An official teaser trailer for the new film from indie filmmaker Megan Freels, The Ice Cream Truck, just pulled up to our bumper, so check it out before you end up with an Astro-Pop to the eye.

The Ice Cream Truck, writer/director Megan Freels Johnston’s highly anticipated follow-up to her debut feature, Rebound, has secured distribution for a 2017 release.

The thought-provoking psychological thriller stars Deanna Russo (“Being Human,” “Gossip Girl”) as Mary, who moves back to her suburban hometown after her husband gets relocated for work. As her family ties up loose ends back home, she moves into their new house alone. And although the move makes Mary nostalgic for her youth, there’s something very sinister about that Ice Cream Truck that patrols her suburb. Killing…

“As a long time lover of the horror genre, I have always found that there was a point of view missing. There aren’t enough horror films by women, for women, and about women,” explained Freels Johnston when discussing the film. “My films are about what’s scary inside and outside the female psyche and the fine line that often separates the divide.”

Storytelling is very much in Freels Johnston’s DNA. The granddaughter of legendary crime writer Elmore Leonard, The Ice Cream Truck screenplay was a semi-finalist in the Circus Road Screenplay competition.

As a producer developing material for over a decade, Freels Johnston worked on adaptations of her grandfather’s work and produced Sparks, the directorial debut of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. After completing a project for the USA Network, she decided to follow her passion and write and direct her own material. Her first film, 2014’s micro budget thriller Rebound, developed a cult following on VOD; was called, “Almost David Lynchian in its strangeness” by Film Threat; and Rue Morgue said the film “[was] worth watching to the end for the unnervingly realistic twist ending.”

The Ice Cream Truck also stars John Redlinger (“Nashville,” “Banshee”), Emil Johnsen (Isolerad), Hilary Barraford (“United States of Tara”), Jeff Daniel Phillips (“Westworld,” The Lords of Salem), and Lisa Ann Walter (“The Odd Couple,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”).

The post The Ice Cream Truck Teases Us With a Trailer appeared first on Dread Central.

Two more flicks are on their way to collector’s edition Blu-ray via Scream Factory, Black Christmas and Dreamscape, so read on for the skinny on both!

From the Press Release:
This December, Scream Factory™ proudly presents two genre favorites as part of a month full of holiday horror and sci-fi season’s greetings. Black Christmas and Dreamscape come to Blu-ray in Scream Factory Collector’s Editions on December 13, 2016, both complete with new 2K scans of the films and hours of new bonus content.

The college town of Bedford is receiving an unwelcome guest this Christmas. As the residents of sorority house Pi Kappa Sig prepare for the festive season, a stranger begins to stalk the house.

A series of obscene phone calls start to plague the residents of the sorority and it becomes clear that a psychopath is homing in on the sisters with dubious intentions. And though the police try to trace the calls, they discover that nothing is as it seems during this Black Christmas.

Directed by Bob Clark (A Christmas Story, Porky’s) and starring a fantastic cast that includes Margot Kidder (Superman), Olivia Hussey (Romeo & Juliet), John Saxon (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey), Black Christmas finally comes to Blu-ray in a definitive presentation of the holiday horror classic.

Special Features:

DISC 1:

• NEW 2016 2K scan of the negative (1.85:1) – DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
• Audio Commentary with director Bob Clark
• Audio Commentary with actors John Saxon and Keir Dullea
• Audio Commentary with Billy (actor Nick Mancuso)
• Audio interview with director Bob Clark

DISC 2:

• 2006 Critical Mass HD Master (1.78:1) – DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• NEW Film and Furs – Remembering Black Christmas with Art Hindle
• NEW Victims and Virgins – Remembering Black Christmas with Lynne Griffin
• Black Christmas Legacy: 40th Anniversary Panel at FanExpo 2014 featuring John Saxon, Art Hindle, Lynne Griffin & Nick Mancuso
• On Screen!: Black Christmas featurette
• 12 Days of Black Christmas featurette
• Black Christmas Revisited featurette
• Archival Interviews with Olivia Hussey, Art Hindle, Margot Kidder, Bob Clark, & John Saxon
• Midnight Screening Q&A with Bob Clark, John Saxon and Carl Zittrer
• Two scenes with a new vocal soundtrack
• Original Theatrical Trailers (English and French)
• Original TV and Radio Spots
• Alternative Title Sequences
• Still Gallery

BUY IT NOW!

Alex Gardner (Dennis Quaid) is a man with an incredible psychic gift… but for years has used it solely for personal gain. Reuniting with his old mentor, Dr. Novotny (Max von Sydow), Gardner joins a government project in which he learns to channel his abilities in order to enter peoples’ subconscious through their dreams. As his powers grow, the young psychic soon finds himself in a living nightmare of conspiracy and murder… and the only way out is to go back in.

Dreamscape’s reputation as a cult classic has only grown over the years. Its impressive cast (including Christopher Plummer, Kate Capshaw, Eddie Albert, David Patrick Kelly, and George Wendt), behind-the-camera talent such as director Joseph Ruben (The Stepfather) and co-writer Chuck Russell (A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, 1988’s The Blob), and rousing mix of science fiction, adventure, and horror have ensured its legacy as a dream come true for ’80s genre enthusiasts.

Special Features:

• NEW 2K Scan of the film
• NEW – “The Actor’s Journey” – Interview with Dennis Quaid
• NEW – “Dreamscapes and Dreammakers” Retrospective including Brand-new interviews with Director Joseph Ruben, Co-Writer David Loughery, Actor David Patrick Kelly and other members of the special effects team
• NEW – “Nightmares and Dreamsnakes” – Looking Back at the Snakeman with Craig Reardon, David Patrick Kelley and others.
• NEW In-Depth Conversation Between Bruce Cohn Curtis And Co-Writer/Producer Chuck Russell
• Audio Commentary With Bruce Cohn Curtis, David Loughery And Craig Reardon
• Snake Man Test Footage
• Still Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer

BUY IT NOW!

