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This Christmas, you might want to stay on the nice list. A new version of Silent Night, Deadly Night is heading to theaters in late 2025, bringing a fresh take on the cult slasher classic.

Cineverse, the company behind Terrifier 3 and the parent company of Bloody Disgusting, is behind the project, and the first official poster has just been revealed.

The poster, created by Creepy Duck Design, gives a chilling first look at what’s to come. At the same time, Deadline reports that Studiocanal’s genre label, Sixth Dimension, has acquired global rights to the film outside of North America, while Cineverse will handle distribution in the U.S.

Directed by Mike P. Nelson, this new Silent Night, Deadly Night will begin production this spring. It reimagines the 1984 slasher directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr., which followed a young boy who witnessed his parents’ murder at the hands of a man dressed as Santa.

This Valentine’s Day, no couple is safe. The filmmakers behind Freaky, Happy Death Day and Werewolves Within join forces for this year’s slasher movie Heart Eyes, and the brand new official trailer has arrived ahead of the film’s release only in theaters on February 7, 2025.

Watch the bloody Heart Eyes trailer down below, which previews a handful of supremely gory kills from the upcoming movie. Oh yes, it’s going to be a Bloody Valentine this year…

We have the recent box office success of the Scream and Halloween franchises, coupled with Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving back in 2023, to thank for the return of the holiday slasher movie, which was of course a staple of the genre back in the 1980s. And don’t forget that Bloody Disgusting and Cineverse are rebooting Silent Night, Deadly Night later this year!

Josh Ruben (Werewolves Within, Scare Me) directed the Valentine’s Day-themed Heart Eyes,...

Every year, people turn up the volume on Christmas songs to cheerfully celebrate the holiday season. The tunes touch on topics like family, love, gifts, and togetherness. Many Christmas songs turn away from the warmth of the holiday, however. Here are seven songs for when you want to embrace the bluer shades of the season.

‘That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!’ by Sufjan Stevens

Many of the songs in Sufjan Stevens’ extensive Songs For Christmas have a level of melancholy to them. Lyrically, “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever” leans into the heartbreak. In the song, Stevens writes of memories of sledding, but the second verse brings out a very different side to the holiday.

“Our father yells, throwing the gifts in the wood stove, wood stove / My sister runs away, taking her books to the schoolyard, schoolyard,” he sings.

The song ends on a grim note.

“Silent night, holy...

I’ve said it time and time again, but Christmas is definitely the holiday with the most horror movies centered around it. Classics like Black Christmas which got no sequels, but two Very different remakes, Gremlins, and Christmas Evil gave way to modern classics like Better Watch Out, Krampus, and Terrifier 3. Then you have the one series that decided to make a whole interconnected universe out of the holiday. With 5 movies that sometimes, rarely, kinda connect with each other and 4 of them out of the way, its finally time to look at the last entry in the series before the quasi remake came out in 2012. I’ve had the pleasure to discuss 1, 3, and 4 in one way or another on the channel and part 5 deserves its flowers too. While two is an awfully good movie, 3-5 can all count as a black sheep and 5 especially has its weird moments both in...

One of the most famous horror films of all time was Friday the 13th. While the movie was not a critical success, it inspired numerous slasher movies that came after it — including a Christmas horror movie about a killer Santa Claus. The film in question is very different from Friday the 13th in a lot of ways. It’s actually a lot better than its fore-bearer.

‘Friday the 13th’ was part of a wave of slasher films that inspired a killer Santa Claus movie

1980 was the year of the slasher film. Some of the slasher titles released that year include Christmas Evil, New Year’s Evil, Prom Night, Terror Train, He Knows You’re Alone, Funeral Home, Maniac, Mother’s Day, and Don’t Answer the Phone! While some of these films are underrated or have cult followings, the only slasher films from 1980 that spawned franchises are Friday the 13th and Prom Night...

There are more holiday horror movies out there than you might think. Despite the religious connotations of the holiday, few Christmas horror movies have stirred up much controversy — but a Santa Claus horror movie proved there are exceptions to every rule. Here’s a look at a little slasher movie that started a moral panic because of its Yuletide trappings.

A Santa Claus horror movie was part of the wave of movies inspired by ‘Halloween’

After John Carpenter’s Halloween became a smash, several other filmmakers sought to cash in on it by making holiday slasher films. Christmas is the most lucrative holiday on the American calendar, so it’s no surprise that the 1980s saw a crop of Yuletide horrors. Some of those films include Christmas Evil, Don’t Open till Christmas, To All a Goodnight, and The Dorm That Dripped Blood.

