The Rotting Zombie's News Round-up for August 2026

Laziness is the word I would use to describe my blog output this year. Case in point; my news round-up for August is publishing in September. It really should have been up last week. Back in the Rotting Zombie HQ I have once again got a trapped nerve in my back, always joyous, and I do wonder how none of my nerves have rotted away by this point in my un-life

After Impact is a sci-fi thriller (written, directed, produced and starring Michiel Rensen) that is set for a North American digital debut release on September 15th 2026. In this movie, Ethan inherits his father's business just as the world faces the arrival of a deadly asteroid. Surviving by hiding out in his family's bunker, he begins to suspect he is the sole survivor, but this may not be the case.

Coming to North American VOD platforms on September 4th 2026 is the psychological horror film, Influence. The story sees a struggling filmmaker who becomes obsessed with a popular social media influencer and actress. When her pitch to the star is rejected, the filmmaker flips, breaking into her home and taking her hostage.

Indie entertainment group DRagonSTUDIOS are set to release their own streaming platform this October named DRagonFLIX. The press release states this services '...aims to bridge the gap between contemporary indie filmmaking and nostalgic genre cinema'. Subscribers will get access to two hubs at launch; exclusive new indie film that will be debuting directly on the service rather than in cinemas, and a free classic movie channel that will be streaming a 24/7 collection of curated films, including cult classics, timeless films, and vintage horror.

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on September 4th is CHAT, described as 'supernatural AI terror meets dark comedy'. A couple who have recently moved to a new home, face terror when their young son discovers a strange A.I powered tablet that unleashes supernatural horror on the family. Directed by Ole J Hartmann and starring Carter Sirianni and Alexis Schrepple, you can check out the trailer below.

Acorn Media have announced the release of a season 3 of The Terror horror anthology series, titled The Terror: Devil in Silver. Based on Victor LaValle's book of the same name (the stories adapted by the writer himself), this season, the story is a about a man wrongfully committed to a psychiatric hospital, who then discovers the existence of an entity that feeds on the suffering of the place. The Terror: Devil in Silver also comes to Blu-ray and DVD on 5th October.

Finally for today, the official trailer for Illinois based post-apocalyptic zombie horror, Holler has released. The change here that instead of being set before or during the outbreak, this story takes place many years after the undead took over the world, where they have become common to the survivors. There is currently a successful Kickstarter going to complete the film, that can be found here.

A Cold Season (2026) - Horror Film Review

A Cold Season is an indie horror that has one toe dipped into the darkly comedic. Written and directed by Christian Jude Grillo (Neighbor, Intruder), this psychological thriller falls neatly into the Christmas sub-genre. Mixing that thriller with elements of a slasher, the film is shown from the viewpoint of an unreliable narrator, and attempts a mid-film rug pull that puts into question everything that has came before.

Starting in medias res, the film opens on Jacob (Andrew Hunsicker - Epidemic, The Listing) being interviewed in what appears to be a police station on the first of January 2027. Asked to provide an explanation for what events led him to be in this situation, the majority of the film then works as a flashback, taking place over several weeks during the Christmas period. During this time, the grumpy  loner is carrying on as normal, though that normal includes murder as it seems that he is secretly racking up a small body count. The flashback starts with Jacob looking down on a frozen corpse before kicking snow over it, and in addition, he seems to be carrying another corpse wrapped in a blanket in the back of his truck. All of this without context for what has happened. His motivations may be unclear, but as the days pass and he begins to get more reckless with his choice of victims, it seems that capture for him is certain.

I had the vaguest sense of American Psycho watching this, an ever present feel that what was being shown might not be completely accurate. The audacious actions of the anti-hero protagonist  made it feel like there was no way he could have been getting away with things like he was. Jacob is the centre of this thriller, so much so that the film sticks with him the entire 80 minute runtime, everything shown from his perspective, the only cutaways being to sensationalised news reports that are often shown playing while Jacob dozes on his sofa. The character is not a good person, but he wasn't completely unlikeable. Gruff, sullen and a definite loner, he fits the small town snowy locale well, without sticking out as someone different. His interactions with elderly neighbour, Julie (Clair O'Neil - Human Hibachi 2) show his altruistic side, and he even has a half decent relationship with his son. In a film like this you would expect him to be estranged, maybe as a reason for his bitterness, but it is just a large distance that separates them. A lot of the dark humour came from the juxtaposition of light and dark, such as the recurring jovial Christmas ditties that play as Jacob drives around with a body on the back of his truck. The most surreal part of A Cold Season has Jacob hallucinating a shades wearing Santa (also played by Hunsicker), a character who pops up a few times playfully chiding the killer for how sloppy he is becoming with his choice of victims.
There never seemed a decent explanation for why he was killing. A messy breakup lives rent-free in his head, maybe being a catalyst for Jacob's misery, but you are just led to believe that the man is just crazy. To be fair, a big twist at the end of the second act explains away some of this. The third act taking place after the initial police interrogation scene was a big departure in vibe, interesting direction to go in for sure, but it wasn't a smooth fit, feeling different in tone, likely on purpose.

