Notizie

Australian horror month began with Greg McLean’s Wolf Creek (listen), then tackled Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich’s 2007 creature feature Black Water (listen). For week three, Jenn and I are back in human villain territory with the “bodies in the barrels” murders depicted in Snowtown (2011) or The Snowtown Murders (2012).

In the mid to late ’90s, serial killer John Bunting groomed teenager Jamie Vlassakis to commit multiple murders under the guise of protecting their Adelaide suburb from pedophiles and queer men. Director Justin Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant adapt the horrifying true story, which explores how Bunting was able to bend a whole community of malleable minds to his will, how he inserted himself into Jamie’s life, and how this garden variety murderer targeted vulnerable communities, including victims who were developmentally disabled and addicts.

It’s an exceptionally rough film because it’s not flashy. The performances are also extremely grounded and frightening,...

In 2010, I was probably really sad. I’m okay now (promise), but as a closeted kid firmly in the throes of high school, life wasn’t easy. Luckily, I’d started working and had enough month-to-month to support not only my physical Netflix subscription, but the new, fancy streaming option, too. It’s easy to forget, but 2010 Netflix streaming wasn’t anything like it is now. Options were scarce, though in terms of finding myself in horror, there was enough between the two subscriptions to introduce me to an entirely new world of genre voices I’d never encountered before.

I certainly hope your 2010 was better, but whether it was good, bad, or a bonafide nightmare, here are some of the best of what 2010 horror had to offer you’ve likely forgotten about. Even better? They’re all currently streaming online.

Trollhunter (dir. Andre Øvredal)

Where to stream: Max

Horror fans undoubtedly know André Øvredal.

After kicking off Australian horror month with Greg McLean’s Wolf Creek (listen), Jenn and I have turned our attention to a crocodile-based creature feature. But rather than do Rogue, another film by the same Aussie director, we’re spreading the love to filmmakers Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich and their 2007 film Black Water.

The film is based on a real-life incident from 2003, when 22-year-old Brett Mann was swept away in a flooded river in the Northern Territory. His two friends, Ashley McGough and Shaun Blowers, pursued him, but when McGough spotted a crocodile in the water, the pair climbed a tree to safety. Sadly, Mann was killed, and his body was carried away by the creature.

The nightmare for his friends continued when the crocodile returned, forcing them to spend the night in the tree. It’s a harrowing story that was turned into not one, but two 2007 creature...

Europe has rolled out the red carpet for American buyers. Thanks to European Film Promotion’s Europe! On Demand initiative, co-organized with Copenhagen documentary festival Cph:dox, U.S. distributors and other buyers are being offered access to seven European documentaries playing at the festival and available for North America.

On March 12, a dozen U.S. buyers from top outfits including Neon, Mubi, Netflix, Sony Pictures Classics and Kino Lorber were invited to an online pitching session with the films’ respective artistic, production and sales teams. The U.S.-European bridging event will continue on-site with an in-person networking event during the festival’s industry sidebar, Cph:forum (March 24-27).

Five of the documentaries are world premiering in the festival’s most prestigious Dox:award section. Handled internationally by Universal Pictures Content Group, “Á demain sur la lune” (“See You Tomorrow on the Moon”) is directed by the multi-awarded Thomas Balmès. Under the Rise & Shine banner,...

In 2005, Greg McLean’s bleak horror film Wolf Creek made waves with its unflinching savagery and disturbing violence. The story follows friends Liz (Cassandra Magrath), Kristy (Kestie Morassi) and Ben (Nathan Phillips) as they backpack across the Australian outback. But when car trouble leaves them stranded near the titular landmark, the friends get surprising help from a local man named Mick (John Jarratt). Unfortunately, this handy helper turns out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He drugs the trusting travelers then traps them on his hellish compound in order to amuse himself with unthinkable torture and sadistic violence.

Adding to the terror is the film’s opening claims that this horrific story was based on actual events. In fact, McLean was inspired by the real life crimes of Bradley Murdoch and Ivan Milat. Both men preyed on backpackers traversing Australia, using the outback’s dangerous isolation to aid in their atrocities.

European Film Promotion and Copenhagen documentary festival Cph:dox have launched online showcase Europe! On Demand, an initiative designed to boost the visibility of European documentaries in the North American market.

The showcase will present a curated selection of seven European documentaries from the festival lineup to U.S. buyers.

Efp’s managing director Sonja Heinen said the initiative would offer “a tailor-made platform to connect European filmmakers with key players in North America.” She added it would build “on Efp’s mission to enhance the international reach of European cinema.”

Mara Gourd-Mercado, head of industry and training at Cph:dox, said the selection offered “a great opportunity for European documentaries to gain visibility and potential distribution in the North American market.”

The titles include several from the main competition section, Dox:award:

“See You Tomorrow on the Moon” (France) by Thomas Balmès, a poignant documentary about a young family navigating terminal illness...