One of the most brutal was Silent Night,...

Coppola Wine.

After wrapping October with Robert Zemeckis’ hilarious dark comedy Death Becomes Her (listen), we kicked off November with a look back at Wes Craven’s classic slasher A Nightmare on Elm Street (listen), followed by Albert Ray’s pre-Code 1932 “classic” The Thirteenth Guest (listen).

In honor of Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass re-teaming for Shudder’s The Creep Tapes (review), we’ve decided to revisit the better-than-the-original sequel Creep 2.

In the film, after dispatching new “friend” Dave (Karan Soni), Aaron (Duplass) sets his sights on flailing YouTube personality Sara (Desiree Akhavan). After trying all of the same tricks as the first film, however, Aaron finds that Sara is unflappable: she’s not bothered by his pranks and jump scares and seems more than willing to match his freak in every conceivable way

As the battle of wills escalates, it soon becomes clear that these two may just be made for each other.

16 years after the faux trailer debuted as part of Grindhouse, Eli Roth finally delivered the feature version of Thanksgiving. There were no leftovers, but among the special features on the slasher’s home video release is an audio commentary by Roth and producer-writer Jeff Rendell.

Here are 10 things I learned from the Thanksgiving commentary…

1. The concept dates back to the filmmakers’ childhoods.

Thanksgiving is based on Roth’s faux trailer from Grindhouse, but its origins date back even further than 2007. Best friends since kindergarten, Roth and Rendell grew up in Newton, Massachusetts (about an hour from Plymouth) watching horror movies together.

Inspired by a pivotal theatrical viewing of Silent Night, Deadly Night circa 1984, they longed for a definitive Thanksgiving slasher in the vein of the other holiday horrors.

“We just started thinking of like, ‘What if there was a Thanksgiving slasher movie? You could put someone in an oven, and there was a killer pilgrim,...

It’s only about two minutes and 25 seconds, yet it remains the single best thing Eli Roth has ever done. Tucked right in the middle of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s ambitious, mondo-grimy Grindhouse (2007) is a trailer for a fake movie called Thanksgiving. You probably remember it, if you remember much about that wax Forty-Deuce museum with a pulse. It’s the end of November, someone is murdering horny teens, kind old ladies and, er, hornier teens in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The killer is dressed like a pilgrim.

Eli Roth is back. And he’s here for “Thanksgiving.”

For the past decade, Roth has nimbly moved through different genres – erotic thriller (“Knock Knock”), revenge movie (“Death Wish”), family fantasy (“The House with a Clock in Its Walls”), nature documentary (“Fin”) and big budget video game adaptation (next year’s “Borderlands”). But now he’s back with a down-and-dirty horror movie, this time centered around one of the happiest time of year.

In “Thanksgiving,” adapted from a fake trailer that Roth had made for Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s “Grindhouse” project, a superstore’s super sale leads to tragedy. A year later a masked man in a pilgrim costume, known as John Carver, starts taking out the townspeople involved in the tragedy, one by one. And, yes, the kills are just as creative and stomach-churning as you’d expect from the man behind “Hostel,” “Cabin Fever” and “The Green Inferno.

The upcoming Crystal Lake prequel series will feature an appearance by the final girl from the original Friday the 13th. The 1980 film, which follows Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) murdering counselors at Camp Crystal Lake as revenge for the supposed drowning of her son Jason (Ari Lehman), starred Adrienne King as Alice Hardy, the only survivor of the massacre. Alice is a capable young woman who ends up decapitating Pamela before escaping onto the lake in a canoe. She returns in the opening sequence of 1981's Friday the 13th Part 2, where she was killed off by a now grown-up Jason.

Yesterday, Fandom's Eric Goldman reported from a Los Angles screening of 1982's Friday the 13th Part III which featured a Q&a with cast members from the film as well as Bryan Fuller, who is a writer and producer on Crystal Lake, which is being developed with A24 and Peacock.

The first two Silent Night, Deadly Night films get all the glory — to the point where casual horror fans may be surprised to learn that three more installments were produced in the franchise. The 1984 original generated highly publicized controversy by showing its killer dressed as Santa Claus in advertisements, while the 1987 first sequel gained cult status for its over-the-top campiness and liberal reuse of clips from its predecessor.

The series was then relegated to straight-to-video territory with 1989’s Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out, 1990’s Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation, and 1991’s Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker. While the third installment continues the killer Santa plot, the storyline was abandoned for the latter two installments, which each tell an unrelated tale set during Christmastime.

