Category Archives: Horror

V/H/S/MIXTAPE Turns Sound Into Terror When It Hits Shudder This Friday

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The V/H/S franchise is cranking up the volume. V/H/S/MIXTAPE, the latest entry in the found-footage horror series, drops on Shudder this Friday with a lineup that treats music and sound as weapons of pure fear.

This time, the anthology goes all-in on audio terror. Four segments explore how rhythm, noise, and music can haunt, possess, and destroy. Directors Ernest Dickerson, RZA, David Moreau, and Renee Zhan each bring their own spin on sonic dread.

Highlights include “Dance, Dance, Dance, Dance,” where a studio reboots a cursed puppet show with help from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. In “The Music of Mr. Sze,” Dickerson follows a film student documenting a tormented musician’s reclusive life. RZA’s “Death Tone” centers on a sound engineer chasing her late father’s vision of the ultimate track. And in “Heartbeat,” a pair of YouTube urbex influencers get trapped in a decommissioned military facility used for sonic experiments.

Tying it all together, GWAR hosts an MTV-style wrap segment from hell, complete with music videos directed by Tobias Forge and Flying Lotus.

Early reviews call it tailor-made for October marathons, with Daily Dead praising its “amp-bursting bang” and SlashFilm noting the franchise has finally found its groove.

For horror fans ready to let sound mess with their heads, this one’s dialed in.

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Yûta Shimotsu’s Body Horror Satire NEW GROUP Hits Shudder Next Month

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A cult-like mentality spreads through a Japanese high school, turning gymnastics routines into a dance of death. That’s the premise of NEW GROUP, a body horror film from writer-director Yûta Shimotsu that streams on Shudder starting November 6th.

The film follows high school student Ai as people around her become mindless followers capable of transforming everyday exercises into something deadly. Shimotsu, who studied mechanical engineering before moving into filmmaking, co-wrote the script with Momoko Sahara. The cast includes Anna Yamada, Yuzu Aoki, and Pierre Taki.

Critics are calling it more than shock value. Rue Morgue praised its “underpinning of social commentary,” while Bloody Disgusting called it “an incredible, unpredictable body horror masterpiece that doubles as an indicting satire of Japan’s society.” MovieWeb noted its “daring and utterly confident trip into the pitfalls of societal norms.”

Shimotsu made his feature debut with BEST WISHES TO ALL in 2023 after years directing commercials and shorts. NEW GROUP screened at Fantasia International Film Festival and Sitges before landing on Shudder.

At just 82 minutes, it’s a lean slice of social horror for anyone tired of conformity.

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Dark Sky Films Drops Blood-Soaked Single-Night Thriller HUMAN This Month

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A woman home alone. A dating app mishap. And a whole lot of blood.

Dark Sky Films brings HUMAN to select theaters and VOD on October 23, following a West Coast premiere the night before at Laemmle Glendale. Director Matt Stuertz (Tonight She Comes, RWD) takes audiences through a claustrophobic nightmare that unfolds over one terrible evening.

The film follows Dani Ferris (Jackie Kelly), exhausted and alone, who just wanted a little late-night distraction before bed. Instead, she gets dragged into a supernatural horror show packed with bodily fluids and emotional chaos. Every relationship becomes a gamble. Every hour brings a new threat.

Stuertz keeps the tension cranked as Dani rides out a night of friends, lovers, enemies, guns, and things far beyond natural. The single-night structure keeps things tight. The practical effects keep things gross. Critics at Fright Fest and Obscura Film Fest have already called it relentless, vibrant, and stomach-turning in the best way.

The cast includes Brock Russell, Cecily Dowd, Jeffrey Decker, and Mia Sydney. David Neiss wrote the script.

For indie horror fans craving something unstable and hallucinatory, this one’s landing just in time for Halloween season.

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Buddy Review: Barney Goes Bad in This Strange, Original Horror Ride

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By Armando

buddyRemember the kids’ shows you grew up with? The big friendly costume, the bright colors, the songs, Buddy takes all of that and turns it inside out. It’s strange, bumpy in spots, and it left me uneasy, but I mean that as a compliment. Maybe.

Buddy comes from Casper Kelly, the mind behind the cult Adult Swim short Too Many Cooks. It’s set inside It’s Buddy!, a 90s-style kids show hosted by Buddy, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, he is a bright orange unicorn who leads a group of children through songs and life lessons.

Then one kid refuses to join a dance party and disappears. Freddy (Delaney Quinn) starts asking questions, and the kids realize that they can’t remember their lives before the show. Meanwhile, in the real world, a mom named Grace (Cristin Milioti) can’t shake the feeling that something is missing from her family.

This is an original story. It’s not a remake, a sequel or part of some giant franchise. I’ll always root for that, even when the result isn’t perfect.

