw franchise was in the 2000s, when a new installment seemingly came out every Halloween season. Yet the series kept finding new ways to reboot itself in recent years. Now with ten films in, it seems as if this series will continue on forever. Saw XI even comes out this fall, so we’ll have to get ready to update our ten film collection sooner than we think. Jigsaw, long may you reign.

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Director David F. Sandberg seems done with the world of superheroes after two Shazam! movies, and is returning to his horror roots with a new film. Via a story in The Hollywood Reporter, we’ve learned that the Swedish director of Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation has signed on to direct a feature film version of Until Dawn, an adaptation of the popular PlayStation horror video game, for Sony Pictures. It’s being developed by Screen Gems, together with PlayStation Productions. All three companies are under the larger Sony umbrella.

Gary Dauberman, the screenwriter behind hit horror franchises It, Annabelle, and The Nun is doing a rewrite on the script originally written by Blair Butler. Butler had previously written wrote Sony’s vampire film, The Invitation. Speaking of vampires, Dauberman also recently finished his adaptation of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, which is sitting on a shelf at Warner Bros. We’re all still waiting for that one. Disney recently announced Dauberman as the one taking the helm of a long-awaited adaptation of the ’90s animated hit, Gargoyles.

Until Dawn is an interactive horror video game that came out back in 2015. The game focuses on eight friends who arrive one day at a remote mountain retreat. There, they come face-to-face with several deadly scenarios, a killer on the loose, and even cannibal wendigos. All the members of the group of friends have to face their biggest fears, or they won’t live to see another day. Until Dawn ended up being a big seller, and critics also loved it. Until Dawn ultimately received several gaming awards nominations. Sony is no doubt hoping they have the same game-to-live-action success that they had with The Last of Us. No word on when the movie goes before the cameras, or any release window. However, we wouldn’t expect it before 2026.

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Horror’s prevalent and enduring tropes are key parts of its foundation, for better or worse. The victim running up the stairs when the front door is right there, people fornicating or partying when there’s a killer on the loose, and an intrepid character investigating that strange noise are both maddening and thrilling. Some horror tropes make us cringe and roll our eyes while others spark joy, but either way we wait with baited breath to watch the inevitable unfold. There’s undoubtedly several motifs that run through any given horror film, especially the connection between moral sins and deadly consequences. We are all familiar with the seven deadly sins from several religious sects—pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth—and each one of them show up in the horror world in the form of a few classic tropes.

A Horror Jock’s Pride Leads to a Mighty Fall

Proverbs 16:18 of the Bible warns us that pride comes before a great fall. And boy does this sin apply to certain horror tropes, particularly in the form of character archetypes who appear in an ensemble cast. One of them is the infamous Jock, an often young, musclebound male idiot who thinks his “superior” athletic ability will ensure his triumph over a murderous (and sometimes supernatural) maniac. This is the case with Julius, a boxer in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. He believes he can defeat Jason with his “guns” (read: muscles) and tries to box with a homicidal… entity. Julius goes down by the ultimate knockout as Jason punches his head clean off his shoulders. Bravery is not a bad thing in horror but overconfidence will get you murked. 

Sometimes, the jock’s pride leads them to do horrific things that make them the true villain. Such is the case with The Rage: Carrie 2 and its group of jocks that exploit and humiliate girls. They have no shame about their actions and believe that they can get away with it because they are untouchable gods. Their pride and status works for them until Carrie teaches them a righteously vengeful final lesson. 

The Pleasure of Lust Begets the Pain of Murder

The deadly sin of lust is a very obvious horror trope one is with far too many examples. The golden horror rule about avoiding sex was a staple in past decades. Final girls like Alice Hardy were always the “good girl virgins” among their friend group, their purity somehow sparing them from a grim fate. Anyone who would dare bare it all risked their lives in the process, with the killer luring them to death one by one.

Some of this was writers/directors inserting their personal morality beliefs into the script. However, there’s also a direct tie with the vulnerability of post-coitus nakedness and a fear of something sinister happening. There’s a reason why we are paranoid when we are home alone and in the shower. And no, it’s not just because Psycho exists.

Thankfully, this trope isn’t prevalent anymore, especially in films like It Follows, where the concepts of death and sex are intertwined in a novel (and not-shaming) way. Many of today’s final girls (and other targets) are choosing to have sex and still obliterating killers to our great delight. But, the sin of lust will never quite fade away in horror, even if it is from a comedic perspective poking fun at the genre. 

Mighty Is the Wrath of a Scorned Soul

Wrath is a driving force in many horror narratives, especially from the perspective of the villain. One frequent trope is the “scorned baddie” exacting revenge in a world where they are severely abused (Carrie) or they are seeking vengeance for their death/death of their loved ones. A famous example of the latter is Mrs. Voorhees, who goes on a killing spree against camp counselors because of her son’s death. Sure, she kills the ones responsible but she also, um, kills other counselors who weren’t even there when it happened. 

But even when the wrath is righteous and from the good among us, like the parents who burned Fred Krueger in his home, it almost always results in a ripple effect of unintended and negative consequences. This all points to one message: never act out of wrath and rage, lest you want innocents to potentially pay the future price for your choice.

Envy Is the Gateway to Evil (and Murder)

This is quite the tricky sin with a lot of different examples, especially in films that straddle the line between horror and classic thrillers. It often roots itself in the trope of the voyeuristic stalker who desires what their prey has and a victim who feels like someone is watching them. Inside (2016) follows the horror story of a psychotic woman who envies a pregnant woman so much that she wants to kill her and steal the child on Christmas Eve.

We also see envy tied into the horror trope of the secret killer family member(s). In Scream 3 (2000) there’s Roman Bridger, who sees the attention and love his half-sister Sidney Prescott got after their mother’s death. His envy of Sidney’s life (along with the pain of rejection) is literally the flame that sparked the events of the entire franchise. There’s also envy in Get Out, a story where affluent white people devise a gross procedure to literally take over Black people’s bodies because they desire their traits. Envy is truly a gateway for evil. 

The Soul of a Sloth Hath Nothing Good Comin’ Its Way

If there’s one rule you better follow in a horror film, it is to move your ass ASAPtually. Do not live in denial and pretend that there’s no real threat happening here. Do not allow others to do the heavy lifting on your behalf. If you do, then you may end up hopping into action when it is already too late to save yourself and others. A great example of sloth behavior typically comes from the ongoing horror trope of the lazy/incompetent police force that constantly fails to do its basic job.

We witness some baffling idiocy from two police officers in Scream 4 (2011) who gawk at a teenage girl in her bra and fail to prevent her murder. But even they don’t hold a candle to the pure overall laziness of the entire police department in Hell Night (1981). You can pretty much count on the cops to be useless and exhibit peak sloth behavior in horror films. 

Be On Your Guard Against the Greed (and Gluttony) of Gentrification and Disturbing the Peace

Ahhh yes, there’s nothing like greed and gluttony, specifically in the economical sense, to set up an intense and bloody narrative. Gentrification and looting are the crux of many haunted house/city/town and cursed land horror tropes. We have seen this one before in many forms. Some rich (and usually white) person thinks they are “doing good” by purchasing property in a marginalized neighborhood. Or they build something on top of sacred land or take some object that isn’t theirs for profit and BOOM, the ancestors or evil spirits are on their ass. (Thankfully, horror has mostly moved away from the harmful ” haunted Indian burial ground” trope that somehow tried to make the ancestors evil. Just respect their land and stop messing with it!)

Sometimes, a person goes into an allegedly haunted space and disturbs the spirits for attention and profit. It never ends well for that person. Busta Rhymes learned this the hard way in Halloween: Resurrection (2002) when a group of students tried to create an internet reality show in Michael Myers’ house. Very stupid behavior, indeed.

Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020) uniquely addresses this with vampires who are sucking the life out of a Black and Latinx neighborhood in multiple ways. They are literally killing people but also killing local business and the neighborhood’s established culture. When a person, ahem, bites off more than they can chew, you can be sure that there will be consequences to their actions.

Considering the frequent crossing of horror and religion, its no surprise that many horror tropes have ties to the seven deadly sins. Like Jason Voorhees, many of these tropes will never die… and we are (mostly) cool with it.

The post The Seven Deadly Sins: The Horror Movie Tropes Edition appeared first on Nerdist.

What’s your favorite scary movie (trope)? No matter how much the horror genre continues to evolve, there will always be room for tropes. Those tried-and-true plot devices and character archetypes, while sometimes overdone, are effective in many ways. Sometimes, a trope is meant to simply humor the viewer as they confidently assert how they would act differently from a film’s character(s). Other times, horror tropes play a more intellectual role, perhaps holding a mirror to the dark aspects of our reality.

They build the foundation to deliver a flawless ending, terrorize us with unexpected visuals, or play into our deepest fears and insecurities. Horror tropes can be fun, exhausting, and heartbreaking, sometimes all at once. And while some tropes are rightfully fading into obscurity, there are a few that, like Jason Voorhees, will never die.

In honor of those enduring tropes, the horror lovers at team Nerdist and our scary movie loving freelance contributors picked tropes that thrill, chill, and reflect our society.

The brilliance of John Carpenter’s legendary The Thing is that it will never again let us trust anybody. We’ll never get tired of wondering if the Childs we saw during in the end was human or not. 

Alison Mattingly: Of all the horror tropes, nothing feels more synonymous with the genre to me than the “final scare.” One of my earliest and fondest horror memories is watching the original Friday the 13th with my parents one Halloween when I was in my early teens (after begging my mom to let me buy the DVD from a bargain bin at the local Wal-Mart). Having been a lifelong chicken with a morbid curiosity for all things dark and scary, I had decided I was ready to watch my first adult horror film. I proceeded to watch the ’80s slasher with awe and terror, enjoying the rollercoaster ride of its thrills.

However, the moment that sealed the deal for me as a born-again horror fan was the final scare trope, which to this day, I think Friday the 13th perfected. With the killer dead and the danger seemingly over as help arrives the next morning, Jason Voorhees springs from the depths of Crystal Lake to drag Alice into the water and deliver one final burst of fear for an unsuspecting audience. I can still distinctly remember both my mom and I screaming. She burst into tears proclaiming, “I hate this movie”, and I, quietly in my nervous laughter, proclaimed my love. 

“…They’re all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can’t act who’s always running up the stairs when she should be going out the front door…”

Tai Gooden: Iconic final girl (and anti-horror advocate) Sidney Prescott says these exact words in Scream (1996) during her first phone call with Ghostface. As we now know, this very-meta franchise often pokes fun at horror’s many tropes while simultaneously leaning into them. And when it comes to horror tropes, “running up the stairs” is one of the most nonsensical and hilarious ones in existence. Rarely if ever does it make sense to go upstairs to evade a killer, yet countless people (specifically women) have met their demise by making this choice.

Like the audience, Sidney may believe she’s smarter than the average horror character. But that’s simply not the case when she’s the one in peril. Moments later, Ghostface appears and, after a brief scuffle, Sidney tries to go out the front door but the lock chain holds her back. Does she run out of the back door instead? No. She heads straight up the stairs for a heavy dose of irony. Thankfully, final girl plot armor worked to her advantage, saving her from Ghostface’s knife.

