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The real twist of The Invitation 2015 ending is far more unnerving and complicated than expected. The Invitation presents as an isolated event in which a group of friends is lured by a grieving mother and her new partner so that they can be ritualistically murdered. As the night progresses and the house guests are whittled down in a series of attacks, the tension revolves around the survivors' attempts to escape the house in which they have become trapped. All they need to do is find a way out, and then they will be safe.

As written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, most of the tension in The Invitation (which has no relation to the 2022 movie The Invitation) comes in two waves: first, the initial misunderstanding, then the guests' desperation to avoid their fate. It's a complex and layered movie, and the ending of The Invitation sees all its interwoven...

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It’s What’s Inside is a sci-fi comedy horror film written and directed by Greg Jardin. The Netflix film revolves around a group of college friends who reunite before one of them gets married but the arrival of an uninvited guest with a mysterious suitcase starts to tear the group apart. It’s What’s Inside stars Alycia Debnam-Carey, Gavin Leatherwood, James Morosini, Reina Hardesty, David W. Thompson, Madison Davenport, Nina Bloomgarden, Hailee Keanna Lautenbach, and Brittany O’Grady. So, if you loved the thrilling suspense, compelling characters, and an intensely dramatic story with a tinge of comedy in It’s What’s Inside here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Talk To Me (Paramount+ & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – A24

Talk To Me is a supernatural horror thriller film directed by Danny and Michael Philippou from a screenplay...

For the majority of its runtime, The Invitation presents as an isolated event in which a group of friends has been lured by a grieving mother and her new partner so that they can be ritualistically murdered. As the night progresses and the house guests are whittled down in a series of attacks, the tension seemingly revolves around the survivors' attempts to escape the house in which they have become trapped. All the guests need to do is survive long enough to find a way out, and then they will be safe — or so they think. The real twist of 2015's The Invitation's ending is far more unnerving and complicated.

As written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, the majority of the tension in the film comes in two waves: first, the initial misunderstanding, then the guests' desperation to avoid their fate. It's a complex and layered movie, and...

“Schitt’s Creek” actor Sarah Levy is social-distancing to her next gig.

Levy has been cast in “Distancing Socially,” a Covid-inspired indie film about relationships and the challenges of virtual communication during lockdown. Director Chris Blake, who also wrote the screenplay, is shooting in New York, Los Angeles and Vancouver using remote technology.

Levy is best known for her role as waitress Twyla Sands on “Schitt’s Creek,” the Emmy-winning series created by and starring her brother Dan Levy and dad Eugene Levy.

The cast also includes Blythe Howard (“Mindhunter”), Alan Tudyk (“Resident Alien”), Melanie Chandra (“Code Black”), Jessika Van (“Seoul Searching”), Sierra Katow (“Last Comic Standing”), Ted Welch (“Adult Interference”), Dawan Owens (“6 Balloons”), Jay Larson (“Wine Country”), Kim Shaw (“She’s Out Of My League”), Rory Scovel (“I Feel Pretty”), Connor Paolo (“Stake Land”), Andy Buckley (“Avenue 5”), Jim O’Heir (“Parks and Recreation”), Emma Fitzpatrick (“The Collector”), Karissa Lee Staples (“Necessary Roughness...

Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, John Carroll Lynch, Michelle Krusiec, Aiden Lovekamp, Mike Doyle, Jordi Vilasuso, Marieh Delfino, Jay Larson, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michiel Huisman | Written by Matt Manfredi, Phil Hay | Directed by Karyn Kusama

Karyn Kusama’s latest film sells you the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge…

Written by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, and directed by Kusama (Jennifer’s Body), The Invitation stars Logan Marshall-Green as Will, a man whose ex-wife, Eden, invites him to a dinner party two years after she mysteriously vanished. Eden is acting incredibly strange, at least in Will’s eyes, and peculiar goings-on lead him to suspect that she and her new boyfriend may have sinister intentions for their guests.

The best horror films play around with very relatable human emotions, and like recent Australian hit The Babadook, grief lies at the center of The Invitation. Early on the film,...

