Alam Nyo Ba?

A24’s Backrooms, the highest-grossing film in the studio’s history, is coming to HBO Max. The hit horror movie will begin streaming exclusively on the service in the U.S. on September 25, 2026. The film will also make its HBO linear debut the following day, airing Saturday, September 26 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Directed by Kane Parsons and written by Will Soodik, Backrooms has become one of 2026’s biggest horror success stories. The film has earned approximately $367 million worldwide, an impressive result for a movie based on a viral YouTube horror phenomenon and directed by a filmmaker making his feature debut.

What is Backrooms about?

Based on Parsons’ hugely popular Kane Pixels YouTube series, Backrooms follows Clark, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, the owner of a discount furniture store who discovers a strange doorway hidden inside his business. The doorway leads to an endless maze of interconnected rooms where the rules of reality no longer seem to apply. As Clark ventures deeper into the labyrinth, he encounters increasingly disturbing sights and the possibility that something else is lurking inside.

The official synopsis describes the story this way: A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom, leading to an endless network of interconnected rooms where time bends and the only thing scarier than getting lost is the sense that something is waiting.

The cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell.

Parsons first began releasing Backrooms videos on YouTube in 2022. The series went viral, eventually accumulating more than 190 million views and turning the Backrooms creepypasta into one of the internet’s most recognizable horror concepts. Parsons was only 20 years old when he directed the feature film.

JoBlo’s Backrooms review

Chris Bumbray gave Backrooms a 7/10 in his JoBlo review, calling it an “eerie exercise in liminal horror.” Bumbray praised Parsons’ ability to translate the strange atmosphere of the Backrooms into a feature-length movie, particularly the environments filled with ugly yellow fluorescent lights, seemingly endless corridors, and staircases that lead nowhere.

He also highlighted the performances from Ejiofor and Reinsve, while noting that the Backrooms themselves may be the movie’s biggest stars.

The review’s main criticisms involved the film’s pacing and 105-minute runtime, as well as the fact that Bumbray did not find the movie particularly frightening. Still, he was interested in seeing where a possible sequel could take the mythology.

Backrooms is already available at home

The HBO Max premiere isn’t actually the movie’s first home-video release. Backrooms became available to rent or buy digitally on July 14, allowing viewers to watch the film at home shortly after its theatrical run.

A24 is also releasing exclusive 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray editions through the A24 Shop. The physical releases include nearly three hours of bonus material, including the previously theatrical-exclusive “Everything Must Go” footage. Other extras include an audio commentary featuring Parsons and members of the film’s creative team, a Building the Backrooms featurette, visual-effects breakdowns, a prop walkthrough, and six collectible postcards.

For those who haven’t ventured into the Backrooms yet, the HBO Max premiere provides another chance to see why this internet horror phenomenon became one of the year’s biggest theatrical hits. Will you be watching when Backrooms starts streaming? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post A24’s Backrooms gets HBO Max streaming date after becoming studio’s biggest movie ever appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: Mining activity stirs up something strange in the tunnels beneath a small Appalachian town.

REVIEW: Written and directed by Daniel Byers, who previously made the nature documentary Wolf or-7 Expedition and the horror thriller Eradication, Dark Hollow boasts some nice visuals, surprisingly impressive production value, and a strong lead performance from June Schreiner, who may be recognized from appearances on the likes of Chicago Med, NCIS, and NCIS: Los Angeles. It’s a low budget movie that occasionally manages to look like a polished studio production. So there are certainly some positive things to say about it… but, unfortunately, I can’t say I enjoyed sitting through the movie.

This is a creature feature, and the marketing will lean hard into that element. The official synopsis tells us the story follows “a young mother who hunts a nightmarish creature emerging from an Appalachian coal mine to save her family from evil.” The poster features this blood-spattered character standing in the mine, wielding a jackhammer, ready for battle. Technically, none of this is inaccurate or misleading. There is “a nightmarish creature” that emerges from a coal mine and a young mother who goes to battle with monsters while holding a jackhammer. The problem is, the viewer has to take a long, slow ride to get to that action.

For most of its running time, Dark Hollow is more focused on being a Southern Gothic character study rather than a monster movie. The story takes place in an Appalachian mining town where the characters, including June Schreiner’s young mother KC, are concerned about how the mining activities are going to disrupt their lives. Their financial, health, and housing concerns are the primary issue, even if we are aware from early on that there is something creepy going on down in the mine tunnels. Byers moves through this mining town drama at an achingly slow pace, filling the movie with scene after scene of people having soft-spoken conversations. The movie is 1 hour and 35 minutes, but it drags along so slowly that it feels more like it’s 135 minutes.

Some audience members may be able to fully lock into the characters and enjoy watching this movie as a dark, slow drama. For me, this was too slow and dull. I couldn’t manage to care about the characters, and the wait for the monster to do something – anything – got painful. If you’re looking forward to the film living up to the synopsis and giving KC a jackhammer, you’re going to have to sit through more than an hour of drama, with just a brief flare-up of thrills along the way to assure you this is a creature feature.

Dark Hollow has enough going for it that it will likely find some appreciative fans, but other viewers are going to find it just as difficult to get through as I did. The pacing tested my patience and frustrated me, and the pay-off in the final 30 minutes was not worth the slow crawl it took to get there. Don’t expect things to suddenly get awesome when KC picks up that jackhammer.

If you’re interested, Brainstorm Media will be giving Dark Hollow a VOD and limited theatrical release on September 4.

The post Dark Hollow review: Southern Gothic creature feature is painfully slow appeared first on JoBlo.

We currently find ourselves in a bit of a downswing in terms of zombie cinema. A decade ago, we were still in the midst of Walking Dead fever and it felt like a new zombie film was out every week. And there was nothing more impressive than Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan, the 2016 South Korean horror film that felt like an emotional gutpunch. I was lucky enough to get to see it in theaters a few weeks ago and it was a mind-blowing experience. Now, it’s slowed down (with the focus seemingly shifting to sharks) but that doesn’t mean we aren’t treated to some flesh-eating action occasionally. And there’s never been more reason to get excited than to see the Sang-ho return to the zombie genre with Colony.