Kyle Anderson: As soon as you see a bathroom in a horror movie, you can all but guarantee bad stuff will happen. One of two things can happen. One, someone will die in the shower, which is a trope of its own. The other is having the life scared out of you with a hideous monster or other nasty sight in the bathroom mirror behind our hapless victim. You can see this trope coming a mile away. If the camera lingers too long on the sink, it’s over. The person looks at themselves in the mirror, then they go to splash some cold water on their face, and then when they look up, someone’s behind them!

Either it’s a figment of their imagination, or a portent of something bad, or just a real monster or killer. But you WILL be scared, mark my words. The variant of this one, if not the splashy-water set-up, is if the person opens the medicine cabinet. Oh dear heavens, when they shut that thing and look in the mirror again, terror ensues.

While many movies have used a scary thing in the mirror, the best and arguably first real instance of the trope version comes in 1981’s An American Werewolf in London. The movie had already had a few fake-out jumpscares to this point, but about halfway through the movie, our hero David goes to the bathroom, rifles through his new girlfriend’s medicine cabinet, and then is terrified by the grinning visage of his dead and decaying friend Jack behind him. It’s part funny, part scary, an all-time great.

Lindsey Romain: Something in horror that always works on me, even though I hate it, is the “police don’t believe you” trope. It’s a step above “no cell service” in terms of frustration. We’re trained to think the police are the ultimate saviors in moments of danger, but as with real life, that’s rarely the case in horror. They often cause even more death and damage. An ineffective cop is one thing, but cops who blatantly disbelieve our protagonist are even worse. We see it in movies like Cabin Fever and Fright Night, and most recently in Barbarian.

When heroine Tess finally escapes her basement prison and finds law enforcement, she’s met with disbelief. They see her ragged conditions and assume she’s a vagrant, abandoning her to danger. It’s even thornier considering Tess is a Black woman and police violence against Black people remains a horrifying reality in the United States. Horror is best when it’s reflecting real-world truths, even when it’s uncomfortable. Tropes like this may not be pleasant, but they’re certainly effective—and even educational. Tess is the hero of Barbarian in spite of the police who failed her, cementing her as one of the best final girls in recent memory. 

Eric Diaz: I believe the children are the future as much as the next person. But even those of you with children of your own know that kids are sometimes just really creepy. You ever walk into a room with a preschooler having a full conversation with someone not there? Or perhaps they are singing an eerie tune to themselves. Then you know what I’m talking about. However, kids are by far the creepiest in horror films. From The Shining’s ghostly twins, to little Damien in The Omen, and even the chorus of ghostly youth at the start of Stephen King’s It, creepy kids are enough to make you lose some sleep.

But the princess of creepy kids remains poor possessed Regan McNeil in The Exorcist. Her transformation from innocent 12-year-old to filth-spewing demon retains all of its power 50 years later.  There’s just something truly terrifying about what’s supposed to be innocent corrupted by evil. It will always be one of horror’s most effective tropes because of this.

DarkSkyLady: Every time this horror trope pops up through darkened homes, abandoned silos, or dank forests, audiences curse or praise the horror gods. When facing an unknown threat, they need to recall Colonel Mustard’s “there’s safety in numbers.” From films like You’re Next to The Strangers 2: Prey at Night to earlier classics like the Halloween franchise and Friday the 13th, whether stated or implied, splitting up is often the death knell for characters. Yet, we love it because it’s fun! It gives viewers a feeling of superiority that, in the same position, they’d survive. 

Then there are films like Cabin in the Woods, which seek to explain this ridiculous “let’s split up” decision. It’s a gas that leads to poor decision-making! In this movie, one character, Marty, hilariously reflects the audience’s thoughts on this bright idea when he incredulously says, “Really?” Whether a film shows foolish characters hacked beyond recognition or reflects viewer savvy, this one whets the appetite for impending carnage. 

Jules Greene: Evil nuns have never been more in vogue. However, there’s something uniquely compelling to me about evil nuns who aren’t monsters like Valak from The Conjuring movies, but rather ordinary people. The found footage film The Devil’s Doorway featured a Magdalene asylum in Ireland, run by a chilling Mother Superior played by Helena Bereen. The Magdalene asylums were places where “fallen women” in Ireland (young girls and unmarried women who were pregnant, disabled, or defiant of social norms) were imprisoned and forced to work in inhumane conditions.

Director Aislinn Clarke showcases the brutality of the asylums, with the film’s Mother Superior as the driving force behind all of it. While we don’t have to look far to find evil nun movies today, the painful truth behind The Devil’s Doorway is what turns this trope into a damning exposé of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

Joshua Mackey: My favorite horror trope would have to be “humans are the real evil.” It essentially reveals that, even though there’s something that “goes bump in the night” within the film, people are the true horror. My favorite film with this trope is Jennifer’s Body. Megan Fox’s Jennifer Check is supposed to be the “big bad” in the film. And in some ways, she is. Is she dismissive and mistreats her “best friend” Anita “Needy” Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried)? Yes. Does she feed on the flesh of the men she preys on as a succubus? Also yes.

However, she was turned into the film’s monster by Nikolai Wolf (Adam Brody) and his bandmates who were the real monsters after *spoiler alert* sacrificing her to Satan for their own capital gain. Needy knew not to trust Nikolai and his crew. In the end, she made sure to take care of them. 

The Horror Movie Trope: “I’ll Be Right Back…”

The Movie: Halloween (1978)

Tai Gooden: If you’re in a terrifying situation and you tell someone that you’ll be right back, then you can bet your a** that you probably will not return. The “I’ll be right back… ” trope almost always proceeds the next round of gore as some bizarrely confident person walks straight towards their last living moments. There are many, many examples of this trope and one of my all-time faves is Halloween. Lynda and her boyfriend Bob break a (formally) cardinal rule about having sex when a killer is on the loose. Bob takes a causal drag of his cigarette before declaring that he will be right back. Of course, Michael kills him and inexplicably nails his body to the wall with a single butcher knife. So much for physics, I guess.

I love this example because it gives us a small and rare window into Michael’s humorous side. He acts like Bob in a ghost costume before eventually taking Lynda out. It’s not the first example of this trope but it is a popular one among horror aficionados.

The post The Classic Scary Movie Tropes That Will Never Die appeared first on Nerdist.

Some horror movies employ a slow burn. They start quietly and carefully build tension scene by scene until they crescendo with a nightmare finale. But other horror movies grab us immediately with a truly terrifying opening. Before we’ve even had our first Raisinets, they let us know what we’re in for with beginnings that set the tone for the film and stay with us long after it ends. There are many horror movie openings but a select few have done it better than anyone. And those films hold a special place in cinematic history. To celebrate them, Nerdist staff picked the best opening scenes in horror movie history.

Get Out (2017)

Tai Gooden: Get Out is a brilliant examination of the discomfort that Black people feel outside of our safe spaces. The legitimate fear that being the “only one” or “out of place” puts us in imminent danger. Andre’s kidnapping plays into this brilliantly, allowing him to be the audience surrogate in this brief yet effectively terrifying opener. The quick shift from hoping he will find his way to safety to seeing him attacked and dragged into a man’s car while Flanagan & Allen’s “Run Rabbit Run” plays is unnerving and nauseating. For a Black person, it’s our worst fear. For others, it is a window into the unprovoked hostility and attention we often feel while simply existing. And for all of us, it sets the stage for a film that examines racism, subjugation, fetishization, and more in a body horror narrative.

Jaws (1975)

Eric Diaz: Although I think of Jaws as an adventure film with horror elements, without a doubt the opening scene is one of the scariest ever in film history. Without a single mechanical shark in sight, Spielberg finds a way to create pure terror as nighttime swimmer Chrissie meets her fate in the form of a hungry Great White. To this day, her unheard screams for help in her final moments send chills down my spine, in a way very few horror scenes do, because it feels so damn real. If there was an Oscar for “most believable death,” it should have gone to Susan Backlinie.

It Follows (2014)

Mikey Walsh: It Follows’ monster isn’t terrifying because it wears a scary mask or carries a deadly weapon. It’s a true nightmare because it slowly and relentlessly tracks its prey. All while often taking on the appearance of a normal stranger or loved one only a future victim can see. But that ghoul is at its scariest before we ever learn what it really is. The movie opens with a perfectly paced, hauntingly scored shot of an otherwise peaceful suburban street. A girl we do not know, yet instantly care about, runs from her house in undergarments and heels from an invisible monster. Her fear is palpable as she assures her family of her safety. All while we know something terrible is coming for her.

While we never see her death following a sad farewell message to her parents, made from a beach where the tide rolls in endlessly like the killer she knows is coming. Her mangled body lets us know exactly why she was right to be so scared. This incredible opening scene lets us know what will follow for the rest of this unsettling film.

Suspiria (1977)

Kyle Anderson: Even when it’s just showing credits over a black screen, Dario Argento’s Suspiria starts to ratchet up the tension. The main theme from Goblin is equal parts music box and industrial saw. Rattling the nerves and creating dread. The colors pick up immediately as Suzy makes her way out of the airport and into Argento’s nightmare world. But that’s just mood and color, the stark red and blue of gels over lights. What makes the beginning of the movie the best in horror is the dream-logic deaths of two characters we only meet briefly.

The girl Suzy sees running away in the rain, meets her fate by a pair of disembodied eyes outside her window, along with a sudden, violent thrash of a hand. Stabbed in the heart, thrown through plate glass, and hanged via telephone wire in a matter of seconds, this death is brutal and vibrant. And her friend’s demise, impaled with pieces of the plate glass, just proves the maestro of horror isn’t messing around.

Smile (2022)

Tai Gooden: Parker Finn’s Laura Hasn’t Slept (2020) is one of the most effective and intense horror shorts in recent history. So I expected greatness from Smile, which mostly delivered on its promise to expand the tale of an unseen and transferable evil. The film is rife with jump scares and disturbing imagery but there’s nothing quite like its captivating, disturbing, and lengthy opening scene. Caitlin Stasey stuns as Laura Weaver, a student experiencing a mental health crisis after witnessing her professor’s suicide. Her ebb and flow from agonizing paranoia to unbridled panic before settling into that stoic and menacing smile sets this scene as a new horror opening classic. The chilling exchange between Laura and Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) lays a strong foundation for a relentless curse, a harrowing inheritance, to creep its way to the next victim. 

Scream (1996)

Meaghan Kirby: It goes without saying, really, that Scream has one of the most iconic opening scenes in all of cinema. But for this list, I’ll reiterate that particular stance. The scene is the stuff of legend: The increasingly menacing phone calls; the abandoned Jiffy pop roasting on its foil in the background; Drew Barrymore giving us an iconic scream queen performance in just 10 minutes!

It’s an homage to When a Stranger Calls with a delightfully brutal twist, signaling the many tributes to beloved horror films and tropes to come. Casting one of the biggest movie stars, sticking her front and center on all marketing materials, and brutally murdering her at the top of the film—what a move. So many others have since tried to pull off similar stunt casting shenanigans. But few have come close to sticking the landing.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Amy Ratcliffe: Leaves rustle amid filtered light. Strange animal noises permeate the air. A team of wranglers looks nervous AF. Jurassic Park may not be a pure horror movie, but the 1993 film’s opening scene sure causes terror. The few minutes showcasing the transport of a deadly velociraptor set the movie’s tension and hints at the danger ahead. It makes sure the audience knows from the beginning that the dinosaurs John Hammond shows off so proudly are not cute pets. Just beneath the wonder of these creatures’ existence lies danger and a longing for human-flavored snacks. The chilling raptor screams, Robert Muldoon’s desperate “shoot her,” and John Williams’ ominous music with its increasing tempo etched this scene into my memory.

