IFC FILMS PRESENTS "ELIZABETH HARVEST" A FILM BY SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ

Newlywed Elizabeth (Abbey Lee) arrives with her brilliant scientist husband Henry (Ciaran Hinds) to his magnificent estate, where he wows her with lavish dinners and a dazzling tour of the property.  The house staff, Claire (Carla Gugino) and Oliver (Matthew Beard), treats her deferentially but she can’t shake the feeling something is off.  Henry explains that everything in his world now belongs to her, all is for her to play in — all except for a locked-off room he forbids her from entering.  When he goes away for business Elizabeth decides to investigate and finds she may not be who she thinks she is at all.

STARRING:
ABBEY LEE, CARLA GUGINO, CIARAN HINDS, MATTHEW BEARD, DYLAN BAKER

RELEASE DATE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 10

Fantaspoa 2018 Details, Award Winners, Deals, and newly-founded Distribution Arm

FANTASPOA 2018 presents the winners of its 14th edition, celebrates its success with a packed cinema, and announcess the release of its distribution arm


6 June 2018, Porto Alegre - The city of Porto Alegre, Brazil became an international hub for 18 days this May and June, with artists, filmmakers, actors, and cinephiles gathering there for Fantaspoa, South America's largest festival of fantastic cinema.

Between May 17th and June 3rd, the 14th edition of Fantaspoa transformed the city of Porto Alegre in the world's capital of genre films. With over 100 guests from around the globe, the event brought together some of the most talented and impressive voices of modern fantastic films, as well as lifetime achievement awardees who played pivotal roles in the inspiration of today's young filmmakers. In addition to more than 120 film screenings, Fantaspoa hosted numerous Q&A's, masterclasses, workshops, screenings with live music, and two special parties - a lusty Opening Night event based on Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and a Closing Night soiree on a three-story yacht, which took its revelers deep into the city's massive port.

In addition to the festival's massive success, the main innovation of the 2018 edition was its new production market, FantasMercado, in which 16 Latin American filmmakers pitched their projects and many deals were closed. At the market, Fantaspoa's own production arm, Fantaspoa Produções, partnered with Dallas Sonnier's Cinestate and Fangoria Films to come onboard Skull - The Máscara de Anhnagá, a project from Kapel Furman's Infravermelho Produções.

The festival itself tallied over 9,000 screening attendees and - including events and visitors to its Frankenstein Exhibition, which celebrated 200 years of Mary Shelley's immortal monster - welcomed more than 20,000 attendees. The festival's main events were held in Cinemateca Capitólio, a stunning 90-year-old cinema.

On the night of June 3rd, Fantaspoa's closing night film, Pedra da Serpente, by the first-time Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Sanches, was screened to a sold-out audience. Before the screening, an awards presentation took place and the year's winners were announced by festival director João Fleck (see below for details).

In addition to the awards, Fantaspoa's distribution arm, FantasFilms, was launched in that same night.

The newly-launched company will team with Marcelo de Souza's Mares Filmes with the plan of distributing roughly 20 films per calendar year to Brazilian cinemas, with all films selected coming exclusively from the festival itself. "The goal of company," as stated by directors João Fleck and Nicolas Tonsho, "is to bring some of our curatorship and love for genre films to the rest of Brazil." Sixteen titles were announced that evening (see below), with the remaining to be revealed next month at the 22nd edition of Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival.

In addition to their Brazilian offices, FantasFilms will have a branch in Europe. Konstantinos Koutsoliotas and Elizabeth E. Shuch's Melancholy Star will work as a sales agents for the shingle, focusing on unique projects, such as Hypnos and Pedra da Serpente.


Fantaspoa 2018's Awards are as follows:

Critic's Awards

The 2018 Critic's Jury was comprised of Adriano de Oliveira and Jaqueline Chala.

Best Domestic Short Film: Casa Cheia (Caco Nigro, Brazil)
Best International Animated Short Film: Dead Horses (Marc Riba and Anna Solanas, Spain)
Best International Live-Action Short Film: Ex-aequo La Fuite (Damien Stein, France) and The Sound, (Antony Petrou, UK)

Fantaspoa Jury Awards

The Official Fantaspoa Jury was comprised of Armando Fonseca, Kapel Furman, and Raphael Borghi.

Best Domestic Short Film: Rosalita (Luciano de Azevedo, Brazil)
Best International Animated Short Film: Nocturne (Anne Breymann, Germany)
Best International Live-Action Short Film: The Plague (Guillermo Carbonel, Uruguay)

Ibero-Americana Awards (comprising films and filmmakers from Latin America, Portugal, and Spain)

The Ibero-Ameican Jury was comprised of Pedro Rivero and Rodrigo de Oliveira.

