Curry Barker is getting a lot of praise for “Obsession,” and rightfully so. Not only is it one of the best horror films of this year, but it’s also breaking records and making a strong case for being one of the best horror films of the 21st century. There’s a lot of credit given to the performances, specifically Inde Navarette’s, but like so many films, it’s a collaborative effort, and the work that goes on before the camera rolls is just as important as what happens after the director yells “action.” Enter Blair James, the costume designer on the film, who brings a whole other level of nuance and intrigue to a film already brimming with easter eggs.

Blair took some time to speak with us about the role of the Costume Designer, and the collaboration that goes on between her and the director, actors, effects folks, and more. Blair helps us to appreciate not just the style choices in the film, but how they literally color the actions in the film and invite us to look even closer to get so much more out of the film. This was a wonderful conversation, and we hope you enjoy watching it as much as we did recording it!

“Obsession” is in theaters now from Focus Features and Blumhouse.

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Before he was pitting Jai Courtney and sharks against a young surfer, Australian filmmaker Sean Byrne was scaring the shit out of horror fans with films with a slightly more sinister edge. His 2009 debut, “The Loved Ones,” etched the filmmaker in the halls of modern horror history with a brutal take on deranged and obsessive interpersonal relationships gone wrong. A film that garnered a buzz through the film festival pipeline and then the ever-effective word of mouth, it paved the way for Byrne’s second, and arguably darker film, “The Devil’s Candy.” The 2015 horror film has long been a hidden gem that has again built a following after strong word of mouth, and Second Sight Films, being the curators of genre taste that they are, recognize this and have deemed it worthy of one of their industry-leading limited edition sets now for the first time in 4K UHD!

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A struggling painter and his wife purchase their dream home, however it soon becomes clear that the house hides a dark past. An evil entity has set its sights on their young daughter, and the family must summon all their strength to battle the demonic forces that are closing in.

HOW IS IT?

Warning: Minor Spoilers ahead, please read with caution!

When NEON was marketing Osgood Perkins' 2024 film, “Longlegs,” they had used pull quotes deeming it to be “the most evil” movie ever, and similar hyperbolic statements that draw as much support as ire these days. While it’s debatable if “Longlegs” lives up to that assessment, we would posit that Byrne’s “The Devil’s Candy” from 2015 isn’t just more diabolical; it revels in evil in its purest possible form. A darkly personal film, “The Devil’s Candy” explores the seduction of satan and the temptations that lead to graphic ends in the service of the fallen angel himself. Powered by efficient filmmaking and world-class performances, “The Devil’s Candy” is easily one of the best horror films of the 21st century so far.

Part of what makes “The Devil’s Candy” so effective is how straightforward the story is, but how subtle the suggestions are throughout that make it far deeper than it appears. Even from the shocking start, where we are introduced to Ray (Pruitt Taylor Vince) and his malevolent tendencies, the audience is unsure how much sympathy to give someone who has just committed parricide, driven by dark voices. As we collectively come to learn, it’s not a lot, but the journey getting there is rife with some of the best character-driven drama and deeply disturbing, suspenseful moments of existential dread. The more we get to know Jesse (Ethan Embry), the more we understand how he can fall so easily victim to the sweet seduction of artistic inspiration, no matter where it’s derived from, and how that begins to erode the trust of his daughter, Zooey (Kiara Glasco), and wife, Astrid (Shiri Appleby), enabling even worse things to befall the family.

What Byrne does so well is almost the opposite of what made “The Loved Ones” so effective. Rather than brutal, unflinching violence, the camera rarely shows the most graphic scenes, simply alluding to them through clever editing and inviting us to use our imaginations. The fear Byrne is cultivating here is universal and doesn’t require gore to make its point, and it adds to the overarching darkness the film resides under. The influence of heavy metal is apparent in both how Jesse and Zooey connect, but also in how Ray staves off the voices that disturb him. One could argue that heavy metal is used to add to the sense of dread, but it actually serves the point of salvation more than anything else and contradicts what society has deemed to be “the devil’s music.” The riffs that Ray plays to drown out the noise don’t antagonize the voices; they quiet them. Heavy Metal is what keeps Ray from attacking Zooey initially, and in the film’s final moments, it’s the guitar that strikes the final blow, echoing through the amazing soundtrack from composer Michael Yezerski.

While the title suggests religious affiliation, and there are certainly some nods to religious archetypes, “The Devil’s Candy” never concerns itself with preaching to the audience that God or Catholicism is the way. There are mentions of God and religion in passing moments, like the cameo from Leland Orser as the televangelist preacher on TV, but Byrne resists the easy out of simply saying all is better if we just believe in God. Byrne’s interpretation of evil is far simpler, and thus far more terrifying. Evil and Satan aren’t winged demons ascending from the depths, but rather regular people who simply carry out the most awful acts imaginable. This grounding of evil in reality ensures that the film doesn’t rely on mysticism to solve the problems, but simply the intention to strike evil down when it literally enters your home. “The Devil’s Candy” succeeds because it delivers that evil to your home with the same fear that the characters have in the film, and it’s unrelenting in its tension and so expertly paced that you may have to have a doctor unclench your fist when the credits start to roll.

HOW DOES IT LOOK?

Second Sight is amongst peers like Severin Films and Vinegar Syndrome in their love and care for restoring and releasing new versions of films in modern formats. In the case of “The Devil’s Candy,” the production didn’t require a new scan from print to digital, as it was filmed digitally to start, but for this release, the producer approved a new restoration that provides an upgrade to the color correction and sharpness of the film. The addition of HDR by way of Dolby Vision is impressive here, particularly considering many scenes in the film take place under low levels of lighting. That darkness could be a downside to those who prefer higher levels of contrast, but from our observations, this is a noticeable improvement in quality from the previous IFC Films Blu-Ray release.

Images from this release are used throughout this review, and comparisons to the previous release can be seen below.

HOW DOES IT SOUND?

Second Sight seemed to have retained the DTS-HD 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) audio track from the previous IFC release, but oddly has excluded the 2.0 Stereo track that came with it. Not a gripe so much as an observation, as the audio here is superb and the guitar riffs reverberate with a chunkiness that is both dark and engulfing. Considering how much the film relies on these heavy, guitar-laden cues, it’s a wonder why there wasn’t an Atmos track commissioned to really give the experience even greater heft. Nonetheless, the balance is perfect despite the spikes in volume, so dialogue is always clear, and English subtitles are included for those who prefer to watch with them.

ANYTHING SPECIAL?

For a film as outstanding and deserving as this one, Second Sight again proves that their dedication to providing context and clarity around the creation of these modern classics is unmatched. The first feature we took in was Into the Fire. This 32-minute interview with writer/director Sean Byrne covers Byrne’s career post “The Loved Ones” as he details how word of mouth helped to slowly propel that film into the zeitgeist, thus leading to a barrage of scripts for consideration that didn’t really resonate. So Byrne took it upon himself to write his next feature, but was also a new father, which played a heavy role in the inspiration for this film. Initially, it didn’t have any of the Satanic elements and was a more direct home invasion film based on a true experience his sister had with a home seller with a scary amount of remorse. Notes and rejections led him to make things darker, and the collaboration with Jess and Keith from Snoot Films was critical in making the film what it is today. Also mentioned is how they were able to get the now deceased Stephen Kasner to contribute original art for the film, who, for context, was represented by the same agent as H.R. Giger.

Of course, one of our favorite aspects of the Second Sight LE releases is the book of essays included within, and this is another example of why genre theory and analysis are so crucial to the preservation of film. The essays within are from a range of horror luminaries who each carve out a unique space for discussion about the film’s many themes.

• “The Father-Daughter Relationship in The Devil’s Candy” by Becca Johnson examines how Jesse and Zooey’s relationship bucks the horror trend of making their relationship antagonistic and is more focused on positive examples of father-daughter bonding.

• “The Santanic Ego” by Zoë Rose Smith dives into the way in which “The Devil’s Candy” displays positive examples of masculinity that reject the typical notions of male-driven ego-centricity, but also how they use them to reflect evil.

• “Standing Out in The Crowd” by Mary Beth McAndrews aligns Byrne’s film not just in the context of his other movies, but also how it’s the only one to explore the supernatural side of being a serial killer, and why that works so well for making it unique.

• “Find What You Love and Let It Kill You” by Anton Bitel reflects on the Faustian pact made for artistic inspiration in the film, and how that temptation is part of a darker seduction that has repeated across time.

• “The Art of The Devil’s Candy” by Joe Lipsett looks at how the interplay of musical artistry and painting artistry, as well as how cinematography acts as an extension of dark art we see and hear in the film.

• “The Devil’s Candy and Metal Martyrdom” by Reyna Cervantes looks at how the film avoids fanning the flames of the tired trope that metal is outright and always inherently Satanic while referencing how metal has been portrayed in pop culture over time.

A full list of special features included in this release is listed below.

Special Features

• New 4K Producer restoration 

• Dual format edition including both UHD and Blu-ray with the main feature and bonus features on both discs

• UHD presented in HDR with Dolby Vision

• Audio commentary with Director Sean Byrne

• Into the Fire: a new interview with Director Sean Byrne

• Those Fragile Things: a new interview with Actor Ethan Embry

• Devil in the Details: a new interview with Director of Photography Simon Chapman

• The Cutting Room: a new interview with Editor Andy Canny

• A Big Step Forward: a new interview with Production Designer Tom Hammock

• Behind the Scenes: VFX

• Sean Byrne’s Short films: Advantage Satan and Work?

Limited Edition Contents

• Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Huan Do

• 120-page book with new essays by Anton Bitel, Reyna Cervantes, Becca Johnson, Joe Lipsett, Mary Beth McAndrews and Zoe Rose Smith

• 6 collectors' art cards

LAST RITES

“The Devil’s Candy” has been long overdue for the kind of care, consideration, and praise that Second Sight brings to films, and the result is nothing short of outstanding. The new 4K UHD transfer looks amazing, the special features are infectious, and the essays are captivating reads. This is sure to be one of the best releases of the year, and a must-buy for every fan of heavy metal horror.

THE GORY DETAILS

Thank you to the fine fiends over at AIM Publicity for providing a review copy for the crypt! “The Devil’s Candy” is available NOW and can be purchased fromSecond Sight’s Webstore!

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Legends never die, and they certainly don’t stop working. At least that’s the case for John Harrison, the writer/director/composer who has worked with some of the best in the genre while becoming great in his own right. Most folks probably will know John for the scores he contributed to two powerhouse genre films, “Creepshow” and “Day of the Dead,” which came from being First AD to George A. Romero. The thing about legends is, they aren’t just known for one or a few things; they lay claim to many achievements.

Harrison also directed another outstanding anthology film, “Tales From The Darkside: The Movie,” as well as providing one of the most book-accurate versions of “Dune” out there, AND working on shows like “Tales From The Crypt,” “Monsters,” and the Shudder revival of “Creepshow,” bringing his career full circle. Not content to rest on those laurels, Harrison is still writing scripts for TV and film, while also carving out a niche as a genre author himself, and still finding time to compose. Candidly, John Harrison isn’t just an inspiration; he’s a living legend.

We hope you enjoy this amazing interview with John, and please support his work by visiting his website. His next novel, “Did You Get The Package?” will be released this fall!

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In 1976, presidential candidate Ronald Reagan stood before US voters and told an outrageous story: A Black woman had assumed 80 aliases, a small neighborhood’s worth of addresses, and a web of fictional veteran husbands in order to defraud the government of $150,000 per year. The truth was somewhat more pedestrian—four aliases, $8,000—but that didn’t stop Reagan from riding the wave of conservative outrage into a political career that eventually led to the White House. It’s true that Linda Taylor had scammed the government, and that she seemingly carried no shame whatsoever. In a crowded courtroom in 1977, reporters craned to catch a glimpse of the immaculately dressed woman the Chicago Tribune had dubbed the “welfare queen.” But like most political slogans, the true story of Linda Taylor’s life was far more complicated than the headlines implied. In 2013, when Slate editorial director, Josh Levin, set out to search for the truth about Taylor, he met people who were still terrified she would return to wreak havoc on their lives. Kidnapping, human trafficking, and murder haunted Taylor’s history—a disquieting counterpart to the damaging “welfare queen” stereotype that continues to insult and dehumanize Black recipients of government benefits today. 

