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Fleischer Studios' "Popeye The Sailor" theatrical cartoon short "Protek the Weakerist" (1937)  directed by Dave Fleischer and Seymour Kneitel, stars Jack Mercer as 'Popeye', Mae Questel as 'Olive Oyl' and Gus Wickie as 'Bluto':

"...'Popeye' is asked by 'Olive Oyl' to walk her female dog, 'Fluffy' but is confronted by 'Bluto' and his bulldog.

"Now Popeye and Bluto, plus Fluffy and the bulldog each have a score to settle..."...

Click the images to enlarge...

Take a look at Fleischer Studios "Popeye the Sailor " theatrical cartoon short "Never Kick A Woman" (1936) directed by Dave Fleischer, starring Jack Mercer as 'Popeye' and Mae Questel as 'Olive Oyl':

"...'Popeye' talks Olive into taking a self defense lesson...

"... but it's Olive who goes on the offense…

“…when Popeye take a turn for the pretty instructor..."

Click the images to enlarge...

HBO Max isn’t just stacking prestige dramas and superhero flicks; it’s quietly becoming a goldmine for Cartoon Network nostalgia. And yeah, we’re dying to dive in. Since launching in May 2020, HBO Max has stacked its library with Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. animation, be it classics, deep cuts, and binge-worthy gems.

You’ve got Looney Tunes Cartoons bringing Bugs and Daffy back in brand-new 11-minute chaos. Jellystone! tosses Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss, and Jabberjaw into one ridiculous Hanna-Barbera mashup. The Fungies! and Tig ‘N Seek hit the sweet spot for quirky comedy, while Tooned Out, from Robert Zemeckis, plays like Roger Rabbit for a new era.

The platform also digs deep with over 250 classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies episodes. Plus, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Popeye, and Josie and the Pussycats are all here and ready to fuel your weekend marathon.

Whether you’re after slapstick or retro charm,...

Scroll long enough on the internet, and the odds are good you may see Arby’s ads starring Cedric the Entertainer from the Original Kings of Comedy and Black-ish star Anthony Anderson. They’re part of a long tradition of comedians shilling for fast-food chains. Some were championing hot wings or pizza before they hit it big, like Steve Carell. Others, like Kristen Wiig, entered the game after becoming a superstar. Then there’s Jason Alexander, who did it both before and after — proving there’s no wrong way to make a quick buck off a cheap burger.

Here are 10 other examples of comedians doing fast-food commercials, so we can see how they measure up against the new Arby’s campaign with Cedric and Anderson…

1 Jason Alexander for McDonald’s

A few years before he played George Costanza on Seinfeld, Alexander was his theater-kid self in a McDonald’s ad for the McD.

The grossest, goriest, and most gratuitous of the year are set to be feted at the 2025 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards.

The horror magazine has unveiled the nominees for its signature awards, which includes the big categories you'd expect — like Best Wide Release and Best Lead Performance — and some you mind not—like Best Video Game and Best Public Domain Resurrection.

The Chainsaw Awards are also among the first opportunities for this year's potential awards frontrunner, Sinners, to flex its muscles. (Metaphorical muscles. Michael B. Jordan's are currently streaming on HBO Max.) Ryan Coogler's period vampire thriller is in contention for Best Wide Release — where it will compete with 28 Years Later — and boasts a total of ten nominations in all.

With an eligibility window that ran from July 2024 to June 2025, the Chainsaw Awards also include some of last year's awards contenders, including The Substance, which tied Sinners for nominations.

Check...

Legendary filmmakers like John Waters can’t secure funding for new film projects, but at least we’re getting another Garfield movie.

As parents who haven’t already repressed the memory will recall, in 2024, the portly orange feline starred in a big-screen franchise reboot/glorified drone commercial known simply as The Garfield Movie. Controversially, Garfield was voiced by Jurassic World star Chris Pratt whose “jacked evangelical” energy didn’t suit the character at all.

Despite the online casting backlash, The Garfield Movie was a big hit, and is now predictably getting the sequel treatment. But instead of just announcing the next movie via a boring old press release, Pratt himself dropped the news with a social media video in which he brings home a pizza with “Garfield 2” drizzled on top — yes, you read that right, a pizza.

People were quick to dunk on Pratt for using pizza for the...

For actors, sometimes their biggest breakout roles feel more like curses rather than blessings. There are an infinite number of reasons why an actor won't look back fondly on the time they spent playing a certain character. Some actors hated working with directors, but for others, the amount of effort they put into a role might've been too extreme to be at all enjoyable, which is certainly common among superhero movie actors that transform their bodies to play incredibly powerful individuals. 

For these actors, their hated roles vary from projects they wish they could forget to projects nobody ever will, spanning box office bombs and beloved blockbusters. In a lot of cases, the actors themselves might even like how the film ended up, even if they had a bad time making it. From performers who hated their breakout characters to stars that couldn't handle the pressure they were under, these...

