News

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

In October 2024, we’re doing the Midnight Movie Monster Mash with films that challenge our understanding of evil characters and creatures just in time for Halloween.

First, read the spoiler-free Bait: a weird and wonderful pick from any time in film. Then, come back for the Bite: a breakdown of all the spoiler-y bits you’d want to unpack when exiting a theater.

The Bait: “The Cabin in the Woods” Companion You Didn’t Know You Already Had

For years, scary movie fans have been dying for a “Cabin in the Woods” sequel. There are plenty of reasons that could never and should never happen; chief among them that it’s a damn-near perfect film and ends with a planet-destroying apocalypse heralded by none other than Sigourney Weaver.

But Fran Kranz...

Syfy, the channel dedicated to the fiction of science, runs some mind-bending content during prime time. But they shoot short daggers into the brain in the after-hours. Cartoons have taken over the traditional cult movie slot, midnights on Saturday. Tzgz is a late-night block of comedic, animated genre-based programming, made for adults.Syfy’s late-night animation block, Tzgz, is expanding with 3 new series and 2 pilots.

The computer, Hal, on 2001: A Space Odyssey was named after Ibm. Each letter of the villainously nerdy computer’s name is the letter preceding the letter of the giant computer company’s name. Tzgz follows the same tradition, only later. “It Comes After Syfy.”

“What happens when Syfy stays up late? Things. Get. Weird,” Syfy promises in its press statement. “Welcome to Tzgz, where lettuce sings, the undead text, and wizards get high… all before bedtime.”

Syfy launched the 90-minute, late-night adult animation block last fall.

Exclusive: Syfy is expanding the slate of its Tzgz weekly late-night animation block with three series orders and two pilot greenlights.

The network has picked up a second season of Hell Den. Tzgz licensed the first season of the series, but season 2 will be an original, comprised of six 15-minute episodes. It is the same approach Syfy took with the acquired Magical Girl Friendship Squad, which became Tzgz’s first original series after the network in January ordered supersized new episodes to air this summer.

More from Deadline'Battlestar Galactica' & 'Xena: Warrior Princess' April Marathons Set On Syfy'The Magicians' To End With Current Season 5 On Syfy'Day Of The Dead' & 'The Surrealtor' TV Series Ordered By Syfy

Also in January, Tzgz ordered its first internally developed animated pilots, the 15-minute Wild Life and Devil May Care. Wild Life has now been picked up to series. Devil May Care, which remains in consideration,...

Hell Den―a new animated series from Shout! Studios, DrinkTV, and Dr. God―is a six-part series that follows a young boy named Andrew, the fifth horseman of the apocalypse named Kenneth, a mutant cyborg named Bet-c, an alien named Fleek, and a giant in the midst of an apocalypse. Hell Den is now available to stream on DrinkTV.

"DrinkTV, in conjunction with Shout! Studios and Dr. God, is announcing a new show airing exclusively on the streaming platform. Hell Den is an animated series that mixes original animation and re-dubbed cartoons in a deliciously warped and hilarious brew of social satire, musical parody, and good ol’ fashioned absurdist humor. Hell Den is a new take on old cartoons with commentary by an odd group of world-obliterating drinking buddies, one 12-year-old kid, and fun guest voices. Take a shot of Robot Chicken, add a splash of Beavis and Butthead, and...

There’s a crazy and fun sounding new animated series in development that you might want to know about called Hell Den. The series comes from Shout! Studios and Dr. God and is coming to a streaming service called DrinkTV.

The series is described as being a mix of shows that include Robot Chicken, Beavis and Butthead, and and Mystery Science Theater 3000. The series centers around a 12-year-old boy named Andrew who is one of the few left in a post-uber-apocalypse world and Andrew’s house has electricity, a Vcr, and a full liquor cabinet. Because of this, his place becomes home base for a variety of unique characters in this crazy world.

Hell Den mixes original animation and re-dubbed cartoons to create a blend of social satire, musical parody, and absurdist humor. The series will pay homage to classic old cartoon and will feature original commentary. Here’s...

Creatures of the night co-workers and party-crashing mutant wasps invade home media next week with Scream Factory's respective Blu-ray releases of Bloodsucking Bastards and Stung, and we have clips and trailers from both high-definition horror films.

Bloodsucking Bastards Blu-ray: "An action-packed vampire comedy in the vein of Office Space and Shaun of the Dead, Bloodsucking Bastards stars Fran Kranz (Cabin in the Woods) as Evan Sanders, a dutiful and overworked employee stuck at a soul-killing corporation with his beautiful girlfriend, Amanda (Emma Fitzpatrick, Significant Mother), and his slacker best friend Tim (Joey Kern, Beneath). Evan's world begins to crumble when Amanda dumps him and his boss, Ted (Joel Murray, God Bless America), hands his coveted promotion to his nemesis Max (Pedro Pascal, Game of Thrones). But just when Evan's convinced that life couldn't bite any harder, his office mates start going through disturbing changes… and bodies begin to pile up.