The Hitcher (1986)

Rosie Knight: A young man (C. Thomas Howell) drives down a rainy highway, his eyes closed as he tires from the long drive. He’s awoken by a massive truck that almost runs him off the road. It’s a terrifying moment, but nothing compared to what’s coming. After his brush with death, he picks up a hitchhiker, played with devastating ferocity by Rutger Hauer. Two people inside a car in a storm shouldn’t be able to instill the kind of fear that Hauer and Howell do. But as the former torments the latter by playing a demented game of mind control, there might not be a scarier sequence in cinema. However, it’s when Hauer says, “That’s what the other guy said,” as Howell asks, “What do you want?” that you know you’re really in trouble. Hauer might never have been better than playing this cinematic sociopath.

Fear Street Part One: 1994 (2021)

Tai Gooden: The opening scene for the first film in Fear Street‘s trilogy is a combination of R. L. Stine book nostalgia, homage to the heyday of shopping malls, and a neon soaked tribute to ’90s slashers. Mall bookstore worker Heather Watkins lengthy struggle against a skull masked killer and her heartbreaking death at the hands of a friend is chilling and intriguing. But what really makes this opening scene stand out are the intricate details you notice upon subsequent viewings. Ryan hearing the whisper of the Shadyside curse calling his name. Stephen King’s Insomnia on the bookshelves. Casting Maya Hawke only to kill her off, just like Drew Barrymore in Scream (1996). Heather desperately saying “It’s me…” to Ryan as blood oozes from her mouth is truly haunting.

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Kyle Anderson: How do you top the horror grandeur of George A. Romero’s magnum zombie opus? Well, for one, you make it faster-paced and generally funnier (thanks screenwriter James Gunn). For two? You open it with lengthy short film that introduces your main character, the escalating zombie outbreak, and the imminent chaos that unfolds because of it. After we meet nurse Ana and her husband Luis, we see their seemingly blissful life get turned upside down when they wake up to a neighbor girl in their house.

She looks hurt, but it’s worse than that. She’s dead. She bites Luis who bleeds out quicker than Ana can save him. Then he gets up just as quickly. As Ana runs outside she sees the entire neighborhood has gone to hell, running undead feasting on everyone. Ana drives away only to see it’s more than just the neighborhood. It’s everywhere! This is one of the most impressive shorthands for zombie outbreaks ever put to screen, and still might be Zack Snyder’s crowning achievement.

Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Rotem Rusak: Though Hannibal’s presence looms over the film, The Silence of the Lambs belongs to Clarice. Throughout the movie, the scales fall from her eyes, as it were. As she faces evil in its most overtly horrifying and most quietly mundane forms. And while she purportedly has allies as she heads into these battles, at the end of the day she is solitary in her fight. The opening scene of The Silence of the Lambs perfectly conveys this uneasy tension. As Clarice runs alone in the woods, a sense of crawling dread fills the screen. We feel she is being watched because we are watching her. And something, it seems, is about to go very wrong.

Despite this, Clarice runs on, unbothered by her position alone and vulnerable as we perceive her to be. She forges on, confident in herself and her strength, even as the ominous music picks up its pace and birds and wild animals chatter in the trees. The opening sequence concludes with the iconic shot of Clarice entering an elevator full of men. Overtly othered but determined nonetheless to carry on. No safer within the halls of the FBI than she is without.

Halloween (1978)

Tai Gooden: Everything about this opening scene (and its scary score) confirms why John Carpenter’s Halloween is the foundation of slasher films. It transpires through the POV of what we believe is a voyeuristic stalker, lurking in the darkness and waiting for the optimal time to attack a young couple. But the Pandora’s box of horror opens quietly, revealing the shocking hand of a child grabbing a butcher’s knife. Those terse minutes stretch on with you knowing where this will likely go, but endlessly curious about how it will get there. The clown mask slipping over his face, obscuring the most heinous parts of Judith’s murder, and his heavy breathing as he trudges back downstairs is a chilling, unforgettable masterpiece.

But, it’s the last shot of a small blond Michael Myers wearing a bright Halloween costume, staring listlessly and holding the knife with his sister’s blood on it, that packs the biggest punch retrospectively. We witnessed the birth of a silent, relentless, and enduring killer.

Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Eric Diaz: A lot of horror sequels are pale imitations of their predecessors. But not A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. We’re introduced to young Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette), who, as soon as the credits roll, dreams herself into Freddy’s nightmare world. We get all the Freddy tropes in the opening scene. The Elm Street house, the creepy little girl, and the basement filled with murdered teens. But long before Inception, this scene introduced us to “the dream within the dream,” concept. As Kristen wakes up (or so she thinks) only to find her bathroom faucet handles are an extension of Freddy’s clawed hand. When he uses them to cut open her wrist, it’s hard to not feel queasy. And all of this is just in the movie’s first five minutes.

Final Destination 2 (2003)

Mikey Walsh: Every Final Destination movie opens with a terrifying “what-if.” But it’s the second and best installment of the franchise that delivers an all-time opening horror scene. The vision of a deadly highway pileup reminds us that a normal drive can instantly end in tragedy. But what makes Final Destination 2‘s first scene worthy of inclusion on this list is how it will stay with you for the rest of your life. It’s impossible not to think about that crash when you find yourself driving alongside a massive truck ferrying something large and terrifying (trees or anything else) that you’re not fully confident it can handle. Even a small pickup with something tied up in its bed can conjure the memory of that scene.

Final Destination 2 forever made every trip on a highway a potential drive full of genuine dread. It truly is—fittingly for a car crash scene—nightmare fuel.

The Ring (2002)

Kyle Anderson: I can’t think of a modern horror movie that had as effective an opening scene as either version of The Ring, based on the Japanese film Ringu. Talk about a way to sell your premise as concisely and impactfully as possible. The concept, of a cursed VHS tape that kills anyone who watches it a week later, is pretty out-there, and so you need to show it. Two teenage girls talk about the tape as a modern urban legend, like a Bloody Mary thing, about what happens when you watch the tape. One of the girls has already watched the tape and her blood runs cold as her friend describes exactly what happened. Just through dialogue and moody music, we get a sense that the end is possibly nigh, even despite a fake-out scare halfway through. When the TV turns on all by itself, even before we see the tape itself or the ghost girl, we’re scared to death. Literally in the girl’s case.

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

Tai Gooden: The Evil Dead franchise often leans into the sillier and splatter-loving side of horror. However, the latest installment, Evil Dead Rise, is an excellent marriage of horror tropes, humor, and a downright disturbing sequence of events. We’ve got young adults in a creepy lakeside cabin, including the jerky/annoying boyfriend and the girl who doesn’t want to be there. Things go awry as we realize that there’s something wrong with Jessica. Her back turned as she reads words from wuthering heights, her voice getting deeper and warbling lets us know that we are in for something disturbing. And boy do things get demonic, leaving us with a harrowing shot over the lake before the film brings its title to visual fruition. 

Originally published October 20, 2021.

The post The Best Opening Scenes in Horror Movie History appeared first on Nerdist.

If a horror film wants to rank in the upper echelon of genre offerings from a critical and commercial perspective, then it is imperative for the narrative to stick its landing. A film’s concluding scene is the vital connective tissue that ties its ongoing storyline(s), thematic underpinnings, and overall character development together in a way that’s logical for its world while playing within the bounds of established tonal settings. It is the aftertaste that makes a meal delicious or ultimately repulsive. A beautiful cap to a dazzling horror tale leaves that coveted lasting impression of ample praise, deep analysis, and widespread recommendations. 

There are many horror films with final scenes that have left fans in awe. But there are a select few that are embedded into our consciousness. Their lasting impressions changed horror cinema history, setting new standards and spawning trends that others may emulate but can never quite duplicate. 

Let’s celebrate thirteen of the best final scenes in horror movie history. 

Get Out (2017)

Get Out deftly tackles themes of microaggressive racism, dehumanization, fetishization, and more through the unsettling tale of Chris Washington, a young Black man who nervously meets the affluent parents of his white girlfriend Rose. Things go awry as he uncovers the entire family’s sinister and heinous plans to utilize his body as white man’s Earthly vehicle. The final scene’s tension is at an all-time high as Chris strangles Rose, the last antagonist standing between him and certain freedom. Suddenly, the flashing lights of what appears to be a police vehicle illuminate the darkness.

Chris’ palpable fear shakes the viewers’ belly as they steel themselves for a heartbreaking outcome. At best, Chris will end up in handcuffs and accused of violently murdering “good white folks.” At worst, his fate will mirror Ben’s in Night of the Living Dead with the cop shooting him to death after his valiant fight for survival. Get Out lets this uncertain dread momentarily linger before the vehicle door opens. Anyone watching this film can’t help but cheer at the sight of his intrepid best friend Rod in his TSA vehicle. It’s a lovely subversion of expectations that allows you to unclench after a long third act of violence, fear, and anxiety. We get to rest in the joy of Chris’ rescue and survival. 

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

The swerve ending is a ubiquitous staple of horror movies going way back, but the way Wes Craven uses it in A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the most jarring. After seemingly defeating dream demon Fred Kruger, heroine Nancy immediately steps outside her front door to a beautiful, sunny day. It’s almost like beginning-of-Blue Velvet levels of idyllic.

If that weren’t enough to get us thinking something’s off, Nancy’s friends—who all died by Freddy’s razor-gloved hand—return to pick her up in a convertible, as Nancy’s alcoholic mother now stands at the door to cheerily wave them off. But things turn bad real fast. The convertible top comes up marked with the familiar stripes of Freddy’s sweater, and Freddy’s hand grabs Nancy’s mom from a tiny window in the front door. She turns into a dummy and gets pulled through, proving you can’t kill the master of nightmares.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

The final scene of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is crazy as hell, especially by horror standards of that time. Sally Hardesty has been fighting for her life against Leatherface and his family all night long. She finally gets a big break when a trucker is able to subdue Leatherface just long enough for Sally to flag down a pickup truck driver. Covered in blood and sweat, she hops into the back of the truck as it speeds off.

Leatherface runs behind them briefly before stopping in the middle of the open road, wildly swinging his chainsaw around in a defeated dance of frustration. Sally’s wide eye stare, hyperventilating, and eerie manic laughter as she distances herself from her torturer is a horror moment that burrows itself into your long-term memory. It’s a solid culmination of her rapid psychological breakdown and the feral carnage we have witnessed throughout the film.

The VVitch (2015)

The Witch is one of the most unsettling horror films of recent memory. With its era-perfect depiction of a puritan family imploding while a real forest witch skulks around, the movie feels icky in a number of different ways. But the ending leaves the sole survivor on a bit of a hopeful note. As the object of her family member’s various Deadly Sins, Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) has had to endure a lot through no fault of her own. Having no idea what to do after all of them die, she visits the barn which houses the family’s massive billygoat, Black Philip. Turns out he’s the devil and asks her if she wants to live deliciously. She then walks into the forest, finds a group of other women dancing naked around a bonfire, and gleefully joins them, floating up to the sky. Good for her!

Friday the 13th (1980) 

After a night of terror, Alice finally thinks she will get some reprieve as she floats in a canoe on Crystal Lake. But the seemingly not-so-dead and disfigured corpse of a child Jason Voorhees is there to greet her, pulling her into the depths of the waters. She awakens in a hospital, convinced that the boy is “still there.” Alice is both right and wrong in this instance. He’s not physically a child anymore. However, Jason Voorhees IS in fact still there, waiting to exact his revenge on anyone who dares step foot on his cursed ground. It’s a horror movie final scene that laid a perfect foundation for not only a sequel but a bonafide franchise, something that many slashers continue to aim for today.