Although they don’t advertise it, action thrillers like Prime Video’s Heads Of State and Netflix’s The Old Guard 2 owe a clear debt to the martial arts films of the previous century…

On a farm in a remote part of Belarus, the British Prime Minister and the United States of America are in the middle of a punch-up with a gang of young-ish thugs wearing tracksuits. Both leaders are big chaps, but they’re outnumbered and older than their opponents; their victory ultimately comes as much from pure luck as their strength. The fight reaches its comedic zenith with one goon left hopelessly coiled up in barbed wire while another’s set on fire by a stray cigarette.

This is Heads Of State, director Ilya Naishuller’s enjoyably daft action thriller which emerged on Prime Video on the 2nd July (you can listen to our extended interview...

On June 18, one of the biggest cultural moments in Twitch history took place. The Streamer Prom, a massive gala featuring more than 50 of the biggest streamers and creators in the world, soared to a whopping 4.49 million hours of live watch time across all of the Twitch channels that covered it.

The brain trust behind the Streamer Prom consisted of longtime chart-topper FunnyMike and his management team at Fixated. The year-old firm handled the Streamer Prom from end to end, tackling tasks as diverse as creative direction, production, and brand partnerships.

The result was a glitzy celebration of streamer culture, with some of the biggest names in the community looking their best in their prom night fits. Attendees included Ddg, Sketch, Wendy Ortiz, and members of the FaZe Clan and Amp creator groups. Many of the assembled individuals broadcast the bash on their respective Twitch accounts. Ddg’s stream claimed the most total watch hours,...

Producers of the cult horror hit Popeye the Slayer Man have unveiled a series of grisly art boards teasing some of the film’s most shocking moments ahead of its Prime SVOD debut in late July. Rendered in stark monochrome with splashes of crimson, these graphic boards offer a raw, behind-the-scenes glimpse of Robert Michael Ryan’s visceral slasher.

One sequence depicts a group of friends stumbling into an abandoned spinach-canning factory, their silhouettes illuminated by flickering overhead lights. The artwork captures the moment they realise that the local legend of the ‘Sailor Man’ is far more real than myth. In another frame we see a severed arm, the bone grisly and exposed, lying beside discarded cans of spinach. A close-up board focuses on a tube of the titular green paste, now tainted and ominous, its contents dripping like congealed blood.

Perhaps most unsettling is a storyboard showing the rampaging...

The landscape along the road from Mellieha to the west coast of Malta is pretty sparse until you reach the sea by the old World War II pill box and look down into the bay below. There, you will be greeted with a remarkable and incongruous sight: a picturesquely ramshackle village that looks like it has sprung fully-formed from the pages of a comic book. That was, of course, the intention, as it was specially built for "Popeye," Robert Altman's notorious comedy musical based on the classic comic strips by E.C. Segar.

The Popeye Village doesn't take long to walk around, but it is a marvel of production design. Indeed, it was perhaps unnecessarily over-designed for the needs of the film. Logs were brought in from the Netherlands and wooden roof shingles were shipped all the way from Canada for the seven-month construction, which employed 165 tradespeople and required eight...

To mark the UK digital release of Popeye The Slayer Man, our spinach-munching slayer, Jason Robert Stephens, reflects on the challenges of portraying the iconic cartoon hero, being compared to Jason Statham and hints at a ‘Popeye’ sequel.

This version of Popeye is definitely not your grandpa’s sailor. How did you prepare to embody such a gritty, slayer-style version of this iconic character?

Mentally, it was pretty easy to get into the character. Once you have all that makeup on, the costume, etc., you kind of have to become that character. It was actually really fun to play.

What drew you to this project in the first place? Did you have any connection to the classic Popeye cartoons growing up?

I’ve known the director Robert Michael Ryan since we were 11 years old. We started out making short horror movies with a home video camera and our love for cinema grew from there.

Move over, Robin Williams. There’s a new Popeye in town, and he’s not cracking open a can of spinach to save the day. He’s cracking skulls. In Popeye the Slayer Man, the cult horror reinterpretation of the beloved cartoon sailor, actor Jason Robert Stephens steps into the oversized shoes (and even larger forearms) of the world’s most violently reimagined marine icon.

Released in the UK this summer via Amazon and Apple, Popeye the Slayer Man has been steadily earning notoriety for its over-the-top gore, wild premise and savage grindhouse energy. In it, Stephens plays a mutated, trauma-scarred cannery worker turned monstrous slayer, wreaking havoc on a group of unsuspecting students who dare to poke around his abandoned workplace. For Stephens, it’s a role decades in the making – physically intense, darkly comic, and, yes, surprisingly heartfelt.

