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Landon Zakheim and Michael Lerman, co-founders of the four-day genre-focused Overlook Film Festival, together represent the duality of horror fans — Lerman is fluent in the sequels of every slasher franchise, while Zakheim has a more self-proclaimed “pretentious” taste, preferring giallo and experimental fare. Together they’ve created a fan-focused festival that is quickly becoming the hottest ticket in New Orleans.

“We often talked about the difference between the business of film and the chaos of a festival versus the actual definition of the word ‘festival,’ the celebration aspect of it,” Zakheim says of the just-wrapped event, which ran from April 3-6. “At the time, genre and horror films were not in the boom we are seeing now, which is wonderful. Yet this corner of the festival circuit is filled with the kindest filmmakers, the most supportive fans, and people who want to help each other out, and we had all of these ideas.

The Master of Horror has officially been immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and frankly, it’s about damn time. John Carpenter, the man behind some of the most influential, inventive, and flat-out terrifying horror films ever made, now has a star to match the impact he’s had on the genre (and cinema as a whole). Whether it’s masked killers in suburbia, shape-shifting aliens in Antarctica, or reality-bending nightmares dripping with cosmic dread, Carpenter’s work has long lived where horror and cool collide.

But before all that – before Halloween changed the face of slashers and The Thing made us scared of our friends. Carpenter was a film school upstart with a Super 8 camera and a knack for doing things his own way. He studied at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, where he co-wrote and scored the Oscar-winning short The Resurrection of Broncho Billy. His first...

Female-facing horror finds a striking new voice in Julia Max, making her feature debut at SXSW with The Surrender, which, if you can accept the interpretation of David Cronenberg’s The Brood as his idea of a body-horror Kramer Vs Kramer, functions similarly as a bloody genre reworking of Postcards from the Edge. Notionally, it’s a film about grief and how the death of a father reverberates around a tight-knit family that has drifted apart. Max handles that very well, but the real meat is in the story of a mother and daughter who find that his sudden absence opens up a whole other can of worms.

To keep you on your toes, Max opens the film with a bang; following a trail of blood on what looks to be floor of a cave or crypt, the camera finds a frightening demonic creature gnawing away at a human body.

We're only a couple of months into the year, but 2025 has already been a killer time for horror. The early releases have focused on fresh films like Companion and Heart Eyes, but like last year, the upcoming genre calendar is going to see a great mix of original frights and franchise terrors. The latter of which will include I Know What You Did Last Summer making a blood-soaked comeback. The iconic 90s slasher starred a young Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr.. They're both set to reprise their respective roles for the legacy sequel and now fans have their first look at Hewitt's “Final Girl”, Julie James, with a new behind-the-scenes photo.

Ethan Embry is making his way to Woodsboro. The actor is the latest nostalgic name to join the cast of the anticipatedScream 7, according to a new report from Deadline. Embry joins legacy cast members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding, and Jasmin Savoy Brown. Scott Foley and Matthew Lillard, whose characters were thought to be dead following the original film's conclusion, will also return. While plot details are being kept mostly under wraps, we know that the upcoming feature will center around Sydney (Campbell) and her family.

Embry was a popular name in '90s cinema, often known for playing quirky and relatable characters. His most popular features of the decade include Empire Records, That Thing You Do!, Vegas Vacation, and Can't Hardly Wait. Throughout the 2000s, Embry has consistently worked in Hollywood, appearing in films like Sweet Home Alabama, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, The Devil's Candy, and Vacancy,...

With filming underway, Scream 7 is back on track. But with its two original leads gone, we consider the story arc that may never be concluded.

Nb: The following contains spoilers for the earlier films in the Scream franchise.

It isn’t the end, or even the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning. After months of firings, hirings, deals and grumpy quotes in the press, Scream 7 has finally gone into production.

Kevin Williamson, the storyteller behind the first two slasher horror films from the 1990s (and 2011’s Scream 4), has been installed as the new director. Neve Campbell, having settled some much-publicised disagreements over her salary, has been coaxed back as its star, and will join Courtney Cox, another franchise legacy character, at the top of Scream 7’s bill.

Production company Spyglass Media will no doubt be glad that a profitable franchise is back on track.

The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise could lure back Patricia Arquette, if producers are willing to meet one particular condition. The future Oscar-winner became a 1980s scream queen with her starring role as Kristen in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Having survived her battle with Freddy Krueger, thanks in part to her special dream-gymnastics skill, anointed Final Girl Arquette exited the franchise. Her recast character was eventually killed in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.

