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On Sunday night, per annual tradition, dozens of the current crop of top Oscar contenders — among them Maria lead actress Angelina Jolie, Gladiator II lead actor Paul Mescal, The Substance lead actress Demi Moore, The Brutalist lead actor Adrien Brody and Emilia Pérez supporting actress Selena Gomez — turned up at Ovation Hollywood for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards ceremony, a black-tie dinner at which the organization presents special awards to industry legends.

The 15th Governors Awards’ highest profile honoree, composer-producer Quincy Jones, was celebrated posthumously, having died Nov. 3 at the age of 91. The most moving part of the evening came toward the end, when Jones’ honorary Oscar statuette was accepted by his daughter, actress-writer Rashida Jones, who, flanked by some of her siblings, tearfully paid tribute to her father and read the speech that he had planned to give at the ceremony.

An honorary Oscar...

Leviathans, Vampires, Archangels, and Lucifer, oh my! The hit horror series Supernatural ran for 15 seasons, first on the WB and then on the CW. One of the show’s leads had soap opera roots. Jensen Ackles was the Og Eric Brady on Days of Our Lives. One of Supernatural’s most valuable assets was its guest stars. It turns out that the show often relied on current and former General Hospital actors to help support the scary drama. We break it down for you.

A Spooky Phenomenon

Supernatural premiered in 2005 and starred Ackles and Jared Padalecki as monster-hunting brothers Dean and Sam Winchester. Over the years, the show had great guest stars, including Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Sterling K. Brown, Aldis Hodge, Gary Cole, Sarah Shahi, Lauren Cohan, and Linda Blair.

Soap stars have also appeared on the show, which ended in 2020. Some familiar faces were Days’s Ashley Benson and Roark Critchlow,...

Back in 2018, Blumhouse and director David Gordon Green had great success rebooting the long-running "Halloween" film franchise with a movie frustratingly just called "Halloween." The 2018 "Halloween" ignored every other sequel to come after John Carpenter's 1978 original, taking place in a world where Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) was not the sister of Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney), and where Michael had been languishing in a mental institution for 40 years. That film spawned two sequels in its own miniature continuity, "Halloween Kills" in 2021 and "Halloween Ends" in 2022. 

Blumhouse and Green were clearly hoping that lightning could strike twice, as Jason Blum infamously purchased the rights to "The Exorcist" in 2021 for $400 million. The plan was for Green to direct another reboot trilogy that also ignored all the extant sequels to date, catching up with the characters from the first film decades later. Sadly, the first film in this proposed trilogy, called "The Exorcist: Believer,...

For forty years, the movie that has come to mind whenever the title Night Patrol came up was a goofball comedy starring the Unknown Comic Murray Langston and Linda Blair – but now director Ryan Prows is aiming to give us another Night Patrol to think about. This one is a horror film with a cast that includes Jermaine Fowler (The Blackening), Justin Long (Tusk), wrestler Cm Punk (Girl on the Third Floor), Dermot Mulroney (Young Guns), Rj Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Freddie Gibbs (Down With The King), Yg (White Boy Rick), Flying Lotus (Ash), Jon Oswald (Lowlife), and Nicki Micheaux (Lowlife). Filming took place in Los Angeles and wrapped earlier this month.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, this Night Patrol follows an LAPD officer (Fowler) who must put aside his differences with the area’s street gangs when he discovers a local police task force is...

Pop singer and actor Lady Gaga is no stranger to the horror genre, having starred in two seasons of Ryan Murphy's "American Horror Story," and she's always been a fan of the creepier side of entertainment. After all, this is a woman who calls her fans her "Little Monsters," wore a dress made of actual meat, and had the world's coolest live performance at the VMAs in 2009 when she started pouring fake blood from her abdomen mid-song. Even her turn as a very different take on Harley Quinn in "Joker: Folie à Deux" is horror-tinged, and she has a fabulously fierce, fearsome sense of style that's clearly inspired by gothic and horror aesthetics, too. It's clear that Gaga loves horror, but which horror movies rank among her favorites? 

Over the years, Gaga has hinted at which horror films have influenced her the most, either by revealing on social media...

To celebrate the release of Exorcist II: The Heretic – out now on Blu-ray from Arrow Video – we have a copy up for grabs!

From John Boorman, the director of Point Blank and Deliverance, comes Exorcist II: The Heretic, a visionary metaphysical thriller that confounded audience expectation by delivering something unique and entirely unexpected.