Diverging from the franchise’s headline-making narrative may have been a death knell — look at how long it took viewers...

New photos from the holiday action-comedy Red One show off J.K. Simmons' Santa and Dwayne Johnson pumping iron at the North Pole. The film, which is currently in production with director Jake Kasdan at the helm and an eye toward a 2023 release, is an alternative take on the mythology of Christmas. In addition to Simmons and Johnson, it stars Chris Evans, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Liu, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Nick Kroll, and Kristofer Hivju.

On his official Instagram account, Johnson shared a new collection of images from the set of Red One. The three images show the actor and Simmons - still in his Justice League shape - working out at a gym in the North Pole, complete with a red and white striped candy cane barbell. Along with the images, Johnson included a caption that calls his co-star the "the coolest, strongest, kindest, most bad ass, most loving & most...

Vestron Video and Lionsgate Home Entertainment will release on Blu-ray Silent Night, Deadly Night Collection (1989-1991). The three-disc set will be available for purchase on December 13 and is available to order now!.

Prepare for a trilogy of pure terror with this collection of films from the Silent Night, Deadly Night series. In Better Watch Out!, it's a very bloody Christmas after Ricky Caldwell, the notorious "Killer Santa Claus," awakens from a six-year coma with one thing on his mind: murder. In Initiation, a reporter's investigation into a mysterious death leads her into the clutches of a cult that's chosen her as its new queen, and The Toy Maker stars entertainment legend Mickey Rooney as a toy maker whose creations display some very...

Joining the other two movies in the world of Blu-ray, Lionsgate has officially announced that the Silent Night, Deadly Night Collection is joining the Vestron Video Collector’s Series.

Featuring all-new special features, the Silent Night, Deadly Night Collection includes Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out, Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation, and Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker. All three movies are worth watching for their own reasons – Sndn 3 stars Bill Moseley as the killer, while Sndn 4 is just plain bonkers and has very little to do with the franchise or even Christmas at all – but in my personal opinion it’s Sndn 5 – starring Mickey Rooney! – that is the true underrated gem of this oddball franchise.

You can expect to own the collection on December 13, 2022.

The Special Features package includes…

Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!

Audio Commentary with Film Historian Jarret Gahan...

The classic Christmas slasher Silent Night, Deadly Night is already available on Blu-ray (pick up a copy Here), and so is its stock footage filled sequel Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 (you can buy that one Here) – and pretty soon the oddball sequels Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out, Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation, and Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker will be joining them! All three of the movies are getting the Vestron Video Collector’s Series treatment, and you won’t have to buy three different items to collect all of them. This is going to be a triple feature release.

Dawn of the Discs reports that “All 3 films will come together in one package, will be presented in their original aspect ratio and will feature new special features for each film.” Details on the special features haven’t been revealed. Nor has the release date.

Further Christmas releases include ‘Silent Night’, ‘CBeebies Christmas Show’.

Aml Ameen’s romantic comedy Boxing Day heads the new titles at the UK-Ireland box office, as one of six Christmas-themed releases this weekend.

Released in 439 sites through Warner Bros, Boxing Day is inspired by Ameen’s own experiences, and follows a UK author who returns home from Los Angeles to introduce his US fiancée to his eccentric British-Caribbean family at Christmas.

The film is produced by Screen Star of Tomorrow 2020 Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, alongside Damian Jones of DJ Films, plus Ameen, Dominique Telson and Matthew G. Zamias; backing came from the BFI Film Fund and Film4.

Keira Knightley has put a ban on shooting sex scenes for male directors, the Oscar-nominated actress revealed on a recent installment of the “Chanel Connects” podcast (via The Hollywood Reporter). Knightley, who has had a “no nudity clause” added to her film contracts since becoming a mother in 2015, cited the male gaze as an issue in sex scenes, adding that she does not want to be featured “in those horrible sex scenes where you’re all greased up and everybody is grunting. I’m not interested in doing that.”

“I don’t have an absolute ban [on filming nude scenes], but I kind of do with men,” Knightley said. “It’s partly vanity and also it’s the male gaze.”

Knightley added, “Saying that, there’s times where I go, ‘Yeah, I completely see where this sex would be really good in this film and you basically just need somebody to look hot,’ so...

Oscar-nominated actor Keira Knightley (“The Imitation Game”) has revealed her discomfort in falling under the “male gaze” while filming intimate scenes.

In conversation with “The Farewell” filmmaker Lulu Wang and writer-producer Diane Solway on the Chanel Connects podcast, Knightley said her decision to add a no nudity clause to her contract since becoming a mother was partly due to vanity.

