Rachael Harper
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Articles by Rachael Harper
The Last Temptation of Becky Review: Wild, bloody action film | FrightFest 2026
Director: Jenn Wexler Cast: Lulu Wilson, Neil Patrick Harris, Kate Siegel, James Urbaniak Running Time: 89 mins Becky Hopper (the hilarious Lulu Wilson) is a character both complicated and simple.
Dracula: The Night Around Us Review: Plenty to sink your teeth into | FrightFest 2026
Director: Chris Schwab Cast: Eric Toms, Marlene Mc’Cohen, Spencer Weitzel, Brent Jones Running Time: 71 mins The very first word in the title of Chris Schwab’s Dracula: The Night Around Us clues viewers in to the fact that this is to be yet another take on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, and the film’s opening image – a panorama of a distant city illuminated by modern lighting – makes it clear that this adaptation has been updated to contemporary times.
Spider Island Review: Eco-horror has bite | FrightFest 2026
Director: Christopher Smith Cast: Rose Williams, Tim McInnerny, Andy Nyman, Avani Gregg Running Time: 98 mins With the exception of The Creep, his film currently in pre-production which appears to be an updated reimagining of his debut feature Creep (2004), Christopher Smith is a British director who is always taking new steps forward.
Gator Face: Gen-Zer cult horror | FrightFest 2026
Director: Padraig Reynolds Cast: Tabitha Brownstone, Amariah Dionne, Nikolas Kolasinski, Kiara Mitjans Running Time: 80 mins Let’s start at the end.
Zip Wire review: Tense aerial cliffhanger | FrightFest 2026
Director: Howard J. Ford Cast: MyAnna Buring, Joseph Millson, Saffron Burrows, Silvia Presente Running Time: 88 mins Zip Wire tells us exactly what it is in its first moments.
Ghost in the Cell review: Fast-moving and funny | FrightFest 2026
Director: Joko Anwar Cast: Abimana Aryasatya, Endy Arfian, Bront Palarae, Morgan Oey Running Time: 106 mins Ghost in the Cell opens in a newspaper publisher’s high-rise headquarters overlooking Jakarta at night – a dark panorama of the Indonesian capital. There, idealistic journalist Dimas Kurniawan (Endy Arfian) is racing against deadline to put the finishing touches on what he reckons will be “the best piece I’ve ever written”.
Sweet Violence (Dulce Violencia) Review: Noirish morality play | FrightFest 2026
Director: Jeremías Segovia Cast: Esteban Bigliardi, Javier Chávez, Eduardo Miglionico, Mirella Pascual Running Time: 93 mins Esteban González (Esteban Bigliardi) has been serving a 20-year sentence for an unspeakable crime: the serial murder of young girls. On his last day in prison, when he no longer has anything left to lose, his cellmate tries to coax a confession from him by making one of his own.
Ithaqua review: Bloody, grotesque, creepy and ambiguous | FrightFest 2026
Director: Casey Walker Cast: Luke Hemsworth, Kevin Durand, Michael Pitt, Leenah Robinson Running Time: 110 mins “There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy,” Alfred Henry Lewis wrote in an article for Cosmopolitan in 1906, although a similar quote has been attributed to him as early as as 1896.
Dead Reset Review: Time-loop creature feature | FrightFest 2026
Director: Stewart Sparke Cast: Daniel Thrace, Lyndsey Craine, Dennis Rasaq, Andrina Carroll Running Time: 98 mins Stewart Sparke’s Dead Reset has a cold open, and hits the ground running.
Faces of Death review: Intelligent cat-and-mouse psychothriller | FrightFest 2026
Director: Daniel Goldhaber Cast: Barbie Ferreira, Dacre Montgomery, Josie Totah, Charli XCX Running Time: 97 mins Daniel Goldhaber’s Faces of Death sees a collision of two things. The first is John Alan Schwartz’s Faces of Death (1978), a po-faced mondo film in which a pathologist reminisces to camera about murder, death and mortality, and shows a collection of real, often graphic, video documentation of people (and animals) dying or dead.
Electric Meat Review: A disturbing portrait of the creative process | FrightFest 2026
Director: Dan Schaffer Cast: Caspian Faye, Emily Booth, Nina Courson, Sylvia Soska Running Time: 95 mins The title is mystifying, but also appeals to something universal. For electric meat is ultimately what we all are: flesh brought to life and galvanised into action by the electrical impulses that fire through the nervous system to create motion.