European Film Promotion (Efp) and Cph:dox have jointly launched an online showcase to boost the visibility of European documentaries in the North American market.

Europe! On Demand will present seven European documentaries and world premieres from this year’s Cph:dox line-up to US buyers and distributors. The initiative is jointly curated by Efp and the programming team at Danish documentary festival Cph:dox.

The Europe! On Demand line-up includes several films from its Dox:Award section.

They include See You Tomorrow On The Moon (Fr) by Thomas Balmès, about a young family navigating terminal illness and palliative care; The Castle (Fr-It) by Danny Biancardi,...

Red Fang are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, kicking things off with the announcement of a rarities collection titled Deep Cuts. The compilation, arriving March 14th, features non-album tracks, covers, and previously unreleased singles.

The stoner/sludge band formed in 2005 in Portland, Oregon, and have thus far released five studio albums, with their most recent being 2021’s Arrows. Ahead of the release of Deep Cuts, Red Fang have shared the track “It’s Always There,” which previously only appeared on the deluxe version of their 2013 album, Whales and Leeches.

“I remember really liking the melancholic vibe of ‘It’s Always There,’ but Aaron [Beam] and I had no vocal ideas coming to mind,” singer-guitarist Bryan Giles said of the track. “When I lived in San Diego, I became friendly with Pall Jenkins, and was always a fan of Three mile Pilot and The Black Heart Procession, so it was exciting...

George Clinton, The Beach Boys’ Mike Love, and The Doobie Brothers are among the 2025 inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Other members of the 2025 class include producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Ashley Gorley, and Tony Macaulay.

Key songs in Clinton’s catalog cited by the Songwriters Hall of Fame include “Atomic Dog,” “Flash Light,” and “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker),” while Love is being recognized for Beach Boys hits like “California Girls” and “Good Vibrations.”

Meanwhile, Doobie Brothers members Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald, and Patrick Simmons are being credited for songs like “What a Fool Believes,” “Black Water,” and “Listen to the Music.”

Gorley’s work includes the Post Malone and Morgan Wallen collab “I Need Some Help,” while Macaulay wrote “Baby Now That I’ve Found You” and “Build Me Up Buttercup” for the Foundations.

Jerkins produced some of the biggest R&b hits...

Quick Links Black Water is Based on a True Crocodile Encounter The Survivors Spoke on Their Experience How Black Water Dramatized True Events Crocodile Attacks Are Oddly Good for Tourism in Australia Black Water's Reception Did Black Water Have a Sequel? Other Films to Watch if You Loved Black Water

Horror movies have the power to evoke strong feelings of anxiety and fear from their viewers. Whether from a sudden jolt of a jump scare or even just the killer's appearance, the sheer terror that arises from this genre can be quite effective, even knowing it is all just a work of fiction. However, if a movie also boasts the "based on a true story" disclaimer right at the very beginning, the gravity of the horror that is about to unfold hits just a little differently, and it even begs the question of how much of the movie was inspired by actual events.

Dragon Ball has been well-loved and celebrated by fans for decades, but it is a product of its time, and as such, it has some flaws here and there. One of these flaws is the seemingly endless amount of filler and non-canon content throughout the anime adaptation. However, not all of these arcs were bad; instead, they offered more to the series, whether through the intriguing narrative or the unique characters that were introduced.

Dragon Ball Z has multiple arcs and movies that only offer fan enjoyment rather than adding to the lore of the overall story. Some storylines were supposed to expand Dragon Ball’s universe but were later retconned by newer narratives. However, there are still several arcs that should have become canon due to their memorability, impact on character development, and, of course, simply because the stories are amazing.

Cooler's Revenge And The Return Of Cooler Adding...

Ventana Sur’s Blood Window long ago established itself as one of the most important platforms for genre cinema in Latin America. This year, the sidebar returns with a seven-title lineup for its Blood Window Screenings program.

The diverse lineup includes classic slashers, sci-fi flicks, supernatural tales and psychological thrillers that emphasize the range of stories that can be told using genre language and the widening definition of genre cinema.

Although this year’s lineup is broader in scope than what was once common for Blood Window – originally a platform for straight-up horror films, it’s also noticeably more contemporary than many previous editions of the program. Latin American genre cinema has a knack for producing fantastic period films, but this year’s titles are mostly set in the modern day, and those that aren’t are – except for one in the 1960s – set in the last half-century. The narratives...

The Songwriters Hall of Fame has announced the 26 nominees for induction at the June 12, 2025, awards gala in New York City. Songwriters are eligible 20 years after their first significant commercial release of a song. Members will vote for six winners — three songwriters and three performing songwriters — until midnight on the east coast on December 22, 2024. Who do you think deserves to enter the Song Hall?

Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions Songwriters

Walter Afanasieff

Key songs in the Afanasieff catalog include: “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “Hero,” “License to Kill,” “Love Will Survive,” “One Sweet Day”

Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan

Key songs in the Barri/Sloan catalog include: “Secret Agent Man,” “Eve Of Destruction,” “Where Were You When I Needed You,” “You Baby,” “Can I Get to Know You”

Mike Chapman

Key songs in the Chapman catalog include: “The Best,” “Love Is a Battlefield,” “Ballroom Blitz,...

Janet Jackson, Eminem, N.W.A, George Clinton, Boy George, Sheryl Crow and Sonny Curtis — an original member of Buddy Holly’s Crickets who went on to compose the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show (“Love Is All Around”) — are among the 2025 nominees announced Tuesday for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. See the full list below.

Eligible Hall of Fame voting members will have until midnight Et on December 22 to turn in ballots, with their choices of up to three nominees in each of the songwriter and performing songwriter categories. The winning nominees will be inducted at the 2025 Induction & Awards Gala in New York City.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating “the exceptional work and lives of composers and lyricists who make an indelible impact creating music around the world.” A songwriter with a catalog of notable songs qualifies for induction...

Eminem, N.W.A, Janet Jackson, and Alanis Morissette are among the finalists for the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s class of 2025.

Other nominees include Mike Love of The Beach Boys, Sheryl Crow, George Clinton, Boy George, The Doobie Brothers, Steve Winwood, Bryan Adams, Tommy James, and Walter Afanasieff. The full list of nominees can be found below.

A total of six inductees will be chosen: three from the songwriters category, and three from the performing songwriters category. They’ll be honored during a ceremony held in New York City in June 2025.

Artists become eligible for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame 20 years after their first significant commercial release of a song.

Last year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees included R.E.M., Steely Dan, Timbaland, and Dean Pitchford. During the induction ceremony, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Peter Buck, and Bill Berry reunited for their first performance together in 15 years.

Alan Sparhawk, the singer and songwriter formerly of Low, has announced that his debut solo album, White Roses, My God, will be out everywhere on September 27th via Sub Pop. He’s also shared the first single, “Can U Hear,” and announced a handful of US tour dates set for 2025.

The Minnesota native recorded White Roses, My God in Duluth, where Low began, and produced it alongside Nat Harvie. It serves as Sparhawk’s first official solo album, though he did release a collection of ambient vignettes and soundscapes called Solo Guitar in 2006.

As Low, Sparhawk had recorded dozens of albums alongside his wife and musical partner Mimi Parker, who sadly passed away from cancer in 2022. Now, with White Roses, My God, Sparhawk has drawn from his experiences with grief as well as his numerous side projects over the years in Low. When asked on Twitter what White Roses, My God means,...

Sundance’s Kim Yutani, and Directors’ Fortnight’s Gabriella Trujillo, along with execs from sales companies. including mK2, Coproduction Office, Reel Suspects and Be For Films will be among the industry execs taking part in Polish Days, the industry platform of the New Horizons International Film Festival, taking place in Wroclaw from July 21-23.

The event will showcase new films by Polish directors Aga Woszczyńska, Lukasz Ronduda and Damian Kocur.

Additionally, there will be closed screenings of four completed Polish films.

They are Jan P. Matuszyński’s Minghun, starring Marcin Dorocinski and Daxing Zhang shot in Polish, English and Chinese...

The projects for the upcoming Venice Gap-Financing Market have been unveiled (27 feature-length fiction) and there’ll be several listed here projects that we’ll discuss at length next year when they start hitting the festival circuit of 2025 and especially, 2026. At the top of our most anticipated list, we find Ulrike Ottinger‘s The Blood Countess (which might still have Tilda Swinton and Isabelle Huppert attached) in almost ready to shoot mode. Also from Europe, we have Polish filmmaker Aga Woszczyńska readying Black Water. She premiered Silent Land in TIFF’s platform section in 2021. We also find Directors’ Fortnight favorite Shahrbanoo Sadat (2016’s Wolf and Sheep / 2019’s The Orphanage) rounding out final funds for No Good Men.…...

Maverick Film and Complex Corp have acquired “Murder Company,” an action film set during World War II. The film will be released in theaters, on demand and digital on July 5.

“Murder Company” was written by Jesse Mittelstadt (“Altitude”) and directed by Shane Dax Taylor (“The Best Man”). The film stars William Moseley, who appeared in “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “The Royals,” as well as Pooch Hall (“Ray Donovan”) Gilles Marini (“Sex in the City”) and Joe Anderson (“Hercules”). Kelsey Grammer, who recently revived “Frasier,” rounds out the ensemble.

“We’re very excited to present ‘Murder Company’ to audiences,” said Richard Switzer, president of Maverick Film. “The film is a non-stop thrill ride with a very authentic feel to it, having shot fully in Europe.”

The movie is set in the midst of the D-Day invasion and follows a group of U.S. soldiers who are given orders to smuggle...

