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Warning: Spoilers ahead for Gladiator 2!Pedro Pascal portrays General Marcus Acacius in Gladiator 2, but the character succumbs to a fate that calls back to the actor's memorable role from 2014. Considering how much his career has grown in the past decade, Pascal was an exciting name on Gladiator 2's cast list. While he's had a steady acting career for years, Pascal gained notoriety after his stint portraying Prince Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones. From there, he became a pivotal figure in shows like Narcos, The Mandalorian, and The Last of Us.

Pascal also acquired roles in both the Dceu and MCU, thanks to Wonder Woman 1984 and his casting in 2025's The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The actor's role in Gladiator 2 brought an end to an excellent 2024, which saw him appear in four other movies. Unfortunately, Gladiator 2 couldn't put an end to the actor's long-running character trend,...

Although Pedro Pascal had been acting for years before getting the role of Prince Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones, that was the part that catapulted his incredibly successful acting career. We're not going to be talking about how traumatizing Oberyn's death was, back when "The Mountain and the Viper" aired on HBO in 2014. Instead, we are going to take a quick look at every role Pedro Pascal has had since his Game of Thrones breakout and talk a little bit about each character.

Pascal has worked at a feverish pace since Game of Thrones. His resume is lengthy, which means you may want to take a seat with a snack and drink before reading our list. Just what kind of range does Pascal have in movies and on television? Let's find out!

Be warned there will be several spoilers ahead. Also, this list will only include movie and TV appearances,...

From Scream to Scooby-Doo to Five Nights at Freddy’s, Matthew Lillard has had a stronghold on burgeoning horror fans for generations. The actor has combined his love for genre storytelling and his appreciation for potent potables with Macabre Spirits.

The horror-themed tequila line is the latest from Find Familiar Spirits, Lillard’s fandom-centric alcohol brand that was founded in 2022. It launched with the Dungeons & Dragons-inspired Quest’s End Whiskey, which itself spawned from Lillards D&d company, Beadle & Grimm’s Pandemonium Warehouse.

Lillard explains, “I have a company called Beadle & Grimm’s with four of my best friends from the acting school I went to for college. We’ve been playing Dungeons & Dragons since we were 21, and we started this company that delivers high-end D&d products right to your door.”

Another friend of Lillard’s, Bloodsucking Bastards screenwriter Justin Ware, recognized how Beadle & Grimm’s customer...

Described as “the world’s first tequila made by and for fans of horror,” pre-sales for the horror-themed tequila Macabre Spirits from Matthew Lillard’s company Find Familiar Spirits kicked off last week on the road to Halloween, and we’ve learned today that the band Ice Nine Kills has joined forces with Lillard and Macabre Spirits on a limited merch drop.

Two t-shirts and a hoodie were launched by Ice Nine Kills today as part of the collaboration, and Bloody Disgusting has been informed that the collection is available for One Week Only.

Each bottle of Macabre Spirits is accompanied by an exclusive new 70-page novella, Rare, Fine & Limited, the first novella from modern horror master Mike Flanagan (Fall of the House of Usher, Haunting of Hill House). Designed by Ice Nine Kills, the new merch collection is inspired by Mike Flanagan’s novella, bringing the tale to “disturbing,...

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The timeless Matthew Lillard joins us for a wide-ranging discussion as his new line of tequila, Macabre Spirits, goes on sale (and includes an original novella from horror master Mike Flanagan). Lillard also talks at length about his roles in Scream, Scooby-Doo, Twin Peaks, and more.

A sinister story. A boldly crafted tequila. Rare, Fine & Limited brings you a new way to celebrate the darkness. Pre-order below: https://findfamiliarspirits.com/products/macabre

From the imaginations of Matthew Lillard, Justin Ware (Bloodsucking Bastards) and the award-winning Find Familiar Spirits distillers comes the worlds first tequila made by and for devotees of horror. This premium bottle is paired with the first-ever horror novella from the legendary Mike Flanagan.

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

In October 2024, we’re doing the Midnight Movie Monster Mash with films that challenge our understanding of evil characters and creatures just in time for Halloween.

First, read the spoiler-free Bait: a weird and wonderful pick from any time in film. Then, come back for the Bite: a breakdown of all the spoiler-y bits you’d want to unpack when exiting a theater.

The Bait: “The Cabin in the Woods” Companion You Didn’t Know You Already Had

For years, scary movie fans have been dying for a “Cabin in the Woods” sequel. There are plenty of reasons that could never and should never happen; chief among them that it’s a damn-near perfect film and ends with a planet-destroying apocalypse heralded by none other than Sigourney Weaver.

But Fran Kranz...

Welcome to IndieWire After Dark, where we pick a new theme for our midnight movie programming every month!

Join us Friday nights at 9:30 p.m. Et to explore the best in fringe films — available at any hour in the streaming age.