“I’ve known director Robert Michael Ryan since we were eleven,...

Ever since Winnie-the-Pooh entertained the public domain and became a slasher villain, the horror genre has seen an upswing in the trend of turning innocent characters into bloodthirsty maniacs. Of course, the trend is nothing new, as scare merchants have turned children's franchises into nightmares for years, like the time Syfy reimagined "The Banana Splits" characters as gruesome monsters. Still, it's experienced a resurgence in the wake of "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey" and all of the public domain movies that have followed -- most of which are joyless and fail to do anything interesting with their concepts. They aren't all bad, though, as "Shiver Me Timbers" admirably turns Popeye into a savage sailor.

"Shiver Me Timbers" is one of three Popeye-themed horror movies to be released in 2025 (the others being "Popeye's Revenge" and "Popeye: The Slayer Man"), and it probably won't be the last now that filmmakers have the freedom...

I yam what I yam – and what I yam is coked out! That may or may not be something that Robin Williams said on the set of Robert Altman’s disastrous 1980 movie Popeye, but according to Barry Diller – the iconic suit who served as CEO of Paramount Pictures at the time – the locales had far more powder than you’d expect on an island nation.

Diller recently sat down with Anderson Cooper for a lengthy interview (via EW), and Cooper couldn’t help but work in a salacious question about the most coked-up set he had visited during his run. That answer came in Popeye, which was released in the middle of his tenure. “By the way, you can watch it. If you watch Popeye, you’re watching a movie that — you think of it in the thing that they used to do about record speeds, 33 [Rpm], whatever. This is a...

Popeye is not here to save the day. At least, not in Popeye the Slayer Man, Robert Michael Ryan’s blood-drenched reinterpretation of the iconic cartoon sailor, which is preparing for its UK release on Prime Video in late July. The cult horror-slash-satire, already notorious for its extreme violence and warped character reinterpretation, has released a fresh batch of stills and a new promo clip ahead of its streaming debut, fuelling interest in what may be one of 2025’s most audacious horror experiments.

Originally launched in the US earlier this year, Popeye the Slayer Man transforms E. C. Segar’s beloved creation into a mutated, trauma-scarred cannery worker fuelled by contaminated spinach and violent retribution. Jason Robert Stephens takes on the title role, portraying a disfigured killer who haunts the abandoned Anchor Bay Cannery, the same factory where he once worked before corporate malpractice triggered a catastrophic contamination scandal. What...

No, the recently released gory slasher Popeye's Revenge isn't the incarnation of the sailor with the most chaotic production process. It has now been revealed via Entertainment Weekly that spinach was far from the strongest substance on the set of Robert Altman's notorious adaptation of Popeyeback in 1980. A wild retelling of Elzie Crisler Segar's fictional cartoon sailor that has gained somewhat of a cult following since its release, even to the untrained eye, the entire cast of Popeye seems to be enjoying their time on set, perhaps a little too much.

Starring the likes of Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, Ray Walston, and others, it is now clear from comments made by former CEO of Paramount Pictures, Barry Diller, that this star-studded ensemble were more than just visually eye-popping on Popeye. After being asked what the "most coked-up" production he'd ever seen was, Diller instantly replied, "Coked-up film set?...

Whenever a memoir is set to be released, it can usually lead to some very interesting stories from the past. Former Paramount Pictures CEO Barry Diller is currently on a book tour promoting his recently released memoir, Who Knew, and with it came a very interesting Q&a reveal about the 1980 live-action adaptation of Popeye, starring Robin Williams, and how, based on his assertion, the antics on set could maybe rival a night at Studio 54.

During a Q&a moderated by Anderson Cooper (via Variety), Diller was asked what was "the most coked-up film set" he ever visited during his tenure as Paramount Pictures CEO. It didn't take Diller long to reveal that it was Popeye, released in 1980. The former CEO said:

"Coked-up film set? Oh, 'Popeye.' By the way, you can watch it. If you watch Popeye, you're watching a movie that, you think of it in...

The combination of a 29-year-old Robin Williams, legendary filmmaker Robert Altman and a cartoon icon probably should have led to one of the greatest movies of all-time. Instead, we got 1980’s Popeye, a big budget family musical that turned out to be about as fun as a trip to the mortuary.

But at least the people making Popeye had a good time.

Per Page Six, billionaire and former Paramount Pictures CEO Barry Diller was recently interviewed by Anderson Cooper for an event at the 92nd Street Y, and he spent at least some of the talk describing just how coked out the set of Popeye was. “You couldn’t escape it,” Diller said of the rampant nose candy.

The cast and crew even came up with inventive schemes to import drugs to the filming location in Malta after producer Robert Evans was busted for possession at the airport. “Film cans...

