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Over the course of a career that stretched back to 1967, Peter Jason racked up more than 270 screen acting credits, turning in performances that inspired legendary filmmaker John Carpenter to name him “one of the great character actors in cinema” – and to cast him in seven different projects: Prince of Darkness, They Live, Body Bags, In the Mouth of Madness, Village of the Damned, Escape from L.A., and Ghosts of Mars. Sadly, Carpenter has now had to take to social media to break the news to his fans and followers that Jason has passed away at the age of 80. Carpenter wrote, “His first movie was Howard Hawks’ Rio Lobo. He was a dear friend and I’ll miss him terribly.“

It is true that the 1970 film Rio Lobo was Jason’s first theatrical feature, but he already had three years of TV acting to his name at that point, with credits...

Peter Jason, the extremely busy character actor who appeared in nine features for Walter Hill and seven for John Carpenter and portrayed the card dealer-turned-reverend Con Stapleton on HBO’s Deadwood, has died. He was 80.

Jason died Thursday in his West Hollywood home after a long battle with cancer, a family representative told The Hollywood Reporter.

Jason amassed more than 275 acting credits on IMDb alone during his seven-decade onscreen career that began in the mid-1960s with a comedy sketch on CBS’ The Red Skelton Show, and he made his big-screen debut in Howard Hawks’ final film, Rio Lobo (1970), where his character died in the arms of John Wayne.

The Hollywood native also was an actor and production associate for Orson Welles on The Other Side of the Wind, which came out in 2018 after 48 years in development.

After working for Hill in The Driver (1978) and The Long Riders (1980), the fun-loving...

Peter Jason, a prolific character best known for his role as Deadwood‘s dim-witted card dealer Con Stapleton and numerous performances in the films of John Carpenter and Walter Hill, died Thursday. He was 80.

A cause of death was not immediately available.

His death was announced Thursday evening by, among other colleagues, Halloween director Carpenter, who called him “one of the great character actors in cinema.” Wrote Carpenter on X, “He was a dear friend and I’ll miss him terribly.”

Other friends and colleagues also shared the news. Actor Billy Zane wrote on X, “My dear, dear friend, the brightest light, most generous soul and gregarious of men, the supremely talented and kind Peter Jason has left the set,” and Matthew Asner, son of the late actor Ed Asner, wrote on Facebook, “I am heartbroken. My dear friend and my father’s best friend, Peter Jason, passed away today.

Character actor and frequent John Carpenter collaborator Peter Jason has passed away at the age of 80.

He amassed over 250 acting credits over the span of his seven-decade career, including seven Carpenter films: Prince of Darkness, They Live, Body Bags, In the Mouth of Madness, Village of the Damned, Escape from L.A., and Ghosts of Mars.

“Peter Jason, one of the great character actors in cinema, has died,” Carpenter shared on X. “His first movie was Howard Hawks’ Rio Lobo. He was a dear friend and I’ll miss him terribly.”

Jason’s other genre credits include Arachnophobia, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Congo, Mortal Kombat, Dreamscape, Willow Creek, Dante’s Peak, Alien Nation, and Trick or Treats.

Outside of the genre, the prolific actor’s appeared in “Deadwood,” The Karate Kid, Hail Caesar!, Adaptation., Seabiscuit, and 48 Hrs., to name a few.

The post Peter Jason, Character Actor and John Carpenter Regular, Has...

We’ve discussed John Carpenter on this channel as much or more than nearly any other director. Some of his movies, like The Thing, have gotten a different type of show appreciation via discussions on its behind the scenes in a Wtf, a comparison with its novella source material, and a look at what its legacy is in a Deconstructing video, amongst a few others. Looking at his catalogue, there is a wealth of stuff that is firmly in the horror realm from Christine to In the Mouth of Madness, Prince of Darkness to Halloween. While he has some movies that are outside that wheelhouse like the western homage Assault on Precinct 13 or Academy Award winning sci-fi drama Starman, Escape from New York is something special. In addition to being one of my favorite films of all time, full stop, it’s also sneaky in its ability to horrify. While...

Star Wars star Hayden Christensen may be best known for his Force abilities, but VFX artists have nothing but praise for the special effects featured in another of his sci-fi outings. Beginning his acting career at just 12 years of age, Christensen would eventually make his feature film debut in the 1994 John Carpenter horror film, In The Mouth of Madness. However, in May 2000, Christensen rapidly rose to international fame when it was announced that he would play the young adult version of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

Playing not only the impetuous young Jedi Knight who would later become the Star Wars galaxy’s most feared Sith Lord, Christensen would also insist on personally wearing Darth Vader’s iconic armor during the final moments of 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. Following the conclusion of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Christensen would lend his talents...

