Horror

The helpful folks at Rotten Tomatoes have revolutionized the way we watch movies. Instead of scouring reviews from numerous publications to get an idea of how critics felt about a particular picture, the site aggregates a critical consensus, providing a streamlined experience for movie lovers. Heck yes to convenient innovations. In addition to forever changing

Avid younger readers who grew up in the late 80s and 90s were spoiled with spooky stories. R. L Stine’s Goosebumps was the most famous series of books, providing easy-to-read scary tales for young kids. For those children who were slightly older or more advanced readers, there was the Point Horror collection, a series of

Your dream home comes with one stipulation: you can never go into the cellar. Would you still take the house? Well, the couple in Vaughn Stein’s new film Cellar Door sure do, but it comes with chilling consequences. Directing from a script by Sam Scott and Lori Evans Taylor, Stein delves into the darker corners

When I first saw the 2007 sci-fi-horror film The Invasion as a teenager, it terrified me to my core. It was my first real foray into body-snatching horror and it stayed with me long after my mom returned the DVD to Redbox. Now, the film is making its debut on 4K UHD with a wealth

I am an absolute sucker for a contained thriller. I love a film that gives me a front-row seat to a harrowing battle of wits and endurance. Something about the predator versus prey dynamic always gets my blood pumping. Brian Netto and Adam Schindler’s new film Don’t Move did exactly that. This flick doesn’t reinvent the

Fabio Frizzi performing the Composer’s Cut of Zombie at Don Quixote in Los Angeles. Photo by Tiffany Hearsey Eyes wide and wild with fear, the woman’s terror climaxed as the dead thing savagely impaled her eye on a shard of wood. Her screams were matched by the sound of roaring music culminating in a strident

This article contains spoilers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Tim Burton’s 1988 film Beetlejuice is an undeniable cult classic. The out-of-this-world film has connected different generations and “spooky stuff” enthusiasts around the globe, fostering lasting connections. While the newly released sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, encounters a few bumps along the way, it’s heartwarming to see familiar faces and

Presented entirely as one long continuous take, there’s a formal precision and control to director David Moreau’s zombie film, MadS, even as it embodies a relentless and chaotic energy. As bleak as it is brutal, it’s a measured unraveling of society as witnessed through the eyes of three young partygoers, Romain (Milton Richie), his girlfriend,

Lilja   |   Nov 1, 2024 Welcome back, Constant Readers, to this month’s Derry Monthly with me, Sam Barry—sorry, Lilja—Dread Central’s Stephen King correspondent. It’s been a quiet month for King news overall. Yes, we got the new Salem’s Lot movie, but I’ll save my thoughts on that until the end for those who haven’t seen

Welcome, Gorehounds and Blood Babes all, to DIRECTION DISSECTION! A brand new series brought to you by the lovely liches at Dread Central, where I reach out to the directors of your favorite cult flicks, and converse about several films from their fearsome filmographies. These discussions will range from initial conceptions to behind-the-scenes tidbits, and

Dark Sanctum has quickly become a cornerstone of horror audio, pulling listeners into a world where terror and mystery are experienced solely through sound. Season 2, available exclusively on Wondery+ and presented by Dread Central, promises to be even more immersive, thanks to the vision of creator Mark Ramsey, a mastermind in the realm of

Norman Partridge’s Dark Harvest is one of my favorite horror novels of all time. The book is dripping with personality, a matter-of-fact subversion of slasher and coming-of-age tropes, all centered around a dying town and its dying traditions. What principally elevates the novel is Partridge’s voice, so when it was announced that Dark Harvest would

One of the scariest, grimmest Stephen King adaptations of all time is now streaming free. Frank Darabont’s (Mike Flanagan for millennials, trust me) The Mist is now streaming free on Hulu just in time for Halloween. A King acolyte perennial, Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novella of the same name has arguably the most depressing

In addition to creating some of the most visually striking films of our time, Guillermo del Toro is also an avid supporter of the creative output of his filmmaking peers. Over the years, the Pan’s Labyrinth director has championed many standout efforts via social media. I know I have discovered plenty of hidden gems by

Image courtesy of ‘The Today Show’ NBC Few people are more qualified to judge the cinematic adaptations of Stephen King’s work than Stephen King himself. So, when the author points to a particular performance in a screen rendering of his literary output as noteworthy, we put plenty of stock in his assessment. Though many would