Whether you’re working in the lab late one night or going to your favorite repertory theater after hours, now’s the time to do the Midnight Movie Monster Mash. This October, we’re honoring the Halloween season with a carousel of killers so unusual their beastly mugs would make Lon Chaney quake — and he’s been dead for 100 years.

Ancient beasts predate humans, and monsters have always stalked our campfire stories. But in cinema, the monster movie has mutated into an uncontainable genre behemoth all its own. From B-movie creature features to chilling portraits of serial killers, the terrors of the big screen we choose to call...

For those who like to really indulge in the Halloween season, Find Familiar Spirits’ next high-end curated potable is for the horror fans: Macabre Spirits, referred to as “the world’s first tequila made by and for fans of horror.”

Find Familiar Spirits was founded by Scream star and horror stalwart Matthew Lillard in 2023, who’s teamed up with some impressive names on this release. Macabre Spirits hails from the imagination of Lillard and screenwriter Justin Ware (Bloodsucking Bastards).

But there’s more than just premium Reposado from the Jalisco region to enjoy with this release. Each bottle is accompanied by an exclusive new 70-page novella, Rare, Fine & Limited, described as the first work of fiction from modern horror master Mike Flanagan.

Of the novella and collaboration, Lillard told Forbes, “With Macabre, each bottle launches with a novella, so there’s a short story that goes along with it, which...

The 2000s was an interesting time for cinema. Let’s face it: it was an interesting time in general. In the realm of horror, the beginning of the aughts saw an influx of remakes of J-Horror – some bad, some pretty decent. However, with the post-9/11 cultural climate heightening anxieties and desensitization to violence due to real-world events, another genre emerged, tapping into the darker side of human nature. First coined by David Edelstein in a 2006 article in New York magazine, “torture porn” took the roots of exploitation and splatter films of the 70s and 80s and reintroduced the mainstream audiences to a new level of explicit brutality. Films like Saw, Hostel, The Devil’s Rejects, and the New Extremity of French Horror were raw and unapologetic looks at human depravity. It was everywhere. I mean, there was a time when you couldn’t go more than a year without having a Saw film.

Stars: Diane Foster, D’Andre Noiré, Kelly Grant, Zach Kanner, Allison Lobel, Adam Slemon, Zuri Starks, Jamie B. Cline | Written by Allison Lobel | Directed by Diane Foster

Look what’s come hopping down the bunny trail just in time for the holiday weekend, Easter Bloody Easter, the latest in the never-ending line of holiday horrors. We’ve already had our share of Easter-themed films from Faster Eater Bunny, Kill! Kill! and Easter Holocaust to Resurrection. But when it comes to low-budget horror, there’s no such thing as too many films on a subject, so what’s one more?

This one opens with a couple going at it in a church storeroom, “I want you to fuck me like some muffin top Jesus!”, being killed by a glowing-eyed rabbit that transforms into a glowing-eyed monster complete with Easter basket.

A week later Jeanie wakes up in her yard and tries to...

Mike Flanagan, known for his successful horror works, is directing and writing an adaptation of Stephen King's "The Life of Chuck." The cast includes Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, and Matthew Lillard, who is returning to the horror genre. Lillard's inclusion in "The Life of Chuck" is more exciting than a possible return to the "Scream" franchise, as it showcases his versatility under Stephen King's writing and Flanagan's direction.

Mike Flanagan’s next project is a new Stephen King adaptation, and its latest cast addition is a beloved Scream actor – and this is more exciting than a return to the Scream franchise. Mike Flanagan is one of the most successful and popular masters of horrors in recent years, thanks to movies like Hush and TV shows like The Haunting of House Hill. Some of Flanagan’s most acclaimed works have been adaptations of some of Stephen King’s stories,...

It’s a busy week for horror with The Pope’s Exorcist and Renfield arriving on the big screen. The latter reimagines classic Universal Monsters characters with a comedic twist, though it’s hardly the first to depict bloodsuckers in a humorous way. This week’s streaming picks celebrate vampire horror-comedies, giving you plenty of options to sink your teeth into.

Here’s where to watch these titles this week.

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

Blood Relatives – AMC+, Shudder

Writer/Director Noah Segan’s feature debut brings a charming soft touch to the vampire tale, favoring dad jokes and affecting bonds over savage bloodletting. Blood Relatives sees a nomad’s life upended by the arrival of a daughter he never knew he had, causing a seismic shift in his isolated bachelor lifestyle. The twist here is that the central character is a bloodsucking vampire whose inner...

Pedro Pascal might be the most loved Hollywood star of the moment, winning a legion of fans thanks to his roles as intergalactic daddy bounty hunter in The Mandalorian, a post-apocalyptic survivor in The Last of Us, and even in Nicolas Cage’s best friend in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. The newfound love for Pascal has also been leading fans to look for more TV shows and movies featuring the actor and his iconic mustache. If everything Pascal touches turns into gold nowadays, why not look at the star’s past? That’s how some people might find out one of Pascal's first acting credits was for a single 1999 episode of Buffy, arguably the best vampire show of all time. Unfortunately, Pascal didn’t stay too long on the show, as he was staked to death moments after being turned into a vampire. However, fans wonder what it...