The post Black Christmas and Dreamscape Coming From Scream Factory appeared first on Dread Central.

Yesterday we showed you the new artwork for The Gracefield Incident amongst a ton of other bits of eye candy. Today we have a high-res look at the poster and some details to go along with it!

From the Press Release:
Film Mode Entertainment announces the international market premiere of sci-fi thriller THE GRACEFIELD INCIDENT, starring Mathieu Ratthe (LOVEFIELD, THE TALISMAN), Kimberly Laferriere (IN FE, SAVING HOPE), Victor Andres Turgeon-Trelles (HENRI HENRI, LE TORRENT, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD), Juliette Gosselin (19-2, EMBRASSE-MOI), and Alex C. Nachi (STONEWALL, EMOTIONAL ARITHMETIC). The film was written and directed by Mathieu Ratthe and is Ratthe’s feature directorial debut.

“We’re excited to be screening THE GRACEFIELD INCIDENT for buyers at AFM,” said Clay Epstein, President of Film Mode Entertainment. “Mathieu Ratthe and his team have created a fresh, bone-chilling take on a familiar genre, one that will leave audiences on the edges of their seats throughout the entire film.”

THE GRACEFIELD INCIDENT is about Matt, a video game developer, who embeds a camera into his prosthetic eye and decides to test it out on a weekend getaway with friends at a luxurious mountaintop cabin. Things take a terrifying turn when a meteorite crashes nearby and Matt’s eye records their battle facing off against extraterrestrials.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Clay Epstein and his team at Film Mode Entertainment in launching THE GRACEFIELD INCIDENT,” said Ratthe. “We share a passion for sci-fi movies, and we think that the originality that we created in our film will stand out to a broader audience.”

The film’s producer is Mathieu Ratthe. Executive producers include Bryan Turner and Sergei Fedorov.

Film Mode Entertainment is representing worldwide rights on THE GRACEFIELD INCIDENT and will be screening the film for buyers at AFM.

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Starring George C. Scott, Brad Dourif, Jason Miller

Directed by William Peter Blatty

Distributed by Scream Factory

After William Friedkin’s 1973 adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s worldwide bestseller, “The Exorcist”, became one of the highest-grossing films of all-time, breaking records across the country, it wasn’t long before studio executives were chomping at the bit to make a sequel… and that sequel was Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), one of the most notorious turkeys in all of cinema history. Boorman’s sequel is a psychedelic nightmare, filled with all sorts of bizarre moments that just never gelled. At all. Given that film’s abysmal response, it would be thirteen years before another attempt at capitalizing on the original classic was made. This time, writer William Peter Blatty stepped into the dual role of writer/director, adapting from his novel, “Legion”, to craft The Exorcist III (1990). The road to cinemas would not be an easy one, however, as many fans are quite aware that Blatty’s film was retitled and recut to a large degree. Reaction to the film’s theatrical cut improved upon the previous entry, though that’s a dubious honor. While The Exorcist III has built up a decent cult following over the years, fans have clamored to see Blatty’s original cut for just as long. Well, fans, your day has (sorta) come as Scream Factory has spliced together a close approximation of what Blatty originally intended, putting to rest once and for all the notions of what could have been. Turns out, maybe what we got was the best version all along…

Fifteen years ago, Father Damian Karras (Jason Miller) jumped out of that lofty window in the MacNeil house to kill the demon within him, sacrificing his life and deeply depressing his good friend Lt. Bill Kinderman (George C. Scott taking over for Lee J. Cobb). Now, Kinderman is older, more cantankerous, and forced into reopening some old wounds when a killer sets off on a spree within the city of Georgetown. People are being killed in ritualistic fashion – brutally so – with heads removed, blood drained, and bloody messages that are aimed squarely at Kinderman. The murder’s m.o. is reminiscent of the Gemini Killer, but he died fifteen years ago in the electric chair… right?

Kinderman finds some solace in spending time with his good friend Father Dyer (Ed Flanders), which in horror speak means that guy is going to die right about… now. Bill has his men check out the fingerprints left at the crime scenes and is stunned to find each set is different. Multiple killers? Kinderman’s investigation leads him to a mental ward run by Dr. Temple (Scott Wilson), who introduces Bill to an unknown patient, Patient X, kept in Cell 11. When Kinderman meets the man he’s rendered speechless – he looks exactly like Father Karras, who supposedly perished long ago. Or is he actually the Gemini Killer (Brad Dourif), who is also dead? Thanks to the magic of studio mandated reshoots, he’s both, and it’s going to take an exorcism from a just-introduced character, Father Morning (Nicol Williamson), to put an end to all this Satanic misery.

Despite all the very clear studio tinkering and tweaking, The Exorcist III is by no means a bad film; it just doesn’t live up to the glory of the original, which, to be fair, could never have happened. The plot of this film is practically a backdrop to the real meat of the story, which is a character drama focused squarely on Bill Kinderman and his relationship with faith and the belief in a higher power. Bill spends most of the film concerned and befuddled by the apparent return of the Gemini Killer, unsure how someone could be mimicking that should-be-dead killer’s exact modus operandi, right down to details police never released. Once Bill gets his answer, in the form of a slightly confusing confession from Patient X, the movie switches gears to a spook chase, with Kinderman trying to thwart the Gemini’s murderous spree. Bill is a man of little faith, with no belief in the tenets of the bible. As the film progresses, and the works of Satan are made clear, his atheistic foundation is shaken to the core. Strangely, though, as in most of these films the other team never materializes in any tangible fashion; it is only Old Scratch and his lackeys who show up to the party.

With so much of the film playing out like a police procedural, not much time is devoted to thrills and chills. Except, you know, for that scene; the one legit jump scare that many horror fans consistently point to as one of horror’s best. Blatty’s inexperience as a director does show through in this film but this one shot, which is composed in such a way to really build up the tension, is expertly crafted.

