I never thought I’d hear about a massacre happening in a mortuary because, y’know, most of the people there are already dead. Anyway, in director Christopher James Miller’s Mortuary Massacre, Giger the mortician fills us in on how three of the residents of his establishment found themselves there.

Sounds like a throwback to John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper’s classic anthology Body Bags, and who doesn’t love a good throwback, eh?

Mortuary Massacre stars Kyle Morris, Carl Crew, Todd Brown, and Mark McGarrey and hits DVD on March 28. I’m really loving the box art with the slasher villain looking dude wielding a hedge trimmer. I guess chainsaws must have gone out of fashion.

Synopsis:
MORTUARY MASSACRE is a gruesome new horror anthology that centers around Detective Giger’s debriefing of a massive slaughter on Halloween night. The local mortician tells Giger the backstories behind three particular cadavers, and bizarre secrets start to unfold as they investigate.

The mortician reveals the insanity behind a psychopathic apartment manager destined for a kill crazy rampage, a gunslinger resurrected from the grave for blood-soaked revenge, and a homicidal actor who enjoys skinning people alive!

Halloween Massacre is filled with plenty of gore, tongue-in-cheek humor, and practical special effects that will please fans of 80’s slasher flicks.

WARNING: This teaser trailer contains graphic imagery. Viewer discretion is advised.

The post Mortuary Massacre Will Leave Everyone Resting in Pieces appeared first on Dread Central.

We have a total of ten releases for you this week, folks. Almost all of them are classics, ranging back to the 1960s, so let’s just take it chronologically.

Coming up first are DVD re-releases for At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul and This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse. Both of these can also be found in the Coffin Joe Trilogy along with Embodiment Of Evil in our Collections section.

Next up is the 1970s. Also in our Collections section is a double feature containing Blood Mania and Point Of Terror. This Limited Edition Blu-ray covers 1970 and 1971 respectively.

Our last classics represent the 1980s. If you’ve read my articles long enough you know that this is my favorite decade, and it has some good choices this week. The two bigger names are the Poltergeist II: The Other Side and Poltergeist III Collector’s Edition Blu-rays. If you’ve been wondering if God is still in his Holy Temmmmmmple, now’s your chance to find out… in HD!

We’ve also got 1980’s Don’t Answer The Phone!, 1988’s Lair Of The White Worm and rounding the decade out, Randy Quaid in Parents.

Be sure to check back next week as we have at least 15 titles to discuss then, and again on Valentine’s Day when there will be almost 30 releases to talk about. As always, pleasant viewing.

MOVIES

At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (1964)

Starring:

José Mojica Marins, Magda Mei, Nivaldo Lima

Synopsis:

Coffin Joe makes his film debut in At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma), the first installment of the Coffin Joe Trilogy. Coffin Joe (known as Zé do Caixão, and portrayed by director José Mojica Marins) is a mysterious undertaker in a small Brazilian town. He frowns upon religion and is bitter because his wife cannot bear him a child. After violently killing his wife with a venomous spider, the murder, mutilation and blasphemy escalates as Joe stops at nothing to find a new woman to continue his evil bloodline. The town’s gypsy has a warning for Coffin Joe… the spirits of those he killed may return to claim his soul! Will Coffin Joe escape the wrath of the dead and finally get the child he’s always wanted, or will unholy terror claim him for his hideous crimes?

At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul is celebrated as the first true horror film ever made in Brazil and is extremely graphic and frightening for its time. Startling, atmospheric and incredibly gruesome, this film is followed by This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse and Embodiment Of Evil (all available from Synapse Films).

BUY IT NOW!

Don’t Answer the Phone! (1980)

Starring:

Nicholas Worth, James Westmoreland, Flo Lawrence, Ben Frank, Denise Galik

Synopsis:

Vietnam vet Kirk Smith (Nicholas Worth) spends his days photographing pretty girls. He spends his nights strangling them. With the LAPD baffled by what seems to be a series of random killings, radio psychiatrist Lindsay Gale begins receiving menacing calls from Smith, who then sets his murderous sights on her patients, and soon Gale herself…

One time director Robert Hammer’s gripping and suspenseful early slasher, Don’t Answer The Phone!, blends unnerving psychological drama with brutal violence, complimented by a career performance from Nicholas Worth and atmospheric cinematography by James L. Carter (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3).

Vinegar Syndrome presents this genre film masterpiece freshly restored in 4k from its recently discovered 35mm original camera negative, and looking better than it ever has on home video.

BUY IT NOW!

The Lair Of The White Worm (1988)

Starring:

Hugh Grant, Amanda Donohoe, Catherine Oxenberg

Synopsis:

An English nobleman links a skull and a dragon legend to a vampire temptress. Directed by Ken Russell. From Bram Stoker’s novel.

BUY IT NOW!

Parents (1989)

Starring:

Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt

Synopsis:

Middle-class parents introduce their pint-size son to cannibalism in 1950s suburbia.

BUY IT NOW!

Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) (Collector’s Edition)

Starring:

Heather O’Rourke, JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Oliver Robins

Synopsis:

An American Indian helps a broke and homeless family, once again prey to a poltergeist.

BUY IT NOW!

Poltergeist III (1988) (Collector’s Edition)

Starring:

Tom Skerritt, Nancy Allen, Heather O’Rourke, Lara Flynn Boyle

Synopsis:

Destructive demons follow a little girl sent to live with her aunt and uncle in a Chicago high-rise.

BUY IT NOW!

This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse (1967)

Starring:

José Mojica Marins, Tina Wohlers, Antonio Fracari

Synopsis:

This sequel to the ground-breaking Brazilian horror masterpiece, At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul brings back the demented murderous caretaker, Coffin Joe (known as Zé do Caixão, and portrayed by director José Mojica Marins). Surviving the terrors of the first film, Coffin Joe is now joined by a hunchbacked assistant named Bruno to help him on his unholy quest for the perfect bride. After kidnapping and torturing women and submitting them to sadistic trials, Joe thinks he’s finally found the right woman to bear him a child. Unfortunately, things don t go as planned and Joe suffers horrible nightmares from killing a pregnant woman. What follows is a hallucinatory descent into the Hellish underworld as Joe struggles to survive his blasphemous visions and the wrath of the local villagers.