“It is amazing to be here,” said Pedro Pascal in his first “Saturday Night Live” performance: a triumphant Season 48 episode for the sketch show, cross-promoting the actor/host’s hugely successful parts on Disney’s “The Mandalorian” and HBO’s “The Last of Us.”

“I was born in Chile and nine months later my parents fled Pinochet with me and my sister to the US,” Pascal continued in his opening monologue. “They were so brave, and without them I wouldn’t be here in this wonderful country. And I certainly wouldn’t be standing here with you all tonight.”

The 48-year-old actor began performing on screen in the late ’90s, appearing in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “NYPD Blue” among other popular TV series of the time. Pascal made his feature film debut in Julia Solomonoff’s “Hermanas” in 2005, and would later appear in “The Adjustment Bureau,” “Sweet Little Lies,...

This past weekend, the 2022 SXSW Film Festival hosted the world premiere of the meta genre-bending comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which was directed by Tom Gormican and co-written by Gormican and Kevin Etten. The story is set around the iconic cinematic phenom known as Nicolas Cage, who is down on his luck and decides to take a gig where he’s paid to show up at a superfan’s (played by Pedro Pascal) birthday party and ends up getting mixed up in some governmental espionage where things get just a little too “real” for Cage and his new best pal.

While in Austin, Daily Dead had the opportunity to speak with both Gormican and Etten following the premiere of Massive Talent about the unusual project and whether or not they ever thought about what would happen if Cage had turned down playing a version of himself for the film.

Starring and co-written by Emma Fitzpatrick, Gia Elliot's Take Back the Night is now available on digital platforms and in select theaters from Dark Sky Films, and we have an exclusive clip to share with Daily Dead readers!

Below, you can check out our exclusive clip from Take Back the Night, and we also have a list of where you can see the new movie (both in theaters and on digital platforms):

Theater Listing:

Los Angeles - Cinelounge Rooftop Cinema (one night only)

Columbus - Gateway Film Center

Albuquerque - Guild Cinema

Kansas City - Screenland

Digital Availability:

Apple TV

Prime Video

Google Play

Microsoft Movies & TV

Vimeo On Demand

Vudu

Synopsis: Finding herself the victim of a violent monster attack, Jane launches a vigilante campaign to hunt the beast that tried to kill her. Jane’s efforts intensify, but her troubling history of drug use and mental...

Stars: Emma Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Lafleur, Angela Gulner, Sibongile Mlambo, Corina Kinnear, Kati Sharp, Natalie D’Amico, Jess Varley, Mecca Morgan White, Richard McDowell, Kwanza Gooden, Tony Sgro | Written by Gia Elliot, Emma Fitzpatrick | Directed by Gia Elliot

Right from the title director Gia Elliot and co-writer Emma Fitzpatrick make it clear that Take Back the Night isn’t just another monster movie. By using the slogan of many marches and movements protesting violence against women as their title they signal their intention to make this about more than simple scares.

The challenge with that is not letting the message overwhelm the actual plot and the film’s entertainment value. Or worse become heavy-handed and preachy. The Hunting, which I recently reviewed, is an example, its message about veterans and Ptsd taking over what was supposed to be a werewolf film. Can the makers of Take Back the Night succeed where many have failed before?...

Stars: Stephen Brodie, Cassie Shea Watson, Lourelle Jensen, Sawyer Bell, Tom Proctor, Patricia Rae | Written by Greg Shouse | Directed by Dan Riddle

As The Last Possession opens financial problems have forced Kent Peroni, his wife Stephanie and their two kids Jack and Gabby (Lourelle Jensen) to move into the house Kent’s father Roger left him. Roger was a violent drunk up until the day he killed himself and going back there is the last thing Kent wants.

It doesn’t help that they’ve barely moved in when an earthquake rattles the area and opens up a strange hole in the backyard. It doesn’t take long before more strange things start happening and Gabby is seeing her grandfather’s ghost.

Writer Greg Shouse and director Dan Riddle (Technically Crazy) start The Last Possession off like a typical haunted house film. A family under stress, a house full of bad memories,...

No stranger to the horror genre, Emma Fitzpatrick co-wrote and stars in Gia Elliot's new movie Take Back the Night, in which her character, Jane, survives a brutal creature attack only to face equally destructive speculation from those around her in the aftermath of the ruthless encounter.

To celebrate the film's March 4th theatrical and digital release from Dark Sky Films, Daily Dead Managing Editor and Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume 1 author Heather Wixson will be hosting a special screening and Q&a for Take Back the Night at 8:30pm on Thursday, March 3rd, at the Cinelounge Rooftop at The Montalbán theatre in Hollywood!

Below, you can check out the poster with additional details for the rooftop screening (which will include Covid-19 safety precautions in accordance with LA County guidelines), and we also have a look at the official synopsis and trailer for Take Back the Night!

