The Scariest Things

Sarah (Jessika Van) and Molly (Courtney Pouroso) receive some unfortunate marketing data in Grind (2026) Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸Directed by: Brea Grant , Ed Dougherty, and Chelsea Stardust Written by: Brea Grant and Ed Dougherty Does working in today’s economy feel like you are on a treadmill that is getting too fast for you? Has your job killed your dreams? Employment in the modern world can be… a Grind. Grind is a timely anthology that is neatly stitches together how working for Mega-Corporations (TM) can erode your sense of being and may cost you more than a diminished paycheck. If you ever thought “This job is gonna kill me.” Grind will resonate with you. In a world where gas prices soar past $4.00 per gallon and groceries routinely cost more than $150 per visit, just having a job might not cut it. A minimum wage job isn’t going to pay the bills. Hell, even a white collar professional job might not cover the costs. This is an environment where a paying second side hustle may be necessary. Maybe you need to use your car to be an Uber driver. Or, perhaps you need a side marketing hustle. Perhaps you just need to hang in there a little longer with your primary job in hopes of being promoted to something greater. These are the traps that Grind examines. This anthology is the brainchild of Brea Grant and Ed Dougherty. Dougherty is a veteran music video director, and Grant is a star actress who has transitioned into a powerhouse indie horror director. (Torn Hearts, 12 Hour Shift, Lucky) Chelsea Stardust is an emerging young director who already has a cult classic feature to her credit. (Satanic Panic) Both Stardust and Grant are featured in my 32 Important Women Horror Directors You Should Know Deadlist. The trio have tapped into something timely and resonant. Horror in the workplace never felt so present. Here in Portland, with skyrocketing housing prices, a wavering job market, and a general economic malaise, this movie seems to have been channelled for us. Appropriately, the Portland Horror Film Festival featured Grind as one of its featured presentations. The directing trio: Brea Grant, Chelsea Stardust, and Ed Dougherty Directors’ Statement: People all over the world are waking up. The current state of things as we see it — the average American is suffering while billionaires line their pockets, driving income inequality to a level not seen since the 18th century. Workplace safety is declining, worker exploitation is rising, and wage theft is rampant. Things are bad but people are realizing it. The public’s approval rate of unions is higher than ever — not just in our industry but industries around the country. From hotels to coffee shops to Waffle Houses, workers are fighting for their rights– often against harsh union busting reprisals. This is a historic moment of anger and fear, and these topics are what everyone’s talking about… …And thus it’s the perfect theme for a horror film. We want to tackle this subject in a fun, scary way that will provide a cathartic release for audiences everywhere. This is a film for anyone who’s ever hated their job, had a bad boss, or felt taken advantage of at work. In other words, it’s a film for all of us. GRIND is a WIP. Sound is final. VFX and color are not (which you will definitely notice). Warehouse Wonders Directed by Chelsea StardustStarring: Mercedes Mason as Maria, James A. Janisse as Justin Maria is a DRGN warehouse employee who is racing through the aisles to retrieve a ring light for an expedited delivery order. Time runs out on her search, and she gets transferred to “Special Gifts.” It’s neither a gift, nor special. This is the opening wraparound connective segment for the anthology. We follow the package to the next segment… Maria (Mercedes Mason) discovers something ominous within the DRGN warehouse in Grind (2026) MLM Directed by Brea GrantStarring: Jessika Van as Sarah, Courtney Pauroso as Molly, Hunter Smith as The Axe Man, and Barbara Crampton as The Founder Sarah has joined La La Leggings as a downline multi level marketing (MLM) agent in an attempt to earn some extra cash, selling cheap yoga pants online. She is a lackluster sales agent, and her performance reflects it. Her upline partner, Molly notifies her the dire consequences of failing to meet her quota. Notably, one of the contractual conditions of failure is that her husband’s penis will turn into a scrub jay. Yep. Just like it says. It’s hysterical and horrifying, and it’s true! The consequences only get worse from there, and pretty soon, Molly’s reputation is affected. So, Molly comes by to help her pitch stretchy pants. Even combined, the sales are so poor that it summons the immortl Axe Man. (Clad in La La Leggings). They should have sold more leggings! After the battle with the axe man, a doorbell rings and food has arrived! We now transfer the story from Sarah to Benny. Sarah (Jessika Van) looks for the approaching Axe Man in Grind (2026) Delivery Directed by Brea GrantStarring Vinny Thomas as Bennie, Gigi Saul Guerrero as Camilla, and Thor Harris as the Frightening Man After delivering to the La La Leggings house, Bennie continues his food delivery grind. It’s a thankless job, literally, at times, because he is working for tips. And Los Angeles residents are stingy tippers. Delivery after delivery and it becomes an effort in futility. He gets a mysterious Ghost Kitchen call, where his text message directions instruct him to retrieve a manky paper bag from a locked chest for a preposterously big tip. If it seems to be too good to be true, it is. Bennie is caught in a combination deadly escape room and a time loop, where he is requested to do increasingly risky tasks. If he fails, the delivery resets. As things get weirder and weirder, Bennie has no option but to comply with the bizarre and painful requests. As is true for most time loops, in order to close the loop, he has to satisfy the requests. He guts through the torturous pain and comes face to face with a bizarre epiphany, whereafter he continues on as a food delivery driver for one last drop… to the DRGN headquarters. Delivery guy Bennie (Vinny Thomas) encounters his mirror form in Grind (2026) Content Moderation Directed by Ed DoughertyStarring: Christopher Rodriguez Marquette as Joel, James Urbaniak as Richard, and Rob Huebel as Andy Joel is a teacher looking for a career change, and has arrived at the DRGN headquarters to apply for a plum job. Andy, a relationships manager at DRGN tells him of the wonderful opportunities at the company. A job that starts at $175,000 and with all the benefits that a high tech job has to offer. However, there is a probationary period, that requires potential new employees to work in The Pit. Joel is skeptical about the offer, but Andy assures him that all he has to do is content moderation for Hatchbook, DRGN’s social media site. The catch is, the content that has to be watched is some of the most vile and disturbing content on the internet. Watch enough videos, and you can get that big paycheck with the cushy benefits. How many videos? Only a mere 6,750,000. This is a staggering and emotionally taxing amount of awful content to be viewed. Joel is determined to be the rare, and perhaps only person to emerge from the Pit to get the big job upstairs. Andy will do everything to make sure that doesn’t happen. The consequences are corrosive and psychologically devastating. Joel (Christopher Rodriguez Marquette) has a shit job doing content moderation in Grind (2026) Union Meeting Directed by Ed DoughertyStarring: Sharlene Cruz as Kayla, Ify Nwandiwe as Todd, James A. Janisse as Justin, Aubrey Shea as Mel, James Paxton as Crowe, Teri Gamble as Clara, Rob Heubel as Andy, and Vee Nixie as Neptulia Power to the people! The employees of a Neptulia Coffee shop are forming a union, and going on strike! No more minimum wage, lousy benefits, high job turnover, and understaffed work loads. The crew is a mixed bag of oddballs. Kayla is the committed union leader. Todd is the burly, but geeky corporate supportive shift manager. Crowe is the dimwitted activist wannabe who glues himself to the cashier counter, but now has to pee badly. This strike is doomed for failure. Meanwhile, DRGN corporate overlord Andy has been tracking the special gift delivery destined for the coffee shop. It’s the same package from the opening wraparound. The delivery is the size of a refrigerator, and weighs a ton. Why would they receive a package from HQ? DRGN is going to bust this strike, with a stealthy option. There’s a toothy monster mermaid in that “gift”, and woe be to the would-be labor organizers. Can the gang that can’t get their act together fight off the blasphemous namesake of their shop? Mel (Abrey Shea) and Kayla (Sharlene Cruz) in Grind (2026) Neptulia (Vee Nixie) the monster mermaid in Grind (2026) Black Box Directed by Chelsea StardustStarring: Barbara Crampton as the Founder and Rob Heubel as Andy In the back half wraparound, we discover that Andy and the La La Leggins founder are a married power couple, basking in their wickedness and enjoying their domain. A package has arrived at the door, though. A black box. That could only mean one thing: DRGN Gift, which is as we know now, not a good thing. But, why would DRGN turn on two of their power brokers? What could it be? The slightly damaged box suggests it might not be what they think it is… Barbara Crampton and Rob Heubel discover “What’s in the Box” in Grind (2026) Evaluation of Grind Grind may be the best anthology I’ve seen since Southbound. The narrative threads and thematic consistency show real intent. The hilarious MLM is the foundation of the movie, as it was generated as a short film that worked the festival circuit in 2025 and was a fan favorite. I saw it at both Overlook and Portland Horror FF last year, and each time it brought the house down. Brea and Ed were able to deftly find similar work-based horror themes that resonanate with the current economic cycle. The hand-offs and transitions from segment to segment really work, and it all comes through as a singular message. Grind’s level of craft is evidence of the growth in the emerging talents of all three directors. The trio essentially is self-funding this project without the backing of a major studio, but you wouldn’t know it from the production values. Part of this is a testament to independent film making in the 2020’s, with the availability of better equipment, but this movie also had an impressive and huge cast. Kudos to Jessika Van, Vinny Thomas, and Christopher Rodriguez Marquette for each holding down their segments. These are veteran character actors, and it is great to see them getting to showcase their talents in each of the stories. Thier struggles feel like our struggles. In each case, equal parts frustration and determination come to the fore. I also really enjoyed Ify Nwadiwe’s take as the straight man foil for the kooky activists in Union Meeting. Getting such a big cast on a tight budget is a testament to the filmmaker’s ability to get buy-in from their actors. I hope it bodes well for all of them. Concluding Thoughts: A superior anthology requires balance and cohesiveness in concept, while avoiding so much similarity that it becomes redundant. The beauty of Grind is that it strikes an entertaining tone and maintains it throughout the run of all the segments. Surely a lot of this is because the same writers are involved with all the stories, but the fresh takes that each segment has keeps it surprising. There are some tonal shifts, with two of the segments having bleak endings and two of them ending with the protagonists on top. Ultimately, this satisfies. For a truly independent film, financed by the directors themselves, this was quite an achievement. A testament to this is the huge cast that they were able to assemble. Aside from Barbara Crampton, there aren’t any big stars in this film. The cast answered the call to good filmmakers, and it pays off. One of the notable performances is that of Vee Nixie, a thin contortionist/costume acting specialist who is becoming the female version of Doug Jones. Her portrayal of Neptulia the mermaid, scrambling around the floor in a full fish suit was truly impressive. She’s a regular fixture at Monsterpalooza, the great horror makeup convention in Los Angeles, so go find her if you are an attendee. When Grind showed at the Portland Horror Film Festival, it was well into its festival run. There are more festivals to come, and the producers are still trying to get into more. The solid reputations of these filmmakers, plus the positive reception that they’ve been getting so far in their run means that this might end up in a festival near you. It is definitely one to catch if you see it at a late summer festival screening. The content pushes just over the R rated boundary, particularly the multitude of grisly videos shown in the Content Moderation segment. But, this movie isn’t likely to trigger anyone, and the great humor and clever stories make it a good gateway horror property. Review by Eric Li The Scariest Things Grind Interview with Brea Grant, Ed Dougherty, and Chelsea Stardust Here’s my interview from the green room at the Hollywood theater, directly after having seen Grind at the Portland Horror Film Festival: The cast and crew of Grind in a promo portrait from SXSW: (L to R) Anastasia Washington, Brea Grant, Ed Dougherty, James A Janisse, Jessika Van, Chelsea Stardust, Barbara Crampton, Teri Gamble, James Urbanik, Ify Nwandiwe, Sydney Steinberg, Hannah Alline, Rob Huebel, and Christopher Rodriguez Marquette.

Larry Fessenden’s The Last Winter (2006) BRRRRRR! It’s so cold outside! Wait, what? The thermometer reads 102? What’s the date? Ah, forget the date; this is a brain freeze for you because we decided to cool you off with some freezing cold horror films just in time for the summer heat wave! YES! Cold themes are the icy wet blanket that puts you at unease. Friend of the Podcast, Ian Parker joins the Scariest Things, as we put our parkas on for a discussion of some frozen horror treats. Enjoy! Think of this as mid-summer air conditioning by way of podcast. Granted, we considered this episode much earlier in the year, but with so many PHFF interviews, it got pushed further into the summer months! So, let this discussion help cool you with shivers down your spine! Themes of isolation, where the environment itself adds to the danger of just being outside, never mind the killer or monster waiting for you out there. It’s that extra addition that makes just getting around in a horror movie difficult. Almost every variant of horror is represented with the overlay of freezing temperatures. Serial Killer / Psychopath? Check. Vampires? Multiple times. Zombies? Uh huh. Aliens and monsters? Plenty of them. It’s freezing PLUS scary antagonist. Frozen horror is often a melancholy affair. With the exception of perhaps Werewolves Within, these movies tend to be quite serious. The colors are desaturated and high contrast. The music is often spare, with hints of wind blowing in the background. The other partner of ice-cold horror is darkness. Many times the location will be in fringe or polar latitudes, limiting the amount of daylight. Characters subjected to freezing to death are different than those burning up in the desert. This is still a constitution check, though It’s less about exhaustion and more about willpower. That, and there might be a vampire waiting for you. They seem to be OK with freezing temperatures. Also, if you are making this a theme within your movie, you will want to have plenty of the activity outside. There are films that use bad weather to limit the locations (Think Pontypool (2008) or Climax (2018)). For this episode, we want the characters to endure the cold. Get out there! Don’t be a sissy! Just keep moving. That’ll keep you warm. The Podcast: Freezing Cold Horror: Episode 212 For this episode, we avoided repeating ourselves with Holiday Horror, particularly Christmas-themed horror, as we have already done that in Episode 114: Ho Ho Horror. Another similar theme, if you like this stuff, is Episode 172: Canadian Horror. Harbinger Down (2015) True Detective: Night Country (2025) The Last Winter (2006) Wintertide (2023) Ice Cream Man (1995) The Black Phone 2 (2025) Cold Prey (2006) Dreamcatcher (2003) Devil Times Five (1974) The Lodge (2019) Wind Chill (2007) Frozen (2010) Snow Beast (1977) The Shining (1980) The Thing From Another World (1951) The Thing (1982) The Thing (2011) 30 Days of Night Black Mountain Side (2014) The Terror (2021) Blood Glacier (2013) The Yeti (2026) Shriek of the Mutilated (1974) Werewolves Within (2021) Breaking Surface (2020) Dead Snow (2009) Dream Eater (2024) Alien vs. Predator (2004) Let the Right One In (2008) Frankenstein (2025)

Friday the 69th is a horror parody asking: What if a failing porn studio tried to make a conventional slasher movie? Charming and silly. Not as raunchy as you might expect. This is an interview with the director, Alex Montilla and star Rob Zoppo. Part of the Portland Horror Film Festival slate of films.

The Horror Short Film Director Roundtable is one of the most important things that we did at the Portland Horror Film Festival. It provided an elevated platform for horror short filmmakers. Oftentimes, this is ground zero for original horror ideas. Unless you are a Hollywood nepo-director, short film creation is where you learn your chops. I wanted to give these creatives an opportunity to share their experiences in making movies, both good and bad, so that we can all learn a little more about the craft. Life as a short filmmaker can be an experience in the shadows. Your films are rarely seen outside of film festivals, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This is where most creative minds hone their crafts. Take a simple concept and do it well. Do you have something scary or funny to tell? Is there an idea that has been lurking in the back of your brain that you have to give life to? A short film will give you the opportunity to learn production, editing, budgeting, and team management. It also places you in a community of people who are open to sharing their work with one another. That’s where the round table fits in. After our discussion, I told the group that, even though I wanted this discussion to be a forum for them to share their wins and losses with each other, I selfishly set up this talk so I could learn more about horror moviemaking. Nine years in on being a small horror press journalist, and I still feel like I am only scratching the surface about what a director has to do. Just how do you do it? These discussions give me more talking points and access to better questions to ask. The Portland Horror Film Festival is one of the best curated horror film festivals in the country. Not only do Gwen and Brian Callahan select some of the best horror short films for their festivals, but they also provide opportunities for short film alumni to showcase their feature films. One of the questions I asked in our roundtable discussion was, “How many of you are looking to be feature film directors?” All of them raised their hands (with the exception of Patrick Hogan, who has already directed a feature film). For these directors, here is some encouraging data. This year alone had FIVE directors who previously presented short films at either PHFF or the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and later had their feature films shown at these festivals. Here are the PHFF Alumni filmmakers who presented a short film and then a feature: Anthony Cousins: Short Films – “The Bloody Ballad of Squirt Reynolds” and “Every Time We Meet for Ice Cream Your Whole Fucking Face Explodes” to Feature Films – Frogman (2023) and Frogman Returns (2026) Jeff Ferrell: Short Film – “Morella” to Feature Film – The Demonatrix (2026) Levi Buchannan: Short Film – “We Said Forever” to Feature Film Sitra Achra (2026) Krsy Fox: Short Film – “What the Spell” to Feature Film – Big Baby (2026) Masaki Nishiyama: Short Film “Smahorror” to Feature Film “The Invisible Half” (2026) Zack Ogle: Short Film “We Got a Monkey’s Paw” to Feature Film – It Needs Eyes (2025) Craig Ouellette: “Str$p” to Feature Film – Straight on Til Morning (2025) Andrew Bowser: Short Film – “Little Willy” to Feature Film – Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Evil (2022) Izzy Lee: “My Monster”, “Dark Signals”, “Rehomed” to Feature Film – House of Ashes (2024) Kenichi Ugana: Short Film – “Visitors” to Feature Film – Love Will Tear Us Apart (2023) Alice Maio Mackay: Short Film – “The Serpent’s Skin” to Feature Film T-Blockers (2023) Matthew John Lawrence: Short Film “Larry Gone Demon” to Feature Film – Uncle Peckerhead (2020) Justin Harding: Short Film “Kookie” to Feature Film – Making Monsters (2019) The PHFF Horror Short Film Director Roundtable Recording: Here is the roundtable discussion. It’s all about the lessons learned. The good, the bad, and the ridiculous. My past experience doing these round tables sometimes put the filmmakers on the spot, and I didn’t want this to be a “stump the directors” exercise. I prepared them with the following questions: Apart from financing, what was the biggest challenge in making your movie? What was the most interesting thing you learned while making this film? How many of you are filmmakers as a second career? What remains a mystery to you as a filmmaker that you think might be answered by one of your peers in this discussion? What piece of advice do you have for your fellow directors? This group really got into the discussion, and had the festival not started up, we could have gone on for quite a while longer. I had a great time, and I believe they did as well. The Horror Short Film Director Roundtable Films: Blindsided Directed by P. Patrick HoganStarring Crystal LoverroPortland Horror Film Festival: Winner of the Devil’s Discord (Best Sound Design) A blind schoolteacher struggles to survive through a nightmarish night when an alien spaceship crashes and unleashes a monstrous predator. This unique horror short film features an all-low-vision cast and places the audience in the POV of a blind protagonist who is only able to hear what happens around her. Director Statements: “Blindsided is a riveting short horror film that takes a unique narrative approach, providing audiences with an immersive glimpse into the harrowing experience of Maria, a blind woman confronting the most terrifying ordeal of her life. The horror remains unseen, both to her and the audience, heightening the suspense and reminding us that sometimes, the most terrifying things are the ones we don’t see coming… This is an innovative short film that ventures into uncharted territory within the horror genre. The narrative unfolds in a tranquil neighborhood, abruptly disrupted by a crashing alien spacecraft and the horrifying monster it unleashes into the night. However, what sets this film apart is the unique perspective from which the story is told – the POV of Maria, a blind schoolteacher living alone. Maria’s desperate struggle to evade the otherworldly predator, guided solely by what she hears, will provide an experience unlike any other horror short. Additionally, to promote diversity and inclusivity, in conjunction with our Disability Authenticity Consultant Vanni Le and Casting Director Danielle Pretsfelder Demchick, all the characters in the film are played by low-vision actors, placing the spotlight on the often-overlooked talent within the low-vision community. We are very proud of Blindsided and look forward to enjoying it in theaters with an audience who doesn’t know what they are about to experience.” Scullion Written and Directed by Trevor GracianoStarring: Whitney Garner as “Samantha”, Cody Parr as “Greg”, and Jim Close as “The Maid” A playful couple test their household chore habits and unknowingly summon a vengeful presence. Director Statements: “We all carry habits inherited from our parents into adulthood. I grew up in a religious household where some of those habits were helpful, but many were not—and they’ve lingered in ways I don’t welcome. Some habits fade with time, while others remain, quietly shaping us in the background. This film explores the struggle to break free from those ingrained patterns, and the imaginative consequences of what happens when they refuse to let go. *It’s really just about how to load the communal dishwasher correctly.” Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done Directed by PJ GermainWritten by Autumn Palen and PJ GermainStarring: Brady Gentry, Benjamin Nowak, Bix Krieger, Charlie N. Townsend, Cailyn Rice, Ethan Ahn, Emma Smith Watts, and Erin Rae Kykendall HIGH SCHOOL REALLY SUCKS… and no one knows that better than best friends Aaron and Keith. So when they set out to crash the last graduation party of the summer, emotions fly high, and the culture clash of teenagers finds them playing a simple game that has dire consequences. Director’s Statement: “Before he passed, screenwriter Gil Dennis told me during my time at AFI, “Write what hurts.” That idea has stayed with me; it’s the compass I use when choosing the stories I want to tell. When I first read Autumn Palen’s original draft of Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done, it hurt. It transported me back to moments in my own adolescence; memories filled with shame, ridicule, and isolation. But what floored me was its third-act twist. It was something I’d never felt so viscerally in a short script. I knew I had to direct it. What began as a contained character piece evolved into something more personal. I rewrote the script to reflect my own lived experiences, with every character, every event drawn from real moments that left a mark. I wanted to take a character that I felt so intertwined with, and make him someone that the audience would really relate to before reaching the moment where everything changes; the blood-drenched punchline to the twisted joke these high school kids played on each other. I set it during the 90’s, as it was a period of transition for me as an 80’s kid, being on the cusp of the old and new world. I needed the film to be an exploration of adolescent loneliness which dealt with the complexity of the friendships and social hierarchies that often defined who we were at that fragile age. We weren’t quite kids anymore, but we weren’t adults yet either, so how did we approach the consequences of reckless behavior? My team and I knew that casting would make or break the film. To capture that truth, casting was everything. I reviewed over 6,000 submissions, narrowing it down to a callback of who I thought could embody the characters. I needed authenticity, so at that callback, I ditched the script and asked actors, in character, to describe moments like first dates or getting asked to prom. It revealed who leaped from the page and became real. A week before we were to start shooting, my original cinematographer had to back out due to a conflict with the TV series he was currently shooting, and months of planning began to crumble. In the days leading up to whether or not we were going to cancel the project entirely, my long-time collaborator and cinematographer Jeff Billings took on the task. We shot the film over 3 tireless days, and as any director knows, you plan as much as you can; however, the plan eventually goes out the window. So I played a game of pivoting and being malleable myself in order to get what we needed to tell the story. The film is a testament to all the parts working together for a singular goal, and my hope is that when that first music cue drops, the audience is strapped in and ready to ride the roller coaster to that final frame.” https://vimeo.com/1071562836/377ba7d361?fl=pl&fe=cm Cat and Mouse Written and Directed by Brady CatesStarring: Halima Kamara as “Michelle”, Collan Simmons as “Felix, and Ron LaprechtEdited by Luke Oleen Junk, and Hayley Frederick Michelle is caught in a killer’s sadistic and carefully orchestrated game. With danger closing in at every turn, Michelle must outwit and outlast her relentless pursuer. But as the night goes on, unsettling clues reveal that all may not be what it seems. This time, it’s the mouse’s turn to catch the cat. My Severed Arm Written and Directed by Casey de FremeryStarring: Olivia Rose Prince as “Sidney”, Ryan Romine as “Mason”, and Julia Linger as “Commercial Model”Portland Horror Film Festival: Funny Bone Award for Exceptional Horror Comedy A woman tries to escape a serial killer using DIY videos, but the internet won’t stop trying to sell her things first. Director’s Statement: “My Severed Arm is a horror-comedy about a “final girl” who, after fleeing into a cabin in the woods, discovers that her greatest threat isn’t the machete-wielding slasher outside—it’s the barrage of unskippable ads and paywalls blocking her access to life-saving information. Trapped, bleeding, and desperate to repair the tools around her, she turns to YouTube—but instead of help, she’s ambushed by holographic tutorials and polished commercial spokespeople invading the cabin like digital ghosts. The film began with a thought I couldn’t shake: what if you had to listen to ads when calling 911? It was a joke at first, but one that felt eerily plausible five minutes into the future. I’ve learned so many practical things through platforms like YouTube, but over time, that access has been buried beneath monetization schemes, misinformation, and endless self-promotional detours. This story is my response to that frustration—exaggerated into a literal life-or-death scenario. Stylistically, I wanted to evoke the stark, grim energy of Evil Dead or Cabin in the Woods, but undercut it with the absurdity of consumer culture leaking into every moment. That blend of horror and comedy, physical space and digital intrusion, is what drives the tone. At its core, My Severed Arm is about survival—both in the horror-movie and digital sense. It’s about what happens when urgency meets algorithm, when access to knowledge is shaped by incentive structures that don’t care if you bleed out. The film asks: what good is information if it’s hidden behind paywalls, pop-ups, and promo codes? But more than anything, I want the audience to laugh, cringe, and feel that creeping recognition that this isn’t the future – it’s the now.” Into The Stand Directed by Mackenzie Hamilton and Taylor FuchsWritten by Mackenzie HamiltonStarring: Sarah Rich as “Quinn”, Ariana Raygoza as “Rosa”, and Nick Dietrich Tree planters Quinn and Rosa return to camp for another summer in the wilderness. Rosa is newly sober, and Quinn is quietly anxious about how she’ll handle the camp’s hard-partying culture. At the welcome-back party, Rosa is tempted to drink, prompting Quinn to intervene. Shaken, Rosa heads into the forest to clear her head, but doesn’t come back. When Quinn goes after her, she’s met with eerie signs: strange noises, a mangled deer, and an odd light deep in the woods. As the forest closes in, Quinn questions if there is something else out there. Director’s Statement: The woods have always haunted me. Growing up in rural Vancouver Island, I would often cut through forest trails to reach friends’ houses. When it was night, we would meet in the middle of the trail to keep each other safe. Thankfully, we always found each other, but I frequently wondered what if we didn’t? What if something else was out there, waiting in the darkness of the woods? Into the Stand is inspired by the many times I scared myself on those trails, letting my imagination run wild. Now that I’m older, my fears are centered around more tangible things, like navigating how to let go of people you love when you can’t control what they’re going through. This story is deeply informed by themes of sobriety, codependency, and how the urge to help someone can sometimes lead you somewhere dark. Ultimately, Into the Stand is a fun horror made in the community I grew up in with friends who helped bring it to life. My husband and I co-directed this short film, transforming the woods on my parents’ farm into a tree-planting camp, and had a blast turning a familiar place into something eerie and cinematic. It’s a scary film that is personal and full of heart, and I’m overjoyed to be telling stories in the places that shaped me. –Mackenzie Hamilton and Taylor Fuchs Nurture Written and Directed by Nick SnyderProduced by Sam SnyderStarring: Travis Bilenski as “Ren, and Kailey Rhodes as “Rose”Portland Horror Film Festival: Winner – Goule D’or Best Short On a remote Oregon farm, a couple grieving from a miscarriage finds hope in a mysterious flower. But as it heals her, the flower takes root in him. Nurture is a dialogue-free folk-horror fable about love, grief, and the consequences of taking too much from nature. Director’s Statement: NURTURE marks my return to narrative filmmaking after years of honing my craft in visual effects, motion design, and commercial work. Inspired by the Pacific Northwest and the quiet mythology of its forests, this dialogue-free folk horror short explores grief through the lens of a nature curse. Where grief deepens love and a curse demands sacrifice, NURTURE examines the dangerous hope that something broken can be restored without cost. Other Notable Horror Shorts from the Festival: There were 48 short films shown at the Festival, selected from over 500 submissions. Here are a few notable and favorite films that were also showing at the festival. Famous Directed by Rosita Lama MuvdiWritten by Jordan MonaghanStarring Jordan Monaghan “A young woman desperate for social media fame exploits her father’s death to go viral. But the volatile world of internet stardom pushes her to the edge.” Punchy and poignant. Famous taps into the darkest desires of influencers desperate to get likes. Just how far will you go for a few more “likes and subscribes”? Jordan Monaghan chases likes the wrong way in “Famous” (2026) Favela Amarela (Brazil) Written and Directed by Nicolas Lobato and Tiago TuchuStarring Richard Abelha, Giselle Batista, and Sai “A student from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro joins the local drug militia to pay for college and uncovers an NGO linked to powerful politicians that hides dark rituals devoted to the King in Yellow.” I won’t be surprised if this stunning short film also plays at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. It is saturated in Brazilian culture, mixed with a heavy application of Cosmic Horror. Favela Amarela (2026) Wall Udder Written and Directed by Alexandra HaydenStarring Kevin Grady, Sawyer Fuller, and Bries Vannon “A dissatisfied woman confronts repressed feelings of malaise after her partner comes home smelling like milk.” Hysterically gag-inducingly funny! There is a double-punchline gag that brought the house down. Part of the Shorts Gone Wild block at PHFF, where the festival screens the zaniest submitted shorts. This did not disappoint. Ewwww! Who wants some milk? “Wall Udder” (2026) Tooth-Hurty! Directed by Jude MadonnaWritten by Katie SmallStarring Katie Small, Jude Madonna, Brook Hogan, and Tommy HardenPortland Horror Film Festival Winner: Abby Normal Award: For the exceptionally weird and disturbing “Lucy is a people-pleasing writer-photographer whose dream of being an artist remains just out of reach. A comment from her boyfriend about her teeth triggers Lucy to make an appointment for a dental checkup for the first time in years with the mysterious yet heavily advertised Big Smiles Dentistry.” Super clever! There should be more horror movies about trips to the dentist. This made my toes curl and had me in stitches, as well. Say Ahhh! Katie Small in “Tooth-Hurty!” (2026) CHÄIR Directed by Chris McInroyWritten by Chris McInroy and Carlos La RottaStarring Carlos LaRotta, Kim Lowery, and Chloe McInroy “Carl just wanted to sit down. The chair had other plans.” I am always a fan of Chris McInroy. He and Carlos do a crazy short film every year. I am in awe of how these guys make deadpan, silly, and super-gory original content. It won’t be long before they release a greatest-hits compilation, and I will be in line to buy it. This spoof on Ikea furniture assembly is a tribute to all of us who have struggled to assemble the Scandinavian furniture at home. Carlos LaRotta contemplates his struggles putting a chair together in “CHÄIR” (2026) The Bones Exist Directed by Kelsey Bollig and Matthew DuVallWritten by Matthew DuVallStarring: Alex Pena as “Manny”, Siya Maleki as “Diego”, Jack Campbell as “Don Rob”, Michael Manzako as “The Boy”, and Alex Bankler as the Utah Raptor.Portland Horror Film Festival Winner: Tompe L’oiel Award for Best Special Effects In the unforgiving wilderness of 1850s Alta California, a dwindling group of gold prospectors encounters a feral boy who forces the men to confront the horrors lurking in the woods and the sins of their past. This combines two of my favorite genres: Dinosaurs and Westerns. Perhaps not done since The Valley of Gwanji, The Bones Exists shows plenty of raptors hunting cowboys and does so convincingly. Bonus points for showing the most current understanding of raptors as feathered dinos. Munch Munch! “The Bones Exist” (2026) Flush (France) Written and Directed by Raphaël TreinerStarring Eléonore Gurrey as “Marianne” and Christophe Ntakabenura as “Ben” Abominable plumbing and violent deaths. MARIANNE, extremely pregnant, and BEN, a plumber and one-night stand, team up to survive an epic night and face the monsters of a building beset by an unknown evil. I am a sucker for the Trapped in a Bathroom trope, even going so far as to host a Crypticon horror panel on the topic. This film goes to the top (plumbing) shelf. This is Cosmic horror that brings all the icky, goopy, nasty elements you might expect from this theme is on full display. To think that an effective little romance element managed to sneak into the plot, and you have something unusually effective. I love it when the French go weird. Eléonore Gurrey and Christophe Ntakabenura are unlikely allies in “Flush” (2026)

This is an interview of the director of Dracula: The Night Around Us, following its world premiere at the Portland Horror Film Festival. This is a tight, focused film that concentrates on Dr. Seward, Mina, Renfield, and Lucy. Dracula is a looming presence, but us utilized here as a threat rather than the key character. You won't see an arrogant Count, taunting and regally imposing himself on the village folk. This is a modern tale, with strong psychological horror components. Listen, and learn!