This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse is even more brutal than its predecessor, and contains the controversial color Hell sequence. This film is the second installment in the Coffin Joe Trilogy, and is followed by Embodiment Of Evil (which is also available from Synapse Films).

BUY IT NOW!

Wax Mask (1997)

Starring:

Robert Hossein, Romina Mondello, Riccardo Serventi Longhi, Gabriella Giorgelli, Umberto Balli

Synopsis:

There’s a new attraction in town that’s not for the fainthearted. A wax museum that recreates, for the thrills of a paying audience, some of the most gruesome murders ever committed by human hands.
A young man makes a bet with his friends that he can spend an entire night in the museum but he is found dead the morning after. Who is the savage slayer? The police are unable to come up with a reason or a clue to identify the murderer. Weirdly enough, the museum starts featuring new murder scenes as the killing spree increases. Is the metal-clawed killer that haunted Paris years ago, prowling the streets of Rome, looking for fresh flesh and blood?

BUY IT NOW!

COLLECTIONS

Blood Mania / Point of Terror

Starring:

Maria De Aragon, Leslie Simms, Vicki Peters, Dyanne Thorne, Jacqueline Dalya

Synopsis:

Vinegar Syndrome presents a lurid double dose of 70s sleaze from one of the most enigmatic leading men of the era: Peter Carpenter.

Please note: this first pressing of 3,000 units includes an exclusive bonus DVD featuring rare TV versions of both films!

First, in Robert Vincent O’Neill’s Blood Mania, Carpenter stars as Craig, lover of the unstable Victoria (Maria De Aragon), who’s very keen to see her wealthy father reach an early grave so she can inherit his fortune. Deciding to speed up the process, she concocts a diabolical plan for his demise, only to be met with some unexpected obstacles… Playing like a sex and violence drenched soap opera, Blood Mania is a mind-bending drive-in oddity that keeps you guessing until its final shocking twist.

Then, in Alex Nicol’s Point Of Terror., Carpenter headlines as Tony Trelos, a lounge singer who mysteriously wakes up on Andrea’s (Dyanne Thorne) private beach. The two quickly begin an affair, but things get complicated when Andrea decides to murder her wheelchair bound husband and Tony starts sleeping with Andrea’s pretty stepdaughter… With its Tom Jones inspired musical interludes and DP Robert Maxwell’s Bava-esque lighting scheme, Point Of Terror plays like a candy colored acid trip into the world of vanity themed exploitation.

Vinegar Syndrome proudly brings both of these jaw dropping classics to Blu-ray, newly restored from their original negatives and featuring their much sought after alternative TV versions (exclusive to this first pressing of 3,000 units)!

BUY IT NOW!

The Coffin Joe Trilogy

Starring:

José Mojica Marins, Jece Valadão, Milhem Cortaz

Synopsis:

Unholy undertaker, sinful savant, denizen of dreams and hallucinations… Coffin Joe, with his trademark top hat, black cape and long talon-like fingernails, is a horror legend across the world. Portrayed by prolific Brazilian director José Mojica Marins, Coffin Joe has been immortalized in films, TV programs, comic books and popular songs. Marins has a strangely personal filmmaking style that can only be compared to an unholy blend of Russ Meyer, Mario Bava and Luis Buñuel. Synapse Films is proud to present The Coffin Joe Trilogy, a three film DVD collection containing At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul, This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse and Embodiment Of Evil. This trilogy of films contains the classic story of Coffin Joe’s descent into madness and violence as he murders and tortures men and women in his unholy quest to find the perfect bride.

BUY IT NOW!

The post DVD and Blu-ray Releases: January 31, 2017 appeared first on Dread Central.

Starring Juoko Puolanto, Janne Reinikainen, Minna Suuronen

Directed by Teemu Niukkanen

The opportunity can very well present itself for many of us over the course of our lives: the opportunity arises one day when that “interesting” neighbor moves close to you, and provides you with some seriously entertaining stories to tell. In the new, absolutely hilarious short debuting at Sundance, titled Fucking Bunnies, the nearby residents of a quiet man make their presence known, and just want to live a life of simplistic debauchery and Satanic worship…maybe even join a squash-team.

Raimo (Puolanto) is a quiet guy living in Helsinki, and he enjoys the simple things: hanging out in his apartment, playing a bit of squash, and enjoying down time with his lady (Suuronen). When Maki (Reinikanen), the leader of a Satanic-sex cult moves in down the hall, he comes off as the perfect gentleman, and besides his face-paint and obvious love for the Dark Lord and all he controls…he’s a pretty swell fellow. Courteous, hospitable, and a damn good husband to his 18 wives – hey, nothing like dipping into the variety pack from time to time.

As time goes by, Maki’s lifestyle begins to invade Raimo’s quiet existence, and the question remains, will Raimo cave in and join the unholy alliance that is Maki’s bunny-like minions, or will he resist and face the fires of Hell? – On the other hand, he could just as easily just let things roll off his back and hit the squash courts – in any event, this 17-minute short from Teemu Niukkanen is HEAVY on the subtle humor and sight gags, all adding up to one of the more entertaining short films to roll down the assembly line in quite a while – make sure you give this beauty a gander when it moves into your domicile – I’m giving this one TWO HORNS UP!

The post Fu**ing Bunnies (Short, 2017) appeared first on Dread Central.

Last June at E3 2016, I was introduced to an intriguing new game called Gyre: Maelstrom. It has made it through the Steam Greenlight process, and is heading full steam ahead (no pun intended) for Early Access release. While Gyre: Maelstrom was very much a raw product when I saw it at E3, I couldn’t help but be enamored with it. The reason for this was the brand new narrative engine that the developers were creating. Evodant Interactive has built their own procedurally generating narrative engine from scratch. Dubbed the “Toska Engine,” it was like nothing I had ever heard of before.

