The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for July 2020

Another month into this dreadful year and added to my list of woes is a bad back I seem unable to fully recover from, and the more surreal incident of the phantom attic rats. I have a week off work in a weeks time, it will be my first proper time off since February (I had 4 days off at the end of May, but that was due to my mother dying so wasn't exactly a happy relaxing period). I am looking forward to getting some rest and relaxation as am currently feeling quite burnt out from this draining year! Video game update for July...I was quite deep into Control, but then something newer and shiner came along (Ghost of Tsushima) so I have briefly shelved that. I have also been playing more Dead by Daylight recently, it's one of those weird games where I feel I will never be at a stage where I can comfortably put up a measured review.

A bit late as I received the email about this at the end of June! Arrow Video Channel's July lineup included undead comedy Zombie for Sale, as well as Gamera: The Complete Collection which brings together all 12 films (the collection is also coming out on Blu-ray on the 17th August (UK) and 18th August (NA)). These films went live on the channel in the US and UK from 1st July and are joined by Creepshow 2, Bloodstone and Black Rainbow. 

Hand in hand with this news is the Arrow Video Blu-ray releases for July. Zombie for Sale, Black Rainbow, and Inferno of Torture came out on 7th July, Hiroshima on the 14th, and Bloodstone and Life is a Long Quiet River coming out on 21st July.

Lake Michigan Monster, a 'black-and-white nautical nightmare' will be available on the Arrow Video Channel and Digital HD on 3rd August in the US and UK. This comes from writer/director/actor Ryland Brickson Cole Tews and is about a bizarre sea captain on a quest to kill the sea monster that killed his father. The film is also enjoying a 24 hour virtual premiere on 31st July, though I am not sure this blog post will be up in time for you to see that. Still, try the link if you want to try and get a late ticket!

Finally, the Arrow Video Channel releases for August sees alongside Lake Michigan Monster, classics Tenebrae and Children of the Corn joining the platform, as well as The Untamed, Inferno of Torture, The Comic, The Case of the Scorpion's Tale, The Black Report, and Black Test Car.

Terror Films have formed a new partnership with Playnow Media. They are a leader in niche-specific, long-tail VOD/OTT channels across a variety of streaming services. Titles, including The Taking of Deborah Logan and Hell House LLC are now on the channel.

MVD Entertainment and Rue Morgue Magazine have launched Midnight Movie Unchained. This is an offshoot of the SVOD service Midnight Movie Society and is a free channel exclusively at Roku. It is designed to offer more traditional horror. The titles are from the MVD film catalog, from underground horror to cult classics.

Summer Hill Films have recently released ultra-low budget horror The Luring on Amazon, YouTube Movies, Google Play, iTunes and other streaming platforms. The film is about a man named Garret who tries to recover the memories from his tenth birthday. He is unaware that he lost them due to a horrific event that occurred there. This surreal psychological thriller was filmed at director/producer, Christopher Wells old family home in Vermont a week before it was sold.

Lection, the post-apocalyptic political drama from David Axe (SHED) is out now thanks to Gravitas Ventures, I will leave it up to the press release to sum up this unique film: 'The world ended. Then they had an election. The apocalypse wasn't loud. They forgot how to make things. They forgot how to run things. They even forgot...how to talk to each other. Now in the aftermath, do the residents of an isolated village entrust their ruined society to the victims of its collapse? Or do they ask those who wrecked it to try to make it right again? Who's in charge? How do they even decide?'

Me and the Devil is to be released on 1st September under the HNN Presents banner of Bayview Entertainment. This comes from Italian filmmaker Dario Almerighi and is about the unravelling of Mario (played by Antonio De Nitto) after his fiancee dies in strange circumstances during a holiday. The film shares its release date with Master Pieces.

A crowdfunder campaign has started for the female driven psychological thriller Callback which comes from HorrorScreams VideoVault and FoxTrot Productions. It is about a struggling actress Sonia (Jennifer Nangle - The Last Roommate) who snaps when her successful friend Jessica (Jackie Falcon - Lockdown) gets the role she wanted, and ends up kidnapping her. The Indiegogo campaign can be found here.

A new clip has been release for upcoming horror anthology Realm of Shadows. This anthology promises that all its stories are based on real events, and is to feature such notable horror icons as Tony Todd (Candyman franchise), Michael Berryman (Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes) and Tamara Glynn (Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers). The clip is from the segment Dreamlady. 

Radar Pictures are in development of an auditory horror film called Unseen, with Jen and Sylvia Soska set to write and direct this. It is based on BlindSide, an audio-only mobile adventure game. The film is about a couple who wake up blind in a nightmarish world. It sounds like it will join the growing sub-genre of horror about sensory deprivation (Bird Box, A Quiet Place, Creature in the Dark)

Polestar Studio's Evergreen Is the Blood was due to be filmed in July and is based on a screenplay written by award-winning filmmaker John Reign (who also directs and stars in this) and William Long. The film is about a man who is living as a recluse after the death of his family. It turns out a lair of vampires are living in the woods around his secluded home. 

The next episode in the paranormal show We Want To Believe is now out. The title is a bit of a mouthful; Episode 3: The Demon Jar Part Three. This episode sees the team continue their investigation at an apparently haunted hotel. Check it out for yourself via YouTube. 

Evil Dead documentary Hail to the Deadites is to have its world premiere in August at the Fantasia International Film Festival. This documentary is about the fans of the iconic franchise and includes interviews with the cast, crew, collectors, fans and more. Of course, with the ongoing pandemic the film festival has been revamped as a virtual festival. The documentary should be up to watch on the Fantasia online platform from August 20th to September 2nd. It's 'geo-blocked' to Canadian audiences only for some reason.

The trailer for season 6 of The Walking Dead spin-off show, Fear the Walking Dead has dropped. I've only ever seen one and a half seasons of this show so it is about high time I get around to catching up with events. The new season premieres on Monday 12th October at 9pm on AMC.

 

UK based dark cinematic rock artist Brocarde has released the official music video for World Upside Down. This self-directed video features Ray Luzier (KoRn) on drums, and the song is taken from new EP, Love Me Till I'm Beautiful that came out on 19th July.

Continuing the pandemic theme, darkwave act Thrillsville has put out a new video for song Lockdown. It made its premiere on ReGen Magazine. Rani Sharone from the group stated "This song was directly inspired by the unrelenting restlessness of being 'stuck on lock-down'. In essence it's a romantic song about longing for a normal night on the town."

   

Horror board game Slice & Dice will be available for pre-order from 11th August. This is a deck building strategy game from Horror-Fix creator Ash Hamilton. The blurb for this says 'In a dash to either kill or save the game's victims, players will have to not only defeat the victims themselves, but other players in combat as well. Ever wondered if Chucky could go head to toe against Leatherface? Well, Slice & Dice looks to answer that question and more.' This will be on Kickstarter for pre-sale.

Final news is with David Moody (author of the phenomenal Autumn series of zombie novels). After suffering a heart attack earlier this year (another nail in the coffin of 2020) he is now thankfully recovered and set to release a new book. The Bleed: Rupture is the first in a three book series that he is writing with Chris Philbrook (Adrian's Undead Diary) and Mark Tufo (Zombie Fallout). The book is out now in paperback, ebook and as an Audible exclusive audiobook.