The free movie we’re sharing as this week’s Friday Fright Nights feature is the suspense thriller American Apocalypse

A full Free Movie of the Day is posted on the JoBlo Horror Movies YouTube channel every other day during the week – but on Fridays things get even freakier and a little more fun. Get your weekend started the right way by indulging in Friday Fright Nights! Every Friday, we’ll be taking a look at another genre movie you can watch in its entirety, free of charge, either on the YouTube channel linked above or in the video embed here.

The Friday Fright Night feature we have for you this week is director Andrew Robertson’s suspense thriller American Apocalypse, which takes place after a pandemic that went even worse than the one that shut down the world in 2020. And given that it tells a story set in a wasteland where society has crumbled, this is a film that takes me back to my childhood.

That may seem odd to say, but the reason American Apocalypse is a cinematic time machine for me is due to the fact that few story concepts fascinated me more in my youth than the idea of apocalypse. An event that has wiped out most of the world’s residents, and the few remaining survivors still have to make their way through the countryside… and they still have to deal with how dangerous other people can be. However the apocalypse happened, whether the cause be plague (Stephen King’s The Stand), zombie outbreak (Romero’s Dead films), or nukes (The Road Warrior), stories like this have always captured my imagination. They still do to this day, but the interest started when I was young – some would say I was too young to be watching these movies and reading these stories that made me so interested in the end of the world.

For his take on the apocalypse, Robertson chose to wipe out humanity with a plague. And you can witness his vision of the apocalypse in the embed in this article.

Scripted by Robertson and Lilly Kanso, American Apocalypse is also known by the title Refuge (and in fact, that’s how you’ll find it listed on IMDb). The film follows a family’s struggle to survive and rebuild a life in the absence of civilization. In the wake of a catastrophic plague, the family lives a lonely existence, struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy amidst a lawless world of roaming gangs and dwindling resources.

Robertson appears in the film alongside Carter Roy, Amy Rutberg, Eva Grace Kellner, Chris Kies, Sebastian Beacon, Travis Grant, Reed Pendergrass, Sam Smith, Vinny Gandolfi, Tom Thon, Cary Strongwater, Seth Scofield, Aimee Kellner, John Thomas Long, Nabil Kanso, Mark Ashworth, Christopher Payne, Anthony B. Harris, Sofia Nour Kanso-Robertson, Joe Manus, Brennan Collins, Mike Altmann, Josiah Staggers, Shane Rahmani, Andrew Burn, Sam Green, Rob Stroud, Rock Heindel, Edwin Vicente-Ortega, Sam West, Tony Gandolfi, Shane Tepper, Andrew Wobertson, Robert Ballew, and Andrew Richards.

Before making American Apocalypse / Refuge, Robertson directed a documentary about the 2008 Presidential election that was called The Battle for Georgia. In the decade since he made this movie, his only credits have been on an episode of the TV show The Food Flirts.

So check out American Apocalypse – it’s free! – and let us know what you thought of it by leaving a comment below or on the YouTube page. Would you like to see another movie from Andrew Robertson?

Steven Spielberg’s daughter, Destry Allyn Spielberg, is bringing her directorial debut, Please Don’t Feed the Children, to the Cannes market.

Lookout Hollywood! Another Spielberg is ready to take Tinsel Town by storm! Steven Spielberg’s daughter, Destry Allyn Spielberg, is about to make her feature directorial debut with Please Don’t Feed the Children. The project is heading to the Cannes market, with Altitude managing international sales and WME Independent managing North American deals.

The feature-length genre piece stars Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), with filming in New Mexico on May 30. The team is finalizing additional cast members now for a story that hits close to home in a post-pandemic world. According to Deadline, Please Don’t Feed the Children takes place after a viral outbreak ravaged the country’s adult population. In the film, a group of orphans heads south, searching for a new life, only to find themselves at the mercy of a deranged woman harboring a dangerous secret.

Described as a psychological thriller, Paul Bertino wrote the script, with production happening courtesy of Jason Dubin through Perry Street Films, Josh Kesselman, and Michael Hagerty.

Before readying her feature-length directorial debut, Spielberg won Best Thriller at the City of Angels Women’s Film Festival in 2022 for her short film Let Me Go the Right Way. The film, co-written by Spielberg and Owen King, focuses on a young veteran whose sense of reality is crumbling and the psychiatrist who treats him. Hopper Penn, Brian d’Arcy James, and Pooya Mohseni star.