I was able to pick Yeon Sang-ho’s brain about his approach to zombie films, and why he wanted to take a more evolved approach with this film. Sang-ho said “So, you know, the biggest, the most, the best strength of a zombie film is it reflects the fear, the hidden undercurrent fear of any given society at any given time. So, you know, when I made Train to Busan, that of course showed what Koreans were going through socially and in all other aspects. So I wanted to reflect that, so I focused on showing the fear of Koreans at the time. And for Colony, you know, what is our current fear? Our society has changed. We are exchanging information at a breakneck speed, and through that, we are becoming more and more collectivistic. That’s how people think; that we have to come up with a consensus instead of maintaining or contributing as an individual. So on top of that, I think the extreme form of this manifestation of collective thinking is AI. And so those are two factors that I wanted to express as a warning that our individuality shouldn’t be rendered powerless.”

The zombies are very different in Colony versus his other zombie films. So I picked his brain about how his direction changed, with these now being evolved zombies. “So when I made Train to Busan, of course we hired breakdancers and stuntmen to create zombie movements. But for Colony, yes, of course we had our existing teams, but again in this movie what’s emphasized is that these creatures are moving having the collective intelligence. So you have to show, manifest that intelligence through their movements. So I invited three separate teams of contemporary dancers whose style is more leaning toward avant-garde. And what I emphasized with them is like, I know they’re moving all together, but don’t make their movements all alike, because imagine when you play a piano, all your 10 fingers hit different keys and create harmonious music.“

And these movements results in a very unique brand of the undead. One of my favorite aspects of these new zombies is how they form together like they’re Voltron. And it was shockingly done with practical FX. “So Colony uses minimal CGI (computer-generated imagery). So what you see is what our choreography team created. You know, the dancers, they were already very used to creating group dance sequences, and so they used each other’s bodies to come up with that kind of movement. So I felt amazed, and I was enthralled by their movements and what they created.”

This is also his fourth collaboration with actor Koo Kyo-hwan, so he gets into why he’s such a special actor that he likes to collaborate with. “So Koo Kyo-hwan played this main antagonist character, Seo Young-chul. The character itself is very unusual. He is exceptionally smart. So I was thinking who can embody this character, and the first candidate was Koo Kyo-hwan. First reason: he himself as a person is a very exceptional man, meaning the characters he creates and the way he approaches acting is different from most actors. And also on top of that, he is a film maniac, and he himself is also a filmmaker, and he’s a fan of subculture genres that I like as well. So we communicate very easily, and he understands what I want him to create, and he can do it.”

This was a great talk, and Sang-ho clearly has a great understanding of the genre. You’re going to want to make sure to check out Colony before it leaves theaters.

Colony plot:

Horror master Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan) directs a new Korean zombie thriller starring Gianna Jun and Koo Kyo-hwan. Professor Se-jeong (Ji-hyun) is thrust into a bloody nightmare when a rapidly mutating virus is released during a biotech conference causing authorities to seal the facility. Trapped inside with no escape, Se-jeong along with a small group of survivors must fight to stay alive while the infected undergo horrific transformations.

Colony is currently playing in limited release in theaters.

Related

Colony Review: The Train to Busan director returns to the zombie genre

The post The director of Colony (and Train to Busan) talks on why he created “Evolved Zombies” and how they reflect modern society appeared first on JoBlo.

Alex

Some movie endings shock you. Others leave you staring at the screen long after the credits roll. From psychological thrillers like Memento and Shutter Island to horror gut punches like The Mist and Saw, the 21st century has delivered plenty of endings that completely changed how audiences understood the movies they had just watched.

For this list, we’re ranking the 10 most shocking movie endings of the 21st century, focusing on films released since 2000. These aren’t necessarily the movies with the most complicated twists. Instead, they’re the endings that delivered the biggest surprises, the most disturbing revelations, or the kind of final moments that completely recontextualized everything that came before them.

Major spoilers follow for every movie on this list.

1. THE MIST

• Director: Frank Darabont
  Cast: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Toby Jones, Andre Braugher
  Why It’s So Shocking: David’s decision to kill his companions becomes horrifyingly ironic when rescue arrives almost immediately afterward, making the ending as devastating as it is unexpected.

Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novella takes the monster movie to a new level and rewrites the story to include this absolutely devastating ending. The remaining survivors, piled into a car, are forced to venture into the Mist in search of safety. When they run out of gas, David Drayton (Thomas Jane) decides to spare everyone a horrible death and kills each of them, including his own young son. Without any bullets left, David is on his own and exits the car to accept his fate. Only then does the Mist clear and the military arrive, revealing that rescue was just moments away. If only he had waited a couple more minutes! Absolutely the most shocking ending of the 21st century.

2. OLDBOY

• Director: Park Chan-wook
  Cast: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung
  Why It’s So Shocking: The revelation about Oh Dae-su and Mi-do transforms an already brutal revenge story into something deeply disturbing, while the final moments offer no easy escape from the consequences.

Not only one of the best twists of the last fifteen years, Oldboy is one of the best films of the century. Park Chan-wook’s film is part drama, part romance, and all mystery. Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), imprisoned for fifteen years without knowing why, must solve the mystery of his incarceration, which eventually leads back to a schoolmate from his past. As we learn that Oh Dae-su is not the nicest person, the horrifying truth behind his punishment is finally revealed: the woman he has recently fallen in love with and had sex with, Mi-do (Kang Hye-jung), is actually his daughter. The revenge plot and “happy” ending combine for one hell of a f*cked up ending.

3. THE OTHERS

• Director: Alejandro Amenábar
  Cast: Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston, Alakina Mann, James Bentley
  Why It’s So Shocking: The film completely reverses its supernatural premise, forcing us to realize that Grace and her children aren’t being haunted, they are the ghosts.

Nicole Kidman is excellent in this period horror film that evokes movies like The Innocents and The Haunting. Director Alejandro Amenábar amps up the atmospherics in a ghost story that is chilling without having to reveal much. As the film progresses, we learn that Grace Stewart (Kidman) and her children are all dead, and that Grace had smothered her children before taking her own life. A nice reverse on The Sixth Sense‘s twist in that these characters don’t see dead people… they ARE dead people!

4. BURIED

• Director: Rodrigo Cortés
  Cast: Ryan Reynolds, José Luis García-Pérez, Robert Paterson, Stephen Tobolowsky
  Why It’s So Shocking: Just when Paul appears to be on the verge of rescue, the discovery of Mark White’s coffin reveals that the rescuers have been searching in the wrong place all along.

