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Stars: Josh Stewart, August Maturo, Judah Lewis, Charlene Amoia, Luke Benward, Craig Stark, P.L. Brown | Written by Brady Morell, Brian Price | Directed by Feras Alfuqaha

Steven Thomas is an aspiring writer who volunteers at Lifeline, a suicide prevention crisis centre. First-time feature director Feras Alfuqaha and writers Brady Morell and Brian Price allow us to sit in with Thomas during his first few calls, giving us a glimpse into his demeanour and capabilities.

He’s calm, methodical, and competent, making it clear that while this might be new territory for him, he has the empathy and composure needed for the job. Everything seems routine until he receives a call from a young man who not only claims he is about to kill himself but also shares his name. At first, Steven assumes it’s his son, Jeff, pulling an elaborate and deeply inappropriate prank. But as the conversation unfolds, the...

When you think of The Office, your mind usually goes to Michael Scott’s inappropriate jokes, Jim and Pam’s relationship, and maybe even the downfall in the later seasons. However, there is another equally important element in the show that just cannot go unnoticed – Jim Halpert and Dwight Schrute’s relationship.

A still from The Office | Credits: NBC

Their love-hate relationship is kinda like that of siblings, where while you cannot stand each other, you still love each other. Throughout the seasons, we see Jim relentlessly pranking Dwight in some of the most absurd and hilarious ways possible and the poor assistant To the Regional Manager always falling for them. However, one prank stands out from the rest and it wasn’t even a part of the actual show!

The Office’s Best Prank Wasn’t Even in the Show John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson in The Office | Credits:...

After teasing fans regarding a PlayStation and Xbox release for The Mortuary Assistant, and the fact that its the 2-year anniversary of the original PC release, DreadXP and developer DarkStone Digital are announcing that The Mortuary Assistant: Definitive Edition will be coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 on August 2nd. On top of that, the Definitive Edition will also be headed to the Steam and Nintendo Switch versions as a free update.

The Mortuary Assistant: Definitive Edition will bring with it new Haunt Events, as well as an endless embalming-only mode, new bodies, additional lore, a new Valentine’s Day seasonal event in February, performance improvements, and more. There will also be multiple bug and stability fixes made to the game, as well as various performance improvements.

Just in case you haven’t experienced The Mortuary Assistant (though you really should), you take on the role of Rebecca Owens,...

The Geechee Witch: A Boo Hag Story

When Hollywood tells stories about witches, they’re generally set in fantasy worlds or in the past, but for many people, witches are a part of the modern world and belief in them is very real. That’s the case for the Geechee people in the southern US, and it’s a belief system explored in the latest film from Jeremiah Kipp, director of festival hit Slapface. In The Geechee Witch: A Boo Hag Story, a woman follows her husband back to the place where he was born and encounters a network of beliefs that are entirely new to her. She gradually comes to realise that she may be in very real danger. I met up with Jeremiah and with lead actress Tryphena Wade to learn more about this unusual film.

“J Craig Gordon was the real originator of this idea because he...

Already available on Steam and the Nintendo Switch, DreadXP took to X yesterday to announce that they’re teaming up with Cerulean Games to port DarkStone Digital’s The Mortuary Assistant to the PlayStation and Xbox later this year. A more formal announcement is expected later this year.

We’re also hoping for more info on the upcoming film adaptation of The Mortuary Assistant, which was announced last year. The film is to be directed by Jeremiah Kipp, with Patrick Ewald producing, Abbey Smith co-producing, and DarkStone Digital’s Brian Clarke and Ted Hentschke executive producing.

Released back in 2022 (check out Harrison’s take), The Mortuary Assistant centres on Rebecca Owens, a recent Mortician Studies grad, who on her first night at River Fields Mortuary, learns of a sinister presence that resides there. As the dead awaken and malevolent spirits bind themselves to her, Rebecca has to learn how to...