Almost 40 years after taking her turn in the biggest of all ‘80s slasher franchises, Arquette says she would consider returning to Elm Street, but joked that she’ll only do it if producers take away Kristen’s gymnastic ability and give the character a new superpower (via ComicBook.com):

“Ya know, I just, I never really thought that in my dreams I’d be a gymnast so I don’t know.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) star Sarah Michelle Gellar admitted that she “got in a little bit of trouble” after taking a photo on the set of the horror film’s long-awaited legacy sequel. Gellar, who played Helen Shivers in the original slasher flick, took the picture the day before Thanksgiving while visiting her husband Freddie Prinze Jr. on set. Gellar explained her faux pas during an interview on Live with Kelly and Mark by saying:

“You would think that being in my position, I know what rules are on sets when they say closed sets, you know. So, my husband’s [Freddie Prinze Jr.] starring in the movie, and it was Thanksgiving, so I took our kids to Australia to go out there and visit him. And I was sitting on set, and I was like, ‘Oh what a great picture,’ and then I posted it. Then I found out...

When Coralie Fargeat’s horror-comedy The Substance premiered in Cannes this year it nearly brought the house down, which is not easily done in the concrete bunker that is the misleadingly titled Palais des Festivals. What’s also unusual about Fargeat’s film is that it’s still being talked about at the year’s end, being a rare crossover between arthouse and grindhouse that has chalked up five Golden Globes nominations for its two female stars and its writer-director.

It’s also only her second film; Fargeat made a big impact in genre circles with her stylish debut feature Revenge (2017), a feminist twist on the Final Girl horror movie trope that ended — for once — with a naked, blood-soaked predator cowering at the mercy of a woman with the upper hand. The Substance, meanwhile, goes several steps further, unleashing such a ridiculous amount of claret that Fargeat apologized to her...

Even through the blood and guts, horror generates empathy better than any other genre.

“Movies are like a machine that generates empathy.” Of all his opinions, those eight words comprise Roger Ebert’s most profound proclamation. Movies put us in someone else’s shoes and not only ask what we would do if they were our laces to tie but also answer the most fundamental question regarding understanding and relating to our fellow flesh bags: why? Why turn left instead of right? Why run after someone they love rather than live with that whole “it’s better to have loved and lost” idea? The medium’s most effective tool is the lens in which it frames these choices made under pressure while making a captive audience feel something as a result of those decisions. Horror takes that to another level by putting characters through unfathomable life-or-death scenarios. It demands knowing...

Over the last decade, Chvrches singer Lauren Mayberry’s lyrics have grown increasingly concerned with the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated industry. The duo’s 2021 album Screen Violence drew largely on the experiences that Mayberry has had with creeps and stalkers, and her first solo album, Vicious Creature, continues to pose difficult questions about life as a female musician in a business that forces her to admit, as she does “Change Shapes,” that “we’re all snakes.”

Vicious Creature allows Mayberry to more fully embrace the persona of a ruthless, take-no-shit diva that she adopted on Chvrches’s “Gun” and “We Sink.” On “Crocodile Tears,” she declares, “Maybe I’m a villain but find it kind of thrilling when you cry,” and she takes on the role of a femme fatale on “Mantra.” Based on an encounter with a well-known musician who spouted conspiracy theories, “Something in the Air...

The latest news from the Scream franchise proves that Scream 7 cant salvage the story of the series. 2026s upcoming Scream 7 wont hit cinema screens for a long time, but the slasher sequel has already endured a fairly tortured production. 2022s Scream reboot was a huge hit financially and critically, while 2023's Scream VI managed to earn positive reviews and become a massive box office success despite the absence of the franchise's original final girl, Neve Campbells Sidney Prescott. However, the luck of the Scream series soon ran out as Scream 7 entered pre-production.

Related Scream 7's Sidney Centered Plot Only Makes This Reboot Trilogy Change Worse

Scream 7 is confirmed to be centered on Sidney Prescott, and while that was expected, it makes one change in the reboot trilogy worse.

Scream 2022 and Scream VI star Melissa Barrera was fired from Scream 7 before her co-star Jenna Ortega...

The road to turning Husk into a longer feature was not without its bumps. While Brett Simmons‘ 2005 short film was met with favorable responses at Sundance, there were several upsets before After Dark Films finally entered the picture. The one positive about the years of delays was Simmons then having time to rewrite the screenplay. Now more to the filmmaker’s liking, the revision delved into those intentionally unexplored parts of the short.

The featurette satisfies as a standalone experience, but it also serves as the proper base product for a more complex narrative. After all, there are enough unanswered questions about Simmons’ compact chiller to warrant an extended visit. The impulse to decry overexplaining in the genre would be in vain here, considering that the fuller Husk still maintains a modest sense of mystery once everything is said and done.