An inspired streak of absurdism runs through The Secret Agent (O Agente Secreto) connected to an urban legend about a “hairy leg” that moves autonomously, causing trouble in the northeastern Brazilian capital of Recife in 1977, when the country remained under military dictatorship. The leg turns up or is mentioned various times — being pulled from the messy guts of a large shark carcass; stolen from the morgue and disposed of by evidence-tampering police; tagged as the culprit in sensational tabloid crime stories; and literally kicking asses in a gay cruising ground, where men are getting it on under trees or on park benches.

The rogue limb is a clever metaphor for the regime’s persecution of the queer community, among other groups, including dope-smokers, longhairs and anyone else who might be automatically branded as a communist. The entire scene is a brilliant comic set-piece, starting with the gorgeous sight of chonky...

Lainie Miller, who performed a dazzling burlesque number in The Graduate before going on to work as a longtime Hollywood labor advocate, script supervisor, business agent and producer, has died. She was 84.

Miller died Tuesday in her Los Angeles home in Toluca Lake after a battle with metastatic cancer, a family spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.

Her husband, the noted character actor Dick Miller — he appeared in lots of Roger Corman and Joe Dante films, among them A Bucket of Blood and Gremlins — died in January 2019 at age 90. They were together for nearly 60 years.

Born Sheila Elaine in Ontario, Canada, in March 1941, she took up dance as a child to recover from polio, which had her in an iron lung from ages 3 to 5.

She trained in contortion and ballet for 13 years — she once performed in Swan Lake at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra, the oldest operating theater in North America — and...

Stars: Emily Rose Mogilner, Connor Powles, Bruno Cryan, Karolina Ugrenyuk, Fyn Phoenixx, Danielle Ronald, Steven Murphy, Kelly Rian Sanson | Written by Harry Boxley | Directed by William Stead

The stream of public domain horror continues, this time it’s E.C. Segar’s iconic sailor Popeye who gets turned into a killer. The script by Harry Boxley, who has already scripted a trio of similar films, Piglet, Mouse of Horrors and Cinderella’s Curse re-imagines him as a boy born with huge forearms and freakish strength who accidentally kills one of his tormentors leading to the death of his parents and the young lad seemingly drowning.

Years later we find out he’s still alive as he kills off a trio of obnoxious YouTubers. From there we join Tara (Emily Rose Mogilner; 500) who is about to inherit the land where the house stood so she along with her boyfriend Dylan, Nick (Bruno Cryan; Treeline Essex Girls), Kathy,...

Plans are afoot for a new Tremors film, as some rights to the franchise revert back to its original creators. More here.

You’re going to have to forgive me a little here, as I’m not a copyright lawyer. Still, there’s a growing concern over copyright in Hollywood, as assorted intellectual property enters the public domain. We’ve seen characters such as Popeye and Winnie The Pooh be shoehorned into horror movies as a result of that, and there’s a small provision in American copyright law that allows original creatives a shot at getting their work back.

It’s hidden away in section 203 of the United States Copyright Act, and the clause in question means that writers, 35 years after selling a screenplay to a movie studio, can serve a cancellation notice and try to get their copyright back. The original creators of the Predator saga, Jim and John Thomas,...

Linda Hunt’s absence from NCIS: Los Angeles didn’t go unnoticed, and fans definitely felt the void. As Hetty Lange, she brought a unique presence that was equal parts fierce and mysterious.

But then, just like that, she slowly started disappearing from episodes, sparking all kinds of buzz and speculation. Turns out, a major life decision was quietly unfolding behind the scenes, one that ultimately led her to step away from the spotlight.

Linda Hunt in a still from NCIS: Los Angeles | Credits: CBS

No drama, no grand exit, just a personal turning point that changed everything. And for someone as iconic as Hunt, sometimes walking away takes more strength than staying.

Linda Hunt left NCIS: Los Angeles to focus on health and a slower life

When NCIS: Los Angeles hit its 300-episode milestone, one face fans missed the most was Linda Hunt’s Hetty Lange. A staple for 12 seasons,...

Despite the fact that its interior is as confounding as the Overlook Hotel and Jerry Seinfeld’s physics-defying bachelor pad, fans still love the titular abode from Full House.

After all, how many TV houses have enough room for a single father, his three kids, his brother-in-law’s entire family, plus a stand-up comedian who, despite the wacky puppets and nonstop Popeye impressions, could be a total buzzkill at times.

While the original show and its depressing Netflix sequel were obviously filmed on soundstages, the exterior establishing shots utilized a real Victorian house, which is located at 1709 Broderick Street in San Francisco.

Once owned by Full House creator Jeff Franklin, until he sold it in 2020, last year the building was again put on the market, this time for a whopping $6.5 million. As we pointed out at the time, this likely would have priced out Danny Tanner, even with his staggering number of roommates.

