Landing on Shudder after a long trip through post-covid movie release hell, this messy, goofy gore-fest pulls out all the stops in it’s quest to create a classic Slasher that thankfully hits more than it misses.

Directed by Armando Fonseca and Kapel Furman, this genre blending B-Movie stars Natallia Rodrigues as a detective investigating the ancient mask of Anhangá—a vassal of a pre-Columbian god—who, by some Nazi trickery, is re-incarnated as a bloodthirsty wrestler (really) and embarks on a sacrificial killing spree involving blood raves, intestinal strangulation, kidnapped kids, ex-mercenary exorcists, cosmic body melting and much, much more.

Right from the first scene, Skull The Mask exposes it’s directors as obsessive movie lovers. From film noir nods to Alien and Hellraiser homages, the film hops between cliches with such glorious abandon it brings to mind movies like Psycho Goreman in its imperviousness to analysis as anything more than glorious, gore-soaked grindhouse fair.

While occasionally taking itself too seriously, Skull The Mask rips through it’s 87 minute run time with an ever growing kill count and some seriously jaw dropping visuals in between some go-nowhere character development and a corrupt cop subplot that offers little payoff.

But we’re not here for character development, we’re here for the kills, and Skull The Mask offers up some great ones as Brazilian Wrestler Rubik Jr. dispatches the citizen of Sao Paolo with body slams, boomerang hatchets and flying drop kicks.

While the low budget is obvious, inventive camera work, hilarious fight scenes and a glorious abandon in it’s weirdness elevate Skull The Mask from bargain-bin slasher to a very watchable oddity. And while it’s not one of the best films on Shudder, for adventurous Horror fans it’s not a bad way to spend a Saturday night.

Despite a cult-like devotion to an image of safe and family friendly fun, it turns out not everything is always magical in the mouse’s kingdom.

From failing floats to alligator attacks to knife fights, Disney’s theme parks have had their share of sad, strange and surreal deaths over the past decades that add a dark shadow to an otherwise picture perfect park going experience.

Read on for a list of 13 notable Deaths At Disney from both California’s Disneyland and Walt Disney World in Florida.

Deaths At Disney: Alligator Attack! (2016)

With some very strong Florida energy for Walt Disney World, one of the most gruesome Disney Deaths occurred on June 14, 2016 when a 2-year-old boy from Nebraska was bitten and dragged into the water by an alligator at 9:15pm on the shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon.

Horrifyingly, his parents tried to save him and the boy was pulled into the water in front of their eyes. His body then surfaced the following afternoon, in the vicinity of where he went missing.

Since the incident, Disney has added warning signs and rope-barriers to waterways around the entire resort and, for a short time, references to alligators were removed from a number of attractions, including The Jungle Cruise.

However, these actions did little to help Disney shake accusations of a  cover-up, with local press alleging Disney removed nearly 100 alligators from the park in the year leading up to the incident.

Deaths At Disney: Knife Attack!  (1981)

On March 7, 1981 18-year-old Mel Yorba was fatally stabbed with a knife during a fight with a 28-year-old man after the victim supposedly attempted to pinch the man’s girlfriend in Tomorrowland.

His family sued the park for $60 million and while the family did not receive the full amount (They got $600k in the end) the jury found the park negligent for not summoning outside medical help during the assault.

Disney, forever obsessed with their image even in the face OF AN ACTUAL MURDER, sent the victim to the Hospital not in an ambulance, but a Disneyland van with a park nurse.

Deaths At Disney: The Gang Murders Someone (1987)

The second homicide in the park’s history, on March 7 1987, a 15-year-old boy was fatally shot in the Disneyland parking lot after keeping it real went wrong as revellers left the park after closing.

The incident began as an early-morning shouting match between apparent rival gang members before escalating into a brawl that devolved into a shooting match in the parking lot around 1am.

About two hours after the brawl, Long Beach police and California Highway Patrol officers arrested no less than 13 Samoan youths as they drove north on the San Diego Freeway in Long Beach in a van and a Cadillac, Long Beach Police Lt. Rod Mickelson said at the time.

Keleti Naea, the shooter, contended that he thought the gun, which belonged to the victim, was a toy when he picked it off the ground and fired at Tai, but that wasn’t enough to escape being convicted of 2nd degree murder for his role in the shooting.

Deaths At Disney: America Sings (1974)

A classic among Deaths at Disney, this incident befell poor Deborah Gail Stone, a fresh faced, bubbly 18-year old employee who had just graduated from Santa Ana High School, and was, as the immortal Joe Bob Briggs would say “mashed to bits” after slipping between a revolving wall and a stationary platform inside the eternally creepy America Sings attraction.

On  July 8, 1974 she standing was in the wrong place during a ride intermission and, as the revolving platforms revolved, she was ground to a pulp between the wheels of the  attraction.. Investigators say it was unclear whether this was the result of inadequate training or an “operator error”, as the ride was brand new, having only opened about a week earlier.

In classic Disney fashion, America Sings was closed for a mere two days while crews installed simple warning lights and breakaway walls to prevent further incidents of mashing to bits.

Deaths At Disney:  The Matterhorn Decapitation (1984)

One of the grisliest Deaths at Disney was 1984’s Matterhorn incident, when 48-year-old Dolly Young from California was killed after she was thrown from a  bobsled car and was then struck by the next oncoming bobsled, crushing her and separating her head from it’s shoulders between the cars wheels and the steel track.

A later investigation had found that her seat belt was not buckled, and it remained unclear if she deliberately unfastened her belt, the seat belt had malfunctioned, or another passenger had unfastened it. Dun dun dunnn!

Deaths At Disney: Mono-doh! (1966)

Photo by Heather Maguire on Unsplash

The first of many, many Deaths at Disney’s California location was on June 8, 1966, when 19 year old Thomas Cleveland was killed while attempting to sneak into the park by climbing onto the monorail track.

Ignoring the shouted warnings of a security officer he was struck by the train and dragged nearly 50 feet down the track.

A Quote from author David Koenig’s 1994 book Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland attributed to the the security guard there at the time stated that he had to “hose the kid off the underside”.

Deaths At Disney: Killer Coral Cafe Menu (1982)

In one of the more bizarre Deaths at Disney (and the 6th death in  the history of Orlando’s park in a mere 11 years), a 2-year-old local girl from Florida died on April 6, 1982 in Walt Disney World after being crushed, by of all things … a falling menu board.

Reports says she was standing in line with her family outside the kitschy tiki-themed Coral Isle Coffee Shop (now re-branded as the Kona Cafe) when she and her 12-year-old sister were playing with a rope tied to a large menu board.

In a Rube Goldberg worth series of unfortunate events (and a great advertisement for birth control), the unattended girls pulled on the rope, freeing the sign from it’s fasteners, and the board fell on top of the toddler, crushing her.

Deaths At Disney: Oh no, Not The Bees! (1992)

In a Death worthy of Nicolas Cage himself,  an off-duty cast member fell to his death from the ledge outside the Top of The World restaurant on On November 12, 1992.

And while falls and suicides are surprisingly common Deaths at Disney, this one is a little more weird.

The strange accident began as Brian Hribek, 24, a host at the Disney hotel’s Top Of The World, was showing his roommate the view from an observation deck on the 15th floor of the hotel.

As he sat on the 4 ft high security barrier in broad daylight, a swarm of “giant wasps” began attacking him without warning. As he tried desperately to swat them away, he fell over the edge and the wasps had claimed their victory.

The victim slammed into a 4th floor landing deck of the monorail, killing him instantly and with much splattering.