Stars: Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, Paula Pell, Emily Spivey, Jay Larson, Tina Fey, Maya Erskine, Jason Schwartzman | Written by Liz Cackowski, Emily Spivey | Directed by Amy Poehler

Wine Country is famed comedienne Amy Poehler’s directorial debut and stars an all-star cast of female SNL alumni, both in front and behind the camera in the likes of Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey etc. The film follows a group of friends getting together in Southern California for a tour of good food and good wine for one member fiftieth birthday party. However, even with a terrific cast list, Poehler’s film is flat, unimaginative and quite frankly boring, with a screenplay that has no punch or comedic prowess and the narrative incredibly stiff with a snail pace running time.

Where Wine Country succeeds is in the small intimate moments of its character. Sequences that focuses purely on one...

"I saw an untapped market..." Taking all bets! Vertical Entertainment has released an official trailer for an indie comedy titled All Square, which first premiered at the SXSW Film Festival this year and played at a few other fests. All Square stars character actor Michael Kelly as a down-on-his-luck bookie who befriends an ex-girlfriend's son and begins taking bets on his youth baseball games, creating chaos in the community. Sounds like fun, actually. The full ensemble cast of this indie includes Pamela Adlon, Jesse Ray Sheps, Josh Lucas, Tom Everett Scott, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Harris Yulin, Yeardley Smith, Jonathan Rosenthal, Craig Walker, Jay Larson, Neal Huff, and Brett Davis. This looks good - like Scorsese meets Linklater, telling an amusing small-town crime story surrounding kids' baseball games. Check it out. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for John Hyams' All Square, direct from YouTube: John Zbikowski (Michael Kelly) is a down-on-his-luck,...

Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, John Carroll Lynch, Michelle Krusiec, Aiden Lovekamp, Mike Doyle, Jordi Vilasuso, Marieh Delfino, Jay Larson, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michiel Huisman | Written by Matt Manfredi, Phil Hay | Directed by Karyn Kusama

Karyn Kusama’s latest film sells you the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge.

Written by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, and directed by Kusama (Jennifer’s Body), The Invitation stars Logan Marshall-Green as Will, a man whose ex-wife, Eden, invites him to a dinner party two years after she mysteriously vanished. Eden is acting incredibly strange, at least in Will’s eyes, and peculiar goings-on lead him to suspect that she and her new boyfriend may have sinister intentions for their guests.

The best horror films play around with very relatable human emotions, and like recent Australian hit The Babadook, grief lies at the center of The Invitation. Early on the film,...

Girlfight and Jennifer’s Body director Karyn Kusama is back this year, returning to her low-budget roots with The Invitation, a taut psychological thriller which follows a dinner party with many twists and turns. We’ve heard the less the known is better, but if one would like to indulge further, a full-length trailer has now arrived, along with a great poster.

We said in our review at SXSW, “When you play in the midnight slot of a film festival nowadays, audiences can expect something to go horribly wrong within the world of the movie. So going into The Invitation, without even knowing what it is about, there’s the impending sense things aren’t going to turn out well. Yet even in that environment, it becomes painfully clear that director Karyn Kusama’s latest feature is going to make audiences outside of that context aware of the stakes. As...

I almost want to tell you not to watch this trailer. One of the pleasures of going into "Girlfight" director Karyn Kusama's thriller "The Invitation" is watching it unfold into unexpected directions, and knowing as little as possible as such will reap the biggest rewards when checking out this mostly single-location picture. But if you need just a little bit more to convince you to check it out, then by all means watch it. Read More: Fantasia Review: 'Girlfight' Director Karyn Kusama's Tense, Single Setting Thriller 'The Invitation' Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, Michiel Huisman, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Lindsay Burdge, John Carroll Lynch, Mike Doyle, Michelle Krusiec, Marieh Delfino and Jay Larson star in a movie following a group of old friends and a couple of oddball newcomers who get together for dinner. But it's soon revealed that there are deadly ramifications for all involved. Here's...

