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The ’90s teen slasher cycle that exploded with the release of Scream feels alive and well here in 2025. The legacy sequel to 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer arrives this July, and a reboot of Urban Legend was recently announced. Recent release Clown in a Cornfield features an opening sequence set in the ’90s, and while upcoming teen slasher Fear Street: Prom Queen is technically set in 1988, it speaks to the continued and growing trend of teen horror, especially of the period variety.

This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to ’90s teen horror that ventures beyond Scream and the popular horror that followed in its wake. They highlight teens in peril with ’90s flair.

Here’s where to stream these five underseen ’90s teen horror movies this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Brainscan – Tubi

One of the earlier adapters of the killer video game concept,...

Exclusive: Upgrade will commence talks with international buyers in Cannes next week on the revenge thriller Violent Ends starring Billy Magnussen, James Badge Dale, Alexandra Shipp, and Nick Stahl.

John-Michael Powell will direct the story about Lucas Frost (Magnussen), a man raised in a notorious crime family who desperately wants to build a peaceful life with his fiancée, Emma (Shipp).

When a robbery involving Lucas’s cousin spirals out of control with tragic consequences, Lucas is forced back into the violent underworld he fought to leave behind.

Production took place in Arkansas and Upgrade will present footage to buyers on the Croisette.

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

This May, Paramount+ is bringing you a ton of entertainment with the much-anticipated premiere of the new season of Criminal Minds and also the release of the much-awaited new season of The Chi. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Paramount+ this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 7 best films coming to Paramount+ in May 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (May 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98% Credit – Asia Union Film & Entertainment Ltd.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a wuxia martial arts film directed by Ang Lee from a screenplay co-written by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung. Based on the Chinese novel of the same name by Wang Dulu, the 2000 film is set in the 19th...

Sometimes we can't help but wonder what television channels or streaming services were thinking when canceling a TV show. Viewership and cost are the usual suspects behind why a fan favorite TV show doesn't last as long as it should, but that doesn't mean it was a failure.

We're taking a look back at seven science fiction and fantasy shows that we cancelled way too soon, beginning with a show that everyone can agree on:

Firefly

Fans young and old can agree that Firefly was cancelled too soon, after only one season. Created by Joss Whedon and starring Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Gina Torres, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Summer Glau, and Ron Glass, this legendary science fiction show from 2002 has one of the most powerful fan bases on the planet.

Love, action, and humor abound aboard the spaceship Serenity, where our wacky band of space-faring outlaws lived and worked together.

I love a cinematic diamond in the rough. It’s such a rush to discover a well-made film that hasn’t found the audience it deserves. When I do unearth a filmic treasure, I usually make haste to share my discovery via my Dread Central column, The Overlooked Motel. As it turns out, Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan seems just as fond of an under-seen indie horror effort as I am. He curates a Letterboxd list of his favorite horror movies, and many of his picks are smaller titles that deserve a larger fanbase.

Speaking of that Letterboxd list, I recently noticed that Flanagan added an indie horror effort from 2020 to the lineup. I’m talking about the Devon Sawa-fronted wilderness horror Hunter Hunter. Nice work, Mike. That flick really made an impression on me. I actually need to pay it a repeat visit sometime soon.

I included Hunter Hunter...

Fluid Boys & Peckerheads.

It seems like just yesterday that we were doing a themed month on Doppelgängers and deception (it was actually last month), and while we concluded March with discussions of classics like Invasion of the Body Snatchers (listen) and The Stepford Wives (listen), we took a break for a week to look at David Fincher’s Panic Room (listen). Now, we’re heading back into the world of doppelgängers with a look at David Nutter‘s teenybopper version of The Stepford Wives in 1998’s Disturbing Behavior.

In the film, Steve (James Marsden) has just moved to the small town of Cradle Bay with his parents and sister (Katharine Isabelle), quickly realizing that there’s something off with his peers. The preppy clique known as the Blue Ribbons are the eerie embodiment of academic excellence and clean living but, like the rest of the town, they’re a little too perfect.

Most filmgoers recognize big cities like Miami, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles in their favorite motion pictures. Sure enough, those locals provide the backdrop to several classic pictures from Michael Bay's "Bad Boys" to "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "King Kong" and Michael Mann's "Heat."  However, another prominent locale exists in the film world, a place you've likely seen more often than not, even if it didn't immediately stand out. We're talking, of course, about the state of Maine.

