Alam Nyo Ba?

PLOT: In a world where some humans have developed paranormal powers and have been wiped out by a fearful public, a mother (Amanda Crew) and daughter (Lorelei Olivia Mote) try to survive while also seeking vengeance for their family.

REVIEW: Freaks is one of the more unique success stories of the past decade or so. Initially an under-the-radar, Canadian-made sci-fi flick that was released without much fanfare, Freaks became an unlikely smash hit during the pandemic when it started streaming on Netflix. Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein suddenly became in high demand, being hired to make Final Destination: Bloodlines for WB/New Line. It became the highest-grossing film in the series, making over $300 million worldwide. Lipovsky and Stein are now two of the hottest directors in town, with an animated Venom film and a recently announced adaptation of Stephen King’s Desperation on their slate.

But before going all Hollywood, the two took their newfound clout to go indie once again for a follow-up to Freaks, which has already been acquired by Paramount. While a sequel, the film isn’t overly reliant on the plot beats of the first movie, making it easy to understand even if you’ve never seen the original. Basically, Freaks Part II is like a more grounded, horror-tinged take on X-Men, albeit one where being a mutant (or, as they are called here, “Freaks”) is illegal, with them executed on sight.

The movie begins in a harrowing way, with Amanda Crew’s Mary giving birth to a baby that’s immediately detected as a Freak. Lili Taylor’s evil ADF (Abnormal Defence Force) agent throws the baby on the ground and shoots it in the head right in front of its mother, leading Mary to demonstrate her superpower. She can fly, but whenever she takes off, the fallout kills anyone unlucky enough to be close by.

Years later, she’s on the run with her remaining daughter, Chloe, with the story of how she survived with her now-dead father being what the first Freaks was about. Chloe can manipulate minds and project herself anywhere she wants. The two are hunting for Taylor’s Erica Lang, who has become a star in the ADF movement, while never being able to settle down anywhere lest their abilities be detected. This is becoming more of a problem for the growing Chloe, who wants to make friends her own age.

Freaks Part II may have a lower budget than Lipovsky and Stein worked with on Bloodlines, but it’s surprisingly epic, with a lot of world-building. This is clearly a sandbox the two enjoy playing in, with them expanding on the intolerant world the Freaks inhabit. A particularly chilling section is set at a youth camp teaching children to shoot Freaks on sight, with them easy to identify because they weep tears of blood whenever they’re under stress.

The cast is solid, with Crew excellent as Mary, the devoted mother who’s also blinded to her daughter’s well-being by her uncontrollable need for revenge. Lorelei Olivia Mote is also terrific as the now-teenaged Chloe, who is rebelling against her mother’s rules but is also naïve about the world around her. More than anything, she just wants a friend, which she unexpectedly finds in a child recruit in the ADF, played by Reznor Allen.

However, the film is stolen by Lili Taylor, who seems to relish playing a villain, with her sadistic Erica Lang becoming one of the more memorable screen baddies in recent years. Plus, Stephen Tobolowsky has a neat role as another one of the Freaks, with a unique—but kinda gross—power of his own.

What will make Freaks Part II a must-see, though, is certainly the gore effects. One of the reasons Bloodlines did so well was because of how extreme the kills were. There are some really nifty ones here, especially when another Freak, played by Audrianna Lico, enters the fray in the second half. She has the often-gross power of being able to turn people’s bodies inside out, and this is used to excellent effect in the climax. Sequences like these make some of the storytelling flaws easier to ignore, with a few too many convenient twists marring the film’s second half.

It’ll be interesting to see how Freaks Part II performs once it comes out, as the first film, despite its Netflix success, remains pretty under the radar. Still, the barrier to entry is low, and horror fans will enjoy the world-building, gore, and performances even if they haven’t seen the original. It’s a lot of fun.

Freaks Part II

GOOD

7

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Horror fans will soon have another chance to come face-to-face with Jason Voorhees. Six Flags has officially announced Jason: Blood Reign, a brand-new haunted maze inspired by the Friday the 13th franchise that will debut at three of the chain’s parks during this year’s Halloween events. The attraction is coming to Kings Island in Ohio, Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, and Carowinds, which straddles the border of North and South Carolina.

At the moment, Six Flags has only revealed the maze’s title, participating parks, and a brief promotional video. A dditional details about the attraction have yet to be announced, leaving fans to speculate about which locations, characters, and moments from the long-running slasher franchise might be recreated.

While details remain under wraps, the announcement is another major win for fans of Friday the 13th. Jason Voorhees has been one of horror’s most recognizable icons for more than four decades, and Jason: Blood Reign is the latest sign that the franchise’s long-awaited revival is continuing to gain momentum.