Drag Me to Hell (2009)

If you thought a Sam Raimi horror movie could possibly end happily, then you only have yourself to blame. The increasingly ridiculous and jump-scaring toils that befell Christine after she denied a loan to an old Romani woman had finally come to an end, it seemed. She passed an item of her own to the dead woman’s casket, meaning the curse placed on her would lift and she wouldn’t in fact die in torment. Uh oh. Just as everything seemed fine, she realized it was the wrong envelope! Now it’s too late! As if to illustrate everything we need from a title like this, the ground opens and demons literally drag Christine to Hell. Moral: don’t work in banking.

Ready or Not (2019)

Grace’s overnight battle against her new (and hella rich) in-laws in a twisted ritualistic game makes for a modern horror classic. Ready or Not’s dark comedy, sharp dialogue, and truly diabolical narrative keeps us on a wild ride leading up to a literally explosive ending. Grace narrowly survives until sunrise and the curse works its magic as the Le Domas family explodes one by one, drenching her in their blood. Their palatial mansion is ablaze as a soaked Grace walks to a set of steps, drained from her exhausting ordeal.

“Love Me Tender” by Stereo Jane plays as she stands where she exchanged vows, the serene wedding décor juxtaposing the house’s flaming chaos.  She sits down and casually lights a cigarette as the police flood the scene. An officer asks her what happened to her. Grace’s long drag of a cigarette and deadpan “in-laws” answer caps off this wild film perfectly. In-laws are the bane of many married folks’ existence but this story truly takes the cake. 

The Invitation (2015)

The slow burn of Karyn Kusama’s The Invitation takes us from awkward dinner party, through tense dinner party, until finally we get to violent death-cult dinner party. We’ve all been there, obviously. While a few members of the hapless bougie people, brought together in a house in the Hollywood Hills to reconnect, survive the ordeal, the actual horror of the severity of the night’s events becomes clear. It wasn’t just their group that was taking part in the mass murder-suicide (as evidenced by the red lamp hung outside) but in fact it was dozens of other houses. Basically all of the Hills, and probably loads more, had also had similar, or even more fatal, gatherings. It takes a scary premise and turns it nigh-apocalyoptic simply through the image of lantern lights.

Carrie (1976)

After an epic night of exacting revenge on her teenage enemies and her disgusting mother, Carrie sadly sets her own home ablaze and dies in the fire. The sole prom survivor, Sue Snell, sits at Carrie’s gravesite with flowers. Her sadness quickly transforms into terror as Carrie’s bloody arm shoots through the grave and grabs her. Sue is alive but she’s trapped in her own version of hell where Carrie’s memory will haunt her waking thoughts and nighttime dreams. This moment is not the first jump scare scene ever. But it popularized it in the genre, inspiring Friday the 13th and many more horror films to have the undead killer rise for one final moment of terror.

The Mist (2007)

Infamously, writer-director Frank Darabont changed the ambiguous ending of Stephen King’s short story “The Mist,” in which strange, eldritch creatures descend on a small Maine mountain community out of mysterious fog. To his credit, Darabont knew the audience needed a real gut-punch, and King himself approved. Our hero David, his son, and a few other survivors might have gotten away from one horde of monsters, but they don’t know how widespread this is. They don’t know if the entire world has been taken over! Silently, they all decide they don’t want to continue.

David quickly shoots all of them with the remaining bullets in his revolver only to find he doesn’t have one for himself. As he screams in grief, he gets out of the car…only to see the mist lifting and the military role through. David and the audience have to grapple with the knowledge that had he waited another five minutes, it would have been a happy ending. Brutal.

Eden Lake (2008)

A couple heads to a remote lake to spend an idyllic and romantic weekend together. What could possibly go wrong? A lot actually, especially when a pack of wayward teens led by Brett, true psychopath, cross your path. Eden Lake is an overflowing bucket of despair up until the very end. Sole survivor Jenny awakens to seemingly sympathetic faces after crashing her escape vehicle. This brief moment of relief soon shifts to horror as she realizes these people are the parents of her torturers. The gang blames the night’s murders on her and she makes one last attempt to fight for her life. But it is to no avail. Eden Lake ends with her horrific muffled screaming offscreen as Brett wears her deceased boyfriend’s sunglasses and stares into a mirror. It’s brutal, sickening, ruthless, and a flawless unhappy ending. 

The Wicker Man (1973)

You’d be forgiven for watching almost the entirety of Robin Hardy’s 1973 film The Wicker Man and not have any idea why it’s called that. Surely it’s a weirdly dreamlike film, in which a devoutly Catholic and judgmental police officer comes to a remote island community with information that a young girl had disappeared. The islanders practice a kind of paganism, communing with animal spirits and copulating in the night, which repulses the lawman. He scoffs at the preparation for the spring festival, and its hopes of bringing back the island’s apple crop.

Slowly the film reveals the entire mystery was a ruse in order to catch the policeman and prove that he is their perfect virgin sacrifice. As the islanders cheerily lead him over a hill he sees a giant wicker man, already full of livestock, a ladder leading to the man’s head, and a pyre at its feet. He, and the audience, know what will befall him and no amount of his pleas to them and his beseeching of his Christian god will save him. He will burn, while people cheer and sing about it.

Smile (2022)

A horror film where evil triumphs is an exceptionally disturbing treat. This is the case with Smile, a psychological spiral with an ending that haunts you long after the credits. Rose’s fraught mission to rid herself of a murderous supernatural entity that feeds on her deep-rooted trauma takes us back to her abandoned childhood home. We hope that its dilapidated walls will somehow hold a key to Rose’s survival and perhaps make sense of the bizarre monstrosity that plagues her. But that is not the case. The final moment of Rose with that sinister smile plastered on her face as she sets herself on fire in front of Joel is both glorious and gut-wrenching. This is one of the best final scenes in a horror film that people will talk about for years to come. The curse lives on. There is no happy ending. Sometimes, evil simply cannot be contained. 

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October is all about spooky stuff as we celebrate the greatness of Halloween. But it is also the wonderful precursor to the holiday season, specifically the overwhelming joy of Christmas. This means it is a perfect time to introduce horror fans to a scary new Christmas tale. That’s what we get with RLJE Films and Shudder’s new flick, cleverly titled It’s A Wonderful Knife, and its trailer full of bloody cheer. 

Of course, the film’s title is a play on the Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life. However, life is anything but wonderful for Winnie Carruthers. (If she looks familiar to you, it’s because Jane Widdop played Laura Lee in Yellowjackets.) Last Christmas is haunting Winnie for a very good reason and it seems this year will not be any better. There’s so much going on in the trailer for It’s A Wonderful Knife that it is baffling yet quite intriguing. Blood, a parallel universe, holiday happenings, and a killer dressed like an angelic version of Ghostface. I love it. 

Here’s a quick synopsis for It’s A Wonderful Knife to bring it into sharper focus:

A year after saving her town from a psychotic killer on Christmas Eve, Winnie Carruthers’ life is less than wonderful — but when she wishes she’d never been born, she finds herself in a nightmare parallel universe and discovers that without her, things could be much, much worse. Now the killer is back, and she must team up with the town misfit to identify the killer and get back to her own reality. 

The film also stars Cassandra Naud, Justin Long, Jessica McLeod, Katharine Isabelle, and Joel McHale. Tyler MacIntyre of V/H/S/99 fame directs with a screenplay by Freaky’s Michael Kennedy, so we can expect some fun with this one. It’s A Wonderful Knife will hit theaters on November 10 and make its way to Shudder afterward.

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The possession story is one that horror fans know all too well. A demonic or parasitic force creeps its way into a human’s body, wiping away all traces of them and replacing it with something sinister. It frequently manifests as pure evil unleashing itself into its immediate surroundings with a body horror flare. The person’s aesthetic appearance devolves into something delightfully nightmarish. Demián Rugna’s Spanish language horror film When Evil Lurks certainly holds true to the classic possession story. However, it takes notable deviations from this subgenre’s norms. Some leaps stick a solid landing while others barely take flight but it comes together for an entertaining film to add to your Halloween watch list. 

When Evil Lurks follows brothers Pedro (Ezequiel Rodriguez) and Jimmy (Demián Salomon) discover something grotesque that leads to something worse. There’s a “rotten” (read: possessed being) that is bloated and sort of decaying in a nearby farmhouse. All of the typical logical choices, like shooting it or calling in religious reinforcements, either don’t come into play or work to their detriment. The result is an unleashing of evil that spreads across their rural community and has profound effects on their family. Pedro and Jimmy are not the brightest horror duo ever, so their missteps are our entertainment.

This film jerkily hops between full-on panic, quieter emotional character beats, and grotesque scenes, which is in odd contrast to its overall steady pacing. Speaking of grotesqueness, When Evil Lurks gives a hefty offering to the gorefest gods. The best kind of movie is one that knows exactly what it is. And this flick’s primary purpose is to disturb you and make your stomach turn. These well-crafted scenes—and not necessarily the film’s at times convoluted plot—are what will resonate strongest with viewers.

The tension is palpable, the blood is spilling, and the power of this malevolent force becomes abundantly clear. When Evil Lurks‘ perpetrators and victims take on many faces that we don’t wish to see, from young children to typically adorable animals, while expanding its world quite well. One can’t help but make loose connections to this swiftly spreading yet seemingly commonplace force and what the world has experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic. The same goes for human evil, specifically in terms of colorism. But again, those are not the large crux of the film, which is sick, twisted, and rather bizarre entertainment.

When Evil Lurks does fall into pockets of overexplaining its lore instead of just trusting its audience. The first half sets an intriguing stage with physical and emotional terror. Unfortunately, the latter half never quite dials things up. There are some striking scenes in pockets that somehow culminate in a fizzled end. What will keep viewers in the game are the film’s performances, which elevate its material significantly. When Evil Lurks isn’t packing the same powerful punch as Rugna’s Terrified (2017) but it is far from being a terrible film. There are different flavors for horror fans to chew on, if they dare to give it a go.

When Evil Lurks hits theaters on October 6 with a Shudder streaming release on October 27.

When Evil Lurks ⭐ (3 of 5)

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Horror killers are vital to the success of a film or franchise. Victims come and go at a swift pace but those iconic and terrifying figures are foundational to building an engaging and entertaining story. Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruger, Jigsaw, and many others are deeply embedded into our pop culture landscape and well-known by all, even those who don’t love horror. They all share the common activity of killing; however, they are actually quite distinct in terms of their motivations and personalities. When you think about it, some horror villains seem to align with certain traits that we associate with specific Zodiac signs. Maybe—just maybe—we see hints of ourselves in how they operate in the world because we are a fiery Aries or stubborn Taurus. 

In honor of Nerdoween and the everyday awesomeness of horror in general, let’s line 12 infamous horror killers up with the Zodiac sign that we think fits them best. Surely this won’t cause online outrage, right? 

Jason Voorhees – Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

This silent but very deadly slasher legend walks under the stars in the darkness of Crystal Lake. But he surely doesn’t care about astrology. Like a Capricorn, Jason is a very ambitious and determined being. He only wants to meet his one goal: kill every person who crosses his path. And boy does he do that well, with one of the highest kill counts among his peers. Jason is a sensible and pragmatic dude who uses his nearby resources well. 