Uniquely, many stories take place in the Pine Tree State. Its lush scenery and coastal views make for stunning cinematography, while the colder elements provide the necessary bleakness for heavier dramas. Here, family friendly fare like "Casper" and "Pete's Dragon" took flight, while more intense films such as the alligator thriller "Lake Placid" and the Stephen King horror tale "Pet Sematary" found unique ways to scare the bejesus out of audiences.

We see recasts pretty regularly on the big screen. For some franchises like Friday the 13th and Halloween, it’s almost a tradition. It’s less common in a non-genre arena. However, other major films have seen some of their important characters get recast for various reasons… and keep in mind that we’re only talking about movies here, not TV shows, so you won’t hear about Michiel Huisman replacing Ed Skrein as Daario Naharis on Game of Thrones, Charles Melton replacing Ross Butler on Riverdale, Liam Hemsworth replacing Henry Cavill on The Witcher, Janet Hubert being switched with Daphne Maxwell Reid as Aunt Vivian Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Nathan Parsons replacing Luke Grimes as James Kent on True Blood, Alessandra Torresani being replaced by Mae Whitman on Arrested Development, or Jeff the cab driver being recast in the final season of Better Call Saul. The...

Terminator 2: Judgment Day introduced the world to Edward Furlong as John Connor, a rebellious teenager destined to shape humanity’s fight against the dominant force of AI malevolence that was Skynet. Having made a brief return to the role of Connor in Terminator: Dark Fate, Furlong’s new movie is something even more unsettling than a world at war with intelligent machines, and it is coming to VOD services very soon.

Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep is a "cosmic horror movie" inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s short story. A newly released trailer teases a chilling adaptation that brings the usual Lovecraftian mix of a dreamlike atmosphere, grotesque monsters, and nightmarish dread, as well as announcing the release date of March 4, 2025.

The new adaptation of Lovecraft’s 1919 story Beyond the Wall of Sleep, – which comes almost two decades after Tom Savini’s 2006 version of the eerie tale – takes...

Exclusive: Mena Suvari (American Beauty), Nick Stahl (Let the Right One In) and India Marie Cross (Wicked City) will star alongside Caleb Landry Jones in Down the Arm of God, an indie drama co-written by Jones and Peter Brunner, which is being introduced at EFM by Kinology.

Inspired by real stories, Down the Arm of God follows a young pastor through a harsh winter in a small Texas town, where his mission to help the homeless is faced with resistance by his congregation, exposing deep-seated prejudices and systemic failures.

Directed by Brunner, the film is rooted in real-life interviews and firsthand accounts of homeless individuals surviving on the streets. More than just a narrative about homelessness, Down the Arm of God is the result of years of direct collaboration with the homeless community — not just as subjects, but as partners and storytellers shaping the film with their lived experiences.

Luc Besson is producing for EuropaCorp,...

Quick LinksWhy Disney's Tall Tale is an Underrated GemHow Tall Tale Represents Some of Disney's Best WorkWhy Disney Needs to Return to Classic American Folklore

Without fanfare or much acknowledgment, 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of Disney's underrated western fantasy, Tall Tale. The 1990s were a distinctive time for Disney films, caught between traditional values and a desire for modern appeal. This era produced a bizarre mix of movies alongside fairy tale classics like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast were odd entries such as George of the Jungle and Flubber. Tall Tale fell into the latter category, a neglected attempt to modernize classic American folklore once beloved by Walt Disney himself. As it reaches its 30th anniversary, its legacy invites a deeper look at what it reveals about Disney's relationship with Americana, the legacy of its characters, and why it deserves to be remembered.

Also known as Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill,...

With as large a body of work as Patrick Swayze had to his name, it's sort of surprising that he wasn't in many Westerns. In fact, he wasn't in any Westerns at all, save for one: a long-forgotten Disney movie called Tall Tale. Though some may consider Road House a modern Western of sorts, as far as traditional horse operas go, only this Disney fantasy flick fits the bill — Pecos Bill, that is. In this 1995 adventure, Swayze plays none other than Pecos Bill, a legendary cowboy who comes to the aid of a young boy named Daniel Hackett (played by a young Nick Stahl). Is Pecos Bill real or imagined? Well, Tall Tale (sometimes called Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill) offers few clear answers, but they don't matter much anyway. Patrick Swayze played a cowboy here, and the truth is that we wished he'd played a few more.

Richard J. Bosner has been a producer on several films over the years, including Fruitvale Station, Black Bear, and Paint, and now he has made his feature directorial debut with the horror film Devoted, based on a short film called Devotee, which he made last year. Variety reports that Bosner assembled a strong cast for the film, including Mena Suvari (American Beauty), Skeet Ulrich (Scream), Elizabeth Marvel (Helstrom), Lin Shaye (Insidious), Alicia Sanz (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series), and Nick Stahl (Carnivale).

