Posted by Mary Beth McAndrews on
September 22, 2021
I don’t know about you, but I love vampires. I love them nasty and animalistic, but I also love them sexy and stylish, like the vampires in Netflix’s new film Night Teeth. Plus, it stars queen maneater Megan Fox herself.
Check out the Night Teeth trailer below:
Night Teeth follows college student Benny who, when strapped for cash, starts to drive for a car service. His job for the night: drive two young women, Blaire and Zoe around Los Angeles for a night of party hopping. As they get to chatting and making small talk, Benny falls under their spell, only to learn that they are in fact vampires. The night bursts into chaos as Benny is thrown into a vampire war between rival factions of bloodsuckers and the humans who want to save the world.
Thetrailer boasts vibrant colors, sleek costume design, and, frankly, a bunch of hotties. Even if Night Teeth is leaning more into aesthetics than story, I’m already eating it up. Also, if the trailer is to be believed, Fox seems to take a smaller role, but she’s wearing a flowy robe and flaunting an evil smile. That can only mean one thing: we’ll see her killing boys again.
Plus, Debbie Ryan (Horse Girl) and Lucy Fry (Bright) seem like a perfect pair of unhinged, young, and hungry vampires who just want a plaything for the evening. Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Love, Simon) will star alongside the pair as the terrified Benny. Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones), Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria), and Raúl Castillo (Army of the Dead) round out the cast.
Netflix is on a roll with the vampiric creature feature. Night Teeth is coming quickly after the release of the streaming service’s vampires-on-a-plane thriller Blood Red Sky. They’re embracing the legendary Gothic figure in all its forms, and I couldn’t be more excited.
Arrow Video is excited to announce the October 2021lineup of their new subscription-based ARROWplatform, available to subscribers in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Ireland.
The October lineup leads with the ARROW release of Chad Kinkle’s sophomore feature Dementer, available to subscribers in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland. Raw and unsettling, Dementer is a brave and unflinching story of lives lived on the fringes of society, and a battle with demons inside and out. Shot on real locations with many non-actors playing versions of themselves – including Kinkle’s real-life sister Stephanie—Dementer is a deeply personal genre film with an emotional punch that lingers long after the credits have rolled. The film will debut on ARROW October 1st.
ARROW Stories will be home to a number of exclusive extras for Dementer, including several audio commentaries with director Chad Crawford Kinkle and the cast, The Making of Dementer, a brand-new in-depth look behind the scenes of how and why the film was made andIn the Words of Larry, a new interview with actor Larry Fessenden discussing his role in Dementerand what drew him to the project.
Synopsis: Fleeing from a cult that has left her scarred both physically and mentally, Katie (Katie Groshong, Jug Face, A Measure of the Sin) is keen to get her life together. On her path to recovery, she takes a job in a care centre supporting adults with special needs, among them Stephanie (Stephanie Kinkle), a woman with Down Syndrome. Convinced that the “devils” are coming for Stephanie, and tormented by flashbacks of her experience within the cult and with their leader Larry (Larry Fessenden, The Dead Don’t Die, Habit), Katie takes increasingly extreme measures to ward off the evil that is making Stephanie sick. But what if her rituals are doing more harm than good?
Ahead of the ARROW bow of his latest film, Kinkle shared, “The idea for Dementer came from my desire to build a horror film around my sister Stephanie, who has Down syndrome. I wanted to go through this journey with her and see what type of experience it would be like to create a film like this and also to see what kind of film it would make.”
October 1 will see the arrival of Dementer(UK/US/CA/IRE), Patrick(US/CA), Ban the Sadist Videos (UK/US/CA/IRE), Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth(UK/US/CA/IRE), The Changeling (US/CA), Tales of the Uncanny (US/CA), Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters (US/CA), The Frankenstein Complex (US/CA), and The Initiation (US).
October 1st’s Seasonal offerings kicks off with The Shocktober 31. 31 days, 31 movies. This October ARROW is bringing back the infamous Shocktober 31 and highlighting some of their favorite horror titles streaming on ARROW each day. From classic bloody chills to new thrills, the lineup changes daily so you won’t need to spend hours scrolling for your fright fix this Halloween season.