Pinhead – Aquarius (January 20-February 18) 

Aquarius people are known for their keen intelligence and innovation. So is Pinhead, the horrifying Hell Priest in the Hellraiser franchise. Pinhead is very intentional about their moves, not the most emotional being, and incredibly smart with their approach. Also, Pinhead makes their victims suffer forever and looks good while doing it, just like a clever Aquarius would do. 

Samara (The Ring) – Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Samara’s watery demise isn’t the only reason she’s a Pisces. This killing entity from The Ring wants you to feel what she felt leading up to her death, torturing you for seven long days and nights before she claims you. Those specific feelings involve pain and suffering that you must spread, lest you want to die. Complex emotions and chaotic thoughts are the definitely hallmarks of a Pisces. 

Chucky – Aries (March 21-April 19) 

Everyone can agree that Aries is the Zodiac sign that fits this horror villain the best. Chucky is ginger, fiery, and so evil that his soul refuses to slumber but instead possesses a doll to continue haunting others. Chucky acts on impulse and has a temper that you don’t want to contend with. If you’re in his path, he will certainly keep you on high alert because his energy is a boundless whirlwind. 

Jennifer (Jennifer’s Body) – Taurus (April 20-May 21)

Is Jennifer really a villain? She’s more of a victim seeking vengeance honestly. Jennifer is staunchly loyal to her bestie Needy and committed to only doing things her way. She can be insensitive at times but her alluring personality and pretty girl privilege make it easy for her to gain fans and prey alike. 

Gabriel May (Malignant) – Gemini (May 22-June 20) 

Gabriel May is literally the parasitic and evil twin of Emily May in Malignant. But we’d dare say that quite a few horror villains have the duality of a Gemini, balancing their normal side with a darker one. Gemini’s get a lot of hate from other signs for being bold, sorta mean, and a bit terrifying, and that fits Gabriel May for sure. 

Leatherface – Cancer (June 21-July 22) 

Cancers are known for being sensitive beings who would hide in a shell all day if they could. That’s what we get with Leatherface, particularly in Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s earlier installments. Unlike many others on this list, Leatherface is not inherently evil. He is a person with limited mental capacity who would probably be kind but he’s driven to do murderous things by his family. Leatherface is also sensitive to the point that he hides behind someone else’s face, which is terribly sad. 

Hannibal – Leo (July 23-August 22)

Yes, we know that Hannibal’s in-universe birthday (January 20) makes him an Aquarius. But he gives off the energy of a Leo for sure. He loves the spotlight and lives for drama, doing everything with a fun flair for applause. Hannibal is super confident in himself with a stylish aura and a driven leader, much like a mighty lion.

Michael Myers – Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Michael Myers was born on October 19, so he’s technically a Libra. But this silent and mysterious boogeyman who moves at his own steady (and shockingly swift) pace gives off Virgo vibes. He’s hyper focused on the task at hand and a true strategist who often outsmarts his victims. Does Mike like small talk? Nope. Does Mike like to win against his enemies? Absolutely. His relentless commitment to his profession is why the Halloween franchise will probably rise again in the future. 

Jigsaw – Libra (September 23-October 22)

Jigsaw’s twisted quest for justice is very much like a Libra. John Kramer wants to balance the scales of society, teaching victim’s lessons or punishing them for their indiscretions with deadly games. He’s a smart dude and, based on those contraptions, super crafty as well. As Beyoncé sings in “Signs,” a Libra will stay on your mind. And once you have see Jigsaw’s work, it will certainly never leave your thoughts.

Freddy Krueger – Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Freddy Kruger’s dream manipulations and slippery presence makes you never want to sleep. It makes perfect sense for this horror villain to have a water Zodiac sign like Scorpio. This charred killer with sharp fingers can get incredibly violent and he’s passionate about crafting hellacious nightmares. In his world, his power seems limitless to the point that it dominates every waking thought of his victim. Freddy can be silly sometimes but that’s only to lure you in for one hell of a sting. 

Ghostface – Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

They aren’t (jokingly?) known as Sagiterrorists for no reason. A Sag is known for having a lot to say, stirring up a mess, and being hyper-confident, sometimes to the point of their own detriment. But they are also great at conversations and generally fun to be around. A killer who will chat with their target over the phone at length before unleashing full chaos is indeed a Sagittarius. There have been many killers behind the Ghostface mask, yet the persona of this character remains mostly the same. Ghostface is blunt but also witty and can easily blend into just about any situation. 

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The Saw universe is back with John Kramer (Tobin Bell) a.k.a. Jigsaw taking his painful lessons to Mexico. Saw X doesn’t have the mind-blowing shock of the original film. But, with inventive deaths that will make viewers’ faces and extremities cringe in horror, it’s a great—even occasionally funny—addition to the franchise. 

Directed by Kevin Greutert and written by Josh Stohlberg and Pete Goldfinger, Saw X packs in gore with a more personal story surrounding Kramer. Given Saw‘s long history of twists, seeing them forgo this in lieu of a deeper emotional investment is refreshing. For all his technological trap savvy, Kramer is still an old man dying from a cancerous brain tumor. He even falls victim to the same scams that others in his generation do.

Saw X captures the susceptibility and allure of scams, not to mention how disarming con artists appear because they tell people what they need to hear. John’s hope rises after Henry Kessler (Michael Beach), a fellow cancer support group member, discloses his special treatment and subsequent freedom from cancer. Another conversation with Dr. Cecilia Pederson (Synnøve Macody Lund) further feeds into John’s curiosity. With the perfect blend of surety and sympathy, Dr. Pederson convinces John to come to Mexico for the surgery. This is a flashing red flag with resounding alarms for most people. If there isn’t a whole level of hell for folks who swindle the dying, there should be.

It’s easy to sympathize with Kramer despite his history of torture. Saw X humanizes John Kramer moreso than previous Saw films. He befriends a child, Carlos (Jorge Briseño), helping fix the wheel of his bike and cares about the soft-spoken woman, Gabriela (Renata Vaca), who sees to his comfort while he awaits surgery. It’s that affection that makes him return to the location with a wine bottle that is supposedly for luck, and nothing is there except clues to the scam. Tobin Bell somehow makes Jigsaw likable, infusing the character with a frailty and vulnerability that screams, “Don’t let me down.”

But, of course, that’s what transpires. And hell hath no fury like a Jigsaw scammed. The film shifts back to the franchise’s standard of setting horrific traps and everyone is on the list. This is where Saw X‘s supporting cast shines. In addition to Lund and Vaca, Paulette Hernandez as nurse Valentina, Joshua Okamoto as Diego the driver, Octavio Hinojosa as anesthesiologist Mateo, and Steven Brand as Parker Sears along with other cured patients played their role to perfection, delivering award-winning and legitimate performances.

The traps don’t have the jaw-dropping shock of previous Saw films. However, how they are often tailor-made for the individual’s transgressions deserves a tip of the hat. The rigged traps play expertly off of the fake operation scam with hospital themes. There is ample body horror, blood, and viscera—though this part causes shocked laughter. Like the other films, Saw X makes viewers question the lengths they’ll go to survive. Spatters of laughter ease some tension, but throughout Kramer’s trip, the viewer’s senses register at varying DEFCON levels. 

While the film certainly excel at gore, the gentler aspect of Kramer adds dimension and presents a stark contrast to the later bloodshed. Despite his failing health, he reminds the bad people and audiences why he is still the Jigsaw GOAT. Tobin Bell immortalized this character, cementing him as one of the most iconic villains of the last twenty years. Inventive and shady in his punishment, the traps reflect his wit and show that a sharp mind remains in Saw X, one you cross at your peril. 

Saw X hits theaters on September 29.

Saw X ⭐ (4 of 5)

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A24 has released several iconic scary movies over the past few years. Films like Hereditary have cemented the studio’s reputation as a high-quality house of horrors. And A24 had another sleeper horror hit this summer with Talk to Me. As a way of celebrating Talk to Me’s digital release, A24 has released a life-size ceramic replica of the evil “Party Hand” from the film that you can buy. Talk to Me‘s for-sale hand is actually a smoking device or an incense burner. But absolutely nothing is stopping any fans from just displaying this hand as a piece of creepy art. And, who knows, it could be a portal to the spirit world. You can check out images of the Talk to Me hand in our gallery down below:

Click To View Gallery

In Talk to Me, the movie reveals that the mysterious prop is the severed, embalmed hand of a powerful deceased medium. The characters in the film then use it to summon up spirits. The idea is that someone holds the hand and speaks the words “talk to me” out loud. Thus, inviting in whatever entity from beyond the grave that heeds your call. After someone says the words on Talk to Me, the participant lets go of the hand. This allows for the spirit to enter inside of them. In the film, they equate it to getting high off drugs. Hence the entire thing becoming a party game for bored youth. As you can imagine, all kinds of hideous chaos ensues.

A24’s already sold out of their first production run of the ceramic Talk to Me “Party Hand.” But more are going to be produced in the near future, so you can pre-order now for the price of $110.00. The estimated shipping for this purchasable Talk to Me hand is in late December. However, A24 does not guarantee a holiday delivery. Talk to Me is already out on digital but will be hitting Blu-ray on October 3.

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After the financial success of the remake of Pet Sematary in 2019, some sort of continuation was inevitable. Even if Stephen King’s original novel had no continuation to speak of. That certainly didn’t stop the makers of the original 1989 film from making Pet Sematary II back in the day. But this time, for Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, instead of a sequel, they’re going the prequel route. We have our first trailer for the film, which premieres at this year’s Fantastic Fest, before dropping on Paramount+ in October. You can check out the creeptastic trailer for Pet Sematary: Bloodlines below:

This prequel takes place in the year 1969. It focuses on a younger version of the Jud Crandall character from the novel. Fans probably remember Jud Crandall as the old man who gives all the information about the burial ground to the original story’s lead, Louis Creed. Jud also utters the original movie’s most famous line, “Sometimes, dead is better.” In this prequel, Jud is still a young man, and dreams of escaping his hometown of Ludlow, Maine. That is until he discovers the dark secrets of what lies buried in a nearby ancient cemetery. Jud will come face to face with the family legacy that connects him to Ludlow. This sets him up for his future in the original Stephen King story.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is directed by Lindsey Anderson Beer, who co-wrote it with Jeff Buhler. Buhler wrote the 2019 remake film. The movie stars Jackson White as the younger Jud Crandall, as well as Jack Mulhern, Natalie Alyn Lind, Forrest Goodluck, and Isabella Star LaBlanc. A few notable veteran actors in the film include Pam Grier, Samantha Mathis, Henry Thomas, and David Duchovny.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines hits Paramount+ on October 6, just in time for the spooky season.

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It doesn’t matter how many home invasion movies we watch in our lives. They will ALWAYS scare us. The same is true of alien invasion films. Each is an established horror movie trope for good reason. They play on the fear of seeing the place we feel safest turned into the scene of our worst nightmare. There’s something uniquely awful about having our personal sanctuary violated. Now Hulu is going to try and deliver something truly horrific by combining both in No One Will Save You, a film from 20th Century Studios called a “sci-fi psychological thriller.” We don’t know if we’ll be thrilled by something so unsettling, but the creepy first trailer for No One Will Save You proves it’ll certainly frighten us.

