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It’s too late for prayers, because Alice, Sweet Alice is coming to 4K Ultra HD on February 11 via Arrow Video.

The 1976 proto-slasher has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative with original lossless mono audio.

Three versions of the film are included via seamless branching: the theatrical cut of Alice, Sweet Alice, the original title Communion, and the re-release as Holy Terror.

Alfred Sole directs from a script he co-wrote with Rosemary Ritvo.

Alice, Sweet Alice stars Linda Miller, Mildred Clinton, Paula Sheppard, Niles McMaster, and Brooke Shields in her film debut.

Special Features include:

Audio commentary with Richard Harland Smith (new) Audio commentary with co-writer/director Alfred Sole and editor M. Edward Salier First Communion – Interview with director Alfred Sole Alice on My Mind – Interview with composer Stephen Lawrence (new) In the Name of the Father –Interview with actor Niles McMaster (new) Sweet Memories – Interview with filmmaker Dante Tomaselli,...

Deaddash: "Like many struggling actors in Hollywood, Sean makes ends meet by spending his nights driving for a popular food delivery app. After receiving a phone call from his roommate, Sean decides to end his night with one final delivery from a local burger joint, where he is informed by the creepy, but seemingly harmless cashier that his customer has requested he drop the food off inside the house. Brushing this ominous exchange off, Sean arrives at the customer’s house in the Hollywood Hills, where he quickly realizes he’s stumbled right into a trap, and that this delivery may very well be his last."

Crew: Writer/Director - Devan Schoelen Director of Photography - Federico La TonaEditor - Justin JonesComposer - Dan R. HowardSound Design - Oliver Boon and Kofi Baffour

Cast: Devan Schoelen, Maria Olsen, Stef Beaton

Screening Details: After a fantastic festival run, DeadDash will premiere online on Friday,...

Just ahead of Halloween, a horror-centric Fast channel is set to make its debut in the United States.

Scream TV, owned by Nyx Media Corp., will debut via the Distro TV app on Oct. 13 and be available to stream via Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, as well as on mobile platforms. Nyx, which is based in Edmonton, Alberta, also operates Fast channels in Canada and the U.K.

“We are so excited to launch Scream TV and bring our unique horror entertainment experience to the fans across North America for free,” Nyx Media Corp. CEO Corinne Ferguson said in a statement. “One of our passions as horror fans is to painstakingly craft a journey through the horror genre worthy of the viewer’s time every night and 24/7. Our programming is done with the utmost respect towards our viewer’s time — which we feel is one of the most precious...

“God took her from me on the day of her first communion, don’t you see? He waited until then to teach me that children pay for the sins of their parents.”

Is there anything quite so devastating as the concept of original sin? The idea that we’re damned at conception before we’ve had a chance to take our first breath? What will it take to find salvation and how much will we have to pay for the actions of those who came before us? It’s a particularly painful topic for women. With Eve’s first bite of the apple weighing heavily against us and men holding all the levers of power, the path to righteousness can feel like a minefield. Some women will kill to escape these oppressive gender-based norms while others double down and kill to make sure they stay in place. The Lady Killers...

New horror movies are headed to Shudder next month, including horror anthology Satanic Hispanics and tense Australian horror movie You’ll Never Find Me. And that doesn’t even touch on the repertory additions, including rare ’90s gem Ghostwatch.

Look for Satanic Hispanics to arrive on Shudder on March 8. The horror movie assembles five tales of terror from Mike Mendez (Big Ass Spider), Alejandro Brugués (Juan of the Dead), Gigi Saul Guerrero (Culture Shock), Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project), and Demian Rugna (When Evil Lurks, Terrified) unite in the first all-Latino horror anthology.

An isolated man living at the back of a desolate caravan park is visited by a desperate young woman seeking shelter from a violent storm in You’ll Never Find Me. As the savage storm worsens, these solitary souls begin to feel threatened – but who should really be afraid? Find out on March 22.

Shudder Original Special The Last...

Indonesian genre kingpin Joko Anwar continues his run of hits with “Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion,” a juicy if slightly overstuffed sequel to his 2017 supernatural horror hit “Satan’s Slaves.” Set in a brutalist concrete apartment block that looks like hell on Earth even before ghouls and zombies start terrorizing the first film’s surviving family members, “Communion” serves up suspense, scares and gallows humor with considerable style. This handsomely mounted widescreen chiller is sure to lure plenty of eyeballs to streaming platform Shudder when unleashed in territories including North America and the U.K. on November 4.