Finding herself...

Stars: Danay Garcia, Michael Drayer, Travis Hammer, Joey Kern, Taja V. Simpson, Vernon Taylor III | Written by Mikhael Bassilli, Mj Palo | Directed by Luc Walpoth, Mikhael Bassilli

One of the best films to play the festivals, including Fantasia, last year was Gabriel Carrer and Reese Eveneshen’s home invasion film For the Sake of Vicious. So when I started hearing a similar buzz about Baby Money, directed by Luc Walpoth and Mikhael Bassilli and co-written by Bassilli and Mj Palo, I saw some similarities and decided to check it out.

Minny and Gil are about to become parents. They’re also out of money and out of options. Desperate for cash they join Tony and Dom in what should be an easy bit of burglary. The three men go in, grab the loot and Minny does the driving.

Instead, it turns into a shootout leaving multiple fatalities and Dom and...

Brandon Evans, who has produced and financed movies including the Pablo Schreiber comedy Big Bear, the Pedro Pascal-starrer Bloodsucking Bastards, is teaming with international true crime producer Peninsula Television to launch Brick Lane Pictures.

Brick Lane will focus on developing international film and TV co-productions and contemporary themed dramas for the theatrical, streaming and broadcasting markets. It will be based in Dublin and Los Angeles.

The Ireland-born Evans will serve as president, CEO and partner in Brick Lane, which already has a robust film development slate that includes My Dad’s A Famous Movie Star, with producing partner Steve Waterman; Lion’s Den, with producing partners Todd and Grant Slater of Slater Brothers Entertainment and director Jesse V. Johnson; and The Threeway, with director Michael Downing.

The company said a TV drama series is also in advanced development, with more details coming soon.

“As an Irishman it’s great...

In another packed edition of Horror Highlights, we have the lineup for Scream Factory's 31 Nights of Horror, details on Black Mansion Films and their funding campaign, information on Roommate Wanted and its Salem Horror Fest premiere, an announcement on the Guardian Project from Supernatural's Mark Pellegrino, and word of Mr. Mercedes coming to Peacock:

Scream Factory, Shout! Factory TV Host '31 Nights of Horror' Streaming Every Night in October: "This October, Shout! Factory TV and Scream Factory proudly present 31 Nights of Horror. Fans can tune in each evening throughout the entire month for a macabre movie that’s sure to satisfy cravings for all things creepy. Each night of the stream will feature a genre favorite such as Witchboard, Bad Moon, Sleepaway Camp, The Exorcist III, Clive Barker’s Nightbreed: Director’s Cut and many more.

Viewers will also be treated to a deadly double feature every Saturday...

Writer-producer Neil Garguilo has launched Rafael Raffaele Entertainment, a new production company that will house his television and film projects, Collider has exclusively learned. The company will focus on creating scripted, unscripted and animated projects that take a unique approach toward storytelling and formats, and to develop projects with filmmakers and comedians who have a strong point of view, as Garguilo himself is a well-known comedian with a strong improv background. Rafael Raffaele's first three projects are all animated, and range from socially-conscious musicals to post-apocalyptic sketch comedy. The company’…...

It’s the last TV party on Earth and it’s pretty twisted. Welcome to Hell Den, the new, animated post-apocalyptic comedy series from Shout! Studios that debuts this Friday on the DrinkTV streaming platform. The show’s first trailer, exclusive to Deadline, is below but it contains coarse humor and is intended for immature adult audiences.

The six-episode series features the subversive riffing talents of the Dr. God comedy troupe as they re-dub vintage clips and crack wise in the satirical traditions of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 , Beavis & Butthead and Robot Chicken. The premise: Civilization has been obliterated but, somehow, a 12-year-old kid named Andrew has survived with his home (and the world’s last stocked liquor cabinet) intact. The TV still works, too, so he’s got some new friends over for a viewing party: Bet-c, the sympathetic but volatile mutant cyborg; Fleek, a sleazy, alcoholic alien; Giantic, a towering,...

Over the years, I’ve been pretty vocal about how much I adore horror comedies, and considering how challenging the world at large has been over the last few years, it’s truly my favorite subsection of the genre to disappear into as of late. There have been numerous brilliant humorous horror movies over the years, but I thought now would be the perfect time to celebrate 10 films from the modern landscape of genre cinema that have not only been largely under-appreciated by fans, but also do a killer job of finding new ways to merge the funnies with the frights.

Just a note before we begin: I purposefully left off films like Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, What We Do in the Shadows, Cabin in the Woods, Zombieland, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, The Frighteners and projects of that caliber, because I feel like some of those...

Andy, Josh, Joseph and Mike talk about The Belko Experiment and Bloodsucking Bastards. We also talk about the Arrow Films’ The Thing pre-order.

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Show Notes:

00:02:15 – What We’ve Been Watching

00:49:40 – The Thing pre-order from Arrow Films

01:03:00 – The Belko Experiment

01:24:00 – Bloodsucking Bastards

01:30:00 – Horrorlimination!

