Check out a brand spanking new clip from Steven Shainberg’s Rupture, which finds the wonderful Noomi Rapace on the awful side of the stick.

The film is based on a story by Shainberg and Brian Nelson. Nelson wrote the screenplay.

Noomi Rapace (Prometheus), Peter Stormare (Clown), Michael Chiklis (“American Horror Story: Freak Show”), Kerry Bishé (Argo, “Sex and the City”), Lesley Manville (Maleficent), and Ari Millen (“Orphan Black”) star.

Synopsis:
Renee Morgan (Rapace), a single mom who lives with her twelve-year-old son, Evan, in a quiet suburban home, is terrified of spiders. Unbeknownst to both, their every move is being observed. While running her daily errands, her car breaks down; and she is violently kidnapped by a group of strangers.

About 24 hours later, in an anonymous laboratory, she is tied up and questioned about her medical history, including her great fear of spiders. Soon her captors explain to her that her genetic abnormality can potentially allow her to “Rupture,” revealing her own true alien nature.

The post Rupture Leads to the Capture of Noomi Rapace appeared first on Dread Central.

Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers is a classic on every level. The film revels in its absurdity and over-the-top style, and we’re all the better for it.

With a remake looming, Arrow in the Head caught up with Verhoeven to get his take on the proposed remake.

“[Producer] Neal Moritz is doing it; he also did the remake of Total Recall. I think what they’ll do is take out everything that can be upsetting. The satire, leaning toward fascism, all that stuff. Saying to the audience, ‘Yeah, they’re heroes, but they’re also fascists.’ You should do that now, especially now. They announced already that they’re going back to the book, and the book is really militaristic. It’s not fascistic like in Germany, but it’s leaning there. It would be [my] movie, straight.”

“They certainly won’t make references to Leni Riefenstahl like we did,” Verhoeven continues. “I think it was really interesting to seduce the audience into seeing them as heroes but then to also tell them they might not be okay. They certainly won’t do that because it would be controversial, and that is probably not economically the best idea. It would probably get them an R rating, and they don’t want that anymore.”

“The remakes that I’ve seen, of Robocop and Total Recall, are the same thing. Every ambiguity out, all these layers out, and PG-13. Just straight bang bang, shoot shoot. They were well made, but they were not worth doing.”

Columbia Pictures has tapped Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, the writing duo behind the upcoming Baywatch movie, to write the script for a new theatrical feature film that would relaunch a potential franchise. Neal H. Moritz, the producer behind the Fast & Furious franchise, is producing with Toby Jaffe, with whom he worked on the studio’s remake of another 1990s sci-fi pic, Total Recall.

Starship Troopers is based on the sci-fi war novel by Robert A. Heinlein that told of the military life of a soldier named Johnny Rico, who moves up the ranks as mankind fights a war against alien bugs.

Verhoeven took some of the novel’s themes and ran with them, making a movie that satirically took on fascism and militarism and echoed propaganda films like Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will. It starred Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, and Neil Patrick Harris.

The studio is not remaking the film but is said to be going back to the original Heinlein novel for an all-new take. No personnel from the 1997 film are involved, and Matthew Milam is overseeing for the studio.

The post Paul Verhoeven, as Expected, Not a Fan of Remaking Starship Troopers appeared first on Dread Central.

Finally… after a couple of days’ worth of teasers, the official Kong: Skull Island trailer has arrived, courtesy of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” no less!

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ Kong: Skull Island reimagines the origin of the mythic Kong in a compelling, original adventure from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts. Kong: Skull Island stars Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Oscar winner Brie Larson, John Goodman, and John C. Reilly. The international ensemble cast also includes Tian Jing, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, John Ortiz, Thomas Mann, Shea Whigham, Toby Kebbell, and Eugene Cordero.

Vogt-Roberts is directing the film from a screenplay by Max Borenstein, John Gatins, Dan Gilroy, and Derek Connolly. Kong: Skull Island is produced by Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni with Mary Parent. The executive producers are Eric McLeod and Alex Garcia.

To fully immerse audiences in the mysterious Skull Island, director Vogt-Roberts, his cast, and the filmmaking team filmed across three continents over six months, capturing its primordial landscapes on Oahu, Hawaii; on Australia’s Gold Coast; and finally in Vietnam, where filming took place across multiple locations, some of which have never before been seen on film.

