At Macabre Daily, we love a good short film. It’s a world where creators new and old can play in the horror sandbox without feeling beholden to the traditional rules of filmmaking. So an event like the 2026 HollyShorts Film Festival, which focuses entirely on short-form narrative, isn’t something we’re likely to miss.

We were lucky to get our greedy little hands on the work of several filmmakers showcasing their movies in this year’s festival, taking place both online and in-person from August 13th through the 23rd. Read on to see our reviews of a few of our favorites and visit the website of the HollyShorts Film Festival to get tickets and find out how you can experience these films for yourself.  

“Eat” (2026)  

Writer/Director: Barrett D. Carroll

Runtime: 16 minutes

Within moments of Barrett D. Carroll’s short film “Eat” (2026), it is clear the kid gloves are coming off. Most horror fans, particularly those intrigued by the intersection of sexuality and fear, will thank him for it. The concept is right there in the title. “Eat” explores the dark side (we might question if there is a light side) to vorarephilia. More commonly known as ‘vore’, this paraphilia involves the sexual desire to consume, or be consumed, by a sexual partner. In reality, it is often confined to the world of fantasy. The horror genre allows Carroll to take a more direct approach, with all the body horror one might expect from such a narrative. Viewers will cringe, moan (in fear or delight depending on your particular predilections), and ultimately find themselves unable to turn away from this dark exploration of erotic desire. 

Carroll stars as Jude, a man who seems to have embraced his sexual appetites with gusto. Carroll is as captivating as he is disturbing in the role, delivering a powerful performance. For a short film, “Eat” delivers a surprising number of subplots. Some, like the deteriorating relationship between Jude’s latest paramour Ronald (Devin Way) and his increasingly distressed wife Diane (Kahyun Kim), are intriguing. Others, like the glimpses into Jude’s unorthodox relationship with his mother Linda (Dot-Marie Jones), are less so. We would love to see Carroll delve deeper into the complicated queer experience of coming to terms with one’s sexuality in a world that encourages secrecy and shame, but overall, “Eat” is a fascinating start to a dialogue we suspect he has much more to add to.

“No Worries” (2026)  

Writer/Director: Amber Steigelfest

Runtime: 14 minutes

People-pleasing and conflict-avoidance are daily sources of horror for many. In her film “No Worries” (2026), Amber Steigelfest takes a high-camp approach to this topic, with a hefty dose of body horror on the side. Mike’s (Alexander Carstoiu) efforts to appease his girlfriend and his brother begin to have a decidedly painful and gory effect on his body, reflecting the psychological torment that many viewers who struggle to assert themselves will relate to. Steigelfest walks the line between satire and genuinely disturbing content well, particularly in her use of practical effects to demonstrate the toll Mike’s relationships are taking on him.

Sof Puchley and Orion Smith do a commendable job embodying their roles as Mike’s emasculating and manipulative brother and girlfriend. They couch their cruelty in humor, making it easy for us to love to hate them. A welcome appearance from Melinda Clarke as Mike’s therapist is inspired casting and offers one of our favorite moments of the film where the worlds of metaphor and reality collide with disorienting, comedic, and grotesque effect. Steigelfest successfully cements herself as a talent to watch in the world of horror-comedy, and we would gladly take a page from Mike’s book and put her needs above our own if it means we get more stories like this in the future.      

“Beware C*ckblocking Ghosts” (2026)  

Writer/Director: Alys Murray

Runtime: 9 minutes

“Worst. Homecoming Date. Ever.” This is how the events that unfold in Alys Murray’s short film, “Beware C*ckblocking Ghosts” (2026), are described. While Carrie might have a thing or two to say about this claim, the fact that Murray’s film follows a homecoming dance, rather than a prom, wins on a technicality. Nell’s (Julia Lester) efforts to go on a date with local hunk Warren (Reed Horstmann) are foiled at every turn by the stubborn presence of her ex-best friend. Zayne (Ruby Jay) is an ex-friend only because of another technicality: She just so happens to be dead.  

Zayne’s unhinged and otherworldly behavior is played mostly for laughs. Those inclined to dig a little deeper will find much to chew on around themes of friendship, loyalty to past relationships, and moving on after tragic loss. The humor and acting are uneven; nevertheless, it is an engaging experience throughout. Murray has a strong point of view and excels at exploring dark topics through a whimsical lens. The dialogue, wardrobe, and set design are reminiscent of filmmakers like Diablo Cody, which can be both a blessing and a curse, evoking powerful imagery while inviting comparison to modern classics that are hard to match. The tone of “Beward C*ckblocking Ghosts” is inherent in its tongue-in-cheek title. If it brought a smile to your face, you will enjoy your trip into Murray’s gothic world of teenage frenemies. We expect to see much more from Murray in the future as she continues to hone her gothic and quirky point of view.

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

A few weeks ago, we spilled the beans on the superstar Middle Grade Authors chosen for the 2026 Summer Scares Reading Program, and now we’re ready to unveil the Young Adult Authors, who are just as amazing as you’d expect! Ann Fraistat (“What We Harvest”), Linda Cheng (“Gorgeous Gruesome Faces”), Yamile Saied Mendez and Amparo Ortiz (“Our Shadows Have Claws”). bring the (moderate) scares to readers of all ages with fiction that feels custom-made for the turbulent times we live in. These authors bridge the gap between tween, teen, and beyond, but the honest truth is that their writing is for EVERYONE! Some of the best (and creepiest) fiction out there is coming from the YA community, and year after year it just keeps getting better.

Ann, Linda, and Amparo (Yamile was on deadline) joined us to talk about the thrill of being chosen for this year's Summer Scares Program, how they got into writing, the YA stigma, what kind of scares they love, and so much more. We had the best time talking with these powerhouse creatives, and you’ll love the deep dive into their backgrounds, inspirations, and their joy in crafting the perfect scare. Enjoy!

“WHAT WE HARVEST” - Ann Fraistat

Wren owes everything she has to her hometown, Hollow’s End, a centuries-old, picture-perfect slice of America. Tourists travel miles to marvel at its miracle crops, including the shimmering, iridescent wheat of Wren’s family’s farm. At least, they did until five months ago.

That’s when the Quicksilver blight first surfaced, poisoning the farms of Hollow’s End one by one. It began by consuming the crops, thick silver sludge bleeding from the earth. Next were the animals. Infected livestock and wild creatures staggered off into the woods by day—only to return at night, their eyes fogged white, leering from the trees.

Then the blight came for the neighbors.

Wren is among the last locals standing, and the blight has finally come for her, too. Now the only one she can turn to is her ex, Derek, the last person she wants to call. They haven’t spoken in months, but Wren and Derek still have one thing in common: Hollow’s End means everything to them. Only, there’s much they don’t know about their hometown and its celebrated miracle crops. And they’re about to discover that miracles aren’t free.

Their ancestors have an awful lot to pay for, and Wren and Derek are the only ones left to settle old debts.

You can follow Ann Fraistat on Instagram here.

“GORGEOUS GRUESOME FACES” - Linda Cheng

Two years have passed since Sunny Lee lost her best friend Mina in a mysterious death. With their other BFF, Candie, the trio had been the hottest up-and-coming teen pop group, until it all suddenly ended. And Sunny can't help but wonder if Candie had something to do with it.

Now, Sunny is still seeking answers. When she discovers that Candie is attending a new K-pop workshop, Sunny follows, hoping to uncover the reason why Mina died... and why she died so violently. Sunny and Candie's reunion is haunted by more than Mina's death as the old spark between them returns, even stronger than before. But there's no time for romance when the lines between nightmare and reality start to blur, leaving their competitors' bodies bizarrely maimed and mutilated. To survive, Sunny must expose the dark secrets surrounding Candie and the workshop's twisted promise for fame.

Stitched with cutting commentary on the ugly side of stardom and impossible beauty standards, Linda Cheng’s mind-bending, feminist thriller will have readers screaming and swooning for more.

You can follow Linda Cheng on Instagram here.

“OUR SHADOWS HAVE CLAWS” - Yamile Saied Medez, Amparo Ortiz

In these fifteen original short stories, bloodthirsty vampires are hunted by a quick-witted slayer; children are taken from their beds by “el Viejo de la Bolsa” while a military dictator steals their parents; and anyone you love might be a monster waiting to strike. The sinister worlds of these narratives are also magical ones, where supernatural beings can be avatars for justice, vengeance, sisterhood, and empowerment. Some monsters need to be slain; others should be embraced.

So, step into the darkness. See what you find.

Follow Yamile Saied Mendez on Instagram here.

Follow Amparo Ortiz on Instagram here.

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

The horror community at large is not a monolith, and like any sub-culture it has its highs and lows. The highs include meeting like-minded people who share a love and passion for horror, engaging in thoughtful discourse around recommendations and trends, and the solidarity that comes with being a part of something bigger than oneself. The lows, unfortunately, see elements of toxic fandom as people rage bait others into engaging by posting salacious takes simply to rile people up, and the lack of understanding by many in the influencer space about what it takes to get a movie made. No one knows the highs and lows better than Spider One, Krsy Fox, and Brandon Scott, all veteran creatives in their own right, and that commentary is the basis for their latest film, “Big Baby.”

“Big Baby” tackles a screenwriters struggle for critical acceptance in the horror genre, and the blurring lines between his new script and an actual serial killer taking out those close to him. It’s a fascinating exploration of the slasher sub-genre as well as a meta commentary on how fan communities, particularly influencers, lack the awareness to provide credible criticism that goes beyond, “movie sucks, bro.” It’s a wonderful discussion and we are so honored to have it, and you can check out “Big Baby” for yourself when it releases on demand on Friday, August, 7, 2026, from Brainstorm Media!

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

Video Game adaptations used to be a blight on the film industry, which is a harsh and somewhat fair assessment of historical attempts to bridge the divide between the two mediums. The simple fact is that the interactivity of video games is often in conflict with the passivity of watching a movie; thus, trying to bring a game’s story to film requires an appreciation that the narrative needs to be delivered without prompting from the audience, as a gamer would interact with a game. In translation, what often gets lost is the novelty of experiencing the story through actions rather than exposition, but the last decade has shown that it is in fact possible to bring video games into film and TV effectively, and “Exit 8” may be one of the most unique examples of game to film we’ve seen so far.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A man becomes increasingly desperate when he realizes he is trapped in a subway station, needing to complete a mission to get out.

