Director Benjamin Brewer’s second collaboration with Nicolas Cage takes us to ‘Arcadia,’ a green, monster-filled corner of the end of the world. It’s a dystopian survival story meets coming of age meets creature feature.  But the thing that thinking directors know about the end of the world is that the creatures aren’t the important thing. It’s the other two that count, and where apocalypse horror finds its heart. Surviving and coming of age in the apocalypse aren’t easy! Therefore, ‘Arcadian’ keeps its attention to the family at its center: Paul (Nicolas Cage) and his two teenage sons, J ..read more

A new year of memories were made at the 12th annual Panic Fest! We unleashed our largest lineup of films to date and you the fans made your voices heard! With over 155 films and officially launching a new category we have tallied the votes to see what you the audience chose as the best of the best. With a mixture of feature films, long form short films and short films we had a wide variety of programming to chose from both in-person and virtually. Highlighting new voices in genre filmmaking and lifting up some genre favorites. While the fest was over a week we were sad to see it come to an end ..read more

Although I don’t love spiders I had never considered myself arachnophobic..until I saw ‘Infested.’ With the most effective (and plentiful) spiders I’ve ever seen on film, I’ve never wanted to walk out of a theater in the middle of a movie more in my life! This is the first feature for director/co-writer Sébastien Vanicek but it is easy to see why he’s already been tapped to direct the next ‘Evil Dead’ installment. ‘Infested’ is unrelentingly cruel but kept grounded with relatable characters in, at least somewhat, realistic situations. What makes this film so good is what kept me in my seat eve ..read more

At only a month since its launch, The Outlast Trials has reached over 2 million players, and to show their gratitude, developer Red Barrels is launching their first limited-time event – Toxic Shock. In addition to the new event, the developer also will release several quality-of-life updates and showed fans a sneak peek into their roadmap. The Toxic Shock event will run from April 16th through May 7th. The new program will put reagents through “an experiment in the symbiotic action of chemically-induced pain and permanent damage.” Players can also look forward to a new Variator – the Toxic Sho ..read more

  Solo developer Exodiac Studios first-person psychological horror game, Silent Breath, has entered Early Access. Silent Breath uses a microphone detection gameplay mechanic to track scares for its players. Powered by Unreal Engine 5 and sporting found footage visuals, Silent Breath puts the player in the middle of a hellish forest. Players must search for missing individuals while trying to stay alive. The game is full of unpredictable dangers, including your own mind. To survive, you must stay alert and keep quiet, or you could become a victim of the forest. Credit: Exodiac Studios Aft ..read more

Before you watch ‘Off Ramp’ take your preconceived notions about Juggalos and set them aside because this degenerate road trip to the annual Gathering of the Juggalos will shine a new light on what it means to call someone Family. This is the first feature for director/co-writer Nathan Tape and you can really tell that he’s done his homework on the culture of the clowns. I’m always a little nervous about films like this getting their laughs at the expense of groups commonly being used as the butt of jokes, but ‘Off Ramp’ never stoops to punch down. Instead it leans into the inherent ridiculous ..read more

As a regular consumer of all things HGTV and Food network the recent trend in horror to delve into both the vacation horror and culinary horror subgenres has been great for me personally.  ‘What You Wish For’ sits right at the intersection of these themes while also delivering, as the name would imply, the timeless reminder to thoroughly examine what you think you want, because nothing comes without a cost. Writer/director Nicholas Tomnay comes out strong with this one, asking the viewer how far they would go to live the life of their dreams. The film kicks off when we join Ryan (Nick Sta ..read more

The critically acclaimed indie horror fishing game, Dredge, will be getting a film adaptation. Developer Black Salt Games and production company Story Kitchen will work together to create the live-action movie based on the game’s sinister storyline. The official logline as reported by Variety: “Think “The Sixth Sense” on the water. A grounded atmospheric cosmic horror blend of HP Lovecraft and Ernest Hemingway.” However, Dredge’s adaptation won’t be the first for Story Kitchen. The production company is also currently developing adaptations of Sifu and Vampire Survivors. Story Kitchen includes ..read more

Families can be…complicated and “complicated” is an understatement for the Jennings family in ‘Mother Father Sister Brother Frank.’ This first feature for writer/director Caden Douglas comes out swinging with madcap comedy and over the top blood-soaked butchery. A perfectly balanced dark comedy, ‘Mother Father Sister Brother Frank’ keeps the audience engaged by giving us a family to root for, an excellently sinister villain in Uncle Frank, and a few offbeat side characters who pop in at just the right moments. We join the Jennings family as they are sitting down for the Sunday dinner that mom ..read more

As a regular consumer of all things HGTV and Food network the recent trend in horror to delve into both the vacation horror and culinary horror subgenres has been great for me personally.  ‘What You Wish For’ sits right at the intersection of these themes while also delivering, as the name would imply, the timeless reminder to thoroughly examine what you think you want, because nothing comes without a cost. Writer/director Nicholas Tomnay comes out strong with this one, asking the viewer how far they would go to live the life of their dreams. The film kicks off when we join Ryan (Nick Sta ..read more