End song: “George Romero” by Sprites

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Follow us individually on Twitter:

Andy on Twitter at @triefy

Mike on Twitter via @hasslez

Joseph on Twitter via @pensivecritic

Josh on Twitter via @Joshinator1989

Next St. Louis Dtb Events:

July 20 – Horror Trivia Night at The Heavy Anchor @ 8Pm // RSVP on Fb.

Kidnapping comedy marks Blue Fox Entertainment’s first theatrical release.

Blue Fox Entertainment has announced it has acquired worldwide rights to the comedy Big Bear and will release in theatres and on VOD on September 22.

The title will be Blue Fox Entertainment’s first theatrical release and centres on a man dumped by his girlfriend who goes ahead with his bachelor party and discovers the man his fiancée ran off with has been kidnapped by his friends.

The film marks the directorial debut of actor Joey Kern, known for TNT’s Good Behavior and Super Troopers, who stars alongside Pablo Schreiber, Adam Brody, Tyler Labine, Zachary Knighton, and Toby Huss.

Big Bear was financed by Maybe This Year Productions (Mty), which also produced in association with Fortress Features.

Kern wrote the script and produced with Mty Productions’ Brandon Evans, Fortress Features’ Brett Forbes and Patrick Rizzotti, and Luke Edwards.

“We want to make a big splash with our...

He promised that he'd be back, and Space Goat Productions is making good on the T-800's promise with their official board game based on James Cameron's The Terminator, which is now available to pre-order. In today's Horror Highlights, we're also giving Daily Dead readers the chance to win a Camera Obscura soundtrack on vinyl, and we have details on Breaking Glass Pictures acquiring North American rights to Rift and information on how Scream Factory will be celebrating their fifth anniversary.

The Terminator: The Official Board Game: Press Release: "(June 14th, 2017 - Bellingham, Wa) - Space Goat Productions has launched pre-orders for The Terminator™: The Official Board Game, based off of the iconic 1984 film directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Pre-orders will be available via Backerkit and will give consumers access to exclusive discounts for 30 days.

The original Terminator Kickstarter made almost 200% of its goal,...

Exclusive: First look at Two Tales, which sells to Italy among other territories.

Los Angeles-based Recreation Media has struck a number of deals here on its family animations Two Tails and Princess In Wonderland led by a deal with Eagle Pictures in Italy.

Both films are currently in production and are being produced by Moscow-based animation studio Licensing Brands.

Recreation handles worldwide rights excluding Cis and Baltics and has licensed rights in Cj and CiMax (South Korea), Bir (Turkey), Empire (Middle East), Ideal (Iran), Green Media (Vietnam), Akson (Poland), Dexin (former Yugoslavia), One Vision (Indonesia), and Pro Films (Bulgaria).

Negotiations are underway for China and additional territories that are expected to close in the coming days.

Victor Azeev directed Two Tails (pictured, which centres on best friends, a beaver and a cat, who attempt to free their pals from alien abductors.

Marina Nefedova directed Princess In Wonderland about a young girl who discovers a magical book on...

Daily cubicle sitting can often lead to a feeling of employed imprisonment, but that’s nothing compared to director Greg Mclean and writer James Gunn’s take on the vilest, most nightmarish working conditions possible in The Belko Experiment.

Part psychological shocker, part brutal workplace carnage, this angry bite of uber-violent social paranoia melds an Office Space meets Battle Royale hybrid that’s too aggressive to ignore. We’re talking sludge-y, explode-y violence that doesn’t just pile bodies, but paints the walls of Belko Industries a thick shade of vampire-blood red while Spanish covers of popular American classics set the tone (the “I Will Survive” opening is Dynamite). Work sucks, but be happy your company never made every employee fight to the death – imagine the Hr paperwork!

John Gallagher Jr. stars as Mike Milch, a systems worker in the Bogota, Columbia offices of Belko Industries – a non-profit company that...

Having recently portrayed a dutiful and overworked employee in festival favorite Bloodsucking Bastards, Fran Kranz slips back into a familiar treadmill lifestyle in Karl Mueller’s latest feature, Rebirth, only this time trading real-life vampires for metaphorical zombies. Cue Kyle (Kranz), a… Continue Reading →

The post Tribeca 2016: Fran Kranz and Adam Goldberg Talk Rebirth appeared first on Dread Central.

The Man in Black has added another character to his ranks, as Fran Kranz has been cast as Pimli in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower book series.

THR revealed that Kranz is set to play Pimli, “the right-hand man of the Man in Black”, in Sony’s The Dark Tower film. No other details about the film version of the character have been revealed, but readers of The Dark Tower series are familiar with Pimli Prentiss as a warden who worked for the Crimson King and guarded imprisoned telepaths at Algul Siento.

Kranz is well-known to genre fans for his hilarious and heartfelt role as the stoner Marty in The Cabin in the Woods, and he recently starred as an office worker turned vampire slayer in Bloodsucking Bastards. In addition to The Cabin in the Woods, Kranz also collaborated with Joss Whedon by appearing in...