HOW IS IT?

Brie from Macabre Daily reviewed “Exit 8” as part of a pre-release screening, and you can read her original review here. 

I’ll be forthcoming in saying that I never played the “Exit 8” game, but was keenly aware of it as someone who follows the horror gaming space closely. Sadly, what they don’t tell you about growing up is that you have less and less time to indulge in activities like gaming, or at least that’s the case with me. Still, the idea of bringing a relatively lo-fi and vibes-driven game to the silver screen feels counterintuitive. Games like “Fallout” and “The Last of Us” feel almost cinematic by default, making adapting a bit easier, but “Exit 8” doesn’t have action-heavy moments and operates more like a virtual fun house, and trying to bring a story into an idea that doesn’t have much of one makes the challenge even greater, but somehow, “Exit 8” pulls it off, even if it doesn’t fully stick it’s landing.

“Exit 8” is a story told from three perspectives of three different people trapped in the liminal space of a Japanese subway station. The trick here is that the strange part of the station they are trapped in operates on a series of rules that defy logic and our known reality by requiring each person to progress through each floor, hoping to reach the titular Exit 8 so they can leave. The trick is, each floor they pass through looks almost identical and occasionally contains an “anomaly.” These anomalies can be a sign out of place, or a person who passes by but changes behavior. If you notice the anomaly, you turn around to progress, and if you don’t see an anomaly, you go forward to get ahead. If you happen to mess up, you start back at 0. The game mechanics translate better than expected as narrative hooks, making the viewer an active participant along with the characters on screen like a strange game of “I spy.”

The fact that we follow the characters as if they are players in the game is both a strength of the film as well as a minor fault. On the plus side, the concept works well despite being redundant as our empathy with the characters and their situation builds. We experience their confusion, frustration, fear, and more because we are in lock-step with them throughout. This also means that when some characters don’t notice pretty obvious anomalies, the experience is frustrating, almost like watching someone making the same mistakes in the game and not being able to yell at them and show them what they’re missing. Instead, this idea of obvious failure seems to be used to pad the runtime more than anything else. It’s a sort of cheap trick, but it also works within the confines of the story being told and the rules established; it would’ve been easier to buy had the anomalies been less obvious to the viewer, but it still delivers the desired effect of what playing the game might be like.

The obtuseness of the lore and the story could be an easy trap for “Exit 8” to fall into, but director and co-writer Genki Kawamura does a decent job of keeping things interesting without ever having to explain too much. Much of the heavy lifting comes from the technical side of things as the camera feels almost non-existent as you follow each character, lacking stylized editing and leading to something that feels more natural rather than aesthetically curated. It’s vibes-heavy cinema, and for the most part it works, that is, until the end. The third act attempts to turn some of the seemingly disparate characters into one singular thematic thread, and while it is an admirable attempt, it’s also extremely messy to understand the intent. Waxing philosophical on heavy topics like abortion and fatherhood, it’s hard to square how these things are supposed to matter in relation to the situation the characters find themselves in. Do only potential fathers end up here? How does the young boy get there? It’s not as if these are bad threads to pull on, but they require some up-front context that is sadly lacking. Candidly, “Exit 8” is a hard plane to land narratively, so while this ending doesn’t work for me, that doesn’t mean it’s outright bad.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Video: 1080p HD / MPEG-4 AVC

Audio: Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French

Aspect Ratio: 1.385:1

Special Features: 

• Q & A with Director Genki Kawamura 

• The Making of Exit 8

• Theatrical Trailer

Images from this release are used throughout this review.

LAST RITES

“Exit 8” is a surprisingly effective and authentic recreation of its video game source material both in terms of vibes and aesthetics. While the narrative and thematic beats don’t fully develop, they don’t hold the film back and demonstrate that ingenuity and risk-taking may be the secret weapon for somewhat obtuse video game adaptations.

THE GORY DETAILS

Thank you to the fine fiends at Sumbersive Media and Alliance Home Entertainment for providing a review copy for the crypt! “Exit 8” is available now and can be purchased via Amazon!

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

The horror master himself is back to grace us with a new story from his nightmares, this time in the form of the graphic novel “John Carpenter’s Cathedral”. Written by John Carpenter himself along with his wife Sandy King and his longtime friend visual artist Sean Sobczak. “Cathedral” is an immensely ambitious project for Carpenter, featuring multiple interior art teams and a full score by John, his son Cody, and Daniel Davies. This full-court multimedia press is a major undertaking by Storm King Comics to try and bring back the full Carpenter vision. It’s a brave but messy effort that does manage to recapture the energy of late-period Carpenter, which was enough for me, but it might not be enough for everyone.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

The cry of “Officer Down” echoes through the air on a stormy Los Angeles night! The mutilated, mangled body of a beat cop brings three detectives to the doors of a strange and ancient cathedral. What they find in the bowels of the unholy ruin will take them on a journey to the gates of hell and beyond.

HOW IS IT?

It’s hard to know where to start when talking about “Cathedral,” which is an expansive project, but a fairly tight and narrow narrative for a graphic novel. In the foreword to the graphic novel, Carpenter describes how “Cathedral” is based on a dream that he had, and describes the project as “A Storyboard and a Soundtrack.” Carpenter notes that “Cathedral” is “mystical, fanciful and resistant to logic”. This is certainly true, but I’m not entirely sure that those last two points are the positives he’s trying to spin them as. 

Cathedral is difficult to review in some ways, because this is a project that will probably have heavier appeal to more hardcore Carpenter fans. If your Carpenter appreciation is limited to his more beloved classics such as “The Thing,” “Halloween,” “Escape From New York,” and “They Live,” “Cathedral” is perhaps not for you. That’s not an attempt at gatekeeping, but more a warning that “Cathedral” has a lot more in common with late-period Carpenter such as “Prince of Darkness”, “In the Mouth of Madness”, “Vampires” and “Ghosts of Mars”. There’s some heavy “Big Trouble in China” vibes at times in “Cathedral”, but without any of the humor and charasmatic lead that attracts people to that particular film. 

So if you are unfamiliar with his 90s work, or more importantly share the opinion that he completely fell off, I don’t imagine “Cathedral” is going to work for you. It’s an odd story for sure: a “Mad Max: Fury Road” style piece that follows the story of three LA cops who journey into the underworld and back. There’s little exposition besides what’s given on the way, and not much character motivation beyond revenge, I think? In some ways, it’s an all vibes piece, and in some ways it’s heavy on mythology, but what it completely lacks is any sort of character. “Cathedral” is quite similar to “Prince of Darkness” and “Ghosts of Mars”  on those points, and I don’t like the former film and do like the latter, and it might just be because “Ghosts of Mars” has Jason Statham, a killer score, and better pacing. 

So how are the vibes and mythos of “Cathedral”, if one accepts Carpenter’s advice to disregard logic and accept the fanciful? Honestly, pretty sick. The detectives (whose names I can’t remember or even find by skimming the book) stumble upon an eye-based religion/cult, and the iconography is pretty cool. Carpenter has a fairly dim view of Christianity, and despite the title, the fairly incoherent mythos of the book has a much stronger relation to Greek mythology. It’s weird, freaky, violent stuff, and I was engaged despite not having any real idea of what was going on, or any particular interest in what was going on. I didn’t care that much whether the detectives made it out alive or not, but I was always curious to see what creepy set piece Carpenter was going to throw at me next. 

Being mostly a “vibes” piece, “Cathedral” leans heavily on the art, but that’s not always a bad thing, especially with two separate art teams on board. Switching artists and art styles once the threshold to hell has been crossed is a terrific concept, and gives the book an adrenaline shot when it happens. The art styles of Federico De Luca and Luis Guaragna are not too disparate to make the switch awkward, and they both have similar strengths and weaknesses. Still, it’s distinct, and the shift to Sian Mandrake on colors is noticeable too.  Everything feels heightened in the underworld with Guaragna and Mandrake’s artwork; it’s more stylized, and the genre feels like a switch from horror to dark fantasy, not unlike the tone in the more fantastical parts of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” or the more horror-leaning levels of the “God Of War” games. 

Both De Luca and Guaragna excel at drawing environments; the depths of the cathedral and the vastness of Hell are both quite impressive to behold. Bringing the nightmares of John Carpenter to life requires great skill, and the artists have come up with some gnarly imagery that is pretty dang cool. Both artists have issues with drawing some awkward faces, which doesn’t help with the wooden dialogue, but when it comes to drawing the weird freaky stuff, they nail it. De Luca specifically knocks it out of the park in a few panels featuring some impressively nasty gore. 

Now this probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone who keeps close tabs on Carpenter’s modern work, but the soundtrack is easily the best part of the whole affair. This has been the standard state of affairs for most late-period Carpenter, and it was certainly true for the recent “Halloween” trilogy. The “Cathedral” score follows most of his “Lost Themes” work with Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies by mixing his classic synth sound with drums and guitar to create downright glorious horror music. Getting the songs to sync up perfectly with the story beats as one is reading the book is a bit of a challenge, but that’s fine because I know this soundtrack is going to be my new go-to listening for any horror reading. I’ve been listening to the various “Lost Themes” albums on repeat for years now, but “Cathedral” does feel like a true score instead of just a collection of main title themes. 

Every single track on the album is infused with the smooth-but-violent gothic heavy metal sounds that have defined Carpenter’s work for twenty years now. Ever since he was unable to afford the rights to “Enter Sandman” for “In The Mouth of Madness”, Carpenter has been on a quest to get heavier and more metal with his music, and the mesh of metal and synth has never been better than on “Lord of The Underground”. “Abandoned Cathedral” and “Elevator” are awesome tracks too, but “Lord of the Underground” is the standout, and it’s easy to see why it was put out as the pre-release single. The song is an absolute and total banger, and I mean that both in the Gen Z use of the word and in the classic metal tradition of headbanging. Music is without a doubt the best pursuit Carpenter has engaged in since stepping away from feature directing; “Cathedral” shows that his musical talents are as sharp as ever even after all this time!