Kong: Skull Island will be released worldwide in 2D, 3D in select theaters, and IMAX beginning March 10, 2017, from Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Synopsis:
A diverse team of explorers is brought together to venture deep into an uncharted island in the Pacific – as beautiful as it is treacherous – unaware that they’re crossing into the domain of the mythic Kong.

The post At Last the Official Kong: Skull Island Trailer Has Arrived! appeared first on Dread Central.

Miss last night’s episode of Brainwaves: Horror and Paranormal Talk Radio with Amy Casey, The Rock and Roll Medium? Don’t worry! We have your hook-up right here!

It’s radio without a safety net, kids. It’s Brainwaves: Horror and Paranormal Talk Radio.

PLEASE SUPPORT BRAINWAVES: HORROR AND PARANORMAL TALK RADIO ON PATREON!

Brainwaves: Horror and Paranormal Talk Radio is available to subscribe to on iTunes. Not an iTunes user?  You can also listen right here on the site.

Also you can hit Dread Central on Facebook on most Wednesday nights to watch a live stream of the show as it happens.

Spooky, funny, touching, honest, offensive, and at times completely random, Brainwaves airs live every Wednesday evening beginning at 9:00 PM Pacific Time (12:00 midnight Eastern Time) and runs about 3 hours per episode.

Knetter and Creepy will be taking your calls LIVE and unscreened via Skype, so let your freak flags fly! Feel free to add BrainWavesTalk to your Skype account so you can reach us, or call in from a landline or cellphone – 858 480 7789. The duo also take questions via Twitter; you can reach us at @BrainwavesRadio or @UncleCreepy and @JoeKnetter using the hashtag #BrainWaves.

Have a ghost story or a paranormal story but can’t call in? Feel free to email it to me directly at UncleCreepy@dreadcentral.com with “Brainwaves Story” in your subject line. You can now become a fan of the show via the official… BRAINWAVES FACEBOOK PAGE!

Brainwaves: Horror and Paranormal Talk Radio is hosted live (with shows to be archived as they progress) right here on Dread Central. You can tune in and listen via the FREE TuneIn Radio app or listen to TuneIn right through the website!

For more information and to listen live independent of TuneIn, visit the Deep Talk Radio Network website, “like” Deep Talk Radio on Facebook, and follow Deep Talk Radio on Twitter. And don’t forget to subscribe to Brainwaves on iTunes.

The post Brainwaves Episode 22 – Amy Casey, The Rock and Roll Medium! Listen Now! appeared first on Dread Central.

A trailer is here for the new film from director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II–IV, Repo: The Genetic Opera, Mother’s Day), Abattoir (review), and we have it for you fresh and twitching!

Abattoir Release Details:
Momentum Pictures has acquired North American rights to the horror film Abattoir, which is set to release in theaters and on VOD and Digital HD on December 9, 2016. Written by Christopher Monfette (12 Monkeys) and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (The Saw Series), the film stars Jessica Lowndes (The Prince), Joe Anderson (Hercules), Lin Shaye (Insidious Series), and Dayton Callie (“Sons of Anarchy”).

Related Story: Brainwaves Episode 7 with Darren Lynn Bousman

“Abattoir has been a labor of love for all of us involved,” said Bousman. “It is an honor to partner with a distribution team who not only understands the genre, but are actual fans of it.”

Based on the Radical Publishing 6-issue comic book mini-series created by Bousman, Abattoir world-premiered at this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival in the Nightfall section and screened in a dozen festivals this past summer, winning Best in Festival at the Hot Springs Horror Festival.

The film centers on a real estate reporter (Jessica Lowndes) who unearths an urban legend about a house being built from rooms where horrific tragedies have occurred. The investigation ultimately leads her and ex-lover Detective Declan Grady (Joe Anderson) to the enigmatic Jebediah Crone (Dayton Callie) and the answer to the question, “How do you build a haunted house?”

Abattoir is produced by Jesse Berger (Oblivion) and Brent C. Johnson (Lost in America) under Radical Studios’ genre label Dark Web Productions. Billy Hines serves as co-producer. The film is executive produced by Lynwood Spinks, Kevin Niu, Robert Cain, Michael Yedwab, Steve Ponce, and Trevor Allen. Abattoir was financed by Lumenova Entertainment, Pacific Bridge Pictures, and Ingenious Media.

