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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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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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