LAST RITES

Fans of late-period John Carpenter will find those classic 90s Carpenter vibes in full swing on “Cathedral”. The plot is thin, the characters are non-existent, but the visuals are just the kind of creepy cool that you’d want. Even if the graphic novel is uneven, the soundtrack is an absolute must for Carpenter fans, especially metalheads who will love the heavier headbanging sound of this new album. For better or for worse, “Cathedral” very much feels like a lost 90s Carpenter film brought to life through score and storyboards.

“JOHN CARPENTER’S CATHEDRAL” Graphic Novel is Available Now From Storm King Comics; the record releases Friday, August 7th from Sacred Bones Records.

THE GORY DETAILS

WRITTEN BY 

JOHN CARPENTER, SANDY KING & SEAN SOBCZAK

ART AND COLORS BY

FEDERICOA DE LUCA

UNDERWORLD ART BY

LUIS GUARAGNA

UNDERWORLD COLORS BY

SIAN MANDRAKE

LETTERS BY

MARSHALL DILLON

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

One of the unfortunate realities of the entertainment industry, of which horror is a part, is that not all films and filmmakers are treated equally. While many gains have been made in terms of representation and awareness, there is still a lot of room for improvement as it relates to equity in the industry. More bluntly, films from Black filmmakers often do not get the same opportunities as those made by White filmmakers, and one such example from this year is the fantastic “Is God Is.” After a laughably short theatrical run and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 97% and an audience score of 89%, a rare harmony between critics and fans, Alesha Harris’ debut feature based on her own stage play is finally on Blu-Ray, where the film will finally achieve the cult status that it is building towards.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Two sisters embark on an epic quest for revenge: confronting a charged family history that will push them to extraordinary lengths.

HOW IS IT?

Significant Spoilers Ahead - You’ve Been Warned!

This is going to be a different kind of review, because I had previously done a thorough and thoughtful review of the film at a pre-release screening. Instead, this space will be dedicated to unpacking how “Is God Is” represents the dichotomy of humanity’s capacity for love and violence and how that is represented through the characters of Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson). Harris paints a picture of twin sisters who have an almost supernatural connection to one another. So much so that they can feel each other’s pain and can speak without using their voices, instead just exchanging glances. They are presented as sisters to signify their distinction, but a reading of the ending suggests that they are far closer than it seems.

When we are first introduced to Racine and Anaia, we see two young girls sharing a tender moment on a bench. But that moment is interrupted by the taunts of other children who are taking shots at Anaia for her burn scars, triggering Racine to defend her sister’s honor by beating those kids up. From the start, the sisters hold their love for another in balance with their need to survive through violent means in a world that refuses to accept difference. This can be read in many ways, but in the case of Racine and Anaia, it’s twofold as they face the brutal realities of being strong Black women in America while also facing physical deformities that are a byproduct of domestic violence. They were born into this world baptized by the love of birth and literally and figuratively burned by the hatred that perpetuates violence in this country. While this marks them physically and emotionally, Harris makes it clear that these aspects of Racine and Anaia don’t and will not define them.

When Racine and Anaia are older, and they are called by their mother, Ruby, or “God” (Vivica A. Fox), to not only see her after presuming her dead, but to go on a mission to kill their dad, the man who did this to all of them. Ruby has burns across her entire body, with only her facial features peeking through the bandages that adorn her body. To frame Ruby as God-like, as both Racine and Anaia see her as such given she birthed them into this world, but present her as so dramatically affected by violence is another example of how “Is God Is” holds two truths about the human condition, particularly the reality of being a Black woman in the US. Not even deities are safe from the slings and arrows of this cruel world, despite being associated with love and hope. Ruby’s desire for retribution is initially presented as revenge, but deep down it’s about putting a stop to the cycle of violence that generational trauma can produce. Harris, in “Is God Is,” asks a difficult question about what it takes to stop perpetuating hate and posits that when reason fails us, we have to resort to more drastic measures. Ruby’s request feels righteous to Racine and Anaia, but how could they deny their mother what seems to be a logical request? Furthermore, does it do more harm than good to suggest that violent means are the only ends? It’s yet another example of the juxtaposition of love and violence, and how fine a line there is separating them.

When Racine and Anaia finally meet their father, simply credited as “Man” (Sterling K. Brown), they are once again confronted with a choice between love and violence. Their love for Ruby and each other has left a trail of bodies in their wake, mostly innocent bystanders whose crime was being in their way when they finally reach their intended target. Man arrives home to find his entire family murdered, and he calmly makes himself a sandwich and engages Anaia in a dialogue, but it isn’t what she or the audience expects. The Man is not mad; he’s not even sad, as if he understands their need for vengeance and sympathizes, but as we discover, this is not genuine but rather a survival instinct. The Man uses his capacity for love, or at least the presentation of it, to convince Anaia that he’s not the man he was before and deserves a second chance. The Man laments about how he wants to care for his granddaughter that Anaia is carrying, and Anaia rightly falls for this because she is the personification of love. She rejects her sister's impulsiveness for violence, believing there is a better way, when Racine knows that the time for forgiveness has long passed, no matter how convincing apologies appear.

Racine and Anaia end up besting the Man, teaming up to take him down in one of the most satisfying climaxes in cinema, but it comes at a cost. As Racine and Anaia leave the man for dead and burning in a bathtub, an homage to how he marked them and Ruby, the Man pulls Racine into his bathtub inferno at the last minute as Anaia watches in horror as they both burn in agony. Anaia waits for the final flame to extinguish before she decides to leave behind the bodies of her sister and father. The mission is accomplished, but Anaia is now without a sister. The same sister whose propensity for violence has lit the trail of vengeance the two have been on is also the same sister who dies with the violent past of the Man’s abuse. While I can’t assume to know what Harris’ point was here, my reading is quite clear: love will always triumph over violence, justified or not. Anaia’s ending is bittersweet not because she survives, but because a part of herself had to die before she could embrace life. Both her own, and that of the child she has inside of her. It’s a message of hope amongst a sea of bloodshed, and highlights just how close the relationship is between love and violence.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Video: 1080p HD / MPEG-4 AVC

Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Special Features: None

Images from this release are used throughout this review.

LAST RITES

“Is God Is” may be the best film of 2026, and while this Blu-Ray release lacks any sort of special features, it should be supported to bring awareness to one of the most emotional, powerful, and entertaining films of the year. Its commentary on violence, acceptance, hatred, and violence is profound and multifaceted, and this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of academic readings that this film can expect!

THE GORY DETAILS

Thank you to the fine fiends at Sumbersive Media and Alliance Home Entertainment for providing a review copy for the crypt! “Is God Is” is available now and can be purchased via Amazon!

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

Who doesn’t love a good heist film? Even better, a heist film with supernatural elements and a heavy dose of humor, which is exactly what “Haunted Heist” seems to be serving up! From Director Rel Howery and a script from Carl Reid, “Haunted Heist” stars Tiffany Haddish, Andrew “King Bach” Bachelor, Karlous Miller, Rel Howery, with Ari Dayan and Brett Gelman. Check out the synopsis below for more details and the trailer to get a sense of the silly scares that are in store!

Synopsis: When a reunion trip turns into a robbery, four friends (Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish, Andrew Bachelor & Karlous Miller) discover the mansion’s owners—ghosts from the 1950s—never left. Trapped by the spirits planning a demonic sacrifice, the friends must battle supernatural terror to survive the night.

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

If there’s one horror series that has caught us by surprise, it’s “The Creep Tapes.” The two-film arc from Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice migrated from the big to the small screen and didn’t miss a beat in the process, a rarity to be sure. The series has produced two six-episode seasons thus far, and a third one is on the way this September from Shudder!

The highly anticipated third season of “The Creep Tapes,” from writers and executive producers Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice, will debut with a two-episode premiere Tuesday, September 15, exclusively on Shudder, the #1 streaming service for horror fans, and AMC+. The six-episode season of the cult-favorite CREEP franchise features guest stars including Kate Siegel (Carrie), Nic Hamilton (IT), Elliott Fulham (Terrifier 2, Terrifier 3), and Duplass’ daughter, Ora Duplass (Coven Academy), who will star in a throwback episode.

Season three continues to expose a collection of videotapes from the secret vault of the world's deadliest and most socially uncomfortable serial killer (Duplass). Unfortunately, as the tape rolls, the killer’s questionable intentions surface with his increasingly odd behavior, and the victims will learn they may have made a deadly mistake. 

Following the season three premiere, two new episodes will roll out weekly on Shudder and AMC+ through Tuesday, September 29.

“The Creep Tapes” is produced by Duplass Brothers Productions and Shudder. Executive producers include series star Duplass and Brice, who both also serve as co-writers, with Brice directing all episodes. Additional executive producers include Mel Eslyn, Jay Duplass and Chris Donlon, while Shuli Harel serves as co-executive producer and John Baker serves as a producer.

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

I didn’t think Marvel Studios had it in them to make a “Spider-Man” film this good. I didn’t dare even hope they could pull off such a thing. Even now, writing this review, I’m questioning myself. Did Destin Daniel Cretton and Tom Holland make a better “Spider-Man” movie than Sam Raimi and Toby Maguire ever did? On that particular point, it’s maybe too early to say. For certain, though, “Brand New Day” eclipses all of Holland’s prior Spidey films, yes, even “No Way Home”. “Brand New Day” is a soaring, resounding triumph, a heartfelt film with an emotional climax that rivals any “Avengers” film. This is one of the best films Marvel Studios has ever produced. 

[This Review Will Be Aggressively Spoiler-Free.]

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A forgotten Peter Parker lives alone as a full-time Spider-Man until mounting pressure triggers a dangerous change and a powerful new enemy emerges.

HOW IS IT?

“Brand New Day” is the ninth Spider-Man film. It’s really the fourteenth if you count two “Avengers” films, a “Captain America” film, two phenomenal animated films, and baby Peter in “Madame Web”. “Brand New Day” is a film that has learned what to do, and what not to do from all those prior films, as well as six decades of comics. Kevin Feige and Marvel scribes Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers boldly decided to adapt one of the single most hated story arcs in all of comics history, and entrusted that Destin Daniel Cretton could turn it into gold. J. Michael Straczynski may finally be forgiven by Spidey fans, now that almost twenty years later, Cretton has made “One More Day” actually work. 