Best Screenplay: Hernan Aguilar (Madraza, Argentina)
Best Actor: Gustavo Garzón (Madraza, Argentina)
Best Actress (tie): Itziar Castro (Killing God, Spain) and Luciana Paes (Friendly Beast, Brazil)
Best Direction: Gabriela Amaral Almeida (Friendly Beast, Brazil)
Best Film: Terrified (Demian Rugna, Argentina)

International Awards

The International Jury was comprised of André Kleinert and Diego Faraone.

Best Bloodbath: Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund, UK, USA)
Best Art Direction: Hagazussa (Lukas Feigelfeld, Germany, Austria)
Best Visual Effects: The Endless (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, USA)
Best Screenplay: Justin P. Lange (The Dark, Austria, Canada)
Best Actor: Thomas Aske Berg (Vidar, The Vampire, Norway)
Best Actress: Luana Veliz (Luz, Germany)
Best Director: Bertrand Mandico (Les Garçons Sauvages, France)
Best Film: One Cut of the Dead (Shin'ichirô Ueda, Japan)

Honorable Mentions:
Artistic Contribution: Errementari (Paul Urkijo, Spain, France)
Best Soundtrack: The Ranger (Jenn Wexler, USA)
Most Creative Film / Coolest Person: JJ Weber (The Next Kill, USA)

The debut sixteen films to be distributed in Brazil by FantasFilms are:

Dave Made a Maze (Bill Waterson, USA)
Family (Veronica Kedar, Israel, Germany)
Freddy/Eddy (Tini Tüllmann, Germany)
Les Garçons Sauvages (Bertrand Mandico, France)
Hypnos (Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, UK, Brazil)
Kyrsyä - Tuftland (Roope Olenius, Finland)
One Cut of the Dead (Shin'ichirô Ueda, Japan)
Madraza (Hernan Aguilar, Argentina)
Matar a Dios (Caye Casas, Albert Pintó, Spain)
Mohawk (Ted Geoghegan, USA)
The Open (Marc Lahore, France)
Pedra da Serpente (Fernando Sanches, Brazil)
Psiconautas - The Forgotten Children (Pedro Rivero, Alberto Vázquez, Spain, Japan)
The Ranger (Jenn Wexler, USA)
Snowflake (Adolfo Kolmerer and William James, Germany)
Vydar, The Vampire (Thomas Aske Berg, Fredrik Waldeland, Norway)


Fantaspoa's 2018 wrap-up video - featuring interviews with festival directors and guests, footage of events, and special highlight moments - can be viewed below

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1up6lIuC06U

Fantaspoa's 15th edition will take place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2019.

Full Moon Fever July 27 Hungry Ghost Moon (Chinese)

Tonight's full moon is brought to you by the Creepercast with the recommended Full Moon Feature of the evening...

A being from another dimension sends its own puppet to steal the formula that keeps Decapitron and his kindred alive.

Written by Douglas Aarniokoski among others, and directed by Jeff Burr. It is the fifth film in the Puppet Master franchise, the sequel to 1993's Puppet Master 4, and stars Gordon Currie as the series' third Puppet Master, and Ian Ogilvy, his colleague, whose attempts to salvage the animated puppets of André Toulon (Guy Rolfe) from the Bodega Bay Inn are foiled by a demon. As in the previous film, the puppets serve as protagonists, rather than terrorize as they had in the first and second films. As the title indicates, Puppet Master 5 was intended to be the final installment of the series. However, in 1998 a sixth entry, Curse of the Puppet Master, was released, and the series has been ongoing since.

IFC News

From IFC: As we previously announced, all of our films will be making their streaming debuts on Hulu starting now, so don't look for our new films on Netflix anymore (films currently available will remain until their dates expire).  The first IFC Midnight film in this great new relationship is the acclaimed PSYCHO documentary 78/52, which is available now!  More great titles are to come - DEVIL'S GATE; THE MIDNIGHT MAN; THE HOUSEMAID and more - and many classic older IFC Midnight movies available now, such as THE HALLOW and THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE, so keep checking Hulu for the best from IFC Midnight!

"FERAL" IS STILL SCARING THEM ACROSS THE U.S.!

From IFC: FERAL opened two weeks ago to some stellar reviews ("If you're looking for something gory, creepy, and downright nasty, then this should definitely cure what ails you." sez Cinemablend) and great press (listen to star Scout Taylor Compton on Blumhouse's Shock Waves podcast) and it's doing really well on VOD platforms across the U.S.  If you haven't seen it yet, there are plenty of chances to catch it now on your local cable On Demand or favorite VOD outlet, as listed below.  It's a lot of fun, and it imparts a very important lesson - don't go camping!!!