Ryan Reynolds’ career has featured some off the wall choices, but this 2010 thriller puts the focus on his acting ability as Paul Conroy, a truck driver who wakes up buried alive in a coffin with only a lighter and a cell phone. Conroy spends the movie desperately trying to get help, and eventually Brenner, the man coordinating the rescue, tells him that an insurgent has revealed the location of a man buried alive and that a team is on the way to rescue him. As sand continues to fill Conroy’s coffin, Brenner calls to say that the rescue team has reached the burial site. Conroy hears them digging through the phone, but he doesn’t hear any digging around his own coffin. Then the team opens the coffin they’ve found, and the horrifying truth is revealed: they’ve found the body of a different person, in a different location. Brenner can only apologize as the sand fills Conroy’s coffin and he suffocates. A downer and one hell of a gut punch.

5. THE PRESTIGE

• Director: Christopher Nolan
  Cast: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, David Bowie
  Why It’s So Shocking: The explanation behind Angier’s impossible trick is far darker than a simple magic trick, revealing the horrifying price he has been willing to pay for his rivalry with Borden.

Between Batman movies, Christopher Nolan made this period thriller about two rival magicians locked in an increasingly bitter battle to outdo each other. With numerous twists and turns throughout, The Prestige saves one of its biggest revelations for the ending, when we learn that the magic is not a trick at all. Nikola Tesla’s machine actually creates replicas of Hugh Jackman’s Robert Angier, allowing him to seemingly teleport across the stage while another version of himself is left to die. Of course, that’s only one part of the movie’s elaborate final reveal, which also forces us to reconsider the lengths both magicians have gone to in pursuit of the perfect trick. Ooh, bet you didn’t see that coming!

6. MEMENTO

• Director: Christopher Nolan
  Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
  Why It’s So Shocking: Leonard’s investigation turns out to be an endless cycle that he is capable of perpetuating himself, leaving us to question how much of his search for revenge is actually driven by his own choices.

Christopher Nolan’s breakthrough feature used the unique narrative device of telling the story in reverse, forcing us to learn twists and revelations alongside Leonard as he tries to piece together what happened. Leonard (Guy Pearce) is searching for the man who raped and killed his wife, but his short-term memory loss makes it nearly impossible for him to hold onto what he discovers. As the story unfolds, we eventually learn that the “real” killer was caught and killed long ago, and that Leonard’s supposed friend, Teddy (Joe Pantoliano), has been manipulating him for his own purposes. Even worse, Leonard has been creating clues for his future self that allow the cycle to continue. No one can be trusted in Memento, and the way friends become enemies and enemies become friends forces you to question just who the hell is telling the truth in this brilliant movie.

7. SAW

• Director: James Wan
  Cast: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Ken Leung, Tobin Bell
  Why It’s So Shocking: Jigsaw is hiding in plain sight throughout the bathroom ordeal, turning an apparently dead body into one of the most memorable horror villains’ reveals of the 21st century.

Before it descended into a mockery of itself, the Saw series started with a small horror film set almost entirely in a single room, with two men trying to determine who would live and who would die. While that would have made a decent film on its own, the twist that the Jigsaw Killer was actually the “dead” body lying in the room between them the whole time caught everyone off guard, along with the revelation of his true plan. John Kramer (Tobin Bell) had been right there in plain sight the entire time, making one of horror’s most memorable twists even more effective. Well done, James Wan and Leigh Whannell.

8. THE MACHINIST

• Director: Brad Anderson
  Cast: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, John Sharian
  Why It’s So Shocking: Trevor’s bizarre experiences ultimately trace back to a terrible secret buried beneath his guilt, transforming his apparent descent into madness into a story of psychological punishment.

Brad Anderson’s cult favorite film features one of Christian Bale’s most startling physical transformations in a story about an insomniac man who begins experiencing hallucinations that he cannot explain. As the film progresses, we begin to question Trevor Reznik’s (Bale) sanity before the ending reveals the truth: Trevor was responsible for a hit-and-run accident that killed a young boy, and the mysterious Ivan and other strange figures he has been seeing are manifestations of his guilt. Trevor finally turns himself in for the crime and is able to sleep for the first time in a year, while we are left stunned at the turn of events.

9. SHUTTER ISLAND

• Director: Martin Scorsese
  Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Patricia Clarkson
  Why It’s So Shocking: The apparent mystery surrounding Ashecliffe is revealed to be an elaborate attempt to make Teddy confront his true identity and the tragedy he has been unable to accept.

Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of the noir novel of the same name leads us down a twisted path at an asylum in the Northeast. We believe we are following U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) on the hunt for an escaped patient, but as the labyrinthine plot unfolds, we soon realize that Teddy is actually Andrew Laeddis, a patient at the asylum, and that the entire investigation has been an elaborate role-playing experiment designed to help him confront reality. Daniels/Laeddis actually murdered his wife after she drowned their children, and the doctors have been trying to get him to accept the truth about what he has done. The final revelation is devastating, especially when we realize that his apparent recovery may not have lasted.

10. THE VILLAGE

• Director: M. Night Shyamalan
  Cast: Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver
  Why It’s So Shocking: The revelation that the supposedly 19th-century village actually exists in the modern world completely changes our understanding of the film’s setting and the elders’ elaborate deception.

Many have groaned that the big reveal in M. Night Shyamalan’s period drama was that… it wasn’t a period film at all! The Twilight Zone-esque curveball reveals that the characters actually live in an isolated community in the present day, but the village elders have convinced everyone that they exist in the 19th century in an attempt to protect them from the violence and suffering of the outside world. The mysterious creatures terrorizing the village are also revealed to be costumes worn by the elders to keep the residents from venturing beyond the community’s borders. The twist pissed off many fans, but it was definitely a shocking turn.

The post 10 Most Shocking Movie Endings of the 21st Century, Ranked appeared first on JoBlo.

Cody

Fall is almost here, and horror is ready to take over the season. While the first official day of fall is September 22, we’re starting this preview a few days early with Resident Evil, Zach Cregger’s new take on the iconic survival horror franchise, which arrives in theatres September 18 and is just the beginning of what’s shaping up to be a busy fall for horror fans.

The next three months are bringing plenty of horror with them. So, as the leaves begin to change color and the nights get longer, let’s take a look at the horror movies coming our way this season.