Not the most action filled movie, there are still a couple of kills that take place on screen, and are suitably Christmas themed. Without many special effects, and with little to no blood shown, visually this was a little tame, but kills did look good, such as one that takes place lit by the flashing lights of a police car. The snow and feel of it being winter (this was literally filmed in freezing temperatures on isolated mountain locations) worked with the story of isolation and grief that Jacob carries with him.

A Cold Season was an enjoyable indie thriller, though one that could have fused its two disparate sections together more neatly. Jacob made for a protagonist who was hard to identify with, always an element of mystery that kept the viewer at a distance from understanding just what makes him tick. With much of the film on his shoulders, Hunsicker does a compelling performance, long scenes of him alone never resulting in the plot stalling, instead this is like a window into Jacob's troubled mind. A Cold Season releases domestically in the US on November 10th 2026 via MVD Entertainment Group.

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Carry the Darkness (2025) - Horror Film Review

Written and directed by Douglas Forrester in his feature length directorial and writing debut, Carry the Darkness encapsulates a nostalgic time for me, I look back on the 1990s fondly, so a horror set in 1993 appealed, even if by dealing with the issues of moral panics in America (in this case the real-life Satanic panic), it wasn't one whose coming of age story resonated with me. Adding to this small town horror of a social outcast are elements of the supernatural, though these never dominated the film, maybe to the film's discredit?

Travis (Joel Meyers - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Broadway stage play) is an angst ridden teenager, who plays up the role of the rebellious teen outsider that the townsfolk have painted him as. Bitter at life in general, him and his unexpected best friend, the studious Jordan (Jaden Gant), spend their free time looking for ways to get high; as a means to escape from the insular community they are a part of. While exploring an abandoned building out in the woods (looking for a new place to hang-out when taking drugs), Travis discovers a strange room that feels like it shouldn't be there. While there, he encounters a doppelganger of himself, who promises with a corrupted voice that he can give Travis the power to right the perceived wrong he feels he has been dealt in life. When he decides that he doesn't want the assistance of this being, it turns its attention to his new friend, and potential love interest; troubled Stacey (Helen Laser -  In Sound Mind video game voicework), seeing that she would be more open to its sinister offer.

Did I enjoy Carry the Darkness? Yes I did, even with a somewhat pathetic protagonist. He was fun to watch; sure he is a walking parody of an angsty teen, complete with long black coat, Satanic T-shirts and his brooding persona, but he wasn't entirely unlikeable. There was something of the poser to him, hiding his fear of not knowing his place in the world by acting like the ultimate rebel. This became a little bit endearing, with the sense that he is a good person under this act. He treats his best friend well, and despite arguments with his mother he still is shown to respect her, and the people he does act out against deserve it in one way or another. What Travis, Jordan and Stacey have in common is that their teenage characters are played by actors obviously a little older than teens. Meyers covers this up with his wild eyed stares and jittery movements, making Travis seem like a fabricated character rather than a believable one, or at least one who has drank far too much coffee.

Splitting the story, there is also a subplot about the local law enforcement investigating a series of strange murders in the area, with them eager to place the blame at Travis' feet without having proof. In this part, Hollis Fox plays the Fox Mulder coded Detective Jillian Carter; the sole responsible adult to suspect a more supernatural explanation for what is going on.

Those supernatural elements are not heavy, relegated to key scenes. This led to feelings that not much was really going on horror-wise, two thirds drama, one third horror. Scenes with the doppelganger looked great, fitting into the dark and grimy locations it resided at. This being didn't really do much more than talk, and was used sparingly. The core story felt far more coming of age. Travis having recently experienced the freedom of being able to drive his mother's car, finding a love interest in the equally angst filled Stacey (who comes across as a more authentic rebel), and recurring encounters with the high school jocks who are not his biggest fans. The supernatural story is left to the viewer to decipher and felt a little ill-developed, suggestions the being returns in IT fashion every 30 years, and that it lives in a type of dimension made up of the subconscious memories of its victims, but never really explained. Then, as effective as the ending felt, I can't say I completely knew what was happening during it.

Carry the Darkness leans heavily into its early 90s setting, and having the story set to the backdrop of a moral panic (that is reflected in interviews and on screen news stories), brought things together well. I would have liked for the horror part of the movie to be more front and centre. As key as it undeniably was, I was always left wanting more than what was shown. Carry the Darkness came to horror streaming platform BloodStream on August 14th, which is to be followed by a multi-platform rollout from The Horror Collective.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 20th August 2026

After seemingly months of trying, I think this week will be the first in a long while where I actually succeed in putting out five blog posts. What a difference some (very expensive) air conditioning makes at The Rotting Zombie HQ. Onwards to the news.