With 2011’s Husk barely breaking the eighty-minute mark, it...

An underrated crime thriller starring Emmy-winning actor Jeremy Allen White is now available to stream for free. The actor has enjoyed an already impressive career since breaking onto the scene in 2011 as Lip Gallagher in Shameless. In addition to numerous indie films like The Rental and Fingernails, White played Kerry Von Erich in A24's The Iron Claw and, of course, Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto in FX and Hulu's The Bear. He is also currently filming Deliver Me from Nowhere, a Bruce Springsteen biopic in which White plays the Boss himself.

Sometimes entries in an actor's filmography are released to little fanfare and await rediscovery. That's certainly the case with Bad Turn Worse, also known as We Gotta Get Out of This Place, a 2013 crime thriller starring White, Mackenzie Davis, Logan Huffman (Final Girl), William Devane (The Dark Knight Rises), Mark Pellegrino, and John Gries (The White Lotus). It was...

Welcome to Crypt Picks, our month-long salute to some of our personal favorite Horror movies and your sneak peek at Nightmare on Film Street’s upcoming recipe book Cocktails From The Crypt! All month long we’ll be highlighting some of our favorite spooky cocktails from the book and discussing the films that inspired each petrifying paring.

Cocktails From The Crypt, hitting bookshelves Nov 26, 2024, features 60 cocktails (and mocktails!), all inspired by your favorite horror movies and it’s your how-to guide for curating the ultimate horror movie night. Join your hosts Kimmi & Jon as they discuss the origins of their simple yet sumptuous Freddy’s Boilermaker, a drink inspired by Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Then stick around for a chat with Final Girl legend Heather Langenkamp, live at Panic Fest 2024, to hear all about the making of this classic slice of nightmare cinema. Join usssss…

Pre-order...

Melissa Barrera has earned a spot among the modern Scream Queens thanks to some of the most popular horror movies in recent years, but her most recent 2024 horror movie sadly confirms a harsh reality of her career post-Scream. 2024 has been a big year for horror, with movies of different branches of horror finding their audience and succeeding with critics and viewers. Titles like Late Night With The Devil and Longlegs have already earned a spot among the best horror movies of the year, but others, while entertaining, couldnt find the same success.

Melissa Barrera became widely known in 2021 when she starred in In The Heights, and the following year she made her horror debut in the fifth Scream film. Barrera played Sam Carpenter, one of the new Final Girls in the Scream franchise, but that changed after Scream 6. Barrera was fired from Scream 7, and after Jenna Ortegas departure...

It seems only right on All Hallows Eve that Jamie Lee Curtis might be cryptically teasing another go-round with the unstoppable Michael Myers in the Halloween franchise. During a brand-new interview, the famed Scream Queen spoke about a number of her upcoming projects, including her reunion with on-screen daughter Lindsay Lohan in next years Freakier Friday. However, the conversation took an intriguing turn when Curtis also insinuated that she might not be done with The Shape just yet. Curtis told Entertainment Weekly:

"I have hung up my bell-bottoms and my pale blue button-down shirt. And I have relinquished [Laurie Strode] to the ages with a warm, 'aloha,' and a thanks for all the years and memories. And yet, if Ive learned anything in my 65 years on the planet, its never say never."

While most genre fans will always associate Curtis with Final Girl Laurie Strode from the Halloween franchise, and rightly so,...

Stars: Lauren Lavera, Claudia Gerini, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Linda Zampaglione, Yassine Fadel, Melanie Gaydos, Gianluigi Galvani, Courage Osabohine | Written by Federico Zampaglione, Stefano Masi | Directed by Federico Zampaglione

{Note: With the film out now on DVD, here’s reposting of our review of the fantastic Italian horror, The Well]

Lisa Gray, a budding art restorer who travels to the small Italian village of Sambuci just outside Rome to bring a medieval painting back to its former glory for a wealthy and titled client. Little does she know she is placing her life in danger from an evil curse and a monster born of myth and brutal pain.

I have been a fan of Federico Zampaglione’s genre work since I saw his film Shadow in 2009. Then came the original cut of Tulpa back at Frighfest 2012. It’s safe to say I was one of the Only people who reviewed that...