Having enjoyed commercial and critical success for most of the nine features he’s directed since debuting with the delightful romantic comedy “Joni’s Promise” in 2005, Anwar’s stock has never been higher. “Communion” attracted 6.3 million local theatrical admissions in August, making it the third-highest-grossing Indonesian film of all time. “Satan’s Slaves...

Stars: Egy Fedly, Tara Basro, Endy Arfian, Nasar Anuz, Bront Palarae, Ratu Felisha, Muzakki Ramdhan | Written and Directed by Joko Anwar

Satan’s Slaves: Communion, or Pengabdi Setan 2: Communion if you prefer, is the newest film from Indonesian writer/director Joko Anwar, It’s no secret I’m a fan of his work and with it being three years since his last film, Impetigore, I was quite ready to see his sequel to the film that brought him international attention, Satan’s Slaves.

The film opens in 1955 with Budiman, the journalist from the first film, being brought to a local observatory where several corpses are arranged as if they were at prayer. There are lots of footprints leading from the cemetery to the building, and the corpses all have muddy feet. The government wants to cover it up but one local official asks him to get the word out.

Halloween may be in the rearview, but the holiday spirit remains alive and well, judging by the continued onslaught of horror releases. It’s another horror feast this month!

November brings a plethora of new releases, gory cult gems, family-friendly offerings, and brand-new titles on streaming.

Here are ten noteworthy horror titles available for streaming in November 2022 on some of the most popular streaming services, along with when/where you can watch them.

Deep Fear – Screambox (November 1)

The claustrophobic element of subterranean horror always compounds the frantic terror, so expect things to get intense. A post-graduation celebration turns into a fight for survival in the catacombs of Paris in Deep Fear. Three students celebrate their graduation by visiting the Paris catacombs. When they discover a bunker formerly occupied by the Nazis, little do they know it’s not the only thing left behind. Something, someone, is now hunting them. Grégory Beghin...

Shout! Factory is celebrating Halloween months early with the launch of its new horror-themed streaming channel Scream Factory TV, set to bow this spring.

Based on Shout! Factory’s “Scream Factory” brand, and following the recent launch of the company’s Shout! Factory TV service, Scream Factory TV will offer horror films, thrillers and science-fiction films, with a particular focus on cult classics. The titles will be available both on demand and as a 24/7 stream of the films.

The channel will launch this April with an initial slate of 30 titles. Notables films include “Black Christmas,” “Dark Star,” “Sleepaway Camp” and “The Last Man on Earth.” In addition, two George Romero films, “Night of the Living Dead” and “Day of the Dead,” will stream on the service. Scream Factory TV will be available online and as a separate vertical on the Shout! Factory TV apps, which can be found on Amazon Fire TV,...

Elden Ring players love to find new stat, weapon, and spell combinations that result in new character builds that often break the game. In fact, one of the open-world RPG’s newest meta fads lets users demolish player-controlled opponents with minimal effort thanks to the power of the “Madness” status effect.

Madness is arguably one of the most debilitating debuffs in Elden Ring. When triggered, it takes a significant chunk out of a player’s health and Fp, momentarily stuns them, and temporarily prevents them from casting any spells. Like every other status effect, Madness has to slowly fill a meter before it actually affects its victim, but players have discovered a deviously simple combination of stats and items that allows the Madness effect to proc instantly (or almost instantly). Interestingly, if it weren’t for Patch 1.03, which fixed Arcane scaling and turned weapons like Rivers of Blood into overpowered nightmares,...

Stars: Guy Coombes, Steve Guttenberg, Clark Gable III, Toyah Wilcox, Nicholas Vince, Madison Clare, Louis Selwyn, Stephanie Leigh Rose, Natasha Starkey, Helena Antonio | Written by Airell Anthony Hayles | Directed by Martyn Pick

Airell Anthony Hayles, who penned and co-directed They’re Outside, is back in the writers chair again with Heckle – a film which channels Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy by way of 80s slasher movie; an odd combination on paper but one that on-screen works remarkably well.

Opening with the death of comic Ray Kelly (a cameoing Steve Guttenberg), shown in the opener and throughout flashbacks to be a total unlikeable bastard, Heckle tells the story of another unlikeable bastard and stand-up comic, Joe Johnson, who’s at the top of his stand-up comic game, so much so that he’s tapped to play Ray Kelly in a movie of his life… and death.