Reporters on the scene were told by employees ” We noticed the wasps…They were huge, all over the place…Then a little while later, someone came in screaming, ‘Call 911!’ ”

Disney officials said they do not know where the wasps came from. A reporter who walked on the deck two hours after the accident found dozens still swarming…looking for more victims…

Deaths At Disney: Mini Golf Car Fire (2018)

A recent and still unsolved entry in our Deaths at Disney, August 18, 2018 saw a person found dead inside of a burning car near Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course at the park, shocking local residents.

Brian Christ, 49, was found dead in a burning vehicle at 4:11 a.m, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. but it was not the result of an automobile accident.

Deputies have not released details about how Christ died, but said that no foul play is suspected and detectives were not looking for any suspects. Disney remained tight lipped about the incident, and has not commented to this day about just what happened. Suspish.

Deaths At Disney: A Dream Come True Parade Crushing (2004)

Imagine dying in a mascot costume? How humiliating right? Well imagine no longer.

A tragic entry in our Deaths at Disney, Javier Cruz, 38, a father of two and an eight-year Disney veteran, was playing Pluto in the daily afternoon parade like he had countless times before.

Preparing backstage, he was shockingly killed after being run over by the Beauty and the Beast float in the “Share a Dream Come True Parade”. We’re guessing that was not his dream come true.

“We think very few guests saw it, if any,” said park spokesman Bill Warren at the time.

On the day of his death, he was dressed in character near the end of the parade line and was ready to pass through a gate into public view near Splash Mountain when the float struck him.

In a scene that’s tragic, but honestly pretty hilarious to imagine, Cruz tripped and before he had time to escape the oncoming float, was crushed to death by the giant golden princess float that loomed over him.

Floats and characters that left the backstage area before the accident continued down the parade route toward Main Street, U.S.A., Warren said, but floats and characters behind Cruz did not.

Deaths At Disney: Shotgun To The Head (1992)

While we’re not counting the spate of suicides among our “Top Deaths At Disney”, this one is just too salacious to leave out.

On September 12, 1992, 37-year-old Allan Farris entered Epcot at Orlando’s Walt Disney World after closing, yelling and demanding to see his ex-girlfriend who worked at the park.

Ferris then confronted a guard at the park who approached him, and after again demanding to see his former girlfriend, two other guards then confronted Ferris.

In a big Florida move, Farris produced a 12-gauge shotgun – with its stock cut off – from a nylon bag and went into full psycho-mode, firing three blasts at the first guard, who was miraculously unharmed.

The two other guards also ran, but after Ferris fired one shot, both stopped and were held hostage for 10 minutes in a restroom near Kodak’s Journey Into Imagination pavilion.

Given the serious nature of the event, Police deputies immediately surrounded the area, and Ferris released his hostages. He then emerged, walking around the pavilion with the gun clenched to his chest.

“Shoot me. Shoot me. You’re going to have to kill me,” Ferris yelled.

After exchanging words with deputies, he put the gun to his head and fired, evaporating his head into a cloud of red mist.

As expected, he was pronounced dead on arrival at the Orlando Regional Medical Center. Investigators attributed his actions to a recent breakup with his long-time girlfriend.

In a quote worthy of a true crime podcast, a friend said  “He was a big man . . . but he got pushed to the limit. Something just happened to set him off.”

Deaths At Disney: Killer Coaster (2003)

Howdy folks! We’re heading to the old-west for one of the most calamitous Deaths at Disney in Frontierland history , yee-haw!

On September 5, 2003, a 22-year-old man died after suffering severe blunt-force trauma and extensive internal bleeding in a derailment of the Big croller coaster that also injured ten other riders.

The derailment was the result of a mechanical failure that had occurred because of omissions during a maintenance procedure. Fasteners on the left side guide wheel on the floating axle of the locomotive were not tightened and secured in accordance with specifications.

As the train entered a tunnel, the axle came loose and jammed against a brake section, causing the locomotive to become airborne and hit the ceiling of the tunnel. The locomotive then slammed down on top of the first passenger car, crushing the victim.

Deaths At Disney: Gondola Death Drop  (1999)

One of the sadder Deaths at Disney saw 65-year-old part-time custodian Raymond Barlow killed as he was cleaning the Fantasyland Skyway station platform on February 14, 1999, when the ride was turned on by staff likely unaware he was there.

He was in the path of the ride vehicles and after beging struck by the oncoming and adorable Gondola, he grabbed a passing seat in an attempt to save himself.

Sadly, He lost his grip, fell 40 feet (12 m), and landed in a flower bed near the Dumbo ride, where he expired from his injuries.

The Skyway ride, which was already ancient and in poor repair, had been scheduled to be closed before the accident occurred, was permanently closed in November, 1999.

As a result of the accident, OSHA fined Walt Disney World a whopping US$4,500 for violating federal safety codes in that work area.

Heading Photo by Brian McGowan on Unsplash

The theme for this season is still unknown, but the new behind the scenes photo posted on Ryan Murphy’s Instagram marks the debut of Party Monster and Home Alone actor Macaulay Culkin. Pictured alongside AHS regular Leslie Grossman.

“Something wicked this way comes”, is the caption for the photo, which shows Culkin and Grossman hanging out on a beach dressed in pretty bad-ass fur coats.

American Horror Story Season 10 is reportedly filming under the title “Pilgrim”, but the beach setting has led many fans to theorize about mermaids, Lovecraftian underwater demons, swamp monsters and everything in between.

Season 10 will also include American Horror Story regulars: Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Billie Lourd, Finn Wittrock, Lily Rabe, Adina Porter and Angelica Ross.

In Samantha’s TikToks, a couple friends are shocked to see the huge hole behind her apartment with A LOT of space behind it, which makes the discovery much scarier. Not only could Samantha fit her whole body behind it, but could walk around behind her bathroom mirror in essentially another hidden apartment.

There are now 4 parts to these videos, with the latest showing Samantha walking around with a flashlight and hammer in hand while her friends joke that someone could be living behind the walls a la Candyman or Parasite.

@samanthartsoe

seriously never would I have expected to find this… and I documented all of it #mystery #fyp #nyc #secret #foryou #apartment #storytime

♬ Mysterious – Andreas Scherren

@samanthartsoe

HOW IS THIS IN MY BATHROOM WALL #mystery #nyc #apartment #secret #storytime #fyp

♬ Mysterious – Andreas Scherren

@samanthartsoe

TRULY a new meaning to a “hole in the wall” #mystery #nyc #apartment #secret #storytime #fyp #foryou

♬ Oh No – Kreepa

@samanthartsoe

crawled through a wall for this mystery so enjoy the finale #mystery #nyc #apartment #secret #storytime #storytime #fyp #foryou

♬ Mysterious – Andreas Scherren

Before putting the mirror back, she mentions that she and her landlord were going to have a talk, but there’s not yet a part five to conclude this New York mystery.

The now infamous apartment has been dubbed “The Candyman Apartment” due to the similarities behind the urban legend of the villain named The Candyman who murders people after being summoned if someone says his name five times in front of a mirror.

Check out the videos and stay tuned for any updates…hopefully she wasn’t murdered by a bee covered man with a hook for a hand.

NFT art: How do you get paid for a meme?

You can’t get paid for memes…right?

Until recently, that may have been true, but something strange has been bubbling up in the digital art world the past few years that could change all that.

An example of one of the earliest crypto-art projects, “Rare Pepes”, shown here

The NFT, or “Non Fungible Token”.

By creating a new type of one-of-a-kind digital currency, art, collectibles, games and yes, even memes, can finally be as unique as their real world counterparts, and potentially be just as valuable.

Artists, developers and entrepreneurs can create NFT collectibles without anything physical attached, and more importantly, use the power of the blockchain  to help get fairly compensated when their work appreciates in value.

The purchase of an NFT (an extension of the Ethereum crypto-currency), is registered on the blockchain, which provides a permanent record of that purchase and provides proof of ownership.