Stars: Randy Couture, Capri-Antoine Vaillancourt, Mike Manning, Alexis B. Santiago, Cathy Marks, Reid Miller, Chaz Bono, Kathleen Kenny, Bonnie Aarons, Daniel Dasent | Written by Joe Davison, Luke Genton | Directed by Colton Tran

The Bell Keeper opens on a reasonably strong note for what appears to be an indie slasher. An axe-wielding figure, we’ll later find out his name is Hank, dispatches a pair of victims and adds their driver’s licenses to the collection on his cabin wall. The only as to why, “You shouldn’t have rung the bell”.

This happens at Lake Bell which, as the newspaper headlines under the credits tell us, has a long and evil reputation that includes lots of brutal deaths and mysterious disappearances. So of course filmmakers Gabriel, and Matthew want to make a documentary about it.

So they, along with their girlfriends Megan, Holly, and Liam Matt’s little brother who happens to own a camper,...

Exclusive: Fans of The Bay can now find the digital sudser on Peacock.

The multi-camera serial drama is currently in production on 20 all-new episodes that will be released later this year, marking the completion of its 100th episode. Today, the cast and crew will commemorate the milestone while on location in Sun Valley, CA.

Filmed on location in Puerto Rico and Los Angeles, the new episodes star Daytime Emmy winners Kristos Andrews (Survive the Game) and Karrueche Tran as super couple Pete and Vivian Garrett, as well as Daytime Emmy winners Mary Beth Evans (Days of Our Lives) as Sara Garrett, Tristan Rogers (General Hospital) as Commissioner Lex Martin, Eric Nelsen (1883) as Daniel Garrett, and Mike Manning (This is Us) as Caleb McKinnon. Andrews will be doing double duty as Pete Garrett’s diabolical twin brother Adam Kenway, a role that garnered him a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding...

Jeremiah Kipp, who recently wrote and directed a very cool horror movie called Slapface (available to watch on the Shudder streaming service), has signed on to helm a live-action feature adaptation of the video game The Mortuary Assistant! As Deadline notes, the game just launched at the start of August and “has taken off as an internet phenomenon – achieving a top 10 streamed games spot on Twitch, becoming a Top Seller on Steam, and garnering additional attention on TikTok. It has been played by such top gaming YouTubers as Markiplier and Jacksepticeye, with all YouTube videos surrounding the game having garnered tens of millions of views.”

If you’re not familiar with the game, The Mortuary Assistant is a supernatural first-person horror game that

brings players into the world of Mortician Rebecca Owens, who thinks her first night on the job will be embalming a surplus of corpses, though she soon...

Exclusive: The independent horror publisher and production company DreadXP and its parent company Epic Pictures Group are prepping a live-action feature adaptation of the supernatural first-person horror video game The Mortuary Assistant, which the former company partnered on with independent developer DarkStone Digital.

The Mortuary Assistant brings players into the world of Mortician Rebecca Owens, who thinks her first night on the job will be embalming a surplus of corpses, though she soon learns a sinister presence resides at River Fields Mortuary. As the dead awaken and malevolent spirits bind themselves to her, Rebecca has to learn how to combat demons (including the figurative demons of her past), in order to survive the night. The supernatural horror game, developed by DarkStone’s Brian Clarke, is available for purchase for Windows PC on Steam.

Since its launch in early August, The Mortuary Assistant has taken off as an internet phenomenon — achieving...

Exclusive: Girl Meets World actors August Maturo and Ava Kolker have reteamed for Just Like You – Food Allergies, a new docu-drama VR project, which has wrapped production. Maturo is serving as its executive producer, with Kolker aboard as a producer.

Through immersive storytelling, the project will show people what it’s really like to live with food allergies—taking on the stigma and potentially life-threatening consequences of chronic diseases that impact 32 million Americans. It’s informed by the personal experiences of Maturo, who at six years old experienced a potentially fatal anaphylactic reaction while on the set of Girl Meets World, subsequently becoming an outspoken food allergy advocate for children. The 14-year-old currently serves as a national spokesperson for F.A.A.C.T. (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Connection Team), having previously served that role for Mylan Pharmaceuticals EpiPen and the non-profit F.A.R.E. (Food Allergy Research and...

Stars: Christina Ricci, Santino Barnard, Don Durrell, Colleen Camp, Lew Temple | Written by Carol Chrest | Directed by Chris Sivertson

Set sometime in the 1950s, Monstrous opens as Laura puts her son Cody in the back seat of the car and hits the road for California as “See You Later Alligator” plays on the soundtrack.