There is a debate that rages among comic fans, and has raged for a half-century of Spider-Man comics. It centers around the question: “Does Peter Parker inherently have to be miserable? Does Spider-Man work if he’s happy?” I don’t think there’s a simple answer, but the finest Spider-Man stories always revolve around a Peter Parker who is struggling with either anxiety or depression. Whether he’s psychosomatically losing his powers in 1967’s “Spider-Man Annual #1” (recreated to acclaim in Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2”) or grappling with the infamous death of Gwen Stacy (depicted controversially in Marc Webb’s “Amazing Spider-Man 2”), a Peter with personal problems is the most interesting version of him. 

After all, the reason that Spider-Man vastly eclipses all other superheroes in popularity is his relatability. A 1965 “Esquire” reader poll on pop culture figures compared Peter Parker in popularity to Che Guevara and Bob Dylan, citing how Spider-Man was “beset by woes, money problems, and the question of existence.” When you watch a Batman movie, you know his unstoppable thirst for vengeance, and justice will overcome any personal doubts. But as much as we’d all love to put on a cape and declare “I Am The Night”, most of us aren’t billionaires. Peter Parker very often doesn’t want to get up in the morning, but he puts on the suit and swings into battle. Because people will die if he doesn’t, and with great power comes great responsibility. 

These themes of overcoming depression and anxiety, themes of resilience and hardship, have been almost completely absent from Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man movies. Sam Raimi and Marc Webb leaned hard into themes of guilt, shame, and stress. Toby Maguire, Cliff Robertson, and Rosemary Harris made them indelible in Spidey’s cinematic debut in 2002 with the death of Uncle Ben. The death of Uncle Ben, already famous to comic fans, subsequently became a part of world cultural mythology as much as the death of JFK or the fall of Troy. Yet “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Captain America: Civil War” decided to ditch both the event partially (Peter’s origin story remains somewhat ambiguous) and the motif entirely, focusing on a younger, more optimistic Peter Parker. 

The Peter of the MCU, one with fancy toys, a wealthy benefactor, and less of a burden of guilt, often felt more like Dick Grayson. He was a sidekick in his own movies to Iron Man, Mysterio, or Doctor Strange. Tom Holland played Peter as an excited young do-gooder, paired with Oscar-Nominated acting heavyweights to imprint on. These movies worked, and they were good and fluffy fun, but until May Parker’s death in “No Way Home”, they lacked weight, or even stakes. When she stopped being a punchline and object of flirtation for Jon Favreau, and actually died, Holland’s Peter finally got the motivation his predecessors had. It didn’t pay off within “No Way Home”, as Garfield, Maguire, Cumberbatch, and a half dozen villains were crammed into the spotlight. Finally, in “Brand New Day”, Tom Holland has graduated and is ready to shine. 

“Brand New Day” throws Peter through the wringer, pouring misery down on him in a way that even Shirley Manson could appreciate. Loneliness, loss, and pain are the guiding principles of the film, and the plot and supporting cast perfectly embody these themes. The script emphasizes not just Peter’s inner demons but those of his enemies and allies. The movie never feels overstuffed like “Spider-Man 3” or “Amazing Spider-Man 2” because (nearly) every cameo, every MCU supporting character, is pushing towards that perfect finale. The MCU was founded on flawed heroes, on the real pain of Tony Stark’s alcoholism. Things may have gotten far more fantastical and considerably more expansive, but Cretton decides to find that emotional core, bring things back to the ground, and he does it beautifully. His cast understands the assignment, and the movie never diverges from its mission. This is what the best films in the MCU have always done: use the massive world and library of characters to enhance the story, instead of dragging it down.

I’m focusing on the emotion here, but this is a blockbuster, and I want to assure that the action is terrific. Cretton's action avoids the floaty fakeness that plagues so many Superhero flicks; his action is as grounded as the emotions. The skill that he brought to “Shang-Chi” is on full display; the punches, the hits, and the falls feel real. The fights are spectacular, and in my opinion even better in 3D. I have a theory that we come to superhero movies mostly because we love the characters, though. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” has good action, but what everyone will remember forever and always is Rocket Raccoon on his deathbed. “Avengers: Infinity War”, perhaps the largest and most dazzling Marvel film of all, is most remembered for the end sequence of fan-favorite heroes getting murdered en masse. (See also the enduring popularity of “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith”). The “Captain America” trilogy has phenomenal fight sequences, but it’s the relationship between Steve and Bucky that drives them.

Our heroes feel like the best part of us…We are not just entertained, but reborn.” Tom Holland and Zendaya share some of the most emotionally gut-wrenching scenes I’ve ever seen in a superhero film. The fantastical elements of the genre are used to create drama and pathos, instead of impeding it. Jon Bernthal proves once again that he is constantly underestimated by perfectly complementing Holland on screen, instead of attempting to overtake him. The Punisher as a character is far more suited for a Spider-Man film than any prior co-star; the revolving door of father figures didn’t have half the chemistry of Holland’s brotherhood bond with Bernthal.

As for Sadie Sink? Her MCU debut absolutely brought the house down in my theater. This has been the most plot-vague review I think I’ve ever written (as promised), so no spoilers will follow, but I’ll say that Sink leaves her mark on the MCU instantaneously. The final act of the film is devastating, mostly due to the work of Sink, Bernthal, and some Spider-Man series regulars who I won’t specify. Cretton brought me to the verge of tears towards the end. He handles the high-stakes action and drama with such careful grace and skill that it puts this year’s other blockbuster efforts by Spielberg, Jon Favreau, and Craig Gillespie to shame. Only Christopher Nolan has produced anything better in the big-budget space this year, ironically only a few weeks ago.

LAST RITES

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is a triumph for Marvel Studios, not just one of their best films post-“Endgame”, but one of their best ever. Destin Daniel Cretton finds more emotion in a superhero story than anyone has in years, coaxing Tom Holland and Zendaya to find more nuance in the Peter Parker/Mary Jane relationship than any other film ever has. “Brand New Day” is a soaring, sincere film, and did I mention it’s really damn entertaining too? Only time will tell if Cretton has brought on a “Brand New Day” for Marvel, but the work he’s done here has set a very high new bar for future films.

THE GORY DETAILS

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is in theaters now.

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

It’s that time of the year again, and no, we aren’t talking about summer or the heat, or at least not heat in the temperature sense. No, it’s Fantasia International Film Festival time! Easily one of the best times of the year for us here at Macabre Daily, and this year is no different as Fantasia celebrates 30 years of bringing genre films to the masses from all over the world! This year’s program is absolutely stacked with features and shorts, animated and live-action, and a dazzling array of genres from gritty action to bloody af horror. Macabre Daily is honored to be able to cover this year’s program, and we hope you enjoy our coverage. Now, onto our reviews of…”Godhead,” “I Love Paris,” and “Break Free.”

“GODHEAD” (2026)

Writer/Director: Mark H. Rappaport

An unnamed preacher is visited by two strange twins, who order him to decide which one of them will become the titular “Godhead” (or “Holy Spirit”) in heaven. For some reason, this can only be decided by the preacher, who must kill one of them (according to the twins, it’s “kill”).  They refuse to let him leave his church until he comes to a decision.  But why him?  And what, if anything, does this twisted version of transubstantiation have to do with the adopted son he keeps sheltered from the world?

Shot in stark black and white like his previous Fantasia entry “Hippo,” writer/director Mark H. Rappaport crafts something mysterious and unnerving. The cinematography, from “Hippo” DP William Babcock, is beautiful, and the twins are frightening in their matching white tracksuits.  Named simply “Firstborn” and “Secondborn,” they look like Die Antwood were held under too long at a baptism.  Sarah Coffey as the dominant “Firstborn” radiates insanity like an evil Anna Konkle. The disparate elements of “Godhead” never quite added up for me, but I have a feeling it will make several fans.

“I LOVE PARIS” (2026)

Director: Nicky Murphy

Writer: Nicky Murphy & Aminata Thiboult

There’s a great movie somewhere inside Nicky Murphy’s “I Love Paris,” a French mockumentary with a juicy premise. Paris (co-writer Aminata Thiboult) is an obnoxious singer who lacks a fanbase needed to play a major music festival. Her fortunes change when she’s bitten by a vampire (Leonor Oberson) who becomes her manager and semi-reluctant mentor. If only Paris wasn’t so obsessed with fame, or cleaning the blood out of her vintage clothing.  It becomes clear almost immediately that making her a vampire is one of the worst choices anyone could make.

If a mockumentary goes above 90 minutes, it better be “This Is Spinal Tap,” and “I Love Paris” is Two. Hours. Long.  Murphy and Thiboult aspire to make a darker “What We Do in the Shadows” by way of “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,” suffused with commentary about using people for fame, but it’s just too bloated. Paris (not her real name, but the merch sells itself, right?) is unlikable from the beginning and stays that way.  There are some funny bits, like the vampire lore itself (no actual superpowers, so it helps to taste your victims before meals) and a runner about which celebrities they should kill to get a coveted post-sundown performance slot, but it often just lies there.  Here’s hoping a few details get ironed out if they sell an American remake to Hulu.

“BREAK FREE” (2026)

Writer/Director: Yu Nakamoto

Times are tough for the Yakuza clan in the delightfully goofy “Break Free.” Not only are they broke, but recent laws have made it that much harder to fight civilians in public. Frustrated enforcer Kunio (Akita Fujii) aggressively dances in one random jerk’s face, scaring him without actually touching him, and goes viral as a result.  When his Boss thinks this is the answer to the clan’s woes, Kunio starts out on a journey to be TikTok famous for his sweet moves, while keeping his identity as a hard-hitting bruiser from the public.

“Break Free” (aka “Odore! Yakuza”) feels like a 1990’s vehicle for an SNL star.  The dedicated Fujii is funny whether surrounded by hapless gangsters, precocious little girls from the dance class he decides to take, or their teacher (and his possible love interest).  Yu Nakamoto’s film isn’t horror, though there are still amusing bits of chaos, like when Kunio attempts to make another dance video, only to be interrupted by his colleague, who chases a bleeding man with a baseball bat.  There’s also a moment on a livestream where a packet of white powder falls out of Kunio’s pocket that’s pure gold. I’m not sure the ending landed for me, but I haven’t seen many Japanese comedies.  Nakamoto makes me want to rectify that immediately.