The post Enter the Abattoir – The Ultimate Haunted House! appeared first on Dread Central.

We’re not sure how this whole #MannequinChallenge thing started, but everyone and their brothers are taking part. Case in point: BH Tilt has released footage of its own terrifying Incarnate Mannequin Challenge – someone better call an exorcist STAT!

Check it out below; and also, don’t forget to visit demoneyesyourself.com for more tomfoolery.

Incarnate, a collaboration between Blumhouse and WWE Studios, is heading our way on December 2nd.

Brad Peyton (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Cats and Dogs 2) directed from a screenplay by Ronnie Christensen (Passengers, Dark Tide), in which an exorcist taps into the subconscious of a nine-year-old boy, played by David Mazouz (“Gotham,” The Darkness), who is possessed by a powerful, ancient demon. Aaron Eckhart, Carice van Houten, and Catalina Sandino Moreno also star alongside WWE Superstar Mark Henry, who has a cameo.

Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, and Sinister franchises) is producing the film for Blumhouse. Michael Luisi, WWE Studios President, executive produced alongside Couper Samuelson, Michael Seitzman, Trevor Engelson, Stuart Ford, and Charles Layton. Universal Pictures will distribute the film in the U.S., and Blumhouse International is overseeing foreign rights.

Synopsis:
A scientist with the ability to enter the subconscious minds of the possessed must save a young boy from the grips of a demon with powers never seen before, while facing the horrors of his past.

The post See Incarnate Take the #MannequinChallenge appeared first on Dread Central.

It’s happened to us all. You’re driving along, minding your own business, when some schmuck ends up in your rearview with either: a) their high beams on, b) their headlights adjusted wrong so they appear to be blinding in your field of view, or c) they’re just driving like idiots and end up tailgating you. Have you ever wanted to get a little revenge beyond slowing to a crawl so they just pass you?

Well now, thanks to TMall.com, you can order yourself some scary decals to put on the back of your car that are guaranteed to spook those pesky pains in the ass! Even better? They’re dirt cheap and run anywhere from between $3.00 to $18.00.

Yep, we’re ALL OVER this one!

The post Scary Decals Get Revenge on Annoying Drivers with High Beams appeared first on Dread Central.

Good news is coming in for horror fans who like their scares with a side of action. Deadline is reporting that Netflix has acquired Spectral, the Legendary Pictures-produced action/sci-fi film that stars James Badge Dale, Emily Mortimer, and Bruce Greenwood.

Nic Mathieu directs. Netflix has set it for a December 9 global release. A brilliant DARPA scientist embarks on a deadly mission with a Special Ops team of Delta Force soldiers into a battle-scarred, war-torn city, where mysterious phantom aggressors code-named Spectral have been causing inexplicable civilian deaths.

The film is based on a story by Ian Fried and Mathieu, and it was scripted by George Nolfi. Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, and Jillian Share produced it. The film was shot primarily on location in various streets and buildings in Budapest, Hungary, relying extensively on practical effects and locations for an authentic, gritty atmosphere firmly planted in reality. The film has a score by Junkie XL (Batman V Superman, Deadpool). The futuristic weapons were produced by Peter Jackson’s Weta Worksho, and the VFX were done by Weta Digital, overseen by Oscar winners Joe Letteri and Erik Winquist.

The post Legendary and Netflix Get Spectral appeared first on Dread Central.

We’ve been writing about Relativity Media’s reboot of The Crow for what feels like forever, but there’s never really been anything that could be considered good news in terms of development of the project. Things could change, however, now that the project has fled Relativity for greener pastures.

According to The Wrap the reboot has left Relativity; and Davis Films, Highland Film Group, and Electric Shadow have acquired the rights to finance, produce, and distribute The Crow Reborn.

Scheduling for the film is up in the air, but the group hopes to maintain the same pace it was on previously.

Edward R. Pressman, who produced the 1994 original starring Brandon Lee, will produce The Crow Reborn alongside Samuel Hadida of Davis Films. Highland Film Group and Electric Shadow also are producing. Relativity CEO Ryan Kavanaugh will executive produce. Highland Film Group will also handle international sales.

Stay tuned for the inevitable updates!

The post The Crow Reboot Flies Coop; Reborn Elsewhere appeared first on Dread Central.