Each park will feature the maze as part of its annual Halloween event. Kings Island’s Halloween Haunt runs on select nights from September 25 through October 31, while Fright Fest at Six Flags Great Adventure runs from September 18 through November 1. Carowinds will once again host SCarowinds, although guests should check the park’s official event calendar for specific operating nights.

The Six Flags announcement comes during one of the busiest periods the Friday the 13th franchise has seen in years, with Jason Voorhees recently invading multiple video games (including Dead by Daylight), appearing in the short film Sweet Revenge, and entering the world of tabletop gaming.

Last year, Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights introduced the Jason Universe haunted house at both Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood. Developed in collaboration with Horror, Inc., the attraction took guests through Camp Crystal Lake and recreated locations and moments inspired by Jason Voorhees’ legacy. The haunted house was part of the larger Jason Universe initiative, which was launched to expand the franchise through new entertainment projects, immersive experiences, merchandise, and games.

The momentum will continue this fall with the premiere of Crystal Lake, Peacock’s highly anticipated Friday the 13th prequel series. Produced by A24, the eight-episode series stars Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees and explores the tragic events following the drowning of her young son, Jason, before the events of the original 1980 film.

Crystal Lake is set to premiere on Peacock in the United States on October 15, while Warner Bros. Discovery recently acquired the series for HBO Max across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Sky and its streaming service Now will be bringing the series to the UK and Ireland. The show has also been selected for the Primetime lineup at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, giving audiences an early look before its streaming debut.

After years of legal disputes largely kept Friday the 13th on the sidelines, the franchise is now expanding across multiple platforms at once. Between Crystal Lake, Universal’s Jason Universe haunted house, new collectibles, game collaborations, and now Six Flags’ Jason: Blood Reign, Jason Voorhees is once again becoming one of horror’s most visible figures.

For Six Flags, that timing couldn’t be better. Halloween attractions built around recognizable horror properties have become increasingly popular, and Jason remains one of the genre’s most popular villains. Although Six Flags hasn’t revealed exactly what guests will encounter inside Jason: Blood Reign, the attraction is already shaping up to be a big draw at this year’s Halloween events.

More details about the maze are expected to be revealed as the Halloween season approaches. Until then, fans eager to return to Camp Crystal Lake have one more reason to look forward to this fall.

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One of the most underrated movies of the nineties was undoubtedly Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners. When Universal released it in 1996, it came and went without much notice, but it proved to be an important film in Jackson’s career. It was his first big-budget Hollywood movie following Bad Taste, Braindead, and Heavenly Creatures, with its success behind the scenes paving the way for him to direct The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It starred Michael J. Fox as a con artist who uses his psychic abilities to eke out a living with the help of his ghostly pals, played by Jeffrey Combs, Chi McBride, and the great John Astin.

While a box office dud, The Frighteners found a second life following The Lord of the Rings, building a devoted cult following. It also became one of the standout DVD releases of the early format, thanks to a 14-minute-longer director’s cut and an exhaustive four-hour making-of documentary that was really the first of its kind. In many ways, it paved the way for the extensive special features Jackson would later include with his Lord of the Rings releases.

Now, Arrow Video is bringing The Frighteners to 4K, with the set arriving on October 26, just in time for Halloween. The three-disc release will include both the theatrical and director’s cuts in 4K Ultra HD, with the director’s cut also featuring an audio commentary by Jackson.

Uniquely, Arrow is also including open matte versions of both cuts on a separate Blu-ray. Because the movie was shot in Super 35, the open matte presentations reveal additional picture information, making them a fascinating alternative way to experience the film.

The third disc is loaded with special features, including:

• No Way to Make a Living: A Look Back at The Frighteners, a feature-length documentary produced in 2022 featuring new interviews with Dee Wallace, Jake Busey, cinematographer John Blick, production designer Grant Major, creature and miniature effects supervisor Richard Taylor, visual effects supervisor Wes Takahashi, and producer/editor Jamie Selkirk.
• The Making of The Frighteners, an exhaustive 225-minute documentary exploring every aspect of the film’s production, from script development and casting to post-production and release, originally produced in 1998 for the LaserDisc release, complete with Jackson’s 2005 retrospective introduction.
• A Conversation with Richard Taylor and Alexandre Poncet, a 2022 interview with the man behind the film’s creature and miniature effects.
• Image gallery.

Nearly thirty years after its release, The Frighteners remains one of Peter Jackson’s most entertaining and underrated films, and this looks like the definitive home video release.

Will you be picking up The Frighteners on 4K? Let us know in the comments!

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PLOT: Follows a grieving engineer tasked with testing a ruthless tech giant’s new artificially intelligent android. But when he attempts to program her to be a truly sentient soulmate, she develops needs of her own – unleashing a relentless spree of precision-engineered mayhem.

