There’s a recent trend to try to revitalize old properties with new TV shows. We’ve got “Scream,” “Damien,” “Fargo,” even a “Lethal Weapon” series; and starting tonight we’ll also have “The Exorcist.” It’s a bit of a grey area for fans. No matter how much we want to see new stories set in our favorite fictional universes, even the most accepting of viewers has to raise an eyebrow.

The real question isn’t whether the source material is great; it’s why this, and why now? Is it an original story that deserves to be told, or is it just using the name to try to rake in a few extra dollars?

It’s a cynical way to approach a show about priests fighting demons, but it’s honest. This is the kind of stuff fans want to know. And you don’t find horror fans bigger than those here at Dread Central. So when I recently had a chance to watch the pilot and speak to its director, Rupert Wyatt, these questions were in the forefront of my mind.

First and foremost, why now? What was the point of rebooting The Exorcist today? He was quick to correct me:

Wyatt: “’The Exorcist’ series is not a reboot. We never approached it as a reboot. The events of the original are referenced, but it’s not the premise of the new narrative. We aren’t just retelling Regan’s possession. It takes place in the same fictional universe, but what happens in the show is entirely original.”

So don’t expect this to be the same beats with a modern trend. Having seen the pilot, I can definitely attest that this is a whole different beast.

That doesn’t mean that the soul of the source material is lost. Wyatt said that the series took more inspiration from the novel, with the battle between good and evil as the foundation. He found the story to be particularly poignant in a modern setting, as we live in a society where we feel evil is more pervasive than ever. Given that you can hardly turn on the news nowadays without hearing of some new mass shooting or ISIS attack, it’s hard to disagree.

Beyond that, Wyatt elaborated that there are other factors that make a modern telling unique. Primarily, our view on the Catholic Church has changed significantly. Once a monolithic institution devoted to hard conservative religious ideology, it has been brought low by scandal after scandal. It’s no longer trusted to be universally good and righteous. It’s a fall from grace compounded by the setting of Chicago, a.k.a. the Mecca of political corruption. There’s an intermingling of beauty and decay to the snowy city, a soot that permeates icy blankets. It’s a very bleak and muddy line between evil and righteous.

This blurring of good and evil is what drew Wyatt to the characters of Father Tomas (Alfonso Herrera) and Father Marcus (Ben Daniels). On the one hand you have Tomas, a charismatic priest with good looks and a sexy accent. Once one of the church’s rising stars, a personal scandal has sent him out of the limelight and into this small Chicago parish. He’s a vain man, often more interested in being liked than spreading faith, but has for some reason been called into this life of exorcism.

On the other hand is Father Marcus, a bristly man with a dark past. He’s hard for a reason. He’s seen and experienced horrible things but remains steadfast in his convictions. They’re complicated men, complete with their own flaws, and don’t match the storybook description of a hero.

Grounding these characters in the real world is integral to the identity of “The Exorcist.” There are a lot of exorcism stories out there, such as the recent Cinemax series “Outcast.” Wyatt said that to create a unique identity for the pilot, he had to make these characters feel as close to real as possible.

Wyatt: “In ‘The Exorcist’ there is the normal world and the supernatural world. To people the supernatural world is completely unexplainable. There isn’t anyone in the show that has special powers or knowledge. No one can explain what is happening or thinks this is all normal. That isn’t really something anyone else is doing now.”

Wyatt spoke more on what he envisions for the future of the show. He couldn’t comment on the specific directions it would take, but in his mind it’s the beginning of a pattern of events. It starts with this family, but it doesn’t end there. A pandemic of possession is upon us. It’s a family today, but it could be the city tomorrow. As for why? Well, in Catholic teaching, demons are all their own separate creatures. The Devil is just another demon; no one is in charge. “The Exorcist” challenges that assumption:

Wyatt: “What if there is someone in charge? With all of the evil in the world, now is the perfect time to strike. As the show goes on, our characters learn that this is just the beginning of something much bigger. This isn’t random; evil has a plan.”

It’s quite the foreboding statement, even if he couldn’t explain exactly what was in store. It’s subject to change of course; this is television after all. With what I saw in the pilot, series writer Jeremy Slater has a very interesting world in the works. The already promising premise is made even more so with a talented cast, including Daniels, Herrera, Geena Davis, and Alan Ruck (you can read about Ruck’s take on things here).

But hey, don’t take my word for it! Check it out yourself when “The Exorcist” premieres tonight at 9-10PM ET/PT on FOX.  I can definitely say that this is an event you won’t want to miss. Whether you’re a fan of the original or new to “The Exorcist,” it’s creepy as hell.

The post Rupert Wyatt on Directing The Exorcist Pilot, How Modern Evil Makes the Story More Relevant Than Ever appeared first on Dread Central.

Holidays is an anthology horror like no other and to celebrate its arrival on UK DVD, we have a copy to give away.

With Hollywood and horror favourites Kevin Smith, Nicholas McCarthy, Gary Shore and Seth Green on board, among many others, Holidays is a portmanteau horror which challenges our perception of annual festivities, subverting them and laying their darker side bare. From a seriously bloody Valentine’s Day to an extremely gruesome Easter and a Christmas slay ride for good measure, Holidays is an anthology horror that puts a grisly twist on some of our most beloved seasonal events.

Holidays is available to buy on DVD from Monday 10 October 2016.

Order it now at Amazon UK.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy, simply send an email to contests@dreadcentral.com with the subject line “Holidays UK DVD” and YOUR FULL NAME AND POSTAL ADDRESS. We’ll take care of the rest.