Freestyle Digital Media have acquired horror comedy, Tomorrow, You Pretty Ghost for an August release, on the 25th. The film tells the story of drama students Haley and Chas, who decide to do one last prank before graduation. I'm sure it will involve a ghost of some type. Written and directed by Alex Morand and Rocky Pajarito, the cast include Abigail Sims, Everado Barriga and David Brown.

Indie slasher, Final Summer is now available to rent or purchase digitally on major global platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Google Play. Created by filmmaker John Isberg, this promises to blend eighties horror with a modern edge. The typical story sees a group of camp counsellors on their final night at the campground when they become the target of a masked killer.

Finally for today, I was contacted by the owner of Asian Horror Hub about plugging the site, and I thought 'why not?'. As the title suggests, this is a site focussed on Asian horror, and includes reviews, news and lists. You can check out the site here.

Harbinger (2026) - Horror Film Review

I don't know why, but I had high hopes for the very low budget UK indie horror - Harbinger. I didn't actually know anything about the movie, so not entirely sure why I was optimistic for great things, I even gave it the extra chance by watching it at night; a rare occurrence for me due to annoyingly not being a 'night owl'. Directed by James Crow (Curse of the Witching Tree), this supernatural horror has a few choice casting choices, but would this be enough to elevate it past some of its weaker components?

In a wild prologue, Julia (Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott - Helloween), discovers that her boyfriend of 18 months, Henry Decker (Peter Woodward - The Patriot) is actually a homicidally insane serial killer who plans for her to be his seventh victim. Fatally shot by police, the man collapses next to an antique fortune teller machine, mumbling a strange chant as he lay dying. Unknown to all, this chant was a magic spell that transferred his consciousness into the machine.
Five years later and Julia still suffers PTSD, frequently hallucinating that Decker has come back to life. One day she is approached by Mike (Gary Webster - Minder); the presenter for a popular paranormal investigation show called Spectre Investigates. He wants her to return to the mansion her and her ex-boyfriend lived at as part of a new episode of his show. Desperately needing the money being offered, Julia hesitantly agrees. Not long after arriving at her former home with the show cast and crew, everything goes wrong. Decker now possessing the fortune teller machine, uses his supernatural powers to seal all the doors and windows, trapping the visitors inside. His plan is to perform a ritual that will return him to some sort of life, and to do that, he requires six sacrifices.

Being very low budget, some of the acting is a bit suspect here. The more over the top characters fared better than the more measured performances on show. Woodward was excellent as the manic antagonist. One part The Joker, one part Moriarty, he was a joy to watch on screen, so much so that I found myself wishing the prologue had been the whole film. It was a lot better than the undercooked paranormal direction the main film went into. Webster's Mike, and the actor playing the hatted psychic also excelled in their roles, again due to their larger than life performances. Weirdly, I felt that Sothcott didn't really work as the protagonist. She might not be a bad actress, but physically her acting came across as a bit wooden, with her facial expression not changing much based on the situation. The character she played was quite dense, with even other characters within the movie wondering how she could be with Decker for so long and not realise he was a total maniac. The man was Looney Tunes from the off, and it was hard to believe they could have ever been even a façade of a couple. Julia is in good company for stupidity as this cast of characters love to make classic horror movie mistakes. Discovering you are trapped in a house due to an evil paranormal force isn't a good time to decide to go off and have sex for instance, nor would it make sense for near enough every character to at some point make up an excuse for why they needed to go and be on their own, rather than sticking together as a group. Most of the cast felt a bit like Star Trek red-shirts, just there to beef up the kill count without needing to be well developed characters. A forgettable bunch not helped by a soap opera level sub-plot about infidelity and accidental pregnancy going on in their background story. 

The supernatural element is loose and ill-defined with it never clear as to the extent of Decker's powers. Is he a ghost able to materialise anywhere at any time to kill his victims? Is he literally possessing the body of the dummy in the fortune teller machine and killing people in a more physical slasher fashion? The film never seems entirely sure either, giving him of combination of both styles seemingly on a whim. When the kills begin they come thick and fast. You hardly have time to mourn (so to speak) the death of one character before another is swiftly dispatched in quick succession. Strangulation, a slit throat, and eyes being squished into the skull; all sound fine on paper, but there was something uniformly lacklustre about how they are shown on screen. Take the slit throat, sounds neat, but was ruined slightly by little to no blood.

Harbinger felt like it focussed on the wrong point in time with its story. Decker was never as joyously villainous as he was in the fun prologue sequence. As a ghostly force he never worked as effectively; the best character relegated to the background, and who was often represented by a bland looking possessed French clown dummy rather than the delightfully gurning Woodward. Look past the low budget and there are a couple of moments of magic to be found. As a whole though, for me this just didn't land. Harbinger came to UK digital on 10th August and on Blu-ray, and US digital on 11th August, thanks to Miracle Media.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 6th August 2026

Yet another week, and the hot summer is continuing with seemingly no end. The poor grass is as yellow as straw outside my home, and I am awash in fans of various shapes and sizes, keeping my rotted corpse from decomposing in this humid heat. Onwards to the news.