Virtual galleries have sprung up across the web, offering NFT artists a e-commerce marketplace worth millions of dollars and worldwide exposure for their exclusive “drops”.

Clever marketers and hypebeasts alike have flocked to this burgeoning new format, with licensed deals and weird memes alike exploding across the web in a Darwinian race for digital clout supremacy.

NFT Art: what the heck is a non-fungible token?

Before we dive into the weird and wild world of ‘virtual art’, let’s start with the basics: What the heck are NFTs and how do they work?

Pronounced “Nifty”, the “fungible” in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) describe something that is identical to something else. So one US dollar, or gram of cannabis or a GameStop stonk, for example, is the same as any other. This is how, in the simplest terms, the world economy works: A dollar is a dollar.

However, some clever and/or bored hackers flipped the idea of cryptocurrency on it’s head to create something wholly unique: a one of a kind currency.

When you buy an NFT, you are buying that virtual token and the work of art linked to it. The transaction is registered on the blockchain, (A digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the same platform), and the creator’s share is paid for immediately, as a “smart contract” digitally compensates them at the time of any sale.

If you own, for example, a rare pepe NFT, it’s ownership is public, proving it’s provenience and allowing for it to be sold, traded or auctioned, without the original owner being cut out of the process.

The work can be unique (like a painting), or in editions (like a book or trading card) but each token is unique to that work. Unlike “coins”, which require massive amounts of computing horsepower to create something of value, the art is what gives value to the collectible, and the token is more like a receipt that proves who made it and what it’s worth when you bought it.

Once you buy your “art”, you can display it on your computer or TV, inside a special digital frame, print it out, resell it, whatever.

And, while yeah, anyone can print out or display an image from the internet, that image does not belong to them and they cannot trade or sell it, so NFTs can go a long way to help attribute copyright, get collectors to invest, and help artists get paid. It’d be like selling a bootleg “Palyboy” T-shirt…not quite the real thing.

In December, nearly $9m worth of NFT-based art was sold in that month alone, according to the cryptocurrency news website Be[in]Crypto, more than three times the value of sales the previous month.

The web portal nonfungible.com, which measures the NFT market history and statistics shows there have been 5,094,912 NFT sales to-date worth over $146 million.

That’s right…146 million, real dollars, for digital art. To say this could be a game changer is an understatement.

NFT Art: It all started with cats…

Created by AxiomZen, CryptoKitties went viral in 2017 after being birthed at an Etherium ‘hack-a-thon’

Canadian studio Axiom Zen is credited with kicking off the NFT craze with their game, CryptoKitties, a game where players breed and trade little digital cats with unique looks…sort of like a Cyberpunk Beanie Baby.

Each CryptoKitty has a “digital genome” that holds the genetic sequence to all the different traits they can have. These include things like colour, whiskers, beards, stripes, little hats and so on.

Initially, the game was seeded with 100 “Founder Kitties”, some of which have approached over $300,000 in value.

Using the game, anyone can sell their kittens via an auction, where they pick a starting price and an ending price and once again the price declines over time until someone buys it. These automated “market value” adjustments create scarcity and compel ‘players’ to ‘buy low, sell high’…like any other collectible.

And here’s where the democratic nature of the blockchain comes into play”: AxiomZen doesn’t do anything to assign value to the NFT after it’s “minted” the community assigns a premium value to a certain Kitty by simply paying more for them. If more people want cats with hats, then cats with hats cost more… capitalism at it’s simplest.

After it went viral, CryptoKittes became so popular that it was accounting for 10% of ALL commercial transactions using Ethereum, and with this breakout success, other artists and creators began to take notice.

NFT Art: Drops, Galleries and Auctions

Sites like Nifty Gateway (now owned by billionaire Facebook investors the Winklevoss twins) and SuperRare have created a culture of ultra-exclusive ‘drops’ as part of their curation, where digital artists and meme-lords unleash new collections after days or weeks of hype, some times paired with real-world digital frames, merch or other items, often with an irreverent attitude reserved for street artists.

In the classic tradition of trailblazing digital-art weirdos, these artists themselves are hardly traditional—Beeple, for instance, one of the best-selling NFT artists and a legend in 3D animation world, introduces a “drop” (a hyped up sale when new works are released at a certain time, sort of like Supreme clothing or the Apple iPhone) with a statement that starts:

“hahahah, ok so we’re going balls deep on this motherfucker…”.

His last drop generated an estimated 3.5 million is sales, according to NFT news site Loop.

Internet famous graffiti artists Lushsux, credited for bringing memes to the street-art world, has recently launched “Lushsux’ Lambo Fund”, which sold out immediately on Nifty Gateway for prices reaching $15,000 for digital editions of his infamous murals.

But it’s not just crypto-kiddies and weirdos making NFT’s: NYC artist, writer, dealer and art-world gadfly Kenny Schachter has also been producing NFTs, recently offering three digital works on the Nifty platform. His most famed work (and one that kicked off mainstream attention to the format) is his take on Donald Trump’s defeat: titled That’s All Folks, a digital work based on the end title of a Looney Tunes film.

Schachter released a special edition of five for $500 USD each, all sold, and they have all been traded a number of times; one had received a bid of $1,111 at the time of writing. Like all other NFT auctions or sales, each resale receives a small commission for the artist.

But is this only the domain of silicon valley investors or an art-world effete?

Hell ‘naw.

Where can I get my own NFT art?

The NFT “scene” is still in it’s infancy, but the 5 best known ‘marketplaces’ below will give you a good place to start if you want to dive into the weird world of digital ownership.

1. OpenSea

The first NFT marketplace and the largest, OpenSea hosts more than art. Ddomain names, sports trading cards as well as items used in gaming are all available from their site.

2. SuperRare

Home to highly curated, digital artworks, SuperRare is a trendy virtual curated gallery where only hand-picked artists are hosted. Part of the appeal is the limited selection, rather than OpenSea’s endless catalogue of, well, everything.

3. Terra Virtua

By creating a series of virtual dens called ‘Fancaves’, Terra Virtua aims to capture the obsessive, more hyper-masculine collectors market. NFT owners can show off their collections in their very own digital crib. They offer classic collectibles like movie posters, 3D figurines and music, all in NFT form.

4. Rarible

Rarible might be the easiest site to jump into the world of NFTs. Offering a curated collection of everything from art to memes to domains, their shopping experience is fast and easy and much less daunting than the others listed here.

5. Nifty Gateway

Highly curated and backed by billionaire investors, Nifty Gateway showcases some of the highest profile collections on the web. While most of the big-ticket collections are our of range for all but the wealthiest collectors, works from well known artists like Filip Hodas and Rick & Morty creator Justin Roiland are easily accessible to regular art collectors.

What’s the future of NFT art?

With all the hype NFTs have been making, major companies and big brands have already begun taken an interest and gotten involved in the industry.

Several of the biggest brands on the planet are now developing blockchain based games, collectibles and virtual worlds, including Samsung, Nike, the UFC, just to name a few.

But while these major players may bring more awareness to the format of NFT art, the steady supply of new creators, new marketplaces and new ways to tweak the “smart contract” system originally hacked by Axiom Zen allows for a nearly infinite ceiling to where this strange new world can grow.

Unlike Bitcoin or other ‘fungible’ tokens, creating a one of a kind token isn’t nearly as difficult as creating a new bitcoin, something only available to the most powerful “miners” left standing.

With a low barrier to entry and a dedicated subculture of collectors looking to “get in early” on unique artworks, NFT art may finally be a way for you meme makers to get paid.

Heading image: ‘Ether in the Sky’ by Yog Joshi

Netflix isn’t new to salacious true crime content, and has revealed the new series Crime Scene, which dives into the lore and mythology of contemporary crime scenes. The first season, ‘The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel’, focuses on the notoriously evil Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

The trailer which dropped yesterday, contains footage of “Hotel Death”, explaining the numerous deaths, murders and suicides that have happened within the walls since the 1930s.

