The Scariest Things Podcast Extra: An Interview With the Cast and Crew of When the Screaming Starts (Panic Fest 2022)

At Panic Fest in Kansas City, a wicked slice of horror-comedy has been ordered up in the form of an indie UK feature, When the Screaming Starts. The Scariest Things podcast crew immediately fell for this mockumentary about a Manson Family-style murder cult setting its roots in London. We were joined by the Director and Actor/Producers of the film to discuss the story of the "family" that slays together and doesn't stay together (ahem!).
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Mike’s Review: The Scary of Sixty-First (2021)

★ out of ★★★★★ A new age of horror is upon us! It’s Jeffrey Epstein Horror. For the record, Jeffrey Epstein is a pretty repugnant character and no one ever asked for Jeffrey Epstein Horror. But it is kind of…uh…interesting. 
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Shelter of the Damned

Mike’s Book Report: Shelter of the Damned (2021)

★★★★ out of ★★★★★ Equal parts Stand By Me, Stranger Things, and Hellraiser, the Shelter of the Damned presents a pretty dark look at adolescence and the lengths that kids will go to to get out of school. 
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Robert’s Review: Room 203 (2022)

⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Based on a J-Horror novel by Nanami Kamon, Room 203 serves up familiar tropes in a solid apartment horror flick.
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Mike’s Review: Morbius (2022)

★★ out of ★★★★★ It’s a new form of vampirism! It’s vampirism without vampires! Morbius is that oh-so-special vampire that’s content with Gatorade mountain blueberry blast-looking blood and who doesn’t burst in to flames every time he sees a crucifix. The dawning of a new and decidedly less malevolent Dracula. 
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The Scariest Things Podcast Episode 144: The SXSW 2022 Recap

SXSW made its return to live audiences in Austin in March of 2022, and The Scariest Things was present for the event. Liz Williams took in as much as she could at the festival, and the rest of TST's staff followed by streaming for one of the world's great film festivals.
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Mike’s Review: Blood Pageant (2021)

1/2 ★ out of ★★★★★ Ted Lange from Loveboat is not Sir Laurence Oliver, neither is Baywatch stalwart, David Chokachi. To be clear, the level of acting in Blood Pageant, and for that matter everything else, is a pretty thin stab at the horror genre. 
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Book Report: 3 Monstrous Audiobook Recommendations for Light Spring Listening

A Dirty Job: ★★★★1/2 The Kaiju Preservation Society: ★★★★ Gil's All Fright Diner: ★★★1/2 Are you at home networking while listening to audiobooks? Do you have a long drive in front of you, and you need something to keep you occupied on your journey? Looking for something light and fun and horror-tinged, but not so graphic as to make you want to run from the room and pee your pants? Here are three fun listens available on Audible for some amusing monstrous titles.
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Joseph’s Review: “The Cursed” 

****1/2 out of ***** Roma curses! Vicious, shape-shifting monsters! Captivating gothic imagery! Period-piece horror feature The Cursed has all this and much more, resulting in one of the best fear-fare efforts of the year.
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Sissy (2022) Review: (SXSW World Premiere)

★★★ out of ★★★★★

Intensity: 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸

Cecilia has become a successful influencer, using self-help meditation rituals of her own creation. Unfortunately, she has yet to truly conquer her own insecurities, and when she gets invited to spend some quality time with a long-lost childhood bestie, her childhood bully is there too, bringing up long-dormant fears and is forced to take a more aggressive approach to deal with her problems. At times admirable, at others frustrating, the movie is a bit of a mixed bag of bullying tropes.

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Joseph’s SXSW Review: “Jethica”

★★★★ out of ★★★★★ A gripping film that finds a fine balance between the terror of having a stalker with dark humor rooted in the supernatural, Jethica is a must-see for fans of well-crafted independent cinema.
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Joseph’s SXSW Reviews: “Emergency” and “Blink”

Emergency: ★★★★ out of ★★★★★ as I was during the dark-comedy thriller Emergency. Its trio of protagonists have different views on what the right thing to do in their situation might be, and everything they do seems to get them in deeper and hotter water. Blink: ★★★★ out of ★★★★★ A young woman named Mary (Sophie Thatcher) wakes up in a hospital bed, paralyzed and only able to communicate with the nurse on duty (Alicia Coppola) by blinking. Full Short included here!
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Mike’s Review: Hypochondriac (SXSW 2022)

★★★★ out of ★★★★★ Hypochondriac is really a film that hits the right place and the right time. Mental health, familial relationships, concern about physical health and well being, and our collective sense that we just might be lost in the universe. Hypochondriac delivers on all these fronts and manages to sneak in a couple legitimate scares!
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Eric’s Review: Slash/Back (SXSW World Premiere 2022)

★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★ At the edge of the Arctic Circle, in an isolated and remote Inuit community under the unending daylight of the arctic summer, a group of teenage girls fights off boredom... and an alien invasion of Earth. This is the simple premise, executed earnestly, of the feature Slash/Back which had its world premiere at SXSW 2022.
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Mike’s Review: Bitch Ass (SXSW 2022)

★★.5 out of ★★★★★ Who’s ready for an early 1990s straight-to-VHS horror-filled romp in the hood? Silly caricatures? Thin and well-trod plot? A vague rip-off of 1980s slashers and a not-so subtle rip-off of the Saw franchise? If any of this sounds remotely interesting then you’re in for a treat! Bitch Ass has got it all.
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Liz’s Review: X (SXSW 2022 World Premiere)

★★★★★ out of ★★★★★ Horror fans have been waiting 10 long years for visionary director Ti West to return to the big screen. With this love letter to indie film, West proved that he's still got the X factor.
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Eric’s Review: The Cellar (SXSW 2022 World Premiere)

★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★ The Cellar, which debuted at SXSW 2022, feels on the surface like a fairly conventional haunted house film, but it produces some fairly clever takes on the traditional model. A physicist uses an arcane equation to save his dying son but ends up damning himself and dooming the family that has just moved into the mansion in which he disappeared.
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