Scream King Kyle Gallner 👑, 'Get Away' flips the script 🏝️, & more!

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Fresh from its Golden Globe win, The Substance is looking to make another splash (wink, wink) at select theaters on Friday, January 17th. Check here for locations and times.

Joel McHale joins the Scream VII cast as... Sidney's husband, Mark. So, it wasn't Patrick Dempsey's character all along. This is getting weird. Read more on Deadline.

Fathom Entertainment is bringing Clive Barker's Hellraiser (Remastered!) back to the big screen on February 5-6, 2025. Click here for ticket information.

If you're single and have nothing to do on Valentine's Day, you're in luck. Terrifier 3 will begin streaming exclusively on Screambox for a bloody good time.

The first trailer for Until Dawn is now available. The film, based on the popular video game, hits theaters on April 25th.

For you Twilight fans, the Cullen house is coming to life, thanks to LEGO. The set will hit shelves in February.

Last year, Kyle Gallner finally received the recognition he deserves, thanks to his performance in Strange Darling. Continuing with this theme’s issue (you’re welcome, Bee), we put together a list of films you may also want to check out if you enjoyed that film. Head over to Letterboxd to check out the list.

Indie horror flick The 6th Friend, written by Jamie Bernadette (Son of Sam, Mortdecai, The Darkness), gathers up the frayed psychological strings of a group of friends, five years removed from a night of hellish carnage, and braids them up in a reunion special that promises to be just as terrifying. [Read Bee's review]

1st Summoning, directed by Raymond Wood, with a screenplay from Chris Piner, crackles underneath the pressure evoked from and almost required by such a niche genre, while also turning tired tropes into a slick, carefully-produced, contemporary nightmare. [Read Bee's review]

This week on social media (Bluesky, Threads, and X), I saw some Nightbreed chatter. You know what that means, right? It means I get to talk about one of my favorite horror films with others who have been fans for years or just discovering it for the first time. Since I don’t want to take away the spotlight from Kyle Gallner, I leave you with my Nightbreed review. [Read Brett’s review]

Directors Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel hook you into our collective desperation for human connection with their second feature. Eat the Night mixes virtual reality and real life into a stunning slice of modern existence. Through social media and online gaming, we all wear masks to conceal the most authentic parts of who we are. Instead, we swap what people think will like and toss the rest. With the film’s reality-hopping structure, Piggi and Vinel’s sophomore effort explores relationships, the disjointed nature of our reality, and how we seek refuge in digital spaces. [Read Bee's review]

Throw out every expectation you have about Steffen Haars’ Get Away. The director masks the story beneath a Midsommar-like cult tale about a family who takes a holiday to Sweden and meets a mysterious commune. But things are never as they seem when the happy-go-lucky family discovers a serial killer lurking on the island. What transpires next is a bloody romp that flips every single convention on its head, leaving you aghast and chortling. [Read Bee's review]

Every year, we read about terrible things happening to both Uber and lyft riders. A number of horror films have tried to cash in on this trend, but this tried to be a little different (and with a twist that was seen from millions of miles away). Rerouting, which is now streaming on Tubi, drives us through one scenario after another, trying to trick its viewers into this we-already-know whodunit. The only advice I can give here is to reroute your fingers from pressing the play button on this. [Written by Brett]

Bee Delores founded B-Sides & Badlands in 2017. Initially a music blog, they expanded to cover all things horror in 2018 and has since reviewed everything from ultra-indie gems like Death Trip to such breakout hits as In a Violent Nature. Check out all the fresh and rotten reviews.

Kyle Gallner is the defining Scream King of the millennial generation. Few actors have managed to compile an impressive resume quite like his. His career has taken us down dark, winding, and horrifying roads. The stories he’s tackled have literally given us blood-curdling nightmares, the kind from which we awaken in a downpour of night sweats, shivers, and the aching need to turn every single light on in our house. When he’s not undergoing a physical possession, he’s striking fear in a bloodthirsty city-wide excursion or staving off long-buried trauma. His work breaks barriers and has led to his most exciting performances.

Since his horror breakout roles in 2009’s The Haunting in Connecticut and Jennifer’s Body, he became a staple at the turn of the decade. Both showings proved he had something, that IT factor. The former, in particular, demonstrated that he had a knack for committing so totally to the role that he could convince you that he really was fighting off demonic forces. Playing Matt Campbell, he performed alongside genre legend Virginia Madsen (Candyman) and more than held his own. Their scenes, in addition to his solo moments, proved to be the standouts in an otherwise mediocre film. I wrote about The Haunting in Connecticut at length in a previous newsletter issue, in which I wrote that his performance is a “tour de force” (read online here).

Then came the severely misguided A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, starring Rooney Mara as Nancy Thompson, in 2010. As is his way, Gallner emerged as a bright spot in a film that felt both beholden to the 1984 original and like it was trying to do something so wildly different that just didn’t work. Moments like Freddy poking through the wall and the bathtub scene were carbon copies, feeling lifeless and uninspired. But Gallner gave such a delirious performance that left an indelible mark in modern horror; we don’t talk enough about that–his ability to always strike like a hot iron. No matter the material, he can sink in his teeth, draw blood, and leave you gasping for more.

As far as mainstream or even indie success, Gallner essentially disappeared for the better part of a decade (but did dabble in TV, such as CSI: NY and a very small appearance in The Walking Dead). He could still be seen in such indie horror/thrillers as Red State and The Finest Hours. But it wasn’t until 2019’s The Cleansing Hour that his renaissance ignited something inside of him. Over the next three years, he began taking on bigger, more mainstream films–Scream (2022) and Smile most notably. While the former role was a bit part, he ripped it to shreds. And the latter, well, it might not be his most memorable turn, but he was still a delight to see onscreen.

Finally, there arrived the triumvirate of Kyle Gallner performances: Mother, May I?, The Passenger, and Strange Darling. Each is as different as the last, proving him to be quite the chameleon when given the chance. He could bite your throat out and never flinch. In the first, he played a vulnerable man unable to confront the trauma of his late mother, and in the second, he stepped into the skin of a rough-and-tumble man who forced his co-worker on a murderous joyride. But it’s the final performance, as The Demon in Strange Darling, that now defines his career. His performance is one for the ages. Starring opposite Willa Fitzgerald (as The Lady), he makes you wake up and pay attention. Without spoilers: he fights, he bleeds, and he hurts.

With the forthcoming Carolina Carolina, a thriller co-starring Samara Weaving (!!!), next under his sleeve, he will certainly keep his genre domination going. Plot details are scarce, but judging by the cast list, which also includes Kyra Sedgwick, we’re in for a real treat. That’s to be expected, of course, and it’ll be nice to see Gallner and Weaving onscreen together at last.

No matter what Kyle Gallner does next, we here at Horrorverse will be waiting. As one of horror’s essential modern performers, he has a long career stretching out ahead of him. Now, let’s keep the steam locomotive moving–hire him!

For a full list of upcoming films, please visit our Screaming Soon list on Letterboxd