REVIEW: I’m not sure any franchise has had a stranger path than M3GAN. The first film took the world by storm, and it seemed like it would be a staple for Blumhouse. So a sequel and spinoff were quickly put into production. But once the sequel absolutely bombed, the spinoff was left in limbo. It didn’t help that films like Companion and Obsession have come, gone, succeeded, and followed similar plot beats. Now, Soulm8te is finally getting a direct-to-streaming release (it’s now available on all digital platforms). But was it really worth all this trouble?

Soulm8te (it physically pains me to type that number every time) follows a recently widowed engineer, David, who beta tests his company’s companion robot. When I say companion, I’m sure you know what I’m getting at. But it’s more than just sexy times, as he alters her code, allowing her more sentience than intended. Now, the robot is taking an unhealthy obsession with him, and things get deadly. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m really trying to hammer in the point that this is very similar to the previously mentioned films. But comparisons should never be enough to doom a film, so I tried never to hold the similarities against it.

I really felt for David, who manages to be a bit pathetic but never so far that you don’t want to root for him. And if there’s anyone who’s going to form a bond with an AI, it’s probably a grieving widow who can’t connect with other human beings at the moment. I wish this was more of the focus, as it’s a problem that’s currently going on in society. But it’s brushed past fairly quickly, and they don’t fully take advantage of the concept. The star of the show is Lily Sullivan as Sara, the AI Android who doesn’t fully understand the world around her but is trying to. With a lesser actress, this could have been a more one-dimensional villain but Sullivan really nails Sara’s curiosity.

Unlike other films, where the robot is so human-like, you practically can’t differentiate between the two, these Soulm8tes still act very robotic. It’s why David has to change her code, because he wants to have a more human experience. But whether it’s her cadence, posture, or even body movement, we never lose sight of the fact that Sara is a robot. And that’s all on Lily, who is always evolving the character as she moves through the story, learning more, while still keeping the core of who she is in plain sight.

I was surprised by the R Rating but it’s mostly for nudity versus violence. If anything, I was disappointed at how much is done offscreen. A few insert shots could have really gone a long way. Just like with M3GAN, there’s no impact with any of the kills. They just sort of happen, and there doesn’t seem to be enough resistance from the victim. Takes away some of the suspense when characters don’t even care about their own lives.

Soulm8te showcases why it’s a terrible idea to base your personality around wellness influencers. We see as Sara tries to better herself from watching these videos online, only to give herself weird complexes about herself, that weren’t there before. The best of horror has an underlying social commentary and moments like that are where it gets interesting. There are just too many other times where the film wants to handhold us and doesn’t trust the viewer enough to come to the right conclusion on their own. I’m not sure whether this is due to studio notes or what, but I will always hate overexplaining. Sometimes a little bit of mystery can go a very long ways.

I know this film was delayed half a year, but with plot beats like employees having a return to office mandate, this practically feels like it was made during Covid. My dislike for M3GAN means I may not have been the most eagle-eyed viewer when it comes to Easter Eggs or references to that series. I’m sure there’s something present, but this mostly just seems to be in the world of AI-powered robots. If anything, it was a little strange, as there were plenty of opportunities

Soulm8te is easily the most I’ve ever enjoyed an entry in the M3gan franchise so I’ll consider that a win. It’s more sincere than I was expecting and it features great performances from both Sullivan and Rysdahl. It’s just following very similar plot beats of two of the best horror films of the last decade, so it’s sure to invite comparisons.

SOULM8TE

AVERAGE

6

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Arrow Video is celebrating a batch of largely-forgotten direct-to-video action movies with Enter the Video Store: Video Vengeance, a new five-disc Blu-ray box set that puts the spotlight on cult revenge thrillers from the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The biggest draw for many fans will likely be Joshua Tree (also released as Army of One), starring Dolph Lundgren as a man framed for murder who escapes prison and goes on the run while hunting the corrupt cop responsible for destroying his life. Directed by legendary stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong, the film receives a brand-new 2K restoration and includes both the R-rated theatrical version and the unrated cut through seamless branching.

But Joshua Tree is only one part of Arrow’s latest nostalgia trip. The collection also includes:

• Ministry of Vengeance (1989), starring John Schneider as a minister who trades the pulpit for an assault rifle after terrorists murder his family.
• The Final Alliance (1990), featuring David Hasselhoff as an ex-Marine battling a corrupt sheriff and a biker gang led by John Saxon.
• R.O.T.O.R. (1987), the infamous cult favorite about a rogue robotic police officer dispensing deadly justice across Texas.
• Hangfire (1991), with Brad Davis and Ken Foree teaming up against escaped convicts holding a family hostage.

