Excited for the Halloween season yet? Syfy's 31 Days of Halloween kicks off this Friday and will feature The Crooked Man, starring Michael Jai White (The Dark Knight, Spawn). Also in today's Horror Highlights: trailers for both Night of the Living Dead: Genesis and StalkHer, festival screening details for films from Blanc/Biehn Productions, and details on a distribution agreement between XLrator Media and Blue Fox Entertainment.

The Crooked Man Airing on Syfy's 31 Days of Horror: "THE CROOKED MAN, starring Michael Jai White (SPAWN), Amber Benson (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and Dina Meyer (STARSHIP TROOPERS) kicks off Syfy's 31 Days of Halloween [on Saturday, October 1st at 9:00 p.m. ET.]

Synopsis: While at a slumber party, twelve year old ‘Olivia’ is blamed for the horrific and mysterious death of her friend after singing a song, created by a reclusive mastermind, ‘Milo’ (Michael Jai White), which summons a demonic figure known as "The Crooked Man". Returning to her hometown six years later, a string of unusual deaths lead Olivia (Angelique Rivera) to believe that she's still being haunted by whatever she saw that fateful night. Once you sing the rhyme, everyone in the house is cursed to die by his hands."

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Night of the Living Dead: Genesis Trailer:"Night of the Living Dead: Genesis will pay homage to the timeless classic while expanding upon its storyline to explore more of the night when the dead began to rise."

Directed by Matt Cloude off a screenplay he co-wrote with Wil Smith, Night of the Living Dead: Genesis stars Judith O'Dea, Sarah Snyder, Mike Lord, David Witt, Brenleigh Rigsbee, Cyrus Samson, Christy Johnson, David Crawford, Alexander Elliott, Jim Krut, Mike Christopher, Heidi Hinzman, and John Migliore.

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StalkHer VOD October Release Date and Trailer: "Jack is pushed past the brink of his stalking obsession when he decides to break into Emily's home to take what he wants by force. However, his plans for her pain and his pleasure come unhinged when he wakes up to find himself bleeding and bound to a chair in her kitchen. For one night Jack and Emily engage in a twisted and thrilling courtship of the sexes that leads one to wonder which one of them will survive the night."

Written by, directed by, and starring John Jarratt, Kaarin Fairfax, StalkHer will be released on VOD this October 21st from Cleopatra Films.

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Festival Screening Details for New Films from Blanc/Biehn Productions: Press Release: "LOS ANGELES, September 28, 2016 – Blanc/Biehn Productions and Give & Take Productions’ thriller PSYCHOPHONIA will have its World Premiere on October 7th and HIDDEN IN THE WOODS has its Spanish Premiere on October 8th. Both films are participating in the Midnight X-Treme program.

Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia is the number one fantasy film festival in the world. For more information on screening times and locations: http://sitgesfilmfestival.com.

Michael Biehn will also be announcing the ALIEN’S 30th Anniversary Screening at Sitges, which will also be showing on October 8th.

Jennifer Blanc, Michael Biehn, Brianne Davis, Mark Gantt, Vedette Lim, Danny Bellens, Nikita Black and Kurk Kasparian will be in attendance.

With a story from Lony Ruhmann and screenplay by Nicholl Fellowship winner Barbara Stepansky, the psychological thriller Psychophonia is helmed by Brianne Davis, who earlier directed The Night Visitor 2: Heather’s Story.

After her husband Jeremy is brutally murdered, artist Lilly Tarver struggles with his secret sex life and coming to terms with who he really was. While diving into his dark and potentially dangerous world, a mysterious caller might hold the answers to his death.

Psychophonia stars Vedette Lim (Chicago Fire, True Blood) in the lead role of Lilly Tarver. Rounding out the cast; Andrew W. Walker (The Torturer, 2 Bedroom One Bath), Kellee Stewart (Hot Tub Time Machine 1 & 2, The Soul Man) Adam Rose (Up In The Air, The Bounty Hunter), Daniel Quinn (Fetish Factory, Wrong Cops), Mark Gantt (The Bannen Way, The Night Visitor 2), Mitchell Fink (Granit Flats, Zodiac),Lucie Pohl (Magi, Not Fade Away), Sean Hemeon (Husbands), Nikita Black (who will star in Blanc/Biehn’s upcoming Fembot) and Jenimay Walker (Fetish Factory).

The film is Executive Produced by Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Lony Ruhmannproduced by Brianne Davis and Mark Gantt.

HIDDEN IN THE WOODS is the remake of the original Chilean film, directed by the Chilean Dir. Patricio Valladares, and will make its Spanish Premiere at Sitges. Hidden In The Woods (A Las Afueras de la Ciudad), stars Michael Biehn (The Terminator, Aliens), William Forsythe (The Rock, “Boardwalk Empire”), MMA fighter Krxysztof Soszynski, Jeannine Kaspar (Iron Man, “House of Lies,” “Nip/Tuck”), Electra Avelan (Grindhouse, Machete Kills), Mark Burnham (Quentin Dupieuxs, Wrong and Wrong Cops), Jennifer Blanc (The Victim, Wrong Cops) Mark Gantt (The Bannen Way, The Night Visitor) and Richard Gunn (“Granite Flats,” “Dark Angel”).