Monday’s episode of The Voice — and the end of Season 25’s Playoffs — served up a painful reminder that sometimes it’s not enough to be “cute as a button.” Chance the Rapper and Reba McEntire had to shrink their teams of five contestants apiece to just three each. Along the way, some promising singers were cut (although, to be honest, none that I was as sorry to see go as Anya True and Mafe last week). Which six acts were the last put through to the Lives? Read on…

The Voice’s Best Performances of All Time, Ranked: The Good,...

Stars: Frank Grillo, Mekhi Phifer, Amaury Nolasco, Dermot Mulroney, Jaime King, Paul Sloan, Donald Cerrone, Erica Peeples | Written by Chad Law, Garry Charles, Brandon Burrows | Directed by Christian Sesma

Michael ‘Duffy’ Duffield was a soldier, now he’s a drifter, dealing with Ptsd and living on the move. As Lights Out begins, he gets off a bus, and it’s not even five minutes before he finds himself in a card game and accused of cheating. The ease with which he dispatches the other players and takes his money catches the eye of Max Bomer.

Max is just out of jail and looking for a way to make some money, and he sees Duffy’s skill with his fists as the way to do it. He just has to convince him to take part in some illegal underground fight clubs like the one run by Fosco. And, since Duffy could use some cash himself,...

While “based on a true story” is typically a ploy to lure in audiences, the basis of the 2007 movie Primeval does, in fact, exist. Or at least he did, at one point. The whereabouts of what many deem the “world’s most prolific killer” — a decades-old Nile crocodile named Gustave who allegedly claimed somewhere between 200 and 300 human lives — are murky nowadays. Some say Burundi’s most infamous reptile is long gone, and others demand proof of his passing. Regardless, Gustave’s notoriety lives on in this panned Hollywood creature-feature with a severe identity crisis.

Back then, it was understandable to have a cursory look at the original ad campaign for Primeval and not realize the movie is about a crocodile. An intentionally vague trailer led to complaints of deception from viewers; they were expecting a movie about a human serial killer. Imagine their surprise once they watched Primeval, which, for obvious reasons,...

Allow us to jog your memory as to how much of a scary good time these killer alligator/crocodile flicks can be. From the hilariously campy to the horrifyingly credible, here are our Top 10 Favorite Killer Alligator/Crocodile Movies!

#10. Crocodile (2000) – Just a few weeks back we boldly stood up for what Tobe Hooper’s unabashedly trashy direct-to-video Crocodile – a movie that, while among the lower rungs of his illustrious filmography, is actually much more gory, violent and overall fun than people give it credit for. While cheaply made and poorly acted, the great thing about this flick is the sheer amount of killer-croc-action and exorbitant death toll as the prehistoric beast named Flat Dog chews, chomps, marauds and masticates every damn annoying human in its predatory path. A fall from grace in the eyes of many, Crocodile is minor-key Hooper having a damn good time! Get Here

#9. Alligator (1979) – Also known as The Big Alligator River,...

Steely Dan, Blondie, Public Enemy, R.E.M, Timbaland and the man who wrote bubblegum classics “Build Me Up Buttercup” and “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” are among the nominees for the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Also included on the roster of nominees are, among others, Bread frontman David Gates, Tracy Chapman, the Guess Who’s Randy Bachman & Burton Cummings, Kenny Loggins, Heart and Roger Nichols, who composed the music for such Carpenters hits as “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Rainy Days and Mondays.”

See the complete list of nominees below.

According to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first significant commercial release of a song. Eligible voting members will have until midnight Et on December 27, 2023 to turn in ballots, with their choices of three nominees from a songwriter and three from performing songwriter categories.

Maria Hatzakou and Alexandra Matheou’s “Stringa,” a female-led folk-horror set in remote rural Greece, won the top prize at Thessaloniki Film Festival’s Crossroads Co-Production Forum, which wrapped with an award ceremony Wednesday.

The Greek project took home the Two Thirty-Five Co-Production Award, giving full post-production image and sound support to a film that’s in development. This will be a debut feature for Matheou and Hatzakou, who also produces the film under her label Merricat. She was the one to receive the prize from the jury, which called the project “very solid and persuasive” in the ways in which it “addresses freedom of choice in a patriarchal society.”

The directors, who also co-wrote the script, describe it as “a film about the female experience,” a subversive horror that “touches on post-generational trauma and the sly ways by which the patriarchy still manages to impose itself on our lives and choices.

The episode of Wtf Really Happened to This Horror Movie covering Black Water was Written and Narrated by Andrew Hatfield, Edited by Mike Conway, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

Animal attack movies have been quite a lucrative genre for a very long time. Obviously, Jaws is the beginning and the end of the conversation but there’s so much more. Grizzlies, whales, dogs, you name it have been the focal point of horror films and will continue to be there with things like Cocaine Bear, The Meg 2, and others infiltrating theaters on a yearly basis. Most of these, of course, are fictional accounts like Stephen King giving us Cujo or any number of other on-screen animals gone wild. There are, however, the rare account that is based on a true story and today is one of those cases. Alligators and crocodiles...

