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‘Halloween’ Slashes Genre Records, Makes a Killing at the Box Office

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Halloween

David Gordon Green’s Halloween opened theatrically on October 19th, and the box office numbers are already breaking records. The highly-anticipated return to Haddonfield has grossed $77.5 million domestically, with a worldwide total of $91.8 million. That’s quite the opening weekend.

via Universal Pictures

As noted by Variety, these numbers don’t quite beat Andy Muschietti’s IT – which totaled $123 million over its opening weekend, making it the most successful start for an R-rated horror film – but Halloween sits comfortably in second place for both R-rated horror and films with an October debut (falling just behind Venom‘s $80 million).

That said, Halloween has earned the well-deserved top spot in a few categories. Halloween destroyed the franchise record opening, which was previously resting at $26 million for Rob Zombie’s 2007 reboot. It also smashed into first place as Blumhouse’s best debut, previously held by Paranormal Activity 3 at $52.5 million.

via Universal Pictures

Halloween can also celebrate two new records for women in horror. The film has taken the crown as the highest-grossing opening for a horror film with a female lead, and thanks to the return of scream queen supreme Jamie Lee Curtis in her iconic role as Laurie Strode, Halloween marks the biggest launch ever for a female lead over 55 years old.

Made with a budget of only $10 million, and currently sitting with a score of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, there are plenty of reasons for Blumhouse to celebrate.

“I am enormously proud of this film,” said Jason Blum. “‘Halloween’ brings the franchise back to life in a fresh, relevant and fun way that is winning over fans and critics alike.”

via Universal Pictures

Halloween premiered at TIFF in September (read our review from the world premiere here!) and went on to screen at multiple festivals including Fantastic Fest and Sitges. Initial projections for Halloween showed an opening weekend estimate of $55 million.

Considering that many fans had the opportunity to see the film before its official opening weekend (and film festival numbers are typically not included in opening weekend totals), this is an impressive start.

Any time that a horror film does this well in the box office – whether you liked the movie or not – it’s a benefit for the genre as a whole.

Horror movies sell, and they sell well. This communicates a strong message to studios that there is a loyal, passionate audience for horror. It’s quickly become a legitimate, lucrative market that cannot be ignored.

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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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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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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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