And Buddy isn’t perfect. The tone jumps from goofy kids’ show bits to brutal horror to a strange side trip with an old cowboy and his foul-mouthed puppet. Some scenes hit, some drag. I kind of liked the bumpiness, since it adds to the feeling of being stuck somewhere that isn’t quite right. But I get why plenty of people will find it off-putting.

The performances are excellent across the board. Quinn carries the film as Freddy, and Key nails that sing-song kids’ host voice before letting the anger creep in. Milioti, Michael Shannon, Topher Grace and Patton Oswalt are all in on the weirdness.

The production looks just like a real ’90s children’s show, with cheap-looking sets, flat lighting and sing-along songs.

Kelly has said the film grew from a childhood belief that TV kids lived inside their shows. That idea never fully came across for me. We never see how the kids got there or who they were before, so I didn’t care about them as much as I wanted to. The ending only hints at the bigger idea, kids swallowed up by what they watch, and leaves you uneasy, which feels like the point.

Still, it stuck with me. Buddy is weird, bumpy, unevent and bold. If you love strange movies that take big swings, give it a shot.

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A Hollywood Hills Dream House Turns Into a Vampire Nightmare in “The Teenage Vampire”

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A recent high school grad thinks she’s scored the perfect spot in the Hollywood Hills. Parties, romance, the whole California dream. Then she finds out her landlords are vampires, and her first party ends in a bloodbath.

“The Teenage Vampire” hits VOD and digital platforms October 27 via Lionsgate. The indie horror follows Sandra, who moves into what looks like a chic bungalow only to discover the ancient creatures living upstairs have plans that don’t involve welcoming her to the neighborhood.

The film stars Jazlyn Nicolette Sward alongside Kelly Lynn Reiter (“Deadlock,” “Mojave Diamonds”), James Chalke (“Renegades,” “Don’t Kill It”), and Courtney Akbar (“Boneyard,” “Clown Fear”). It’s directed with an 85-minute runtime and an R rating for language, bloody images, and the kind of teen behavior that tends to attract vampires.

Shot in 2022, the film arrives just in time for Halloween viewing. It’s priced at $5.99 to rent, $9.99 to own.

For indie horror fans, it’s another entry in the crowded vampire genre, but one that swaps castles and small towns for LA’s glittering hills, where even the undead want a piece of the view.

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Scott Snyder and Jock’s Wytches Gets Remastered Ahead of Amazon Series

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A horror comic that helped define the genre this decade is getting the deluxe treatment just in time for its jump to TV.

Scott Snyder and Jock’s Wytches is returning this fall in an expanded, remastered edition from Image Comics. Wytches, Vol. 1: Pledged Edition collects the original six-issue run, the Bad Egg Halloween Special, material from the Image! anthology, and features recoloring by Matt Hollingsworth to match the upcoming Amazon/MGM Studios animated series.

“Wytches was a deeply personal book, born out of the real fears I had as an anxious parent,” Snyder said. “This is a must-buy for any Litchfield fans and those waiting for the TV show.”

The series launched in 2014 as a major Image Expo announcement and became one of the year’s top sellers, earning coverage from USA Today, The Washington Post, and Entertainment Weekly. The premise flips centuries of witch trial mythology on its head. Those persecuted weren’t witches, they were protecting a secret: real witches exist, and they’re ancient, deadly, and hungry.

When the grieving Rooks family moves to the remote town of Litchfield for a fresh start, something waits in the woods to greet them.

The Pledged Edition hits comic shops October 21 and bookstores November 17. For indie horror fans and anyone who loves creature features that dig into parental dread, this is essential reading.

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“The Town That Takes” Brings the Roanoke Mystery to Theaters This July

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The-Town-That-TakesA supernatural horror thriller built around one of America’s oldest unsolved mysteries is heading to theaters next month.

Atlas Distribution Company picked up festival favorite “The Town That Takes” and will release it in select theaters across the top 20 North American markets starting July 10. The film takes the only clue left behind after the Lost Colony of Roanoke vanished in 1590, a single carved word, CROATOAN, and imagines a terrifying answer.

Director Britt Bankhead, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Blaze, stars alongside Miles Mussenden (Doom Patrol), Mike Markoff (Hit Man), and Grace Patterson (Slotherhouse). The story follows Dean Richardson, a troubled Army vet trying to reconnect with his estranged 12-year-old son after his ex-wife’s death. When they stop in a remote town haunted by whispers of Croatoan, a brutal murder puts Dean in the spotlight and his son suddenly disappears.

What starts as a murder investigation turns into something far more sinister as unexplained deaths and impossible encounters pile up across the region.

“Britt Bankhead took one of the oldest unsolved mysteries in American history and built a supernatural thriller that gets under your skin,” said Harmon Kaslow, President of Atlas Distribution.