Here at JoBlo Horror Originals we talk a lot about gateway horror films. Depending on the generation you belong to, that can be a few different things. Kids of the 70s will always have Jaws as an introduction to horror and that movie is still a great way to introduce newer generations to the genre after almost 50 years. Two of my favorites from the 80’s, and two films that both my sons have seen, are The Gate and The Monster Squad. Again, both great and both still hold up as not only fun horror flicks but great ways to ease in the younger crowd. As a kid born in 1985, I am much more a child of the 90s so even if you hadn’t read the title of the video you clicked, you could probably guess that I saw Jurassic Park in theaters, it scared and enthralled me and made me want more.

In the early nineties, Chevy Chase was at a crossroads. He’d headlined a series of comedy hits in the eighties, including the National Lampoon’s Vacation films, two Fletch movies, and a few others, but he had some brutal flops, too. Funny Farm (underrated) and Caddyshack 2 did poorly, but Nothing But Trouble in 1991 was a nearly career-ending disaster for all involved. Suddenly, Chase’s future as a leading man looked bleak. Rather than double down on another comedy, he opted to stretch, signing on to star in a comic thriller in the vein of one of his first big hits, Foul Play, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, which was to feature cutting-edge special effects, and sports direction by one of the biggest genre directors of the time, John Carpenter.

Memoirs of an Invisible Man is based on a book by H.F Saint – his only novel in fact – which became...

Stephen King's It miniseries was one of the great horror releases of the 90s, and still terrifies audiences more than 30 years after release. Featured within In Search of Darkness 1990-1994, we have an exclusive clip with director Tommy Lee Wallace, who talks about the world's fear of clowns, and bringing Pennywise to life with Tim Curry!

Ready to explore the best of ‘90s horror films and TV? In Search of Darkness 1990-1994, a five-plus-hour documentary featuring brand-new interviews with the greatest line-up of horror icons and experts, is now available to pre-order exclusively at 90sHorrorDoc.com until Midnight Halloween (Pacific Time) on October 31st, 2024. Audiences will have their last chance to have their names alongside their favorite horror icons in the credits!

From Creatorvc, the creative minds behind the In Search of Darkness ‘80s horror trilogy and Aliens Expanded documentary, In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994 delves into an...

It hardly needs repeating, but director John Carpenter is known for making multiple horror classics, including "Halloween," "The Fog," "Christine," "The Thing," "Prince of Darkness," "In the Mouth of Madness" and "Vampires." Although Carpenter doesn't have a notable, recognizable style or motif in his filmography (apart from recurring actors) he does seem to possess a subtle, natural mastery of filmmaking craft that makes all his films, even the bad ones, imminently watchable.

Carpenter loves horror, of course, but oddly, he's not a horror guy at heart. He possesses an old-world workman's attitude when it comes to filmmaking, just sort of sussing out, by instinct, how to shoot a scene, regardless of genre. Carpenter has given multiple interviews where he's talked about monster movies and sci-fi flicks that inspired him, but moreso, Carpenter talks about the films of John Ford and Howard Hawks, two American filmmakers best known for their high-profile Westerns.

Over the course of three In Search of Darkness documentary films, all of which were over four hours long (with one of them nearly reaching the six hour mark), director David Weiner did an incredible job of digging into the many great (and some not-so-great) horror movies that were released in the 1980s. There were still so many movies left uncovered that Weiner could circle back and continue looking into ’80s movies for years to come – but instead, he has decided to move forward into the ’90s with the upcoming documentary In Search of Darkness: 1990 – 1994. At the time, fans considered the horror genre to be in a lull, a downswing from the heights it reached in the ’80s. But with this movie, Weiner aims to point out that we did still get a lot of good horror movies during that time period. You can get a sample of the...

Prestige filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Mann have joined Letterboxd – the online community to share reviews, create lists and fanboy out – but one who never has is John Carpenter. Hell, he doesn’t even know what it is! So, no, those reviews you’ve seen “him” allegedly post are all phony.

Amid a swirl of repostings of supposed reviews that John Carpenter put on Letterboxd, the director took to social media to not only debunk them but ask a serious question: “What the hell is a Letterboxd!??”

What the hell is a Letterboxd!??

— John Carpenter (@TheHorrorMaster) September 26, 2024

But these weren’t just any old reviews – these were, by and large, for John Carpenter movies. While the phony account has since been deleted, saved screenshots point to “John Carpenter” rating every one of his movies. Now that we know it was all a gag, it does...

James Wan's upcoming horror movie project is exciting, but I am even more hyped for the next installment of an acclaimed Lovecraftian shared universe. Although most details remain unknown, James Wan is reportedly working on an adaptation of Hp Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu. Even though directly adapting Lovecraftian tales to the big screen is no easy feat, James Wan's long line of success with horror movies makes me believe he might deliver something exceptional.