It has been four years since the exorcism that saved the life of Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) and caused the deaths of Lankester Merrin (Max Von Sydow) and Damien Karras, the priests who helped her. Regan remembers nothing, but her therapist Dr Tuskin (Louise Fletcher) believes those memories are simply repressed and waiting. Meanwhile, Father Philip Lamont (Richard Burton) – his own faith shaken by a failed exorcism – is tasked by the Vatican with investigating Father Merrin, who faces posthumous charges of heresy for his controversial writings. His investigation will lead him to Africa, New York and Georgetown...

As Smile 2 emerges in cinemas, we explore the 2022 original, its parallels with The Exorcist, and the impact of realism in horror.

How wide do you open the door? It’s a question that, whether they consciously think about it or not, all horror storytellers have to deal with at some point.

Most writers and filmmakers are content to crack open the door just a little, letting enough of our everyday, unpleasant reality in to unsettle us without making us too uncomfortable. Movies like Halloween and Scream deal with death and blood, but they have all the lasting impact of rollercoaster rides – they thrill the senses, they make us jump and cringe, but they don’t leave us disturbed for hours afterwards.

What happens when a filmmaker opens the door further than most? Take a look at the reaction to The Exorcist when it first appeared in cinemas in 1973. News...

To celebrate the release of Exorcist II: The Heretic – out now on Blu-ray from Arrow Video – we have a copy up for grabs!

From John Boorman, the director of Point Blank and Deliverance, comes Exorcist II: The Heretic, a visionary metaphysical thriller that confounded audience expectation by delivering something unique and entirely unexpected.

It has been four years since the exorcism that saved the life of Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) and caused the deaths of Lankester Merrin (Max Von Sydow) and Damien Karras, the priests who helped her. Regan remembers nothing, but her therapist Dr Tuskin (Louise Fletcher) believes those memories are simply repressed and waiting. Meanwhile, Father Philip Lamont (Richard Burton) – his own faith shaken by a failed exorcism – is tasked by the Vatican with investigating Father Merrin, who faces posthumous charges of heresy for his controversial writings. His investigation will lead him to Africa, New York and Georgetown...

A film historian might argue that the modern notion of the "blockbuster" wasn't born until 1975. It was that year that Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" was booked to open in hundreds of theaters simultaneously, a practice that was still uncommon at the time. In so doing, "Jaws" essentially created the "opening weekend," a notion that Hollywood is still enamored of to this day. Additionally, "Jaws" ramped up the marketing blitz, flooding advertising spaces with the "Jaws" logo. Giant commercial entertainments haven't been the same since. "Jaws" kicked the door down.

Of course, two years before, "The Exorcist" had already helped get that door unlocked. It wasn't opened as widely as "Jaws," but "The Exorcist" had staying power. It opened the day after Christmas in 1973, and ran in theaters continuously for 105 straight weeks. It has the biggest Christmas opening weekend of all time, only beaten by "Titanic" 34 years later. The world, it seemed,...

The Exorcist is my choice for the best horror movie of all time. Some may say Rosemary’s Baby or The Shining or Night of the Living Dead, but as a good Catholic boy, nothing has ever gotten under my skin the way William Friedkin’s original did. But, with great success comes the desire for Hollywood to make a hit into a franchise, but Friedkin was not a franchise director. He famously turned down French Connection II, but the studio, perhaps noticing how the second French Connection turned out decently, decided to go ahead and turn it into a franchise. Still, the results, with one notable exception were a disaster. So without any further adieu, here’s our list of Exorcist movies ranked – from worst to best.

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

So, worst is a degree here rather than a black-and-white fact. All of the Exorcist sequels – with that one...

Some have a little bit of comedy, and another you can watch with your kids, but all of them are sure to deliver an awful fright. Spooky season is here, and Max is loaded with some horrifying movies to watch.

That’s right, there’s no wrong time to start watching scary movies, especially when stores have their Halloween decor out by the third week of August. And we’re here to provide you with some excellent — and terrifying — options on Max to watch while you’re lining your banister with fake spiderwebs.

Here’s our curated list of the best new horror movies on Max in September

“The Exorcist” (Warner Bros.) “The Exorcist” (1973)

We had to kick off this list with an ultimate horror, and that is absolutely “The Exorcist.” After a mother named Chris (Ellen Burnstyn) notices her daughter Regan (Linda Blair) acting oddly — speaking in tongues and...

These are always the worse articles to write, and by far my least favorite to do.

James Earl Jones has passed away at the age of 93. According to Deadline, the actor passed away Monday morning in his home.

There was a time when people didn't know of Jones' contribution to a galaxy far, far away. He wasn't originally credited as the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars in 1977. In fact, he had asked not to be credited, explaining in a 2008 interview:

When Linda Blair did the girl in The Exorcist, they hired Mercedes McCambridge to do the voice of the devil coming out of her. And there was controversy as to whether Mercedes should get credit. I was one who thought no, she was just special effects. So when it came to Darth Vader, I said, no, I'm just special effects. But it became so identified that by the third one,...