After a strange encounter at a show,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSCarla Simón’s Alcarrás (Courtesy of MK2 Films)This year's Berlinale has now concluded, with Carla Simón’s Alcarrás taking home the Golden Bear, and Hong Sang-soo, Claire Denis and Natalia Lopez Gallardo taking home prizes as well. Check out the full list of awards winners here.Horror filmmaker and production designer Alfred Sole has died at the age of 78. Sole famously directed the cult horror classic Alice, Sweet Alice (1976). However, he first gained notoriety with his X-rated film Deep Sleep (1972), which was pulled from theaters. Sole continued as a prolific production designer for many television films and shows like Veronica Mars and Melrose Place. Netflix has officially signed an updated windowing agreement with France's film industry, which will "see the window between theatrical and SVOD release significantly reduced" from 36 months to 15 months. And as Deadline points out,...

An early proto-slasher horror movie, 1976’s Alice, Sweet Alice was written & directed by Alfred Sole, and we’ve learned the sad news this week that the filmmaker has passed away. Alice, Sweet Alice notably marked the feature debut of a young Brooke Shields, and it was Alfred Sole’s second feature as director. In Alice, Sweet […]

The post ‘Alice, Sweet Alice’ Director Alfred Sole Has Passed Away at 78 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Alfred Sole, the prolific television production designer of Veronica Mars, Castle and MacGyver who had achieved cult-horror status with his 1976 film Alice, Sweet Alice featuring a 10-year-old Brooke Shields in a supporting role, died Feb. 14 at his home in Salt Lake City. He was 78.

His death was announced in a Facebook post by his cousin, filmmaker Dante Tomaselli. A cause of death was not specified.

Sole had already written and directed the 1972 sexually explicit, low-budget film Deep Sleep when several years later – and after the first film had been pulled from theaters on charges of obscenity – he turned to the horror genre. Originally titled Communion, Sole’s second movie premiered at the Chicago Film Festival in 1976 and was released by Allied Artists the following year as Alice, Sweet Alice, a name change disliked by Sole.

Inspired in part by Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 moody thriller Don’t Look Now, Sole’s Alice,...

Stephen J. Lawrence, a musical talent whose credits included 1972’s “Free to Be… You and Me” and a prolific run on “Sesame Street,” died on Thursday at Clara Maas Medical Center in Belleville, New Jersey. He was 82 years old.

His death was confirmed to Variety by his wife Cantor Cathy Lawrence.

Born on Sept. 5, 1939, Lawrence achieved a body of work as a musician that spanned over five decades. He is best known for his work as musical director and co-producer with Bruce Hart on the gold album “Free to Be… You and Me.” Lawrence composed the album’s title song, as well as the tracks “When We Grow Up” and “Sisters and Brothers.”

Lawrence also served as composer, music director, arranger and conductor on the children’s television series “Sesame Street” for over 30 years, composing over 300 songs and scores for the program, including “Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange),” which he co-wrote with David Axelrod.

The Red Sea International Film Festival has set the lineup for its inaugural edition which runs from December 6-15 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The roster includes 138 titles from 67 countries and will open with MGM’s Joe Wright-directed musical romance Cyrano. The film previously played Telluride and Rome among others and releases domestically on December 31. Among highlights are also Netflix’s Venice Film Festival drama The Lost Daughter. Closing the Red Sea Fest is the world premiere of Egyptian director Amr Salama’s Bara El Manhag.

Sixteen films will run in the competition which is focused on films from Asia, Africa and the Arab world (see full list below). They will vie for the Golden Yusr Award as well as in individual directing, acting and writing categories. Among the titles screening are Hany Abu-Assad’s Huda’s Salon, Georgian Oscar submission Brighton 4th and Panah Panahi’s Hit The Road.

Kaleem Aftab,...

Saudi Arabia’s nascent Red Sea International Film Festival has revealed 14 Arabic feature films selected to receive production and post-production funding from its Red Sea Fund.

The announcement was made at the Venice Film Festival where the Red Sea festival and Saudi Arabia’s fledgling film industry have a substantial presence.

Among the beneficiaries of the fund are Jordanian writer and director Darin J. Sallam’s Toronto Film Festival-bound “Farha,” the story of 14-year-old girl Farha in Palestine in 1948, who watches from a locked pantry as catastrophe consumes her home, and Lebanese director Ely Dagher’s “The Sea Ahead,” that recently launched from the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

The announced grants for pics coming from Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, mark the first round of funding from the deep-pocketed fund that in June announced a $10 million pot, which then during Cannes, in July, was increased to $14 million,...