“It’s the male gaze. If I was making a story that was about that journey of motherhood and body acceptance, I feel like, I’m sorry, but that would have to be with a female filmmaker,” Knightley said. “I don’t have an absolute ban, but I kind of do with men.”

“I don’t want it to be those horrible sex scenes where you’re all greased up and everybody is grunting. I’m not interested in doing that,” Knightley continued. “I feel very uncomfortable now trying to portray the male gaze.

Here’s the latest episode of the The Filmmakers Podcast, part of the ever-growing podcast roster here on Nerdly. If you haven’t heard the show yet, you can check out previous episodes on the official podcast site, whilst we’ll be featuring each and every new episode as it premieres.

For those unfamiliar with the series, The Filmmakers Podcast is a podcast about how to make films from micro budget indie films to bigger budget studio films and everything in-between. Our hosts Giles Alderson, Dan Richardson, Andrew Rodger and Cristian James talk how to get films made, how to actually make them and how to try not to f… it up in their very humble opinion. Guests will come on and chat about their film making experiences from directors, writers, producers, screenwriters, actors, cinematographers and distributors.

The Filmmakers Podcast #201: How to Write, Direct & Produce your own micro budget,...

“What we want to do is expand Marv studios beyond the typically very successful one film a year.”

Zygi Kamasa, the newly appointed group CEO of Matthew Vaughn’s London-based film and TV outfit Marv has outlined the company’s commitment to UK production and raised the possibility Marv might eventually set up its own distribution arm.

“What we want to do is expand Marv studios beyond the typically very successful one film a year,” said Kamasa. “Part of that expansion is to look at more opportunities in British film and expanding into British television.”

Marv plans to make two to four films a year.

‘Entourage’ creator Doug Ellin has co-created the series; French footballer Thierry Henry to be executive producer.

Marv, the UK production company behind Rocketman and the Kingsman franchise, is to make its first foray into TV with a drama series set in the world of English Premier League football.

Kingsman director and Marv owner Matthew Vaughn will direct the pilot of the 10-part series, titled Day 1’s, which has been created and written by Doug Ellin and Chris Case. Ellin, best known as the creator of HBO drama Entourage, and Case, a writer-producer on 1990s sitcoms Mad About You and Spin City,...

Matthew Vaughn’s Marv Films, producer of the “Kingsman” franchise, is making its first foray into TV with soccer-centric series “Day 1’s” from writers/creators and showrunners Doug Ellin (“Entourage”) and Chris Case (“Mad About You”).

Set in the world of British soccer, the 10-episode series revolves around a young player Dezmond King and his crew as they navigate his growing stature and struggles.

Marv is working closely with French soccer legend Thierry Henry and his long-term agent Darren Dein, who will both serve as executive producers on the series. Henry will appear as himself throughout the series.

Vaughn will direct the pilot, which begins shooting in 2021. Casting is underway.

Hera Pictures, established by BAFTA-nominee and Rts Television award winner Liza Marshall (“Riviera”), is co-producing the series.

Vaughn said: “For my first journey into television I couldn’t have a better partner than Doug; and with Thierry and Darren to guide us on the football,...

Technicolor lights are about to illuminate every other home in the neighborhood; carolers are marching through the streets; even that old tree in Rockefeller is shining brightly.

For some folks, that’s enough to make you want to grab an axe. But don’t do that. Watch demented men dressed as Santa Claus or a demon Krampus indulge your Anti-Christmas sentiments with maximum gore. Indeed, this list isn’t about the most charming, heartwarming, or schmaltzy Christmas viewing traditions. Nah, this is about the 20 grossest, nastiest, and all around most fun Christmas horror movies. The kind where the greatest gift you’re going to get on Christmas morning is escaping with your life and maybe some psychological triggers whenever you see jolly men in red suits.

Yep, these are the very best Christmas horror movies. Ho. Freaking. Ho.

Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

Almost certainly one of the sweetest, most positive,...

If you’re looking for something a little different to listen to this holiday season, you’ve come to the right place. TheWrap found some “interesting” options to your standard Sinatra, Buble or Mariah Christmas tunes that’ll either have you singing along… or scratching your head.

“Snoop Dogg Presents Christmas in tha Dogghouse” Let’s just say the word “explicit” is tagged on to the title of every song. Like “My Little Mama Trippin on Xmas,” “Christmas in the Hood” and “A Pimp’s Christmas Song.” Snoop Dogg’s 2008 album may not be right for the kiddies, but his funkadelic rap style blends surprisingly well with holiday cheer.