Very sad news to report today as it has been confirmed that James Earl Jones has died at the age of 93. The actor is best known for providing the iconic voice of Darth Vader throughout the Star Wars franchise, but that’s really only scratching the surface of his incredible legacy. A huge loss.

For an actor known for his deep, commanding voice, it’s remarkable that he struggled with speaking at an early age. When he was just five years old, he was sent to live with his grandparents in Michigan. The experience was so traumatic that he developed a severe stutter that led to him refusing to speak. “I was a stutterer. I couldn’t talk,” Jones explained. “So my first year of school was my first mute year, and then those mute years continued until I got to high school.” The actor credited his English teacher, Donald Crouch,...

James Earl Jones, the Egot-winning actor known for voicing Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise for four decades, has died at age 93.

Jones passed away at his home in Dutchess County, New York, on Monday, September 9th, according to the actor’s representatives.

The son of actor and boxer Robert Earl Jones, James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi on January 17th, 1931. His father left the family shortly after his birth, and Jones was raised by his maternal grandparents in Michigan from the age of five. Jones found the transition to living with his grandparents so traumatic that he developed a stutter and spent his time in school mute. He credited his high school English teacher, Donald Crouch, for helping him with his stutter; Crouch discovered Jones had a talent for poetry, and encouraged him to read his work aloud in class.

After graduating high school in 1949, Jones attended the University of Michigan,...

Summer is over and Autumn is here, which means Max has a whole new slate of movies falling onto the streamer in September.

Whether you’re into anime flicks, romance thrillers or an action-packed movie that keeps you on your toes, these films are worth adding to your watch list. While Max’s list of new films in September stretches way beyond these seven titles, TheWrap wanted to point your attention to the best ones on its lineup.

Check out our picks for the best new movies on Max in September 2024 below.

“Boogie Nights” (New Line Cinema) “Boogie Nights” (1997)

We had to start you off with a Hollywood classic that will give you some good ‘ole belly laughs while also giving. “Boogie Nights” follows the story of Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg), a teen growing up in 1977 San Fernando Valley, who makes a life pivot into the porn industry after being...

Few horror movies from the 1960s have the power to terrify modern audiences quite like Rosemary’s Baby, so it’s no surprise that the film inspired a prequel called Apartment 7A. While many fans are only familiar with the original movie, there are a few other entries in the Rosemary’s Baby franchise. Here’s a look at them from start to finish.

‘Apartment 7A’ and ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ are part of a long Satanic tradition in pop culture

It was the late 1960s, and Satan was in the air. During that time, The Rolling Stones released “Sympathy for the Devil,” The Beatles plopped Aleister Crowley’s haunting visage on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and a devilish showman who went by Anton Lavey started the Church of Satan. Part of this trend was Ira Levin’s novel Rosemary’s Baby, which was the first popular depiction of...

Chicago – The force was with the Chicago Fan Expo on August 16th … what the heck else can be said? Mark Hamill is making a rare appearance and fan meet/greet all this weekend at the Expo, which runs until Sunday, August 18th. Photographer Joe Arce was at his live panel event and captured two Exclusive Portraits.

Mark Richard Hamill was born in Oakland, one of seven siblings. His father William was a naval officer and the family moved often, but Hamill eventually landed at Los Angeles College, where he studied drama. He began in television in the 1970s, making appearances on “General Hospital,” the original pilot of “Eight is Enough.” “The Partridge Family,” and “One Day at a Time.” And in the age of the high-quality TV movie, he had a role opposite Linda Blair in “Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic.”

Mark Hamill at Chicago Fan Expo,...

A while back, Arrow Video gave a Blu-ray release to the most popular sequel in the Exorcist franchise, The Exorcist III, in the UK. Now, the company has announced that they’ll be upgrading The Exorcist III with a 4K release on October 7th – and on that same day, they’ll also be releasing a Blu-ray of the least popular film in the franchise, Exorcist II: The Heretic. The Exorcist III can be pre-ordered on 4K at This Link. The Exorcist II: The Heretic Blu-ray is available at This Link, but keep in mind, this is a UK release, so you might need a region free player to watch the Blu-ray in other areas. If you’d prefer to get The Exorcist III on 4K with its original artwork, Arrow Video has you covered at This Link.

Here’s the info on Exorcist II: The Heretic: From John Boorman,...