Titles include: Dementer, Threshold, Kolobos, Beyond the Door, Dark Water, The Woman, Audition, Ringu, Deep Red, The Hills Have Eyes, The Stylist, The Mutilator and more. Also launching on October 1st is Shocktober Essentials. This Halloween, ARROW is bringing home a devilishly curated selection of twelve must-watch collections with our Shocktober Essentials. All treats, no tricks.
The categories include: Zombies, Vampires, Monsters, Spirits, Giallo, Slashers, Comedies, Gore, Psychological, Documentaries, 70s Horrors, and 80s Horrors.
October 2ndsees the arrival of F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu(UK/US). An unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Murnau’s surreal 1922 cine-fable remains the original and landmark entry in the entire global tradition of “the horror film”.
October 4th will debut Clive Barker’s Rawhead Rex (US), following a hulking, ancient demon as it tears a bloody swathe across the Irish countryside.
October 8th packs the spooky schedule with Anthropophagous(US/CA), The Manson Family (UK/US/CA/IRE), Paganini Horror (US/CA), Vampyros Lesbos (US/CA), 100 Monsters(UK/US/CA/IRE), Along with Ghosts (UK/US/CA/IRE), The Great Yokai War(UK/US/CA/IRE), and Spook Warfare (UK/US/CA/IRE).
October 8th’s Season goes to the ghouls with Monster Mash: a suitably spooky offering of five Japanese monster movies. Titles include: 100 Monsters, Along with Ghosts, Spook Warfare, The Great Yokai War, The Snake Girl and the Silver Haired-Witch.
October 11th gets full with the spirit of Halloween, launching Fulci for Fake(US/CA), Thirst(US/CA), Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (US/CA), Zombie 3 (US/CA), Demonia(UK/US/CA/IRE), Aenigma(US/CA), Primitives(US/CA), and Massacre in Dinosaur Valley (US/CA).
Also on October 11th is a Seasonal celebration of the Godfather of Gore with Maestro of the Macabre: The Films of Lucio Fulci. From eye-gouging horrors to demonic mayhem, plus a twisted take on the classic Italian Western, ARROW is ready to unlock the gates of Hell to unleash a brand of Italian terror that you’ll never forget! Titles include: Demonia, Zombie, Aenigma, Massacre Time, Manhattan Baby.
October 15th goes deep into the dangers of the animal kingdom with The Uncanny (US/CA), Killer Crocodile (US/CA), and Killer Crocodile 2 (US/CA).
October 15th heads to the Amazon for a Season of tropical terror with Welcome to the Jungle. Titles include: Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, Robowar, Killer Crocodile, The Annihilators.
October 18thweaves a terrifying tale with Olaf Ittenbach’s The Burning Moon (US/CA), complete with two terrifying bedtime stories of the damned.
October 22ndcaps off the month, heading straight towards Halloween with a celebration of death and gore with Zombie 4 (US/CA) and 1982’s Death Screams (UK/US/CA/IRE), a body count-heavy, long-overlooked slice of Southern-fried hack-and-slash. Lovingly restored from the only-known existing 35mm print, this little-seen slasher classic is ready to carve its way into the bleeding hearts of horror fans everywhere!
On October 22nd, ARROW honors the reason for the season with a look back at a number of horror classics in the final Season of the month: Behind the Screams. Behind the Screams is a curated lineup of deep-diving docs that will dish dirt and drop knowledge on everyone and everything from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Ken Russell’s The Devils to Hellraiser and beyond. Titles include: Ban the Sadist Videos, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth [Synopsis Below], Hell On Earth: The Desecration and Resurrection of Ken Russell’s The Devils, Phil Tipett: Mad Dreams and Monsters, Fulci for Fake.
Synopsis: In the scorching summer of 1973, a group of young Texans produced a drive-in flick that would change the face of horror and become one of the most notorious pictures ever filmed. But there are many hidden levels: the distant inspiration of the Ed Gein legend, the political climate, the new independent American cinema, the funky, nauseating shoot which drove the participants to the brink of sanity, the distribution deal that made somebody a lot of money, but not the filmmakers, the creation of a cult classic which still holds as much power today as it did nearly 50 years ago. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth features interviews with every major principal (including Tobe Hooper, Kim Henkel, Wayne Bell, Robert Burns, Marilyn Burns and Gunnar Hansen), visits locations, talks to experts, covers the sequels and examines the ongoing effect Texas Chainsaw Massacre has on fans and creators.
Head over to ARROW to start your 30-day free trial. Subscriptions are available for $4.99 monthly or $49.99 yearly.