Now making its way through post-production, Devoted is produced by Bosner, along with Robert Ogden Barnum, Eric Binns, and Carissa Knol. Danny Chan, Dana Guerin, John Frank Rosenblum, Matt Rhodes, Tyler Transki, Michael Sklut, and Sam Maydew serve as executive producers.

The story centers on a woman (Suvari), who takes guardianship of her estranged sister (Marvel), the only survivor of a recent mass cult suicide. Yet her...

What do you get when you take a couple of stars from two of the most iconic horror franchises and put them together in a movie? You get Devoted, a new horror film from writer/director Richard J. Bosner which stars Lin Shaye, Skeet Ulrich, Mena Suvari, Elizabeth Marvel, Alicia Sanz and Nick Stahl. Shaye is, of course, famous for her time in the blockbuster Insidious franchise, while Ulrich rose to fame in the mid-'90s for his portrayal of Billy Loomis in the Scream franchise.

Per Variety, Bosner is making his feature film debut with Devoted, and also serves as producer alongside Robert Ogden Barnum, Eric Binns and Carissa Knol. The film stars Suvari as a woman who takes guardianship of her estranged sister (Marvel), who is the only survivor of a recent mass cult suicide. Her happiness at their reunion soon turns to terror, however, as her sister's...

Richard J. Bosner is making his directorial debut with Devoted, a new horror film featuring a strong cast. Mena Suvari, Skeet Ulrich, Elizabeth Marvel, Lin Shaye, Alicia Sanz, and Nick Stahl have all signed on for the project.

The movie tells the unsettling story of a woman, played by Suvari, who takes in her estranged sister (Marvel). Her sister is the only survivor of a mass cult suicide, and what starts as a hopeful reunion quickly turns into a nightmare. As her sister’s dark influence grows, the woman and her husband (Ulrich) find their lives spiraling into terror.

Bosner, known for producing Fruitvale Station and Black Bear, is directing and writing Devoted, which is based on his short film Devotee. The short premiered at the 2024 HollyShorts Film Festival and was also featured at Beyond Fest.

Related: 12 Best Antichrist Movies & Why You Should Watch Each

Bosner shared his vision for...

Mena Suvari (American Beauty), Skeet Ulrich (Scream), and Elizabeth Marvel (“House of Cards”) will star in the upcoming horror film Devoted, Variety reports.

Lin Shaye (Insidious), Alicia Sanz (“From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series”), and Nick Stahl (Sin City) round out the cast.

The plot follows a woman (Suvari) who takes guardianship of her estranged sister (Marvel), the only survivor of a recent mass cult suicide. Yet her happiness at their reunion soon turns to terror as her sister’s influence turns her and her husband’s (Ulrich) life into a savage nightmare.

Fruitvale Station, Black Bear, and The Manor producer Richard J. Bosner writes and directs in his feature debut.

Bosner helmed a proof-of-concept short titled Devotee to generate interest in the feature. It premiered at HollyShorts Film Festival last year.

“Devoted weaves my passion for classic horror and the occult into a suspenseful exploration of fear and the...

Since the earliest days of Hollywood, audiences have signaled a desire for some of their favorite stories to continue in the form of sequels, with franchises like Star Wars and Halloween being kept alive for decades. The idea of the sequel has always been hit or miss, with some filmmakers wanting their best stories to be left at one, while studios insist on keeping their ideas alive. Naturally, this has been reflected in the quality of some movies, which can either delight or divide audiences.

While some sequels rank among the greatest and most successful films ever made, others are among the worst. In the middle, however, audiences have a long list of underrated continuations, some of which failed to live up to a predecessor while others were quickly overshadowed by the next entry. Some of these movies simply flew under the radar or weren't appreciated for their time, but have aged incredibly well.

This article discusses sexual assault and child abuse.

After ten years starring in a breezy sitcom as famous as Friends, any actor might feel the urge to branch out and show the world what they're really made of. To demonstrate his versatility, David Schwimmer slid into the director's chair for the 2010 drama Trust, a cautionary tale about internet safety that is about as far from romantic comedy territory as it gets. This disturbing story of child exploitation offers no easy answers and proves that there is more to Schwimmer than the lovable goof Ross Geller.

David Schwimmer made his directorial debut with the 2007 Simon Pegg comedy Run Fatboy Run, but he was already hard at work on something far more personal and challenging. Trust reflects the Friends star's years of commitment to the support of sexual assault survivors, and his rigorously researched film is brutally honest about the effects of abuse on whole families.