Andrea Subissati, Editor of Rue Morgue and Podcaster for Faculty of Horror The Bloody Judge for the 2026 Portland Horror Film Festival was Andrea Subissati, the Executive Editor of Rue Morgue. She is one of the most compelling voices within the horror community, and is a powerful advocate for women within the genre. Andrea was kind enough to set some time aside to talk some terror with us between feature film showings at the festival. We at the Scariest Things take our work seriously, but let’s be real. Rue Morgue is the real shit. It is a top-shelf professional horror periodical, and Andrea is a charismatic pro guiding that ship. We dabble in the eddies of horror film criticism. Rue Morgue is the river of horror discussions and sets the standard for horror journalism. As Bloody Judge, she delivered the keynote address to the festival, interviewed George Mihalka on stage for his Q&A for My Bloody Valentine’s 45th anniversary. Most importalntly, she also applied her horror wisdom to pick her favorite film in the festival. She selected Alect Patchin’s short film, “The Bargain”, a short film involving child abuse, revenge, religion, and a summoning. Andrea Subisatti arrives on stage at the Portland Horror Film Festival to give the Keynote Address Interviewing George Mihalka for My Bloody Valentine’s 45th Anniversary Q&A I asked Heather Alexander, who is a huge Subissati fan, to write an essay about Andrea’s influence on her as a prologue to our interview: Andrea Subissati is among the luminaries of horror. As the executive editor of the Canadian horror magazine Rue Morgue, she not only has her finger on the pulse of all things horror but is also a profound feminist voice in the genre. I’ve been reading her editorials, celebrity interviews and articles since she began her Rue Morgue reign in 2017. Her voice and vision have made me laugh and cry. It’s given me perspective, made me feel seen, and inspired me creatively.  Andrea has a master’s degree in sociology and uses her big brain to analyze horror in relation to gender dynamics, culture, history, and the general state of the world. Her academics come into full focus in her intimidatingly brilliant and award-winning podcast, The Faculty of Horror, which she co-hosts with Alexandra West. It’s here that these two brainy horror queens have thoughtful, feminist, and incredibly researched discussions on horror movies and the impact they’ve had on the genre. I’m a lot late to the podcast party in general, so it’s only recently that I’ve been a listener, but believe me when I tell you The Faculty of Horror is highly captivating. I knew Andrea was scheduled to be a judge and interviewer at this year’s Portland Horror Film Festival. I didn’t dream of meeting her, but I sure as hell wanted to be in the audience when she interviewed director George Mihalka after the fest’s viewing of his movie, My Bloody Valentine. So I bought a ticket to that night’s event. On June 4th, I left work early to head over to the film fest. In the car, I received a text from Eric Li, my friend and fellow podcaster on The Scariest Things. He asked if I was interested in interviewing Andrea with him. I read this text and almost had a heart attack. The festival started in an hour! I had no time to prepare! I can’t embarrass myself in front of Andrea Subissati! But I also couldn’t say no to this opportunity. So I rushed home, got a pep talk from my husband, and set about writing a few questions.   Turns out, I could have talked to her for hours. The woman is rad as hell, and what an honor to meet her, if only for a brief time, in a strange and probably haunted backroom at The Hollywood Theater. Andrea – thanks for lending us your time, I hope our paths cross again. Until then, I remain an avid Rue Morgue reader, and your newest Faculty fan.  – Heather Alexander Heather Alexander is a guest podcaster on The Scariest Things Podcast. She is also a co-host on The Portland Horror Podcast Massacre, a co-host of The Portland Horror Trivia Massacre, a moderator and panelist at Cryptocon, and a bookseller at Powell’s Books. She writes horror movie reviews on Letterbox’d under HeatherA and occasionally at horrormoviesinthedark.blogspot.com. Heather Alexander and Andrea Subissati My Bloody Valentine Director George Mihalka and Rue Morgue Editor Andrea Subissati

Lita (Hannah Fierman) is a dominatrix looking to get some cash on the side in The Demonatrix (2026) ★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸Written and Directed by Jeff Ferrell and Aurelio Voltaire The Demonatrix is a cheeky, lightly racy horror-comedy that reflects on the economic troubles of the time. A dominatrix looking to get some extra income turns to hosting fake séances to make ends meet. When things inevitably go awry, she turns to a priest working in a church across the street from her kink studio. It’s a silly, simple tale that features some great costumes and a couple of horror legends you will recognise. It’s hard to believe, but the film’s story is based on a true story. Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t open with that as a preamble, with that classic chestnut announcement. Aurelio Voltaire, a counterculture Renaissance Man, lived next to a dominatrix in New York, and there was a church across the street. This inspired him to lay the foundation for his first feature film. He ran into Jeff Ferrell, a director with a few independent horror movies under his belt, at a horror convention. The two agreed to combine their efforts, and The Demonatrix was formed. Voltaire is a charismatic showman, a musician, a stop motion animator, a comic book writer, and now a filmmaker. He looks like he stepped out of heavy-metal central casting, but in this movie, he plays Father Veto, a priest who seeks to banish a demon across the street from his church. The other part of the writing/directing duo, Ferrell, also stars in the film as Rhett, the submissive lackey. The premise of the movie is wacky, and the plot has some considerable limitations, but it is remarkable what these two filmmakers managed to pull off under micro-budget constraints. There are some familiar names who lend their efforts to the cause, elevating what could have been a strictly B-Movie. The production values are surprisingly impressive, and the movie features some components that would make other independent films jealous. Plus, there are two legendary horror actors whom you just might recognise in the cast. The Cast of The Demonatrix Hannah Fierman plays Lita, a dominatrix who, despite succeeding as a kinky dom, still needs a little extra cash to make ends meet. Aurelio Voltaire plays Father Veto, who is the head priest of a church across the street from Lita’s studio. Doug Bradley plays Edward MacGowan, a senior priest and exorcist, whom Father Veto confides in once it becomes clear that a demon has been summoned. Jeff Ferrell plays Rhett, Lita’s submissive lackey. He is very protective of Lita, and despite her demanding nature, is a loyal servant. Larry Fessenden plays Dino, a special-effects artist who assists Lita in setting up special-effects gags for her “fake” séance. Nivek Ogre plays The Incubus, a demon accidentally summoned by Lita. Nicholas Boeh plays Pablo, Father Veto’s assistant. Father Veto (Aurelio Voltaire) in The Demonatrix (2026) A Synopsis of The Demonatrix Lita has been running a successful business. Her business is inflicting humiliation and pain on those who want it. It’s a fun and rewarding job. She’s good at being a dominatrix and has a cadre of loyal boot-licking clients. But like many of us, money is tight, and even being a leather-clad dom isn’t quite enough to live comfortably. She informs her submissive servant Rhett that she intends to host fake séances. It would be a good blend with her current client base, and there are plenty of gullible potential yuppies and new agers with money to burn who might really be into a séance. To research how to communicate convincingly with the dead, she crosses the street to talk with the priest, who may know something about the spirit world. Father Veto tries to be understanding, but he warns Lita not to mess with such things. Entities can cross over, and you do NOT want a demon in the house. He has had experience with demons. He has a desiccated minor demon trapped in a wooden chest, and he is responsible for watching over the little abomination and keeping it in check. Lita does not heed his warnings, going so far as to steal the Satanis, a book of occult rituals, from his library when Veto is called away. Lita is undeterred from holding her sham séance. Rhett and his buddy Dino rig the house with speakers and wires like a Halloween fun house for a convincing show. Lita recruits some of her clients and friends for her first attempt. Two of Rhett’s friends also show up, and they are true Satanists. When Lita starts the ritual, the Satanists call her bluff and, spotting the Satanis on the table (which, for all intents, is merely one of Lita’s props), proceed to read an incantation from the book. This shifts the séance from fake to real, summoning an incubus demon. As a result, the demon forces a miscarriage from one of the attendees and sets up camp in Lita’s home. This demon intends to impregnate Lita and spread evil across the land. Father Veto senses the disturbance and consults with Father McGowan, an expert in demons and exorcisms. They will attempt to banish the demon, if only they can convince Lita that her visions of the demon are real. Evaluation of The Demonatrix: First things first. The incubus demon looks terrific. It’s a full costume designed by Norman Cabrera, who worked with Guillermo Del Toro on the Hellboy films and Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Put Nivek Ogre in the suit, and it is something to behold. Also, the little desiccated demon comes to life and evokes Ray Harryhausen. It isn’t stop-motion, but it is rendered as a puppet very convincingly. The battle between the little demon and Father Veto was a highlight of the movie. Ferrell has a good shooting eye. His colour applications are evocative, particularly in the dominatrix scenes, with their cyan-and-magenta combinations. Dario Argento’s colour palette never fails. The story is clever, though the dialogue often comes off as stiff. The banter between Lita and Father Veto is fun and charged with a charming spark, but far too often the dialogue reads like something off the page rather than a natural conversation. Voltaire attracts the camera’s eye. He still has a bit of the Goth look, but he shoulders the role of Veto well. Lita is a fun dominatrix and is a spunky, if reckless, protagonist. Hannah Fierman portrays Lita as a dom with good intentions and imbues her with an animating spark. Some of the best comedic moments come from Ferrell, who deadpans his role as Rhett. His reaction shots got some of the best audience reactions at the showing. He’s a better director than an actor, however, as several of his line reads come off as… line reads. Doug Bradley and Larry Fessenden aren’t in the movie that much, but they do leave their mark. Pinhead would be proud that Bradley is in an S&M-themed movie. Although this time it isn’t Bradley unleashing the pain, suffering, and rapture. The suffering doesn’t quite reach legendary proportions, but the movie’s ending packs a punch. The movie has a pretty simple plot, and it follows a straight line from introduction to conclusion. There aren’t any gotcha twists or diversions. It settles quickly into what it wants to do and delivers the story pretty directly. But it provides for a movie clear in concept, with lovely production values. This movie wears its heart on its sleeve, too. There is joy in the making of this movie. It isn’t going to turn the industry on its head, but it is an enjoyable jaunt with some well-realised demon action. Concluding Thoughts The Demonatrix is in the middle of its festival run. Up next is Spookarama in Phoenix, and then Days of the Dead in Indianapolis, followed by Creepy Con in Knoxville. If you are attending one of these festivals, catch The Demonatrix. For those of you who are the wait-at-home types, this is a movie worth renting for a popcorn-munching light viewing. It isn’t as raunchy as the S&M theme would suggest, and there isn’t anything that even approaches soft-core cinema. It’s cheeky but not lewd. The movie isn’t rated, but even though it doesn’t go full S&M or nudity, there are enough adult themes and violence to earn it an R rating. Trigger warnings for sexual assault… for there is an incubus involved! The Demonatrix claimed the Creature Feature award at the Portland Horror Film Festival for the best use of a monster in the festival films. Here is my interview with Jeff Ferrell, director of The Demonatrix: Aurelio dropped by the green room briefly and spoke into a microphone that wasn’t activated, but he does make a cameo appearance on the cast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RVdkzyVxmg

Adama Abramson is a bounty hunter turned vampire hunter in Landlord (2026) Intensity: 🩸🩸1/2 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸Written and Directed by Remington Smith LandLord poses the question, “If vampires can’t come into your home without an invitation, what happens if they own your housing?” A bounty hunter checks her conscience in order to save an orphaned boy from the predations of a vampire landlord consuming the tenants of a run-down housing complex. This gritty and moody debut from writer-director Remington Smith was featured at the Portland Horror Film Festival. There is a proud tradition of horror movies couching sociological criticism in terms of monsters and villains preying upon the vulnerable. Race relations. Class struggle. Gender typing. Horror movies can place a mirror in front of us and force us to see some uncomfortable truths. George Romero made a living doing this, by way of zombies. David Cronenberg uses disease and body horror themes to shock and criticize. Remington Smith has picked up the baton and has delivered a gritty southern Gothic vampire tale, soaked in sweat and surrounded by chirping cicadas. Smith, who grew up in poverty, reflects on the plight of the rent-by-the-week class of citizens who eke out their existences in semi-shanties. These souls survive at the discretion of a blood-sucking landlord who controls their lives. He can come and go as he wants, because he owns the buildings they reside in. Their lives are his to control. Still, some of the oppressed are willing to fight back, even the youngest among them. Hope lives, even in the projects. Adama Abramson plays an unnamed bounty hunter, much like Clint Eastwood’s man with no name, who serves as a steely anti-hero working in moral gray areas and must commit to doing the right thing to save a community. The Cast of LandLord Adama Abramson plays The Bounty Hunter, assigned to repossess a briefcase with unknown contents. She wanders into a lower-income Louisville residential complex where she has tracked the package. Cohen Cooper plays Alex, a boy living in the housing development. He’s clever and a survivor, and he’s been taking notes on how to beat a vampire. William McKinney plays John William Lawrence, the vampiric landlord who owns much of the neighborhood and travels amongst his properties, consuming blood from his unfortunate, helpless residents at night. Lance Gerard plays Christopher, Lawrence’s manager of the complex, and his minion servant. Christopher desperately wants to be turned into a vampire. J Barrett Cooper plays Sheriff Conner, a crooked cop who provides legal protection for Lawrence and knows what the vampire has been doing in town. Patrick Mitchell plays Reverend Micheaux, who offers sanctuary to those in need as best he can. Meredith Frankie Crutcher plays Rachael, Alex’s mom, a victim of Lawrence. Alex (Cohen Cooper) and The Bounty Hunter (Adama Abramson) are on the move in Landlord (2026) A Summary of LandLord: Following clues about her assigned target, the Bounty Hunter arrives on foot at the Lawrence Apartments, a rundown slum, where she has located the man toting the package she has been hired to recover. While staking out the situation and waiting for her opportunity, she observes a number of violent domestic outbursts in the complex. Christopher, the manager, tells her not to worry about it, and she concedes. This is not her fight… but still, she observes and she calls the cops. These weren’t ordinary domestic disturbances, however. These folks were being attacked by their Landlord, and the cops are being paid off to ignore it. Alex observes the strange new resident, and he, in turn, questions her about the goings-on in the complex. He’s friendless and not good at defending himself. Even some of the girls in the apartment project pick on him. The Bounty Hunter spots Christopher leaving the premises. She hires a cab to tail him and discovers that he is delivering body parts to a pig farm to get rid of the evidence. When she returns to the apartments, she hears a commotion from Alex’s apartment. She breaks in to assist and finds his mother dying on the floor, and Lawrence pinning Alex to his bed. Three bullets into the assailant, and he’s down… or at least for a moment. Lawrence gets back up and bites The Bounty Hunter, but she manages to stab him with a pencil in the neck and gets free. She and Alex abandon Rachael and find a vacant apartment to hide in. But the vampire tropes start to kick in. The Bounty Hunter patches her neck wound and splints Alex’s arm, and they bolt before the cops come. Now on the run from the cops and a vampire, in a town he controls, the newly bonded pair are on the run. But she still has a job to complete, so she’ll have to go back and risk everything. And now, the powers that be are on the lookout for this mysterious woman and her orphaned charge. Evaluation of Landlord: This is a confident movie, with confident characters. It plays out like a detective story, and for me, this is a mash-up of Fright Night (a strong reference from Remington Smith) and The Wire. This is a slice-of-life look at the underbelly of a troubled neighborhood. It also reminds me of a little independent movie, The Transfiguration. Not so much in the story, but in the feels. Both films have a somewhat languid pace, but they never bore. There is an undercurrent of dread in both films, and they deal with the plight of underprivileged African American communities and how residents cope with their circumstances. Another good comp for this film would be The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster, for how it handles horror within an African American low-income community. Adama Abramson is a revelation. She is steely confidence personified. Her character reminds me very much of Michonne (Danai Gurira) from The Walking Dead. Also, there are strong Linda Hamilton Terminator 2 Sarah Connor vibes coming from her. Strong, lean, broad-shouldered, and watchful. Not only does this character exude confidence, but also competence. You firmly believe that she is a bounty hunter. She doesn’t trust anyone, and she’s hyper-aware of her surroundings. It is character derived largely from body language and action, and less so from dialogue. As noted before, she doesn’t have a name, just like the Clint Eastwood characters from the old Sergio Leone films. Cohen Cooper also delivers just the right notes. He’s a very young actor, but he delivers just the right amount of pathos, without becoming too cute for the role. Alex is trying to find his courage and wants to be helpful, but he’s clearly not ready for that role. Cooper walks that line deftly, and it makes for a good road-trip buddy pairing. Smith noted in the Q&A session that he was looking to have a big sister/little brother our Auntie/nephew relationship rather than a parent/child combination. It allowed for more sass, but kept the necessary bonds to be effective. The Production For a small-budget indie horror film, this movie delivers on the looks and sounds that let it punch above its weight class. A minor criticism could be made of this movie, which runs a bit long. This isn’t a constant action piece. It soaks you in the atmosphere. It resembles the True Detective series in that way. Smith, as a shot-maker, has gotten on to the Liminal horror train. The easy pace of Louisville comes through in close-ups of insects, flowers, trees, and, curiously, shoes. You can listen to Smith describe his affection for shoe shots in my interview with him. This attention to detail extends the movie’s runtime a bit, but it makes the film more immersive and doesn’t kill the pacing. Full credit to the sound design of this picture. The chirping of crickets and cicadas is expertly deployed and places you in the mid-South. It has the feel of summertime. The soundtrack has a pulsing charge to it and pushes and pulls at the right moments. There are nice Gothic nods, with a pipe organ in the score, but it doesn’t feel dated. Smith had a master film armorer on his film, and it really pays off. The gunplay in this movie is punchy and jolting. This is a horror movie that intersects with an underworld action showdown, and the authenticity of the action bolsters the shoot’s confident feel. Final Thoughts For a first-time feature, Remington Smith created an engrossing movie that succeeds in so many ways. The social commentary works. The character development is on point. It looks and sounds great. It borrows just enough vampire tropes to be recognizable to fans of the genre. What makes it all the more impressive is that it uses local cast and crew, showcasing the best of what this film community has to offer. The full ensemble cast felt like seasoned professionals, despite the fairly lean IMDb resumes on the ledger. I would have liked a little more of the vampire landlord in action, but overall, I had a great time with this film. I LandLord is currently in the middle of its film festival Run. If you see it showing up at a festival near you, put it at the top of your watch list. The movie is not rated, but it certainly would qualify for an R rating due to violence, some gore, and language. This is a serious film, and it takes familiar tropes and places them in a different context. Review by Eric Li The Scariest Things Interview with Remington Smith This is my interview at the Portland Horror Film Festival with Remington Smith in the green room of the Hollywood Theater. Following the interview is a recording of the Question and Answer session at the festival with the audience screening the film. Director Remington Smith William McKinney and Cohen Cooper in LandLord (2026) Cohen Cooper and Adama Abramson in LandLord (2026) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTstlIdhZqU

Harry Warden is here to see you! My Bloody Valentine (1981) My Bloody Valentine turns 45 years old this year. The director, George Mihalka, was the guest of honor at this year’s Portland Horror Film Festival. He was kind enough to speak with the Scariest Things, who are huge fans of the film. Lost cutting room footage was recently found when the producer was absorbed by Lionsgate, allowing some of the missing gory effects to be brought back into the movie. So, it’s time to revisit this movie and talk to the creator about why it remains important today. In my nine years of managing the Scariest Things, I have been honored to meet some of the best people in the horror movie industry. Mick Garris, David Dastmalchian, Darren Lyn Bousman, Ben Leonberg, Aaron Moorhead, Carter Smith, and Ted Geoghegan are all people whom I would consider friends of the Scariest Things, having met and interviewed them. But, after meeting George Mihalka, director of My Bloody Valentine (1981), I can firmly say that he is my favorite person in the genre. Talking with George felt like story time. He was warm and generous, and was eager to tell us all about how he did his movie. George is an outlier, as far as horror directors go. He produced a singular, momentous horror film and then had a long directorial career outside of the genre. His experiences with Jack Valenti and the MPAA, who censored his film, were a “death by a thousand cuts” quite literally. It may have scared him off from continuing as a horror specialist, even though he had the gift. Sadly, some of the most creative kills in the movie got edited to the point of bloodlessness. He likes to say that it became “My Anemic Valentine”. And that, “There is more blood in the title than there is in the movie.” Frame-by-frame slicing and dicing. The film became the fall-guy film for the industry as a reaction to random violence following John Lennon’s assassination. Somebody would have to be made an example of, and in this case, it was Mihalka and My Bloody Valentine. The Legacy of My Bloody Valentine Despite all the censorship, it still found an audience. And we can celebrate it 45 years later. It is a testament to the story, the amazing sets, and better-than-average performances that, despite having the most exciting parts of the movie excised, the film became iconic. It is the trope foundation for so many slasher films to come. I Know What You Did Last Summer comes to mind. Scream, with its multiple killer options, also owes a debt to this film. And those are just the big ones. Simply put, My Bloody Valentine is foundational horror. For me, it ranks only behind 1978’s Halloween for slasher movies of that era. You can see the family tree: Black Christmas, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, My Bloody Valentine, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Cold Prey, Heart Eyes. Silent human killers bent on revenge, in full costume, butchering their way through lots of pretty young adults. This is the model, and it works well when executed with focus and craft. My Bloody Valentine helped build the trope platform that so many slasher films have utilized. They may be cliches now, but along with Friday the 13th, The Burning, and Halloween, MBV established these themes: Masked killer (essential) The Hidden Villain Switcheroo Splitting up the group (OK, this one is as old as horror films have been around, but slashers really take advantage of this trope.) Sneaking off to have sex in the next room is really dangerous. Never leave a romantic interlude to get booze. Let’s go exploring a really dangerous place for the fun of it. A panicking mayor. The young people don’t listen to the cops. The cops don’t tell the people what they need to know. The mad prophet. (Happy, in this movie) The body in a cooler. (A nod to Rabid?) Childhood trauma made the killer. Remember. This is an early slasher film. MBV does all of these tropes better than most. Mihalka wanted to do Deer Hunter, slasher style. He knew what he was getting into and willingly admitted that this was a movie meant to be fun and make money. It wasn’t going to be an Oscar contender. But he took the ideas of The Deer Hunter and the disaffected blue-collar workers and crafted a story that, despite its drive-in bona fides, was as much about the community as it was about the killer. The film used a real mine in a wind-swept working-class Sydney, Nova Scotia. It has a simple, plausible story. And now that the film has recovered some of its cutting-room components, restored to a 4K Blu-ray Collector’s edition, it can be appreciated for the gory creativity that fans were denied in 1981. About George Mihalka George was a Hungarian immigrant to Canada, initially unable to speak English or French. He initially found it difficult to integrate into Canadian culture, but would eventually become a highly prolific director in both English- and French-language films. He has amassed over fifty credits. This includes long runs on Canadian TV shows: Crossbow, Scoop, Undressed, and 24-Hour Rental. However, he will always be known for My Bloody Valentine. You can find several of his interviews online, talking about this movie. (But of course, you found this one first, right?) Mihalka appears to be comfortable with his legacy. He’s had plenty of time to see his film first get threatened with an X-rating, then achieve moderate box-office success, receive a sequel, and become the moniker of a hugely influential post-punk shoegaze band. George genuinely seemed to glow at how much the fans appreciated his work all these years later. He isn’t a stranger to the festival and podcast interview circuit. His easygoing demeanor, combined with his wisdom and eagerness to share stories about the craft of filmmaking, makes for story time with Uncle George. This is why I love doing what I do. When you meet your heroes and they turn out to be wonderful people, it confirms that pursuing this hobby as a small-press horror blogger rewards the grind. The Interview: This is the recording from the Portland Horror Film Festival 2026 by Eric Li and Mike Campbell with George Mihalka. We recorded this in the green room for the Hollywood Theater before the big-screen presentation, with all the restored footage in 4K. I included an audio recording of the Q&A session with George, hosted by Andrea Subissati, editor of Rue Morgue and the Bloody Judge this year at the PHFF. More content!

Trash Queen Directors Emily Tullock and Gabrielle Rosson Indie horror filmmakers Gabby Rosson and Emily Tullock are creating Trash Queen, a sci-fi horror comedy, starring Tullock and legendary scream queen Lynn Lowery. They joined the Scariest Things to talk about what goes into developing a self-funded independent horror film. It is the journey of many an ambitious creator, and we talked about all of the joys and difficulties of crafting a horror movie. If you have ever wanted to produce a movie yourself, this may be an instructive conversation, so join us as we take a trip to the dump, for all the right reasons. Part of the Scariest Things’ mission is to provide an opportunity for independent horror filmmakers to reach audiences. Whether they are established short-film creators or launching their first feature film, independent filmmakers can struggle to build a fan base. Film festivals do a great job of this. But what about securing the resources to get the film made so it can screen at festivals? It’s a chicken-and-egg problem. You have to start somewhere. Creators Gabrielle Rosson and Emily Tullock found our Site through a recommendation from fellow filmmaker Luke Zwanziger, who participated in The Scariest Thing’s Overlook Short Film Roundtable in 2025. It’s all about building a horror community. A small horror press outfit needs to contact independent filmmakers. Movie folks need to get the word out about their movies. It’s like peanut butter and jelly. Gabrielle sent us a message, and the movie concept intrigued us. So, we arranged an interview. We had a chance to discuss their concept, their relationship to horror, and their creative process. Here is the elevator pitch for Trash Queen: Trash Queen is a blood-soaked, female-driven horror-comedy about what happens when a woman who’s spent her entire life being overlooked…finally becomes impossible to ignore. After a bite from a trash-dwelling alien cannibal leaves her craving human flesh, Sophia, a painfully underestimated office worker, spirals into a grotesque, hilarious transformation. When her washed-up musician boyfriend, Jack, is also infected and trapped in the Town Dump, she’s forced to chase after him and face off against the Trash King. To survive, Sophia must stop trying to fit in and fully become something else. Something powerful. Something terrifying. The Trash Queen. Both women have been in the film industry for about ten years. Rosson has several short films in her directing portfolio, and Tullock is a comedienne with several acting performances and a pair of directing credits to her name. This will be their first feature film direction for both of them. The two of them have finished their script, and, with a fair bit of chutzpah and moxie, they have assembled a cast. Emily Tullock plays Sophia, the film’s lead protagonist. Lynn Lowry (Shivers, The Crazies) plays Marcy, an off the grid resident of the woods. Kevin Keppy (Smile, Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities) plays Gordo, a monstrous figure. Jonathan Stoddard (The Roaring Games) plays Jack, Sophia’s boyfriend They are still casting for the movie, so if you are a Washington actor or actress and are wanting to be in a locally made horror movie, send your resumes to [email protected]. The Fundraiser: If, after listening to them describe their project, you think this movie should be made, you can be part of their brand-new crowdfunding effort. In this day and age, it is the essential model for getting production off the ground. If you want to BE in the movie, there are pledge levels to be an extra in the movie, and even a speaking role! There are plenty of stretch goals, so if you’re feeling generous, there are plenty of rewards available. The Scariest Things will update you on the progress of making this movie. I hope we’ll be able to go up and visit them once the shoot is underway. We will update you with behind-the-scenes material and production footage! The Interview: Here is the interview link for the making of Trash Queen. You can also download this podcast from iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you stream your podcasts.