RESIDENT EVIL – Theatrical, September 18

Zach Cregger, writer/director of Barbarian and Weapons, is directing the new Resident Evil movie for Sony and also wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead). The story apparently harkens back to the original Capcom game’s horror roots. Here’s the synopsis: In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Bryan, a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos. Weapons cast member Austin Abrams has the lead role and is joined in the cast by Paul Walter Hauser (Cobra Kai), Zach Cherry (Severance), Kali Reis (True Detective: Night Country), and Johnno Wilson (I Love That for You).

Cregger took the approach of telling an original story with original characters that’s set within the world of the Resident Evil video game franchise because he feels that the stories of the video game characters are already being perfectly told in the games.

NEVER AFTER DARK – Theatrical, September 25

Dave Boyle (Big Dreams Little Tokyo, Man from Reno) writes and directs Never After Dark, a supernatural horror movie about a psychic medium who encounters a terrifying entity while investigating an isolated house. The film has already received some major endorsements from horror legends, with Stephen King calling it “amazing and haunting” and The Black Phone and Sinister director Scott Derrickson describing it as “intelligent, unpredictable and bone-chilling” and “one of the best of the year.”

Here’s the synopsis: Never After Dark follows Airi (Moeka Hoshi), a wandering medium who spends her life guiding restless spirits out of the world of the living, accompanied by her constant companion: her dead sister Miku (Kurumi Inagaki). Summoned to exorcize a spirit from an isolated country house by the new owner, Teiko (Tae Kimura), she comes face to face with a grotesque apparition with powers that defy Airi’s experience. Faced with skepticism from Teiko’s son, Gunji (Kento Kaku), she digs deeper into the house’s past until a secret comes to light — and Airi finds herself hunted by a far more unpredictable force. For the first time, her greatest adversary is not the supernatural, but the living.

DEATHGASM II: GOREMAGGEDON – Theatrical Event, September 29; Digital, October 13

Jason Lei Howden returns to write and direct Deathgasm II: Goremageddon, the long-awaited sequel to his 2015 heavy metal horror cult favorite Deathgasm. Raven Banner Releasing will bring the movie to select Alamo Drafthouse theatres across the United States for a one-night theatrical event on September 29 as part of the Fantastic Fest Presents program, followed by a digital release in the U.S., Canada, and U.K. on October 13.

Here’s the synopsis: Years after thwarting a demon apocalypse, Brodie finds himself unemployed, single, and without ambition. When he learns that a NoizeQuest battle-of-the-bands competition is coming to town, he decides to reform his heavy metal band DEATHGASM in an attempt to find redemption and win back his ex-girlfriend Medina. There’s just one problem: his drummer Giles is missing an arm, and the rest of his band is dead. Thankfully, Brodie still has the pages of The Black Hymn, so raising his bandmates from beyond the grave is as easy as playing a little tune. Milo Cawthorne returns as Brodie, with Kimberley Crossman reprising her role as Medina. James Blake, Sam Berkley, and Daniel Cresswell also return from the first film, while new cast members include Kieran Charnock, Harrison Keefe, Maggie Robertson, and WWE star Adam Scherr.

BEWARE BOIÚNA – Theatrical, October 2

Mike P. Nelson, director of Wrong Turn (2021) and Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025), brings a giant Amazonian snake to the big screen with Beware Boiúna. Previously announced under the titles Boiúna: Legend of the Amazon and Titan, the creature feature stars Kiana Madeira (Fear Street), Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day), and Logan Marshall-Green (The Invitation). The screenplay comes from Alan McElroy, who wrote Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers as well as the original and 2021 versions of Wrong Turn, from a story by McElroy and Tony Giglio.

Here’s the synopsis: Deep in the Amazon, a medical mission spirals into a fight for survival when Boiúna, a colossal ancient predator, awakens to reclaim her domain. In the jungle where nature holds absolute power, she decides who lives and who dies.

APPOFENIACS – Theatrical, October 2

Chris Marrs Piliero writes and directs Appofeniacs, a horror thriller about deepfakes, paranoia, and the consequences of living in a world where seeing and hearing something no longer means you can trust that it actually happened. The film stars Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy), Michael Abbott Jr. (The Death of Dick Long), Aaron Holliday (The Terminal List), Jermaine Fowler (Sorry to Bother You), Will Brandt, Paige Searcy, Simran Jehani, and Harley Bronwyn.

Here’s the synopsis: Amused by exploiting our instinct to believe what we see and hear, Duke (Aaron Holliday) treats deepfakes like a contagious party trick. Not because he has something to prove, but simply because he can. Soon blood starts to spill, but Duke isn’t the one who has to clean it up. Intersecting storylines catch the fallout of Duke’s petty pastime: Poppy (Simran Jehani), heading into the desert for a weekend of cosplay and foreplay; Clinto Binto (Sean Gunn), a legend in the scene with a reputation too expensive to fake; and Lazzy (Paige Searcy), a stranger who picks the wrong line, the wrong coffee shop, and the wrong day to argue.

VERITY – Theatrical, October 2

Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada) stars as the title character in Verity, an adaptation of the thriller novel by Colleen Hoover, author of It Ends with Us. The film also stars Dakota Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey), Josh Hartnett (Trap), Ismael Cruz Cordóva (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Brady Wagner (Merrily We Roll Along), Irina Dvorovenko (And Just Like That…), K.K. Moggie (The Good Wife), and Michael Abbott Jr. (The Drama).

Hathaway plays Verity Crawford, a famous author who is left badly injured and incapacitated after a car accident, preventing her from finishing the latest book in her thriller series. Her husband, Jeremy Crawford, offers struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh a huge sum of money to complete the remaining books. Lowen accepts the job, but while going through Verity’s unfinished manuscript, she discovers disturbing secrets and chilling admissions about Verity and her family’s past, leaving her to question whether Verity is a brilliant fiction writer or a deranged psychopath. Johnson plays Lowen, with Hartnett as Jeremy. The Verity novel has been described as a “gothic, psychosexual thriller in the vein of Rebecca and Gone Girl.” The film adaptation comes from director Michael Showalter, who previously worked with Hathaway on The Idea of You. Nick Antosca (Cape Fear, Hannibal, Channel Zero, Brand New Cherry Flavor, Antlers, Candy) wrote the latest version of the screenplay, with earlier drafts by Hillary Seitz, Angela LaManna, Will Honley, and April Maguire.