Before we get into the Toska Engine, I’d like to first tell you a little bit more about Gyre: Maelstrom. Straight from the Steam Greenlight page, Gyre is, “a steampunk-themed action RPG based on a mechanical post-futuristic dystopia stemming from alt-history events of the mid-1800s. Characters are androids with human consciousness.” So what does that mean practically? Well, you play as an android and all of the other characters you will meet and interact with will also be androids. But on the inside, they’re essentially human. There are three classes of characters you can play, with nine different skill trees you can unlock no matter the class choice. There will also be an intense crafting system that will allow players to upgrade their body parts, equipment, and weapons. If you’d rather not play with weapons, and avoid combat altogether, you can do that too. This is of course thanks to the Toska Engine.

Gyre promises that thanks to Toska, no one’s playthroughs will be the same since the narrative is procedurally generated. The city Gyre takes place in will also evolve depending on players’ choices. That’s no small feat either since the location of Gyre is planned to be about the size of Seoul, Korea. There will be seven distinct districts in the city, all brought alive by eight million NPCs. The Early Access version of the game will only include the industrial sector of the city, but Gyre is aiming for around 140 hours of gameplay in the full release.

Now I’d love to dig deeper into Toska with you. The word the engine is named for is Russian and while it doesn’t have a direct translation to English, it essentially means “beautiful bittersweetness.” With a name like that, and the promises of its creator, Toska certainly has a lot to live up to! It isn’t without experience to back it up though. Toska was created thanks to almost a decade of research into artificial intelligence. The creators at Evodant Interactive have tons of psychology knowledge under their belts as well, which put them in a unique position to create an engine like this.

Toska is a complex system of course, but what it essentially should be in the case of Gyre: Maelstrom, is a dungeon master. Toska will build a character sheet for you based on your choices. It will create test scenarios to observe players and use the results to plan future ones. These observation and execution phases will build up Toska’s confidence. At the start of Gyre there will be 2,000 white-label story points that Toska will use to create players’ opening scenario. These won’t be crucial for long into your gameplay though since Gyre will constantly evolve to make the story for you. In much of a similar fashion, the game’s main villain will essentially be an empty cup in the beginning. Toska will populate the characteristics of the villain as you make your own choices. Best case scenario, your enemy in Gyre will be the moralistic opposite of you, having learned to be who they are by not doing what you do. All the NPCs in the game will have real behaviors as well, since they will have dynamic goals that will change as their world changes.

How in the hell will Toska accomplish all this?! How exactly does one create an AI system that can invent an entire world and make it believable? Generally these kind of AI created stories fall hard into the uncanny valley. Well, the people at Evodant think the solution is simpler than we think. Ryan FitzGerald, lead designer of the team, explained it like this:

“When a grandfather is making up a bedtime story, he doesn’t come at it with the whole plot planned out. He starts with a prince, or princess, or a gallant knight, and starts a journey. The adventure evolves as the child interacts and asks more questions. So the princess climbs a hill and finds a magic pony, and the child asks, “Can the magic pony fly?” So grandpa says yes, and now the princess is on her way to the wizard castle in the clouds. Going into it, there wasn’t a wizard castle until the child asked if the magic pony could fly. It’s the oldest and simplest form of storytelling.”

As we know, computers are inherently mathematical creatures, so the question has become how to break this very simple concept down into a math problem. The answer is lots of value assessments and graphs. Verbs are a good example of this value assessment. Say you want to populate a town to fit a narrative arc. First, you would assign point values to the verbs based on their intensity. A verb like walk would rate somewhere very low, close to 1. Murder on the other hand would rank very high, maybe even a 10. Based on your playstyle, the verbs would have some variance in weight (if you’re playing no combat, the “kill” verb would be much more heavily weighted than normal), but the basic structure of verb weighting is just a matter of mapping out all of the verbs. From there, the system can populate the map with NPCs with variable verb weight given your point on a narrative arc. So at hour 1, you might run into only 1-5 point verbs, and very few 5s. By act 3, you’ll run into 1-10 point verbs, with a much higher weight on the 7-10 category. This is just one example of how Toska will use complex variable equations to create a world tailored to the player. At E3 2016 I was told that even how you walk along the street will change how Gyre plays. Walking right down the middle of the street will give you a different game than walking along the walls of the buildings at the side. Only time will tell if Gyre can live up to these promises, so keep an eye out for it on Steam Early Access.

For now though, I’d like to finally talk a little bit about what the Toska Engine could mean for horror gaming. Obviously a procedurally generated narrative would be incredibly useful in the horror genre, simply for being able to create scares that are curated to you. I look at it this way. When I go to a haunted house, I wear a sweatshirt and keep the hood up the entire time. I’m that sap that doesn’t like when people are breathing on her neck. If somebody taps me on the shoulder and I turn around, that doesn’t scare me nearly as much as it would if they played with my hair first. Therefore if I was playing a horror game that altered itself during play to suit this fear, I’d be scared out of my mind. Back when I played Paranormal Activity VR, I moved very slowly and took my time glancing around corners. With a horror game run by Toska, it would learn how sheepish I am and probably place scares directly around those corners. Something like, “Oh! You figured out where normally placed jump scares would be? Well here’s a surprise one! BOO!” That would be a totally new level of video game for me.

If you’re someone who likes to run in guns a blazing, come what may, maybe Toska would redirect and go for more subtle scares. Or maybe it would ramp up and come up with even crazier ways to terrify you to death that you wouldn’t expect running from room to room like a madman. All in all, a narrative structure like Toska would be perfectly suited to our favorite genre of video games. Not only would I be destroyed mentally by playing a game using it, but I could then hand it to a friend and be equally horrified at whatever scenarios they are given.

Here’s what Ryan said about this very subject:

“I actually started out writing horror short stories. To me, horror is the ultimate narrative space. In Gyre, we can currently tweak things like fog levels or day/night cycles to tailor the mood to the player. That’s just the first step. Think of Lovecraftian horror. It’s all about the psychological, the shadows living in the corners of your mind. It’s about falling down a rabbit hole of insanity. But what if that rabbit hole was built just for you? Where would it take you? To what depths? That’s our goal with the Toska engine. To create an AI that can bring you to the limits of your own personal world.”

One of the biggest drawbacks to modern horror games is the replayability factor. In RPGs like Fallout, you can go back and play them again to discover new side quests you missed before, or to try out new skill trees. With many a horror game you could potentially do the same, but the sense of dread is usually gone. You’ve seen the jump scares, you’ve grown used to the fiends and monsters, the atmosphere is not so spooky anymore. But if you were playing a game where the story was different every time, there’s no telling what horrors would await!