“I’ll Watch Your Baby” is a new horror novel that takes a fresh look at this messy, maddening history. Linda Taylor’s biography is a jumping-off point for a multi-timeline, dual-narrator tale that connects misfit criminals in the mid-1990s to a dark history of slavery, sharecropping, and ‘70s social upheaval. Neena Viel’s sophomore novel follows “Listen to Your Sister,” bringing back her signature blend of humor, political commentary, and unflinching horror. It’s set to be published on May 26, 2026, by St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Publishers. 

Synopsis

A suffocating and sharp narrative horror novel for fans of Victor LaValle and “The Reformatory” from "addictive" (Publishers Weekly) horror author Neena Viel, “I’ll Watch Your Baby” is a haunting reimagining of Linda Taylor—known as the original Welfare Queen—pursued, scrutinized, celebrated and vilified, and the impact her image has had for generations.

1974. Lottie Turner is already infamous. Running a wheel of schemes and scams, she’s willing to work for what she wants in…creative ways. But no business is more lucrative than desperate families looking to adopt a child—and there’s only one way to procure children quickly.

And the only way to take what’s owed you is to cross the line no one else is willing to cross.

1994. Bless has finally found the family she deserved. After suffocating slowly with lackluster parents and a non-starter past, she’s found the friends that means everything to her. That she’d live and die for. As they make their way across the country, one smash and grab at a time, Bless is used to acting fast and thinking on her feet.

But someone is playing a long game. Someone has unfinished business. Soon Bless is trapped in a web of horrors past and present, where the only escape hatch is a path only she can walk, if she finds the courage to take it.

Do You Really Know Who Your Friends Are?

Viel’s story centers on two women—Lottie in 1974 and Bless in 1994—who share a few key traits. They’re both involved in criminal activity: Lottie is a prolific scammer who’s defrauded the government of benefits and sold countless children into illegal adoptions. Bless’s found family is a group of burglars who ransack homes for valuables. More importantly, both women are engaged in complex, troubled friendships. Lottie, who uses her racial ambiguity to spin up a series of fraudulent personas, has never had a friend. Until she meets Filly, and suddenly she’s cackling over cocktails and church gossip, or cooking dinner and cleaning the house when Filly’s chronic illness leaves her incapacitated. For Bless, there’s Sasha, the mastermind behind the quartet of burglars. Bless is devoted to Sasha and willing to follow her anywhere—whether it’s breaking into a stranger’s suburban home or to the derelict plantation in Tennessee where most of her story unfolds.

These friendships have a deep, disorienting intimacy that toes the line between homoeroticism and platonic love. Fans of Rachel Harrison will enjoy the raw intensity that Lottie and Bless are swept up in, and the lengths they’ll go to to protect their friends. As Lottie and Bless are undone by love, Filly and Sasha have deep secrets of their own. Filly’s mysterious illness begins to take on frightening new qualities that dredge up horrors from Lottie’s past, and Sasha’s manipulation is far more sophisticated than Bless suspects. All the while, there’s a mysterious thread of connection that transcends the decades and ties Lottie and Bless to each other. These dynamics—of love and loneliness, connection and independence, intimacy and separation—form the novel’s emotional core. Even if you’ve never been tormented by a supernatural infestation or an otherworldly possession, there’s a good chance you’ll recognize painful splinters of truth within the women’s experiences.  

An Ambitious Plot That Crescendos Like an Oncoming Swarm 

The novel hits its stride somewhere between the second and third acts, after Viel has established the exposition and begins to set her weird, wild imagination loose. Past the halfway point, the story explodes into an imaginative, haunting, swarming heap of white flies, eardrum-splitting insect chittering, and fever-hot rivers of blood. Viel has a knack for writing character-driven action scenes that build to a hurtling momentum. Whether Lottie is barricading horrors behind a bedroom door or fleeing from a burning building, she never loses her wry, self-assured, and often wickedly funny inner commentary. Her first-person narration in the 1974 timeline crackles with selfish, unabashed verve.  In the 1994 timeline, Bless lacks Lottie’s self-assurance—but realizes she needs to develop some fraction of it, fast, if she wants to survive the plantation’s menace. These portions of the novel become a sick, sun-drenched nightmare as Bless gradually wakes up to the horrifying situation Sasha has drawn her into.   

The decision to split the novel into four sections that alternate between the two timelines results in lurching, uneven pacing at times. The first section in particular speeds through a substantial amount of backstory, swiftly moving Lottie through a series of plot points with little time to linger. There is a risk that too much time away from either timeline may require reacclimation, blunting the story’s urgency. A slightly different structure could have helped bridge some of these gaps—or perhaps the novel’s ambitious plot is juggling a few elements too many. Surprisingly, the novel’s crime elements felt weakest because the characters’ elaborate machinations are glossed over so quickly. However, the strength and cohesion of the novel’s second half more than make up for these stumbles. By the time the horror gets to a rolling boil, Viel’s imaginative imagery, dark humor, and interwoven historical narratives create a hugely satisfying conclusion to the story.  

A Historical Horror That’s About More Than Welfare Propaganda

Based on how “I’ll Watch Your Baby” is described on the jacket copy, you might expect Viel to limit the scope of her historical horror to roughly align with the Reagan era. But to our surprise (and delight), Viel’s exploration is far more expansive. The story’s horrors gain depth and gravitas from deeper roots that stretch all the way back to the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, the exploitations of sharecropping, and the disenfranchisement of biracial people faced when anti-miscegenation laws were enforced. 

It’s a lot of history for one novel to navigate, but by the time the haunting’s shocking origin is finally revealed, Viel’s vision feels equally original and inevitable. And the next time you wonder how to live with American history that casts such a long, oppressive shadow? Think of Lottie, with her collection of wigs, fur coats, and disguises. If she can reinvent reality so thoroughly, maybe we’re capable of it, too.

You can purchase “I’ll Watch Your Baby” here.

You can follow Neena Viel on Instagram and Facebook.

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Developer Dragonis Games transports players into a Lovecraftian fever-dream in “NECROPHOSIS: FULL CONSCIOUSNESS”, a first-person horror experience inspired by the paintings of Zdzisław Beksiński.  Players take on the role of Consciousness itself, as it awakens within a hollow vessel in the eternal lands of death and decay.  As they journey throughout this nightmarish eternity, Consciousness must awaken its understanding of life, death, and its role in its endless cycle.  To do so, however, they must solve unnerving puzzles, learn the dark history of the cosmos, and face a variety of Eldritch entities that have taken refuge in this land of endless torment and decay.  In “Full Consciousness”, an add-on for console versions, players explore a second awakening, in which they explore a new cycle of puzzles and encounters.  What results from this ambitious game concept is something altogether unique - a beautifully grotesque world, brimming with macabre mysteries and hidden lore.  Unfortunately, the effort required to complete the title’s puzzles, mixed with a repetitive and downright dull gameplay loop, makes “Necrophosis: Full Consciousness” a simulation of torture that many players will fail to endure.

“Necrophosis: Full Consciousness” opens with a brief introduction to the game’s world, as Consciousness awakens in a new vessel and is greeted by a large figure, who recites the famous poem “Ozymandias”, which emphasizes many of the game's central themes of ruin and decay.  From there, players are left to discover the lore, puzzles, and plot of “Necrophosis” largely on their own, a recurring pattern in the title’s various areas.  Along the way, players can find scrolls, items, and tomes that dispel more of the world’s history, as well as Consciousness’s role in the past, present, and future of Creation.  

The visual world of “Necrophosis: Full Consciousness” is far and above its greatest strength, with each location immersing players in a remarkably unique land of macabre artistry.  Everything is brimming with grotesque features, and the scale of some of the title’s Eldritch beings and cavernous ruins is truly a sight that sticks with the player long after the experience is over.  What’s more, exploring these locations for hidden information leads to some surprising interactions, leading the environments’ supplemental storytelling to become an immediate highlight of the title’s story mode.  However, “Necrophosis” somehow fails to utilize the environment as effectively in the actual story, with a core gameplay loop that steals the wonder from its world.

The majority of “Necrophosis: Full Consciousness” is up to the player to discover and discern, which should be among its greatest strengths.  However, the majority of the title’s issues can be traced back to this developer decision, as its poor implementation emboldens several additional shortcomings to the point of significant obstacles to enjoyment.  “Necrophosis” offers little to no direction whatsoever in what players are supposed to do at any point in their journey.  There are no true enemies, NPCs, or cutscenes across the title’s 2-3 hours of gameplay.  Rather, there are multiple intermixed puzzles that players must solve to progress to the next area, where they will solve the next set of puzzles and continue.  That’s the entire gameplay loop.  The problem is, the puzzles are vague, slow, and, in the grand scheme of things, inane, often rewarding Consciousness with a few items to give to someone else so they let the player pass.

The audio in “Necrophosis: Full Consciousness” is another element impacted by the title’s meandering gameplay loop, as players will suffer through repetitive environmental sounds, moans, squishes, and more as they search for randomly placed items or interactable figures in each area.  These sounds are the only ones present in each area, as the game features little to no overarching music or dialogue during gameplay.  Every conversation in the game is part of a puzzle, save for those that bookend each area, meaning that players spend the majority of the game running around in silence until they pick up or place an item.  When a major event happens at the beginning or end of each puzzle, the audio kicks in quite effectively, particularly in the game’s final set-piece.  However, these triumphs make it all the more frustrating that similar focus wasn’t given to the audio throughout the majority of the title’s runtime.

In the end, “Necrophosis: Full Consciousness” is a title that ultimately fails the immensely promising concepts on which it was built.  The beautiful world, inspired by Zdzisław Beksiński, is a delight to behold, but its contents are lacking.  The Lovecraftian beings and structures that players encounter are depicted in all the grandness they deserve, but are never utilized to full effect.  The title’s utterly disgusting puzzles lose their impact due to the arduous and repetitive nature of the title’s gameplay loop.  What results is a walking simulator through a world of death that may leave players feeling just as worn as the hollow vessel they’re guiding through eternity.  While I, myself, enjoyed fleeting moments of the overall experience, “Necrophosis: Full Consciousness” is not a game I would recommend to any but the most diehard Lovecraft fans. 

Those very fans can experience “Necrophosis: Full Consciousness” for themselves when it is released for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on May 28, 2026.

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Happy World Dracula Day! Every May 26th, the horror world takes a moment to celebrate the release of Bram Stoker’s infinite classic, “Dracula.” Released this day in 1867, Stoker’s novel has inspired not just direct imitations, but an entire tapestry of lore, ideas, derivations, and more, arguably making Dracula the most famous vampire of all-time. On this day, we encourage you to rekindle your affection for one of horror’s most iconic creations. We will be posting a couple of articles today exclusively to celebrate this annual tradition, and hope you sink your teeth into our coverage!

With a character as well-established and legendary as Dracula, it can be hard and scary to deviate from what people expect. Take the iconic image of Bela Lugosi. He has become the de facto look of the character since his debut in 1931, and it’s hard not to see how much that visual has influenced how the character looks across media. These archetypal moments make it hard for others to provide their own take on the material because the general public comes to expect something akin to what they know, that is, until you surprise the hell out of them with something new and novel. Case in point, the “Dracula” graphic novel series from Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones. Not only did the duo reinvent the iconic character, but they made him nastier, and we might argue, better!