If you want to be three-dimensional about it, there’s plenty wrong with Boop! The Musical, now running at the Broadhurst Theatre. The opening number is a headscratcher that explodes into a tap extravaganza with no setup or context. The leading man is saddled with a paper-thin backstory. Lots of the lyrics go clunk. And the plot makes absolutely no sense.

In this kooky story, the iconic 1930s cartoon character Betty Boop (Jasmine Amy Rogers) created by animation pioneer Max Fleischer shows up in contemporary New York City, and in spite of glimpsing so much garbage, poverty, and corruption all around her, she still sees something magical that she can’t help but resist. Maybe it’s Betty’s unshakeable optimism rubbing off, but Boop!, for all its unmissably ramshackle flaws, is joyously irresistible.

At the show’s start, Betty finds herself getting tired of her literally black-and-white life in ToonTown.

The Roastmaster General looked like he was on the receiving end of a brutal punchline this weekend after an allergic reaction to a bowl of ice cream.

But that didn’t stop Jeff Ross from promising to perform that night — or from posting pictures of his blown-up face on Instagram. Ross kicked off the insults before anyone else could get in the first punch: “Thank you to the overnight shift at MarinHealth Medical Center for only roasting me a lightly. Despite Looking Like Mickey Rourke at the end of The Wrestler.”

The self-own joke wasn’t bad, but Ross knew his fans could do better, inviting them to “Roast Me.” Here are 15 of the best burns aimed straight at Ross’ bloated mug.

1

“Didn’t even notice a difference.”

2

“Like Nick Kroll and Judd Apatow had a baby.”

3

“You look like if Paul Giamatti looked into a fun house mirror.”

4

“So...

Are you in the mood for another Popeye horror movie? How about the latest release from A24? A slasher from Finn Wolfhard? A genre movie starring Pedro Pascal?! This week has it all.

Here’s all the new horror that released March 31– April 4, 2025!

For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.

The latest horror movie to put a gory twist on beloved pop culture icon Popeye is Shiver Me Timbers, and director Paul Mann’s bloody slasher is now available on digital at home.

Blending classic slasher thrills with off-the-wall comedy, Shiver Me Timbers pays homage to 1980s horror classics while bringing Popeye into “his most terrifying adventure yet.”

Here’s the synopsis: “In Northern California during the summer of 1986, Olive Oyl, along with her cinema- obsessed friends and brother Castor, embark on a once-in-a-lifetime camping trip to witness the dazzling meteor shower accompanying the arrival of Halley’s comet.

The latest horror movie to put a gory twist on beloved pop culture icon Popeye is Shiver Me Timbers, and director Paul Mann’s bloody slasher is Now Available on digital at home.

Blending classic slasher thrills with off-the-wall comedy, Shiver Me Timbers pays homage to 1980s horror classics while bringing Popeye into “his most terrifying adventure yet.”

Here’s the synopsis: “In Northern California during the summer of 1986, Olive Oyl, along with her cinema- obsessed friends and brother Castor, embark on a once-in-a-lifetime camping trip to witness the dazzling meteor shower accompanying the arrival of Halley’s comet. But what starts as a serene evening of stargazing quickly turns into a harrowing nightmare when a meteor from the comet transforms Popeye, into a terrifying and unstoppable killing machine.”

With Shiver Me Timbers now available from all major VOD retailers, Bloody Disgusting caught up with Paul Mann to talk about...

To celebrate "April Fools Day” 2025, Sneak Peek the 1955 cartoon short "Popeye: Cookin' With Gags", directed by Izzy Sparber and Thomas Johnson, featuring numerous ‘April Fool’s Day” pranks :

"...'Popeye' and 'Bluto' take 'Olive' on a picnic. It's April 1, and Bluto plays a series of gags on 'Popeye', including pouring gasoline on the fire he asks 'Popeye' to light and swapping a beehive for the lemonade.

“Bluto then launches a cruel joke against Olive, frames Popeye, replaces Popeye's spinach with a joke can and runs off with Olive..."

Click the images to enlarge...

Pop open a can of spinach, dear readers, because we have a new Popeye (the sailor himself) horror parody on the horizon. Coming April 1 from writer and director Paul Stephen Mann is Shiver Me Timbers, a uniquely disgusting and funny take on the iconic animated sailor with a love of leafy greens and his wife, Olive Oyl.

Read the full synopsis below:

In Northern California during the summer of 1986, Olive Oyl, along with her cinema- obsessed friends and brother Castor, embark on a once-in-a-lifetime camping trip to witness the dazzling meteor shower accompanying the arrival of Halley’s comet. But what starts as a serene evening of stargazing quickly turns into a harrowing nightmare when a meteor from the comet transforms Popeye, into a terrifying and unstoppable killing machine.

In our exclusive clip from the film, Olive Oyl and her friends receive a warning from a bloody stranger. But will they listen?...