Creepercast Presents Behind the Scenes of Our Favorite Horror Films with THIR13EN GHOSTS (2001)

2001's THIR13EN GHOSTS is based on the brilliant William Castle's 1960 film of the same slightly different name. The budget, opening weekend box office gross, and box office gross overall of this film are all virtually identical (within one million dollars) to that of House on Haunted Hill (1999), which opened almost exactly two years earlier. Both films were adapted from stories written by Robb White and originally directed by William Castle.

Creepercast Presents Behind the Scenes of Our Favorite Horror Films with a picture or video capturing a behind the scenes moment of the most iconic horror films complete with trivia information.

Your Required Holiday Horror Film for Parents' Day, Sunday, July 22nd: 'People Under the Stairs' (1991)

When young Fool (Brandon Adams) breaks into the home of his family's greedy and uncaring landlords, he discovers a disturbing scenario where incestuous adult siblings have mutilated a number of boys and kept them imprisoned under stairs in their large, creepy house. As Fool attempts to flee before the psychopaths can catch him, he meets their daughter, Alice (A.J. Langer), who has been spared any extreme discipline by her deranged parents. Can Fool and Alice escape before it's too late?

Release date: November 1, 1991 (USA)
Director: Wes Craven
Screenplay: Wes Craven
Box office: 31.4 million USD
Production companies: Universal Pictures, Alive Films
Stars: Brandon Quintin Adams, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie

Creepercast Presents a Horror Moment from THIR13EN GHOSTS (2001)

"Think about what you're saying, there are no such things as ghosts"

Creepercast Presents a Terror Time Out features a video from an iconic film with a quote from the clip.

Creepercast Presents a Terror Time Out from THIR13EN GHOSTS (2001)

One of our favorite and most memorable death scenes in a film involves this clever bisection.

Creepercast Presents a Terror Time Out features a still from an iconic film with a one line review of the film.

New U.S. trailer & poster for LET THE CORPSES TAN

LET THE CORPSES TAN

a film by Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani

Belgium, France / 92 Minutes / 2.35:1 Scope / DCP / Color

In French with English Subtitles

OFFICIAL SELECTION

Locarno International Film Festival (World Premiere)

Toronto International Film Festival

Fantastic Fest (US Premiere)

Sitges Film Festival

AFI Fest

OPENS NYC 8/31  at Quad Cinemas & Alamo Drafthouse

OPENS LA 8/31 at Landmark Nuart

Belgian filmmakers Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani trade in the crushed velvet and creeping shadows of their giallo-worshiping first two films (Amer, The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears) for blistering sun, creaking leather and raining bullets in this glorious homage to 1970s Italian crime films. After stealing a truckload of gold bars, a gang of thieves absconds to the ruins of a remote village perched on the cliffs of the Mediterranean. Home to a reclusive yet hypersexual artist and her motley crew of family and admirers, it seems like a perfect hideout. But when two cops roll up on motorcycles to investigate, the hamlet erupts into a hallucinatory battlefield as both sides engage in an all-day, all-night firefight rife with double-crosses and dripping with blood. Based on a classic pulp novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette and featuring music by Ennio Morricone, Let the Corpses Tan is a deliriously stylish, cinematic fever dream that will slamfire your senses like buckshot to the brain.

"INCARNATION" UK DVD/VOD RELEASE

Matchbox and Jinga are pleased to announce the UK DVD / VOD release of Filip Kovacovic's sci-fi action thriller INCARNATION which critics have described as Source Code meets Looper.

INCARNATION follows an man suffering from amnesia who finds himself the target of a relentless gang of assassins. But each time they kill him, a time loop takes him back to the beginning and he is given another chance to survive the ordeal and discover his identity.

INCARNATION received its World premiere at ScreamFest LA and has since travelled the festival circuit with screenings at Raindance, Cottbus and Fantasporto.

Creepercast Presents Behind the Scenes of Our Favorite Horror Films with FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

Creepercast Presents Behind the Scenes of Our Favorite Horror Films with a picture or video capturing a behind the scenes moment of the most iconic horror films complete with trivia information.

Creepercast Presents a Horror Moment from FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

Creepercast Presents a Terror Time Out features a video from an iconic film.

