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Stars: Dimitri ‘Vegas’ Thivaios, Jennifer Heylen, Mila Rooms, Sylvie Nawasadio, Jeroen Perceval, Frank Lammers, Tom Vermeir | Written by Trent Hagga | Directed by Jonas Govaerts

Noah Hazard loves his girlfriend Lea and their daughter Zita (Mila Rooms). But more than that, he loves his car, a gold Lexus bearing the vanity plate H4Z4RD, which was also the film’s original title. Indeed, Hazard opens with him spending so much time taking care of it that he’s almost late picking them up, something that gives Lea’s mother (Sylvie Nawasadio; Two Much for the Job) another reason to complain about him.

After dropping Zita off at school and Lea at work, he promises to pick the girl up at 3:30. He wants to go have the chip in his windshield fixed, but he has other obligations. He’s agreed to do a job for his not-so-bright cousin Carlos but...

Netflix has over 40 European productions shooting in Europe, said Larry Tanz, the streamer’s vice president of Emea Content, at Series Mania today (March 19).

This comes at a time when more European countries, such as Germany, are introducing investment obligations to ensure streamers invest in more European content.

Meanwhile, many rival streaming platforms have slowed down commissioning amid a downturn in 2024 production. Paramount+ has said it is cutting back on local originals, while Sky has stopped commissioning originals in Germany.

Asked for his view on the investment obligations being introduced by EU countries, Tanz said: “We are investing. We need...

While at Series Mania Festival, Larry Tanz, Netflix’s VP of Emea Content, unveiled ambitious new shows commissioned from France and the Netherlands, including an untitled thriller series starring Isabelle Adjani, and “Amsterdam Empire,” a Dutch crime series starring and executive produced by Famke Janssen.

The untitled French thriller series revolves around a young mother on the run finds an unexpected opportunity to bounce back by becoming a picker in a prestigious flower farm in Provence. But the mysterious death of the family patriarch of the company casts her under the spotlight as the prime suspect. As she grapples with the mounting accusations, she uncovers a shocking revelation – she’s the unexpected beneficiary of the late patriarch’s estate, unearthing her deeply-rooted connections to this affluent lineage.

The series is created by Nils Antoine Sambuc and will be directed by Marie Jardillier. Itinéraire Productions, a Ugc company, is producing.

Directed by Jonas Govaerts,...

Isabelle Adjani and Famke Janssen are to star in thriller series for Netflix coming from France and the Netherlands.

Two-time Oscar nominee Adjani is leading an untitled thriller from France about a young mother on the run who finds an unexpected opportunity to bounce back by becoming a picker in a prestigious flower farm in Provence. The mysterious death of the family patriarch of the company then casts her under the spotlight as the prime suspect.

The French TV series is being created by Nils Antoine Sambuc, directed by Marie Jardillier and produced by Newen-backed Itinéraire Productions and Ugc.

Storied actress Adjani recently starred in Mélanie Laurent’s Netflix movie Wingwomen.

The show was revealed by Netflix Emea boss Larry Tanz at Series Mania.

From Benelux, he unveiled Amsterdam Empire, the first series to emerge from the deal between the streamer and Belgian-Dutch Undercover creator Nico Moolenaar. Moolenaar is creating...

Netflix on Tuesday unveiled two new European series with A-list stars, announcing the Dutch crime drama Amsterdam Empire to star X-Men alum Famke Janssen and an unnamed French thriller series toplined by gallic veteran Isabelle Adjani (Camille Claudel, The Story of Adele H.).

Janssen will star and executive produce Amsterdam Empire, about a big-time cannabis dealer whose personal betrayal of his wife threatens the future of his pot imperium. Nico Moolenaar, Bart Uytdenhouwen and Piet Matthys, creators of Netflix Dutch crime series Undercover, created the new show, which Jonas Govaerts (H4Z4RD) will direct. The plot follows Jack van Doorn, the rich and notorious founder of the Jackal coffee shop empire in Amsterdam, who has an affair with a well-known journalist, drawing the ire of his wife Betty, who is looking for payback and knows all Jack’s dirty secrets. Pupkin Film will produce Amsterdam Empire together with A Team Productions.

For many, it’s that time of year where you’re playing catch up on all the year’s releases before the clock strikes midnight on the 31st. Horror continues to thrive, and that’s never more apparent than when looking beyond the theatrical slate. Between VOD and streaming, it’s been tough to keep up with the sheer volume of new releases this year.