Is there anything more comforting in horror than the relationship between Ripley and Newt in Aliens (1987)? Comfort Horror. It’s a thing. It keeps the fandom fed. We come back time and again to get scared, and we love it. Why? This is the third of my series of Crypticon Seattle convention panel recordings. Panels are the lifeblood of this annual horror gathering, feeding the fandom’s macabre knowledge cravings. Horror movies are the bonds this community shares, and to understand why, this panel examines the lure of horror for many of us. In Kim Douthit’s panel, Comfort Horror, she asks her panelists the question, “Why do we replay the same nightmares? What movies bring us comfort in a time rife with anxiety?” It seems antithetical that many of us crave the experience of being scared. For some, it’s a ritual. A rite of passage. We overcome our perceived fears. Building up the courage to soldier through a horror movie is a peak emotional triumph for many people. For others, the familiarity of the repeated horror experience becomes a form of comfort. There are a few horror movies that I know, frame by frame, and each story beat and moment. I’ll bet that you have a movie or two where you have seen it so many times, you can recite the dialogue when watching it. Several of those movies were discussed on this panel. In an era where most people don’t get to feed their adrenaline through hunting or exploring, horror movies can fill that need. Curiosity is a challenge. Mysteries are meant to be uncovered. Horror movies show us what might be hiding under the bed, within the mirror, or sneaking around in the woods. Kids demand answers. For many in the horror community, these youthful questions persist, and horror offers some shocking responses. Some adrenaline junkies chase thrills by going on roller coasters, skydiving, or downhill skiing. Horror movies can provide those thrills without the threat of injury. The Crypticon Seattle “Comfort Horror” panelists (L to R): Tony Gee, Kim Douthit, Kennedy Rainer, Heather Alexander, and Melissa Leigh. Comfort Horror, a Crypticon Seattle Panel Recording This is the third panel recording from Crypticon Seattle 2026. If you enjoyed listening to this panel, I have two others you can listen to. Tiki Terrors and Tropical Horror, hosted by Brian Callahan, and Good Boy: Pets in Horror Movies, hosted by Brien Gorham. For those of you who don’t go to horror conventions, this gives you a flavor of what it’s like, and hopefully, you will come out to Crypticon one of these years. The Panelists: Kim Douthit, Host: Ghoulish Tendencies, CinemacrazeTony “SkeleTony” Gee: The Great Plot Podcast, Skeletony ArtKennedy Rainer: The Unorthodox PlayersHeather Alexander: The Portland Horror Movie Massacre, The Scariest ThingsMelissa Leigh: Seattle Horror Writers Association, Beneath the Rainshadow Movies Discussed within the Comfort Horror Panel: Hell House LLC (2015) Carrie (1976) Fright Night (1985) House of 1000 Corpses (2003) Friday the 13th (the Franchise) Midsommar (2019) Night of the Living Dead (1990) The Thing (1982) Ready or Not (2019) Sinners (2025) The Conjuring (2012) You’re Next (2013) Dawn of the Dead (2004) Would You Rather (2012) In a Violent Nature (2024) Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Feel the sweat and the tropical breezes; it’s time to discuss Tiki Terrors and its tropical horror cousins. Transport yourself to an island in the South Pacific or the Caribbean. The exoticism and the removal from “civilization” provide the grounds for some evocative scares. These movies have been with us since the Golden Age. Think King Kong and The Island of Lost Souls. Embrace the mystery and heat, and learn from some veteran Crypticon panelists as they talk all things Tiki Terror. Friend of the Scariest Things, Brian Callahan, hosted a panel at Crypticon Seattle to guide us through a fateful trip to discover what lurks at the edge of the known world. Beware of cultural misappropriation and cultural stereotypes. Cultural sensitivity falls by the wayside here. The edge of the known universe gets short shrift when it comes to cultural respect. Context matters. Tiki and tropical-themed horror movies had their heyday in the ’50s and ’60s when Polynesia still felt very remote, and honestly, it was a different time. At the same time, the film industries of places like the Philippines can export some of their culture through B-movies. For the purposes of this discussion, the criteria for what movies got discussed were reasonably broad. It extended from Polynesia to some of the Voodoo themes on the Atlantic side. If it takes place on a remote island, it would be fair game for discussion. I came away from this session with a roster of films to check out, and that is the beauty of these panel talks. Brian was amazing on the trigger; there was a whole roster of films that were at his fingertips, and he was able to feather in movies, even ones that came from the audience. It was a very niche topic, but attendees came for the deep-cut discussion and were rewarded. This panel was the last panel from the Friday session, and a number of us prepared by wearing Aloha shirts for the event. These are veteran panelists, and it shows. I could listen to Tony Kay talk horror all day! He is one of the best panelists at Crypticon’s disposal. If you don’t come out of this recording with some new movies to check out, you probably are already an expert! Tony Kay, Brian Callahan, and Brien Gorham decked out in Aloha shirts and talking Tiki Horror at Crypticon Seattle 2026 Tiki Terror and Tropical Horrors: Crypticon Seattle Panel Recording Brian Callahan – HostTony Kay- PanelistBrien Gorham – Panelist Here is the panel recording from Crypticon Seattle. The first voice you will hear is Brian Callahan, the host of the panel. Tony Kay is the second voice, and Brien Gorham is the third. If you enjoyed this panel recording, check out our recording for Pets in Horror, which Brien hosted, and I was a panelist for. Representative Movies from the Discussion Here are some images from the films featured in the talk… and I’ve added a few more for reference. The Island of Lost Souls (1932) The Most Dangerous Game (1932) King Kong (1933) I Walked With a Zombie (1943) Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) From Hell it Came (1957) The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959) Terror is a Man (1959) Mothra (1961) Konga (1961) Matango: Fungus of Terror (1963) Brides of Blood (1968) Beast of Blood (1970) Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1969) The Blood Drinkers (1966) Trilogy of Terror (1975) Island of the Fish Men (1979) Zombi (1979) Cannibal Holocaust (1980) Carne de tu carne (1983) Predator (1987) The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) Club Dread (2004) King Kong (2005) Green Inferno (2013) Tiki: God of Horror (2006) The Ruins (2008) Sweetheart (2019) Monster Island (2024) Send Help (2026) Matango (2026) Horror Tiki Mugs I couldn’t resist. Horror Tiki Mugs! So fun, and so evocative. What’s better than a Mai Tai in a Xenomorph mug? Put me on a beach. I’m ready. Universal Monsters from Mondo From Jonathan Chaffin: Horror in Clay Xenomorph Tiki from Mondo Post Mortem Bootique

Frodo the cat serves as the ultimate horror witness in A Quiet Place: Day One (with Lupita Nyong’o) Crypticon Seattle, the great Pacific Northwest horror convention, has once again come and gone, but the memories linger. The panels are what make the convention feel like a class reunion. The panels are produced entirely by volunteer experts from across the region and are the ultimate in fan interaction. This is what it feels like to create a horror community, sharing our ideas and experiences with each other. This year, I decided to record some of the panels I participated in and attended to give you a sense of what happens at these events. This Pets in Horror panel was hosted by Brien Gorham, and I participated in it along with Kathy Fennesy and Todd Johnstson. If you are a long-time reader of our website or a listener of our podcast, you will know that I have a big ol’ soft spot for pets in horror. Whether they are the MacGuffins, the heroes, or the villains of the story, pets provide strong emotional connective tissue within horror constructs. The use of pets also sparks some great debates regarding the narrative use of animals. Because we have such a natural affinity for critters, horror movies tend to exploit those feelings by putting the animals in peril. Fair, or not? We will talk about that in this discussion. Brien was inspired by the success of last year’s remarkable film Good Boy which we have been a huge proponent for. You can use that link to listen to an interview with director Ben Leonberg, who discusses how he coaxed an award-winning performance from his pet dog, Indy. That movie, however, is just the tip of a very big trope iceberg. Thank you to Jason and Jasen for putting me on this panel, as it is something near and dear to me, and to many attending Crypticon. Brien Gorham outlined his panel discussion topics for this panel: “Indy the Dog from Good Boy has become the latest in a line of cinematic pets to steal our hearts, but domestic animals have a long history in horror movies. Whether that be as a witness, antagonist, or, as in the case of Indy, a protagonist. Let’s discuss how our collective best friends have been represented in horror films.” Introductions Opening question: If you could choose one pet from a horror movie to have in your home, who would you choose and why? Some larger questions that can be applied to any category: How do our personal relationships with pets affect how we see them in stories? (Please feel free to include personal stories where appropriate) How does the motivation of a pet differ from human motivation? Altruism? How do we recognize animal performances? (Indy’s acting win) What resources are available for those who are sensitive to animal violence?  Part 1: Pets as Witnesses Possible Movies: Cat’s Eye, Poltergeist, The Hills Have Eyes I and II Let’s start with movies where a family pet serves as a witness or bystander to an individual or family crisis. In these cases, what purpose does the inclusion of the pet serve? How much do we hate it when pets are introduced just to be killed off for sympathy? Part 2: Pets as Heroes Possible Movies: Good Boy, Cat’s Eye, Phenomena, The Hills Have Eyes Next, let’s explore pets that go above and beyond, playing an active role in saving the day. Which movie pets do you most admire? How do certain traits of specific animals play into this heroism? How much do we hate it when animals sacrifice themselves for humans? Part 3: Pets as Antagonists  Possible Movies: Cujo, Lake Placid, The Uncanny, Uninvited, Pet Sematary, The Black Cat (any version) What happens when man’s best friend turns violent, and our furry friends rebel against us? The most terrifying pets in horror? The most heartbreaking transformations? Closing What beloved pets have we not seen represented in horror movies? PET HORROR RESOURCES You can check out our Favorite Horror Movie Dogs Dead List for our updated list of horror hounds for your reference. Kathy Fennessy is a former president of the Seattle Film Critics Society and runs the Seattle Film Blog. She has a blog post titled “Good Boy and Other House Pets in Horror: Purrs, barks, Growls, and Deadly Attacks.“ I find that Kathy is the unofficial research librarian for Crypticon Seattle and has a deep and thorough knowledge of the genre. For those of you who get triggered by animal harm or death in movies, please visit “Does the Dog Die?“ It’s a great resource for people who need to filter their movies for moments that will trigger anxiety, with the primary trope being that of harm to dogs. It also covers things like harm to children and rape, which are non-starter elements for many people. A Recording of Brien Gohram’s Good Boy: Pets in Horror Panel Panelists:Brien Gorham – HostKathy Fennesy Eric LiTodd Johnston Please note: I was using a compressor microphone on the table, so the audio isn’t as clean as it would be with our dynamic podcasting microphones. Todd Johnston, in particular, is a bit faint, though I did boost the audio when he is speaking. Don’t over-adjust your volume, though, because when the conversation turns back to the rest of the panelists, it picks up. A fan and her pet chihuahua attend the Crypticon Seattle Pets in Horror Panel: Note – The dog makes it! Our Discussed Films:Plus… a couple more Indy: Good Boy (2025) Chewie: Critters (1986) General: Cat’s Eye (1985) Dickie: The Beyond (1981) Thor: Bad Moon (1996) Sarii: Prey (2022) Frodo: A Quiet Place Day One (2024) Ben (1972) Lake Placid (1999) Ella: Monkey Shines (1988) Pluto: The Rule of Jenny Pen (2025) The Uninvited (1987) Willard (1971) Inga: Phenomena (1985) Jed: The Thing (1982) When Evil Lurks (2023) Baxter (1989) Frankenweenie (2012) Boy: Love and Monsters (2020) Jones: Alien (1979) Cujo (1983) Green Room (2015) Roar (1981) Max: Man’s Best Friend (1993) Clovis (and gang): Sleepwalkers (1992) Black Sheep (2006) Precious: The Silence of the Lambs (1992) Church: Pet Sematary (2019) Zoltan: The Hound of Dracula (1977) Pippet: Jaws (1975) The Legend of Hell House (1973) Sugar: Crawl (2019) Beast: The Hills Have Eyes (2006) The Black Cat (1934)

As soon as I arrived at Crypticon Seattle, I made a beeline to the celebrity meet and greet room, knowing that Nathan Baesel was going to be in attendance. This event is the flagship horror community gathering in the Pacific Northwest. I didn’t know whether I’d get the chance to interview the actor who played one of my all-time favorite slasher villains, Leslie Vernon. The lines for these meet-and-greets can get long, and I might not have enough time for an interview. This day, luck was on my side. It’s the twenty-year anniversary of the cult classic meta-slasher film Behind the Mask: The Legend of Leslie Vernon. Not only did I get the opportunity, but I also discovered that The Scariest Things could do our part to help evangelize by getting the word out about the just-announced sequel, Behind The Mask II: The Return of Leslie Vernon. For those of you unfamiliar with the movie, it is one of the great meta-horror movies in the slasher genre. It stands side by side with Scream, The Final Girls, and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare as a gold standard of meta-horror. Like those peer films, it uses wit and familiarity with slasher film tropes. It winks and nudges, and then gets SERIOUS. The movie also emerged at the dawn of the found-footage horror film. It uses the verisimilitude of the documentary crew following the actions of a serial killer, convinced that by playing to Leslie’s ego, the film crew was immune from his depradations. They couldn’t have been more wrong. And yet, he let them in on all his secrets. It’s an absolute must-watch for fans of knife-wielding maniac movies. For more insight on Leslie Vernon, The Scariest Things previously discussed this film in podcast Episodes 199: Mockumentaries and 130: Masked Killers. The Big Announcement: Time has been kind to Nathan, as he has kept up with his cardio… an important factor for a hard-working serial killer. He is all set to put the mask back on. Now it’s time to get the band back together. Scott Glosserman returns to direct the film, and David Stieve is back to write the screenplay. Nathan will be joined by our final girl, Angela Goethals (Taylor Gentry), returning to do battle with Leslie. The legendary Robert Englund (Doc Halloran) is back to train her. The closing moments of the first movie suggested that a good serial killer is hard to kill. It just took 20 years to get him back on screen! Click here for the movie’s Kickstarter Campaign. It is being scheduled for release in 2027. There are some awesome exclusive add-ons, including a replica Leslie Vernon Mask, a trip to the shoot, a scythe prop, advance cast and crew screenings (That means if you wanted to meet Robert Englund… here’s your chance!), and all the way up to getting a chance to be killed on screen by Leslie in the movie! I mean, come on… how cool is that? They’ve already unlocked a couple of the stretch goals. The next big one ($300,000) is for a new horror icon cameo. Such is the joy of Kickstarter! From my perspective, I’m really hoping they hit the “More Shooting Time” Stretch goal ($500,000). That can mean the world to production quality. Do it! Contribute! The power of the Scariest Things compels you! C’mon, you know you want a T-shirt. It’s for a good horror cause. The Interview with Nathan Baesel: As noted before, I got lucky. Nathan had a free moment, and he was very generous with his time. Needless to say, I got a huge kick out of this chat. Check out my interview with him in this player link: A Message Straight from Nathan: In addition to the interview, he was eager to make a Kickstarter pitch.

Another year, another Overlook Film Festival, one of the premier genre festivals in the country. Unfortunately, this year, the main players of The Scariest Things were unable to attend the festival in person. Eric was able to get some of the films to stream, but, as is the norm, remote screeners were limited and did not include the showcase films. Fortunately for us, one of our loyal Patreon Contributors, Robin Marcotte, was in attendance again, and she helped fill in the gaps we missed. This year, there were a number of good films, and according to Robin, one GREAT film. This year, we watched fourteen films and thirty shorts. Give our recap a listen to hear our thoughts on the 2026 Overlook presentation. It pains me not to attend Overlook. It is one of my favorite events every year, but this doldrums economy forced me to be cautious with my funds, so I resorted to reviewing their films remotely. The pandemic spoiled stay-at-home movie critics, as nobody could attend festivals in person. All the films were remote. The times have reverted back, however, and one of the poorly held secrets is that film festivals rarely ever make their centerpiece films available for remote review. SXSW, Sundance, Overlook… the bigger films just don’t get the distributor go-ahead. However, some independent films were made available, and that was true for 2026. Fortunately for us, one of our valued Patreon patrons, Robyn Marcotte, was, as usual, in attendance, as she is a New Orleans local. Shockingly, many of the releases with known quantity actors and/or directors failed to connect with Robyn. Proof positive that The Scariest Things is not a shill for festival darling films! Still, there were a number of gems worth watching. Films we were able to cover: Obsession, directed by Curry Barker Hokum, directed by Damian McCarthy Leviticus, directed by Adrian Chiarella American Dollhouse, directed by John Valley Buffet Infinity, directed by Simon Glassman Chili Finger, directed by Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad Cramps! A Period Piece, directed by Brooke H. Cellars Never After Dark, directed by Dave Boyle New Group, directed by Yuta Shimotsu Normal, directed by Ben Wheatley Parasomnia, directed by James Ross II Suffocation directed by Louis Chan and Stone Chang Ugly Cry, directed by Emily Robinson So, plenty of new material to find out about! Standout Short Films include: “The Dysphoria” (AUS), directed by Kylie Aoibheann “Hot Water” (USA), directed by Myles Gunter and Cassie Cramer “Scissors” (USA), directed by Hannah Aline “Man Eating Pussy” (Canada), directed by Lee Lawson “Carousel” (USA), directed by Christopher Kosakowski “Haint” (USA), directed by Jahmil Eady “Breeder” (USA), directed by Sapphire Sandalo “House Cat (USA), directed by Kyle Spleiss “Steak Dinner” (USA), directed by Nathan Mark Ginter “Darkroom” (USA), directed by Matthew Black Here is the link to Episode 211: The Overlook Festival Recap Leviticus (2026) New Group (2026) Cramps! A Period Piece (2026) Hokum (2026) Chili Finger (2026) Normal (2026) Obsession (2026) Parasomnia (2026) Ugly Cry (2026) Buffet Infinity (2026) Never After Dark (2026) Suffocation (2026) American Dollhouse (2026) The Dr. Loomis Tapes (2026) “Hot Water” (2026) “House Cat” (2026) “Man Eating Pussy” (2026) “Scissors” (2026) “Steak Dinner” (2026) “The Dysphoria” (2026) “Carousel” (2026)

Sweet, sweet revenge. A subgenre best served cold, with a side of yanked intestines. It is a foundational tool for horror, both from the protagonist and antagonist perspectives. Anger, jealousy, and embarrassment create grudges that stick, and payback, she is a comin’. Listen in to our recommendations for your revenge fantasy satisfaction. In horror movies, sometimes you want to keep it simple. If your plot needs motivation… this is an easy check to cash. There are several sub-tropes here. Psychology Today lists several variants of revenge. As you might expect, revenge and justice are not simple concepts. There are different motivations and complex sources for the desire for payback. We tried to marry up the psychological categories to how they get executed in horror films: Simple or direct Revenge: An eye for an eye. You killed or disfigured me, now I’m back, bitches! MUAAAAHHAHAHAHA! (Slash, slash, slash… screaming ensues) This is the staple of the franchise serial-killer movies. Candyman, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Burning, Slaughter High, Hatchet, Ghost Story, I Know What You Did Last Summer This also applies to revenge for the loss of a loved one. NOOOOOOO! You killed my father! Now you’re gonna pay! I Saw the Devil, Mandy, Redux Redux, Orca, and Sayara Constructive or transformative Revenge: Channeling pain into self-improvement and escaping the victim role. The Rape Revenge Subtrope lands here, with all of its trigger-ridden justice. Misogeny or empowerment? You make the call. Good examples: Revenge, I Spit on Your Grave, They Call Her One Eye, Last House on the Left, Teeth, Ms. 45, American Mary, Hard Candy Honor revenge: Retaliation that is intended to restore reputation or face. Restore reputation. Bullying payback often lands in this category. Who’s on top now motherfucker!?   Plenty of good examples here include Carrie, Piggy, Let the Right One In, and Sissy A subset of honor revenge would be the response to betrayal. You backstabbed me.  Honor revenge is a classic trope in Westerns and Mob Movies. When used by a protagonist, it can be the central motivation. Examples: Upgrade Usually used as a plot device rather than the central theme in horror movies. What goes around, comes around. Et tu, Burke? Burke in Aliens, Ash in Alien, Rose Armitage in Get Out, Scud in Blade, Billy Loomis…All the Scream Movies Poetic or Ironic Revenge: The proper comeuppance. Yep, you had it coming. Often, this is hubris getting the better of a monologuing evil doer. Protagonists usually don’t suffer in this manner. Poetic justice, after all. The poetry comes from the villain being undone by their own actions or plans. Good Examples: Captain Ross’s grisly demise in Day of the Dead; the explosive destruction of the La Domas family in Ready or Not; the Invisible Man gets killed by his own tech in The Invisible Man; Chef Slowick goes down with his restaurant in a fiery s’mores demise in The Menu. The Saw movies have built their premise on ironic revenge, with many of the traps Jigsaw creates symbolic of the victim’s perceived flaws. Se7en is closely tied to ironic revenge, specifically piecing together misguided justice in the grisly application of sin to sinners. Collective revenge: No! Back, you fools! Stay away from me, you heathens! AAAAAAA!!! This is where the community turns on another group, or in horror movies, usually an antagonist. The mob rules! The classic example of this variant is the 1932 Frankenstein, in which the locals, brandishing torches and pitchforks, trap and kill Frankenstein’s monster. It gave birth to the cliche. Burn him! A recent great example: Weapons, where the children turn on Aunt Gladys. Other examples include Children of the Corn, The People Under the Stairs, and The Island of Lost Souls. Fantasy revenge: This is usually the domain of comedies. Sometimes it occurs in horror when the victim of bullying or aggression dreams of turning on their abuser. A twist on this would be the mad dream visions in An American Werewolf in London. Perhaps A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. It has the dream/fantasy element, but it is more of a hero’s journey than pure revenge. Horror movies themselves, as an art form, specifically REVENGE-themed horror movies, are in themselves fantasy revenge outlets. John Wick, Death Wish, Unforgiven, and many, many action movies are testosterone-fueled male revenge fantasy flicks. The rape-revenge movies is the distaff variant of the same theme. Subtle passive-aggressive revenge: Not really part of the Horror methodology. You’re in the wrong revenge shop, buddy. Horror does it directly. With an axe. This is the Woody Allen form of revenge. The Sad Truth In many revenge horror movies, revenge is often a hollow victory. The wounds still exist. The trauma lingers. Your dead wife isn’t coming back. It is a short-term dopamine high, but in many cases, you still feel hollow inside. Sometimes, proper justice gets dispensed, and the world is a better place having dispatched a monster. And we can appreciate that. Horror movie fans get to go along for the ride. Revenge, though easy to embrace, is a complex emotional rollercoaster. So much pain… and a little relief. It can make for epic storytelling, and when dipatched with bloody violence, you can understand how it resides under the horror umbrella. PODCAST EPISODE 210: Here is a live feed for Revenge Horror: Episode 210. If you enjoy this episode, please go to your streaming platform of choice and subscribe. We promise that we won’t track you down with vengeance in mind if you don’t. (Or will we?) The Virgin Spring (1962) Redux Redux (2025) Blue Ruin (2013) Becky (2021) Revenge (2018) Upgrade (2018) Orca (1977) Promising Young Woman (2020) The Crow (1994) The Pit (1981) Venus in Furs (1969) Mandy (2019) Sayara (2025) I Saw the Devil (201) Candyman (1992) I Spit on Your Grave (1978) Last House on the Left (2010) Ms. 45 (1981) The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (2023) They Call Her One Eye (1973) You’re Next (2011) Final Girl (2015) Carrie (1975) A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) Piggy (2022) Last House on the Left (1972) Ghost Story (1981) The Burning (1981) Frankenstein (1932) Let the Right One In (2008) Saw II (2005) The Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Break out the spyglass! It’s time to forecast what is coming in 2026 We’ve got 2025 in the rear view window, and Hollywood has determined to not just relegate horror movies into the fall/Halloween schedule. Springtime apparently is a good time to have a big fear injection. So, we had to get the word out on movies you can anticipate coming to a theater near you! Admittedly, we’re out a little late this year. But, I would suggest we are just in time! Surprisingly, there are a lot of horror movies that are being released in late March. It also happens to be the eve of when many of the big genre film festivals get rolling. Sundance has just completed. SXSW is right on us now. Overlook is around the corner. So is Panic Fest. With these festivals, it sets the table for what you all can expect to come out this year. It becomes a bit of a guessing game for those of us who attend these festivals to predict what films are going to be on the schedule. Horror has proven to be profitable in what used to be a dead period for box office. Already, both Iron Lung ($50 million on a $3 million budget) and Send Help ($92 Million) opened up strong in January, traditionally the dumping ground for cast-off studio films. With the tremendous profitability and critical response to last year’s crop of films, we will see what will become this year’s banner carrier. My guess? Scream 7. There isn’t a studio backed big prestige movie like Sinners or Weapons this year, but I could very easily see a Neve Campbell led Scream 7 into a $300 million earner, much like Final Destinations: Bloodline from last year. If Scream 7 lives up to its potential, it could fly past that number. I don’t think that the effect of last year’s horror boom will be felt until next year’s crop. The studios didn’t have enough time to understand the influence until the season largely wrapped in October, well after prduction had wrapped for most films getting released for 2026. A Good Year for Indie Films? The indie horror films are in abundance this year. SXSW has a huge roster of genre films. Overlook just announced their roster, and so has Panic Fest. Usually there is a lot of overlap, but not so much this year. That suggests a wide variety and a lot of options out there. An that’s not taking into account the large Summer and Fall festivals like Frightfest, Popcorn Frights, and Screamfest. As usual, there will be films that we didn’t see coming because they come with zero fanfare, but end up surprising us with original storytelling or raw savagery. Better yet… both! We always summarize what we did from the previous year, and I think we actually did pretty well in our selections for 2025. You can check out last year’s predictions HERE. Will 2026 be as solid for Scariest Things selections? Listen in, and remember this come the end of the year! Episode 209: Looking Forward to 2026 Note… we announced this one episode off. Looking Forward To 2026: The Candidates Dolly (2026) Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026) Evil Dead Burn (2026) Hokum (2026) Hungry (2026) Ice Cream Man (2026) Lestat Season 3 The Mummy (2026) Obsession (2026) Scream 7 (2026) Sender (2026) Undertone (2026) Forbidden Fruits (2026) American Dollhouse (2026) Grind (2026) Drag (2026) Never After Dark (2026) Monitor (2026) And Her Body Was Never Found (2026) The Bride (2026) Buddy (2026) Chili Finger (2026) Cold Storage (2026) Faces of Death (2026) Family Movie (2026) Other Mommy (2026) Saccharine (2026) They Will Kill You (2026) Ugly Cry (2026) Break a Leg (2026) Frogman Returns (2026) Bagworm (2026) Anima (2026)

What’s that smell? It’s time to sift through the Worst Horror Movies of 2025! Here come the stinkers! It’s time to discuss the Worst Horror movies of 2025. Of course, just like our favorites, our disappointments are highly subjective. You may be surprised to discover that some of the movies we didn’t enjoy have received plaudits from other critics. We have some fun internal disagreements, for sure. We know you love hearing us throw shade on movies. Enjoy the hot takes! This year, we have big hits, well-established franchises, underdeveloped indie films, and even a book. (From Liz, of course.) We watched a record number of films this year, with Eric seeing over 100 and Heather more than 150. So, we have a good sample size to pick from. Also, remember that this subjective list may include movies we had high hopes for and were disappointed to see fall well short of expectations. And then, of course, there are the movies that you watch because of boredom on a Saturday night, and rent a free campy movie, and it really stinks. I regret to say that it happened to me often this year. Hey, it was free! I have a full roster of the movies I saw in 2025 on my favorites list. By the way, if you haven’t listened to our best of 2025 episode, you can listen to it HERE. And remember, most of us thought it was a very good year for horror, so these are the outliers. Some of our opinionated themes this year: Mike: Big directors who should know better, and gave us unlikable characters.Liz: Turned off more movies than she can count this year. Got burned at the festivals.Eric: After watching a record number of horror movies in a year… plot still matters. Here’s our Podcast for the Worst Horror Movies of 2025: Episode 208 If you watch any of these films, you’ve been warned! If you disagree with us, by all means, let us know. Trolls are welcome! (Ahem) Spoiler Alert: Here are our selections Bonus: Here are some other terrible titles that you should avoid if you are browsing through your free Tubi, Netflix, or Amazon choices: (Eric’s list) Version 1.0.0 If you feel like you need to watch a Mickey Mouse Horror, watch Mouseboat Massacre instead. It’s not great, but better than the crap that is Mickey’s Mousetrap. For the better Popeye horror, watch Popeye the Slayer Man instead, which makes a whole lot more sense… even if the Popeye in Popeye’s revenge looks better. A Breed Apart is some of the worst digital animation you will see; it looks like CGI from the 90s. It might qualify as so bad it’s good, but I dunno. MAR.IA isn’t nearly as sexy as the cover suggests. Stay away!

If it’s January, you know it’s time for our Top 10 Horror Movies of 2025. You might think there is a group consensus, in a year that had so many good horror movies… but you’d be wrong! The best part of having a great sampler platter of movies to pick from is that there is something for everybody. This year, the box office and the awards programs agree, 2025 had a lot to offer. This was a year full of original story ideas, and, for a change, they were represented in both studio films and indies. Plus, the sequels and reboots this year proved to be both profitable and refreshing (for the most part). What you all may enjoy the most are the movies that split the critics. There are several movies on our respective lists that are very divisive, and you know what? That’s the best part of these episodes. Here’s the best part: you get to hear us argue the merits and flaws of these films, and you can decide for yourself whether it’s worth watching. If you are visiting our site for the first time, we have three posts that also describe our selections: Eric’s List, Mike’s List, and Robert’s List. Eric’s list has a full ranking of ALL 100+ films that he saw. But, that’s not the most movies digested in 2025, as Heather has seen over 120! That’s a good sample size, folks! We, who love horror movies, watched a lot of them last year. The best news is that, given that these movies hauled in the cash train, horror movies are going to get more attention. Here is the Podcast: Listen and behold!