She’s leaving Arizona and an abusive ex-husband behind and plans to start over in a safer environment for her and her son. She’s rented a beautiful house by a large pond from Mr. and Mrs. and a job working for Mr. Alonzo.

But this sunny bit of nostalgia is about to turn much darker. Cody is convinced a monster from the lake is stalking them. He also misses home, and despite the reasons for their leaving, his father. Speaking of whom, he’s gotten Laura’s phone number and begins calling.

The first part...

Sometime after their mother has passed away and their father has deserted them, brothers Lucas (August Maturo) and Tom (Mike Manning) are left to fend for themselves. Living alone in a shabby house in the woods, Tom spends his days going to work and then going out at night to drink, whereas Lucas roams about […]

The post ‘Slapface’ Review – Shudder’s Monster Movie Goes Heavy on the Heartache appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Bianca D'Ambrosio, August Maturo, Mirabelle Lee and Chiara D'Ambrosio in Slapface

Lucas (August Maturo) has lost his parents. He’s being looked after by his older brother Tom (Mike Manning), who is ill-equipped at cope and takes out his own stress by bullying him, so he seeks refuge in the woods, where he befriends a monster. Beautifully shot and beautifully played, Slapface captures the magic of a Spielberg film, only to transform into something emotionally devastating. It screened at Frightfest 2021 and is now getting a release on Shudder, which prompted me to discuss it with director Jeremiah Kipp.

I might not have caught Slapface at Frightfest were it not for the urging of Julie Kauffman, whose documentary The Brilliant Terror explores grassroots filmmaking. She had been really impressed by Jeremiah’s work, so I ask him how he felt about that film.

Jeremiah Kipp

“I was really honoured to be a part of that documentary,...

Stars: August Maturo, Mike Manning, Libe Barer, Dan Hedaya, Bianca D’Ambrosio, Chiara D’Ambrosio, Mirabelle Lee, Lukas Hassel | Written and Directed by Jeremiah Kipp

Writer/director Jeremiah Kipp has expanded his short, also titled Slapface, into feature-length; which, as with any short, is a risky undertaking. What works at fifteen or twenty minutes may be drawn out and dull at ninety. Changes to the plot may ruin the mood or message of the original. That’s even more true for something like Slapface which relied heavily on feeling and emotion.

Lucas and Tom lost their parents in a car accident, leaving Tom an unprepared and somewhat unwilling guardian for his younger brother. He would much rather be at the bar with Anna than be at home, or at work for that matter. This leaves Lucas on his own a lot and he spends his time wandering around the woods and getting into trouble with the cops,...

Hello, dear readers! We made it through January (finally) and now we have four new weeks of VOD and Digital releases headed our way throughout the month of February. And for those of you looking for an excuse to stay home and away from all that cold weather out there, we have plenty of entertainment headed to the small screen that should keep you busy.

Check out our rundown of all the great horror and sci-fi headed to a variety of platforms and streaming applications below, and happy streaming!

Laguna Ave (Arrow) - Exclusively on Arrow February 1st

Russell, a burned-out television editor and middle-aged slacker with a prosthetic hand futilely searches for work in Hollywood's brutal, exploitative underbelly. His former boss owes him money, his partner Rita is always out of town and inaccessible, and his new downstairs neighbor, Gary keeps him awake at night with mysterious, disturbing noises.

"What happened?" "Did you see it?" Shudder has revealed the official trailer for Slapface, an indie horror film landing on the streaming service this February. It originally premiered last year at the Cinequest Film Festival and FrightFest, also stopping by Grimmfest and the Razor Reel Flanders Film Festival in Belgium. A boy deals with the loss of his mother by creating a dangerous relationship with a monster rumored to live in the woods. When the two reach a tentative trust, a bizarre friendship is born, and Lucas is swept up in a series of primal adventures. The film stars August Maturo as Lucas, with Mike Manning, Dan Hedaya, Mirabelle Lee, Lukas Hassel, Libe Barer, Bianca D’Ambrosio, and Chiara D'Ambrosio. This won the Audience Award at Cinequest, and looks like a thrilling little horror film with a good twist in the story. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Jeremiah Kipp's Slapface,...

