>Brian De Palma’s insouciantly horrible masterpiece from 1976, adapted from the novel by Stephen King, and mixing in tropes and tricks from Hitchcock’s Psycho, is now rereleased. This is the extraordinary exploitation shocker that also conveyed – or anyway fabricated – an impassioned sympathy for a bullied teenage girl with learning disabilities and telekinetic powers. It was a horror classic that didn’t conform to the narrative beats of the genre; it was a scary movie in which the terrifying demon was also the final girl.

>Sissy Spacek gives an amazing performance as Carrie, a shy high school student and put-upon daughter of Margaret (Piper Laurie), whose fanatical religious devotion and fear of sex – and fear of Carrie having sex – stems from having been seduced and abandoned by Carrie’s now absent father many years previously. Poor, innocent Carrie still has not started her period, and when this happens in the showers after a volleyball game, she panics uncomprehendingly and the mean girls humiliate her by throwing tampons and chanting: “Plug it up!” Gym teacher Miss Collins (Betty Buckley) is outraged and – angrily smoking a cigarette and still wearing her PE shorts in the principal’s office – decides to hand out exemplary punishments to this crowd of bullies. This takes the form of a mortifying workout session which so enrages the queen-bee bully Chris (Nancy Allen) that she resolves to take a satanically wicked revenge on Carrie at the prom...

>Skyrim, but heavy metal horror. That's how (mostly) solo developer Nate Purkeypile has been pitching The Axis Unseen. And after spending a couple of hours in its Steam Next Fest demo exploring a vast, creepy forest dotted with gargantuan skeletons, while also being hunted down by packs of Werewolves to intense guitar riffs, I can confirm that The Axis Unseen ticks the Skyrim, heavy metal, and horror boxes with ease.

>Skyrim's inspiration is immediately obvious when you're first thrust into this mystical open-world, with a trusty bow in hand and the promise of magical powers to come. These similarities perhaps aren't surprising when you learn that Purkeypile is also an ex-Bethesda developer who has worked on the Fallout series, Starfield, and Skyrim itself. While this can make the game look like an ambitious mod for Skyrim at first glance, it doesn't take long for The Axis Unseen's Next Fest demo to unleash its unique folklore-based cosmic horror on you - to terrifying effect...

>Back in the pre-pandemic winter of 2019, the University of Minnesota-Duluth held a two-day conference with a timely theme: “Our Climate Futures: Meeting the Challenges in Duluth.” The keynote was delivered by Jesse M. Keenan, an urban planner whose research focuses on climate adaptation and the built environment. Keenan had been crunching the numbers and studying the projections on future climate migration — or “climigration” — in the United States; and he had begun speculating about where climate migrants would go. One place they might go, he told the audience, is Duluth. Yes, the city had suffered decades of post-industrial decline in the late 20th century, but what matters now, as the country adapts to new climate realities, is that Duluth is an upper Midwestern city, far from the eroding coastlines of the Southeast and the blistering heatwaves of the Southwest. The cost of living is relatively low, the education and healthcare sectors robust. Perhaps most important of all, the city is located at a latitude of 46° north on the western shores of Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes and one of the largest sources of freshwater on the planet...

>Other northern cities have been making similar cases. The mayor of Buffalo, New York, declared that the former industrial city on the shores of Lake Erie — a sort of easterly twin to Duluth— will be a “climate refuge.” The chief sustainability officer of Cleveland, also on Lake Erie, described the Ohio city as a “haven,” where the “climate refugee crisis is bound to catalyze further growth.” And a Milwaukee public radio reporter asked, “Could Wisconsin become a climate haven?” America’s Rust Belt has emerged as the geographic focal point in a growing conversation about how the nation’s demography will shift as places like Phoenix, Dallas, and Miami — Sunbelt cities that are still some of the fastest-growing in the country — experience ever deadlier weather that threatens to destabilize housing markets and jeopardize entire industries, such as agriculture and real estate development.

>The questions raised by such a reversal of migratory patterns are as complex as they are urgent. In the coming decades, as rising seas and rising temperatures drive large-scale domestic migration, which places will lose population, and which places will see sizable gains? Which groups will be the first to flee, and which will struggle to find safety? America’s political leaders and policy makers ought to be grappling with these questions right now...

