Horror movies

If you're a horror fan, you're familiar with Blumhouse Productions (cited as Blumhouse from here out). Even if you're not a horror fan, you've probably watched a Blumhouse film without knowing it ("Whiplash?" "Jem and the Holograms?" "Tooth Fairy?"). Jason Blum's nightmare factory is synonymous with today's mainstream horror pillars, securing the rights to everything from "Halloween" to "The Exorcist" and beyond. Indeed, it's impossible to banter about our contemporary horror era without acknowledging how prevalent and prodigious Blumhouse has become — so why does it feel like it's ghosting us this year?

Blumhouse decimated last year's horror movie market. In 2023, Blum's juggernaut scared up nearly $800 million worldwide in box office totals. Emma Tammi's video game adaptation "Five Nights at Freddy's" boasted a high score of $297 million on a $20 million budget — one of nine films released by Blumhouse. Now, there's no metric for reporting for streaming titles like "Totally Killer" (Prime Video) or "The Passenger (MGM+), so that $800 million-ish haul only considers "Five Nights at Freddy's," "The Exorcist: Believer," "Insidious: The Red Door," and "M3GAN." Anywhere you looked, whether in theaters or on multiple streaming platforms, Blumhouse was crushing the competition.

How about 2024? It's like night and day.

“That was never going to work for Tim,” Abdy said about making the “Beetlejuice” sequel for streaming. “You’re talking about a visionary artist whose films demand to be seen on a big screen.”

The big issue between Burton and the studio was that the projected budget for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” at one point was around $147 million, largely due to “star salaries and producer fees.” That’s when De Luca and Abdy approached Burton and said he could make the sequel for an exclusive theatrical release as long as he got the budget down below the $100 million mark. They worked together to greenlight “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” for $99 million, with Burton and cast members Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega and Catherine O’Hara agreeing to less money up front but sizable back end deals that will now surely pay off since the sequel is a box office hit.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17338767

There's a common consensus that horror movies aren't scary anymore, but that's not necessarily true. A lot of the time, many horror movies are either missed, fly under the radar or (thankfully) do end up getting the recognition they deserve. Whether they're acknowledged or not, there do happen to be many horror movies of the modern era that are incredibly scary and leave those who believe that modern horror movies aren't scary eating their words.

Horror comes in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes a film has an abundance of horrific gore, is psychologically bending or just downright disturbing in its visuals and ideas. Regardless of how, a horror film has many ways to be terrifying and all styles and forms of doing so are still utilized today. The last five years of horror have been quite good, and it needs to be acknowledged.

1. When Evil Lurks (2023)
2. Talk to Me (2023)
3. Incantation (2022)
4. Roh'/'Soul (2019)
5. New Religion (2022)
6. Smile (2022)
7. The Sadness (2021)
8. V/H/S/99 (2022)
9. The Dark and the Wicked (2020)
10. Good Boy (2022)

edit: since posting they've expanded the list, presumably when someone pointed out some serious omissions:

11. Late Night With the Devil (2024)
12. Longlegs (2024)
13. Relic (2020)

A video from the YouTube channel 'Accented Cinema'.

The three movies are

• 'Tigers are not afraid' (2017) from Mexico
• 'The Maid' (2005) from Singapore
• 'Tumbbad' (2018) from India

I haven't watched the movies yet, but I'll hopefully get to watch them soon :)

I've seen some of the other movies he recommends, and I think the movies should be worth checking out ^^

Which other non-american horror movies are worth checking out ? :))

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17591052

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Tobe Hooper’s horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Dark Sky Films is celebrating with a massive new physical media set.

Now available for pre-order, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: 50th Anniversary Chainsaw Edition includes the 4K UHD edition of the feature film, Blu-ray edition of the feature film, Blu-ray bonus disc, and an exclusive VHS release featuring original VHS release artwork!

Dark Sky further previews, “All are housed in a replica of the iconic chain saw from the film, which comes in a special 50th Anniversary numbered box. Opening the chainsaw triggers the sound of Leatherface wielding the chainsaw in the film.”

This limited edition also features a newly designed 50th Anniversary O-card and brand-new bonus content, including The Merchandise of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Restoration of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

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Pre-order your copy over on Dark Sky’s website for $299.98 today.

The ‘Chainsaw Edition’ set will be released on October 1, 2024

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17298187

Fresh off the film’s premiere at Sundance earlier this year, Netflix opened up their check book and shelled out a whopping $17 million to acquire worldwide rights to It’s What’s Inside, and the streaming service has released the upcoming movie’s official trailer this morning.

It’s What’s Inside premieres globally on Netflix on October 4, 2024.

