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5 Great 2016 Horror Movies Streaming Right Now

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With the wide array of home video options available, it’s easy for good horror movies to get lost in the shuffle. The year is almost over, and many horror fans will be making up their “Best Of” lists before too long. If you’re one of these folks, you may want to take a look at these five 2016 horror movies that mostly (sadly) bypassed theaters on their way to home video. Some of these played film festivals, while others got blink-and-you-missed-it theatrical runs before popping up online. Don’t miss them before the year is out!
2016 Horror Movies

The Monster (A24)

The Monster

Bryan Bertino scored a genre hit with his feature directing debut The Strangers in 2008, but he’s been mostly quiet since then. His follow-up Mockingbird (2014) went more or less straight to video, but his latest film was picked up by indie distributor A24 for a brief theatrical release this year. A24 had a great year in 2016 (including releasing Green Room and The Witch), and The Monster was a great way to cap it off. Young mother Kathy (Zoe Kazan) is driving her daughter Lizzy (Ella Ballantine) to stay with her father, but on an isolated stretch of road she nearly runs over a dog and totals her car. While the rain pours down, something in the woods watches and waits. The Monster has a deceptively simple creature feature setup, but the excellent performances by Kazan and Ballantine and some perceptive writing by Bertino help make it a monster movie that will linger in the memory long after the credits roll. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that there’s also an awesome monster largely depicted with great practical effects. The Monster is available now on various VOD platforms.

2016 horror movies

Summer Camp (IMDB)

Summer Camp

Spanish-language film distributor Pantelion isn’t known for horror movies, but they did release Más negro que la noche (a fun 3D haunted house movie) in some U.S. theaters in 2014 and dipped their toes into English-language genre fare with The Vatican Tapes the following year. In 2016, they quietly released Summer Camp in a handful of theaters in the States before it hit home video. Most of the time when that happens, it’s a sure sign that the film in question is not that great. This time, it’s entirely possible the movie was mostly hamstrung by its painfully generic title, because it’s a surprisingly fun and inventive take on some very familiar territory. Four American college students arrive at a remote Summer camp in Spain and get more than they bargained for when something starts turning them into rampaging killers. Can they stop this mysterious outbreak before the campers show up tomorrow? On paper this sounds like the setup for another tired zombie/infection movie, but writer Danielle Schleif and director/co-writer Alberto Marini throw in some highly unexpected twists to the formula that elevate Summer Camp above the crowd. The movie also features a pair of fantastic lead performances by Jocelin Donahue (The House of the Devil, Insidious: Chapter 2) and Maiara Walsh, and it’s just fun as hell. Summer Camp is available on DVD as well as VOD platforms from Lionsgate.

2016 horror movies

Beyond the Gates (Official Facebook)

Beyond the Gates

Cursed and haunted objects are the center of many horror films, but Beyond the Gates may be the first horror movie whose plot is set in motion by an evil VCR board game. Estranged brothers John (Chase Williamson, John Dies at the End) and Gordon (Graham Skipper, The Mind’s Eye) are forced to spend time together when their alcoholic father disappears and leaves them his old video store. While packing up the shop, they discover a VCR game called Beyond the Gates. When they take it back to their father’s house and pop in the tape they’re greeted by the mysterious Evelyn (the legendary Barbara Crampton, who had a great 2016 including a fantastic turn in Zach Clark’s Little Sister), who seems to be watching them as they struggle to figure out how to play the game. After they play, bodies start piling up around town and the brothers discover they have to win the game before things get much, much worse for everyone. Bathed in neon colors that strongly call to mind Stuart Gordon‘s From Beyond (starring Crampton) and propelled by a driving synth score by Wojciech Golczewski (Late Phases, We Are Still Here), Beyond the Gates is a fast-paced, gory love letter to 80s horror. Beyond the Gates has played a few big-screen dates around the U.S. since its festival premiere earlier this year, and it’s currently available on VOD from IFC Midnight.

2016 Horror Movies

They Look Like People (Official site)

They Look Like People

Some of the scariest films ever made are those that closely examine the mental state of deeply troubled characters. Lodge H. Kerrigan’s classic arthouse horror film Clean, Shaven (1993) used disorienting cinematic techniques to mimic the way a schizophrenic character sees the world as he tries to find where his ex-wife has taken their daughter. It’s a profoundly unsettling film made with very limited resources, and Perry Blackshear’s feature directorial debut They Look Like People is a worthy modern successor to that film. Wyatt (McLeod Andrews) travels to New York to see his old friend Christian (Evan Dumouchel), but while Wyatt tries to keep things normal it’s not just a friendly visit. Wyatt receives phone calls from unknown parties who warn him demonic forces are about to take over the world, and they infiltrate the ranks of humanity by taking the guise of normal people. While Wyatt desperately tries to save Christian and prepare for the imminent war Christian struggles to succeed at his competitive job and figure out his relationship with co-worker Mara (Margaret Ying Drake). They Look Like People is a deft hybrid of low-key indie relationship drama and psychological horror, with a sense of humor that helps relieve what would otherwise be unbearable claustrophobic tension. Lead actors Andrews and Dumouchel are great and absolutely convincing as longtime friends, and that relationship drives a film that is funny, scary, and moving. They Look Like People is available on Netflix as well as VOD from Gravitas Ventures.