Arrow Video is set to deliver a thrilling array of horror films to the UK this Halloween season. Fans can anticipate the release of two versions of Exorcist II: The Heretic, Exorcist III in 4K, the darkly humorous anthology Trick ‘r Treat, and a seven-film J-Horror limited edition collection.

Exorcist II: The Heretic

Directed by John Boorman, Exorcist II: The Heretic is a visionary thriller that defies expectations with its unique approach. The film stars Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, and Richard Burton, and features breathtaking cinematography and a standout score by Ennio Morricone. Following the exorcism that saved Regan MacNeil (Blair) and caused the deaths of two priests, Regan’s therapist, Dr. Tuskin (Fletcher), believes her memories are simply repressed and waiting. Father Philip Lamont (Burton), tasked by the Vatican to investigate Father Merrin, finds himself drawn into a spiritual battle that spans from Africa to New York and Georgetown.

Scary movie villains are super important to horror films. Whether they’re crazy killers or creepy ghosts, these bad guys always keep us on the edge of our seats! They bring out our deepest fears and make us feel major dread the whole time. Even though they’re usually really gross and unsettling, some of the best horror movie villains have this weird coolness to them too.

The most iconic villains really stick with people. We can’t stop thinking about them, even after the movie is over. Their scary images get embedded in our brains and come out in our nightmares and Halloween costumes. A lot of times, the villain overshadows the hero and becomes the main attraction for horror fans. They want to see the bad guy more than the good guy!

This list celebrates 15 villains that totally changed horror movies and became super well known. Some are...

10 Possession-Based Horror Films to watch if you liked Russell Crowe’s The Exorcism ( Photo Credit – YouTube )

In Exorcism, Anthony’s daughter, Lee Miller (Ryan Simpkins), suspects that her father has either gotten back to his past addictions or there’s some sinister cause behind his erratic behavior. Anthony, who was roped in for a film on exorcism, gets flashbacks of the time when he was molested.

As the movie progresses, strange things start to happen on Anthony’s film sets, with him even banging his head on a table and contorting his body. This makes Lee consult a Catholic priest. Things take a more disastrous turn when Father Conor tries to perform an exorcism on the movie sets.

If you loved watching The Exorcism and want to indulge in some more possession-based horror films, look no further. Here’s a list of all the movies that you can watch next!

On the latest episode of The Cosmic Elastical Show, brothers Steven and Jeff MacDonald explain their motivations (love, of course) in multi-part harmony against a starry night sky with old-school video effects that recall 1980s public access TV. The overwhelming kitsch of the scene makes for the perfect setting for the music video for “The Main Attraction,” a new song by the MacDonalds’ band, Redd Kross, that appears on their just-released self-titled double album.

The song is saccharine, soppy, and tongue-in-cheek, like all of Redd Kross’ best power pop songs.

To celebrate the release of 80s slasher classic Madn man on 4K Uhd from Arrow Video, here’s a list of the ten best slasher movies released between 1980 and 1988… showcasing the best of the genre’s golden age, offering a mix of iconic killers, inventive kills, and unforgettable scares!

1. Friday the 13th (1980)

One of the most iconic slasher films of all time, “Friday the 13th” introduced audiences to Camp Crystal Lake and the vengeful killer who lurks there. With its shocking twist ending, the film set the stage for a long-running franchise and established many of the genre’s classic tropes.

2. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Wes Craven’s horror masterpiece introduced Freddy Krueger, a terrifying figure who haunts the dreams of teenagers. With its inventive concept and blend of surreal horror, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” stands out as one of the most creative and enduring slasher films of the decade.

There are several similarities between the Catholic Church and the film industry. Among them is a tendency to let powerful people get away with unconscionable behavior. In that insidious overlap, director Joshua John Miller finds the heart of “The Exorcism,” an ambitious social commentary that commingles Hollywood’s penchant for wrongdoing with the abuses of the Vatican for a unique portrait of an actor unraveled.

On the one hand, it’s a mediocre genre movie with a title as mundane as it is misleading. On the other hand, even as a muddy character study making only the weakest attempts to scare, “The Exorcis-m” is still a bigger treat for fans of “The Exorcis-t” than its recent flop sequel, “The Exorcist: Believer.”

Why? In a year that’s already seen two major horror movies competing for the title of Best Virgin Nun to Give Birth to the Antichrist, Miller and co-writer...

2024 has already been a big year for horror, and there’s only more to follow. On June 21, The Exorcism is set to be released in theaters. There hasn’t been a lot of exposure for this movie, but I recently saw the trailer while waiting for The Watchers. Here is what we can expect from yet another exorcism movie.