ARROW is available in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland on the following Apps/devices: Roku (all Roku sticks, boxes, devices, etc), Apple TV & iOS devices, Android TV and mobile devices , Fire TV (all Amazon Fire TV Sticks, boxes, etc), and on all web browsers at https://www.arrow-player.com.
ARROW Essentials curates collections based on genre, decades and themes; and ARROWStories takes a fresh look at the world of film and TV with exclusive documentaries, interviews and video essays diving deeper into the many curated seasons and titles on the platform for a richer and deeper viewing experience.
With a slickly designed and user-friendly interface, and an unparalleled roster of quality content from westerns to giallo to Asian cinema, trailers, Midnight Movies, filmmaker picks and much, much more, ARROW is the place to go for the very best in on-demand entertainment.
Are you an ARROW subscriber? What are you most looking forward to streaming in October? Let us know in the comments below or onFacebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can also carry on the convo with me personally on Twitter @josh_millican. Dread Central is now on Google News!
Posted by Mary Beth McAndrews on
September 22, 2021
Welcome to Spins And Needles, a monthly column where R.C. Jara digs into a famous needle drop from the world of horror. For their first installment, they dig into the use of Iron Maiden’s “Flash of the Blade” in Dario Argento’s bug-filled Phenomena.
It has been over five decades since the self-titled opener on Black Sabbath’s first studio record posed the eternal question: “what is this that stands before me?” The apparition on the cover of the LP is unsettling and impenetrable. Coupled with Ozzy Osbourne’s horrified vocal delivery, the song casts doubt on whether the protagonist has the power to confront a remorseless, ambiguous evil. This conflict is at the center of metal’s most formative records. As well, it serves as thematic feedback to the musical genre’s cinematic influences.
How Metal Became One With Horror
Since its birth, metal has been intertwined with horror. In Europe, the audacious visions of Mario Bava were a major ticket. It’s his 1968 anthology film that gave Black Sabbath their name and helped to usher in a heavier, new style of rock ‘n’ roll. In 1970, metal was only coalescing from its gaseous state. The music was foreboding and rough during this period, easily detectable in bands like Deep Purple and Alice Cooper. But the genre was not quite the formidable ecosystem of styles that it is today.
Horror, meanwhile, had seen early incarnations of subgenres from slashers to body horror (and everything in between) for the better part of a century. At this curious junction, the psyche of horror viewers was just as impressionable as the music fiends who were just beginning to shed the trappings of baroque pop. The rise of heavy metal, as with that decade’s seminal independent horror films the world over, is informed by the angst of the times. When influential rock journalist Lester Bangs wrote about this new style he incisively placed it as loud, nihilistic music written for the downtrodden.
Heavy metal was felt viscerally by sections of the working class for whom the imprint of their industrial communities left a psychological mark and, as with the taboo-breaking innovations of Bava and Hammer, the genre bore spawn. The second wave of metal is typically characterized by bands who favored the bluesy roots of the genre as well as experimentation within the realm of progressive rock. But by the end of the decade, horror and metal crossed the path of a new extreme again.
NWOBHM, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (or, nuh-wah-bum if ya nasty) was the first movement of heavy metal that belligerently wore its gutter aesthetics. From progenitors like Venom and Satan to more visible acts like Iron Maiden, the music often gave blood to ghoulish fantasies. For its distinct ability to connect vulgarity with ambitious technique, these bands pair easily with the Giallo film. Arguably the genre’s best known, the work of Dario Argento driven by the ferocity of Goblin may as well be visual representations of what NWOBHM achieves with its sound.
Phenomena, Argento, and Heavy Metal
Among the composer/director hot-streak lies Phenomena. It is a film so heavy metal that every blade in the film gives off a sheen worthy of being airbrushed on the side of a Chevy. Its poster art, depicting mystical iconography rendered by prolific illustrator Enzo Sciotti, could easily rock with the greatest NWOBHM album covers. But it is the film’s usage of Iron Maiden’s “Flash of the Blade,” on a soundtrack that includes fellow scene mates, that is the most inspired. Maiden lends the film a heroic theme that occasionally pulls its narrative from the clutches of abject terror. Benefiting from the director’s own morbid fairytale sensibilities, the film transposes Sabbath’s universal challenge onto the film’s protagonist, Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly), and gives her a sense of purpose beyond despair.