At the start of July, indie psychological thriller, Farm House came to streaming on Amazon Prime Video, distributed by Bayview Entertainment. In this Frank Palangi directed and co-written horror, a house-sitters relaxing weekend turns into a fight for survival. Inspired by the real life Warren County serial killings, this also draws from true-crime and classic 1980s slasher tropes.   

Streaming platform BloodStream has been putting out some experimental vertical horror series lately, designed to be watched on a mobile phone. Coming to the platform are both Umbral and I Will Kill You. Umbral comes from Chilean director Gerson Vega and released on August 1st. The 9 episode series is a 'surreal nightmare about a man trapped in a dream world controlled by a mysterious entity, the lines between reality and dreams completely blurred'. The film is presented in Spanish, and a trailer can be seen here.

Finally for today, Italian found footage movie Watchful Eyes is a Found TV exclusive, premiering on August 7th in the United States, Canada and Italy. Directed by Gianluca Lasaracina, this follows Sebastian, a man attempting to rebuild his life after the death of his daughter, and losing his job. He gets a job as a janitor at a university, where he is tasked with covertly watching five students suspected of being related to an unexplained death of a university professor, but whose death may actually be more supernatural in nature.

The Rotting Zombie's News Round-up for July 2026

Another month of me being lazy when it comes to this blog. Since returning to work back in May, I've really struggled to find a way to fit both day job and blog into my life equally. This week though, for sure there will actually be five posts going up! (news flash; there wasn't!) Onwards to the news.

Cinema Epoch have acquired worldwide distribution rights to Vito Trabucco's giallo comedy thriller - The Delicate Art of Cooking Italian and Killing Your Wife. This follows a man whose weekend is upended when he kills his wife - from this point nothing is quite as it seems for the man. The press release states it pays homage to the suspense traditions of Brian De Palma, Claude Chabrol, and Alfred Hitchcock, and stars Vince Cusimano (Blade: The Iron Cross), Tania Fox and Katt Balsan. The Delicate Art of Cooking Italian and Killing Your Wife has a worldwide digital release planned for late October.

The first teaser trailer for corrupted The Wonderful Wizard of Oz inspired; Dorothy: The Haunting of Oz has been released. The story takes place on Halloween where a viral internet challenge results in nightmarish characters appearing in a Californian town. This is to be the feature length debut for 22 year old writer/director, Elijah J. Alvarez, and will star Adrienne Tabag, Caia Bonner, Jordan Sklansky, Aziah King, Andrew Wang, and Thomas Shan.

Bloodstream premieres supernatural horror Evil Follows on Tuesday, August 4th, alongside its TVOD debut. This is written and directed by Brendan Rudnicki, and is a demonic possession horror (one of my favourite sub-genres of horror). In the film, a mysterious box unleashes an ancient evil when Sarah opens it. With her now possessed, her husband and a spiritualist look for a way to defeat the entity.

SEGA Europe and Creative Assembly have collaborated for an event during the UK's premier horror film festival; FrightFest. Over the five days of the festival; Thursday 27th August to Monday 31st at the Odean LUXE Leicester Square, guests will get to play the prologue of upcoming survival horror video game; Alien Isolation 2. The first game is often said to be one of the scariest horror games ever made, and so it is with good reason people are looking forward to seeing what a sequel brings. Staying on the topic of Alien; that original stone cold classic will be playing in the main Dolby Cinema auditorium screen on the Sunday at 15:30. For more info, check out the FrightFest website.

Joe Pellegrino's short horror film, Nymphal, is streaming for free worldwide on YouTube currently. This surreal and psychological story sees a man and his daughter trapped in their trailer backyard and has been described as 'Lynch meets Lovecraft'.

Finally for today, production began this month on psychological horror anthology; The Hours That Keep Us. Writer/director Tommy Jay Dwyer is to bring together three interconnected stories of love, loss, and obsession. Leading the cast are mixed martial artists Paige VanZant and Mickey Gall, Zack Ward (Freddy vs. Jason), and pro wrestler Vinny Pacifico (Mr. Reset and the Society of Turnbuckle & Bone). Produced by Greatest Gram Productions and HollyWoot Film Group, The Hours That Keep Us will shoot on location in Massachusetts.

Alien Storm (2026) - Sci-fi Horror Film Review

Alien Storm, co-written and directed by Adam Werth (Devil's Knight, Arena Wars) is the latest film from Mahal Empire. Over the years there have been consistently entertaining movies put out by them. The budget may often be low, but these always looked like they were fun to make. With such an ambitious global story here, would that be able to be adequately told in a little over 70 minutes?