The Exorcism stars Russell Crowe, Ryan Simpkins, Chloe Bailey, and many other familiar names. The director is Joshua John Miller, who wrote the screenplay for The Final Girls and developed the TV series Queen of the South. In addition, he co-wrote the script for The Exorcism with M. A. Fortin, who he previously worked with on The Final Girls and Queen of the South.

Crowe is set to play Anthony Miller, an actor starring in a horror movie about an exorcism. However, everyone mentions that horror movie sets have a sinister reputation,...

Kevin Brophy, who starred as a young man raised by wolves on the short-lived ABC series Lucan and as the doomed leader of a college fraternity in the cult horror film Hell Night, has died. He was 70.

Brophy died May 11 at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, California, his family announced. He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer 10 years ago, they said.

On 1977-78’s Lucan, his first professional acting job, Brophy portrayed a 20-year-old man who spent the first 10 years of his life with wolves in the forests of Minnesota before he’s brought into society.

His character possessed wolf-like superpowers like strength, agility and heightened senses of smell and hearing, and when angry, his eyes glowed amber.

When he got the part, Brophy asked himself, “What does a boy raised by wolves do?” he recalled in December in an interview for the Happy Horror Time podcast. “I came to...

Was the production of William Friedkin’s horror classic The Exorcist cursed? There are so many stories about what happened on and around the set that lots of people believe it. Look a little closer and it’s less convincing. Did one man lose a thumb? Yes, but he was a carpenter – it’s a hazard of the trade. Did some actors die? Yes, but over a year of shooting, these things happen. Star Linda Blair was briefly a supporter of the theory on the basis that her pet mouse died – an animal with a two year lifespan. Nevertheless, the rumours of demonic influence were so persistent – and Friedkin so artful in exploiting them – that superstition persists to this day.

It’s for this reason that the opening of Joshua John Miller’s The Exorcism immediately divides its audience by age and genre affiliation. You will need to be familiar with.

Mike Flanagan is one of the most respected names in the world of horror. Having made masterpieces like The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, he not only knows how to create alluring environments that are perfect for scares but also knows how to tell real stories in the most human ways possible. It was recently announced that he would be heading the latest film from the world of the 1973 classic, The Exorcist.

A still from The Haunting of Hill House l Netflix

While there is no denying that Flanagan will do an excellent job at making the film, his past works had some of the executives on the film, as well as hardcore fans worried. During a recent interview, he addressed these concerns and revealed how he would be approaching them.

Mike Flanagan’s Past Made Executives Concerned

Recently, Mike Flanagan made an appearance at the Atx TV Festival,...

It is a paradoxical but nonetheless true statement to say that the retro-leaning L.A. rock band Redd Kross was far ahead of their time — not just musically (the power-pop resurgence of the early ’90s) but also in pop-culture worship and the irony that saturated that decade. But their comic take on those things obscures not just what a great rock band they were and still are, but also the fact that they’re legit OGs on any number of levels.

Formed by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald, they were initially an L.A. punk rock band whose first gig was opening for the legendary Black Flag when they were virtually children. Then, they decided to rebel against the punk scene by committing the ultimate sin: growing their hair and donning garish ’70s clothes, and recording a battery of songs about everything from teen “Exorcist” star Linda Blair to the Brady Bunch.

The power of IP compels you!

One of last fall’s biggest flops was David Gordon Greene’s limp attempt to revive the “Exorcist” franchise for Blumhouse and Universal. “The Exorcist: Believer” was met with intense pans and a worldwide gross of $137 million. That number may not sound so bad at first until you remember that the rights to the franchise alone cost $400 million. While there have been several sequels (plus a double-prequel) to “The Exorcist” since the groundbreaking original that won Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound (plus seven other nominations including Best Picture), this was the first one to bring Ellen Burstyn back into the world of ancient evils and demonic possession.

Green’s departure from the series was announced in January, and current horror mainstay Mike Flanagan is looking like he will step in, as per a report in Deadline.

Flanagan has adapted two Stephen King...

Recent comments from producer Jason Blum suggested that a retool was in order when last year’s The Exorcist: Believer wasn’t as successful as Blumhouse and Universal hoped. That certainly seems to be the case, as Deadline reports tonight that Mike Flanagan is in talks to direct the next Exorcist movie.

Director David Gordon Green was initially on board to direct an entire trilogy of new movies in the franchise, with The Exorcist: Believer intended to be only the first film in that three-film sequel series. Originally set to hit theaters on April 18, 2025, sequel The Exorcist: Deceiver was delayed when Green left the project.

If talks come to fruition, Flanagan will take over, likely steering the franchise in a new direction.

The first film in the trilogy was released theatrically on October 13, 2023, with Leslie Odom Jr. starring alongside a returning Ellen Burstyn from the original classic.