Please note that this competition is open only to UK residents. The closing date for entries is Tuesday, October 11. By entering this contest, you are consenting to allow Dread Central and its subsidiaries use of your email address. Good luck!

The post UK Readers: Win a Holidays DVD! appeared first on Dread Central.

Cabin Fever meets The Evil Dead in this stylish and blood-soaked horror! To celebrate the release of The Evil in Us on UK Blu-ray and DVD, we have a Blu-ray copy to give away to a lucky winner.

Six school friends meet up for a drug-fuelled Fourth of July weekend on a remote island. What they don’t know is the drug they scored is not what it seems; it’s actually a new bioactive compound peddled by a sadistic right-wing terrorist organisation. Anyone consuming it is then exposed to a virus causing fits of psychotic rage, mind-bending chaos and cannibalistic murder. Only one refused to partake and now she must fight to survive as everyone around her, including her fiancé, tries to savagely kill her.

The Evil in Us (review) is available to buy on Blu-ray and DVD from Monday 10 October 2016.

Order today at Amazon UK.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy, simply send an email to contests@dreadcentral.com with the subject line “The Evil in Us UK” and YOUR FULL NAME AND POSTAL ADDRESS. We’ll take care of the rest.

Please note that this competition is open only to UK residents. The closing date for entries is Tuesday, October 11. By entering this contest, you are consenting to allow Dread Central and its subsidiaries use of your email address. Good luck!

The post UK Readers: Win The Evil in Us on Blu-ray! appeared first on Dread Central.

To celebrate the release of The Hills Have Eyes — on limited edition Blu-ray and DVD 3rd October — we are giving away a copy courtesy of Arrow Video!

The Hills Have Eyes is one of the late, great Wes Craven’s seminal masterpieces, as well as one of the enduring classics of American horror. A gruelling tale of rape, revenge and cannibalism, the film helped redefine what we think of as a horror movie and it’s presented here as never before in a stunning 4K restoration.

Arrow Video’s new release of this genre mainstay sees it look better than ever before with a brand new restoration supervised by the film’s producer Peter Locke, and a host of extras and special features. This really is the definitive release of a film that has been often imitated but never bettered.

“We can revisit The Hills Have Eyes and be reminded of a time when horror was anything but safe, and you had a sense that there was a madman in charge and no censor or distributor was going to take his film away from him.” – Empire

Order today at Amazon UK.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy, simply send an email to contests@dreadcentral.com with the subject line “The Hills Have Eyes UK” and YOUR FULL NAME AND POSTAL ADDRESS. Keep an eye out for cannibal freaks and we’ll take care of the rest.

Please note that this competition is open only to UK residents. The closing date for entries is Wednesday, October 12. By entering this contest, you are consenting to allow Dread Central and its subsidiaries use of your email address. Good luck!

The post UK Readers: Win a Limited Edition The Hills Have Eyes Blu-ray! appeared first on Dread Central.

So, “The Exorcist” kicked off this weekend on Fox – what did you guys think?  Personally, I’m hooked!  If you are, too, here’s a pretty cool new video that poses the question: Are you brave enough to watch the horror in 360°?

After you’ve checked it out, be sure to scroll down a bit for the official “Chapter Two: Lupus in Fabula” synopsis and a big batch of photos from the upcoming episode.

“The Exorcist” Episode 1.02 – “Chapter Two: Lupus in Fabula” (airs 9/30/16, 9-10pm)
While Bishop Egan denies Tomas permission to perform the exorcism on Angela’s daughter, Father Marcus breaks out of Saint Aquinas and joins forces with Tomas, though he urges him to get his ex, Jessica, out of his life and heart. The Rance family’s relationship with the demon deepens, and when Marcus catches Angela stealing holy water, he instructs her on how to use it. Meanwhile, on Chicago’s South Side, a series of bizarre ritual killings begin taking place.

Cast: Alfonso Herrera as Father Tomas Ortega; Ben Daniels as Father Marcus Keane: Geena Davis as Angela Rance; Alan Ruck as Henry Rance; Brianne Howey as Katherine Rance; Hannah Kasulka as Casey Rance; Kurt Egyiawan as Father Bennett. Guest Cast: Robert Emmy Lunney as Dapper Man; Kristen Fitzgerald as Maria Walters; Brad Armacost as Bishop Egan; Alan Metoski as Red; Javoun Baker as College Student; Griffin Kane as Young Marcus; Autumn Dolores Pippenburg as Amazon; Francis Guinan as Brother Simon; Bries Vannon as Emaciated Man; Krystal Ortiz as Casey’s Teammate; Charlie Babbo as Orphan Boy; Mouzam Makkar as Jessica; D’Wayne Taylor as Therapist; Adam Bitterman as Father Sean; April Sutton as Mom; Sandra Delgado as Isabel.

The post Get a 360° Look at the Horror of The Exorcist Season 1 appeared first on Dread Central.

Bonejangles is a film we’ve been talking about for a few years now, and finally a new teaser trailer has arrived along with some distro news!

Wild Eye Releasing has acquired worldwide distribution rights for Brett DeJager’s Bonejangles. “We signed with Wild Eye because we wanted to work with a distributor that understands what good horror movies are all about and had the capacity to get Bonejangles in the hands of as many horror fans as possible. You can tell they love a good horror flick just as much as the rest of us, and that is exactly why we trusted them to deliver Bonejangles to the world,” DeJager said after the deal was inked.

Bonejangles stars Reggie Bannister, Elissa Dowling, Kelly Misek, Jr., Julia Cavanaugh, Devin Toft, Jamie Scott Gordon, Lawrence Wayne Curry, and Hannah Richter.  It’s directed by Brett DeJager, written by Keith Melcher, and produced by Labyrinth Films in association with Mystery Library and Lights Out Productions.