Although the film is still in the early stages of development, James Wan has teased that it is more of a passion project, and he already expects it to be a hard sell. Given how well-made cosmic horror movies like Alex Garland's Annihilation and John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness are hard to sell and rarely perform well at the box office, I am glad James Wan is focusing less on...

Last month, Aaron took a look at Goblin Archives’ Ttrpg Liminal Horror and its module, The Bloom. Goblin Archives has just added to the fun with another module that was released recently in The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow, the first hardback adventure module for Liminal Horror that’s currently on pre-order from BackerKit. It’s also available digitally via Goblin Archvies’ itch.io page.

As in the main game, players take on the role of Investigators attempting to figure out what has been going on in the town of Hungry Hollow. Brea, a former Investigator, had recently moved back to the town, but all communication from her has ceased. It turns out that a large part of the town’s population has been secretly implanted with parasitic flesh bees. Those not given the “gift” of the bee are concerned with the changes happening throughout town. People have gone missing unexpectedly,...

Curiously, the book alluded to in the headline is not "Christine," the novel Stephen King published in 1983. "Christine" follows a young man named Arnie who buys a disused 1958 Plymouth Fury and decides to fix it up. The car, however, begins asserting an eerie influence over Artie, turning him into a defiant 1950s greaser. He names the car Christine, and it soon begins acting with a mind of its own, chasing down anyone who would do Artie harm. Christine is a jealous girlfriend that feeds on Arnie's affection. 

Celebrated director John Carpenter famously adapted "Christine" to the big screen the same year as its publication, and many of Carpenter's eerie visuals are still scary to this day. The scene where Christine "grows back" after being smashed up by bullies is a sequence on par with the werewolf transformation scene in George Waggner's 1941 classic "The Wolf Man." The 1980s was a conservative time,...

If you are a horror fan then there is a big chance that you might have heard about the horror streaming service Shudder, and if you have its subscription you might be wondering what’s in store for you in August 2024. Don’t worry there is a host of new and old horror movies coming to the service in the upcoming month and we have listed the 7 best movies coming to Shudder in August 2024.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (August 1)

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a supernatural horror slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven. The 1984 film sees a maniacal serial killer, Freddy Krueger killing teenagers in their dreams and it follows the story of Nancy and her friends as they try to solve the mystery behind Freddy Krueger before he kills them too. A Nightmare on Elm Street stars Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Johnny Depp, John Saxon,...

Few directors have enjoyed as successful a run as John Carpenter did from the late 70s to the late 80s. The writer-director-composer cranked out nine notable theatrical flicks from 78 to 88, and while not many of them were theatrical hits, they’re all now considered classics, either of the bona fide or cult variety. The 90s, however, were not so kind to the man. Starting with the ill-fated Memoirs of an Invisible Man, which was a difficult production and, ultimately, a box office bomb, Carpenter struggled to mirror the success he’d enjoyed in the 80s. There’s no doubt that some of the titles have their supporters: In the Mouth of Madness is a genuinely entertaining nightmare of a movie, and his Showtime anthology Body Bags is enjoyable, if fairly forgettable – save for Carpenter’s extremely amusing performance as our undead host. And while yours truly is not a fan,...

AMC Networks’ Shudder has announced the titles that will be available on the streaming service next month. The Shudder August 2024 slate includes horror, thriller, and supernatural titles.

The August highlights include the films Dancing Village: The Curse Begins, Divinity, and Hell Hole, as well as the series Horror’s Greatest and The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs.

Hell Hole

Shudder’s expanding library of films, TV series, and original content is available on most US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand streaming devices.

Shudder August 2024 Highlights

The Shudder premiere schedule for next month.

Hell Hole (Shudder Original Film)

Streaming on Shudder August 23

The newest film from the Adams Family, the filmmaking team behind Hellbender, Hell Hole centers on an America-led fracking crew that uncovers a living French soldier frozen in time from a Napoleonic campaign, whose body hosts a parasitic monster. Starring Toby Poser, John Adams, Max Portman,...

Bring up the films of John Carpenter to any movie buff worth their weight in celluloid, and once they finish praying in the direction of Bowling Green, Kentucky, they'll start in on the essentials –- i.e. every movie in his oeuvre stretching from 1974's "Dark Star" to 1988's "They Live." From here, they'll single out 1994's "In the Mouth of Madness" as a return to peak form after the disappointing "Memoirs of an Invisible Man," and maybe share kind words about "Escape from L.A." "Vampires," "Ghosts of Mars," and, heck, even "The Ward." But that '74 -- '88 run is considered sacrosanct. You don't dispute this, and if you're fortunate enough to be a working filmmaker, you think long and hard about the wisdom of remaking one of these classics should a studio ever offer you the opportunity.

This is because Carpenter's aesthetic is inimitable. The widescreen compositions, the long takes,...