Some characters become so iconic that their actors become entirely inseparable from the part they played, as their personas and reputations become intrinsically linked. This can often be the case for an actor’s breakout role, which was so definitive that it’s difficult for audiences to picture them as anybody else, making it hard for them to pursue careers away from their most famous roles. In other instances, actors play the same character for so long, whether in movie series or TV shows, they will forever be remembered for one specific role.

Some of the best movie characters out there have become inseparable from the actors who play them, and many TV stars have to accept that their legacy will always be tied to their characters. While some actors resent being tied to one piece of media for the rest of their lives, others have fully embraced their iconic...

After the still entertaining but undeniably sillier Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the Terminator franchise was ready for salvation. But what would be the next step? Arnold was fully engulfed in his political career; James Cameron would rather remake Piranha 2 than return; and per the usual for this franchise….no one even knows who owns the rights! This is What the F*ck Happened to Terminator Salvation.

A bit after Terminator 3’s release, both Nick Stahl and Claire Danes were recast to return as John Connor and Kate Brewster in the next installment of the franchise. Jonathan Mostow (director of Terminator 3) was also involved and helping with the script but a retread of Terminator 3 sounded dreadful. On top of that, the rights situation was once again a mess…. After months of fighting, lawsuits, and distribution hassles…. the rights to the franchise were again sold. This time,...

Arnold Schwarzenegger accomplished a lot in his life. After being born in an obscure little village in Austria in 1947 and growing up with a temperamental father who used to serve in the Nazi Party during WWII, he climbed the social ladder by winning bodybuilding competitions across Europe, immigrated to the US in 1968, married into the high-profile Kennedy family in 1986, became the Governor of California in 2003, and remains the most famous actor today with a high celebrity net worth of $1 Billion.

Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator [Credit: Orion Pictures]

Schwarzenegger remains one of the rare handful of people who symbolizes and proves that the American Dream is attainable, after all. The actor’s shift from bodybuilding to Hollywood to politics shows an ambitious turn for a man who merely lacked the tools he needed at birth to rise to his full potential and so taught himself to grab the bull by its...

Terminator Zero is the latest iteration of one of the most successful science fiction franchises of all time. The Netflix series' first season had an overwhelmingly positive reception, but a recent leak from the streaming service itself provides a major update for the iconic IP.

Per What's On Netflix -- an independent Netflix news site that reports on upcoming releases, new additions to the catalog and what will no longer be available -- a post from one of Netflix's many regional X (formerly Twitter) accounts let slip that the Terminator anime will be returning for a sophomore season. The seemingly accidental leak, which came from the Netflix Latin America account, showcased the anime along with the phrase "Temporada 2". Although the streamer has not officially announced its release, it appears that Terminator Zero will make its return sooner rather than later.

Related Dragon Ball Daima Gets Surprise Netflix Release Date for...

Some of Hollywood's biggest action franchises have gone completely off the rails, getting crazier and harder to justify with each new movie. This has a major overlap with movie franchises that got too big for their own good, as studios contrive ways to keep the franchise going, or too many ongoing storylines too strange to exist are already included. It would have been best for the franchise and its legacy if it had ended after two or three movies.

Movie franchises have been ruined by an actor's exit, or one particularly bad installment. On the other hand, a select few movie franchises came roaring back after a hiatus with their best movie yet, making the rest of Hollywood believe it can achieve the same thing with series that have been in decline. Yet the weirdest later storylines in some of the most popular action franchises ever demonstrate that this is often a pipe dream,...

John Connor might be the savior of humanity in the Terminator franchise, but trying to do anything with the character after Terminator 2: Judgment Day has been a major problem that has destroyed nearly every film or television show since. After numerous attempts to revitalize the franchise, mishandling John remains a recurring and common problem with each new project. For such a simple concept presented in the first film and expanded on in the second, this series just cannot help but overcomplicate itself resulting in diminishing returns.

From Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines through the most recent entry in the franchise, Netflix's Terminator Zero series, every project runs into the same issue: no one seems to know what to do with a story that has effectively already ended. Arguably, the series should have finished at its peak with the original ending of T2, which showed a future where Skynet never came to be.

In the age of endless sequels, prequels, and reboots, there are some dead franchises whose return I would actually warmly welcome. While some series like Back to the Future should be left alone and not have their legacy tarnished or tampered with, there are other series that could actually benefit from making a triumphant return to todays modern movie landscape. Whether its the themes or ideas from the franchise that have become more relevant, or the main character has been away long enough to be missed, these are all franchises I still would love to see more of.