The post Gyre: Maelstrom’s Toska Engine Spells Limitless Future for Horror Gaming appeared first on Dread Central.

With its mid-February release date quickly approaching, the past few days have seen a flurry of activity for the upcoming A Cure for Wellness.  On tap right now we have a new clip and several TV spots courtesy of 20th Century Fox.

Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, and Mia Goth star. The screenplay is by Justin Haythe; story by Justin Haythe and Gore Verbinski, who directed.

Look for A Cure for Wellness in theaters on February 17, 2017.

Synopsis:
An ambitious young executive is sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from an idyllic but mysterious “wellness center” at a remote location in the Swiss Alps. He soon suspects that the spa’s miraculous treatments are not what they seem. When he begins to unravel its terrifying secrets, his sanity is tested, as he finds himself diagnosed with the same curious illness that keeps all the guests here longing for the cure.

The post How Far Would You Go for a Clip from A Cure for Wellness? appeared first on Dread Central.

Just days after the news dropped that actor/director Eduardo Casanova‘s directorial debut, Pieles, would be screening at this year’s Berlin International Festival, the first trailer has dropped; and it’s just as beautifully bizarre and twisted as was to be expected.

Co-produced by Kiko Martínez’ Nadie es perfecto banner and Alex de la Iglesia and Carolina Bang’s Pokeepsie Films, both responsible for 2014/2015 festival fave Shrew’s Nest, Pieles (translation: Skins) has every intention of emphasizing just how much our physical appearance conditions the way we lead our lives. The film’s key players are all physically “different” in society’s eyes, forcing them to either live as recluses or join forces to contend with a world that only knows how to judge books by their covers and dole out insults to those who “dare” to differ.

Starring Carmen Machi, Ana María Polvorosa, Jon Kortajarena, Candela Peña, Macarena Gómez, Secun de la Rosa, Joaquín Climent, Carolina Bang, and Itziar Castro, Pieles will be screen at Berlinale as part of the Panorama strand this February. In the meanwhile, we’ll leave you with the aforementioned trailer together with a couple of Casanova’s most recent shorts, the first of which, Eat My Shit, tells the tale of Samantha (one of Pieles‘ key players) and how she battles with the daily ordeal of a “bottom side up” digestive system.

And a word of warning! The content below is absolutely NSFW so be VERY, VERY careful where you dare to watch it…

The post NSFW – First Trailer for Eduardo Casanova’s Pieles Is Pretty Peculiar in Pink appeared first on Dread Central.

Written & Illustrated by Ray Fawkes, Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque, John Rauch, Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Bill Mudron, Afua Richardson, Genevieve Valentine, David López, Faith Erin Hicks, Cris Peter, Michael Avon Oeming, Taki Soma, Paolo Rivera, Gail Simone, Phil Jimenez, Alonso Nunez, Elmer Santos, Sam Humphries, Damion Scott, Sigmund Torre, Rhianna Pratchett, Jorge Corona, Jen Hickman, Ben Applegate, Ronald Wimberly, Kevin Wada, Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, Babs Tarr, Jiji Knight, Si Spurrier, Kate Brown, Paul Duffield, Dee Cunniffe, Asaf Hanuka and Tomer Hanuka.

Based on Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama

Published by Kodansha Comics

Suitable for ages 16+

I’m sure the ginormous list of “written & illustrated by” authors and artists already gave it away, but the Attack on Titan Anthology was clearly a huge undertaking. Kodansha Comics brought together a bevy of different creators from around the world to create this title. All have their own unique artwork, narrative styles, and perspectives of the Attack on Titan universe. If you’re a fan of the Titans, read on. If you’re new to this whole, “giants took over the world” thing, give this a read as well!

For me, I fall on the side of, “new to this Titan thing in that I’ve only seen a handful of episodes of the anime.” Nevertheless, I greatly enjoyed the Attack on Titan Anthology. Of course it will help if you’ve watched the anime or read the manga. But most of the basics of the series can be picked up as you go along in the Attack on Titan Anthology. There are also always going to be inside jokes that won’t be as apparent or funny if you’re not familiar with the source material. Even knowing this I did still have a great time with it.

One of the biggest bonuses of the Attack on Titan Anthology is that it is in full color. If you mostly read American comic books you’re probably scratching your head as to why I pointed this out. In Japanese manga it’s typical for the first splash page in the volume to be in color, but the rest of the book will be in black and white. So for a subject matter that would normally be in black in white, it was wonderful to see the Attack on Titan universe in full color print. And such colorful sights they were. Like any varying artists, some took advantage of the use of color more than others. One such chapter is “Fee Fie Foh” which used a large palette of contrasting colors. It was a sight to see, and the impact would have been much lessened if the artist/colorist had been forced to work within a black and white constraint.

Besides the color, the Attack on Titan Anthology also features a great many different artistic styles. There was one that resembled the French Art Deco style that utilized the same muted colors and bold lines. Another featured short, four panel strips that mimicked the typical American newspaper comic. Yet another chapter in the Attack on Titan Anthology, called “Attack on DemonCon” had an oversaturated theme and used mostly shades of red. This same story had characters with large eyes and rounded faces. The admission of many different art styles allows the Attack on Titan Anthology to easily hold readers’ interest. I myself ruthlessly kept turning the pages to see how another artist would translate the universe.

Another thing that puts the Attack on Titan Anthology on the map is its great many types of storytelling. One of my personal favorite stories was not really a story at all. Let me explain further. “An Illustrated Guide to the Glorious Walled Cities” reads like a tourist guide or old-timey magazine feature. There are articles, drawings, and illustrations explaining different locales in the world of Attack on Titan. Decorative borders/banners and even advertisements for different products/services make it feel like the real deal. This was an unexpected addition since it was broken up into many different segments, allowing me to discover throughout the entire volume what happened to its fictitious author. Still another chapter in the Attack on Titan Anthology took advantage of a popular comic book phenomena in recent years which is the silent story. In “Good Dog” there are only four actually spoken words in the entire chapter. Even still, it is one of the most memorable, unsettling, and affecting. Without giving anything away, “Good Dog” is about a boy and his faithful hound finding ways to survive in the world of Titans. It’s amazing that such a compelling story can be told without dialogue, and yet here we have one.

