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Horror Pride Month: Actress Zoey Luna

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Zoey Luna

Zoey Luna is an actress with a plan, and so far it’s working out for her. A lifelong horror fan who is starring in the upcoming reboot of The Craft, she told all her friends that she was going to be a movie star at age 18 and she is well on her way.

The bubbly, charismatic young actress spoke with me for iHorror’s Horror Pride Month celebration, and she could not be more excited to be stepping into something as iconic as The Craft.

“Just to be in The Craft as my first movie is insane!” she gushed. “It’s been a thrill. It’s been amazing. I’m going to focus on the positive. This has been a huge positive in my life. The acting was great. Everyone was great at what they do and the director, Zoe [Lister-Jones], was just so amazing. Everyone made me feel at home. It was a really beautiful experience.”

This is only Luna’s third acting gig, she previously worked with Rosario Dawson on a short film titled Boundless and she made an appearance on Pose under the direction of Janet Mock.

Some might say this isn’t much, but for a teenage trans actress of color, those credits are astonishing. Of course everyone knows Laverne Cox and Alexandra Billings, and some horror fans might be able to name Angelica Ross who appeared in American Horror Story: 1984 as well as Pose, but on the whole trans actresses and especially non-white trans actresses have a harder time finding work.

Part of this has to do with the fact that so few trans characters are written and when they are, they’re given to cis-actors. Part of it is that trans actors and actresses are not taken seriously when they audition for non-trans roles. And some filmmakers are just plain bigots.

Zoey Luna has always known she was a girl even after her brother took it upon himself to her that she was actually a boy because she had a penis when they were small children. It didn’t shake her resolve however, as she grew up.

“That’s when I realized there was a problem, not with me, but with the world,” she explained.”I felt one way and they all felt another way just because of what was in my pants, and I thought, none of you guys are going to have sex with me so why the f*ck do you care?”

Coming out and being open about her identity was a challenge, especially in her home.

“You know, there was a problem because we’re Latinos,” she pointed out. “My dad was the man of the house. It was a really big difficult moment for my mom because of the reputation for my dad. So she kept it a pretty big secret between me and her for a while until he passed away. Once he died, I had a new life. My mom was always pretty supportive. The TV liked to make it look like she’s really an angel and she’s very nice-ish, but we’ve had a lot of problems.”

Problems or no, Luna has found her own path and continues to work hard at her chosen profession saying she’d love to do more horror films in the future. In fact, she wants nothing less than to be one of those women in the films that she grew up watching running away from a masked killer.

The Craft is currently in post-production and awaiting an official release date. Stay tuned for more details on that project as they become available.

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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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