Steve Pond's Blog, page 21

‘The Witcher’ Debuts First Look at Liam Hemsworth as Geralt in Season 4

The new era of Geralt of Rivia has arrived. Netflix debuted the first footage of Liam Hemsworth as “The Witcher” during the Canelo vs. Crawford fight on Saturday night. Season 4 of the fantasy drama will premiere on the streamer Oct. 30.

Set after the Continent-changing events of Season 3, this upcoming season will see Geralt (Hemsworth), Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) and Ciri (Freya Allan) separated once again and surrounded by enemies as a war wages around them. They will stumble upon unexpected allies in their quest to see each other again.

“This is the beginning of a two-season journey for our family to finally reunite and be together — hopefully forever,” Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich told Tudum.com about this upcoming season.

Watch the teaser below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQGsh...

Henry Cavill portrayed the role of Geralt during the show’s first three seasons. However, he departed the show in 2022 reportedly due to creative differences.

In addition to Hemsworth, Chalotra and Allan, Season 4 stars Joey Batey, Laurence Fishburne, Eamon Farren, Anna Shaffer, Mimî M Khayisa, Cassie Clare, Mahesh Jadu, Meng’er Zhang, Graham McTavish, Royce Pierreson, Mecia Simson, Sharlto Copley, Danny Woodburn, Jeremy Crawford, Bart Edwards, Hugh Skinner, James Purefoy, Christelle Elwin, Fabian McCallum, Juliette Alexandra, Ben Radcliffe, Connor Crawford, Aggy K. Adams, Linden Porco, Therica Wilson-Read, Rochelle Rose and Safiyya Ingar.

The fourth season will be comprised of eight 50-minute episodes. Hissrich serves as the series’ creator, showrunner and executive producer. Other EPs include Steve Gaub, Mike Ostrowski and Javier Grillo-Marxuach. Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko also executive produce for Platige Films, and Jason Brown and Sean Daniel executive produce for Hivemind Content.

Hissrich will also write Episode 1 of the series. This season’s other writers include Tania Lotia (402), Rae Benjamin (403), Troy Dangerfield (404), Matthew D’Ambrosio (405), Javier Grillo-Marxuach (406), Clare Higgins (407) and Mike Ostrowski (408). Sergio Mimica-Gezzan will direct the first and second episodes; Tricia Brock will direct the third and fourth episodes; Alex Garcia Lopez will direct the fifth and sixth episodes; and Jeremy Webb will direct the seventh and eighth episodes.

The post ‘The Witcher’ Debuts First Look at Liam Hemsworth as Geralt in Season 4 appeared first on TheWrap.

‘Degrassi: Whatever It Takes’ Review: An Overdue, If Underdeveloped, Tribute to Canada’s Groundbreaking Teen Franchise

If your family has seen every episode of “Degrassi” multiple times, held “Degrassi”-themed birthday parties or owns band T-shirts prominently featuring the logos of Downtown Sasquatch, Zit Remedy and WhisperHug, you will fully embrace the nostalgic elements of “Degrassi: Whatever It Takes.” (Don’t ask me how I know.)

Should you have absolutely no idea what any of the above means, Lisa Rideout’s affectionate documentary will serve as a suitable gateway to what remains the longest-running teen television franchise in history. It was also among the first to openly address — for starters — adolescent sexuality, domestic violence, abortion, self-harm, gender identity and representation.

Which is quite the feat for a Canadian public TV experiment, eh?

Sorry. But really: If all you know about “Degrassi” is that it launched Drake’s career — or even if his stint as a beloved child star is brand-new information you need time to process — Rideout’s memory trip may well pull you in.

There is, however, no doubt that this one was made for the fans. And they will be delighted to find lots of familiar faces looking back on the experience, from “The Kids of Degrassi Street” (spotlighting insane 1980s outfits) to “Degrassi: The Next Generation” (centered on Millennial angst) and “Degrassi: Next Class” (slightly racier, for “Generation Zed”).

The center of the film is, to some extent, the brilliant center of the Degrassi universe: co-creator, writer, producer and director Linda Schuyler. She also turns out to be the most complex character, as tales from various productions unfurl.

Rideout focuses foremost on the early years, and original cast members like Stacie Mistysyn, Amanda Stepto, Stefan Brogren and Dayo Ade candidly share often-startling stories. They tell of how they barely got paid, worked as both actors and crew on a non-union set and had little emotional support to deal with their intense storylines and unexpected fame.

Rideout doesn’t push Schuyler on these troubling revelations, preferring instead to leave them hanging in uncomfortable silence. This subtler approach can be impactful — it’s hard to miss the fact that Schuyler’s intermittently defensive recollections are filmed in her extravagantly decorated office, while the actors’ quietly pensive interviews are more often shot in modest bedrooms or a stark school building.

What’s more, there’s been some additional drama offscreen: Despite Rideout’s light tread, the film’s TIFF premiere was briefly in question when Schuyler filed legal action claiming the film includes “defamatory statements,” though she later withdrew it upon promise that future versions of the film will provide her perspective. This is, of course, highly unlikely to soften the implication that she wielded an iron fist as “Degrassi’s” producer.

Regardless, when Rideout moves ahead to “The Next Generation,” actors like Shane Kippel, Miriam McDonald, Jake Epstein and, yes, a strikingly humble Drake, bring new and equally honest perspectives. Once again, there are some bombs dropped in among the many happier memories, but they don’t receive extensive exploration. By the time we get to “Degrassi: Next Class,” which arrived on Netflix in 2016, the movie is almost over.

It would have been nice to see additional members of the cast (a great many fan faves are noticeably missing), hear about other iconic moments and dig deeper into the immense complexities of this broadly beloved and perpetually controversial project, but we can also understand the inevitable constraints; there’s only so much room for a chronological exploration of a 40-year franchise, and it’s undeniably tricky to balance the ethics and outlooks of different generations.

There is some irony to the fact that “Whatever It Takes” — which borrows its title from the show’s intrepid theme song — doesn’t always hit hard enough. “Degrassi,” after all, is famous for addressing tough subjects with unflinching defiance.