Legendary comics creators Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones return for the fourth and final volume in their series of original graphic novels about the shadowy history of the world’s most famous literary character—DRACULA! For the first time ever, this beautiful European-sized volume will unveil what happened after the events of Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 book, when the infamous vampire lord finally became…THE UNDEAD!

We spoke with Matt and Kelley back when they were preparing for the launch of the penultimate book in the series, and the two have now launched the Kickstarter for the 4th and final book, “Dracula: Book IV - The Undead.”

The first two volumes of Wagner and Jones’s “DRACULA” saga were smash hits—Book 1 broke the Top 20 in Kickstarter’s all-time most successful graphic novel campaigns—and this newest chapter promises the same level of high quality. Wagner and Jones are once again joined for this macabre foray into the shadows of Dracula’s schemes by the stellar talents of José Villarrubia on colors and the campaign opens today!

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Cynthia Pelayo is something of a magician, or maybe sorceress is a better term. She can take the most beloved story from our childhood, one that is immediately familiar, comforting, and beloved, and turn it into a nightmare factory right before your very eyes. The way in which she brilliantly subverts J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan” in the most delightfully dreadful ways is something to behold. What’s in store for the reader when they pick up “It Came From Neverland” is a bold and brave new take on the classic fairy tale that reveals the sinister truth behind Peter, the Lost Boys, and Neverland itself. You’ll never look at that green-clad imp the same again and have a newfound appreciation for the lengths Wendy Darling will go to for those she loves.

Cynthia was kind enough to join the PAPER CUTS Podcast to discuss what inspired her fascinating new interpretation of the Barrie classic, the terror that can lurk behind the curtain of charisma, presenting Wendy as a traumatic heroine who feels real on every page, and her remarkable writing process. During our chat, we talked about some very real and timely issues, such as prioritizing your mental health, finding your people, and the inherent beauty of the horror community’s support. We know you’ll enjoy this chat just as much as we did, and walk away with “It Came From Neverland” at the top of your TBR!

You can purchase “It Came From Neverland” here.

You can follow Cynthia Pelayo on Instagram here.

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Happy World Dracula Day! Every May 26th, the horror world takes a moment to celebrate the release of Bram Stoker’s infinite classic, “Dracula.” Released this day in 1867, Stoker’s novel has inspired not just direct imitations, but an entire tapestry of lore, ideas, derivations and more, arguably making Dracula the most famous vampire of all-time. On this day, we encourage you to rekindle your affection for one of horror’s most iconic creations. We will be posting a couple of articles today exclusively to celebrate this annual tradition, and hope you sink your teeth into our coverage!

Retro publisher Incube8 Games announces that Dracula: Dark Reign for the Nintendo Game Boy Color will be getting released on physical cartridge. “Dracula: Dark Reign” is an Official StokerVerse™ Game and is developed under license from The StokerVerse™ Project. “Dracula: Dark Reign” is the first ever Stoker family authorized Dracula video game. In order to support the project, Incube8 Games has commissioned the talented Spacebot Interactive team for the development work, known for their upcoming Game Boy Color RPG - “Dragonyhm.”

The most notable feature of “Dracula: Dark Reign” is the inclusion of a prologue that draws from Bram Stoker's personal notes, introducing elements that have never before been witnessed in any form of media. Players will have the extraordinary opportunity to relive Jonathan Harker's daring escape from Castle Dracula, bringing to life a pivotal moment that has captivated Dracula enthusiasts for generations. “Dracula: Dark Reign” invites you to embark on a spine-tingling adventure through the imagination of StokerVerse creators Author Dacre Stoker (great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker) and Chris McAuley.

“Dracula: Dark Reign” is a Castlevania-style video game that will take players on an immersive journey into the dark and captivating world of Bram Stoker's iconic vampire tale. “Dracula: Dark Reign” promises to offer a unique blend of storytelling, exploration, and action. Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous First World War era, the game delves deep into the lore of Bram Stoker's original novel, seamlessly pushing the storyline forward while maintaining the essence of the source material.

Stay tuned for more updates and announcements about “Dracula: Dark Reign” as we embark on this thrilling journey to bring the dark reign of Dracula to life.

Review coming soon from Macabre Daily!

Social Networks

• Incube8 Games: Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

• StokerVerse™: Website / Facebook

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It feels almost impossible to define the term "horror" when every filmmaker in the game sets out to achieve a different result, entirely dependent on the trends and themes of the region and time that they spawn from. Mondo cinema, or the exploitation mockumentary, is a particularly controversial method of genre moviemaking that uses the traditional documentary structure to provide realistic visual material, often completely staged and fabricated with sensationalist flair. Among these overhated—and quite frankly, misunderstood—works of the gratuitously filthy late '70s grindhouse circuit is a strange little vessel entitled "Faces of Death," which took the world by storm not only due to its incredibly sensitive subject matter, but the bleak, nonchalant execution of the project itself. Sure, we can reduce this cult classic to immoral, unethical filmic slop, but without its transgression, what would the state of true crime, found footage, or the physical media industry be? Inspired by "Mondo Cane" (1962) and other foreign titles, the film arrived in American theaters and the home video market as an unprecedented and confrontational effort against the ultimate mortal taboo; purportedly banned in 46 countries, it covers everything from animal violence to domestic crimes, satanic worship and even terrorism, all circling back to the very notion of death as an inevitable force we must endure in the end.

It feels equally as impossible to introduce or reflect on the crew involved with the making of the film, as the majority of the contributors requested anonymity or used multiple pseudonyms for different technical roles. On screen, the director is credited as Conan Le Cilaire, though any internet database will purport the project to be the creation of a man named John Alan Schwartz, who also appears in front of the camera in an uncredited capacity as the leader of a flesh-eating cult. Le Cilaire came forward in a 2008 commentary track for Gorgon Video, revealing his true nature was that of a blonde guy in the background of various other segments, referring to Schwartz only in the third person as his business partner, whom he suggested also wrote the piece under the name Alan Black. It isn't hard to recognize that the creative consultant and narrator of the original trilogy, Dr. Frances B. Gröss, is simply actor Michael Carr working as Michael Reo, but keeping these three men separate, discussing them as individual people despite none appearing by face in behind-the-scenes content, "Faces of Death" has created an element of mystique and deliberately complicated production history that will likely never be resolved.

Being a straightforward mondo effort, the film lacks a main character other than the aforementioned pathologist, who presents distinct vignettes of chaos and carnage as the compilation of his daily work surrounding life and death. "Faces of Death" was influenced heavily by the gritty documentary style of the 1970s, raising the question of how filmmakers might apply the concept of slaughter up the food chain to human beings for the sake of art, without creating snuff. Certain sequences were envisioned around crime based on reality, but after licensed footage could not be cleared, the circumstances were instead recreated. Many scenes feature legitimate stock clips, with Mexican bull fighting, indigenous hunting populations from the late '50s, rare glances at the poaching industry, as well as cattle falling prey to the meat market, yet others were simulated solely to develop small narratives about the world we live in. Dogs were sprayed with fake blood while mating to make it seem as though they were brutally attacking one another, whereas a wild alligator in a lakeside animal control attempt gone wrong was paired with a duplicate sculpted head, and perch fish stood in for piranhas to sell the partial premise of man vs nature.

Le Cilaire considers it a shockumentary instead of a horror picture, but overall, "Faces of Death" is a means to see how different cultures deal with demise, with a last-minute attempt to showcase the circle of life, ultimately executed as if it were a celebration of some of the most harrowing processes human beings experience. Footage of cadavers getting examined, sliced open, and stretched at autopsy, including real babies and motorcycle victims, can be seen at one point in the film, whereas other scenes are centered around grotesque mannequins, crafted merely to establish a macabre, unsettling atmosphere and mood. Schwartz felt compelled to implement shots of John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Adolf Hitler to sell themes of true political terror, though clips of actual police on news broadcasts are used only to create wraparound narratives for larger, reenacted segments. These include a second-act SWAT stand-off in the wake of a suburban family massacre, and a particularly disturbing moment where we witness televised suicide, as a woman jumps from the roof of a building, and the camera cuts to a body double with its clothing matched to the real-life victim. Even Thomas Noguchi, the Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner for Los Angeles County at the time of production, was somehow hired to deliver a scripted message to the audience as if the events being portrayed were legitimate.

Viewers can imagine that editing took some time, and much of the developed film had issues with lighting, but was still used to add a layer of authenticity born out of its distinct low-quality imperfections. Certain sequences were simulated with Super8 and 16mm to create a shaky, handheld style, and due to travel requirements, it could last anywhere between 60 and 90 days for the crew to fully realize a segment of material. As mentioned earlier, there is an inescapable level of animal violence that one might describe as disturbing and gratuitous to a degree slightly less than "Cannibal Holocaust" (1980) — they were not necessarily killed for the making of the movie, but cruel acts were permanently captured on celluloid to represent the process of daily life. Most notorious is the "monkey brains" sequence, originally scripted to take place in Japan before being tweaked to highlight a Middle Eastern culinary fallacy using none other than California as a backdrop. Based on apparent Southeast Asian tradition, where restaurants allow patrons to kill their food at the dining table, a real capuchin monkey is brought in, only for its head to be smashed in with mallets; obviously fake when you stumble upon B-roll, the footage is frighteningly believable within the context of the piece as a whole, and it is easy to fall for the gelatin and cauliflower gore considering the duplicate skull and rubber weapons are impressively detailed.

Nobody knew the basis that no critters were hacked up by the crew, and strangely enough, the body of a dead surfer, who had been missing for four days and caught in a riptide, washed up in front of the director's house on Sunset Beach shortly after they shot a final act sequence. Earlier in the film, a memorable scene depicts the procedure of an inmate on death row, Larry DeSilva, being executed by way of the electric chair; since the anonymous actor at hand never branched out into other projects, the material is often mistaken to be raw prison penalty footage, while its concept, design, and side effects of involuntary urination and blood spurting out of the eyes were derived from an article in Hustler magazine. VFX had to be achieved practically or optically, most significantly in supernatural moments, where a man holds a seance to summon the spirit of his deceased wife through a medium who is ultimately possessed. Additionally, there are consistently jarring tonal swaps between utter depravity and societal concern, as themes of disease, pollution, and starvation are implemented in the form of a public service announcement, further enhanced by the concluding segment, which is a non-explicit childbirth that ends with flowers blooming, animals frolicking in nature, and a scenic view of golden hour.

"Faces of Death" never resembles a work of J-Horror, but it is partially a Japanese production; financed by the Shochiku company, the rough cut led to an increase in backstory and aftermath scenes expanded from existing archival reels. Produced as a legitimate feature with a completely original score and an estimated budget of half a million dollars, Aquarius Releasing secured a limited U.S. theatrical window before the project was later toured around the country as a midnight movie. Gorgon Video released the film with a bright red warning label in 1983, and though it was understandably met with immediate controversy and backlash from professional critics, religious groups, and concerned parents alike, it became an instant success in the video rental market. Legend has it that at some point, Joe Dante of "Piranha" (1978) fame reached out to the filmmakers for assistance, as well as Steven Spielberg's office during the making of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984). Blurring the lines of fiction and reality, while using age restrictions and the notion of inaccessibility to build word-of-mouth buzz, it was only a matter of time until bootleg copies and an endless slate of sequels, imitators, and unauthorized foreign follow-ups would start to be circulated…

“Faces of Death” is available now on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from the Vinegar Syndrome Archive collection!

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After three years, twelve seasons, over a billion dollars in revenue, and an unfathomable amount of demons slain, Diablo IV’s second expansion has arrived, and it feels an awful lot like a finale. Blizzard Entertainment has overhauled nearly every mechanic in the game, created an entirely new playable religion, and lovingly crafted a dozen new hours of astonishing story content. After the highly divisive “Vessel of Hatred” expansion, Blizzard has gone back to the drawing board and put in considerably more effort into the game than ever before with “Lord of Hatred”. 