“Sugar & Booze” “SNL” alum Ana Gasteyer showcases her singing talent in her new holiday album that she says “is a nod to the swing sound of the ’50s and ’60s but with a modern twist. It is festive, with a full-bodied sound,...

Exclusive: Singer Sarah Brightman’s first livestream Christmas concert next month will include a reunion with her former husband and partner-in-theater Andrew Lloyd Webber. The two will perform the relatively obscure Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice song “Christmas Dream.”

Brightman and Webber were married from 1984-1990, with the singer serving as something of a muse during the composer’s early, very prolific career stretch. Brightman starred in original productions of Webber’s Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Song and Dance, Aspects of Love and Requiem. The two have remained on good terms since their divorce, but have reunited for few public events.

“Christmas Dream” is a Webber-Rice deep cut, written for the film The Odessa File in 1974 and first performed by Perry Como. The Brightman-Webber performance will feature an all-new arrangement.

The stream event, Sarah Brightman: A Christmas Symphony, is set for Sunday, Dec. 20 from London’s historic Christ Church Spitalfields.

Phoebe Bridgers is ringing in the holiday season with a cover of Merle Haggard’s “If We Make It Thru December.”

Bridgers’ version of the 1973 track opens with a somber piano, as she sings about unemployment and isolation — particularly fitting for a year like 2020. “Got laid off down at the factory/And their timing’s not the greatest in the world,” she sings. “Heaven knows I’ve been working hard/Wanted Christmas to be right for my girl.”

The rendition was produced by Bridgers, Tony Berg, and Ethan Gruska, who...

The CW’s “Silent Night — A Song for the World,” a musical documentary about the creation of the famed Christmas song, will feature Hugh Bonneville, Kelly Clarkson, David Foster, Katharine McPhee, Josh Groban, John Rhys-Davies, Joss Stone, Randy Jackson and Gavin Rossdale, among others. The film will premiere on the network Dec. 10, with an encore presentation Dec. 23.

Narrated by Bonneville, with a special acting appearance by Rhys-Davies, the television event includes musical performances by Stone (watch above), Clarkson, Foster, McPhee, Rossdale, Sheléa, Ailee, Groban, The Vienna Boys Choir, Anggun, Lina Makhoul and The Tenors, among others.

The broadcast will chronicle the tale behind the creation of “Silent Night,” which was written and composed by Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber in 1818 as a message of hope and peace. Since its creation, the song has taken the world by storm, notably causing a Christmas ceasefire during World War I, making Bing Crosby...

A posthumous Davy Jones Christmas record, It’s Christmas Time Once More, has been released.

Jones’ vocals derive from the 1991 cassette tape It’s Christmas Time Again. The new LP features guest vocals from fellow Monkee Micky Dolenz and his sister Coco, Jones’ daughter Annabel, and photographer Henry Diltz. “Singing with my dad on this record was an extremely beautiful and healing experience,” Annabel said in a statement. “What a gift to be able to share a moment like this!”

The record was produced by Chip Douglas, who worked on...

The third Disney Holiday Singalong on ABC will feature South Korean boy band phenomenon BTS, alongside Katy Perry, P!nk, and Michael Buble.

Once again hosted by Ryan Seacrest, the event will air Nov. 30 from 8-9 p.m. Et. The show will also include virtual performances from the Disney on Broadway casts, including the North American touring companies of “Frozen” and the casts of “The Lion King” and “Aladdin” musicals. The “Frozen” company will lead viewers in a singalong of the hit song from the films, “Let it Go.”

Disney’s a capella group, DCapella, will also join the lineup to lead families in virtual holiday caroling.

Other artists and celebrities set to join the Disney Holiday Singalong this holiday include duo Chloe X Halle, Derek and Julianne Hough, Hayley Erbert, Adam Lambert, Leslie Odom Jr. and Kerry Washington. Italian opera legend Andrea Bocelli will also join the lineup.

There...

An American Idol judge, a K-Pop sensation and a Scandal-ous leading lady are among the stars lending their voices to ABC’s next at-home musical event.

Hosted by Ryan Seacrest, The Disney Holiday Singalong (Nov. 30, 8/7c) is bringing together a star-studded group of performers to deliver a mix of Disney classics and holiday favorites.

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The third edition of Disney’s singalong franchise has announced its first round of performers. The Disney Holiday Singalong will have Andrea Bocelli, BTS, Michael Bublé, Ciara, Chloe x Halle, Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert, Julianne Hough, Adam Lambert, Leslie Odom Jr., Katy Perry, P!Nk and Kerry Washington lending their talents to the festive special. Additional appearances will be announced at a later date.