Astra Award-winning actor, Indy! He won for his performance in Good Boy (2025) Who’s a good boy? Why, you are, Indy! In a monumental achievement, Indy the dog’s performance in Good Boy earned him the Astra Award for Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller, beating out his esteemed human competition. In a year that has started off with so much social friction, it is amazing news like this that gives us hope. This win is for the underdog. How did Indy do it? Listen to my interview with director Ben Leonberg about how they pulled off this miraculous feat. The Astra Awards are presented by the Hollywood Creative Alliance, a collective group of movie industry professionals, and this was their ninth annual awards ceremony. The Astra Awards expand the genres eligible for awards. Like the Golden Globes, they award separate categories for dramas and comedies/musicals. In a laudable move, they also have awards for best horror or thriller. So, this is not a genre awards festival; they have set these awards to align with the end of the year and the lead-up to the Oscars. Indy’s competition this year was strong: Alfie Williams for 28 Years Later Alison Brie for Together Ethan Hawke for The Black Phone 2 Sally Hawkins for Bring Her Back Sophie Thatcher for Companion Indy the Dog for Good Boy Curiously, no acting nominations for Sinners or Weapons. I’m actually pleased that these other performances got rewarded. No worries. There will almost certainly be Oscar noms for Amy Madigan and Michael B. Jordan. This may be a first: a non-human acting award over human competition. I think the Astra Awards just made some waves. For those of you who fall in love with Indy and want a dog like him, he is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. It’s an uncommon breed, but I’d expect this movie to make the breed a lot more popular! The AKC describes this breed as “lovey dovey”, pretty good with other dogs, and very good with children. Moreover, they are super cute. How Did They Pull This Off? First and foremost, it helps that Indy is director Ben Leonberg’s pet. Secondly, it took a very long time, over three years from start to release. Hundreds of hours of footage had to be shot to capture the perfect reaction for Indy, and the shooting schedule was limited to three-hour sessions with him to avoid wearing him out. For anyone worried about harming the dog, worry not! All the acting was done with positive reinforcement and treats, and a stunt dog was used for any truly perilous scenes. Harm to dogs is a trigger for many viewers, particularly in horror movies. People who willingly put good money to see teenagers get slaughtered by the dozen will nope out with violence to a dog. So, many people have asked me, “Does Indy make it?” I can’t say that without spoiling the movie, since it’s all about him. However, if it means the difference between seeing the movie and not, I suggest you go to the site Does the Dog Die trigger warning database to get the spoilers. Good Boy is going to go down as the little Indie Horror film that could for 2025. On a reported budget of only $70,000, the movie to date, with a limited release, has a worldwide gross of over $8,700,000… plus whatever they were able to receive as their Shudder contract. That’s over a 100:1 ratio of profitability! Congratulations to Indy and Ben for their wonderful movie. This will be a cult film favorite. It lands at #4 on my Horror Movies for 2025, and I know I am not alone in my admiration for this movie. The Interview: For deeper insight into the movie’s production and how Ben got such a wonderful performance out of Indy, here is my interview with Leonberg at the Overlook Film Festival in April 2025. I’ve been doing industry interviews for going on nine years, and this is one of my absolute favorite discussions. Check it out! Ben Leonberg of Good Boy, directing his dog, the award-winning Indy. On set with the dog height camera rig: Indy and Ben Leonberg from Good Boy.

Ready or Not (2019) is one of our favorite Feel-Good Horror Movies Consider Feel Good Horror as a palate cleanser for those of you looking for a bit of optimism and good vibes in your horror movies. For those of you who may have followed up on our recommendations from Episode 205: Mean Horror, we’re making it up to you now. Triumph over evil! Protagonists for the win! Fist pumps all around. It’s time for some emotional healing through horror with Episode 206: Feel Good Horror. Just because the primary motivation of a horror film is often to scare you, that doesn’t mean you can’t be smiling the entire time. Horror films elevate your emotions, and often that means your happiness as well as your fear. Those movies that do both are usually big winners. When we consider feel-good horror, we ask ourselves the following questions: Is there a happy ending? Do you have a real rooting interest in the protagonists? Are there good nostalgia vibes? Was evil vanquished satisfyingly? Is there a fist-pumping “OH YEAH!” moment? Is the movie fun? Are we laughing throughout? Do the antagonists/monsters get what they deserve? Does the movie make you laugh (for the right reasons)? Did I immediately want more of the movie? Is this a movie that I would go back to as “comfort food” Final girls fit this model. Horror comedies often fit this category. Horror romances are often feel-good films. But, as always, the emotional takeaways from a movie are specifically subjective. Heather has different kinds of horror: films that are comforting and familiar, and films that are light, colorful, and breezy. These are the horror movies that put you into a happy place, however you get there. Podcast Episode 206: Feel-Good Horror You can listen to us discuss our selections using the link below. Don’t forget to find us on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you like to stream your podcasts! Key Feel-Good Horror Films include: Totally Killer (2023) Ready or Not (2019) The Hitcher (1986) Day of the Dead (1985) Love and Monsters (2020) Godzilla Minus One (2023) Happy Death Day (2017) Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) Deathgasm (2015) Extra Ordinary (2019) The Final Girls (2015) A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors Aliens (1987) Attack the Block (2011) Abigail (2022) Zombieland (2009) Shaun of the Dead (2004) Young Frankenstein (1975) Cargo (2017) Prey (2023) Berserk (1967) Humanist Vampire Seeks Consenting Suicidal Person (2024) The Monkey (2025) The Blob (1987) The Lost Boys (1987) Your Monster (2024) Tremors (1990) Deep Rising (1998) Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) Escape Room (2019) They Live (1988) Dangerous Animals (2025) Re-Animator (1985) Jaws (1975) Nope (2022)

Matt Dillon is Jack in The House that Jack Built (2018), a seriously mean movie. Great Horror movies can often be a bummer. Vicious, unrelenting, and cruel films that deny us the happy ending and the victorious fist pump. Many horror fans, and a couple of the podcasters for The Scariest Things in particular, seek these films out. We are crossing bridges too far. No punch pulling. Beware and behold Episode 205: Mean Horror. The caveats associated with the “recommendations” presented in this episode have caveats of their own. These are the films that may make you regret your movie selection decisions. Grim. Brutal. Emotionally taxing. These movies have merit, but these aren’t movies meant to be enjoyed. Quite the opposite, actually. These movies strip your soul and make you ponder the darkness in society. Often, these movies are human-on-human horror, delivering cruelty that only we can inflict on ourselves. Just know we will be following up soon with the salve for the emotional wounds that come with our “Feel Good” episode to help you recover. Here are the criteria we used in picking our movies. The movie does not require compliance with all the listed criteria, but if the movie contains many of these themes, then it would qualify for our selections. Bad things happen to innocent people. Repeatedly. The protagonists often don’t survive the movie. Evil wins. The ending is a bummer. There is little humor in the movie. Typically, people would not describe this movie as “fun.” The movie may be pervasively depressing and nihilistic. There is little hope in the movie. The movie has an emotional impact. Note that this is not a reflection of the quality of the movies. Many of them are very good and critically appreciated. They also don’t need to be gory to be mean, though they often are. The Podcast: Episode 205: Mean Horror With those caveats and warnings: brace yourselves. It’s time for MEAN HORROR. For similar content, check our Bridge Too Far Infographics. Consider yourselves warned. Benny’s Video (1992) Coming Home in the Dark (2021) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) Invader (2024) Eden Lake (2008) Megalomaniac (2023) Island of Death (1976) The Lodge (2019) Salo, or 120 Days of Sodom (1975) The House that Jack Built (2018) The Rule of Jenny Pen (2025) Incident in a Ghostland (2018) Funny Games (2007) Antichrist (2009) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1977) Night of the Living Dead (1968) Last House on the Left (1972) Baskin (2015) Calvaire (2004) House of 1000 Corpses (2003) A L’Interieur (2007) Terrifier 2 (2022) I Spit on Your Grave (1978) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1975) Martyrs (2008) Hostel (2005) The Mist (2007) The Road (2007) When Evil Lurks (2023) Speak No Evil (2024) The Sadness (2021) Beaten to Death (2023) Bring Her Back (2025) Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

Richard Jenkins, Kurt Russell, and Matthew Fox go searching in Bone Tomahawk (2016) Upon second thought, that movie was better than I remembered. How often do you tell yourself that? Or, alternately, “What was I thinking? This movie was awful!” We’ve all been there. The movies don’t change, but we do. We get older. Our tastes change. Sometimes we weren’t in the right headspace to appreciate a film for the first watch. The Scariest Things gets contemplative in Episode 204 and reviews movies that we believe should be re-evaluated… for better… or worse. Opinions can change. Sometimes, when you go to a movie, you arrive with expectations, which can affect your view. A film’s reputation may color the first impression, and many of our reactions to the movie are influenced by the environment in which we first saw it. It makes a big difference whether you first saw the film at a world premiere with the director and stars, or if you are seeing it in a living room with a bunch of talkative friends—context matters. Was I too harsh on this film? Was I too generous? In many cases, a movie will stick with you and remind you that there was something that you really liked, and it stands the test of time, even if you didn’t initially think it was that great. Then, you go back and watch it, and realize that there was real gold there. You might also have had a situation where you decide to watch a movie to impress a friend, convincing them that the movie was great —and then… nope. That movie didn’t age well. My sixteen-year-old self thought this movie was awesome, but I was young and stupid. The Mangler, not as good as my teenage me remembered. There is a proud tradition of this in movie critic circles. A humble critic is one who can own up to re-evaluating a movie. I believe it is best to write a critical review independently of what others think, and I will avoid reading other reviews before I write my own. However, sometimes a movie arrives with tremendous buzz, all the bells and whistles: a revered director, a hot actor, and momentum from early festivals. I take these things into context, but I try my best to walk in with a blank slate. It’s tough, though. PODCAST 204: Upon Second Thought – Reconsidering Horror Movies Here is the podcast where Eric, Mike, and Heather sat down, peeled the bandage off, and admitted that perhaps we were wrong the first time. Most of these movies will be familiar to you, and some of the selections will shock you! If you want to skip the podcast and see what we picked, I have included our selections below. As always, I recommend you listen to the podcast, and come back to this post for reference. Enjoy! Upon Second Thought – The bad news: Movies we initially thought were good, but now the shine has come off. It doesn’t mean these movies are bad (necessarily), but it does mean that they weren’t as awesome as we initially thought. Mike’s List Rosemary’s Baby (1968): Dated and Slow? The Wicker Man (1972): Boring and Staid. Army of Darkness (1992): Nonsensical and not scary at all. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) The Wicker Man (1972) Army of Darkness (1992) Eric’s List Piranha (1978): A Jaws ripoff without a great conclusion. St Agatha (2018): My impressions were heavily influenced by meeting the cast and crew. Early journalism error. Hellraiser (1987): Too slow. Not sexy enough. Not bad, but not the iconic film that I remembered it being. Piranha (1977) St. Agatha (2018) Hellraiser (1987) Heather’s List Paranormal Activity (2007): Weak characters, particularly Micah. The Blair Witch Project (1999): Annoying banter. Dolls (1986): Loved it as a kid, but the campiness didn’t hold up. Paranormal Activity (2007) The Blair Witch Project (1999) Dolls (1986) Upon Second Thought – The Good News: Movies that are better than we initially thought. Sometimes we just got it wrong the first time. Don’t let the group think get to you, and like what you like. For these groups, we are going from bad first impressions to a more positive place upon second viewing. Mike’s List Dreamcatcher (2003): A wild film with great pacing and strong camaraderie. Maxxxine (2023): Mike now appreciates the action-packed conclusion. The Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977): Burdened by being the sequel of an all-time great, it couldn’t help but struggle to live up to expectations. A great cast. Dreamcatcher (2003) Maxxxine (2023) The Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) Eric’s List Bone Tomahawk (2015): Consider it as a western first, with strong horror elements. Deathgasm (2018): Eric wasn’t in the best of moods when he saw it the first time. The Void (2016): A movie tailor-made for Eric’s tastes, my initial review overcompensated to avoid preconceived bias. Upon second viewing: a gory good time. Bone Tomahawk (2015) Deathgasm (2018) The Void (2016) Heather’s List Hellhouse LLC (2015): The first watch was compromised by a movie party watch, unable to appreciate the quality jump scares. Much better on a rewatch. The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015): Initially, Heather found it too slow, but upon second viewing, she appreciates the build. Scream (2022): Heather wasn’t ready for the level of savage violence in this franchise. Now, she’s cool with it. Hellhouse LLC (2015) The Blackcoat’s Daugher (2015) Scream (2022)

Take a good look… we’re going to recast these characters! Horror movies love sequels and reboots. So, a recast is always around the corner. The Scariest Things is going to do what everybody fears: recasting movies that really shouldn’t be rebooted. BUT WE’RE DOING IT ANYWAYS! Redoing A Nightmare on Elm Street with blockbuster casts. Check! A reboot of Jaws with women in the lead? Done! Extending the It story to 27 years, for a Chapter 3 using a senior citizen cast. You betcha! And Hereditary, but swapping out for an all black cast? We can do that! Sacrilege? Absolutely, but you know you want to know who we picked! It’s a cottage industry, predicting who Marvel or DC might cast for their superheroes. The anticipation of who might portray… say BATMAN… has been discussed in numerous podcasts and media posts. But horror movies? The reboots are frequent, but really not that memorable. Can you name all of the Jason Voorhees actors? (tick… tick… tick…) However, there is a wonderful tradition with Dracula, in particular. This is just a portion of the casting call for the famous bloodsucker: Bela Lugosi Carlos Villarias Lon Chaney Jr. Christopher Lee John Carradine Udo Kier Klaus Kinski George Hamilton Frank Langella Gary Oldman Nicolas Cage The Podcast: Episode 203: The Great Horror Recast This was a fun episode. It is a long episode, but it’s totally worth listening to, because we know you do these experiments too! If you want to get the spoilers… read below for our selections. A little crazy, and not always on script, but this episode was a blast! Our Selections: The original cast of A Nightmare on Elm Street: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, and Amanda Wyss A Horror Recast of A Nightmare on Elm Street(What was Mike thinking?) Character Original Actor Eric’s Pick Heather’s Pick Mike’s Pick Freddy Krueger Robert Englund Andy Serkis Bonnie Aarons Kevin Durand Nancy Thompson Heather Langenkamp Madeline McGraw Nico Parker Sydney Sweeney Glen Lantz Johnny Depp Noah Toth Michael Cimino Austin Butler Tina Grey Amanda Wyss Alisha Weir Kathryn Newton Margot Robbie Rod Lane Jsu Garcia Noah Schnapp Pete Davidson (skipped) Lt. Donald Thompson John Saxon Danny McBride Billy Burke Robert Forster Marge Thompson Ronee Blakley Jennifer Aniston Thandie Newton Meryl Streep Director Wes Craven Damien Leone Lee Cronin Christopher Nolan A Horror Recast of Jaws, but with a female cast Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider, and Robert Shaw in Jaws (1975) Character Original Actor Eric’s Pick Heather’s Pick Mike’s Pick Chief Brody Roy Scheider Emily Blunt Jessica Chastain Parker Posey Quint Robert Shaw Allison Janney Jodie Foster Michelle Rodriguez Hooper Richard Dreyfuss Mindy Kaling Julia Garner Sunita Mani Ellen Brodie Lorraine Gary John Krasinski Zoe Kravitz Dennis Quaid Charlie Susan Backlinie Chris Hemsworth Tom Holland Chris Hemsworth Mayor Vaughn Murray Hamilton Amy Poehler Viola Davis Melissa McCarthy Director Steven Spielberg Kathryn Bigelow Anna Kendrick Mary Harron It: Chapter 3: Casting 27 years after the previous film James Ransome, Jay Ryan, Isiah Mustapha, James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, and Bill Hader in It: Chapter 2 (2019) Character Original Actor Eric’s Pick Heather’s Pick Mike’s Pick Pennywise Bill Skaarsgard Bill Skarsgard Bill Skarsgard *Tim Curry Beverly Marsh Sophia Lillis/ Jessica Chastain Geena Davis Francis Fisher Julianne Moore Bill Denbrough Jayden Martell / James McAvoy Kenneth Branagh Pierce Brosnan Ewan MacGregor Richie Tozer Finn Wolfhard/ Bill Hader Jeffrey Goldblum Liam Neeson Dana Carvey Mike Hanlon Chosen Jacobs / Isiah Mustafa Jeffrey Wright Denzel Washington Laurence Fishburn Ben Hanscom Jeremy Ray Taylor/ Jay Ryan Vincent D’Onofrio Don Johnson Liam Neeson Jack Dylan Glazer/ James Ransome — — Hugh Grant Stanley Uris Wyatt Oleff / Andy Bean — — Hugh Jackman A Horror Recast of Hereditary, but with an all black cast Milly Shapiro, Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, and ALex Wolff in Hereditary (2018) Character Original Actor Eric’s Pick Heather’s Pick Mike’s Pick Annie Toni Collette Taraji P Henson Halle Berry Regina King Charlie Milly Shapiro Pria Ferguson Storm Reid Madison Currie Steve Gabriel Byrne Sterling K Brown Terrance Howard Denzel Washington Peter Alex Wolff Justice Smith Miles Catton Daniel Kaluuya Joanie Anna Down Octavia Spencer Pam Grier Queen Latifa Director Ari Aster Nia DaCosta The Phillipou Brothers Little Marvin Location Salt Lake City Savannah Boston Washington DC

Dom (Jake Horowitz) makes a blind bargain with Dr. Gruder (Crispin Glover) in A Blind Bargain (2025) Intensity: 🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸Directed by Paul Bunnell Betrayal. At its core, A Blind Bargain is a movie about the worst kind of betrayal you can imagine. Desperation and greed convince a young and troubled Vietnam veteran to submit his own mother to the schemes of a mad scientist. This groovy ’70s retro thriller takes a cosmic turn through life-extending experimentation. This was the centerpiece movie of the 2025 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. A Blind Bargain is a retelling of a 1922 Lon Chaney Sr. silent film, which is now considered a “lost film”. The only copy of that film was lost in the 1965 vault fire that also claimed several other Lon Chaney films, including London After Midnight. Not all was lost, as the mad scientist’s story was based on a Barry Palin novel, “The Octave of Claudius, A Blind Bargain.” The biggest challenge for this movie is that you are compelled to follow a protagonist who is hard to root for. Dominic is pathetic. The Vietnam War has left deep emotional scars that he chases away with heroin, and this leaves him vulnerable on many levels. This forces him to make extremely dubious decisions. Traitorous decisions. In the original film, the censors balked at the science of playing God. Frankenstein touched on this, and with A Blind Bargain, the story centers on a Faustian deal for eternal youth. As is the case with most mad science, it is a serious overreach of power. Vitality restoration reacts badly with fate. The elusive promise of youthful beauty has undone more than a few evil geniuses. Joy, you’re going on a cosmic trip to be a star again…” Logos (Jed Rowen) The Cast of A Blind Bargain Crispin Glover plays Dr. Gruder, a mad scientist who has discovered a steroid treatment with incredible youth-restoring properties. Naturally, there are unfortunate side consequences. Jake Horowitz plays Dominic Fontaine, a damaged young man who has returned from the Vietnam War. He has returned with a heroin addiction. This forces Jake to make some very difficult and unfortunate decisions. Lucy Loken plays Ellie Bannister, who works as a nurse for Dr. Gruder. Dom is instantly smitten with Ellie when he goes in for treatment for his addiction. Amy Wright plays Joy Fontaine, Dom’s mother, who was an actress of the silent film era. Dom lives with Joy now as he tries to get his life back together. Analisa Cochrane plays a younger version of Joy Fontaine, a beautiful and alluring woman in her prime. Jed Rowen plays Logos, one of Dr. Gruder’s subjects, who acts as Gruder’s enforcer. Joy entrances the lovelorn Logos. Rob Mayes plays Vincent, Dom’s brutish and swaggering drug dealer. Crispin Glover and Jake Horowitz in A Blind Bargain (2025) A Short Synopsis of A Blind Bargain Dominic Fontaine is a loser who can’t catch a break. After returning home from the Vietnam War in 1970, his life hasn’t gotten any safer. He has run into deep debt with his heroin dealer, Vincent. He’s a thin, frail fellow who is too weak to stand up to Vincent’s bullying. He also can’t stand up for himself with his mother, Joy, who has been housing him since his return. She is aware that Dom has not been honest with her and sets the conditions for him staying with her that he seek treatment. Joy gives Dom a brochure for a clinic that a social worker gave her: The Gruder Institute, where “Recovery is Within Your Grasp”. Unbeknownst to Joy and Dom, however, the institute is not what it seems. The addition therapy is a front for some shady de-aging experiments involving steroids derived from insect larvae. Dom reluctantly checks into the clinic. The lovely Nurse Ellie checks him in, and Dom flirts with her shamelessly. She takes his blood, and Dom returns home to inform Joy that he did as she asked. When Ellie calls back, Dom is informed that his blood… or more specifically, his mother’s blood… would be of great value to the Institute. Dr. Gruder would pay handsomely for her blood. Dom tricks his mother into believing the Clinic is also a spa, and that she should pamper herself there while he gets treatment. Gruder’s more involved experiments take place in an old hotel frequented by Hollywood stars of yore, which sells the ruse of the spa. The eccentric Gruder welcomes “their only spa guest” into the facility. They quickly hustle her off into a treatment room. There, much to her surprise, they restrain and sedate her. Torn between guilt and his vices, Dom agrees to a contract to have Joy convalesce at the Gruder Institute for a month. The money wins out. The next time Dom sees Joy, things will have changed. Perhaps for the better? Remember, though, Faustian deals never end the way you want them to. Evaluation A Blind Bargain is probably more dark science fiction than horror, but as soon as you mention Lon Chaney, this movie has to be at least horror adjacent. The decisions in the film are indeed horrific, and the truth of the experiments (and their inevitable failures) also lends a morbid take to the proceedings. The betrayal is heartbreaking, and well played by all. Don’t go into this movie expecting lots of gore and violence. It actually feels more like a ’70s Hammer production costume drama. Trigger warning, though: if drug use makes you uneasy, this movie will make you squirm. Paul Bunnell is a long-time associate of Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep, John Dies at the End). There are strong stylistic similarities between these directors, and if you enjoy the absurd lightness of Coscarelli’s films, I’m sure you’ll appreciate the gleeful absurdity of A Blind Bargain. The humor is sly, and the performances are highly stylized, particularly those of the inimitable Crispin Glover. Glover is perfectly cast as Gruder, as he is one of the pre-eminent oddball character actors of the era. Horowitz (The Vast of Night) has delivered another outstanding, quirky performance, further solidifying his promise as a young character actor on the rise. Rob Mayes steals every scene he is in. He’s a muscular presence and a fun antagonist. I wouldn’t be surprised if the young actresses Loken and Cochrane get bigger roles soon. Hollywood loves beautiful women who can do quirky roles. More horror movies for these two! Lastly, Amy Wright is a veteran actress (The Deer Hunter, Breaking Away, The Amityville Horror), and she still has a significant screen presence. In a cast full of actors who are hamming it up, Wright’s subtle facial acting was a welcome counterpoint. I was happy to see her in this movie. The Vibes The film bursts with color and has the vibes to match. A Blind Bargain delivers characters with flamboyant personalities who have deep-seated character flaws. A good comp for A Blind Bargain would be The Love Witch or even The Abominable Dr. Phibes. This movie is very indie. Very retro. And very funky. Indeed, vibes of Phibes! High marks for the costume and props work. Paul Bunnell informed me that as part of the extras casting calls, he requested period automobiles, and the cast responded. The shot-on-film aspect also lends authenticity to the production. I love the costumes. Yes, they push the trends of the era, but this is a stylized period piece, and it works wonderfully. Rob Mayes and Analisa Cochrane get groovy in A Blind Bargain (2025) Closing Thoughts: A Blind Bargain has the potential to be a cult classic if the right audience receives it. The movie punches above its weight class with its cast. Crispin Glover is not a mere cameo; he is a scene-chewing villain extraordinaire. Jake Horowitz, Rob Mayes, and Lucy Loken are stars in the making, and this film will greatly enhance their portfolios. The plot is sly, with the humor a subtle undercurrent, and it never relies on cheap gags. Yes, it’s campy, but if you can perform camp gracefully, this movie does it. Aging horror is an evergreen trope, and this movie chases the fountain of youth with a syringe. This movie is scheduled for a limited theatrical release in major US markets. It had its world premiere at Fright Fest, and Bunnell indicated to me that they are working on a streaming agreement. The movie is not rated, but due to the amount of drug abuse and wickedness, it would not be appropriate for younger viewers. Older teenagers should be able to handle this material. A Blind Bargain is wicked fun, and if it is in a theater near you, go check it out. It’s a little indie film that deserves some B-movie cult buzz. Review by Eric Li An Audio Interview with Director Paul Bunnell: I love the access I get by attending Film Festivals, particularly HPLFF. Paul Bunnell is an unforgettable personality who loves to tell stories. He is a showman of the first order and a really sweet and funny guy. Sometimes you get an interview, and it is perfunctory and something of an obligation for the interviewee. Not so with Paul. Bunnell was a true delight to talk to, and it felt like I was getting to tap into some old Hollywood magic. As a director, he doesn’t have the deepest filmography, but he is one of those personalities who feels like he has been in and around filmmaking and Hollywood his entire adult life. He also has some fantastic stories to tell about the making of A Blind Bargain. Here is the recording from backstage at the Hollywood Theater: Director Paul Bunnell. David White Photography. Paul Bunnell and Eric Li. David White Photography. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGezHkWnAxo And… as an added bonus… A Blind Bargain has a kick ass poster!

That’s a big alligator: Lake Placid (1999) Are you afraid of reptiles? Horror movies suggest that you just might be. There is an abundance of movies with reptile and amphibian horror themes. Snakes? Lots of you. Betting odds would suggest that you either fear spiders or snakes, or both. Alligators and crocodiles? Probably not something that applies, unless you live in Florida or Egypt. But, how about frogs? Or turtles? If you are, then this episode is made for you. For the record, here are the terms for the fears you need to know for this episode: Herpetophobia = the fear of reptiles. (This covers lizards and Ophidophobia = the fear of snakes. (Common) Ranidophobia = the fear of frogs and toads Krokodeilophobia = the fear of crocodiles Chelonaphobia = the fear of turtles (Rare) So, use that as the starting block. But, normal lizards and snakes aren’t going to cut it in this discussion. Big, and I mean BIG lizards will count. Kaiju for the reptile win! And human/reptile/frog and human hybrids also can be considered. It is remarkable how many well made alligator and killer crocodile movies there have been made. And, there are so many ways to make these movies. In this day and age, you can go with the real thing (daring… Black Water), digital (YMMV: Crawl, Megapython vs Gateroid, The Bayou ), or animatronic (Alligator, The Bayou, and Rogue) Once you get bigger than an alligator, you have to get creative. Giant monsters require some imagination to scale them up. Dude in a rubber suit works. Real critters with miniatures is your budget variant. Stop Motion used to be the state-of-the-art craft. Think Ray Harryhausen. Or… Puppets! Let it be known, that most of the time, the puppets look rather lame. (Reptilicus) But sometimes it’s perfect (Beetlejuice). Episode 202: Reptile and Amphibian Horror Prominent Reptile and Amphibian Horror Movies Post podcast note: We talked about a combination of clown and reptile horror in the podcast, and initially, I mentioned Reptilicus because of the puppetry, but then I remembered a perfect example: BEETLEJUICE! This combines elements from two back-to-back episodes, including Episode 201 Clown Horror! Frogs (1972) Reptilicus (1961) Sweetheart (2019) The Alligator People (1959) Black Water (2007) Gorgo (1961) Lake Placid (1999) The Bayou (2025) The Giant Gila Monster (1959) Rogue (2007) Alligator (1980) The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1941) Anaconda (1997) Anaconda (2025) Anguirus Baragon Beetlejuice (1988) Beetlejuice (1988) Boa vs Python (2004) Gamera The Host (2006) Love and Monsters (2019) Clash of the Titans (1981) Clash of the Titans (2010) Python (2000) Lizzie in Rampage (2018) Serpent of Death (2025) Snakes on a Plane (2006) The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) Lair of the White Worm (1988) Crawl (2019) Eaten Alive (1976)

Art the Clown in Terrifier (2016) If you hear squeaky shoes, run away! The very popular trope of coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, taps into childhood fears and manages to go to almost unthinkable extremes. With the rise of Art and Pennywise, the horrorverse knows there is a vein that taps into real, deep-seated fears. Join Heather, Mike, and Eric in our breakdown of some clown-themed films for your consumption. Were you afraid of circus clowns as a kid? If so, you weren’t alone. The white face paint. Exaggerated features. The ridiculous costumes. This goes beyond the uncanny valley into the bizarre. Normal people don’t dress up like this, and you may question the psychology of anybody who dons the getup. Not helping the situation is that individuals like John Wayne Gacy, who dressed up as a party clown, reinforce the reputation of clowns as unstable. Fear of clowns may be a learned fear, for most, however. Birthday clowns still exist, and little kids still love the comedic silliness of a good circus clown. But, with the disappearance of the traditional circus as a form of entertainment, clowns may have been permanently relegated to horror movies. Sorry, Bozo. Check out some of our recommendations for deeper cut clown horror… you may be surprised at how many options there are for those of you who love to be scared by clowns. The Podcast: Here is Episode 201: Coulrophobia-Clown Horror. If you like this, you might also like Episode 164: Amusement Park and Circus Horror! Coulrophobia-Clown Horror: The Films Clown in a Cornfield (2025) Hell House LLC (2015) Clown (2014) Conversation with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes (2022) It (1990) Stitches (2012) Wrinkles the Clown (2019) Supernatural S2Ep2 “Everyone Loves a Clown” American Horror Story: Freakshow Poltergeist (1982) Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) The Man Who Laughs (1928) Clownado (2023) It (2017) House of 1000 Corpses (20 Killjoy’s Psycho Circus (2016) The Last Circus (2010) Clownhouse (1989) S.I.C.K. Serial Insane Clown Killer (2003) Zombieland (2009)