More than thirty new stars are going to be added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2025 (and into 2026), with the new batch of honorees who will be receiving stars having been chosen by the Hollywood Chamber’s Board of Directors. Variety reports that that honorees include Jessica Chastain, Bill Duke, Emilio Estevez, Colin Farrell, Jane Fonda, Nia Long, Lisa Lu, Glynn Turman, Toni Vaz, Fran Drescher, Lauren Graham, Bill Nye, Molly Shannon, Sherri Shepherd, Courtney B. Vance, Chris Wallace, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Misty Copeland, Alan Cumming, Adam Carolla, Fantasia, Depeche Mode, Los Bukis, The B-52s, Green Day, The Isley Brothers, Busta Rhymes, George Strait, Keith Urban, War, Prince, David Beckham, and Orel Hershiser… but the two honorees that stand out more than any others on this list for us here in the Arrow in the Head horror section of JoBlo are character actor Robert Englund and legendary filmmaker John Carpenter!

Wan's Lovecraft adaptation faces tough competition from Dredge's more indirect approach to cosmic horror storytelling. The success of films like Color Out of Space shows that a modern take on Lovecraftian themes can be more commercially successful. Wan's The Call of Cthulhu could benefit from taking notes from Dredge and Color Out of Space by adding a contemporary spin to the original tale.

James Wan's upcoming Lovecraft movie already seems to be facing some rivalry from another horror adaptation. Given how James Wan's long line of work as a filmmaker primarily includes mainstream films like Furiosa 7, The Conjuring, Aquaman, and Insidious, it is interesting how the director is now pursuing a passion project by adapting Hp Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu instead of solely focusing on mass appeal. As James Wan himself teased, his adaptation of The Call of Cthulhu is going to be hard to sell...

Known for iconic roles, Sam Neill's horror career is largely overlooked, but his chilling performance in "Omen III" is unforgettable. Neill's ability to bring subtle terror to psychotronic horror films sets him apart from other actors in the genre. Despite underrated performances in cult classics like "Event Horizon," Neill's horror legacy is often overshadowed by his mainstream success.

Although he's one of the most distinctive and respected actors of the past few decades, Sam Neill's horror movie career largely flies under the radar. Like many movie fans, I became familiar with Neill following his starring turn in Steven Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster, Jurassic Park. However, while his performance as paedophobic paleontologist Alan Grant remains a career highlight, it's become increasingly clear that there's more to Neill's resume than running away from dinosaurs.

Born in Northern Ireland in 1947, Neill first rose to prominence with a series of acclaimed roles in the...

Sam Neill is joining Eric Bana for Netflix‘s upcoming limited series Untamed. The limited series project hails from Warner Bros. Television and studio-based John Wells Productions, described by Deadline as a character-driven mystery-thriller.

Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith wrote Untamed, which “follows Kyle Turner (Bana), a special agent for the National Parks Service who works to enforce human law in nature’s vast wilderness. The investigation of a brutal death sends Inman on a collision course with the dark secrets within the park, and in his own past.”

Sam Neill walks onto Untamed for the part of Paul Souter, a chief park ranger in Yosemite who’s spent most of his life patrolling the treasured national park. Paul is a faithful husband, father, grandfather, and friend to Kyle Turner. He is fearless in getting his hands dirty when it comes to upholding the park’s integrity, whether the...

Creatures in In the Mouth of Madness surprised VFX artists for being barely visible on-screen despite their intricate designs. Corridor Crew noted the impressive prosthetics work on creatures like the soggy mummy, which was only seen for two frames in the movie. The Lovecraftian film may have benefited from showing more monsters, considering the effort put into their creation.

John Carpenters Lovecraftian horror film In the Mouth of Madness surprises VFX artists for one major reason. The 1994 movie follows John Trent (Sam Neill), an insurance investigator who recounts strange activity in Hobbs End, New Hampshire, and its connection to novelist Sutter Cane. Along with Neill, the cast includes Jrgen Prochnow, Julie Carmen, David Warner, John Glover, and Charlton Heston. Despite an underwhelming theatrical release, In the Mouth of Madness assembled a strong fanbase and is considered one of Carpenters most underappreciated movies, featuring some memorable creature designs.

In Corridor Crews latest video,...

James Wan faces challenges in adapting Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu due to its complex cosmic horrors and limited commercial potential. Lovecraft's stories, including Cthulhu, have not been fully realized on screen due to their unimaginable cosmic entities and non-traditional storytelling. Wan's blockbuster success with Aquaman and trendsetting in horror may give his Lovecraft adaptation a better chance than Del Toro's failed attempt.

Horror legend James Wan would need to use all of his considerable clout to ensure that his ambitious H.P. Lovecraft adaptation The Call of Cthulhu ever made it to cinema screens, but even this might not be enough to make the project happen. Although his racism tarnished his literary reputation, the author H.P. Lovecraft remains one of horror literatures most important figures. Lovecraft influenced everyone from Stephen King to Neil Gaiman, but his unique stories have rarely been adapted to the screen. Many of Lovecrafts...