Nevertheless, Rideout has given us a heartfelt and long-overdue tribute to a groundbreaking show, and it’s fun to see the enthusiasm of unabashed admirers like director Kevin Smith. Most impactful of all are the interviews with the actors cthemselves, each of whom is thoughtful and candid in ways that leave us wanting to know more.

And, as it happens, there is more: Kippel and his “Next Generation” co-star, Mike Lobel, recently started a podcast called “DeGrads,” which has already gone into more behind-the-scenes depth than Rideout is able to capture in her decades-spanning doc. Fans will love it. Ask me how I know.

The post ‘Degrassi: Whatever It Takes’ Review: An Overdue, If Underdeveloped, Tribute to Canada’s Groundbreaking Teen Franchise appeared first on TheWrap.

Charlie Kirk’s Social Media Accounts Gain Millions of Followers After His Death

Several of Charlie Kirk’s social media accounts have gained huge swaths of new followers since the conservative activist’s death on Wednesday. Twenty-two-year-old college student Tyler Robinson has been arrested in connection with the shooting.

According to analytics available on Social Blade, Kirk’s YouTube account grew from 3.81 million followers on September 9 to 3.92 million the following day. At the time of writing, 4.56 million people have subscribed to the channel.

Similarly, the TikTok account for “The Charlie Kirk Show” had 7,300,000 followers the day before Kirk’s death; by Saturday, that number increased to 9,100,000. His Instagram account has also gained another 3.5 million followers.

The accounts for Kirk’s nonprofit organization Turning Point USA have also seen measured growth in recent days — the YouTube subscriber count has increased from 3.31 million (Tuesday) to 3.68 million (Saturday); the TikTok following jumped from 472,900 to 571,900 during the same time frame; and the Facebook account grew from 4,114,106 to 6,009,659 followers.

It appears the surge in interest has translated into an increase in inquiries into opening chapters of Turning Point at college campuses, and the organization’s director of productions Marcus Wada has organized several vigils in Kirk’s honor.

This is my boss, Marcus Wada, Director of productions at TPUSA, who has been working day and night to get memorial service ready taking a few minutes to go outside and share the gospel with mourners outside our HQ.

These are the types of people Charlie Kirk believed in and… pic.twitter.com/nDLDreY2jC

— Alex Clark (@yoalexrapz) September 13, 2025

“This is my boss, Marcus Wada, Director of productions at TPUSA, who has been working day and night to get memorial service ready taking a few minutes to go outside and share the gospel with mourners outside our HQ,” wrote Alex Clark, Turning Point USA’s wellness podcast host, on X Saturday.

“He says he will do it again at 7pm tonight if you’d like to come,” Clark added.

Last night Erika gave us specific direction: “I want the Taylor Swift concert to look like nothing compared to this.” As a swiftie I know what that means and what the challenge is. Buy your flights. Let’s go.

Register for seats: https://t.co/2jpsOdolQT https://t.co/vdLzdIfzdQ

— Alex Clark (@yoalexrapz) September 13, 2025

Clark also announced a public memorial service for Kirk in Arizona on September 21.

“Last night Erika gave us specific direction: ‘I want the Taylor Swift concert to look like nothing compared to this.’ As a swiftie I know what that means and what the challenge is. Buy your flights. Let’s go,” she shared in a separate X post.

The post Charlie Kirk’s Social Media Accounts Gain Millions of Followers After His Death appeared first on TheWrap.

Who Is Tyler Robinson? What We Know About the 22-Year-Old Accused of Killing Charlie Kirk

Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old student arrested and identified in connection with the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, will be formally charged on Tuesday, authorities said.

Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was shot while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. A bolt-action rifle was found nearby; Robinson was identified after police released surveillance photos and footage that allegedly showed him departing the scene.

Robinson was in his third year at Dixie Technical College at the time. At this point, there are more questions than answers surrounding the young adult accused of killing Charlie Kirk — here is what we know.

He grew up in Utah

Robinson and his family lived in Washington, Utah, and attended the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the area. He also attended Riverside Elementary as a child, where his 66-year-old neighbor Kristin Schwiermann worked as a janitor.

Schwiermann told the Los Angeles Times she was “shocked” by the 22-year-old’s involvement and added, “That’s not the kid I knew.”

Despite reports that paint Robinson as a loner, Schwiermann also insisted he had friends. “He was quiet, but he had friends in school, and he never caused problems,” she explained.

A classmate who attended high school alongside Tyler told USA Today he “was politically active and outspoken about people’s rights” and believed “both political sides were contributing to a country being in a worse place and not improving the world.”

His father recognized him

Robinson’s father, Matthew Robinson, realized his son was the target of the extensive, 33-hour manhunt following Kirk’s death after he saw images of Tyler online and on TV.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox told reporters Friday that a family member initially identified Tyler and then reached out to a family friend, who said Tyler “confessed to them or implied that he committed the incident.”

He held nonpartisan voter status

Tyler was registered nonpartisan. His father and mother, Amber Robinson, are registered Republicans.

Also during a press conference Friday, Cox said Tyler “had become more political in recent years” and had described Kirk as being “full of hate” — an opinion that was allegedly shared between Tyler and at least one family member.

Cox added that on September 10, Tyler and “another family member” discussed Kirk’s upcoming visit. “They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had,” Cox said. “The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate.”

The bullets were inscribed with cryptic, internet-influenced messages

Tyler made a point of inscribing several bullets with references to memes and messages with deep roots on the internet. “Hey fascist! Catch!” one read alongside five arrows (one pointing up, one pointing right, and three pointing down); others were engraved with references to far-right online communities like 4chan (“notices, bulges, OwO, what’s this?”).

OwO is a reference to a meme that mocks furry culture (furries are a fandom subculture who are interested in anthropomorphic animals — animals that share human characteristics like walking and walking — and often dress as such animals and/or characters).