Phenomenakicks off in a lyrical fashion. An ominous wind blows from the Swedish alps–one that we are warned later has the power to incur madness. The camera soars upwards and over the dense forest, establishing the haunted path Jennifer must take later on. A teenage girl (Fiore Argento) misses her school bus and unknowingly walks into the woods to find a lone house. The thick air of dread around the property is abundant. She suddenly meets her doom in the form of a monster seen breaking from his chains just out of frame before lunging at her with a pair of scissors. The girl is chased back outside where she is decapitated at the site of a waterfall.
Months later, Professor John McGregor (Donald Pleasance) studies her decayed head and introduces us to the cadaver science that will inform part of the film’s mystery. The rest of the body has not been found. There is something after the students at the Richard Wagner School for Girls and it’s taking their remains.
By the time Phenomena came out in 1985, Iron Maiden utilized their dueling guitar and galloping rhythm section in service of vibrant concept albums. Their latest, from which the song was taken, was Powerslave. “Flash of the Blade” contains lyrics telling of a man whose years of training prepare him for a gargantuan challenge. “As a young boy chasing dragons/ With your wooden sword so mighty/ You’re Saint George or you’re David and you always killed the beast,” snarls frontman Bruce Dickinson. The protagonist is immortalized for his courage. But, he is nonetheless observed as a flesh-and-blood figure who had lived and died by the sword.
Like others before it, this song fuses mythical storytelling with a savage playing style. Courage in the face of evil is certainly a reflection of the machismo inherent to nearly all NWOBHM tracks. Yet, Phenomena makes a formidable protagonist out of a weird bug girl who eats baby food. Jennifer, like Susie Bannion in Suspiria almost a decade prior, matriculates in the wake of a disappearance tethered to her school’s oppressive atmosphere. And each time the song plays in the film, it is representative of the growth she experiences on her journey.
The first needle drops as Jennifer suffers lucid nightmares that manifest in sleepwalking and push her on the killer’s trail. The comfortable lifestyle of a famous actor’s daughter replaces the scrappy background of the song’s archetypal hero. Jennifer’s struggle doesn’t stop at the vanquishing of Phenomena’s monster, however. Her discovery of a telepathic connection to various insects, particularly a lone sarcophagus fly, aids her in discovering pieces of clothing and other clues pointing to where the rotting corpses may be hidden. This gift is as much a saving grace as it is damning.
Phenomena belongs to a handful of coming-of-age genre narratives centering on girls with supernatural abilities that were a bastion of creativity in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Many of the protagonists in them perish and become the stuff of legend. Most notably, Carrie’s titular gawky loner whose violent rejection of Christian fundamentalist ideology through telekinetic powers anchors a story that has resonated for generations.
On a more openly demonic spectrum is Alucarda from the Juan López Moctezuma film of the same name. Alucarda centers on an orphan raised in a Mexican convent, where she spitefully invites the chaos of her destiny into the lives of everyone around her. In horror, characters like these have acquired their own legendary status and defy a binary code of pure good and evil. Jennifer’s interior is equally complex. She is framed as saintly as possible. At one point she even refuses to kill a bee that rattles Daria Nicolodi’s Frau Brückner (perhaps a little too convincingly). Argento even makes the deliberate choice to position Jennifer against the authority figures in a school named after a composer wholly embraced by Nazis, recalling the structural fascism inherent to the Tanz Dance Academy in Suspiria.
None of the above makes Jennifer’s fight any easier. Lacking the reign of terror from a vicious killer, the outside world is rife with danger. The threat of being committed looms over Jennifer shortly after receiving an EEG. Swedish authorities begin to question her involvement in recent disappearances, including that of her roommate. Jennifer loses trust in her guardians and becomes the school’s pariah for asserting faith in her abilities, the daunting nature of the story creeps slowly inwards.
Her abilities ostracize her from her peer group. They swarm Jennifer, creating an ambient drone not dissimilar to the flies she conjures in self-defense. This act earns her a comparison to Beelzebub–the lord of the flies–by the school’s headmistress. The only adult with whom she has a strong connection, Dr. McGregor, is brutally killed. And Frau, her caretaker, switches gears from indifferent to straight-up murderous as the film’s mystery draws to a close.