John Carpenter is a filmmaker who boasts several stone-cold classics to his resume. Not only did he more or less invent the modern slasher movie with "Halloween," but he's also responsible for titles such as "Escape From New York," "The Thing," "They Live," "Prince of Darkness," "Big Trouble in Little China," and many more. Carpenter is pretty much retired from feature filmmaking at this point, and his as-of-now final film, "The Ward," isn't so great. However, there's one later-period Carpenter movie that I consider to be one of his best works: "In the Mouth of Madness." It received mixed reviews when it opened in 1994, and it wasn't much of a box office hit, but in my humble opinion, it's pretty damn great — and scary, too.

The film tells the story of famous horror author Sutter Cane, who is like a mash-up of Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft. When Cane goes...

John Carpenter is one of the best to ever do it. The legendary filmmaker is pretty much retired from making movies these days, instead preferring to release music, sit on his couch, play video games, and just chill. And while we'd all like to see Carpenter return to direct one more banger, he's earned the right to take it easy. Very few filmmakers can boast a career with as many classics as Carpenter — "Halloween," "The Fog," "Escape From New York," "They Live," "The Thing," "In The Mouth of Madness," — the list goes on and on and on. Carpenter has had his ups and downs over the years, occasionally clashing with anyone who didn't see eye to eye with his unique vision. As he told Variety, "The great thing about this stuff early on was I really did have final cut on all these movies and no one was judging me,...

John Carpenter's 1992 film "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" was a departure for the director. Throughout the 1980s, Carpenter directed many notable genre films that affected a direct and guileless style that roped in many fans and critics. His 1980s "hot streak" included "Escape from New York," "The Thing," "Christine," "Starman," and "Big Trouble in Little China." Although his 1987 film "Prince of Darkness" was nonsensical, it has many defenders, and his 1988 film "They Live" is now considered a seminal anti-establishment punk-rock text of the Reagan era. 

That streak seems to have ended with "Memoirs," however. Although the film is slick, entertaining, and boasts some excellent special effects, many Carpenter fans felt a little off-put by the director's attempts to helm a comedic Chevy Chase vehicle. In "Memoirs," Chase plays a stock market guy who is accidentally exposed to an invisibility experiment. The film follows his travails as he adjusts to his lack of opacity,...

The episode of The Best of the Bad Guys focusing on Damien Thorn was written, narrated, and edited by Mike Holtz.

The Prince of Darkness. Heir to both Hell and Thorn Industries. The antichrist himself and guy who gets his haircut at Great Clips, Damien Thorn. The titular character of The Omen franchise will be praised not by his usual followers but by us as we dive into the second edition of The Best Of The Bad Guys, where we rank the best work of cinema’s most evil villains.

Damien Thorn’s run of evil has spanned five films including an utterly pointless shot-for-shot remake and a TV series with another prequel on the way in The First Omen. And though The Omen IV: The Awakening doesn’t follow Damien himself; his presence is felt. The franchise started in 1976 with legendary director Richard Donner giving us the first version...

I am of that age that still thinks the 80s was 30 years ago and that the 90s just happened. Strange as that logic is, there’s nothing like movie anniversaries to pull me back into reality. Last episode we looked at In the Mouth of Madness and its impact now going strong 30 years later. That flick though, like most of John Carpenter’s catalogue, was something that was already out when I started my movie journey. I had already seen it on VHS and on TV from time to time which puts it in another category altogether. Move ahead just 5 short years to 1999, one of the greatest years in cinema history, and we start getting that 25 years of existence that puts that nice existential crisis right into my gut. Today we are going to look at one of those movies that probably isn’t considered a traditional horror movie but is absolutely horrific in nature.

Across Sam Neill’s illustrious career, the actor has worked with animatronic dinosaurs for “Jurassic Park” and led iconic horror films like “Possession” and “In the Mouth of Madness.” But for “Apples Never Fall,” Neill had a career first: working with a tennis pro to well, play a tennis pro.

Neill admitted that he “needed a lot of help” to convincingly portray tennis coach Stan Delaney.

“I needed a lot of help and I got a lot of help, which is just as well. I’m not the world’s most naturally athletic guy,” Neill told IndieWire. “It’s important for the story that this with an alpha male guy who dominates everyone on the court and requires his children to do the same that he looks like a killer on the court and elsewhere, actually. I needed help and I got it. I hope it’s convincing.”

Neill added,...

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the series finale of “Apples Never Fall.”

Still reeling from that “Apples Never Fall” ending? Well, actor Sam Neill is about to take a bite out of just how that shocking finale came to be – and (surprise) it wasn’t even the original conclusion planned by showrunner Melanie Marnich.