Any weight gain on Lt. Kinderman’s part in the ensuing fifteen years since The Exorcist can easily be explained, since the role was taken over from the deceased Lee J. Cobb by George C Scott, who has been known to season his scripts before chewing them up with panache. This is one of those seamless switches – rare in films – where the actor taking over a part is such a perfect fit you hardly notice. Scott is a recurring time bomb, waiting for precise moments to explode with intense ferocity – “It is not in the file! It is NOT!” – before sealing himself back up and waiting for another moment to burst. His dedication to the material and conviction with which he reads his lines are a big part of this film’s achievements. A boilerplate cop actor in his place might’ve made this a real snoozer.

The film’s major additions – re: the reshoots – mostly come during the third act. Mostly. Keen-eyed viewers should be able to tell where these additions begin, which is right around when new character Father Morning is introduced. From there on, the film gets to the titular promise of an exorcism. And, really, who cares if it’s tacked on? The sequence is one of the best in the film, incongruous as it may feel, thanks to some gruesome FX work and a stronger sense of horror than any preceding scenes. There are certain expectations when a movie has Exorcist in the title and the new third act fulfills the promise.

The film’s new 2K scan is a strong effort, more or less on par with the disc included in WB’s “The Exorcist Anthology” collection, with the 1.85:1 1080p image showcasing an organic grain field, fine details, solid color saturation, and strong black levels. Minor details are particularly impressive, allowing tiny details of the Georgetown streets, Kinderman’s suits, and ornate religious iconography to shine through with excellent clarity. There are a few moments when some of these elements are variable and the image loses a bit of stability, but overall this is highly impressive.

As far as the Director’s Cut goes, this is a hybrid cut using pieces from the new Blu-ray spliced together with tape footage. I personally think this was the wrong way to go, as the massive jumps in quality – sometimes for a single scene lasting a few seconds – are too jarring. It would have been best to include the DC with consistent footage quality so that cut can speak for itself. This way, it’s like you’re watching two differing cuts simultaneously and, for me, it was tough to get through.

The English DTS-HD MA track comes in both 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround sound flavors. There is a bit of an echo effect heard at times, and I also detected some sporadic ringing to a few scenes. Dialogue is generally clear and discernible, though sometimes words ending with an “s” have a slight hiss to them. Composer Barry DeVorzon’s score sounds excellent, making more use of the rear channels than anything else heard on the track. Subtitles are available in English SDH.

DISC ONE: Theatrical Cut

A “Vintage Featurette” – This is your standard studio EPK, providing a good overview of the film.

There are three photo galleries: “Behind-the-Scenes”, “Posters & Lobby Cards”, and “Still Gallery”.

Two trailers and six TV spots, all in HD, are included here.

A reel called “Deleted Scene, Alternate Takes & Bloopers” features soe odds and ends, while the film’s deleted prologue, which also appears as the opening to the DC, can also be found here.

Several vintage interviews with the principal cast & crew are also included.

DISC TWO: Director’s Cut

There is an audio interview with writer/director William Peter Blatty that has been edited and laid over the film, acting as a quasi-commentary.

“A “Wonderfull” Time” – A handful of the film’s actors and crew sit down to discuss the impact of the first film, how much they hated the second, and how the third came together. Dourif makes mention of how Scott could be intimidating on set, because he was known for doing one take and nailing it.

“Signs of the Gemini” – Brad Dourif is the focus here, as he discusses the turmoil on set, having the essentially re-do his entire performance and greatly preferring the way he acted the first time around. It’s both informative and bittersweet.

“The Devil in the Details” – The film’s production design team is interviewed, touching upon all that fun stuff production designers are responsible for on a set.

“Music for a Padded Cell” – Composer Barry DeVorzon talks about crafting the score for this highly anticipated horror sequel.

“All This Bleeding” – Here’s the best of the new feature lot, with heavy discussion concerning the studio-ordered reshoots, the additional gore scenes, Miller’s uncredited stunt double and many more interesting tidbits.

Special Features:

DISC ONE: The Exorcist III (Theatrical Cut)

• New 2K scan of the inter-positive
• Vintage featurette
• Deleted Scene/Alternate Takes/Bloopers
• Deleted Prologue
• Vintage interviews (featuring behind-the-scenes footage) with writer/director William Peter Blatty, George C. Scott, Jason Miller, Ed Flanders, Grand L. Bush, executive producer James G. Robinson, production designer Leslie Dilley, Larry King and C. Everett Koop
• Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spots
• Photo Galleries

DISC TWO: Legion (Original Director’s Cut) 105 minutes

• NEW Audio interview with writer/director William Peter Blatty
• NEW A “Wonderfull” Time – interviews with producer Carter DeHaven, actors Clifford David and Tracy Thorne and production assistant Kara Reidy
• NEW Signs of the Gemini – an interview with Brad Dourif
• NEW The Devil in the Details – interview with production designer Leslie Dilley, assistant designer Daren Dochterman and illustrator Simon Murton
• NEW Music for a Padded Cell – an interview with composer Barry DeVorzon
• NEW All This Bleeding – a look at the re-shoot and makeup effects with production manager Ronald Colby, editor Todd Ramsay, effects artists William Forsche, Mike Smithson, Brian Wade and actor/body double Charles Powell

BUY IT NOW!

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Starring Morjana Alaoui, Mel Raido, Craig Conway, Patrick Toomey

Directed by Shaun Robert Smith

The UK thriller Broken is, admittedly, a pretty tough sell: It’s difficult, somber, and one of the main characters is trapped in a wheelchair after a freak accident. Screening as part of the international offerings at the first annual Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Shaun Robert Smith’s latest embraces its inherent melancholy and turns it into a tense depiction of two people that, for better or worse, have found themselves trapped together in a situation that neither of them wants to be in.

The standout performances and fiery conclusion of Broken inject the film with an energy that easily carries the audience past scenes filled with great hardship and despair. There’s also a lot of hardcore partying and drug use going on so that keeps things fun.