An international trailer for Martin Koolhoven’s western/thriller Brimstone has arrived, and you can check it out right here! Dig it!

Brimstone Release Details:
Momentum Pictures has acquired North American rights to the western/thriller BRIMSTONE. The film, which first premiered in September at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews, is written and directed by Martin Koolhoven. It stars Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire), Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential), Kit Harrington (“Game of Thrones”), Carice van Houten (“Game of Thrones”), and Emilia Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides).

MomentumPictures will be releasing BRIMSTONE in theaters and on VOD in March 2017.

“Dakota Fanning and Guy Pearce’s strong performances truly capture the work and vision of filmmaker Martin Koolhoven,” said Momentum Pictures’ Senior Vice President of Content Ian Goggins. “We couldn’t be more proud to release BRIMSTONE so that audiences can experience this amazing piece of cinema.”

BRIMSTONE tells the story of a frontier woman turn fugitive when she is wrongly accused of a crime she didn’t commit and is hunted by a vengeful preacher.

BRIMSTONE is produced by Els Vandevorst (Dogville) and Uwe Schott (Cloud Atlas) and co-produced by Paul Trijbits, Antonino Lombardo, Manuel Chiche, and Peter Hiltunen.

The post International Brimstone Trailer Warns of False Prophets appeared first on Dread Central.

With Variety’s announcement that Dave Alpert’s and Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment has teamed up with writer and director Jon Braver’s Los Angeles-based interactive horror theater company Delusion to produce a virtual reality (VR) horror series based on the same, we caught up with the latter exclusively to discuss. Read on!

Having launched his interactive horror theater concept in 2011 with the live event Delusion (and having returning in 2012, 2013 and 2014 with follow-ups Delusion: The Blood Right, Delusion: Masque of Mortality, Delusion: Lies Within and this year with Delusion: His Crimson Queen), stuntman-turned-writer/director Braver, along with co-writer Peter Cameron, and An Interactive Theatre & Film Company, have long sought to expand the franchise past its LA environs.

Their partnership with Skybound Entertainment, a company whose success stories include the television series “The Walking Dead” and “Outcast,” as well as the serialized virtual reality series “Gone,” should do just that.

“The 2014 play “Lies Within” seemed to be the perfect first collaboration,” Braver told us of the partnership, and his plans for the expansion of the Delusion universe, “since Skybound had success with their first VR narrative series “Gone,” and (they) wanted to stay at the forefront of this VR world. Yet, I’ll be honest though. I was not always on board with the idea of Delusion in VR. I am madly passionate about keeping things tangible in every way when it comes to us humans and our interaction! And on that note, I will still be creating the interactive plays. Yet, it took a few others close to me to really help realize that Delusion can exist in VR and as a live play, as well as many other formats while keeping true to its heart. Plus, so many people wanted to see “Lies Within” (and other shows) again or for the first time, and since it’s extremely hard to bring these shows back in residential properties, I thought this will be one way to swallow them whole again, albeit digitally! The news this morning only touched upon one aspect of the future of Delusion with Skybound. There is an overarching story that ties everything together and with that I plan to expand the Delusion universe into film, TV, graphic novel, comics and VR. And after a long search, Skybound became the right partner.”

With plans to adapt Delusion’s 2014 play Lies Within for the VR medium (you can read our full review of the play here), Braver and Skybound are currently working on a new story based on the concept, which originally found attendees drawn into the home of fictitious and missing author Elena Fitzgerald. Once inside, audiences found the abode occupied by the fantastically dangerous creations of Fitzgerald’s literary works, and a dark secret which begged to be unraveled. The VR series is expected to follow this narrative, while introducing two new characters into it. Principal photography is slated to begin in 2017.

In addition to the VR medium, Braver has also long sought to bring Delusion as a play to Los Angeles year round, and we asked him of the current status.

“That is still in the works,” he replied enthusiastically. “In fact, I think it would be cool to have, let’s say, the Delusion comic book series out while a corresponding live play runs as well. How cool would that be?! It’s like reading the book then seeing the movie, but even better. We shall see. Lots to do in the years to come.”