Much like “The Lord of the Rings” is constantly throwing the names of ancient artifacts, dead kings, and bygone wars at the reader, Diablo readily spouts the names of demons, dead warriors, and a very large variety of religions at the player. “Diablo IV” in particular is very obsessed with religion, and to keep up with the plot, you’ll need to figure out the different religions, who worships, and why. However, if you’re willing to engage with the story and lore, you’re in for a treat, as “Lord of Hatred” is downright phenomenal. Blizzard has aggressively listened to fan feedback from “Vessel of Hatred” and refocused the story back to more popular characters. The situation is similar to the one “Lucasfilm” faced after “The Last Jedi”, but handled with far more grace and skill by “Lord of Hatred’s” narrative designer Matt Burns.

Warning: Story Spoilers Ahead for “Diablo IV” and “Vessel of Hatred”

Scale and detail are really the two defining things that make “Lord of Hatred”’s story and world so worth playing. Blizzard has created terrific set pieces after terrific set pieces; nearly every single major boss battle or huge fight is more exciting than anything in the prior two story arcs. “Lord of Hatred” has a consistent ferocity and intensity that the base story only managed in its final hours. Whether you’re desperately facing down an army of pirate zombies side by side with amazons, scaling a volcano, or facing magical golems, every single fight is gorgeously and deliberately crafted and feels massive. It’s not simple waves of enemies being dumped; there’s progression and fluidity. 

As for the story itself, this is the “Avengers: Infinity War” of the Diablo Series. It’s all in, and the final act had my job completely on the floor. If you’ve seen any marketing for “Diablo IV”, you’ll know that the Daughter of Hatred and Mother of Sanctuary is back, yes, Lillith returns, in a far more involved capacity than before. Lilith is getting the full rehabilitation that many fan-favorite characters do, shifting her from outright villain to anti-hero. Yes, “Lillith was right” fans, this expansion goes out of its way to validate your beliefs. To an extreme that I find a little absurd. It would be one thing to show Lillith being rehabilitated and having a change of heart and a redeemed arc like Negan or Harley Quinn, but “Lord of Hatred” handwaves all the murdering and torturing she did to the protagonist’s best friends. Admittedly, there were seeds for this that were laid a while ago, with Lillith’s minions Aridah and Elias insisting all along that Lillith intended to save humanity from themselves. Were they telling the truth?

I find it pretty hard to forgive her for sticking a soulstone in poor Yorin’s head and for slaughtering lots and lots of innocent people. Full credit to voice actress Caroline Faber; she manages to sell a complexity that isn’t quite in the script, and by the end of the game, I was on board with everyone’s favorite “Dommy Demon Mommy” as an ally. Up until that point, every time a skeptical NPC would say to the player, “You’re working with Lillith? Lilith, who killed the entire population of five different cities and your best friends just a few weeks ago?” I was on the side of the NPC. At the end of the day, it’s genuinely wonderful to have Caroline Faber whispering dark nothings in your ear, and Lillith’s design remains outstanding. The cosplay community is riding hard for her, the fan art community is riding hard for her, and I can’t deny the appeal. But some villains you should just love to hate, and I don’t think that needs to change.

On the side of genuine good, we see the return of Lorath Nahr, voiced by Ralph Ineson. Ineson’s Yorkshire accent is perhaps the greatest thing to happen to dark fantasy in the 21st century, appearing in literally five dark fantasy/period horror films in the last ten years alone. Ineson brings genuine soul to “Lord of Hatred”, far exceeding his prior “Diablo” work as he essentially becomes the main character. His aging alcoholic sorcerer evokes so much emotion, as Ineson injects every single line delivery with the pain of a broken man fighting his last war. Lorath’s arc is the best character work in all of “Diablo IV” to this point, exceeding anything that came before in its depth. This is where “Vessel of Hatred” feels most like a missed opportunity. I have no idea why Ineson didn’t return for it, but now that he’s back, it’s astonishing to think he was dropped. 

Thematically, “Lord of Hatred” takes some big swings, raising the stakes as high as they’ve been throughout the entirety of “Diablo IV’s” three-year run. The invasion of hell at the end of the base game is superb, but the apocalypse on Skovos is just breathtaking. The story focuses on the concept of a false messiah, basically the series’ version of the anti-Christ. Because “Diablo” is not a subtle series, this revolves around the Demon Mephisto literally reanimating and possessing the corpse of Akarat (Diablo’s version of a Christ/Messiah figure) at the end of “Vessel of Hatred.“ In “Lord of Hatred”, Akarat/Mephisto is going around performing miracles, healing the sick, and raising the dead. Antichrist stories are not new in horror, and are often fairly trite, but doing one in a world where Demons and Angels walk amongst the human population leads to a more nuanced and complex narrative. Akarat/Mephisto preaches not hate, but love, and it’s genuinely tragic to watch desperate humans flock to him in hope of salvation. If someone brought your loved one back to life in front of you and promised they could save you from the literal demons at your door, how could you say no?

“Lord of Hatred’s” campaign is downright terrific; it’s a glorious finale to the saga of Mephisto, Lilith, and the Wanderer, and the climactic boss battle is one of the most visually inventive and creative I’ve ever played in a top-down video game. Despite my feeling that Lillith is mostly back for fan service, it barely detracts from the sweeping narrative that had me enthralled all the way until the credits rolled. Video games rarely make me cry, and this one did not, but the epilogue was so moving and perfect that I did get a little misty. Video games can be beautiful, and this one absolutely is. Blizzard’s cinematic cutscenes are some of the best in all of video gaming, and have been for 30 years. When the gameplay fades away to a pre-rendered cinematic, something incredible is always about to happen. 

At this point, you might be asking where the gameplay analysis is, considering that the entire game has been overhauled, and with a game like this, it’s simply too soon to say. I’m skeptical of the new skill system, which I think is too simplified, and pretty unenthused about the Horadric cube, because I prefer looting to crafting. I understand the direction Blizzard is going with both changes, but I don’t know if I love them at the moment. I like the charms, although they aren’t revolutionizing my loot life. War Plans are the best addition, and the complete revamping they’ve given to the endgame is an absolute win. I will have to join the chorus, saying the plan XP should be account-wide, as with Paragon points, leveling plans on different characters is a pain.

The Warlock and Paladin are extremely fun. If you don’t care about the story at all, then hey, I’d buy the expansion just to visit Skovos and get access to War Plans and the two new classes. The Paladin is quite possibly the most fun class to play in the entire game right now, with incredibly cool skins, abilities that feel good to use, and a ton of variety in gameplay styles. The warlock is wickedly good, but visually, his abilities are an absolute mess at times and really need some polishing and toning down. I’ve no doubt Blizzard will patch this; the Paladin’s painful brightness issues have thankfully been resolved. That’s about as deep as I can sincerely get with my analysis of the gameplay changes, because Diablo’s systems have constant reworks, and nothing I write will still be true in a month. Overall, I’d say I like the new systems, but I’m looking forward to them being refined.

If you love dark fantasy, I highly recommend playing “Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred”. The narrative is incredibly compelling and often thought-provoking, the battles are huge and exciting, and the environments are downright gorgeous. The story of Lorath Nahr is the best character work I’ve experienced in a game this year, and I was enraptured from beginning to end. If you purely crave new gameplay, then it’s worth it just for the Warlock, Paladin, War Plans, Charms, and Talismans. Skovos is a wonderful land to explore, and you won’t regret a trip to its verdant shores. For only $40, Lord of Hatred is a genuine must-have for existing Diablo IV players, and there’s never been a better time to start the game as a new player and just buy the full bundle.

“Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred” is on sale from Blizzard Entertainment via PlayStation, Xbox, and PC

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When horror sinks its teeth into folklore, that’s when nightmares really can unfold for characters. Though sometimes we’re left with a lot more questions than answers that don’t result in a satisfying end. “sMOTHERed”, directed by Kevin Rahardjo and Rafki Hidayat, tries to tackle its own interpretation of an Indonesian folktale called Malin Kudang, but it isn’t entirely successful in executing the story. 

What’s It About? 

After surviving a terrible accident, renowned micro painter Alif returns home with fractured memories. When an elderly woman appears claiming to be his mother, Alif embarks on a search for the truth, uncovering a haunting legacy inspired by the legend of Malin Kundang.

What Happens, And Is It Any Good? 

“sMOTHERed” begins with the car accident that Alif got into, and the ominous music alongside scans of Alif’s brain indicates that we’re in for some bizarre events. As soon as we're formally introduced to Alif, his wife Nadine (Faradina Mufti), and their son Emir (Jordan Omar), it’s clear that there’s been some family tension for some time. Though with Alif’s memory not being what it was, not even he has any idea why that is. The film doesn’t waste time making it clear that Alif is a different person than he was prior to the recent accident. 

The atmosphere of the film is akin to walking on eggshells with these characters. Alif comes across as sympathetic, but the way his wife behaves around him suggests that their marriage may not have been that great prior. And we get that confirmation in the following scenes after an awkward car ride. Rio Dewanto and Faradina Mufti play a convincing couple, with Mufti displaying a wife who is struggling to deal with knowing the reality of their marriage. Both performances are effective as they aid to the first half of the film, which happens to be the strongest chunk of it. Crafting those quiet moments contribute to the unease that most folk horror omits.

During the first half of the film, we slowly get to know the family, including Alif’s mother, who arrives to stay with them. However, Alif doesn’t remember inviting her to come stay with the family. His memory has quite a few gaps in it; he’s struggling to remember his past, and his mother’s face is even lost to him at this time. Alif’s struggle is played quite well by Dewanto, but there’s an air of falsehood in Alif because he’s not the person everyone knew before. As Alif tries to remember parts of his life, he begins to experience hallucinations and disturbances that leave him questioning reality. All he wants is to be able to remember what came before, just like nearly anyone would in his predicament. Amnesia is a common trope in horror, and it’s not always executed well. Despite the confusion that people may feel, especially when it comes to the folktale of Malin Kudang, the trope is utilized as best as it can be. 

The Malin Kudang folktale, which originated in West Sumatra, is one that follows a man who is labelled as an ungrateful son, and he suffers after becoming rich and rejecting his own mother for being poor. The folktale is quite intriguing, but the interpretation of it within “sMOTHERed” doesn’t entirely work on a story level. In fact, it actually misses the mark because of what happened in Alif’s past.

“sMOTHERed”‘s script is at its best during the beginning, especially when the mysteries aren’t solved, and we’re left to speculate how the film will play out. It feels like something supernatural will occur, or Alif’s family will suffer because of mistakes he may have made in his past. But the film holds back a little too much, almost like it plays it safe in regard to consequences. Though once Alif begins to remember, finds clues regarding his past, and discovers secrets that rattle him to his core - that’s when the film begins to fall apart. Instead of making everyone more invested in Alif in the third act, “sMOTHERed” fizzles out.

“sMOTHERed” isn’t a total failure from a visual standpoint, as there are scenes throughout the entire film that are visually unsettling, especially when it comes to flashbacks to Alif’s childhood. , but the writing is a struggle to sit through. And there are a few reveals that should’ve been thought out a bit more. The ending of “sMOTHERed” is relatively underwhelming, and without giving away exactly what happens, it’s an ending that leaves you feeling like “that’s it?”. What the film should’ve done is lean more into the original folktale in a modern way. And the film is one of those cases where the outcome should’ve been a bit more bleak. 

Verdict

Mulin Kudang isn’t a folktale that’s frequently explored in horror, and it’s commendable that “sMOTHERed” is doing something unique in terms of its inspiration. However, its execution is where it’s not fully successful enough to make this an easy recommendation.

”sMOTHERed” will become available for streaming on Shudder on May 29th.