Alice, Sweet Alice is a contemporary classic slasher that is a must-see for anyone who wishes to call themselves a student and connoisseur of the horror genre. But the film’s soundtrack has evaded fans for years, having never been made available in any format. Thankfully, that has changed thanks to the genre lovers at Waxwork […]

The post Cool Stuff: ‘Alice, Sweet Alice’ Soundtrack is Now Available on Vinyl for the First Time Ever appeared first on /Film.

The amazing team at Waxwork Records continue to shine the spotlight on beloved horror movie soundtracks with the first-ever official release of Stephen Lawrence's score for Alice, Sweet Alice, and we're thrilled to share the full release details and images of Steven Reeves' eye-catching artwork for the new vinyl!

We have the official press release with full details on the Alice, Sweet Alice vinyl soundtrack below, as well as a gallery of the deluxe packaging and blood-spattered artwork that fans of the film can look forward to!

The Alice, Sweet Alice Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will go up for pre-order on Waxwork's website on Friday, March 5th, and be sure to visit them online to keep up to date on all of their new releases!

Waxwork Records is thrilled to present the debut release of Alice, Sweet Alice Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Stephen Lawrence. Alice, Sweet Alice is a...

Stars: Guy Coombes, Steve Guttenberg, Clark Gable III, Toyah Wilcox, Nicholas Vince, Madison Clare, Louis Selwyn, Stephanie Leigh Rose, Natasha Starkey, Helena Antonio | Written by Airell Anthony Hayles | Directed by Martyn Pick

Airell Anthony Hayles, who penned and co-directed They’re Outside, the found-footage meets YouTube, pagan-eqsue horror which screened at Frightfest in August, is back at Frightfest again with Heckle – a film which channels Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy by way of 80s slasher movie; an odd combination on paper but one that on screen works remarkably well.

Opening with the death of comic Ray Kelly (a cameoing Steve Guttenberg), shown in the opener and throughout flashbacks to be a total unlikeable bastard, Heckle tells the story of another unlikeable bastard and stand-up comic, Joe Johnson, who’s at the top of his stand-up comic game, so much so that he’s tapped to play Ray Kelly...

New Jersey native Alfred Sole caught some critics’ eyes with his creepily Hitchcock-influenced but poorly distributed Alice Sweet Alice (aka: Communion), and soon gave up directing for a more productive career as a production designer. His penultimate directorial effort is this even more obscure and bizarre pseudo-sexploitation fantasy starring sexy model Vanity (billed as Dd Winters), marooned on an imaginary tropical island with an amorous ape man played by Don McLeod, best known as Elizabeth Brooks’ feral brother in The Howling. Nsfw!

Here’s Mick Garris on Alice Sweet Alice. And here’s Josh Olson on The Howling.

The post Tanya’s Island appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Synopsis: Karen Spages is murdered on the day of her first Holy Communion and all eyes point to her older and jealous sister, Alice, who wants a Communion of her own but is ineligible since she was born out of wedlock. As the body count starts to mount, Alice becomes the prime suspect. Review: Alfred …

The post Film Review: Alice, Sweet Alice (1977) – Review #2 appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

Saban Films will release the crime thriller Villain On Demand and Digital on May 22, 2020. Check out this exciting trailer:

Villain stars Craig Fairbrass (Avengement, Cliffhanger), George Russo (My Name is Lenny, Turnout), Izuka Hoyle (Mary Queen of Scots), Mark Monero (Sid and Nancy), and Robert Glenister (“Doctor Who”). The film is directed by Philip Barantini (“Boiling Point”) from a script by George Russo and Greg Hall.

Now you can win the Win the Redbox Downloadable Code of Villain. We Are Movie Geeks has two codes to give away. Just leave a comment below telling us what your favorite movie is that starts with the letter ‘V’. (mine’s Vampire Circus). It’s so easy! Winner Will Be Chosen From All Qualifying Entries.

After being released from prison, ex-con Eddie Franks (Craig Fairbrass) wants nothing more than to start a new life. However, his dreams of normalcy are tested when he...

Director Alfred Sole courted controversy on a couple of fronts with this 1976 shocker – the Catholic Church took umbrage over its subject matter (the original title was Communion) and a 1977 re-release threw more gasoline on the fire by exploiting the then 13 year-old Brooke Shield’s semi-scandalous performance in 1977’s Pretty Baby. Though there were scattered nay-sayers among the critics, most were impressed by the film’s somber tone and powerful imagery.