Yesterday, a new poster surfaced for 20th Century Fox's upcoming sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle, which teased that Kingsman: The Secret Service star Colin Firth may return, despite his character Harry Hart being killed off in the original movie. While we wait for confirmation on Colin Firth's return, Deadline reports that the cast keeps growing, with Game of Thrones star Pedro Pascal signing on. The actor will be playing a character named Jack Daniels, who may be a character teased in a previous report.

Last month it was revealed that Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) visit the U.S., where they encounter Halle Berry's character and a "swaggering, sharpshooting cowboy" called Jack. This is presumably the role that Pedro Pascal has landed. That report also revealed the U.S. version of Kingsman is an organization known as the Statesmen, while we saw concept art of Julianne Moore's villainous lair,...

Thanks to my daily alter ego as a 9-6 business professional (hard air quotes), I’m continually drawn to dark cinematic interpretations of corporate navigation. It’s intriguing to watch these far-fetched sleazeball fantasies play out, bringing physical meaning to the term “cut-throat business practices.” I’m referring to movies like American Psycho, about a smooth-talking wolf in Valentino’s clothing, or Bloodsucking Bastards, a sharp-tongued satire of skeevy salespeople. What could be more fun than obscuring regularity and exploiting herd mentalities for the horrors we’ve become blind to?

Owen Harris’ Kill Your Friends is no different, as John Niven’s source novelization translates one record producing guru’s ruthless, can-do attitude into serial assassinations. Think of it as a modern version of Vinyl, with a lot more intentional bloodshed, less coherency where morality complexes are concerned and the same amount of snorted narcotics. A&R departments have to...

My intentions with this piece were to emphatically praise the success of Robert Eggers’ The Witch, but, I’ve since been distracted by another proverbial dick-measuring competition between horror fans over who is “most legit.”

Frankly, I don’t get it. The genre has a skewed enough perception from outside parties who don’t understand horror’s luminous draw – why do we need all this inner-genre drama? The Witch, the latest genre-bending(?) film to display vein-popping restraint, has inevitably brought with it another landslide of thinkpieces, baffling opinions, and general fuckery – ideals that still pollute my Twitter feed. Days later.

Guess it’s my turn then, eh?

First off, a booming round of applause to the guys and gals over at A24. After purchasing The Witch (which, yes, I Loved) out of Sundance for a modest (and fair) $1 million, this puritanical period nightmare scared up $8.6 – $8.8 million (depending on your source) in its opening weekend.

This week on Off The Shelf, Ryan is joined by Brian Saur to take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for the week of October 27th, 2015, and chat about some follow-up and home video news.

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Episode Links & Notes Follow-up Sony Supreme Cinema Blu-rays Wireless Headphones News Arrow Video: American Horror Film Box Set Scream Factory: Manhunter… Warner Archive November Titles BFI 2016 Titles Kino Lorber Studio Classics New Releases The 10th Kingdom – 15th Anniversary Special Edition The Beatles 1 Bloodsucking Bastards Doctor Who: Series 9 Part 1 Eclipse Series 44: Julien Duvivier in the Thirties The End of the Tour Flight of the Conchords Hardware Wars Inside Out The Love Butcher Mannequin Worricker: The Complete Series Mobile Suit Gundam (First Gundam) Part 1 Roar Secret Squirrel Show Complete Collection The Spikes Gang Tenderness Of The Wolves Toy Story that Time Forgot Episode Credits Ryan Gallagher...

Halloween may be over, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t great horror and sci-fi movies arriving this Tuesday on Blu-ray and DVD. Scream Factory is keeping themselves busy with the release of both Bloodsucking Bastards and Stung (the latter in conjunction with IFC Midnight), and for those of you creature feature fans out there, Lavalantula comes home on November 3rd.

Other notable releases this week include México Barbaro, The Diabolical, Arrow’s special edition Blu for Tenderness of the Wolves, and The Diabolical.

Bloodsucking Bastards (Scream Factory Blu-ray & DVD)

Bloodsucking Bastards stars Fran Kranz as Evan Sanders, a low-level, dutiful employee stuck in a boring job at a soul-killing every corporation. Evan’s the kind of guy who does all the work and gets none of the credit, but at least he gets to spend his days with his beautiful co-worker/girlfriend Amanda (Emma Fitzpatrick) and...

Creatures of the night co-workers and party-crashing mutant wasps invade home media next week with Scream Factory's respective Blu-ray releases of Bloodsucking Bastards and Stung, and we have clips and trailers from both high-definition horror films.