OTHER MOMMY – Theatrical, October 9

Rob Savage, director of The Boogeyman, is moving on from a Stephen King adaptation to a Josh Malerman adaptation with Other Mommy, based on the Bird Box author’s novel Incidents Around the House. Savage is directing from a screenplay by Succession writer Nathan Elston, with Jessica Chastain (It Chapter Two) in a lead role. The cast also includes Jay Duplass (Transparent), Dichen Lachman (Severance), eight-year-old Arabella Olivia Clark (Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere) and Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark).

The Blumhouse Atomic Monster production shows what happens to Bela, an eight-year-old girl whose home life is already strained by her parents’ troubled marriage, when a sinister presence she calls “Other Mommy” begins emerging from her closet each night. The entity repeatedly asks a single question: “Can I go inside your heart?” As Bela continues refusing, the supernatural visitor grows increasingly aggressive, placing her entire family in danger and forcing the young girl to confront an evil that seems determined to break the bonds holding her family together.

WHALEFALL – Theatrical, October 16

Brian Duffield, writer/director of No One Will Save You and writer of The Babysitter, is bringing Daniel Kraus’s “swallowed by a whale” thriller novel Whalefall to the big screen. Here’s the synopsis: Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand – to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year. The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out – one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.

The film stars Austin Abrams (Weapons) as Jay, with Elisabeth Shue (The Karate Kid), Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men), John Ortiz (The Madness), Jane Levy (Evil Dead), and Emily Rudd (Fear Street Part Two: 1978) rounding out the cast.

THE DEVILS – Theatrical, October 16

Ken Russell’s controversial 1971 classic The Devils is coming back to North American theatres in a new 4K restoration, and this time audiences will have the chance to see the film in its uncensored NC-17 glory. The Devils will open in North American theatres on October 16 for an exclusive one-week engagement, with select 35mm screenings also planned. The restoration screened at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and will also play at the Toronto International Film Festival before receiving a UK release on October 30.

Set in 17th-century France, The Devils follows Father Grandier (Oliver Reed, Gladiator), a priest whose unorthodox views on sex and religion inspire a passionate following among the nuns in his parish, including the sexually obsessed Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave, Camelot). When the power-hungry Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue, The Affair of the Necklace) decides Grandier must be eliminated so he can gain control of France, Richelieu portrays the priest as a Satanist and spearheads a public outcry designed to destroy the reputation of the once-beloved Grandier.

CRAWLERS – Theatrical, October 16

Director Ángel Gómez Hernández brings us Crawlers, a spider-filled horror movie from a screenplay by Jayson Rothwell (Polar, Silent Night). The film stars Matilda Lutz (Revenge, Red Sonja) as Serena, the overworked and underappreciated manager of the Paradiso Palms apartment complex, who has to deal with an infestation of venomous spiders.

Here’s the synopsis: In Crawlers, a catastrophic infestation of venomous and deadly spiders sends an apartment building into lockdown. Trapped inside by a police-mandated quarantine, Serena and the residents battle to survive as the creatures multiply by the second. Armed with her intimate knowledge of the complex, Serena may be the only person who can keep everyone alive—if she can confront her deepest fear.

CLAYFACE – Theatrical, October 23

James Watkins, director of Eden Lake and Speak No Evil, is directing Clayface for DC Studios from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, with a story by Flanagan. Here’s the synopsis: In Clayface, Matt Hagen’s meteoric rise from Gotham street kid to Hollywood leading man is tragically cut short when a local crime boss’s actions leave him horribly disfigured. Abandoned by his team and with nothing left, Matt seeks out a cutting edge treatment that miraculously returns him to his former self… but also unexpectedly affects his grip on reality, spiraling him down a destructive path of all-consuming revenge. Tom Rhys Harries stars in the title role, with Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan, Nancy Carroll, and Joshua James leading the cast.

Clayface is based on the DC character of the same name and is expected to take a horror-driven approach to the Batman villain, centering on Matt Hagen’s transformation and descent into madness.

STILETTO – Theatrical, October 30

Eli Roth’s The Horror Section is bringing a new sexy slasher to theatres just in time for Halloween with Stiletto. Directed by Samuel Gonzalez Jr. (The Plastic Men, The Retaliators) and based on a story by Gigi Gustin (Brute 1976), the film stars Gustin alongside Charlotte McKinney (Fantasy Island), Colleen Camp (American Hustle), Meghan Carrasquillo (Hider in My House), Stephen Blackehart (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Hannah Hueston (The Anacondas).

Here’s the synopsis: Set on the one-year anniversary of the brutal murder of her older sister, Stiletto follows Lyric as she seeks retribution while working to protect the dancer community from the masked killer responsible for a wave of strip club slayings. The film promises a neon-soaked, sexy slasher that introduces a new masked killer and a potential new final girl with the power to become a series-defining horror icon. Gustin, who has a background as an exotic dancer, independently financed the project and drew on her own experiences while bringing the story to the screen. Gonzalez Jr. has described the movie as a “seductive neon fever dream” soaked in blood, obsession, and atmosphere. The Horror Section previously handled the theatrical releases of Jimmy and Stiggs, Dream Eater, and Ice Cream Man.

GODZILLA MINUS ZERO – Theatrical, November 6

Takashi Yamazaki, director of Godzilla Minus One, returns to the world of giant monsters with Godzilla Minus Zero, the highly anticipated sequel to his Academy Award-winning 2023 film. Yamazaki once again writes and directs, and is also overseeing the visual effects. The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Yuki Yamada, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Sakura Ando, Mio Tanaka, and newcomer Min Tanaka.

Here’s the synopsis: War reduced Japan to zero, and Godzilla plunged it into minus. Two years have passed since then, and the country has faced agonizing struggles to achieve recovery and finally reclaim its daily life. Just as humanity managed to cling to a hard-won peace, a new threat strikes, crushing hope in an instant. There is no third time. Everything ends here. Godzilla Minus Zero was the first Japanese production to be filmed for IMAX, with its imagery and sound optimized for the format. The film will open in Japan on November 3, which is also Godzilla Day, before arriving in North American theatres on November 6.

VICTORIAN PSYCHO – Theatrical, November 13

Zachary Wigon, director of Sanctuary, brings Virginia Feito’s novel Victorian Psycho to the screen in this gothic horror satire starring Maika Monroe (Longlegs) as a psychopathic governess. Set in 1858, the film follows Winifred Notty, an eccentric young governess who arrives at the remote gothic manor known as Ensor House to educate the family’s children while secretly concealing her violent tendencies. When members of the household begin disappearing, the owners start to suspect something is terribly wrong with their newest employee.