You know what’s more exciting than Art the Clown returning to theaters for Terrifier 3? Terrifier 3 earning over $55 million globally at the box office, making it the highest-grossing unrated film of all time! As noted by Bloody Disgusting, the previous film that held the title was Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, which earned

Writer and director Quinn Armstrong accomplished a massive feat: he and distributor Cranked-Up Entertainment put out three feature horror films in three weeks as part of the Fresh Hell trilogy. Armstrong worked with a small team on small budgets to craft three very different and very bloody horror films: The Exorcism Of Saint Patrick, Wolves

Netflix releases a lot of slop. I don’t strictly mean that as an indictment of the streaming service, largely because the slop is mostly a byproduct of quantity. In order to compete in an ever-expanding streaming ecosystem, Netflix, like its digital peers, often inundates viewers with new titles (or *shudder* content), every week. Most of

The Predator franchise is truly a mixed bag. There are standout entries that put the property on the map. But for each noteworthy effort in the series, there’s a sequel, crossover, or spinoff that falls completely flat. After a barrage of follow-up efforts of varying quality, a new series installment bowed on Hulu in 2022

Quentin Tarantino, 2007. ©Weinstein Company LLC/Courtesy Everett Collection Rob Zombie’s work often requires more than one appraisal. Case in point: I didn’t connect with The Lords of Salem the first time I saw it. In fact, I wrote the film off until a fellow Dread Central writer told me to give it a second chance.

The art of the movie tagline is a slippery business. The right phrase can make the perfect tantalizing teaser, but the wrong words can undersell or even spoil the picture. Very few films have been so eloquently encapsulated as Brian De Palma’s Body Double, advertised with just six simple words: “You can’t believe everything you

Jordan Peele is a master of modern horror. The Oscar-winning filmmaker continues to surprise and delight with each subsequent venture. So, I’m always keen to hear where the Get Out director gets his ideas from. And I have some info on exactly that to share with you today. The L.A. Times ran a piece on

Quentin Tarantino, 2023. © Courtesy Everett Collection Quentin Tarantino is nothing if not an outspoken cinephile with opinions on almost everything. Tarantino is quick to heap praise on the features and filmmakers he loves. But he is equally eager to speak to his disdain for those he doesn’t. This time around, the director isn’t discussing

Before Paramount+, there was CBS All Access. Cue sad trombone music. If you haven’t heard of CBS All Access, you’re definitely not alone. The mucky mucks at Viacom eventually realized that branding their streaming arm CBS All Access was a bad marketing move and renamed the service Paramount+. I think branding the streaming service CBS

I’d never have guessed it, but it looks as if Bloober Team’s remake of Konami’s Silent Hill 2 is actually good. As arguably the bedrock for modern survival horror, I was reasonably skeptical about the idea of updating James, Mary, Pyramid Head, and the bulk of the titular town with modern gameplay mechanics. I was

2020 was a tough year for everyone, Quentin Tarantino included. The decorated director was not particularly impressed with the cinematic offerings that bowed during the height of the Covid pandemic. However, the output of that year wasn’t a total bust for him. When the Kill Bill helmer sat down with The Big Picture to discuss

Stephen King in 1999. ©ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection One of my favorite (former) Portland DJs Tara Dublin recently captured the attention of celebrated author Stephen King with one of her helpful tweets. Tara previously worked as an on-air personality at Portland’s 94.7 KNRK. Not to mention, she is also a massive Doctor Sleep fan. Via a

All hail the Terrifier. Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3, the massive, dense, yuletide slasher sequel to both the original Terrifier and 2022’s box office sensation Terrifier 2, has replicated the second film’s success. Against all odds, Terrifier 3 topped the weekend box office, snagging an estimated $21.5 million over the four-day weekend of its release. The

There were a lot of really fantastic horror movies released in 2020 that were easily missed. With the COVID-19 pandemic shuttering most theaters, studios and distributors had slates full of movies they needed to do something with. Some, like David Prior’s The Empty Man, were unceremoniously (and contractually) dumped in theaters, while others like Natalie

The weather isn’t the only thing that’s “frightful” this holiday season, now that the Universal Monsters “Monster in My Stocking” Blind Box ReAction Figures are here! The figures feature one of four unique Universal Monsters designs all in festive red and green colorways, secreted in blind box packaging ready for you to discover which variant