As reported by multiple outlets, the arrows that accompanied, “Hey fascist! Catch” match the buttons players use to spark a bomb strike in the video game Helldivers 2.

Tyler inscribed a third bullet with the words “Bella Ciao” — a reference to the WWII-era anti-fascist song also used in the Netflix series “Money Heist.”

Reports about his relationship status cannot be verified

On Sunday, Fox News correspondent Brooke Singman reported that unidentified “sources” told her Tyler lived with “his transgender partner.”

“The individual, who is a male transitioning to a female, is fully cooperating with the FBI,” Singman added. “Sources tell me the FBI had texts and other communications between Robinson and the individual that helped FBI authorities solidify that Robinson was indeed the shooter.”

The FBI declined to comment on Singman’s reporting when reached by TheWrap. Singman has not disclosed her sources or offered material evidence. The New York Post echoed Singman’s report, writing that a law enforcement source confirmed it to the outlet.

And the Daily Mail, citing an affidavit, said a 22-year-old who lived with Robinson in Utah gave cops incriminating text messages leading to his arrest.

Why Nick Fuentes is connected

Some have suggested Tyler may be affiliated with “Groypers” — a self-imposed nickname for followers of far-right commentator Nick Fuentes.

Fuentes, a Holocaust revisionist and white nationalist, was hosted by Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2022, though Trump later distanced himself from what he called an unexpected dinner guest.

The “Groyper Army” is an online movement built around Fuentes and his work, and that is represented by Groyper – a cartoon frog related to the “Pepe” meme. Kirk often described Groypers as extremists, and there have been frequent online clashes between Fuentes’ followers and those of Kirk’s.

He will be charged next week

Tyler was arrested on September 11 for probable cause of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice and is currently being held at the Utah County Jail without bail.

The FBI declined to shed more light on Robinson’s background Friday, but a spokesperson noted, “We are confident we have the right individual in custody, but we are still working to establish the full picture of who he is and why he acted.”

The post Who Is Tyler Robinson? What We Know About the 22-Year-Old Accused of Killing Charlie Kirk appeared first on TheWrap.

Greg Gutfeld Says Charlie Kirk Assassination Will ‘Backfire’ – Then Tries Some Jokes, Which Also Backfire | Video

“Gutfeld!” returned to late night on Friday, the Fox News show’s first taping since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and the namesake host started his monologue with a grave face and a personal note about the slain conservative activist.

“All of us here knew Charlie,” Greg Gutfeld said. “I’m pretty sure you knew him too … you might have met the guy. He was pretty easy to reach. So you can imagine what it was like here at Fox when we heard he was shot. The whole place went silent.”

The incessant jokester couldn’t help himself, however, and the studio audience also fell silent at his next line.

“I mean, even [Brian] Kilmeade stopped talking.”

Outside of a single nervous titter – and someone off-camera whispering “God!” – you could’ve heard a pin drop in the studio.

“You can laugh,” Gutfeld said.

A few audience members complied, and so Gutfeld rolled on.

“Jesse [Watters] was so shocked, his hairpiece turned white,” Gutfeld continued, now drawing a smatter of chuckles. “Dana [Perino] stopped working on her list of interns to make cry.”

Again, crickets.

Perhaps just in time, Gutfeld dropped attempts at levity, and returned to gravity:

“It’s one of those pieces of news that scrambles your brain,” he said. “You can almost feel the circuitry try to find a pathway for this new information. So how do you process it today? Generally, when something awful happens, to distract ourselves we will see how other people are handling it. You guessed it: terribly.”

He then rolled a series of media pundit bad-takes, including the one that got MSNBC contributor Matthew Dowd fired.

“So why was Charlie assassinated?,” Gutfeld concluded. “It wasn’t about his ideas, it is that he was so good at them. He was the best. There was no one like him. This will backfire. Look at the history of those murdered because they were good. MLK Jr.’s dream did not die with him. Or JFK’s. Or Lincoln’s. As much as I hate the song “Imagine,” it still gets played thousands of times a day around the globe. So their legacy grows, and Charlie’s will as well, beyond his wildest dreams. … He already knew his impact, which will only grow with his passing. … A man whose entire career was built on polite conversation. But that grief now hardens into resolve. If you want to kill an idea, the worst thing you can do is kill the man behind it. Because that gives the idea not just likes, but also wings.”

Watch the entire monologue in the video above.

The post Greg Gutfeld Says Charlie Kirk Assassination Will ‘Backfire’ – Then Tries Some Jokes, Which Also Backfire | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Jasmine Crockett Denies That Her Rhetoric – Like Calling Trump ‘Wannabe Hitler’ – Provokes Violence | Video

Voicing political disagreements and calling Donald Trump “wannabe Hitler” is not the same as “saying, go out and hurt somebody,” Rep. Jasmine Crokett said on “The Breakfast Club” Friday.

Crockett joined host Charlamagne Tha God for a conversation about political violence in the wake of the death of Charlie Kirk.

“We’ve got to talk about what it means when you’re running for president or you’re running for one of these higher offices and you go out there and you talk about beating people [up], you go out there and you say things like, I could shoot somebody in the middle of the street in New York and still win — we’ve got to talk about, like, that is next level,” Crockett explained.

(While speaking to voters in Sioux Center, Iowa, in 2016, Trump infamously said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?”.)

“Me disagreeing with you, me calling you, you know, wannabe Hitler, all of those things are not necessarily saying, ‘Go out and hurt somebody,'” Crockett continued. “But when you’re literally telling people at rallies, yeah, beat him up and that kind of stuff, you are promoting a culture of violence so we need to talk about what it looks like when you don’t promote a culture of violence.”

After Charlamagne pointed out that “both sides of the aisle do it,” Crockett added, “They call us socialists, they call us all things, but I don’t think that that actually evokes an environment of violence.”

“I think literally saying things about like, oh, these people don’t deserve to live or the images of what we’re seeing right now as ICE is going into communities and dragging people and kicking them and taking them down to the ground and busting windows out, like that is the, we have never seen these types of images of ICE,” she added.