Monroe is joined by Thomasin McKenzie (Last Night in Soho), Jason Isaacs, Ruth Wilson, Jacobi Jupe, and Evie Templeton (Wednesday). Feito, who wrote the novel, also penned the screenplay. Filming took place in Ireland. Victorian Psycho has already earned strong reviews, including an 8/10 from JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray, who praised Wigon’s direction, Monroe’s performance, Ariel Marx’s score, and the film’s production design. Bumbray described the movie as more of a satire than a straight horror film and called it an “extremely well done” gothic thriller, adding that “If Merchant/Ivory had made a serial killer movie, it might have looked something like this.”

And that’s just a taste of the horror headed our way this fall. From major franchise movies like Resident Evil and Godzilla Minus Zero to literary adaptations, creature features, slashers, supernatural scares, and even a restored classic, there should be something for just about every kind of horror fan. With Halloween season right around the corner, the next few months are shaping up to be a very busy time at the movies. We’ll keep this preview updated as more titles are announced and release dates change, so be sure to check back for the latest additions.

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PLOT: A biotech conference eruts into chaos after a terrorist attack infects attendees with a virus that turns them into violent creatures, with them all connected to a hive mind that allows them to quickly adapt. One of the attendees, a former professor (Gianna Jun), manages to escape with a handful of other survivors as they try to make it out of the building alive.

REVIEW: I’m probably not the first – nor will I be the last – to say Colony is kind of like Die Hard with zombies. It’s the latest action-horror hybrid from South Korea’s Yeon Sang-ho, who made one of the better modern-day zombie films, the influential Train to Busan (as well as its massively budgeted sequel, Peninsula). After a break from the genre, he’s back with another large-scale entry, with a novel twist.

In Colony, the zombies (or rather – infected) are all connected to a single hive mind, with them the victims of a virus designed by a psychotic scientist (Koo Kyo-hwan) with an axe to grind. He’s also infected himself with the antibody, leaving the authorities in a precarious state. As far as they know, the infected could theoretically be cured, so they can’t just start mowing them down. They also have to somehow capture the scientist alive as he’s the only hope of a cure – although that might be exactly what he wants.

Like Train to Busan, Colony is mostly confined to a single location – in this case a sprawling office building, allowing our heroes more ground to cover this time out. Like most zombie-disaster films, the survivors each have their backstories, with some more prominent than others. The main ones are Gianna Jun’s Se-jeong, who is only attending the conference because she was dragged there by her nice-guy ex-husband, Gyu-seong (Go Soo), who wants to help her rebuild after a scandal cost her a professorship. There’s also Ji Chang-wook’s Hyun-seok, a security guard who is easily the most proficient survivor and is preoccupied with protecting his older sister, a paraplegic IT worker visiting him on the job. There’s also a cop who’s probably wound a little too tight, a rich jerk, a selfless older guy, and a bunch of teens.

What’s unique in Colony is how the infected, who operate as a singular unit, compare to the survivors, who are initially heroic and work well as a team, but quickly begin to splinter, as most only become concerned with saving themselves. A disastrous misunderstanding also pits one survivor against the others, leading to a whole lot of carnage.

Like a lot of South Korean genre fare, the budget on this one seems high, with it having top-notch production values and an epic feel. I’ve always found this to be an interesting contrast to how North America treats horror, as it’s rare outside of a few examples – such as World War Z – for movies like this to really be made on a tentpole level. Clearly Colony was made to be a blockbuster, as it’s lavishly mounted. What’s really cool is that Sang-ho has almost completely eschewed CGI, with practical gore (although it’s modest) and a huge cast of contortionists playing zombies. Compared to 28 Years Later, whose zombies struck me as a bit too performative (it felt like each of them was trying to be noticed by the camera), these ones all work as a group, with the choreographed attacks beautifully designed.

While many of the characters fit genre archetypes, occasionally they do subvert expectations. Gianna Jun, who’s an icon in South Korean cinema thanks to starring in the classic My Sassy Girl, is a good heroine, with her believably flawed. She’s a hero, but she doesn’t always have the answers and has her own past mistakes to own up to – with her having a meaningful connection to the terrorist mastermind, which is revealed later. As the bad guy, Koo Kyo-hwan is appropriately menacing, while Ji Chang-wook steals a lot of scenes as the capable but rash security guard who has one of the movie’s cooler arcs.

While Colony isn’t the best zombie movie I’ve seen recently (I’d give that honour to The Bone Temple) and likely won’t be the best comic-book movie out this year (I have high hopes for the new Resident Evil), it will no doubt please fans. It’s not up to the level of Train to Busan, but it’s wildly entertaining and slickly made.

Colony is now playing in theaters!

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Alien: Romulus was a major critical and commercial success, with many calling it one of the best of the franchise, but it appears Ridley Scott wasn’t blown away. During a recent interview with AlloCiné, the iconic director said the 2024 sequel was merely “OK.” In fact, he added that he believes the franchise needs some help, and he’s the one to get it back on track.

Ridley Scott on Alien: Romulus

“Actually, I suddenly went back and got involved,” Scott told the French outlet. “The one that just came out [2024’s Alien: Romulus] was OK. I think it needs some help. So, I’ve gone back in.“

Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, Alien: Romulus follows “a group of young people on a distant world who find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.” Director Fede Álvarez wasn’t going to return for the sequel, but he did co-write the script. However, finding a new director has proven to be difficult, and there were even rumours that the project had been cancelled, which 20th Century Studios President Steve Asbell denied.

What Does Ridley Scott Have Planned?

However, it doesn’t sound like Scott is interested in picking up the pieces of Alien: Romulus. Instead, he wants to return to David (Michael Fassbender), the unhinged android who got up to trouble in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.

“I’ve already got a footprint for the next Alien,” he said. “We did Prometheus, and then Alien: Covenant. So, I’m picking up where we left off in Covenant with Micheal Fassbender, who now thinks he’s Ozymandias.“

Scott continued, “I like the fact that AI has gone off the rails. If we go AI, the moment we discover it’s off the rails is too late. It could switch every digital thing off in the world like that. You’d have fucking chaos. It’s that kind of stuff that’s scary.“

If I’m being perfectly honest, I would like to see the final stage of David’s story, but I also want to see what other directors can do with the franchise. It was a unique element of the Alien movies. After Ridley Scott set the stage with the first movie, James Cameron, David Fincher, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet put their own spin on the universe, and it worked beautifully; well, some better than others, but they each felt distinctly different. And if the franchise really is going to move forward, it can’t just be the Ridley Scott show.