“I am so grateful to have the opportunity to bring this story to the screen with such a collaborative and inspirational team. This picture is so much more than just a horror film. It’s a dream come true to work with a talent such as Michelle Dockery. I am excited to the genre with our incredible cast and crew.” Spielberg said about prepping Please Don’t Feed the Children.

Have you ever seen any of Destry Allyn Spielberg’s short films? I can’t imagine the pressure of being the daughter of Steven Spielberg, one of the greatest living filmmakers of several generations. I’m eager to see Destry’s work on the feature-length stage and discover her growing talent for myself. How about you? Are you ready for the next generation of Spielberg to take center stage?

Charlie Day’s directorial debut is a throwback to old school comedy with an all-star cast that doesn’t quite work.

Plot: A down-on-his-luck publicist gets his lucky break when he discovers a mute man recently released from a mental health facility looks just like a method actor who refuses to leave his trailer.

Review: Charlie Day’s directorial debut has had a long road to the big screen. Originally announced in 2018, Fool’s Paradise began as a project called El Tonto. After assembling an all-star cast, the pandemic forced the film into a hiatus which turned into rewrites by Day and, eventually, the filming of new scenes. The finished project boasts a massive cast of famous faces, including the late Ray Liotta, for a satirical look at Hollywood reminiscent of countless films from the 1960s and 1970s. With his sense of humor in the right place, Day makes a valiant effort in his debut behind the camera but falls short of delivering a consistent finished product.

When I started Fool’s Paradise, I was immediately reminded of one of my all-time favorite movies: Hal Ashby’s Being There, starring Peter Sellers. Like that film, Charlie Day’s comedy follows a simple-minded man who is swept up through a series of circumstances to become far more famous and respected than he ever expected to be. Where Being There mocks politics, Fool’s Paradise satirizes the Hollywood machine. From Method actors to rehab, paparazzi to superhero movies, everything is teased, mocked, and spoofed in this film. At the center of it all is Latte Pronto (Charlie Day), the mysterious vagrant who is susceptible to suggestion by anyone and somehow becomes one of the most famous actors in the world. Over the course of the film, Latte goes from star to has been while a cast of acclaimed actors appears in varying capacities throughout the story, with Ken Jeong appearing the most as the mute Latte’s publicist, Larry.

While Hollywood has always been game for making fun of itself, the satire in Fool’s Paradise is less biting than Robert Altman’s The Player, The Coen Brothers’ Barton Fink, or David Mamet’s State & Main. Charlie Day is more content to tell many jokes while allowing himself to emulate Peter Sellers, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton. Donning a stylish hat and mugging for the camera, Day glides through each scene as a silent performer who adopts the personality of those around him. Whether that be the party-hard lothario Chad Luxt (Adrien Brody), the sexy Christiana Dior (Kate Beckinsale), or the big-budget filmmaker Lex Tanner (Jason Sudeikis), Latte glides through each sequence with wide eyes and a smile. In fact, through the entire film, Day utters only a handful of lines, limiting the trademark voice we have come to love in his animated performances. Instead, Day allows all famous faces around him to do the heavy lifting, mostly mocking themselves and their industry.

Day called in every person he has worked with, including his It’s Always Sunny buddies Glenn Howerton, David Hornsby, Jimmi Simpson, and wife Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Horrible Bosses co-stars Jason Sudeikis and Jason Bateman, as well as icons like John Malkovich and Ray Liotta, as well as Edie Falco, Common, Travis Fimmel, Alanna Ubach, Dean Norris, Katherine McNamara and many more. From small cameos to substantial supporting roles, no single actor is afraid to mock themselves or the cast and crew they have worked with. The film’s narrative flow packs a lot into just over ninety minutes and often feels rushed to accommodate the full arc that Day had wanted to follow. This leads to joke after joke being played regardless of whether they work or not.

Fool’s Paradise is a collection of funny moments that play like Charlie Day, jotted down ideas for jokes in a notebook, and then filmed them all. The overall story is more of a loose narrative that connects standalone bits that serve as a mixtape of the filmmaker’s comedy influences. Several moments are beautifully shot and hint at Day’s blossoming talents as a director. It is surprising that this is his debut, as Day has not used the long-running It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia as a training ground to build his directorial experience. Day does get some excellent performances from Ray Liotta and Kate Beckinsale, as well as an earnest musical score from Jon Brion. Fool’s Paradise may not be a massive hit or end up on anyone’s radar in the long run, but it is impressive in other ways.