Only by the director’s own sense of compassion do we get a full understanding of Jennifer as a person. She is pulled apart from every conceivable angle by adults who refuse to understand her. The only beings she can truly confide in share her admiration of the “multifarious mystery of the human soul” or are guides to the other side that many people would only think to swat away.
When pushed to her limit with neither to fall back on, Maiden returns to shed new light on her situation. The second instance of “Flash of the Blade” completes the narrative of the song. Jennifer’s survival skills kick in during an intense scene where she has to reach for a phone after being locked in the bathroom by Frau. The song ends before she can get any closure. She finds the discarded remains of her schoolmates but ends up in the pit herself.
Per the lyrics of “Flash of the Blade,” death is not failure. It is merely the result of devotion to a craft that continually puts one’s life in danger. We are told in the chorus that what keeps the protagonist determined is his honor. This is a quality that Jennifer embodies in her final showdown with the monster on the dock. The challenge is always in confronting mortality in realistic terms.
Phenomena is a film that breathes the stench of death on its audience and protagonist, while providing insight into what the dead can teach us. Through the eyes of a teenage girl, the world is simultaneously idealistic and horrible. Her promise to the missing girls is spiritual in nature and much of this attitude offsets the defeatism of running up against near-certain doom. This is indicative of everything metal and horror offer as genres that cater to outsiders. And if that doesn’t sound rad there’s a scalpel-wielding monkey sidekick named Inge I want you to meet.
As a skater, I’ve always enjoyed Vans for their wide, flat soles that keep my feet firmly planted on grip-tape. As a horror fan, I can’t resist genre-themed merch and fashion. So it was with me in mind, perhaps, that the iconic footwear brand has announced a new line of horror-themed kicks coming out in October!
The folks at Vans took to Twitter to announce their new line, featuring shoes based on IT, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and The Shining.
Coming this October, the Vans x Horror collection brings to life your favorite iconic horror films. pic.twitter.com/aeB6lbXlcB
The IT shoes sport Pennywise’s signature red balloons on a traditional slip-on. The Friday the 13th shoes are also of the slip-on variety and feature Jason Voorhees’ iconic hockey mask. The Nightmare on Elm Street kicks feature the red and green stripes of Freddy Kruguer’s sweater on a high-top. The Shining shoes are also high-tops and sport traditional poster art and a menacing “Redrum” scrawled around the seal.
No word yet on an exact order date for these horror kicks, but you can stay up-to-day by visiting Vans’ official website, here.
What do you think of these new horror kicks from Vans? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. You can also carry on the convo with me personally on Twitter @josh_millican. Dread Central is now on Google News.
USDish.com is looking for one brave individual to participate in their Stephen King Scream Job: Chapter 2! They’ll pay someone $1,300 to watch the most chilling 13 Stephen King films—to be completed by Halloween!
Applications will be accepted now until October 8, 2021 at 5 PM MT. Visit their official page for the application form here.
Background
In 2019, when USDish.com first launched this campaign, they received over 500,000 applications—and the winner, Dr. Anthony Tobia, found that It was the scariest Stephen King movie followed by The Shining. Now, they want to know if (in 2021) those movies are still the scariest by choosing another fearless subject!
They’re giving the winner the latest Fitbit to help monitor their heart rate during the movies, and during their sleep, because we also want to know: which Stephen King movie causes the most nightmares? Whoever wins this scream job will not onlyget $1,300 to make up for all the nightmares, but will also receive a swag bag valued at $350 which will include Stephen King paraphernalia, access to all 13 movies, and the latest Fitbit.
The Movies
Carrie (original or 2013 remake)
Children of the Corn
Christine
Creepshow
Cujo
It (original or 2017 remake)
It: Chapter Two
Misery
The Mist
Pet Sematary (original or 2019 remake)
Salem’s Lot
The Shining
Doctor Sleep
Job Description
Movie buff? Scaredy cat? Adrenaline junkie? All of the above? This job is not for the faint of heart, but it could be for you. The ideal candidate has to be detail-oriented enough to track their experience. They could even share their scares on social media and vlog every time they jump out of their seats. No degree is necessary, nor will a drug test or background check be performed; however, applicants must be 18 years or older and a US citizen or permanent resident to apply. Tell us why you’re the perfect victim and what you hope to gain from this experience (aside from the $1,300, of course), and this dream—or nightmare job—could be yours! And whether you land this scream job or not, USDish.com makes it easy to enjoy Stephen King any day or night so be ready for a good scare.