If you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet, you’ve probably encountered Leonardo DiCaprio raising a toast, throwing money, or delivering an impassioned speech that makes absolutely no sense but looks incredibly convincing. That’s right, we’re talking about The Wolf of Wall Street, a movie so wild, so absurd, and so meme-worthy that it has taken on a second life in digital culture.

Since its 2013 release, Martin Scorsese’s high-octane financial drama has become the cinematic gift that keeps on giving. From DiCaprio’s “I’m not leaving!” speech to Jonah Hill’s dramatic chest-thumping, the film has been chopped up, Gif’d, and repurposed for nearly every situation imaginable.

A still of Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Whether it’s celebrating a raise, mocking crypto traders, or just embodying Friday night energy, The Wolf of Wall Street is...

Popeye the Slayer Man reimagines a familiar cartoon sailor as a vicious slasher, transforming a cherished figure into a figure of terror. Set in a decrepit spinach canning facility, the narrative introduces a crew of young investigators who encounter a reanimated icon with a taste for violence. This reworking of a nostalgic character is marked by a curious interplay between animated absurdity and visceral menace (a juxtaposition that tickles the intellect while provoking an unsettled smile).

In a nod to creative liberation afforded by public domain status, the movie turns what many remember as a jolly sailor into a figure that disrupts conventional expectations. The production revels in its low-budget charm, mixing offbeat humor with unexpected shocks, often reminiscent of historical moments when art surprised its audience.

There is a subtle commentary on cultural recycling and a playful critique of how relics of the past are repurposed for modern thrills.

This week’s diverse new offerings including two Korean thrillers, a post-apocalyptic rock opera, a film produced by Sam Raimi, a sci-fi mind-bender, and even a Popeye slasher movie?!

Here’s all the new horror that released March 17 – March 21, 2025!

For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.

“Three days after the funeral, the dead heart awakens.” Hyun Moon-Seop’s Devils Stay aims to break all exorcism horror rules, and it’s now available on VOD outlets at home.

In the film, “After the sudden tragic loss of his daughter following an exorcism, a renowned heart surgeon refuses to face the reality that his child has died, despite declarations from medical examiners and even the priest who performed the expulsion.

“But as the funeral rites begin, mourners start witnessing unnerving changes to the girl’s body, leaving the priest to wonder whether something much more sinister—an...

Plot: A group of college students embark on an investigation into the legendary Sailor Man. Unfortunately for them, they find him.

Review: He’s Popeye the Sailor Man! For decades, the animated character has delighted young fans. From the cartoons to the live-action Popeye featuring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, he is an iconic and beloved character. And just like Winnie the Pooh, the copyrights have lapsed, sending the spinach-guzzling hero into the Public Domain. And my, oh my, Popeye is kinda pissed. With his puffy, bloated face and ridiculously cartoonish arms, Jason Robert Stephens is undoubtedly having a good time killing off numerous victims in wacky ways.

Popeye the Slayer Man is what you’d expect from a B-movie horror flick. It tells of the local legend rumored to be stalking the abandoned Anchor Bay Cannery – look for more than a few fun Easter Eggs. After plans surface that...

It’s trendy these days to take a character from popular children’s stories and given them a horror twist. Lately we’ve been hearing about horror movies based on the likes of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Bambi, Pinocchio, Three Blind Mice, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears… and like I said the last time I wrote about this, when one set of filmmakers decides to make a horror film featuring a beloved kids’ story character, there are sometimes multiple other sets of filmmakers working on horror films that center on the same character. We’ve seen this happen with Mickey Mouse, and now the character who’ll soon be seen in more than one horror movie is Popeye the Sailor Man. Last November, it was announced that Alpeke Entertainment is working on a slasher horror comedy called Shiver Me Timbers, which puts a horror twist on Popeye.

Dangerous Animals Teaser Trailer: "When Zephyr, a rebellious surfer, is abducted by a shark-obsessed serial killer and held captive on his boat, she must figure out how to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding to the sharks below."

Director: Sean Byrnes Written by: Nick Lepard Cast: Jai Courtney, Hassie Harrison, Josh Heuston Genre: Horror, Thriller Language: English Runtime: 93 min

Sean Byrne returns with his third visceral feature, Dangerous Animals, exclusively in theaters June 6, 2025.



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Popeye The Slayer Man Clip: "Director Robert Michael Ryan’s much buzzed-about horror feature Popeye the Slayer Man is set to sail into theaters and on VOD via Vantage Media on March 21, 2025.

Directed by Ryan from a screenplay by John Doolan (Remains), the horror feature was filmed in New York State and is a co-production between Salem House Films, Millman Productions, Ron Lee Productions, and Otsego Media. Jeff Miller (The Toybox), Cuyle Carvin (Ouija...