Rob Hauschild, President of Wild Eye Releasing, negotiated the deal with Shaun O’Connell of Labyrinth Films. Hauschild shared, “Bonejangles perfectly captures the 80s horror sensibility, and we are thrilled to be unleashing it to the fans.”

The film is aiming for a 2017 digital and physical release so stay tuned!

Synopsis:
While transporting the unstoppable killer Bonejangles to an asylum, a group of police officers encounter a hellish pit stop: a cursed town where the dead rise from their graves. Now the only way to save their lives and the town is to release Bonejangles and fight the curse… with something much worse.

The post New Bonejangles Teaser Trailer Fights the Curse appeared first on Dread Central.

Geralt of Rivia has made it big. The star of The Witcher novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, which were later adapted into the hugely acclaimed video game trilogy from Polish developer CD Projekt RED, has become such an icon of the country that he’s now being featured on his very own stamp.

Poczta Polska, which is the biggest postal service in Poland will issue 180,000 copies of the stamp, which depicts Geralt as he appears on the cover of The Witcher 3.

This isn’t the first time that Poland has proudly used The Witcher series to represent itself. Not only was Barack Obama presented with a copy of The Witcher 2 from Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, but he even talked about the game in the video below:

The post The Witcher’s Geralt of Rivia Gets His Own Stamp appeared first on Dread Central.

Starring Dree Hemingway, Jai Tatsuo West, Pamela Anderson

Directed by Nadia Litz

In the overall scheme of things, when it comes to Nadia Litz’s brooding horror flick The People Garden, it’s the intention of what’s going on that will bring eyes to the screen.  The end result? That’s a different story altogether.

Sweet Pea (Hemingway) is a young woman who is making the leap on over to Japan to give her rock star boyfriend, Jamie (Francois Arnaud), the old heave-ho while he’s on a music video shoot. (Couldn’t a text have saved you some time and money till he got back?) As she waits for him to pick her up at the airport, it’s plain to see that he’s not showing up, so she snags a ride with a quiet fellow by the name of Mak (West), who reluctantly drives her to the edge of the woods where the shoot is taking place.

Here’s the interesting hook: Mak will not enter the woods, and the other people involved with the music video, such as the director (James LeGros) and its star, Signe (Pamela Anderson), know Jamie’s missing, yet don’t seem terribly fazed by it. Now we all know what’s going on here, but it felt like we were being led down a path that everyone’s taken before (suicide forest movies) but are supposed to think that this is something refreshing and new… not quite. It’s not exactly implied that this particular forest is the one in Japan known as Aokigahara, or The Sea of Trees, but you catch what the director is tossing your way really fast if your mind is working on the upside of things.

Sweet Pea and Mak form somewhat of an unlikely partnership in her futile quest to locate her soon-to-be-ex, and while all the signs seem to point towards the depressing end of it all, I sat and watched and waited for the conclusion to bring both Sweet Pea (and myself) some sort of unrewarding closure. Hemingway is interesting in her role as the at times thick-skinned female lead, and she switches gears nicely when it comes time to show some heartfelt emotion. However, for the life of me I could NOT figure out what the deal was with Pamela Anderson’s role – playing a past her prime music video object, she seemed to simply whisper out one-line issuances without a shred of responsiveness or, hell, even a pulse! Very odd choice for the role, but it worked for the story, so I won’t complain too much.

What also works here is the cinematography – the endless shots inside the forest are simply amazing to take in, and you lose yourself in its grandeur and want to not think that this is an evil place… or is it?

As this review draws to a close, I’ve got to honestly say that I was slightly disappointed in the overall product of The People Garden – it’s like a front row seat for a trip down a one-way street: You know it’s going to end somewhere, but you just hope that the scenery changes along the way. A one-time watch if you have the unrelenting urge to depress your mood over the course of 80 minutes.

The post People Garden, The (2016) appeared first on Dread Central.

And the Vestron Video love continues as we bring you an exclusive clip from the upcoming Blu-ray release of Chopping Mall!

Directed by Jim Wynorski, Chopping Mall stars Kelli Maroney, Tony O’Dell, John Terlesky, and Russell Todd. Look for it in stores on September 27th.

Teenagers trapped in a high-tech mall overnight must find a way out before three malfunctioning security robots destroy them in Chopping Mall.

BUY IT HERE!

Chopping Mall Special Features:

AUDIO COMMENTARIES:

• Director/Co-Writer Jim Wynorski, Actress Kelli Maroney, and Co-Writer/2nd Unit Director Steve Mitchell
• Historians/Authors Nathaniel Thompson (Mondo Video) and Ryan Turek (Blumhouse)
• Director/Co-Writer Jim Wynorski and Co-Writer/2nd Unit Director Steve Mitchell

FEATURETTES:

• “Back to the Mall”
• “Chopping Chopping Mall”
• “The Killbots”
• “Scoring Chopping Mall”
• “The Robot Speaks”
• “The Lost Scene”
• “Army of One”
• “Chopping Mall: Creating the Killbots”
• Isolated Score Track by Chuck Cirino
• Trailer

The post It’s On in This Exclusive Chopping Mall Video! appeared first on Dread Central.

Sundance Institute has announced the 11 original projects selected for its third annual Episodic Story Lab, and we have the early word on those that fall on the horror side of the fence. They include “The Wolfman of Pacoima,” the latest from Calvin Lee Reeder (The Rambler and The Oregonian).  Check out the details below, and for the full list visit the Sundance blog.

