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Time is always fleeting, but never has it seemed as warped and malleable as it has in 2020. Reality has been a painful pill to swallow at times this past year, but thankfully we’ve seen bright spots through it all, from much-needed movements for social justice to people casting their ballots for a more stable future than what we’ve experienced these past several years.

As important as it was to stay in tune with the world at large in 2020, it was also important to take the time to unplug, unwind, and relax our minds. For many of us last year, occasional escapism wasn’t just a luxury, it was a survival skill, and thankfully there were still plenty of new horror films, books, video games, and other forms of entertainment to enjoy from the comfort (and safety) of our quarantined homes. Here are some of the horror genre’s...

Stars: Char Diaz, Diana Hopper, Friday Chamberlain, Greg Hill, James Paxton, M.C. Gainey, Nicole Maines, Zolee Griggs | Written and Directed by Brad Michael Elmore

Possibly the most generic, unexciting name for a vampire movie, I didn’t have high hopes for Bit. But it has so much good going for it that I can definitely forgive its three lettered title.

Bit shows the very feminist story of a transgender woman, Laurel (Nicole Maines) leaving home for the summer and moving in with her brother in L.A. On her first night there, she goes to a club and meets Izzy (Zolee Griggs), who quickly turns her into a vampire and soon after she joins her group of vampires. We soon learn that these (now) five vampires have a rule that they don’t turn men. The ‘lead’ vampire Duke (Diana Hopper) exclaims that she “dreams of a world where all women are vampires.

Its central characters jaded club youth who just happen to be vampires — and seem not to have developed any depth or maturity no matter how long they’ve been doing this undead thing — “Bit” seems likewise content to act cool in the shallow end of the pool. Brad Michael Elmore’s feature flirts with various identification points without making much of them, beyond the automatic cred that placing an Lgbtq stamp on genre tropes will mean for some viewers. If the “Twilight” movies were aimed primarily at teens, this polished low-budget indie is for those teens hip enough to be in their school’s Gay-Straight Alliance.

On the one hand, it’s nice that in 2020 this hook should (despite our current political chaos) seem no big deal. On the other, one does wish this exercise in blase attitudinizing paid a little more attention to suspense, thrills, plot, mythology, and the...

"How would you like to hold the keys to the kingdom, for a change?" Provocator Films has debuted the official trailer for an indie horror coming-of-age dark comedy titled Bit, the latest from writer / director Brad Michael Elmore. This premiered at the Frameline Film Festival last year, and will be available to watch on VOD this month. Bit is the story of Laurel, a teenage transgender girl who moves to Los Angeles and falls in with a gang of intersectional feminist vampires. Not knowing if they want to kill her, befriend her or turn her, Laurel learns to understand the love and dangers of her new and first group of friends. Starring Nicole Maines as Laurel, with Diana Hopper, James Paxton, Zolee Griggs, Friday Chamberlain, Char Diaz, Tiffany Milian, and M.C. Gainey. This looks cool! Fun and spunky and, yes, biting. Have a taste. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Brad Michael Elmore's Bit,...

Stars: Char Diaz, Diana Hopper, Friday Chamberlain, Greg Hill, James Paxton, M.C. Gainey, Nicole Maines, Zolee Griggs | Written and Directed by Brad Michael Elmore

Possibly the most generic, unexciting name for a vampire movie, I didn’t have high hopes for Bit. But it has so much good going for it that I can definitely forgive its three lettered title.

Bit shows the very feminist story of a transgender woman, Laurel (Nicole Maines) leaving home for the summer and moving in with her brother in L.A. On her first night there, she goes to a club and meets Izzy (Zolee Griggs), who quickly turns her into a vampire and soon after she joins her group of vampires. We soon learn that these (now) five vampires have a rule that they don’t turn men. The ‘lead’ vampire Duke (Diana Hopper) exclaims that she “dreams of a world where all women are vampires.

Brad Michael Elmore's Bit will screen at this year's Outfest Los Angeles Lgbtq Film Festival, which is set for July 26th at the Tcl Chinese Theatre. Also in today's Horror Highlights: Dreamkatcher production details and Mimesis: Nosferatu wins the Golden Stake Award at the 2019 International Vampire Film and Arts Festival.

Bit Screening at Outfest 2019: "Provocator and Thirty06 have announced the SoCal Premiere of Brad Michael Elmore's Bit at the Outfest Los Angeles Lgbtq Film Festival. Actress and activist Nicole Maines (The CW's "Supergirl") headlines the cast as Laurel, a small town trans teen who heads to the City of Angels to find a new life. Instead, she meets a gang of intersectional feminist vampires led by Duke. Not knowing if they want to kill her, befriend her or turn her, Laurel learns to understand the love and dangers of her new group of friends.

A pulsing soundtrack,...

A young woman must choose between an immortal life of bloodsucking and companionship or a potentially lonely finite existence in Bit, which will have its East Coast premiere as the closing night movie at Popcorn Frights Film Festival in Fort Lauderdale this summer. Daily Dead is thrilled to attend and be one of the media sponsors of this year's Popcorn Frights Film Festival, and before Bit screens at the festival this August, we've been provided with exclusive images from the film to share with Daily Dead readers!

Below, you can view characters contemplating potentially life-changing decisions in our exclusive images from Bit, which Jerry Smith called a "timely, important horror classic in the making" in his 5-star review. To learn more about the East Coast premiere of Bit, visit its official page on Popcorn Frights' website.

Stay tuned to Daily Dead for our live coverage of the Popcorn Frights Film Festival this August,...

When it comes to the vampire subgenre of horror, it's safe to say that by now, we've seen every take under the sun. From the Bela Lugosi portrayal in Dracula, all the way to the sparkly, angst-filled Twilight vamps, it's been done and with varying results. It's hard to make a good vampire film and when it Is done right, we're given films like Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys. A bloodsucker-filled entry that to this day is considered one of the best vampire films of all time, The Lost Boys gave its viewers an experience that simply can't be rivaled.

While we've since received a handful of great vampire films, such as Larry Fessenden's Habit or David Slade's 30 Days of Night, very few films have captured that punk rock, Idgaf attitude that Schumacher's film confidently displayed... very few films, until now. Daily Dead readers, I am...

Actress Miriam A. Hyman has been cast in MGM and Warner Bros’ film, The Sun Is Also A Star, which is being toplined by Grown-ish star Yara Shahidi. Ry Russo-Young is directing the pic from a script by Tracy Oliver based on Nicola Yoon’s Ya bestselling novel. Shahidi stars as Natasha, a girl in New York City whose pragmatism is challenged when she falls in love right before her family is set to be deported back to Jamaica. Hyman will play Natasha’s mother Mrs. Kingsley, a hard-working native Jamaican waitress who is resigned to her family’s imminent deportation. Les Morgenstern and Elysa Koplovitz Dutton of Alloy Entertainment are producing the project while Oliver will also serve as exec producer. The Sun Is Also a Star will be released May 17. Hyman, whose credits include CBS’ Blue Bloods, Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Bravo’s Odd Man Out,...