>... Already, inaction on the part of governments and industries has foreclosed the most optimistic climate adaptation scenarios; several years ago, as Lustgarten writes, leading scientists came to the gloomy consensus that the world was “hitting critical warming benchmarks sooner, and with more dramatic consequences, than expected.” In his 2019 talk, Jesse Keenan qualified his optimism about “climate-proof Duluth” by conceding that no place will ever be immune from the impacts of a changing climate; too much has changed already. But if the challenges are immense, even historically unprecedented, we still have the ability to respond, to shape our future. At the end of his sobering book, Jake Bittle offers this hope:

> "The world is already being remade, but its future shape is far from set in stone. The next century may usher us into a brutal and unpredictable world, a world in which only the wealthiest and most privileged can protect themselves from dispossession, or it may usher us into a fairer world — a world where one’s home may not be impregnable, but where one’s right to shelter is guaranteed. Both worlds are possible. We still have time to choose between them.”

>With the looming presidential election, a United States Supreme Court majority that is hostile to civil rights, and a conservative effort to rollback AI safeguards, strong state privacy laws have never been more important.

>But late last month, efforts to pass a federal comprehensive privacy law died in committee, leaving the future of privacy in the US unclear. Who that future serves largely rests on one crucial issue: the preemption of state law.

>On one side, the biggest names in technology are trying to use their might to force Congress to override crucial state-level privacy laws that have protected people for years.

>On the other side is the American Civil Liberties Union and 55 other organizations. We explained in our own letter to Congress how a federal bill that preempts state law would leave millions with fewer rights than they had before. It would also forbid state legislatures from passing stronger protections in the future, smothering progress for generations to come.

>Preemption has long been the tech industry’s holy grail. But few know its history. It turns out, Big Tech is pulling straight from the toxic strategy that Big Tobacco used in the 1990s...

>Are you shocked to learn the author of /Film's three Halloween Horror Nights articles this year is a haunted attraction addict? Invite me to your Halloween mazes, hayrides, docked ocean liners, and Shaqtoberfests. I crave haunt season entertainment. Even better, I crave "Haunt Season Horror" movies. Is that trademarked? Can I coin that terminology?

>Haunt Season Horror titles must take place in a Horror Nights-like maze or immersive experience, turning seasonal amusements into slaughterhouse backdrops. Marquee examples would be "Hell Fest," your corporate-branded Six Flags Fright Fest take, or "The Houses October Built," which ventures into the less moderated realm of do-it-yourself haunts. These films prey upon the rational fears of patrons who attend these pop-up "Scarehouses," stripping away the safety of regulated horror experiences. What happens when a killer infiltrates a place where commercial terror is purchased at a premium? It's the ultimate Halloween treat.

>Unfortunately, there's a shallow pool of options to bob for, with many poison apples amongst the sweeter treats. My perfect trifecta would be "Hell Fest," "Hell House LLC," and "The Houses October Built," with "The Funhouse Massacre" on standby. You have a supernatural found-footage banger, another found-footage creepshow hinging on spoiled attraction tropes, and then a studio slasher decked out in the holiday spirit. These features indulge horror fans and exploit Halloween's headlining celebrations for relatable scares, proficient in understanding the "possible" risks of attending haunts that fall into the wrong hands (search "McKamey Manor" or watch "Haunters: The Art of the Scare" for the closest real-life instance)...

>Oddity has become a major streaming hit after earning 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. Directed by Damian McCarthy, the Irish horror film premiered at SXSW in spring 2024, where it was met with a glowing reception from those in attendance. Starring Carolyn Bracken, Gwilym Lee, Johnny French, Steve Wall, and Caroline Menton, among others, the Shudder original tells the story of a psychic medium as she attempts to uncover the truth about her sister's murder, with Oddity reviews praising the scares, atmosphere, and filmmaking...

>... Critics praise Oddity for its inventive scares and haunting horror atmosphere. The film features a persistent sense of dread throughout, that makes even more straightforward dialogue scenes unnerving. This undercurrent of unease culminates in some moments of true terror throughout Oddity's runtime, and these moments are made all the more effective due to the strong performances of cast members like Bracken, Lee, and French, among others.

>Another major point of praise is Oddity's ending. While many horrors feature a strong premise and an intriguing mystery to get audiences hooked, critics seem to agree that McCarthy's film sticks the landing. The final moments of the movie, without delving into spoiler territory, ultimately bring the story full circle in an effective way. The ending ultimately means that Oddity isn't a watch-and-forget horror movie, and the experience is sure to stick with viewers even after the credits have finished rolling...

>Arriving on the heels of Joker Folie à Deux and Terrifier 3, Smile 2 is the third multiplex offering in as many weeks to boast creepily grinning fiends. And while this latest clown-ish sequel is superior to those recent duds, it remains a small step down from its 2023 predecessor.