Excerpts from the Press Release:
Sundance Institute is pleased to announce the 11 original projects selected for its third annual Episodic Story Lab. The spec pilots, which range from dystopian sci-fi to historical comedy, explore themes of personal and social identity, family dysfunction, political extremism, and the limits of human understanding. The Episodic Story Lab is the centerpiece of the Institute’s year-round support program for emerging television writers.

During the Lab, the 13 selected writers (the “Fellows”) will participate in individual and group creative meetings, writers’ rooms, case study screenings, and pitch sessions to further develop their pilot scripts with guidance from accomplished showrunners, producers, and television executives. Beginning with the Lab, Fellows will benefit from customized, ongoing support from Feature Film Program staff, Creative Advisors, and Industry Mentors, led by Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, Michelle Satter, and Senior Manager of the Episodic Story Lab, Jennifer Goyne Blake.

“With the Episodic Story Lab, we’re continuing to identify and amplify the most creative emerging voices in independent storytelling,” said Satter. “We hope that bringing together this diverse group of Fellows, Advisors, and Mentors, with their broad ranges of storytelling experiences and perspectives, will spark conversations and learning about the writing process, navigating the industry, and how the episodic format continues to evolve.”

The Sundance Institute Episodic Story Initiative and Lab is made possible by Founding Supporters Lyn and Norman Lear and Cindy Harrell Horn and Alan Horn. Leadership Supporters are A&E; Amazon Studios; AMC and SundanceTV; BET; Netflix; RT/features; Time Warner, Turner, Warner Brothers, and HBO.

Creative Advisors for the Lab include: Chris Brancato (Co-Creator and Showrunner, “Narcos”), Daniel Chun (Head Writer, “The Office”), Chic Eglee (Writer/Producer), Kerry Ehrin (Co-Creator and Executive Producer, “Bates Motel”), Lee Eisenberg (Co-Creator, “Hello Ladies”), Ali LeRoi (Executive Producer and Director, “Survivor’s Remorse”), Glen Mazzara (Creator, “Damien”), Jeff Melvoin (Executive Producer, “Army Wives”), Erica Rivinoja (Co-Executive Producer, “The Last Man on Earth”), Meredith Stiehm (Executive Producer, “Homeland”), Liz Tigelaar (Showrunner and Executive Producer, “Casual”), and Daniel Zelman (Executive Producer, “Bloodline”).

Industry Mentors include: Bob DeBitetto (President, Brand Strategy, Business Development and A+E Studios, A+E Networks) Dante Di Loreto (President of Television, Chernin Entertainment), Susie Fitzgerald (Executive Vice President of Scripted Programming, AMC and SundanceTV), Peter Friedlander (Vice President, Original Series, Netflix), Charles King (Founder/CEO, MACRO), Zola Mashariki (Head of Original Programming, BET), Francesca Orsi (Co-Head of Programming, HBO), Katherine Pope (Head of Television, Studio 8), Gina Kwon (Development Executive, Amazon Studios), Sarah Timberman (Producer and Principal, Timberman-Beverly Productions), and David Zucker (President of Television, Scott Free).

The horror artists and projects (or those that sound sci-fi/horror-ish) selected for the 2016 Sundance Institute Episodic Story Lab include the following:

“Devil’s Due” – By Connie O’Donahue & Jeremy Nielsen
Set in the 1950’s, this alternate-history western follows a wounded veteran in the aftermath of the Second Atomic War, as he sets off across the radioactive wasteland of the new American frontier to find the men who massacred his platoon and murdered his family. In the process, he will uncover a rising political conspiracy with global implications.

“Marfa” – By John McClain
When autistic teen Tanner Wool goes missing, his alcoholic older brother, Campbell, begins his own amateur investigation into the boy’s disappearance, suspecting it may be connected to the otherworldly Marfa Lights.

“The North” – By Donald Joh
A secret police officer in a totalitarian state discovers the existence of a serial killer who targets children. He defies orders to drop the case and launches his own investigation, calling into question his deepest beliefs and threatening the life of his family.

“Winterovers” – By Nilanjana Bose & Jakub Ciupinski
In the dark polar night of an Antarctic winter, a group of scientists inhabiting a remote research station discover a perplexing anomaly in a nearby lake, setting in motion a series of events that upend their lives and their notion of reality.

“The Wolfman of Pacoima” – By Calvin Lee Reeder
A hard living 24-hour notary public has carved out a tiny unfulfilling life on the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley, but his world is transformed when he stumbles upon a portal to an alternate dimension.

The post Sundance Institute’s New Episodic Story Lab Projects Include a Few Horror Tales appeared first on Dread Central.

Giveaway time, kids! Right now we have your chance to score a copy of The Mind’s Eye on Blu-ray along with a poster signed by star Graham Skipper and writer/director Joe Begos. Sound cool? Read on for details.

To enter for your chance to win, just send an email to contests@dreadcentral.com including your FULL NAME AND MAILING ADDRESS along with “The Mind’s Eye” in your subject line. We’ll take care of the rest.

This contest will end at 12:01 AM PT on October 3, 2016. Note: By entering this contest, you are consenting to allow Dread Central and its subsidiaries use of your email address.

The Mind’s Eye Release Info:
RLJ Entertainment brings you THE MIND’S EYE. Written and directed by Joe Begos (Almost Human), the film stars Graham Skipper (Almost Human), Lauren Ashley Carter (Premium Rush), John Speredakos (Fantastic Four), and Noah Segan (Looper). THE MIND’S EYE will be available on October 4, 2016, on Blu-ray for an SRP of $29.97 and on DVD for an SRP of $27.97.