Lauren Lavera has reportedly been cast in a new horror movie from 'Saw' director Darren Lynn Bousman.The new Scream Queen - who first played 'Final Girl' Sienna Shaw in 'Terrifier 2' before reprising the role in this year's blockbuster sequel - is set to star opposite 'Blood Diamond' actor Djimon Hounsou in 'The Monster'.As reported by Deadline, Lavera has signed up for the project, which will be directed by Lynn Bousman from a screeplay by Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer.'Saw' franchise producer Mark Burg is also on board, along with Envision Media Arts duo Lee Nelson and David Tish.'The Monster' will tell the story of two millennials looking to make some money by leasing New York City apartments that they don't actual own to unsuspecting customers.Things soon take a terrifying turn when they come across an apartment owner with a dark secret.

Matthew Lillard's first acting credit was in a horror film, but it was with his role in 1996's Scream that he gained the recognition he deserves. Although his character, Stu, hasn't appeared in the franchise since he just addressed a possible return in the upcoming Scream 7.

Scream debuted in 1966, directed by horror mastermind Wes Craven, with a script from Kevin Williamson. The franchise underwent a reboot in 2022, combining the legacy characters with a series with newcomers, continuing the story of the serial killer known as Ghostface. Given Scream 7's major controversy after firing Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega's subsequent exit, the film will go back to basics, bringing back its legacy characters under original screenwriter Kevin Williamson's direction. Speaking with GameSpot at the 2024 New York Comic-Con, Lillard addressed if he's one of the original stars coming back.

Matthew Lillard is in Scream 7!?! #Nycc #NYCC2024 pic.

Lauren Lavera is ready to star in a romantic comedy after being covered in blood and guts for 'Terrifier 3'.The 30-year-old actress returns as 'Final Girl' Sienna Shaw to battle brutal killer Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) in the slasher sequel which has been a box office smash hit.After being tested to her physical and mental limits by director Damien Leone during the 'Terrifier 3' shoot, which at times left her feeling genuinely scared, Lauren would like to film a rom-com and enjoy some drama and love scenes without the need for gore.In an interview with Swagger Magazine, she said: "While we’re filming, it’s very intense and from doing my own stunts, my body would ache. So I took quite a bit of ibuprofen during filming and I was sweating all the time because my body didn’t know the...

When it comes to Halloween slashers, John Carpenter’s Halloween still reigns supreme all these years later. Not only did it launch an enduring franchise, but it inspired a slasher craze. Of course, it’s far from the only slasher movie set around our favorite holiday.

This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to Halloween slashers beyond the Halloween franchise that similarly bring the carnage and holiday spirit in equal measure.

These slashers unleash buckets of blood (and then some), using Halloween as a stunning backdrop for the mayhem, from pumpkins galore to haunt attractions from hell.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

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

Dark Harvest – MGM+, Prime Video

Director David Slade (30 Days of Night) and screenwriter Michael Gilio (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) adapt Norman Partridge’s 2006 Bram Stoker Award-winning novel Dark Harvest, unleashing Halloween carnage that upstages the barebones story.

Scowl kick the absolute snot out of the Final Girl trope in their new video for “Special,” just in time for Spooky Season. “’Special’ is a kamikaze,” frontperson Kat Moss said in a statement. “The lyrics are about threatening the audience by asking, ‘What do you really want?’ in clear desperation to answer my own question, ‘What do I really want?’ But the answer is simple, I want to feel alive.”

“Special” marks the Bay Area hardcore band‘s first single with their new label Dead Oceans, and it’s a hell of an introduction.

Halloween H2O introduced a new family member for the franchise's hero and Final Girl, but what happened to Laurie Strode's son, John? Halloween follows the story of Michael Myers, who, after killing his sister when he was six years old, was sent to Smith's Grove Sanitarium. Fifteen years later, Michael escaped and returned to Haddonfield, Illinois, where he began stalking Laurie. As the franchise evolved, Laurie had a daughter, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), introduced in 1988's Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. After Laurie's death, Jamie becomes the new protagonist, but her timeline ends up retconned.

The first Halloween retcon happened in 1998 with Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. The new Halloween timeline brings Laurie back and leaves Jamie Lloyd aside. Halloween H20 ignored all the movies after Halloween 2. Laurie and Michael are still siblings, and it's explained that Laurie faked her death so she could hide from Michael and live a normal life,...

Scream 7 finally has a release date. Returning franchise star Neve Campbell has announced when the seventh installment in the long-running meta-slasher series will hit theaters.

On Instagram, the actor behind Final Girl Sidney Prescott revealed that Scream 7 will hit theaters on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. "It's gonna be a killer 2026," Campbell captioned the post. Franchise co-creator Kevin Williamson is set to direct Scream 7 from a screenplay written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. No other cast members besides Campbell have been announced at this time, although casting news should be picking up soon, as the actor revealed back in July that filming on Scream 7 is set to "start in December."