Begin the twisted party game by watching the It’s What’s Inside official trailer below.

Trailer

Meagan Navarro writes in her Sundance review for BD, “Its irreverent tone and Jardin’s visual eye ensure a highly entertaining time, though it becomes prone to tangled knots.”

“The director pulls from his music video background for a vivacious, eye-catching feature that dazzles and lures you further into the tangled abyss, even as many of its central players frustrate,” Meagan continues. “Even still, It’s What’s Inside is pure fun. Moreover, it’s extremely funny. Jardin assembles an ensemble willing to push their frequently and intentionally insufferable characters past the point of insanity for our entertainment. On that front, Jardin’s debut is a stunning success. It’s a twisty puzzle box that demands your attention.”

Meagan adds, “Not all the pieces fully come together, but Jardin’s ambitious debut will easily earn a devout following for its creative setup and commitment to bonkers fun.”

IMDb

McAvoy is the most compelling reason to see this one. The original may be darker, but it didn’t have McAvoy. He’s able to project the kind of careless bonhomie that initially seems to indicate fundamental decency lying beneath the edgy jokes – but by the time Ben and Louise start to realise that he is also missing a few fundamental components of humanity they are in too deep. In fact McAvoy’s performance is a neat nod to everything you’ve ever heard about the geniality and easy charm of Ted Bundy and his ilk; it’s true that manners don’t cost anything, but they also guarantee nothing.

If Neil Marshall’s 2019 Hellboy had you seeing red, then this rendition by director/co-writer Brian Taylor (Crank, Mom and Dad, Brave New World) will come as something of a relief. It’s the closest big-screen version yet to Dark Horse Comics’ shorn-horn superhero – creator Mike Mignola had a sizeable hand (ahem) in penning the screenplay – and favours gruff ‘n’ rough over the poetry of Guillermo del Toro’s lovingly crafted noughties movies (2004’s Hellboy, 2008’s Hellboy: The Golden Army).

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17370670

An intriguing new film is on the cusp of being released in the UK – and it might just be the cult hit of the year.

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The film is titled Strange Darling, and it’s been taking America by storm since its limited theatrical release in August.

Written and directed by JT Mollner, the horror thriller, shot on location in Oregon, is divided into six non-linear chapters and focuses on a liaison between a man and woman (played by Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald) that devolves into something more sinister.

To say any more would be to spoil the film’s surprises, but, among those who have seen the film, there have been a lot of questions about whether the story is true. Mollner has shied away from confirming either way, simply saying “perhaps” it might be.

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Reviews have been extremely positive, with the film amassing a score of 95 per cent on aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. ABC News’s Peter Travers wrote: “Summer just saved its thrillingest thriller for last. You won’t know what hit you,” while Fico Cangiano of CineXpress called the “twisty" film "one of the biggest surprises of the year”.

Another fan of the film is Fede Alvarez, the director of Alien: Romulus and the 2013 Evil Dead remake, who wrote on X/Twitter: “It’s been years since I saw a film with such a great twisty story! So good, so cool. Don’t miss this gem.”

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17484663

The 2020s have already been great for folk horror, but the current folk horror revival really got its start in the previous decade. The niche subgenre, which had been around since the 1960s and 1970s, didn't get a name until actor Mark Gatiss of Sherlock fame used the term "folk horror" in 2010 to describe a trio of influential films in his BBC documentary series, A History of Horror. Suddenly, a generation of writers and filmmakers who had grown up on the old British films and television programs were inspired to revisit the rural terrors of their youth.

Folk horror, which was initially recognized as a British phenomenon, became closely associated with imagery from the British Isles, such as stone circles, druids, and the green man. However, the modern folk horror revival has been more inclusive, as filmmakers from around the world draw inspiration from their countries' history and folklore. From Indonesia to Austria, these are the best folk horror movies of the 2010s.

1. Midsommar (2019)
2. Kill List (2011)
3. The Witch (2015)
4. The Borderlands (2013)
5. The Wailing (2016)
6. The Ritual (2017)
7. Impetigore (2019)
8. La Llorona (2019)
9. Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse (2017)
10. A Dark Song (2016)

Warning: the image used dod The Ritual is a massive spoiler - go watch it first, it's worth going in blind.

See also:

• 10 best Folk Horror movies of the 2020s (so far)

The new horror and science fiction anthology, “Deepest, Darkest,” has added yet another cast mate to its already stellar lineup of genre heavyweights.