We also want to know everything about your experience. You will track your heart rate and jump scares. You’ll let us know who joined in on the scares with you. You’ll let us know what you thought before watching certain movies, and if your feelings changed after you completed them. You’ll even log your sleep—if you can sleep. We want to know all this and more! We’ll provide a worksheet to help guide you along the way, but you’re not limited to what we give you—feel free to share your thoughts, like a journal, and give us all the frightening deets! It’s simple to watch wherever you are, just consult our guide to watching Stephen King to get started down the path of horror!
Are you a fan of Stephen King? Are you interested in applying for USDish.com’s Stephen King Scream Job: Chapter 2? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can also carry on the convo with me personally on Twitter @josh_millican. Dread Central is now on Google News!
USDish.com is looking for one brave individual to participate in their Stephen King Scream Job: Chapter 2! They’ll pay someone $1,300 to watch the most chilling 13 Stephen King films—to be completed by Halloween!
Applications will be accepted now until October 8, 2021 at 5 PM MT. Visit their official page for the application form here.
Background
In 2019, when USDish.com first launched this campaign, they received over 500,000 applications—and the winner, Dr. Anthony Tobia, found that It was the scariest Stephen King movie followed by The Shining. Now, they want to know if (in 2021) those movies are still the scariest by choosing another fearless subject!
They’re giving the winner the latest Fitbit to help monitor their heart rate during the movies, and during their sleep, because we also want to know: which Stephen King movie causes the most nightmares? Whoever wins this scream job will not onlyget $1,300 to make up for all the nightmares, but will also receive a swag bag valued at $350 which will include Stephen King paraphernalia, access to all 13 movies, and the latest Fitbit.
The Movies
Carrie (original or 2013 remake)
Children of the Corn
Christine
Creepshow
Cujo
It (original or 2017 remake)
It: Chapter Two
Misery
The Mist
Pet Sematary (original or 2019 remake)
Salem’s Lot
The Shining
Doctor Sleep
Job Description
Movie buff? Scaredy cat? Adrenaline junkie? All of the above? This job is not for the faint of heart, but it could be for you. The ideal candidate has to be detail-oriented enough to track their experience. They could even share their scares on social media and vlog every time they jump out of their seats. No degree is necessary, nor will a drug test or background check be performed; however, applicants must be 18 years or older and a US citizen or permanent resident to apply. Tell us why you’re the perfect victim and what you hope to gain from this experience (aside from the $1,300, of course), and this dream—or nightmare job—could be yours! And whether you land this scream job or not, USDish.com makes it easy to enjoy Stephen King any day or night so be ready for a good scare.
We also want to know everything about your experience. You will track your heart rate and jump scares. You’ll let us know who joined in on the scares with you. You’ll let us know what you thought before watching certain movies, and if your feelings changed after you completed them. You’ll even log your sleep—if you can sleep. We want to know all this and more! We’ll provide a worksheet to help guide you along the way, but you’re not limited to what we give you—feel free to share your thoughts, like a journal, and give us all the frightening deets! It’s simple to watch wherever you are, just consult our guide to watching Stephen King to get started down the path of horror!
Are you a fan of Stephen King? Are you interested in applying for USDish.com’s Stephen King Scream Job: Chapter 2? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can also carry on the convo with me personally on Twitter @josh_millican. Dread Central is now on Google News!
After a successful pilot, Showtime has committed to a 10-episode run of a Let the Right One In television series. The first episode was written by Andrew Hinderaker (Penny Dreadful) and directed by Seith Mann (Homeland). The plan is to have the series go into production in New York City at the beginning of 2022.
Based on the haunting novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, a brilliant film adaptation was brought to the screen by Swedish director Tomas Alfredson in 2008. (It remains one of the greatest vampire films of the last twenty years.) An American remake was soon to follow called Let Me In directed by Matt Reeves (The Batman). Since then, the Let the Right OneIn TV series has been in development hell, having first seen interest from A&E and TNT.
The Showtime series stars Demián Bichir and Taylor Baez as a father and daughter whose lives were upended a decade ago when the little girl was turned into a vampire at age 12. As they try and keep their secret, a homicide detective moves in next door with a son the same age.