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Alongside the slasher film, possession and ghost-based horror tend to be one of the more prominent subgenres out there, and it’s not hard to see why. Ghosts and demons are ubiquitous across cultures and belief systems, and tap into our lack our shared curiosity about what happens after we die. The issue that arises from having such a vibrant subgenre is that it becomes harder to identify films that both stand out and deliver the best that the subgenre is capable of. The old “quantity vs quality” argument becomes more common, and it puts increased pressure on newer films to not only innovate but also entertain. “13 Souls,” from director and co-writer Paulo Nascimento, seeks to leverage the moniker of being “based on a true story” to weave another pattern in the tapestry of one of horror’s most popular subgenres. Is “13 Souls” a revelation of originality or another brick in the wall of mediocrity?

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

After the death of her mother, fifteen-year-old Agne moves in with her father and older sister in a house near a cemetery, where eerie and uncanny things begin to happen.

HOW IS IT?

 “13 Souls” may start by claiming to be based on a true story, but that’s not entirely true. Like many films that riff on reality, the separation between fact and fiction amounts to having more of the latter and less of the former. In this case, the story about 13 people being found burned beyond recognition and buried in unmarked graves is true, but how that truth is deployed here is leveraged to weave a rather confusing story that is infused with a weirdly pro-Catholicism story about the 13 people actually being some kind of modern-day angels. The thing is, that’s not even the weirdest part of  “13 Souls” as it uses a supremely tragic situation about an addict mother, a broken family, and a traumatized daughter to try and make a point about the power of God and good. If you’re confused, so were we.

The film opens with Agne (Sienna Belle), a young girl who has been found by police taking care of her 3-day-dead mother, who was an addict and likely suffering from mental health issues. Agne is estranged from her father, Ariel (Tim Shelburne), and sister, Nina (Brielle Tucker), due to issues between Ariel and their mother, which led Agne to live with their mother and move to Brazel, and Nina to live with Ariel in the US. There are reasons given for the separation that don’t fully track, but we give the film the benefit of the doubt. When Agne moves in with Ariel and Nina, she begins seeing visions of dead people who may be trying to help or harm her, leading to erratic behavior that antagonizes Nina and widens the rift between Agne and Ariel. Ariel is thrust into trying to save both of his daughters, and as a cemetery caretaker, he’s doing everything he can to find meaning in the supernatural and using his faith to fight back.

“13 Souls” suffers from the same “kitchen sink” problem that a lot of indie horror films fall victim to by simply trying to do too much. We have a story about Agne, who may be possessed, or able to speak to ghosts, or possibly malevolent herself. Then, we have Agne’s antagonizing of Nina, which feels cruel for cruelty sake and isn’t given a lot of reasoning. The lack of reasoning is also buoyed by a lot of convenient narrative framing. Ariel is the caretaker for a graveyard, and he and Nina live in a decrepit house on the property. It’s unclear why they have to live on the property, as it’s never insinuated that they own it, but rather that he works there. Which is just perfect for the story because it happens to be the same graveyard as the aforementioned unmarked grave where the 13 are buried. Ariel’s journey to explain these unreasonable circumstances has him confiding in his co-worker, who seems to do most of the work digging the graves and burying the deceased, who encourages Ariel to lean on his faith in God to help save him and his daughters. It’s not subtle, and the film’s climax makes it clear that religion is the only way to fight evil, even if the argument isn’t compelling or convincing.

The unfortunate thing about “13 Souls” is that when it’s leaning into the horror aspects, it’s quite impressive. Solid practical effects and makeup work for the ghosts. There’s some gnarly gore embedded in parts, but it never feels like it’s part of the same movie we have been watching, and altogether makes for a viewing experience that is disorganized and hard to care about. The performaces are fine, however, the script just doesn’t give them characters much depth or interesting dailogue to make the viewer care for them. Considering how dire the circumstances are, it’s notable how shallow and hollow the emotional beats are. Some of this is due to how unfocused the story is overall, and a much simpler plot with less moving parts could’ve made this an above average entry in one of horror’s most popular subgenres.

LAST RITES

“13 Souls” has some impressive makeup and practical effects, but it’s not enough to overcome the confusing story and meandering pro-Catholicism plotting making this feel like a bunch of missed opportunities and one of the lamest uses of the “based on a true story” device.

THE GORY DETAILS

“13 Souls” is out today on VOD in the UK from Seven Tales / Trinity Content Partners

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If "Behind the Green Door" (1972) introduced San Francisco as a pioneering spot for experimental pornography, "Taboo" (1980) secured it as a home for X-rated blockbusters. The Golden Age of Porn was known for many things, but as the years pass, it feels increasingly rarer to see some of its biggest works discussed in depth or reframed within the confines of the horror genre as we know and love it. While stars were born and monolithic studios built from the ground up, fresh styles of cinema ran parallel to the mainstream market, establishing their own tropes, moods, and views of the world and its inhabitants, with the sole caveat that they were geared primarily towards erotic thrill. Deservedly inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame and receiving the Video Software Dealers Association's first adult award for sales volume in 1981, "Taboo" stepped above the usual threshold of porno chic in an eager attempt to shatter virtually every sexual boundary left in the shadows of American society. Not only did the project become the namesake for the column you're reading right now, but it also launched a set of four theatrical titles by 1985 and an additional nineteen direct-to-video sequels thereafter, which, beyond the sex industry, became a smash-hit franchise that continues to stand the test of time.

"Taboo" feels unprecedented and unmatched as the result of a woman writing and producing a story that deals with the ultimate sin: incest! Though the topic was already explored with overt religious and supernatural horror imagery by Abe Snake (aka Wes Craven) in "The Fireworks Woman" (1975) and Jonas Middleton by way of "Through the Looking Glass" (1978), the subject matter is handled with slightly more care by Helene Terrie and her longtime directorial collaborator, Kirdy Stevens, and it led to a porn subgenre still very active today. It has been described as the carnal classic that shocked everyone into talking about what they dare not whisper, was apparently praised by filmmaking legend Francis Ford Coppola, and succeeds mostly because the psychological impact of its familial affairs on victims overpowers the spirit of the hardcore sex. After Jesie St. James turned down the central role, Kay Parker stepped in as Barbara Scott with a seriously sensitive portrayal, studying and living in the sexual misery of the suburbs until she catapulted into stardom following its release. Paired with Mike Ranger as her teen son, Paul, and without his signature mustache, the plot plays simply as a slow unraveling of subliminal desires between mother and child in the wake of sudden marital trauma.

Never once does the film condone their actions, but the soap opera styling of the piece as a whole creates a beautifully bizarre, bleak atmosphere with cleavage unwittingly peeking out at the dining room table, melodramatic notes forbidding further carnal contact, and landline disturbance mistaking molestation with rape fantasies fulfilled. Incest in the world of Kirdy Stevens isn't allowed without consequences, and there is nuance in every relationship and in the manner by which they all crack under pressure. "Taboo" was shot on 35mm, playing for months around the country in erotic theatres, and establishes a strong sense of location; its scenic breath of fresh air, a third act Chinatown dating montage, constructs a realistic space for corruption in broad daylight, and with soon-to-be major studio cinematographer Julio Macat on board, the camera captures confined interiors and prolonged voyeuristic yearning with an extremely intimate eye. It is older women who lead the picture — Barbara, with a fractured family dynamic, and her gal pal, Gina (Juliet Anderson), in a polyamorous cycle of free love, the two representing opposite ends of the sexual liberation movement, while a dichotomy between mortification and macabre curiosity fuels their individual compulsions. Ultimately, this is a reflection of how we go to extremes to fulfill our sex drives, with first dates devolving into a look at swinging culture as a romantic and spiritual trap.

Kay Parker became a target of the media, which platformed women only to shame them for taking roles, and despite being set up for blind criticism, sex always sells; the story of an incestuous relationship took the attention due to the shock factor alone, and the first film abruptly ends on a note of reclamation of autonomy, as Barbara vows to rearrange her priorities, doing things—and most likely her offspring—her way. "Taboo II" (1982) was produced in the fall of 1981, evidenced by the Thanksgiving decor hanging in the opening sequence. Helmed by the same crew, it is briefly explained that Paul moved in with his dad offscreen, his role now given to an ex-girlfriend reprised from the original, Sherry (Dorothy LeMay), and a well-endowed Junior (Kevin James) as the narrative shifts to a tangentially related sexual cycle within the McBride family, and incest itself becomes a rite of passage for peers in the community. Think Dante's “Inferno," but every scene introduces a new layer of forbidden lust, regardless if it occurs between a frustrated mother and delinquent son, horny brother and younger sister, straightlaced father and perfect daughter, lesbians, or the obligatory orgy setpiece. Parents express anxiety about what they're doing, losing a part of themselves through penetrative gratification; they don't know whether to cry or get a hardon, but by the end, realize that the sick embrace they seek with their heirs represents a piece of themselves lost in adulthood.

By the time the sequel went into production, Mike Ranger had left the adult film business; still, his absence is barely felt in Stevens' sequels, as archival footage is repeatedly edited in to solidify Barbara Scott's status as a seductress. Fresh to the industry, Honey Wilder stepped in to co-lead the second and third installments as Joyce McBride, the mother of Sherry and Junior, who catches them in the act, later rationalizing incest under the guise of virginal experimentation that might never happen again. Eric Edwards guest stars as her wistful husband, Greg, further fueling themes of inappropriate sexual conduct and erotic tension as much as a great actor with a traditionally passionate performance method can, although he's sadly absent in the last piece of the trilogy when storylines begin to intersect and create a muddled grey area of canon and lore. "Taboo III" was released in 1984, sometimes prematurely marketed as "The Final Chapter," and takes place somewhat simultaneously with its predecessor, partly revised with a musical movie atmosphere that feels made for MTV, complete with extended sequences of yacht rock tracks intercut with sleazy sex and neon lighting. It's a crossover between the original's melodrama and the new wave angst of the mid-80s, both ‘MILFs’ returning as close family friends bonded by their twisted maternal instincts.

Opening phone calls retread the controversy of Paul moving out, but expanded is the series' nods to alcoholism, as an empty liquor bottle on his nightstand alludes to addiction as a result of his incestuous acts. This effortlessly follows the previous film, where Joyce drinks the pain away in a bubble bath while rambling about her son's beautiful body, and solidifies the concept of substance abuse in the wake of detrimental developments between blood relatives behind closed doors. Again, it features original soundtrack compositions by Leon Felburg, with the addition of Christopher Saint Booth and Philip Adrian Booth—UK twins forming the band Who's Who?—appearing as Affair, performing their music prior to "Ulterior Motives" becoming a lost media sensation upon TikTok's rediscovery of "Angels of Passion" (1986). A voyeuristic visual parallel for Barbara's other son, Jimmy (Jerry Butler), who suddenly exists, leads to the franchise’s first legitimate confrontation over the effects of her actions and sends her into a spiral questioning how far a parent should go in looking after their children until “maternal love” becomes suffocating, crossing an intimate boundary of no return. This porno is stylistically equivalent to "Slumber Party Massacre II" (1987), and conceptually frightening in its representation of sexual relapse when one mother grows jealous of her kid's sex life; Sherry and Junior are never even referenced, but Brian McBride (Blake Palmer) spawns out of nowhere to be used for pleasure by both women before the second young Scott succumbs to matriarchal advances.