Watch the interview with Rep. Crockett in the video above.

The post Jasmine Crockett Denies That Her Rhetoric – Like Calling Trump ‘Wannabe Hitler’ – Provokes Violence | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

7 Best Comedy Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now

Prime Video has countless options for streaming which can always make the choice daunting.

When it comes to comedies, Prime Video is an embarrassment of riches. Whether you are feeling classics like “10 Things I Hate About You” and “Meet the Parents,” or more modern gems like “Snack Shack,” the streamer has plenty of stellar options for when you’re looking for a laugh.

Here are seven of the best comedies on Prime Video.

Buena Vista Pictures10 Things I Hate About You

“10 Things I Hate About You” is sacred to a certain age group. A modernized retelling of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” the film stars Julia Stiles as Kat Stratford who has no interest in high school dating unlike her sister who is forbidden to do so until Kat does. It seems unlikely until she meets the mysterious and charming Patrick Verona played by Heath Ledger.

While “10 Things I Hate About You” may not be a laugh-a-minute comedy, it’s hard to watch nearly any scene without a smile on your face. Stile and Ledger’s chemistry is the main event of the film and their banter has rarely been topped on screen.

“Meet the Parents” (Credit: Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, United International Pictures)Meet the Parents

Meeting your significant other’s parents is a universal dread of one “what could go wrong” scenario after another. Iconic 2000 comedy “Meet the Parents” answers that question with worst case after worst case. Although some of the humor is a bit dated – being a male nurse is not the gut-buster it apparently once was – but most of the film holds strong.

Robert De Niro flexes his comedy chops against Ben Stiller and each moment the two share is worth at least a handful of solid laughs and face-melting cringe experiences.

20th Century FoxIdiocracy

“Idiocracy” is hilarious. Unfortunately, “Idiocracy” has also trended more and more toward nonfiction with each year we move past its original release. If you want to be bent over with laughs while simultaneously laughing so you don’t cry at the relatability of the Luke Wilson film lampooning anti-intellectualism and consumerism/capitalism then you’re in for a helluva ride.

“Snack Shack” (Credit: Republic Pictures)Snack Shack

From the director of viral hit “Dinner in America,” “Snack Shack” is a summer coming-of-age story set in Nebraska in the ’90s. Two friends open up the titular snack shake at a local pool and end up finding financial success (in the eyes of high schoolers) while both falling for the same girl working.

The film scratches that itch of reliving a teenage summer with a burning crush on someone. The three leads, Connor Sherry, Gabriel LaBelle, and Mika Abdalla, have chemistry with each other in spades, and while the film can be a touch heartbreaking at times, this is certainly a coming-of-age story worth coming back to time and again.

Liam Neeson in “The Naked Gun” (Paramount Pictures)The Naked Gun

Technically, “The Naked Gun” is only rentable on Prime Video right now, but as it’s the funniest film of 2025, it is worth the price of admission. The film nails the energy and humor of the original film and Liam Neeson goes all in as Frank Drebin Jr.

There isn’t a frame of this film that does not have at least one joke in it. If you want both quality and quantity of laughs, “The Naked Gun” is the film for you.

Borat: Subsequent MovieFilm

14 years after the first “Borat” film became a cultural sensation, Sacha Baron Cohen returned to the character with “Borat: Subsequent MovieFilm.” Put simply, if you liked the first film there will be plenty to like in the second. Many of the elements and energy are the same, but put through the lens of the current events of the post-Trump America.

The biggest gift the film gives, though, is Maria Bakalova as Tutar Sagdiyev. She goes toe-to-toe with Cohen in every moment they share and becomes the real heart of the movie in the process.

The Big Sick

For a film that revolves around the hook of someone falling into a coma from a mysterious illness, “The Big Sick” is full of well-placed comedy. Written by comedian Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon as a near true story of the two of them, the film follows a Pakistani comic who falls for an American, and early into their relationship, she gets sick and he is forced to meet her parents, forming a strong connection with them as well.

“The Big Sick” is as funny as it is romantic and if you’re looking for a romcom that might have slipped under the radar a bit – despite being Oscar-nominated – this Prime Video original is beyond worth the watch.

The post 7 Best Comedy Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now appeared first on TheWrap.

Nicole Kidman Says ‘Practical Magic 2’ is Wrapped: ‘Thank You’ | Video

Filming on “Practical Magic 2,” the sequel to the 1998 film “Practical Magic,” starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, has wrapped. Kidman announced the news Saturday on Instagram.

Kidman shared a video of herself and Bullock walking into the sunset as they hold hands. “Profile shot?” Bullock asks as Kidman laughs.

The follow-up will debut in theaters on September 18, 2026.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nicole Kidman (@nicolekidman)

Kidman shared a sneak peek of the movie on social media in July. “The witches are back,” Kidman wrote on Instagram. “The Owens sisters’ first day on set!”

The pair are joined by Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing who played Aunt Jet and Aunt Franny in the original movie. Joey King will play Bullock’s daughter, and the cast also includes Lee Pace (“Pushing Daisies”), Maisie Williams (“Game of Thrones”), Xolo Maridueña (“Blue Beetle”) and Solly McLeod (“The Dead Don’t Hurt”).

The sequel is being directed by Susanne Bier, who previously directed Kidman in “The Perfect Couple” and “The Undoing” and Bullock in “Bird Box.”

The post Nicole Kidman Says ‘Practical Magic 2’ is Wrapped: ‘Thank You’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

The 25 Best Horror Movie Franchises Ever

Motion picture franchises have been around almost as long as movies themselves, because if audiences love a character, they’ll usually pay to see them again and again. And horror movie franchises have been taking advantage of this all along, making your favorite nightmare into a recurring menace, who refuses to leave you or their victims alone.