View this post on InstagramA post shared by Neve Campbell (@nevecampbell)

Scream 7 hits theaters on Feb. 27, 2026.

Source: Instagram...

Two new Instagram posts of Francesca Eastwood, daughter of iconic actor and film director Clint Eastwood, have fans concerned about her health.

The 31-year-old actress wore a two-piece black bikini consisting of V-shaped briefs with ties on the sides and a small top complete with a cowgirl hat while posing for selfies in the mirror.

Her noticeably slim appearance in the Instagram posts has some fans believing Eastwood is suffering from an illness or an eating disorder, with one follower writing: “As someone who is healing from an eating disorder, I can promise you that one day you’ll look back on these photos with sadness.”

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Another follower wrote: “You feel like you have no control. I sincerely hope you seek professional medical help. You are beautiful and wasting away.”

However, some fans came to Eastwood’s defense,...

With the world premiere of Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3 slicing into Fantastic Fest tomorrow night, and the film’s official popcorn bucket now available for pre-order, it’s a great week to be a fan of Art the Clown and the Terrifier franchise. If you’re still hungry for more, our friends over at Collider just debuted Six brand new Terrifier 3 character posters this afternoon.

Three of the posters spotlight various looks for Art the Clown, while the other three spotlight Lauren Lavera’s Sienna Shaw, Elliot Fullam’s Jonathan Shaw, and Samantha Scaffidi’s Victoria Heyes. Reunite with the Demon, the Final Girl, the Witch and the Survivor below.

All six new posters come courtesy of Creepy Duck Design.

Get your Terrifier 3 tickets and check back for more listings in the coming weeks.

In Terrifier 3, directed once again by Damien Leone, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton...

Are you ready for our ultimate (long overdue) ‘top 10 Final Girls list’? In the expansive universe that is horror cinema, the “Final Girl” trope has evolved into one of the most iconic and empowering elements of the genre. These resilient heroines aren’t just survivors; they embody strength, courage, and resourcefulness in the face of seemingly unbeatable odds. Across all it’s sub-genres, the Final Girl has carved a path through horror history, leaving an indelible mark.

We at Love Horror felt it was high time that we compile a list that celebrates the top 10 Final Girls in horror cinema, women who not only survived but fought back with a vengeance, becoming symbols of resistance and perseverance.

Here are our top 10 Final Girls, ranked by their impact, strength, and cultural legacy.

The Top 10 Final Girls in Horror 1. Laurie Strode (Halloween)

Laurie Strode, played by the incomparable Jamie Lee Curtis, is...

Jenna Ortega joins Beetlejuice 2 as a newcomer among the sequel movie's cast, and the age of her character, Astrid, has something in common with the first film. At just 21 years old (soon to be 22), Ortega has become one of Hollywood's rising stars. Roles in Disney Channel's Stuck in the Middle and The CW's Jane the Virgin opened doors for the young actress, but Oretga's version of Wednesday Addams took her celebrity status to new levels. It also didn't hurt that she starred in two entries of the Scream franchise, resulting in a "Final Girl" label.

After working with Tim Burton on Wednesday, Ortega was cast as Lydia Deetz's daughter for the sequel that was a long time in the making. Beetlejuice 2's returning cast might have caught attention, especially with the confirmation of Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, and Catherine O'Hara. Still, a lot of excitement stemmed from Ortega's role,...

A blond woman who sometimes wears wigs; an early scene swathed in blue light; a song most famously performed by Roy Orbison prominently featured in the soundtrack. For some viewers, Strange Darling is a thing of mystery; for others it’s familiar territory. This need not reduce your enjoyment, however, because whilst it doesn’t consistently achieve the same quality as its inspirations, it’s still a gorgeous piece of work.

With a UK première at Frightfest just after its US release, the film is unashamedly rooted in horror, though aimed at a mainstream audience. Director Jt Mollner found his inspiration in the Final Girl trope, and the image of a woman running for her life, pursued by a dangerous man. This is, in essence, how it begins, after a very brief introduction in black and white has framed that man in a certain way. The contrast with the vivid colour of these.

Friday the 13th fans, get ready to watch Crispin Glover show off his bizarre and hilarious dance moves on the Silver Screen once again at Camp Crystal Lake. In honor of the horror films 40th anniversary, director Joesph Zitos Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) is returning to the big screen for a limited theatrical engagement this September.

The Final Chapter, which features Jason Voorhees (Ted White) going up against the SFX make-up obsessed protagonist Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) for the very first time, returns to cinemas courtesy of Fangoria magazine and Paramount Scares. The announcement reads as follows (per Cinemark):

A part of the Scream Greats Series, presented by Paramount Scares & Fangoria [...] Paramount Scares and Fangoria have teamed up to bring you a fun movie pre-show! Hosted by renowned actor David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil), we take a look back at the history of the Friday the 13th...

