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Dark Castle Making Massive Commitment to ‘Splice’ Release?

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There’s nothing that excites me more than a wide range of reviews. After playing the Sundance Film Festival last month, Vincenzo Natali’s Frankenstein-esque sci-fi horror flick Splice received a rash of glowing reviews, along with the negative (see Ryan Daley’s review), piquing my interest more than it already was. Anyways, early word presumed that Sony might score distribution rights for the U.S., only it looks as if Dark Castle may have won out making a huge bet on the Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley starrer. Deadline reports that “Joel Silver and his Dark Castle label is in the last stages of closing a distribution deal for the genetic mutation thriller Splice,” adding, “It will give the film a wide summer release on 3,000 screens, and a P&A commitment north of $25 million, and more likely in the vicinity of $35 million to $40 million.” That’s a HUGE gamble for Dark Castle. Color me excited.
Clive and Elsa are young, brilliant and ambitious. The new animal species they engineered have made them rebel superstars of the scientific world. In secret, they introduce human DNA into the experiment. The result is something that is greater than the sum of its parts: a female animal-human hybrid that may be a step up on the evolutionary ladder. They think they may have created the perfect organism, until she makes a final shocking metamorphosis that could destroy them … and the rest of humanity.

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

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Catch Up at Home: Five 2024 Horror Movies You Can Stream This Week

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lovely dark and deep - 2024 horror releases on streaming
Pictured: 'Lovely, Dark, and Deep'

June is already here, which means that we’re rapidly approaching 2024’s halfway point. While many of the year’s most anticipated horror releases are still on the horizon, it’s been a crowded year so far for new releases, from theatrical to streaming. So much so that the overwhelming selection of releases makes it tough to keep up.

This week’s streaming picks highlight five 2024 horror releases, most of which have quietly flown under the radar. Whether you’re looking to catch up on new titles or revisit recent faves, this week brings everything from found footage creature features to cosmic nightmares.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.


Disappear Completely – Netflix

Disappear Completely

Tabloid photographer Santiago (Harold Torres) will go to great lengths to get the perfect shot, tact and morals be damned. His insensitivity even extends to his home life, where he learns his girlfriend Marcela (Teté Espinoza) is pregnant. But his professional ambitions and pessimistic outlook get tested when he snaps photos at a particularly grisly new crime scene; Santiago finds himself afflicted with a curse that’s causing him to lose his senses one by one. Director Luis Javier Henaine captures Santiago’s unraveling with a grim atmosphere and inventive camera work that immerses viewers in Santiago’s race against time before he loses everything. It’s a moody, Satanic cautionary tale centered around an unlikable protagonist.


The First Omen – Hulu

Nell Tiger Free in The First Omen

Nell Tiger Free as Margaret in 20th Century Studios’ THE FIRST OMEN. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

The First Omen, set in 1971, follows American novitiate Margaret Daino (“Servant” star Nell Tiger Free) as she’s sent to Rome to work in an orphanage before she takes the veil. As Margaret adapts to not just her new vocation but an entirely new country and a city in the throes of unrest, she finds herself caught in a fiercely guarded conspiracy involving the birth of the Antichrist that leaves her questioning her faith; and puts her life in the balance. Thanks to the exquisite craftsmanship on display, beguiling Gothic horror, an impeccable cast, and an emotional journey that packs a wallop, The First Omen stands strong on its own. Arkasha Stevenson doesn’t just helm a prequel worthy of Richard Donner’s classic but establishes herself as a bold new voice in horror.


Frogman – SCREAMBOX (June 7)

Popcorn Frights 2023 - Frogman

Director Anthony Cousins takes on the cryptic Frogman via found footage in his feature directorial debut, co-written with John Karsko. In the film, a trio of friends embarks on one final filmmaking hoorah before life takes them in separate directions. But in their bid to make one last attempt to capture the elusive cryptid Frogman on camera, they find far more than they ever bargained for. Frogman adheres to the standard found footage blueprint and tropes, drawing heavily from The Blair Witch Project and Willow Creek as the trio starts by interviewing Loveland, Ohio locals about their town’s cryptid mascot. The more the humans invade the Frogman’s turf, the more delightfully weird and gnarly things get, with Cousins’ debut featuring impressive creature effects. And Frogman happens to have a sequel on the way.


Lovely, Dark, and Deep – Tubi

Lovely, Dark, and Deep

Writer/Director Teresa Sutherland’s (The Wind, “Midnight Mass”) directorial debut applies cosmic horror to a familiar genre setting, the wilderness, to unfurl a twisted, stunningly shot psychological mood piece. It follows Lennon (Barbarian’s Georgina Campbell), the new park ranger filling a coveted, recently vacated position at an isolated outpost. The more she settles into her minimalist outpost and begins her ulterior quest, the more unsettling things become as time derails and bizarre events signal something else is in the woods with her. Much like Robert Frost’s poem that opens the film, Lovely, Dark, and Deep employs lucid dream nightmare logic to spin its vague tale for audiences to infer their own conclusions. It’s a beguiling but lean and elusive slice of cosmic horror.


Stopmotion – Shudder

Stopmotion horror Stopmotion director Robert Morgan 2024 release

The feature directorial debut by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker/animator Robert Morgan finds inventive and creative ways to mine visceral horror through the uncanny, unsettling nature of stop-motion animation and its painstaking process. Ella Blake (The Nightingale‘s Aisling Franciosi) is a talented stop-motion animator who longs to escape the shadow of her mother, Suzanne (Stella Gonet), a reputable legend in the world of stop-motion animation. When Suzanne’s health takes a sharp turn for the worse, Ella’s chance to create her own vision instead sends her spiraling when reality blurs in increasingly disquieting ways. Art and storytelling collide in breathtaking yet revolting fashion in Morgan’s knockout debut.

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