In THE MIND’S EYE, Zack Connors (Skipper) and Rachel Meadows (Carter) were born with incredible psychokinetic capabilities. When word of their supernatural talents gets out, they find themselves the prisoners of Michael Slovak (Speredakos), a deranged doctor intent on harvesting their powers. After a daring escape, they are free from his sinister institution, but the corrupt doctor will stop at nothing to track them down so that he may continue to siphon their gifts for his own use.

The post Win a Copy of The Mind’s Eye and More! appeared first on Dread Central.

With its October 11th premiere date drawing ever closer, two new videos have arrived to whet your appetites for Syfy’s upcoming “Channel Zero: Candle Cove.” On tap today are a quick promo and trailer #2.

The “Candle Cove” installment of the network’s “Channel Zero” anthology series stars Paul Schneider, Fiona Shaw, Shaun Benson, Natalie Brown, and Luisa D’Oliveira.

“Channel Zero: Candle Cove” will have six episodes. Craig William Macneill (The Boy) directs; Nick Antosca wrote the script for the pilot and serves as executive producer alongside Max Landis. Harley Peyton is a writer and co-executive producer, and Don Mancini also serves as a writer and supervising producer.

About “Channel Zero: Candle Cove”:
Based on Kris Straub’s popular “creepypasta” (user-generated horror stories that are published and passed around the Internet), “Candle Cove” centers on one man’s obsessive recollections of a mysterious children’s television program from the 1980s and his ever-growing suspicions about the role it might have played in a series of nightmarish and deadly events from his childhood. 

The post New Trailer and Teaser Video for Syfy’s Channel Zero: Candle Cove appeared first on Dread Central.

Developed by Room710Games

Available on PC through Steam

Suitable for ages 13+

When I decided to play Half Dead for my first ever Den of Dread – The Official Dread Central Twitch Stream (Every Tuesday at 6pm PT (and whenever else I feel like it)), I did so for a few reasons. My goal with these first few episodes of the stream are to introduce people to new games they might not know about, and Half Dead is a game that everyone I know had never heard of. It’s a pretty clear rip off of 1997’s Cube, so I figured it would also be fun for the nostalgia. Most importantly, the game is $2.

On the surface, it reads like an entertaining game to watch. In a dystopian future, the TV show “Half Dead” serves as both an alternative to capital punishment and #1 hit series. The premise is simple: explore a number of identical rooms, and get to the end without dying. Some rooms are safe, while others melt you with iced/magma/lightning/gravity wells. Your only tools for survival are two shoes, allowing you to check rooms for traps before you enter. $2 for a night of entertaining deaths? Sounds good.

So I hopped into a party with two friends, fired up the stream, and prepared myself for a night of random splatter-gore. There isn’t a tutorial, but it’s easy enough to figure out. You press E to open doors, G to throw your shoe, and that’s it. The traps are visually varied, but boil down into one of two categories. The most dangerous are the automatic kill trap. A laser grid will activate as soon as you (or a shoe) enters the room, blocking any entrance or escape. A trap will spawn, fill the room with something nasty, and you’ll explode. They’re random, crushing, and fun. When you eventually run out of shoes and are forced to check rooms with your face, these dreaded traps make the game tense and entertaining.

Death means exploding with the cheesy goodness you’d expect from a $2 game.

The second category are the avoidable traps. There’s a lot more variety to these, ranging from door triggered flamethrowers to room covering spikes. Some traps will provide constant obstacles, like a rotating acid thrower, while others will hit the center of the room with a single lethal blast. Traps can also have variable activation times, starting either when you enter the room or up to a dozen seconds after. It keeps you on your toes, but never gets too hard. There are obvious audio cues before the more sudden traps spawn, so it’s easy enough to survive these rooms if you pay attention.

One of the weirder avoidable traps are these walking skeletons, which I guess is a Terminator reference?

You only lose a shoe if it’s actually hit by the trap, so you quickly learn to toss the shoe to check for automatic kill rooms and snatch it up before the avoidable traps activate. Depending on your number of players, you should have plenty of shoes to make it to the end. Open a door, dodge the ice laser, toss in a shoe, go snatch it, and get out before the grenades explode.

And that’s it. That’s the whole game. It was fun at first. Some of the more absurd traps like suicide bombers made me genuinely chuckle. After about two hours, it all was just routine. Throw in my shoe, grab it, avoid trap, repeat. Upping the difficulty made things a bit more exciting, but it was all just more variants of the same traps. Someone in the stream commented, “That’s it? You just throw shoes?” For the life of me, I couldn’t disagree. There’s nothing you do in this game other than guess.

Guess and sidestep mildly inconvenient lasers.

For a game ripping off Cube, it failed to replicate what made that movie interesting: logic. In Cube, the numbers on the side of the rooms were equations. Though initially appearing to be random, they eventually figure out that the safe rooms are ones whose equations equal the power of prime numbers. The six member team each bring something important to the group, such as Rennes being an escape artist and the mentally challenged Kazan being able to do complex equations quickly. Using only their collective wits, it’s up to them to figure out the rules to survive. Tossing their shoes was a rudimentary tool they used early on to try to figure things out, not the whole movie.

These numbers on the sides are just coordinates, which is only useful when you select the option to turn the map off.

Half Dead borrows the basic premise and aesthetic and calls it a day. There’s no puzzle to it. People are calling it “Minesweeper with blood,” but it’s not even that. There’s no thinking, only reflex. I don’t mind reflex tests, but it’s too easy. All that this game has is surprise and spectacle. It’s just a roll of the dice whether you live or die.