So, this week’s streaming picks are dedicated to a handful of under-the-radar genre titles for all tastes, from gateway horror to mind-bending folk horror.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Enys Men – Hulu

In the spring of 1973, The Volunteer (Mary Woodvine) spends each day on an uninhabited island off the British coast adhering to a specific routine. However, as the April days approach May, The Volunteer’s monotony gets upended by strange...

The Halloween season is almost here, which means a hectic Fall release schedule filled with horror looms just around the corner. Some of the year’s biggest horror releases are still ahead, including The Nun II, Saw X, The Exorcist: Believer, and Five Nights at Freddy’s.

Of course, they join countless movies already released these past eight months. As always, many titles might’ve slipped through the cracks, despite being available to stream now.

Whether you’re looking to get ahead on curating Halloween watchlists or catching up on 2023 horror before the year is through, here are twenty 2023 releases you can stream right now.

65 – Netflix

A high concept sci-fi effort from Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the writers behind A Quiet Place and writers/directors of Haunt. Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt star as the unlucky pair that find themselves on a hostile planet filled with creatures and obstacles. Driver...

Amsterdam and Los Angeles- based sales outfit sells package of films and TV dramas.

Amsterdam and Los-Angeles based sales agent Skoop Media, formerly known as Dutch Features, has sold a package of drama series and feature films to Amazon Prime Video for the Netherlands and Belgium.

For the Netherlands, the deal includes two seasons of the Belgian streaming comedy F*** You Very Very Much directed by Bert Scholiers and Jonas Govaerts and produced by Caviar and Finnish streamer Eliisa Viihde’s upcoming mystery thriller series Evilside.

Also included are Andy Fehu’s Czech comedy horror Shoky & Morthy: Last Big Thing...

Amsterdam and Los Angeles- based sales outfit sells package of films and TV dramas.

Amsterdam and Los-Angeles based sales agent Skoop Media, formerly known as Dutch Features, has sold a package of drama series and feature films to Amazon Prime Video for the Netherlands and Belgium.

For the Netherlands, the deal includes two seasons of the Belgian streaming comedy F*** You Very Very Much directed by Bert Scholiers and Jonas Govaerts and produced by Caviar and Finnish streamer Eliisa Viihde’s upcoming mystery thriller series Evilside.

Also included are Andy Fehu’s Czech comedy horror Shoky & Morthy: Last Big Thing...

Quentin Dupieux awarded screenplay prize ex-aequo with himself for Smoking Causes Coughing and Incredible But True.

Finnish production Sisu directed by Jalmari Helander took the main award at the 55th edition of Sitges, marking the director’s second time winning the prestigious Catalan genre event’s best feature award after his 2010 selection Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale.

Helander’s third feature also earned best actor at Europe’s biggest genre film festival for Jorma Tommila, cinematography for Kjell Lagerroos, and music for Juri Seppä and Tuomas Wäinölä. Handled by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (excluding Nordics), the Second World War survival...

Jonas Govaerts unleashes his second directorial feature, "H4Z4RD," almost a decade after 2014's obscenely undervalued "Cub." He's been busy as a prolific music video director — roughy 20 or so credits between releases — which speaks to the breakneck style of auto-thriller "H4Z4RD." Conceptually, it mimics "Wheelman," as the camera stays within our protagonist's pimped-out whip, with the 2000s action-destruction zaniness of "Crank" with some of "Titane" and "Cujo" thrown in for good measure. It's combustibly chaotic, high-octane, and someone's stripped the narrative brakes too. Whether that's at an advantage or detriment will be made clear for audiences relatively early into Govaerts' car-crunching cinema.

Dimitri 'Vegas' Thivaios — yes, the famous Belgian-Greek DJ — stars as Noah Hazard, a world-class driver who loves his daughter Zita (Mila Rooms), his girlfriend Leah (Jennifer Heylen), and most importantly, his super-fly roadster. Cinematography pours over the immaculately cleaned car's interior, from squeaky leather seats...

Screenwriter Trent Haaga (Cheap Thrills, Deadgirl) teams up with director Jonas Govaerts (Cub) to put the pedal to the metal in their gonzo action thriller H4Z4RD. A simple day in the life of a driver and his beloved car quickly spirals out of control, taking viewers on an entertaining and violent thrill ride through the streets of Antwerp. H4Z4RD massively delivers on high-octane thrills, laughs, and more than a few shocking moments.