Trauma or, Monsters All (2026): Flesh-and-blood practical effects and big ideas | FrightFest 2026
Director: Larry Fessenden Cast: Larry Fessenden, Alex Breaux, Alex Hurt, Laetitia Hollard Running Time: 118 mins As a producer of indie horror and founder of Glass Eye Pix, a midwife and mentor to many other filmmakers, a writer, director, editor and actor in his own right, and a fan since childhood of the Universal monsters, Larry Fessenden has often visited these cinematic archetypes while giving them his own grounded, disarmingly modern spin.
Frostbite review: High-tension disaster movie and survival thriller | FrightFest 2026
Director: Lukas Rinker Cast: Zoe Boyle, Kris Hitchen, Andrew Scarborough, Lily Curley Running Time: 82 mins Frostbite opens with a beginning that is in fact not the beginning. For we see the seeds being sown of the disaster that will dominate the rest of the film, as engineer John (Mark Bennington) does a far from thorough job checking the gas distribution hub in snowy conditions at the summit of a mountain in the Canadian rockies.
Dead Eyes review: Bold POV horror | FrightFest 2026
Director: Richard Williams Cast: Ana Thu Nguyen, Charles Cottier, Mischa Heywood, Stephen Phillips Running Time: 82 mins Sequences shot as though through a character’s eyes are a staple part of film grammar, and these especially dominate the slasher genre, uncomfortably aligning the viewer’s perspective with that of a sadistic serial killer – yet if you exclude films that show the ‘found’ footage of intradiegetic cameras, only a handful of features, like Robert Montgomery’s Lady in the Lake...
Imposters: Grounded and twisty sci-fi horror | FrightFest 2026
Director: Caleb Phillips Cast: Jessica Rothe, Charlie Barnett, Yul Vazquez, Bates Wilden Running Time: 102 mins “Is Mum ok?” asks little Orson (Thomas Parobek) at the beginning of Caleb Phillips’ Imposters. Yet Orson’s dad (Ian Lyons) replies, “That’s not your mum, we have to try again,” of the woman (Taylor Karin) who is in their house, locked behind a shaking interior door, even as the whole building also shakes from an earthquake.
Big Baby review: A gleeful deconstruction of the horror game | FrightFest 2026
Director: Spider One Cast: Krsy Fox, Brandon Scott, Adam Marcinowski, Catherine Corcoran Running Time: 103 mins Big Baby (2026)In the opening scene of Big Baby, African-American Adam Lewis (Brandon Scott) is listening on headphones to a pair of snarky young men (Jordan Elsass, Radek Lord) on their horror podcast Blood Soaked taking down a new genre feature, The Blackest Moon, and reserving their most scathing contempt for its writer – who is none other than Adam himself.
Nervous review: Brilliantly delirious and disorienting | FrightFest 2026
Director: Abner Pastoll Cast: Sarah Bolger, Ko Asung, Sungsoo Yune Running Time: 100 mins Nervous opens with intercut, enigmatically rhyming scenes. The first shows a record rotating on an old gramophone, and the second shows a neon-lit Sarah (Sarah Bolger) ecstatically spinning in medium close-up on the dance floor, as other people, mostly Korean, stare at her in increasing horror.
The Dog Stars: Ridley Scott finds poetry, danger and dark humour in the apocalypse
Ridley Scott has spent much of his career imagining worlds on the brink. From the industrial nightmares of Alien and Blade Runner to the inhospitable landscapes of The Martian, his films have repeatedly asked what happens when humanity is forced to confront environments that are bigger, harsher and less forgiving than itself. The Dog Stars, adapted from Peter Heller’s 2012 novel, finds the director returning to that terrain… but with an apocalypse that feels uncomfortably close to home.
“I’ve wanted to make a movie called Nervous for 20 years…” Director Abner Pastoll on his new psychological horror
With Nervous, writer-director Abner Pastoll relocates horror to a strange house on the outskirts of Seoul and inside the mind, and nervous system, of a woman losing her hearing. Blending psychological horror, the supernatural and something far more slippery, the film plays with communication, miscommunication and the unnerving idea that silence can be as loud as any scream.
The Dog Stars review: Saddle up for Ridley Scott’s post-dystopian western!
Certificate: 15 Director: Ridley Scott Writer: Peter Heller, Mark L Smith, Christopher Wilkinson Cast: Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Allison Janney, Benedict Wong, Ewen Bremner, Sam Spruell Distributor: 20th Century Studios Running Time: 118 mins After venturing back in time to Ancient Rome and Napoleonic France, Ridley Scott has returned to the territory he knows best – sci-fi in a futuristic landscape.