So Half Dead is simple, short lived, basic, and a whopping $2. You can only be so critical of a game that costs less than a Big Mac. I couldn’t even wring 3 hours of entertainment out of it, but that’s still a dollar an hour. And shit, that isn’t even a sale price. It’s not like I got it in a bundle and it normally retails for $15. This is a game that, when half off, is still only a dollar. So the game is crap, but what were you honestly expecting? If you want a $30 game, go buy a $30 game. It’s almost impossible to say this game isn’t worth $2. Hell, it might even be worth $3. But that’s about it.

The post Half Dead (Video Game) appeared first on Dread Central.

The Technology and Innovation Library at Yale did a study a few years ago surveying 250 children about their opinions on clowns; all 250 kids in the study reported that they were scared of clowns. Screenwriter Jeff Miller is tapping into that fear with the small town psycho circus free-for-all Clowntown.

When Dread Central spoke with Miller, he talked about his experience working on the film and also had a lot to say about FX guru Robert Kurtzman; the late, great Gunnar Hansen; and even Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Clowntown will first be seen in limited theaters on September 30; it then heads to VOD and DVD on October 4.

DC: What gave you the idea for Clowntown, and how did you describe their look in the screenplay? Did you envision them looking the way they turned out in the finished film?

JM: The Bakersfield, California, clowns that were in the news in 2014 gave me the initial idea. People were showing up dressed as clowns and carrying weapons and chasing a couple of people. In the script, we didn’t describe their makeup but did say they were in jeans or overalls or mostly regular clothes, not big shoes and rubber noses and such. I guess more like Juggalos (Insane Clown Posse fans), though I admit I don’t know much about them.

DC: How often were you on set during filming, and do you usually like being there to make any changes or protect what’s important in the script?

JM: I was there just the first few days of principal photography. As a producer on the film, I’d coordinated our production base at Robert Kurtzman’s Creature Corps in Ohio. I’d shot part of Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan there, so I wanted to make sure everything was running smoothly. I trusted Tom Nagel and his brother, Brian, so I knew they’d respect the script. I wasn’t disappointed.

DC: The big city is usually more dangerous, but most horror movies take place in remote places in the country or small towns. What’s scarier to you?

JM: Small towns. Definitely. Less chance for help to arrive.

DC: Were you disappointed at all that you didn’t get to put a little clown makeup on yourself and join in on the fun? The makeup and overall look is really effective.

JM: Thanks! I thought David H. Greathouse did a great job with the clown makeups. So successful, actually, that a Halloween mask company just licensed rights to the clowns’ likenesses for a line of masks next year! I have a small cameo early in the film as I do in many of my films, but it didn’t bother me that I didn’t get to play a clown. The clowns we had – House, Chris Hahn, Ryan Pilz, Beki Ingram, and Alan Tuskes – did a wonderful and creepy job.

DC: Did the main group of actors interact with any of the actors playing the demented clowns in between takes, or did they want to keep their distance?

JM: There was some interaction, especially since some of the clowns doubled as crew. I know Katie Keene hates clowns, and I think some of the clowns took advantage of that sometimes.

DC: With Rob Zombie’s 31 now available to rent, do you think this will help or hurt Clowntown when it hits theaters September 30th? Are horror fans in danger of suffering from clown fatigue?

JM: I don’t think so. People seem really excited about the upcoming remake of IT, and clown sightings have been all over the news lately. We always knew about Rob Zombie’s film while we were making ours but knew ours would be different enough.

DC: What town did you film in? It looked completely deserted.

JM: Crestline, Ohio, for the majority. That’s where Bob Kurtzman’s company is based. The warehouse scenes were shot in Cleveland, and the house scenes were in Westlake, a suburb of Cleveland.

DC: Robert Kurtzman, the FX legend originally from KNB, is listed as a co-producer. How involved was he with the film?

JM: We based our production out of his shop, and many of the people there – like House, Beki, Al, and John Schneider – worked on the film. We also shot our “clown camp” scenes out back behind his shop. I met Bob years ago through mutual friend Gary Jones, and he has turned out to be a good friend and collaborator.

DC: Were you close with Gunnar Hansen before he passed? If so, how did you come to know Gunnar?

JM: I worked with Gunnar in South Carolina on Freakshow and Hellblock 13. I have a few good stories about him I hope to tell in my friend Mike Kallio’s upcoming documentary, Dinner with Leatherface. Gunnar and I had coffee and hung out a couple of times after I moved to L.A. and tried to get his script The Last Horror Picture Show made. I last heard from Gunnar in late 2014 when I sent him a Christmas card with a small check for a screenplay option that I owed him. It was a very tiny check, maybe ten or twenty dollars, but I knew I was late paying him and I didn’t want him to think I was a deadbeat! Always a good sport, he sent me a card in return saying he always knew that script would pay off.

DC: What’s next for you in the horror world?

JM: This has been the busiest time of my career. Edgar Allan Poe’s Lighthouse Keeper, a cool ghost story, comes out in March. Inoperable, a hospital horror thriller starring Danielle Harris, is in post-production and should be finished this fall. Strange Nature, an eco-horror thriller from makeup wiz Jim Ojala, should be finished any day now. And Angels Fallen, a “good angels vs. bad angels” movie like Legion, should be finished by November. Some of those I’m more involved with than others. In a slight change of pace, I’m currently in Biloxi, Mississippi, helping executive produce a Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie called Kill ‘Em All. Meanwhile, the Clowntown gang and I are currently working on a new script – a supernatural thriller called Toybox – that we hope to shoot in the next few months. So I feel very grateful.

Clowntown tells the story of a group of friends who get stranded in a seemingly abandoned town and find themselves stalked by a gang of violent psychopaths dressed as clowns. It is loosely inspired by the clowns who terrorized Bakersfield, California, in 2014.