Driver Noah Hazard (European DJ Dimitri ‘Vegas’ Thivaios) takes immaculate care of his prized Lexus, dipped in gold and adorned with a H4Z4RD vanity plate. Noah keeps it pristine; he enforces strict passenger rules to keep it clean. As he drops off girlfriend Lea Lea (Jennifer Heylen) and young daughter Zita (Mila Rooms), with promises to pick up Zita from school by 3:30, Noah sets off to fulfill a favor for his...

Aptly titled for the vanity plate on what is essentially its main character – a shiny new tricked-out Lexus – H4Z4RD has a lot of talent behind the camera. Scripted by Cheap Thrills and 68 Kill’s Trent Haaga, there’s a madcap energy to the writing that’s hard to find in more mainstream genre fare, and with Cub’s Jonas Govaerts on directing duties, it’s a gorgeous, slick-looking journey to take too. Albeit one that sadly never quite seems to equate to the sum of its wickedly ambitious parts.

Electronic music star Dimitri ‘Vegas’ Thivaios makes his leading-man debut as Noah, a former getaway driver turned family man who finds himself dragged back into Antwerp’s seedy underbelly by his fresh-out-of-prison cousin Carlos (Jeroen Perceval). Naturally, there’s a drug heist on the cards, followed by a shootout, followed by Noah’s young daughter being ruthlessly kidnapped by some very bad people,...

In his latest podcast, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright previews Frightfest 2022 with a host of filmmakers premiering their films at Frightfest 2022. You’ll hear from:

H4Z4RD director Jonas Govaerts The Leech writer/director Eric Pennycoff She Came From The Woods director/co-writer Erik Bloomquist & co-writer Carson Bloomquist Walk Against The Rain writer/director Scott Lyus

For more details and tickets to Frightfest see https://frightfest.nuwebgroup.com/

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Writer-director Trent Haaga, who got his start with Troma working on everything from Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV to Terror Firmer, would go on to pen classics such as Deadgirl and Cheap Thrills, not to mention direct both Chop and 68 Kill. Next up, he’s revving his engines for Cub director Jonas Govaerts, having […]

The post Trent Haaga Hits the Gas With Chaotic ‘H4Z4RD’! [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

A total of 46 films and 27 series will be showcased at the online-only event.

Lukas Dhont’s second feature Close and Olga Lucovnicova’s Last Letters From My Grandma are among the 46 feature and 27 series projects to be showcased at Re>Connext, the annual showcase for films and TV series made in Flanders and Brussels, Belgium.

Close is filmmaker Dhont’s follow-up to Girl, which won the Camera d’Or following its premiere in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2018. Last year, the project was pitched at Re>Connext under the title The Invisible.

For this edition, drama Close returns as a work in progress,...

Dimitri Thiviaos cast in H4Z4RD — Dimitri “Vegas” Thivaios, one-half of hugely popular electronic dance music duo Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, has landed his first lead role in a feature film, H4Z4RD. Billed as an action comedy, H4Z4RD is the second film from Belgian director, Jonas Govaerts, whose debut feature, the horror flick Cub, [...]

Continue reading: H4Z4RD: DJ Dimitri Thiviaos cast in First Lead Role in Jonas Govaerts’ Movie...

Dimitri “Vegas” Thivaios, one-half of hugely popular electronic dance music duo Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, has landed his first lead role in a feature film, “H4Z4RD.” Billed as an action comedy, “H4Z4RD” is the second film from Belgian director, Jonas Govaerts, whose debut feature, the horror flick “Cub,” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Thivaios temporarily broke Instagram when he filmed himself cutting off his signature locks for the role. The haircut, soundtracked by his first solo single, “Pull Me Closer,” has logged over half a million views.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dimitri “Vegas” Thivaios (@dimitrivegas)

The Belgian/Greek Thivaios has made a few appearances on the big and small screen in recent years, including on “Jurassic World 3: Dominion” and “Rambo: Last Blood.” “H4Z4RD,” which takes place in Antwerp, in Thivaios’ home country of Belgium, takes...

Collection of shorts was filmed with Covid-19 safety measures in place by directors including Michael R Roskam (‘Bullhead’).

A collection of films shot during lockdown with a cast that includes Matthias Schoenaerts is to be presented at Re>Connext (Oct 5-31), the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image.

A first look at The Lockdown Shorts, which spans drama, comedy, thriller and horror, will be presented as a works in progress project at the virtual event by producer-directors Gilles Coulier and Maarten Moerkerke.

All 12 films were shot under coronavirus-safe conditions on the same studio set: a prison visiting...

Re>Connext is the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image.