For indie horror filmmakers, this is another example of festival buzz translating into theatrical distribution, proof the theatrical market for genre films remains alive.

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Rick Remender and Steve Epting’s Crime-Horror Mash-Up “Hammerfist” Launches This August

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hammerfistWhat happens when a hardboiled crime story crashes headfirst into splatter-horror? You get Hammerfist, the new ongoing series from Rick Remender and Steve Epting coming to Image Comics this August.

The book follows Mike Denton, a hitman, junkie, and terrible father who’s spent his life chasing easy fixes. But when an ancient darkness called Black Noon threatens to erase all light, Mike has to get his act together, awaken a supernatural weapon powered by love, and save his daughter from literal evil.

Remender calls it a love letter to the “unhinged genre films of the VHS era.” Think Reservoir Dogs meets Evil Dead, a dirtbag crime tale that mutates into Raimi-style horror. “It’s wildly original, over-the-top, hard-R, but never forgetting to be fun,” he says.

Epting, who’s collaborated with Remender on Captain America before, says the book is “unpredictable, gritty and funny. There’s real emotion under all the blood and chaos, we just take the most violent road possible to get there.”

Hammerfist #1 drops August 26 with variant covers from Jerome Opeña, Nic Klein, Dan Panosian, Daniel Acuña, and Andrew Robinson.

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Avalon Fast’s “CAMP” Hits Theaters June 26 After Festival Run

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CampA guilt-ridden young woman, two tragic accidents, and a voice calling from the woods. That’s the setup for CAMP, a new horror feature from writer-director Avalon Fast hitting theaters June 26 courtesy of Dark Sky Films.

The film follows Emily, who takes a job as a summer camp counselor to escape the weight of two devastating tragedies from her past. Surrounded by supportive fellow counselors, she starts to believe in a fresh start. But when a voice begins whispering from deep in the woods, urging her to go home, Emily’s fragile peace starts to unravel.

CAMP has been making waves on the festival circuit, winning Fantastic Fest’s Next Wave Award and screening at BeyondFest, Sitges, Brooklyn Horror, and Outfest. Critics have compared it to The Virgin Suicides, with RogerEbert.com noting how the film uses grief and mourning as storytelling tools instead of easy answers. Projected Figures called it “a dizzying, unnerving examination of the strength and power that women can use to uplift each other.”

Fast, who calls her work “GIRL HORROR,” previously directed Honeycomb, which premiered at Slamdance in 2022. The film stars Zola Grimmer, Alice Wordsworth, and Cherry Moore.

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Canadian Indie Thriller “Hunting Matthew Nichols” Heads to 1,000+ Screens After Surprise Mystery Screenings

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huntingA Vancouver Island-shot supernatural thriller is about to get a wide theatrical release most indie filmmakers can only dream of.

*Hunting Matthew Nichols*, the debut feature from director Markian Tarasiuk, opens April 10 on more than 1,000 screens across the US and Canada. That includes AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Marcus Theatres, and Cineplex, a reach that’s rare for an independently made film.

The film already tested the waters this week as a “Monday Mystery Movie” (or “Scream Unseen” in some markets) at 1,400 screens. Major chains screened it without revealing the title beforehand, a bold move that apparently paid off with strong audience reactions.

The story follows Tara Nichols, an aspiring documentary filmmaker trying to solve her brother’s decades-old disappearance on Vancouver Island. When new evidence surfaces, she and her film crew dig into the case, only to uncover something darker than expected. Critics have praised the film’s blend of true crime documentary style with horror, and Steven Soderbergh called it “a sneaky, simmering take on the true crime folk horror genre that boils over and becomes truly unnerving.”

What makes this release notable is how it got here. Tarasiuk, writer Sean Harris Oliver, and their producing partners at Dropshock Pictures and Moon7 Films are self-distributing the film. In 2025, they took it on a cross-country tour, meeting with executives at major chains to pitch their strategy. They brought in former National Association of Theater Owners President John Fithian and his consulting firm to help navigate the theatrical landscape.

The film stars Miranda MacDougall, Markian Tarasiuk, Ryan Alexander McDonald, and Christine Willes. It’s a BC production through and through, shot entirely on Vancouver Island with a local crew. Cinematographer Justin Sebastian and editor Jonathan Mathew round out the key creative team.

*Hunting Matthew Nichols* premiered at Newport Beach Film Festival, played Blood in the Snow, and earned a Borsos Award nomination for Best Canadian Feature at Whistler Film Festival. It’s racked up awards on the festival circuit since.

Special screenings are planned for Vancouver (The Park, April 2) and Los Angeles (Landmark Sunset with Film Independent, April 6) before the wide release.

For a debut feature from a new production company, landing this kind of theatrical footprint is a big deal. It’s proof that indie filmmakers willing to hustle, build relationships, and take control of their own distribution can still break through in a crowded market.

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