>Once again charting a woman’s attempts to stave off insanity and death at the hands of an invisible demon that possesses and feeds on its human hosts, writer/director Parker Finn’s follow-up is technically accomplished and ambitiously unconventional, at least insofar as it sets its action in a milieu—the pop stardom universe—that isn’t a natural fit for unholy frights. Alas, that environment, as well as a dearth of genuine surprises, ultimately handicaps this polished thriller, even if it does reconfirm the filmmaker’s standing as a preeminent purveyor of jump scares.

>There are two excellent jolts in Smile 2, and the fact that there aren’t more is perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this supernatural nightmare. Finn is adept at utilizing silence, empty background space, and slow zooms to create anticipation for disturbing shocks, and he’s just as skilled at supplying startling payoffs...

>An aristocrat 'fainted' after being visited by the ghost of his dead mother, according to an unearthed 239-year-old manuscript.

>The ‘haunting’, which was said to have taken place in a stately home in 1785, has been discovered by auctioneers going through an old box of legal deeds and papers. The official papers described how aristocrat Francis Eld was visited by the spirit of his dead mother Catherine around the time she died - unbeknownst to him - 150 miles away.

>The manuscript told how Mr Eld was in his infant daughter’s bedroom in the early hours of March 29, 1785, when the apparition appeared. He experienced a “puff of air” across his face and saw “a sort of cloud or vapour”, which took on the appearance and voice of his mother.

>The ghost said: “My child, be not grieved, I am dead, but happy.” The spooky visitation is said to have taken place at Seighford Hall, near Stafford, Staffordshire.

>Jim Spencer, Director at Rare Book Auctions, in Lichfield, came across the papers while carrying out a valuation.

>He said: “It was quite eerie discovering these papers during the run-up to Halloween. I found it in a box full of old indentures relating to the Whitby family of Shugborough and Haywood.

>“It’s the sort of thing I see all the time but the word 'visitation' just caught my eye. As soon as I realised they were talking about a ghost, I genuinely couldn't read quickly enough, my eyes were racing ahead of my brain”...

>Daniele Campea’s slow burn, MOTHER NOCTURNA, joins the ranks of folk horror films that serve to remind us that there are certain inescapable and unknowable primal forces that can consume us and our loved ones. Based on Euripides’ Greek tragedy, The Bacchae, this film is a family drama at its very core. Wolf biologist Agnese (Susanna Costaglione) is recently released from a long stay at a mental hospital. She reunites with her husband, Riccardo (Edoardo Oliva) and teenage daughter and dancer, Arianna (Sofia Ponente). Despite Riccardo’s best peace-keeping efforts, the reunion between Agnese and Arianna is less than happy, creating a mystery that slowly unravels until the film’s climatic and tragic ending. MOTHER NOCTURNA taps into the fear of unearthing terrible truths about our own families. Like all horror, it uses metaphors to take that fear to the next horrifying level.

>Nature is a character in itself in MOTHER NOCTURNA. Set in the Italian countryside, the film opens with shots of a forest that are both beautiful and ominous. Campea continues to intercut this idyllic landscape throughout the film, even when it takes a disturbing turn. Agnese, who was seemingly removed from nature during her stay at the mental hospital, becomes reacquainted with the neighboring forest and the wolves that inhabit it. Campea’s use of still long shots of Agnese in rural settings tell a story in itself: Agnese cannot escape her dark past and will find herself succumbing to the same primal force that alienated her from her family once before...

>We are very pleased to premiere the trailer for a new Mexican folk horror film called A Fisherman's Tale (Un cuento de pescadores). This is the new film from Edgar Nito the director of the Tribeca hit, The Gasoline Thieves. This time, with one of their co-writers from that first film, Alfredo Mendoza, they are exploring the legend of La Miringua.

>A Fisherman's Tale is the cinematic adaptation of a Purépecha legend that is passed down by word of mouth in the lake areas of Central Mexico. It tells the story of a spirit that takes the form of a woman to attract fishermen to the depths of the lake, where it bewitches them. La Miringua, whose name means forgetting or forgetting, confuses people, making them lose track of time and space, until they forget themselves...

>If you're someone who regularly finds themselves reminiscing fondly about the early days of computer role-playing games, then you might be interested to learn about Cyclopean — a promising new retro RPG from the Islands of Caliph developer Schmidt Workshops that is currently in development for Steam.

>The game draws influence from various early role-playing games including Ultima, Questron, and Legacy of the Ancients, and features stunning monochrome graphics and pixellated character designs as well as two perspectives of the game's world that are split between a 2D map display and 3D first-person dungeons.