The magnificent Gene Jones is “Father” in Ti West’s mockumentary: Sacrament (2007) Horror Mockumentaries succeed because of the implied truths they pretend to offer. The authenticity, tangibility, and verisimilitude all convey that what you are watching actually happened. And, it could happen to YOU. Because it is a MOCKumentary and not a DOCumentary, this is all fiction, though, and thank goodness for that. Some of the most brutal and horrific stories originate from this favorite subgenre of horror. Join us in Episode 199, as the Scariest Things investigates the truth of Mockumentaries. With the release of The Blair Witch Project in 1999, a new dusk arrived in horror. Found footage horror had come of age. Moreover, it employed a quasi-journalistic approach that aimed to convince the audience that what they were watching was evidence. Not all found-footage films are mockumentaries, but a fair number of them utilize the amateur journalistic approach to lend authenticity to the film. Mockumentaries are the Agent Mulder of the movie world. Let the truth be known! The only other branch of filmmaking that uses mockumentaries, ironically, is comedies. The goal of the mockumentary is to uncover something just under the surface of our daily lives. For movies like Spinal Tap or Best in Show, the premise is to get a peek behind the curtain and understand how absurd these worlds are. Horror mockumentaries choose to reveal how ugly and awful things can be, and that you should be aware of it. Watch the skies! The Mocumentary Variants: The Fake Documentary, or Crime Scene Investigation This is mockumentary filming at its purest distillation. The film is staged with interviews, voice-over narration, news footage, and still images, exactly like an honest documentary would deliver. These films are told after the fact; a record of heinous events that uncover terrible truths. Many of these films are treated as if they are unraveling deep mysteries and proving conspiracy theories to be real. This is the academic approach to making horror movies. It aims to explain. The best of the subgenre will have you believing that the story told actually happened. Unsolved mysteries and local cryptid legends get investigated. This is the kind of film that will have you believe that there was research involved, with fact-checking and verification. Ken Burns, eat your heart out! Best Examples: The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire (2024) Hell House LLC (2015) The Fourth Kind (2009) Lake Mungo (2008) Incident at Loch Ness (2004) Horror in the High Desert (2021) Savageland (2015) Antrum (2018) (…at least the intro to Antrum) Peter Zisso in Strange Harvest: Occult Murders in the Inland Empire (2024) The Obsessive True Believer Here is the medium for the Blair Witch Project. This variant takes full advantage of the amateur investigator. Grab a camera. Go into the woods and find out what’s really out there. The “filmmakers” are on a wumpus hunt. If we can uncover the truth, if we find the proof, I will be vindicated! More often than not, the reason this is called found footage is that the investigators did uncover the truth, but ultimately paid the price for their efforts with their own lives, leaving behind the evidence next to their corpses. Best Examples: The Blair Witch Project (1999) Frogman (2023) Trollhunter (2010) Noroi: The Curse (2005) Deadstream (2022) The Dogged Journalist on a Doomed Assignment Breaking news! There’s a monster in the river. Go check it out. I’m sure it is safe. This variant of the trope isn’t like the obsessive true believer, because this is a job. The camera crew is sent out to report something happening, and hopefully beat the local competition to the scene. Better yet, if you can get embedded at the scene, you may get prime footage for the evening news. More stable than most shaky cam movies, these films feature professional camera operators and sound crews, resulting in less nausea-inducing camera shake. Best Examples: Punishment Park (1971) The WNUF Halloween Special (2013) [REC] (2007) The Bay (2012) Grave Encounters (2011) The Unfortunate Exclusive Interview I’ve heard that this guy is a bit of a weirdo. I bet he’ll make good coverage. He won’t hurt me, I’ll make him my friend! He promised me an exclusive, and we can follow him around to uncover some dirty secrets. This is gonna be great! Famous last words. These weirdos have a plan. Often, that plan turns on the documentary crew. That’s how these situations typically unfold. These films often feature extensive question-and-answer sessions with the weirdo. Perhaps the crew should have wondered why they were granted access in the first place. These journalists usually lack the wisdom to sense when this might be a trap. This is why these reporters tend not to end up in a sequel. (Stab! Stab!) This grouping also covers the unfortunate case study, which is sometimes like the obsessive true believer, but the motivations are usually more academic than Quixotic. The Sacrament (2013) Digging Up the Marrow (2014) The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014) Creep (2014) Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) 15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bigfoot (#1 Will Blow Your Mind!) (2019) Cannibal Holocaust (1980) What We Do in the Shadows (2014) The Ceremony is About to Begin (2024) Nathan Baesel in Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) The Thin Line between Mockumentaries and Promoting Pseudoscience But wait, you may be thinking, what about films and shows that promote the actual presence of pseudoscience as fact? Television shows like Ancient Aliens and Ghosthunters are manipulative programs that propose that cryptids are real. Aliens are responsible for the scientific advancement of human society. Most of the audience gets it. This is pure bullshit, and we want to see if the producers can convince us that they have found ghosts. Unfortunately, whether or not these filmmakers believe their theories, this becomes part of the process of dumbing down society. Fantasy is being presented as science. Fake news. I grew up loving In Search Of, with Leonard Nimoy, back in the late 70’s. That show at least offered up the possibility of cryptids, but it took a nuanced look at what might be. They never claimed to have the evidence to prove the mystery true, but they explained the mystery. That’s fair game. That said, I love horror mockumentaries. They take the preposterous right to the edge of credibility, and wink at us. And then they throw the proverbial bucket of blood onto us and grin. I’m down for that. Don’t Confuse Mockumentaries with Mockbusters In the podcast, we discussed the difference between these two terms, perhaps more thoroughly than necessary, but I have decided to add some clarity. There is another term in the horror film industry that is frequently used: Mockbusters. The Mockbuster is a production from a smaller production house that associates itself with a successful title and tries to convince you that it will be, by comparison, equally cool. This is a huge pet peeve for one of our writers, Robert Zilbauer, as he can fall prey to the mockbuster, thinking that a film might have potential. The film studios The Asylum, which gave us Sharknado, and the Polonia Brothers, who made Amityville Exorcism, are particularly guilty of this practice. Additionally, Jagged Edge, which is responsible for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,  has joined the mockbuster party. They are almost all cynical, money-grabbers. The mockbuster is much more prevalent in children’s animated movies, as kids may not (at least initially) recognize that “A Car’s Life” is not part of the Cars franchise. (Or A Bug’s Life). A huge chunk of Disney’s historical catalogue is based upon public domain classic children’s tales, so it is an open market. Parents beware! Examples of Mockbusters in the Horror Genre include: We’re not here to discuss children’s shows. Or Mockbusters. But, to conclude this rant, here are some notable examples of mockbusters. Paranormal Entity Alien Origin Aliens vs. Avatars Ouija: The Curse Snakes on a Train Cocaine Shark Virus Shark Jurassic Valley Amityville Exorcism Amityville in Space I am Omega Ghost Hunters Morgan: Killer Doll Ghoulies (Yeah, had to include this. Sorry!) The Podcast: Episode 199: Horror Mockumentaries This is what we are here to talk about. The good stuff. Mockumentaries. I recognize that we jumped the gun a little by issuing Episode 200 too early. So we are slightly out of sequence. Mike, Eric, and Liz discuss the horror mockumentary and delve into some lesser-known films. If you enjoy this episode, you should also check out our Episode 134: Cryptid Horror. Thank you to Heather Alexander, who couldn’t join us for this episode, but suggested this topic. A Roster of Important Horror Mockumentaries: Digging up the Marrow (2014) Hell House LLC (2015) Punishment Park (1971) Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire (2024) The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) Trollhunter (2010) The Sacrament (2013) The WNUF Halloween Special (2013) [REC] (2007) Cannibal Holocaust (1980) The Blair Witch Project (1999) 15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bigfoot (#1 Will Blow Your Mind!) (2019) Incident at Loch Ness (2004) Antrum: The Most Dangerous Movie Ever Made (2018) Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) Creep (2014) Deadstream (2022) Horror in the High Desert (2021) Lake Mungo (2008) Noroi: The Curse (2005) Savageland (2015) The Bay (2012) The Ceremony is About to Begin (2024) The Fourth Kind (2014) What We Do in the Shadows (2014) Grave Encounters (2011)

We have reached a milestone recording episode, and also a good milestone date for horror movies. The first 25 years of the century, nay, the millennium, have passed. It is an opportune time to look back at the first quarter century and show our favorite movies of the past 25 years. We like our lists and rankings here at The Scariest Things! It is a testament to the breadth and depth of modern horror offerings that our lists differ significantly from one another, yet they all showcase terrific movies. Only one movie ended up on all three lists for those of us on the recording: The House of the Devil, which also appears on Heather’s list, but she couldn’t join us for the recording. The New York Times recently released its 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century, which makes for good timing with our list. It’s a pretty awesome list of films, but not surprisingly, not many horror movies made the list: Get Out, Pan’s Labyrinth, Black Swan, Under the Skin, and Let the Right One In. All of those are excellent films, but listing only five out of 100 movies requires The Scariest Things to provide some counterprogramming. Our Lists: Consider the process one of celebrating the merits of modern horror cinema. The mission wasn’t crystal clear as to how we were approaching our strategies. For example, Mike and Eric ranked their lists, Liz ranked hers by year, and Heather provided a top 20 list with no particular order. It’s all good! As usual with our rankings, it’s fun to see how our horror tendencies emerge. As a result, our fans will get different takes depending on which critic aligns best with their taste in movies. There were so many choices, and the inevitable regrets of leaving some films off or missing a pick altogether were bound to happen. Sophie’s Choice moments were plentiful. It’s so hard picking your favorite babies sometimes. The Podcast: Episode 200: The Best 25 horror movies of the 21st Century (So far!) If you come to the podcast via the website, you may want to wait before scrolling past the player applications so as not to spoil the lists. Or, feel free to browse down to see all the lists! (Spoiler warning) Thanks to everyone who has supported us through our first 200 episodes! Enjoy! Eric Li’s List: By Rank 25. Pontypool (2008)24. Train to Busan (2016)23.  Don’t Breathe (2016)22. It Follows (2014)21. Green Room (2015)20. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)19. Slither (2006)18. Paranormal Activity (2007)17. House of the Devil (2009)16. Spring (2014)15. Open Water (2003)14. The Mist (2007)13. One Cut of the Dead (2017)12. A Quiet Place (2018)11. Late Night With the Devil (2023)10. Ready or Not (2019)9. The Conjuring (2013)8. Barbarian (2023)7. Shaun of the Dead (2004)6. Raw (2016)5. Talk To Me (2023) 4. Godzilla Minus One (2023)3. Get Out (2017)2. 28 Days Later (2002) 1. Hereditary (2018) Eric’s hindsight regrets: Let the Right One In, Oddity, Satan’s Slaves,The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Kill List, and The Descent all belong on my list as well. Let the Right One In is probably in the top ten. How did I miss those? Since they appear as recommendations on other lists, I don’t feel so bad, but I’m already considering reorganizing my list. Liz William’s List: By Date 25. Final Destination (2000)24. Session 9 (2001)23. Cabin Fever (2002)22. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)21. Saw (2004)20. (tie) The Descent (2005)20. (tie) Hostel (2005)19. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)18. Paranormal Activity (2007)17. Martyrs (2008)16. The Loved Ones (2009)15. I Saw the Devil (2010)14. Kill List (2011)13. Sinister (2012)12. The Purge (2013)11. What We Do in the Shadows (2014)10. Deathgasm (2015)9. Don’t Breathe (20016)8. The Ritual (2017)7. Hereditary (2018)6. Saint Maude (2019)5. Host (2020)4. The Feast (2021)3. Speak No Evil (2022)2. Talk To Me (2023)1. Oddity (2024)1*. Sinners (2025) Mike Campbell’s List: By Rank 25. Uncle Peckerhead (2020)24. The Black Phone (2023)23. When Evil Lurks (2023)22. The First Omen (2024)21. Cavin Fever (2002)20. Extra Ordinary (2019)19. Us (2019)18. Unsane (2018)17. Halloween (2018)16. VHS (2022)15. Kill List (2011)14. The Innkeepers (2011)13. The Void (2016)12. The Last Shift (2014)11. The Ruins (2008)10. Talk To Me (2023)9. Queen of Black Magic (2019)8. One Cut of the Dead (2017)7. The Conjuring (2013)6. Dawn of the Dead (2004)4. The Ring (2002)3. Satan’s Slaves (2017)2. Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)1. House of the Devil (2009) Heather Alexander’s List: No Particular Order Mads (2024)First Omen (2024)Evil Dead Rise (2023)Talk to Me (2023)Smile (2023)Train to Busan (2016)The Witch (2015)Dawn of the Dead (Snyder remake) (2004)Martyrs (2008)The Ruins (2008)House of the Devil (2009)Jennifer’s BodyThe Conjuring (2013)A Quiet Place (2018)In a Violent Nature (2024)It Follows (2014)Ginger Snaps (2000)The Descent (2005)Hell House LLC (2015)The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)Ready or Not (2019)Cabin in the Woods (2011)Strange Darling (2024)As Above So Below (2014)X (2022) Jeff Dean’s List: Ranked Jeff was the inspiration for the 200th episode. He shares hosting duty for the Portland Horror Trivia Massacre with Heather. It has been a while, but Jeff assisted us with some of our earliest episodes: Episode 52: Horror History 1970-1975, and Episode 53: Medical Malfeasance. Jeff was good enough to provide directors for his movie list! 25. Freddy vs. Jason(2003)        dir. Ronny Yu24. Prey  (2022)       dir. Dan Trachtenberg23.  The Neon Demon  (2016)        dir. Nicolas Winding Refn22.  Eyes of my Mother  (2016)       dir. Nicolas Pesce21.  Lamb(2021)       dir. Valdimar Johannson20.  El Conde  (2023)      dir. Pablo Larrain19.  Doctor Sleep (2019)      dir. Mike Flanagan18.  Triangle (2009)      dir. Christopher Smith17.  Trick ‘R Treat(2009)      dir. Michael Dougherty16.  Hereditary (2018)       dir. Ari Aster15.  Tigers are Not Afraid (2017)       dir. Issa Lopez14.  The Descent (2005)       dir. Neil Marshall13.  Candyman  (2021)       dir. Nia DaCosta 12.  Mandy(2018)       dir. Panos Cosmatos 11.  Pearl  (2022)       dir. Ti West  10.  REC (2007)       dir. Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza  9.  The Night House (2021)       dir. David Bruckner 8.  Gretel & Hansel (2020)       dir. Osgood Perkins 7.  Three Extremes  (2004)       dir. Takashi Miike and Fruit Chan and Park Chan-wook 6.  I Saw the Devil  (2 dir. Kim Jee-woon 5.  The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)      dir. Andre Overdal  4.  Shadow of the Vampire (2000)      dir. E. Elias Merhige 3.  Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)      dir. Don Coscarelli 2.  The Witch  (2015)      dir. Robert Eggers  1.  Let The Right One In  (2008)      dir. Tomas Alfredson 

Amna Vegha and Betsy Sligh in Dooba Dooba (2020) Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸Written and Directed by Ehrlend Hollingsworth How is it that babysitting, traditionally the lowest common denominator flexible starter job, is so dangerous? Dooba Dooba is a lo-fi found footage film exploring the perils of a woman babysitting an odd girl full of tricks and dark secrets. If you think you know babysitter horror, think again; this movie has some wild twists. The film creates a moat of anxiety which will have you twitching from the dramatic irony of knowing too much, while the characters head blindly into awful decisions. Babysitting is a proud, tried-and-true horror trope, and Dooba Dooba has found a new dark corner to explore. Classically, the babysitter is subject to a third-party killer (Halloween, A Stranger Calls, Here for Blood). Sometimes the sitter is the issue (The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Emelie). Dooba Dooba belongs to the third variety, where the children are the scary things. The best comparison would be You Better Watch Out, or The Boy. If you know, you know. In an age where even independent filmmakers have access to 4K hi-def technology, it can be jarring to see a decidedly low-tech method of filmmaking. The film was shot for a paltry sum of $11,000. Like Paranormal Activity, the movie relies on static security camera footage and has the found footage feel, without the nausea-inducing shaky cam aspects of this sub-genre. When the film zooms in on the scene, the image quality gets very grainy. What separates this film from its found footage peers is the acting performance. Like most micro-budget indie films, Dooba Dooba features a cast of unknowns. However, rather than feeling like amateur night, the performances flowed naturally, as if you were a voyeur watching this unfold. The found-footage stylings assisted in the verisimilitude. The Cast of Dooba Dooba Amna Vegha plays Amna, an aspiring singer who has to take up a babysitting gig to make ends meet. Betsy Sligh plays Monroe Jefferson, an anxiety-addled home-schooled junior in high school. She dislikes being left at home and enjoys games and challenges. Erin O’Meara plays Taylor Jefferson, Monroe’s doting mother. Winston Haynes plays Wilson Jefferson, Monroe’s intense father. Billy Hulsey plays Roosevelt, a special guest star in Monroe’s video. Wilson (Winston Haynes) and Taylor (Erin O’Meara) give Amna Vegha babysitting instructions in Dooba Dooba (2025) A Short Synopsis of Dooba Dooba In the opening credits, the audience is informed that this film is: A final project presented by Monroe Jefferson to the adjudicatiors, in partial fulfilment for a degree with honors of high school equivalency.” It stars the entire Jefferson family and Amna Vegha, who came to babysit Monroe on Friday, May 13, 2022. When Amna arrives, Taylor and Wilson inform her that they are heading out for a party and won’t be back until morning. This party is going to involve lots of alcohol, and they don’t want to drive back home intoxicated. Monroe suffers from anxiety due to her brother having been murdered in the room next to her when they were kids. Wilson explains that, due to the incident, the house is now equipped with numerous security cameras. (Setting necessary for the found footage format.) When brought upstairs to meet Monroe, Taylor calls out “Dooba Dooba” as an announcement to Monroe that the approaching footsteps are friendly and familiar. After the parents take off, Monroe is a bundle of manic energy. She is full of unvarnished honesty, raw suspicions, and crushing self-doubt. She knows that it isn’t normal for a sixteen-year-old to be babysat, and she wants to be a normal girl for once. But she’s anything but normal. Monroe is a master manipulator. She fakes injuries and insists on playing games like truth or dare that put Amna into impossible situations. Amna is far too sensitive and passive to counter the wild fluctuations that Monroe presents. Monroe’s personality fluctuates between needy and vulnerable and angry and accusatory. Meanwhile, the audience is informed that a boy is being held prisoner somewhere on the premises. Hmmm. Suspicious! Eventually, Amna gets worn down. When an opportunity to bail out of her predicament arrives, she calls upon her sister to pull off “The Old Switcheroo.” It’s a big, high-risk, high-reward decision that is being made in a moment of desperation. This whole situation has gotten out of hand, and Amna is trying to get out while she still can. Evaluation of Dooba Dooba Here is a piece of advice: Only babysit kids you know. Also, if there seems to be something a little off with the parents, and you get THIS backstory told to you? Turn around and get back in your car. Unfortunately, Amna is too polite to say no. The power of Found Footage comes from authenticity. It feels unvarnished, and the association with home movies creates a veneer of honesty. As a result, Dooba Dooba reels you in and pours dread sauce all over you. It isn’t the payoff so much as the build-up with this movie. Monroe has the upper hand in all of her dealings with Amna. Amna does not have any real authority here, despite being nominally responsible for overseeing Monroe. Betsy Sligh channels Rhoda Penmark (The Bad Seed) as a sociopathic kid for the ages. Upon second watch, I recalled the opening credits, where this was a staged presentation, set up by Monroe. However, who she would send this damning evidence to for certification is dubious. This film wouldn’t get her a GED, but rather time in the big house. Amna Vegha is the audience’s POV perspective. There are multiple moments where Amna must be considering “Is this worth it?” or “How did I get myself into this position?” You come to understand why Amna makes the fateful decisions she does, but at the same time, this has felt like a trap from the very beginning. This feels like a raw film. Raw looking. Raw nerves. By the end of the film, it isn’t Monroe who is suffering from anxiety. It’s the audience. The Production Dooba Dooba proceeds quickly, with a runtime of only 77 minutes. The story is compact and compelling. Your enjoyment of the film may depend on whether you appreciate the lo-fi production values. Found footage films fully embrace the gritty and unvarnished look. At first glance, the production values feel shoddy. However, upon closer examination, the crew demonstrated great creativity in its execution. The opening establishing shots are in full 4K level clarity. The grainy quality was deliberate. Remember, Monroe “Shot” this film. Dooba Dooba benefits from utilizing the multitude of cameras in the editing process, often switching to Monroe’s point of view in a muffled, shaky cam. Additionally, the use of exaggerated low-angle and top-down camera angles effectively heightens the tension, as it removes the point of view to positions that remove the human level context. The through-the-keyhole shot of Amna gets big style points within a film that might otherwise feel static. Hollingsworth squeezed every last drop out of this tiny budget. Less successfully, the movie included some historical documentary footage, featuring political quotes that were difficult to integrate into the film’s context. An exception to this rule was the equation of James Monroe to Jeffrey Dahmer. How the Monroe Doctrine and serial cannibal killing are related, I’m not sure, but it made me chuckle. Amna Vegha filmed through a keyhole in Dooba Dooba (2025) Concluding Thoughts: Hollingsworth electrified the audience with an amusing introduction to his movie at the Portland Horror Film Festival. He took the babysitting trope to new places and successfully squeezed the pressure points in the plot for maximum tension. After interviewing Hollingsworth, I found him full of clever concepts and full of potential. I would have liked a bit more background for Ama. However, if we are to accept the idea that this is Monroe’s film, we won’t get Amna’s story. How did Amna come to know of this job? Why would she be so desperate to take this odd opportunity? The film ends with a pair of haymaker blows that left me a little numb at the finish. This film is unrated. Likely, it would receive an R-rating for violence and intensity. A mature teenager could likely handle the content of this movie. Dooba Dooba is nearing the end of its festival run and got picked up by Dark Sky films, and will be looking for a streaming release later this year (and perhaps a few select theatrical showings.) An Interview with Dooba Dooba director Ehrland Hollingsworth and producer Josh Harris. I got the opportunity to interview the creative (and zany) duo of Hollingsworth and Harris, and they surprised me with an unexpected serenade! I haven’t laughed this hard on a Scariest Things Podcast before… Josh Harris, Eric Li, and Ehrland Hollingsworth at the Portland Horror Film Festival.

A close-up of Raquel Lebish in It Needs Eyes (2025) Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸Written and Directed by Zack Ogle and Aaron Pagniano It Needs Eyes examines the link between the dangers of obsessive and addictive behavior when coping with grief. “It”, in this case, is the dark web. Brutal social media requires people to watch the dreadful material to have any power. It has found an addict, corrupting the otherwise innocent Rowan, who is struggling through grief by watching things she should not see. This is a beautiful, slow-burning movie featuring terrific performances from young actresses Raquel Lebish and Isadora Leiva. The film never terrifies, but the story will get under your skin and unnerve you. Rowan is a young woman dealing with her only remaining parent suffering from family trauma, and turning to increasingly brutal and ominous social media. Her imagination and obsessions run wild, as she descends into the madness of dubious influences. As Rowan plows through snuff films, self-mutilation YouTube videos, and bizarre dark web social media, her innocence slips away. Will she accept the support of the only two people who love and care for her? Or, will she allow the fascination with a hidden world of nastiness to claim her? Ogle and Pagniano, two young and talented filmmakers, took on a workshop challenge to produce a micro-budget independent movie, and It Needs Eyes was the remarkable result. It is a testament to the level of technology now available to aspiring independent movie makers that a film with this much polish can be accomplished for only $30,000. But for all the terrific 4K camera visuals and drone shots, it is the acting that carries this movie. The Cast of It Needs Eyes Raquel Lebish plays Rowan, a teenage girl who has been forced to spend her summer at her Aunt’s house on the Connecticut coast, following the hospitalization of her father for mysterious reasons. Isadora Leiva plays Alex, a cheeky girl next door who takes a fancy to Rowan. She is a “cam girl” who goes by the pseudonym AleXXX online. Lydia Fiore plays Mella, Rowan’s Aunt, who runs a coffee shop in town. Lola Blanc plays Fishtooth, who appears in some very strange videos from the late eighties that Rowan discovers and becomes her obsession. Isadora Leiva and Raquel Lebish in It Needs Eyes (2025) A Short Summary of It Needs Eyes: Rowan doesn’t want to stay with her Aunt Mella, but she doesn’t have a choice. Her mother passed away a long time ago, and her father is recuperating under mysterious circumstances at a hospital. Rowan is a typical teenager, consumed with social media on her phone. She is a bit of an introvert, however. Curiously, she doesn’t spend time texting friends or posting on Instagram, like so many teens. Instead, in her grief and confusion, she dives deep into the dark web. She searches for “Fucked up videos”. This includes bizarre animations, advice on narcotics, random street violence, humiliation, self-mutilation, and even stumbles into some snuff films that shake her to her core. But she can’t look away from what she sees. She is addicted. And she is lonely. Her Aunt Mella does her best to encourage her to get some fresh air and away from her phone. One night, she notices a purple glow coming through her bedroom window. From a neighboring house, waving from her bedroom window, is Alex. The neighbor girl flirts with Rowan while she simultaneously performs as a sexy cam girl for libidinous men online. They are mirrors of each other. Rowan is the girl who appears cautious and innocent on the surface, but is secretly obsessed with the darkest sins of humanity. Alex is a flamboyant rebel who has a sweet and caring disposition under the surface. The two of them mesh instantly and become inseparable almost immediately. Unfortunately, finding a new girlfriend doesn’t break Rowan’s fascination with the far corners of the dark web. She became obsessed with 8mm film videos of a strange group of people at a Camus-like, absurd, and existential party, featuring Fish Tooth, an actress who had been reported missing many years ago. These videos are oddly melodramatic and full of expressions of frustration, loss, and rage. Rowan identifies with Fish Tooth’s disconnection from reality and strange behavior. Also, Rowan becomes fascinated with a nearby reputedly haunted island, which she believes holds the key to many of her morbid mysteries. These two mysteries tug at Rowan like a siren’s call. These haunting attractions are filling the void in her life that the absence of Rowan’s father left behind. As she learns more about her dad, she spirals deeper into the unhealthy social media she has been ingesting. It is up to Alex and Aunt Mella to pull her out, but it may all just be too late. Evaluation: It Needs Eyes manages to connect by defying the expected portrayals of the characters. All three main characters —Rowan, Alex, and Mella —could have easily slipped into stereotypes and caricatures. Instead, they rendered fully fleshed-out protagonists worth rooting for. Achieving great chemistry and natural performances from actresses with such short resumes is a victory for this production. In a bit of fun irony, perhaps the most nerve-wracking scene in the film is when Rowan sneaks into her Aunt’s room to steal a credit card so she can subscribe to Alex’s cam-girl channel. Such stress! I don’t say that to diminish the horror aspects of the film, but the horror in this film is more suffocating than savage. The dread creeps up and slowly consumes Rowan, who isn’t as afraid as she should be. It Needs Eyes reminds me of Videodrome. Memories of “Long Live the New Flesh!” echoed early in the movie, and these allusions were amplified with a hand out of the TV moment. Technology is a poor substitute for relationships, and Rowan is slow to recognize this. I would have liked more of the fantastical elements in the film, which don’t materialize until the third act. However, Ogle and Pagniano invested heavily in the character arcs, and the movie works emotionally; perhaps that restraint paid off. I struggled with the jarring juxtaposition of the Fish Tooth story, even though it is crucial for the movie’s payoff. The tone is unnatural in the surreal videos, in contrast to the naturalistic depiction of Rowan, Alex, and Mella. I recognize that Rowan found those weird videos compelling, but I was less engaged with them, and it bogged down the pacing of the film. It Needs Eyes delivers a melancholy and surreal ending that delves fully into metaphysics and will be worth debating with your friends after the credits roll. Rowan (Raquel Lebish) sees something she shouldn’t in It Needs Eyes (2025) Lola Blanc is Fish Tooth, a missing actress from 30 years ago in It Needs Eyes (2025) Concluding thoughts: This is a big step up for the young duo of Ogle and Pagniano. I am a big fan of their collaborative short film, “We Got a Monkey’s Paw,” a hilarious cautionary tale that utilizes the classic monkey’s paw device. Pagniano directed it, and Ogle starred and produced the short. The result is pure horror comedy short gold. However, Pagniano’s feature debut, Sunset on the River Styx, was an ambitious feature film that, for me, overshot its ambitions. I found the brooding, slow-burning script too meandering, and the pacing a bit of a drag. Fortunately, It Needs Eyes fully restored my faith in the duo. It Needs Eyes won the Ghoul D’Or prize for Best Feature Film at the Portland Horror Film Festival. Watch as this duo continues to develop their craft. Hopefully, this film will inspire a studio to give them a bigger budget, as I would love to see how they can spin their inspiration with proper funding. The film embraces a liminal horror medium, and some of the still-life cinematography is gorgeous. Emblematic is the close-up eye imagery. The digital media in the cornea is not a special effect, but rather a carefully composed, tight shot, with a very patient actress and a good eye (pun intended) from the directors. Get up close, and get the shot! Both Lebish and Leiva are destined for greater things. Both of them are hugely attractive and demonstrated real thespian chops. I would love to see both of them flourish within the horror genre. Perhaps as the Pagniano and Ogle team continues to develop their brand, they can continue to work together. Here is the Question and Answer Session for the It Needs Eyes team at the Portland Horror Film Festival: Hosted by Brian and Gwen Callahan, directors of the PHFF. On the stage are Zack Ogle, Isadora Leiva, producer Travis Campbell, and the sound designer Nathaniel Smith. I missed Brian’s opening question. The Q&A begins with Nathaniel responding to Brian’s first question about the sound production. The session was fun and lively, but be warned: There are some spoiler items in the Q&A. The Scariest Things interview with It Needs Eyes director Zack Ogle and producer Travis Campbell. I discussed It Needs Eyes with Zack and Travis in the upstairs lounge at the Hollywood Theater. My favorite part of attending film festivals is discussing movies with their filmmakers. Give it a listen! Interviewing Travis Campbell (L) and Zack Ogle (R) from It Needs Eyes (2025) It Needs Eyes is currently in its early stages of the festival circuit run. They have many upcoming festivals scheduled to showcase the movie. The next festival they have announced is a return to Portland for Queer Screams, taking place from August 1-3 at the Clinton Street Theater. So, if you missed it the first time here in PDX, it will be back soon! The MPAA has not rated this movie. There are some gnarly images, particularly for the streaming nasties that Rowan watches, and there are suggestive sexual situations, but mature teens would appreciate the movie. However, audiences will reflexively wince and cover their eyes during some scenes. An R rating would be appropriate. Fans seeking a rock-em sock-em violence showcase will likely be disappointed, but those looking for an introspective and character-forward drama will enjoy this film. It’s a thoughtful and emotional palette of dread. Review by Eric Li