No. No, I don’t like that. By “that” I mean how upsetting this premise makes me feel. As for the No One Will Save You trailer and premise, I like both a lot. This feels like Signs crossed with a Jordan Peele movie, The Strangers, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. That’s a pretty good recipe for a story that will have us cowering under our blanket the first time we hear a creak in the night.

This is the second film from writer-director Brian Duffield (Spontaneous). It stars Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart) as Brynn. In a press release Disney describes Brynn as a “formidable fighter when it comes to her unwelcome and unearthly intruders.” Her gumption standing up to supreme beings will confuse her new space enemies. But monsters from another world aren’t the only thing she’ll be battling. The film’s official synopsis says the horror movie “is an action-packed face-off between Brynn and a host of extraterrestrial beings who threaten her future while forcing her to deal with her past.”

Facing both intergalactic invaders and your regrets? Forget combining two classic horror tropes. Dealing with our past might be even scarier than an alien home invasion.

No One Will Save You arrives on Hulu in the US on September 22, 2023. That’s also when it debuts on Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ everywhere else.

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There are iconic horror villains like Michael Myers, Ghostface, and Pinhead who fans reference when waxing about their favorite films. But there are other horror villains, be they monsters or people, that often fall by the wayside. When it comes to horror, the ’80s and ’90s delivered some supreme films that went in unbelievable directions with villains who deserve more recognition and shine. So, let’s celebrate some of the most underrated horror villains of the ’80s and ’90s!

Note: Some films on this list do not disclose the villains’ identity until the climax of the film, so please proceed with caution.

John Ryder – The Hitcher (1986)

The Hitcher takes the familiar cautionary tale about picking up hitchhikers and ratchets it up. John Ryder—a.k.a. The Hitcher (Rutger Hauer)—plays a cat-and-mouse game with Jim (C. Thomas Howell), the young man who gives him a ride. Even when Jim realizes his mistake and escapes, Ryder is unavoidable. Smiling, creepy, and downright sadistic, Ryder instills terror to the point that dying becomes less a fear and more a blessed relief. 

Harry Warden/The Miner – My Bloody Valentine (1981)

Sometimes, celebrating a holiday has dire consequences. The Miner (Peter Cowper) might not talk under the mask, but his blood-soaked rampage speaks louder than words. Few horror films combine small-town mine terror with an urban legend and a holiday. Plus, his laugh at the end is the stuff of nightmares. This ’80s horror movie might be B-horror and camp, but they knew how to stick the landing with this underrated horror villain. 

Horace Pinker – Shocker (1989)

It’s unfair when villains get a paranormal payback buff. An underrated Wes Craven gem, Shocker is a supernatural serial killer flick. Horace Pinker (Mitch Pileggi) is a terrifying murderer with a high body count before his execution. After his death, he returns, seeking vengeance against the young man who turned him in. While the effects do not age well, Pinker inspires chills and laughs like another Craven villain. 

Pumpkinhead – Pumpkinhead (1988)

“Keep away from Pumpkinhead unless you’re tired of living.” You don’t have to tell us twice. But giving this summoned beasty a wide berth is easier said than done if it gets called up to kill you. If you’re not the target, Pumpkinhead gives peak “mind the business that minds you” energy. Tall, lanky, and ghastly pale with a tail, this beast is nigh undefeatable with a chilling smirk. Not only does Pumpkinhead deserve more love, but we want to see it in Dead by Daylight. 

Angela Baker – Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Considering the portrayal of summer camps in horror films, it’s surprising they still exist. Watching Sleepaway Camp again with the awareness of who the killer is adds a layer of surprise each time. While some know the series, few mention Angela Baker (Felissa Rose) by name and it’s time that changed. She’s burned someone with scalding water and beheaded another. And Angela achieved all this while being a teeny teenager. The original film even spawned four sequels thanks to that unforgettable ending, so put some respect on Angela Baker’s name. 

Sandman – Sleepstalker: The Sandman’s Last Rites (1995)

The Sandman’s story is as creepy and tragic as his supernatural invincibility. To maintain his sand-resurrected body, Sandman has to sever the link to his mortal world. So, he goes on a murder spree searching for that link, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. With his body made of sand, he can transform parts of himself into a weapon, like his arm into a spear. Otherworldly killers abound in cinema, but thanks to a creepy song and his distinct features and abilities—sand gets everywhere—the Sandman earns a spot on this list. 

Patrick Channing – The First Power (1990)

Before he played the mentally unstable vampire, and later the magic-dealing warlock on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jeff Kober was Patrick Channing—an erratic and violent supernatural killer on a violent murder spree after his execution. I am sensing a trend here. Jeff Kober always nails the disturbing murderer role. Patrick’s power set is actually overpowered—resurrection, teleportation, and possession—and that makes him pure nightmare fuel. Murderers who massacre from sheer enjoyment are in a different league.  

Stewart Swinton – Wolf (1994)

If smarmy, yuppie killers had a runner-up to Patrick Bateman, Stewart Swinton (James Spader) fits the bill. He takes his mentor’s position at work and has an affair with his wife. But when he fails to hold the job, the claws come out literally as he delves into payback. Wolf is a slasher horror with practical effects that still hold up well; Swinton is the beast that’s greedy and hollow, who wants what others have. He’s a villain you despise before he even kills anyone. 

Alex Hammond – Prom Night (1980)

There’s something about slashers that make you question the villain. Alex (Michael Tough), in his glittery mask towing an ax, is one of those. Creepy calls and a murder spree in one night make for superb killers. The clincher is he is not otherworldly or one of those villains who keep getting up after being stabbed, bludgeoned, or anything else. When he attacks, he puts his weight into wielding his weapons. He is mortal in every sense and one of the few sympathetic villains on this list.  

Candyman – Candyman (1992)

Another character who should be in Dead by Daylight, Candyman, is a graphic killer, and Tony Todd’s voice adds a layer of charisma amidst the blood-curdling terror. Yes, we are all familiar with what happens if you say his name five times in a mirror or a reflective space. But Candyman doesn’t often make the list of great/iconic horror villains like Ghostface and Jason Voorhees, so that’s why he’s on this underrated list. The way he butchers characters is artful, and he does not hesitate to arrive when summoned. This is a killer to avoid, even with a tragic backstory, because he’s into exquisite pain. Don’t expect a quick death. 

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Horror movies based on true stories have a special place in shaping contemporary anxieties. Because cinema is an art form closely associated with verisimilitude, adding in an extra element of “truth” to horror films makes their scares all the more provocative. However, despite film’s best attempts, it is built on illusions with pictures rolling at twenty four frames per second. 

Filmmakers frequently skew or embellish the true story, thanks to creative license for entertainment purposes. Regardless, the discrepancy between truth and fiction can be just as telling as the content of the films themselves. And people do gravitate towards these offerings, with some films becoming bonafide franchises.

Here are seven horror films that are based (perhaps loosely) on real stories.

Editor’s Note: This post contains references to real life events that involve extreme physical violence. Please proceed with caution.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

One of the most iconic horror movie villains is Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, directed by Tobe Hooper. The 1974 film featured a hulking killer wearing a mask made from human skin, preying on hitchhikers with his family. Leatherface transformed the look of what a horror movie villain could be. 

There isn’t a direct Leatherface analogue in history. However, screenwriters Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper credit serial killer Ed Gein as an influence in creating Leatherface. Ed Gein was known for, among other horrific crimes, fashioning masks out of human faces. 

The Amityville Horror (1979)

The Amityville Horror adapts the eponymous book by Jay Anson, chronicling the reported hauntings of a house on Long Island. Stuart Rosenberg’s film portrays the Lutz family after they move into a home where a family was murdered the year before. The house soon exhibits demonic activity, with a disembodied voice telling a local priest to “get out.” Over the course of the film, the Lutz family unravels a sinister history about the house they’ve moved into, one that begins before murders occur. 

The veracity of the supernatural elements in The Amityville Horror have been contended for years. Succeeding owners of the Lutz house claimed that no supernatural activity occurred. However, the real horror at the source of the story is absolutely true. Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his entire family in their home in 1974. 

Ghostwatch (1992)

Ghostwatch terrorized an entire generation of viewers in the United Kingdom when the BBC special aired on Halloween in 1992. Presented as a live broadcast, Lesley Manning’s Ghostwatch followed a team of paranormal investigators and journalists to an allegedly haunted London house. The family—a single mother and her two daughters—explained that there was an entity haunting the basement and the daughters’ bedroom. Complete with presenter Michael Parkinson hosting the show from a BBC studio set, Ghostwatch fooled thousands of viewers into believing that the footage and broadcast were real. 

Ghostwatch’s premise is inspired by the Enfield Poltergeist, which reportedly haunted the home of a single mother and her two daughters in London in the late 1970s. Like the BBC special, the Enfield Poltergeist possessed one of the daughters, causing her to speak in an unnatural voice. If this scenario sounds at all familiar, it’s also the basis for The Conjuring 2, directed by James Wan. Ultimately, Ghostwatch birthed an entire generation of found footage horror films, like The Blair Witch Project. Arguably, no descendant ever came as close to the effectiveness of its progenitor. 

Scream (1996) 

Wes Craven’s takedown of the slasher genre changed American horror films forever in 1996. The film follows a teenage girl named Sidney Prescott as she grieves the loss of her mother, who was murdered the year before. At the same time, a masked killer known as Ghostface starts murdering teenagers and adults in the town of Woodsboro. As Sidney realizes that she is being targeted by Ghostface, she must uncover the relationship between her mother’s murder and her town’s new serial killer. 

While Scream engages with the mythology and tropes of fictional slasher films, the basis for its story is all too real. Screenwriter Kevin Williamson drew inspiration for his serial killer screenplay after learning about the Gainesville Ripper in Florida. The Gainesville Ripper murdered several University of Florida students within the first few weeks of the fall semester in 1990. Like Ghostface, the Gainesville Ripper used a knife to stab his victims to death. 

The Conjuring (2013)

It’s difficult to imagine the state of demon possession movies today without The Conjuring. James Wan’s 2013 film about paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren shook up what had been a stale subgenre of horror, resuscitating it back to life with his distinctive directing prowess. The film depicts the couple investigating a house haunted by a witch in early 1970s Rhode Island.  

The film’s credits roll with real photographs of the Warrens, as well as the Perron family, who lived in the “haunted” house. And while Ed and Lorraine Warren were real people, their work as paranormal investigators has been disputed for decades. Regardless of the veracity of the Warrens’ work, their careers have formed the basis for one of the biggest Hollywood horror franchises. 

Verónica (2017)

Referred to as the “scariest movie of all time” when it hit Netflix, the Spanish film Verónica is another story about demon possession. Director Paco Plaza’s film, set in 1991 in Madrid, tells the story of a teenage girl haunted by a malicious spirit after playing with a Ouija board during a solar eclipse. While its reputation as “the scariest movie” is debatable, there’s no question that Verónica is a highly effective horror film. 

Verónica is based on the only case in Spanish police history where a detective claimed that something paranormal occurred. In reality, a teen girl named Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro died after playing with a Ouija board at school. After her death, the police claimed to experience paranormal activity in the home that her family lived in in Madrid. 

The Pope’s Exorcist (2023)

The Pope’s Exorcist is perhaps the silliest film about demon exorcisms on this list. From director Julius Avery, the film follows the Catholic priest, Fr. Gabriele Amorth. He goes on a special assignment to Spain from the Vatican. Unlike the traditional image of an exorcist, Amorth has a sense of humor about this job. He even gets around on a scooter. Amorth’s chief objective is to determine whether a person is dealing with a mental illness or a true demonic possession. Therefore, he remains skeptical of demonic activity when assessing each case.