Surprisingly, the final entry to be released on the big screen at the industry's peak is also the one that trades prohibited sex for its detailed narrative — "Taboo IV: The Younger Generation" rebooted the property in 1985, relying heavily on psychological themes with a rhyme and reason for every sultry thread. Shot in Los Angeles at a time vice squads actively shut down hardcore porn, this covers fathers seeking daughters for revenge, and mothers seeking sons to step in for inept lovers. Worlds come to an end after their children are caught in the act, and the adolescent story is informed by sisters Robin (Ginger Lynn thankfully got cast over Traci Lords) and Naomi (Karen Summer); the two are expelled from boarding school and sent back to live with their father, Dr. Jeremy Lodge (Jamie Gillis), who talks on the radio and holds therapy sessions for victims of incest at their affluent home until his brother, Bill (John Leslie), exposes an affair with his unsatisfied wife, Alice (Cyndee Summers). So begins the next chapter of this steamy filmic soap opera, in which misogyny runs rampant because of an explosive marital breakdown, nieces fall for their uncles without knowing that paternity is up in the air, pervy local acting coaches hit on minors, and explicit, sensual fantasies and daydreams linger on everybody’s mind. Horror was clearly an afterthought in making the "Taboo" franchise, but it is arguably embedded into its structure, as any depiction of the cheeky carnal comedy devolves into some level of biological abuse. Nonetheless, the material remains a reminder of a long-gone period when triple-X content was well acted and rehearsed, recognized by major critics, and stuck true to the spirit of independent filmmaking. Hopefully, it isn't long before the direct-to-video follow-ups starring Joey Silvera find their way to the boutique Blu-ray market — split personalities and twin possession intact!

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While much has been written about the individual films themselves, there doesn’t yet seem to be a consensus for the name of the growing movement of female-centric body horror that’s sweeping the horror genre.  Aside from “The Substance,” a recent slate of films like “Grafted” and “Thinestra,” and “Slanted” feature women who use unconventional (to say the least) means to look fitter, happier, more productive, and in their minds, whole, resulting in death, chaos and destruction.  “Saccharine” from writer/director Natalie Erika James (2020’s “Relic," “Apartment 7A”), the latest entry in this budding subgenre (“Sephora Horror?” No, that’s lame), releases this week from IFC.

James’s chilling film features Midori Francis as Hana, a med student who discovers a pill made of human ash can help her lose weight.  When she starts manufacturing the pill herself, it works a little too well, resulting in rapid weight loss and a haunting for good measure.  I sat down with James, Francis, and her co-stars Danielle Macdonald and Madeleine Madden to discuss their roles in the latest entry of…”dysmorphia core?”  No, that’s worse. Someone other than me needs to come up with a moniker.

“Saccharine” will open in select theaters across the U.S. on Friday, May 22nd, 2026

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Over the years, Walt Disney World has seen its fair share of retired attractions, but what actually happens to them after their closure? Directed by Orlando native Joshua Bailey, “Stolen Kingdom” is a documentary that explores the mystery behind “Buzzy,” the stolen animatronic from Epcot’s closed Wonders of Life pavilion. The question still stands: “What really happened to Buzzy?”

Exploring abandoned theme park attractions has always been prevalent, but truly peaked in interest from the earlier days of YouTube from the early to mid-2000’s. There are videos from these creators that you can still watch today of them making the highly illegal venture into Discovery Island and, of course, the Wonders of Life pavilion. Some of the more prominent names in the urban exploring world, specifically of forgotten Disney World attractions, include the late Adam The Woo. He was highly praised and featured in the documentary for the work he had done over the years in the YouTube community, and has since been dubbed as one of the original Disney vloggers. I can confidently agree that without Adam, this community wouldn’t be where it is today.

Matt Sonswa had a big part in the making of “Stolen Kingdom” as well, by providing an in-depth and absolutely mind-blowing interview regarding his time spent exploring the notoriously abandoned (and forgotten) Wonders of Life, and several other attractions. Footage from his explorations was fascinating to watch, and it’s still unbelievable that he was able to get access to these places not once, but multiple times. He made it abundantly clear that he is not the one who stole Buzzy and has never stolen anything from Walt Disney World.

Patrick Spikes was a former cast member who gained after-hours access to closed-off parts of the park. Essentially, he would explore the “backrooms” of Disney World and document the unviewable spaces forbidden to guests. One of the coolest parts of the documentary was the video of him and his cousin going to the top of the ship in the Pirates of the Caribbean dark ride. As well as seeing his collection of theme park memorabilia and ride pieces.

You can’t lie to yourself. The thought of seeing these places and things that you wouldn’t normally be allowed to is actually very appealing to the viewer, but also concerning for how easily it can be done. Now, where Patrick differed from other explorers was that he would take random things from these attractions or even items such as bathroom signs or ride manuals and sell them on the Disney “black market.” He was eventually arrested for his crimes and paid roughly $25,000 in restitution, as well as receiving a lifetime ban from Walt Disney World (understandably). Yet again, Patrick claims that Buzzy is absolutely not in his possession.

Buzzy wasn’t just outright stolen; it happened over time. The majority of his clothes, including his boots and hat, were taken and are probably somewhere in someone’s collection as we speak. The sad truth is that many of these abandoned attractions are just left in the abyss to rot. Take Discovery Island, for example, a one-of-a-kind wildlife sanctuary that was home to a variety of animals and visited by travelling tourists and locals alike. Once the decline in attendance became too much of a loss to come back from, Disney closed Discovery Island and left it to be overtaken by nature once again. The footage we see in the documentary shows that literally everything had been left behind, even some of the different birds that inhabited the area, and several decaying buildings.

If you think about it, the way that Buzzy was cut out of his seat was done so by using industrial cutters, and he wasn’t a lightweight animatronic by any means. This makes us think that it had to have been multiple people who helped “break him out.” Also, someone who still had access to this area and enough time to get him without being seen. Our theory is that it was either a former cast member who still had access and worked late-night park hours, or one of the interviewees from the documentary may not be telling us everything they know…

“Stolen Kingdom” is a wild ride that would even make Mr. Toad lose his mind (pun intended). Urban exploring and abandoned places have always been fascinating, and this documentary highlights some of the most epic explorations that would make any theme park lover giddy. Being an Orlando native myself, I thoroughly enjoyed my multiple viewings of this film and would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Walt Disney World, abandoned places, or even theme park lore. The nationwide theatrical roadshow for “Stolen Kingdom” begins on May 21st with multiple showings throughout select cities until June 14th.

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(Note: This article contains spoilers for the film “Hokum” (2026). Read at your own risk.) 

It’s an understatement to say that Good For Her horror is having a moment. Worshipping upon the altar of patron saints like Erin of “You’re Next” (2011), Dani of “Midsommar” (2019), or anything starring Samara Weaving, one of our favorite pastimes in the horror community has become rooting for our favorite vengeful women. In a world that is built upon a foundation of silencing marginalized voices (often women’s) and consolidating power in the hands of others (usually men), it is no wonder that we seek catharsis in seeing those men violently and thoroughly punished.  

“Not all men…” has become a highly problematic trope employed as a defense mechanism that allows us to sidestep responsibility and flip the script, claiming that men are the modern-day minority deserving of our empathy and compassion. Horror has long been ahead of the curve in calling out social trends and giving us fantastical worlds in which to explore them. Is it possible that just as Good For Her horror gave us a space to process male toxicity and female empowerment, it may also provide a new space to explore male compassion and forgiveness? Horror has always reveled in that which is taboo, and what could be more taboo than the suggestion that some of these toxic men might also be deserving of grace?

Leaving a recent screening of “Hokum” (2026), the latest tale of terror from Damian McCarthy, we were left equal parts shaken and satisfied by all the elements we’ve come to expect from his films. Dark and gothic environment, vengeful supernatural entities, and frightening rabbit imagery, ready-made to be injected directly into our nightmares. But in his primary male protagonist, Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott), McCarthy subverts much of what we have come to expect from him.             

McCarthy’s previous films, “Caveat” (2020) and “Oddity” (2024), are no strangers to portraying men behaving badly. But his protagonists are ultimately sympathetic and good-natured folk. On the other hand, we have Bauman, who, to put it quite plainly, is a real asshole. He is a challenging man to empathize with, which makes his position as protagonist unique. Stoic to the point of rudeness, Bauman frequently takes pleasure in small cruelties. He emotionally toys with the literary dreams of hotel bellhop Alby (Will O’Connell), seeks out avoidable conflicts with those around him, views the disposal of his parents’ remains as a chore, and ultimately traumatizes the staff of The Bilberry Woods Hotel with his attempted suicide, not considering the emotional toll finding him will take on the men and women whose job it is to take care of him. And this is all before we learn of the accidental shooting of his mother as a child.

Ohm’s mother (Mallory Adams) is given no name. Neither is the witch (Sioux Carroll) who calls the dank basements of The Bilberry home. This highlights the treatment of women in McCarthy’s film. Apart from his mother and the witch, who in “Hokum” takes the stereotypical form of the crone, there are two other female presences in the story: The deceased wife (also unnamed) of Jerry (David Wilmot) and Fiona (Florence Ordesh). Jerry is rumored to have murdered his wife, and while we tells Ohm it was an act of consentual euthanasia we receive no confirmation of this narrative. Fiona is the only female figure alive at the start of the story, and the second act of the film opens with the revelation that she has disappeared, presumed (and soon confirmed) to be dead. The figurative and literal spectres of dead women fly high over Ohm’s story, further complicating his (heroes?) journey. How should we feel about his emotional evolution being built upon a foundation of dead women? 

In a modern society, reliant upon social media discourse, it is so tempting to take a stance. Is it good or bad? Is it offensive or refreshing? Is it a subversion of tropes or a rehashing of toxic narratives? Much like The Bilberry’s resident witch in her dark basement, we prefer to live in the murky shadows of nuance on such topics. Intention is everything when navigating complicated narratives, and given his prioritization of feminine vengeance in his films, we tend to give McCarthy the benefit of the doubt. As horror fans know better than most, the world is not fair, and it can be harsh. People die, often in ways that are cruel and which spit in the face of social justice. Genre films that center on feminine rage and strength tend to be our favorites. That being said, men suffer too, and it is imperative in a healthy and balanced society that we find space to explore all experiences of pain. 

Men’s mental health does not tend to get the spotlight as often as that of other populations, but it remains a prominent factor in daily life. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 20% of men experience a diagnosable mental illness each year. A similar number experience substance use disorders. Only about 45% of men seek and receive clinical treatment. A more striking statistic relates to the prevalence of sexual abuse, with many studies estimating that one in six men has experienced sexual abuse in their lives. From the perspective of emotional intelligence and expression, boys and men are socialized to suppress many feelings deemed to be too vulnerable, such as fear, anxiety, and sadness. In a society that prioritizes strength, athletics, and aggression in boys, the only emotion many young men are comfortable expressing authentically is anger. 

Ohm highlights these statistics well. Clearly, he has experienced powerful trauma in his life. At the point when we meet him, his primary coping skills appear to be a heavy scotch habit, casual cruelty, and his writing. Ohm’s storytelling may be the closest he has to an adaptive expression of his pain, but the glimpses we catch into his “Conquistador Trilogy” are riddled with unprocessed grief and pain. At the start of the film, the titular Conquistador is poised to kill his young male companion in pursuit of his unnamed quest. We see reflected here, Ohm’s self-hatred, perpetrating violence upon a boy likely similar in age to himself when he was responsible for his mother’s death. 

Ohm’s near-death by suicide would be the end of his story in most cases. So many men are unable to face their demons, particularly when it means accepting fault for harm they have perpetrated. And in some case this conclusion may be preferable to one that culminates in him continuing to perpetrate harm on others. “Hokum” offers a different path to Ohm. One in which he is given the option to confront his past, the unhealthy ways in which he deals with them, and seek a new and healthier path forward. 

However frightening the ordeals he faces are, ultimately, stumbling into the path of the witch, and Fiona is the catalyst for Ohm’s growth. Fiona’s costume, being that of a rabbit, is no coincidence. The hare is a common image in McCarthy’s films. It is frequently depicted in Irish mythology as a supernatural figure that can travel between the mundane and the underworld, much like the witch of The Bilberry. 