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

It’s that time of the year again, and no, we aren’t talking about summer or the heat, or at least not heat in the temperature sense. No, it’s Fantasia International Film Festival time! Easily one of the best times of the year for us here at Macabre Daily, and this year is no different as Fantasia celebrates 30 years of bringing genre films to the masses from all over the world! This year’s program is absolutely stacked with features and shorts, animated and live-action, and a dazzling array of genres from gritty action to bloody af horror. Macabre Daily is honored to be able to cover this year’s program, and we hope you enjoy our coverage. Now, onto our review of…”Bowels of Hell”

SYNOPSIS

Malu, a grieving event organizer in São Paulo, faces killer toilets, personal trauma, and family conflict while navigating a gender reveal party that forces buried emotions to surface.

REVIEW

Malu is an event organizer who is experiencing extreme constipation following the trauma of losing her child in a toilet incident, which left her with an irrational fear of toilets, causing her severe constipation. Her business is struggling, but she is hopeful the gender reveal party she’s planning for her influencer neighbour will lead to a boom. These aren’t the only stressors in her life. At home, she is finding it difficult to accept her non-binary teenage child, who recently got expelled from school for “preaching gender ideology to other children,” reflecting that even progressive schools are not always safe spaces for kids who don’t follow conventional gender norms. She does not even address them by their proper pronouns or the name they personally chose: Genesis. She is in a dilemma both as a grieving mother and a small business owner, and with her irregular bowel movements, she is unable to release any of these stressors. Her unresolved trauma and her need to cling to antiquated traditions appear to contribute to her confusion about the evolution of gender identity, which is very different from what she grew up with.

Even though Malu is the main character whose story we’re following, we get a chance to be introduced to different tenants in the building: an influencer, a lonely senior living with her cat, a mystic woman from Ohio who moved to São Paulo to clear its energy through “poop readings,” and a janitor who is trying to keep everything together despite being forced into work. Every neighbour also has a shitty life, and the building is a microcosm of life in São Paulo. The backstories of the characters provide an in-depth look into the human experience. Behind closed doors, there are messy stories that we get to witness as the audience.

Since the gender reveal party is the main event in the film, let’s dive deeper into the influencer’s story. She portrays the perfect life for her followers, presenting herself as an ally to people with disabilities because she has a disabled stepson. But what people don’t know is that she constantly mistreats him in real life. This gives us a look into the lives of some influencers who fabricate a perfect image to gain followers and clout. This is not just a critique of influencers. It is a critique of how social media has conditioned us to share only our wins and the best parts of our lives.

Being vulnerable publicly is not easy and requires a great deal of strength and practice. Social media has made us constantly hungry for other people’s approval. I think the influencer would have formed a more genuine connection with her followers had she shared the challenges she’s facing raising a disabled child. She might have found a supportive community, but to play the social media game, she chose not to. The character doesn’t have a name, which suggests this is a broader issue and a commentary on the pressure to perform perfection online. The gender reveal party becomes the catalyst where the emotional pressure building throughout the film finally comes to the surface.

Something unique about this film is that it uses a ridiculous concept while maintaining a serious tone. Even though the toilets take centre stage and drive the film’s events, they are merely a metaphor for the accumulation of multiple complex and unresolved emotions that cannot simply be flushed away. The killer toilets are a symbol of everything people refuse to confront.

Through the use of 70s surreal aesthetics, the film highlights the absurdity of life and modern society that has normalized bottling up emotions. Using extreme close-ups also helped the audience be immersed in Malu’s internal world as we saw first-hand the psychological distress that progressively erupts into complete chaos. Towards the end, she has to make the decision whether to accept Genesis as they are or hold on to her personal beliefs passed on from previous generations.

FINAL THOUGHTS

“Bowels of Hell” is a gory visual manifestation of the severe consequences of unresolved grief and trauma, and how that negatively impacts relationships and family dynamics. The film felt a tad long, with empty parts in the middle, and some additional information about some of the other tenants would’ve been a plus!

Warning for viewers: the film depicts harm towards a couple of animals.

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

In our current moment, it feels like there are multiple existential crisis events happening at the same time. The AI bubble shows signs of eventually popping, greed has become the de facto personality trait for anyone with a little bit of money, and climate change is turning our world into a convection oven. Needless to say, it’s a lot, and we’re all going through it. In fact, one wouldn’t be blamed if they occasionally wonder where this dystopian timeline is heading, and what the consequences of current actions will be on future states. It’s the kind of thing that has billionaires rushing to build bunkers so they can hide away from the mess they’ve created, and Christian Ward and Sami Kivelä know that all too well. In their new six-issue series, “The Forever Home,” from Oni Press, an eccentric billionaire keeps his family safe from the end of the world, but salvation comes at a cost.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Infamous billionaire scientist Henry D'mour could have saved the world. But he didn't. Instead, in a desperate bid to save himself, his wife, and their two children, he constructed THE FOREVER HOME—an ark of luxury and ultramodern convenience insulated from the agony of the planet’s death throes outside its walls . . . and even time itself. Inside THE FOREVER HOME, only 20 minutes pass for every year on the outside . . . allowing the D’mour family to slowly enact their plans for a new world as their automated environment and robotic companions keep them safe. Safe on the inside. Always inside. Until a childish misstep accidentally breaks THE FOREVER HOME’s barrier . . . and what’s outside decides it wants back in . . .

HOW IS IT?

As far as first issues go, “The Forever Home” is damn-near perfect. Within the 32 pages of issue 1, we have a base understanding of the current and future world we are transported to, where a billionaire scientist uses his intelligence and wealth to make a “forever home” for himself, his wife, and his two kids. The catch with this home is that time passes differently inside of it, as 20 minutes inside accounts for a full year on the outside. The family watches as the barren wasteland that they live in springs back to life over what amounts to six years inside, but vastly more on the outside. Given that this is the first of six issues to come, we feel sufficiently set up for an engrossing story while having enough to keep us salivating for what’s to come!

What is apparent after this first issue is that Henry D’mour represents the worst of the current billionaire class, with the exception that he’s genuinely intelligent rather than feigning it to justify massive wealth. At first we get a sense of what life was like shortly after the collapse, but then jump to a later state where the tone inside the home is markedly different. Henry’s wife, Elisabeth, is more distant from him as Henry becomes almost ravenous, and his kids, Sarah and Tommy, are growing immensely curious about the world around them that they’re not allowed to visit. That is, until Tommy messes around and gets trapped outside, and Henry refuses to open the doors back up to avoid letting others in. It’s such a common refrain from those who “have” to not help those who don’t, and the proverbial pulling up of the ladder approach seems to know no loyalty, even to family.

Where things end on issue one is a bit of a surprise, and it sets up a fascinating conflict that accounts for both the family dynamics established here as well as the lore around how time works both in and outside of the home. What seems to be building is a kind of “us vs them” scenario that pits the outsiders against Henry, Elisabeth, and Sarah, but we’re inclined to believe there’s far more to it, and that’s what makes this first issue so captivating. We are given enough information to create a foundation, but we don’t have all the details to be able to predict where things are going. Given this is going to wrap up in six issues, we’re very curious to see where it goes because not only is Ward’s writing superb, but the art from Kivelä is the perfect pairing of the pulpy comic stylings of the 1950s with a modern flair of Jetsons-esque nuclear family futurism.

LAST RITES

“The Forever Home” does a fantastic job of establishing an intriguing confrontation in a futile future that is more than just a post-apocalyptic war. What excites us about Ward and Kivelä’s series is the excellent worldbuilding paired with the elegant artwork that enhances, not detracts, from the powerful story emerging!

THE GORY DETAILS

Written By

Christian Ward

Illustrated By

Sami Kivelä

Lettering

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Coloring

Jason Wordie

Where can you read it?

“Forever Home #1” will be available at comic book shops and online retailers on September 9, 2026.

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

One of my favorite horror tropes is when the horror takes place in a theater. Something about the sanctity of that place being disrupted isn’t just meta; it’s terrifying. But if you really wanna get me going, horror movies that take place in a theater where the movie being watched in-film impacts the story, then that’s the way to do it. It may sound like an overly complex setup, and it kinda is, but we don’t movie kink shame in these parts. Even if we did, that wouldn’t stop the mad geniuses at Visual Vengeance from releasing such gems as one of their latest, “The Paranormal.”

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Something is haunting the Englewood movie theater. A paranormal investigator is called in and finds himself sealed inside the theater as the zombie movie playing suddenly becomes real. The undead spill into the aisles and must be stopped.

HOW IS IT?

Going into a Visual Vengeance title is all about keeping an open mind and reasonable expectations. While many struggle to enjoy SOV cinema simply because of how lo-fi it is, there’s an indelible charm that keeps folks like yours truly and many others tuning into these often odd regional genre films. “The Paranormal” is one of the more focused features to come out of the boutique label’s growing library, and is certainly one of the more approachable and coherent films in comparison to others. Strangely, it’s one of the few examples of a film that actually could’ve gone on a little longer than it does!

The setup for “The Paranormal” is quite standard as paranormal investigators descend upon a small, rundown old theater that also happens to be the hometown of the lead investigator, Kyle Jennings (Todd Norris). This homecoming is more than “just business” as he begins to rekindle an old flame with the now-theater owner, Lynne (Aubrey Crabtree). Kyle’s boss, Dr. Cass Charbonneau (Lisa Winegar), tags along and is adamant that Kyle is chasing a whole bunch of nothing, and the projectionist, Johnnie (Gina Tarantino), provides some comic relief along the way. Kyle is tracking down some strange readings, and they are coming from an old reel of film that is blurring the lines between the film’s world and reality, threatening to take everyone down overnight!

This could’ve easily been a schlocky and lazy paranormal feature, but filmmaker Todd Norris, who stars in the film, takes the material with just enough seriousness to get buy-in from the viewer. Unlike other films in the VV catalog, this one isn’t as absurd or over-the-top with violence or nudity, but it does contain some admirable DIY practical effects that hide the fact this is a very low-budget feature. The characters can be a little ropey, but that’s to be expected considering many of them are likely amateur actors or not formally trained. Still, they do as well as they can, and thankfully they have good enough chemistry with one another to sell the overall vision. The only downside is that the ending comes up a bit quickly and doesn’t feel as satisfying as it could have been given more time to develop.