“Apples Never Fall” strayed from the Liane Moriarty novel source material, and due to the WGA strike in 2023, production was halted in Australia. Showunner Marnich told IndieWire that due to the strike, she was no longer on set as a writer and executive producer, but that the directors and actors continued until the SAG-AFTRA strike subsequently went into effect.

“They were true to the scripts which I really appreciated and they were so respectful,” Marnich recalled. “But then the actor strike hit and we of course shut down. Honestly, when we came back,...

Sam Neill's TV career has seen a recent slump with disappointing Rotten Tomatoes scores on his latest series. Despite his talent and longevity in the industry, Neill has struggled to find success in recent television projects. While Neill's movie roles continue to be box office hits, his recent TV ventures have fallen short of critical acclaim.

Sam Neill's recent Peacock series, Apples Never Fall, has debuted with a 38% Rotten Tomatoes score, continuing a disappointing trend in the actor's TV career. Sam Neill has been one of the most coveted acting talents since the 1970s, appearing in cult classics like Possession and In the Mouth of Madness, as well as starring in the cinematic phenomenon Jurassic Park. At 76, the New Zealand actor is still putting in great performances, appearing in a variety of film and television roles.

The miniseries Apples Never Fall is Sam Neill's latest venture, and at first glance,...

Apples Never Fall on Peacock brings Liane Moriarty's family drama to life with a star-studded cast and captivating storytelling. Sam Neill shines as patriarch Stan Delaney, portraying a complex character with depth and vulnerability in the series. Annette Bening stars opposite of Neill, and the rest of the cast brings the Delaneys to the small screen with an impressive amount of talent.

Apples Never Fall is the latest TV adaptation of Liane Moriarty's best-selling novels, and the Peacock series has an all-star cast bringing the book's story to life. Like the novel it's based on, Apples Never Fall follows the tennis-loving Delaney family in two timelines: before and after their mother vanishes. Joy Delaney's sudden disappearance dredges up the secrets and trauma within the seemingly perfect family, forcing the Delaney siblings to question everything they believe about their own parents.

The cast of Apples Never Fall brings the...

Hayden Christensen made his acting debut at the age of 12 in 1993 when he played a supporting role in the German Canadian TV series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The very next year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness. In the next couple of years, he appeared in numerous movies and TV series, including Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides and the horror anthology series Goosebumps.

These days, Hayden Christensen is best known for his role as Anakin Skywalker, also known as Darth Vader, in the beloved Star Wars franchise. In 2000, he announced that he was cast as an adult version of that character. Recently, he opened up about how he thought that he would never secure the role when he heard that Leonardo DiCaprio was being considered.

Hayden Christensen in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

Hayden Christensen Could...

You don’t have to go too far into the biographies of bad boy New Hollywood directors to find examples of impropriety. William Friedkin tossing around poor Linda Blair for The Exorcist. Francis Ford Coppola going full Kurtz for Apocalypse Now. Paul Schrader doing… well, Paul Schrader things. But there’s one guy who doesn’t fit the bill, despite palling around with the others: George Lucas.

For better or worse, the soft-spoken and intellectual Lucas doesn’t seem to push his actors to extremes. And yet, that’s exactly what had to happen for perhaps the most upsetting scene in Lucas’s oeuvre, the slaughter of the Jedi younglings in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

For those who don’t recall, the slaughter of the Younglings signaled the final step in Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side, the point where he committed himself to the path of Darth Vader,...

If you’ve been keeping up with The Test of Time, you have probably learned what the rules are in terms of what we tackle. Those rules, of course, are that there are no rules whatsoever and we cover whatever sounds good or we think would be an interesting topic. In the Mouth of Madness (watch it Here) came out in Italy in late 1994 and that means, gulp, that movie is now 30 years old. It came during an interesting time in the master of horrors career when he was running flop after flop and being disappointed by studios interference and stars that weren’t willing to be true collaborators. It’s the ending of a loose trilogy and in some people’s estimation his last great film. Is In the Mouth of Madness a tale that stands the Test of Time, or should it be put in the bargain bin...

Overlord, The Mist, and Annihilation share cosmic horror themes similar to the Cloverfield franchise. A Quiet Place, Life, and The Thing also align thematically with Cloverfield's alien invasion narrative. Films like In The Mouth of Madness and The Host could easily be reworked to fit into the Cloverfield universe.

The Cloverfield franchise is an immensely popular sci-fi horror series made up of anthology stories, and while these 10 films aren't part of the franchise, they could easily have the Cloverfield label on them. Since the original film released in 2008, the Cloverfield franchise has found scripts linked by common themes and ideas, acquired them, and slapped the Cloverfield branding on them. 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox could be viewed as standalone films, but they are part of the Cloverfield universe, something that these 10 films could have been as well.

