Evil never truly dies in horror, especially not when sequel potential looms near. Writer/Director Stephen Cognetti previously teased that the fifth entry in his popular found footage franchise would likely act as the final and scariest installment, a tantalizing claim considering what a chilling return to form that previous entry, Carmichael Manor, offered.

Hell House LLC: Lineage makes its transition into traditional narrative filmmaking, emphasizing and expanding the increasingly dense and convoluted Abaddon lore in a way that’s unwelcoming to newcomers. In the process, it loses its atmospheric edge and ability to scare.

Lineage reintroduces Venessa Sheppard (Elizabeth Vermilyea), the journalist from Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire, now haunted by eerie visions stemming from her encounter at the Abaddon Hotel. Not helping her residual trauma is the fact that she’s now a bar owner in Abaddon, and she’s far from alone with her ghastly visions; neighbors all across town are plagued by haunting hallucinations and death. People are mysteriously dying, pulling Venessa back into investigative mode as she, along with others, delves into decades of murders tied to Abaddon in search of answers.

If it’s not already clear, Lineage isn’t the most accessible film of the franchise. Cognetti, who’s written and directed all five installments, only continues to build upon the intricate mythos involving a Hellish cult, their murderous machinations, and the various characters caught in their crosshairs over decades. It’s not just Venessa returning here, but Carmichael Manor journalist Alicia (Searra Sawka), operating separately from Venessa to thwart the source of Abaddon’s pesky demonic horror problem.

While Alicia is taking on a much more active role here, also look for Carmichael Manor returnees Father Margaret and Patrick Carmichael (Victoria Andrunik and Gideon Berger, respectively) to pick up from the narrative threads introduced in the prequel. Cognetti spends considerable time and effort connecting the plot points dispersed across multiple films, so much so that it comes at the expense of everything else.

That Lineage seeks to expand its storytelling scope to the town itself, beyond the haunted walls of the Abaddon Hotel or the Carmichael Manor, sounds more exciting in theory than in execution. The fifth entry mostly trades a central spooky set piece for a series of more mundane set pieces meant to capture the town itself, from Venessa’s bar to therapy offices to scenic cliffsides. Outside of nightmare-like visions, though, Cognetti struggles to place scares within the more everyday settings. The Halloween season backdrop provides opportunities to bring back the franchise’s favorite clown for a broad daylight scare or two, but the traditional format proves more unwieldy for Cognetti when it comes to recreating the discomforting atmosphere of previous films.

That’s if the filmmaker remembers to scare at all; there’s too much ground to cover and too many questions raised over five films to leave room for much else, including character development. Vermilyea’s Venessa has no agency in a film that positions her as a chosen survivor, alluding to some of the overarching biblical themes, and Sawka is saddled with a rash character forced to make the worst possible choices in a horror movie for plot contrivance’s sake. Where that leaves Alicia is but one of many frustrations raised by Lineage; the most notable being the sequel’s unsatisfying denouement.

Instead of offering any semblance of self-contained closure in a film that dangled the possibility of finality, Lineage instead runs out of steam with a non-ending so abrupt that it earns an unintended laugh of incredulity. Hell House LLC: Lineage isn’t the final chapter; it’s a penultimate episode. Whether that’s for a series finale or a season finale, to get metaphorical, remains to be seen. But it does summarize Lineage in a nutshell; the fifth entry doesn’t function as a movie on its own accord. Instead, it’s an exposition-heavy chapter of an ongoing saga, one devoid of scares, atmosphere, or even character arcs.

If you’re not well-versed in Hell House LLC lore and its characters, then you’re in trouble; not even Cognetti can make the dense plotting coherent to newcomers in this sequel. That it’s not scary at all means that there’s nothing to grab hold of for anyone except maybe the franchise’s most devoted fans.

Hell House LLC: Lineage releases in theaters on August 20, 2025.

The post ‘Hell House LLC: Lineage’ Review – Exposition Heavy Fifth Entry Forgets to Scare appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Satanic panic is alive and well in certain pockets of the country.

The Toxic Avenger‘s monster dong isn’t the only genre title provoking controversy, as Christian moms are rallying against the new gateway horror movie Sketch.

In the film, a young girl’s notebook falls into a mysterious pond, bringing her monstrous drawings to life. While navigating grief following the loss of her mother, the girl must band together with her family to save their town from the vibrant but dangerous creatures.

Sketch was produced independently but acquired by Angel Studios following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. No stranger to notoriety, Angel is the distributor behind 2023’s Sound of Freedom.

It seems that Angel’s catalog of overtly Christian-themed output set preconceived notions for some viewers with which Sketch — a monster adventure with no religions connotations — does not align.

Concerned parents, many of whom identify as Christian moms, have taken to social media to express their disapproval — with some even calling for a boycott. These inflammatory remarks have been perpetuated by conservative voices who seemingly haven’t seen the movie.

A recent post from the film’s official Facebook page highlighting audience reviews only stoked the flames, contrasting five-star praise with one-star condemnations.

“This movie is demonic. I pulled my family out within 10 minutes,” reads one review. Another warns, “PARENTS BEWARE. Do not be fooled by the PG rating.”

Although the MPA rated Sketch PG for “scary action, some violence, thematic elements, language and rude humor,” the Angel Guild — a community of parents, viewers, and supporters who screen and vote on Angel projects — found the film to be appropriate for ages 10 and up.

Angel declined to comment for our story, but co-founder Jeff Harmon addressed the concerns in a recent livestream.