For those in the LA area, an extension of this year’s Delusion play His Crimson Queen was also announced today (it will now run until December 11th, 2016, with tickets going on sale this Friday, November 18th at 9am), and Braver effused of the production (which has been consistently sold out during its run), “I am a hopeless perfectionist so I’m never truly happy with my work. Who is really? That said, His Crimson Queen has evolved into something truly grand. It started off rocky for many boring reasons, but where it is now is someplace spectacular. The story behind this show is so cool. I wish I could have realized everything I wanted to with this play, but I’m happy with the overall reaction.”

“The coolest thing is seeing our fan-base become die-hards,” he continued. “They remember each year, each moment, recounting with their friends at the lounge. Some people love aspects of this one or that. Some people feel this year is their favorite, while others love 2012 or 2014, and so on. There is something for everyone here I guess! If people can really let themselves go, they really get everything I’m trying to do here. We’re building something unique with Delusion.”

As for the 2017 show, “I really have no clue except the story I want to tell,” Braver teased. “But we shall see.”

For more information visit the official Delusion website here, “like” them on Facebook here, and follow them on Twitter

The post Exclusive: Delusion Writer and Director Jon Braver Talks Partnership with Skybound Entertainment for Virtual Reality Horror Series appeared first on Dread Central.

If you’re unaware of the true story behind the Villisca axe murders, believe me when I tell you that it is one of the single most terrifying events to ever transpire. IFC Midnight just sent over word that they’ve picked up a new film documenting this occurrence, The Axe Murders of Villisca.

From the Press Release:
Film Mode Entertainment announces the acquisition of a brand-new psychological thriller feature from Alpine Labs and director Tony E. Valenzuela, THE AXE MURDERS OF VILLISCA, starring Robert Adamson (THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, HOLLYWOOD HEIGHTS, OUR LAST DAY AS CHILDREN), Jarrett Sleeper (STRANGER THAN FICTION, THE FOURTH DOOR), Alex Frnka (THE IN-BETWEENERS, VANITY, UNANSWERED PRAYERS), Conchata Ferrell (TWO AND A HALF MEN, KRAMPUS, WISHIN’ AND HOPIN’), and Jon Gries (TAKEN, TAKEN 2, DEEP IN THE HEART). The film is director Tony E. Valenzuela’s (creator and founder of the popular genre YouTube channel BlackBoxTV) feature-length directorial debut and was written by Owen Egerton, story by Kevin Abrams and Tony E. Valenzuela.

Film Mode Entertainment shared exclusive first-look video with distributors at this year’s AFM.

“We’re excited at the feedback we received after presenting AXE MURDERS OF VILLISCA for buyers at AFM for the first time,” said Clay Epstein, President of Film Mode Entertainment. “This bone-chilling film has all the elements of a commercial hit, stemming from a true and still unsolved series of gruesome murders from over 100 years ago. Audiences are sure to be captivated throughout the entire movie.”

THE AXE MURDERS OF VILLISCA focuses on the paranormal repercussions of what many consider to be the most horrifying unsolved murders in the United States. Now used as a tourist destination, the Villisca Axe Murder House has terrified visitors from around the world and is considered one of the most haunted houses in America. The film follows the present day story of three troubled teens who decide to break in and spend the night at the house, forever changing who they are and what is known about the original murders.

IFC Midnight has grabbed North American rights for THE AXE MURDERS OF VILLISCA hot off the success of the film’s LA Film Festival premiere. UTA and Preferred Content brokered both domestic and international sales deals on behalf of the filmmakers.

“We at Alpine were thrilled to partner with Tony to bring this film to life and couldn’t be more excited to now partner with industry vets IFC Midnight and Film Mode to allow audiences across the world to enjoy it as well,” said Alpine principals Kevin Abrams and Jamie Denenberg.

THE AXE MURDERS OF VILLISCA was executive produced by Kevin Abrams and Jamie Denenberg and produced by Seth Caplan.

Film Mode Entertainment has international rights on THE AXE MURDERS OF VILLISCA.

The post IFC Axed by The Axe Murders of Villisca appeared first on Dread Central.

Leave it to Mondo to tug on our nostalgic heartstrings just before Christmas. They’re releasing a vinyl version of the soundtrack to Joe Dante’s Gremlins, and the packaging literally changes when exposed to water and sunlight… just like the titular creatures.

Revealed by Entertainment Weekly, the interactive artwork was designed by Phantom City Creative. The water sensitive disc sleeves transform when exposed to water, and an ultraviolet-sensitive jacket is also included that changes appearance when exposed to daylight.