The first footage from Netflix drama Soil, directed by Bad Boys For Life duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, is to be presented at Re>Connext, the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image.

It is one of 26 upcoming television projects selected for the event, which serves as an export platform for film and TV drama made in Flanders and will run online from October 5-31. The physical showcase has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Scroll down for full list of projects

Soil,...

Watch the pretty amazing trailer for a new Dutch language television series, Tabula Rasa, directed by Kaat Beels and Jonas Govaerts, director of the Belgian horror flick Cub. Tabula Rasa is a psychological thriller about Mie, a young woman with amnesia who is locked up in a secure psychiatric hospital. Mie is visited by Detective Inspector Wolkers who claims she was the last person seen with the vanished Thomas Spectre. As a witness and prime suspect, she appears to be the sole key in this mysterious disappearance. Mie can’t be released from the hospital until Thomas is found. In order to solve the puzzle and find Thomas, Mie has to reconstruct her lost memories and find her way back through the dark labyrinth...

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

Stars: Daniel Wilkinson, Brian Raetz, Lindsey Nicole, Ryan Moore, Celina Beach,Nicole Dambro, Keith Webb, Sheila Leason, Vibhu Raghave, Rachel Carter, Andrew Dawe-Collins | Written by Glenn Douglas Packard, Darryl F. Gariglio | Directed by Glenn Douglas Packard

I love slasher films. I always have. In fact, I would say that it is the slasher, more than almost any other subgenre, that has defined me as a horror fan. As a fan, my reverence for these oft-maligned films knows no bounds and I find great comfort in revisiting them over and over.

However, as a film-maker, the prospect of actually making a slasher film terrifies me. As much as I want to believe that there is new ground just waiting to be broken, I struggle to see what can still be done with the slasher film. I approach every new entry with the hope that I will find something new, something that...

Sneak Peek the Belgian 'werewolf' horror feature "Cub" (aka "Welp") directed by Jonas Govaerts, available in a DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, from Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada and Raven Banner Entertainment, August 19, 2015:

"...'Sam' (Luijten) is a twelve-year-old cub scout that is frequently bullied by fellow scout members and pack leader 'Peter' (Stef Aerts). Fellow pack leader 'Chris' (Titus De Voodgt) and 'Jasmijn' (Evelien Bosmans) try to keep Peter and the others from dominating Sam, but are not always successful.

"When some of the pack's bullying causes them to lose their way in the mountains during a trip, Peter and Chris try to keep things light by telling the campers a campfire story about 'Kai', a werewolf thought to be living in that very forest.

"Soon after, Sam runs into a 'feral boy' (Gill Eeckelaert) that he believes to be the actual Kai. He tries to tell the others, but...

*full disclosure: an online screener of this film was provided by Artsploitation Films. Director: Jonas Govaerts. Writers: Jonas Govaerts and Roel Mondelaers. Cast: Maurice Luijten, Evelien Bosmans and Titus De Voogdt. Cub aka Welp is a film from Belgium. The film has released in several other territories, with a debut in North America scheduled shortly. The film is a coming-of-age horror feature. In the film, Sam's (Maurice Luijten) growing interest in women is interrupted by a small family of killers. Very entertaining, Cub is a brutal horror film, full of tricks and traps. Gorehounds will especially like this outing, which leaves much of the cast in bloodied pieces. Sam and a troupe of cubs are heading out into the wilderness. The camp counsellours are warned about disappearances, in the area. But, everyone disregards the message. Soon, the young cubs are disappearing into the forest and a strange, animal-like child is stalking all of them.

The Belgian film Cub validates the fear some of us have of spending the night in the woods. Cub on Blu-ray and DVD will hit stores on August 18th. Also: theatrical and digital release details for The Diabolical, HollyShorts Film Festival 2015 lineup, and Manos: The Hands of Fate soundtrack on vinyl.

Cub: Artsploitation Films will release Cub on Blu-ray and DVD on August 18th. Directed by Jonas Govaerts from a screenplay he wrote with Roel Mondelaers, Cub stars Maurice Luijten, Titus De Voogdt, Stef Aerts, Evelien Bosmans, and Jan Hammenecker.

"This dark, bloody, imaginative fairy tale about a camping trip that turns into deadly carnage draws on such influences as Lord of the Rings, Friday the 13th, and The Devil’s Backbone. The story follows 12-year-old outcast Sam who, along with his troop of cub scouts and their teenage supervisors, camp in woods rumored to house a mysterious and deadly werewolf.