As an ex-rocker who paralyzed himself after thinking he could fly during a non-stop drug binge, John (Raido) wakes up every morning in constant physical and psychological agony, screaming for his fed up nurse, Evie (Alaoui), to change him, feed him, and be his personal punching bag. Having already reached her limit, it certainly doesn’t help things when John keeps inviting his scumbag friend Dougie (Conway) over to multiply the abuse Evie is already receiving. In a revolving door of punks and prostitutes, the house that provides for some touching, intimate moments between John and Evie during the day turns into a den of slack come nightfall. The real question that Broken is asking is: Who will be the one to break first?

Raido is electric as the crestfallen rock star, and whether he’s yelling or crying, you always want to hug him more than slap him, which is a testament to his acting because John is a nightmare of a human being. Alaoui also walks the line beautifully between caretaker and victim, and it’s compelling to watch her become more of a catalyst for pain instead of just a recipient of John’s anguish.

Broken also has a wide-ranging, eclectic group of songs throughout the film that provide musical interludes that move the story along while allowing for some momentary escapism from the desperate circumstances inside John’s dwelling. Slow tracks layered with guitar distortion and heavy reverb set up a hypnotic mood that carries over into loud, violent beats running in the background during the long nights of debauchery and excess. Both sets of music reflect the headspaces of John and Evie in a way where the audience can take a break from their bickering while still relating to them on a purely sonic level.

Once Evie reaches her limit in one intense scene around the halfway point, she is forced to deal with her own dark past by confronting her current situation without jeopardizing her oath to take care of John no matter what. What’s happening in the present digs up memories she’s constantly trying to forget, but John’s desperation and general assholery force those thoughts into the foreground to the point where both of them may be in actual danger.

Broken is carried by its central performances but also has a surprising sense of style and a sure hand from Smith, who tells this story confidently, which keeps the decidedly shocking ending from feeling like the plot just went off the rails. Rewarded after sticking with the struggle of these two characters, the ending should make you smirk after making you want to scream early on. Refraining from being too graphic until the conclusion, it’s worth getting past Broken’s premise in order to see which side wins out in the end.

The post Broken (2016) appeared first on Dread Central.

Sometimes tragedy can strike literally out of nowhere. There’s no time to prepare, and usually there’s nowhere to go for help. Such was the case when we lost special makeup effects artist John Vulich, whose work was seen in many horror classics on both the big screen as well as TV, as the result of a massive heart attack.

John’s best friend, William Butler (Night of the Living Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre III), has set up a relief fund to help John’s family with a lot of the unexpected bills that have come up during this ghastly time.

John lived with his girlfriend, Nicole, and the two children he referred to as “his kids,” Paige and Elizabeth. They were together for 11 years.

“The two of them used only one bank account – John’s – and virtually nothing was in Nicole’s name as John was very old fashioned and liked to keep control of their finances,” says Butler. “Anyone that knows him will know this as fact. Two days ago the bank received notice of John’s death, and Nicole was locked out the bank account. This means she has ZERO access to ANY money. She has obtained a lawyer [but it could take upwards of 6 months for anything to happen], and Nicole and the kids virtually have no money to eat on or live on. Elizabeth has things she needs for school, and they are really in a very hard place.”

Every cent helps in situations like this. We in the horror industry, just like the fans, don’t always have anyone looking out for us so we need to rely on each other. Please help if you can.

The post John Vulich Family Relief Fund Set Up appeared first on Dread Central.

We may not ever be getting Gremlins 3, but maybe we’ll get a painfully unfunny reboot with an all-female bunch of Gremlins. Oh great, now I’m gonna be called a sexist and a misogynist for criticizing this year’s Ghostbusters.

Anyway, the Gremlins franchise still lives on in the form of a new Gizmo Lego set. But only if it gets to 10,000 votes on the Lego Ideas page, so give it a boost. Just don’t vote after midnight.

If you want Gizmo made into an official LEGO set, click the blue support button at the top right-hand corner of the page to vote! It’s free to support and create a LEGO ID. We need 10,000 supporters for LEGO to review the project!

When sharing this on other social media, please use the hashtag #LEGOGIZMO and the link to this project: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/121622/

LEGO Dimensions year 2 will include Gizmo as a minifigure in the cast of characters. With this news, Gizmo has an even greater potential for becoming a real LEGO set with your vote!

This project is based on the classic 1984 film, “Gremlins” and features a brick-built figure of Gizmo. Gizmo is a Mogwai that can spawn Gremlins from his skin if he is ever exposed to water. Gizmo is a very cute, happy and even tempered creature, but Gremlins are quite evil and wreak havoc wherever they go. Gizmo also appeared in the 1990 sequel to “Gremlins” called “Gremlins 2: The New Batch”.

My design is just a prototype. If this gets approved, LEGO Master Builders design the final product.

Here are some possible accessory ideas for Gizmo:

Christmas hat, trumpet, candy cane, T.V., or 3D glasses

If Gizmo does get released as an official LEGO set, there are 3 rules you must follow.
“First of all, keep him out of the light, he hates bright light, especially sunlight, it’ll kill him.“
“Second, don’t give him any water, not even to drink.”
“But the most important rule, the rule you can never forget, no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, never feed him after midnight.“

The post Gizmo Lego Set Builds Up the Cuteness appeared first on Dread Central.

I sure wouldn’t mind staring at pictures of Blade from Puppet Master and Killjoy the psycho clown, and next year we’ll be able to do so with the release of the art book Full Moon Features: The Art Collection.

From the Press Release:
Charles Band’s Full Moon Empire is headed to AFM to showcase a bumper catalogue of classic and new films and announce its 2017 slate.

“The largest and most unique fantasy/horror film library on earth!” comes to Santa Monica in November as Full Moon presents its entire catalog to buyers. For the first time ever, the legendary label will showcase its unique 250+ fantasy/horror library via an amazing, collector’s edition art book.