About Blanc/Biehn Productions

Blanc Biehn Productions is the partnership of famed actors Michael Biehn and Jennifer Blanc-Biehn. The pair decided to put their passion for acting and filmmaking together, creating their own production company. The duo produced and starred in Biehn’s directorial debut, The Victim, a grindhouse film which co-stars scream queen Danielle Harris. The company recently released Treachery through Traverse Media and completed post on Jennifer Blanc-Biehns’s directorial debut The Night Visitor and The Girl. They are currently in the sales process with WTF Films on Hidden in the Woods - The Remake. Other films include Altered PErception, She Rises, Staring Angus MacFadyen, The Night Visitor 2, Helevatorman, and Fetish Factory. Currently in preproduction on Fembot and developing The Lincoln, Killer Weekend, The Four, Good Family Times, Alien Ship, Rosemary’s Little Boy, and many more. Look out for more releases on their slate as well as festival screenings in the near future, as well as a new list of fabulous directors being added to the roster.

For more information on upcoming BBP features, please go to www.TheBBBasement.com and sign up for news and updates. Many projects are currently in post-production with the partner and creative executive Lony Ruhnmann.

About Give & Take Productions

Give & Take Productions is a Los Angeles-based TV and Film Production Company started in 2013 by award-winning filmmaker Mark Gantt and Brianne Davis. The are currently in post-production on The Night Visitor 2: Heather’s Story and in pre-production on A Place Apart, a dark drama written by Jackie Blakely, directed by Mark Gantt, starring Brianne Davis and executive produced by Solipsist Film’s Stephen L’Heureux (Sin City: A Dame For Hire). They have several film and TV projects in development. www.giveandtakeproductions.com

Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia is the number one fantasy film festival in the world and represents, at the same time, the cultural expression with the most media impact in Catalonia. With a solid experience, the Sitges Festival is a stimulating universe of encounters, exhibitions, presentations and screenings of fantasy films from all over the world.

Born in 1968 as the 1st International Week of Fantasy and Horror Movies, today the Festival is an essential rendezvous for movie lovers and audiences eager to come into contact with new tendencies and technologies applied to film and the audiovisual world.

Sitges’ status as the number one fantasy film festival in the world allows it to receive visits from top-level movie stars, directors and producers like Quentin Tarantino, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Paul Verhoeven, Ralph Fiennes, George A. Romero, Cameron Diaz, Viggo Mortensen, Terry Gilliam, Rutger Hauer, Sarah Michelle Gellar, John Landis, Joe Dante, Zoë Bell, Dino de Laurentii, Takashi Miike, Wim Wenders, Tony Curtis, David Cronenberg, Vanessa Redgrave, Darren Aronofsky, Brad Dourif, John McNaughton, Peter Greenaway, John Woo, Park Chan-Wook, Johnnie To, Paul Naschy, Ray Liotta, Jon Voight, Sam Raimi, Robert Englund, Tarsem Singh, Roger Corman, Mira Sorvino, Santiago Segura, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, Guillermo del Toro, Kim Ki Duk, Álex de la Iglesia, Aitana Sánchez Gijón, among others from the long list of people who, year after year, are a media attraction. The Festival is governed by a Foundation, made up of representatives from the Sitges Town Council, the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalonia’s autonomous government) and other institutions, associations and public and private companies."

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XLrator Media & Blue Fox Entertainment Distribution Agreement: Press Release: "LOS ANGELES (September 28, 2016) – XLrator Media and Blue Fox Entertainment announced a distribution agreement to jointly distribute 15 films a year across all North American platforms, including a number of co-acquisitions. In addition, Blue Fox Entertainment (BFE) will sell the international rights to these and other select XLrator Media films, starting at AFM this year. The deal was announced today by XLrator Media CEO Barry Gordon and Blue Fox Entertainment co-founders James Huntsman and Todd Slater.

The two companies began their relationship earlier this year when XLrator Media acquired the North American distribution rights from BFE to the international horror festival hit THE WINDMILL, which opens in theaters October 28th and debuts on VOD and iTunes October 25th.

The first film under the new XLrator Media-BFE distribution agreement will be the holiday-themed thriller GOOD TIDINGS, to be released on December 6th, followed in 2017 by the supernatural thrillers DARK SIGNAL and A DEMON WITHIN. All of the films will be released on XLrator Media’s acclaimed “MACABRE” genre label.

BFE plans to bring films of all different genres to the partnership, including several high-profile documentaries, which will be distributed on XLrator Media’s “LIFEFRAME” documentary label and other releasing labels.

“Our partnership with Blue Fox will allow us to expand our release schedule with highly curated films that will enhance our genre, action, multi-cultural and documentary content labels in both traditional and emerging distribution platforms. James, Todd and I all share the same enthusiasm for disrupting outdated business models that have crippled the independent film eco-system for both content creators and distributors,” said XLrator Media CEO Barry Gordon.

“We are excited to partner with the innovative and forward-thinking team at XLrator Media. Together, we plan to utilize new platforms of distribution with talented filmmakers while bringing fresh creative visions to the film and television market,” said James Huntsman and Todd Slater of Blue Fox Entertainment."

  • Tamika Jones
    About the Author - Tamika Jones

    Tamika hails from North Beach, Maryland, a tiny town inches from the Chesapeake Bay.She knew she wanted to be an actor after reciting a soliloquy by Sojourner Truth in front of her entire fifth grade class. Since then, she's appeared in over 20 film and television projects. In addition to acting, Tamika is the Indie Spotlight manager for Daily Dead, where she brings readers news on independent horror projects every weekend.

    The first horror film Tamika watched was Child's Play. Being eight years old at the time, she remembers being so scared when Chucky came to life that she projectile vomited. It's tough for her to choose only one movie as her favorite horror film, so she picked two: Nosferatu and The Stepford Wives (1975).