An eccentric build-up and some ingenious booby-trappery can’t quite compensate for the plotting holes in this cub scout slasher movie

Here’s a novelty: a slasher movie about cub scouts. It’s also Belgian – and whatever the Friday the 13th series had going for it, it didn’t have subtexts about Franco-Flemish cultural tensions. In Jonas Govaerts’s visually stylish chiller, a boy goes camping with a troop that’s run along Lord of the Flies lines, only to encounter something feral lurking just beyond the campfire. The build-up is entertainingly eccentric, and there’s some ingenious booby-trappery at work among the pines, but Cub runs dry once it knuckles down to the routine bloodletting. And when it comes to plotting, Govaerts and co-writer Roel Mondelaers don’t quite earn their basic knots badge.

Continue reading...

The weird traditions and customs of cubscouting are the Usp of this effective Belgian horror about a group of boys on a excursion in a creepy forest

There’s an effective nastiness to this slasher-horror about a cub-scout pack from first-time Belgian director Jonas Govaerts, who draws on influences ranging from Guillermo Del Toro to Sam Raimi – though not Baden-Powell. (One character is surnamed Franju, incidentally, which may be a tiny homage to Eyes Without a Face: mask-wearing turns out to be important.) A cub troop is about to go on a camping trip, but there’s tension in the ranks: a lot of the boys don’t much like Sam (Maurice Luijten), a troubled kid from a broken home. When they pitch camp in a creepy forest, the cubs have a fantasy game about a werewolf called Kai who comes out at night. But it’s only Sam...

Debut director Jonas Govaerts’ Belgium scout horror melds Predator (1987), Stand By Me (1986) with a dash of Argento but remains unique in a genre flooded with revamps, sequels and hack jobs. Even though Cub is primarily a horror due to its gruelling suspense sequences, death scenes, dread and marketing, rich characters and well harnessed

The post Cub Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a bunch of people head out into the woods to set up camp, only to be frightened by the inevitable spooky campfire stories before they start actually being brutally murdered by some sick and twisted freak. Yep, you guessed it: your typical slasher flick.

With Cub ("Welp"), Belgian director Jonas Govaerts’ debut feature, there is at least an effort to up-the-ante and inject a bit of originality into the sub-genre. But, is it effective enough to make Cub worth watching?

Sam (Maurice Luijten, looking like a young River Phoenix in Stand By Me) is a troubled boy out on a weekend camping trip with his scout troop and three counselors. His troop mates – even one of the counselors – tease and taunt him, and after being t [Continued ...]...

Those of us here in the States will be able to see Jonas Govaerts’ Cub beginning August 18th, but if you happen to be in the UK or Ireland, you can check it out a few weeks earlier. Altitude Film… Continue Reading →

The post Cub Opens in the UK and Ireland 31 July; DVD Follows 3 August appeared first on Dread Central.

Coming very soon to Us and UK home video is Belgian scouting thriller Cub, from director Jonas Govaerts. The film fared very well at festivals last fall, including Fantastic Fest 2014, which is where I was fortunate to see it. Cub is coming to English friendly territories imminently, with a July 31st UK cinema release from Altitude Films and an August 31st Blu-ray release from Artsploitation Films. As an added perk for Us customers, Artsploitation will be including the above pictured merit badges with the first 500 orders through their direct sales website. A pretty neat extra for collector geeks like me. In case you haven't yet heard of the film, here's Artsploitation's synopsis:This dark, bloody, imaginative fairy tale about a camping trip that turns into...

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

Foreign horror film fans will want to write August 18th, 2015 on their calendar. This is the date that Artsploitation Films will release Jonas Govaerts' Cub, to the masses. Described as "an enjoyable ride for horror fans (Variety)," this title involves a troupe of scouts and a vicious murdering child werewolf. The film was been well received and this title has been on this film fan's must-see list, for over a year now. The summer will release will be on DVD, with a possible theatrical showing. A preview for the film's North American launch is hosted here. The film focuses on the young character Sam (Maurice Luijten). Sam is an outcast, but he finds some solidarity in a cub scout group. On a camping trip, Sam is chilled by the rumours of a deadly werewolf, which lurks in the local forest. But, he finds the reality of the situation less threatening,...

Hungry Hearts, Cub exec Louis Tisné launches production outfit.

Hungry Hearts and Cub executive producer Louis Tisné is launching new production outfit Elastic Film, under whose banner he is lining up collaborations with Hungry Hearts director Saverio Costanzo and Cub director Jonas Govaerts.