Each film receives either a new or updated high-definition restoration along with a healthy slate of bonus features that include new audio commentaries, cast and crew interviews, visual essays, trailers, and image galleries. Joshua Tree also includes archival commentary with Vic Armstrong, new interviews with the director, alternate ending material, and retrospective featurettes. Check out the details on the Arrow Video website!

The limited edition package features newly commissioned artwork, reversible sleeves, and a collector’s book containing new essays on the films from Paul Lê, Jennie Kermode, Yasmina Ketita, Russell Lee, and John Torrani.

Arrow has built a reputation for giving overlooked genre titles the same deluxe treatment usually reserved for Hollywood classics, and Video Vengeance looks like another release aimed squarely at collectors who grew up browsing the action aisle at their local video store. I remember watching R.O.T.O.R. as a kid, but I think I missed out on the rest of these, and they all sound really cool.

Will you be picking up a copy of Enter the Video Store: Video Vengeance? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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The cast of The Conjuring: First Communion continues to grow. Just weeks after New Line announced that Garrett Wareing and Amanda Fix would be playing younger versions of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, a new report from TheWrap reveals that Charles Parnell, Marta Kessler, and Caleb Dolden have officially joined the supernatural horror prequel.

The trio joins an ensemble that already includes Wareing, Fix, and Matthias Schweighöfer. While the identities of the newly announced characters remain a secret, the additions show that the project remains on track for its September 10, 2027 theatrical release.

The Conjuring: First Communion explores the early years of Ed and Lorraine Warren

The Conjuring: First Communion will tell an early story centered on Ed and Lorraine Warren, years before the events of The Conjuring (2013), where the paranormal investigators were portrayed by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga (who returned for all of the sequels).

New Line has yet to reveal plot details, but the film will focus on the younger versions of the Warrens as they begin the journey that eventually turns them into the world’s most famous paranormal investigators.

Rodrigue Huart is directing the film from a screenplay by Richard Naing and Ian Goldberg, the writers behind The Conjuring: Last Rites. Franchise architects James Wan and Peter Safran are producing through Atomic Monster and The Safran Company, with John Rickard, Natalia Safran, Romel Adam, Michael Clear, and Judson Scott also involved behind the scenes.

Charles Parnell leads the latest casting additions

Among the new cast members, Charles Parnell is the biggest name. He’s well known for his performances in Top Gun: Maverick, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, The Killer, The Mandalorian, and The Last Ship.

Joining him are rising young actors Marta Kessler, who earned a Children’s & Family Emmy nomination for The Mysterious Benedict Society and also appeared in The Santa Clauses, and Caleb Dolden, who horror fans may recognize from Peacock’s Teacup, produced by Atomic Monster.

The Conjuring Universe remains horror’s biggest franchise

Although The Conjuring: Last Rites was promoted as the conclusion of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s storyline, it proved there is still audience interest in the franchise. The film earned nearly $500 million worldwide on a $55 million budget.

Since launching with James Wan’s original The Conjuring in 2013, the franchise has expanded to include four mainline films, the Annabelle trilogy, both The Nun movies, and The Curse of La Llorona. Combined, the films have generated more than $2.7 billion worldwide, making the Conjuring Universe the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time.

A television expansion is also in development, with Nancy Won attached as writer, executive producer, and showrunner for a streaming series set within the franchise.

What do you think of the latest additions to the cast of The Conjuring: First Communion? Are you looking forward to seeing the younger Ed and Lorraine Warren take center stage? Let us know in the comments below.

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I feel like a broken record at this point with my “there’s been a lot of shark movies this year” spiel. It’s gotten pretty out of control but we’re in the deep end and just taking them as they come. Some are okay while others are absolute dumpster fires. Now, Kathryn Newton and Lana Condor are facing off against a bull shark and trying to get out with their lives in The Devil’s Mouth. I like shark movies, so despite the overabundance of them currently, I’ll always be open to giving them a shot. You can check out my review of the film HERE.

I was fortunate enough to spend a little time with Kathryn Newton and Jeff Wadlow discussing the film. Kathryn is one of the most charismatic people I’ve spoken with and she was sure to give horror fans their props. I’ve always been impressed with how actors are able to maintain high energy level during production, especially when it involves action and swimming. Turns out, according to Kathryn, the key is food. Both Jeff and Kathryn are fans of JoBlo so this was a great talk, that you can check out in the embedded video above.

The Devil’s Mouth plot:

A group of college friends’ Thailand adventure turns deadly when they become trapped in submerged caves with a dangerous predator. As oxygen runs low, past conflicts emerge in their desperate fight for survival.

The Devil’s Mouth is streaming on Prime Video on July 29th, 2026.

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