While series often seem to go on forever, and there are some great franchises with more than ten movies, in other cases, promising franchises are cast aside and left for dead when they still have plenty of exciting potential. Although some of these series had planned follow-up films, many of them have...

Exclusive: Premiere Entertainment has picked up international rights to BFFs, a crime comedy starring Terrence Howard and Taye Diggs.

The film, written by Adam Rifkin and directed by Constantine Paraskevopoulos, is currently in post-production.

Howard and Diggs star alongside an ensemble cast led by Constantine Paraskevopoulos and Adam Rifkin with Jennifer Morrison Aníta Briem, Michael Bacall, Amaury Nolasco, and Nick Stahl. Premiere Entertainment is talking to buyers about BFFs at TIFF. CAA is handling North American sales.

BFFs tells the story of Jerry (Paraskevopoulos) who is attempting to track down and reunite with his old friend Henry (Rifkin), only to find Henry is living a very different life than the one they had dreamed of in their youth. As they pick up their relationship right where it left off, their childish practical jokes quickly escalate out of control, upending Henry’s life with hilarious but possibly fatal consequences.

Paraskevopoulos and...

James Cameron's 1991 action spectacular "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" felt, at the time, like the biggest movie imaginable. Cameron upgraded his low-budget 1984 original into one of the slickest, most visually innovative action movies made to date, featuring a robotic villain that could transform into a living blob of shape-shifting mercury-like metal. The villainous robot, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), travels back in time from the future to kill the adolescent John Connor (Edward Furlong), destined to lead a resistance force against an army of machines. Yes, the future in Cameron's movies is bleak; robots will soon achieve consciousness and, almost instantly, detonate a nuclear bomb.

Luckily, John has his mentally unbalanced mother Sarah (Linda Hamilton) to look after him, as well as a "good" time-traveling Terminator robot (Arnold Schwarzenegger) reprogrammed to protect him. By the end of the film, it seems that the characters were able to close off several causality...

Coming to Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand on August 27th from Magnet, we have an exclusive clip from What You Wish For that you can watch right now! We're also giving away a Blu-ray copy to two Daily Dead readers.

"Ryan is a talented chef with crushing gambling problems. Circumstances being what they are, he leaves town in a hurry for the safe haven of an unnamed Latin American country where his friend Jack, a more prestigious chef with his own unique troubles, welcomes him into his home. Ryan has no idea how Jack is able to afford his extravagant lifestyle, and he doesn’t want to feel envious, but he knows that he wants it for himself. Soon, a grim twist of fate will give that to him. Ryan assumes his friend’s identity. And soon discovers just what Jack’s been doing to maintain the lifestyle he so desperately craved.

Three actors are ready to check into Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone sequel series, The Madison. The series stars Michelle Pfeiffer as Stacy Clyburn, a family matriarch who moves her family from New York City to the Madison River Valley of Montana after her husband’s death. Today, The Madison welcomes Suits actor Patrick J. Adams, Elle Chapman, Beau Garrett, and Amiah Miller as primary cast members.

MTV Entertainment Studios, 101 Studios, and Bosque Ranch Productions produce The Madison, which aims to be a sincere exploration of grief and human connection after Stacy Clyburn’s family moves to Montana to start life anew. Patrick J. Adams joins The Madison as an investment banker, Russell McIntosh, while Chapman and Garrett play Clyburn’s daughters.

Elle Chapman is Paige McIntosh in The Madison, “a somewhat self-centered woman who indulges in a luxurious New York lifestyle provided by her parents and investment banker husband,...

Not every actor is a Samuel L. Jackson, gladly signing an extensive superhero movie contract to play Nick Fury as many times as Marvel Studios wants him. Some are more like James Bond actor George Lazenby, securing an iconic part and then instantly worrying it'll cause typecasting. Meanwhile, some stars can't get along with the studio, while others, unfortunately, die before the role has run its course. No property or individual movie is immune to the possibility of recasting. It's just that some do it a lot better than others.

In the sci-fi realm, long-running franchises often pose unique casting challenges, but others are simply so difficult or so weird that they necessitated unexpected changes. The multiverse offers more recasting possibilities than most, as "Doctor Who" and its endless regenerations -- a sci-fi solution to a real-world problem -- regularly demonstrates. How the fans, the actors, and the studio react cannot always be predicted,...