Director Robert Michael Ryan’s Popeye the Slayer Man is chewing spinach and slaughtering victims in theaters and on VOD outlets beginning March 21, 2025 from Vantage Media, and Bloody Disgusting has some brand new exclusive assets to whet your appetite today.

Down below you’ll find a new clip from Popeye the Slayer Man along with some bloody new stills and even a new poster. You can also watch the previously released trailer below, along with a tie-in music video from the metal band The Man from Alphabet, titled Sailor to Slayer!

In Popeye the Slayer Man, “a group of friends sneak into an abandoned spinach canning factory to film a documentary on the legend of the Sailor Man, who is said to haunt the factory.”

“Popeye the Slayer Man’s dark reimagining of the classic Popeye character not only delivers a fresh take on a beloved icon but also showcases...

On Wednesday March 19 2025, E! broadcasts an episode of the series Night Court!

Chips Ahoy Season 2 Episode 10 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Night Court,” titled “Chips Ahoy,” promises to deliver laughter and unexpected twists. This episode will air on E! and features two main storylines that showcase the quirky dynamics of the courtroom and the challenges of everyday life.

In one storyline, Dan finds an opportunity to join a legendary underground Navy poker game during Fleet Week. Known for his charm and cunning ways, Dan is eager to prove himself in this high-stakes environment. As he navigates the challenges of the game, viewers can expect plenty of humorous moments and perhaps some surprises along the way. Dan’s antics are sure to keep everyone entertained as he tries to outsmart his opponents.

Meanwhile, Abby faces her own set of challenges when she rules against the ruthless PTA president at Wyatt’s kids’ school.

The Shrouds: "In an eerie, deceptively placid near-future, a techno-entrepreneur named Karsh (Cassel) has developed a new software that will allow the bereaved to bear witness to the gradual decay of loved ones dead and buried in the earth. While Karsh is still reeling from the loss of his wife (Kruger) from cancer—and falling into a peculiar sexual relationship with his wife’s sister (also Kruger)—a spate of vandalized graves utilizing his “shroud” technology begins to put his enterprise at risk, leading him to uncover a potentially vast conspiracy. Written following the death of the director’s wife, the new film from David Cronenberg is both a profoundly personal reckoning with grief and a descent into noir-tinged dystopia, set in an ominous world of self-driving cars, data theft, and A.I. personal assistants. Offering Cronenberg’s customary balance of malevolence and wit, The Shrouds is a sly...

Popeye the Slayer Man captured the attention of horror fans around the world after its trailer went viral late last year, and now the film is set to "sail into theaters and VOD" via Vantage Media on March 21st. We caught up with Sarah Nicklin, who told us all about her experience making Popeye the Slayer Man, her love of starring in horror movies, and what she has coming up next:

How did you get involved in Popeye the Slayer Man and why was this a project you wanted to be a part of?

Sarah Nicklin: This was a lucky case where it was offered to me. I’ve been friends with the producers and director for 15 years now in some cases and we always wanted to work together, but it just hadn’t worked out yet.

I was text-chatting with Cuyle and he mentioned that they were going to...

Although long-running franchises have become a seemingly permanent part of our current cinematic landscape, there's an argument to be made that even the most consistently high-quality series are subject to diminishing returns. The question of whether a sequel can match or surpass an original is still a topic of debate, and it's one that reaches all the way back to an era when sequels were hardly as common as they are now. While the debate makes sense on the surface — after all, on paper, how can any sequel be as fresh and unique as an original? — it's perhaps based on the wrong question. Maybe, despite all the constant franchise rankings and the like, we shouldn't be asking whether a sequel surpasses its predecessor, but rather what new depths and richness are brought to the material that enhances the franchise as a whole.

It's through that lens that I view 1975's "French Connection II,...

The adorable fawn from Disney's canon is no more. Now he's transformed into a mutated and monstrous beast on a roaring rampage of revenge.

In the latest movie from the minds behind Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, Bambi has become a terrifyingly feral creature with no problem brutally killing people in part of his quest for vengeance after his mother is killed. Variety shared the first trailer for Bambi: The Reckoning on Wednesday. You can watch the video embedded above.

The story of Bambi didn't actually originate in the 1942 Disney film, instead coming from the Austrian novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods by Felix Salten, which is in the public domain. Bambi: The Reckoning is one of many recently released public domain horror titles. It is also part of the Twisted Childhood Universe (Tcu) created by Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Chambers.

The Tcu started with Blood and Honey, its sequel,...

It’s trendy these days to take a character from popular children’s stories and given them a horror twist. Lately we’ve been hearing about horror movies based on the likes of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Bambi, Pinocchio, Three Blind Mice, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears… and like I said the last time I wrote about this, when one set of filmmakers decides to make a horror film featuring a beloved kids’ story character, there are sometimes multiple other sets of filmmakers working on horror films that center on the same character. We’ve seen this happen with Mickey Mouse, and now the character who’ll soon be seen in more than one horror movie is Popeye the Sailor Man. Last November, it was announced that Alpeke Entertainment is working on a slasher horror comedy called Shiver Me Timbers, which puts a horror twist on Popeye.