Scream 7 focuses on Sidney Prescott, but the reboot timeline change worsens her happy ending. Neve Campbell's return in Scream 7 raises questions about the fate of Sidney and her family. Rumored plots suggest Ghostface may target Sidney's family, potentially leading to a tragic ending.

The plot of Scream 7 has been confirmed to be centered on Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), and though this was expected, its only making one change in the reboot trilogy worse. The trend of legacy sequels has brought back to life some of the most popular horror franchises, among them the Scream franchise. Over a decade after the release of the supposedly closing chapter of the saga, Scream 4, Scream came back to life with a fifth movie, which brought together the three survivors of the franchise Sidney, Gale (Courteney Cox), and Dewey (David Arquette) and a new generation of characters.

Scream (2022) saw Sidney,...

Once upon a time in 1970s Texas, a group of filmmakers traveled to a remote farmhouse to shoot what they hoped would be the Citizen Kane of porno flicks. Only one of them would leave that quaint rural residence alive. Cut to: that same “Final Girl” close to a decade later, when she has not only endured another round of related homicides but has been christened Hollywood’s Next Big Thing. Sandwiched in between this fairy tale’s beginning and ending is the story of another woman who also yearns for fame,...

Neve Campbell says, "I was really grateful that they came back to me in a respectful way," where negotiations for her return as Sidney Prescott in Scream 7 are concerned. Campbell is also ready "to step into Sidney's shoes again and tell her story." Jenna Ortega recently showed her support for the Palestinian cause regarding Israel's attacks on Gaza, which is what led to the controversial firing of her former Scream co-star, Melissa Barrera.

Neve Campbell and her fictional Scream family will soon have to deal with the black-robed, serial-killing Ghostface, because the Final Girl's return to the famed horror franchise after sitting out Scream VI due to salary issues is creeping ever closer. There's definitely plenty of excitement in the air since Campbell is teaming up with creator Kevin Williamson for Scream 7, and the actress admits feeling "sad when she didnt return after last appearing...

Barrera's absence from Scream 7 left loose ends in Sam's story, but her Abigail role reversed this. Barrera's performance in Scream and Abigail solidified her as a modern scream queen. Abigail, directed by Scream's directors, filled a void in Barrera's roles.

With Melissa Barrera no longer appearing in Scream 7, the reboot trilogy cant address a key part of her characters story, but her Scream 7 replacement reversed it and fulfilled this story. Melissa Barrera has become one of the modern scream queens thanks to her performance in the Scream reboot timeline and more recently for her work in Abigail. The Scream franchise was brought back to life in 2022 with a fifth movie, the first in a planned reboot trilogy that brought back characters from the first four movies and introduced a new generation of characters.

Among them was Sam Carpenter (Barrera), who was revealed to be Billy Loomis daughter.

When Jane Schoenbrun was in high school, they spent hours devouring Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Schoenbrun watched Sarah Michelle Gellar play Buffy, who over the course of seven seasons, figures out who she really is — a powerful woman chosen to fight evil forces. And Schoenbrun imagined how they might fit into the show. They saw themselves in everyone, from the wacky pal Xander to the broody vampire Angel to Willow and Tara, a pair of witches in love — gender be damned.

“If you’d told me I could press a button and become a cool,...

Midsommar (A24), Nope (Universal Pictures), Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s Hewitt house (Shutterstock), Pearl (A24)Graphic: The A.V. Club

There’s an old adage in horror: The less you show a monster, the scarier it is. Horror filmmakers are, by necessity, skilled at using darkness and shadows to creep out audiences.

American Horror Story season 12 struggled to stick the landing, marking the franchise's recurring ending problem. The spinoff American Horror Stories also faced difficulties with poor endings due to time constraints. Rushed conclusions and last-minute twists have led to disappointing finales, raising concerns for the future of the series.

American Horror Story season 12 has officially come to an end, and the finale highlighted that the franchise has a serious ending problem. The SAG-AFTRA strikes forced American Horror Story: Delicate to be split into two parts, and after the show returned from its hiatus, it struggled to stick the landing. While Delicate had some strong marketing and initial promise, American Horror Story season 12's ending missed the mark, as episode 9 proved to be a massive disappointment. There were some admirable individual performances throughout the finale, but Delicate's conclusion proved the franchise is lacking a finishing touch.

Although the main storyline did get wrapped up,...