My review of Another WolfCop by William S. Mayfield

In 2014 the world was introduced to WolfCop, a cop who is also a werewolf...what else could we ask for? Directed by Lowell Dean, Another WolfCop is the continuing story of Lou Garou (Leo Fafard) as he deals with being a full-time officer in the little town of Woodhaven, day drinking and being a shifter that changes into the WolfCop. In the sequel, Amy Matysio returns as Officer Tiny who is now chief. New threats have come to Woodhaven in the form of Sydney Swallows, played by Yannick Bisson, comes to town with promises of revitalizing the town by opening a brewery and a new hockey team, but of course, there is evil afoot and it's up to our anti-heroes to save the day. Just like the first film, Another Wolfcop doesn't take itself too seriously and nails exactly what the crew wanted to do, make a fun to watch movie. There are more returning characters and new additions that round out this sequel. The only real problem I have is the third act seems a little rushed, and by that, I mean closer to the end of the act, but it still works and is still very entertaining. As always please check this film to make your own decision and opinion.

I give Another WolfCop a solid 8 out of 10.

Let's take a moment to appreciate the beauty of this 80's parody poster before signing off.

Creepercast Presents a Terror Time Out from FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

In honor of the holiday weekend, we show our love for the original camp counselor slasher.

Creepercast Presents a Terror Time Out features a still from an iconic film with a one-line review of the film.

Happy Supermoon Solar Eclipse Friday the 13th!

A new Supermoon that's as close to Earth as it gets for the rest of 2018 will pass in front of the sun this Friday, July 13. The ultra-rare occurrence will be viewable from South Australia, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean.



There hasn't been a solar eclipse on Friday the 13th since December 13, 1974, and it won't happen again until September 13, 2080, according to EarthSky.

Creepercast Presents Horror in Unexpected Places: THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

Horror can pop up in the strangest places in non-horror films and somehow affect us more than an entire horror film depending on the context. Join us as we showcase one of these moments with this months offering...

The Wizard of Oz flying monkeys

There are many nightmare-inducing moments in The Wizard of Oz from the tornado to the Wicked Witch of the West, but none are more comedic and yet inherently evil that thos damn flying monkeys.

IFC Midnight's THE DEVIL'S DOORWAY - Official Trailer + Poster

What unholy terrors lurk behind the walls of a secretive Irish convent? Northern Ireland, 1960: Father Thomas Riley (Lalor Roddy) and Father John Thornton (Ciaran Flynn) are dispatched by the Vatican to investigate reports of a miracle—a statue of the Virgin Mary weeping blood—at a remote Catholic asylum for “immoral” women. Armed with 16mm film cameras to record their findings, the priests instead discover a depraved horror show of sadistic nuns, satanism, and demonic possession. Supernatural forces are at work here—but they are not the doing of God. Inspired by the infamous true histories of Magdalene Laundries—in which “fallen women” were held captive by the Irish Catholic Church—this found footage occult shocker is a chilling encounter with unspeakable evil.

THE DEVIL'S DOORWAY, coming to select theaters, VOD and via digital platforms in the U.S. on JULY 13, 2018

"DARKNESS REIGNS" starring sci-fi icon CASPER VAN DIEN!

A film crew is ravaged by a demon in the unique new horror film Darkness Reigns, premiering from Wild Eye Releasing on VOD 7/10/18.

Genre icon Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers, Alita: Battle Angel) plays himself in a clever spookfest from Emmy nominee Andrew P.Jones about a group of filmmakers shooting a movie in a reportedly haunted hotel that are faced with an unfathomable demonic force that possesses and attacks both the crew and the film’s star, Casper Van Dien. Will the film’s director be able to escape with the paranormal proof he has captured, or will he succumb to the hellish plans of the demon who has surfaced?

From the director of Haunting on Cellblock 11, and starring Casper Van Dien, Zachary Mooren (“Aquarius”), Linara Washington (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Jennifer Wenger (Tales of Halloween), Darkness Reigns this July on from Wild Eye Releasing.

my thoughts on.... 'A Ghost Story'

As with all of my reviews of films for The Creepercast, I fully recommend that you check each and every one of them out. I am one man and this is my opinion. I've seen plenty of movies that received reviews that were the complete opposite of how I saw the film. These writers, directors, producers and actors all put a lot of time and love into these projects. They deserve to be seen and appreciated for what they are. Everyone has a dream and I fully support the people that take the time to make theirs a reality. With that being said....