From is a brilliant horror series that will surely give you a nightmare or two. Created by Josh Griffin, the MGM+ (formerly known as Epix) series is set in a mysterious place that won’t let its residents leave. From has an amazing ensemble cast led by Harold Perrineau with Catalina Sandino Moreno as Tabitha Matthews, Eion Bailey as Jim Matthews, Hannah Cheramy as Julie Matthews, and many more starring in supporting roles. From was recently renewed for a third season and while you wait for the next batch of episodes to come out here are similar shows that could keep you busy. So, if you loved the sci-fi and psychological horror aspects of From, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

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Castle Rock (Hulu & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Hulu...

While Scream set off a new slasher cycle in the late 1990s, MGM delivered something different with Disturbing Behavior. A fitting choice considering the film’s themes. Ultimately, though, this ‘98 teen chiller landed a bit more in the science-fiction bin than straight, undiluted horror; one by one, a town’s troubled youths endure sinister, personality-warping makeovers to make them better fit into society. That sort of genre pitch, when coupled with up-and-coming young actors like Katie Holmes and James Marsden, should have been enough to draw in the target demo. Yet the studio and the director, David Nutter, didn’t see eye to eye on things, resulting in one of the most troubled horror productions of that decade.

Scott Rosenberg’s screenplay for Disturbing Behavior was written a few years before Scream was released, and it was nearly produced by New Line Cinema before plans changed. Luckily for Rosenberg, he...

When it comes to the golden age of horror films—hell, the golden age of films in general, I will die on the hill arguing that it is the late 1990s into the early 2000s. Sure, you might have incredibly valid reasons to argue against that, but this was a time of peak cinema when it comes to my personal media consumption. I consider it a source of pride that my strongest trivia category, were I to encounter it, would easily be Teen Movies of the late ‘90s into the early ‘00s. You see, I was at the perfect age for those movies to make an impact—a nerdy preteen with no siblings who was often glued to the TV. While everyone can easily recall gems like 10 Things I Hate About You, She’s All That, Bring it On, and Mean Girls, there are an equally large amount of teen...

The halfway point of 2024 is already here, and what a strange year it’s been so far. In terms of box office, the genre’s gotten off to a sluggish start compared to previous years, save for a surprise international hit that’s taken Asian markets by storm. It’s also been a big year for twin films, with dual spider flicks Sting and Infested unleashing arachnophobic terror, followed by the dueling nun horror movies Immaculate and The First Omen. Speaking of the latter, horror prequels – including A Quiet Place: Day One – have offered some of the year’s biggest horror surprises so far, along with buzzy indie darlings like Late Night with the Devil and In a Violent Nature.

This summer’s only getting warmed up for horror releases, with some of the year’s most anticipated titles on the immediate horizon. MaXXXine and Longlegs are just around the corner,...

How To Rob A Bank Image: Netflix Spoiler alert: How To Rob A Bank is not going to teach you how to make off with millions from a local financial institution. It is, however, a more compact, marketable title than How This One Dude Robbed A Bunch Of Banks For As Long As He Could,...

How To Rob A BankImage: Netflix

Spoiler alert: How To Rob A Bank is not going to teach you how to make off with millions from a local financial institution. It is, however, a more compact, marketable title than How This One Dude Robbed A Bunch Of Banks For As Long As He Could,...

There are horror flicks that fail to serve their purpose, and there are thrillers that are anything but thrilling. Nick Stahl, in his mid-40s, plays a sous chef who’s been through a life of hardships for which he only has himself to blame. Writer-director Nicholas Tomnay’s What You Wish For sets the tone of the movie in its premise and throws in a twist that very few of us would’ve guessed. Walking into this movie without expecting much was clearly a bad call on my part. And it’s a pleasant surprise to sit through a film and just take in Nick Stahl’s oddly magnificent performance in one of the less talked-about movies of this year.

Spoilers Ahead

What happens in the movie?

Ryan travels to South America, hoping to hide from a creditor named Rabbit. Ryan’s gambling habits have landed him in huge debt,...

The great Nick Stahl joins Halloweenies co-host and executive producer Michael Roffman to discuss his forthcoming thriller What You Wish For, now on VOD via Magnet. Together, they chew on his latest role as a troubled chef with a gambling history (no spoilers), the tough hurdles of growing up in the ’90s, his appreciation for Horror, and more.

Bloody Disgusting‘s Joe Lipsett writes in his glowing 4.5 star review: “What You Wish For is hugely entertaining, tense, and (often surprisingly) funny film that risks getting lost in the glut of horror and thriller releases. Don’t miss this culinary delight; it’s one of the best of the year.”

Stream the conversation below.

Subscribe to the Halloweenies via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, RadioPublic, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street,...