“We realized as it launched we did not do a good enough job of helping parents understand what’s in this movie so they didn’t bring too small of kids or that they could even recognize, ‘This is not my kind of movie. It’s a little too scary,’” Harmon said.

As if such an indictment wasn’t reason enough to pique genre fans’ interest, I found that Sketch harkens back to a lost era of gateway horror that’s flush with heart without sacrificing a sense of danger.

Described as Jurassic Park meets Inside Out, Sketch marks the feature debut of writer-director Seth Worley, based on his 2020 proof-of-concept short Darker Colors.

Tony Hale (“Arrested Development”), D’Arcy Carden (“The Good Place”), Bianca Belle (“Swamp Thing”), Kue Lawrence (“Good Girls”), and Kalon Cox star.

Sporting a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Sketch is in theaters now.

The post ‘Sketch’ Is the “Demonic” Gateway Horror Movie Christian Moms Don’t Want Your Kids to See appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Nia DaCosta (Candyman) takes over as director for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, a sequel to Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later that will release in theaters on January 16, 2026.

The titular bone temple is a primary location in Danny Boyle’s trilogy-starter, and the title of DaCosta’s sequel suggests we’ll returning to that location. The final minutes of 28 Years Later also suggest that The Bone Temple will focus on Jack O’Connell’s “Sir Jimmy Crystal” and his merry band of evil-doers, with young hero Spike (Alfie Williams) also returning.

Cillian Murphy’s character from 28 Days Later is also expected to make an appearance in The Bone Temple, which we know very little about at this time. One other thing we do know is that Alex Garland wrote the script, and it was that script that brought DaCosta on board.

Nia DaCosta said at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this week (via THR), “Making the 28 Years Later sequel was one of the best filmmaking experiences I’ve had. One of the issues I had with Candyman and Marvels was the lack of a really solid script, which is always gonna just wreak havoc on the whole process. But Alex Garland hands you a script, and you’re like, ‘This is amazing.’ You don’t really have to change it, although I did. I basically asked for more infected. [Laughs.] That was, like, my big contribution.”

“I inherited an amazing cast, then I was given the leeway to cast the rest of the film,” DaCosta notes. “There were a couple locations I inherited. I was given leeway to develop all the other locations. Some of it overlapped, like the character Samson — Danny and I would collaborate a bit on the look, but at the end of the day, Danny shoots so different from the way I shoot.”

Stay tuned for much more on The Bone Temple in the coming months.

The post Nia DaCosta Added More Infected to Alex Garland’s ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ Script appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

A dog’s sixth sense leads to terror in the new trailer for haunted house feature Good Boy.

Fall head over heels for Indy the dog as the titular Good Boy when it releases in theaters on October 3, 2025.

In the film, “Our canine hero, Indy, finds himself on a new adventure with his human owner—and best friend—Todd, leaving city life for a long-vacant family home in the country. From the start, two things are abundantly clear: Indy is wary of the creepy old house, and his affection for Todd is unwavering.

“After moving in, Indy is immediately vexed by empty corners, tracks an invisible presence only he can see, perceives phantasmagoric warnings from a long-dead dog, and is haunted by visions of the previous occupant’s grim death. When Todd begins succumbing to the dark forces swirling around the house, Indy must battle a malevolence intent on dragging his beloved Todd into the afterlife.”

Ben Leonberg makes his feature directorial debut from a script he co-wrote with Alex Cannon.

The film stars Indy, Leonberg’s real-life canine, as well as indie horror stalwart Larry Fessenden, Shane Jensen, and Arielle Friedman.

I wrote in my SXSW review, “Framing the story entirely from the perspective of man’s best friend poses unique storytelling challenges but instantly creates a sustained feeling of unease and anxiety over the pup’s wellbeing.”

Good Boy has been rated “PG-13” for “terror, bloody images, and strong language.”

Check out the haunting new trailer below and meet Indy.

The post ‘Good Boy’ Trailer Puts Man’s Best Friend in Haunted House Filled with Ghosts appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Why does it always have to end? NEON has released a mysterious new teaser trailer for director Osgood Perkins’ (Longlegs, The Monkey) new horror movie Keeper, and you can give it a watch down below. The film centers on a romantic anniversary weekend that goes haywire, with the trailer uniquely told first from the woman’s perspective and then from the man’s.

“Is there any way to keep love alive?” Liz asks. “Is it his face I see when I close my eyes? Or only a mask that he’s wearing?” Malcolm asks the very same questions in the back half of the trailer, both coming to the same conclusion: “I think he’s/she’s a Keeper.”

Tatiana Maslany (“Orphan Black”) and Rossif Sutherland (Possessor) will star in Keeper, which is shrouded in secrecy at the present moment. It’s coming to theaters on November 14.

“Keeper follows a couple as they escape for a romantic anniversary weekend at a secluded cabin. When Malcolm (Sutherland) suddenly returns to the city, Liz (Maslany) finds herself isolated and in the presence of an unspeakable evil that unveils the cabin’s horrifying secrets.”

Nick Lepard (Dangerous Animals) wrote the screenplay.

This will be Perkins’ third movie with NEON, in the wake of box office hits Longlegs and The Monkey. Perkins previously directed The Blackcoat’s Daughter, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and the arthouse fairytale adaptation Gretel & Hansel.

The post ‘Keeper’ Teaser Trailer – A Love Story Gets Twisted in New Osgood Perkins Horror Movie appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.