The post Alice, Sweet Alice appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Stars: Linda Miller, Mildred Clinton, Paula Sheppard, Niles McMaster, Jane Lowry, Rudolph Willrich, Michael Hardstark, Alphonso DeNoble, Gary Allen, Brooke Shields | Written by Alfred Sole, Rosemary Ritvo | Directed by Alfred Sole

When ten-year-old Karen is killed in church on the occasion of her first communion, her seemingly innocent older sister Alice (Paula Sheppard) becomes the prime suspect. Matters become complicated as more of Alice s family members are attacked, along with residents of her apartment building. Can a twelve-year-old girl be capable of such mayhem, or is someone else with a vicious plan destroying her family?

1970s “killer kid” proto-slasherAlice Sweet Alice comes from from director Alfred Sole – who would later go on to spoof the genre a mere three years later with Pandemonium – and is one of those horror films that has become more notorious for its cast than it’s plot. In this case it for a very...

Blessed are the Children is new thriller from co-writer and director Chris Moore, which has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on Friday 19th January. I got chance to ask Chris a few questions about his inspirations for making the film, his influences and what makes Blessed are the Children stand out in the horror genre.

What can we expect from the film?

I think you can expect a slasher film that’s fun, has something to say, and characters you actually care about. It’s one of the most important things in a horror film, but a lot of people seem fine with just throwing in a gaggle of busty 20-somethings and calling it a day. I want you to actually feel something when these people are terrorized. I never want you rooting for the killers. I usually come up with a story or concept first...

The Christmas season is a special time for many. A chance for friends to gather and spread cheer, or clans to gather in the warm glow of familial love. Sometimes, however, the warm glow cools down, love turns to hate, and the carving knife is put to more insidious uses. Welcome to ABC’s Home for the Holidays (1972), a fun murder mystery filled with proto-slasher goodness.

Originally broadcast November 28th as part of the ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week, Home for the Holidays was up against CBS’s Hawaii Five-o and NBC’s The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (whatever that was) and had a solid showing, as ABC often did with this particular brand. However, you won’t find any Snoopies or undernourished trees in this Holiday special.

Let’s open our eggnog soaked TV Guide and see what’s going on around the tree:

Home For The Holidays (Tuesday,...

Since I showed some love to Netflix yesterday, I thought it was only proper today to put the spotlight on Amazon Prime and their vast streaming library that features hundreds of genre titles.

There’s no denying that it can be an overwhelming experience to try and navigate your way through over 200 different pages of movies, so I went ahead and put together a list of 31 different films that should help you get into the Halloween spirit throughout the month of October. And since variety is the spice of life, I tried to give you guys an assortment of different sub-genres, so that you should be able to find something to fit any horror-loving mood! Happy October and happy viewing, everyone!

Madman

At a summer camp for youths, a cocky pre-teen calls out the name of mass serial killer "Madman Marz". Suddenly, counselors are being maimed and slaughtered in various...

I’ve been perplexed. As I’m sure so many of you have been paying at least a modicum of attention to the comings and goings of our President, no doubt you’ve seen a rise of discourse throughout your social feeds and TV screens concerning the separation of art and the artist.

Ok, it’s really an argument about whether using the national anthem as the background for non-violent protest is offensive. Okay. Follow me here, kiddos.

Among the master debaters I’ve followed, one argument floated to the top of my gaze. It was the notion that professional athletes are in fact paid to entertain and therefore should be reprimanded and subjugated to dismissal from their jobs if their actions fail to entertain the fanbase of said sports team from which they hail. In short, I think that argument is hilariously off-base. Professional athletes are in fact paid to play a game.

Mike Cecchini Oct 30, 2016

The man who brought us Dark Knight Returns has some smart thoughts on what Batman movies should be like.

Frank Miller's status as a legendary comic creator was locked in stone 30 years ago, with character-defining work on Daredevil and his industry changing The Dark Knight Returns (with Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley). So much so that the mixed reactions to his more recent work on Batman, such as the possibly unnecessary sequels to The Dark Knight Returns or the unintentionally hilarious All-Star Batman and Robin (not to mention the tone deaf Holy Terror, which was bizarrely intended to be a post-9/11 Batman story before thankfully becoming something else) will never be able to tarnish that.

But make no mistake, Miller still knows his Batman, and he recently revealed where he thinks the Batman franchise should go in order to evolve and set itself apart from the pack.

Every Halloween season we try to have a little fun and share some things that might be of interest to horror fans.

In case all of the Halloween sweets and costume planning hasn’t given it away, Halloween is coming up at the end of the month.

This year, Paddy Power online casino has been reliving the heroes of Halloween’s past with some vintage inspired Halloween Meme’s.

From Frankenstein’s daughter to Alice Sweet Alice, it’s time to relive your scariest childhood movies with a casino themed twist.