HOW DOES IT LOOK?

As usual, Visual Vengeance films are often SOV fare and “The Paranormal” is no exception. The cleanup job is quite good considering they had the original tape materials to use, but there’s only so much one can do for videotape masters, as many know. Perhaps the most noticeable aspect is that despite being SOV and having a tiny budget, it’s shot well and the use of some in-camera tricks is a good addition. It does suffer from some scenes being quite dark, but that’s more of a lighting issue combined with limitations of video at the time, so we won’t hold it against it!

Images from this release are used throughout this review.

HOW DOES IT SOUND?

In terms of sound, “The Paranormal” features a 2.0 Dolby Stereo audio track accompanied by English subtitles for those who prefer to watch with them. The audio quality is quite good, even if it doesn’t have as much depth, but it’s serviceable for this film considering the action is quite light and it mostly traffics in atmosphere save for the third act.

ANYTHING SPECIAL?

Like always, Visual Vengeance has stacked this release with all sorts of new and old material to create the definitive version of a movie many people may not have heard of. The first feature we checked out was the New Cast and Crew Interviews, which is a relatively short 9-minute edit of different interviews conducted in-person and over Zoom. Todd Norris speaks with Lisa Winegar and Jeff Sission, who not only did some acting work, but also the special effects work. They talk about casting and how, for some, this was their first feature, breaking away from corporate training video acting as well, and despite its short length is a densely packed cut of anecdotes.

The next feature was another short one, but a curio piece with The Paranormal Channel 5 TV Airing Bumpers, which is a roughly 3-minute cut of different short vignettes of Todd Norris talking about making the film. One thing he is immensely proud of is how the film was made for $3,000, and he’s very passionate about the film community in Kansas City all the way back in the late '90s. It took Todd 4 years to make the film, and he mentions some of the continuity errors about how he aged and his haircut changed over time. We didn’t notice these things, but then again, we weren’t looking for them!

A full list of special features is listed below.

Special Features

• Region Free Blu-ray

• New director-supervised transfer from original tape elements

• Commentary with director Todd Norris

• Commentary with director Todd Norris and Composer Paul Roberts

• New Cast and Crew Interviews

• The Two Todds: Todd Norris and Todd Sheets interview

• The Paranormal Channel 5 TV Airing Bumpers

• Blooper Reel

• Deleted Scenes

• Original Script Excerpts

• Storyboard Gallery

• Short Film: The Closet

• Short Film: L…

• Short Film: Night of the Growling

• Short Film: Parallax

• Visual Vengeance Trailer

• Trailers

• Optional English subtitles

• Folded mini-poster with art by Giorgio Credaro

• Reversible Sleeve Featuring Original VHS Art

• 'Stick Your Own' VHS Sticker Set

• Limited Edition O-CARD featuring art by Uncle Frank - FIRST PRESSING ONLY

• Limited Edition 'Ghost Finder' viewer - FIRST PRESSING ONLY

• Limited Edition Promo flyer for 'Z is For Zombie' movie

• Featuring original sleeve art by The Dude

LAST RITES

In the spirit of the iconic 1985 Italian shocker, “Demons,” “The Paranormal” arises as a SOV gem that is as captivating as it is entertaining. Visual Vengeance has another win on their hands that doesn’t just shine a light on a lesser-known film, but gives it the deluxe treatment for all collectors!

THE GORY DETAILS

Thank you to the fine fiends at MVD Entertainment for providing a review copy for the crypt! “The Paranormal” is available now and can be purchased via MVD DIRECT!

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

It’s more than halfway through 2026 at this point, and it’s safe to say that we are once again in the throes of a really great year for the genre. While this isn’t surprising, given the attention and investment that horror has received over the years, what is most inspiring is that innovation and bold ideas still have a place among the more commercial side of the genre. Take “Nightborn,” the second feature from Hanna Bergholm, which arrives on Shudder today. It’s both treading familiar waters with a story about the horror of postpartum, but it delivers that familiarity in a novel way that is at times darkly funny, but also deeply personal.

Hanna was kind enough to spend some time speaking with us about the process, and in particular how her own experience becoming a mother helped to shape the narrative. Even more interesting is the crowdsourcing that Hanna did with friends and peers to understand if what she was experiencing was shared amongst others. All of this on the heels of “Nightborn” being named “Best Film” at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival’s Cheval Noir Awards. It’s a wonderful discussion for an outstanding film, and we hope you enjoy watching it!

“Nightborn” is available to stream today on Shudder!

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

We get a lot of news here at Macabre Daily, and frankly, we just can’t cover it all. The signs of a healthy horror genre also mean that the volume of announcements can become overwhelming, but at the same time, we know this means that the genre is alive and thriving. At Macabre Daily’s Trailer Park, we aggregate some of the best trailers coming out so you don’t miss out on a single new piece of horror media!

Trailers are our window into the future, or at least they give us quite a few hints about what a film’s vibe will be, what it’s about, and, more importantly, give us just enough information to tantalize us into seeing it. Whether you avoid trailers or run towards them, we have a roundup of some of the best and brightest previews coming soon to a theater and VOD service near you, including…

“Blood Shine”

Dark Sky Films

Editor’s Note: The collective “we” of Macabre Daily are SO happy that “Blood Shine” is finally making its way to the masses! This has been a favorite film for all who’ve seen it, and we had the pleasure of introducing the film and facilitating a Q&A with Emily and Justin at this year’s Chattanooga Film Festival. Please check out some of our previous coverage of this amazing film, and with more to come!

Synopsis: Set in a desolate expanse of upstate New York, Blood Shine centers around Clara, a religious zealot who worships light in lonely, sacred rituals. When problematic horror director Brighton West travels upstate to finish the screenplay for his next film, a chance encounter with Clara leads him into a hallucinatory web of faith, flesh, and the sublime.

Writers/Directors: Emily Bennett & Justin Brooks

Starring: Emily Bennett, David Call, Brendan Saxton III, Larry Fessenden, Toby Poser, Kyle Minshew, Maurice P. Kerry

Release Date: “BLOOD SHINE” is coming to theaters + VOD/Digital Platforms August 21st from Dark Sky Films

“Bury The Devil”

Brainstorm Media

Synopsis: When her dementia patient begins behaving strangely, a nurse suspects things are not what they seem. As the night unfolds, she soon discovers she is trapped with a demonic presence seeping through the cracks of the old home.

Directed by: Adam O'Brien

Written by: John Petrizzi, Brad Hodson

Starring: Dawn Ford, Emmanuelle Lussier Martinez, Bill Rowat

Release Date: August 21, 2026, in select theaters and on-demand

“Turning Point”

Lionsgate

Synopsis: There is danger in the night, but the true terror is inside the house. Trapped within the home of a zombie in transition, Margot and her partner in crime must find their way out before they become the ghoul’s first victims. Their only hope for survival is a bizarre neighbor with expert knowledge of the undead and the flicker of humanity remaining in their mutating stalker.

Writer/Director: Joshua Wagner

Starring: Jillian Lee Garner, Mike Apple, Shane Brady, Lydia Hearst, Sanchita Malik, and DJ Qualls

Release Date: August 25, 2026, on digital on-demand

“Penny Lane Is Dead”

Shudder

Synopsis: Set on a hot summer’s night in 1986 Australia, Penny Lane is celebrating getting into college with her longtime girlfriends Toni and Amy. The night, however, does not turn out as planned. After Penny's jealous and troubled cousin Kat decides a cruel prank is in order, what begins as a thoughtless spiked cupcake game spirals into a night of bloodshed.

Writer/Director: Mia-kate Russell

Starring: Sophie Wright-Mendelsohn, Tahlee Fereday, Alexandra Jensen, Bailey Spalding, Ben O’Toole, Steve Le Marquand, and Fletcher Humphrys

Release Date: Available to stream on Shudder on August 28, 2026!

“Who’s Watching”

Dark Sky Films

Synopsis: Eccentric musician and aspiring filmmaker Caleb becomes obsessed with his new coworker, Krista, secretly documenting every aspect of her life in an effort to make her the subject of his latest film. As Caleb’s fixation intensifies, the lines between observer and participant begin to blur, pulling him deeper into a dangerous spiral of surveillance, manipulation, and obsession. As the cameras keep rolling, the question becomes increasingly unsettling: who is really watching who?

Writer/Directer: Tim Kasher

Starring: Zachary Ray Sherman, Gracie Gillam, Olivia Luccardi, and Steve Berg

Release Date: On digital platforms and select theaters across the United States on September 18, 2026 (Roxy Cinema in New York City and Laemmle's Glendale in Los Angeles) September 18, 2026.

Ahead of its digital release, Kasher will embark on a “WHO’S WATCHING” roadshow of special theatrical preview events. Each event will feature an advance screening of “WHO’S WATCHING” followed by a short acoustic set and Q&A with writer/director Kasher.

The “WHO’S WATCHING” preview tour will visit:

• August 10 – Film Exchange – Oklahoma City, OK
• August 11 – Screenland Armour – Kansas City, MO
• August 12 – Film Streams Dundee Theater – Omaha, NE
• August 13 – Heights Theater – Minneapolis, MN
• August 15 – Wealthy Theatre – Grand Rapids, MI
• August 16 – Nightlight Cinema – Akron, OH
• August 17 – Oaks Theater – Pittsburgh, PA
• August 18 – PhilaMOCA – Philadelphia, PA

• August 19 – Zoetropolis – Lancaster, PA

• August 23 – Broad Theater – New Orleans, LA
• August 24 – Galaxy Theatres – Austin, TX
• August 26 – Texas Theatre – Dallas, TX
• August 27 – Roxy Stadium 14 – Santa Rosa, CA
• August 30 – Digital Gym Cinema – San Diego, CA

“Victorian Psycho”

Bleecker Street Films

Synopsis: In the Year of our Lord 1858, an unusual governess named Winifred Notty arrives at the gothic manor known as EnsorHouse. Winifred's responsibilities include teaching the children table manners and educating them about their family history - all whilst hiding her own psychopathic tendencies. But as staff members begin disappearing, the owners of the estate start to wonder if there may be something amiss with their new governess...