“My dad says if I ever see a gun I have to leave immediately,” says Roland (Cameron Crovetti). He’s a good boy and he aims to take his dad’s advice, but his friend Chris pleads with him to return to the abandoned boat where they’ve been playing. They don’t have to use the gun. It can stay in the bag. They can just get back to what they were doing before. Chris may well spend the rest of his life wishing he’d taken his dad’s advice.

A simple story reflecting on how easy it is to make mistakes when you’re young – and hinting at the awful consequences of society’s inability to accept that – Luke Benward’s Oscar-qualifying short also addresses the stark social divides in the US and how this can contribute to a skewed understanding of people living in different citrcumstances.

Tonight in Manchester, England, Grimmfest has drawn to a close and the ‘Grimm Reaper’ awards have just been handed out in a live streamed ceremony. Oh-seung Kwon’s Midnight was awared the Best Feature by a jury made up of UK Horror Channel's managing director Stewart Bridle, director Justin McConnell, US actress and director Natasha Halevi, Diabolique magazine editor Kat Ellinger, and UK based actor and director Dominic Brunt. They gave a special mention to Rob Tabbaz’s The Sadness, which the audience voted their most favorite film of the year. Mark O'Brien's The Righteous was a multi award winner, for Best Screenplay and Cinematography. Likewise Jeremiah Kipp's Slapface took home two awards for Best Score and young August Maturo won Best Actor. All...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Other winners include ‘Blast’, ‘The Righteous’.

Oh-Seung Kwon’s Korean thriller Midnight has won the best feature award at UK genre festival Grimmfest, which ran as a hybrid in-person and online event this year.

The film, which debuted in South Korea in June this year, centres on a deaf mother and daughter who interrupt a serial psychopath as he attempts to claim his next victim, only to finds his wrath redirected toward them instead. Korean sales firm Finecut is handling sales on the title.

Scroll down for the full list of winners.

The award was chosen by a jury consisting of Stewart Bridle,...

On the surface, from its pure and simple, monster-in-the-woods logline, Slapface might sound like another Blair Witch, Slender Man-esque urban legend chiller waiting to happen. Lots of creeping, twig-snapping tension, mysterious whispers in the forest, and a plethora of halloween mask-lead visuals that you might assume will eventually play out like any other cheap Blumhouse clone. It’s a solemn surprise then that the reality is anything but.

Slapface, after all, isn’t the monster, but a highly sinister game, played by two recently-orphaned brothers, struggling to make ends-meet, now on their own in a secluded house on the margins of society. The older Tom (Mike Manning), has turned to drinking to feed his grief, while the much younger Lucas (Girl Meets World’s August Maturo), struggles with loneliness, spending his days wandering the woods, trying (and failing) to escape local bullies.

The only way the boys can connect it seems,...

Shudder remains hard at work, bringing subscribers some of the best the festival circuit has to offer this year. Today we get news that they have acquired Slapface and The Advent Calendar. Both films are set to play during Arrow Video FrightFest which begins on Thursday in London, UK. Shudder will waste no time getting The Advent Calendar (picture above) onto the service in time for the holiday season this December. They've announced they will stream Slapface next year. The complete announcement follows. AMC Networks’ Shudder Acquires Chilling Horror Films Slapface and The Advent Calendar Ahead of FrightFest UK Debut Films Join Other Recent Shudder Exclusive Acquisitions Offseason and The Last Thing Mary Saw at FrightFest Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The streaming service will release Slapface and The Advent Calender in North America and the UK.

Genre streaming service Shudder has acquired horror features Slapface and The Advent Calendar for North America, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Both films are set to premiere at this week’s FrightFest festival (August 26-30) in the UK.

The Advent Calendar, writer-director Patrick Ridremont’s French horror fantasy about an ex-dancer now confined to a wheelchair, will debut on the AMC Networks-owned Shudder in December. Slapface, writer-director Jeremiah Kipp’s tale about a boy who loses his mother but befriends a monster in the woods,...

Jim Cummings and Pj McCabe’s ‘The Beta Test’ will open the festival.