But the longer a horror movie franchise goes on, the harder it is to be consistent. Familiarity makes even the scariest monsters less scary, to the point that even the living embodiment of nightmares turned up in a music video with The Fat Boys. Lots of great horror movies were diminished by the lower quality of their sequels, but the best horror franchises keep going strong, either because the filmmakers find new and effective ways to keep it fresh, or because the good installments average out or, even better, outweigh the bad.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the whole horror genre to find the franchises (three films minimum!) that either never got bad, or never got so bad that we stopped screaming.

Behold, the best horror movie franchises ranked.

‘Hellbound: Hellraiser II’ (New World Pictures)25. “Hellraiser”

Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser,” based on his 1986 novella “The Hellbound Heart,” is one of the grossest psychosexual nightmares that ever spawned an 11-film franchise. Those films tell story of a mysterious puzzle box that opens a gateway to a hell-like dimension, where pain and pleasure are indivisible, and which is overseen by gloriously mutilated monster priests called Cenobites. Their leader, Pinhead (Doug Bradley), has become one of the great horror icons, even though the “Hellraiser” franchise is wildly uneven. The six straight-to-video installments, released between 2000 and 2018, are almost unilaterally disappointing, having little to do with Barker’s vision, and reframing the series as a simplistic exploration of Catholic guilt. The great installments ensure that “Hellraiser” has a spot on the all-time list. The lousy ones keep it very low on that list.

‘V/H/S/94’ (Shudder)24. “V/H/S”

Horror anthology movies are, by definition, almost always hit-and-miss. The long-running “V/H/S” franchise is no exception, but it hits often and it hits hard. Every short film in the series adheres, tidily or sloppily, to the found-footage horror genre, but with filmmakers like Timo Tjahjanto, Nacho Vigalondo, Scott Derrickson, Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett, Chloe Okuno and Flying Lotus given free reign to let their imaginations run wild, that limitation often leads to spectacular results. The “V/H/S” series has eight official installments so far — and also two spin-offs (“SiREN” and “Kids vs. Aliens”) — and it just keeps chugging along, with a new movie released every single year since 2021. It’s the little horror franchise that could, and usually does.

‘Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning’ (Lionsgate)23. “Ginger Snaps”

Although released to very little fanfare in 2020, the first “Ginger Snaps” soon jumped onto every respectable list of the best werewolf movies ever made. It’s easy to see why. The richly-realized coming of age horror movie starred Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins as teen Canadian goth sisters who have to grow up quickly when one of them is bitten by a werewolf. It’s a spectacularly-written and performed werewolf movie, a spot-on exploration of sisterhood and a scary, funny allegory for the physical horrors of puberty. Over the course of two more films, “Ginger Snaps” spread out in ambitious directions, tackling lycanthropy as an elaborate metaphor for addiction and substance abuse, and finally the complex colonial history of Canada itself. The original is still the best, but the whole trilogy deserves credit for expanding what the werewolf genre can be.

‘Dracula Has Risen from the Grave’ (Hammer)22. “Dracula”

Unless you work in the field of carpentry, the name “Hammer” is all-but synonymous with horror. Over multiple decades Hammer Film Productions brought the genre kicking and screaming into the second half of the 20th century, bringing sex and violence and bright red blood into the cinematic lexicon, redefining many of the classic monsters of yore. The first Hammer horror movie was 1957’s “The Curse of Frankenstein,” but its most iconic franchise stars the towering, seductive Christopher Lee as Count Dracula. There are nine films in Hammer’s “Dracula” series, some more respectable than others, but almost all of them are gaudy, horny, atmospheric thrillers. And the ones that aren’t are still kooky treats, like the oddball martial arts hybrid “The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires,” which features fight scenes directed by Chang Cheh, one of the most celebrated kung fu filmmakers who ever lived.

‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2’ (Cannon)21. “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”

Tobe Hooper’s original “Texas Chain Saw Massacre” remains one of the scariest movies ever made, a low budget nightmare with some of the most terrifying images in film history. The eight sequels and reboots that followed are all over the place, with strange tonal shifts that sometimes work and sometimes fall face-first into their own chainsaws. Hooper’s first sequel is a wild and darkly amusing reimagining of his own horrifying characters, and subsequent installments varied from high camp to extreme misery to damn near incompetence. At least they’re (almost) never boring. The highlights are very, very high, and only a couple of the lowlights are genuinely bad.

The Conjuring 2 (Warner Bros.)20. “The Conjuring”

In real-life, Ed and Lorraine Warren were controversial figures, self-described paranormal investigators who were usually considered con artists. In the “Conjuring” movies all of their supernatural adventures were 100% real, and although you could argue that it’s irresponsible to paint them in such a broadly heroic light, a lot of the movies are good. The Warrens take center stage in six of the “Conjuring” movies, and their breakout monsters Annabelle and The Nun each headline their own spinoff series, creating one of the few non-Marvel “cinematic universes” that actually struck pay dirt. It’s another hit-and-miss horror series, with only a few massive successes (including the most recent sequel, “The Conjuring: Last Rites”), but the majority of the films are reliable, above-average ghost stories with memorable characters and scares.

‘Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight’ (Universal Pictures)19. “Tales from the Crypt”

The adaptations of the classic E.C. horror comic “Tales from the Crypt” are best known for their undead master of scare-emonies, The Cryptkeeper, who debuted on the HBO television series and presented two feature-length, very entertaining feature films in the 1990s. But the franchise actually dates back further, with two excellent horror anthology films in the 1970s: “Tales from the Crypt” and “The Vault of Horror.” Scares abound in the early films, kitsch abounds in the 1990s movies (and the less said about the barely-released fifth film from 2002, “Ritual,” the better), but the highlight is Ernest Dickerson’s “Demon Knight,” an electrifying all-star monster movie with an iconic villain performance from Billy Zane, at his very Billy Zaniest.