Sam Spruell on Playing the Big Bad in Insidious: Out of the Further and his new role in Alien: Earth S2
British actor Sam Spruell has carved out a niche playing intense, often unsettling characters across film and TV. From memorable roles in Doctor Who and Game of Thrones to acclaimed performances in Small Axe: Mangrove and Fargo, he consistently brings complexity and humanity to even the most extreme figures. In Insidious: Out of the Further, Spruell steps fully into the horror spotlight as Cyrus, the film’s main villain.
The Quantum Dawn: Exclusive excerpt for Derek Künsken’s new Quantum Evolution novel
Back in April, we revealed the intergalactic cover (designed by Justin Adams) for Derek Künsken’s forthcoming sci-fi novel The Quantum Dawn, and now, with the novel due out in just a couple of months’ time, we’re delighted to exclusively reveal an excerpt for the novel! But first, find out more with the official synopsis here… A HUNT THROUGH ETERNITY In the closing moments of the Quantum War, Belisarius disappeared into a collapsing wormhole, and was thought lost forever.
Insidious: Out of the Further review: A fresh family brings new life to The Further
Director: Jacob Chase Cast: Amelia EveI, sland Austin, Lin Shaye Running Time: 106 mins For a franchise that has spent much of its time following the Lambert family, there’s something refreshing about Insidious: Out of the Further bringing some fresh blood into the equation. Jacob Chase’s (Come Play) latest entry introduces us to Gemma (Amelia Eve), a young mother raising her daughter in the house where she grew up.
“I’ve Always Been a Big Fan of A Nightmare on Elm Street…” Director Jacob Chase on Insidious: Out of the Further and the horror franchise he’d like to work on next
With more than $740 million at the global box office, the Insidious franchise shows no sign of slowing down. Now, writer-director Jacob Chase (Come Play) steps into the series with Insidious: Out of the Further, which introduces a new family, a new kind of haunting, and a dangerous new twist on what The Further can do. The film centres on Gemma (played by Amelia Eve), a young mother raising her daughter in the house she grew up in.
New York Comic Con 2026 Unveils First Wave Of 20th Anniversary Programming
New York Comic Con has unveiled the first wave of programming for its 20th anniversary celebration, promising four days of major film, TV, comics, gaming, anime and literary events at New York’s Javits Center. Running from 8-11 October, NYCC 2026 will bring together stars, creators and fans, with the newly announced schedule featuring everything from a first look at Crystal Lake to celebrations of Star Trek, Marvel, DC, One Piece, Naruto and American Horror Story.
Win Two Tickets To See The Glorious Dead At Tubi FrightFest 2026
Gear up, horror fans, because it’s that time of year again! Yes, the UK’s premier horror and fantasy film festival, Tubi FrightFest, is back to haunt screens in London, and we here at SciFiNow are thrilled to once again partner with them to give you a chance to experience the very best in genre cinema.
Kelly Macdonald compares joining DCU’s Lanterns to becoming a Disney Princess
Lanterns is already shaping up to be one of the boldest projects in the new DC Universe, but for Kelly Macdonald, joining DC Studios comes with a very specific feeling, one she’s experienced before… Speaking at the DC Studios Lanterns press conference recently, Macdonald compared stepping into the DCU to her time on Pixar’s Brave, where she voiced Princess Merida. “It’s very exciting,” she said when asked what it feels like to join the DCU.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma review: A funny, freaky, elegantly stylised horror
Released: 21 August (in UK and Irish cinemas) Director: Jane Schoenbrun Writer: Jane Schoenbrun Cast: Hannah Einbinder, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Fix, Jasmin Savoy Brown Distributor: MUBI Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma opens with heavy, rhythmic breathing – a sound that instantly signifies to any horror fan the presence of a by-numbers, common-or-garden slasher, as found in the endless Halloween and Friday the 13th franchises.
The End of Oak Street: Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor face dinosaurs in David Robert Mitchell’s wild sci-fi movie
“The End of Oak Street is a total thrill ride,” says producer J.J. Abrams, summing up David Robert Mitchell’s new sci-fi adventure in suitably emphatic fashion. “I’ve seen it with audiences. They scream and laugh and cry and cheer.