Was Alien: Romulus just okay? Do you want Ridley Scott to continue David’s story with the next Alien movie?

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Jason Voorhees is going international for Halloween. Movie Park Germany has announced Jason Universe, a brand-new haunted house based on the iconic Friday the 13th slasher, as one of the major new attractions coming to this year’s Halloween Horror Festival. The attraction will bring Jason into Horrorwood Studios for an immersive experience inspired specifically by Friday the 13th Part 2 through Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.

This marks the latest expansion of Jason Universe into the world of immersive horror attractions. Earlier this year, Horror, Inc. partnered with Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group to launch Jason Universe: Survive the Night at select haunted-house locations across the United States, along with the extremely limited interactive experience Jason Universe: Director’s Cut. Six Flags has also announced Jason: Blood Reign, a new Friday the 13th-themed haunted maze coming to Kings Island, Six Flags Great Adventure, and Carowinds this Halloween.

Now, not even Germany is safe.

Jason Universe Takes Over Movie Park Germany

The new Jason Universe horror house will take guests on a journey through Jason Voorhees’ cinematic universe, recreating locations and imagery from some of the most beloved entries in the Friday the 13th franchise. The attraction will feature 14 scenes plus a preshow, with Movie Park promising plenty of references to Jason’s legacy. Among the locations being brought to life are the barn, the camp, and the forest, settings that will be recognizable to Friday the 13th fans.

The attraction is being created around this year’s Halloween Horror Festival theme, “Legends Never Die.”

“For over four decades, Jason has been one of the most iconic horror characters in film history,” Movie Park says in the announcement. “Now, for the first time, the legend is coming to Horrorwood Studios, taking guests on an ominous journey through his dark cinematic universe.”

Halloween Project Manager Manuel Prossotowicz adds:

“The result is a highly detailed horror attraction that offers guests numerous references to the legacy of this iconic character and brings this year’s Halloween theme, ‘Legends Never Die,’ to life in a unique way.”

The attraction is being developed in partnership with Horror, Inc., which oversees the Jason Universe brand.

“Partnering with Movie Park to bring Jason Voorhees to life in this fantastic maze is incredible, especially as this allows us to serve fans at an international scale,” says Robbie Barsamian, Executive Vice President at Horror, Inc. “It gives our horror fans in Europe an unforgettable way to step inside the legacy they’ve obsessed over for decades.”

Movie Park’s creative team is also working with haunted-attraction specialists Leisure Expert Group and Props & Zo. Leisure Expert Group will handle the theming and design of the individual scenes, while Props & Zo will handle construction. The companies previously collaborated on The Walking Dead Breakout at the same location.

The new Jason Universe haunted house is intended for guests 16 and older and will replace Secrets of St. Elmo – Last Hunt, which has occupied the location since 2020.

Jason Universe Is Taking Over Halloween

The Movie Park Germany announcement is the latest in a resurgence of Jason Voorhees in immersive Halloween attractions, but Jason has also already appeared in the world of major theme-park Halloween events. Last year, Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights featured a Jason Universe haunted house at both Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood, taking guests through Camp Crystal Lake and other locations inspired by Jason’s history.

Taken together, these attractions demonstrate just how aggressively Horror, Inc. is expanding the Jason Universe beyond movies.

What Else Is Coming to Movie Park Germany?

Jason Universe is the biggest news for Friday the 13th fans, but it isn’t the only new attraction coming to Movie Park Germany’s 2026 Halloween Horror Festival.

The park is also introducing PHOBIA – The Live Horror Game Show, an interactive horror production in Studio 7. Hosted by the twisted Rudy von Hell, the show will combine live entertainment, international performers, freak-show acts, psychological horror, and interactive challenges.

Several existing horror attractions are returning as well, including Hell House, The Slaughterhouse, Circus of Freaks, Final Stop, Murder Museum, A Quiet Place, Blood Moon Trailer Park, and Ahoj-Brause Horror Lab. Murder Museum will receive an additional scene and a new pathology room, while Ahoj-Brause Horror Lab will receive additional scare elements and a revised storyline.

Overall, the 2026 Halloween Horror Festival will feature nine horror houses, four scare zones, more than 300 monster actors, a monster parade, live DJs, hypnosis, and additional entertainment.

The 28th Halloween Horror Festival will take place across 22 event days from September 26 through November 8, 2026. More information will follow at www.movieparkgermany.de and at www.halloween-horror-festival.de.

Jason Voorhees’ Horror Comeback Continues

The arrival of Jason Universe at Movie Park Germany comes at an interesting time for the Friday the 13th franchise. After years of legal complications that kept the series largely dormant, Jason Voorhees is now appearing across a wide range of entertainment. He has already returned to video games, including Dead by Daylight, appeared in the short film Sweet Revenge, entered the tabletop gaming world, and become the centerpiece of multiple major Halloween attractions. And the biggest new development is still to come.

A24’s Crystal Lake, the upcoming Friday the 13th prequel series, is set to premiere on Peacock in the United States on October 15, 2026. The series stars Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees and explores the story surrounding the drowning of her son Jason before the events of the original 1980 movie.

That means Jason fans are getting a full-blown Friday the 13th renaissance. There are new television projects, games, collectibles, short films, haunted houses, theme park attractions, and now an international Jason Universe experience waiting for horror fans in Germany.

Movie Park’s version is particularly appealing to longtime fans because it isn’t just using Jason’s name, it’s specifically drawing from Friday the 13th Parts 2 through 6, the stretch of the series that established Jason Voorhees as the hockey-mask-wearing slasher icon we know today.

This Halloween, Jason isn’t just waiting at Camp Crystal Lake. He’s coming to Germany.

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Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man is coming home with plenty of gore just in time for Halloween season. Alliance Home Entertainment and The Horror Section have announced the physical media release dates for Roth’s horror comedy. Ice Cream Man will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on October 20, 2026, followed by a Limited 4K UHD & Blu-ray Collector’s Edition SteelBook on November 17. Copies are already available for pre-order on Amazon.

The movie will also be available to buy or rent digitally on September 22, meaning horror fans who missed its theatrical run won’t have to wait long to see Roth’s latest nightmare at home.