Bloodsucking Bastards Blu-ray: "An action-packed vampire comedy in the vein of Office Space and Shaun of the Dead, Bloodsucking Bastards stars Fran Kranz (Cabin in the Woods) as Evan Sanders, a dutiful and overworked employee stuck at a soul-killing corporation with his beautiful girlfriend, Amanda (Emma Fitzpatrick, Significant Mother), and his slacker best friend Tim (Joey Kern, Beneath). Evan's world begins to crumble when Amanda dumps him and his boss, Ted (Joel Murray, God Bless America), hands his coveted promotion to his nemesis Max (Pedro Pascal, Game of Thrones). But just when Evan's convinced that life couldn't bite any harder, his office mates start going through disturbing changes… and bodies begin to pile up.

A soul-sucking job turns into a life-draining nightmare for a group of co-workers in Bloodsucking Bastards, hitting Blu-ray next Tuesday from Scream Factory. Ahead of the vampiric horror comedy's home media release, we've been provided with three Blu-ray copies to give away to Daily Dead readers.

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Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of Bloodsucking Bastards.

How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Bloodsucking Bastards Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on November 5th. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years of age or older that live in the United States. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

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Bloodsucking Bastards Blu-ray: "An action-packed vampire comedy in the vein of Office Space and Shaun of the Dead, Bloodsucking Bastards stars Fran Kranz...

Vampire Comedy “Bloodsucking Bastards” Debuts Nov. 3rd from Scream Factory

Bloodsucking Bastards (a.k.a. Bloodsucking Bosses) Starring Fran Kranz, Pedro Pascal, Emma Fitzpatrick, Yvette Yates with Joel Murray and Joey Kern Action-Packed Horror Comedy Arrives on Home Entertainment Shelves, Digital HD and All Major On-Demand Platforms Everywhere November 3, 2015 From Scream Factory™ This fall, sink your teeth into Bloodsucking Bastards (a.k.a. Bloodsucking Bosses), an ...

Hnn | Horrornews.net - Official News Site...

A soul-sucking job turns into a life-draining nightmare in Bloodsucking Bastards. Scream Factory's announced a November 3rd Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD release for their office-set horror comedy, and we have a look at the cover art and list of bonus features.

Press Release: This fall, sink your teeth into Bloodsucking Bastards (a.k.a. Bloodsucking Bosses), an action-packed vampire comedy in the vein of Office Space and Shaun of the Dead. Directed by Brian James O’Connell and penned by the popular comedy troupe Dr. God and Ryan Mitts, Bloodsucking Bastards takes audiences on a hilarious, blood-spattered roller coaster ride in the most terrifying locale of all: the American workplace. This film boasts an all-star cast, including Fran Kranz (Cabin in the Woods), Pedro Pascal (Narcos, Game of Thrones), Emma Fitzpatrick (Significant Mother, The Collection), Yvette Yates (Inherent Vice) with Joel Murray (Mad Men) and Joey Kern (Cabin Fever...

Grimmfest, the North Of England’s premier horror, cult and fantastic film festival opens its pre-Halloween doors for the 7th time on Thursday 1st October with a gala screening of The Hallow, starring Oxford born Joseph Mawle (Game Of Thrones). It promises to be a packed four days with more than 20 feature length presentations to choose from. The annual Grimmfest event was born out of the Grimm Up North monthly film screenings and events that scare, astound and entertain Manchester audiences all year round. So, here’s what the Grimmfest team, told us you can specifically look forward to in 2015:

Simeon Halligan

“Landmine Goes Click is a real surprise to me. I thought I knew what I was getting from the title and the trailer but this turned out to be a complex and very dark study of the effects of retribution and revenge on the human psyche. The third act blew me away!

The Sham is Back! The only film festival that exclusively celebrates mockery, spoofs, satire and parody returns to Saint Louis.

The Sham Film Festival is presented by Dick to Dick, LLC Executive Consulting. The festival takes place Friday, September 25th, and Saturday the 26th at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the campus of Webster University.

The festival will also feature Four St. Louis filmmaking teams. In addition to Two Short Film Programs, the festival will include the St. Louis premiere of three feature-length films from L.A.-based filmmakers.

Here’s the line-up for the 2nd Annual Sham Film Festival:

Shorts Program I – Friday, September 25 at 7:00pm to 8:15pm

A collection of hilarious short films that mock, satirize and spoof everything from reality TV to movie trailers.

Bloodsucking Bastards – Friday, September 25 at 9:15pm to 10:45pm

Starring Fran Kranz (The Cabin in the Woods, Dollhouse) and Pedro Pascal...

Over Labor Day weekend, Pedro Pascal tried to be "as lazy as possible" — not just to ward off a bad cold, but also because he was prepping to return to Colombia to shoot the second season of Narcos. "It's a pretty arduous production," he said of his new Netflix series, in which he plays a DEA agent stationed in Bogotá going after drug lord Pablo Escobar. You could say Pascal's playing one of the good guys, if it weren't for some of his morally ambiguous choices, such as making the call to execute one drug lord (instead of arresting him), sleeping with his confidential informants, and going rogue to save one of them. By the same token, you could say Pascal's the villain of his new horror-comedy film, Bloodsucking Bastards, if it weren't for the fact that he increases productivity and improves confidence and morale for a certain (soulless)...