The show also returns Ryan Seacrest as host. It will air Monday, Nov. 30 from 8-9 Pm Et/Pt.

Adding to the merriment is Disney on Broadway, returning to the New Amsterdam Theatre for the first time since March. The members of the Broadway casts of The Lion King and Aladdin will join with the North American touring companies of Frozen. Disney Music Group’s seven-member a cappella group DCappella also join for some seasonal sounds, caroling throughout the show and encouraging viewers at home to sing along.

Chris Stapleton sings of a Covid Christmas in a pisser of a sketch on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Dressed in a gaudy Christmas sweater and full PPE — mask, face-shield, and gloves — the country singer plays guitar and delivers Yuletide parodies about Chlorox wipes, contactless curbside pickup, and that gift everyone wants to find underneath their tree, a vaccine from Pfizer.

The song titles are a hoot: “Fauci the Snowman,” “I Saw Mommy Testing Santa Claus,” “Grandma Got Corona From a Reindeer,” and “Oh, CDC,” among them. And Stapleton commits to the lyrics — like “Oh,...

Sharon Van Etten has released renditions of the holiday classics “Silent Night” and “Blue Christmas.”

“Silent Night,” which she recorded in 2018 for Eric Paschal Johnson’s short film The Letter, is haunting and stark, as she sings against synths. “Blue Christmas,” the B-side, takes on a lighter feel, her lithe vocals backed by guitar. Van Etten recorded it over a decade ago for 2009’s Do You Ear What I Ear, an album for the Association to Benefit Children.

“The holidays are just around the corner, and since I’m always late to the party,...

Well, it's been a year, hasn't it? How we celebrate the holidays this year may change with the current climate but one thing is always certain, we will all need a distraction or time away from it all at some point. Let Shudder help!   Shudder announced their December lineup and it is a great combination of yueltide spirits, contemporary standouts and cult classics.     On the yueltide front Shudder has a tonne of great fare in their Unhappy Holidays selection. Blood Beat, Body, Rare Exports and Sheitan lead the pack, including the original Black Christmas, Christmas Evil and Silent Night, Deadly Night 2.    Then there is the Holly Gialli Christmas collection with over a dozon Giallo films including titles from Dario Argento, Lucio...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

As the holiday season fast approaches, ardent horror fans are more than likely to return to their most beloved Christmastime thrillers and chillers. One tried-and-true staple of the holiday horror subgenre is the slasher film that incorporates a psycho serial killer dressed as Santa Claus. The premise has been used in such iconic horror titles as Tales from the Crypt, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Christmas Evil, Santa's Slay, To All a Good Night, Silent Night, and a few others.

Related: 10 Most Underrated Christmas Horror Movies, Ranked

One of the best parts of the killer Santa Claus template is the inventive array of death scenes and the various Christmas trinkets and decorations that become murder weapons. For the best of the bunch, scroll below.

Maggie Betts (Novitiate) to direct from screenplay by Olivia Hetreed (Girl With The Pearl Earring).

UK-based Maven Screen Media, screenwriter Olivia Hetreed and director Maggie Betts are developing a dramatic thriller about the pro-choice pioneer and activist Rebecca Gomperts.

Maven’s Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler will produce the timely feature alongside Thomas Benski of Pulse Films, Teddy Leifer of Rise Films, and James Ferrari.

Maven reunites with Betts, whose Novitiate premiered at Sundance 2017, and continues to forge ahead with the company’s mandate to increase representation of women behind and in front of the camera.

The film will tell the true story of Gomperts,...

Maggie Betts (Novitiate) to direct from screenplay by Olivia Hetreed (Girl With The Pearl Earring).

UK-based Maven Screen Media, screenwriter Olivia Hetreed and director Maggie Betts are developing a dramatic thriller about the pro-choice pioneer and activist Rebecca Gomperts.

Maven’s Celine Rattray and Trudie will produce the timely feature alongside Thomas Benski of Pulse Films, Teddy Leifer of Rise Films, and James Ferrari.

Maven reunites with Betts, whose Novitiate premiered at Sundance 2017, and continues to forge ahead with the company’s mandate to increase representation of women behind and in front of the camera.

The film will tell the true story of Gomperts,...