“Victorian Psycho” invites us into the mind of a psychopath - trapped in a world she cannot control, living on the border between insurrection and madness!

Director: Zachary Wigon

Writer: Virginia Faito

Cast: Maika Monroe, Jason Isaacs, Ruth Wilson, and Thomasin McKenzie

Release Date: In theaters on September 25, 2026!

“Other Mommy”

Universal Pictures / Blumhouse Atomic Monster

From James Wan, one of the most influential architects of modern horror behind the “Saw,” “Insidious,” and “The Conjuring” franchises—and Rob Savage, the director of bold genre films “Host” and “The Boogeyman,” comes a terrifying trip into the darkening world of a young girl, Bela, who forms a relationship with a sinister entity in her home who looks uncannily like her own mother.

Academy Award® winner Jessica Chastain (“It Chapter Two,” “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) stars in a dual role as Bela’s mother and as “Other Mommy,” a manifestation of the entity. Jay Duplass (“Transparent,” “Industry”) plays Daddo, Bela’s father, and Arabella Olivia Clark (“The Housemaid,” “The Hand that Rocks the Cradle”) plays Bela.

The impressive supporting cast includes Actor Award nominee Dichen Lachman (“Severance”), Emmy and Tony Award nominee Arian Moayed (“Succession”), and screen legend Karen Allen (“Indiana Jones” films). From Blumhouse Atomic Monster, “Other Mommy” is directed by Rob Savage from a screenplay by WGA Award winner Nathan Elston, writer for the Emmy-winning sensation “Succession,” based on the New York Times bestselling novel “Incidents Around the House” by Josh Malerman (Bird Box).

Release Date: October 9, 2026, in theaters.

“Dorothy: The Haunting of Oz”

Synopsis: On Halloween night, a viral internet challenge unleashes Dorothy, the Wicked Witch, and more nightmarish characters on an unsuspecting California town. As the curse spreads, the line between myth and memory begins to disappear for a group of struggling college athletes. One student must confront her trauma before it consumes everyone around her.

Writer/Director: Elijah J. Alvarez

Starring: Adrienne Tabag, Caia Bonner, Jordan Sklansky, Aziah King, Andrew Wang, and Thomas Shan

Release Date: Currently in post-production, “Dorothy: The Haunting of Oz” is aiming for a fall 2026 premiere.

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

Agatha Andrews does it all. Not only is she one of the best podcasters out there with “She Wore Black,” an amazing deep dive into all things horror, gothic, dark romance, and dark fantasy, but she does it with some of the most incredible voices writing horror today! Lately, each episode has been doing a deep dive into a theme; that theme is then discussed by both Agatha and the guest, and book suggestions and read-alikes are laid out for the listener like the best buffet you’ve ever been invited to!. We are not worthy!

Agatha was kind enough to join us to discuss her amazing podcast, how it all came about, some of her favorites in the genre, and so much more. Along the way, we find out that Agatha is finishing up a book on the amazing cover art from the 60s and 70s that adorned gothic romance paperbacks, titled “Women Running From Houses.” We cannot wait to get our hands on this one. For now, sit back and listen to this remarkable horror icon, and enjoy!

You can follow Agatha Andrews on Instagram here.

You can listen to “She Wore Black” on Spotify and Apple iTunes.

Check out agathaandrewsauthor.com

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

The shark-attack movie has been a summer tradition ever since “Shark Week” became a late-July/early-August staple. Now, to be fair, shark-attack films have been around for the last fifty years, ever since Bruce terrorized Amity Island. “JAWS” has since claimed the July 4th weekend, and is now so firmly rooted in the holiday tradition that if you don’t “crush one with Quint,” you feel you haven’t fully celebrated. That leaves precious few weekends left between Memorial Day and Labor Day to get your chomp on. Luckily, like bathers deliciously bobbing in the surf, there’s no shortage of fintacular films to choose from. The newest Sharksploitation to hit screens this summer is “The Devil’s Mouth.” A Kathryn Newton project directed by Jeff Wadlow, written by Aja Gabel and Myung Joh Wasner. It won’t redefine Sharkspoitation by any means, but we can think of a lot worse ways to spend 105 minutes. No treading water here; let’s dive in!

SYNOPSIS:

A group of college friends' Thailand adventure turns deadly when they become trapped in submerged caves with a dangerous predator. As oxygen runs low, past conflicts emerge in their desperate fight for survival.

SHARKSPLOITATION AS SLASHER:

We have to begin by defining what Sharkspoitation has evolved into in 2026. It is, and has been for the last fifteen years, a highly entertaining interpretation of classic slashers. Most will be familiar with the standards. There were the man/woman-vs.-nature films like “JAWS,” “Open Water,” and “The Shallows.” Then there were the science-run-amok films like “Deep Blue Sea” and “Under Paris” (a hidden gem and soon to get a sequel). Around 2011, a new format began to emerge with “Shark Night 3D,” one that took the tried-and-true formula of the summer camp slasher and submerged it to strike box office gold, or at least, in that case, a decent $41 million return on its $25 million budget. For those unfamiliar with the summer camp slasher formula, it's simple enough. Good-looking teens take to the woods where they either drink, smoke weed, or have sex. The lucky ones get to do all three before meeting the business end of any number of sharp implements. That’s it. Scores of prominent actors, screenwriters, and directors have cut their teeth in the subgenre, some lucky enough to be in iconic classics from the eighties. Hang out while the credits roll on any number of these films and you’re bound to come across a Tom Hanks, Jennifer Aniston, or Kevin Bacon. It’s a simple formula: a group of actors, a single location, and mayhem ensues.

Now take that exact same concept, throw boardshorts and bikinis on it, and replace the masked killer with an apex predator or two looking for a snack, and you have a completely new subgenre within the subgenre. To be fair, “JAWS 2” was the first to embrace this concept, but coming off “JAWS,” it shrank in comparison and failed to ignite the trend. It would take a little over 30 years before studios, both indie and mainstream, would start rolling these films out like clockwork. Now, these films are the norm. Movies like “Bait,” “47 Meters Down,” “No Way Up,” Deep Water,” and “Beast of War” (another stellar standout) are all over streaming, but cruise through Tubi, and you’ll be inundated with straight-to-streaming fin flicks that spread across the platform like chum. (Side note: “CHUM” is literally one of the new films to hit the small screen this summer). It really does mimic the VHS slasher craze of the mid-eighties, where there are so many choices, it’s hard to know what’s worth your time.

OUR TAKE:

Rest assured, “The Devil’s Mouth” is definitely time well spent. The script is solid, and the direction mostly complements it. Are there some bizarre moments, like sharks trying to eat bats? You bet! Are there choices made that either stretch or fully defy the laws of physics and/or gravity? Absolutely! But much like Wadlow’s “Truth or Dare,” you’re here for a good time, not a long time. It doesn’t need to make sense; it just needs to be entertaining, which this film is. Kathryn Newton (“Abigail”), more restrained in the role of Sara than we’re normally used to seeing, does a great job anchoring the film with a voice of reason. Lana Condor (“To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before”)is great as the friend you wish had stayed on the boat, and Nico Haraga (“The Power”) delivers a solid performance as her conflicted boyfriend.

The film is nothing more than a set them up, knock them down horror film but, because this production has a bit more budget than a ton of films on streaming platforms, we get some incredible second unit scenery, a fantastic cave set that is used extremely well, and, besides a few “red shirts” that are gone fairly quickly (you’ll immediately guess the first 3 victims) the film settles into its survival rythm quickly and the tension mounts exponentially until the final minutes. Our biggest gripe, and it’s all too familiar with this subgenre, is that the shark effects can look comically janky in places. They hold up for the most part, but there are definitely a few scenes where we wished practical had been utilized to greater effect, like in “Beast of War.” All the actors do a great job with their roles, but keep in mind this is a saline slasher, and character development is not a priority. The attacks are, and they’re handled well. One in particular, filmed from above in parts, is particularly nasty. Sharksploitation aficionados will walk away from this one feeling they got what they came for. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

We need to come clean here. We’re Jeff Wadlow fans. Jeff makes really good “junk food” films, and we mean that as a compliment. Nobody is going to remember much of anything about “The Devil’s Mouth” once the credits stop rolling. Still, for the tight hour-and-forty-five-minute run time, you’ll find yourself having a remarkably good time, maybe even having a scare or two. Ultimately, this film is about the juxtaposition of friendship. How the ones you love the most can also be your biggest burden. It’s a heavier theme than we’re used to in this subgenre, and along with Kiah Roache-Turner’s “Beast of War,” which tackled themes of racism and xenophobia, a little social commentary is a welcome addition to the mix.

“The Devil’s Mouth” is available on Amazon Prime as of Wednesday, July 29, 2026.

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

When was the last time you watched a really good holiday horror movie? I know it’s been a minute, but the wait is over thanks to “Unholy Night”, which premiered at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival.

This is not a story with a typical killer Santa or Krampus as the villain. Instead, it uses "I ritornati," a group of Italian ancestors returning from the dead seeking revenge on Gino’s family for breaking sacred family traditions passed down for generations. Even though they’re dead, what makes them stand out is that they still have their memories and emotions. "Ritornare" means "to return" in Italian, so having killer nonni is such a creative and deeply cultural take on movie villains. The film features incredible performances that capture the essence of holiday traditions in a classic Italian household, completely immersing the audience in the experience.

“Unholy Night” is a wild ride, and we had the opportunity to talk with writer and director Michael Gabriele about how his personal experience shaped the film's creation. He also shared how he balanced the film's tone between horror and comedy thanks to the strong script he wrote.

The moral of the story is: don’t piss off your ancestors!

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

It’s that time of the year again, and no, we aren’t talking about summer or the heat, or at least not heat in the temperature sense. No, it’s Fantasia International Film Festival time! Easily one of the best times of the year for us here at Macabre Daily, and this year is no different as Fantasia celebrates 30 years of bringing genre films to the masses from all over the world! This year’s program is absolutely stacked with features and shorts, animated and live-action, and a dazzling array of genres from gritty action to bloody af horror. Macabre Daily is honored to be able to cover this year’s program, and we hope you enjoy our coverage. Now, onto our review of…”Gozu!”