Opening in 1927, the Cecil flourished as a fashionable destination, however the location of the Cecil Hotel began to decline quite quickly after the great depression. Now known as Skid row, the surrounding area became increasingly populated with transients, and as many as 10,000 homeless people lived within a four-mile radius.

By the 1960s, the hotel had gained a reputation as a residence for transients and criminals. As such, deaths, suicides and other violent deaths on the premises became more frequent.

Throughout the 40s and 50s, so many suicides occurred at Cecil, longtime residents had begin to call The Cecil Hotel “The Suicide”. In addition to suicides, the Cecil’s history includes many other disturbing happenings and also became a notorious spot for cheating spouses, drugs and sex workers.

In 2007, the hotel was refurbished and new owners took over the property. In 2011, the Cecil Hotel was re-branded as “Stay on Main”, complete with a new website which expired at the end of 2013.

In 2014 New York hotelier Richard Born purchased the hotel for $30 million, after which another New York based firm. Simon Baron Development acquired a 99 year ground lease on the property.

In February 2017, Los Angeles City Council voted to deem the Cecil Hotel a historic cultural monument, because it is representative of an early 20th century American hotel and because of the historic significance of its architect’s body of work.

Even with it’s prestigious landmark status, no one can overlook the hotel’s infamous and very dark history. The first documented suicide at the Cecil was reported in 1931, after guest W.K Norton died in his room after taking poison capsules.

In 1947, Elizabeth Short, dubbed the Black Dahlia, was rumoured to have been spotted drinking at the Cecil’s bar in the days before her notorious, and unsolved murder.

In 1964, retired telephone operator “Pigeon Goldie” Osgood, who was a well-liked and longtime resident of the hotel was found dead in her room. She had been raped, stabbed and beaten and her room ransacked. A man named Jacques B. Ehlinger was charges with Osgood’s murder but later cleared, her death also remains unsolved.

Perhaps the most notorious guest of the hotel was rumoured resident Richard Ramirez, nicknamed the “Night Stalker.

Ramirez had been a regular on the skid row area of Los Angeles, and according to a hotel clerk, who claimed to have spoken to him, Ramirez is rumoured to have stayed at the Cecil Hotel for a few weeks. Ramirez may have engaged in part of his killing spree while staying there.

Another serial killer, Austrian Jack Unterweger, stayed at the Cecil in 1991, possible to copy Ramirez in some way. While there, he strangled and killed at lease three sex workers, for which he was convicted in Austria. He hanged himself shortly after his conviction.

After it’s re brand to “Stay on Main”, the Cecil became the focus of attention again after the surveillance footage of Canadian student Elisa Lam, behaving erratically in the hotel’s elevator went viral.

The video shows Lam repetitively pressing hotel buttons, walking in and out of the elevator and making super creepy hand gestures almost in a trance like state, looking as if she was hiding from someone or something.

Her body was subsequently found in the water supply cistern on the hotel roof, following complaints from the residents of odd-tasting water and low water pressure.

How she got into the water tank remains a mystery.

The LA County Coroner ruled her death accidental due to drowning, with bipolar disorder being a “significant” factor. Theories have swirled since then about possible paranormal activity as well as this death still remains largely a mystery compounded on top of the infamous site of the hotel.

This mystery and many other deaths will now be featured as part of the Netflix series ‘‘The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel’‘ coming out February 10th, 2021.

Watch the trailer below

We’re talking that almost indescribable fusion of mistakes that add up to a glorious, grin inducing, wildly entertaining pile of pure crap.

Whether it’s wooden acting, bargain basement effects or totally nonsensical (or non-existent) plots, there is a certain magic to really great good bad movies that elevates them from the gutter to the pantheon of cult classics. And the magic that makes great “good bad movies” is that it’s never boring.. it may be cheap, confusing, infuriating or even insulting to your intelligence… but never boring. The moment you’re predictably bad, the spell is broken. A great bad movie surprises you with it’s idiocy, wows you with it’s plot holes., stuns you with it’s costume choices… in other words, it’s never what you expect.

Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller….the genre doesn’t matter to good bad movies, and since watching even the best movies can get kinda well, predictable, we’ve collected an ever-updating list of the best bad movies you can watch in 2021 and beyond.

Striptease (1996)

A titan of good bad movies and equal only to Showgirls in terms of “what the fuck kind of stripping is this?”, Striptease is bad in every way a movie can be, yet we cannot look away. C-section scars? Check. People in completely different movies yet acting in the same scene together? Oh yeah. Casual racism? Sure. Burt Reynolds in a wig? You bet.

It’s really got it all.

Bizarrely enough, Striptease was actually based on a book of the same name (which is actually pretty good) , and it’s author, Carl Hiassen, is on record as loving the movie. Go figure.

Snake Eyes (1998)

How can a Brian De Palma movie end up on this list?

Two words. Nicolas. Cage.

An absolutely unstoppable, scenery annihilating performance as a manic cop trying to stop terrorists at a prize fight, Cage obliterates any chance of the movie making much sense (why is he dressed in the same outfit as Wild At Heart?) while simultaneously making it a goddamn classic of good bad movies.

Between the wigs (so many wigs!), the totally ridiculous stunts, the “where is this guy from?” character actors galore and some honestly jaw dropping camera work there was a lot that could have gone worse for Snake Eyes, but thankfully it careened of the road of good taste, burst into flames and crashed squarely onto our list of good bad movies.

Roadhouse (1989)

Mullets. Karate. Friendship.

These are the building blocks of one of the best good bad movies of all time, Roadhouse. Starring the flowing hair of Patrick Swayze as well as actor Patrick Swayze, this cinematic classic tells he story of “cooler” Dalton, who arrives at the worst bar in town to clean it up for reasons that are, actually, pretty unclear for the entire film.

He fucks. He fights. He dispenses Confucian wisdom to slack jawed yokels between palling around with blind blues musician Jeff Healy and perennial human block of wood Sam Worthington (as the only tougher bouncer on earth). It’s glorious trash.

If you could distill Kenny Powers, Donald Trump Jr. and Mac from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia into a single person, then have that person make a movie FOR that person, you’d get Roadhouse.

Unlawful Entry (1992)

“Don’t mind me, just holding in a huge dump NBD”

The 90’s were awash in good bad movies, and no genre got more shit shovelled into it that the “Thriller”.

A strong and hilariously overwrought entry, 1992’s Unlawful Entry slides into the good bad movies list with a laundry list of classic 90’s cliches: hysterical wife, cuckolded husband, weird dancing, fax machine related drama….it’s got it all.

When a crackhead breaks into their house, yuppie couple Kurt Russel and a sleepwalking Madeline Stowe attract the attention of “why do I look like I’m about to shit constantly” Ray Liotta, a cop who’s idea of protect and serve involves serving his junk to your wife. As things go in these type of movies, his IMMEDIATELY OBVIOUS creepiness is ignored until it’s too late, and mayhem ensues.

Like many good bad movies, it’s tough to pinpoint exactly why Unlawful Entry is so enjoyable, but a perfect storm of hysterically bad acting, dumb-as-fuck characters and occasionally some T&A had us howling until the end.

Demon Wind (1990)

We’d be lying to you all if we didn’t include on of the top good bad movies to emerge in the last few years: DEMON WIND.

From it’s laugh out loud intro (an old woman just says “WIND” over and over), to the Karate magicians (yep) to a completely insane conclusion, Demon Wind not only hits every target as a good bad movie, it obliterates them like an atom bomb: bad acting, bad effects, bad music…bad everything.

But we don’t want to give too much away, after all, a constant state of confusion is key to truly enjoying Demon Wind.