Below you'll find some fun vintage horror memes. Feel free to share them, save them or print them out. Have a safe a fun Halloween!

As A24 showed last month, they know how to conjure a horror hit, with "The Witch" sparking their biggest opening ever. That said, the picture was riding on a wave of buzz all through 2015, but with "February," the distributor has less to work with, as the picture premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival without much fanfare. Read More: Sundance Review: The Exquisite Holy Terror Of 'The Witch' Will Chill Your Bones & Haunt Your Soul Written and directed by Osgood Perkins, making his directorial debut, and starring Emma Roberts and Kiernan Shipka, the movie follows two girls in a boarding school who are bonded by some freaky events. Here's the synopsis from the Tiff:  In February, beautiful and haunted Joan makes a bloody and determined pilgrimage across a frozen landscape toward a prestigious all girls prep school, where Rose and Kat find themselves stranded after their parents mysteriously fail to retrieve them for winter break.

Last summer, six months after the buzz surrounding “The Witch” first got started at the Sundance Film Festival, director Robert Eggers lined up a remake of the horror classic “Nosferatu.” However, he has made it clear he wants to get a bit more experience under his belt before he makes that leap. “Well, it’s actually not what I’m doing next. I think it seems very disgusting and presumptuous and megalomaniacal and offensive for someone in my position to say they want to do 'Nosferatu' next, so I think that’s why it hit the trades in a big way. I still might do it, but not next,” he told Collider. “It’s a masterpiece and it really doesn’t objectively need to be done, but I’ve been obsessed with that film since I was a little kid. But, you know, Peter Jackson was obsessed with...

A year after it terrified audiences at the Sundance Film Festival, and spent the following twelve months building up serious on the festival circuit, Robert Eggers' "The Witch" comes to theaters this month. And we've got a wicked treat to share with everyone looking forward to the movie — the film's spooky soundtrack by Mark Korven. Read More: Sundance Review: The Exquisite Holy Terror Of 'The Witch' Will Chill Your Bones & Haunt Your Soul Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, and Lucas Dawson, the film is set in 17th century America, and follows a family banished to live in exile outside a community in New England. And soon, they face an unnamable terror, in a series of events that begins to tear apart the family, and make them fear for their very soul. It's chilling stuff, made all the more potent by Korven's work.

There's "old school," and then there's Robert Eggers' "The Witch." The distinct horror film uses 17th century colonial America for its setting, and conjures up a scare film unlike any other. And a new trailer is here to play peek-a-boo with you. Read More: Sundance Review: The Exquisite Holy Terror Of 'The Witch' Will Chill Your Bones & Haunt Your Soul Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, and Lucas Dawson star in the film that follows a family banished to live in exile outside a community in New England, who are soon plagued by a series of terrifying events. It's an eerie tale, told in old tyme tongue, that offers plenty of eye-opening moments. Here's the official synopsis: In this exquisitely made and terrifying new horror film, the age-old concepts of witchcraft, black magic and possession are innovatively brought together to tell the intimate...

In this ongoing Shock column, editor Chris Alexander muses on classic and contemporary films and music worthy of a deeper discussion. I’ve been writing about and discussing co-writer/director Alfred Sole’s dark, effectively upsetting 1976 psychodrama Alice Sweet Alice for some time now. I first learned of the film when sifting through an early ’80’s edition…

The post Chris Alexander’s Shock Treatment: 1976’s Alice, Sweet Alice appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

It was a year ago that the first chills from "The Witch" were felt. Robert Eggers' film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival,where it became the talk of Park City, presenting a wholly unique horror built on a foreboding atmosphere. The movie is a welcome reprieve from the jump scares that populate most scary flicks these days, and one of the elements that enhances its haunting feeling is the score composed by Mark Korven. Read More: Sundance Review: The Exquisite Holy Terror Of 'The Witch' Will Chill Your Bones & Haunt Your Soul  Performed by Korven along with Katherine Hill, Ben Grossman and The Element Choir, the music is both operatic and sinister, with layered voices and off-kilter tones conjuring the colonial era in which the film takes place. And the exclusive track below, "Caleb's Seduction," is a nice preview not just of Korven's work, but of...

The Catholic Church (and religion in general) always seems to have a hard go of it in horror films. Whether seen as the last respite for the desperate (The Exorcist), or co-conspirators of evil (The Omen), the church has proven to be a wellspring of guilt and mistrust, useful tools for building a great horror tale. Alice, Sweet Alice (1976) is a sinister example of good old Catholic retribution, and the finest American version of a giallo to boot.