The scene where Robert Shaw gets eaten in “Jaws” is one of the most thrilling moments in movie history. After all of Steven Spielberg’s virtuoso framing and cool ’70s Hitchcock scare tactics, the shark’s big-mouthed consumption of a man who fully deserves to be eaten had a shockingly raw “Look, there it is!” exploitation-film brazenness. (One not inaccurate way to describe “Jaws” would be to call it the greatest B-movie ever made.) “The Flood,” an alligator-attack movie that’s also a violent prison-break thriller, takes its cue from that scene. Set in a backwater Louisiana police station during a hurricane, the film isn’t shy about serving up its big, nasty human-torso-meets-jaws moments. It’s basically a slasher movie with teeth.

The alligator thriller, of course, was always a bargain-basement knockoff of “Jaws” — literally, since the alligators are inevitably slithering out of some basement somewhere. But it was...

Stars: Josh Lucas, Fernanda Urrejola, Venus Ariel, Carlos Solorzan, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Jorge A. Jimenez | Written by Carlos Cisco, Boise Esquerra | Directed by Adrian Grunberg

After the trainwreck that was Cocaine Shark and with the spectre of Jurassic Shark 3: Seavenge looming over me, The Black Demon, or any other shark film for that matter, may not have been an obvious choice. But this one caught my attention when it was announced and the idea of a finned fear film with enough of a budget to give it some bite was hard to say no to.

Paul Sturges is the safety officer for Nixon Oil, a corporate name that does not exactly inspire confidence. He has been sent to Baja to inspect one of the company’s rigs and has brought his family along. He may have to work but his wife Ines, daughter, Audrey, and son Tommy can have a vacation.

Through its eight season run on HBO, Game of Thrones featured increasingly epic battle sequences. Jon Snow’s engagements alone highlight the escalation in martial scale from season 3’s “The Watchers on the Wall” to season 5’s “Hardhome” to season 6’s “Battle of the Bastards.”

As the show’s popularity grew, so too did its budget, creating an opportunity for more Medieval-era military spectacle. That also means, however, that some of the show’s earlier attempts at big scale battles fell a little short in hindsight.

No episode is a better example of that than season 2’s penultimate installment “Blackwater.” Taking its name from Stannis Baratheon’s Blackwater-based siege of King’s Landing, this hour-long battle was Game of Thrones‘ first real attempt at a Lord of the Rings Helm’s Deep-level battle. And for what we were used to seeing on television at the time, it was entirely successful.

Just yesterday, we shared the news that the “nature run amok” horror thriller The Flood is going to receive a theatrical, VOD, and digital release on July 14th, courtesy of Saban Films. With the release date so close, we knew a trailer would be available soon – we just didn’t expect it to be this soon! The trailer for The Flood is now online, and you can check it out in the embed above.

Directed by Brandon Slagle (Attack of the Unknown) from a screenplay by Chad Law (Daylight’s End) and Josh Ridgway (Howlers), this project could be described as “Crawl meets Assault on Precinct 13”. Here’s the synopsis: A horde of giant hungry alligators is unleashed on a group of in-transit prisoners and their guards after a massive hurricane floods Louisiana.

The film stars Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers), Nicky Whelan (Hall Pass), Louis Mandylor (Rambo: Last Blood), Devanny Pinn...

A full Free Movie of the Day is posted on the JoBlo Horror Movies YouTube channel every other day during the week – but on Fridays things get even freakier and a little more fun. Get your weekend started the right way by indulging in Friday Fright Nights! Every Friday, we’ll be taking a look at another genre movie you can watch in its entirety, free of charge, either on the YouTube channel linked above or in the video embed here.

The Friday Fright Night feature we have for you this week is the horror film Lurking Woods. This one was an Australian production, but the set-up works all around the world: a group of young friends head off to spend a relaxing time in the countryside and end up being menaced by a dangerous person wearing a mask. In this case, the masked person is lurking in the woods that surround their vacation spot.

Mikael Marcimain, the Swedish director of hits “Call Girl” and “Gentlemen,” is on track to direct “Devastation,” an epic and horrific tale of survival set in 1867. “Devastation” is one of the first projects developed by Mylla Films, the new banner set up by Jakob Abrahamsson and Patrik Andersson (“Midsommar”).

Mylla Films has enlisted Nordic distributor Scanbox and French boutique genre specialist Alexis Perrin of Rumble Fish as co-producers.

A period piece set in northern Sweden, “Devastation” is penned by Melina Maraki (“The Liberation of Harold Kvist”). Unfolding during the hard winter and famine of 1867, the film revolves around two brothers, one the local industrialist and the other the local preacher, who keep the town in a tyrannical stronghold. An uprising begins from the most unexpected place.