However, while treating a boy in Spain, Amorth encounters his wildest case yet.  The film packs in outlandish, self-aware moments. But it is based on the life and work of Fr. Gabriele Amorth, who wrote dozens of books about his work as an exorcist. Amorth’s sense of humor in the film stems from his real life counterpart. It’s unclear to what extent the exorcism shown in The Pope’s Exorcist matches one of Amorth’s cases. However, the film accurately shows the priest’s beliefs, personality, and experience as a lawyer, journalist, and member of the Italian resistance during World War II.

Of course, there are many more horror films that draw inspiration—both directly and indirectly—from real people and events. But, you can re-explore (or discover) these seven films and see how knowing the true stories behind them changes your perception of their narratives.

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Vampire films are perhaps the most versatile subgenre of horror. They can be just about anything: comedic, sensual, gory, whimsical, and/or gutting. The best are a blend of many of these elements, mapping cultural, often metaphorical, fear and fantasy onto violent virality. Think of Dracula (1931) with an arch but deliciously funny Bella Lugiosi at the center, Salem’s Lot (1979) with a window scene so iconic it haunted a generation of kids, and Let the Right One In (2008) where adolescence is tinged with a foreboding gloom.

That’s the great genius of blood-sucking. It can be so many things. Lust and sexuality. Intimacy and connection. Existential dread about what it means to be alive—or unalive. It makes sense, then, that one of our formative body horror maestros would tackle a vampire film. And in 1977, David Cronenberg did just that with his indie feature Rabid, a fascinating, pulpy, prescient, and undeniably the one of the strangest vampire movies that’s unlike anything you’ve never quite seen. 

Because it’s Cronenberg, Rabid isn’t exactly a traditional vampire film. There’s blood-sucking, yes, but it transpires via armpit instead of mouth. The film centers on Rose, who gets into a motorcycle accident with her boyfriend in the opening moments. She’s significantly injured in the crash, which prompts a plastic surgeon named Dr. Keloid to perform a radical new procedure on her. Keloid uses morphogenetically neutral grafts on Rose, hoping to replace her damaged skin and organs. Instead, he accidentally triggers a mutilation that causes a stinger-like organ to grow under Rose’s arm. And the stinger is hungry for blood.

Cronenberg has been a fixture in genre filmmaking since his first feature Stereo in 1969. He’s best known for his transgressive body horror, displayed most evidently in films like The Brood, Videodrome, and the remake of The Fly. Rabid is his fourth directorial feature and operates like a bit of a test run for the ideas that would percolate and better render later in his career. It’s not just about a vampiric hunger, but also sits at the intersection of horror and sexuality—a Cronenberg specialty. 

Beyond its premise making it one of the strangest vampire movies, Rabid is memorable because of how it acutely and radically examines its sexuality. Rose is played by Marilyn Chambers, one of the most famous pornographic actresses of the 1970s. Prior to Rabid, she was known for her work in adult films like Behind the Green Door. Cronenberg originally wanted Sissy Spacek for the part of Rose, but was convinced to hire Chambers because producers thought her adult fan base could attract an audience for the film. 

But beyond the potential financial benefit, casting Chambers was a stroke of metatextual genius. Rose’s new appendage awakens a hunger from within. A hunger that appears out of nowhere like sexual lust. The scenes where she bites her victims at first play out like sex scenes. In fact, Rose is nude the first time she bites a fellow hospital patient. He caresses her, there’s intimacy, but then she brutally stabs him with her stinger, molten blood pouring from his side. 

That Rose’s sexuality is used to source and maim victims is part of Rabid’s lasting appeal. It’s hard to watch the film today and not see all that it extrapolates from the cultural and societal fears of the time, as well as what it forecasts. The film predates the AIDS epidemic by four years, but the panic around sexual transgression is all over Rabid. Rose’s blood sucking begins its own epidemic, one that turns her victims into zombie-like vampires themselves. The contagion spreads quickly through Montreal, where the film is set, causing widespread anxiety. It feels like stark commentary on sexually transmitted disease and how marginalized people often take the fall. 

Putting a porn star at the center of the film only highlights the film’s sexual politics. Chambers is a wonderful lead—demure, beautiful, curious. Rose’s characterization is a little flat—an issue in many of Cronenberg’s early films—but Chambers’ presence does so much of the work. There’s a confidence to her that assists the violence she both creates and endures onscreen. In one scene, she attempts to drink the blood of a cow before a drunken farmhand attacks her. He tries to seduce and then assault her, but she swiftly ignites her fanged appendage and stabs him in the eye. WIthout so much as breaking a sweat. Chambers is a master at this dance between seduction and predator. She uses her body like an instrument, playing it gently but with highly complex notes. 

One seminal scene in Rabid even takes place in a porn theater. Rose enters the theater looking for a victim and quickly identifies one. Their interactions begin like flirtation before evolving to something sensual. But, of course, the moment ends with the man’s silent death. Rose leaves his body behind, propped up and positioned toward the screen playing out male fantasy. 

Sexuality is intrinsic to the vampire genre, the origins of the gothic creature rooted in the perverse. One of the earliest examples of vampire fiction, John William Polidori’s The Vampyre, is a loose allegory for vampirism as seduction. Further novels, like Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla and Bram Stoker’s Dracula are similarly erotic. The interplay of sexual prowess and blood lust is as carnal as it gets, which makes for fertile ground in horror storytelling. This is certainly something Rabid is eager to explore.

But the most notable literary predecessor to Rabid is Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend, about a pandemic that turns the world’s population into vampires. The book is arguably one of the most important horror works of the 20th century not just for what it contains, but for its lasting influence. It’s decidedly not sexual, but it shows interest in the intersection of viral disease and vampirism. In effect, this helped kickstart the modern zombie genre. Rabid, too, is arguably both a vampire story with zombie elements that make it a strange yet powerful movie. 

And that’s again what makes it so prescient. It’s impossible to watch Rabid in 2023 without thinking of the COVID-19 pandemic, which corresponded with other forms of civil unrest, conspiracy, and sex panic. Those themes, so present in our everyday, are in Rabid, too. Cronenberg has a knack for this finger-on-the-pulse approach. It’s easy to see how this film serves as both homage and a precursor to other genre and exploitation films. There are shades of movies like Dawn of the Dead and They Live in Rabid. We also see shades of the Cronenberg oeuvre that would soon define and inspire body horror forevermore.

Rabid’s strangeness as a vampire film is many fold. It defies easy categorization, is transgressive in a way that is imaginative and incendiary, and has an element of counterculture punk rock coursing through its veins. If you’re looking for a strange and unique vampire movie that sits neatly within the genre—while also daring to expand and revolutionize it—Rabid is worth checking out. If nothing else, you’ll never look at armpits the same way again.

Rabid is currently available to stream for free on Tubi.  

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For a book written in 1897, Dracula has had an exceptionally long shelf life. As such, the story and especially the title character have made their way to screens both large and small for over 100 years now. Only a handful have made an indelible impact. Often the revisionism of the revisions just come across as so many extra footprints in territory so well-trod it’s a deep furrow. This year alone we already had Renfield which, Nicolas Cage aside, was maybe the worst in decades. However, I was oddly excited for The Last Voyage of the Demeter, a feature-length take on a single, rarely adapted section of Stoker’s novel. Sadly, good premise is almost all there is.

I should hasten to add, it’s not like the movie is bad necessarily. It’s a supremely competent horror-thriller that’s definitely in the vein of studio monster movies that came before. Certain shots and moments are very effective. The decision to make Dracula more monster than man is a fun riff, and the setting certainly sets it apart. But it’s also just loads of plot without much story, characteristics rather than characters, and a pace better suited to action than horror. But without much action either. They make for a pleasant enough two hours without ever engaging much.

The premise is certainly the strongest part. We follow the events of the second major section of Dracula, which features the logs of the captain of the Demeter, a cargo ship making its way from Romania to London with private shipments bound for Carfax Abbey. The captain here, naturally on his personal last voyage before retirement, is Liam Cunningham, who is basically perfect for the character. His first mate is Mr. Wojchek (David Dastmalchian), who will inherit the ship when his mentor leaves. The new arrival is Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a trained physician whose skin color makes him unhireable as such. This is easily the most interesting aspect of any of the characters and it’s little more than backstory.

Other deckhands have names but exist mostly as vampire fodder later in the story. We also, for some reason, have the captain’s eight-year-old grandson Toby (Woody Norman), and a strange stowaway named Anna (Aisling Franciosi), sick with blood poisoning and riddled with bite marks. Wonder what happened to her. Naturally, the strange cargo turns out to be one of your Draculas (Javier Botet), whose makeup and vibe place him somewhere between the angel in Midnight Mass and Barlow from Salem’s Lot. Both, naturally, derive from F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu which is still the movie with the best adaptation of the Demeter story.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter by its very nature is something of a foregone conclusion. It’s right there in the title! The movie also never hides the fact that it’s adapting part of Dracula, so we pretty much know they won’t stop the threat. This isn’t a problem inherently; plenty of amazing movies come from tragedies we know will happen. Frigging Titanic, anyone? The trouble is, the movie seems to entirely rest on the novelty of this being a Dracula movie without any of the typical trappings of such. This is a creature, a bat-thing that can move faster than anyone on the ship. The most tense sequences involve Dracula in an enclosed space, lurking in the shadows. Once he’s outside, which happens very frequently, he’s a CGI swoop.

Like I said, it’s not as though there’s nothing to enjoy or praise here. Director André Øvredal (Trollhunter, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) knows we want to see Dracula, so gives him plenty of big closeups. We also have a few legitimate surprises when it comes to the fate of some of those Dracula bites. Vampirism as plague is not a fresh idea, but it’s effective here. And I’ll say the siege on Toby when he’s locked in the Captain’s quarters is particularly well done. The problem is the movie seems to exist in spite of this artistry and not for it. The script is overwritten yet all-too spare. Characters talk about things we don’t get to see and speed through things on which they should linger.

If you want a mindless escape with a monster and some jump scares, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is plenty fine. If you wanted a truly fresh take on cinema’s most enduring creature of the night, keep looking.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter hits theaters August 11.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter ⭐ (2.5 of 5)

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

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The game that literally no one wants to play is back once again. The Saw franchise will grow again with Saw X, a film that will continue the story of John Kramer. Tobin Bell’s creepy stare and Billy the Puppet, the creepier Jigsaw clown puppet, are both etched into many horror fans’ minds. Just when we thought we were free from watching the relentless torture of people, Saw X drops a trailer that shows John’s newfound and very personal mission.

This clip hearkens back to the early days of the franchise, including the return of Amanda. She’s unlike many final girls because, well, she becomes the killer’s ruthless apprentice. Some fans may be wondering what the hell is going on in the Saw X trailer. Well, Saw X is actually a direct sequel to Saw, even though it is the tenth film in the franchise. 

Here’s a Saw X synopsis to help you better understand what’s going on with the timeline and in the above trailer. 

John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back. The most chilling installment of the SAW franchise yet explores the untold chapter of Jigsaw’s most personal game. Set between the events of SAW I and II, a sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer – only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, John returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through a series of ingenious and terrifying traps. 