The 80-page, 8″x12″ book Full Moon Features: The Art Collection will feature numerous images per page from every title in the catalog with a small 150-character logline under each film – ensuring the focus is on the beautiful art. These super high-end, heavy books will be available at bookstores later in the year.

You’ll find Full Moon at Loews (#750), where the room will be draped in black and feature 4-5 large poster boards with images of 150-200 films.

Upcoming for Full Moon are Killjoy’s Psycho Circus, Ravenwolf Towers – Episode One, and the highly-anticipated Puppetmaster: Axis Termination.

The post AFM 2016: Full Moon Art Book Coming Next Year appeared first on Dread Central.

In a few days we’ll know who the next President of the United States will be; and much like AVP, no matter who wins, we lose. Still, it’s the perfect time for the Resident Evil franchise to dole out a political TV spot for The Final Chapter.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and stars series regulars Milla Jovovich, Iain Glen, Ali Larter, and Shawn Roberts in addition to newcomers Lee Joon-gi, Rola, William Levy, and Ruby Rose.

Look for it on January 27, 2017.

Related Story:  Director Paul W.S. Anderson Talks Resident Evil: The Final Chapter; New Film a Return to Horror!

Synopsis:
Picking up immediately after the events in Resident Evil: Retribution, humanity is on its last legs after Alice is betrayed by Wesker in Washington, D.C. As the only survivor of what was meant to be humanity’s final stand against the undead hordes, Alice must return to where the nightmare began – Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.

In a race against time, Alice will join forces with old friends and an unlikely ally in an action-packed battle with undead hordes and new mutant monsters. Between losing her superhuman abilities and Umbrella’s impending attack, this will be Alice’s most difficult adventure as she fights to save humanity, which is on the brink of oblivion.

The post Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Addresses The State of the Union appeared first on Dread Central.

We still have “The Cell,” this weekend’s Episode 7.03 of “The Walking Dead,” to get through; but we have a bit of info about the following week’s Episode 7.04, “Service,” to share…

It will be a super-sized 85 minutes long so be sure to check your DVR’s for November 13th!  Here’s the synopsis along with what to expect in “The Cell.”

“The Walking Dead” Episode 7.03 – “The Cell” (airs 11/6/16)
We’re introduced to a completely new group of survivors living in an impressive community that seems to have it all… for a price…

“The Walking Dead” Episode 7.04 – “Service” (airs 11/13/16; 85 min.)
The remaining members of the group try to keep it together in Alexandria; they receive a sobering visit.

The post The Walking Dead Episode 7.04 to Be Super-Sized appeared first on Dread Central.

The first-ever comic con cruise, FAN2SEA, is scheduled to be held January 19-23, 2017, departing from Tampa, Florida, with port calls in Key West, Florida, and Cozumel, Mexico. With cast members from “Stranger Things,” “The Walking Dead,” and more, it sure sounds like a fun time for the horror crowd!

Read on for the details, including how you can get discounted tickets.

From the Press Release:
FAN2SEA is taking place aboard Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas and will feature a star-studded lineup, master and spotlight classes offered by Marvel Comics and DC Comics talent, opportunities to interact with celebrities and comic book heroes, “cosplay” costume contests and parties, movie marathons, and gaming as well as other cruise entertainment and meals.

During the all-inclusive cruise several panels will be held, including a “Stranger Things” panel, which will feature Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Caleb McLaughlin, Randy Havens, and more members of the cast and creators of Netflix’s hottest new show.

Additionally, there will be a panel featuring comic book legend Frank Miller and team members from Batman’s Dark Knight III, which include Brian Azzarello, Klaus Janson, and Andy Kubert. Other panels include actors and celebrities from “The Walking Dead” and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Early purchasers can use the code IRONMAN when purchasing tickets to receive a 10 percent discount, while discounted rooms last. Tickets start at $399 per person before any discounts are applied.

Other featured DC Comics and Marvel Comics guests of FAN2SEA include Gail Simone, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Greg Capullo, Scott Synder, Arthur Adams, Joyce Chin, Mark Brooks, Reilly Brown, Gerry Duggan, Scott Koblish, Phil Noto, Chris Sims, Charles Soule, Frank Tieri, Mark Waid, Laura Martin, Chrissie Zullo, Chris Uminga, Clay Mann, Adam Kubert, and Tim Sale.

For more information visit fan2sea.com.

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If you head over to the Dread Central YouTube Channel, you’ll find the latest episode of our recurring weekly video segment, the Dread Central Weekly News Wrap-Up with your host with the most, Mike “Syxx” Phalin!

And while you’re there, subscribe, why dontcha? It only takes a second, and we’ll love you long time for doing so!

The show is getting bigger and better – let us know what you think!

Whatcha waiting for? Click “play” on the below video, and look for future editions each Friday.

You can follow Mike “Syxx” Phalin on Twitter, on Facebook, and at his own website: SyxxSense.com.

The post Dread Central Weekly News Wrap-Up 11/04/16 appeared first on Dread Central.

We’re just a few days away from the return of “Teen Wolf,” and MTV has unleashed a trio of new promo videos to get you ready for the show’s sixth – and final – season.

Step inside the Beacon Hill Museum as we take one of our last glimpses into the world of “Teen Wolf.” And #REMEMBER… The final season of “Teen Wolf” premieres Tuesday, November 15th, at 9/8c on MTV.

“Teen Wolf” follows the story of Scott McCall (Tyler Posey), a teenager who is bitten by a werewolf and becomes one himself. Now he must figure out how to balance the challenging curse along with all the normal struggles of high school. With the help of his friends, Scott learns how to protect the ones he loves, become a stronger werewolf, and tackle life one day at a time.

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Our friends over at The Wrap recently caught up with actor David Oyelowo to see if they could get the scoop on the next film set in the Cloverfield universe, God Particle.