Marcimain, who is rolling off a a string of TV hits, including “Blackwater,” which won a prize at Series Mania in Lille, made his debut feature with “Call Girl,...

Denise Richards is set to star as a radio host looking for a date to the company Christmas party in holiday movie “A Christmas Frequency,” Variety can reveal.

Veteran director Lindsay Hartley (“The Romeo and Juliet Murders”) will helm the project, which is being produced by Nicely Entertainment.

Ansley Gordon (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”), who wrote the screenplay for “A Christmas Frequency,” will also star in the movie alongside Johnathan Stoddard (“Furry Little Christmas”) and James Hyde (“The Young and the Restless”).

In the film, which is already in production, Richards stars as morning radio show host Brooke Walkins, who is not only secretly separating from her husband Todd (Hyde) but haemorrhaging ratings on her show. When she finds out the show is being axed, Brooke’s producer Kenzie Parker (Gordon) has the bright idea of setting up the host with a series of blind dates live on air to help Brooke...

With Series Mania 2023 coming to a close, the event’s founder and general director Laurence Herszberg announced the winners of the Series Mania Festival today.

”We would first like to thank the public and the professionals who attended this edition, which brought together more than 85,000 participants for the Festival and 3,800 participants from 64 countries for the Forum. We are delighted to announce our prize list and figures that have far exceeded our expectations,” said Herszberg.

With the rise of streaming across the world, Series Mania has become one of the most attractive events in the global TV calendar. It’s largely looked at as a place where writers, distributors and producers can liase with each other in a less formal setting than compared to a TV sales market. It includes not just the festival, the Forum, key conferences, keynotes, and pitching sessions.

This year the festival screened 54 unreleased series, with 32 world premieres and 10 international premieres.

The Iranian series The Actor from director Nima Javidi picked up the top Grand Prize jury award at Series Mania, the international TV festival that wrapped in Lille, France on Friday night.

The drama from Iran is led by the Venice best actor winner Navid Mohammadzadeh and follows two down and out actors struggling to make ends meet as they run a derelict theater in Tehran with wealthy Iranians as patrons.

The international jury, led by screenwriter and producer Lisa Joy, also gave its best actor trophy to Michael Sheen for his performance the U.K. series Best Interests, while the best actress prize went to Margot Mancilhon for her star turn in the French series Haven of Grace.

The Series Mania international jury also gave the best writing trophy to John Kâre Raake for The Fortress series from Norway.

In other prize giving, the International Panorama jury, led by French writer Herve Le Tellier,...

Lille, France — Headed by a commanding performance from Navid Mohammadzadeh, superbly shot and packing arguably the best opening scene of any series in Series Mania main competition, Navid Javidi’s “The Actor” won the Grand Prize at Series Mania on Friday night.

The top Series Mania award for the “The Actor” also proves vindication for the Festival which this year has broadened its geographical reach in an effort to discover new narrative modes and styles. Consistently subordinating narrative to mood, “The Actor” certainly wins on that score.

Main scribe John Kåre Raake (“The Quake”) and co-scribe Linn-Jeanethe Kyed (“Bø”) scooped best writing for “The Fortress,” a banner upcoming Viaplay title produced by Norway’s Maipo Film and sold by TrustNordisk, which delivers a telling political cautionary tale for our times, a chic isolationist parable thriller set in an alternative Norway which has built a wall to keep foreigners out. When a virus strikes,...

Event wrapped in Lille against backdrop of nationwide unrest in France.

Navid Javidi’s The Actor starring Navid Mohammadzadeh was awarded the International Competition grand prize at 2023 Series Mania in the first year in which content from Iran participated in the event in Lille, France.

Series Mania founder and general director Laurence Herszberg summed up the event as it came to a close, noting that this year’s edition drew more than 85,000 festival participants – representing a significant increase on last year’s 70,000 – and around 3,800 from 64 countries for the industry forum.

Besides Iran, debutant participating countries included Japan, Argentina, UAE, Turkey,...

Series Mania has always been about discovery: Of drama series as an art form, in its early days from launch in 2009; then of key players on a burgeoning international premium TV scene.

Series Mania’s International Panorama now catches a new wave of creatives transitioning from film to scripted TV – Israel’s Yaron Shani with “Innermost,” Spain’s Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo with episodes of “Apagón”; and highlights notable emerging auteurs: Denmark’s Kasper Møller Rask, Canada’s Alexis Durand-Brault, Spain’s Fran Araujo, Pakistan’s Assim Abassi and Germany’s Jakob and Jonas Weydemann.

But for having already bowed at national festivals, some of the 12 titles below could well have been in the running for a Competition berth.

Below, the Series Mania’s rich 2023 International Panorama:

“Apagón,” (“Offworld,” Spain)

One of Variety’s Best International TV Shows of 2022, a realistic, sophisticated disaster thriller from Movistar+ and Buendía Estudios...