Anthologies can be incredibly hit or miss. It’s a delicate line to walk in pleasing old fans and people new to the subject material. Equally important is finding the right creators to bring the right stories to the table. Fortunately the Attack on Titan Anthology found that sweet spot that we crave. I had only seen a few episodes of the Attack on Titan anime series, and I still enjoyed almost all of the chapters held within this anthology. If you are a big fan of the world of Titans, you’ll love this collection even more.

The post Attack on Titan Anthology (Manga Anthology) appeared first on Dread Central.

A trio of new videos from the upcoming Rings hit the Net today courtesy of Paramount Pictures, and we have all three of them right here for your viewing pleasure!

First you watch it. Then you die. Rings arrives on February 3rd.

Matilda Lutz, Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki, Aimee Teegarden, Bonnie Morgan, and Vincent D’Onofrio star. The film is directed by F. Javier Gutierrez.

Synopsis:
A new chapter in the beloved RING horror franchise. A young woman becomes worried about her boyfriend when he explores a dark subculture surrounding a mysterious videotape said to kill the watcher seven days after he has viewed it. She sacrifices herself to save her boyfriend and in doing so makes a horrifying discovery: There is a “movie within the movie” that no one has ever seen before…

The post More Rings Videos to Make You Suffer appeared first on Dread Central.

Word of a new indie project landed in our inbox today, and we’re happy to provide you with more details, the trailer, and a handful of stills from Diane.

From the Press Release:
Independent writer/director Michael Mongillo (The Wind, Welcome to Earth, Being Michael Madsen) has wrapped production on the supernatural thriller DIANE, a tale of extreme obsession and drastic consequences. In the vein of the stark terror of The Ring, DIANE is an atmospheric tale of a war veteran (Jason Alan Smith; Before I Wake) haunted by a woman (Carlee Avers; “Veronica Mars”) whose body he finds in his backyard.

“I wanted Diane to be chilling and emotionally powerful,” says filmmaker Mongillo. “The film has a social relevance and also gets under the skin of audiences to impart a haunting, lingering effect.”

“Diane is my favorite of the films I’ve directed,” says Mongillo. “With Diane I achieved what I set out to do with the fewest compromises yet. I’m confident that moviegoers will find Diane an emotionally honest and intellectually satisfying movie. I am so proud of the work of my long-time collaborators, especially star and executive producer Jason Alan Smith, who delivers a gut-wrenching performance.”

Mongillo says the critical essays of Roland Barthes, the video art of Bill Viola, and the illustrations of Edward Gorey were all influences on DIANE. Its cinematic inspirations include Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Gus Van Sant’s crime and punishment road movie Drugstore Cowboy, and Brian De Palma’s stylized suspense/thriller Blow Out. Placing his fourth feature in literary terms, Mongillo describes DIANE as “Stephen King meets Elmore Leonard.”

As he begins submitting DIANE to international film festivals and prospective distributors, Mongillo says, “I am looking forward to audiences all over the world discovering Diane. My goal, in addition to directing something entertaining and deeply unsettling, was to create an honest work about the human condition. Horror has always served as a backdrop to telling character-driven stories and all the best ghost stories are actually tales of atonement, and that’s Diane in a nutshell.”

Synopsis:
Afghanistan War veteran Steve’s lasting injuries and regrets plunge him into a daily soulless routine until the body of a beautiful singer, Diane, is discovered in his backyard. Steve takes a photo of her corpse with his cellphone before reporting the murder and becomes obsessed with the dead woman’s image. Now a prime suspect, Steve is scrutinized by the police, hassled by Diane’s widower, and attacked by self-righteous neighbors. Before long the malevolent ghost of Diane weaves a dark spell in Steve’s psyche that leads to strange and startling revelations.

The post Trailer, Stills, and More Info on Noir Ghost Story Diane appeared first on Dread Central.

Activision and Infinity Ward today debuted the gameplay trailer for ‘Rave in the Redwoods,’ the undead survival co-op mode featured in the upcoming first DLC Map Pack for Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare, Sabotage.

Rave in the Redwoods continues the macabre narrative of the Infinite Warfare zombies experience, taking fans through a new storyline where they’ll fight as one of four classic ‘90s characters and battle new varieties of the living dead in an abandoned lakeside summer camp full of twists and turns.

We recently sat down with Scott Carpenter, Lead Multiplayer Designer and Lee Ross, Associate Project Director, Zombies to get the skinny on the latest Sabotage DLC which is AVAILABLE NOW.

Dread Central: You’ve got some pretty cool new maps in the Sabotage DLC. When designing a new map, what are the key factors and ingredients that you take into account, and how do you combine them into something unique?  
  
Scott Carpenter, Lead Multiplayer Designer: The first step we take whenever starting any new map is to look back a bit. In Sabotage’s case, we looked at community feedback for the base maps in Infinite Warfare and what was working and what could be improved. A designer generally has a core goal in mind when starting out a new map. In Neon, for example, the desire was to elongate the engagements a bit and play with how advanced movement works in that situation. From there it’s just hard work and iteration. We play the early version of the maps several times a week, tweaking things along the way based on feedback from the team.

During the iteration process, map theme and art style is brainstormed. Most of the time, there is a core idea for a theme for a map and the map is designed with this theme in mind. Concept artists do their thing and take vague ideas and images and bring it to the next level. The Infinite Warfare universe has expanded our traditional battleground theaters, so we have a lot of new genre settings to mine, but we also need to weigh that with making settings both relatable and memorable.

DC: Unlike many recent AAA shooters, Call of Duty has always retained a single-player story component, and you’re adding an all new story to this DLC in the form of the chilling horror adventure Rave in the Redwoods. Do you think that it’s important for the COD franchise to always offer a strong single-player narrative-driven experience in addition to its multiplayer?
 
Lee Ross, Associate Project Director, Zombies: I think COD is a magnificent offering considering you get three games in one.  The scope of all three modes now have grown to exploding proportions and I believe strongly that fans have come to expect this from the franchise. The beauty of it is that each mode offers a completely differing experience from the next and that allows us to engage a much wider audience than say if we were just a single player experience. So, in short, yes we need strong single player narrative but we also need an engaging multiplayer and a solid cooperative experience as well.