They didn’t get much but came away with the following:  “Every single day we were on that set, we were agog with the inventiveness and innovation, between the technology, the story, and the audacity of what we were trying to accomplish. It’s an incredibly exciting and innovative piece of storytelling. It’s incredibly surprising.”

God Particle is the third inter-connected Cloverfield film, and J.J. Abrams and his studio partner, Paramount Pictures, are “quietly” developing more movies for the shared universe, in hopes of releasing a new film each year.

In the upcoming film a team of astronauts make a “shocking discovery” and end up fighting for survival in what is described as an “altered reality.” Julius Onah directs from a script by Oren Uziel. It stars David Oyelowo (pictured), John Krasinski, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ziyi Zhang, Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Brühl, and Chris O’Dowd.

God Particle opens wide on February 24, 2017.

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Now, this?  This is exactly why we love Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”

Production has kicked off for Season 2 of the show, and the network tweeted out a photo of the cast that… well… take a look for yourself! Just don’t blame us if you get a stiff neck!

Pretty awesome, right? Getting dizzy trying to figure out who’s who? Don’t worry – we also have the photo right side up below.

As we learned previously, “Stranger Things'” nine-episode Season 2 arrives in 2017 and will be set in the fall of 1984. New cast members include Sadie Sink as Max, a tough and confident girl whose appearance, behavior, and pursuits seem more typical of boys than of girls in this era, and Dacre Montgomery as Billy, Max’s hyper-confident and edgy older stepbrother.

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Starring Cait Bliss, Colin Critchley, Jason Martin, Dave Klasko, Brandon Smalls

Written and directed by Erlingur Thoroddsen

Finding funding to expand his short film Child Eater into a feature, Columbia Film School alum and native Icelander Erlingur Thoroddsen is generating a little bit of indie buzz after premiering the picture at the first annual Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. Why it took Brooklyn so long to have a horror festival of its own we may never know, just as we’ll wonder why a movie called Child Eater hasn’t been made before. It’s the kind of title you can’t wait to tell your non-horror friends with kids that you’re watching, just to disgust them and make them roll their eyes. Luckily for them, they still actually have their eyes, which is a lot more than some of the characters in (once more with feeling!) Child Eater can say.

With an appearance reminiscent of the Creeper in Jeepers Creepers and Max Schreck with sunglasses, the boogeyman is real in Thoroddsen’s film; and in this particular iteration, he (it?) loves ripping out and eating (or sometimes just discarding) his victims’ eyeballs in order to keep from going blind. After all, it’s much harder to hide in a kid’s closet if you keep running into walls. A killer with a cane just isn’t as frightening.

The legend goes back decades, but it’s not until a curious pre-teen named Lucas (Critchley) goes missing that his babysitter (Bliss) must venture out into the woods to confront the child eater myth up close and in person.

The mythology surrounding the killer isn’t exactly far-reaching but on a purely surface level there’s just enough backstory and creature design to establish some interest in the character. Mainly because Thoroddsen is Icelandic, it feels like this idea could be traced back to some far off tale in Scandinavian folklore, and who knows? Perhaps Thoroddsen was inspired by stories he heard as a child. Either way, the possibility of his version of the boogeyman being part of a grander fable lends a little horror cachet to the creature. It’s also pretty fun to watch him violently stab his dirty thumbs into the eye sockets of bored cops and bohunk boyfriends.

Child Eater is certainly a solid addition to a film festival enjoying its inaugural year and it won’t leave horror-savvy audiences feeling like they just wasted a slot, but is it worth seeking out once it finds a release date? That can be somewhat subjective, but it is a well-made, well-executed indie with a compelling creature and some memorable shots and sequences, even if it is a little pedestrian and cliché at times. The makers of Child Eater aren’t trying to make an icon, but in no small feat, the premise leaves you wanting more.

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I shouldn’t admit this, but it took me way longer to do this Night Terrors: The Beginning preview than it should have. There are a number of legitimate reasons that certain games or movies might fall through the cracks, ranging from an oversaturated release season to it just not being that good. But the reason that I put this one off falls squarely into the category of “not a legitimate reason.” I didn’t play Night Terrors for weeks because I was scared to. I legitimately was bitching out. That’s right, a one dollar, ten minute long iPhone app spooked me enough to make me worse at my job.

Now that I’ve lost all my cred, let me explain why Night Terrors: The Beginning is so effective. I watch horror films and play horror games to the degree where my family really should sit me down and explain that they still love me and beg me to get in the car and go to rehab, so It’s not like I’m easy to psych out. I get startled pretty easily, but without that rush of adrenaline it’s just me and the cold void of my inevitable death and fading from memory, so I welcome the spooks. No matter how many skins I jump out of or pants I shit, there’s always the warm safety of my own life to retreat to. In the comfort of my living room under a warm blanket, all of the ghosts are purely emotional.

Well, the people at Novum Analytics want to take that away from me. Night Terrors isn’t content just making me jump, it wants me to be afraid of my own house. When I heard of it over a year and a half ago, it looked like a nifty way to turn any room into a bunch of jump scares. So when they sent the code for preview, I was eager to give it a shot. “Spooky ghosts anywhere! Hot diggity dog!” I thought I could just sit in my living room, spin around, and see some ghosts. Nope.

Night Terrors doesn’t just haunt your room, it haunts your whole house. Turning your phone into the screen of your very own found footage movie, you’ll have to walk from room to room trying to find the source of a signal. Meanwhile, various visual distortions, audio effects, and the occasional jump scare make that task a living nightmare. This is a game to play with the lights off, headphones in, and no one around to witness how much of a bitch you are.

To say that things just jump out at you is wrong. In fact, the actual visuals of the jump scares are disappointing. The spooky skeletons that pop out are far less fearsome than the monstrosities they promoted in their Indiegogo. There are some interesting visuals that interact with the environment, but they fall short of being really convincing. I’m not even linking any of their previous trailers, since almost none of it is in The Beginning. That’s really not the point, however. Night Terrors is far more about the tension. It understands that the scares that do happen are just as important as those that don’t. The flickering lights and eerie audio effects build a fear of the unknown on par with great horror films. I won’t describe it any more, you just have to experience it.