Next to nursey rhymes and small girls in frilly dresses, one of the things horror filmmakers are most keen to ‘subvert’ are fairy tales. From The Company Of Wolves and Deep In The Woods to Hunted and Final Girl, there are more Red Riding Hoods than you can shake a stick at, Hansel And Gretel feature in both US and South Korean versions, and The Curse Of Sleeping Beauty also makes its mark. Andy Edwards’ Cinderella’s Revenge is another offering in this tradition, mixing an appreciation of its story’s bloody roots with a gory modern twist.

Although Edwards directs, he didn’t write the script, and that shows in what is probably his weakest effort to date. It’s a film that doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. For the first 45 minutes it plays it very straight, the only intentional squirm moment involving mutilations...

The most characters survive in the 2021 reboot of Wrong Turn, where three make it to the end alive. There is at least one movie in the Wrong Turn franchise where no characters survive at all. The Wrong Turn movie with the lowest kill count was the 2003 original.

The Wrong Turn movies are known for intense, bloody violence and creative dismemberment via the franchise's cannibal killers, and — due to the very high body count — there were only a few survivors throughout the six existing movies. The original Wrong Turn was released in 2003, becoming a modest box office hit. The others were released direct to video until the franchise was rebooted with 2021's Wrong Turn going for a more grounded and serious tone.

Drawing from the cannibal horror sub-genre, which was popularized by movies like Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes, the Wrong Turn movies combine elements from that with classic...

For nearly three decades, the Scream franchise followed the events and sprawling aftermath of the Woodsboro Massacre. While almost every entry along the way tied back into the long-running story of Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott, not even she can say that she was a part of them all.

Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers stands as the lone character in the Scream franchise who has actually appeared in every single entry. As of now, there are only rumors that Cox will be returning for the upcoming seventh film, though it is hard to imagine a Scream without Gale Weathers. This is especially true considering how indelible the character is to the franchise as a whole, not to mention how much she influenced its entire trajectory.

Gale Weathers Appearances

Profession

Scream (1996)

Reporter

Scream 2

Author

Scream 3

Author

Scream 4

Author

Scream (2022)

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Scream VI

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1996's Scream Introduced Courteney...

Neve Campbell returns for Scream 7 to close the franchise, potentially bringing back more legacy characters. Rumors suggest Patrick Dempsey's Mark Kincaid will return in Scream 7, posing a danger to Sidney. Mark's fate in Scream 7 seems grim, as the franchise's history hints at a tragic outcome for him.

Scream 7 is bringing Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott back, and thanks to her, there’s another character from Wes Craven’s Scream movies rumored to return, but that would be bad news for Sidney. After a couple of controversies and shake-ups, as were Melissa Barrera’s firing, Jenna Ortega’s exit, and director Christopher Landon leaving, Scream 7 is back on track, with franchise creator Kevin Williamson on board as director and the franchise’s original Final Girl, Neve Campbell, back to lead this new story. Scream 7 is intended to close the franchise, and as such, it...

Sydney Sweeney thinks it would "be so cool" for her Spider-Woman character, Julia from Madame Web, to share scenes with Zendaya's Mj in the Spider-Verse. Sweeney takes on a completely different role in her new horror film Immaculate, which she is currently promoting before its release this Friday. Euphoria fans can rejoice, because Sweeney confirms Season 3 begins filming soon.

Believe it or not, Sydney Sweeney returning to the live-action Spider-Verse isn’t out of the question, at least for her. Spider-Sense tingling yet? Well, while promoting her upcoming horror film, Immaculate, the Madame Web star was asked about reprising the role of Julia, aka Spider-Woman. Specifically, Sweeney was questioned on whether she’d come back for another Spidey adventure if the actress could share scenes with her Euphoria co-star, Zendaya. Sweeney said in her interview with ComicBook.com:

Oh, my God, yeah. That'd be so cool.

Madame Web...

Stars: Lauren Lavera, Claudia Gerini, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Linda Zampaglione, Yassine Fadel, Melanie Gaydos, Gianluigi Galvani, Courage Osabohine | Written by Federico Zampaglione, Stefano Masi | Directed by Federico Zampaglione

Lisa Gray, a budding art restorer who travels to the small Italian village of Sambuci just outside Rome to bring a medieval painting back to its former glory for a wealthy and titled client. Little does she know she is placing her life in danger from an evil curse and a monster born of myth and brutal pain.

I have been a fan of Federico Zampaglione’s genre work since I saw his film Shadow in 2009. Then came the original cut of Tulpa back at Frighfest 2012. It’s safe to say I was one of the Only people who reviewed that screening and that cut positively (and then went on to review the recut just as glowingly) and saw what Zampaglione was trying to achieve.