DC: Can you describe how you came up with the idea for Rave in the Redwoods and how it went from idea to reality?  
 
Lee Ross: Bringing any of these experiences to life is always a challenge because this incredible team I have the privilege of working with has a ton of amazing ideas. Narrowing down those ideas and funneling them into a cohesive experience is where we shine. We continually challenge ourselves to bring the best experience we can with all the knowledge we’ve garnered working on cooperative games we feel like we’ve got something very special in what we’ve released and what we’ve yet to release.   

DC: RITR also looks like it couldn’t be more different from Zombies in Spaceland. Did manage to differentiate RITR from the core Call of Duty experience without alienating fans too much?
  
Lee Ross: The team at large wanted to make a strong departure from what we did in Zombies in Spaceland both from a visual standpoint but also from a gameplay perspective. In our first Zombies endeavor we wanted to make things a little friendlier. Hence the bright lights, wide open spaces and lots of goodies to turn the zombies into mush.

Consider Zombies in Spaceland our training simulator for Rave in the Redwoods. What players can expect in Rave in the Redwoods is the same good time but with a stronger horror push and a much more aggressively designed play space. We want players to feel a bit more uncomfortable in this map and to help bring the fear factor of hanging out in a location with these horrible monsters to life. Personally, I’d NEVER want to spend the night there. Spaceland, I think I could deal with but on second thought maybe not. LOL. 

DC: Since zombies first appeared in World at War back in 2008, they’ve become such a staple of the Call of Duty series that it almost wouldn’t be the same without them. What do you think makes their addition so endearing? And do you think that zombies and COD are now inseparable. 

Lee Ross: I touched on this a little but I believe this experience is a requirement for the franchise at this point. Being able to play a cooperative game with family or friends can lead to some really great gaming moments. Not everyone is a story driven player and not everyone likes competitive gameplay. In our package, we offer something for everyone and that cooperative experience helps us satisfy that player that just wants to go to town with a buddy. And of course, if co-op is not your cup of tea, Infinite Warfare has you covered on the other fronts too.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Sabotage DLC Map Pack is available as a standalone pack or via the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Season Pass. The Season Pass can be purchased on its own or obtained as part of the Legacy Pro or Digital Deluxe editions of the game. Season Pass gives discounted access to all four Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare DLC Map Packs released during 2017 (discount based on a Season Pass suggested retail price of $49.99, and four individual DLC Map Packs at a suggested retail price of $15 each). Season Pass owners will also receive 10 Rare Supply Drops upon purchase plus 1,000 bonus Salvage Credits to craft new prototype weapons.

For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com. Fans can also follow @CallofDuty on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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While some people have been fretting about Rihanna being cast as Marion Crane for the fifth and final season of “Bates Motel,” we’re keeping the faith.  Series creators Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin haven’t let us down yet, and we don’t expect that to change.

Still not quite on board? Then check out this first look video of Rihanna as Marion.

About “Bates Motel” Season 5:
The haunting fifth and final season of the critically acclaimed drama “Bates Motel,” from writers and executive producers Kerry Ehrin (“Friday Night Lights,” “Parenthood”) and Carlton Cuse (“Lost, “The Strain”), will premiere on Monday, February 20, at 10PM ET/PT on A&E. Fan favorite and Emmy-nominated actress Vera Farmiga returns for double duty as executive producer while also reprising her role as “Mother,” who is very much alive and well, but only in the twisted, complicated mind of “Norman Bates,” played by Freddie Highmore. In addition, eight-time Grammy Award winner and series super fan Rihanna checks in to play the role of “Marion Crane,” putting a newly reimagined and contemporary spin on the iconic character.

This contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film Psycho has provided fans with an intimate look into the unraveling of Norman Bates’ psyche throughout his teenage years. Fans watched as Norman’s dangerous transformation came full circle when he methodically murdered his beloved mother, Norma, in the final gut-wrenching episodes of Season Four.

Season Five of “Bates Motel” picks up almost two years later and finds Norman (Freddie Highmore), a grown man now, living a double life. Publicly he’s a happy and well-adjusted member of the White Pine Bay community, but at home Norman struggles; his violent blackouts continue to increase as Mother (Vera Farmiga) threatens to take over his mind completely. Meanwhile, Dylan Massett (Max Thierot) and Emma Decody (Olivia Cooke), since leaving White Pine Bay, have been living their lives blissfully unaware of Norma’s death and Norman’s full on descent into psychosis. Unfortunately for them, they will soon find themselves drawn back into Norman’s insanity, while a vengeful Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell), who is currently incarcerated for perjury, hungers for a chance to destroy his stepson and avenge the murder of his one true love, Norma Bates.

New faces find their way to the Bates Motel this season to further complicate Norman’s life and threaten to unearth his dark secrets. Viewers will finally meet the iconic Marion Crane, played by Rihanna. In addition, a new couple in town, Madeleine Loomis, played by Isabelle McNally (“House of Cards”), and her husband, Sam Loomis, played by Austin Nichols (“The Walking Dead,” “Ray Donovan”), as well as Sheriff Dana Greene, played by Brooke Smith (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Ray Donovan”), become entangled in Norman’s life, causing a chain of events that could blow the lid off his secret life. Lastly, fans will be greeted by familiar faces when Caleb Calhoun (Kenny Johnson) and Chick Hogan (Ryan Hurst) return with agendas of their own.

“Bates Motel” is produced by Universal Television for A&E Network. Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers for Cuse Productions and Kerry Ehrin Productions. Tucker Gates, Vera Farmiga, and Tom Szentgyorgyi also serve as executive producers on the series.

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When you think of James Franco, the word “spooky” is least likely to come to mind. Unless of course you count that time he hosted the Oscars, but we’re reasonably certain that was a pod person.

In any event, we have your first word on his new flick, The Institute.

From the Press Release:
Momentum Pictures announced today that THE INSTITUTE will be released on March 3, 2017, in theaters and on VOD. THE INSTITUTE is the third collaboration between co-directors James Franco and Pamela Romanowsky. Produced by James Franco, Vince Jolivette, Jay Davis, Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, and Scott Reed, the film is a production of Rabbit Bandini Productions.