Halloween may be over, but there's a ton of horror content to look forward to from Shudder this December, including Creepshow and Joe Bob holiday specials:

New Shudder Specials

Joe Bob Saves Christmas — December 11 at 9pm Et

The Christmas spirit takes over The Last Drive-In as Joe Bob and Darcy close out the year with a double feature of holiday horrors. Premieres live on the ShudderTV feed Friday, December 11, and will be made available on demand on Sunday, December 13. (Also available on Shudder Canada)

A Creepshow Holiday Special — December 18

In the holiday themed, hour-long episode, “Shapeshifters Anonymous,” fearing he is a murderer, an anxious man searches for answers for his "unique condition" from an unusual support group. Starring Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect) and Adam Pally (The Mindy Project), the special is written and directed by Creepshow showrunner Greg Nicotero, based on a short story by J.A. Konrath (Last Call...

Teen horror ‘Shortcut’ proved a box office hit in the US.

Parkland Entertainment has secured UK and Ireland rights to a hat-trick of AFM titles.

The deals are led by teen horror Shortcut, sold by Italian genre specialist Minerva Pictures. The creature feature was released on nearly 700 US screens via by Gravitas Ventures in September and proved the distributor’s biggest box office success to date, ranking seventh on its opening weekend with $305,000.

Directed by Alessio Liguori, the film follows five teenagers who become trapped in their school bus on a deserted road, which has been blocked by a mysterious creature.

Lightbulb Film Distribution & Break Em Films has debuted a new trailer for British gangster flick ‘Silent Night’.

Recently released from prison, Mark (Bradley Taylor) attempts to reconnect with his daughter and hopes to give her a Christmas to remember. Struggling to find work, he meets Alan (Cary Crankson), his former cell-mate, who encourages him to return to a life of crime. A decision made easier when Caddy (Frank Harper), a ruthless crime boss, blackmails him into doing one last job.

Written and directed by Will Thorne, the film stars Bradley Taylor, Cary Crankson, Nathaniel Martello-White, Joel Fry and Frank Harper.

Also in trailers – Nicolas Cage is forced to take on a horrifying amusement park in trailer for ‘Willy’s Wonderland’

The film will be released theatrically from 11th December, before arriving across digital download platforms from 14th December, and on DVD from 28th December.

The post New trailer drops for British...

Stars: Karl Holt, Claire Cartwright, George Collie, James Parsons, Anthony Styles, Darren Benedict, Lydia Hourihan, David Wayman | Written and Directed by Karl Holt

Child’s Play has a lot to answer for… actually scratch that. The killer doll cliche in horror films goes back a lot further than that , in fact it goes all the way back to the 1930s with The Devil-Doll. Since then there have been a myriad of killer doll (or killer toy to be more precise) films – culminating in the late 80s renaissance and films like Child’s Play, Dolls, Puppet Master, Dolly Dearest; hell, even the Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise switched to killer toys for its fifth instalment in 1991.. The idea of dolls and toys coming to life and attacking their owners is one that still instills fear in audiences. If the films are done right that is.

And Benny Loves You is done very, Very,...

Polish director Piotr Domalewski, whose film “I Never Cry” screens this week in El Gouna Film Festival’s Out of Competition section, is facing a growing controversy surrounding his next project. It centers on the Nangar Khel incident, when Polish soldiers fired mortar shells into a wedding party in an Afghan village in 2007, killing six civilians. It became known as “the event that changed the Polish army.” “Some monstrous online discussion has already started,” Domalewski says.

The film is an adaptation of the book “Betrayed” by journalist Edyta Żemła, which investigated where the blame lay for the incident, and itself had an explosive effect, mostly because of Żemła’s claim that “in Nangar Khel, it wasn’t the soldiers who tarnished the honor of the Polish army, but the politicians.” Żemła will act as a consultant on the film, which has the working title “Nangar Khel – Zdradzeni” (“Nangar Khel – Betrayed...

The holidays are just around the corner, and CW has now announced their upcoming holiday specials and shows. This includes a season two renewal of The Christmas Caroler Challenge and special episodes of Masters of Illusion and Penn & Teller: Fool Us.

revealed more about their holiday line-up in a press release.

“The CW Network today announced its slate of upcoming holiday programming, featuring holiday classics, family favorites and all-new specials, including Silent Night - A Song For The World, The Hollywood Christmas Parade Greatest Moments and Heroes On The Front Line.

On Friday, November 27 (8:00-9:00pm Et), the one-hour special Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer returns to The CW. Based on the hit song that became a worldwide holiday phenomenon, this goofy and heartwarming adventure features young Jake Spankenheimer on the quest of a lifetime to...

Keira Knightley has left the Apple TV Plus series “The Essex Serpent” over family reasons, Variety has confirmed.