Horror films have evolved a LOT in the past decade or so. It used to be that they were stuffed in the corner of the theaters and movie rental places, relinquished to the shadows for only those who are looked upon as the 'freaks' of society. However, with the 'Deathwave' movement and bigger names taking ownership of their love of the genre, we're seeing something new. Horror that is earning honors from the mainstream. Now, this isn't something any of us were looking or asking for. We were happy to have them all to ourselves, but with films like 'Get Out' winning academy awards and directors like Eli Roth making family friendly fright fests, the tide has turned a bit. That's what brings us to 2017's 'A Ghost Story' written and directed by David Lowery. A film that isn't your traditional haunting horror and may even be a borderline entry into the genre. This is a more of a beautiful story about love, longing and loss with an element of the supernatural. Where as Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead's 'Spring' (2014) was a bit more traditional with it's use of a monster and blood while still being a love story, this film is light on the scares and more focused on the central core of the story. I, personally, still feels like it should be included in the horror lexicon, despite those missing elements. Horror doesn't have to be all about the scare factor or how many gallons of blood are used. Sometimes the horror is hidden in the meaning behind the film. In this case, finding that someone you want to always be with and having them taken from you, swiftly and violently. Only for the viewer to find out that they've never really gone. It's a meditation on the things that go bump in the night and what they may truly be. Perhaps it's someone you cared about that just doesn't know how to let go yet. This film takes a tried and true tradition of the white sheet ghost and turns it into something else. Not something sinister and out to kill you, but something that just doesn't realize that their time is over. It's a haunting story that will leave you with a lingering sense of wonder and maybe even a sense of calm, knowing that the noise you hear may not have been something to be afraid of. Rather, that noise may have been something else. The truest representation of undying love.

The story begins with our main characters 'C' (played by Casey Affleck) and 'M' (played by Rooney Mara). A young couple who have their problems, but are still in love. We find them in the beginning, living their lives and representing the day to day of a young married couple. While in bed one night, they hear a sound and crash on the piano in their living room. After investigating the noise, they come to find nothing. As the story moves ahead, 'C' is eventually killed in an auto accident. While still in the morgue, we see his body rise from the table, covered in the sheet that was draped over him, but with black eye holes where his eyes would have been. He makes his way back to his home and begins to watch over 'M'. As the transition of time occurs, we slowly see her move on with her life and eventually leaves their home. Resigned to stay behind, the ghost watches as others move in and out and time marches on. All the while, he keeps scratching at the dividing wall between the kitchen and the living room, but for reasons unknown until the end. Soon, the house is torn down and replaced with a building and the ghost still lingers there. He finally takes a plunge off of the top of it, only to be transported back to before the house was built. Back to when the land was first settled. Time begins to move forward again and eventually the house where he begins, is built again. Soon, he sees 'M' and 'C move in for the first time. Frustrated by the circular turn that his life has taken, he ends up being the sound that was heard at the beginning of the film. What happens from there, you will just need to see on your own. It's a moment of pure sadness and relief and one that left an impression with me, that hasn't left since I first saw it happen.

There are several moments in this film that raise questions on the afterlife and what happens to us when we die. There is also very little dialogue or the use of a traditional narrative structure. While the story has a beginning, middle and an end, it's not in the sense of what your average film would provide. Also, so much of it relies on the characters actions or lack there of. It's simple and quite beautiful. In one scene, 'C' sees another ghost in the house next door. It seems to be doing the same thing he is and is waiting for the resident to come back. They communicate, but only in silence. The audience is provided subtitles to know what their conversation is. It's a couple of simple moments, but it makes your heart hurt, none the less. There is also a scene that I'm sure many people may find off putting or unnecessary, but it made perfect sense to me, in regard to the tone that David was going for with the entire piece. The scene I'm referring to, is when 'M' comes home from the funeral. A relative or friend has come by and left a pie for her, as you do with people who have lost loved ones. 'M' comes home to find it on the counter and proceeds to eat the entire thing. For the duration of her eating the pie, the ghost stands in the next room watching. The entire act takes about 10 minutes or so of time, with no cuts and nothing but the ambient sounds of the room. Neither actor flinches throughout the scene and it's all in one take. I don't know how he came to the conclusion to include that in the film or why a studio would let that fly, but it works. Everyone else be damned, it works.

'A Ghost Story' is not a film for everyone. It's challenging, slow moving and pretty far from center. However, with what little dialogue there is, the story speaks volumes to the human condition and what it means to love someone beyond the grave. I was literally speechless myself, while watching it for the first time. It was unlike anything I'd seen up to this point and it gave me hope that there would be more things like it to come. While most of you may think of me as a horror fanatic, which I am, I also am a romantic and a man who loves a good love story. The difference with me though, is that I don't think that every love story has to be the same cookie cutter version we've seen a hundred times before. I find beauty in the mundane and even the ugly. The things that people might look at with disdain, I tend to find something else within it. It's not unlike the tattoos on my arm, 'Pain' and 'Beauty'. Pain makes you beautiful and beauty causes pain. It's my artistic philosophy and something that seems to hold true in the day to day that we all experience. This film seemed to get that. I can not say enough good things about 'A Ghost Story' and despite it's fringe elements that may not quantify it as a true horror film, it still retains the echos of what I think it should and could be. Every genre has it's sub genre and there's always going to be wiggle room within those confines to squeeze some other elements into the mix and create something new. This film was the epitome of that. If you have an open mind and an open heart, then I do highly recommend this one to you. It's already made my 'Top 13' list for this year and it's one that may even surpass that and move into my ever growing list of favorite films ever, horror or not. Unquestionably 5 out of 5 stars. Turn the lights off, get your surround sound going and turn off your phone. This is a film that is to be experienced and not just merely seen. Kudos to you, David Lowery and I look forward to what you have to offer us in the future.