While Charlie Day does make a valiant effort as a triple threat in this film, he does not quite stick the landing. The final act of Fool’s Paradise is the weakest part of the movie and overshadows a lot of highlights in the first two-thirds of the film. It is very apparent that this movie was a passion project for Day and that he took everyone willing to appear in his project and didn’t want to waste any of their presence. Fool’s Paradise could have used tighter writing that would have accented the satire more than the silly jokes. This movie is peppered with funny moments that showcase Day’s directorial career potential. At the very least, this movie has its heart in the right place, even if it doesn’t quite bring it all together to amount to more than a fun diversion.

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The four-part docuseries Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982 has been picked up by The CW and will air this summer!

1982 was an incredible year for movies, with the line-up including E.T., Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Poltergeist, John Carpenter’s The Thing, Conan the Barbarian, Friday the 13th Part III, The Beastmaster, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Blade Runner, Swamp Thing, Megaforce, The Sword and the Sorcerer, the U.S. release of The Road Warrior… the list of awesomeness goes on and on. That’s why Mark A. Altman, Roger Lay Jr., Tom Vitale, and host Scott Mantz teamed up to craft the four-part docuseries Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982… and that’s why JoBlo Movie Productions got involved with the project as an executive producer. We’ve been promoting this documentary for a while, and now we’re happy to announce that it has been picked up by The CW!

Deadline broke the news that Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982 is part of The CW’s slate of original scripted and unscripted programming that will debut on the network throughout this summer. Here’s the information:

An inside look back at the greatest geek year in cinema ever, 1982, with stars, directors, writers, producers, critics and pop culture historians sharing their insights about such classic films as E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Blade Runner, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Poltergeist, Tron, and many more. Filled with exclusive interviews, rare behind the scenes footage and incredible never before seen clips in a fun, lively, no holds barred celebration of the legendary moviegoing year, GREATEST GEEK YEAR EVER: 1982 will take viewers behind the scenes of the biggest and most influential movies ever made at a time when fandom was in its infancy. GREATEST GEEK YEAR EVER: 1982 is written and produced by Mark A. Altman, directed and produced by Roger Lay, Jr. and executive produced by (JoBlo founder) Berge Garabedian. Scott Mantz, Thomas P. Vitale, Eric Carnagey and Aaron Rattner also serve as producers.

Our interview with Altman can be seen in the video embed at the top of this article. And here are a couple clips from Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982 that we’ve shared in the past: you can check out a piece on The Sword and the Sorcerer at THIS LINK and a segment on Megaforce can be seen HERE.

Will you be watching Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982 when it airs on The CW? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

Ashley Moore and Camren Bicondova star in the Soska Sisters’ Night of the Living Dead follow-up Festival of the Living Dead

George A. Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead is in the public domain, so a lot of people have made their own sequels and remakes to the film over the decades, put out their own releases of it, colorized it, animated it, etc. It’s a property that has never been dormant… but these days it seems like its undead ghouls are livelier than ever. The George A. Romero Foundation and the Cinedigm-backed Bloody Disgusting are making a podcast sequel called The Dead. Nikyatu Jusu is directing a film sequel that will be released by MGM. Greg Nicotero is planning to make a movie about the making of Night of the Living Dead. And now Deadline has revealed that twin directors Jen and Sylvia Soska are taking the helm of their own Night of the Living Dead follow-up called Festival of the Dead, and Ashley Moore (I Know What You Did Last Summer) and Camren Bicondova (Gotham) have signed on to star in the film.

Scripted by Helen Marsh and Miriam Lyapin, Festival of the Dead has the following synopsis: It has been over 50 years since Night of the Living Dead’s original zombie attack and the horrific event has become the subject of morbid nostalgia. Looking for fun, Ash and her friends attend the Festival of the Living Dead, but it is disrupted when a blast of radioactive space dust hits the festival and they must defend themselves or be devoured by the living dead. So it sounds like this movie will be fully buying into the idea that the original zombie outbreak was caused by the crashing of a Venus probe, something that was mentioned as a potential cause in Night of the Living Dead but never confirmed and never given any credence in Romero’s own follow-ups.