It stars Brian Nagel, Lauren Elise, Katie Keene, Andrew Staton, Jeff Denton, Greg Violand, Maryann Nagel, Kaitlyn Sapp, and more. David H. Greathouse, Chris Hahn, Ryan Pilz, Beki Ingram, and Alan Tuskes play some of the murderous clowns. The film was directed by Tom Nagel.

Clowntown was produced by Jeff Miller, Tom Nagel, Brian Nagel, Christopher Lawrence Chapman, and Ronnie D. Lee. Robert Kurtzman (creator of From Dusk Till Dawn) co-produced. David H. Greathouse (Syfy’s “Face Off,” Tusk) handled the bulk of the makeup FX.

The post Screenwriter Jeff Miller Talks Clowntown, Working with Robert Kurtzman and Gunnar Hansen, and More appeared first on Dread Central.

Words kind of escape us at the moment. I mean we knew this day would comes, as it will come for us all, but that doesn’t make it sting any less. The godfather of gore, the wondrously cool Herschell Gordon Lewis has passed on at the age of 90.

The news comes from the Something Weird Facebook page who were handling Gordon’s many films. Gordon was more than just a filmmaker. He was a fearless pioneer, a certified genius, and probably one of the nicest guys we ever had the pleasure of knowing and growing with.

His legacy will live on long after we’re all gone and generations to come will be all the more better off for it. Do yourselves a favor watch one of his movies today and smile at the sheer giddy depraved madness of it all. Knowing Herschell he’d consider that an honor and it’s the way he’d want to be remembered.

Dread Central would like to send our sincerest of condolences out to Lewis’ many friends, family, and constituents.  We will miss you, sir. Thank you so much for all the chills, laughs, and smiles. Godspeed, oh great one. Until we meet again…

The post Rest in Peace: Herschell Gordon Lewis appeared first on Dread Central.

The 16-bit horror game Camp Sunshine now has a listing on Steam ahead of its release later this year. We interviewed the developers earlier this year, and we’ve been incredibly excited for this retro-style blood-soaked game since, so we’re thrilled that it’s nearly here.

Synopsis
Camp Sunshine is a 16-bit blood-soaked Horror RPG that pits you as Jez, who is dropped off at Summer Camp. He awakes in the middle of the night to discover blood everywhere and a rampaging killer on the loose dressed in a mascot costume. It’s up to you to piece together the puzzle, and relive the past of the Summer Camp Slasher in order to put a stop to this night of terror!

Discover and explore an entire Summer Camp.
Beautiful hand-drawn 16-bit graphics.
A fantastic story-driven narrative.
Unique lighting mechanics that really set the atmosphere.
Don’t run out of batteries for your torch!
Find the diary pages to discover the history of Isaac Illerman.
Avoid the Serial Slasher, two hits and it’s game over!
Lots of scares, spooky scenes and nods to famous franchises!
Devious puzzles to tax your brain box.

The post Camp Sunshine Launching Later This Year: Steam Listing Goes Live appeared first on Dread Central.

Pandorica, a horror/sci-fi hybrid (and who doesn’t love those?), is crash landing in limited theaters, On Demand, and on DVD next month; and we have all you need to know about it right here, including several stills, character posters, and the official trailer.

From the Press Release:
John Carpenter meets Predator in writer-director Tom Paton’s multi-genre mixer PANDORICA, which combines the classic elements of sci-fi, horror, suspense, and action, resulting in a cocktail of a visually-stunning and relentlessly thrilling indie surprise.

PANDORICA is set in a world that’s plunged into a new dark age where humanity devolves into a vicious, primal state. A trio of youths – Eiren, Ares, and Thade – have been selected to take part in the leadership trials of The Varosha Tribe, with the winner claiming the tribe for him/herself. They must battle dark and mysterious forces if one of them is to win, but not everyone is worthy of becoming a leader, and the trio soon learn that fighting each other may be the only path to victory.

Starring an electric ensemble including Adam Bond, Marc Zammit, Jade Hobday, Amed Hashimi, Luke D’Silva, and Bentley Kalu, PANDORICA is being released in limited theaters, On Demand, and on DVD October 11, 2016.

The post Indie Surprise Pandorica Heading Our Way in October appeared first on Dread Central.

With its mix of murder, mystery, and marijuana, horror comedy Halloweed looks to be just what Dr. Feelgood ordered for the Halloween season. It contains appearances by genre faves Ray Wise, Danny Trejo, Tom Sizemore, and yes, even Jason Mewes.

Here’s what else you can expect if you opt to light it up; along with release info, we have the flick’s trailer, several stills, and a trio of posters.

From the Press Release:
He who has the weed has the power…

The official release trailer and three versions of the VOD poster for Halloweed are available now, courtesy of Screen Media Films, and the DVD release date has been set for November 8, 2016, announced the filmmaking team of Roberto Rosario, Jr., and Jayson Bernard of J&R Productions. Rosario executive produced, and Bernard produced the film along with co-producers Tatiana Chekhova, Jamie Trent, and LazRael Lison, who directed.

Halloweed is a comedy/stoner/slasher/mystery genre hybrid, starring Simon Rex, Shannon Brown, Jim O’Heir, Michelle Mueller, Jayson Bernard, Ray Wise, Jason Mewes, Deje Dee, Lester Speight, Danny Trejo, and Tom Sizemore.  Written by Dale Zawada based on a story by Michael Bussan, it will be released on all VOD platforms and Cable On Demand by Screen Media Films on October 18th.