A strange unnatural mist has began to appear in key areas all over the globe. Areas afflicted with this mist lose contact to the outside world. This alarming news is something the American President (Kevin Sorbo - Devil's Knight, Without a Body) bizarrely has only just been informed of - informed that key cities around the world have already gone dark, and that many areas in the US are now in the process of being lost!
Frank is the owner of a successful business, and happens to be hosting a large dinner party at his mansion when the mist appears. With reports on the TV stating to stay inside away from the mist, Frank invites his guests to use his newly constructed bunker, to stay there until the all-clear is given from the government. This might be a too little too late step for the guests though, as it becomes clear that as well as the mist, some sort of monster has infiltrated the grounds of Frank's property.

To cover such a global feeling story in such a relatively short run time was quite ambitious and the scope of the story is never that well realised. The prologue and President's briefing scenes attempt to show this, but more successful was the small montage of different news anchors reporting on the unfolding story.
Within the film, there is some discourse about whether the creatures are alien or demonic. This was just one area where it felt like this was trying to be a low budget version of Signs. In this case, the creatures look more like men in monster costumes. What they lack in realism they make up in numbers, a decent amount appear. You may never forget these don't look like actual monsters, but I did think the glowing red eyes they had made for a unique look, especially in the mist.
There are plenty of action scenes and a high body count. Many kills are shown via fast editing of monster attacks, which sold the kills well I felt. Following previous films, this is quantity over quality, with a huge cast of characters, most of which barely get screen time to give themselves personalities, these are mainly here to be cannon-fodder for the aliens. Some of the cast at least are given more to them, to make them less than one dimensional - such as the rivalry between two former sport stars, and Brian, the loveable albeit stupid uncle character.

There were pacing issues here, and some less than great set-design. With the former, there was barely much of a story here at all. Characters go out of their way to get in danger, and the resulting finale felt rushed through. High action and high stakes for sure, but this finale felt uncomfortably constrained in a ten minute burst. It wasn't an abrupt ending, but ended soon enough that a block of text appears on screen to explain what happened afterwards.
The bunker door for the bunker played a key role in the story, yet the door itself looked pretty wobbly, with the two doors that make up it never really coming together and closing properly. Didn't seem very effective for a supposedly tough door. The mist was overused, though only in the sense that every time it appeared it made everything look the same misty white, obscuring the environments and making it hard to make much out. The bunker interior did look fantastic however, a highlight of the locations used in the movie.

Alien Storm may have been a bit overly ambitious, but I enjoyed it. There was a streak of nihilism that made for an interesting feel and vibe. There were bound to be some less than amazing acting in the large cast, but I enjoyed the characters, regardless of how simple they were. There were parts of this that reminded me of the zombie sub-genre of horror, never a bad thing at all to discover. Alien Storm was released on 21st July and is available to rent or buy on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.

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Lars Shrike Walks the Night (2024) - Sci-fi Film Review

Sci-fi is often a not too distant cousin to horror, so, the Gary Walkow (The Trouble With Dick) written and directed Lars Shrike Walks the Night seemed on paper like a good fit for this humble blog. I admit, more than anything, I was interested in this due to Kelsey Grammer (Frasier, Cheers) starring. This very low budget, indie arthouse thriller was far more slow paced than I had anticipated, full of philosophical musings rather than moments of action.

Lars (Grammer), suffering amnesia, finds himself wandering a strange desert. All he can remember is his name, and that he had recently escaped from a prison based on an alien prison planet. The man has the clothes on his back, and an A.I controlled rifle, which is rapidly losing power. Lars' journey sees him travel down a narrow ravine, which results in him somehow ending up in modern day California. In a library, Lars discovers that he may actually just be a character from a sci-fi novel, and decides to track down the author of the novel in order to try and discover the truth of who he actually is.

For the first ten to fifteen minutes, this looked like it would just be a very cheaply made sci-fi B-movie. I thought to myself that Grammer must have fallen on hard times to have agreed to star in this. Whether that is the case or not, this turned out to be a more intelligent film than first impressions had suggested. It is relatively early on when Lars finds himself on Earth, but much longer before he realises this fact. It was somewhat amusing looking at Earth technology through an alien lens. Taking the form of such moments as Lars believing homes to be prison cells, and being mystified when he attempts to use a PC.
The sci-fi plot soon transitions into a more arthouse look at what it means to be alive and having freewill. This becomes more a visual essay, and while light on action, there are some interesting ideas to be discovered here, but it is a slow paced film.

The majority of the movie has Lars on his own. There are a handful of side characters, but just the one felt like they were really integral to the story playing out. This isn't something that takes itself super seriously - the talking gun for example is patently ridiculous, while Lars continuing confusion when dealing with modern day Earth is always exaggerated. His wanderings through desert and later California is a lonely and isolating trek, his journey constantly narrated by David Clennon, who starred in the 1987 sci-fi movie tangential prequel; The Trouble With Dick. All the philosophical musings on the nature of man made for an interesting subject, but the story suffered as a result. It increasingly felt more abstract, culminating in an open ended finale, resolving this somewhat, without too much really happening.

Less a film and more a study into the nature of humanity, Lars Shrike Walks the Night soon loses its sci-fi disguise. Grammer was great in his unexpected role, but the slow pace and more artsy feel meant that while the dialogue might have had merit, what actually happens wasn't quite as exciting. Lars Shrike Walks the Night came to VOD on July 24th.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for 21st July 2026

The best laid plans of mice and men, a Saturday mostly wasted, instead of concentrating on this little blog. One film review down, but not the three I intended. Still, tomorrow is another day, hopefully I will get a good working ethic then!
Of course, none of that makes sense now, this was written last week prior to be deciding to be lazy and take a week off blogging. I blame the hot weather! Onwards to the late news.

Coming out on July 28th is Cleopatra Venom's new horror film - The Withering, on Digital video. The film concerns an old woman with terminal cancer. This lady becomes obsessed with a strange amulet she gets a hold of. This device siphons the life force of others in her town, keeping  her fit and healthy. The more she uses this however, the more sick the rest of the town become, as she becomes younger and stronger, the town begins to die, and is up to the woman's sister to come to the town's aid and destroy the device.

The Hoodoos is a supernatural horror comedy that became available to stream from July 1st on Amazon, Google TV and Vudu. Directed by Jonathan Waler and written by Sean-Michael Argo, the film is a combination of voodoo and a heist. The synopsis has a heist crew breaking into an abandoned plantation and stealing Confederate gold coins. With begrudging sorcerer in tow (due to magical wards), the crew head out, unaware that they will each encounter a sentient voodoo doll that is thirsty for mayhem.

Finally for today, news that Bayview Entertainment have acquired indie thriller; Grace of God. This Doomsday cult horror comes to streaming this summer. Written and directed by JT Kris, the film follows a 13 year old girl who becomes indoctrinated into a cult, and upon realising its darkness, seeks a way to escape.

Birdcall (2026) - Short Horror Film Review

Birdcall is a fifteen minute short zombie(ish) film that tries its best to hide its indie budget. Directed by Justin Calandriello, and written by Halle Kott, the individual parts of this all work, but would it flow together in a satisfying manner?

The intro (bizarrely told via a puppet show), introduces us to the world of Birdcall. An avian disease has made the jump to humans, the disease causing victims to first rot, before making them become homicidally violent, and then finally mutating them into a new form. Scientist Jon (Sam Beaton) and his wife, Rosie (Vassiliki Gicopoulos) have travelled to a remote cabin. Rosie believes it is due to her insulting a superior of Jon's back at the facility that they have been sent away from the main facility, but unknown to her, Jon is infected, and has travelled to the cabin in order to test out a cure he has been working on.

There were a mix of styles here that meant at points the short didn't flow too smoothly. I liked the weird intro section, an easy and effective way to bring viewers up to speed on the film world. The whole short takes place inside the cabin location, the unnerving sounds outside indicating they are trapped here. The two characters are the focus of this short, and at times they revert to found footage moments where they leave video diaries. Jon was very arrogant, and him and Rosie's marriage is explored via dialogue indicating she is with him and his people for protection, making her initially quite a submissive character.

The plot goes as expected, some nice make-up to sell Jon's obviously increasingly rotting body. The constant monster calls from outside added atmosphere, though some of the sound effects did sound a little generic. The cabin was a decent location, but the side plots of what Jon and Rosie are doing did feel a little sporadic. 

Birdcall does a lot with a little, much of the horror implied rather than shown. The core-story wasn't something unique, though the set-up made for a little change. This was a good enough entry in this type of single location infection horror. Birdcall has its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival as part of the Official Selection of the Weekend Fantastique du Cinéma Québécois on July 31st.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Round-up for June 2026

It isn't an exaggeration to say I have been taking a casual approach to my blog these past few months. Being back working full time in a day job has led to a struggle at finding a work/blog balance. With my health on the way to being rosy (a persistent back issue has plagued me these past few months) -  onwards to the news once again!

Deadlocked: Dad of the Dead is a horror-comedy from writer/director Casey Jackson, to stream exclusively on Screamify from July 1st. Taking place entirely in a public restroom (bringing to mind Stalled), this 84 minute movie has an accountant and his daughter trapped in the place, alongside a bunch of strangers, after a zombie outbreak occurs.

Alien Storm (not the classic Megadrive/Genesis video game)is debuting on July 21st, coming from Mahal Empire. The film is about a rich businessman who is forced to flee, along with his guests, into his high-tech secret bunker when a strange fog spreads over his estate. They soon find they are not alone, with an alien presence inside the compound. 

Autonomous is a vertically shot horror thriller series that takes place entirely inside a self-driving car. This sixteen episode show was designed specifically to be viewed on mobile. Directed by Kyle Valle and starring Erin Áine and Domenic Jungling, this sees a man trapped inside a self-driving car that refuses to change its route. Autonomous is available to stream now on Screamify.

The Mortuary Assistant is a new demonic possession film that is a Shudder Original. Based on the video game of the same name, this comes to Blu-ray, DVD, and digital on 20th July thanks to Acorn Media International. Directed by Jeremiah Kipp (Slapface), this follows Rebecca (Willa Holland - Arrow), a new mortician working the night shift, who discovers a demonic entity has latched onto her.

Sounding very interesting, I Hate Found Footage is a blend of found footage, horror, comedy, and puppets! It follows two roommates who head into the woods to make their own found footage movie. The horror doesn't come from the puppets (the protagonists are these), but still sounds like something unique. This comes from Michael Rock and will debut globally on July 24th, with FOUND TV+ members getting access one day early.

On 1st July, Slashercise premieres on BloodStream, the film being a homage both to slashers, and to workout videos of the 80s. Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), this is about a masked killer named Meathead, who targets the fitness clubs of Los Angeles. The ensemble cast includes Vanessa Decker (Terrifier 2), John Bloom (The Hills Have Eyes), Keli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master).

Cleopatra Venom have announced the release of Portraits of the Apocalypse, coming to digital and DVD on 14th July. The film takes place in Buenos Aires after a mysterious infection spreads throughout the city, and tells four different stories, from the perspective of a journalist, a soldier, a mother, and a stranger. This award winning film was written and directed by Nicanor Loreti, Fabián Forte, and Luca Castello, and alleges to reimagine '...the zombie outbreak through a distinctly South American lens'.

Luke Sparke; the Australian director of Primitive War, has released a first-look teaser trailer of his next dinosaur film, with a working title of Dinosaurs of the Wild West. A Kickstarter to raise funds for this goes live on 7th July where a full trailer, project title and exclusive rewards will be unveiled.

Finally for this month's news instalment, the first look of slasher film - The Stutterer has been revealed. The press release states 'While structured as horror, the film does not glorify violence. It explores fear, shame, trauma, and the long-term emotional effects of being made to feel "less than." Even the killer's mask functions as a metaphor...' Currently attached to the project are Eric Roberts, Rhonda Shear, Lloyd Kaufman, Mel Heflin, Brinke Stevens, Markin Carvalho, and Kobi Frumer among others.

New Year's Absolution (2024) - Horror Film Review

 

When I began watching the Nick Leisure (Last the Night) directed and Damion Stephens written New Year's Absolution, I assumed it was going to be a slasher. It didn't take too long to realise this falls into the smaller sub-genre of horror, I've clumsily named 'friends do an annual meet-up and end up tearing each other apart over one night of madness'. Indeed a smaller sub-genre, but one I have enjoyed in the past with movies such as The Invitation, and other such ones that annoyingly I cannot recall the names of.

Ever since they were young, a group of friends have been meeting annually to celebrate the new year. Each year, ever since they have known each other, each of the friends have written an anonymous new year's resolution that is then picked at random out of a hat. These resolutions are treated super seriously, with the friends carrying them out even if it's to their own detriment. The meet-up is hosted at neurotic Damon's (Joel Brady - Men in Black 3) new modern house where he lives alongside wife, Claire (Shala White). His guests are surgeon Roy (Michael Copon - Night of the Demons) and his new girlfriend, Kira (Siddalle Diaz), work-out obsessed cop - Jacob (Josh Glimer) and wife Misty (Victorya Brandart - Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle), as well as stylishly gay Stuart (Rafael Siegel - Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles; uncredited) and his boyfriend Travis (Lamondo Hill II).
The evening begins well for the friends, with them all happy to catch-up, but things turn sour when it comes time to pick their resolutions and one of the friends picks a resolution that simply says 'kill someone'. In anger at receiving this twisted resolution, the man storms out, and during an attempt to get him to stay, a gun is accidentally discharged and someone is shot. Rather than alert the authorities, the group decide to deal with this matter themselves, setting off a chain of events that see misery and ruin come to the majority of them, with past tensions combining with current problems to disastrous effect.

It was a good half an hour into this 85 minute film before the thrills and horror set in. I admit I was getting a bit impatient for anything of note to happen, but this first act did do a good job of introducing the cast of characters and their various personalities. I have seen films where it takes much longer before anything happens, so it wasn't the worst opening. With the next two acts being so darn hypnotic, I can stomach the slow start. There is effort made to make the constant escalation seem natural, and for the most part this works. I would say there was at least one incident that seemed out of character, just there to keep the story moving forwards.

I loved the foreshadowing on display here. One of these moments was a bit overplayed with constant references to it, but I did enjoy that each of the friend's resolutions do indeed come to pass, albeit, in the most darkly twisted ways possible. It gave the feeling that each of these resolutions came to be a fortune destined to happen in a monkey's paw type fashion. The interactions between the cast of eight were fluid and fun, giving the feeling of a puzzle slowly being pieced together. There was reliance on not just dialogue, but subtle physical moments to give an idea of the groups loyalties with each other.