US directors Jim Cummings and Pj McCabe’s feature The Beta Test will open the UK’s genre film festival Grimmfest which is running as a physical event in Manchester from October 7-10.

Cummings and McCabe will also star in the film about a Hollywood agent who gets sucked into a world of sexual infidelity and mysterious streams of digital data. Los Angeles based-Vanishing Angle produced the horror thriller. The feature initially premiered in the Berlin International Film Festival’s Encounters.

The festival is screening three...

Arrow Video FrightFest, the UK’s biggest horror and fantasy film festival, is back at the Cineworld Leicester Square from Thursday August 26th – Monday 30th August 2021 for five days of the very best of global genre cinema.

The internationally renowned event leads the way in attesting to the versatility of the genre and, despite the interruptions caused by the pandemic, this year is no exception as the twenty-five films to be presented in the main screens are revealed. They include four world premieres and eight International / European premieres.

Global events over the past eighteen months have not only altered most people’s lives but have had a profoundly influential effect on a lot of genre filmmakers and both the opening and closing films this year reflect that.

From the press release:

The festival opens with the European premiere of Demonic, the latest, highly anticipated and petrifying new vision from artist Neill Blomkamp,...

US release via Dread label set for October.

Epic Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to the completed horror-comedy Val starring John Kapelos and will launch sales at the virtual Cannes market later this month.

Aaron Fradkin directed from a screenplay he co-wrote with Victoria Fratz, with whom he collaborated on dating comedy Electric Love.

Val centres on a criminal on the run who unwittingly enters the lair of a demon posing as a high-class escort who it turns out has been expecting him.

Besides Kapelos, whose credits include The Shape Of Water, the cast includes Kyle Howard, Sufe Bradshaw, Erik Griffin,...

Swedish Film Institute Chief Leaving

Anna Serner, CEO of the Swedish Film Institute, is leaving her position after a decade in the role. The long-standing exec has overseen a pivotal period for the org, with the industry undergoing seismic changes during her 10 years at the helm, including the #MeToo movement. Serner notably launched the 50/50by2020 initiative in 2016, which has since been adopted by orgs and festivals around the world and continues to evolve as the fight for equality rolls on. Under her tenure, Sweden has produced noted films by filmmakers including Amanda Kernell, Ruben Östlund, and Roy Andersson. She will stay in her role until the end of October this year, when a successor will be appointed. “During these past ten years a lot has happend within the film industry,” said Serner. “I have been invited to so many conversations and meetings all over the world. We all have the...

Todd Stashwick has booked two films. The 12 Monkeys actor is set to appear in Justine Bateman’s Violet, opposite Olivia Munn, Justin Theroux, Luke Bracey as well as director Dennis Dugan’s Love, Weddings, and Other Disasters with Jeremy Irons, Bobby Moynihan, and Diane Keaton. Violet, which is produced by Bateman, Michael Jones and Larry Hummel, centers on a rising film executive (Munn) who lives according to the Voice (Theroux) in her head, until unexpectedly realizing the truth – it’s been lying about everything. Stashwick will play Rick, a disgruntled and judgmental manager of a Midwest car dealership who is intimidated by and jealous of his sister Violet’s career. Written by Larry Miller and Eileen Conn, Love, Weddings & Other Disasters is about the people who work on weddings to create the perfect day for the loving couple – while their own relationships are outlandish, odd, crazy and far, far from perfect.

William Sadler (Bill & Ted) and Mike C. Manning (God’s Not Dead) are set to star together in an upcoming horror thriller called Slapface, which will be written and directed by Jeremiah Kipp.

The film follows Lucas (August Maturo from The Nun), “who lives with his older brother (Manning) after the loss of their parents. Lucas befriends a Monster in the nearby woods, and trouble ensues. The town Sheriff (Sadler) tries to thwart the wrongdoings of Lucas and the Monster before it is too late.”

That sounds like an interesting story that could make for a fun horror movie. It seems like it will be a darker, more horror-fueled version of the 80s film Little Monsters.

Sadler is a fan favorite character actor who has appeared in so many films and TV shows. This seems like it’ll be another great role for him to take on and he will...