After breaking out with Girlfight, which we recently named as one of the great boxing movies, Karyn Kusama‘s career has been a curious one, including the Charlize Theron-led Æon Flux and the Diablo Cody-scripted Jennifer’s Body. She now seems to be returning to her low-budget roots with The Invitation, a taut psychological thriller which follows a dinner party with many twists and turns. We’ve heard the less the known is better, but if you must indulge, the first trailer has landed.

We said in our review at SXSW, “When you play in the midnight slot of a film festival nowadays, audiences can expect something to go horribly wrong within the world of the movie. So going into The Invitation, without even knowing what it is about, there’s the impending sense things aren’t going to turn out well. Yet even in that environment, it...

I was a bit surprised that "Girlfight" director Karyn Kusama's "The Invitation" didn't inspire more buzz across the festival circuit last year. It's a taut thriller that rewards patience in the first half with an electric back half that pays off the preceding character building. Luckily, the movie has found a home with the folks at Drafthouse, who will get this in front of people who will best appreciate it. The first teaser trailer for the film has landed. Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2016 Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, Michiel Huisman, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Lindsay Burdge, John Carroll Lynch, Mike Doyle, Michelle Krusiec, Marieh Delfino and Jay Larson star in a movie revolving around the sinister intentions lurking behind a dinner party in a fancy Los Angeles home. Here's the synopsis: In this taut psychological thriller by Karyn Kusama (Girlfight, Jennifer’s Body), the tension is palpable when Will (Logan.

Earlier this week, we gave you details on first wave of special experiences and events taking place at the 2015 Stanley Film Festival. We now have details on their impressive slate of features, short films, and additional special events, including screenings of The Final Girls, Deathgasm, Stung, The Invitation, and We Are Still Here.

We're teaming up with the festival for live coverage and special opportunities for Daily Dead readers, so be sure to check back all month for contests, features, and more.

"April 2, 2014 (Denver, Co) - The Stanley Film Festival (Sff) produced by the Denver Film Society (Dfs) and presented by Chiller, announced today its Closing Night film, Festival lineup and the 2015 Master of Horror. The Festival will close out with The Final Girls. The film, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, is the story of a young woman grieving the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen from the 1980s,...

After breaking onto the indie scene with her film Girlfight (which also put Michelle Rodriguez on the map), filmmaker Karyn Kusama found herself directing two big-budget films in Aeon Flux and Jennifer’s Body. But the latter was released about 6 years ago, and since her horrific team-up with Megan Fox, she decided to remain out of the cinematic circuit – until now. At this year’s South by Southwest festival, Karyn premiered her new thriller, The Invitation, which is a tense return to her indie filmmaking roots.

I had the opportunity to chat with Karyn before the film’s screening, where we talked not only about The Invitation, but her thoughts on the current state of gender norms in moviemaking. We touched upon if the current success of female horror filmmakers is making a step towards a more equal cinematic culture, the pros and cons of working in the mainstream Hollywood system,...

The true testament to a slow-burn thriller’s worth is never comprehended until its climax comes to a head and the credits roll. You’ll ask yourself, “Was the payoff worth the journey?” Were the previous events fulfilling enough to warrant such a sluggish pace, or are you still full of tedium and frustration brought on by an overbearing first few acts that can’t be saved by whatever third act twist a filmmaker reaches for? That’s what Karyn Kusama asks in her latest film, The Invitation, which unfortunately falls under the category of slow-burners that haphazardly meander along before finally hitting stride in the final thirty seconds or so of storytelling – an explosive moneyshot after an hour and a half’s worth of drawn-out, creepy dinner party suspense.

Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay script a story of suspense between friends, which starts with nothing but a simple invite.

Welcome to another horror round-up! In this edition, we take a look at new posters for a pair of movies making their premieres in the Midnighters section at the SXSW Film Festival later this month: The Boy (which sounds a little like Stevan Mena's Bereavement) and The Invitation (the new film from Jennifer's Body director Karyn Kusama). We also have details on Descendant, a new spec script from the writer who penned the screenplay adaptation of Clive Barker's The Midnight Meat Train.