The film premiered in November of ’76 at the Chicago International Film Festival under its original title Communion. Columbia Pictures was originally supposed to distribute the film, but legal issues arose and they dropped it. Allied Artists stepped in but demanded a name change so people would not think of it as a religious film (which it is – but probably not the kind people would be expecting), came up with Alice, Sweet Alice...

Special Mention: Un chien andalou

Directed by Luis Buñuel

Written by Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel

France, 1929

Genre: Experimental Short

The dream – or nightmare – has been a staple of horror cinema for decades. In 1929, Luis Bunuel joined forces with Salvador Dali to create Un chien andalou, an experimental and unforgettable 17-minute surrealist masterpiece. Buñuel famously said that he and Dalí wrote the film by telling one another their dreams. The film went on to influence the horror genre immensely. After all, even as manipulative as the “dream” device is, it’s still a proven way to jolt an audience. Just ask Wes Craven, who understood this bit of cinematic psychology when he dreamt of the central force behind A Nightmare on Elm Street, a film intended to be an exploration of surreal horror. David Lynch is contemporary cinema’s most devoted student of Un chien andalou – the severed ear at...

Disney sent Mary Poppins fans into meltdown earlier this week by announcing a sequel set 20 years after the original.

But it shouldn't really be that surprising considering original author and Poppins creator Pl Travers's novel spawned seven follow-up books. Based on them, what supercalifragilistic storylines might Mary Poppins 2 shock fans of the magical nanny with?

1. Mary Poppins in space

Travers's novel Mary Poppins and the House Next Door was published in 1988 and saw the flying childminder pull the Banks kids Jane, Michael and their adoptive brother Luti (hailing from the South Seas) away from an evil rival by way of a trip to the moon. Yes, the moon.

Intriguingly, Mary's uncle turns out to be the Man in the Moon, hinting at cosmic origins that make her sound more like a Guardians of the Galaxy member than a no-nonsense governess.

2. Mary Poppins on a planet of cats

The moon wasn't...

In the scheme of "killer kid" movies, "The Bad Seed" was first, "Alice Sweet Alice" is an underappreciated gem and "Children of the Corn" is not nearly as good as you remember it being. Also: have you seen 2008's "The Children"? If not, seek it out immediately. The latest entry in the storied sub-genre is "Cooties," a new film from Elijah Wood's SpectreVision shingle that sees a group of elementary school teachers struggling to survive against a horde of zombified students. Wood (a dedicated horror nut who also successfully fended off a murderous 12-year-old Macaulay Culkin in 1993's "The Good Son") stars alongside Alison Pill, Rainn Wilson, Jack McBrayer and Jorge Garcia. The script comes from  Leigh Whannell ("Saw," "Insidious") and Ian Brennan ("Glee"); it was directed by Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott (making their feature-film debut). Will "Cooties" be the next indie horror success story? Guess we'll see.

Been meaning to catch up with Sam and Dean Winchester, but just haven't found the time? Our Supernatural tips for beginners may help...

Maps To TV Shows: Is there a popular show you’d really like to watch but you just don’t have time to wade through years of it all at once? Do you just want to know why that one character keeps turning up on Tumblr? Do the fans all tell you ‘season one is a bit iffy but stick with it, it gets great!’, leaving you with absolutely zero desire ever to watch the boring/silly/just plain weird season one? Then Maps To TV Shows is for you!

In these articles, we’ll outline routes through popular TV shows focusing on particular characters, story arcs or episode types. Are you really into the Klingon episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation? Do you want to...

Sin City “Hard Goodbye”

Originally serialized in Dark Horse Presents #51-62

Written and drawn by Frank Miller

Published by Dark Horse Comics

Full spoilers for the “Hard Goodbye” Sin City story

If you’ve read any of Frank Miller’s comics, you’re probably familiar with some of his most beloved tropes found in his work from Daredevil to Holy Terror, including pudge-faced, long coated wearing anti-heroes, prostitutes, a crapsack urban setting, and hardboiled voice-over narration that ranges from unintentionally hilarious (“ Sin City, she’s a big, bad broad flat on her back begging for it and I take her for all she’s worth and then I take her again and still she’s begging.”) to tight and poignant (“Worth dying for. Worth killing for. Worth going to hell for. amen.”) In “Hard Goodbye”, Miller plays with these tropes and devices like a kid with his favorite action figures,...

Whatever your feelings about Frank Miller are, his influence over comics cannot be denied. Only Alan Moore's work in the '80s can be compared in terms of the effect it would have on superheroes - in comics, films and the public eye - over the intervening decades.