‘Hannibal’ (MGM)18. “Hannibal Lecter”

The first adaptation of Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter books, Michael Mann’s “Manhunter,” is one of the best serial killer movies ever made, starring a practically-perfect Brian Cox as everyone’s favorite cannibal — even though his name is inexplicably spelled “Lecktor”. But the film franchise didn’t take off until Jonathan Demme’s Oscar-winning classic “The Silence of the Lambs,” starring Anthony Hopkins as the iconic villain, who now has Katharine Hepburn’s accent. (One you hear it, you can’t unhear it!) Those first two films are proper classics, and the following films get steadily worse, with “Hannibal” going wildly Grand Guignol, “Red Dragon” generically rehashing “Manhunter,” and “Hannibal Rising”… existing. But Hopkins earns his icon status, and the first half of the franchise is chef’s kiss.

‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge’ (New Line Cinema)17. “A Nightmare on Elm Street”

Freddy Krueger is one of horror’s most memorable icons, which is pretty impressive since he’s been in some really stinky sequels over the years. The serial killer who attacks in your dreams, with a scarred face and knives for fingers, uses every surreal trick at his disposal to menace teenagers over nine motion pictures, getting increasingly goofy over the years, until Wes Craven came back for the mind bending “New Nightmare,” which brought Freddy into the “real” world, where he menaced the filmmakers behind the original movie. The original classic, the underrated second installment, the slightly overrated third installment, “New Nightmare,” and the crossover “Freddy vs. Jason” are all worthy films, but the others are a mixed bag at best — and the less said about the awful remake, the better (except that it wasn’t Jackie Earle Haley’s fault).

‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ (United Artists)16. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”

The “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” franchise is an odd duck, in that there are no sequels whatsoever, just a series of remakes every couple of decades, updating the premise for a new generation. There are four official adaptations now, not including the countless knockoffs, and three of them are stone cold classics. Don Siegel’s brilliant 1956 original, about a small town where people were replaced by alien drones, spoke to contemporary anxieties about conformity and communism. Philip Kaufman’s also-brilliant 1978 remake updated the text to reflect anxieties about consumerism and pop psychiatry. Abel Ferrara’s underappreciated and freaky 1993 version “Body Snatchers” tackled American militarism. And although the 2007 version, “The Invasion,” was notoriously mangled in post-production, it still has disquieting things to say about modern politics and misogyny. Few horror franchises have remained as relevant as “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Which, unfortunately for all of us, is scary.

‘Tremors 2: Aftershocks’ (Universal)15. “Tremors”

Ron Underwood’s “Tremors” is one of the best monster movies ever made, a rollicking horror-comedy about a small town, full of memorable characters, encountering a species of subterranean carnivores. And although all of its sequels went straight to video, somehow the quality never dropped very much. As the series progressed, and lovable survivalist Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) graduated from the comic relief to the protagonist, the films stayed true to their 1950s monster movie roots, and kept filling the frame with gonzo situations and likable casts. Even the worst “Tremors” movie is still a good movie, including the sixth installment, “A Cold Day in Hell,” which was literally supposed to be “Tremors in the Snow” but apparently they forgot the snow part. A hoot-and-a-half from beginning to end, that’s what “Tremors” is, and Burt Gummer is easily one of the greatest horror movie protagonists in movie history.

‘Suspiria’ (Produzioni Atlas Consorziate)14. The Three Mothers

Dario Argento became one of the most celebrated horror filmmakers in history with his unforgettable gialli — an Italian horror genre which combines detective stories and operatic murders — but don’t let anyone tell you his greatest masterpiece, “Suspiria,” is a Giallo. Instead it’s a powerfully dreamlike supernatural thriller, which makes almost zero sense, about an evil witch manipulating a remote ballet academy. The second film in Argento’s Three Mothers trilogy, “Inferno,” is just as scary, although even more inexplicable. The third, “Mother of Tears,” didn’t make much of an impact, but when you factor in Luca Guadagnino’s ambitious and celebrated “Suspiria” remake, this series amounts to one of the most disturbing and surreal hallucinations you’re ever likely to see. Leave logic at the door, and try to remember where you keep your mind, since the Three Mothers movies might make you lose it.

Universal Pictures13. “Halloween”

The original “Halloween” officially codified what we now call the slasher genre, and it’s as razor sharp and terrifying as it’s ever been. But it was supposed to be a standalone movie, and its overwhelming popularity demanded sequel after sequel. John Carpenter and the filmmakers who came in his wake often struggled to keep “Halloween” fresh, and while there were plenty of missteps along the way (“Halloween 6,” “Resurrection” and “Ends,” in particular) another great, or at least very efficient slasher was never more than a couple films away. Bonus points for the wild and woolly “Halloween III: Season of the Witch,” which caught hell for decades for abandoning the serial killer Michael Myers in favor of a goofy story about killer masks, and for Rob Zombie’s ambitious reboot, which caught hell for having a different perspective, and now finally gets credit for doing something emotionally complex with the long-stagnant franchise.

‘Alien 3’ (20th Century Fox)12. “Alien”

As with many of the best horror franchises, if we were judging them based purely on iconography, the “Alien” movies would be at the top of the list. But if we judge them based on overall quality, it’s hard to ignore that these films aren’t all created equal. Ridley Scott’s original “Alien” is a masterpiece of the sci-fi/horror genre, and James Cameron’s epic sequel adds pulse-pounding action and a (not necessarily well thought out) Vietnam War allegory into the mix. From then on the movies have mostly been mixed bags, with astounding visuals but sometimes laughable stories. “Alien 3” is the last film in the series that completely works, whether director David Fincher thinks so or not. All the others have elements worth recommending — except for “Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem,” which is so dimly lit you literally can’t see most of it — but they’re all trying to recapture the lost magic.

‘Dawn of the Dead’ (United Film Distribution Company)11. “The Living Dead”

Very few movies can claim to be as influential as George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead,” which changed the zombie genre forever and inspired countless knockoffs, some of which had pretty good franchises of their own. Romero’s first four follow-ups, “Dawn of the Dead,” “Day of the Dead” and “Land of the Dead,” are all exciting classics in their own right, using the metaphor of the walking dead to critique consumerism, militarism and class warfare. His found footage riff “Diary of the Dead” was a stumble, and doesn’t seem to understand what makes found footage movies work in the first place, but his underappreciated final installment “Survival of the Dead” asks poignant, hitherto unexplored questions about what these movies have to say about death itself. What do zombie movies have to say about the way we interpret and value death, and what does our eager dehumanization of the dead say about our collective moral compass? They’re always fascinating, these movies, and almost always great.