Quick Links A Lavish Yet Twisted Dinner Party A Foody Thriller That Could Use More Exposition A Side Serving of Dark Humor and Social Commentary Nick Stahl Is What We Wished For Dark humor and moral dilemmas make for a captivating thriller. Nick Stahl shines as Ryan in this twisted dinner party tale. Tomnay's genre film serves as a Trojan horse for social commentary about greed and apathy.

Writer-director Nicholas Tomnay (The Perfect Host) puts a fine spin on the adage, Be careful what you wish for in his new noir thriller. What You Wish For stars Nick Stahl as Ryan, a talented chef with mounting gambling problems. Perhaps Ryan has always longed for a quick fix or a lavish lifestyle, something that money can certainly buy, but in this engaging morality tale, it may come at too big of a cost.

Ryans salvation may be a trap in disguise.

What You Wish For has a well-executed, grotesque premise that comments on the nature of the upper class. Nick Stahl and Tamsin Topolski, as well as the rest of the cast, portray incredibly tense group dynamics. What You Wish For is slightly open-ended, leaving some plot holes unanswered.

Nicholas Tomnays What You Wish For is a thriller from which one cannot look away, even if the overall moral of the story falls just short of flawless. The story follows Ryan (Nick Stahl), a down-on-his-luck chef who travels to South America to meet up with his former roommate Jack (Brian Groh) and escape threats due to his gambling debts. Jack, whom Ryan hasnt seen in a decade, has everything Ryan could want. However, things take a dark turn when Jack dies and Ryan assumes Jacks identity, only to discover an ugly truth about Jacks successful career.

What You Wish For (2023)

DirectorNicholas...

This is a slow weekend in an already slow summer movie season, so it’s the perfect time to catch up with spring’s best horror release and a handful of new indies that are debuting on digital platforms.

The contender to watch this week: “The First Omen“

At a time when many franchises are slowly cratering, “The First Omen” has turned out to be one of 2024’s biggest surprises. Arkasha Stevenson‘s handsome and terrifying prequel depicts the events right before Demian, the Og Antichrist, came around. If that sounds unnecessary, it is — and yet the film’s quality absolutely justifies its existence. “The First Omen” is still playing in a smattering of theaters, having grossed $53.7 worldwide, but now it’s available for $19.99 on VOD.

Other contenders:

“Gasoline Rainbow”: Mubi is having a major year, with two buzzy Cannes titles — “The Substance” and “The Girl with the Needle...

Few big new studio wide releases, yes, but Viggo Mortensen’s latest is on 700 screens, plus limited openings for Chris Wilcha’s Flipside, Judd Apatow EP, and Spanish animated, Oscar-nominated Robot Dreams from Neon. Bleecker Street’s family drama Ezra and IFC Films’ arthouse slasher In A Violent Nature are technically wide but both well under 1,500 screens.

Viggo Mortensen directed, wrote and stars in Western The Dead Don’t Hurt presented by Shout! Studios on 730 screens. The story of star-crossed lovers on the western U.S. frontier in the 1860s sees Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps), a fiercely independent woman, settle in Nevada with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen (Mortensen). But the outbreak of the Civil War separates them as Olsen goes to fight with the Union army, leaving Vivienne alone in a town full of corrupt officials. Premiered in Toronto, see Deadline review. It’s Mortensen’s second outing behind the camera since 2020’s Falling.

Who among us hasn’t secretly yearned for someone else’s life? Whether it’s a famous celebrity or just a well-to-do friend, coveting someone else’s seemingly perfect life is commonplace.

The concept takes a dark twist in writer/director Nicholas Tomnay’s feature, What You Wish For. And while the title may eschew the first few words of the well-known saying, the missing words from the warning loom large over the film.

The film begins as protagonist Ryan (Nick Stahl) steps out of the airport in an unnamed South American location. He’s greeted by a professional driver who promptly delivers him to an empty, isolated villa.

It’s luxurious, opulent, and very, very rich feeling. These are all things that are completely unfamiliar to Ryan.

He is a talented, down on his luck chef who is stuck working in an airport hotel kitchen. As several threatening texts confirm,...

What You Wish For heads to VOD and theaters tomorrow, thanks to Magnet Releasing, but we have an exclusive preview you can watch right now!

"Ryan (Nick Stahl) is a talented, down-on-his-luck chef with crushing gambling problems. Circumstances being what they are, he leaves town in a hurry for the safe haven of an unnamed Latin American country where his friend Jack (Brian Groh), a more prestigious chef with his own unique troubles, welcomes him into his home. Ryan has no idea how Jack’s able to afford his extravagant lifestyle cooking for the elite in paradise; he doesn’t want to feel envious, yet he can’t help but want this life for himself as well. Soon, a grim twist of fate will give that to him. Ryan assumes his friend’s identity and soon discovers just what Jack’s been doing to maintain the lifestyle he so desperately craved.