Actor Grace Gummer (Mr. Robot) and Anika Noni Rose (The Princess and the Frog) will also be seen in larger roles. The news also announced that Madison Taylor Baez (Selena: The Series), Kevin Carroll (Snowfall), Ian Foreman(Merry Wish-Mas), and Jacob Buster (Colony) were also added to the cast.
Hinderaker will serve as showrunner and executive producer while Mann will stay on to direct multiple episodes. Let the Right One In is produced by Tomorrow Studios (Cowboy Bebop, Snowpiercer) with Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements also serving as executive producers.
With some of the darker elements found in the novel omitted in the Swedish film version, the Let the Right OneIn TV series already looks to be changing things up quite a bit. For anyone familiar with the story, it will be the relationship of the two kids and their chemistry that will make or break this adaptation.
If production ramps up in early 2022 and stays on track, expect the first episodes to debut around this time next year.
According to Variety, Screen Media has just picked up the horror-comedy Black Friday for a day-and-date release this November. The timing couldn’t be better for a monster fest set around the most infamous shopping day of the year.
Here’s a quick breakdown: “On the busiest shopping night of the year, a group of disgruntled toy store employees must defend themselves from legions of holiday shoppers when a mysterious alien parasite turns them into monstrous creatures hell-bent on a murderous rampage.”
Sold. Last Christmas, when Devon Sawa was still shooting Black Friday, he told Dread Central:
“We’ve got two weeks left so we’re coming to an end. Bruce and I have done many many scenes together and so has Michael Jai White. The movie is bonkers and frightening. It’s going amazing. They’re getting great stuff. I couldn’t be happier. This is the first time I’ve felt like I’ve done one of these kinds of movies since Slackers or Idle Hands. It fits on that shelf.“
Sawa also described some of the insane SFX work and creature effects from legendary artist Bob Kurtzman from KNB fame. “We’ve got everything from animatronics to big tall guys in old grandma suits,” he said. “It’s nutty. It’s nutty and hysterical and frightening. Bruce is being this different character that I’ve never seen him play. Michael Jai White is kicking a little bit of ass so it’s all there, man.”
There’s been a surprising lack of buzz around Black Friday leading up to its world premiere this week at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. That should change quickly, especially if what we’ve heard about the ending is true.
Courtesy of Fantastic Fest.
As soon as the trailer drops, we’ll have it for you. If Black Friday is successful, maybe we’ll get a sequel called Cyber Monday if we’re lucky. I’m there for that, too.
The idea of embellishing the eyes is one that I am profoundly intrigued by. If the eyes are the windows of the soul, then that means that, through makeup, we get to showcase those inner aspects of ourselves that we want others to see at any given time.
In the case of this amazing makeup tutorial, MorellaReborn has gone for a beautifully dramatic style that centers around expressing a gripping energy through each brushstroke, and she has done a wonderful job at portraying a romantic and sultry style by adding key splashes of color in her smokey eyes technique so they look intense and tantalizing through the careful lines she creates around them.
A sultry take on the romantic goth look. (Since this is repost of an old video I did years ago, I can’t remember all of the products I used and deleted all of the info. I’m so sorry!)
Posted by Dread Central Staff on
September 21, 2021
TIFF 2021 wrapped last weekend, and team Dread Central saw some standouts we’d like to shout out.
Programmed by genre stalwart Peter Kuplowsky, TIFF 2021’s Midnight Madness section showcased fresh discoveries from France, Ireland, and Iran. But the festival hosted other horror-adjacent fare, too—among them, a pitch-black British comedy, a dystopian vision from Canada, and a supernaturally-tinged procedural from Korea.
“What’s great about genre archetypes is that so many of them are incredibly universal,” Kuplowsky told told Dread Central as the festival got underway. “And what’s exciting are the variables based on who’s telling the story and where the perspective is coming from.”
Kuplowsky added that much of the horror of TIFF 2021 was also about communication breakdowns. “That might be on an individual basis between friends or loved ones, or on a community basis, where divides can be caused by fear or prejudice,” he says.
For safety’s sake, Kuplowsky notes that horror fans had to show restraint at this year’s in-person midnight screenings… which is hard for horror fans to do. “Unfortunately, our patented beach ball that bounces around before each movie starts was too unhygienic to employ,” he said. (He did “make a meal of the introduction,” though, when presenting Julia Ducournau’s Titane dressed as a firefighter in front of a limited capacity crowd at Princess of Wales Theatre.)