‘Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday’ (New Line Cinema)10. “Friday the 13th”

Here’s the thing about the “Friday the 13th” movies: Only a couple of them are great, but every single installment is fun. From the original, serious early slashers to the goofy 3-D gimmick, from the self-aware sequel where Jason fought a young horror VFX artist, to the one with a copycat Jason, to the one where Jason gets struck by lightning and becomes a zombie, to the one where he basically fights Stephen King’s Carrie, to the one where he gets melted by New York City sewage, to the one where he leaps from body to body and likes to shave people against their will, to the sci-fi outer space spectacular, to the one where he fights Freddy Krueger, to the impressively effective remake which somehow makes the completely chaotic franchise feel like it was all planned out from the beginning. There’s a Jason Voorhees movie for everybody, and because very few of them want to be taken seriously, it’s okay to giggle and roll your eyes. The ultimate drive-in movie horror franchise.

‘The Purge: Election Year’ (Universal)9. “The Purge”

Like Romero’s zombie movies before them, James DeMonaco’s “Purge” franchise imagines Americans as a horde of mindless murderers. The difference is that, in “The Purge,” they don’t kill because they’re zombies, they kill because they’re allowed to. These incredibly cynical movies, about a near-future America where everyone is allowed to commit murder one night out of the year, say bleak but increasingly salient things about how the right wing moves the Overton Window further and further in the direction of fascism, until the final installment argues that completely legalized murder is what most of America wants. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more relevant horror franchise for the 21st century, and although the first film is — here’s a rarity— the worst of the bunch, they’re all spot-on with their depressing, terrifying social commentary.

‘Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead’ (Starway International, Inc.)8. “Phantasm”

It doesn’t get the respect of its more popular contemporaries, but pound-for-pound, Don Coscarelli’s “Phantasm” franchise is one of the most ambitious, bizarre, and artistically resonant horror series ever produced. What begins as a childlike nightmare about a funeral home managed by a giant, mysterious, all-powerful being who hails from another dimension, somehow evolves into a sprawling mythos that balances thrilling chainsaw duels and killer floating orbs with a poignant treatise on death and memory. It doesn’t make literal sense, so abandon all logic ye who enter here, but as a hybrid of David Lynchian dream metaphors and Sam Raimi-esque maximalism, the “Phantasm” movies are pure, fascinating cinema.

‘Cult of Chucky’ (Universal)7. “Child’s Play”

It started out as a simple but effective anxiety nightmare about consumerism, in which the hot new toy of the season turns out to be a dangerous influence, because the doll is possessed by a serial killer. That was enough for three films, all of which are great fun and two of which are classics, but “Child’s Play” grew up and into one of the most ambitious horror franchises around. Almost always written and sometimes directed by Don Mancini, the franchise took a brilliant turn towards meta commentary in the hilarious “Bride of Chucky,” before tackling queerness and gender in the often-misunderstood “Seed of Chucky,” before going back to its scary roots in “Curse of Chucky” and then exploding into the surreal in “Cult of Chucky.” It turns out a franchise about a killer doll has a lot more flexibility than you could possibly imagine. Even the remake, the film made without Mancini’s involvement, is a successfully scary horror comedy. You can’t miss with “Child’s Play.”

‘Saw X’ (Lionsgate)6. “Saw”

The “Saw” movies are a weird contradiction, since at their core they are extremely simple movies. Serial killer puts his victims in elaborate death traps, forcing them to mutilate themselves if they have any hope of survival. Inventive, frightening, easy to replicate over and over again. But they’re also fiendishly complicated stories, a nesting doll of flashbacks and revelations, in which the only possible way to comprehend the first seven films in their entirely is to watch them all back to back and take copious notes. Although the later films weren’t always successful, “Saw X” returned to the series to its emotional core, in which people who have to learn a valuable lesson are forced to reevaluate their lives under extreme duress. Gory, unforgettable, ambitious horror filmmaking, and sometimes — especially in “Saw VI,” which focuses on the immorality of the American health care industry — timely and powerful.

’28 Years Later’ (Sony Pictures Releasing)5. “28 Days Later”

It’s worth remembering that every single one of these franchise is either still ongoing, or could announce a new sequel/prequel/remake/reboot at any second, so their overall quality is subject to change over time. Heck, there’s a brand new installment in the “28 Days Later” series coming out in just a couple of months. But it’d have to be pretty terrible to seriously affect its ranking, since the first three films in the series are all amazing. Danny Boyle’s original revitalized the zombie genre, not just redefining it for a new generation but directly leading to zombies becoming the go-to horror monster of the new century so far. “28 Weeks Later” was a remarkable follow-up in its own right, but “28 Years Later” is an instant classic, a powerful new reimagining of the zombie apocalypse as a complex treatise on British national identity, and not always a favorable one. Stylistically bold, narratively challenging, and astoundingly intelligent, it’s hard to celebrate these movies enough.

Richard Harmon in ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ (New Line)4. “Final Destination”

The “Final Destination” movies are, in many ways, the horror genre in its most concentrated form. The premise is simple, and a perfect excuse to craft some of the most suspenseful scenes imaginable. A group of people narrowly avoid getting killed in a massive disaster, but they were supposed to die, so Death itself comes after them one-by-one, manipulating their surroundings in tiny ways that cascade into terrifying “accidents.” Anything in the “Final Destination” movies could be the instrument of your doom, from a coin that falls out of somebody’s pocket to a tiny little screw. Everything is terrifying, and there’s no escaping your killer, because we all gotta go sometime. There are six films in the franchise and five of them are expertly crafted supernatural suspense yarns, and even the worst one — “The Final Destination” (2009) — would be pretty good if it didn’t have so many other, better installments to compete with.