In the wake of horror Cub, which won Best Director at Sitges and will be released in the UK this summer by Altitude, director Govaerts and Tisné are in development on two English-language projects.

The first, a horror taking place in the rock n’ roll industry, is currently being written by Irish screenwriter Kevin Lehane (Grabbers) while the second is an adaptation of a short horror story.

Former Pathé and Momentum exec Tisné, who operates out of London and Berlin, is also set to reteam with Hungry Hearts director Costanzo and producer Mario Gianani’s and Lorenzo Mieli’s Rome-based production company Wildside on two projects, which are in active development.

Drama [link=tt...

Exclusive: Hungry Hearts, Cub exec Louis Tisné launches production outfit.

Hungry Hearts and Cub executive producer Louis Tisné is launching new production outfit Elastic Films, under whose banner he is lining up collaborations with Hungry Hearts director Saverio Costanzo and Cub director Jonas Govaerts.

In the wake of horror Cub, which won Best Director at Sitges and will be released in the UK this summer by Altitude, director Govaerts and Tisné are in development on two English-language projects.

The first, a horror taking place in the rock n’ roll industry, is currently being written by Irish screenwriter Kevin Lehane (Grabbers) while the second is an adaptation of a short horror story.

Former Pathé and Momentum exec Tisné, who operates out of London and Berlin, is also set to reteam with Hungry Hearts director Costanzo and producer Mario Gianani’s and Lorenzo Mieli’s Rome-based production company Wildside on two projects, which are in...

We first caught up with the Belgian horror movie Cub at Fantastic Fest 2014, a film about cub scouts in the woods who are terrorized by a monster. It made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival and toured around Europe without an American release, but now you can pick up the film on Blu-Ray and DVD August 18.

Directed by Jonas Govaerts, Jacob Carter said in his review that Cub struggles in its first two thirds before embracing its ridiculous premise and going absolutely crazy enough to warrant a recommendation. Here’s the official synopsis:

This dark, bloody imaginative fairy tale about a camping trip that turns into deadly carnage draws on such influences as Lord of the Rings, Friday the 13th and The Devil’s Backbone. The story follows 12-year-old outcast Sam who, along with his troop of cub scouts and their teenage supervisors, camp in woods rumored to...

Sometimes films that make the rounds on the film festival circuit just don't make it to theaters for one reason or another. There may not be appeal to a distributor to bring it to theaters, or maybe it just doesn't drum up enough buzz. In the case of Cub, we're not sure what the issue is, but the Belgian horror film from Jonas Govaerts played Tiff last year, and has already hit theaters in plenty of overseas markets. The film follows a group of young campers who end up terrorized in the woods. Sadly, it will only be hitting Blu-Ray and DVD here in the United States, but we still wanted to call your attention to the Us trailer for the film that our own Jeremy Kirk has called an "envelope-pushing horror fan's dream" from Fantastic Fest. Watch! Here's the Us trailer for Jonas Govaerts's Cub from Artsploitation Films:...

A cub scout camping trip becomes a fight for survival when a group realizes someone's watching them from beyond the light cast by their bonfire in the Belgian horror film, Cub. Artsploitation Films is releasing the movie on Blu-ray and DVD this summer, and the U.S. trailer teases the movie's nighttime human hunting.

Artsploitation Films will release Cub on Blu-ray and DVD on August 18th. Directed by Jonas Govaerts from a screenplay he wrote with Roel Mondelaers, Cub stars Maurice Luijten, Titus De Voogdt, Stef Aerts, Evelien Bosmans, and Jan Hammenecker.

"This dark, bloody imaginative fairy tale about a camping trip that turns into deadly carnage draws on such influences as Lord of the Rings, Friday the 13th and The Devil’s Backbone. The story follows 12-year-old outcast Sam who, along with his troop of cub scouts and their teenage supervisors, camp in woods rumored to house a mysterious and deadly werewolf.

Jonas Govaerts’ Flemish-language boy scout neo-slasher Cub will arrive August 18th on Blu & DVD from Artsploitation Films. Get a look at the U.S. trailer for this handsome, mean-spirited horror, below. Cub concerns a camping trip which “turns into a carnage for a troop of cub scouts as a killer, aided by his feral young…

The post U.S. Trailer, Stills: Belgian Scout Slasher, Cub appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Though it saddens to me say, Fantastic Fest 2014 has come to a close. Another year of movies and mayhem has ended and somehow the newly renovated Alamo Drafthouse is still standing – even if the crowds partied hard enough every night to make me expect the worse. Fantastic Fest has always shown the best genre films from around the world and this year was certainly no different. In fact, this year’s lineup featured an extraordinary array of bloody slashers, dark comedies, bizarre love stories, and crazy documentaries. Here’s my Top 10 Favorites From Fantastic Fest 2014!