The End of Oak Street Review: A hilarious and touching cosmic genre-bending dinosaur flick
Certificate: 12A Director: David Robert Mitchell Cast: Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery Distributor: Warner Brothers Running Time: 99 mins The influence of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park on David Robert Mitchell’s cosmic genre-bending dinosaur flick is colossal but unlike the current Jurassic World franchise, the writer/director uses personal grief to shape a fun, strangely touching and bloody good time at the movies.
Nervous: Exclusive poster reveal for Abner Pastoll psychological horror
From Abner Pastoll (A Good Woman Is Hard To Find), comes a new psychological horror with Nervous, which has been selected as the Opening Film of Tubi FrightFest 2026 and we’re exclusively revealing the supremely cool new poster for it. Seriously, the more you look at the poster, the more it reveals! Check that out above. The film follows Sarah (Sarah Bolger) and her husband Sungsoo (Sungsoo Yune) as they move to a house in the Korean countryside in the hope of saving their crumbling marriage.
Violent Night 2 Producer Teases Bloodier Mall Battles and Kristen Bell’s Mrs Claus
Three years after Violent Night turned David Harbour’s Santa into an unlikely Christmas icon, producer Kelly McCormick and the team at 87North (the action specialists behind John Wick, Atomic Blonde and Nobody), are back with Violent Night 2. Expanding the mayhem from a single home to an entire shopping mall, the sequel promises bigger action, bloodier festive chaos and the same surprising emotional heart that helped the original become a modern Christmas favourite.
Violent Night 2: Director Tommy Wirkola on Santa’s Bloody, Festive Return
Released in 2022, Violent Night quickly became a cult Christmas favourite thanks to its blend of R-rated carnage, big-hearted sentiment, and a Viking Santa with a chequered past, played with gruff charm by David Harbour. Now director Tommy Wirkola is back with Violent Night 2, which finds Harbour’s Santa on the wrong side of the naughty list, stripped of his powers and stranded in a small-town mall ruled by a ruthless mobster played by Jared Harris.
“It’s the craziest killer kid movie I could imagine!” Eli Roth on Ice Cream Man
With Hostel, Cabin Fever, The Green Inferno, and his recent holiday slasher Thanksgiving, Eli Roth has built a reputation as one of modern horror’s most gleefully transgressive filmmakers.
New trailer drops for modern vampire horror Dracula: The Night Around Us ahead of FrightFest UK premiere
Sink your teeth into this! There’s a fresh take on Bram Stoker’s most infamous vampire heading to this year’s Tubi FrightFest, and you can get your first proper look right here exclusively at SciFiNow with the chilling new trailer for Dracula: The Night Around Us. Written and directed by Chris Schwab (Heretic, Neither Day Nor Night), the modern reimagining of the classic horror will celebrate its UK Premiere at Tubi FrightFest on 30 August, screening as part of the festival’s Discovery Screen...
Colony (Gunche) review at Fantasia 2026: Thrilling but a little repetitive
Director: Yeon Sang-ho Writer: Choi Gyu-seok, Yeon Sang-ho Cast: Ji Chang-wook, Gianna Jun, Koo Kyo-hwan Running Time: 122 mins Though George A.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day review: Big, colourful, funny and inventively exciting
Released: 29 July 2026 (in cinemas) Certificate: 12A Director: Destin Daniel Cretton Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Mark Ruffalo, Jon Berthal, Jacob Batalan, Sadie Sink Distributor: Sony Running Time: 145 mins At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Dr Strange saved reality by making even Peter Parker’s closest friends forget who he was.
“It’s bittersweet…” Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn and Celia Rose Gooding talk Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season Four
Few modern Star Trek series have won over fans quite like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Spinning out of the second season of Star Trek: Discovery after Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck’s took on Captain Pike, Number One and Spock proved an instant hit, the series has become one of the franchise’s biggest success stories.
“It’s bittersweet…” Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn and Celia Rose Gooding talk Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season Four
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 13 hours ago Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S04E02: "The Griffin Incident" Trailer bleedingcool.com - Ray Flook • 13h Now that Paramount+'s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, … entertainment news 2 days ago Star Trek Just Quietly Killed Its Captain Kirk Prequel Series cbr.com - Rachel Hulshult • 2d The sets for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet...
The Glorious Dead review at Fantasia 2026: Funny and freaky, grotesque and gory
Director: Toby Poser, John Adams Cast: Zelda Adams, Toby Poser, Lulu Adams Running Time: 81 mins A high angle shows a solitary tree and near it a solitary tombstone, both in a field of virgin snow that is an unsullied white but for the splash of red in front of the grave, and the trail of footprints left by a uniformed woman who stands before it.
