Just when we thought 2024 was going to be a horror movie wasteland, we got a few good ones in succession, Late Night With the Devil and Immaculate. The former will be available on Shudder starting April 19, the latter just had a surprise drop on digital ($19.99) today and will be getting physical on June 11.

The film stars Sydney Sweeney fresh off her success in the rom-com Anyone but You. In Immaculate, she plays a young nun named Cecilia, who travels to Italy to serve in a convent. Once there, she slowly unravels a mystery about the holy place and what role she plays in their methods.

Thanks to word of mouth and some favorable reviews, the movie has earned over $15 million domestically. Sweeney, who also produces, has waited a decade to get the film made. She purchased the rights to the screenplay, reworked it, and made the film we see today.

The movie’s controversial final scene wasn’t in the original screenplay, director Michael Mohan added it later and said, “It is my proudest directorial moment because it is exactly how I pictured it. “

Whether you go out to see it while it’s still in theaters or rent it from the convenience of your couch, let us know what you think of Immaculate and the controversy surrounding it.

Incredibly, what some people thought they would get with an Omen prequel turned out to be better than anticipated. Maybe it’s partly due to a good PR campaign. Maybe not. At least it wasn’t for a pro-choice Missouri politician and film blogger Amanda Taylor who received a suspicious mailer from the studio ahead of The First Omen’s theatrical release.

Taylor, a Democrat running for Missouri’s House of Representatives, must be on Disney’s PR list because she received some eerie promo merch from the studio to publicize The First Omen, a direct prequel to the 1975 original. Usually, a good mailer is supposed to pique your interest in a film not send you running to the phone to call the police. 

“I was freaking out,” says the blogger who filed a police report about #TheFirstOmen PR. “My husband touched it, so I’m screaming at him to wash his hands.” The studio, for its part, regrets frightening anyone but notes that “most people had fun with it” https://t.co/9vq7xfD8kI pic.twitter.com/9KUMgvyG2Q

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) April 13, 2024

According to THR, Taylor opened the package and inside were disturbing children’s drawings related to the film that freaked her out. It’s understandable; being a female politician against abortion it’s no telling what kind of threatening hate mail you’re going to get or what might be construed as a threat. 

“I was freaking out. My husband touched it, so I’m screaming at him to wash his hands,” Taylor told THR.

Marshall Weinbaum, who does Disney’s public relations campaigns says he got the idea for the cryptic letters because in the movie, “there are these creepy drawings of little girls with their faces crossed out, so I got this idea to print them out and mail them to the press.”

The studio, maybe realizing the idea wasn’t their best move, sent out a follow-up letter explaining that it was all in good fun to promote The First Omen. “Most people had fun with it,” adds Weinbaum.

While we can understand her initial shock and concern being a politician running on a controversial ticket, we have to wonder as a film enthusiast, why she wouldn’t recognize a crazy PR stunt. 

Perhaps in this day and age, you can’t be too careful. 

Everyone welcome A24 to the big leagues! Their latest film Civil War has broken a few records over the weekend. First, it’s the highest-grossing R-rated film of the year. Second, it’s the highest-grossing opening weekend A24 film ever. 

Although reviews of the action film are polarizing, it certainly captured the curiosity of moviegoers. Even if the ambiguous screenplay didn’t blow them away, they seemed to find it entertaining. Furthermore, a lot of ticket buyers lauded the film’s sound design and IMAX presentation. 

While not a straight-out horror movie, it does weave a thread on the hem of the genre thanks to its disturbing subject matter and graphic violence. 

It’s about time A24 came out of the independent movie trenches and into the blockbuster category. While their features are embraced by a niche group, it was time they swung for the fences to generate a bigger payday to compete with behemoth studios such as Warner Bros. and Universal who have been making money hand over fist over the past few years. 

While Civil War’s $25 million opening isn’t exactly a windfall in blockbuster terms it’s still solid enough in the mainstream movie-going climate to predict further success, if not by word of mouth, then by curiosity. 

A24’s biggest money maker to date is Everything Everywhere All at Once with an over $77 million domestic haul. Then it’s Talk to Me with over $48 million domestically. 

It’s not all good news. The film was made in-house for $50 million so if it tanks by week two, it could turn into a box office failure. That could be a possibility as the guys behind the Scream reboot, Radio Silence, will be on the marquee themselves for their vampire flick Abigail on April 19. That film has already generated some good buzz.

Even worse for Civil War, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone’s own actioneer The Fall Guy is ready to usurp Civil War’s IMAX real estate on May 3. 

Whatever happens, A24 has proven over the weekend that with the right subject matter, an increased budget, and a streamlined ad campaign, they have now entered the blockbuster chat.