This synopsis and trailer for Saw X are quite interesting. Like John, I truly despise a scammer, especially when they take advantage of vulnerable people. But, unlike John, I don’t believe that torture traps are the right way to stop their schemes. Perhaps there’s something in between that doesn’t involve murder. But alas, he is psychotic, so that’s the only option for him. Saw X will hit theaters on September 29, which is just in time for the season of thrills and chills.

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You just can’t keep an iconic killer down. At least not forever. After the Saw franchise saw a reboot recently with Spiral, the iconic franchise is back with a new movie. Saw will slice back into theaters with its tenth installment from Lionsgate. The movie was initially supposed to release on October 27th, but will now release on September 29. Kevin Greutert will be directing the next chapter. The very same director helmed both Saw VI in 2009 and later Saw: The Final Chapter in 2010. He’s also edited Saw I-V, as well as Jigsaw. So this is someone well qualified for the job. Additionally, Tobin Bell will return in Saw X, reprising his role as John Kramer, a.k.a Jigsaw. And we have our first look at this reprisal below.

Lionsgate also announced a few more new cast members who will be in on the action. Synnøve Macody Lund, Michael Beach, and Steven Brand will be in the tenth Saw movie in undisclosed roles. Will they fall victim to the clutches of Jigsaw? Let’s see if they can play the game correctly.

The synopsis for the new Saw movie shares:

John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back, and it’s the untold chapter of Jigsaw’s final games. Set between the events of Saw I and II, a sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer – only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. The infamous serial killer returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through devious, deranged, and ingenious traps.

In a statement, Saw producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules said the following. “We have been listening to what the fans have been asking for and are hard at work planning a movie that Saw aficionados and horror fans alike will love. And part of that is giving the reins to Kevin Greutert, director of Saw VI, which is still one of the fans’ favorites in the entire series. More details revealed soon.”

The last film in the franchise, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, was the first film in the franchise not to feature actor Tobin Bell in some capacity. This Saw movie did not even showcase the Jigsaw character. We don’t know what Lionsgate and the producers have planned exactly. But we have a feeling we’ll see a return of some of the iconic Saw iconographies to the franchise. Tobin Bell said he’d be interested in returning for a prequel that explored the origins of Billy the puppet. Could Saw X explore that? Right now, it’s all a mystery. But we’re glad to know that, at the very least, Tobin Bell will be back to play his iconic role in the next Saw movie. Saw just doesn’t feel the same without Jigsaw.

And beyond that, we just hope that with Saw back, as well as Scream, Halloween, Child’s Play, and The Exorcist, someone remembers to give Freddy and Jason a wake-up call soon too.

Originally published on December 8, 2022.

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There are many hard and fast rules in horror. Don’t run up the stairs when there is literally an exit door to freedom. Never investigate that strange noise in the basement or attic. Leave that weird book, relic, or box wherever the hell you found it. And never, ever try to resurrect a person. It will always end badly. That’s the lesson that everyone learns the hard way in birth/rebirth, a film about a morgue technician who resurrects a dead child for experiments. The trailer for birth/rebirth is super unsettling and quickly goes off the rails. 

We meet Dr. Caper (Marin Ireland), a morgue tech who is not following the rules when it comes to disposing of corpses in the birth/rebirth trailer. Instead, she’s been taking them home and conducting her own Frankenstein experiments. She’s found the perfect candidate, a little girl named Lila (AJ Lister), who died from an infection. However, we learn in the trailer that birth/rebirth‘s Dr. Caper (Frankenstein) doesn’t realize that Lila’s mom Celie (Judy Reyes), is also in the medical field. They even work at the same hospital. Celie quickly catches onto Dr. Caper’s suspicious activity and discovers to her horror, that Dr. Caper has Lila’s missing body in her apartment. Even more shocking, Lila is alive (but unconscious) on a respirator. The two form a terse alliance as Celie wants her daughter to live while Dr. Caper seems to have more nefarious goals.

At the end of the birth/rebirth trailer, Lila wakes up, but she’s no longer herself. What will they do with this version of Lila? What are Dr. Caper’s ultimate goals? There are so many ways this film can go, but the general premise tips its hat at Mary Shelley’s infamous tale, much like The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster, albeit through the exploration of motherhood. Fans will have to wait and see when birth/rebirth hits theaters on August 18.

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There are few horror villains who truly scare the hell out of me. Michael Myers and Ghostface are my besties in my twisted mind. My nightmares and morbid sensibilities are disturbing enough that Freddy would run away from me. But I will never, ever get Valak a.k.a the demonic nun’s creepy face out of my head. It will haunt me until my final days. (You’re fabulous, sis. Please don’t kill me!) Five years after The Nun became a horror sensation, the film’s sequel, aptly titled The Nun II, is here with a trailer that will leave you praying for protection. 

In The Nun II, Taissa Farmiga returns as Sister Irene four years after the events of the first film. It is 1956 and a priest dies in France. A couple of girls realize that something is not quite right, and BAM, the demonic nun is back in action. Sister Irene knows this thing has come back for her yet again and goes on a journey to discover more about Valak. The titular nun wants its power back, but Irene is determined to send the evil entity back to the depths of hell. Sounds like a hellaciously good time. The film also stars Jonas Bloquet, Storm Reid, Anna Popplewell, and Bonnie Aarons.

The Nun II trailer teases that new truths will come to the light. How will it all end? The only way to find out is to grab your holy water and head to the theater when The Nun II drops on September 8.

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There’s nothing that says “horror” more than a creepy object that ends up being a portal to something sinister. It is always a good idea to leave that weird book, suspicious puzzle box, old relic, strange doll, etc., the hell alone. It is never, ever worth your soul to satisfy your curiosity. The characters in A24’s upcoming thriller Talk to Me obviously don’t know this, based on what we see in its first and second trailers. 

We meet a young woman (Sophia Wilde) who lost her mom. She gets together with friends, and they decide to have her connect with an embalmed hand in a ritual that will open and close spiritual doors with the command, “Talk to me.” She says it and discovers that the hand allows her to see on the other side, where her mom is trying to reach out.

Well, at least she thinks it is her mom. The figures she keeps seeing in the Talk to Me trailer look far from the norm. Apparently, she didn’t quite close that open door, and her life quickly takes a downward spiral. We can see even more of the chills to come in Talk to Me‘s second trailer.

Supernatural forces unleash themselves for what looks like quite the harrowing adventure. What is the deal with that hand? How will they close this portal? So many questions that need answers.

The Talk to Me trailers certainly grab hold of you and refuse to let go. The movie stars Sophie Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, and more and comes from directors Danny and Michael Philippou. Talk to Me will hit theaters on July 28.

Originally published April 11, 2023.

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One of life’s greatest wounds is death and the subsequent grief that follows. It is the steep price we pay for the honor of communing and sharing our soul with another living being. Their absence forces us to accept and acclimate to a new version of normal, one with a landmine of triggers that can slice our emotional flesh at any given moment. And, for some of us, death and loss are repetitive, cyclical hells that threaten to completely consume us at any moment like an invasive disease. But, what if death itself were a disease that could be cured? Would we want the antidote, even if it came with bloody ramifications? That is the crux of Bomani J. Story’s horror drama The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster, a oft-bleak meditation on systemic oppression and violence, heartbreak, and death.

The film borrows general inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein but shifts its setting to a disenfranchised project housing development. At its center is Vicaria (Laya DeLeon Hayes), a gifted Black teenage scholar whose life has been marred by her surroundings. After losing her mother years prior and her brother Chris (Edem Atsu-Swanzy) recently to gun violence, Vicaria sees death as a disease and is on a mission to cure it. Unfortunately, her environment provides ample test subjects as she desires to bring her brother back to life. She’s the polar opposite of Dr. Frankenstein’s classic depiction as a wealthy privileged white man who is, in a sense, playing God because he can. 

She’s jokingly called the “mad scientist” and the moniker fits. This is especially true when she pulls flesh apart and reassembles it while disturbingly chuckling at her own brilliance. But, this is not about exploitation or satisfying a need to create something world-changing. Instead, Vicaria wants to bring balance to a community that is constantly in flux and soothe her palpable pain. A stroke of genius, luck, and, yes, electricity resurrects her brother… but there is a price to pay. Chris is not fully himself, but rather an entity hellbent on revenge. He seemingly reacts from a place of crushing residual pain from his life that ended far too soon. But, Vicaria’s pain and motivations provide further fuel for his actions, too.

DeLeon Hayes delivers a stunning performance as the titular and righteously angry Black girl. She dips between morbid curiosity, panicked fretting, paralyzing terror, and unbridled confidence with ease. Her heartbreaking rationale and ever-changing currents of grief will resonate with viewers as she parses through her grief. Vicaria fights against the ills of society with the only tools she has: her mind and determination.

The always-stunning Chad L. Coleman makes every second of his screen time count as Vicaria’s loving and protective father Donald, who struggles with drug usage and regrets. And, Denzel Whitaker’s Kango is a solid deuteragonist who is both a part of the problem and the solution. Whitaker and DeLeon Hayes go for several verbal sparring rounds with the final one packing a mighty punch. It is perhaps the best scene in the entire film that blurs the lines between hero and supposed villain.

The film’s version of the Modern Prometheus, however, is a mixed bag. Much of the resurrected Chris’ time depicts him as a vengeful boogeyman whose actions increasingly affect those who loved him. In a sense, this presents the conundrum about what it means to be alive. It surely is more than jolts of electrical energy through our bodies that make our hearts pump. Chris is breathing, walking, and can even say a few words but the essence of him is no longer present.

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster uses Chris’ twisted body and exploits to lean into its horror. He presents as a shadowy hooded figure with a gravelly voice. His twisted fingers creep around a corner, a single eye peeking from an abandoned space to watch in silence. Story’s professed adoration for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Shining are crystal clear. There’s no holding back on the brutality he delivers but the gore is realistic vs. a more splatter approach to match the film’s overall tone. Unfortunately, the interactions between Vicaria and her resurrected brother lack the frequency and connection to truly drive home the film’s points about his humanity and motivations.

Despite a rather lean 92-minute runtime, The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster painfully sags in the middle. The focus wanders too far away from its primary plot, losing the steam that it successfully built in its first act. Thankfully, things wander back on course for the third act with an intense, surprising, and thought-provoking finish. Overall, The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster is an innovative take on a Gothic tale with sharp dialogue, solid performances, and a protagonist who wields a mighty power.

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster will hit theaters on June 9. It will hit on Demand and Digital on June 23 before it later finds a home on Shudder and AllBlk.

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster ⭐ (3.5 of 5)

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The Insidious franchise is back in full swing with Insidious: The Red Door. The film will bring the Lambert family back for presumably their final round against the dark forces of the Further. But that doesn’t mean this universe is done haunting us quite yet. Thread: An Insidious Tale will bring forth a new terrifying tale with Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani leading its cast. Here’s what we know so far about what’s coming next.

According to Deadline, this sixth film will not be a continuation of the current storylines but instead an offshoot. In this Insidious sequel, Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani will portray a husband-wife duo who use a spell to travel back in time to prevent their daughter’s death. As you can probably guess, this leads to some disastrous consequences. Time travel with the aims of a resurrection never did end particularly well for anyone. But at least the cast is killer.

At this point, we don’t know when this Moore and Nanjiani-led Insidious film will come out or any additional details about it beyond the short plot synopsis. But what else do you need to know when it comes to this universe? The Further awaits your arrival once again.

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