These figures serve dual roles as motivating figures and existential threats to Ohm should he not resolve his psychic conflicts. Adding his mother into the story alongside Fiona and the witch conjures the common image of The Fates, or The Furies, frequently depicted as three distinctly feminine figures: The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone. The Fates simultaneously live in the past, present, and future. They allow Ohm’s traumatic history, his fearful present, and the hopelessness of his future to exist together for a period of time, granting him the ability to fully process and come to terms with his experiences, his core beliefs, and his hopes for a better future.

Ohm’s ability to accept fault for the death of his mother, and more importantly, to seek her forgiveness, offers him his escape from the witch when she seeks to drag him into the underworld along with Mal (Peter Coonan), who, unlike Ohm, is not able to resolve his toxic ways and pays the price. It is a satisfying resolution for any main character, but again, we must contend with the toxic masculinity of it all. Ohm finds peace through his ordeals, but does he deserve to? Particularly when others, particularly Fiona, are not so lucky? 

Again, we will return to the intention and the hope for a more inclusive future in our storytelling. McCarthy has a proven record for seeking justice for his female characters. That being said, we must acknowledge a trend. His female protagonists tend only to achieve their vengeance from beyond the grave. Consider this your warning, McCarthy. We’ve given you the benefit of the doubt thus far. But let’s shake up the formula a bit next time. More importantly, we find great hope in a story like “Hokum” that brings men’s mental health to the forefront. So many women and other marginalized individuals have been harmed at the hands of a man in pain. There is a common saying amongst therapeutic circles: Most people are in therapy because of someone who refuses to go to therapy. Protection of women is priority number one, but to truly evolve, our society must simultaneously find a way to heal the source of their injuries. This means shining a light directly on the ways that men struggle and finding ways to ensure they seek treatment before their pain ripples outward toward others.  

We can hold men accountable (perhaps more of us should be locked in for the night with a vengeful witch) while also treating their pain. At The Bilberry Woods Hotel, Ohm uses a chalk circle to keep the witch out. But perhaps another way to view it is that the chalk circle is containing him. Preventing him from perpetrating more harm than his anguish already has, while the female forces work their “magic” on him in the ultimate healing ceremony. Perhaps Ohm does not escape the witch, but rather he is ultimately released release by her because she sees hope for him. He stumbles through the cleansing fires of the hotel, deemed to have been healed enough that he will cause no more harm. Horror knows that we cannot prevent pain and suffering. We only hope to learn and grow from it.  

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Mother’s Day insists on a script: call your mother, send a card, or at the very least, imagine her sitting at a table somewhere surrounded by flowers and pancakes. Even if your own mother is gone, estranged, or allergic to hollandaise, the cultural image is as ingrained in us as the idea of Mother’s Day Brunch and giving Mom the “day off” from the singular drudgery of cooking for the family. The kitchen is a shrine to mothers everywhere, the place where her love is supposed to be ladled out alongside spaghetti or sealed into Tupperware for later. 

Gastrohorror knows the kitchen is also where arsenic hides in the sugar bowl or a pot of stew, though. It’s a place where “secret family recipes” might involve a neighbor girl’s femur, and where your kindly lunch lady could be eyeballing you for tomorrow’s special.

Take Shirley Jackson’s “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” (1962). A Blackwood family meal ends in mass poisoning courtesy of a sugar bowl. That’s right: dessert was murder. Poor Constance is left to eternally stir soups and set tables for the survivors. This is one of the original nightmare brunches—less “bottomless mimosas” and more “bottomless grave.” And yet, in its own way, it’s also a very Mother’s Day-esque story (okay, maybe adjacent): Jackson reminds us that every act of feeding has a sharp edge, even when the needlessly remorseful neighbors start to leave food for Constance and Merricat.

Now pull your chair closer to the table to Jim Mickle’s “We Are What We Are” (2013), that double-take of a cannibal family drama. Here, generations of mothers pass down cannibalism as a ritual duty, the way your mom might pass down her prize-winning pot roast recipe—except instead of a slab of beef, it’s, well, mostly random girls from the town. The horror isn’t just the gore, but the suffocating expectation: butcher that girl and eat this flesh because it’s tradition, because Mother says so (or after mom passes, because the eldest daughter has a duty to take over meal prep). After all, the family that eats with the neighbor together stays together.  

What’s delightful (if I may risk that word about dismemberment) is how “Castle” and “We Are What We Are” look like mirror images in some ways and parallels in others. Jackson’s poison is the rupture of domestic meals: eating together destroys the family. “We Are What We Are” insists the opposite (at least for a good portion of the film): eating together—quite literally, other people—is the only thing that keeps the family together (until it doesn’t). Both terrors boil down to the same queasy realization: there’s no safe way to sit at a family table. Either the mother figure is trying to kill you, or she’s intent on getting you to swallow your portion of rib roast with gratitude (hey, there’s a reason why “Serial Mom” [1994] is such a classic, even if it’s not a gastrohorror classic—although there is a scene where Beverly beats someone to death with a leg of lamb, so an argument could be made). 

Beyond the obvious, though, cultural critic Mikita Brottman posits that art horror uses cannibalism to stage anxieties about consumption, capitalism, and identity. That’s right on for these two examples, although this comes through in very different ways—fear of difference versus the embrace of religious fervor and all that goes with it.

That even extends to The Simpsons—the lingering terrors of the school cafeteria are thematically irresistible. In “Nightmare Cafeteria” (Treehouse of Horror V, 6.6, 1994), Springfield Elementary solves lunchtime crowding by turning children into entrées. Suddenly, “lunch lady” becomes “lunch predator,” and Uter (poor, doomed Uter) ends up as “Uterbraten.” Here, the maternal act of feeding flips into comic cannibalism, but the punchline is serious: institutions that are supposed to nurture us—mothers, schools, kitchens—always have the power to devour us instead. It’s something we’re seeing evolve right now in the U.S.; instead of teaching us actual history and science, some school districts are embracing white-washed and dumbed-down versions, making us nothing more than meat for the capitalistic, low-wage beast. I blame Principal Skinner for that little diversion of mine since he’s so disturbingly believable as an advocate for the idea that “children are tasty and full of vitamins.” 

This Mother’s Day, consider these three core works as the stage for a feast of contradictions on the maternal. Shirley Jackson and Jim Mickle warn about the intimacy of the meal—love can be laced with arsenic and maybe prion diseases. We Are What We Are urges us to embrace the intimacy of the meal—love requires us to eat together, even if what’s on the plate used to be Kevin. The Simpsons tells us to relax, it’s all a big joke . . . until you realize you, too, once ate a suspiciously chewy slice of mystery meat in a school cafeteria.

What ties them all together is the maternal figure role of feeding, trope-based or not. We are led to believe that Moms and maternal stand-ins are supposed to nurture with food, right? They’re the original sous chefs of survival: breast milk, baby food, endless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crusts trimmed. But horror reminds us that to feed is also to control. To cook is to decide what enters someone else’s body. And to sit down at a family table is to surrender yourself to the menu (your body, Mom’s choice). It’s the gastrohorror way—adding in a sinister note that sometimes the menu is you, and mothers aren’t always Donna Reed or Marge Simpson . . . and what you’re fed isn’t always just about nutrition.

So this Mother’s Day, by all means, take Mom (or your stand-in found-family mother) to brunch. Raise that mimosa. Order her the omelet with the fancy goat cheese. But know this: somewhere in Shirley Jackson’s pantry, in a cannibal family’s journal, and in Springfield’s cafeteria, the same moral is being served—every family meal is a tiny horror film. And sometimes, if you’re unlucky, a very final course. 

Now mind your manners.

REFERENCES:

Brottman, Mikita. Meat Is Murder: An Illustrated Guide to Cannibal Culture. Creation Books, 1998.

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There’s something to be said for directors who willingly return to their indie roots after dipping a toe into the mainstream.  In 2020, writer/director Natalie Erika James released the striking “Relic,” one of the best films of the year that you should’ve seen.  Her follow-up, “Apartment 7A,” was austere and unsettling, but suffered from being an unnecessary prequel to “Rosemary’s Baby.”  James is back in her independent groove with “Saccharine,” which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and will likely later stream on Shudder. It’s not quite a return to form, as it is an expansion on her gifts as a horror filmmaker.

Midori Francis plays Hana, an anxious med student obsessed with losing weight.  When she’s not toiling at the gym, she’s dumping donuts in the trash, then covering them with dish soap “just in case.”  One night, she runs into an old acquaintance who’s undergone a substantial makeover, courtesy of a strange gray capsule known as…“the Gray.”  After receiving a freebie, she starts immediately shedding weight, but it’s to the script’s credit that Hana wants to know what’s actually in it.  After using her scientific acumen to determine the pill is actually human ash, Hana’s shock takes a backseat to her entrepreneurial spirit, when she starts making her own “Gray” from one of the cadavers she works on in class.  The corpse in question is an obese woman crudely dubbed “Big Bertha,” who should provide enough of the drug for Hana to blow past her goal weight.  

Of course, the plan works a little too well.  Hana gains confidence that helps her grow closer to the trainer she crushes on (Madeleine Madden), while she loses pounds a little too quickly. As her best friend Josie (Danielle Macdonald, wonderful as always, but underutilized with a bad wig) worries about her health, Hana starts seeing “Bertha,” upright, angry, and following her. Could this be a hallucinatory side effect of her new “miracle drug,” or is something more malevolent?

Midori makes a compelling lead, even if Hana makes decisions that we all know will end in disaster.  It’s obvious from the start she should really be putting her gym fees towards therapy, though we don’t learn what’s really driving her until later. It’s refreshing that her compulsion to lose weight goes well beyond the typical “quest to be hot” we see in movies like this and select episodes of “Tales From the Crypt.” She barely registers as overweight, thanks to some wonderfully subtle prosthetics.  We’re not in “Thinner” territory, despite later plot developments that have Hana literally eating to survive.  

The practical effects on display are impressively gruesome, especially for the film’s low budget.  James, reuniting with her “Relic” DP Charlie Sarroff, makes sugary deserts look artificial and somehow dangerous (think the opening credits of “Dexter”).  They play with color, lenses, and depth-of-field in creative ways that echo Hana’s state of mind, including a repeating motif from a scale’s POV, which makes Hana look as enormous and distorted as she feels.  Sarroff has clearly learned a lot from his stint as cinematographer on both “Smile” films.  The duo have fun toying with the audience as “Bertha” quickly goes from an amorphous figure in a reflection, to a corporeal threat in some effective scare scenes.  There’s a slow reveal towards the end that legitimately got me.

As the film reaches its climax, the script gets a little confusing, leading to a shocking final scene that doesn’t seem to make much sense.  I wish it had ended on a stronger note or even with some ambiguity.  Without spoiling anything, have you ever watched a film and wished it had cut to black just before the ending? That’s the case here, though it doesn’t ruin what’s come before.

The seemingly obvious comparison to “Saccharine” is “The Substance,” but it’s important to note that films like “Grafted,” “Thinestra,” and “The Ugly Stepsister” were conceived and shot before the Oscar-winning body horror extravaganza was released.  There’s clearly something in the vitamin water that’s inspiring female directors to dive into body image horror.  I wouldn’t be surprised to one day see a documentary on the budding subgenre with “Saccharine” as a touchpoint.  James is carving out a space for herself in the genre.  Can we give her that “Smile” budget now?

“Saccharine” will open in select theaters across the U.S. on Friday, May 22nd, 2026.

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Nat Cassidy is on an absolute roll at the moment! His novella “Rest Stop” recently got picked up for a feature-film adaptation from Gary Dauberman’s production company, and his recent collection of short stories, “I Know A Place,” has been praised by the likes of Stephen King, Rachel Harrison, Eric LaRocca, and pretty much every person who reads it. Needless to say, we are glad to see one of horror’s best writers getting the praise and recognition he deserves, and luckily, he was kind enough to speak with our very own Michelle Delgado about a wide array of topics regarding this new collection!