Rahul Kohli, a beloved member of Mike Flanagan’s Flanaverse (“The Haunting of Bly Manor,” “The Fall of the House of Usher”) and essential teammate in the crime-solving “iZombie” series, has officially joined the star-studded cast of “Deepest, Darkest,” a new horror anthology from writer and director Marc Bernardin and actor Tiffany Smith.

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Kohli joins the previously announced cast of Smith (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”), Rosario Dawson (“The Mandalorian,” “Ahsoka”), Ernie Hudson (“Ghostbusters”), Yetide Badaki (“American Gods”), Phil LaMarr (“Futurama,” “Samurai Jack”) and “Quantum Leap” stars Raymond Lee and Caitlin Bassett.

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The anthology promises a genre-blending mix of horror, dark comedy, suspense and sci-fi, with a pitch that reads: “Have you ever had a secret? One so big, so awful, so horrifically extreme that you had no choice but to keep it to yourself? Something that if anyone else knew, that revelation would shift your world on its axis? What if there was someone whose job it was to listen to those secrets — because she could never remember them? What would you pay for absolution?”

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The film is currently raising funds through a Kickstarter campaign, which has raised $128,000 toward its $250,000 goal. “Kickstarter is always a gamble,” says Bernardin. “But I believe there’s an audience out there that might embrace a collection of cinematic short stories that aim to thrill and scare and provoke while also celebrating voices who don’t often get to be at the center of narratives like this.”

Horror streaming service Shudder has unveiled its Halloween line-up, along with live watch parties of some of this year's biggest spooky releases happening every Friday with a new double bill.

Some of these titles include In a Violent Nature, a slasher movie told from the killer's point of view, which is premiering on the site this month, along with Russell Crowe's recently released The Exorcism and a new installment of the V/H/S series, V/H/S/Beyond and a return to streaming for Mike Flanagan's Hush.

There's also a chance to revisit one of this year's biggest horror hits, supernatural talk show horror Late Night With the Devil, and rewatch classics like Friday the 13th and Children of the Corn.

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• September 13: Neo-Slasher – In A Violent Nature and Lake Bodom
• September 20: Zombie Weekend – The Sadness and Undead
• September 27: Modern Master – Damian McCarthy’s Oddity and Caveat
• October 4: Found Footage – V/H/S/Beyond and Hell House LLC
• October 11: Horrifying Households – Daddy’s Head and Metamorphosis
• October 18: Shocking Scourges – MadS and Virus:32
• October 25: TBA
• October 30: Late Night with the Devil
• October 31: Halloween on Halloween
• November 1: Day of the Dead on Day of the Dead – Day of the Dead Collection

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17500949

In a commentary track on Frankenhooker's DVD release with Frank Henenlotter (co-writer/director) and James Lorinz (actor), the problems the movie faced when going up against the MPAA were brought up. Henenlotter recalled a phone call with Richard Heffner who told him “Congratulations, you are the first film rated ‘S,’” When asked what that meant, he was told that 'S' stood for "sh*t." Henenlotter expressed that he was deeply hurt at the time, feeling that it was not their place to provide commentary on what they felt about the movie. This started a feud over the rating of the movie, and producer James Glickenhaus made it publicly known that he was fighting back.

The movie eventually got an X rating (which was in use before being phased out the same year, 1990, in favor of NC-17). Henenlotter and his team refused the rating and released the film uncut and unrated, which came with its own problems with distribution. Frankenhooker would eventually gain an R rating when they cut some of the scene of exploding sex workers to six minutes from its original seven; again reflecting how petty and shallow the MPAA can be in their decisions.

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Frankehooker, along with Henenlotter's Basketcase and Brain Damage, have earned a substantial cult following. It is easy to see why, with all the movies blending dark humor chocked with memorable lines of dialogue, gore-soaked horror, and over-the-top creature effects. For Frankenhooker, you have the wonderfully charismatic Patty Mullen as the titular monster roaming the streets of New York asking random strangers if they "Wanna date?" There is also the infamous scene where multiple sex workers blow up after taking "super crack." To name but a few of the scenes that have made Frankenhooker a fan favorite.

Sometimes a movie can be a best horror movie you never saw candidate but there are other instances where a movie has been seen and talked about but altogether lost to time. Richard Stanley has had a long career in terms of time he has been active but a very small amount of output in terms of actual number of projects. While the saga of his journey to direct the big budget remake of The Island of Doctor Moreau and subsequent firing has been widely captured in the documentary Lost Soul and his latest success with The Color Out of Space was highly regarded but tinged with controversial allegations, he had a couple of gems before all that. Dust Devil, his sophomore effort, still very much so belongs in the Best Horror You Never Saw category and I will get to that one too, but Hardware (pick up a copy at THIS LINK) is such a unique animal that I had the urge to revisit and remember why I dug it all those years ago.