According to Deadline, Moore is playing Ash, who has been accepted to college and is getting ready to reluctantly leave her old life behind as she is torn between her boyfriend and his friends, and her old friends. When her boyfriend gets her tickets to the Festival, she jumps at the opportunity to see her favorite band. Bicondova’s character is Iris, who has been Ash’s closest friend for years, though they are starting to drift apart — especially because Iris knows Ash is leaving to go to college. She agrees to watch Ash’s brother, Luke, so Ash can go to the festival. 

Also in the cast are Andre Anthony (The Night Agent), Christian Rose (Holiday Baggage), Shiloh O’Reilly (The Haunted Museum), Gage Marsh (You Me Her), Keana Lyn Bastidas (The Hardy Boys), and Maia Jae Bastidas (Rabbit Hole).

Coming our way from Enlighten Content, Festival of the Living Dead is being produced by Jacob Nasser. The movie will be released through the Tubi streaming service sometime this fall.

Will you be watching Festival of the Living Dead? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

The Soska Sisters have previously directed Dead Hooker in a Trunk, American Mary, See No Evil 2, Vendetta, Rabid, On the Edge, and a segment of the anthology ABCs of Death 2.

Lionsgate’s John Wick franchise introduced an aspect of the plot that could make it challenging to continue the series, but since when has a bump in the road kept Hollywood from keeping the money train on the tracks? Lionsgate executives recently got a first look at Ballerina, the John Wick spinoff starring Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston, and the late Lance Reddick. With optimism in the air, creatives wonder how long they can keep the franchise going after Ballerina, and the John Wick prequel series, The Continental, take center stage. According to The Continental producer Basil Iwanyk, we’ll know more by September. Still, that won’t keep him from commenting on where the franchise could go after the shocking finale of John Wick: Chapter 4.

While drinking bottles of whiskey in Japan, Iwanyk, Stahelski, and Reeves discussed what lies ahead for the John Wick Universe and if the franchise could continue without its title character. “Once they get through their hangovers, if Keanu and Chad have figured out something cool, if they’ve an organic way back in that doesn’t feel like bullshit, then there will be a John Wick 5.”

“The challenge of doing a TV show from John Wick is people think this is based on some underlying IP,” said Iwanyk. “It’s an original idea that was never meant to be a franchise, and we’ve been making it up as we’ve gone along. The issue we had with television was how are we going to create a John Wick offshoot without cannibalizing ourselves or feeling like we’ve stripped mined the franchise.”

During a one-on-one with Deadline, The Continental producer and director Albert Hughes spilled more than blood and bullets about the three-part series focusing on the Gotham-based hotel for assassins. Hughes directs the first and third episodes of The Continental, which “follows Winston through the underworld of ’70s New York, where he will battle demons from his past as he attempts to seize control of the iconic hotel – a hotel that serves as a meeting point for the world’s most dangerous criminals.”

When asked about establishing connective tissue between the films and the prequel series, Hughes explains how inspiration comes from all corners of the Wick world.

“I just love what Chad Stahelski did with those movies, the way they looked. It’s not necessarily the kind of style I would do, but I love watching someone do that stuff,” Hughes explained to Deadline. “Noir, Greek mythology, and he’s very much influenced by Bob Fosse dance movies. He talked to me about his influences when I got asked to do this by the producers. I said, what do you guys want from this? Give me three things. One was to open up more of the mythology but keep it grounded. Chad was very supportive and said, do your own thing. Make it yours.”

“Then it became what do I have that’s mine, that I can bring like Chad brought to the movies, with all that gun-fu, stunt background and visual flair? I started with, I love ’70s music and got to explore the two sides of my culture. I grew up in a house with a white mother, and a black father. He’s playing James Brown and Parliament, and she’s playing Jimi Hendrix, Credence and Pink Floyd. I got a wonderfully done script and completely connected with Kirk Ward.”

While The Continental does not feature Keanu Reeves’ John Wick, the series includes other beloved characters from the action franchise, including Colin Woodell as a young Winston, Ayomide Adegun as Charon, and the hotel’s manager, Cormac, played by Mel Gibson.