If you like this kind of thinking man's horror, check out: 'Eraserhead' (1977), 'Spring' (2014) and 'Carnival of Souls' (1962)

Top 10 Best Worst Horror Moms The Complete List

In honor of Mother's Day we are going to take the next few weeks to countdown the Top 10 Horror Mom's and mention why we love them. Horror Mom's are the most notorious and supportive Mom's there ever were and here is why...

10. Patty McCormack as Mommy: Mommy (1995)

Patty McCormack, who portrayed the evil little girl in 1956's killer kid pic The Bad Seed, returns as an evil adult in the low-budget Mother's Day film. She plays the perfectionist mother of a 11-year-old honor student whom she believes should receive the Student of the Year award. When the girl doesn't win, Mommy takes things into her own hands.

9. Mama as herself: Mama (2013)

On the day that their parents die, sisters Lilly and Victoria vanish in the woods, prompting a frantic search by their Uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend, Annabel (Jessica Chastain). Five years later, miraculously, the girls are found alive in a decaying cabin, and Lucas and Annabel welcome them into their home. But as Annabel tries to reintroduce the children to a normal life, she finds that someone -- or something -- still wants to tuck them in at night.

8. Essie Davis as Amelia Vannick: The Babadook (2014)

A troubled widow (Essie Davis) discovers that her son is telling the truth about a monster that entered their home through the pages of a children's book. In the end what we learn is that the monster is a lot closer to this mother then we would have liked to believe.

7. Kathleen Turner as Beverly Sutphin: Serial Mom (1994)

In this indie crime/horror/thriller/comedy a seemingly perfect wife and mother (Kathleen Turner) from Baltimore gains celebrity status as a serial killer.

6. Rose Ross as Mother: Mother's Day (1980) 

As our favorite horror movies continue to remind us, it takes a special kind of love for a mother to always be there for her demented offspring. Someone had to nourture their psychotic tendancies after all. Rose Ross does so with as much positive re-enforcement as a mother can provide.

5. Karen Black as Mother Firefly: House of 1,000 Corpses (2003)

Every psychotic family needs the most perfectly twisted matriarch to keep them all together and Karen Black is the iconic woman you want to portray her. If only we all had a mother as dedicated to her family.

4. Piper Laurie as Margaret White: Carrie (1976) 

Margaret White is a religious fanatic, her extreme views primarily targeted against sex, which she believes is a sin. This stems from her belief that Carrie's father was the devil because he inpregnated her as a teenager and left her. Ms. White is the embodiment of adolescent catholic guilt and doesn't let an awkward teenage moment go by without reminding and punishing Carrie for sins not yet committed. As any parent would, she is there to protect her child from the sinful ways of the young and is probably the best mother at it.

3. Norma Bates as Herself : Psycho (1960)

As the influence behind Norman's behavior, Norma is able to reach beyond the grave and still influence her psychotic son, as any good mother would. Granted, she is really just a piece of bad taxidermy or in Norman's mind, but she still acts as his catholic guilt ridden conscious. Seems catholic guilt runs in a lot of these horror families.

2. Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford: Mommy Dearest (1981)

In this biographical film, glamorous yet lonely star Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) takes in two orphans, and at first their unconventional family seems happy. But after Joan's attempts at romantic fulfillment go sour and she is fired from her contract with MGM studios, her callous and abusive behavior towards her daughter Christina (Diana Scarwid) gets crazily out of hand. Reported as a bio-pic the scariest aspect of this film is the idea that it may have actually happened by one of the greatest icons of Hollywood.

1. Betsy Palmer as Pamela Voorhees: Friday the 13th (1980)

I know we don't have to explain why we would say that Jason's mom is the number one best worst mother of horror. Once we get past the fact that Friday the 13th brought us several of the most important elements of slasher horror, Jason has a face that only a mother can love. Pamela Voorhees is the quintessential mother that not only loves her son to death, she will kill to prove it. If that's not enough she'll continue to influence Jason even after death. Death, disfiguration, and murder would never keep her from her son.