Set in 19th century Baltimore, THE INSTITUTE tells the story of Isabel Porter (Allie Gallerani), who, stricken with grief from her parents’ untimely death, voluntarily checks herself into the Rosewood Institute. Subjected to bizarre and increasingly violent pseudo-scientific experiments in personality modification, brainwashing, and mind control, she must escape the clutches of Rosewood and exact her revenge, or else be forever lost.

In addition to Gallerani, the film stars Franco, Joe Pease, Scott Haze, Lori Singer, Tim Blake Nelson, and Josh Duhamel. Franco previously starred in the Pamela Romanowsky-helmed THE ADDERALL DIARIES after they were classmates at New York University’s film school, as well as a short film directed by her entitled TAR. In addition to holding her MFA in directing from NYU, Romanosky is an alumna of The Sundance Institute’s Screenwriting, Directing, and Composition & Sound labs and the Creative Producing Summit, and she is also a current fellow with Sundance’s Female Filmmaker Initiative.

“I like to find people who I can collaborate with where we can balance out our own experiences, be it behind the camera, in front, or in a world outside of filmmaking where we can bring academia and real events into frame,” says Franco. “I’ve been fortunate to work with Pamela on various projects over the years and felt a great relief leaving this story in her hands.”

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It’s trailer time, kids! Get ready for another look at Osgood Perkins’ hotly anticipated feature debut, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, which is exclusively headed to DirecTV on February 16th. A theatrical run will follow on March 31st. For now, though… eye candy!

The film stars Emma Roberts (“American Horror Story”) and Kiernan Shipka (“Mad Men,” Carriers) with Lucy Boynton (Miss Porter), James Remar (“Dexter”), and Lauren Holly (Dumb and Dumber).

The Blackcoat’s Daughter is produced by Unbroken Pictures’ Adrienne Biddle and Bryan Bertino (The Strangers), Rob Paris’ Paris Film, Inc. (Everly), Zed Filmworks’ Rob Menzies, and Alphonse Ghossein of Go Insane Films. Carissa Buffel and Kevin Matusow are executive producing under their Traveling Picture Show (The Quiet Ones) banner along with 120dB Films’ Peter Graham and Steve Hayes as well as Arianne Fraser.

Synopsis:
A deeply atmospheric and terrifying new horror film, The Blackcoat’s Daughter centers on Kat (Shipka) and Rose (Boynton), two girls who are left alone at their prep school Bramford over winter break when their parents mysteriously fail to pick them up. While the girls experience increasingly strange and creepy occurrences at the isolated school, we cross cut to another story—that of Joan (Roberts), a troubled young woman on the road, who, for unknown reasons, is determined to get to Bramford as fast as she can.

As Joan gets closer to the school, Kat becomes plagued by progressively intense and horrifying visions, with Rose doing her best to help her new friend as she slips further and further into the grasp of an unseen evil force. The movie suspensefully builds to the moment when the two stories will finally intersect, setting the stage for a shocking and unforgettable climax.

The post Devilish New The Blackcoat’s Daughter Trailer appeared first on Dread Central.

Hot on the heels of this morning’s round of Rings videos comes a new experience entirely… one in which Samara haunts you in a full 360°. Check it out!

First you watch it. Then you die. Rings arrives on February 3rd.

Matilda Lutz, Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki, Aimee Teegarden, Bonnie Morgan, and Vincent D’Onofrio star. The film is directed by F. Javier Gutierrez.

Synopsis:
A new chapter in the beloved RING horror franchise. A young woman becomes worried about her boyfriend when he explores a dark subculture surrounding a mysterious videotape said to kill the watcher seven days after he has viewed it. She sacrifices herself to save her boyfriend and in doing so makes a horrifying discovery: There is a “movie within the movie” that no one has ever seen before…

The post Experience Rings in 360° appeared first on Dread Central.

Claustrophobic survival thriller The Chamber is heading to UK cinemas on 10th March with the film’s DVD, Blu-ray, and digital download release following a few days later on 20th March, which means it’s finally time for a trailer!

Check out the new eye candy below courtesy of StudioCanal.

The Chamber is the first feature film from director Ben Parker and is produced by Jen Handorf, Paul Higgins, and executive producer Hugh Spearing.

Shot in Wales, The Chamber stars Johannes Bah Kuhnke (Force Majeure) and Charlotte Salt (The Muskateers) as the pilot and leader of a crew who must fight for their lives and against each other. James McArdle (The James Plays) and Elliot Levey co-star. The film includes a haunting, atmospheric score by James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers (in his first work for film), which adds to the claustrophobic tension.

Synopsis:
A Special Ops unit commandeers a commercial research vessel and its submersible to locate a mysterious item at the bottom of the Yellow Sea. When an explosion causes the sub to overturn and take on water, the crew members begin to understand that not all of them will escape, and a fight for survival ensues.

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On tap for those of you who like your supernatural tales with a hefty dose of spooky are the new trailer and artwork for Alastair Orr’s From a House on Willow Street (review).

The flick stars You’re Next!‘s Sharni Vinson, Carlyn Burchell, Gustav Gerdener, Zino Ventura, and Steven John Ward. From a House on Willow Street will be available on Australian Blu-ray in May 2017. No word on a Stateside release yet.

Synopsis:
After a young woman is kidnapped, her captors soon come to realize that in fact they may be the ones in danger and this young woman has a dark secret inside her.

The post Evil Has a View From a House on Willow Street appeared first on Dread Central.

There’s no denying the effect Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity had on the horror genre and indie filmmaking as a whole. One of the reasons the movie was so believable was its stars, Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat. Their chemistry is undeniable, and it remains palpable to this very day.

It’s a shame that Paramount decided to release each entry in the franchise on extremely bare bones discs. It’s also a shame that Paramount decided to end the franchise on the weakest note imaginable with The Ghost Dimension, but don’t even get me started on that.

Thankfully, Oren Peli has taken to his YouTube channel to share a couple of golden extra tidbits for fans of the film… specifically Featherston and Sloat’s audition tapes. Check them out below.