The Boy: "It’s the summer of 1989. 9-year-old Ted Henley (Jared Breeze) and his father John (David Morse) are the proprietors of The Mt. Vista Motel, a crumbling resort buried in the mountains of the American West. Since Ted's mother left, John has drifted into despondency—leaving Ted to fend for himself. In this isolation, unchecked by the bounds of parenting, Ted’s darker impulses begin to manifest.

Esquire Network’s “Best Bars in America” is back for Season 2. The series returns on April 1, at 9 p.m., followed by an all-new season of “Brew Dogs” at 10 p.m. Inspired by Esquire magazine’s annual run-down, Season 2 of “Best Bars” follows comedians, best friends, and hosts Jay Larson and Sean Patton as they check out the greatest watering holes in the country. Also Read: Esquire’s ‘Best Bars in America’ Host Isn’t Afraid of a Little Karaoke Challenge (Exclusive Video) This season’s cross-country bar crawl will hit San Francisco, Washington, DC, Louisville, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit and the Southern California coast.

Spirits of the Season 2014 delivers the hottest new recipes, spirits and wines from the coolest distilleries, vineyards, restaurants and bars from all across the globe!With Halloween right around the corner, discover the best in craft small batch rums from Massachusetts, not south of the border or the Caribbean, with New England-based Privateer Rum. This is what you want to stock your bar or gift the mixologist of the family this year. This spirit is regularly featured in the excellent Esquire network series “Best Bars In America” featuring Jay Larson and Sean Patton, who always seem to find barkeeps who make their […]...

Comedian and actor Jay Mohr (Last Comic Standing, Gary Unmarried) launched the podcast network Fake Mustache on Monday. In addition to his Mohr Stories podcast, the network's lineup includes The Crab Feast With Ryan Sickler and Jay Larson, Talking S**t With Jim Jeffreys and Eddie Ifft and a daily sports-oriented podcast, The Joe McDonnell Experience. The podcasts are available on iTunes, at fakemustache.com and through a custom Mohr Stories app for Android and iOS, which is available at the Android, Amazon and iTunes app stores. Mohr jumped into podcasting just one year ago when show his debuted on Kevin

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The Internet has a way of sharing Internet-ready comedy clips and celebrity interviews from late night talk shows, but what about stand-up performances? A tight set may no longer be the career boost it once was, but we're always happy to see a funny comic have their moment in the sun in front of an audience of millions.

Last week, Ramin Nazer made his TV debut on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," Jay Larson did a set on "Conan," and Nick Griffin performed on Letterman for the eighth time. Todd Glass didn't perform stand-up on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," but he talked about the rigors of being a touring stand-up comic. Plus, a bonus clip of Neal Brennan on Fallon last week.

Let's hope we see more female comics soon!

The Internet has a way of sharing Internet-ready comedy clips and celebrity interviews from late night talk shows, but what about stand-up performances? A tight set may no longer be the career boost it once was, but we're always happy to see a funny comic have their moment in the sun in front of an audience of millions.

Last week, Ramin Nazer made his TV debut on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," Jay Larson did a set on "Conan," and Nick Griffin performed on Letterman for the eighth time. Todd Glass didn't perform stand-up on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," but he talked about the rigors of being a touring stand-up comic. Plus, a bonus clip of Neal Brennan on Fallon last week.

Let's hope we see more female comics soon!

Shannen Doherty is starring in a web series? Well at least the voice of the former 90210 star is. Set for a June 3rd premiere on FEARnet, Mari-Kari an 8-episode Japanese anime-styled web series is all about identical twins (and Bff’s) Mari and Kari. The hook for horror fans? Mari is a lively school girl and her sister Kari is a ghost who does anything she can to protect her mortal sib. Doherty voices both Mari and Kari in the series from creator-director Jody Schaeffer. [FEARnet] Revision3 now boasts some luscious HD video playback on the iPad, thanks to their first foray into HTML5. iPads, like iPhones, still don’t support Adboe Flash. Fans can now watch full episodes of all Revision3 web series straight from their iPads—we’re guessing that there’s a non-trivial number of Rev3 fans with iPads. In a somewhat bold choice by ditching Flash for...