Showgirls (1996)

A true good bad movies classic, Showgirls asks the question “what if ‘A Star Is Born’ was written by a pervert and directed by a lunatic?”…well, you get Kyle McLaughlin delivering dialog like this:

“You got low self-esteem baby, you’re a fantastic fuck”

We won’t waste much time here, it’s a bad movie classic that everyone knows: you know it’s bad, we know it’s bad, you love it, we love it. It has everything: horrible acting, horrible hair, horrible sex scenes… and some of the most quotable lines in cinema history.

Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)

Is Book of Shadows the most Nu-Metal movie ever made? It’s possible. Is it one of the worst sequels of all time? Perhaps. Is it one of the best good bad movies ever made? Absolutely.

With little relation to what made the first film a legitimate classic (no found footage or puzzle-box narratives here folks), this trash heap combines some classic “bad movie” DNA to create an abomination of cliches well worth a Saturday night watch. A paint by numbers teen horror film (with actors clearly in their early 30s) smushed into a bad haunted house scenario with a heaping helping of XTREEEEM Y2K angst (it looks like an Airwalk discount store threw up on everything), there’s not a tense moment to be found. Seriously: They show you the ending 2 minutes into the movie. It’s…bizarre to say the least.

Instead we get a nearly constant laugh-out-loud calamity that’s sure to have you chuckling from start to end. This is definitely no Halloween III.

The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)

A staple of good bad movies since time began, the “unrelated sequel” is a surefire way to craft a movie that doesn’t make any goddamn sense just to cash in on name recognition.

Take a hastily made 90s b-movie teen horror, Frankensteined into a sequel of the Stephen King classic, throw it into a blender of late 90s cliches, laugh-out-loud death scenes and horrendous casting and you’ve got a shit smoothie so enjoyable that it propels Carrie 2 into the “so bad it’s good” hall of fame.

Its plot follows the younger half-sister of Carrie White, also empowered with telekinesis, who finds that her best friend’s suicide was spurred by a group of popular male classmates who exploited her for sexual gain. Lots of #metoo mayhem and bargain basement CGI ensues as Rachel offs the high school one by one with the power of her mind.

Battlefield Earth (2000)

Avatar? Jupiter Ascending? Cloud Atlas? Please, sit down… the true king of the Sci-Fi good bad movies mountain has arrived: Battlefield Earth.

After his Pulp Fiction comeback, John Travolta returned to being a laughing stock in this overblown, overlong and over budget adaptation of Scientologist guru L. Ron Hubbard’s barley readable sci-fi novel, delivering what’s often called the worst film of the last 100 years.

Set in the year 3000 the “Psyklo” master race (aliens who look like feral Kiss fans) invade Colorado (rural Quebec, but sure) with their advanced and unstoppable technology and enslave humans to…mine gold (what?). A hero is born, (yadda yadda yadda),  the caveman slaves get zapped with a brain ray and boom: they can fly spaceships. Yes, it’s that bad.

Beyond the bargain basement effects, the insane Travolta performances, Forrest Whitaker and Berry Pepper also immolate their careers on this monstrosity what makes this even more badly watchable is that director Roger Christian shoots every scene on a weird askew angle, like a fever dream. It’s awful. It’s nauseating. It’s a blast.

Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)

Possibly the sleaziest entry into the Friday The 13th slasher series, “Part V” is so trashy, so exploitative and so cheap that it lands on our list of good bad movies without much effort at all.

After 4 movies the filmmakers asked themselves “what can Part V offer?” Their answer? More nudity, and more murders than any of the previous films in the franchise—a insane 22 deaths in 90 minutes by the time the credits roll (that’s a new corpse every four minutes, nerds).

But how to fill this insane bloodshed quota? Well Part V doesn’t just stick to randy teenage victims; entire tertiary characters and subplots are introduced are introduced and dispatched just to build the body count (including an almost impossibly obnoxious redneck mother and son). Needless to say: the plot is limited to say the least.

Profane, problematic (and slightly pornographic), Part V is also unbelievably entertaining: reports say the actors were never told it was to be a Friday the 13th until after they were on set, leaving some hilariously tone-deaf performances intact.

Credit: BlogTO

The cozy and kitschy space that one slung pineapple filled cocktails now is the home of Living Energy Spirits, run by Toronto psychic David John Sinclair.

Credit: livingenergyspirits.com

David’s mother was a clairvoyant and medium in Scotland and part of the St Clair (Sinclair) family tree that were recognized as clairvoyants, and mediums with the Knights Templars / Freemasons.

Over the last 50 years, David has been reading for thousands of individuals and has written many testimonials on his accuracy. He’s an accomplished psychic and ahs appeared on many TV and radio shows and newspapers across the globe.

When he isn’t being interviewed or helping the RCMP solve a 7 year old crime (true story), David can be found doing readings, paintings and making crystal healing jewelry at Living Energy Spirits, on Danforth near Coxwell.

The shop opened at 1775 Danforth Ave, in July selling sage, books, tarot decks and more.

It also offers palm readings, past life analysis and other clairvoyant services which might help us figure out what curses we may have picked up in 2020.

The Shore Leave first closed temporarily in March, and after a landlord dispute permanently shuttered. The punch bowls with dolphin shaped bananas will always be missed and don’t know if I’ll be getting my palms touched by strangers any time soon.

Credit: BlogTO

To date, the owners haven’t hinted at any new location re-opening, and with the pandemic still in full swing as of December 15th, 2020 – who knows when we’ll be able to share gargantuan drinks together. Maybe David’s crystal ball knows.

Sunderland, 25, known for her legendary masturbation video in the Oregon State University library, made two huge no-no’s which quickly caused her verified account with over 2 million followers to be deleted.

Just to be clear – We fully support Kendra Sunderland and all professional sex workers having the ability to promote on social platforms, especially considering racist and much more horrific adult content exists without deletion on every single social platform. (As well, all adult content is readily available without age gating anywhere – Including fully naked yoga on YouTube)

Earlier this month Kendra made jokes about Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram and how she was “blowing” him to keep her revealing photos on IG without deletion.

“Hey guys! I just wanna let you know I’m not deleted yet…I’m batshit crazy. I might be sucking off the CEO of Instagram. But, whatever it is, I’m here to stay!”

Most followers and fans took this as an innocent joke and brushed it off, others including fellow adult star Alana Evans took offence and went full Karen on twitter, saying:

“I don’t usually call out performers for their behavior on Instagram, but today I am done. This was posted to IG AFTER Kendra sucked off a dildo while TOPLESS LIVE on her IG story! NO MORE NEGOTIATIONS @INSTAGRAM Hey @mosseri wtf is this? Does your wife know”

We suspect Evans went on a reporting spree and encouraged her fans to do the same. Sunderland’s account was gone 12 hours later.

This was strike one for Kendra, and she followed this up with a super raunchy and intoxicated livestream from Kirill’s warehouse.

Known as “The Slut Whisperer”, Kirill is now focused on his merchandising company lindafinegold.com and has recruited Kendra Sunderland and other porn stars to model the apparel. If you are a follower of Kirill, you know his photoshoots can get super raunchy – Just like his now defunct parties which will probably have a huge comeback once covid19 is under control.

Sunderland herself admitted she made a mistake by making jokes and maybe having a few too many White Claws before going live (honestly something we can all relate to)

“I was also going crazy on Live yesterday, doing things I know I shouldn’t have, and was just drunk and didn’t care. I’m guessing that’s why. I would be surprised if the other reason was why, because I said it in such a joking manner. I never even really knew who the CEO of Instagram was, or anything. I’ve never met this person before in my life.”

Check out a clip of the now infamous livestream and give Kendra Sunderland a follow on her new account! We expect the lovable stoner babe to get her old account back or most of her followers back in no time.