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The movie was called derivative of things like Alien and Terminator for obvious reasons. The central robot stalker could be right out of Skynet’s early arsenal to go after John Connor and the isolation and claustrophobia the seethes into almost every scene after the first 20 minutes wears it’s inspiration of fleeing the xenomorph on its futuristic sleeve. Going beyond that though, the movie had more inspiration to it whether it was intentional or not. While its admitted and direct inspirations were from the works of Philip K Dick, Damnation Alley, and Soylent Green, it bared a little too much resemblance to a comic called SHOCK that appeared in the weekly British sci fi comic 2000 AD in 1980. The creators sued and were successful enough to not only get the writer’s credit but also get a little based on blurb in later releases of the movie. Think Terminator having to acknowledge the great Harlan Ellison and his story Soldier from Tomorrow.

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Hardware is a great time and it’s a shame that it isn’t easier to find. Sure, you can get a used copy of that Severin disc that I talked about but $100 can be a hard pill to swallow even if the thing was brand new. It’s possible that we could get a future physical release, or you could always import a copy from another region if you have the means and, if you’ll excuse me, Hardware but for now I’d say if you can catch it somewhere then consider yourself lucky. It’s the type of movie that rarely gets made anymore and while that’s a bummer, it’s nice to know these still exist and maybe inspire filmmakers in the future.

Through the years, classic film noir has evolved into new territory, expanding into other notable genres that keep audiences interested in the game-changing subgenre. While the original film noir and neo-noir reign supreme, noir horror and noir psychological horror films such as Nightmare Alley, Angel Heart, and The Silence of the Lambs also qualify as high-ranking contenders for movie-goers.

Noir horror is a subgenre that is essentially a combination of horror and film noir elements tailored to an ominous, dark tone and terrifying sequences that incite thrills and chills for viewers. Since the boom of classic film noir in the 1940s up until now, there has been a spectacular selection of noir horror films, including The Spiral Staircase, Cape Fear, and Shutter Island, that effectively capture the essence of the subgenre, becoming the best noir horror films of all time.

1. 'Nightmare Alley' (1947)
2. 'The Invisible Man' (1933)
3. 'The Night of the Hunter' (1955)
4. 'Angel Heart' (1987)
5. 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)
6. 'Se7en' (1995)
7. 'Shutter Island' (2010)
8. 'Cape Fear' (1962)
9. 'The Spiral Staircase' (1946)
10. 'Conflict' (1945)

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17298316

The nominative deterministic owners of Hammer Films, the classic British horror movie studio and library, John Gore Media Limited, have announced the acquisition of Silver Salt Restoration, a British film restoration studio, as part of what they call "our ongoing commitment to preserving cinematic history." Silver Salt, which has a long history of working with the likes of Arrow, StudioCanal and the BFI, will now take on some of the more memorable films within the Hammer Films portfolio for restoration.

And right now Silver Salt is working on the remastering of a number of rare Hammer Films cult classics, many of which have been out of circulation for years. These films will undergo 4K restoration and preservation, for new and old audiences.

This comes as Hammer Films celebrates its 90th anniversary in November, with a special documentary, Hammer: Heroes, Legends and Monsters on Sky TV, exploring the legacy of Hammer Films, its many productions, and its impact on British cinema.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17574760

In her “Krazy House” review for IndieWire, critic Katie Rife described writer/directors Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil’s absurdist Dutch horror comedy as testing “the limits of taste.”

With its hyper-violent style and blasphemous dark humor, the latest feature from the filmmakers behind “New Kids Turbo” and “Bros Before Hos” also inspired Rife to write that their movie was “like an Adult Swim infomercial directed by black-metal teenagers.” That’s a point of pride in the outrageous project’s equally unapologetic first trailer — which debuted exclusively with IndieWire after “Krazy House” made its divisive world premiere at Sundance in January.

Trailer

Splat Pack veteran Alexandre Aja tries his hand at family-in-peril horror along the lines of the Quiet Place franchise with Never Let Go. But mostly, the French director just succeeds in making us miss his entertainingly trashy swerves into B-movie pulp, with creature features built around ravenously bitey carnivorous fish (Piranha 3D) or giant Florida gators riled up by a hurricane and flood (Crawl). Whatever their strengths and weaknesses, those movies were fun popcorn entertainment with teeth. Fun is banished from Aja’s latest, which starts out mildly intriguing and chalks up a few bracing jump scares before running out of juice.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17353054

The live intro and live Q&A are only at the Leicester Square Odeon.

General screenings Friday 27th - Sunday 29th September, with an iSense one on Wednesday 2nd October (the one I'm going to).