With the release of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For - his second collaboration with Robert Rodriguez adapting his noir comic of the same name - Miller is back in the public eye, talking about his love of Superman and Batman and generally upsetting everyone.

To mark the occasion, we look back at the highs and lows of Frank Miller's career.

The Highs

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

If there is one character with which Miller is best identified, it has to be Batman. 1986's The Dark Knight Returns - which he wrote and drew - is frequently cited...

Legendary comic book writer and artist, Frank Miller, is no stranger to stirring the pot. The man created some fantastic comics as well as some of the best story arcs for already established characters. You could start with: Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300. Many of his tales have been adapted into feature films and he has even written a few of those as well. Though, I wouldn't bring up RoboCop 2 if you happen to run into him. In recent years, he has kicked up some dust by putting out a controversial comic book title, Holy Terror, and criticized the Occupy Wall Street movement. Thank god for Alan Moore or Frank Miller would be considered the grumpiest guy in comics. Thanks Alan. Cute beard. Now, check out his recent comments on Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy which will surely rub some people the...

The road so far …

It wasn’t exactly easy for genre television in 2005. Well, it’s really never been easy for genre television ever in the history of television, but in 2005, a deluge of genre shows premiered and almost all of them had fallen prey to the swift axe of the television gods by the next year. Start by thinking about television now. It’s a fruitful time for horror and science fiction and fantasy. There are a multitude of genre shows, running the gamut from The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, to True Blood and The Vampire Diaries. They’re all massive hits.

Now, think of all of the shows that premiered around that time in 2005. There was Surface, and that was cancelled after ten episodes by NBC. Invasion, a well-regarded show written by Shaun Cassidy (who created one of my favorite shows, American Gothic) and that was cancelled...

Massimiliano (Max) Cerchi’s New Film “The House of Evil” will be filmed this Summer and there is already a lot of excitement surrounding this film. Max has been making horror films for more than twenty years, and some of his films have sold over 250,000 DVD’s Worldwide, such as Hellinger, Holy Terror and Carnage: The Legend of Quiltface. So, with the news of his new film “The House of Evil” going into pre production, Sgl … Continue reading →

Horrornews.net...

There's something about the artwork for The House of Evil that ensures that I would have rented it 75 times during the Eighties if only because of the cover. The funny thing? I've no idea what it is. It wouldn't matter how good the movie was. Just, damn, that cover.

From the Press Release

Massimiliano (Max) Cerchi’s New Film “The House of Evil” will be filmed this Summer and there is already a lot of excitement surrounding this film. Max has been making horror films for more than twenty years, and some of his films have sold over 250,000 DVD’s Worldwide, such as Hellinger, Holy Terror and Carnage: The Legend of Quiltface. So, with the news of his new film “The House of Evil” going into pre production, Sgl Entertainment was quick to secure a DVD, Blu-ray, VOD and Cable TV deal with Max and Dark Mountain Pictures. And, the...

Prepare to be corrupted and depraved once more as Nucleus Films releases the sequel to the definitive guide to the Video Nasties phenomenon – the most extraordinary and scandalous era in the history of British film. Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide Part 2, a three-disc collector’s edition box set, is being released on DVD on July 14th 2014, to tie in with the 30th Anniversary of the Video Recordings Act 1984.

For the first time ever on DVD, all 82 films that fell foul of the Director of Public Prosecutions “Section 3” list are trailer-featured with specially filmed intros for each title, alongside a brand new documentary – Video Nasties: Draconian Days (review), directed by Jake West.

And to celebrate the release, Film4 FrightFest is hosting a special event – the world exclusive London Premiere of the finalised unseen extended 97 minute cut of Video Nasties: Draconian Days at The Prince Charles Cinema on Thurs 3 July, 8.30pm. The...

Anastasia is pleasantly surprised by this week's Supernatural. Here's her review...

Review

This review contains spoilers.

9.21 King Of The Damned

I admit: I didn’t actually think this episode would be any good.

King of the Damned was penned by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming, whose episodes (Taxi Driver, Holy Terror, and I'm No Angel) have historically been far from my favourites. But, I’m happy to report that, if I hadn’t known this episode was written by what the fandom often refers to as the “terrible duo,” I wouldn’t have been able to tell, which is really the highest compliment I can pay.

The episode gets off to a great start as an angel plays the role of the uncool kid desperately trying to fit in with the cool angel kids – going so far as to brag about being the trusted right hand man of his idol,...