“Halloweed is an homage to the slasher horror films I grew up with combined with the fun of buddy comedies and stoner films, with a bit of classic John Waters-inspired twisted humor added to the mix,” said Bernard. “Roberto and I had been looking for a comedy to produce as our first feature for J&R Productions, and when the project came our way, we knew this was the one,” he added.

“Jayson and I formed J&R Productions in Chicago and moved to California to set up shop when we started production on Halloweed,” said Rosario, Jr. “We have the best of both worlds now, with access to the immense pool of talent LA has to offer in front of and behind the camera, plus our longstanding relationships with the talented people in Chicago. We are thrilled that Screen Media Films is getting Halloweed out in such a big way.”

Synopsis:
Trent Modine and his goofball stepbrother, Joey, try to escape the infamy that comes from having a serial killer, The Candy Corn Killer, for a father (Tom Sizemore). Seeking a new start, they find refuge in the small town of Mooseheart. It does not take long before the besmirched family name catches up to them. Joey, a free-spirited stoner, and Trent, a lovesick pessimist, look like the main suspects after a string of murders, similar to a rash of killings 20 years earlier, coincidentally begins just as they arrive in town. It is a race against time because a slash-happy killer clown on the loose, and the bodies are piling up!

The post Stoner Horror Comedy Halloweed Lighting Up DVD in November appeared first on Dread Central.

After a successful Kickstarter campaign earlier this year, director Nick Sanford’s The Harvesters  will premiere at the Landmark Regent in the Westwood area of Los Angeles on October 18th. If you live in the area and are intrigued by that news, then read on to get the full picture.

From the Press Release:
They’ve been watching. They’ve been waiting. And now, you finally get to see them…

Broadcast Pictures and Flicks for Fans are thrilled to announce the world premiere of THE HARVESTERS (official website here). This frightening new tale of terror is written and directed by Nick Sanford. After an attention-grabbing $33,000 Kickstarter campaign earlier this year, this modern tale of terror will premiere on October 18, 2016, in Los Angeles, California, at the Landmark Regent in Westwood. Doors open at 7:00 pm, and the movie begins at 8:00 pm.

Flicks for Fans will host the premiere of the film, giving fans a “more than just a movie” experience, including a Q&A with the cast and crew, prizes for audience members, and all sorts of Halloween-related insanity for a night that movie fans will never forget. The premiere is FREE  and open to the public.

The film is notable for being set and filmed completely in Oklahoma, writer-director Nick Sanford’s home state, a state not normally known for grassroots, large-scale micro-budget horror films. It was shot in Purcell, Tuttle, Newcastle, Bridge Creek, and Moore, Sanford’s home town.

The film stars Alissa Rose Ford (Army of Frankensteins), Laurie Cummings (The Scent of Rain and Lightning), Adam Hampton (Gremlin), Jason Gwynn (Going Dark: The Final Days of Film Projection), Andrew McDonald (Elusive), Lucas Ross (Rudderless), Sidney Flack (Gosnell: America’s Biggest Serial Killer, Children of the Corn: Runaway, Hellraiser X: Judgment), Arden Moad (The Lure), and Page Tudyk (Electric Nostalgia, Rough Cut).

The producers include Laurie Cummings (Blueberry Hall), Paul Lister (By Dawn), Andrew McDonald (Thai Food), and James Oster (aka JimmyO, Sick for Toys); the director of photography is Matt Bauske (Hellraiser X: Judgment, Children of the Corn: Runaway), and the composer is Jonathan Paulsen (Hunt the Truth, Tempus Fugit).

Synopsis:
On Halloween in Baileyville, Oklahoma, Jane, a journalist who prides herself on objective reporting, discovers that she is trapped in the middle of a series of horrifying murders and disappearances. When the terror intensifies and a countdown begins, the people closest to Jane are put in danger, and her journalistic stance on “not becoming the story” is put to the ultimate test.

The post The Harvesters Reaping into L.A. for its Premiere Next Month appeared first on Dread Central.

Giveaway time again, kids! Right now we have your chance to score a copy of Clowntown on DVD! Even if you don’t wanna see it, you can still have endless fun hiding it under the pillow of the coulrophobic in your life!

To enter for your chance to win, just send an email to contests@dreadcentral.com including your FULL NAME AND MAILING ADDRESS along with “Clowntown” in your subject line. We’ll take care of the rest.

This contest will end at 12:01 AM PT on October 4, 2016. Note: By entering this contest, you are consenting to allow Dread Central and its subsidiaries use of your email address.

Clowntown Release Details:
ITN Distribution, Inc., has acquired North American rights to the horror thriller CLOWNTOWN. Written by Jeff Miller (Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan) and directed by Tom Nagel (The Retrieval), the film stars Brian Nagel (Katy Perry’s “Roar”), Lauren Elise (Justin Lin’s Help), Andrew Staton (Relentless), Katie Keene (Union Furnace), Jeff Denton (The Beast of Bray Road), and Greg Violand (Batman v Superman).

CLOWNTOWN will roll out in theaters starting September 30, 2016, and on VOD and DVD on October 4, 2016.

CLOWNTOWN tells the story of a group of friends who get stranded in a seemingly abandoned town and find themselves stalked by a gang of violent psychopaths dressed as clowns. It is loosely inspired by the clowns who terrorized Bakersfield, California, in 2014.

CLOWNTOWN was produced by Jeff Miller, Tom Nagel, Brian Nagel, Christopher Lawrence Chapman, and Ronnie D. Lee. Robert Kurtzman (creator of From Dusk Till Dawn) co-produced. David H. Greathouse (Syfy’s “Face Off,” Tusk) handled the bulk of the makeup FX.

Archstone Distribution is handling foreign sales.

The post Win a Copy of Clowntown on DVD appeared first on Dread Central.