The Weekly Shiver

🎬 Film & Streaming Highlights

• Congrats to Final Destination: Bloodlines for becoming the franchise’s highest-grossing entry ever. Released May 16, 2025, it raked in ~$285M worldwide and is receiving generally positive reviews.

• New streaming releases this weekend (July 25–27) bring a mix of horror genres:

  • Netflix: Until Dawn (video‑game adaptation), Happy Gilmore 2 (comedy).

  • HBO Max/VOD: Death of a Unicorn (horror‑comedy starring Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd; mixed reviews)

  • Shudder: Monster Island (WWII monster thriller).

  • Kanopy: The Return, a dark take on The Odyssey.

• At San Diego Comic‑Con, Stephen King’s The Long Walk clip was censored mid‑panel for a particularly graphic kill sequence. The film, starring Mark Hamill, opens Sept 12, 2025.

• Director Athina Rachel Tsangari premiered her folk‑horror‑tinged film Harvest in theaters July 25, calling it a “nihilist western.” It starts streaming on Mubi August 8.

• Ozzy Osbourne’s final film role: In the indie horror We Need to Do Something, he voices a demonic dog skeleton (“I’m a good boy”), which became an unexpectedly famous moment.

🎮 Horror Games Update

• Killing Floor 3 finally launched July 24, 2025 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. This bloody multiplayer survival shooter features specialist classes, “Zed Time,” and a brutal co‑op experience well received by fans.

• Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival was officially announced, marking the franchise's first full narrative game. Original Pinhead actor Doug Bradley returns, and Barker himself is involved in development; available on PC, PS5, Xbox, with no release date yet.

• New horror publishing label, Black Lantern Collective, unveiled 10 upcoming horror titles—some revealed for the first time—expanding indie horror’s diversity.

• Strong upcoming releases include: Dead of Darkness, Dead Air, System Shock 2 Remaster, Shadow Labyrinth, and Killing Floor 3 (also covered). These vary from strategy-puzzle games to 2D survival classics.

• Labyrinth of the Demon King (released May 13, 2025) delivers Feudal-Japan survival horror with mixed reviews; praised for atmosphere, critiqued for slow design.

• Alien: Rogue Incursion, a VR-based Alien franchise game, launched in December 2024 (PC/PS5) and February 2025 (Meta Quest 3). It’s met with generally positive reviews.

• Recently released title Luto (July 22, 2025) is receiving praise for its eerie PT-style horror – unsettling and minimalist in design.

• Important: Dying Light: The Beast has been delayed until September 2025 to allow developers more time to polish.

🧠 Audio & Other Media

• Cadence13, the audio production company, announced its debut horror podcast among a slate of audio features—a psychological thriller and noir mystery also in the works.

📅 At-a‑Glance Summary

🧟‍🔥 Final Thoughts

This week marks a strong surge in horror—both on screen and in games. Killing Floor 3 arrives with brutal energy, while Hellraiser: Revival reignites classic supernatural terror in interactive form. On the streaming side, Until Dawn offers nostalgia with a modern horror twist, and Death of a Unicorn polarizes with its tonal dissonance.

Looking ahead: expect indie horror labels and podcast projects to gain traction, while the delayed Dying Light title signals that quality matters more than fast release.

Let me know if you're interested in deeper reviews—or coverage of indie horror, festival updates, or retro scares next week!