Sources tell Variety that production on the series was due to start in six weeks and is now on hiatus. Knightley’s representative told the Daily Mail, which first reported the news, that she had to leave for “family reasons.” The second wave of coronavirus is now upon the U.K. and the actor’s rep told the outlet that “there wasn’t a comfortable scenario for Keira that could be put in place for an extended period of childcare required for the four-and-a-half-month production.”

Knightley and her husband, musician James Righton, have two children.

Based on a 2016 novel by Sarah Perry, “The Essex Serpent” follows a newly widowed woman who, having escaped an abusive marriage, relocates from Victorian London to a small village in the county of Essex. She is intrigued...

In what is definitely not a case of conventional casting, Mel Gibson is playing Santa Claus in this year’s action-comedy hybrid, Fatman. And he has the gun-toting trailer to prove it.

As revealed in the latest bit of marketing, Fatman marks the first time someone has looked at Gibson’s often resplendent gray beard and said, “Santa.” The Oscar winning filmmaker who’s also notorious for virulent outbursts is going to portray that not-so-jolly Chris Cringle in this new movie from the writer-directing pair of Eshom and Ian Nelms. The two, who previously helmed Small Time Crime, direct Gibson as a Santa at the end of his ropes. Business is declining and to make ends meet, Chris has partnered with the U.S. military to deliver toys to good little boys and girls. Unfortunately for some, he also still delivers coal.

Thus enters 12-year-old boy Billy (Chance Hurtsfield), a...

101 Films have announced that on November 9th Silent Night, Deadly Night Parts 1 & 2 will be released on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, in limited edition, special packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork as title 017 on the 101 Films Black Label.

Included in this limited Edition version – which comes with special packaging and booklet and is limited to 3000 copies – is a booklet featuring new writing on Christmas horror and an interview with Morgan Ames, and three extras-packed discs, including the Theatrical and Extended Unrated versions of the first film.

Silent Night, Deadly Night

Young Billy witnesses his parents getting killed by a man dressed as Santa Claus after being warned by his senile grandpa that Santa punishes those who are naughty. Now 18 and out of the orphanage, Billy takes on the role of Santa himself, embarking on a yuletide rampage to “punish the naughty”. Santa Claus is coming to town,...

Hello International Insider friends, and happy Friday. Jake Kanter here with some Deadline must-reads in the week that U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for coronavirus. If you want to subscribe to get this alert in a timely fashion, sign up here.

Graham Norton Back Under Bright Lights

Back at it: Hollywood’s favorite British talk show returned to the studio on Thursday night, with Graham Norton proclaiming that’s he’s never been so excited to walk back on-set after presenting his show from home for weeks.

What’s different: Executive producer Graham Stuart tells me that The Graham Norton Show’s famous red sofa has been ditched for now. The chat will also be a “blended” affair, with some stars in the studio and others dialing in on Zoom.

The showman gets his audience: 100 fans were allowed into the studio for Thursday’s recording. Stuart says it...

Executive previously spent 15 years at Lionsgate.

Former Lionsgate Europe CEO Zygi Kamasa has joined Matthew Vaughn’s UK production outfit Marv as group CEO.

Kamasa will oversee the expansion of Marv’s Kingsman franchise as well as all global sales, marketing and distribution of Marv’s films, TV series and merchandising.

Kamasa left Lionsgate in July after 15 years at the company. He previously worked with Vaughn on Eddie The Eagle, starring Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton, produced by Marv and released in the UK by Lionsgate in 2016.

Kamasa joined Lionsgate UK as CEO in 2005 when it acquired his company, Redbus...

Exclusive: Kingsman and Kick-Ass producer Marv has hired former Lionsgate Europe CEO Zygi Kamasa as Group CEO.

Kamasa will run Matthew Vaughn’s lucrative UK production firm, overseeing the expansion of the Kingsman franchise as well all global sales, marketing and distribution of films, TV series and merchandising. The move will give writer-producer-director Vaughn licence to concentrate on creative output.

Kamasa left Lionsgate this summer after a 15-year stint at the studio where he oversaw Lionsgate’s European expansion, backed more than 40 British films and released many of the studio’s biggest hits, including franchises The Hunger Games, The Expendables, John Wick and Olympus Has Fallen. He sold his first company Redbus to Lionsgate for $35M in 2005. He first worked with Vaughn on 2016 feature Eddie The Eagle with Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton.

Marv’s prequel The King’s Man, which is directed, produced and co-written by Vaughn, is due for release in February 2021 through Disney.