>Much like Schmidt Workshops' previous titles, the title aims to evoke the look and feel of classic role-playing games from the '80s, but this time around, the developer is pairing this presentation with an ample dose of Lovecraftian horror, setting the game in the Great Abyss, a vast underworld that featured across various H.P Lovecraft's short stories...

>The US government is keeping tabs on any and all claims of UFO sightings as part of an ‘above top-secret’ programme, a whistleblower has alleged.

>‘Immaculate Constellation’ is an alleged database of high-quality photographs, videos, firsthand accounts and electronic sensor evidence of UFOs.

>Officials use the off-the-books programme to ‘detect’ and ‘quarantine’ UFO materials without congressional knowledge or oversight, according to a leaked report shared with the Substack newsletter Public.

>American military and intelligence officials have a ‘high level of confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the data gathered’, which includes mentions of not only UFOs but ‘Alien Reproduction Vehicles’, or reverse-engineered crafts.

>If confirmed, the very existence of ‘Immaculate Constellation’ would be a ‘game-changing development’, the UK’s top UFO expert told Metro...

>Psychological horror has a way of getting under viewers' skin. Some films have long-lasting effects that can't be shaken off for days and even weeks. With unnerving suspense and deeply disturbing plots, psychological horror can also feel like a mouse-and-cat chase between the director and the viewers. From Smile to Speak No Evil to Jacob's Ladder, some films have left fans truly terrified.

>Some horror is external, while some come from within. Leaning toward the unknown, the most terrifying psychological thrillers make viewers' worst nightmares come true. Leaving the lights on after watching these is highly recommended. The worst psychological horrors are not for the faint of heart...

• 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' Explores What's Familiar
• 'Excision' Delivers the Horror It Promised
• 2015's 'The Invitation' Traps Viewers in an Unsettling Dinner Party
• 'Session 9' Evokes Slow-Burning Unease
• 'A Clockwork Orange' Depicts Systemic Violence
• 'Last Shift' Creates a Story of Fear
• 'Jacob's Ladder' Delivers a Puzzling Experience
• 'Se7en' Recontextualizes Events With a Massive Plot Twist
• The Original 'Speak No Evil' Terrifies Fans With a Bleak Ending
• 'Smile' Torments Viewers Along With Rose

>The Evil Within was released a decade ago today, on October 14, 2014. As the initial production and new horror IP from Tango Gameworks (and published by Bethesda), the studio formed by legendary Resident Evil creator and director, Shinji Mikami, in 2010, The Evil Within understandably had many curious and eager about it prior to its debut. While its launch was generally successful in terms of sales, the resulting experience nevertheless left some fans and critics divided over its quality and content, with certain decisions leaving some confused and feeling that it didn't quite live up to the legacy it promised.

>Despite these mixed reactions and misgivings, though, one of The Evil Within's most notable and widely praised aspects was its heavy emphasis on the surreal, particularly its liberal use of trippy, psychedelic scares woven into more traditional horror and gameplay. The Evil Within experimented with veering much further into disturbing mental spaces (both figuratively and literally) than many other games within the genre at the time. Now, with 10 years worth of horror titles since, it's abundantly evident that Tango's work on The Evil Within in this area marked a clairvoyant vision that has been embraced by numerous developers, from AAA to indies...

>We don’t want to put you off taking the Tube, but according to legend London’s historic network and its stations are home to a whole variety of ghosts.

>Among them is the mysterious ‘Girl on the Train’, as she’s now known.

>Several people, both underground employees and passengers, have reported seeing her on Bakerloo Line trains at Elephant and Castle.

>The young woman boards the train, walks through the carriages, then disappears without a trace, they say.

>Unexplained foot steps, possibly running, plus rapping noises have also been heard at the station while it’s been closed.

>The BBC has previously shared one employee’s account of seeing the apparition...

>Throughout decades of cinema, horror has changed so much that there's no question it's one of the genres that has been reinvented the most. Audiences have evolved, and with them, the ways they can be scared. Horror has also had to adapt itself to inevitable cultural shifts.

>Yes, horror is universal. But some do it better than others. While the Japanese and the Koreans have proven they can master the art of the scare, American filmmakers have cleverly found a way to adopt those resources. However, the British have also found a way into the conversation of terrifying films based on classic tropes. These are the underrated British horror films that'll give you a scare this Halloween season. That is if you dare to watch them...