Set in the seemingly quiet seaside town of Bayleen Bay, Ice Cream Man follows a mysterious ice cream vendor who arrives with treats that no child can resist. Things quickly take a horrifying turn when the town’s youngsters become a murderous force, leaving a small group of unaffected kids to uncover the sinister truth behind the smiling stranger.

Roth directed Ice Cream Man from a screenplay he wrote with Noah Belson, and the film stars Ari Millen, Benjamin Byron Davis, Karen Cliche, Dylan Hawco, Sarah Abbott, Shiloh O’Reilly, Kiori Mirza Waldman, Charlie Zeltzer, Charlie Storey, and Roth himself.

The movie premiered theatrically on August 7, 2026, and is a completely new story rather than a remake or continuation of the 1995 Ice Cream Man starring Clint Howard.

What’s Included With the Ice Cream Man 4K SteelBook?

The Limited 4K UHD & Blu-ray Collector’s Edition is aimed at horror collectors. Along with the movie, the SteelBook package includes an exclusive slipcover, collectible art cards, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. The release also comes loaded with bonus material, including:

• Commentary by Eli Roth and co-writer Noah Belson
• Cast & Crew Interviews, including Roth and Ari Millen
• Behind-the-Scenes Footage
• Eli Roth’s Short Films
• Trailer Gallery
• Ice Cream Man: The Backstory
• The Ice Cream Truck
• Kidpocalypse

The standard Blu-ray and DVD editions will also include exclusive interviews with Roth and Millen.

Ice Cream Man is another bloody genre project from Roth, the filmmaker behind movies like Cabin Fever, Hostel, The Green Inferno, and Thanksgiving. The filmmaker has described the new movie as an idea he had been developing for more than two decades before finally bringing it to the screen.

Will you be adding Ice Cream Man to your physical media collection? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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The Walking Dead: Dead City is about to do something the franchise has never done before: bring back a character who died years ago and show what her life might have been like if the zombie apocalypse had never happened. Emily Kinney is returning as Beth Greene in the upcoming alternate-reality episode of The Walking Dead: Dead City, and the actress recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about stepping back into the role opposite Lauren Cohan’s Maggie.

Beth was killed off in the fifth season of The Walking Dead, when she was shot during the 2014 midseason finale at Grady Memorial Hospital. But in this new Dead City episode, Beth is alive, living in New York City, and pursuing her dreams as a musician.

Kinney admitted she never expected to return to the franchise.

“I never would’ve imagined that I was coming back at all,” the actress told Entertainment Weekly. “Years ago, when The Walking Dead series was still going, I vaguely remember they were like, ‘Oh, maybe in someone’s fever dream, there’d be a thing again.’ And it was gonna be a bunch of characters, but then that never happened. But I never would’ve imagined it, especially because now the main show was over. So I was very surprised. I had no idea. But I was excited.”

The return also gave Kinney the opportunity to reunite with Cohan. The two actresses first worked together when Kinney joined The Walking Dead in season 2, and Kinney says their chemistry came back immediately.

“Yeah, it just felt really natural,” Kinney said. “There are even some of the same people working on Dead City that worked on Walking Dead. Of course, Lauren, but also people on the crew. Vincent, who was the key hair person, worked on the regular Walking Dead. There were a lot of familiar faces. My experience with Walking Dead is maybe just stuck with me, and so then coming back to it was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I fit in here.’ Especially working with Lauren, we’ve always just had a really natural, easy way of working together that I don’t think I’ve encountered anywhere else. Anytime we have to do anything emotional, it’s always very easy.”

That sisterly connection was especially important for an episode centered on Beth and Maggie.

“It was great,” Kinney said of sharing scenes with Cohan again. “I’ve seen Lauren throughout the years. We still have a group that’ll get together in L.A. occasionally, and I’ve seen her at conventions and things. So it was nice to be able to have that on set, and then also get to be Maggie and Beth. There is something with me and Lauren where it has always kind of felt like sisters. Our scenes always feel really like she’s such a good listener and just such a good scene partner. Our first day on set [of The Walking Dead] was together back in season 2.”

Beth gets the life she always wanted

One of the most intriguing aspects of the alternate reality story is that Beth isn’t just alive, she has managed to leave the Greene family farm behind and pursue a career in music in New York City. Kinney sees the storyline as a fitting continuation of Beth’s dreams.

“I’m really proud of Beth,” she said. “I feel like in this other timeline if the zombie apocalypse hadn’t happened, the fact that she was able to move on from her life on the farm and follow her dreams is great. And so as an outside observer, I’m proud of her. And I resonate with it. I’m from Nebraska, and I moved to New York City when I was 19 or 20 to do music and acting, so it made sense to me.”

Beth will sing one of Kinney’s own songs, “Reasons to Stay Alive.” According to Kinney, the opportunity came about after the original script called for Beth to perform a folk song.

“The first script that they sent me, it just said: ‘Beth sings a folk song.’ They didn’t know what song. And then we had a meeting to talk with the music supervisor and different people to talk about what song. They were like, ‘Do you have any ideas?’ And I was like, ‘Well, yes, I do!’ [Laughs] The lyrics matched up so perfectly to the events of the episode, so I was like, ‘You guys, I have to pitch my song.’ I played them the song, and then they were like, ‘Yeah, that’s the song!’”

Kinney has also released a new version of “Hold On,” a song she originally performed as Beth during season 3 of The Walking Dead. The song is the first single from her upcoming I Cried When You Died EP, which will consist entirely of songs she performed in character as Beth.

“I literally had this EP ready to go specifically for Walking Dead fans, and then got the offer for Dead City,” Kinney said. “And so it all just lined up!”

What is The Walking Dead: Dead City about?

The Walking Dead: Dead City follows Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) as they navigate a post-apocalyptic Manhattan that has long been cut off from the mainland. The ruined city has become a dangerous world of its own, populated by walkers and survivors who have established their own communities and rules.

Season 3 finds Maggie and Negan attempting to put their differences aside and build the first thriving community in Manhattan since the apocalypse. However, the chaos surrounding them forces both characters to confront their pasts and question whether they can truly move beyond their old wounds.

The series also stars Jimmi Simpson, Aimee Garcia, and Raúl Castillo.

Now, Dead City is giving fans something completely different with an episode that asks: What if Beth Greene had survived? Emily Kinney’s Beth Greene returns when the alternate-reality episode of The Walking Dead: Dead City airs this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. Will you be watching?

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