Jeff's Really Short Reviews Presents: WARM BODIES (2013)

A terrible plague has left the planet's population divided between zombies and humans. An unusual zombie named R sees his walking-dead brethren attacking a living woman named Julie and rescues her. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and the pair embarks on an unusual relationship. As their bond grows and R becomes more and more human, a chain of events unfolds that could transform the entire lifeless world.

Directed and scripted by Jonathan Levine based on the novel by the same name by Isaac Marion; WARM BODIES stars Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Dave Franco, and Rob Corddry.

Initially, WARM BODIES was kind of funny. But when it turned into a Romeo and Juliet zombie romcom I wasn't into it anymore. The filmmakers where banking on the love story, even releasing it around Valentine's Day, but what we got was a barely lukewarm ridiculous concept. Seriously, zombies are dead, they can't just come back to life because they fell in love warming their cold dead heart.

Available in all formats although I'm not sure why you'd want to see it.

Jeff's really short reviews are designed to briefly highlight those movies that Jeff either loves or in some cases, hates, without any fluff in between.

Your Required Holiday Horror Film for Independence Day, Wednesday, July 4th, Wednesday, July 4th: 'Uncle Sam' (1997)

A Gulf War veteran rises from the dead to wreak vengeance upon unpatriotic residents of his hometown.

Initial release: 1996
Director: William Lustig
Budget: 2 million USD
Editor: Bob Murawski
Screenplay: Larry Cohen
Stars: William Smith, David 'Shark' Fralick, Christopher Ogden

THE LIGHTHOUSE - in theaters July 6

BAFTA-award winning supernatural thriller THE LIGHTHOUSE, starring Michael Jibson (Hunter Killer, Beauty and the Beast) and Mark Lewis Jones (Star Wars : The Last Jedi, “Game of Thrones”), hits theaters and VOD this July.

“A dark and disquieting journey into the heart of madness” (Starburst), the film, inspired by a terrifying true story, tells of two men trapped in an isolated lighthouse, surrounded by the deadly Irish sea, with both their minds ultimately pushed to the limits.

Directed by Chris Crow, and nominated for five BAFTA awards including Best Director and Best Actor, winning Best Visual Effects, THE LIGHTHOUSE opens in select theaters July 6 and VOD July 10.

"SEQUENCE BREAK" UK DVD RELEASE

Graham Skipper's award winning body horror SEQUENCE BREAK, received its UK DVD release on June 11th 2018 courtesy of Matchbox Films.

SEQUENCE BREAK stars Chase Williamson (Beyond The Gates) as a reclusive gamer who develops an unhealthy obsession with a video arcade machine resulting in a bizarre bio-mechanical mutation.

Actor turned writer/director Graham Skipper (Almost Human, Beyond The Gates, The Devil's Dolls) was inspired by David Cronenburg's Videodrome and a nostalgic love for video arcade games when he conceived the idea for SEQUENCE BREAK.

SEQUENCE BREAK took the festival circuit by storm with screenings at FrightFest (UK), Fantasia (Canada), Fantaspoa (Brasil), Morbido (Mexico), Monster Fest (Australia) and Chattanooga Fest (USA) where it won Best Film.

SEQUENCE BREAK was quickly snapped up by AMC Networks for digital distribution in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Australia and New Zealand through their curated genre channel SHUDDER where it was released on May 24th 2018.

Creepercast Presents Behind the Scenes of Our Favorite Horror Films with DREAMCATCHER (2003)

The nickname "Ripley" is a reference to Ellen Ripley, the fictional main character in the Alien series of films because in all stages the parasites are extremely difficult to destroy, and as said by General Kurtz, "This disease is one tough mother to beat, just like that Alien chick."

Creepercast Presents Behind the Scenes of Our Favorite Horror Films with a picture or video capturing a behind the scenes moment of the most iconic horror films complete with trivia information.

my thoughts on.... 'Minutes to Midnight'

As with all of my reviews of films for The Creepercast, I fully recommend that you check each and every one of them out. I am one man and this is my opinion. I've seen plenty of movies that received reviews that were the complete opposite of how I saw the film. These writers, directors, producers and actors all put a lot of time and love into these projects. They deserve to be seen and appreciated for what they are. Everyone has a dream and I fully support the people that take the time to make theirs a reality. With that being said....