SYNOPSIS

A yakuza enforcer is ordered to secretly drive his beloved colleague to be assassinated. But when the colleague unceremoniously disappears en route, the trip that follows is a twisted, surreal, and horrifying experience.

REVIEW

Takashi Miike is one of the most singular and prolific filmmakers of our generation, and that’s not an opinion, but an objective fact. With over 125 directing credits to his name, and still actively working with folks in the zeitgeist like Charlie XCX, Miike’s mark on the world of film will be recognized in perpetuity, but perhaps one of his strangest films (which is saying a lot) is “Gozu.” Part Yazuka crime film, part Harmony Korine’s “Gummo” with a hypersexualized Lynchian flair, “Gozu” is one of Miike’s most inaccessible films content-wise, but also one of his most fascinating. It traffics in nonsense that on the surface may mean nothing, but invites one to try and piece together some meaning like having a bunch of Legos with no manual. 

The story is deceptively simple given how non-linear it unfolds as Minami (Yuta Sone) is sent to kill another Yakuza compatriot, Brother (Sho Aikawa), and dispose of the body at a Yakuza burial site outside of town. When a fluke accident possibly kills Brother in transit, Minami stops off in a small town only for Brother’s body to disappear. Minami seeks out help from the local crime boss to help figure out what happened to Brother, and along the way meets some of the denizens of this small town who are, for lack of a better phrase, weird as fuck. 

What Minami encounters here can only be described as a descent into complete madness. A shop filled with two guys who have the same conversation all day and every day, a brother/sister duo who run an inn where the sister bottles her breast milk while the brother wears a cow’s head, or the local enforcer who covers half of his face in white paint supposedly due to some kind of pigmentation problem. It’s so unabashedly weird without any explanation that the viewer may even question if what they are seeing is even real. And this isn’t even the half of it when it comes to strange things you’ll see in here, and trust us when we say you’ll never look at a soup ladle the same way ever again after this.

As mentioned at the start, “Gozu” is a film that feels nonsensical, but it is littered in what could or couldn’t be some kind of visual metaphors. The naming of the character as “Brother” when he eventually becomes a woman and challenges Minami’s heteronormative worldview, the insinuation that men in power are just really weird insecure little freaks, and the division that exists between those that live in cities and those that live outside of them. There are also parts of the film that seem to make no sense, like the emphasis on milk and the milking aspect of the brother/sister dynamic. Perhaps scholars can unpack what that means, but it’s all to say that “Gozu” is uniquely one-of-a-kind because it exists in defiance of normalcy and comfort. It’s a film that you can watch and be reviled by, but at the same time be endeared to because of how confidently it lobs its weirdness into the psyche of the viewer. It’s not a film that leaves you satisfied, especially with what transpires in the last 20 minutes, but it begs to be discussed with others to at least affirm that you all saw the same thing.

A Note on the 4K Restoration

“Gozu” playing as part of this year’s Fantasia programming is one of the many reasons we love this festival, as it blends both older and newer films together, with many of the older films receiving some sort of restoration. In this case, the 4K restoration of “Gozu” is part of a forthcoming release from New Wave Video, and it brings the film onto HD for the first time after having been stuck on DVD since release. The original camera negatives aren’t referenced here, but rather a surviving 35mm print from the original Cannes screening that was used for restoration. This is a marked improvement over the DVD, but the softness of the film itself persists, which could most likely be from the fact that this is a restored print rather than the OCN. It definitely looks better than what we’ve had available to us thus far, and it’s great to know that the film will be getting a proper physical media release.

FINAL THOUGHTS

“Gozu” is the kind of film you’ll never forget, and that can be in both good and bad ways depending on your sensitivity to strange shit. It’s not a film that demands much of you except for endurance as it pummels you with all manner of the unexplainable, while making what could be light commentary on the homoeroticism of the Yakuza and how that conflicts with perceptions of masculinity. That’s just one read, but if you consider yourself adventurous, you will be hard-pressed to find a film weirder than this!

“Gozu” had its new 4K restoration shown as part of this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival programming.

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!

THE EMPIRE THAT FEEDS

July is when an awful lot of Americans celebrate freedom by grilling meat and launching explosives. It’s cheerful. It’s patriotic. It’s also a little unsettling once you remember what the holiday is actually commemorating: the birth of a nation that has always been very sure it deserves whatever it’s hungry for.

This year marks the semiquincentennial. That’s 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, and 250 years of the comforting national myth that violent history is something that happens to other people. Preferably people who don’t get invited to the cookout. So yeah, it’s the ideal moment to talk about colonizers, digestion, and horror.

Freedom is often narrated from the position of the eater, not the eaten (what can I say? If you’re not at the table, you’re usually on the menu). Colonizers never imagine themselves as monsters. Rather, they think of themselves as hungry... and hunger, as both horror and history remind us, has an alarming tendency to justify just about anything (yes, that’s a pointed comment related to the current political environment in the US).

The Body Edible… From A Scholarly Point of View

As a subgenre obsessed with eating, being eaten, and bodies rendered consumable (yes, I’m talking about gastrohorror), we are given a particular vocabulary for thinking about colonial powers—one that insists on asking who gets to digest the world and who gets digested by it. Academics Kyla Wazana Tompkins and Sara Ahmed are pretty useful in this area.

Tompkins makes a point in “Racial Indigestion” that American culture has a long history of treating certain bodies as edible—not literally (although sometimes literally), but socially, economically, politically. Some people are meant to nourish the nation. Others are meant to benefit from the nourishment. That’s not even a cute metaphor; it’s practically the business model, no?

Ahmed explains why this arrangement holds together emotionally. In “The Cultural Politics of Emotion,” she argues that disgust is a tool rather than a reaction. That feeling of disgust tells you who belongs at the table and who belongs on it. It gives you a clue about which bodies are “out of place,” which ones are “waste,” or which ones need to be corrected, absorbed, or politely removed before the fireworks start.

Put the two concepts together, and colonialism stops looking like geography and starts looking like digestion. A country expands the way a stomach does: by deciding what counts as food. And plenty of our media reflects it.

The Horror of Refusing to Cooperate

Let’s consider Han Kang’s Man Booker Prize-winning “The Vegetarian” (2007), for instance. It’s a thoroughly disturbing book, yet the scary inciting incident is a woman who says, very calmly, “No.”

Yeong-hye stops eating meat. That’s it. No murder spree. No possession. Just a refusal. And the reaction, though, is swift, humiliating, and violent. Her family treats her like a malfunctioning appliance that needs to be repaired… and that’s putting it nicely.

What Tompkins helps us see is that Yeong-hye’s body is considered infrastructure that’s supposed to support other people emotionally, domestically, and socially rather than her own private property (and boy, do we as women understand that in a very visceral way). When she refuses meat, it goes way, way beyond merely changing her diet. That decision interrupts a system that expects her to remain entirely edible.

Ahmed’s disgust theory explains the rest. The horror isn’t that Yeong-hye starves, or even that she becomes monstrous. Instead, the horror in the novel derives from everyone else becoming comfortable with cruelty the moment she stops being convenient. There’s a sense of entitlement that’s terrifying.

The End of Polite Metaphors

“The Vegetarian” may be quiet horror, but Nalo Hopkinson’s “The Glass Bottle Trick” (2000) is, uh, louder. Hopkinson writes from within a Caribbean history built on extraction—of labor, of land, of bodies, of sugar, of everything that could be consumed and shipped somewhere wealthier. Her horror just removes the euphemisms. People are hurt and used, treated as if their purpose is to be exhausted and discarded.

What makes the story so brutal is the recognition, not the violence. The reader understands the rules immediately because they are the same rules that built modern economies. In other words, some people are expected to feed the system, and the system feels entitled to it.

History is Now

These are just two literary examples of many. You can see the colonialism mindset in horror play out in horror films, too, of course: “His House” (2020), “Prey” (2022), “It Lives Inside” (2023), “Bacurau” (2019), “Candyman” (1992)… even “The Shining” (1980) and “Night of the Living Dead” (1968). Again, this is just a small selection.

The reason all of this feels especially sharp in 2026, though, is that the rhetoric from our so-called leaders hasn’t changed. Entire countries and areas are still described as wasted potential, entire populations are still framed as problems that need to be managed, absorbed, or pushed somewhere less visible (Greenland, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and Gaza, anyone?). Colonialism has always depended on convincing people that taking something is the same as improving it. If the land is “empty,” taking it is progress. If the people are “unproductive,” exploiting them is efficiency. If the culture is “backward,” erasing it is modernization. To hell with what anyone else might think.

The horror we read or watch sees through this crap thought process instantly.

So what does gastrohorror do for us during the 250th anniversary of the United States? It ruins the fairy tale, and that’s long overdue for a lot of folks.

Tompkins reminds us that consumption is never neutral. Ahmed reminds us that disgust is never innocent. Han Kang shows us what happens when someone refuses to remain edible. Hopkinson shows us what happens when the meal fights back.

When I say that horror is always political, this is what I mean. Because in all these works, we’re asked to imagine (and it’s not that big of a leap) that the real monster is standing at the grill, waving a flag, asking for another plate. Forget the serial killer hiding in the closet or the monster under the bed. Often, they’re genuinely less scary (this might be the perfect time to bring up the bear vs man in the woods brouhaha from a year or two ago).

So yeah, enjoy the fireworks. Enjoy the hot dogs. But when it comes to the comforting story that history ended with freedom? Turn to gastrohorror to correct our patriotic mythology.

REFERENCES:

Ahmed, Sara. The Cultural Politics of Emotion. 2nd ed., Edinburgh University Press, 2014.

Hopkinson, Nalo. Skin Folk. Warner Aspect, 2001. (“The Glass Bottle Trick” appears in this collection.)

Kang, Han. The Vegetarian. Translated by Deborah Smith, Hogarth, 2015.

Tompkins, Kyla Wazana. Racial Indigestion: Eating Bodies in the 19th Century. NYU Press, 2012.

Please check out nicolewolverton.com

Stay up to date by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky!