Writer/Director Bishal Dutta uses a demon from Hindu mythology to tell a familiar story of trying to vanquish what cannot be stopped.

PLOT: An Indian-American teenager struggling with her cultural identity has a falling out with her former best friend and, in the process, unwittingly releases a demonic entity that grows stronger by feeding on her loneliness.

REVIEW: One of the coolest trends going on in horror right now is the usage of cultural Boogeymen. Some of these have reached the pop culture zenith, while others remain simple horrors for small-knit communities. Indian culture has a ton of demons, many of which the average American would have never heard anything about. The creature presented in It Lives Inside is called Pishacha and is based on flesh-eating demons in different Hindu and Buddhist mythologies. The history of the creature feels so much more intriguing since it’s based on actual mythology, versus something a screenwriter concocted to scare us. All of this is to say that, while the story may follow many beats we’ve seen before, It Lives Inside‘s unique identity makes it feel fresh and exciting.

Megan Suri’s Samidha is an extremely complex character that makes her intriguing to watch from the jump. I always love a story where we’re going down the rabbit hole of torture with a character. She doesn’t always do the right thing yet the justifications in the movie still keep the viewer firmly on her side. I also really enjoyed Tamira (Mohana Krishnan) as she serves as almost the Tina to Samidha’s Nancy. Which I think is apropos given some Nightmare on Elm Street imagery that the film evokes. I also like the dynamic that one of them is adapting to their new country while the other is struggling with it.

Written and directed by Bishal Dutta, he makes sure to bring some of his own personal experiences to the film, which grounds the film despite some of the otherworldly instances. The struggles with identity when moving to a new country, while still trying to pay respect to your heritage, is something many immigrants can relate to. 2023 has been an absolutely stellar year for cinematography in horror, and It Lives Inside continues that trend. Beautiful use of the wide aspect ratio and a color palate that only gets better as the film enters its final act make this stand out amongst other similar fare. There are several shots in this that I feel will be appearing in horror montages for years to come.

The demon itself is incredibly well done, utilizing mostly practical effects and being sure to keep them mostly in the shadows. The past year has had two similar villain reveals in both The Boogeyman and Smile, yet I’d say this eclipses both of those, by providing a great design that looks wonderful from all angles. It doesn’t matter how this is shot, it looks practical and, more importantly, great.  I’m very curious to see some more close-ups of this creature as there was plenty of detail to examine. If I had to get into what I didn’t like, it’s mostly the undefined rules with the creature. Whether it’s invisible or not seems mostly based on circumstance, which made it hard to establish tension. The creature’s presence felt like more of a roll of the dice. Thankfully, when it is around, it’s truly terrifying and leaves an impact. If anything, I could have gone for more violence from the creature. It’s supposed to be a flesh-eater after all but we’re mostly just treated to bites.

The story of It Lives Inside may be a bit generic, but its cultural roots really help to give it a unique identity. I often roll my eyes during the exposition scenes in films of this ilk yet I couldn’t get enough of Neeru Bajwa speaking on it with such authority. Megan Suri gives a phenomenal performance and the creature has one of the best designs in all of horror. The movie doesn’t tread any terribly new ground, but not all movies do. Sometimes a properly executed story with great performances and practical effects are all a good horror film needs.

8

IFC Films will be giving the horror film Stopmotion a theatrical release before it heads to the Shudder streaming service

Aisling Franciosi of The Nightingale and The Last Voyage of the Demeter stars in the upcoming horror film Stopmotion, which is set to have its world premiere at Fantastic Fest, running in Austin, Texas from September 21st through the 28th. Ahead of the premiere screening, Variety reports that IFC Films has acquired North American and select International distribution rights to the film. They’re planning to give Stopmotion a theatrical release sometime in 2024, then it will head over to the Shudder streaming service.

Franciosi takes on the role of Ella Blake, a stop-motion animator who is struggling to control her demons after the loss of her overbearing mother. Suddenly alone in the world, she creates a macabre new puppet film, while struggling to maintain her sanity. As Ella’s mind starts to fracture, the characters in her animated film take on a terrifying life of their own, and the unleashed power of her imagination threatens to destroy her.

IFC Films and Shudder are both owned by AMC, and AMC Networks’ Scott Shooman had this to say about the distribution deal: “IFC and Shudder are ecstatic to bring Robert Morgan’s riveting live-action/animation hybrid to audiences everywhere. Stopmotion is excellent as it weaves together a unique, psychological-horror with unbelievable visuals. The film joins the ranks of critically acclaimed titles such as Mad God and The Wolf House – breaking ground for how we perceive stop-motion in horror.  We are thrilled to distribute Robert Morgan’s first full-length feature for its theatrical release and presence on our streaming platform, Shudder.“

As Shooman mentioned, this is the feature debut of director Robert Morgan, who also wrote the screenplay with Robin King. Morgan has directed multiple short films over the last thirty years, including the “D is for Deloused” segment from the anthology film ABCs of Death 2.

Morgan provided the following statement: “IFC’s superb back catalogue speaks for itself, and Shudder’s embracing of the weirder and distinctive side of horror cinema means this is the perfect home for my first feature. I’m thrilled to be teaming up with them, and I’m excited to share Stopmotion with audiences very soon.“

Stopmotion was produced by Alain de la Mata and Christopher Granier-Deferre of BlueLight.

Any horror movie about living puppets has my attention, so I look forward to checking out Stopmotion. How does this one sound to you? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

With Expend4bles now playing in theaters, let us know what you thought of the latest installment of Sylvester Stallone’s action franchise.

The boys are back in action! It’s been nearly a decade since the release of the last film in Sylvester Stallone’s action franchise, but Expend4bles has finally arrived. The long-awaited action sequel took in $750,000 in previews on Thursday, with the film looking to open with around $15 million.

The Expend4bles cast features a mix of familiar faces, with Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture all returning, as well as a few newbies, including Megan Fox, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy Garcia. “Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table,” reads the official synopsis. “But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give ‘new blood’ a whole new meaning.” The film was directed by Scott Waugh from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer, Tad Daggerhart, and Max Adams.

We’ve known that Sylvester Stallone would be exiting the franchise after this movie, but it seems his role is more limited than fans would have liked for his final appearance. “It’s primarily a spin-off entry for Jason Statham’s Lee Christmas, with the titular Expendables only supporting our hero on a personal mission, with Sylvester Stallone’s Barney Ross contributing little more than a cameo,” wrote our own Chris Bumbray in his review. “While that’s undeniably disappointing, Expend4bles is still a fun enough action flick if you keep your expectations in check. The budget seems much smaller than it was for the previous films, with abysmal CGI.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.

Expend4bles is now playing in theaters and is currently sitting at 17% on Rotten Tomatoes, placing it well behind The Expendables with 41%, The Expendables 2 with 67%, and The Expendables 3 with 31%. Let us know what you thought of Expend4bles in the comments below and where you’d rank it in the franchise!

Trailer: Vampire Queen Tara Reid takes on a team of vampire hunters led by Costas Mandylor in the Halloween release Bloodthirst

More than three years have passed since an IndieGogo campaign succeeded in raising funds for the vampire movie Bloodthirst, starring Tara Reid (Urban Legend). That project has since made its way through production, and now it’s ready to be set loose into the world. Bloodthirst is set to receive a digital and VOD release on October 31st, and you can check out the trailer in the embed above!

Directed by Michael Su from a screenplay written by Massimiliano Cerchi and Adrian Milnes, the film has the following synopsis: After the apocalypse, only two tribes remain: desperate humans and the roving vampires that feed on them. Across the desolate West, John Shepard seeks the aging head vampire, hoping to destroy him and free mankind. But when Shepard and his posse of native sons and farmer’s daughters joins forces with a local militia, they learn that they’re closer to the Master than they think…

John Shepard is played by Costas Mandylor (multiple Saw sequels), while Reid takes on the role of a vampire queen. Also in the cast are Robert LaSardo (Nip/Tuck), Bishop Stevens (Girl on the Third Floor), Johnny Huang (Attack of the Unknown), Sarah French (That’s a Wrap), Elissa Dowling (The Most Dangerous Game), Denny Nolan (Night of the Tommyknockers), Rich R. Rendon (Bridge of the Doomed), William ‘Bill’ Connor (The House That Eats Flesh), Ben Stobber (Apache Junction), Dee Cutrone (Death Count), Lance Caver (American Trash), Kevin Hager (Bermuda Island), Tatiana Sokolova (Killer Waves), and Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist).

Bloodthirst was produced by Michael Mahal and Sonny Mahal, with a whole army of people earning executive producer credits. The film has been rated R for bloody violence and language.

What did you think of the Bloodthirst trailer? Will you be watching this movie on Halloween? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Bloodthirst looks like it could provide some low budget entertainment and I’m a fan of several of the actors in the cast. So I’ll be watching this one, as I’m on board to check out any movie that features a vampire queen Tara Reid taking on vampire hunters who are armed with garlic shotgun shells.

Amazon will be adding commercials to Prime Video next year, but you’ll have to pay a few extra bucks to remove them.

Buckle up, Amazon is getting ready to introduce commercials to Prime Video.

Starting early next year, commercials will appear in movies and TV series streaming on Prime Video in the U.S., UK, Germany, and Canada. France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Australia will follow suit later in the year. Prime members currently pay $14.99 for the service, which includes free shipping on Amazon and other benefits, but if they want to avoid commercials moving forward, they will have to pay an additional $2.99 per month in the U.S.

It’s not clear how many commercials we’re talking about, but Amazon said that they will be “limited,” with their goal being “to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.” Almost all major streaming services include ad-supported subscriptions in addition to ad-free, including Netflix and Disney+, so Prime Video is simply the latest to join up. This change “will allow the company to continue investing in content and increasing that investment over time.” Got to pay for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power somehow.

Does it feel like we’re going backwards? When streaming started growing in popularity, one of the main draws was getting away from the commercials. But little by little, streaming services realized they really missed that sweet, sweet advertiser money. I can’t say I blame them, but with most of us paying for multiple streaming services in order to have all our favourites in one place, have we just come full circle back to television?

If you’re already a Prime Video subscriber, are you willing to cough up a few extra bucks to avoid commercials next year?