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More than 30 years ago, Nick Stahl became a hot ticket in Hollywood. After his breakout role opposite Mel Gibson in 1993s The Man Without a Face (Gibson's first as a director), he went on to star in such memorable films as The Thin Red Line and In the Bedroom), HBOs Carnivle, and 2003s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, playing the adult John Connor in the popular film franchise. Recently, Stahl was seen in TVs Fear the Walking Dead and Knights of the Zodiac alongside Famke Janssen.

With What You Wish For, Stahl adds another complex role to his already diverse roster. This crafty noir-inspired culinary thriller was written and directed by Nicholas Tomnay (The Perfect Host). Stahl plays Ryan, a chef in flux dealing with gambling problems and plenty of anxiety. When he flees to a Latin American villa to visit his friend,...

Quick Links The Terminator Rights Land With the Halcyon Company Trouble While Filming Terminator Salvation Legal Troubles Hint at What's to Come for the Terminator Franchise The Terminator Franchise Stalled After Salvation Terminator Salvation aimed to reboot the franchise with a new trilogy, but legal troubles and bankruptcy halted plans. Despite a star-studded cast and high budget, Terminator Salvation failed to meet box office expectations. Critical reception was mixed, with fans now reevaluating the film's attempt at something different.

In 2009, Terminator Salvation was released as an attempt to soft reboot the franchise and set up a brand-new trilogy. While the film is a sequel to 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the purpose of Salvation was to set up a new story with a familiar character in the lead. The fourth installment would be the first, and so far only, Terminator film not to feature Arnold Schwarzenegger, although his likeness briefly appears digitally.

Netflix's Terminator Zero will focus on new characters fighting in the future war between humanity and Skynet. The show has the potential to include cameos of classic characters such as Sarah Connor to add depth. Terminator Zero may delve into the ethics of AI development and the moral dilemmas of its creators.

A dozen or so characters from the Terminator movies could possibly appear in Netflix's new show, the latest addition to the franchise. The AI time-travel saga spans six movies and a live-action TV show, depicting the ongoing battles of various time travelers sent back in time from a future war between humans and machines. Netflix's anime series Terminator Zero will focus on new characters within the same context of the conflict between humanity and Skynet, according to the official synopsis (via Variety):

2022: A future war has raged for decades between the few human survivors and an endless army of machines.

Nicholas Tomnay got some buzz back in 2010 for his twisty thriller “The Perfect Host,” starring David Hyde Pierce as a dinner party host with an appetite for violence. But Tomnay hasn’t made another feature until now, with “What You Wish For.” And, to be expected, it’s another twisty thriller with some culinary flair.

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2024

Tomnay’s latest stars Nick Stahl as Ryan, a talented but troubled chef who skips town to stay with a friend living in Latin America to escape a gambling debt.

Continue reading ‘What You Wish For’ Trailer: Nick Stahl Stars As A Chef In Hot Water In Twisty New Thriller On May 31 at The Playlist.

"A bad dish from you and your life will end." Magnolia Pictures has revealed the official trailer for What You Wish For, an indie thriller from filmmaker Nicholas Tomnay, a follow-up to his first film The Perfect Host. This new one premiered at many genre fests: Fantasia, Fantastic Fest, FrightFest, A Night of Horror, Grimmfest, Celluloid Screams, and Screamfest previously before its upcoming release in theaters this May during the start of the summer. A down-on-his-luck chef with gambling problems flees to a Latin American villa, where he assumes the identity of another skilled chef. "A Hitchcockian, edge-of-your-seat descent into escalating moral compromise with generous servings of dark humour, shock, and surprise." The title is an obvious riff on the "be careful what you wish for" idiom, as the full synopsis hints that he "soon discovers just what Jack's been doing to maintain the lifestyle he so desperately craved." Uh oh.

Former child star Edward Furlong is very well known for playing the savior of humanity, John Connor, in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The role was recast for the next sequel, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and the role was recast with Nick Stahl. However, Furlong came close to reprising his role as John Connor for the third movie, but he blew his chances by not obeying the one condition that was put in place for his return.

Recently, Furlong appeared as a guest for Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast (per Screen Rant). He commented on Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, revealing that he'd actually signed a contract to reunite with Arnold Schwarzenegger for the big-budget sequel. However, as Furlong's struggles with substance abuse were well known at this time, he was mandated in his contract that he couldn't do any drugs during production. Unfortunately, because the...