A soul-sucking job turns into a life-draining nightmare for a group of co-workers in Bloodsucking Bastards, hitting Blu-ray next Tuesday from Scream Factory. Ahead of the vampiric horror comedy's home media release, we've been provided with three Blu-ray copies to give away to Daily Dead readers.

------------

Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of Bloodsucking Bastards.

How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Bloodsucking Bastards Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on November 5th. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years of age or older that live in the United States. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

------------

Bloodsucking Bastards Blu-ray: "An action-packed vampire comedy in the vein of Office Space and Shaun of the Dead, Bloodsucking Bastards stars Fran Kranz...

You think your 9 to 5 job sucks? Get a load of the crap that Fran Kranz has to deal with in Bloodsucking Bastards, the Slamdance horror comedy from director Brian James O'Connell. Scream Factory Films, a genre theatrical imprint of Shout! Factory announced today that Bloodsucking Bastards will get a limited theatrical release, alongside a VOD release on September 4th! You can watch the trailer below.Bloodsucking Bastards takes audiences on a hilarious, blood-spattered roller coaster ride in the most terrifying locale of all: the American workplace. The film stars Fran Kranz as Evan Sanders, a low-level, dutiful employee stuck in a boring job at a soul-killing every corporation. Evan's the kind of guy who does all the work and gets none of the credit, but...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

If you've been crossing your fingers for Fox to return to New York's supernatural-charged town of Sleepy Hollow, you can relax your hands, exhale, and settle comfortably back into your couch, because Fox has announced their renewal of Sleepy Hollow for an 18-episode third season, with the network also revealing the series' new showrunner (following Mark Goffman's departure earlier this month). Also included in our latest horror round-up is a trailer for the second episode of The CW's iZombie and details on the 10th Annual Texas Frightmare Weekend that will feature special guest Alexandra Breckenridge from The Walking Dead (as well as many other great guests).

Sleepy Hollow Season 3: Press Release - "Veteran Television Producer Clifton Campbell Signs On As Executive Producer and Showrunner

Fox has renewed mystery-adventure series Sleepy Hollow for a third season, it was announced today by David Madden, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company. Television...

The Slamdance Film Festival is bringing its edgy, alternative-to-Sundance indie programming from Park City to Los Angeles. Beginning March 2015, the Slamdance Cinema Club will be hosted at the ArcLight Hollywood followed by a filmmaker Q&A, with high-profile guests and moderators expected to attend. Slamdance 2015 titles will have their first, fresh off the fest premieres here. The first screening will kick-off on March 8 with “The Resurrection of Jake The Snake” from fdirector Steve Yu, and the following night, March 9, the Slamdance Cinema Club will screen “Bloodsucking Bastards” by Brian James O'Connell starring The Cabin in the Woods star Fran Kranz who will bring the Los Angeles-based comedy group Dr. God's humor on the big screen. March 8, 8pm – “The Resurrection of Jake The Snake” The story of professional wrestling legend Jake “The Snake” Roberts as he battles out from the depths of drug addiction, financial disaster, and depression with the...

The 2015 Slamdance Festival opened on Friday night with a splash -- or rather copious amounts of blood -- in Bloodsucking Bastards, a horror comedy directed by Brian James O'Connell and penned by Ryan Mitts and the Dr. God comedy group. The well-attended opening-night party included the cast and crew in attendance, and plenty of complimentary libations for attendees.

Not since the Spierig brothers' 2009 vampire horror movie Daybreakers have I witnessed such a deluge of fake blood, but the action and humor keep the gag reflex at bay in this film that has been aptly described as "Office Space meets Shaun of the Dead," but with vampires instead of zombies.

Fran Kranz stars in Bloodsucking Bastards as Evan, the acting sales manager in a regional office of a big corporation. He is frustrated with his current work situation with his co-worker and ex-girlfriend Amanda (Emma Fitzpatrick), as well as his slacker...

We're heading to the 2015 Sundance Film Festival next week, and we'll have plenty of independent films on our schedule. At the same time, there's also the smaller Slamdance Film Festival, which is chock full of even smaller indie films, some of which have gone on to huge fame (Paranormal Activity launched at Slamdance). And one of the films playing the smaller festival is Bloodsucking Bastards, a horror comedy that is described as Office Space meets Shaun of the Dead with Cabin in the Woods star Fran Kranz fighting off a horde of vampires at work, accompanied by Emma Fitzpatrrick and Joey Kern. And now we have the first trailer for the film, which looks like it could be a fun, bloody little romp. Watch it below! Here's the first trailer for Brian James O'Connell's Bloodsucking Bastards from Fortress Features: Bloodsucking Bastards is directed by Brian James O'Connell and written...