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17547206

The Outcasts, which tells the story of a ‘mad’ young woman in pre-famine Ireland who meets a feared shaman and has her powerful true nature revealed to her, is the great lost classic of Irish cinema. Combining gritty realism in its depiction of rural Irish poverty, sexual frankness and mythic grandeur, it had a tremendously powerful effect on Irish cinephiles of a certain age, myself included, but has been impossible to see in any decent form in the four decades since its release.

A beautiful new restoration by the Irish Film Archive is finally putting this right, and a generation of folk-horror fans are about to get the opportunity to see this poetic, unforgettable work for the first time.

I spoke to its writer-director, Robert Wynne-Simmons, who also scripted the classic British folk-horror The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971), about the production of the film and his feelings about seeing it rediscovered by a new generation.

Writer-and-director Coralie Fargeat’s viscera-splattered follow-up to 2017’s Revenge is about as subtle as a bludgeon to the head, or, indeed, a needle to the thigh. Thankfully, it’s also much more perversely enjoyable than either of those experiences. Just as long as you’re not squeamish at the sight of blood, cascades of organs and the most grotesque prosthetic creations since 1989’s Society.

Right at the end of summer, at the tail end of a movie season stuffed with whirling tornadoes, raging apes and a mouldy Michael Keaton, comes another welcome throwback: a low-budget thriller that emerges out of nowhere to bowl you over. With its enigmatic title and cast of relative unknowns, it was on few radars until recently. But it should be on your radar now — and not just because Stephen King himself has hailed it as “a clever masterpiece”. Strange Darling is a smart, slippery creation, one which largely lands its blows with a wallop, and which proves a major calling card for both its director and its female star.

We are officially less than a month away until Damien Leone’s highly anticipated neo-slasher Terrifier 3 hits theaters, and to celebrate, you can get double the fun for the price of one. For one night only, you’ll be able to catch Leone’s Terrifier 2 and the theatrical premiere of Terrifier 3 back-to-back. Slated the day before Terrifier 3‘s solo release, the double feature takes place Thursday, October 10th. Tickets for screenings are being sold through the movie’s official Instagram page.

Art the Clown, played by David Howard Thornton, made his franchise debut in Leone’s 2016 indie film Terrifier, which follows a demented clown as he slices and dices through unlucky residents of fictional town Miles County on Halloween night. Art quickly rose to icon status in the horror community following the beloved 2022 sequel Terrifier 2, while also simultaneously killing it at the box office.

Worth checking where you are because, here in the UK, the Odeon are showing the double bill on Friday 27th September - I have my ticket booked.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17543516

Blumhouse’s 2025 lineup seems to be spitting in the face of originality with Megan 2.0, An Untitled Insidious Movie, The Black Phone 2, and Five Night’s at Freddy’s 2 all expected to release. And who knows what foreign remake they’ll target now that Speak No Evil is a nice little success. This is why it’s on us as the audience to seek out great cinema and not go simply because it’s the weekend’s new release. The studio and Indie world will just become more and more intermingled as we lose out on more and more mid-tier films. And we just have to hope that those meddling execs who usually focus on the bigger fare, don’t start setting their sights on their low-budget offerings. Because otherwise, horror is doomed.

Now, I fully acknowledge that Indie Horror is capable of being absolute shit. There are entire YouTube channels dedicated to all the awful films that get made on a daily basis. And sometimes too much creativity and lack of supervision can be a bad thing. But I will take something that’s trying to fulfill some kind of creative niche versus solely trying to eek out a profit. Longlegs, Cuckoo, and Strange Darling are amongst the year’s best and they are completely original works where the filmmakers were allowed to see their vision through. And I’ll take that over a bloodless CGI bear.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17543209

One of the most hotly anticipated horror movies in the remainder of September is the action-horror movie Azrael starring Samara Weaving (Ready or Not, Scream VI), in theaters September 27. While you wait, IFC Films has debuted a first-look clip via Rotten Tomatoes.

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The high concept action-horror film from Republic Pictures stars Samara Weaving and was directed by E.L. Katz (Channel Zero, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Cheap Thrills) from an original script by Simon Barrett (The Guest, You’re Next, Godzilla x Kong).

“In a world in which no one speaks, a devout female-led community hunts down a young woman (Weaving) who has escaped her imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, Azrael is to be sacrificed to pacify an ancient evil that resides deep within the surrounding wilderness – yet she will stop at nothing to ensure her own freedom and survival.

“From the seeds of this gritty, relentless parable of sacrifice and salvation, comes an immersive, real-time, action horror tale.”

Clip