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Osees have announced their latest albbum, a synth-pop-inspired project entitled Intercepted Message, out August 18th via In the Red. They have also shared the album’s title track as a lead single. Listen to it below.

In a “bio” for the new album, Osees frontman John Dwyer explained that it’s a “pop record for tired times.” The single — along with its news-inspired music video — supports this theme, drawing on the fatigued energy of politics and society, and channeling it into a blistering blend of punk and electro beeping and booping. In the video, Dwyer serves as the anchor for a dystopian broadcast, and as the world burns down behind his talking head, the weight of the message sinks in. Watch the video below.

From Dwyer’s perspective, Osees’ new music is intended to create a commonplace of sorts. “Social media toilet scrapers unite!” he wrote for the poetic bio.

Horror-comedy anthology Die Laughing is now available on Blu-ray via Bonelady Studios, who curated 21 shorts from 10 independent filmmakers — including yours truly!

Trouser Snake is my comedic send-up to 1950s creature features. A night of necking at Lovers’ Lane gets the shaft when a monster rears its ugly head in the 5-minute short, which you can watch below.

Die Laughing also includes segments directed by George James Fraser, Erica Stockwell-Alpert, Jim McDonough, David Bornstein, Seth Chatfield, Peter Levine, Sophia Cacciola, Porcelain Dalya, and Elizabeth Theis.

For only 10, you can witness demon summoning, serial killers, ghostly hauntings, illegal cloning, adorable vampires, monkeys, and more. But be warned… you might just Die Laughing!

Die Laughing includes:

Fuck Yes! by George James Fraser Firstborn by Erica Stockwell-Alpert Tiny Clones by Jim McDonough Unholy ‘Mole by David Bornstein Shiny Diamonds by Seth Chatfield Darling Pet Monkey by Jim McDonough Dead Language by Erica Stockwell-Alpert Jeff...

After the massive success of Airplane! (1980), the horror world decided to try spoofing the hand that feeds; in short order we were dealt Saturday the 14th, Student Bodies, National Lampoon’s Class Reunion, and Pandemonium (all from ’81 to ’82). Mileage may vary of course; comedy is completely subjective—you either laugh or you don’t. Needless to say, there are moments from each of these films that I find entertaining; from smiles to chuckles and sometimes even a laugh or two. But there is another film that no one seems to talk up much, and that’s Greydon Clark’s Wacko (1982). As uneven as the rest, it nevertheless boasts an impressive cast and an energy that wins you over; and now that Vinegar Syndrome has released it on a solid Blu-ray, you can enjoy every groan, titter, eye roll, and yes, laugh, in the privacy of your own home.

The story of Wacko is quite simple,...

Following the horror juggernaut that was Halloween (1978), major studios were very interested to hop in bed with stalk and slay splatterfests. When the Paramount distributed Friday the 13th (1980) looked to be muy lucrative, the big boys jumped hard on the mattress to see how much coin they could dislodge. MGM was no different, and made their claim with He Knows You’re Alone (1980), a film that ultimately survived the dog pile with winning characterizations over slavish Carpenter imitations.

Filmed in December of ’79 on Staten Island and released at the end of summer, He Knows You’re Alone made nearly $ 5 million for MGM against a meager $ 250,000 budget. A tidy profit to be sure, but it was recognized by most critics (and horror fans alike) as a messy pastiche of everything that worked about Halloween but operating with a lot less wattage. I think that’s only partially true – He Knows actually manages to create memorable characters,...

Gasping for breath after running up a steep San Francisco hill, Robby Benson began to faint. He grabbed for a parking meter to break his fall. Then he became violently sick to his stomach. It all happened on location during the filming of Die Laughing, in which he starred, co-wrote and was a producer. He was in his early 20s, a onetime teen idol now transitioning into bigger challenges with the promise of a long, successful career in Hollywood. He didn't want to tell the truth: doctors had found a heart murmur when he was a teenager and for years he'd suffered similar symptoms.