Starship Trooper reunion to take place at San Diego Comic-Con Málaga 2026
Would you like to know more? Yes please! Nearly 30 years after Starship Troopers first blasted onto cinema screens, the cast of Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi satire is reuniting for a special celebration at San Diego Comic-Con Málaga 2026. Taking place from 2–4 October 2026, the convention will bring together Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Michael Ironside and Jake Busey for a rare reunion honouring one of science fiction’s most enduring cult classics.
SDCC 2026: Marvel Confirms X-Men ’97 Seasons 3 and 4
Marvel Animation celebrated the past and future of X-Men ’97 at San Diego Comic-Con 2026, confirming that Seasons 3 and 4 are already in development while debuting new test footage featuring the Brotherhood of Mutants.
SDCC 2026: Ryan Coogler Confirms Black Panther 3 as David Jonsson Takes Up the Mantle
Marvel Studios used its blockbuster Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 to reveal the future of Black Panther, with director Ryan Coogler confirming that he will return to helm a third instalment in the franchise. Set to arrive exclusively in cinemas on 15 December 2028, Black Panther 3 will see David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus, The Long Walk) take on the mantle of the Black Panther.
Johnny Depp becomes Scrooge in first trailer for Ti West’s new Dickens reimagining, Ebenezer
Bah humbug! Johnny Depp has spent a good chunk of his career embodying some of genre’s most iconic characters and now he’s taking on the king of Christmas, Ebenezer Scrooge, with the new movie Ebenezer. And the second big surprise?
Win a big bundle of films on 4K Ultra HD!
Chill out at home and treat yourself to some cool movie marathons thanks to the Summer Days, Movie Nights promotion! There are some great offers to be found on hundreds of incredible 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™ and DVD film titles. To celebrate the promotion, now available at Amazon and HMV, we’re giving away a bundle of 4K UHD titles which are all available in the promotion – including Predator: Badlands, Tron: Ares, Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Prey, Alien, Aliens and Predator.
Bad Day at the Office: New Clip Released Ahead of Edinburgh Film Festival World Premiere
Action Xtreme has said it is thrilled to share a brand new clip from their upcoming turbo-charged action-thriller Bad Day at the Office. The film will have its World Premiere as the opening film of the prestigious Midnight Madness strand at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and will be released in UK & Irish Cinemas from 30th October. Check it out here… Shot entirely in first person, Bad Day At The Office combines a high-octane action thriller with that of an adrenaline-fueled video game.
“We think this is truly funny….” Chuck Lorre opens the portal to The Big Bang Theory multiverse with Stuart Fails to Save the Universe
For 12 seasons, The Big Bang Theory celebrated science fiction. Sheldon and Leonard debated Star Trek, queued for comic conventions, obsessed over superheroes and spent countless hours hanging out in Stuart Bloom’s comic book shop. But while its characters dreamed of alternate realities, aliens and parallel universes, the sitcom itself stayed firmly grounded in Pasadena. Until now.
You Are The Film review at Fantasia 2026: Wild escapist fantasy
Director: Makoto Ueda Writer: Makoto Ueda Cast: Riko Fujitani, Kai Inowaki, Marika Ito, Shintaro Kanamaru Running Time: 68 mins Makoto Ueda is a ‘two-minute man’. That is not to cast any aspersions on his sexual stamina, which is way beyond the scope of this review, but rather a summary of his two best-known screenplays, Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes (2020) and River (2023), both directed by Junta Yamaguchi, and both dealing ingeniously with time loops lasting exactly 120 seconds.
Sam Reid reveals David Bowie inspiration behind The Vampire Lestat as BBC confirms UK premiere
If you’ve been wondering what happens when the Brat Prince swaps velvet capes for sold-out arenas, Sam Reid has the answer. Well… David Bowie is part of it. With The Vampire Lestat finally heading to BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on 28 July, UK fans are about to meet a very different version of Anne Rice’s most infamous vampire. Gone is the scheming aristocrat lurking in the shadows. Instead, Lestat is embracing his destiny as an honest-to-goodness rock star.
Your essential guide to Tubi FrightFest London 2026
Maybe it is superhero fatigue, or maybe it is the urgent need somehow to process the fact that we are all currently captive to the insane whims of self-serving, so-called ‘strongman’ leaders on a planet in flames, but horror is having a mainstream moment in 2026.
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