We don’t have long to wait for this monster of a release, as it’s arriving on November 30.

The post Mondo’s Gremlins Vinyl Transforms When Exposed to Water and Daylight appeared first on Dread Central.

Injustice 2 could be spicing things up with some fabulous guest characters. Director Ed Boon launched two polls on Twitter allowing fans to vote for whom they’d like to be showing up in the sequel.

The first poll focuses on Mortal Kombat characters, whilst the second includes horror icons Spawn, Hellboy, Buffy, and the Terminator. So go ahead and vote for whom you’d like to appear in the game, and rest assured that this time there’s no Electoral College tampering with the results. But hurry… voting closes soon!

Regardless of whoever gets the most votes, characters already confirmed to appear include Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Deadshot, and the Flash. They’ll be pulverizing each others’ faces when Injustice 2 arrives next year.

The post Vote for Iconic Horror Characters to Appear in Injustice 2 appeared first on Dread Central.

Starring Kim Coates, Tyler Ross, Meadow Williams

Directed by Shawn Crahan

Crime doesn’t stand a chance, and more than likely your attention span won’t either in Officer Downe, the latest film from director Shawn Crahan (Clown from Slipknot), and it’s safe to say that if there’s at least the minimum amount of a chance that you could suffer from epileptic seizures due to photo-sensitivity, you might want to sit this one out.

Based off of the graphic comic, the film focuses on Officer Downe (Coates – most notably Tig from “Sons of Anarchy”), an LAPD cop who fights to uphold the law, sometimes to the death… over and over again.

You see, this particular defender cannot be killed – okay, well yes he can, but thanks to some backdoor scientific work in the basement of the police department, he’s routinely resurrected and sent back out to duty – apparently there is no belief in vacation time with this guy. He’s been shot, blown up, and basically decimated on every level, and thanks to the clean-up team assigned to him, he’s brought back with the same set of directives: Shoot em’ up, lock em’ up, clean em’ up.

No one truly seems to know a lot of information about the undead officer, or how he’s regularly redeployed to do some damage (and sadly, it doesn’t really get touched upon either), but his methods are effective, if not gory and costly to the department. The good officer’s main adversaries? They’re known as the Fortune 500, and let me tell you, on the odd scale, this group of animal mask-wearing kooks doesn’t even register, and the mounted human heads in their executive boardroom concretely solidifies that claim. A baby-faced newbie named Officer Gable (Ross) is assigned to “stand by” while Downe wreaks havoc upon the city’s scum, and his level of perplexity on this matter echoed mine.

So, we have this massively-armed “peace” officer attempting to reel in everyone that runs afoul of the law, including a drug kingpin named Headcase Harry (Slipknot’s lead Corey Taylor), and a nun with a love for guns named Mother Supreme (Williams). If the aforementioned gallery of criminals standing in Downe’s way isn’t enough, then how about we call in a teleporting ninja assassin to do the real dirty work?

All in all, the film is an absolute blitzkrieg of gunplay, explosions, and enough sexual innuendos to fill a squad car, all set against the backdrop of what truly looks like a heavy metal video display (appropriately enough). Sad thing is, all the unrestrained chaos can get a little tiresome over the movie’s 90-minute run time, and if full-throttled cinema isn’t your cup of tea, then this film is definitely not for you.

Also, for a movie titled Officer Downe, you would have hoped that we could have seen more of the previously mentioned lead character; yet, he appeared to be somewhat of a second-in-charge to the other characters chewing up screen time. Downe as a competent and believable savior is a stretch, with nearly every interaction with the bad guys resulting in himself getting killed again and again, and it’s lather, rinse, repeat – kinda gets old after a while, honestly. There are attempted laughs to mix up the insanely violent instances, but the funnies fall short, and we’re left to mop up the mess over and over again – one step forward, two steps back I guess you could say.

Overall, there will be some willing to overlook the skewered storyline and schizophrenic cinematography, but when all’s said and done, this Officer needs to be put on desk duty for the foreseeable future.

The post Officer Downe (2016) appeared first on Dread Central.

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 11/18/16 appeared first on Dread Central.

It’s in the air, kids! Thanksgiving’s less than a week away, and the holiday season is just around the corner. That’s not stopping the horror genre from bringing a little terror to your yuletide festivities though! Read on for the details on IFC Midnight’s The Devil’s Dolls.