 

2016 Horror Movies

I am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (Toronto International Film Festival)

I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House

In both of the years 2015 and 2016 Osgood Perkins, son of late horror icon Anthony Perkins, has directed one of the best horror films of the year. In 2015, his debut feature February played a number of festivals and was picked up for distribution by A24. Before that film even sees a release in the States (A24 is releasing in January 2017 under its new title The Blackcoat’s Daughter), his second film I am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House was picked up by Netflix where it appropriately premiered the Friday before Halloween. This is a “haunted house” story pared down to the bone and then some, damned close to the marrow. Lily (Ruth Wilson) is an in-home caretaker hired to live with reclusive author Iris Blum (Paula Prentiss). The old 19th-century house is creepy enough, but Lily tries to read one of her charge’s best-known books–The Woman in the Walls, supposedly dictated to Iris by the ghost of a young woman murdered in the house–and her already fraying nerves begin tightening toward an imminent, inevitable breaking point. This is not a horror movie about thrills and scares, but one about creating an overwhelming atmosphere of oppressive dread. In that, it succeeds tremendously. I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House is available for streaming on Netflix.

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Watch ‘The Burning’ At The Location Where It Was Filmed

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Fangoria is reporting that fans of the 1981 slasher The Burning will be able to have a screening of the film at the location where it was filmed. The movie is set at Camp Blackfoot which is actually the Stonehaven Nature Preserve in Ransomville, New York.

This ticketed event will take place on August 3. Guests will be able to take a tour of the grounds as well as enjoy some campfire snacks along with the screening of The Burning.

The Burning

The film came out in the early ’80s when teen slashers were being churned out in magnum force. Thanks to Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th, filmmakers wanted to get in on the low-budget, high-profit movie market and a casket load of these types of films were produced, some better than others.

The Burning is one of the good ones, mostly because of the special effects from Tom Savini who had just come off of his groundbreaking work on Dawn of the Dead and Friday the 13th. He declined to do the sequel because of its illogical premise and instead signed on to do this movie. Also, a young Jason Alexander who would later go on to play George in Seinfeld is a featured player.

Because of its practical gore, The Burning had to be heavily edited before it received an R-rating. The MPAA was under the thumb of protest groups and political bigwigs to censor violent films at the time because slashers were just so graphic and detailed in their gore.

Tickets are $50, and if you want a special t-shirt, that will cost you another $25, You can get all the information by visiting the On Set Cinema webpage.

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‘Longlegs’ Creepy “Part 2” Teaser Appears on Instagram

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Longlegs

Neon Films released an Insta-teaser for their horror film Longlegs today. Titled Dirty: Part 2, the clip only furthers the mystery of what we are in for when this movie is finally released on July 12.

The official logline is: FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes unexpected turns, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.

Directed by former actor Oz Perkins who also gave us The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Gretel & Hansel, Longlegs is already creating buzz with its moody images and cryptic hints. The film is rated R for bloody violence, and disturbing images.

Longlegs stars Nicolas Cage, Maika Monroe, and Alicia Witt.

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Exclusive Sneak Peek: Eli Roth and Crypt TV’s VR Series ‘The Faceless Lady’ Episode Five

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Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) and Crypt TV are knocking it out of the park with their new VR show, The Faceless Lady. For those unaware, this is the first fully scripted VR horror show on the market.

Even for masters of horror like Eli Roth and Crypt TV, this is a monumental undertaking. However, if I trust anyone to change the way that we experience horror, it would be these two legends.

The Faceless Lady

Ripped from the pages of Irish folklore, The Faceless Lady tells the story of a tragic spirit cursed to wander the halls of her castle for all of eternity. However, when three young couples are invited to the castle for a series of games, their fates may soon change.

So far, the story has provided horror fans with a gripping game of life or death that doesn’t look as if it will slow down in episode five. Luckily, we have an exclusive clip that may be able to satiate your appetites until the new premiere.

Airing on 4/25 at 5pmPT/8pmET, episode five follows our final three contestants in this wicked game. As the stakes are raised ever higher, will Ella be able to fully awaken her connection with Lady Margaret?

The faceless lady

The newest episode can be found on Meta Quest TV. If you haven’t already, follow this link to subscribe to the series. Make sure to check out the new clip below.

Eli Roth Present’s THE FACELESS LADY S1E5 Clip: THE DUEL – YouTube

To view in the highest resolution, adjust the quality settings in the bottom right corner of the clip.

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