Honorable Mentions:

The Tribe

The idea of a film without any dialogue or even a film score can be a tough sell for even a seasoned filmgoer like myself. So it really says something (no pun intended) that The Tribe soars as a unique storytelling experience that showcases pure and raw emotions. The film follows...

The festival’s 25th edition will feature a contribution from Ai Weiwei and competition titles including Whiplash, Nightcrawler and Foxcatcher.

The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 5-16) is to present its Achievement Award to Us actress Uma Thurman.

The Kill Bill star will will visit Stockholm to receive the prestigious Bronze Horse and meet the audience during an exclusive “Face2Face”.

Thurman will also take part in the inauguration ceremony, which will include the unveiling of an ice sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

Weiwei was a Stockholm jury member last year but since he wasn’t allowed to leave China, he sent an empty chair named ”The Chair for Non-attendance” as symbol of his absence.

He is still not allowed to leave China so will send a design that will be portrayed in the form of a large ice sculpture symbolising this years’ Spotlight theme - Hope.

Brazil

The festival will focus this year on Brazil...

Mike Cahill's sci-fi drama I Origins picked up the award for best feature film at Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantastic de Catalunya this year. Many other Twitch favorites took home awards or received acclaim, including What We Do In The Shadows, The Babadook, '71, Spring, Cold in July, and The Signal. The full press release follows. I Origins, The Babadook and Cub win at a Sitges Film Festival that's been more fantastic than everI Origins, by Mike Cahill, picked up the award for best feature length film in the 2014 Sitges Official Fantàstic Category. The jury also gave Special Mention to The Babadook, by Jennifer Kant, while Cub, by Jonas Govaerts, won the award for best direction. This year's awards were very widely shared, rewarding the Festival's fantastic...

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

Cub

Written by Jonas Govaerts and Roel Mondelaers

Directed by Jonas Govaerts

Belgium, 2014

Cub scouts and crazed killers are are such a wacky combination for a horror film, and therefore viewers should be able to expect a fair amount of insanity from Jonas Govaerts’ debut feature; however, it is only in its final act that Cub finally achieves the appropriate atmosphere. Those last 20 minutes are exhilarating, and they more than make up for the first 65. It is not that the first two thirds of Cub are terrible; they just don’t really lead anywhere.

Set over the course of a weekend camping trip, Cub focuses on twelve-year-old Sam (Maurice Luijten) and his fellow scouts. Before the children set out on their excursion, their troop leaders scare them with a story about a monster that lives in the woods. Sam encounters a feral child shortly after arriving at the campsite and...

To give you an idea of just how huge Tiff is, and how much there is to choose from, the fest ended days ago, and we've still got a couple of reviews left to get out there before we can close the book on everything. And so, here's the coverage of our last couple of movies, and for more be sure to check out our Best, Worst And Most Disappointing Films Of The 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and our recent podcast The Playlist Talks Telluride, Tiff, Venice And Reductive Oscar Narratives. "Cub" This little Belgian horror film sounds so fantastically appealing on paper, we thought we were going to discover something precious. But, Jonas Govaerts found a way to turn a unique setting and a delicious concept into a neutered, systematic, and tedious affair. It’s his first foray into theatrical features, with a handful of TV episodes on his résumé,...

In The Town That Dreaded Sundown, a copycat of the Phantom Killer who struck 66 years ago reignites the Moonlight Murders in a small Texas town. And in Horns, a man suspected of killing his girlfriend wakes up to find horns jutting from his forehead, thus bringing a little hell on Earth. These two films are among those joining the 10th anniversary celebration of Austin’s Fantastic Fest.

The Hive, It Follows, Everly, and Open Windows are also included in the recently announced final wave of programming for Fantastic Fest, which takes place September 18th-25th in Austin, Texas. We have the official press release with full details:

Austin, TX – Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - “Fantastic Fest celebrates its 10th Anniversary with its biggest year yet with 80 exciting films including 22 World Premieres, 43 North American & Us Premiere screenings and 38 short films. The final wave includes Horns, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, The Hive, It Follows,...

The tenth annual Fantastic Fest kicks off in Austin TX in just over a week, and we will once again be present to cover the festival. We are excited to announce the final wave of programming as well as many guest appearances including James Gunn, Edgar Wright, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Ti West. This programming wave might be the best yet. Here’s the final list of films being screened this year.