This is going to be one of those games that’s just impossible to screenshot. I swear to god this is way spookier when your phone light is going nuts and radio static is clicking in your ears.

I’m honestly having a hard time classifying Night Terrors. I wouldn’t really call it a game. It’s closer to a short film, but unlike any I’ve seen before. Instead of just hitting to play button and watching, you have to actually move around to watch. What’s more, the settings and characters aren’t some hapless teens in an abandoned asylum, but you in your own house. You can call it an ARG, or an alternate reality experience, but that sounds like one of those new media terms designed more to attract investors than actually describe the product. It’s not long enough yet to say that it single handedly legitimizes alternate reality experiences as a genuine and lasting new medium. At the same time, it’s so effective that it’s impossible to ignore.

How do you describe a game that makes doing THIS genuinely scary

This is another example of where my status as a bullshit millennial is useful. There’s so much new tech coming out, that it’s nearly impossible to keep up with what’s actually worth it. I’m generally more skeptical than others my age. Everyone is so excited for a magical world where they can play shooters running on an Omni platform with a rifle controller and an Oculus headset, and no one seems to be pointing out that laser tag/paintball already exists. VR headsets are cool, but expensive and limited. It’s fun when you’re hanging by yourself, but as soon as you have friends over it’s just one person surrounded by increasingly bored spectators.

With Night Terrors: The Beginning, all you need is an iPhone and a dollar. When so many people already have an iPhone (Android support is still in development), the investment is basically nothing. I’ve always said that the greatest barrier to VR is the cost. It’s hard to ask someone to drop $400-$800 on a peripheral. But Night Terrors transforms your existing device into the experience. It lacks the visual fidelity and processing power of something like the HTC Vive, but it doesn’t require any kind of setup or investment. For an experience 1/800th the price, I can accept a few visual shortcomings.

What Night Terrors: The Beginning does most effectively is chip away at the barrier that separates you from the scares. There’s a reason we still tell ghost stories around the campfire. Horror is most effective when we put ourselves in the story. Night Terrors puts you in that story, and forces you to tell it. If you have an iPhone, there’s no reason to miss this. It’s short, terrifying, and a great glimpse into the future of alternate reality horror. Click here, or search for it in the app store. Let me know if it also damaged your sense of security.

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Developed by Flying Wild Hog

Published by Devolver Digital

Available on PC

Coming Soon to PS4 and Xbox One

Rated M for Mature

Looking back on it, 2013’s Shadow Warrior might be one of my all time favorite games. There’s a certain amount of cred I burn as a critic when I state that I’m in love with a game where the protagonist is named “Lo Wang,” but I also think that Spring Breakers is a masterpiece. There’s a purpose to spectacle, and Shadow Warrior’s gallons of blood, gore, organs, and dick jokes wove a beautiful basket to cradle the genuinely emotional plot. Besides, I don’t trust a person who can’t enjoy slicing a demon in half, chin to taint.

An integral part of the Shadow Warrior experience.

A lot has changed since Shadow Warrior concluded and rain returned to the Shadow Realm. It seems that your actions have resulted in a cataclysm of sorts, with the demon and human worlds merging. There’s not a whole lot of sense to it all, with Zilla’s sprawling cyber-city just a few miles away from a traditional Chinese village populated by snake monsters. Lo Wang has returned to his mercenary ways, running odd jobs for the local Yakuza and acting like a manchild. I guess the whole “slaying the lord of the Shadow Realm” thing wasn’t worth all that much in the end.

The game kicks off similar to the first: Yakuza want you to nab some ancient artifact, and demons would rather you didn’t. Lucky for you, Lo Wang is essentially murder incarnate, and spends the next 10-12 hours turning monsters into mincemeat. Just like the first game, you’ll accomplish the slaughter with a mix of gunplay and melee combat, but this time with a significantly expanded arsenal. Also just like the first game, you’ll be joined by a spiritual companion who lives in your head, but this time without as much personality.

It’s like having your mother in your head every time you make a dick joke.

Don’t get me wrong, despite some common threads, Shadow Warrior 2 is very much a different game from the first. Abandoning the linear design of the first, Shadow Warrior 2 opts for a more open, mission based design. You’ll spend your time between missions in a central hub where you can buy new items, forge upgrades, and find quests. So yeah, just like every other ARPG. I didn’t count, but I’m just going to say there were about 25 different levels to complete before the credits role, with maybe 8 or 9 main missions.

Ah, just what Shadow Warrior needed: crafting.

As with all of these types of game, just sticking to the main story will lead you to completion within a few hours. It certainly isn’t sticking to the spirit of the game, but the urge to power through becomes greater with each recycled level. To be clear, I’m certainly not against side quests. I played the shit out of RPGs like Skyrim and Dragon Age, and can appreciate that the non-essential quests are often as integral to the game’s identity as the main story. But Shadow Warrior 2 reminds me of Dragon Age 2. The actual tasks might have been different, but the side quests took place in just remixed variants of the main levels. All said and done, I think there were only 8 different environments in Shadow Warrior 2. Maybe 10 if you count some of the slightly altered variants. To compensate for this, missions are usually two of these zones glued together. You’ll quickly learn the landmarks, and figure out the key areas to search to move on to the next.

The levels are all very diverse and pretty, but there’s only so many times I want to shoot a techno-demon in a neon garden.

The main quests are all pretty awesome. The level design is tight, with the kind of secrets and verticality that made Shadow Warrior so badass. You’ll fight through some bad guys, face a boss, hunt for secrets, and bask in the glorious immature nonsense that is Lo Wang. It’s great, like Doom with more dick jokes and swords. I wish the whole game was like this, but I guess people don’t pay for single player shooters anymore.