In Believer, “Since...

Even in this age of instant YouTube gratification, movie trailers are a big deal. They get us hyped for an upcoming project by making promises that the eventual film will (hopefully) pay off. The best sizzle reels are even able to do this by giving a taste of things to come without ruining any surprises or plot twists. Think about the teaser for Alien with its cracking egg and unnerving siren sound, or the deft use of a choral version of Radiohead’s “Creep” in the classic promo for The Social Network. Both of those examples speak to the haunting nature of their movies while allowing space for the film to stand on its own down the road.

But some trailers do their job too well. Some trailers outdo the movies they advertise, sometimes because the film has a concept too shallow to sustain more than three minutes, and sometimes...

The religious horror movie Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Michael Mohan, wears its horror influences on its sleeves. Neon’s new horror movie is now available on Digital and PVOD, making it easier to catch up with the buzzy title. If you’ve already seen Immaculate, this companion watch guide highlights horror movies to pair with it.

Sweeney stars in Immaculate as Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Cecilia’s warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside gets derailed soon enough when she discovers she’s become pregnant and realizes the convent harbors disturbing secrets.

From Will Bates’ gothic score to the filming locations and even shot compositions, Immaculate owes a lot to its cinematic influences. Mohan pulls from more than just religious horror, though. While Immaculate pays tribute to the classics, the horror movie surprises...

Universal has struggled to in recent years to bring back its classic horror franchises like Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolfman, The Mummy, etc., attempts that were perhaps too literal. But thanks to the filmmaking collective known as Radio Silence they have, with Abigail, perhaps stumbled onto a way to keep the party going. In this case it is back to the immortal vampire story to end them all, Dracula, but here the bloodsucking title star is his 12-year-old daughter, not the infamous man himself who is reduced to a mere cameo.

Last year the studio tried a variation on the tale with Renfield, which starred Nicholas Hoult as the sidekick to Nicolas Cage’s campy take on the legend but lost its way. I am happy to report that using a blend of a heist flick married to ghoulish and grand over-the-top supernatural bloodletting does the trick in Abigail, a movie...

The Omen was a blessed success upon its release, earning a spot among the top 10 highest-grossing films of 1976. One of those ticket buyers was Wes Craven, who had already made his debut with The Last House on the Left and was gearing up for his sophomore film, The Hills Have Eyes.

“I remember thinking, ‘Big studio, won’t have a cutting edge to it. Gregory Peck, how can he be scary? I like him, but.’ And it was. I was totally amazed,” the master of horror recalled in a 2006 DVD special feature in which he waxes poetic about The Omen for some 20 minutes.

“I think [Richard] Donner is just one of our primo filmmakers.” Craven had been watching the future Superman and The Goonies director’s work since his early days helming episodes of classic TV shows like The Twilight Zone and Gilligan’s Island. “Every so often, he just knocks something...

Grunge rock’s most indefatigable missionaries, Melvins, will return this spring with Tarantula Heart, their umpteenth release since the turn of the millennium (or is that umphundredth?). As with every release, the group — buoyed by singer-guitarist Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover, since 1983 — have put a new spin on the genre. On the wild “Allergic to Food,” the latest single to come off the album, due out April 19, they dial up the cacophony with even-deeper-than-usual swirls of guitar, drums, and noise with even more musicians.

For Tarantula Heart, the twosome...

The Devil has always thrived in chaos, and so there’s no better or more natural place for him to appear than on live TV. That goes double for the live TV of the early ’70s, when an “anything goes” attitude ruled the airwaves, the horrors of the Vietnam War beamed into a hundred million American homes every night, and the devotional trust that people still placed in news anchors and talk show hosts was starting to grow poisoned by the cynical pursuit for higher ratings.

In that light, it was only going to be a matter of time before “Night Owls with Jack Delroy” turned into hell on earth, especially after Jack’s non-smoker of a wife died of terminal lung cancer and the widowed host became more determined than ever to catch up with Johnny Carson. Jack would make any sacrifice necessary to win his midnight time slot,...

Everyone has done jobs they're not particularly proud of in their past. For actors, any of these past works are in the public eye, even if some go on to be largely forgotten. This includes the fan-favorite horror genre, from cheap, grindhouse and direct-to-video schlock to big-budget misfires. Beyond the quality of the movies, some actors just didn't have particularly pleasant experiences behind-the-scenes, leading them to distance themselves from their projects after completion. Every actor has a handful of films that they wish they hadn't signed on for, and with the benefit of hindsight, several have gone public with their regrets.

From established genre icons disappointed at their respective franchise returns to newcomers trying to get their start, horror has no shortage of movies Hollywood stars want off their resume. In a particular instance, one actor's horror movie experience led them to not only regret their participation, but quit acting altogether.