Agfa presents The Astrologer hosted by Nicolas Winding Refn

dir. Craig Denney, 96 min., United States

Filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn hosts a rare screening of this unseen, long-lost exploitation masterpiece, recently rescued and restored by local non-profit The American Genre Film Archive.

Automata

United States, 2014

Us Premiere, 110 min

Director – Gabe Ibañez

In the post-nuclear apocalypse there will be robots, and insurance agents played by Antonio Banderas. He’s investigating an insurance claim on a faulty robot that leads to greater discoveries.

Please tell me you know about Fantastic Fest. If not, this isn’t the first article you should be reading, it’s the last. Here are the final events and films that will be a part of the greatest film festival known to man.

Austin, TX – Wednesday, September 10, 2014 – Fantastic Fest celebrates its 10th Anniversary with its biggest year yet with 80 exciting films including 22 World Premieres, 43 North American & Us Premiere screenings and 38 short films. The finalwave includes Horns, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, The Hive, It Follows, Everly, Open Windows and guests Joe Lynch, Liv Corfixen & Nicolas Winding Refn, Edgar Wright, Ti West, Nacho Vigalondo, Alfonso Gomez- Rejon, and David Robert Mitchell. Fantastic Fest 2014 takes place September 18-25th in Austin, Texas at the newly reopened Alamo South Lamar and Highball.

“We promised that our tenth anniversary was going to be the most deranged yet and I’m proud to say...

In 2014 Fantastic Fest celebrates its 10th Anniversary with its biggest year yet, and the final wave includes Horns, The Town that Dreaded Sundown, The Hive, It Follows, Everly, Open Windows, and lots more!

With 80 exciting films including 22 World Premieres, 43 North American and Us Premiere screenings, and 38 short films, Fantastic Fest 2014 is an event you don't want to miss! It takes place September 18-25, 2014, in Austin, Texas at the newly reopened Alamo South Lamar and Highball.

Special guests include Joe Lynch, Liv Corfixen and Nicolas Winding Refn, Edgar Wright, Ti West, Nacho Vigalondo, Alfonso Gomez- Rejon, and David Robert Mitchell.

From the Press Release:

"We promised that our tenth anniversary was going to be the most deranged yet, and I'm proud to say we've delivered on that promise," says festival founder Tim League. "Not only have we compiled our biggest slate of exceptional genre films, but the chaos we've embraced for...

Radius-twc’s Salma Hayek action thriller Everly will make its world premiere this month at Fantastic Fest, the genre fest announced today along with its final batch of high profile titles and filmmaker guests. Joining the Joe Lynch-directed pic in Austin will be Blumhouse and MGM/Orion’s horror remake The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Radius-twc’s Cannes horror pick-up It Follows, Picturehouse’s The Guest, and Dimension/Radius’ Daniel Radcliffe starrer Horns.

Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn will moderate the world premiere of David Yarovesky’s The Hive, while Nicolas Winding Refn will host a screening of recently restored The Astrologer and appear in his wife Liv Corfixen’s My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn, a documentary filmed during the making of Only God Forgives. Director Edgar Wright is also heading to Austin as a juror in the Next Wave film category. The annual festival...

We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting the recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes a trailer for The Devil’s Hand and Motivational Growth, screening details from Cub, the short film lineup from Screamfest, first details on The Nightmare, and more:

The Devil’s Hand Trailer and Release Date Announced: “When six girls are born on the sixth day of the sixth month to different mothers in the small, devout village of New Bethlehem an ancient prophecy is set in motion — on their 18th birthday one of the girls will become the Devil’s Hand. As the day approaches and one by one the young women begin to disappear, terror overtakes the quiet community and those remaining girls band together to uncover who or what is behind these treacherous acts.

The Devil’s Hand will be available OnDemand and open in theaters...

The Belgian Cub follows Sam (Maurice Luijten), a traumatized young boy who goes on a camping trip with a group of fellow scouts only to discover that a campfire story about a feral boy living in the woods turns out to be true. Somehow first time feature director Jonas Govaerts found a way to take something formulaic like a camping horror movie and make it wonderful. The creepy singing you can’t understand on top of some really great visuals and lack of knowing what the heck is going on makes this one of the best trailers this year.

The film also stars Evelien Bosmans, Jan Hammenecker, Titus De Voogdt, and Stef Aerts. It will play at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival in the Midnight Madness program, but there’s currently no release date.