The side quests can have some good stories too, but are plagued with issues that make them far less fun. The primary problem is that levels are sprawling and expansive, but lack the clever secrets that make them worth exploring. You can still find the odd alcove housing a cash prize, but gone are the charming retro onsens and throwbacks of the original. Aside from hordes and hordes of enemies, there’s just not a lot to see.

I mean, there are only like three pixelated 2.5D Waifus. Unacceptable.

It winds up just being a slog. These side missions are where a lot of the game’s weapons drop, but only from specific bosses somewhere in the zone. There are so many bullshit, pointless enemies in between, that even the most gleeful of slaughter becomes boring. I honestly didn’t know I could grow this tired of dismemberment. So you’ll wind up jumping around, trying desperately to dash between hordes in search of the the boss’s skull map marker. If I’m avoiding combat in your action shooter, you have done something wrong.

I went a bit off script this time and started with the negatives. I’ll admit, this is due to some personal bias. I love Shadow Warrior too much, and the changes just shrivel the charm of Lo Wang. But this is still Lo Wang, and he still goes, “bang bang.” The combat of Shadow Warrior 2 might be the best of the last 10 years. For a shooter, there’s a surprising amount of tactical depth to the carnage. Elemental damage, loadout specificity, and specialized weapon types can drastically change your combat effectiveness. It’s almost entirely invisible at the lower difficulties, but if you’re playing on easy you just want to see heads explode anyways.

Tactical magma laser!

There are over 70 weapons in the game, which you might reasonable assume are mostly repeats. In most games, “Medium Firearms” just means assault rifles with different clip sizes. In Shadow Warrior 2, a weapon’s classification doesn’t even guarantee it uses that kind of ammo. You can have one sawed-off shotgun that fires two shells, and another that fires four plasma rounds with a chance of an automatic reload. One grenade launcher might be a single shot with huge fire damage, and the next is a toxic rocket launcher that can split into multiple warheads. The weapons in the game are as diverse in function as they are in visuals.

I have decided the best solution to this situation is a power glove that shoots lightning.

What’s more, you can customize each weapon with a suite of upgrade to tailor it to your needs. Swappable at any point, your heavy machine gun can go from a high dps ranged weapon to a deployable turret with a single switch. It’s pretty impractical to switch out upgrades constantly, so your arsenal will generally be set going into a level. You have eight weapons to choose from, so if you run into an enemy with electrical resistance it’s your own fault if you don’t have a solution.

Jumping, dashing, shooting, slicing, and blasting your way through the hordes is a bukakke of violence as vicious and satisfying as any coming out of Japan. Each weapon felt great, with the possible exception of some lackluster pistol options. As glorious as the mayhem was, in the end it all just felt hollow. Shadow Warrior 2 lacks the heart of the original. Real talk, when Hoji paid the price and saved me at the end of Shadow Warrior, I was in tears. At the conclusion of Shadow Warrior 2, I was more confused. They are clearly setting up for DLC/a sequel, and it just feels half-assed. The new cast just isn’t as interesting, and conflict poorly explained. There are mountains of text logs to pour through to figure out what’s going on, but you’re never given a real reason to do so.

Oh, and you have to collect the text logs as random drops. Have fun.

There are a lot of questions I have about the plot, which I hope get answered with time. The game’s entire structure practically screams “more to come in the DLC!” The fundamentals are fantastic, and I really do love just sitting down and playing it. But the structure is poorly formed. There are too many repetitive fights with no reward and no clear objective. It’s cool as fuck to watch and fun to play, but wears thin after a while. Play with friends and have a good time, but it falls short of the original. Hopefully the future DLC will spice the game up where it can surpass the predecessor.

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One of the best damned film festivals on the East Coast, FEARnyc has released its list of winners; and we have the whole enchilada for you right here.

Read on to see who brought the best of the spooky!

FEARnyc 2016 Award Winners

• Best Feature Film: A Beginner’s Guide to Snuff
• Best Director: Phillip Guzman, Dead Awake
• Best Screenplay: Jeffrey Reddick, Dead Awake
• Best Actor: Joey Kern, A Beginner’s Guide to Snuff
• Best Actress: Bree Williamson, A Beginner’s Guide to Snuff
• Best Documentary Film: Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary
• Best Short Film: The Eve
• Best Cinematography: A. Vasanth, Awakenings
• Best Visual Effects: Andrew Lewitin and Ryan J.Thompson, The Dark Tapes
• Best Editing: Michael Swingler, Sickhouse
• Best Production Design: Kurt Wehner, Dead Awake
• Best Score: Zazu Pitts, Squatters
• Best Make-Up Design: Poffo Ortiz, The Possession Experiment
• Best Costume Design: Jane Ji, Chateau Sauvignon: Terroir
• Best Lighting Design: Ken Stachnik, Clowntown
• Best Sound Design: Steven Aram and Travis Cote, The Dark Tapes

Founder’s Awards

• 2016 Women in Horror Honoree: Adrienne Lovette
• Innovative Storytelling: Michael Myers: Absolute Evil
• Special Citation: The Cast of Lost Creek
• Producer of the Year: Chris Gierowski

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No, we’re not talking about another website; we’re talking about the new flick from director Nathaniel Atcheson, entitled Domain. Read on for stills, art, and more!

Britt Lower, Ryan Merriman, Sonja Sohn, Beth Grant, William Gregory Lee, Kevin Sizemore, Nick Gomez, and Cedric Sanders star.

The film will be having its premiere at the Other Worlds Film Festival in Austin taking place December 1-4, 2016.

Synopsis:
After a deadly virus wipes out most of humanity, the survivors are forced to wait alone in self-sustaining bunkers while the viral threat runs its course. Able to communicate through a networked video interface, the survivors wait for years and slowly become a motley family of sorts. But their fragile social ecosystem is shattered when, one by one, they start mysteriously disappearing from their bunkers.

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