When it comes to religious horror movies, filmmakers have long delighted in pushing boundaries, crafting tales steeped in blasphemy and the sacrilegious. These don’t just tiptoe around the edge of sacrilege; they dive headfirst into the abyss of the unholy. They challenge the sanctity of the sacred, turning hallowed ground into a playground for the profane and the demonic. This sub-genre of horror is not for the faint of heart, as it boldly questions and often subverts deeply-held beliefs, making it a thrilling ride for those who dare to question what’s held sacred.

From demonic possessions to unholy rituals, these films unflinchingly explore the darkest corners of religious belief and practice. They are the cinematic equivalent of forbidden fruit, offering a taste of the ultimate horror taboo: a forsaken, godless world. As we delve into the underbelly of religious horror cinema, we find a treasure trove of films that not only scare,...

Universal Pictures and Peacock forked over an amount somewhere in the range of $400 million to acquire the rights to distribute a trilogy of sequels to the 1973 classic The Exorcist, which we’re going to another collaboration between Blumhouse Productions and directed David Gordon Green (who recently delivered a trilogy of Halloween sequels), they were definitely expecting the first entry in the new trilogy to go over better with audiences than The Exorcist: Believer did when it was released last October. (You can read our 4/10 review Here.) The box office numbers were okay, the movie pulled in $137 million on a $30 million budget, but Universal was hoping for a lot better than “okay,” and the reactions were largely negative. Soon after the release of Believer, we heard that Universal and Blumhouse still intended to carry out the trilogy, but the follow-ups would be reworked. While speaking to The Direct this week, producer...

It’s no secret that last year’s The Exorcist: Believer wasn’t as successful as Blumhouse and Universal hoped it would be, neither critically nor financially. Director David Gordon Green was initially on board to direct an entire trilogy of new movies in the franchise, with The Exorcist: Believer intended to be only the first film in that three-film sequel series.

It was all part of a massive $400 million deal to bring the franchise back to life on the big screen, and The Exorcist: Deceiver had in fact already been dated for release on April 18, 2025.

Those plans have changed, however. We recently learned that David Gordon Green will not be directing Deceiver as planned, and the movie altogether may have gone up in smoke.

Where does the franchise go from here? Will the original trilogy plans come crashing down, now that David Gordon Green has moved on from the director’s chair?...

You don’t have to go too far into the biographies of bad boy New Hollywood directors to find examples of impropriety. William Friedkin tossing around poor Linda Blair for The Exorcist. Francis Ford Coppola going full Kurtz for Apocalypse Now. Paul Schrader doing… well, Paul Schrader things. But there’s one guy who doesn’t fit the bill, despite palling around with the others: George Lucas.

For better or worse, the soft-spoken and intellectual Lucas doesn’t seem to push his actors to extremes. And yet, that’s exactly what had to happen for perhaps the most upsetting scene in Lucas’s oeuvre, the slaughter of the Jedi younglings in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

For those who don’t recall, the slaughter of the Younglings signaled the final step in Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side, the point where he committed himself to the path of Darth Vader,...

Get ready for your next marathon with Max! This February, the streamer is saying goodbye to major award winners, camp classics, and more. Most of the platform’s exits will take place on the final day of the month, including the genre and history-changing “The Exorcist,” the recent Oscar winner “Drive My Car,” and more, but Max will remove several other major TV and film titles throughout the month.

We at The Streamable have assembled our top picks for what’s leaving Max this month— continue below to find your next thing to watch and see the full list below to plan your next movie night before they’re gone!

7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Leaving Max in February 2024? “Drive My Car” | Thursday, Feb. 29

A recent Oscar winner for Best International Feature Film, the Japanese drama stars Hidetoshi Nishijima as Yūsuke Kafuku,...

Natasha Lyonne has shared a creepy story about James Woods hitting on her during the filming of Scary Movie 2 as part of a darkly comedic riff on the history of sexual assault in Hollywood that left even Conan O’Brien uncomfortable.

The actor told the story during her recent appearance on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast after revisiting her earlier experience with Marlon Brando holding her boob as part of the script for Scary Movie 2 before he dropped out due to illness.

Woods replaced Brando as Father McFeely in the scene, a spoof of The Exorcist in which Lyonne plays Megan Voorhees, a parody of Linda Blair’s possessed character from the original movie. Speaking on the podcast, Lyonne remembered Woods “hitting on me as a teenager in full monster makeup,” adding, “It’s a crazy move, dude.” Watch the segment below.

Lyonne went on to...