With an International Panorama spangled by gems – think Spain’s “Apagón,” Sweden’s “Blackwater,” and Canada’s “Disobey” and “Little Bird” – Series Mania also weighs in this year with one, if not the, strongest and most mouthwatering of international competitions in its history.

Including the opening and closing series, Amazon’s “Greek Salad” and Netflix’s “Transatlantic,” nearly all the global streamers have titles in the lineup, from Apple TV+’s “Drops of God” and Paramount+’s “Fleeting Lies.” The lineup also features some A-List international writing talents, such as the U.K.’s Jack Thorne and Israel’s Ron Leshem and Amit Cohen, whose “The Virtues” and “No Man’s Land” rank among the most memorable of recent Series Mania competition titles, and closing the festival, out of competition, “Unorthodox’s” Anna Wenger.”Fleeting Lies” also represents one of the first series from Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar’s El Deseo label in Madrid,...

(Welcome to SlashClips, a series where we bring you exclusive clips from hot new Digital, Blu-ray, and theatrical releases you won't see anywhere else!)

In this edition you'll find footage from:

Big NateBullet ProofLie HardHowl of the Underdogs ManeaterBig Nate

First up, we have an exclusive clip from the hit Paramount+ animated series "Big Nate," based on the long-running comic strip by Lincoln Peirce. Having premiered on the streamer back in February, the show is back with nine all-new episodes set to drop on August 19, 2022. An additional 10 episodes have also been ordered, set to premiere in 2023.

Here is the official synopsis:

"Big Nate" follows the riotous exploits of Nate Wright, a sixth-grade kid who has a never-ending need to prove his awesomeness to the world. Whether he's dealing with disasters at home or detention at school, Nate is no stranger to a challenge. Luckily, he's able to express himself through...

What’s summer without shark horror? The official sequel to Andrew Traucki’s The Reef, The Reef: Stalked is now available on Digital/VOD and streaming on Shudder. Written and directed by Andrew Traucki (Black Water) as a follow-up to his 2010 film, The Reef: Stalked stars Teressa Liane (“The Vampire Diaries”), Ann Truong (“Cowboy Bebop”), Saskia Archer (Boshack), Kate Lister (“Clickbait”) and Tim Ross (“Wonderland”). In the sequel: “Nic, in an effort to […]

The post The Six Scariest Shark Moments in Horror appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Stars: Teressa Liane, Saskia Hampele, Tim Ross, Ann Truong, Kate Lister, Saskia Archer | Written and Directed by Andrew Traucki

Despite the title and presence of writer/director Andrew Traucki, The Reef: Stalked is not a sequel to The Reef. Rather, like his films Black Water and Black Water: Abyss they’re unrelated films that share only a common monster, crocodiles in Black Water, and sharks in The Reef.

This time around we’re introduced to diving enthusiast Nic. After she finds her sister Cath dead, drowned in the bathtub by her abusive boyfriend Greg however that changes.

Nine months later she can’t even see water let alone resume diving, without imagining her sister’s death. Hoping it’ll be therapeutic she joins her old diving crew Jodie and Lisa, and her other sister Annie (Saskia Archer; Bali 2002) at the beach. Their kayaking trip turns out to be anything but...

Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, and Shudder, AMC Networks’ streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, have acquired the North American rights to the horror film, The Reef: Stalked. The film will be released In Theaters, on Digital/VOD and streaming on Shudder on July 29, 2022.

Written and directed by Andrew Traucki (Black Water) as a follow up to his 2010 film, The Reef, The Reef: Stalked stars Teressa Liane (“The Vampire Diaries”), Ann Truong (“Cowboy Bebop”), Saskia Archer (Boshack), Kate Lister (“Clickbait”) and Tim Ross (“Wonderland”).

“Audiences have an insatiable appetite for shark films, which we know first-hand from our incredible experience releasing The Reef years ago,” said Mark Ward, Chief Acquisitions Officer of Rlje Films. “We are thrilled to be working with the team again to bring this new terrifying adventure to audiences.”

In The Reef: Stalked, Nic, in an effort to heal after witnessing her sister’s horrific murder,...

Zombies On A Plane: "Flight 543. A regular check-in.

Unbeknownst to them, a passenger is pre-selected and pre-infected with a truly horrific pathogen. Boarding the plane, the virus lies dormant within their body, awaiting to be awakened. Once activated it transforms its unwilling host into a highly intelligent, flesh craving, barely controllable weaponised monster.

Flesh rots, senses heighten but not all goes according to plan...

A plane over the Atlantic..

A monster within..

A new nightmare begins.."

Directed by Craig Rees Written by Carl Rees Full cast to be announced To support the movie's Indiegogo campaign, visit: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zombies-on-a-plane--3/x/28730030

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Shudder & Rlje Films Move In Together On 'Destroy All Neighbors': "Shudder, AMC Networks’ streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, and Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, today announced their partnership on the newest Shudder Original Film, Destroy All Neighbors. From music-video and...