Director Robert Michael Ryan’s Popeye the Slayer Man is on our way this month from Vantage Media, and Bloody Disgusting has scored the debut of the film’s opening sequence.

Vantage Media will be unleashing Popeye the Slayer Man both in theaters and on VOD outlets on March 21, 2025. Watch two gory kills from the first five minutes down below!

In the clip, “Pursued by two thugs, Adrienne (Sarah Nicklin) attempts to find refuge in an abandoned spinach canning factory, only to come face to face with the murderous legend of Popeye the Slayer Man (Jason Stephens).”

You’ll also find the previously released official trailer underneath.

In Popeye the Slayer Man, “a group of friends sneak into an abandoned spinach canning factory to film a documentary on the legend of the Sailor Man, who is said to haunt the factory.”

“Popeye the Slayer Man’s dark reimagining of the...

Quick LinksWhat Is Popeye's Origin in Popeye's Revenge?What Is Popeye's Mission In Popeye's Revenge?The Ending of Popeye's Revenge Is Equally Bizarre and DisjointedPopeye's Revenge Also Has Weird Plot HolesPopeye's Revenge's Biggest Mistake Is Having No Identity

The following contains spoilers for Popeye's Revenge, now available on home video and Prime Video.

One of the most popular characters is undoubtedly Popeye the Sailor. His journey began in one of the best comic strips in 1929. The sailor went on to romance Olive Oyl, feud with Bluto, and care for his adopted ward, Swee'Pea. In time, Popeye would be involved in cartoons, comic books, a manga series, and a 1980s movie starring Robin Williams and The Shining's Shelley Duvall.

Interestingly, Popeye has now received the horror movie treatment, thanks to entering the public domain. It's in the same vein as the Poohniverse movies where Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet and other A. A. Milne...

If there’s a moment that sums up the genius of Gene Hackman, it’s in Night Moves, the 1975 Arthur Penn neo-noir where he’s a washed-up football player turned detective. He’s on a case where he hunts a movie star’s runaway teenage daughter in the Florida Keys. But at one point Hackman watches a football game on TV, while his wife asks him who’s winning. “Nobody,” he says without taking his eyes off the screen. “One side is just losing slower than the other.”

A great line,...

“Popeye’s Revenge” reinvents a well-known figure from childhood cartoons into a figure that now serves as a menacing force in a film. The movie repurposes the classic sailor, replacing his friendly demeanor with a chilling new role marked by unexpected ferocity.

The narrative presents his past marked by isolation and tragedy, transforming these elements into a driver for his new, sinister actions. His trademark features take on unsettling significance, turning what was once a symbol of heroism into an embodiment of terror.

In today’s wave of films that repurpose established characters for shock value, this work stands as one example of repackaging familiar elements to create a darker experience.

It marries the typical cues of horror—sudden apparitions, eerie settings, and carefully timed violence—with the unexpected presence of an icon everyone thought they knew. The film interweaves classic slasher setups with hints of spectral mystery, adding a new dimension to its narrative.

Stars: Sergio Rogalto, Micho Camacho, Craig Morgan, Maya Luna, Daniela Porras, David Vaughn | Written by David Vaughn | Directed by Alejandro G. Alegre

In case the poster didn’t give it away, I Heart Willie is based on Steamboat Willie, the original version of Mickey Mouse. This marks yet another public domain horror film capitalizing on the recent trend of turning classic characters into nightmare fuel.

That said, I Heart Willie stands apart from most of its predecessors in a few key ways. Unlike many of the previous public domain horror films, it has no connection to the so-called “Poohniverse,” the set of horror films. Additionally, it wasn’t produced in the UK, where many of these films have originated. Instead, I Heart Willie is a Mexican production, filmed in and around Michoacán, lending it a different cultural and aesthetic flavour than its predecessors.

Plot-wise, however, it follows a familiar trajectory.

It’s trendy these days to take a character from popular children’s stories and given them a horror twist. Lately we’ve been hearing about horror movies based on the likes of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Bambi, Pinocchio, Three Blind Mice, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears… and like I said the last time I wrote about this, when one set of filmmakers decides to make a horror film featuring a beloved kids’ story character, there are sometimes multiple other sets of filmmakers working on horror films that center on the same character. We’ve seen this happen with Mickey Mouse, and now the character who’ll soon be seen in more than one horror movie is Popeye the Sailor Man. Last November, it was announced that Alpeke Entertainment is working on a slasher horror comedy called Shiver Me Timbers, which puts a horror twist on Popeye.