Ethan Embry and Li Jun Li in Alma and the Wolf (2025) Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸Directed by Michael Patrick JannWritten by Abby Miller Alma and the Wolf spins a strange and surprising story that weaves themes of unfulfilled dreams and dark secrets. Ethan Embry, Li Jun Li, and the rest of the cast provide an emotionally poignant and ultimately tragic fable. Part psychological thriller, part folk horror, this film may be the best showcase of Embry’s acting chops in his extensive filmography. This movie was the opening film at the Portland Horror Film Festival. Now and again, a character actor with a proud working history in Hollywood gets a big break as the headliner of a horror film. Being first in the call sheet has not been common in Ethan Embry’s career, but his 106 titles have stamped him as a reliable “that guy” character actor ever since his youthful turn in Vegas Vacation 28 years ago. Li Jun Li hasn’t been in the business as long as Embry, but she, too, has a multitude of mostly TV credits to her name, but has found herself on a bit of a hot streak, having performed in the recent horror hit, Sinners. Together, they deliver a terrific chemistry that weaves a complex, decades-old relationship. This protagonist-forward story carries a great deal of emotional weight, looping, twisting, and ultimately becoming heartbreaking. This movie is saturated with loneliness and regret, interspersed with some fun and silly absurdity to keep you engaged until the startling finish. Prepare to scratch your head. Not to say the film is confusing, but it does have layers of ambiguity and hints of alternate realities that move down parallel paths. A second watch may be required to catch all the idiosyncrasies of the plot. The Cast of Alma and the Wolf Ethan Embry plays Ren Arnold, a deputy sheriff who has spent his entire life in the small coastal Oregon town of Spiral Creek. He lives with a mountain of regrets of missed opportunities and perceived underachievement, turning himself into the town drunk. Li Jun Li plays Alma, another long-time resident of Spiral Creek. She and Ren grew up together, but although they were attracted to each other as youngsters, they never had a significant relationship… until now. Jeremie Harris plays Murphy, a new deputy in town. He is an easy-going man who prioritizes “peace” as a peace officer. He is competing with Ren for the open lieutenant position at the department. Lukas Jann plays Jack, Ren’s teenage son who has a tremendous pitching arm. Ren lives vicariously through the potential of his son, but due to Ren’s alcoholism, their relationship is strained. Kevin Allison plays Sheriff Stanton, who prefers to handle confrontations with breathing exercises rather than force. Dana Millican plays Ren’s ex-wife, Connie. She is now in a relationship with Principal Griffin of Spiral Creek High School, much to Ren’s dismay. Alexandra Doke plays Pam, the receptionist at the sheriff’s office, and Stanton’s daughter. She enjoys town gossip and is a world-class busybody. A Brief Synopsis of Alma and the Wolf Ren Arnold is a hot mess. He may not show it on the outside, but self-destruction lies right below the surface. He recently separated from his wife, Connie, who took their son with her. Ren lives with constant regret. He feels stuck in the lonely seaside hamlet, unable to parley his previous baseball skills into a ticket out of town. Now he is stuck as a sheriff’s deputy, relegated to chasing off high school drinkers and availing himself of their ill-gotten booze. The office summons him to a situation for him to investigate. Alma, one of his old high school crushes, is wandering the misty highway outside town, carrying the corpse of her mutilated dog, Tigger. She is found walking the road in a tank top and shorts, soaked to the bone, and covered in blood. When Ren takes her back to the office for questioning, she claims that a wolf and a herd of goats destroyed her dog. She implores Ren to kill the wolf. Ren then sneaks off to watch his son pitch, accompanied by the new deputy Murphy, as Ren pounds impounded beers under the bleachers. He makes a drunken fool of himself in front of his wife and son, and while on his way home, runs into the goats and wolf Alma described, but he fails to kill the wolf, which becomes a bipedal wolfman. Fortunately for Ren, the werewolf disappears. Was this a drunken dream? This movie gets weird starting with the second act. The next day, Ren is approached by Alma at the sheriff’s office, and she asks him on a date. He anxiously agrees, but he has forgotten that that night, Jack is staying with him. Jack tells his dad to take the date, and that he’ll be fine. Ren knows that a baseball scout had come to see Jack pitch, and he is vicariously excited for his son to achieve what he could not. Ren goes on his date with Alma, not knowing that he won’t see his son again. The wolf has struck again. Ren’s life not only turns upside down, but sideways as well. A manhunt is on to find Jack, but strange forces are at play. Is there a cult? What is that werewolf? What’s up with those sheep? Why is everyone in town getting sick? Deja vu takes hold, and flashbacks interrupt Ren’s line of thinking. Reality bends and twists as motives are revealed, alibis fall apart, and a horrible and uncomfortable truth comes to the fore. Evaluation of Alma and the Wolf: Ren is the ultimate unreliable narrator. Living in a drunken haze and suffering from mountains of anxiety and stress, Ren confronts his world from an unstable platform. The story features many quirky characters, and there are some genuine Twin Peaks vibes at play. Alternately, consider the ’90s sitcom Northern Exposure, but with a helping of mean and nasty to go along with the small-town PNW experience. Portland has a saying: “Keep Portland Weird.” That ethos carries over to the Oregon coast for this movie. Embry shines in this role. Ren is a character with a lot of depth and texture. Embry manages to draw out joy, rage, sorrow, and confusion in a palpable portrayal. Li Jun Li is delightful and hard to pin down. I loved watching her in Sinners, and she mirrors Embry well. For me, the revelation is the young actor Lukas Jann. There is a Timothy Chalamet quality to his work. (It helps that they look similar.) Jann plays Jack with natural grace. Nothing forced, and he is the emotional core of this plot. The ensemble embodied the eccentricity of an isolated small town that enjoys breaking stereotypes. Weird can get in the way of clarity, though. Michael Patrick Jann plays sleight of hand with his filmmaking. Sets and locations unexpectedly change without explanation. Ren appears to be living in a lovely suburban home, but later wakes up in a ramshackle trailer home. Which one is the real home? Curious, indeed. Alma has many varied forms, and yet none of them are thoroughly investigated. Again, unreliable narrator. Who, or what, is Alma? Eye of the beholder, I assume. She isn’t a figure of Ren’s imagination, as other characters interact with her. Is this a strength or a weakness of the film? My thoughts are mixed. Conclusion: I loved the cast and characters. The emotional current through the movie won me over. The ending is devastating. Be prepared for that. And, allow yourself just to get lost in the plot nuances. This movie relies heavily on thematic resonance rather than logic or reason. Alma and the Wolf deftly uses absurdism, and does not overplay its hands. Among the crowd-pleasing scenes is the confrontation between Ren and Murphy and the flock of “deadly” goats. Does it make sense? Hello no! Is it fun? Absolutely. There is some risk in the mixed tone of this movie. Like a David Lynch film, it draws you in and out of conventional storytelling, blending purely wacky moments. It spends much of the time building up how unusual and endearing the characters are, and then it crushes some of them in a jarring fashion. The costumes were… adequate. We do get a good transformation scene, but the monsters aren’t anything to write home about. The wolf, werewolf, and goats take a back seat to the psychological trauma. The Oregon coast also plays a significant role in the film. There is a Brontë-esque quality to the coast in winter. Mist, gloom, and beach grass apply a folk-horror quality to the visuals. It is both lovely and sad. If this film had been shot in the summer, it would be a different story. The northern Oregon coast is spectacular in the summer, but in the winter, it can be quite gloomy. It worked for me. I’ll watch it again, and I’ve seen it three times now. I had the opportunity to interview Ethan for the film, but sadly, my recorder batteries gave out mid-recording. I managed to record a lively Q&A session at the Portland Horror Film Festival, and I think you’ll enjoy it. Alma and the Wolf Q&A from Portland Horror Film Festival Alma and the Wolf is still on the festival circuit. It is rated R for some strong violent content/gore, and language. This Paramount picture is now available streaming on many platforms, including Amazon Prime. Eric, interviewing Ethan Embry for Alma and the Wolf (2025), and ran out of batteries. Bummer! Ethan Embry and Gwen Callahan doing the Q&A for Alma and the Wolf (2025) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPLRJwXJjv0

For much of the Scariest Things crew, we are discussing horror movies from our backyard. This is our home turf. The Pacific Northwest is a suitable backdrop for horror, with its often gloomy weather, quirky urban cities, and history of cryptids. Famously, we keep it weird in the PNW, and the movies reflect these tastes. Perhaps it is the reputation of the Pacific Northwest as being a bit quirky and a haven for eccentric individuals seeking to escape civilization. Maybe it’s something in the Cascade fresh waters. Whatever it is, horror has a damp home in the upper left corner of the continent. In a genre that heavily relies on the cabin-in-the-woods trope, few places have more iconic woods than the forests of Oregon and Washington. However, the Pacific Northwest is more than moss-covered damp forests; it is a region of great variety. Rocky coastlines that are moody and craggy. High plateau landscapes with big sky that are just a few hours’ drive from major metropolitan areas. And it’s located between the movie-making meccas of Los Angeles and Vancouver. (Vancouver, of course, being part of the PNW) Oregon, in particular, hands out film subsidies to attract filmmakers, and many independent horror directors have taken advantage of the moody environment and the money. In addition, the region has a reputation for cryptids. McMinnville, Oregon, hosts an annual UFO festival that attracts a large number of visitors. The Crater Lake Monster. (Which is largely a cryptid created by cinema… few people actually believe in a Nessie in Crater Lake.) Recently, a number of PNW mermaid horror movies have been created. And, of course, Sasquatch, the king of the cryptids, is the legend that dominates the region. Because portions of the PNW are isolated, it attracts anarchists and isolationists. Sometimes they actually come to clash with each other (consider the riots of 2020). For all its progressiveness, the Pacific Northwest also harbors a number of Nazi skinhead groups. We’re not proud of that, but they are here. Hollywood has picked up on this, and we got one of the great films of the new millennium with Green Room. There is also a reputation of the area being a haven for serial killers, notably the Green River Killer, who terrified the citizens of Puget Sound during the ’80s and ’90s. The Podcast: Episode 198: Pacific Northwest Horror With all that as a reference, give a listen to Eric, Liz, Mike, and Heather talk about our favorite horror movies that take place in Cascadia. Significant Other (2022) The Ring (2002) Alone (2020) Fear (1996) Mandy (2018) Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) Green Room (2015) New Life (2024) Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot (1977) The House that Jack Built (2018) Just Before Dawn (1981) Strange Darling (2024) Cabin in the Woods (2012) Unhinged (1982) The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992) Final Destination 2 (2003) It’s What’s Inside (2024) The Crater Lake Monster (1977) The Shining (1981) Antlers (2021) The Rental (2020) The Changeling (1980)

Jump Scares are the foundation of so many horror movies. This blast of adrenaline keeps horror fans coming back to the cineplex. Great horror movies, awful horror movies—they all use them. The Scariest Things team discusses our favorite use of the easiest and perhaps most essential trope in the genre. I scream. You scream. We all scream for jump scares! Properly executed, this is the trope that will get audiences shrieking in terror. Use it too often, and it dulls the impact. Timing and setting is everything for the jump scare. Our Formal Declaration of a Jump Scream: Jump scares exploit the human’s natural fight or flight response to a threat, causing an automatic physical reaction like quickened heart beats and adrenaline rushes. A scene that shocks and frightens you so that you suddenly move. The Scariest Things Team is not hardened to good jump scares. Heather is a screamer. Mike is a jumper. Liz and Eric like to watch Mike jump. Filmmakers employ different methods to deploy their jump scares. Sometimes there is a buildup of tension, building anticipation. (The jack-in-the-box). Other times, they catch an audience when their guard is down, in a false sense of security. But, you have to be careful, if you utilize the jump scare too often, there may be diminishing returns for the scares. The traditional method: Building to the jump Build up tension, usually isolating an individual potential victim. Ramp up the ominous music. Feel free to mix in a false jump scare. A cat, perhaps. Frame the scene with plenty of open space, and place the potential victim outside the center of the frame. Trip the actual scare, with a crash, a blast of dissonant strings, and rapid movement. Go explosive. Add blood and gore for flavoring. Used in: Alien, The Thing, Paranormal Activity, The Grudge The out-of-nowhere blind side technique: Catching the audience when they are relaxed Everything is normal. Perhaps a little dread plays in the background, but this is not a particularly intense lead-up. Maybe there is a conversation, or a character going about their daily routines. Perhaps there is a “pregnant” pause… and then Launch the attack without notice! SURPRISE! Used in: Sinister, Exorcist III, Friday the 13thThis technique sometimes gets employed at the end of the movie once the audience thinks that the danger has passed. The misdirection jump Scare: Look Left. Nothing there Look Right. Nothing there Look Left again BOO! Used in: Scream, Halloween, Paranormal Activity 3, PoltergeistVariants of this include the classic monster under the bed or monster in a closet trope. You can hear our favorites and the stories behind our selections right here! Episode 197: Jump Scares! Sinister Paranormal Activity Lake Mungo Hereditary The Thing The Haunting of Hill House Ep 8 Young Frankenstein The Black Phone Se7en The Conjuring Skinamarink Deep Blue Sea The Conjuring A Haunting in Connecticut 2: Gosts of Georgia Carrie Cat People The Exorcist III The Conjuring 2 Jaws Friday the 13th [REC] Oddity Aliens Lights Out It The Grudge Is Alien the most successful jump scare movie of all time? This movie has FOUR all-time classic jump scares. Three jack-in-the-box moments and a cat jump scare for the ages!

Overlook, the great New Orleans Horror Film Festival, has delivered its goods. Long-time Patreon supporter of The Scariest Things, Robyn Marcotte, joined us to share her experiences with Eric and Liz on the festival. More than ever, I found that I didn’t have enough time to see nearly enough of the movies. Still, I was able to catch eight feature films and 23 short films. You have to pick and choose, as it is physically impossible to see all the movies. So, it became a bit of a guessing game as to what was going to be the best watch. In this episode, we share our thoughts on everything we did at the Festival. Did I make the right choices? I’d like to think so. There were some excellent movies. Here are the movies that I was able to review: Ash ★★.5 The Ugly Stepsister ★★★★★ Good Boy ★★★★.5 (with an interview with the director) It Ends ★★★★.5 (with an interview with the director) 40 Acres ★★★★.5 Clown in a Cornfield ★★★ Hallow Road ★★★★ Redux Redux ★★★.5 The Home ★★★★ (Review by Joseph for SXSW) Short Film Blocks Roundtable Other movies that we saw that don’t have reviews yet: Shrouds Abraham’s Boys Lifehack Liz and Robin weren’t particularly impressed with those movies, and in the case of Shrouds, Liz is convinced that David Cronenberg has lost a few steps. Films we weren’t able to see: Ick Drop Chain Reactions Dead Lover Touch Me Monster Island Cloud The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick The Spirit of Halloweentown Best Wishes To All Rosario The Zodiac Killer Project If you are looking for additional recommendations, the movies that we probably should have caught is Touch Me, which won the Overlook Grand Jury Award, and Best Wishes to All which took home the Jury’s Scariest Film Award. The biggest takeaway you should have is that film festivals are enthralling. It’s a bit overwhelming, and you won’t be able to see or do everything… and particularly in a tourist City like New Orleans, you should get to spend some time outside the theaters. Go to the after parties, do the trivia, and some of the panels. My experience with Crypticon (a fan convention) convinces me that you will enjoy the festival much more when you get a chance to meet and greet other festival attendees and the special guests. Overlook has been trying very hard, and has been succeeding at improving the festival experience. It’s not a cheap festival, but compared to other festivals like SXSW or Sundance, it is a bargain, and it is ALL HORROR. Thanks to Robyn for joining us this year, and we will see you all again in New Orleans Next year!

Eric Li, Luke Zwanziger, CJ Arellano, Adam Murray, Benedict Chiu, Jordan Pfeifer, James Oxyer, Sam Das, Danny Broussard, and Erin Broussard at Canal Place food court for the Overlook Film Festival horror short filmmaker roundtable. Horror Shorts are often the heartbeat of horror film festivals. They are frequently overlooked by audiences, but not at this year’s Overlook Film Festival. Each session was full of horror fans, which was great. Listen in to these emerging directors and writers for insight into how to make festival-worthy films. This year, I made a point of seeing all of the horror shorts film blocks at the festival. The feature films were excellent this year, but you can always catch the features that show at Overlook in the cinema or eventually streaming. The short films are labors of love that are condensed kernels of horror that are not as easily found. I thought it would be good to celebrate the festival’s best horror shorts by getting together with the people who made them. I interviewed nine filmmakers to discuss their experiences making the movies in a casual discussion with each other. Several of them were having their world premiere showings at Overlook. Horror shorts are allowed to take bigger chances than feature films. Big feature films are the product of many parents, with the director, writer, editor, and studio all having an influence on the final product. In the case of these films, often, it is a singular vision, with one person serving in all of those roles. When you get to show your film at a festival like this, it is a considerable achievement. There were 22 horror shorts shown in this year’s festival, and they were grouped by theme. Group one: Freaky, Group two: Apocalypse Pretty Soon, and Group 3: The Furies. Congratulations to Katie Rife, the short film curator for the event. Her selections played off each other very well and provided a broad array of interesting concepts and styles. I hope the festival bundles these films up in packages that will become available for viewing by a larger audience. (Including you!) Podcast: Horror Shorts Roundtable at Overlook 2025 Here are the films in our horror shorts roundtable discussion: Vines Directed by Luke ZwanzigerStarring: Lowell Deo, Joel Austin “A mad botanist experiments on an unwilling human subject to give plants a fighting chance against climate change.” A mad science eco tale where the protagonist and antagonist could be flipped. A mad scientist is doing horrible things to people for all the right reasons. An average Joe just doing his ethically questionable job. Pair that with leveled-up stop motion puppetry and makeup work, and you can understand why this short has been a fan favorite in many film festivals. Watch the trailer for Vines Dry January Directed by CJ ArellanoStarring: Akanksha Cruczynski, Zak Ma, Max B. Ehrlich “When Maya commits to a month of sobriety and takes up sculpting as a hobby, her crab sculptures terrorize her former drinking buddy — her brother Toby.” Pure, wild absurdism. It is almost too strange a film to describe accurately. Dry January shows off the risks you can execute in a short film that a studio would surely prevent. A woman takes to crafting a crab sculpture that comes to life as a hunky crab man who barfs up curious trivia and aphorisms to live by in the middle of the night. What? Hey, it works. I really enjoyed this film, which is an homage to the struggles of recovery but taken in an amusing direction. You will never see another film like this one. Trust me. Some of the great fun facts that got barfed out by the crab man: “Tyrone Bogues was the shortest ever NBA player at 5’3″.” “Piranhas grunt.” “Australia is wider than the moon.” “Lemons float. Limes sink.” Who knew? Watch the Trailer for Dry January The Traveler and the Troll Directed by Adam MurrayStarring: Erika Ishii, Dave Child, Brittaney Talbot, Chelsea Pickens A traveler stops to rest in a clearing of a haunted forest. Soon, they learn they have stumbled upon the lair of a terrifying troll who demands gifts for passage. The Traveler and the Troll won the Best Short Film award at Overlook. It received a raucous response during my viewing, as the clever and hilarious dialogue paired with an astonishing puppet that would be at home in Jim Henson’s workshop. The story lures you in with the classic fairy tale tropes and engages you with lovely production and silly banter. The troll isn’t all that terrifying, but he is terrific. The world premiere film also claimed an honorable mention award for Creature Design. Boy Band Directed by Benedict ChiuStarring: Jay Lee, Daniel Kim, Bruce Baek, David Phillip Fishman, Dan Hwang, Joanna Sotomura. “A member of a famous K-Pop boy band whose face has been disfigured by an accident must undergo surgery to repair his fracturing image.” This medical malfeasance tale of a pop star who loses everything, his dreams ruined by a car wreck, reflects on vanity and the price of fame when the beauty is lost. What is the price you would pay to get it all back? Body horror and surgical reconstruction echo films like The Substance and The Skin I Live In. Benedict Chiu is early in his short filmmaking career and pulls off a stylish and tight production. Watch the Trailer for Boy Band Call Earl Directed by Jordan PfeiferStarring: Amanda Kang, Isabel Powell, Maya Boyce, Alyssa Heyer, Peter Hu “Eager to make new friends, Kate attends a slumber party, but the night takes a sinister turn when the girls decide to play a strange party game.” Have you ever felt like you were in over your head in a social setting with new people? There might be something off, but the peer pressure is overwhelming, and you are determined to see past the awkwardness and gut it out. Such is the fateful decision in front of our protagonist. Every sign points to danger, but fearing rejection, she joins an unsavory activity. Short and punchy. This was the world premiere for Call Earl. Cruelty Directed by Sam DasStarring: Isis King, Blake Shields “A young trans woman is chased into a junkyard while being followed home late at night. There, she must outwit her predator and summon the strength of a goddess. ” Cruelty won the Scariest Short Film Award at Overlook, and deserved it. It features traditional serial killer stalker tropes and inverts the power paradigm. Some nifty effects and using Kali as a protector was a fresh perspective I would like to see made into a feature. The crisp editing ramps the tension and punctuates the story with a perfectly gory end that satisfies on many levels. Watch the Trailer for Cruelty Arson Directed by Erin BroussardStarring: Jerik Thibodeaux, Jeff Pearson, Thomas Johnston, Jai Benoit, Olivia Peck, and Jack Snyder An aging boy band decides to sell their souls for fame and fortune. Unfortunately, not reading the fine print could prove disastrous. Wickedly funny, with a song served two ways: Once as a pop harmony number, and following a fateful blood pact, a death metal version of the same song. Shades of Spinal Tap and Puppet Show vibes abound. Oh, how the mighty have fallen… and risen again! This was the world premiere for Arson. My other favorite horror shorts from Overlook: Los Muchachos Directed by Alejandro ArtilesStarring: Maykol Hernández, Leticia Torres, Marta Zubiría, Ryo Ruiz “Isolated in the La Palma observatory, Fran must face the last thing any parent wants to hear.” Los Muchachos deservedly won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film at Overlook. Like Pontypool or Orson Welles’ reading of The War of the Worlds, this story utilizes radio audio clues to create the fear in your mind. The zombie apocalypse is coming, and Fran is working in his observatory when the world changes due to a comet passing through the stratosphere. His wife and son are experiencing the coming apocalypse firsthand, and he is helpless as the reality sets in. The film was so powerful that the audience was stunned into silence when the credits rolled. Riveting. Slush Directed by Ashley GeorgeStarring: Emily Bennett, John Henry Whitaker, Samuel Dunning, Austin Cauldwell, Joel Newman, Jacob May “Frankie reunites with her toxic community and must tap into her dark side to survive unscathed.” Pro tip: Don’t mess with a witch’s family unless you’re fully prepared to accept the consequences. Slush paints a grim picture of returning home to a closed-minded community, an allegory for our divided times. Frankie is a clever witch whose sense of justice takes some unique methods of revenge. From someone who also lives in the Pacific Northwest, I feel that the urban-rural divide is startlingly real in this depiction. Watch the trailer for Slush Brand New Cadillac Directed by Stacy Haiduk & Sophia TatumStarring: Stacy Haiduk, Sophia Tatum, and Reina Hardesty “Lana and Strode, a mother and daughter, take to the road for a five-day killing spree.” It’s the great American road trip with daywalking vampires. Real-life mother and daughter Stacy Haiduk and Sophia Tatum channel their inner Thelma and Louise in this blood-soaked romp through the desert southwest. Mom wants to continue preying upon the unsuspecting humans the way they always have, with seduction. The daughter wants a more direct approach. This short film oozes style and sexy confidence, and oh, that beautiful Cadillac. Want one. Watch the Trailer for Brand New Cadillac The Beguiling Directed by Ishkwaazhe Shane McSaubyStarring: Benairen Kane and Kim Savarino “A burgeoning romance between two Natives takes a sinister turn as one grows suspicious of the other’s Indigenous heritage in this darkly comedic nightmare.” I also caught this film as part of the SXSW Midnighter Shorts programming. Pride in your cultural heritage can forge strong bonds. But when you sense that someone is trying a bit TOO hard, warning signals flare. Such is the case with our two protagonists in The Beguiling. What initially feels like a bonding over shared indigenous experiences and common ancestry becomes awkward; the motivations of the relationship are in doubt, leaving you wondering who is appropriating whom. You need to pay close attention as the clues are subtle, but you get clued in simultaneously with the characters, and then it’s too late. Only one of them is leaving the apartment. Watch the Trailer for The Beguiling

Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, and Noah Toth are lost in It Ends (2025) Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸Written and Directed by Alex Ullom It Ends travels with four college students on a road trip as a last hurrah before sending one of their own into the working world. What was meant to be a simple food run becomes a doomed trip down a dreadful, endless road. As the miles add up, the group struggles to determine why they have been dealt this fate, fearing that this might be the afterlife with no off-ramp in sight. It Ends resonated with me in a meaningful way. This is not only because the film is highly entertaining and a brilliant think-piece but also because of what it represents. It Ends is an announcement of the arrival of inspiring young talent in the horror genre to a stage reserved usually for veteran horror auteurs. The cast and crew are so young and gifted. Alex Ullom and producers Carrie Carusone and Evan Barber recently graduated from Florida State University’s film school, and this is their first feature film. This is also the debut feature for the talented cast, and the crew are all peers, experience-wise. This is a Gen Z production from front to back. The film punches way above its weight class, with the smooth production design, snappy editing, and punchy and often hilarious dialogue. It Ends presents a powerful emotional heft. There is a dream-like quality to the plot, and it asks the audience to be patient as the characters puzzle their way through this existential trap. It might be guilty of staying on the path a little too long, and the movie moves into melancholy in the third act, but none of this diminishes what is a stellar first outing from all involved. The extended time we spend with the protagonists bolsters the emotional weight of the story. We care about these people because we get to know them, and we feel the torment of the trial. The Cast of It Ends Phinehas Yoon plays James, who is heading off to start a job where he must wear a tie. His friends have joined him for a sendoff get-together as a last hurrah. James is the resident intellectual of his cadre of friends and can often irritate them by always trying to prove that he’s right. Akira Jackson plays Day, the group’s glue personality. Her chill demeanor helps the group from falling apart under almost unbearable stress. She’s observant and reasonable. Mitchell Cole is Tyler, an enlisted soldier with a pronounced thick drawl. He is a man of action. His courage and stubborn determination get him through challenges, but this situation may prove too much for his usual mode of operation. Tyler has a long history of friendship with James, though they have opposite personalities. Noah Toth portrays Fisher, the quartet’s goofball. His quick wit provides a constant stream of clever conversations, puzzles, and mirth. The road erodes Fisher’s sunny outlook, but he does his best to maintain a positive spirit. Remember these actors. I would not be surprised if some, if not all of them become bigger stars down the road. The producers picked the cast from a casting call of 500 actors, and they made the correct selections. There is a natural chemistry between the four of them, and it feels like we are watching old friends going through the cauldron together. It helps that each character has a distinct role to play in the car, and the group performs like a well-tuned chorus. A Short Summary of It Ends We join our protagonists preparing to depart for some late night revelry. They pile into a Jeep Cherokee, and immediately the familiar strains of close friendships kick in. Teasing, goading, storytelling, and tough love judgements ensue. Highlighted in the road trip conversations is a hypothetical “what if” game that Fisher introduces to his friends. 50 Hawks, 10,000 rats, a guy with a gun, and 5 gorillas. You pick two to defend you and the rest are coming to hunt you.” Fisher proposing an outlandinsh scenario to his friends in the car. Though, at the time, this absurd conceit feels like the nutty banter that we all have had with our friends, it foreshadows some bizarre existential questions they will be asking themselves soon. What would you do if something preposterous happened? After driving a long while into the woods of the Florida panhandle, Tyler gets concerned that they are on the wrong path. They must have missed a turn, but nobody remembers ever seeing any turn. No intersections, no traffic lights, no buildings, and no other traffic. The remote road is a meandering line. Making things more confusing, none of them can recall their destination. Tyler turns the Jeep around, backtracking to find a location they recognize. Eventually, the road comes to a dead end. Nobody saw any turns or intersections in their retreat, and while Tyler wanders past the “Road Ends” sign into the woods, a horde of panicky people surges out from the wood and lay siege to the vehicle, desperately trying to get control of the Jeep. Our protagonists manage to escape from the mob, but not without injury. After driving a few miles, they stop to gather their wits. Once again, crazed people pour from the woods, and they flee once again, back up the road, not caring where it goes so long as they can get out of the woods. The road continues. There are no hills, there are no gaps in the forest, and they cannot find a horizon. They have timed the oncoming hordes to 1 minute 30 seconds at each encounter, so they don’t have enough time to scout any stop fully. Unfortunately, the road keeps going without a break. Tens of miles become hundreds, and nobody in the car is tired or hungry. The car seems to be running without consuming fuel, and the road to nowhere continues. Soon, the group starts to question the reality of their situation. Are they dead? Is this hell or purgatory? Are they dreaming? Is this an alternate reality? Do any of them have dark secrets that would curse them to an eternity on this road? What did any of them do to deserve this? Eventually, monotony and frustration take over, testing their will. How much more can they endure? Will any of them give up? Miles turn into hundreds of miles, which turn into thousands of miles. It’s a devastating toll, but occasional variations in the pattern offer glimmers of hope but no answers. Is there an end to the road, and if there is, who will make it to the end? Evaluation Alex Ullom knows what the road represents, but he’s not telling, which is for the best. There are so many allegories at play. I personally think this is a paved River Styx, without Charon, the dread bargeman. But like the unfortunate travellers, I find this to be an unsolvable mystery, and this is just a theory. The power of the movie is listening to the conversations about solving this road riddle. Even when the tedium saps the traveler’s will, the conversations remain pointed and natural. Thematically, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to two other movies I saw at the festival: Hallow Road, which deals with truth and consequences using the front seat of an SUV as the dramatic stage, and Redux Redux, a multiverse-looping revenge thriller. Hallow Road focuses on traveling a dark and lonely road while receiving awful information, forcing grim and fateful decisions. Redux Redux puts its characters through a repetitive grinding paradox loop that challenges them to persevere or give up the mission. It Ends combines those two concepts, and though all three movies are intellectually challenging, It Ends provides the most philosophical depth. There is risk in a Fate Twist movie. The pattern needs to repeat enough times to be identifiable but still interesting. You also need to know where to put the off-ramp. The characters are supposed to get frustrated, but the audience shouldn’t. This movie is careful enough to avoid that trap, but perhaps only just in time. Traveling down an endless road pushes your ability to focus on the road ahead, and you can feel it along with the characters. To counter this tendency, It Ends cleverly uses character titles in the third act, which announces “This is new!” and re-calibrates the audience’s expectations at each title drop. Some people might not like the story’s ambiguity, but I appreciate the care with which the philosophy unspools. The movie hits with an early crescendo, featuring perhaps the best jump scares of the whole festival, but then it settles into a more introspective pace. I have overheard some people describe the tone of this film as depressing, but I felt a surge of hope at the movie’s end. Perseverance pays off. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS Ullom is poised to be a generational voice for Gen Z horror films. His knack for dialogue is fluid, with adroit comic and poetic timing. I hope he gets the opportunity to grow into that role. (No pressure!) For concepts this big and well thought through to come from a mind that is that young (He was 23 when he conceived this movie), it is staggering to think what he might accomplish. Most directors with his level of experience would be tinkering with short films or getting apprenticeships on bigger productions. This movie feels like it was produced by a veteran crew with a confidence of purpose. At the Overlook Film Festival, the festival’s director described this project as hitting a home run in their first major league at bat. The cast and crew should take a slow trot around the bases and enjoy the moment. It’s not perfect, but the film has been executed very well. Touch ’em all! It Ends will be on the festival circuit for a while longer as it looks to land a major distributor. It Ends premiered at SXSW and was followed up at the Overlook Film Festival. The next stop will be the Florida Film Festival on April 13. The movie is currently not rated, but I suspect it would receive a PG-13 rating, and it would be a great movie for younger audiences. These are young characters who are starting to figure their lives out and could intellectually challenge a teenage audience. Review by Eric Li A Podcast Interview with It Ends director Alex Ullom and producer Carrie Carusone from the Overlook Film Festival: A SXSW publicity cast still of It Ends (2025). From L to R: Producer Carrie Carusone, Director Alex Ullom, Producer Evan Barber, Akira Jackson, Phinehas Yoon, Mitchell Cole, and Noah Toth. Eric Li with Carrie Carusone and Alex Ullom at the Overlook Film Festival for their showing of It Ends (2025)