Talking about the diversity of The Continental and how the haven for criminals is a melting pot of unsavory sorts, Hughes said, “Winston had been established by the writers before I came on. It was a good take, we see how Winston and Charon became who they are, and how their weird, mysterious partnership formed. As it hashed out in drafts, it was the old 48 Hours or The Defiant Ones, the Black and White guy partnership with two cultures coming together. What was also interesting about the script was a multicultural feel that wasn’t cynical. You’ve got powerful women of different ethnic backgrounds, and that’s what’s great about New York. Chad did this in the films. They’ll have a non-binary character, an Asian character, a Black character, a powerful female, and they’re all in this world of baddies. It becomes by degrees how bad they are to determine who is our true protagonist.”

Hughes thinks Gibson’s Cormac will rock many boats when The Continental premieres. His character is rough around the edges and lacks the dignity and grace of someone like McShane’s Winston. Hughes says Cormac is a cross between Joel Silver and Donald Trump. He will stand out among even the worst of New York’s criminal element.

“The showrunner Kirk Ward and I talked in detail about it. Kirk is a massive action movie fan, and his references are 48 Hours, Lethal Weapon, The Warriors, stuff like that,” said Hughes. “With Mel, Kirk and I decided he should be a little shabby on the edges. His organization skills aren’t as tight as Winston’s are later on. It feels a little cheap. Then I started coming up with my own motivations for the character, that was a cross between Joel Silver and Donald Trump.”

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Finally, when asked what fans can expect when The Continental comes to Peacock in September, Hughes avoids specifics but teases an expansion to the John Wick mythology we haven’t seen before.

“I wouldn’t say anything specific, but the whole point was to explore the mythology more, the secrets of the hotel through the characters Winston and Charon, and play with the intersecting characters and storylines. There’s this wild cast of new characters that come in and out of that world… I’d say they can expect the high style that the John Wick films give. But different, because we’re in the ’70s. It’s good eye candy, escapism and fun.”

Check out Deadline‘s full interview with Albert Hughes about The Continental, his influences, the pressure of contributing to a beloved franchise, and more.

Are you excited about The Continental? Do you think Stahelski and the teams behind the John Wick franchise will find a way to continue the story after the events of John Wick: Chapter 4? Please feel free to let us know in the comments below.

Waxwork Records will be releasing classic horror soundtracks under the Rob Zombie Presents banner, starting with White Zombie

Rob Zombie and Waxwork Records have collaborated multiple times in the past, and now they’re working together on a cool new project: a collection of classic horror movie soundtracks that will be released under the banner of “Rob Zombie Presents”! This line of never-before-released soundtracks, personally selected by Zombie, will include Spider Baby, Carnival of Souls, The Last Man on Earth, The House on Haunted Hill, Island of Lost Souls, plus many selections from the Hammer film library… and it all starts with the release of the soundtrack for the 1932 classic White Zombie. Of course it would start with White Zombie.

This 180 gram vinyl release comes in deluxe packaging, with new artwork by Graham Humphreys and liner notes and interviews by Rob Zombie. You can take a look at the White Zombie package at the bottom of this article.

The press release notes: Starring Bela Lugosi, 1932’s White Zombie is considered the first zombie movie. It was also filmed on Universal Studio’s lot, using several props from other horror films of that time. Starring Madge Bellamy, Robert W. Frazer, and John Harron, the film follows the cast as they navigate zombies, love, obsession, and treachery. Initially slammed by critics upon its release, the movie has been reevaluated and praised by recent critics for its classic horror production. The film has gone on to influence mainstream media, even influencing the band name of White Zombie. Rob Zombie has said of the film, “It’s a great film that not a lot of people know about. It amazes me that a film that is so readily available can be so lost.”

Zombie and Waxwork Records have worked on the release of the soundtracks for his films House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects, 3 from Hell, The Lords of Salem, Halloween, Halloween II, and The Munsters. Now, with Rob Zombie Presents, they’re unearthing, re-mastering, and releasing soundtracks to classic horror films Zombie has been a life-long fan of.

Zombie provided the following statement: “I have always been a huge fan of movie soundtracks. So I jumped at the opportunity to work with Waxwork on this project. I can’t wait to release these albums. So many of these films are greatly under appreciated and, they all contain such great music. So, to be able to release these deluxe packages is a dream come true.“

Are you a vinyl collector, and are you looking forward to the Rob Zombie Presents line of soundtracks? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The White Zombie soundtrack can be purchased at THIS LINK and goes for the price of $32.