With these eight characters, many of them I assumed would not survive the film. This was the case, and it became entertaining to see the various ways they are removed from the story. Each death scene is different, and range from the accidental to purposeful. Blood effects were great, with the blood looking really gloopy. The vibe initially had some dark humour to it, such as Damon being more concerned with blood getting on his new flooring than the fact people have died. As the story progresses, things get darker and more sinister, leading to an interesting conclusion.
This had a good soundtrack as well, including a montage sequence set to the classic New Year's Eve tune that everyone knows.

I like these types of film, and New Year's Absolution was a good example. Some parts became far-fetched, but almost like a Rube Goldberg machine, once the separate parts started to move, it was fascinating to see the plot play out. Scatena & Rosner Films' New Year's Absolution releases on July 14th on VOD and digital, including Amazon Prime Video, Fandango At Home, DISH Network, and DirecTV.

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Amityville: Descendants of Darkness (2026) - Horror Anthology Film Review

After a few weeks of being pretty much off of this blog, I've made an attempt to return, though a lingering trapped nerve in my rotted back has really slowed me down a lot! Master of anthologies; Phil Herman, is back with his 16th anthology; bringing another collection of low budget indie horror tales, this time in the form of Amityville: Descendants of Darkness. Kind of set out like a presentation, this brings together four short films and a wraparound segment that use the mythos of the real life, allegedly haunted Amityville house as their basis.

The wraparound segment is a presentation by Dr. Marsh (Tiffany Sinclair) about the history of the Amityville house, explaining to the viewer that the place was just an entry point for evil, and even with its destruction that evil still lingers. She was an odd character and the actresses delivery of her lines made these in-between moments captivating to watch. There was an intimate feel helped by good set design and some moody lighting. Not much really happened in these parts but they worked well at setting up each of the stories.
'The Shed' (written, directed, edited and produced by Todd Sheets - Final Caller) was the first film, running roughly 20 minutes. Three small-time crooks have travelled to a shed on the edge of the Amityville property due to rumours that money is buried there from a robbery that took place back in the 1970's. The trio; Frank, Danny and Scarlett (Dilynn Fawn Harvey) soon find themselves at the mercy of a demonic cult, who are angry at having their resting place disturbed by the intruders. Meanwhile, Father Anson (Mike Reeb) heads to the shed after a series of arthouse style nightmarish visions. This one was an early highlight, the exaggerated acting and the cartoonish digital effects combining to make this feel like a horror comic brought to life, in the style of Tales from the Crypt. There was an almost Evil Dead Rise level of blood and gore here, extremely bloody and gruesome, but also with a feeling of the tone having its tongue firmly in its cheek. It all culminates with the arrival of the priest, whose unexpected fight scene channelled Peter Jackson's Braindead. A fun start to the anthology, and special mention to the collapsing scarecrow moment; it looked great on camera.

Next up was 'The Possessed Relic' by Marcelo Fabani (I Slay on Christmas segment 'The Best Company'). This brought with it a complete change in vibe, taking place far from Amityville, and the only short not to be in English. The idea for this one was that even objects taken from the infamous house could be cursed. Moody husband, Santiago (Stan Lubo) discovers an old red rocking chair out on the street outside his apartment block, and decides it will be a nice addition to his new cosy corner he is working on in his apartment. The pacing here was a bit odd, it takes place over a series of days, with each day introduced via a title card, and each day including one moment of horror, I'm sad to say this didn't leave much of an impression on me. The core cast (including a dog) were all good, and there were a couple of stand-out moments such as when Santiago discovers what has happened to his missing pet. It kind of abruptly ended before I really knew what was going on.

Halfway through and the third film is 'Blood Moon over Amityville' by Derek Braasch (Phil Herman's Unearthed segment 'Ties That Bind'). Here, a hard boiled detective (Joe Jauch), still living with regret over an unsolved case 5 years previously that resulted in the death of a girl, is guilt tripped into going out for one last look for answers. His search leads him to an abandoned apartment complex where he does find answers of a sort. An early bar scene was a highlight of this one, but this film sped along at such a quick pace that the ending took me completely by surprise. A little underwhelming, but I did enjoy the film noir feel and the detective character.
Finally, we have 'Echoes of the Damned' that was directed by James Panetta (Jacker 3: Road to Hell) and written and produced by Herman. In this one, couple Jack (Herman on fine form) and Megan (Debbie D - Jacker 3: Road to Hell) move into a home that had been built on the former site of the Amityville house. Troubles for the couple begin straight away, with Jack in particular being plagued with hellish visions of the location's dark past. There was a great collection of odd-ball characters here, in particular, very strange next door neighbour Karen (Deanna Marie - Clown Motel 3: Ways to Hell) whose persistent manic grin became almost distractingly weird!

Amityville: Descendants of Darkness had four distinctly different shorts. While I would say only the first and last were the ones I really loved, the other two were still well made and featured some good scenes. From the comic book horror of 'The Shed' to the more traditional horror of 'Echoes of the Damned', this anthology remained interesting throughout. I always have a lot of time for anthologies, and so enjoyed my time with this one.

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