Indy is on alert for ghostly activity in Good Boy (2025) Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸Directed by Ben LeonbergWritten by Alex Cannon and Ben Leonberg Good Boy is a ghost story told from a dog’s perspective. If you have ever wondered why your dog has been barking at shadows or unheard sounds, you will understand the mechanics of this film. Our furry best friends know things that we can’t fathom. Indy is a loyal pet to his ailing owner, who has moved into an old home with a cursed reputation. If you have been listening to our podcasts, you know that I have placed Good Boy at the top of my most anticipated horror movies of 2025. I am a sucker for horror movies featuring canines, and Good Boy impressed the hell out of me. Indy is the charismatic lead protagonist of this film. The humans are the supporting cast, and we have been spared any ersatz animal voice-overs or animals behaving like humans. No horror movie- heck, maybe any movie regardless of genre- has a more honest depiction of dog behavior while centering the entire story around them. The Cast of Good Boy Indy plays himself, a very perceptive Nova Scotia Duck Retriever who is wary of his new house. Indy is incredibly loyal to his ailing owner. Shane Jensen plays Todd, a young man struggling with serious health issues. He has retreated from all of his friends and family… save his best friend Indy. Larry Fessenden plays Todd’s grandpa, who died in a legacy farmhouse, and bequeathed the house to Todd. Grandpa left behind grainy video footage that plays often on the little black and white television in the house. Arielle Friedman plays Vera, Todd’s sister who occasionally calls to check on Todd’s well-being. Todd resents her attention as he finds her concerns unwarranted and intrusive. Max plays Bandit, Todd’s grandpa’s golden retriever. Indy senses Bandit’s presence around the house, and Max may be trying to warn Indy of dark forces. Indy and Todd (Shane Jenson) check out the family graveyard in Good Boy (20250 A Short Summary of Good Boy A cell phone has been ringing in an apartment, where a worried Indy lies on a couch, allowing it to ring… because he’s a dog. He can’t answer the phone. Neither can his master, Todd, who is having seizures. Vera enters the apartment, aghast at Todd’s condition, and rushes him to the hospital. When we next see Todd and Indy, they are taking possession of Todd’s grandfather’s home, which has been abandoned since he passed away under mysterious circumstances. The dilapidated house is without power, but Todd is fortunate that his neighbor remembers him from Todd’s childhood. His neighbor gives Todd a spare generator so they can have a little light and enough power to watch Grandpa on old home videos. Indy senses there is something wrong in the house. The audience is made aware of the potential curse in the house from a phone conversation between Todd and Vera, but of course, Indy will have no concept of this curse. He smells something is off, and he can hear the remnants of occupants past, and some shadows drift in and out of the corners. As Todd’s conditions worsen, he is oblivious to the danger closing in. Indy tries his best, but his owner’s physical, mental, and emotional state dissolves, and he is extraordinarily vulnerable to the curse put upon the house and the family. The dog does his absolute best to try and save Todd, but can he rescue his master before the dark forces overwhelm him? Indy and Todd (Shane Jenson) share a moment in Good Boy (2025) EVALUATION It took Leonberg three years and 400 days to achieve what is a monumental passion project. In an age of digital animals in movies, Good Boy is an honest and tangible effort that radiates from the screen. Indy is charisma personified and is radiates supreme pet vibes. You root so hard for Indy. All the limitations of a dog are present here, but the film does everything it can to let you see and feel what Indy perceives. Nothing here is cheap. Everything is earned. There are no cloying attempts to anthropomorphize Indy. They let the dog be the dog, and we get to be on the ride-along program with Indy. The directorial choices are subtle and tremendously effective. Some of my favorite elements: The view of the movie, both from the perspective shots and the reaction shots, are low shots. Leonberg went the extra mile to get this done. The faces of the humans are largely obscured. A lot of what you see of the humans… is their legs. This is a great use of Chekhov’s device—not a gun, but something just as ominous. This is the set-it-and-forget-it tool, easily forgotten until the right moment. Indy under the bed, retreating from the ghost. The simple act of Indy sitting down in a puddle in the basement. Using Max as a connective thread of dog-dog ghost bonding. The movie isn’t perfect, though. I think the backstory of the curse could have been better illustrated in the videos of Larry Fessenden. The motivations of the ghost aren’t clear, and the nature of the curse is rather ambiguous. Perhaps I will understand the situation better upon a second viewing, but that background could have been a bit better fleshed out. While Indy is about as easy a character to root for in a horror movie, Todd is a bit prickly. He represents damaged goods and makes poor decisions, so he is not easy to connect with. I admit to being biased. I am a dog owner, and I love dog movies. However, this also makes me critical of the proper use of dogs in a horror film. This is the Colossus of dog horror movie achievements. Indy is not a dog trained to be an actor, save for his work on this movie. Getting the performance out of Indy was a trial of patience, but it also suggests great intelligence for this retriever. Concluding Thoughts Good Boy is a special movie. Because of the power imbalance between a specter and a dog, the dread builds throughout the film, offering some excellent scares. Audience members in my theater cried. This movie will put you into the wringer, particularly if you are a dog lover. At one key moment, I said aloud, “Oh, don’t you DARE!” Self consciousness be damned, I was invested in Indy. I have placed Indy at the top of my Horror Movie Dogs We Love Dead list, surpassing Jed from The Thing and Cujo. Indy operates on a wholly different doggy level. Good Boy is intense, but it would be suitable for younger horror fans. The movie has not received an MPAA rating yet, and apart from some foul language, it could receive a PG-13 rating. Though not very violent or gory, it is very intense. There are high emotional stakes in this movie. It was also very early in the festival circuit, and the movie has not yet received a distribution package, though Ben Leonberg believes he is close to getting a deal done. Note that there is also a 2023 horror movie called Good Boy, which involves a creepy guy dressed up like a dog. THAT IS A DIFFERENT MOVIE. Ensure you check out the correct one when eventually looking for it streaming. We will let you all know when the movie receives a release date. Good Boy had its world premiere at SXSW, and was part of the programming at the Overlook Film Festival. Good Boy, Indy. Such a good boy. Review by Eric Li Podcast Audio Link Here is the audio interview I had with Ben Leonberg discussing Good Boy: Indy, next to the custom camera rigs that capture views from his perspective in Good Boy(2025)

We’re Guessing Here! Every year brings great expectations. As we roll into the peak of festival season, we are given a glimpse at what movies are coming to try and scare you. In January, the announced movies are usually known commodities. Your sequels. Your reboots. A couple months in now, and we have a better sense of what offerings are on the table. In Episode 196, The Scariest Things talks about our most anticipated horror films of 2025. As you might expect, this is much more of an art than science, as rarely does the most anticipated movie at the beginning of the year-end up as the favorite movie by the end of the year. For Liz, she hit the bullseye with Oddity last year. The buzz going into SXSW was strong, and the movie delivered. Similarly, two years ago, Talk To Me was getting lots of notice from Sundance, the earliest of the big festivals. The hype proved accurate. Some films spend a year in Limbo but build up a lot of good press, like Late Night With the Devil. However, nobody saw When Evil Lurks coming. And sometimes, we have great hopes for some of the big sequels and reboots, like Halloween Kills or Exorcist Believer, only to be disappointed at what could have been. And yet, sometimes, the big studios deliver offerings like The First Omen. Like baseball’s opening day, the season begins full of optimism. The trend lines usually show up by June when the big festivals have run their course. 2024, even in the rearview mirror, was a bit of a mixed bag. The Scariest Things was divided about the outcome. Some thought, “Meh,” and some of us thought the year had great depth. What will 2025 bring? Listen in, and then one year later, we’ll see who was right and wrong! At this point, we’re still playing darts. Check out our predictions in Episode 196 here: 28 Years Later (2025) Clown in a Cornfield (2025) First Word On Horror – TV (2025) I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) Opus (2025) Sinners (2025) The Ritual (2025) Wildwood (2025) Good Boy (2025) The Monkey (2025) Death of a Unicorn (2025) Ash (2025) The Bride (2025)

Gung hey fat choi! It’s the 2025 Lunar Zodiac Year of the Snake! Happy New Year! It’s a little late, but the Lunar New Year celebrations go on for weeks, so we’re still in celebration mode, even as the calendar turns from February to March. 2025 marks the year of the snake, and one of our fans, John Foley, suggested that we do a snake-themed horror movie podcast. We’ll do that one better—we’re going to find representatives for all the critters of the Lunar Zodiac Horrorscope! In Podcast Episode 80, we explored the Western Zodiac by reviewing our birth years, examining what movies came out in the year we were born, and determining what those movies had to say about our taste in cinema. It was an interesting experiment in podcasting, so we thought we’d try it again, this time with the Eastern Zodiac. The idea was simple: each year represents a different animal on the celestial wheel. We pick a movie that includes said animal and figure out how original we can be with our selections. Or, at least, that was the original intent of this podcast. Mike took it differently than Eric, Heather, and Liz, as he looked for aspects of the animal representatives and found movies that met those themes. So, we beg your pardon for any confusion, but I think you will agree that this will be a most original podcast. There are three sets of animals in movies, and one is an abstracted traits movie for each year on the Lunar Zodiac. It’s in a speed-round method, so we plow through a lot of movies very quickly! The Lunar Zodiac Horrorscope: Year of the Wood Snake 2025 According to the Lunar horoscope, The Year of the Wood Snake is a time of big opportunities. This is a shedding of the skin year, a time of renewal and potential. The snake is wise and intuitive; this could be a year of challenge and opportunity. The skin-shedding nature of the year of the snake also offers up the potential to change your appearance and, perhaps, the way that you approach your challenges. The wood snake, in particular, suggests that you plan carefully and think strategically. Make thoughtful and analytical decisions. Though this year may be one of great promise, set realistic goals. Be wary; this may be a year when others try to manipulate or cheat you. It’s rather grim tidings, if you are following current politics. Turning our thoughts to horror movies. Think cool, calculating, methodical, persuasive… what horror movie does this make you think of? Or… if we boil it down to the simplest form: What is your favorite snake-themed horror movie? You can go philosophical, or you can go literal. We’ll give you both in Episode 195. Snake Characteristics:You are charming, elegant, sophisticated, witty, and charismatic. Snakes tend to be intelligent, creative, and ambitious. You have leadership potential, but you tend towards manipulation and are prone to jealousy. Snakes hold grudges and have good memories. Work on being more humble, compassionate, and forgiving of others. Check out these snake-specific titles: Anaconda 1997 Anaconda (2024) Clash of the titans (1981, 2010) From Dusk Til Dawn (1996) Hisss (2010) Jaws of Satan (1981) Lair of the White Worm (1988) Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (2011) Python (2000) Rattlers (1976) Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) Snake (2018) Snakes on a Plane (2006) SSSSSSS (1973) The Taking of Deborah Logan Them That Follow (2019) Venom (1981) The X-Files S7 Ep9 Signs and Wonders (2000) Per our exercise, we are also picking the rest of the Lunar Zodiac Horrorscope (Following year of the snake): Year of the Horse The Cell (2000) The Ring (2002) Hannibal S2 Ep8 “Su-Zakana” The Neverending Story Year of the Sheep Black Sheep Lamb (2022) The Witch Where Evil Lurks (2023) Year of the Monkey The Wizard of Oz 28 Days Later (2002) Monkey Shines (1988) Dead Alive (1992) Year of the Rooster Cooties (2014) X-Files S2 Ep24 “Our Town” Nosferatu (1922) Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006) Year of the Dog Bad Moon (1996) Good Boy (2022) The Breed (2006) Man’s Best Friend (1993) Year of the Pig Hannibal Wild Boar (2019) Boar (2022) Motel Hell (1980) Year of the Rat Mulberry Street (2006) Terrifier 3 (2024) Willard (1971) Cabinet of Curiosities “Graveyard Rats” (2023) Year of the Ox Isolation (2015) The Last Unicorn Mad (2007) Kong Skull Island (2017) Year of the Tiger Burning Bright (2010) X-Files S2 Ep8 “Fearful Symmetry” The First Omen – Nell Tiger Free (2023) Tigers are Not Afraid (2018) Year of the Rabbit Caveat (2020) Donnie Darko (2001) Night of the Lepus (1972) Easter Bloody Easter (2024) Year of the Dragon Damsel (2024) Hannibal S3 Ep8 “The Great Red Dragon” Reign of Fire (2007) King Gidorah – Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2018)

Wes Craven’s iconic grindhouse film Eaten Alive (1978) Who needs your fancy schmancy elevated horror?!? Turn the page back to when real horror villains had no feelings or emotional depth other than deep blood lust. These are the horror movies your mother feared you might be watching. Get ready! It’s grindhouse time at The Scariest Things Podcast! Grindhouse as a method isn’t gone. Oh no, it’s still around in a slightly more polished form. The Terrifier franchise alone has proven that the love of grindhouse cinema is still alive. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is a hugely successful take on tasteless is proof positive that there is still a big audience for cheap thrills. However, you should recognize that we are far from the golden age of the grindhouse. For that, you need to travel back to the early 1970s, when old downtown cinemas and aging drive-in theaters had to find a way to get audiences without paying the studios big money for the latest blockbuster. You can thank Jaws and Star Wars for that. Roger Corman’s influence from the 1950s B-movie scene translated to the indie grindhouse scene, upping the racy and bloody content and keeping it fun. There are three pillars to grindhouse: Sex, drugs, and violence. These are the requirements. This is what titilates people.” Mike Campbell, The Scariest Things A Brief History of Grindhouse Cinema The grindhouse movement began at the dawn of cinema. It will probably not surprise you that sex and violence have always been alluring to potential moviegoers, and that was true at the dawn of the medium. People have ALWAYS been curious. The grindhouse was a practice that promoted movies all day, with escalating costs and quality as the day turned to prime-time evening viewings. Counterintuitively, the daytime was often when the cheap thrills were available, and the more respectable programming was later. The grinders lure visitors in like carnival barkers, cajoling the curious to come in for a few coins. When the theater audiences dwindled in the 1960s, with changing societal codes, the old downtown movie theaters and drive-ins could not afford to compete with the multiplex cinemas. As a result, the grindhouse returned with increased vigor. Small theaters turned to upscale arthouse and foreign films or lowbrow grindhouse fare. Emerging genres that would find difficulty getting a booking in the suburban cineplex found homes in the grindhouse theaters. Blaxploitation. Kung-Fu. Nunsploitation. Revenge thrillers. And… pornography… which took a while to develop its methodology. Some theaters would find room for a Russ Meyer or John Waters film that would be wild and crazy but not overly explicit. Titliating? Yes. Perverse? Probably, but the times they were a changing. Our Definitive Grindhouse Films: Our podcast will discuss some of the more obscure grindhouse horror pictures. That is not to say that we think the ones we discuss are the most important, as the top of the sub-genre will be familiar enough that they don’t need introductions. When considering what would qualify for a grindhouse movie, here are the crieteria: The movie was independently made. Even mid-major studios would be a disqualifier. Apologies to Friday the 13th (Paramount) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (New Line). They have all the other attributes, but these privileged films were promoted and were released in the Cineplexes. In a way, they helped usher out the grindhouse trend. I discount Blumhouse and A24 from this consideration as well. The movie used sensationalism to promote themselves. The more hyperbole, the better. Don’t forget… It’s Only a Movie. It’s Only a Movie. It’s ONLY A MOVIE! Some combination of sex, violence, and drugs are in the movie… though drugs would be a negotiable variable. Apologies to Carnival of Souls, The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activities, which would otherwise fit the mold. Scary? Sure. Exploitation? Not so much. They don’t have the sleazy grindhouse feel. The movie isn’t aiming to be more than it is. Keep it simple! You are not trying to change society. (Even if the movie might be a change agent.) The movie has a small budget—less than $2 Million. With those considerations, here are our most significant Grindhouse Horror Films in chronological order. Judging a grindhouse film by quality is antithetical to the genre. This grouping is for influence, longevity, and impact on horror. Sometimes, the little guy has to play dirty to stay in the game. These are not the most pleasant or enjoyable films, but they have cut a bloody swath through the consciousness of horror fans. You have to respect them even if it’s not your cup of tea. Time will tell if the more recent films will be revered similarly. (I’m suspecting that Terrifier will be.) Blood Feast (1963) Night of the Living Dead (1966) Last House on the Left (1972) Black Christmas (1974) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1975) The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Suspiria (1977) Halloween (1978) I Spit on Your Grave (1978) Cannibal Holocaust (1980) The Evil Dead (1981) Re-Animator (1984) Episode 194: Deep Cut Grindhouse With that now written on a stone tablet, you can listen in to Eric and Mike discuss this topic in-depth and get some deep-cut grindhouse for you to consider. Here is a grouping of some notable horror grindhouse films. How many have you seen? Don’t Go Into the House (1979) Eaten Alive (1978) Maniac (1980) The Toolbox Murders (1978) Satan’s Blood (1978) The Beast Within (1982) The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1975) I Spit on Your Grave (1978) The Last House on the Left (1972) Grizzly (1978) A Bay of Blood Cannibal Holocaust (1980) Piranha (1978) Race With the Devil (1975) The Burning Blacula (1972) I Drink Your Blood (1971) Evil Dead (1981) Shivers (1975) Alone in the Dark (1982) Ganja and Hess (1973) God Told Me To (1976) Grindhouse (2007) They Call Her One Eye X (2022) Terrifier (2016) Vampyros Lesbos (1971) A Bucket of Blood (1960) I Dismember Mama (1972) The Gore Gore Girls (1972) Galaxy of Terror (1981) Shriek of the Mutilated (1974) Countess Dracula (1971) Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974) Not of This Earth (1988) Parasite (1980) The Devil’s Rain (1975) The Dunwich Horro (1970) Hatchet (2006) The House on Sorority Row (1982) The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) Re-Animator (1985) Blood Feast (1963) Halloween (1978) Return of the Living Dead The Howling 2: Your Sister is a Werewolf Castle Freak (1995) Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023) Black Christmas (1974) Werewolves on Wheels (1971) Rabid (1977) The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) House of the Devil (2009) I Eat Your Skin (1971) Zombi (1979) From Beyond (1986) Abby (1974) Night of the Living Dead (1968) Suspiria (1977)

It’s time to reveal our selections for the Worst Horror Movies of 2024. Sigh. Here they are, our Worst Horror Movies of 2024. It’s an annual obligation. You can’t win em all, and it is time to reveal the losers from 2024. The Scariest Things had disagreements about how we felt about the horror offerings from 2024. Some thought it was a strong year; others thought it was weak. We also had crossover on several of our best and worst selections, which made for some fun interaction. We already talked about our favorites. Here are our disappointments. For those of you who enjoy kicking a bad movie when it is down, today is the lucky day for the wrong bettors! In craps gambling parlance, this is somebody who plays the don’t pass and don’t come lines. In an era where critical evaluations come out black and white with not much grey, there are certainly plenty of wrong-side bettors. That makes things spicy! We are going to lay some shade on movies that we thought were a train wreck. Don’t be stunned if one of your favorite movies is on this list. If you haven’t gotten a chance to listen to Episode 192: The Best Horror Movies of 2024, we had an entertaining and robust debate. Even some of the movies that some of us loved were loathed by one of our fellow critics. In fact two movies that were ranked #1 on our respective critics list also snuck in to the bottom of the year list. It made for a very complex evaluation year. In a manner befitting the subject material, our worst of the year list is a bit more random than our more refined best of list. The rules are a little loose. Some of us picked three movies. Others picked nine. There are some bigger production films from directors or actors who we have a lot of respect for that somehow left a bad taste in our mouths. Other films were ones that we took a chance on, and found us unimpressed. Here are our dubious double dozen movies from 2024. Podcast Episode 193: The Worst Horror Movies of 2024

Well, that was fun! The Scariest Things presents to you the Best Horror Movies of 2024. Though it started slow, the year managed to pack in quite a few worthy films. The six critics of The Scariest Things debated who deserved a spot in the top 10, and there was a wide spread of picks. There were a few standouts most of us agreed to, but to find out, you’ll have to listen to the podcast! The best horror movies of 2024 If you enjoy a good horror debate, listen to Episode 192. Some of us thought the year was full of good horror movies, and others of us found the year wanting. The best part is that you get a nice long podcast, so prepare for a raucous discussion this year. Several movies were in one person’s top ten and someone else’s bottom 10. You get big studio hits, independent films, foreign offerings, and some Oscar-worthy films as well. There were a few films that were wholly unique this year. Oddity. Cuckoo. Stopmotion. I Saw the TV Glow. Longlegs. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Human. The Substance. You have never seen movies like these before. Original concepts abound in the horror selections of 2024. Heather Alexander, our newest critic, joins the party. Having one more voice adds so much life to the discussion, with a fresh perspective. So, if you want to validate your movie impressions from last year or if you want to find some under-the-radar picks to watch, give this a listen. I’m sure you will find something that fits your taste in horror. Between the six of us, we had 36 films included in the top 10 rankings. Great variety! Once again, Joseph Perry provided some of the most obscure films for your viewing, should you think you’ve seen everything else. Note: Nosferatu had not been released at the time of the recording. Eric managed to get it into his top 10, but don’t take the fact that it didn’t make the discussion as a slight to a tremendous picture. Links to the Scariest Things Critic Evaluations: Mike’s 10 Best Horror Movies of 2024 Robert’s 10 Best Horror Movies of 2024 Eric’s 10 Best Horror Movies of 2024 Liz’s 10 Best Horror Movies of 2024 Heather’s 10 Best Horror Movies of 2024 Joseph’s 10 Best Horror Movies of 2024 The Podcast Link: Episode 192 The Best Horror Movies of 2024: The Best Horror Movies of 2024

Horror Musicals! Just in time for the holidays: Anna and the Apocalypse (2017) Horror Musicals: When they work they are next-level works of art. It’s some of the worst material ever created when they don’t work. Eric cajoled/dragged Liz and Mike to participate in evaluating one of his favorite sub-genres, the Horror Musical. (Like it or not, Eric WILL break into song!) Horror movies are emotionally charged and fantastical films. Musicals are similarly fantastic presentations. When you pair them up, you get something magical, full of passion and emotion. Or, it’s a hot mess. A lot of it will depend on the quality of songs in the movie, but when judging a horror musical, it also should be a scary movie. If you want to see our ENTIRE list of horror musicals, you can check out our Horror Musical Dead List, which also contains Spotify links for as many of the musicals as I could find. I have tried to uncover EVERY horror musical ever made. Defining the criteria was a bit of a trick. The movie needs to use singing as a narrative method. The exposition should be sung, rather than said, at least for some of the film. The characters need to break the fourth wall and sing to the audience. Fudging around the corners would allow some recent fare like Your Monster and Smile 2, which contains big live stage performances. Both of those films are worth a watch. Don’t be surprised to see both films on the big Musical Horror Dead List, soon. Perhaps the thrilling presentation and huge box office success of Wicked (Which we will NOT consider a horror-adjacent movie, despite the presence of a witch). Knowing that many horror movies have successfully made the transition from video nasty to the Broadway stage, perhaps we can get a full feature of one of these as a reboot, with songs already written: Carrie, The Musical Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Musical The Fly Silence of the Lambs American Psycho Evil Dead: The Musical Young Frankenstein Teeth The Human Centipede: First Sequence Make it happen, Hollywood! Horror Musical Spotify Playlist from Episode 191: Now you too can sing along to a Horror Musical Jam! DO IT! American Horror Story: Asylum – The Name Game, Jessica Lange American Horror Story: Freak Show – Life on Mars, Jessica Lange American Horror Story: Freak Show – Come As You Are, Evan Peters Anna and The Apocalypse – Hollywood Ending Anna and The Apocalypse – I Will Believe Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More with Feeling – Walk through the Fire Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling – Where Do We Go From Here? Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I’ll Never Tell – I’ll Never Tell Cannibal the Musical: Schpladoikle Cannibal the Musical: Hang the Bastard Little Shop of Horrors – Prologue (Little Shop of Horrors) – Bill Mitchell, Michelle Weeks, Tichina Arnold, Tisha Campbell Little Shop of Horrors – Feed Me (Git it) – Levi Stubbs, Rick Moranis Little Shop of Horrors – Dentist! – Steve Martin, Michelle Weeks, Tichina Arnold, Tisha Campbell Lucifer S5 EP10: Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam – I Dreamed a Dream Lucifer S5 EP10: Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam – Wicked Game Lucifer S5 Ep10: Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam – Every Breath You Take Phantom of the Paradise- Goodbye Eddie – The Juicy Fruits Phantom of the Paradise – Special To Me (Phoenix Audition) – Jessica Harper Phantom of the Paradise – The Hell Of It – Paul Williams No Spotify tracks are available for Toxic Avenger: The Musical or The Apple, sadly. OR: You can go to the full Horror Musicals Playlist from The Scariest Things, which includes many other songs from our Horror Musical Dead List. Our Selections from this Episode: AHS Asylum Ep 10: The Name Game Anna and the Apocalypse Cannibal the Musical Toxic Avenger: The Musical The Apple Phantom of the Paradise Lucifer S5 Ep10: The Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling Little Shop of Horrors The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Karen Black and a Zuni Warrior Doll in Trilogy of Terror (1975) Once upon a time, the major broadcast television networks used to produce feature films for their movies of the week. Many of the great made-for-tv horror movies have found new audiences with restored Blu-Ray issuances and streaming options, giving some long-lost classics a new lease on viewing life. The movie of the week was a staple for the broadcast networks since 1944, but the heyday of the made-for-tv horror movie began in the 1970s when TV took control of the nation’s consumer media consumption. The downtown cinema fell out of fashion, with the big movie productions moving into the cineplex. The broadcast networks took advantage, finding large audiences for original movies that couldn’t be found at the theaters. The competition from VHS and cable TV had not arrived, so the networks were largely unchallenged on the small screen for options. The broadcasters hired A-list actors, and talented directors to produce these movies. Advertisers recognized the value of the Movie of the week. ABC, NBC, and CBS… particularly ABC also delved into Horror as a medium. In a mildly provocative manner, the networks recognized that the culture was changing. The MPAA re-wrote the rules of what could be shown in theaters, and it was clear that lurid and scary stories could still draw audiences. Many of the made-for-tv horror movies leaned towards the thriller/horror-adjacent genre, as the sexy but dangerous mystery was still considered socially acceptable. That said, it is hard to fathom themes of Satan and serial killers being broadcast in the sixties. The times, they have changed. In the eighties, the made-for-TV movie became a water cooler event. The producers tweaked the format to meet changing tastes. The mini-series adaptation had become extremely popular outside the horror genre. The Thorn Birds, Roots, and Shogun were must-see properties, and have become legendary television landmarks. The novelization adaptations needed more than a single-night movie. So, the networks would reserve an entire very profitable week for these efforts. Realizing that epic books made for popular television, in a way that the cinema couldn’t translate as well, the networks (again, ABC) turned to Stephen King stories to capitalize on this trend. Salem’s Lot, It, and The Stand all proved to be hugely popular mini-series adaptations. King’s lengthy tomes were naturals for the mini-series, and despite the toning down of the gore and violence of his works, audiences loved these interpretations. What happened to the made-for-TV horror movie? By the mid-nineties, the nature of television had changed again. The movie of the week had to compete against home video rentals, and the advent of “reality” television competitions proved to be far more affordable and profitable for the networks, so they got out of the business of making movies for themselves. They abandoned the notion of showing the movie of the week altogether. Serialized television provided a new outlet that by the 2000’s found a new home for horror. The X-Files was a revelation for FOX and took the notion of conspiracy theories and crypto mythology and elevated it to new heights. Buffy the Vampire Slayer riffed on a modest horror comedy and became a cult sensation. Depending on what you consider AMC (which now owns Shudder), The Walking Dead was the most buzzy show on the air for about five seasons, and proved to broadcasters that continuing narrative horror storytelling had a big audience built in. American Horror Story would follow, as would Yellowjackets, Ash vs. Evil Dead, The Haunting of Hill House, The Terror, What We Do in the Shadows, Evil, The Last of Us, True Blood, Penny Dreadful, Interview With the Vampire, and Stranger Things. The modern era of TV streaming horror offerings spoiled those younger than forty. We may have lost the individual Movie of the Week, but we now live in a golden age of Horror Television. But, go back into the horror vault to find some partially forgotten television horror movies of the week. Podcast Episode 190: Made-for-TV Horror: To be considered for this discussion, we limited the criteria to movies made to be shown on broadcast television, and it is to be a Mini-Series or a Movie, but not an ongoing series. Broadcast TV’s Horror Movies of the Week: Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981) CBS Someone is Watching Me (1978) NBC Satan’s Triangle (1975) ABC The Night Stalker (1972) ABC Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1973) ABC Trilogy of Terror (1975) ABC A Taste of Evil (1971) ABC Body Bags (1993) Showtime Duel (1971) ABC Frankenstein the True Story (1973) NBC THE STAND (1994) © ABC/Courtesy: Everett Collection It (1990) ABC Peter Benchley’s The Beast (1996) NBC Salem’s Lot (1979) CBS Satan’s School for Girls (1973) ABC The Langoliers (1995) ABC THE DAY AFTER, aired November 20, 1983. ©ABC/Courtesy: Everett Collection Werewolf by Night (2022) Disney+ A Cold Night’s Death (1973) ABC Don’t Go to Sleep (1982) ABC The Woman in Black (1989) ITV Gargoyles (1973) CBS Snowbeast! (1977) NBC Summer of Fear (1978) NBC