We hope you enjoy the conversation, and be careful for some “Scream 2” spoilers as this conversation goes all over the place, and the best part is that each digression is a journey!

Purchase “I Know A Place” from Shortwave Publishing and other retailers!

Synopsis

There are locations in this world where the light doesn’t seem to reach. Where, no matter how illuminated the place might be, shadows creep in too strongly to fight back.

A suspiciously empty gas station rest stop in the middle of the night, littered with googley eyes… A doctor’s office, where a bottle of booze and a tear-stained folder wait on the desk… A tech millionaire’s haunted kitchen… A Bible-quoting ventriloquist’s dingy apartment… A yoga retreat in the middle of the desert, silent except for the screaming…

These locations and more are your destination and bestselling author Nat Cassidy will be your guide. Featuring the Bram Stoker Award-nominated, critically acclaimed novella Rest Stop (one of Esquire’s Best Horror Books of 2024), along with a number of other original short stories, some which have never been published before, I Know A Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours is a travelogue down twisting side streets and through alleyways where the darkness has eyes… and teeth.

Let’s hope you make it home in one piece.

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Physical media has enabled a lot of people to discover films that otherwise would’ve been long-forgotten. Many labels have made a business out of reviving what seem to be curio pieces and DIY films that had they not intervened, would have been lost to time for no other reason than ignorance of their existence. That doesn’t mean that every film recovered is going to resonate with every person, but we aren’t the content police, and taste is subjective. In the mix of lesser-known and almost forgotten films are the works of Giallo Films and, most notably, Darren Ward. Treasured Films has put together a new box set celebrating Ward’s Crime Trilogy titled “Giallo, Guns, & Gore: The Films of Darren Ward,” and it may just be one of the best sets released this year!

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

The breakneck bloody action and crime films of British independent director Darren Ward are in an exhaustive collection beginning with his early shorts, to his debut feature “SUDDEN FURY” (1998) - described by Mondo Digital as “an astonishing frenzy of gangster gore that's still one of the most gruesome British projects ever filmed.” From 2004, his serial killer short “NIGHTMARES” paves the way for his next feature “A DAY OF VIOLENCE” (2009), described by critic MJ Simpson as “a film about deeply unpleasant people doing extremely violent things to other deeply unpleasant people.” Rounding off his “FURY” trilogy is his most ambitious feature, “BEYOND FURY” (2019), described by Starburst as “a love letter to the Italian exploitation films of the seventies and eighties...this brash, gory, revenge flick manages to rise above its humble origins.”

HOW IS IT?

“Sudden Fury” (1998)

If you fancy yourself a fan of grimy UK crime movies that are directly influenced by the Italian crime movies of the ‘60s and ‘70s, then “Sudden Fury” may just be your next favorite movie. It’s a pretty convoluted story, and there’s a lot more hanging out with nothing happening than there should be, but there’s also heaps of extremely violent shootouts and fight scenes. It’s the classic story of a drug dealer trying to expand their territory, only to have the hit man they hire betray them in the process. As exciting as that all sounds, it’s not always that great in execution, as you spend a lot of time with characters who don’t really matter and will probably die anyway. What makes “Sudden Fury” something special is the violence.

To say “Sudden Fury” is over-the-top would be too tame, as there’s likely more squibs in this film than were used in the entirety of 1987. The shootout scenes are massive, epic, and full of bloody bodies and exploded limbs. It’s a symphony of destruction that is too obnoxious not to have a blast with, and while the film isn’t going to challenge you on a narrative or character level, it’s good enough considering most of the actors are amateurs and the production is clearly a labor of love. It’s safe to say that there aren’t many films out there like “Sudden Fury,” but if this is a taste of what’s to come, I can’t wait to see what’s coming up!

“A Day of Violence” (2009)

The second film in this trilogy of unrelated films is “A Day of Violence,” which is more than an appropriate title for a film that features an excessive amount of blood and guts. It’s a pretty classic action-film setup: a mob debt collector takes £100,000 from a mark he’s supposed to collect, triggering a manhunt for him and his accomplices as the boss tries to recover the stolen money. Insofar as plots for mob movies go, it’s the “Yojimbo” of gangster premises, and while it doesn’t offer much new in terms of narrative trailblazing, it is certainly in conversation for one of the most violent mob films ever made. Learning from the sins of the prior film, this one comes in at 94 minutes, down from 102 in “Sudden Fury,” and the film is far better for it.

The lead, “Mitchell” (Nick Rendell), is your classic heavy, but he lacks the kind of charisma that would make him a screen icon. It’s not entirely Frosh’s fault, as he’s doing the best with what he’s given, and the acting is nicely covered up with heaps of action and what has to be gallons of fake blood. From shotgun blasts to the gut to human bodies used as shields, this film has it all in that regard, and it’s part of what makes the film so hard to dislike. Yes, the acting is ropey. Yes, the plot is tropey, but the execution is supremely entertaining. It also features one helluva banger ending, and what is becoming more common in this set of Darren Ward films is that in his world, there are no good or bad people, just those who have guns and those who don’t.

“Beyond Fury” (2019)

Much like infrequent lunar events like eclipses, Darren Ward seems to release films every decade to remind us of the majesty that is gritty, grindhouse cinema. “Beyond Fury” is the most recent of this trilogy of loosely connected crime films, but trafficks in the same kind of over-the-top violence that would feel right at home in a horror film. In “Beyond Fury,” Michael Walker (Nick Roberts) is a retired hit man with a pregnant wife and a baby on the way. That all goes up in flames when they are randomly attacked by a group of mob thugs, killing his wife and leaving Michael for dead. Turns out, he survived the attack and is hellbent on getting revenge on those who not only killed his wife and baby, but everyone around them. It’s a story you’ve seen before, just likely with significantly less violence and sexual assault. This is the darkest of the series by far, but the pulpiness of the material ensures it never feels too real.

One of the fascinating things about this series is that they are loosely connected, but in an uneven way. Michael Walker here is lauded as the same Walker (Mitchell in the previous film) from before, but the name change is never explained, and after the second film, we are left with the idea that Michell is dead. So those seeking strong continuity will find themselves a tad disappointed. Once the violence starts, and it starts soon, any concerns around consistency and connectedness to other installments will fly out the proverbial window. “Beyond Fury” is an entertaining film, and that’s largely in part to how absurd some of the violence is and how well put together the practical effects are. One scene involving a foot being literally smashed is both gross and hilarious at how audacious it all looks. The acting is ropey, and is mostly what holds this back from being anything more than violent shlock, but it’s fun shlock that is clearly made with passion, and on that merit, it’s hard not to love it, warts and all.

HOW DOES IT LOOK?

Treasured Films brings these three films to Blu-ray on 3 BD-50 discs, and the wide gaps between productions are basically a showcase of how DIY film technology has improved over the years. “Sudden Fury” has been upscaled to 720p HD and is the first time the film has been available on Blu-Ray. “A Day of Violence” and “Beyond Fury” are both available in 1080p, and all the films have a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It’s unclear why the first film is kept at 720p, but we are inclined to believe it has to do with the source elements. Since the other two films were shot digitally, there isn’t much in the way of clean-up necessary, as the films' recency makes them intrinsically clear. We don’t have original DVDs to compare the “Sudden Fury” upgrade against, but all three films look just fine on modern screens and likely won’t benefit from any further enhancement.

Images from this release are used throughout this review.

HOW DOES IT SOUND?

The sound options are rather limited, but again, these are independent productions and as such weren’t produced with restoration being possible in mind. Each film contains a 2.0 stereo track, and “Sudden Fury” boasts an uncompressed track. The sound levels are quite high, so there’s no need to crank up the volume to enjoy the film. Balancing between dialogue, action, and diegetic sound is very organic, and it never feels as if there is competition between the elements. Each film does contain English subtitles, which can be helpful even for native English speakers, given the slang and accents inherent to the UK.

ANYTHING SPECIAL?

Treasured Films has given this set the white-glove treatment, and it rivals some of the best box sets from some of the largest and most well-known labels. One of the most interesting supplemental features is a continuing series that takes place on each disc, The Crime Trilogy Parts 1-3. The first two segments are around 13-minutes, but the final one for “Beyond Fury” is 33 minutes. Ward is a great storyteller and very articulate in terms of detail without ever veering into what could be perceived as hyperbole. He speaks about his inspirations being directly pulled from Italian horror and Eurocrime films that he grew up on, and how the gratuitous violence was a byproduct of his originally wanting to work in special effects. What started as a 17-minute short film became a feature after a festival judge encouraged Ward to make a feature, and thus “Sudden Fury” was born. 

Ward also details how his second film was intended to be a zombie film or “Beyond Fury,” but neither would happen then, and instead, he went all-in on “A Day of Violence” as a kind of continuation. Like “Sudden Fury,” “A Day of Violence” was extremely well-received when it hit the festival circuit and afforded Ward even more opportunities to eventually make his third film, “Beyond Fury.” According to Ward, this was the most intensive of all the productions, not just because it’s the biggest film, but also because it had the most moving parts. Lots of cameos from legendary European genre actors alongside some of the biggest effects shots and a long post-production cycle. It’s quite endearing hearing Ward talk about the process and his own affinity for film, particularly his ability to adapt in the face of progress. Most notably, his aversion to CG effects changed for “Beyond Fury,” because it allowed for them to do more with less without having to outright get rid of the practical work that Ward holds so dear.

A full list of special features is listed below.

Special Features

“Sudden Fury”

• Newly remastered & graded in 720HD and making its Worldwide Blu-ray Debut!

• Uncompressed English DTS-HD Master Audio 2:0

• Audio Commentary with Darren Ward and Nick Rendell

• Sudden Fury: 12 Years On - Retrospective documentary 

• The Crime Trilogy Part 1: Sudden Fury - Interview with Ward looking back on making the film

• Deleted Scenes

• Outtakes

• Behind-the-scenes Make-up reel

• Early Short Film: Bitter Vengeance (1994)

• Early Short Film: Blue Fear (1993)

• Early Short Film: Paura Il DIavolo (1992)

• Image Gallery

• Archive Trailer

• English Subtitles

“A Day of Violence”

• Newly graded and making its UK Blu-ray debut!

• 'Making-of A Day of Violence' Full-Length Feature

• Behind the Scenes Featurette

• Audio Commentary with Darren Ward and Nick Rendell

• The Crime Trilogy Part 2:  A Day of Violence - Darren Ward looks back on making the film.

• The Crime Trilogy: The In-between Years- Darren Ward on making 'Nightmares.'

• Deleted Scenes

• Outtakes

• Hardcore Trailer

• Soft Trailer

• 'Soprano' Trailer

• Short Film: Nightmares (2004)

• Audio Commentary for 'Nightmares'

• Image gallery

• English Subtitles

“Beyond Fury”

• Making its UK Blu-ray Debut

• Behind the Scenes Featurette

• Audio Commentary with Darren Ward and Nick Rendell

• The Crime Trilogy Part 3:  Beyond Fury - Darren Ward looks back on making the film.

• Chainsaw Fun Featurette

• Gasworks Visual Effects reel

• The Crime Trilogy Props tour

• Short Film: Passion (2025)

• Passion Audio Commentary

• Trailers

• Image Gallery

• English Subtitles

LAST RITES

“Giallo, Guns, & Gore” is a superb box set that contains a wealth of treasures for fans of violent exploitation genre cinema. While these films may not have reached the level of acclaim we think they deserve after seeing them, this box set provides a wealth of supplemental material that rivals even the best boutique releases. Easily the sleeper box set of the year!

THE GORY DETAILS

Thank you to the fine fiends at MVD Entertainment for providing a review copy for the crypt! “Giallo, Guns, & Gore! The Films of Darren Ward” is available now and can be purchased via MVD's Webstore!

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