With “Cuckoo,” German director Tilman Singer expands on the scope of his impressive 2018 debut (the demonic-possession-meets-therapeutic-improv exercise “Luz”) while retaining that film’s bird-flipping attitude toward unnecessary niceties like coherent plotting or narrative logic. Singer makes what ought to be his breakthrough with “Cuckoo,” an energetically outlandish fusion of stylish atmospherics, old-school reproductive horror and pro-switchblade advertorial. The profile of this highly enjoyable, unashamedly convoluted creepfest will be further raised by “Euphoria” star Hunter Schafer’s terrific Final Girl performance and by Dan Stevens’ hilariously eccentric villain, the second recent showcase for Stevens’ excellent spoken German after Maria Schrader’s “I’m Your Man.” Few are the films and fewer are the actors who can get such sinister mileage out of a character’s insistently Teutonic, semi-sibilant mispronunciation of the name “Gretchen.”

Gretchen (Schafer), appears, initially, to be the cuckoo. She is sent to live with her estranged father Luis (Marton Csokas...

Everyone knows that hotels — preferably isolated, ideally with very few guests — make the best settings for horror films. All that sad anonymity, all that provisional space ready to be filled with something really nasty. In Cuckoo, Alpenplatz, run by the excessively friendly Mr. Konig (Dan Stevens) totally fits the bill.

You never get a clear idea of its geography, apart from an enormous foyer fronted by a sort of supermarket where the odd, disoriented guest wanders in to vomit into the freezer unit. “Oh yes, that happens sometimes,” says the flirty receptionist Trixie (Greta Fernandez), who apparently has just stepped out of one of Brigitte Bardot’s lesser movies. There also are some bungalows — how close to the main building is not clear either — including one painted pink that Konig calls “the love nest.” In horror, that has to be a bad sign.

So a hotel is a good start.

A generally accepted truth amongst filmmakers is that making a horror movie is typically a light-hearted affair behind the scenes, given all the gore and traumatic mayhem happening while cameras are rolling. While that may be true, there's no doubt that making horror happen in front of those cameras requires a lot of blood, sweat and tears — and not always of the special-effects variety. Some of those substances can end up being very real, even unintentionally so.

Star Skeet Ulrich, director Wes Craven, and the rest of the cast and crew of 1996's "Scream" discovered this the hard way during the filming of one of the climactic scenes of the movie. When Ulrich's character, Billy Loomis (one half of the murderous duo known as Ghostface) is stabbed twice with an umbrella wielded by his girlfriend and the film's Final Girl, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), one of the stabbings didn't quite hit the proper mark,...

On Friday nights — and special occasions!— IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: You Know, Getting Murdered on a Train Might Still Be Better Than Going to Times Square

The underwhelming New Year’s Eve party is a universal human experience if there ever was one. The holiday is ostensibly the biggest night of the year for debauchery, but burnout, outlandish expectations, and rowdy crowds often turn it into a letdown that makes it a little easier to trade our holiday cheer in for January discipline. But no matter what disappointing experience comes your way tonight, you can take comfort...

Thanksgiving 2, the slasher film directed by Eli Roth, has been officially announced. Thanksgiving had a low budget of $15 million but performed well at the box office, opening to $10.3 million and maintaining strong numbers in its second week. Director Eli Roth confirmed the greenlight for Thanksgiving 2 on his official Instagram, offering insight into his plans for writing the movie.

Thanksgiving 2 has been officially announced. The new slasher Thanksgiving, which was directed by Eli Roth, is expanded from the parody trailer he contributed to the 2007 throwback double feature Grindhouse. It follows the masked killer John Carver descending on the town of Plymouth to murder townspeople over Thanksgiving week as revenge for a deadly Black Friday incident the previous year. The movie, which only cost $15 million to make, opened to $10.3 million at the domestic box office and went on to post the smallest second-week drop of any 2023 horror movie.

On his official Instagram,...

Scream 7's shake-up with Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega's exit means that Sidney Prescott can now have her proper franchise ending. Although Sidney survived the events of Scream 2022, she didn't get a real ending, but Scream 7 can finally give her the closure she deserves. Scream 7 should focus on Sidney and Gale as its final girls, continuing the trend from the previous movies and exploring their relationship. Sidney and Gale are the best options to keep the audience's interest.

Scream 7 is going through a massive shake-up with Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega's exit, but this means Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) can now get her proper franchise ending. Although Scream 4 was supposed to be the final chapter in the saga, the Scream franchise was revived in 2022 with a legacy sequel/”requel” that brought back the three survivors of the first four movies – Sidney, Gale Weathers,...