The Infamous Kendra Sunderland Clip

Issue 1222 of Production Weekly, showed an untitled David Lynch project titled “Wisteria”, likely a reference to Wisteria Lane (the fictional town in ABCs Desperate Housewives).

Lynch is no stranger to powerful women and melodramatic plot-lines, so it’s not a stretch for him to be referencing the soap opera like hit Desperate Housewives.

Since the initial posting, more information has dropped and we’ve learned that the Untitled David Lynch series is now being called “Unrecorded Night”. Also listen as a DOP, Peter Deming – Known for his work alongside Lynch on Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway.

Production is stated to start in May 2021 and it will be filming in The Calvert Studios.

David Lynch has both writer and director credits with Sabrina S. Sutherland is listed as the producer. Sutherland has worked on a number of David Lynch projects, including: Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces from 2014 and Twin Peaks: The Return.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter – when asked about a secret Netflix project, Lynch responded with the following:

“There’s all kinds of rumors. I’ve got a show called What Did Jack Do? on Netflix right now. It’s a great show about a monkey. It’s something you’ve got to see. And it will really help you in quarantine.”

If you haven’t already seen the strange 17 – minute crime mystery starring a monkey – We highly recommend checking it out during your next late night binge. David Lynch also served as executive producer on the documentary, My Beautiful Broken Brain which was picked up as a Netflix Original.

This is all we know for now and none of this has yet to be confirmed by Netflix themselves or David Lynch himself.

UPDATE via Welcome to Twin Peaks: As first reported by @fatecolossal on Twitter, Production Weekly lists two production companies for UNRECORDED NIGHT: the recently incorporated A2K PRODUCTIONS, INC. and TWIN PEAKS PRODUCTIONS, INC. which previously produced Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Twin Peaks: The Return, and On The Air, and has all C-level positions turned over to David Lynch since February 23, 2020. Is Unrecorded Night a Twin Peaks spin-off?

The holidays will look different this year. NYE Netflix binge parties, your mom still not realizing she’s on mute during a Zoom seder, and so on.

One universal holiday tradition however can’t be curtailed by a global health crisis, and that is drinking alcohol. Whether you’re shopping for your in-laws or for yourself, these small-batch (mostly) boozy gifts can also be delivered right to your door or ordered for curbside pickup.

Please note these are products found in Canada, so expect a follow up list for our readers across other borders!

Left Field Brewery’s Beer For a Cause

For the sixth year running, the always amazing brewery Left Field is partnering with Red Door Family Shelter for all of December for Draughts And Crafts Virtual Gift Guide 2020.

Every gift guide vendor is donating a portion of the proceeds from their featured item, including this bad-ass Warm Up Pack that includes a trio of Blackburne Imperial Stout, including the extra-warming 2020 flavour: Mexican Chocolate, two Brewmaster glasses and a Warm Up Long Sleeve – excellent for layering, and perfect on it’s own for those who run a little warmer for only $48.

Another boozy gift option from Left Field is the Give Back Pack which includes: 1x Koozie Brand Cooler Bag, 1x Red Door 6 Pack: Prospect Sabro: Single Hop IPA, 10𝇍 Beer Night, Greenwood IPA, Eephus Oatmeal Brown Ale, Squints Seed Gose, Go Ahead Raspberry Hibiscus Gose and 1x Beer For Everybody Tee!

These gifts make an incredible, direct impact to people in need. Peruse the full guide to find the perfect gift. Draughts And Crafts lasts until December 24th!

FOUNTAIN Fermented Cider

This earthy fermented cider from Revel uses blueberries and organic lemon basil. 250g/L of fresh blueberries from Norfolk County just east of Hamilton, Ontario. The lemon basil was grown from a friend of Revel in Acton, Ontario.

Herbal tones of the basil are more pronounced and the aroma is mainly green fennel, with hints of freshly turned soil.

Fountain is overall quite earthy and is said to remind the creators of beets. Basil is the star of this cider in both aroma and flavour.

Blueberries lend their colour, but are a lighter overall note. Lingering notes of green herbs give Fountain a tonic-like quality. 6.5% ABV | 750mL

$500 from this release was donated to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. They work on equality rights in relation to mental health, disability, gender, youth, immigration, refugees, race, poverty, LGBTQ2S+ rights and more. Learn more here

Natty Wine & Kimchi from Paradise Grapevine!

Paradise Grapevine specializes in natural wine, craft beer & cider and also carries some absolutely delectable snacks. Pivoting from selling wine to making it themselves while running an independent liquor store of sorts during COVID19 has filled a gap for harder to find labels that you’d never find at the LCBO or Wine Rack (for people outside Canada, all our liquor is sold through one government store essentially).

Now offering free delivery, curbside pick-up and takeout, Paradise Grapevine has something for everyone and natural wine fans can’t miss this gem. Don’t forget to use their gorgeous and unique wine bottle gift wrapping to add extra class to your boozy gifts!

Malty & Hoppy’s Edible Beer

Toronto based company Malt & Hoppy uses beer from the best local breweries in Ontario to make delicious beer jellies with a French twist!

Françoise Briet was inspired by her French background and love of beer. Using quality ingredients rich in flavours, these jellies are delicious and environmentally sustainable.

Jellies now available include: an imperial IPA from Black Oak Brewery, a pale ale from GLB and an oatmeal brown ale from our personal favourites Left Field Brewery.

These boozy gifts all make incredible additions to a charcuterie board or even on a hunk of fresh baked bread. Check out the full online shop here 

Scandinavian Candy, Organic Wine and Bouquets from Miss Pippa’s

Photographer and drag artist from Toronto Adam Moco and partner Anton Levin, a Swedish florist, met while both living in Portugal. After moving to Toronto in 2018, they got married and jumped on the opportunity to open a new space in Brockton Village.

With Anton’s experience running a flower shop, they decided to add other items they loved which resulted in a shop-slash-bar. This type of shop is more common in Europe and has been a hit since opening it’s doors in Toronto.

Named after their dog Pippa, this local haunt is also an ode to drag queens: Adam’s drag name is Miss Moço – thus creating Miss Pippa’s, a truly unique Toronto gem.

Although the stylish and eclectic space is closed for dine-in, they have pivoted to feature all their amazing offerings and boozy gifts online. If you happen to live in Toronto, they are also open for pick up Tuesday-Sunday 8AM-10PM. FREE Delivery orders over $150 are also available here.

Cocktail Kits from a Local Mixology Legend! 

Kelsey Ramage is no stranger to innovation, the anti-waste bartender behind The Trash Collective Inc. is now serving up DIY cocktail kits, classes and group cocktail delivery perfect for boozy gifts!

Dolly Trolley Drinks offers an amazing variety of cocktail types including cold-weather cocktails like a gin gimlet with a Ontario evergreen pine twist, or a Mai-tai made with Canadian grown walnuts!

Kits come with or without alcohol and make for the perfect excuse to use your kitschy mismatched vintage glassware. Store and delivery details available here!

HP Lovecraft Tiki Bar Accessories & Magical Zoom Cocktails

As you all probably know, we are horror nerds – So when we saw the legendary nerd bar Storm Crow Manor were offering Cthulhu Tiki mugs and other related accessories we had to share with you all! Aside from the gorgeous Tiki mug and “Great Old One” Flask, Storm Crow also is selling a wide variety of nerdy gear like masks, shot glasses and apparel.

Aside from accessories, buckets of fried chicken, Star Wars themed burgers, boozy bread puddings and cocktail kits are also available for pickup and delivery.