• Kill List (2011)
• The Ritual (2017)
• The Borderlands (2013)
• Host (2020)
• A Dark Song (2016)
• The Innocents (1961)
• The Woman in Black (2012)
• Saint Maud (2019)
• Ghostwatch (1992)
• Repulsion (1965)

>Horror movies are closely associated with rapid succession sequels than they are legacy sequels. (How many years did we have a new “Saw” and/or “Paranormal Activity” sequel to look forward to?) But there are still a fair amount of legacy horror sequels – follow-ups that take much longer to marinate than the traditional sequel – and these are the ones that were definitely worth the wait...

• “Psycho II” (1983)
• “Phantasm II” (1988)
• “Halloween H20” (1998)
• “Halloween” (2018)
• “Doctor Sleep” (2019)
• “The Craft: Legacy” (2020)
• “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (2021)
• “Candyman” (2021)
• “Scream” (2022)

>Many things can cement a horror movie scene as truly great — a powerful scare, a shocking twist, or unique and creepy imagery being key features. Some of the most famous and beloved horror movies of all time have established themselves as pop culture touchstones on the strength of individual scenes, such as the horrifying first-act twist in Hereditary or the first-person opening of Halloween. As a result, discussions surrounding horror cinema often revolve around debating the best and scariest individual scenes, with some standing out as particularly resonant.

>While any film can contain one great scare, the film's overall quality elevates these moments from simply shocking to iconic and pivotal. From silent films to the modern mainstream, these are the greatest scenes in horror movie history, genre-defining moments that have stood the test of time. The ranking will take into account their filmmaking, acting, impact, and the overall quality of the films...

• 'The Exorcist' (1973) Regan's head turns 360 degrees
• 'Alien' (1979) The chest-burster scene
• 'Carrie' (1976) The prom scene
• 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999) Heather's monologue
• 'Audition' (1999) Asami's apartment scene
• 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre' (1974) The Sawyers' dinner scene
• 'Ring' (1998) Sadako emerges from the television
• 'Nosferatu' (1922) The shadow scene
• 'Possession' (1981) Anna's subway breakdown
• 'Psycho' (1960) The shower scene

>The folk-horror genre has been a perennial mainstay on screens for decades, with recent installments from films like Midsommar, Enys Men, and more recently Starve Acre revitalizing the genre. Harvest, which marks the English-language debut of Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari, continues this tradition but deploys it in more novel ways. The film utilizes its quasi-folk-horror sensibility to paint an elegiac portrait of a pre-industrial village in the Scottish Highlands.

>The film, adapted from Jim Crace’s novel of the same name, follows a small community nearing the end of the harvest season, run under their master Charles Kent (Harry Melling), who inherited the estate their village is on from his late wife, and his right-hand man Walter Thirsk (Caleb Landry Jones). The village displays all the traditional trappings of folk-horror communities found in films like The Wicker Man. They consciously live outside the gaze of God, engage in bizarre practices, like banging children’s heads against rocks, and carry out pagan dances around a bonfire in elaborate animal masks. There is even a lot of wicker.

>They are also highly wary of outsiders and those they believe don’t belong. This includes a mapmaker called Quill (Arinze Kene), whom Kent has hired to chart his land, and a trio of two men and a woman who they falsely accuse of burning down their barn. The village is forced to belligerently accept Quill’s presence but punishes the others for their supposed crimes. The two men are locked in pillories while the villagers shave the woman’s head and accuse her of witchcraft before she flees and begins stalking them in the dead of night. The film continually plays with the horror genre in this way, maintaining a creeping sense of dread throughout its runtime. However, it never dives headlong into all-out horror and opts to teeter on the edge of the sinister and the supernatural. Instead, Tsangari fixes the film closer to the ground to forge an earthly and elemental picture of pre-industrialized agricultural life...

>Event Horizon is light years away from being perfect, but there’s no denying its distinct, evocative flavor. The film’s cult status stems from the way it uses CGI and practical effects to build a disturbing outer space atmosphere with gratuitous gore. In many ways, Event Horizon feels like a spiritual successor to Ridley Scott’s Alien. But instead of a single extraterrestrial threat, it introduces an entire gateway to a dimension that mirrors Hell. This brand of cosmic horror was ahead of its time, but its campy "haunted house in space" vibe is celebrated by sci-fi movie fans today.

>That’s not to say everyone hated Event Horizon when it first came out. Even back then, some reviewers like Total Film pointed out its merits and justified its tag of “The Shining in space.” Apart from its obvious influences from Kubrick's horror masterpiece and Alien, the space thriller also took cues from Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris, and in many ways feels like an unofficial prequel to Warhammer 40,000. This speaks volumes about the film’s cultural evolution into a bona fide sci-fi nerd classic...