Although the current three Cloverfield movies tell standalone stories, they all...

Here lies Thomas Eugene Paris, beloved mutant. That’s what Trekkies think about every Jan. 29, known among some as “Threshold Day,” commemorating the 1996 airing of the Star Trek: Voyager season two episode “Threshold.” Threshold Day consists mostly of memes and jokes, poking fun at what most consider one of the series’ worst episodes, if not one of the most embarrassing Star Trek episodes of all time.

While it is certainly corny, “Threshold” doesn’t quite deserve its ignoble reputation. Not only is it far from the worst episode of Voyager (Chakotay’s ancestors’ bones play no part in the story), but it contains a lot of qualities found in the best Star Trek episodes. Is that enough to elevate “Threshold” to the upper Trek tiers? No, but it is enough to give the episode a better reputation than the one it has now.

Crossing the Threshold

Directed by TV veteran Alexander Singer,...

H.P. Lovecraft's work has been adapted for the big screen with varying levels of success, but the best adaptations are often cinematic triumphs. Some of the most notable Lovecraft-inspired films include "The Dunwich Horror," "From Beyond," "In the Mouth of Madness," and "Color Out of Space." Stuart Gordon is one of the best directors to tackle Lovecraft adaptations, with his films "Re-Animator" and "Dragon" standing out as must-sees for fans of Lovecraftian horror.

The work of American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft has been adapted for the big screen countless times with various levels of success. With dozens of short stories, as well as novellas and novels, Lovecraft developed an eerie style that was completely his own and created the influential Cthulhu Mythos, which gave his writing its unique characteristics, identity, and lore. Along with terms such as Shakespearean and Kafkaesque, the phrase Lovecraftian has come to represent its...

"Candyman" began its life in 1985 as a short story called "The Forbidden," originally published in Clive Barker's "Books of Blood, Vol. 5" (called "In the Flesh" in the United States). "The Forbidden" was set in Barker's hometown of Liverpool, specifically at a run-down building called the Spector Street estate, where a grad student named Helen went to photograph images of graffiti and poverty. While there, she encountered a mysterious monster the Candyman, a creature she assumed was merely an urban myth. The Candyman is covered in bees and sports a hook for a hand. Its origins are unknown. 

In 1992, filmmaker Bernard Rose adapted "The Forbidden" into the feature film "Candyman," one of the more celebrated horror films of its decade. Helen was played by Virginia Madsen, and the mysterious Candyman was played by a menacing Tony Todd. Rose transposed the location from Liverpool to the Cabrini-Green housing projects in Chicago.

Despite the odd cliche, a thriller with an unnerving picture at its core is coated with unsettling energy and a standout performance from Mexican actor Natalia Córdova-Buckley

Simon Ross’s capable debut can be hung in a gallery of films featuring unnerving paintings, from The Picture of Dorian Gray to Ghostbusters 2 and In the Mouth of Madness. Wife turned carer Sofia (Natalia Córdova-Buckley) stumbles across an uncanny canvas in the attic of the mansion to which she has brought her catatonic husband Alex (Ryan Kwanten); it is supposedly a self-portrait of his great-grandfather, but she is startled to find that it is a spitting image of Alex. While this gothic chestnut, and the psychodrama that follows – with Sofia unsure how much is the product of her own under-siege mind – feel familiar, Ross injects them with a troubling inner turbulence that bodes well for him.

Apparently a doting, endlessly patient spouse,...

Stephen Colbert got a special treat from one of his heroes on the Halloween episode of “The Late Show”: Horror movie legend John Carpenter. Unfortunately, the CBS host kind of botched it when he revealed he doesn’t care for Carpenter’s most famous movie, accidentally hurting the film’s main character in the process. Whoopsie.

The sketch begins when Colbert walks down spookier-than-normal hallways of the Ed Sullivan Theater, where he bumps into the director of “Halloween,” “They Live,” “The Thing,” “Escape From New York,” “Big Trouble in Little China” and so many more just lurking there.

“Oh, sorry if I spooked you. I was just checking my email,” Carpenter said after Colbert jump-scared.

“Legendary filmmaker John Carpenter! What are you doing back here?” Colbert asked.

“Well, it is my big night, so I thought I’d come back and just drop in on you,” Carpenter replied.

“Well of course,...

If there’s a filmmaker whose legacy is synonymous with horror, it’s John Carpenter who created some of the most enduring horror movies in American cinema, with classics like Halloween, The Thing, and The Fog. Joining Carpenter is producer and writer Sandy King Carpenter, John’s wife, who has produced fan-favorite horror flicks In the Mouth of Madness, Village of the Damned, and Vampires. Sandy King and John Carpenter launched Storm King Comics through their production company Storm King Productions. The comic book publishing division has released a growing line of horror titles since 2012.