Cocktail kits include:

• A Very Krampus Cocktail Kit (7 servings of Mulled wine)
• Magic Zoom Meeting Cocktail Kit (9 servings of dangerously delicious boozy punch)
• Release The Kraken Kit (6 servings of a Rum soaked take on the Moscow Mule)
• Butterbeer Kit (6 servings of creamy boozy deliciousness)

Don’t miss other exclusive deals as part of Storm Crows 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS SPECIALS! Delivery and pickup is available here.

Fellow horror expert and comedian Hunter Collins, has graciously shared his personal round up of Actually Scary Movies, with some hilarious commentary of course.

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Everyone is always asking me for scary movie recommendations. Something about me just screams “this guy knows where to find things that will make me sick and afraid” (maybe it’s the vomit chunks on my unholstered gun). So I thought I’d make a list. Here are 10 actually scary horror movies you may have never seen.

The picks below aren’t for chicken-shit pants-shitting shit-birds. I will lay this out so you can gauge what my fear threshold is: Alien is not a horror movie; Get Out was a fine film but not scary whatsoever; and The Babadook sucks. If you want to watch a mother barely hold back from bashing her kid’s head in while some creepy prick with poor fashion sense looks on with glee, take me to Great Wolf Lodge. The films included here made me want to lock my doors, check under my bed and load the shotgun I keep under my machete rack.

Although they are marvellous and effective fright films, you won’t find titles like The Conjuring or Hereditary on this list. These are slightly deeper cuts, and they cut hard. In fact, they cut like a gun that shoots knives (which I also own – it’s called a “gknife”).

Last thing before I list these actually scary horror movies: if you love horror, do yourself a solid and sign up for Shudder. It’s 60 bucks for the year and they keep pumping out more content than you could shake a monkey’s paw at. Also when the pandemic ends, come see my live horror/comedy show at Comedy Bar in Toronto called Guts For Laughs. Follow us on Twitter and IG at @GutsForLaughs.

Do it, or else. Keep in mind I own firearms and this website tracks your home address.

Here we go:

The Witch In The Window (Shudder)

Tiny cast. Hack first few minutes. A screw-up dad is trying to regain the love of his family by fixing up a haunted-ish house you know there’s gonna be a witch of sorts inside of. But it takes a mind-bending turn, packs some wicked jumps and pulls the rug out from under you with several switcheroos before it’s all over. Plus, If you’re Shudder and chilling, this movie is 70 minutes in & out, so you can swiftly get to the part where you say, “Hey, did you know there’s also a witch in the window of my zipper? Check it out…” and get to gettin’ fresh. That line works for everyone regardless of your sexual orientation.

Special distinction: only movie I’ve ever seen that has an honest to cripes Magic Eye painting scare.

Terrified (Shudder)

Not to be confused with Netflix’s shameless gore-porn horror “Terrifier” starring a clown with teeth like the inside of a Crunchie bar. This Argentinian offering presents three subsequent stories that tie together. Three neighbours are experiencing some paranormal bull-shit: I can’t write about the first guy without spoiling it, but it’s one of the most memorable horror scenes I’ve ever watched because it goes on for so long and you are forced to sit in the horror of it and watch powerless as evil runs amok. Like the presidency.

Second one is about a guy who sets up a camera after his furniture keeps moving around in the night and the last one is about a dead kid. And yeah: they show you the dead kid. And it ain’t just some child actor with corn syrup on his forehead. This is South America. They might have used a real dead kid. But it’s important to note this isn’t a true anthology like Creepshow. The driving throughline about investigators trying figure out what in the horny Christ is happening in this ‘hood flows smoothly in and around the intertwined tales.

Special distinction: the way director Demian Rugna’s frames his scares often mimics the viewpoint of a natural human eyeline, producing a stripped-down air of realism that leaves you feeling like this is what it would actually look like if your life got absolutely FARKED by malevolent forces.

Belzebuth (Shudder)

Don’t get turned off by the poster! Although it depicts a creepy baby carriage, this isn’t one of those movies that shovels out the ol’ convention where a woman is pregnant with a baby but the baby is also pregnant with a demon or some shit. It’s actually an ambitious, $3.6M Mexican production that in its essence is a possession whodunnit, where a skeptical cop is trying to track down the demon who killed his child.

It alternates between Spanish and English and boasts a tasteful CGI evil Jesus scene. The film kicks off with a scene so despicable, it feels like a joke a racist cabbie told you at an off-track betting bar in Cincinnati. This isn’t much of a jumpy one, but it is profoundly disturbing. Think Sinister on crank and tequila.

Special distinction: Probably the highest and most unforgiving infanticide rate of any movie I’ve seen.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (Shudder)

This film is contained to a small rural coroner’s office but it tells such a huge story. A father and son coroner duo cut into this lady and hoo-boy! Her insides are more fucked-up than the shelves at K-Mart on Boxing Day! The journey through the autopsy generates so many questions about how this woman died and even though she’s dead, you start getting the impression she doesn’t want to get autopsied ‘cause some next shit starts going down with the other corpses in this spooky-ass old coroner building. Quality jumps throughout this one too.

Special distinction: expertly frightening despite having a main antagonist who is completely inanimate.

Dead Birds (Prime, Shudder)

Another poster that makes the movie look like it cost 38 bucks and whole lotta favors to make. I swear, there’s a scene at the beginning where a guy sees a dead bird and goes, “Huh, there’s a dead bird,” and then they don’t mention birds, dead or otherwise, for the rest of the movie. Dead bird content dearth aside, this is an unconventional film that places a group of Civil War era bank robbers on a farm overnight while on their way to Mexico with a big sack of stolen gold.

But this farm makes Robert Pickton’s look like Baskin-Robbins! There’s gross critters and other evils abound that start picking these stinky cowpokes off one-by-one. And what a cast of stinky cowpokes they are! Every minute a different big name pops up, including Michael Shannon, the fat beardy guy from 30 Days of Night, Elliott from E.T. and Isaiah Washington. This is probably the least scary movie on the list, but there’s so much originality and genre-bending to this creature feature paranormal haunted house western, that I thought it belonged.

Special distinction: a young Michael Shannon throwing around racial slurs. Yup – that one. Washington was able to keep the slurs to himself this time, however: https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/isaiah-washington-anti-gay-slur-fell-article-1.1456063

Veronica (Netflix)

Spanish director Paco Plaza, who also made the REC series, peddled this out in 2017. It’s rife with heavy-handed allegory about the coming of age of womyn (the fyuture is fymale), but in the horror world, I’m like, what isn’t, dude? Technically Godzilla is a girl’s coming of age tale when you consider that Godzilla’s mouth-lasers are a metaphor for menstruation. Zappy, blasty menstruation.

In this film, a teenager in a working class neighborhood has to take care of her younger siblings, but this foolish, stupid, naive, female, lady girl puts her dumb double-X chromosome’d hands on a Ouija board DURING an eclipse! You put your whole family in danger by opening a demonic eclipse portal, you idiotic womb-haver!

But el patriarcado aside, this movie is loaded with jumps and taut tension and even though it’s about a teen, it doesn’t strictly cater to a younger audience the way Slender Man or Ma did. There’s a nun with milky eyes, shadowperson apparitions galore, and it features the “creepy naked man scare” a full year before Hereditary did it, and a full two years before my dad did it at a local figure skating meet and we never saw him again.

Special distinction: based on a true story where a Spanish girl mysteriously died in the 90s after using a Ouija board. Second leading cause of death in Spain after pronouncing your Zs like a t-h to death.

Channel Zero (Shudder)

This is a TV show where each season of six episodes is based on a different creepypasta. Episodes are 45 minutes long, which is so little to commit to. But the reason I recommend this show is that it’s light enough that you can watch it during the day and the stories are so loose and ethereal that you can have it on in the background while you I dunno – make soup or harass former lovers over the phone.