London-based Modern Films has bought U.K.-Ireland rights for “Silent Land,” the feature debut of Polish filmmaker Aga Woszczyńska, which played in competition at the recently wrapped Zurich Film Festival. Variety has been given exclusive access to the film’s international trailer.

Set in Italy, the slow-burn drama follows a couple whose summer holiday goes terribly wrong when Rahim (Ibrahim Keshk), an illegal immigrant hired to fix the pool in the house they paid for, suddenly dies. Produced by Lava Films, Kino Produzioni and I/O Post, with world sales handled by New Europe Film Sales, the film had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

Speaking to Variety ahead of the Zurich fest, Woszczyńska described the refugee crisis at the heart of her film as a “present-day plague.” “I would like for ‘Silent Land’ to make people more socially sensitive and not just close themselves off in their homes,...

Polish filmmaker Aga Woszczyńska – together with co-writer Piotr Litwin – started to work on the script of her first feature film “Silent Land” in 2016, and notes that since then, her film – which centers on the world’s response to migrants – has sadly become even more timely.

Set in Italy, the slow-burning drama sees a couple whose summer holiday goes terribly wrong when Rahim (Ibrahim Keshk), an illegal immigrant hired to fix the pool in the house they paid for, suddenly dies. But Woszczyńska views her film as a humanistic rather than a political statement.

“I don’t want to blame just Italy, but the whole of Europe. The whole world, which stays silent,” she tells Variety.

“When Afghanistan desperately needs our help, we are closing our eyes and our borders – just like [my characters] Adam and Anna. What is currently happening, the whole situation on the Polish-Belarusian border, it’s something worse than barbarism,...

Survival thriller aficionado Andrew Traucki has commenced production on his latest project The Reef: Stalked, a sequel to 2010’s The Reef.

Filming began today in Queensland’s Bowen and will continue for six weeks.

Teressa Liane (The Vampire Diaries), Ann Truong Kate Lister and newcomer Saskia Archer make up the cast, playing four friends on a kayaking and diving trip in Papua New Guinea that soon goes sideways.

Much like in the original film, the group must face down a great white shark, with this instalment exploring resilience, recovering from trauma and the strength of female friendship.

“I’m thrilled The Reef: Stalked is in production and back to Bowen where we shot parts of The Reef 11 years ago,” writer/director Traucki said in a statement.

“As a lover of survival tales, there is nothing I enjoy more than storytelling that pits humans against nature and asks the question ‘How would I survive?...

The following contains spoilers from the Season 1 finale of NBC’s Debris.

Debris with its freshman finale not only threw a few more twists at Bryan and Finola, it did so while also unveiling a bit of top-secret casting that surely made fans of series creator J.H. Wyman’s previous sci-fi series, Fringe, geek out.

More from TVLineThis Is Us' Kate Flash-Forward: An Ongoing InvestigationThis Is Us Season 5 Finale Recap: Something Borrowed, Something Screwed -- Plus, Grade It!This Is Us' New Flash-Forward: Does Season 5 Finale Solve a Major Mystery?

But first, to recap: George led Bryan and Finola to...

Mojo Jojo’s legacy continues on in The Powerpuff Girls universe as Nicholas Podany is set to play the villain chimp’s son in the CW’s live-action Powerpuff pilot.

Written by Diablo Cody and Heather Regnier and directed by Maggie Kiley based on the original Cartoon Network animated series created by Craig McCracken, Powerpuff (fka The Powerpuff Girls) follows Blossom (Chloe Bennet), Bubbles (Dove Cameron) and Buttercup (Yana Perreault), who used to be America’s pint-sized superheroes. Now they’re disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crimefighting. Will they agree to reunite now that the world needs them more than ever?

Podany’s nerdy, power-hungry, insecure Joseph “Jojo” Mondel Jr. was obsessed with the original crime-fighting trio of supergirls, despite his father’s grudge against them. As an adult, Jojo finds his sweetness and rage constant battle. In the original cartoon series, Mojo Jojo posed as...

The Doobie Brothers sent a hilarious letter to actor Bill Murray to ask him to stop using their music. Apparently, the Ghostbusters actor has been using their hit song, "Listen to the Music," in his Zero Hucks Given golf shirt commercials without asking their permission. This also means that the band has not been paid by Murray either. The Doobie Brothers' manager Peter T. Paterno, wrote a rather funny letter to Murray to ask him to stop. You can read a portion of the letter below.

"Dear. Mr. Murray, We're writing on behalf of our clients, the Doobie Brothers. The Doobie Brothers perform and recorded the song 'Listen to the Music,' which Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers wrote. It's a fine song. I know you agree because you keep using it in ads for your Zero Hucks Given golf shirts. However, given that you haven't paid to use it,...