Cinephiles and physical media collectors, this episode is for you! The Criterion Collection has been the premiere distributor of cinematic excellence for decades. Did they find room for horror? Yes, they did! It is a very select group of films, but you might be surprised at some of the inclusions. Here are our picks from their horror library. Criterion’s Mission Statement: Since 1984, the Criterion Collection has been dedicated to publishing important classic and contemporary films from around the world in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements. No matter the medium—from laserdisc to DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD to streaming—Criterion has maintained its pioneering commitment to presenting each film as its maker would want it seen, in state-of-the-art restorations with special features designed to encourage repeated watching and deepen the viewer’s appreciation of the art of film.” When this company was founded, the world was just getting used to VHS. Having your own copy, or an available copy of a classic movie was now at your fingertips. Fans of classic films could now watch great films and create a library of their favorite movies. Important, but non-commercial movies rarely got shown in theaters, and by the eighties, the places where they did play, the small independent movie houses were being replaced by cineplexes that would present new releases and big blockbuster films. The Criterion Collection focused on the collectors. They got on board early with laser disc technology and remastered copies of legendary movies for the cleanest and best archival quality available. Low volume, high-quality curation was the name of their game. Over the years, it established a bit of cinema elitism, but you could be assured that your copy of the movie would come with director notes, actor interviews, scenes from the cutting room floor, and behind-the-scenes footage. Quite simply, it was the best packaging a movie could offer. The big question for horror fans would be: What about us? The good news is that the Criterion Collection is fond of SOME horror films. Thrillers make the cut, and foreign films are well-represented. You will find the collected works of David Cronenberg, Guillermo Del Toro, and Roman Polanski in the catalog. Val Lewton, David Lynch, Brian DePalma, and Alfred Hitchcock films are abundant here. And, oddly enough, Godzilla’s Showa era (1954-1975) is here in its entirety. How Does the Criterion Collection Work Now? Like LP records, the Criterion Collection’s physical copies still offer up the best in physical media. The movies now are in Blu-Ray 4K formats, but they still come with all the trimmings that a film historian would crave. They also have gone through the effort for many films to have new cover/poster art created for the DVD’s, much like what the Austin-based Mondo Posters has done. And, they continue to follow up with restoration, in bringing back old movies and restoring them to the most current production format. If you want to avoid purchasing a DVD and want to stream the movies, you can to go straight to the source and subscribe to The Criterion Channe where you can have access to the full library. You can find these movies on other streaming platforms, but if you want the film extras that The Criterion Collection creates, you’ll want to get a subscription. Our recommendation? Get the DVDs! Create a library! Also, this would be a service if horror is part of your film preferences, but you also love other genres. You’ll run out of horror films before too long. With competition like A24 and IFC Midnight supporting high-quality horror productions that would often be snapped up by The Criterion Collection, it will be interesting to see if any modern classics get the Criterion treatment. It is notable that the major studios are not usually represented in this process. Notably, there are no Universal monsters, for example… except for Shape of Water. Mike, Liz, and Eric shared their favorite finds in the Criterion Collection. Give it a listen, why don’t ya? In our podcast, Eric went into brain freeze on a key quote that was very quippy, and he went into brain freeze. Here is the missing quote! Mr. Peters: Got a question for you. Which magazine sells the most copies?Mark Lewis: Those with girls on the front covers and no front covers on the girls.” Peeping Tom What does it take to become a Criterion Film? These films are held in high enough esteem to be part of the cool kids club: Cure (1997) Funny Games (1997) Peeping Tom (1960) Sisters (1972) The Devil’s Backbone (2001) Tetsuo The Iron Man (1989) Equinox (1970) Seconds (1966) Uncut Gems (2019) Carnival of Souls (1962) Cat People (1942) Diabolique (1955) Don’t Look Now (1973) Ebirah Horror of the Deep (1966) Empire of Passion (1978) Epidemic (1987) Eraserhead (1977) Eve’s Bayou (1997) Eyes Without a Face (1960) Fiend Without a Face (1958) Godzilla Vs. Hedorah (1971) Godzilla vs Mothra (1992) Häxan (1922) I Walked With a Zombie (1943) Jigoku (1960) La Llorona (2019) Nanny (2023) Night of the Hunter (1955) Night of the Living Dead (1968) Onibaba (1964) Personal Shopper (2016) The Silence of the Lambs (1991) The Blob (1958) The Brood (1979) The Haunted Strangler (1958) The Innocents (1961) The Lure (2015) The Others (2001) The Seventh Victim (1943) The Uninvited (1944) The Vanishing (1988) Videodrome (1983)

Shane Simmons in The Letter (2024) Intensity 🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Directed by Vincent Shade The Letter sumptuously recreates the era of H.P. Lovecraft’s 1930’s New England. This languidly paced mystery feels like a Call of Cthulhu adventure, set in an elaborate mansion, and stocked with scheming characters with old grudges. This little indie film has big aspirations and ambitions but could have used a little streamlining. Prepare yourselves for lots of exposition and dark musings in period dialogue, while appreciating the fine details and rich textures. It is rare to see an independent feature film loaded with lavishly appointed sets and historically accurate props. This is usually the domain of big budget studio productions, but Vincent Shade and his team have crafted a rich tapestry of Lovecraft-era period piece lore. The movie strived for period authenticity from the well-appointed general store to the creepy old mansion to the antique vehicles. Appropriately, this film had its world premiere at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. The story begins with a MacGuffin, a letter written to a store clerk, summoning him to attend to his ailing uncle, whom he was previously unaware of. The letter is of little consequence other than to launch a series of interlocked mysteries that are shrouded in old grievances, dark secrets, and cryptic rituals. The Cast of The Letter: Shane Simmons plays Jonathan Ackley (Barksdale), a bookish and earnest shopkeeper’s apprentice, who travels to Dunwich to attend to his ailing uncle, whom he has never met. John Judd plays Lord Winston Barksdale IV, a wealthy and elderly man desperate to find a missing daughter. Dennis William Grimes plays Howard Phillips Downty, Barksdale’s beleaguered butler and the sole remaining employee of Lord Barksdale. James Farruggio plays Richard Armitage, Barksdale’s former business partner and now rival. Armitage is now a mob boss who unofficially runs the dread town of Dunwich. KJ James plays Father Maurice, who knows most of Dunwich’s dark past and is the beacon of hope in town. Nina O’Keefe plays Lady Alice Barksdale, Winston’s embattled wife, who has suffered much and has been subject to untold strange rituals. Dennis William Grimes and Shane Simmons in The Letter (2024) A Short Summary of The Letter: Jonathan Ackley, summoned to a gloomy mansion by his mysterious Uncle, Lord Barksdale realizes that the invitation was a ruse. His uncle is not ailing, physically, but may have been driven mad by the loss of his daughter, Emily. Barksdale cannot pursue his hunches because he has been exiled from Dunwich by his former partner and now arch-rival Richard Armitage. Barksdale suspects Armitage has been holding her. Since Jonathan is a new face in town, Barksdale suspects the estranged Jonathan can slip into town and find her. Of course, much scheming has been festering in the background, both within Barksdale’s mansion and within Dunwich. Jonathan has been given blasphemous tomes to assist with Emily’s potential whereabouts. Indeed, that should have been a red flag. When Jonathan is awakened by Lady Barksdale having seizures, he realizes that something is seriously amiss within the old house. Are the tomes and the seizures connected? Wait and see! Jonathan’s investigations in Dunwich prove that he is way over his head. He is assaulted by Armitage and his thugs as soon as he arrives in town. Father Maurice, a local black minister rescues Jonathan from being carved up by Armitage’s goons. Maurice has been witness to the depravities that have cursed the town. He knows of Emily’s fate. As it turns out, nobody abducted Emily. She’s not even missing… but she is gone. A dark ritual summoned a shoggoth to bring Emily back: an amorphous chaotic being of pure evil intent. When things like this are beckoned from evil tomes, they do not behave as expected. It works its tendrils through the entire community on both sides of the political divide. Jonathan must overcome his natural cowardice to set things right or die trying. A heavily armed mob and an amorphous chaos monster? No problem! Evaluation: Appropriate to the source material, the plot of this film is very dense and cryptic. The web woven between all the participants is often hard to untangle. There is a ton of exposition, and every player has multiple motives both in the open and under the surface. The benefit of a Lovecraft period piece film is that it transports you to another time. The downside is that, like many of Lovecraft’s stories, it gets confusing. Again, this feels like a Call of Cthulhu (or Mansions of Madness, if the Arkham Horror board game is more your speed) game brought to life. A Call of Cthulhu game often plays like this: A mysterious invitation arrives. The benefactor is untrustworthy and devious. The community is a suspicious lot, or worse. The great evil is pervasive and clouds all actions in the town. Fight or flight time! SANITY CHECK! Showdown to decide the fate of the town. I really liked the atmosphere and feel of this film. However, I wish the evil menace had crystalized sooner in the plot. A lot of attention is spent on establishing the relationships between all the characters, and the main thread not only gets a little lost. The story has a second-act slump, as more characters are revealed. I appreciated the first-act hooks. I enjoyed the third act’s call to action. The second act, however, could have used some editing. Another somewhat problematic element was the antiquated speaking. Many of the actors wrestled with the period dialogue. It made for some uneasy pacing. Such is the price of working with Lovecraftian material sometimes. This mannered speech maintains period authenticity but feels dense for both the performers and the audience. CONCLUSION: If you like Agatha Christie – complex mysteries full of scurrilous characters, you may be handsomely rewarded with this film. It is a transportive film in many ways. The look is stunning. Andrea Grant’s original score composition soars. Having a full orchestra perform the piece is an audio treat. The movie is also a real treat for Lovecraft scholars, as there are plenty of references and Easter Eggs for fans of his work. The Letter bears the burden of cosmic horror. It is difficult to describe something as “Indescribably Evil” while simultaneously trying to show it. You want your mind blown, which sets up certain expectations. Some nifty special effects reveal the monstrous underpinnings of the story, but there is a need for a heavier dose of the ultimate dread. The story compensates for the wickedness within the characters, but I would have liked more of the inexplicable evil shown. Vincent Shade delivered a movie with all the production values of a bigger studio effort. Shane Simmons embodied a very Lovecraftian hero, full of doubt, angst, and curiosity. John Judd appears to have the time of his life chewing the scenery in his monologues as Lord Barksdale. All the actors had great moments in the film, and even some initially minor characters get worked into the central plot. At times, though, the tangled relationships worked to separate rather than bind these characters from the central story thread. The Letter debuted at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. The film is scheduled for release in February of next year. The movie is not crafted for young audiences, as the plot and language is very complex, but a PG-13 rating would be appropriate for this film, should it apply for an MPAA rating. Review by Eric Li I recorded an interview with Vincent Shade and Shane Simmons backstage at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival before having seen the film. You can hear our conversation right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmBXITCFWlw&t=45s

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead in The Endless (2017) Aaron Moorhead is one half of the prolific writing/acting/directing duo of Moorhead and Benson. The acclaimed duo produced some of the past decade’s most mind-bending cosmic horror movies. It was only appropriate that he would serve as the keynote speaker at this year’s H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, and he took some time out of his busy festival schedule to talk with Eric Li about his Cosmic theories and theses. Few people in independent cinema have risen as fast and maintained the rigorous intellectual integrity of far-out horror as Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. They have done so much at such young ages, that their resumes read like every independent filmmaker’s wish list. Resolution (2012), Spring (2014), The Endless (2017), Synchronic (2019), and Something in the Dirt (2022) built up such creative notoriety that Marvel brought the duo on board to direct Moon Knight (2022) and Loki (2023) for them. Their themes of time travel, spatial anomalies, astrological impossibilities, and the sheer vastness and terror of mathematical equations helped push the genre into heady territory. Many of his stories involve characters seeking universal truths. Through addiction (Synchronic), love (Spring), belonging (The Endless), and logic (Something in the Dirt) these characters all seek higher meaning. They risk their sanity on what could very well be beyond what we can imagine. It was inevitable that Moorhead would attend the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. This year he and Benson produced Things Will Be Different (2024) which he promoted at the festival on its theatrical release date. The Keynote Address: Reality isn’t stranger than you think… it’s stranger than you CAN think. That was a key phrase from his lecture. It referenced the not-so-humble, amazing octopus. Often used as the subject of Lovecraftian lore, the octopus is so alien and so intelligent that it defies logic. You can’t think like an octopus because the creature, as intelligent as it is, does not process the world in any way like a human might. The cephalopods can solve puzzles. But the things it can do unconsciously, like change its skin color and texture as camouflage or display are wildly beyond our comprehension. It is that sort of creative thinking that has inspired scores of filmmakers. You could see the admiration from his fellow filmmakers backstage at the festival. Moorhead was so gracious with his time. He shared thoughts about everything ranging from film theory to professional wrestling with a number of us in the green room. He was extremely supportive of all the other directors in attendance. I appreciated the community spirit of all the filmmakers this year, and Aaron was at the center of this experience. What I find particularly remarkable is that Benson and Moorhead came upon cosmic horror themes by osmosis. Early in their career, they were lauded by Rogerebert.com as “A Hybrid of Richard Linklater and H.P. Lovecraft.” The irony was that they were unaware of either of those references at the time they were bestowed with that appraisal. Now, they are fully aware of the literacy and lore of both Linklater and Lovecraft, but they came by their ideas naturally. Perhaps that is why their stories always feel fresh and uncluttered, despite the cerebral nature of their films. Moorhead generously shared some of his valuable time with the Scariest Things. It proved to be a wonderful interview. Scenes from the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Eric Li and Aaron Moorhead – The Interview Eric Li and Aaron Moorhead backstage at HPLFF The “Writing Lovecraft without Lovecraft” panel with Jay Drakulic and Alex Lee Williams (Dream Eater), David Yohe (The Daemon), Aaron Moorhead, and Moderator Gwen Callahan. Backstage stories in the Hollywood Theater green room with Aaron Moorhead, Jay Drakulic, and Alex Lee Williams, directors of Dream Eater. The Moorhead and Benson Filmography: Spring (2014) Resolution (2012) The Endless (2017) Synchronic (2020) Something in the Dirt (2022) Things will Be Different (2024)

Alex Lee Williams goes sleepwalking… ominously… in Dream Eater (2024) Intensity 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Directed by Jay Drakulic, Mallory Drumm, and Alex Lee Williams Cosmic Horror meets found footage in the parasomnia-infused Dream Eater. Documentarian Mallory and her boyfriend Alex retreat to a snowy cabin, celebrating Alex’s 30th birthday. There, they hope to relax and get relief from Alex’s violent sleepwalking episodes. Unfortunately, fate would have it that something ancient and evil is behind his psychological traumas, and Mallory struggles to make sense of it before it destroys them both. Madness and dreams are a staple of Lovecraftian horror. The Dreamlands beckon the unwary. In the Lovecraft Mythos, malevolent forces can infiltrate our minds and our world through our sleep cycle. The power of suggestion is strong, and there is only so much that our minds can potentially handle. Such is the struggle that Alex and Mallory are dealing with. Dream Eater explores the fragility of the dream psyche, using an appealing couple at its core. This is as much a story of love and devotion as it is about madness. The found footage format is not always a great format for telling complex stories, but Dream Eater manages to explain its multi-layered tale with a whole lot of heart… and jump scares. Dream Eater exploits the power of found footage authenticity to ramp up the tension and scares. The beauty is that Dream Eater doesn’t use the first-person perspective for cheap thrills. This film earns its scares. Dream Eater punctuates these fears, through an emotional bond between the characters and the audience. The characters are normal people with whom you can identify. Think of Paranormal Activity as a precedent. The Cast of Dream Eater: Mallory Drumm plays Mallory, a documentarian between jobs. She has scrapped together enough spare change to treat herself and Alex to a vacation in the snowy Canadian woods and hopes this outing will be therapeutic for both of them. Alex Lee Williams plays Alex, a troubled young man, struggling with parasomnia and sleepwalking. While awake he is a goofy and charming man, but he remembers nothing from his nightmare episodes. He is an unemployed stage lighting technician and comes from a life living in foster homes as a child. Dainty Smith plays Dr. Snape, a therapist helping the couple with parasomnia. She has asked Mallory to record Alex’s episodes for analysis. David Richard plays Dr. Armitage, a Crypto historian who helps Mallory understand what might be causing Alex’s problems. His wild theories make Mallory think that Armitage is a quack Mallory Drumm and Alex Lee Williams review the script in Dream Eater (2024) Mallory Drumm in Dream Eater (2024) A Short Summary of Dream Eater: Life has been stressful for Mallory and Alex, a young Canadian couple. Despite struggling to pay the bills between their jobs in the documentary film world, they have saved enough money for a long-awaited vacation in the proverbial cabin in the woods of Quebec. Alex has been waking in the middle of the night, muttering cryptic and only semi-coherent thoughts. He has also been sleepwalking, and more alarmingly, he has started acting violently during his semi-conscious dream state. His therapist, Dr. Snape has recommended this getaway, and since Alex doesn’t recall any of his sleeping actions, she has requested that the couple film these encounters to see if this helps Alex recall what he might be going through. So far, he recalls nothing, and his waking self is charming and affable. As the snow falls during their retreat, the parasomnia gets worse. Alex becomes more aggressive and frightening. Eventually, these events take their toll on him. Alex has been taking nightly trips into the crawlspace under the cabin, talking to a malevolent presence, and he starts having visions about a demon with a beard of snakes. Mallory grows more concerned about Alex’s worsening state, and she reaches out to Dr. Armitage, an author who describes the demon Alex has seen in his nightmares. Dr. Armitage relays that there may be an ancient evil entity that may be trying to possess him and turn him into the Dream Walker. This being travels like a curse, through troubled bloodlines. Alex’s past is a mystery, having been raised in foster homes. Initially dismissing Dr. Armitage as a quack, Mallory is in a race to determine to piece together the truth as Alex descends deeper and deeper into madness. Evaluation The power of found footage is the visceral and personal authenticity that is implied with the hand-held camera. Dream Eater utilizes a more controlled and professional documentary look (because Mallory is a documentarian) early on in the movie, and it descends into the visceral chaos of a GoPro aspect when Mallory needs to use the camera to see where she is going. It is always the responsibility of a found-footage shaky-cam film to justify the use of the hand-held camera. Dream Eater was quite successful in this, even when some of the third-person perspectives takes the camera out of the hands of Mallory. Dream Eater won the best feature in an excellent year for feature films at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. Why? Simply put, Dream Eater is successfully scary. As much as I typically dislike found footage films, one thing this format excels at is the jump scare. Alex Lee Williams transforms from a silly and adorable character into a raving wild-eyed lunatic who pops up at the worst (best) moment possible. This is essentially a two-person drama. Williams and Drumm infuse their off-screen friendship into the characters, with emotional gravitas. Protagonists you care about. It matters. It is not a movie without issues though. Mallory has horrible survival instincts. Yes, love will color most impulses, but at a certain point, all of the horror survival tropes get violated. Don’t go chasing Alex into the crawlspace. Make a plan. Make sure you have the car keys on you. Be prepared. You have the foresight to do the homework, and all signs point to DOOM, so even if you think that Alex could be saved… have a contingency plan! Having said all that, it makes the third act into a roller coaster. Full marks to the story and lore. The Lovecraftian exposition was handled really well. There is a build of the lore, but not an excessive build. I really appreciated the Dr. Armitage easter egg, and he was the perfect person to do the exposition dump. Conclusion: Dream Eater will find a home with fans of both found-footage horror and cosmic horror. The directing trifecta of Drakulich, Drumm, and Williams has been making some regional waves near Toronto, but I suspect that they could make a dent in the horror space. It was apropos that Aaron Moorhead was at the Festival as well, and getting to hang out with the four of them backstage in the green room helped convince me that they may be able to find a similar way forward as the Indie taste-makers Benson and Moorhead. When looking for the ideal actors to execute what you want, look no farther than yourselves. Dream Eater is a slice of original thinking. It utilizes the evergreen Lovecraftian concepts of dreams, madness, legacy, and spins them into a fresh story. The film is Rated R for language, violence, and intensity. It is not a particularly gory movie, but it has a lot of shock moments. Dream Eater has already been released in Canada, and the international streaming release (USA) will be coming soon. You will also be able to watch this on the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival streaming edition taking place from October 18 to 20, along with several other great features and shorts. Again, this was a very strong showing for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, and if you missed it, now is your chance to catch the films online! Review by Eric Li Here is my backstage interview with the acting/directing team from Dream Eater. Alex, Mallory, and Jay were 100% engaged, and loving the festival. Enjoy! Director Jay Drakulic – Dream Eater (2024) Filmmaker discussion backstage at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival with Aaron Moorhead, Jay Drakulic, Alex Lee Williams, and Mallory Drumm. The Dream Eater Team wins best feature at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. Making Lovecraft Movies without Lovecraft Panel: Jay Drakulic, Alex Lee Williams, David Yohe (The Daemon), and Aaron Moorhead (The Endless, Resolution)

The Daemon (2024) Intensity: 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Directed by Matt Devino & David Yohe The Daemon was a perfect vessel to be unleashed at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. The debut feature from Devino and Yohe taps into all of the key tropes of Cosmic Horror: coping with inner demons, battling psychoses and grief, dreams from the underworld, and elder gods rising from the deep. Add in some wonderfully grotesque body horror and you get a banger of a movie. Plus: we get Azathoth. If you know, you know. Some films land at the right place at the right time. Such is the case with The Dæmon, a well-crafted slice of cosmic horror that evokes all the mythos you can shake a stick at. Cosmic horror can be a trick to pull off well. Every year at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland (and Providence), filmmakers will try to convince hardened cosmic horror fans of some new profound insights. If the movie uses too much exposition, you get bogged down in hyper-intellectualism. On the other hand, with not enough exposition, cosmic horror can become supremely difficult to unwind. These types of films lean on an almost academic intelligence. They can be heady portraits of things that are explicitly unknowable. When not carefully done, they become art-school thesis projects that only the creator can understand. Or, the opposite effort is made, and the film can be sloppy and incoherent, leaning on gross-out gags to keep the audience engaged. The Dæmon threads the needle deftly, and it all starts with well-drawn characters. The Cast of The Daemon Tyler Q Rosen plays Tom, a man whose father has committed suicide, and left him a legacy of madness and doom. He has fled to the family vacation cabin to confront his fate. Sara Fletcher plays Kathy, Tom’s wife. Kathy has taken to the bottle to cope with Tom’s disappearance and fears that he’s trying to leave her. Adriana Isabel plays Jess, a survivor of child and drug abuse. Jess believes everyone can be rescued from their inner demons. Oscar Wilson plays Mark, Jess’ husband and a work-obsessed occasionally oblivious jerk. Mark is also Kathy’s brother, and they have a playful but snarky relationship. Mario Daggett plays Mani, one of Jess’ counseling patients who is fed up with her empathic therapy efforts. Nick Searcy plays Elliot, Tom’s estranged and highly disturbed father. David McClain Jr. plays Clint, Kathy’s secret lover. A very long staircase in The Dæmon (2024) A Short Summary of The Daemon Elliot, alone in his cabin on the banks of Lake Michigan is writing a final message to his son. Visions of his arm rupturing provide ominous warnings of impending madness, but he finishes his message. He then wanders out and surrenders himself to the vastness of the lake. Tom receives the certificate of Elliot’s death along with the completed letter, suggesting that visions from Tom’s youth were true. Something in the lake was calling him from the deep, from the dark, and the same thing that claimed Tom’s mother was going to get Elliot too. Tom was right, and his father was proud that he got away. Tom flees to the cabin by the lake, to try and find more answers, leaving Kathy behind without saying goodbye. Meanwhile, Jess struggles in her job as a counselor, where she strives but ultimately cannot connect with her parolee charge. Mark is insensitive or unable to identify with what Jess is going through. He offers whatever limited moral support he can, but it’s a fairly weak effort. When Kathy comes in a drunken panic to request Jess’s help to find and talk some sense into Tom, Jess jumps at the opportunity to help. When Mark, Jess, and Kathy arrive at the cabin, Tom is in an emotioanlly detached state and doesn’t want any help. Tom angrily lashes out that he was avoiding everyone for a reason. It was a warning to stay away. Tom isn’t grieving, as he still harbors old grudges about his dad not believing that Tom saw his mother dragged out to the lake by a mysterious force. He has come back to the lake for answers and he doesn’t want the others around. That night, they have a mostly enjoyable campfire, unaware that The Crawling Chaos is coming. Azathoth, the chaotic supreme leader of the Outer Gods of the Lovecraftian Mythos has entangled Tom’s family and is coming to engulf the four campers. An evening full of nightmares washes over the group. As dawn breaks, the unlucky campers face destruction by demons within their psyches and externally by cosmic terrors. No amount of psychoanalysis or plucky determination is going to stop the forces of evil coming up from the depths. Amniotic sac attack in The Dæmon (2024) Evaluation of The Daemon I have always been a champion of evaluating a movie by how much I care for the protagonists. The Dæmon superbly sets up four wonderfully flawed protagonists, who have both admirable and despicable traits. The first act fleshes out the characters well, providing distinct textured personalities. Tom is sympathetic because he has been suffering from these literal demons since he was a child, and he intended to deal with this on his own and didn’t want to put others at risk. Jess has a huge heart but gets stuck in her own therapy cookbook. Her efforts come out well-meaning, but shallow. Kathy may be a hot mess, but she’s a caring hot mess. Mark can be a douchebag, but he loves his wife and his sister. Rooting interests all. All this character development allows for the third act of carnage to land like hammer blows. These aren’t cardboard cutout characters. They are identifiable people, sympathetic individuals. Horror fans will enjoy the gory spectacle too. This film mixes in some amazing gory special effects for its little indie budget. There are a couple of amazing visual gags that may want to make you physically gag. (Or laugh!) The film renders Azathoth spectacularly, both in the night sky and deep underwater. According to director David Yohe, the imposing undersea Azathoth was a puppet designed by Oscar-winning effects man Joel Harlow. The story is tight. Despite the challenge of depicting chaos incarnate, the plot is always comprehensible. It is an efficient film, and it never lags. Lake Michigan makes for a grand location. The setting is brooding, foreboding, and at times spellbinding. The dark and ambiguous ending is a classic horror ending. It is both bleak and spectacular at the same time. Conclusion: For a first-time feature film, The Dæmon punches above its weight class. The writing, directing, and editing brim with confidence. The acting was on point, and the characters were colorful and the relationships were clear. I would have liked to have seen some more time at the cabin before the chaos hit. Some additional character interactions would have been a bit of extra frosting that could have added additional depth. For Cosmic Horror fans, this will be a must-see. It deals with trauma, grief, addiction, and guilt. The psychological horror also turns visceral, in unexpected ways. I had a wonderful time talking about this film with David Yohe, and it’s too bad that Matt Devino was unable to make the trip out to Portland, as he is a dyed-in-the-wool Lovecraft junkie. The MPAA does not rate this film. The language, and particularly the gore would make this inappropriate for younger children, but hardened teens should be OK with even the gory stuff. The heady material might go over many younger viewers. This film is still on its festival run, and it does not yet have a distributor for streaming yet. PODCAST INTERVIEW OF DAVID MICHAEL YOHE: For some delicious extra insight, here is Eric’s interview with one of the directors of The Dæmon, David Michael Yohe. He’s a funny guy, and he was so at ease in the festival. It was a joy to hang out with him throughout our time at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. Review by Eric Li https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El7FtongtY8