The seasons are hit and miss (season one revolves around a little boy made of human teeth who eats teeth and there we go, I got fed up just typing that), but the fourth and latest season is about a woman (Miss Denmark 2008 Maria Sten) who descends into madness after rediscovering her homicidal imaginary friend, the latter of which is portrayed by a stupendously talented contortionist.

There are loads of practical gore effects that’ll make you turn away and at one point they barely explicably shimmy in an army of little people dressed as crayons.

Special distinction: It’s all shot in Canada but it looks like it isn’t.

The Possession of Hannah Grace (Crave)

I was super skeptical of a “The Possession Of” movie and maybe my low expectations are what led me to enjoy this so much. In this story about a disgraced police officer (ACAB) who becomes a security guard (ASGAB) at a morgue, a stiff is dropped off that somehow, instead of just sitting there, appears to get healthier.

You can imagine where this leads (they fuck – JK), but the lighting and the sound design seamlessly team up to drive a multi-sensory screwdriver into your nervous system. The creeps take their sweet-ass time and this polished production is all-in-all jumpier than bullfrogs on a griddle.

Special distinction: maybe the only film whose title starts with “The Possession/Haunting of” that is legitimately frightening.

POD (Prime, Shudder)

The key to this 2015 gem is that instead of having the terror stem from a guy in a monster suit, it comes from the unravelling mind of a schizophrenic man trying to convince his brother that he has a captured alien in his basement. The performance of this mentally unstable dude is so convincing, you can picture him asking a cashier at Taco Bell for the nuke codes.

The film does an admirable job of keeping you guessing whether there’s a basement alien or not. Pod is a testament to how solid a film you can make with a wee budget, as long as you have a sturdy premise and some decent actors. Plus it’s only 76 minutes! So if you’re Shudder and chilling, it won’t be long before you can be like, “Hey did you know I also have a ‘pod’ behind this zipper?”

Special distinction: It’s got to be challenging to pull off an alien horror movie, because aliens are inherently jovial visitors who just want to meet your leader and give you a hearty bumming.

Garden State (in the garbage somewhere hopefully)

It is absolutely beyond horrifying that someone gave money to Zach Braff for a script that’s just a bunch of people going “aren’t I weird?” for an hour and a half.

Special distinction: none. This movie is is pure bowel cancer for your heart, mind and eyes.

Celebrating love, sexuality and diversity in the adult industry this year’s awards feature an evening of surprises and guests that will shine a spotlight on the most desired and creative humans on earth.

Image (c) Pornhub Awards

13.5M videos, 140M+ daily visitors and over 55 billion searches will determine who walks away with a trophy at the end of the night. Unlike most award shows, Pornhub uses data driven results with big wins going to the most searched, viewed and lusted after this past year on the site.

In addition to celebrating the industries best porn stars from around the world, the pornhub awards also will feature best selling Latin musician Ozuna, Miami based hip hop duo City Girls, Film icon John Waters, Drag legend Violet Chachki, Patia of the incredible meme account @PATIASFANTASYWORLD, Leimoy Maldonado an iconic ballroom dancer and MANY MORE who will present awards or participate in skits.

Our interest piqued mainly for John Waters as a presenter who was drawn to the awards out of concert for the health of others, saying “Good filth-on-demand is what we all need to stay home and be sexually safe and socially distanced in this obscene pandemic,” in a statement issued by Pornhub. “Giving a Pornhub Award seems like a civic duty to me.”

Tune into the Pornhub awards December 15th starting at 7PM EST.

A Selection of Fan Voting categories (with our picks in bold) are below:

NICEST PUSSY
Emma Hix
Mini_Diva
Alix Lynx
Sarah Banks
Jane Wilde
Leo From LeoLuLu
Emily Willis
Luxurygirl
Ana Foxxx
Riley Reid
Tinna Angel
Luna Okko
Janice Griffith
Kira Noir
Morgpie
Madison Ivy
Elsa Jean
Lexi Lore
Miss_Impulse

FAVORITE MILF
Cory Chase
Julia Ann
Jodi West
Lady Fyre
Alexis Fawx
Cherie Deville
Diamond Jackson
Lisa Ann
Veronica Avluv
Ava Addams
Nina Hartley
Kendra Lust
Mandy FLores
Sara Jay
Brandi Love
Osa Lovely
Asa Akira
Eva Lovia
Esperanza Gomez
Jessa Rhodes

NICEST TITS
Angela White 
Kendra Sunderland
Gabbie Carter
Hitomi Tanaka
Sophie Dee
Ava Addams
Violet Myers
Dillion Harper
Diamond Jackson
Korina Kova
Paige Owens
Crystal Lust
Mini_Diva
Autumn Falls
Chessierae
Brittney White
Larkin Love
Bridgette B
Lena Paul
Valentina Nappi

FAVORITE INKED MODEL
Liya Silver
The Red Fox
Canela Skin
TheHotChocolate
Kali Roses
Littlebuffbabe
Honey Gold
Anna Bell Peaks
Joanna Angel
MrsFeedMe
Karmen Karma
Leah Meow
Bonnie Rotten
Alissa Noir
Bella Bellz
Anuskatzz
Karma Rx
Reislin
Owen Gray
Kleio Valentien

FAVORITE FETISH MODEL
Charlotte Sartre
Natalie Mars
Spiel_Maschinerie
Astrodomina
Lianagood
Larkin Love
Lance Hart
Adriana Maya
Ezada Sinn
LadyUltraviolet
Amber Chase
Rae Lil Black
Kinky Babies
Bianca Stone
VelvetVeronica
Melody Cheeks
Mandy Flores
AutumnxxJordan
Lady Fyre
BDSM Elves

HOTTEST ASS
Lana Rhoades
Nicolette Shea
Crystal Lust
Lele Star
Emily Lynne
NoFaceGirl
Molly Pills
Teanna Trump
Moriah Mills
Canela Skin
BehindTheMaskk
Kenzie Madison
Rachel Starr
Misty Stone
Alexis Texas
LeoLuLu
Jade Jordan
Mia Malkova
Mia Queen
Abella Danger

FAVORITE TRANS MODEL
Erica Cherry
Mandy Mitchell
Chanel Santini
Bailey Jay
Domino Presley
Aubrey Kate
Jessica Fox
Natalie Mars
Jessy Dubai
Natassia Dreams
TripleXTransManXXX
Mia Isabella
Sarina Valentina
Ella Hollywood
Venus Lux
TS Foxxy
Viktor Belmont
Casey Kisses

FAVORITE GAY MODEL
Zilv Gudel
Colby Keller
JoshMooreXXX
Diego Sans
Deangelo Jackson
Colby Jansen
Joey Mills
Austin Wilde
Austin Wolf
Matthew Camp
William Seed
Rocco Steele
Trenton Ducati
Max Konnor
Armand Rizzo
Johnny Rapid
Beaux Banks
Cutler X
Boomer Banks
Paul Canon

FAVORITE COSPLAYER
OppaIbby
MyKinkyDope
Korina Kova
Veronica Chaos
Hidori Rose
AliceBong
Little Puck
Felicia Vox
Purple Bitch
SiaSiaBeria
Indigo White
Chibella Chan
KassMonday
Elisabeth Weir
Arwen Datnoid
MollyRedWolf
Arwen Datnoid
Emanuelly Raquel
Mia Bandini
Ellie Idol
CatJira

FAVORITE CHANNEL
JAYSPOV
Bratty Sis
VIXEN
CUM4K
Fake Hostel
Brazzers
Mom Teach Sex
LetsDoEit
BangBros
Fake Taxi
Property Sex
JulesJordan
BLACKED
Family Strokes
MOFOS
Hot Guys Fuck
Public Agent
Sis Loves Me
SPANKMONSTER
Reality Kings 

Full category list and fan voting for the Pornhub Awards is still open until December 10th! Be sure to VOTE for your favorites.