From the Press Release:
A serial killer’s curse unleashes a season of slaughter in the backwoods of Mississippi in the grisly slasher The Devil’s Dolls. Available December 6, 2016, from Scream Factory, in conjunction with IFC Midnight, this visceral film goes beyond the typical midnight slasher, featuring an incredibly intense, tightly-paced story and character-driven Southern Gothic thrills.

According to an ancient Guatemalan tradition, parents teach their children to allay their troubles by giving them handmade “worry dolls” just before bedtime. But when several of these talismans — which once belonged to a notorious mass murderer — find their way into the hands of unsuspecting residents of a small Southern town, it sets off a grisly wave of bloodshed. The latest from Rites of Spring director Padraig Reynolds is a voodoo-slasher shocker bursting with scarily inventive kills.

Buy it NOW!

The post The Devil’s Dolls Coming Home to Spook You for the Holidays appeared first on Dread Central.

This week we received a screener for a short film called Acid Pink. The tagline from the filmmaker, Val Vega, stated that her project “uses beauty to trick you into believe you aren’t watching a horror, but nothing is ever what it seems.” Val is no stranger to our genre, having appeared “Vicious Circles” segment of V/H/S/ Viral (review). However, that’s not the type of horror we’re supposedly going to be subjected to in Acid Pink.

Intrigued by her premise, we reached out to Ms. Vega to see if she could fill us in. Our interview spanned a number of elements that went into the creation of her two minute short including: voodoo, fear, loneliness, the dark, and religion.

Acid Pink will be available this weekend to view in full via Vega’s Vimeo page. Let us know what you think below!

The post Exclusive Interview with Acid Pink’s Val Vega appeared first on Dread Central.

More casting news has arrived for Season 2 of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” as THR is reporting that actor-comedian Brett Gelman has joined the cast of the 1980s-set sci-fi drama.

Gelman will play Murray Bauman, a disgraced journalist-turned-conspiracy theorist who is investigating a cold case in Hawkins. He becomes the latest addition to the Season 2 cast of the drama from brothers Matt and Ross Duffer. Gelman joins the previously announced Sean Astin, Paul Reiser, Linnea Berthelsen, Sadie Sink, and Dacre Montgomery.

They join a cast that includes new series regulars Joe Kerry (Steve Harrington) and Noah Schnapp (Will Byers) as well as breakout star Millie Bobby Brown (aka Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan), Cara Buono (Karen), and Matthew Modine as Martin Brenner.

Details about the second season of the breakout hit remain sketchy, but executive producer Shawn Levy previously told THR, “There’s definitely a handful of really compelling new characters this season, but absolutely servicing the core group first and foremost. Like the show itself, it’s multi-generational new characters and really, really intriguing ones.”

For Gelman’s part, his “Stranger Things” casting comes days after he severed ties with his longtime home on Adult Swim (“Brett Gelman’s Dinner in America,” “Eagleheart”).

The post Stranger Things Season 2 Cast Expands; Gets Funny! appeared first on Dread Central.

A bunch of new images are here for Jackson Stewart’s lovable indie-horror 80s throwback flick, Beyond the Gates (review). Check ’em out!

Beyond the Gates opens December 9th in select theaters, on VOD, and via digital platforms from IFC Midnight.

Graham Skipper (Almost Human, The Mind’s Eye), Chase Williamson (John Dies at the End, Sire, The Guest), Brea Grant (Halloween II, “Heroes”), Barbara Crampton (You’re Next, Re-animator), Matt Mercer (Contracted), Justin Welborn (FX’s “Justified”, The Signal, V/H/S/ Viral), Henry LeBlanc (“The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”), Jesse Merlin (FDR: American Badass), David Bruckner (co-director of V/H/S, The Signal), Sara Malakul Lane (Kickboxer: Vengeance, Sunchoke), and Pierson Ryan (“Red Team Go”) star.

Synopsis:
Two estranged brothers reunite seven months after their father’s disappearance to liquidate his anemic video store. While there, they unearth an old VCR board game that acts as an inter-dimensional hub to a nightmare world where their father’s soul is trapped and can only be saved by playing the game.

The film is an adventure horror that pays loving tribute to the VHS format, video stores, and board games of the era.

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