The post Horror History: Paranormal Activity – See Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat’s Audition Tapes appeared first on Dread Central.

Shelly be praised! A quick update is coming in for the new Friday the 13th flick as our friends over at FridayThe13thFranchise are reporting that an FX company has been hired to fashion Big J’s iconic hockey mask, the look of which may be based on Friday the 13th Part III. Queue the dance music, baby!

According to the site: “Legacy Effects has been hired to create the hockey masks and props for the film! They may also be involved in creating special effects for the new Friday The 13th as well.” Platinum Dunes last worked with the FX company most recently on their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films. The site adds: “Legacy has been tasked with creating a hockey mask that more closely resembles the original design from Friday The 13th Part 3.”

The film will be shooting from March 19 to May 4, 2017, under the title Friday the 13th Part 13, but we’re thinking that’s just a temporary moniker. The Crazies director Breck Eisner is at the helm and working from a script by Prisoners‘ Aaron Guzikowski.

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Nah, just kidding. Though the way things are going nowadays, you never know! What we’re talking about here is a new movie filled with pesky aliens looking to probe our asses into the netherworld.

According to Deadline, Michael Peña has been set to star in sci-fi thriller Extinction for Good Universe and Mandeville Films.

Ben Young, the helmer behind the gut-wrenchingly suspenseful tale Hounds of Love, will direct the title from a script by Spenser Cohen, Brad Caleb Kane, and Arrival scribe Eric Heisserer. Good Universe will launch the title to international buyers at the Berlin Film Festival next month.

The story follows a man who has a recurring dream of losing his family. His nightmare turns into a reality when the planet is invaded by a force bent on brutality and destruction. Fighting for their lives, he comes to realize an unknown strength to keep his family safe from harm.

Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman of Mandeville will produce. Alexander Young of Mandeville will executive produce alongside Nathan Kahane and Joe Drake of Good Universe. Erin Westerman will oversee for the company. Cohen’s producing partner, Anna Halberg, will serve as co-producer.

More as we get it!

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Developed by Red Candle Games

Published by Coconut Island Games

Available on PC, iOS, and Linux through Steam

Suitable for ages 15+

This might bewilder some of you in the older crowd, but in recent years the horror market has been co-opted by the indie intellectual crowd. Yes, the genre that was built on the backs of slashers like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, and Halloween would now be considered by some as “derivative.” Guilty pleasures have become something they want you to feel genuinely guilty about. Mind you, I’m only talking about the gaming scene. It spills over a bit into film (I’m looking at you clamshell phone in It Follows), but at least movies still gleefully embrace ax murdering without shoving in a child molestation backstory.

I’m not trying to come off like some Luddite afraid of intellectual exploration. What I’m saying is that games are supposed to be fun. There’s a whole school of thought that games should just be stories. I can’t get on board with that, but not because I don’t like stories. There are loads of game stories that I like! Heck, I recently gave Batman: The Telltale Series a great score, and that’s almost entirely story stuffs. But what makes games different from things like books or movies is that whole game part. So many “interactive narratives” forget this.

From my preamble, you can probably guess what I’m going to say about Detention. Developed by Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games, Detention tells a heartbreaking story of a tortured soul trapped in the wake of 1960s anti-communist martial law. The history of Taiwan is fascinating and deep, rarely explored in western intellectual markets. I myself had no idea about the history of Taiwan until a bout of insomnia kept me up until 4 a.m. researching a joke popular in Berkeley, “Is Taiwan a part of China, or China a part of Taiwan?” For the 99% of you scratching your head, go ahead and Google it. Welcome to the rabbit hole.

Very brief recap, lots of this happened.

Detention focuses on a single life nestled in the period now known as the “White Terror.” Ray, a senior at Greenwood High School, finds herself trapped in the school after hours due to a pesky river of blood knocking out the bridge home. Things get supernatural fast. As she ventures further into the school, things get more spooky and surreal as she reveals harsh realities of her past that she must come to accept.

Ugh, don’t you hate it when this happens?

I’m being intentionally vague, since there isn’t much to Detention more than the story. This game is a solid step above walking simulators, as there are a number of puzzles that will require you to think to solve. The game gives you plenty of clues, so I can’t imagine you getting stuck. But it only keeps you somewhat engaged. There are a few enemies in the game, but all can be easily avoided by holding your breath with right click on your mouse. Around the halfway point Detention abandons the enemies completely, so it boils down to nothing more than timing puzzles.

Nothing I love more than holding right click to not die

At this point in the review, you should know whether or not Detention might be up your alley. I always feel like a prick for trashing what’s essentially a short story for not having fun gameplay, but shockingly some people expect their games to be games. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be entertained when you sit down to game. Some people have depressing enough lives, they don’t want to sit through a Taiwanese girl’s tale of self discovery in their down time.

For those of you still with me that like these kinds of narrative games, you’ll probably enjoy Detention for its unflinching look into another culture. It’s a period of time you’ve probably never heard of, but Ray’s struggles aren’t that different from our own. She wants to find herself, escape home, find love and purpose, be treated like a woman, etc. Looking through this basic human lense, this foreign culture doesn’t seem so different. You might have never heard of burning spirit money, but we’ve all had a relative that chooses silent suffering over seeking help.

Enough visual metaphor to write a whole forum post over!

While I enjoyed Detention’s story, I just felt like I was jumping through hoops. The puzzles are tackled in an entirely linear order, significantly decreasing the importance of exploration. The early puzzles are basically relay races, with only a few of the later ones being actual brain twisters. If the game completely deleted the enemies of the first half and replaced them with the puzzles of the second, this would be a far better game. Similarly, if they focused more on the enemies, providing more numerous and challenging scenarios, the game also would have been much better. Unfortunately, it just feels like a combo of half measures that make the act of unpacking the story a chore.

So by now, you really should know whether or not you want Detention. There are a few adoring reviews out there saying that the game is a triumph of storytelling, but that’s all hyperbole. I guessed some of the serious plot points about 10 minutes in. It’s certainly a good story, made way more interesting in the context of an underexplored historical period. Other than that, it’s an entirely average game. There are far more terrifying games and intriguing narratives out there. If this is your genre, you’ll really like it. If not, you won’t get past the first level.

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