The four-day Labor Day holiday is traditionally one of the lowest-grossing weekends of the year at the box office, bringing an end to the staggering totals pulled in during the summer blockbuster season. This year's Labor Day weekend was no different, but it did provide an upset, with the faith-based drama War Room overtaking Straight Outta Compton, after three straight wins in theaters. War Room took in just $12.5 million over the four-day weekend, beating Straight Outta Compton's holiday take with $11.2 million.

As expected, War Room did expand from its 1,135-theater opening frame, arriving in 391 new theaters over the weekend for a total roll-out of 1,526 theaters. War Room's three-day total of $9.4 million, not counting the Labor Day holiday estimates, is down just 16.8% from its $11 million opening weekend, for a two-week domestic total of $27.8 million, from just a $3 million budget. The faith-based drama's victory is even more impressive, considering it wasn't...

In the horror comedy Bloodsucking Bastards—now out in select theaters and VOD from Scream Factory—Fran Kranz plays Evan, a guy who desires a promotion, wants to mend the relationship with his girlfriend, and is faced with destroying a growing vampire infection in the office. Daily Dead recently caught up with the actor to talk about getting doused with buckets of blood, the legacy of The Cabin in the Woods (in which he played the beloved stoner, Marty), and much more.

When you first read the script for Bloodsucking Bastards, what appealed to you the most?

Fran Kranz: When I got the script, I didn’t know where Bloodsucking Bastards was going. I actually sort of missed the title. I’m always a little reluctant to do horror comedies after Cabin in the Woods. I want to be an actor that’s seen in all different genres and...

As I sit here, writing my Bloodsucking Bastards review while glancing over my shoulder towards the only entrance to my cubicle, it’s easy to understand the true horrors of this wittily hilarious vampire splatterfest. One quote in particular hits home all-too closely, when a disgruntled character realizes how perfect his “fluorescent shithole” of an office is for a corporate vamp takeover, given how few windows permit the real world’s beauty from cutting through a demoralizing darkness.

Have we not all become bloodsucking drones, clocking in countless hours of work to achieve that next (meaningless) goal just to keep the numbers crunching and dollars flowing (most of which the average worker won’t see)? The horror of Bloodsucking Bastards is not found through vampire bites, but in stinging corporate satire that seems too smart for a horror comedy – and too damn real.

Written by the L.A. comedy troupe Dr. God,...

Bloodsucking Bastards

Written by Dr. God & Ryan Mitts

Directed by Brian James O’Connell

USA, 2015

What would happen if Joss Whedon and Mike Judge had a cinematic love child? If our puny human brains were capable of comprehending such unmitigated awesomeness, it would probably resemble something like Bloodsucking Bastards. A product of the Los Angeles comedy troupe, Dr. God, this satirical bloodletting starts a bit sluggish, but finishes with an inspired stream of gags and gore. Director Brian James O’Connell has a cult hit on his hands.

This won’t be the first (or last) review to describe Bloodsucking Bastards as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the television juggernaut, not the abysmal film) meets Office Space. And what the hell is wrong with that, punk?!? Endearingly quirky, sarcastic beyond all measure, and painfully observant, there are more clever one-liners and non-sequiturs packed into this 80 minute bundle than any other 2015 comedy...

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m an easy mark for horror comedies, so it should be no surprise that I adored the hell out of Bloodsucking Bastards, the latest project from the comedic group Dr. God and the producers at Fortress Features (The Collector, The Collection). Like a mash-up of Office Space and Fright Night, Bloodsucking Bastards takes a little time to get going but when it does, the jokes fly almost as fast as the gore, resulting in a feel-good film that’s a wonderful tribute to vampires and raucously deconstructs the modern workplace as well.

Bloodsucking Bastards follows nice-guy Evan (Fran Kranz), the acting sales manager at a small corporate office whose awkward life is about to take an unexpected turn. Expecting to be promoted by his boss (Joel Murray), Evan gets passed over for the sales management position by Max (Pedro Pascal), the smooth-talking nemesis from Evan’s college days.

Stars: Fran Kranz, Emma Fitzpatrick, Joey Kern, Jacquelyn Palmquist, Pedro Pascal | Written by Dr. God, Ryan Mitts | Directed by Brian James O’Connell

Horror and comedy have always gone hand in hand. Laughs often alleviate the tension and who doesn’t crack a smile at the goriest, over the top scenes of horror? But the true horror-comedy, a purposeful bland of the two genres can be trickier to pull off than you think. When it works, it can produce wonders such as Shaun of the Dead, Brain Dead and last years horror hit, Wyrmwood. But when it doesn’t work, eurgh… That’s when things can go horribly wrong. But what happens when the comedy takes over and the laughs outweigh the horror? Well you get fantastically funny, bloodsoaked comedy like Bloodsucking Bastards.

Cranking up the laughs to eleven, Bloodsucking Bastards is the Office Space of the horror genre, a...