Everybody wants to make their mark in life. Everybody wants to leave something behind that people remember. In the horror world, it's an iconic character that people latch onto and that takes on a life and a fandom of its own. For example, Wes Craven with Freddy Krueger or Sean S. Cunningham with Jason Voorhees. These were horror legends in the vein of Dracula or Frankenstein's monster. Because of this desire, we see a lot of masked killers and attempts at unique monsters, which the majority of the time just fade into the background after the credits roll. With the film 'Minutes to Midnight', you could tell that there was a lot of effort put into the character design of each of the three main villains and even the fourth, to a degree. The problem is that it was almost a bit too much. I fully gave everyone involved credit for putting forth a hell of an effort, but I think they missed the mark. Angus was a bit of a mess and although the bone crafted weapons looked cool, they weren't very practical and felt a bit forced. Calypso felt like she was taken straight out of the 'Mortal Kombat' franchise and Gimble.... well, he was a mixture of two of Bill Moseley's most memorable characters: Chop Top and Otis Firefly. I'll casually leave the fourth member out of this equation, as there's a hook I don't want to spoil for any new viewers. There's also a lot of unanswered questions, which are left to exposition throughout the story line, but a lot of things just don't make sense. For example, the little 'bunker' that the family lives in. Why has no one come across this and realized what was going on sooner? I know they had some protection in town, but that can't keep them hidden forever and they'd been doing bad things for a while now. There's also the main protagonists in the film. You don't really care about any of them, so when they're killed, it's kind of meaningless. The cast and the choices for each role isn't too bad. William Baldwin did his best and Richard Grieco felt a little out of place, as the long haired sheriff, but he tried. Overall though, everyone did their best to make a horror film that stood above a lot of the other fodder that's being churned out these days. Not just indie horror, but big budget nonsense that could learn a few things from it's lower budget cousins.

The story takes place on New Year's Eve, as a group of friends are settling into a night of partying at a local lodge that happens to be in an area where some horrible murders had happen. During the first part of the film, we see a younger couple, as the man is proposing to his girlfriend in an off limits wooded area. They're quickly dispatched by our trio of bad guys or so we think. Meanwhile, the group of friends is starting the party early at their mutual place of employment. Their boss is a bit of an overly friendly man towards his manager and there's another guy who's wandering around looking for his brother, who happens to be the guy that's murdered in the opening. The sheriff shows up and warns them all that a big storm is coming and to stay away from the lodge, as it's not going to be safe. The kids go anyway. Two of their friends are headed to the same lodge to meet them, as they're also quickly laid to rest. (One of them happens to be Dominique Swain, in a “blink or you'll miss her” role) As the night goes one, the killers begin to terrorize the aforementioned people, as one by one they're killed in creative and horrible ways. By the end, it's an all out battle of brains and brawn, as the sheriff, the drifter and the last two of the friends are trying to stay alive before the storm comes.

The film is directed by Christopher Ray, son of the film maker Fred Olen Ray. A director who has 153 craptacular entries on IMDB and is a bit of a legend in the b-movie world. Written by Victoria Dadi and Christopher M. Don, they do their best to build something of substance and in some ways they succeed, but overall.... it ends up being kind of a mess. The film itself, looks fairly well done. Composition wise and some of the choices that are made, but when the rest of it doesn't maintain the same level of quality, it kind of makes the whole thing fall flat. I don't want you to think this is something that's not worth your time. For all I know, you may love it. I've seen so many horror films and grown up in the genre, that I tend to hold the movies I watch to a higher standard. All in all, I think this could have used with some scaling back in regards to the number of main characters and the scoring of the film. Sometimes less is more and in this film, it felt like the desire was to throw in as much as possible in the hopes that it would stick but it didn't. There's also a big problem with the ending. By the third act, I found myself drifting a bit, as it seemed like the movie should have already ended, but then the last 3 minutes happened. In quite possibly the most “What the hell just happened?” ending ever, things just kind of were done. I don't understand what happened or why, but it almost felt like the money ran out or the editor clipped it a few minutes too early. Maybe the idea was to go for the vague and ambiguous ending, but it felt like someone hit stop on the film and never hit play again. It was jarring, to say the least.

Sadly, this one doesn't really get beyond a 2 out of 5 star film for me. I give a lot of credit to John Hennigan, as he was the shining star in this film. He's not quite got the same level charisma as a Dave Bautista or Dwayne Johnson, but he's very likable and I could see him continuing on as an action hero. Just looking at his career over the last decade, it looks like I'm not the only one who feels this way. Also, Christopher Ray has some talent. With 'Minutes to Midnight' he's proven that he can get the most out of the materials he's handed and that could prove to be a really strong asset as he continues his film making career. This isn't his film outing and I have a feeling it won't be his last. Do I ever need to see this again? No, probably not. There's just not enough here to hold my interest for another go, but give it a shot. Maybe you'll find something in it that I didn't. Plus, any time you can watch Bill Moseley practice his craft, it's a good day. (ps: the poster is incredibly misleading)

Minutes to Midnight is on VOD July 3 and DVD September 4.



If you want to see where this borrows from, check out: 'Friday the 13th' (2009), 'House of 1000 Corpses' and 'The Strangers'