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…
The 10 Best Horror Shorts of 2020
The festival circuit was strong in 2020 with lots of great horror shorts. These 10 horror shorts made it on to our 2021 Thingy Awards. Check out the full short films included for your review!
Robert’s Review: The Widow (2020)
★1/2 out of ★★★★★
A Blair Witch knockoff out of Russia that fails to deliver.
Movie News: RLJE Films & Shudder Announce Their Acquisition of North American Rights to “Great White”
What The Exorcist is to possession movies, Jaws is to shark movies: a classic film that will likely never be equaled in its subgenre. There have been some fine shark attack films during the past few years, though, and absolutely some fun ones. RLJE Films and Shudder are releasing their entry into sharksploitation and survival horror this summer with Great White, and it sounds like it should be a winner.
Liz’s Review: The Stylist (Panic Fest 2021)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Prepare to get more than a trim from The Stylist!
Joseph’s Review: The Banishing
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
The Banishing serves up several haunted house tropes, but it looks good while doing so, with solid performances and conspiracy angles.
Trailer Alert! Seance
RLJE Films & Shudder go back to school for some supernatural horror with Seance, the directorial debut from Simon Barrett, screenwriter of You’re Next (2011) and The Guest (2014). The trailer and poster dropped today, and The Scariest Things has them both for you!
Liz’s Review: Below the Fold (Panic Fest 2021)
A missing girl, a grisly murder and two journalists eager to uncover the story Below the Fold.
Podcast Extra: An Interview with Jakob’s Wife director Travis Stevens!
One of the big features released in the SXSW film festival Midnighter selections was Travis Steven’s sophomore feature effort, Jakob’s Wife, starring Barbara Crampton and Larry Fessenden. It was a wonderful character study of a middle-aged woman finding the most unusual (and bloody) way to break out of a mid-life crisis. The Scariest Things got a chance to break down this remarkable film with Travis.
The 2021 Thingy Award Nominations: Open Ballot!
It’s awards season! And for horror genre fans, it is time for the third annual Thingy Awards! 2020 was a scary year for more ways that we could have imagined, but despite the cinemas being closed down, movie makers delivered some great movies for us. The Scariest Things once again invites our valued fans to vote for who they thought was the best of 2020. Our industry insiders will also be weighing in, for what should be a very interesting award!
Liz’s Review: An Ideal Host (Panic Fest 2021)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Appetizers, party games…and Aliens. All part of an epic evening with An Ideal host!
Zombie Comedy “Brain Freeze” Kicks Off Fantasia’s 25th Edition This August
Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival follows up its massively successful virtual version in 2020 with another online fest this year as it celebrates its 25th edition from August 5 through August 25, 2021. Opening Fantasia this year will be Québécois zombie comedy Brain Freeze from director Julien Knafo. Fanstasia has also revealed the super cool poster for its 2021 edition.
Mike’s Review: Offseason (2021) (SXSW Festival)
★★.5 out of ★★★★★ Pulling the perfect Lovecraftian film is a feat like no other. It’s been tried again and again. You might even say film makers repeated attempts to crawl inside Mr. Lovecraft’s tortured brain is rife with peril, failure, and madness. Or more to the point, it’s a cursed mission. Many have attempted to bring Lovecraft to the silver screen and most have failed. In the case, of 2021’s Offseason, it’s not so much a failure, but a dull attempt.
Joseph’s Reviews: SXSW Online 2021 Horror Shorts
Along with SXSW Online 2021’s incredible horror feature-film lineup, the festival offered plenty of fear fare in short form, too. Here are capsule reviews of four of these short-length shudder makers.
Scariest Interview: Michael Lovan, writer/director of Murder Bury Win
Writer/director Michael Lovan sits down with us to talk about his debut feature, Murder Bury Win (2020), and its impending release!
Joseph’s Review: The Power
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
The Power is a riveting U.K. supernatural horror film set in a hospital during that country’s 1970s rolling blackouts, following a nurse on her first night on the job. Real-world horrors are exposed by an otherworldly force in this first-rate chiller.
Directed by Corrina Faith
The Scariest Things Podcast Extra: SXSW Recap
South by Southwest (SXSW), the biggest arts and culture festival in the US had a fully virtual presentation in March. Mike and Eric take a moment to discuss the Midnighter Films presented at the big Austin streaming showcase.
Happy Easter Horror Hounds!
This Easter 🐰🐰🐰 you haven’t a hop in hell! Because…here comes Peter Cottonhell! If those aren’t two of the most hackneyed and shoe-horned taglines we don’t know what are. Because Beaster Day is real, it’s coming for you, and we’ve digested more crappy films that anyone should!
Liz’s Review: Violation (2020)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Slow, steady and brutal, Violation is a beautiful gut-punch of a horror film.
Mike’s Book Report: Video Palace: In Search of the Eyeless Man: Collected Stories (2020)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★ The rise of the podcast generation paired with a nation’s emerging fascination with rampant conspiracy theories is the perfect backdrop for a horrifying and mercurial folk tale. In both the case of podcasts and conspiracies people don’t stop until they’ve reached the ever-loving bottom of the barrel. The problem is these barrels have no bottoms.
Joseph’s Review: Sound of Violence (SXSW Online 2021)
★★★ out of ★★★★★
A young woman who saw her family murdered tries to recreate through music the feeling that occurred at that time in this horror outing that is heavy on human suffering but light on logic.
Directed by Alex Noyer
Eric’s Review: The Spine of Night (2021) (SXSW Film Festival)
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
The Spine of Night channels its inner Frank Frazetta and Ralph Bakshi in this bloody rotoscoped production. This is dark high fantasy, with a touch of horror, and though it mines very familiar fantasy tropes for its plot, it does find an original voice. The whole presentation feels more like a curiosity than a revelation.