David Gordon Green is parting ways with “The Exorcist: Deceiver” sequel reboot after previously directing “The Exorcist: Believer.”

The 2023 horror film disappointed at the box office even while bringing back the original “The Exorcist” stars Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair. Sequel “The Exorcist: Deceiver” was slated to be released by Universal on April 18, 2025.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news and revealed that “The Exorcist: Deceiver” has been removed from the Universal release calendar. Production company Blumhouse is looking for a new director for the film. IndieWire has reached out to those involved.

Green reportedly is stepping away from “The Exorcist: Deceiver” to focus on “Nutcrackers,” a film starring Ben Stiller, and Season 4 of HBO’s “The Righteous Gemstones,” which he executive-produces. Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” meanwhile is taking the April 18, 2025 release date for Universal’s international rollout of the Lionsgate film.

Green was set to direct...

David Gordon Green won’t be performing another exorcism as it’s been announced that he has exited The Exorcist: Deceiver. It’s not exactly surprising given the negative reception that The Exorcist: Believer received, but this means that the sequel will be pushed back as Universal and Blumhouse search for a new director.

The Exorcist: Deceiver was originally slated to hit theaters on April 18, 2025, but the sequel has been taken off the schedule. After a disappointing box-office opening, the word on the street was that the sequels would likely be reworked; after all, the studios did spend $400 million to acquire the rights to the trilogy. The Exorcist: Believer ended its theatrical run with $137 million; not bad for a $30 million budget, but hardly what Universal was expecting from the return of a major horror franchise.

Related What were the most unforgettable moments for horror in 2023?

David Gordon Green previously said...

Director David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer was always supposed to be the first film in a planned trilogy from Blumhouse and Universal, part of a $400 million deal to bring the franchise back to life on the big screen. In fact, The Exorcist: Deceiver had already been dated for release on April 18, 2025, but it sounds like Universal is pumping the brakes.

THR reports this afternoon that David Gordon Green will no longer be directing The Exorcist: Deceiver, and that Universal and Blumhouse are actively seeking a new director.

According to the site, Gordon Green is exiting The Exorcist: Deceiver as director because he’s busy working on feature film Nutcrackers and TV series “The Righteous Gemstones.”

The problem here is that Believer got the reboot trilogy off to a shaky start, the film flopping with critics and failing to make a huge splash at the box office. Gordon...

After The Beatles broke up, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were on decidedly chilly terms. They insulted one another in interviews and songs and rarely saw one another. Several years after the breakup, though, much of their anger had waned. According to Lennon’s girlfriend, May Pang, he considered reuniting with McCartney to write music.

John Lennon considered reuniting with Paul McCartney in the 1970s

After the vitriolic Beatles break up, Lennon and McCartney steered clear of each other. McCartney said that anytime he attempted to reach out to his former bandmate over the phone, he was met with nothing but anger.

By 1973, though, neither felt nearly as angry. According to Lennon’s girlfriend, May Pang, McCartney and his wife Linda visited them often.

“Paul and Linda would visit us whenever we were [in New York],” she told Cultural Sonar. “Well, they said that they were going to New Orleans to record their new album.

Warning: this post will contain spoilers for "The Exorcist: Believer."

As of this writing, actress Linda Blair has appeared as Regan MacNeil in three of the six extant "Exorcist" feature films. She was only about 13 when she appeared in William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" in 1973, and returned in 1977 to reprise her role in John Boorman's truly terrible "Exorcist II: The Heretic." Blair then sat out the three following sequels and prequels, returning in 2023 for a cameo in David Gordon Green's "The Exorcist: Believer." In that film, Regan only appeared at the very end of the film to comfort her elderly mother Chris (Ellen Burstyn) who has been blinded by a demon earlier in the picture. One might also want to count Blair's excellent comedic performance in the 1990 farce "Repossessed" as an official "Exorcist" appearance. Her character was named Nancy Aglet, but everything else in that film synchs up with Friedkin's original film.

2023 ended up being another solid year for the horror genre. And we folks over at JoBlo Horror Originals wanted to do things a bit differently and look back at the moments we found to be the most memorable. To discuss the series of events that left fans both exhilarated and unsettled. From industry strikes to iconic comebacks and unexpected controversies, the year was a rollercoaster ride for horror enthusiasts, and you know what? Definitely worth looking back on. So, before the clock strikes twelve and the earth becomes a year older, let’s delve into the most memorable moments that defined the horror landscape in 2023.

80s Horror Memories: JoBlo’s Ambitious Project

In a personal milestone for horror fans, JoBlo Horror Originals (a movie page run by movie fans) embarked on its most ambitious project yet, ’80s Horror Memories. It’s a series that primarily focuses on paying homage to...