Featuring a whole roster of acclaimed writers and artists, Storm King Comics boasts several award-winning comic book titles, including the long-running anthology series John Carpenter’s Tales for a HalloweeNight. Storm King Comics line publishes titles ranging from the decidedly macabre and mature to all-age friendly, such as young reader-oriented title John Carpenter Presents Storm Kids.

He may be the greatest horror director of all time (just ask Jordan Peele), but John Carpenter’s film taste skews farther away from the genre than you might expect.

Born in 1948 in Carthage, New York, Carpenter grew up with a love of cinema, watching Howard Hawks westerns an early age, and started making short films with an 8mm camera before he started high school. He studied at Western Kentucky University and University of Southern California, before dropping out of the latter after a short he made, “The Resurrection of Broncho Billy,” won an Oscar.

Now with a sudden amount of prestige, Carpenter made two little seen projects “Dark Star” and “Assault on Precinct 13,” both now critically acclaimed, before really breaking out with 1978’s “Halloween.” Starring a young Jamie Lee Curtis, the independent film became a massive hit, grossing $70 million, turning main villain Michael Myers into a horror icon,...

The Thing (1982)A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.Rating: 8.2/10Stars: Kurt Russell (MacReady), Wilford Brimley (Dr. Blair), Keith David (Childs), Richard Masur (Clark)Halloween (1978)Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a...

Graphic: Images: IMDBThe Thing (1982)

A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

Rating: 8.2/10

Stars: Kurt Russell (MacReady), Wilford Brimley (Dr. Blair), Keith David (Childs), Richard Masur (Clark)

Halloween (1978)

Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes...

The "Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy" consists of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End, all of which combine horror and comedy. The "Unholy Trinity of Folk Horror Trilogy" includes Witchfinder General, The Blood on Satan's Claw, and The Wicker Man, which are all British films that delve into creepy folklore. The "John Carpenter's Apocalypse Trilogy" features The Thing, Prince of Darkness, and In the Mouth of Madness, each exploring potential apocalyptic scenarios.

Horror cinema has produced some excellent trilogies over the years, but those who have already seen all the popular titles might be interested in different, "unofficial" horror movie trilogies. The original Evil Dead movies and Poltergeist sagas, the Blade films, and the Maniac Cop movies are just some of the franchises that stopped at three installments (not including reboots). While they're enjoyable, there's only so many times anyone can watch even the best horror movies of all time.

John Carpenter's highest-grossing films cover a variety of genres, including horror, sci-fi, and romance. Despite his films being financially successful, none of them have reached nine figures, which is surprising considering his works are iconic. Some of Carpenter's highest-grossing titles may not be the ones people expect, but they still showcase his talent.

John Carpenter is a legendary director and a master of horror, and his movies have made decent money over the years, though interestingly enough, his highest-grossing titles cover a variety of genres. Carpenter has been directing feature films since the mid-1970s, with his first being the sci-fi comedy Dark Star, so he has had more than enough time to dabble beyond horror. In fact, sci-fi comes a close second in his filmography in terms of his most famous works, with romance also being represented among his biggest box office hits.

It may also come as a surprise to see that,...

Amazon is running a massive sale on over 100 Scream Factory titles today, including some of the lowest-ever prices on their 4K UHDs and Blu-rays. Now is the time to stock up!

Here are some of the top horror highlights from the sale…

Halloween 4K UHDs:

Halloween – $22.99 Halloween II – $20.99 Halloween III – $20.99 Halloween 4 – $20.99 Halloween 5 – $19.99 Halloween 6 / Halloween H20 / Halloween: Resurrection – $59.99

John Carpenter 4K UHDs:

They Live – $18.99 They Live [Steelbook] – $23.99 The Fog – $19.99 The Fog [Steelbook] – $25.99 Prince of Darkness – $19.99 Escape From New York – $20.99 Halloween – $22.99

4K UHDs:

Child’s Play – $22.99 Child’s Play 2 – $20.99 Child’s Play 3 – $19.99 The Howling – $19.99 The Funhouse – $19.99 Slumber Party Massacre / Slumber Party Massacre II – $20.99 Carrie – $20.99 Carrie [Steelbook] – $22.17 Brotherhood of the Wolf – $20.99 Cat People – $20.99 Happy Death Day – $20.99 Happy Death Day 2U – $20.99 Army of Darkness – $21.99 Evil Dead (2013) – $21.99 Dog Soldiers – $21.99 The Haunting of Julia – $21.99 Lifeforce – $21.99 Krampus: The Naughty Cut – $21.99 Alligator – $21.99 The People Under the Stairs -$22.99 Bubba Ho-Tep – $22.99 The Exorcist III – $22.99 Dawn of the Dead (2004) – $22.99 Motel Hell – $22.99 Dead Silence – $22.99 The Return of the Living Dead...