Even in virtual screenings, these perspectives and themes made an indelible impact on Dread Central‘s team. Here are the films out of TIFF 2021 that hit us the hardest, and that you should seek out in the days to come. —Max Weinstein
DASHCAM (Dir. Rob Savage)
“I didn’t personally care for DASHCAM, yet I will continue to recommend it whenever I can. It’s inevitable that it will be one of the genre’s most polarizing features in years, and for better or worse, it’s going to dominate the horror discourse. Good or bad—no indifference here—DASHCAM is going to make an impact.” —Chad Collins
DASHCAM
The Guilty (Dir. Antoine Fuqua)
“Jake Gyllenhaal is superb in this remake of the 2018 Danish film of the same name. He plays Joe Baylor, a dispatcher embroiled in a race against time when he receives a call from a kidnapped woman one fateful evening. The Guilty is a tense chamber piece—a claustrophobic thriller that looks in, rather than out. Fans of high-octane action might walk away disappointed, but The Guilty is sure to tempt audiences when it premieres on Netflix next month.” —C.C.
The Guilty
I’m Your Man (Dir. Maria Schrader)
“For fans of The Guest, Dan Stevens as a robot speaking German could be a surprising aphrodisiac. Although more of a sci-fi romantic comedy on the fritz, I’m Your Man provides plenty of insights about the horrors of relationships. Just imagine a slightly scarier version of Making Mr. Right and you’re on the right track.” —Drew Tinnin
I’m Your Man
Kicking Blood (Dir. Blaine Thurier)
“In the vein (sorry) of Abel Ferrara’s The Addiction, this is Canada’s version of a sexy vampire film. Looking past a somewhat cliche ending, the chemistry between actors Alanna Bale and Luke Bilyk show how kicking the habit is actually a lot hotter than sticking around for your next fix.” —D.T.
Kicking Blood
Mlungu Wam/Good Madam(Dir. Jenna Cato Bass)
“Jenna Cato Bass’ haunting tale of intergenerational horror was, by far, the scariest movie I saw at TIFF this year. While it certainly has roots in the supernatural, much of its terror comes straight from reality, as the film confronts the long-term effects of colonialism on Black families in South Africa.” —Emily Gagne
Mlungu Wam (Good Madam)
Night Raiders (Dir. Danis Goulet)
“In this sci-fi thriller, Cree-Métis filmmaker Danis Goulet boldly uses dystopian tropes to tell a story about forced assimilation that serves an allegory for Canada’s horrific residential schools. With stellar SFX and a moving main performance by Blood Quantum’s Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, it absolutely deserves your attention.” —E.G.
Night Raiders
Silent Night (Dir. Camille Griffin)
“Roman Griffin Davis holds Silent Night together. But even without him, the film would remain just as terrifying. Davis’ turn as Art—the child of a wealthy family who refuses to concede that suicide is the right course of action amidst an unfolding apocalypse—will break hearts as often as it scares. This film is a Christmas celebration to remember.” —C.C.
Silent Night
Titane (Dir. Julia Ducournau)
“I gave this film—the latest from Raw director Julia Ducournau—a glowing review and I absolutely stand by it. Sexy and sensitive in equal measure, Titane gutted me in ways I never could have expected and I hope it does the same for you.” —E.G.
Titane
You Are Not My Mother (Dir. Kate Dolan)
“Although this lo-fi, modestly-conceived shocker never fully commits, fans of supernatural happenings with a folkish bent will find a lot to love here. Hazel Doupe stars as Char, a teenager in North Dublin who, over time, begins to suspect her mother is a changeling—a fairy that swaps out humans and replaces them with mimics from their own world. It’s a slow burn, but for patient genre fans, it’s a worthwhile discovery from its native Ireland.” —C.C.
You Are Not My Mother
Zalava (Dir. Arsalan Amiri)
“After reviewing Zalava last week, I’m still feeling that well-up of tears from when the film’s credits rolled. Set in a tiny Kurdish village, Arsalan Amiri’s debut harnesses big ideas in a small story about a demon captured in a tiny jar. Out of all the wondrous discoveries at this year’s festival, this is the film that I felt so fortunate to discover—mainly because it isn’t afraid to hold a mirror up to fear itself.” —D.T.
Zalava
TIFF 2021 ran September 9–18, 2021. For more information, visit the festival’s website.
I’m so sorry!) 
