Oh, Hollywood and your ever-clever marketing minions. You really had us at “…contemporary take on the classic horror film Rosemary’s Baby.” That just makes our hardened horror heart go pitter-patter.
Liz’s Book Report: The Final Girl Support Group
Grady Hendrix has tackled many horror tropes in his novels: a gateway to hell, possession and exorcism, selling your soul for rock and roll and vampires. In his latest book he takes on perhaps the most well known trope of the genre- the Final Girl.
Trailer Alert! A Classic Horror Story
Giallo and Texas Chainsaw mashed up? Uh, yes, please. We’d love to see that! Well, now you can! Those horror geniuses over at Netflix have officially dropped the official trailer for 2021’s A Classic Horror Story.
Joseph’s Review: Seance
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
The directorial debut from renowned screenwriter Simon Barrett treads familiar territory but is crafted with great affection for a few different horror subgenres.
The Supernatural, Subversiveness, and Strangeness Highlight Fantasia’s First Wave Announcement
Every year, the staff members of The Scariest Things look forward to the Fantasia International Film Festival — North America’s premiere genre-film fest — and the first wave announcement for the fest’s landmark 25th edition shows exactly why!
Trailer Alert! Censor
Fresh off of its award-winning film festival run, the U.K. horror feature Censor is set to premiere at U.S. theaters on June 11, 2021, and then to debut On Demand on June 18, from Magnet Releasing. The Scariest Things has the trailer and poster debut for you!
Eric’s Review: Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Spiral: From the Book of Saw attempts a fresh start to a somewhat tired franchise, and packs in A-list celebrities into a pedestrian plot, that ties itself up with too much exposition and not enough of the tricks and traps that made Saw such a draw.
Trailer Alert! Forever Purge
In light of all the insurrectionist lunacy that we faced in early 2021, it’s an incredible stroke of kismet that the horror gods would be throwing us the Forever Purge in the very same year. But they are.
The Scariest Things Podcast Episode CXXIII: The 2021 Thingy Awards Show!
It’s time to celebrate the best of horror from 2020, with the third annual Thingy Awards! Once again, we summoned a jury of expert horror aficionados to determine the worthy winners from a pool of great (if perhaps under-seen) scary movies. Raise the curtain and let’s hand out some awards!
Joseph’s Review: Don’t Let Her In
★★★ out of ★★★★★
A mysterious woman turns out to be a real roommate from hell in this fun new terror tale from Full Moon Features.
Trailer Alert! Digging to Death
Supernatural consequences await a man who digs on his new property and accidentally finds millions of dollars buried next to a dead body in Digging for Death. The Scariest Things has the poster reveal and trailer for you! Following is the official press announcement.
The Scariest Things Podcast Episode CXXII: The Best Horror Mothers
Happy Mothers Day! The archives of horror films are filled with great matriarchs. It’s the strongest, and often the most important relationship of our lives, and the horror genre takes full advantage of all the emotional triggers of all things mommy.
Trailer Alert! New George Romero Movie: The Amusement Park
The almighty George Romero has a new movie coming out in June 2021! Wait, hasn’t he been dead since 2017!?!? Indeed he has, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t create a mountain of content never before seen by human eyes. In the same way that Prince will be releasing albums well in to the next century, Romero may have some additional gems that have never made their way out of the crypt. Until now!
Joseph’s Review: Vurdalak Blood (Fantaspoa 2021)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
The vurdalak legend finds new blood in this exciting, top-notch chiller.
Mike’s Review: Things Heard and Seen (2021)
★ out of ★★★★★ Serious question. Are horror movies required to be scary? Can they just pass off a sense of dread and doom in other less frightening but equally provocative ways? Answer: it sure makes horror more horrifying if there’s some actual horror in the horror film.
Joseph’s Review: Initiation
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Slasher-film fans should have a great time with this whodunit thriller — set on a present-day university campus — that shines a light on some ugly social issues.
Liz’s Review: My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To
★★★ out of ★★★★★
How far would you go for your family?
Portland Horror Film Festival: A Call for BIPOC Horror Directors
Are you an aspiring horror movie director, and happen to be from an underrepresented ethnic minority in filmmaking? Well now is a golden opportunity chance for your work to be seen! The Portland Horror Film Festival is offering FREE film submissions for BIPOC film creators. Deadline is May 4.
Horror News: HOST scribe to make video game with HOST cast!
Jed Shepherd, writer/executive producer of Host (2020), is Kickstarting a new horror video game!
Mike’s Review: Deadhouse Dark (2021)
★★ out of ★★★★★ The horror anthology is one of the true staples of the horror genre. Always clever, always engaging. As we’ve said before, anthology horror is the traditional extension of gathering around ye’ ole campfire and scaring the hell out of each other. They hearken back to the oldest root forms of scary storytelling. It’s always frightening to hear a scary story, until it’s not.
Movie News! Neill Blomkamp’s “Demonic” Unveils 8mm Behind-the-Scenes Footage and First Stills
The first two stills and some cool 8mm behind-the-scenes footage has been released for director Neill Blompkamp’s upcoming horror movie Demonic.
Trailer Alert! My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To
Vampires and addiction are both addressed in the film My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To, which has […]
Warped Dimension Online Film Festival Features Death Wishes, Desert Monsters, and Darker Places
Zoom-based Warped Dimension online film festival, presented by the fine crew responsible for San Francisco’s Another Hole in the Head […]
The Scariest Things Podcast: Episode CXXI: Horror Westerns
Howdy partner! The western expanse is big and full of terrors. I’d be careful out there if I were you. A man can go missing out there right quick if you’re not careful. The Scariest Things heads west along the trail of much bloodletting as we examine Horror Westerns in Episode 121.
Trailer Alert! The Conjuring III
Holy Beelzebub! The official/official trailer for The Conjuring III, AKA The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do it, is finally here! Complete with devils, god, witches, the Warrens, and waterbeds — which were a thing in 1981, trust us — this trailer has it all.
Trailer Alert! The Lockdown Hauntings
Otherwordly occurences during COVID-19 is becoming a current horror film subgenre, and a new U.K. feature looks to be a thrilling entry into that subgenre. Here is the trailer and poster reveal for director Howard J. Ford’s The Lockdown Haunting, which stars fright-fare icon Tony Todd.
Trailer Alert! Werewolves Within
IFC Films looks to have another winner on its hands with the upcoming release of Werewolves Within, which is based on the Ubisoft’s virtual reality video game. The Scariest Things has the teaser trailer and poster premiere for you!
Movie News: Dekanalog Acquires Award-Winning Taiwanese Horror Film “Detention”
One of the strongest entries into the historical horror subgenre in recent memory, director John Hsu’s Taiwanese chiller Detention has been picked up for theatrical and virtual cinema distribution by Dekanalog.
Podcast Extra: A Conversation with Murder Bury Win Director Michael Lovan
Sometimes when you find a film, you connect with it. And sometimes when you write about this film connection, the director of the film wants to share his love of creating the film with you. Such was the case with Michael Lovan, and his film, Murder Bury Win, and he sat down to discuss all things about this firecracker of a movie with The Scariest Things.
Liz’s Review: The Djinn (Panic Fest 2021)
★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Be Careful what you wish for…