“Scream VI” (Paramount Pictures)3. “Scream”

Wes Craven’s “Scream” was, quite famously, supposed to be the final nail in the slasher genre’s coffin, taking place in the “real” world where all the characters knew how scary movies worked, and could avoid getting killed just by following the “rules” (read: tropes). But it was more than a self-aware horror comedy, it was an impressively-realized, complex ensemble film, jam-packed with mature writing, fascinating characters and endless possibilities. Over time the commentary became secondary, and the “Scream” movies became more like an elaborate ongoing horror soap opera, where it’s always sweeps week and anyone could be written off — violently — at any time. It’s ironic that “Scream” wound up jumpstarting the genre it was all-but designed to kill, with irony no less, but most ironic of all is that it’s now one of the most sincere horror franchises still in operation.

‘Evil Dead Rise’ (Warner Bros.)2. “The Evil Dead”

There are no bad “Evil Dead” movies. In fact, we’ll go one further: Every “Evil Dead” movie is, to one degree or another, genuinely great. Sam Raimi dragged a small company of filmmakers to a cabin in the woods, filmed a little, gory horror movie like there was no tomorrow, and emerged with a film so scary Stephen King went to bat for it at a time when that meant the world to every horror fan. Raimi then reinvented his own film with a quasi-remake that combined gory supernatural terror with “The Three Stooges,” and brought his hapless hero Ash (Bruce Campbell) back to medieval times in the spectacular horror adventure comedy “Army of Darkness.” And when the series came roaring back, Fede Alvarez reinvented the original again as a gory allegory for addiction recovery and intervention, and most recently, Lee Cronin brought the nightmare into the home with “Evil Dead Rise,” a film which turns your mother into your worst nightmare. They’re all incredibly entertaining, they’re usually very smart, and they’re all scary as hell.

‘Universal Classic Monsters Collection’ (Universal)1. The Universal Classic Monsters

The Universal Monsters have been the face of the horror genre, as a whole, for nearly 100 years. These classic versions of the literary creatures Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster and the Invisible Man — alongside original creations like the Gill-Man, the Wolf Man and the Mummy — defined sound-era horror filmmaking as exercises in uncomfortable empathy, making the audience sympathize with the beasts of our nightmares. They take place in gorgeous, often gothic worlds where all our favorite creatures dwelled together, uniting repeatedly in “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man,” “House of Frankenstein” and “House of Dracula” before they all faced their greatest nemeses: the comedy duo of Abbott and Costello. They’re not all great movies but they are collectively great, the stuff our darkest imagination is made of, fueling a variety of excellent remakes and reboots (John Badham’s “Dracula,” Stephen Sommer’s “The Mummy”) and yes, a few stinkers as well. But no Universal Monster movie has ever been bad enough to ruin these icons or undermine their characters and stories.

The post The 25 Best Horror Movie Franchises Ever appeared first on TheWrap.

‘Only Murders in the Building’ Stars Steve Martin and Martin Short Spar Over Their Approach to Physical Comedy

Note: This story contains spoilers from “Only Murders in the Building.”

Steve Martin and Martin Short have proven time and time again that they’re the masters of physical comedy — and they’re showing no signs of slowing down in “Only Murders in the Building” at the ages of 80 and 75, respectively.

In Season 4 of the Hulu series, Short showed off his physical comedy chops when he slid down a bannister dressed like John McEnroe as part of Oliver Putnam’s test to prove his physical fitness. Meanwhile, Martin flexed his own physical comedy skills in the Season 5 premiere — which saw Charles Haden-Savage straddling and climbing around beloved Arconia doorman Lester’s (Teddy Coluca) coffin to ensure he had all of his fingers still attached.

When asked about their preparation for the show’s scenes involving physical comedy, Short told TheWrap: “You can’t really know exactly what you’re going to do until you’re on the set.” But Martin was quick to have a different perspective.

“I totally disagree. The physical comedy depends on how dangerous it is. If it’s dangerous, you have to be very, very careful about hurting yourself or hurting someone else,” Martin said. “But in the case of this year, I’d say it was more spontaneous on the coffin. You try things, you use some things and you don’t use other things.”

Of course, that begged the question from Short: “Which season was were the stunts really dangerous?” to which Martin replied, “The season when I had to slide down a pole.”

“That’s true, didn’t you tie it off?,” Short quipped, to which Martin responded: “Well, it’s called the magic of show business.”

As opposed to Meryl Streep and Melissa McCarthy, who decided to take over choreographing their fight in Season 4, Martin and Short’s first instinct is to bring in a stunt person, executive producer John Hoffman told TheWrap.

“Then you slowly see some of that get whittled away by them. They’re like, ‘Well, maybe I should do that. Well, no [the stunt double isn’t] going to have the timing. Let me try that.’ So it finds its way back to a balance,” Hoffman explained. “But it’s incredible to me what I see [Steve and Marty] get up to. These are comedic maestros that are doing stuff both emotionally acting-wise and physically as comedians in the most elegant ways. I genuinely think they’re doing the best work of their careers and post-75 for both of them. It’s unbelievable.”

He confirmed that Martin in particular takes preparation for his physical comedy in the show very seriously.

“Steve and I will go on for months before he’s ready to shoot with ideas about the way it might be written, this little adjustment here and there. Then when we get to set and see the set, we always have a special rehearsal with him to say, ‘Here’s what we’ve got and what we’re looking at. What can we make?’ And he’s always coming up with these brilliant ideas,” Hoffman continued. “Marty does the same, but Steve is like a scientist on what things are cleanest. It’s just great to watch.”

When asked about the Season 5 premiere scene on the official “Only Murders in the Building” podcast, Coluca confirmed it was actually him in the casket.

“When we got the first two scripts, I was going to shoot a commercial. On the day of the table read, I had to leave for North Carolina,” Coluca recalled. “And I’m reading episode one in bed. I’m looking. I’m looking. And I said, ‘they put me in a casket.’ And my wife started crying immediately.”

He noted that he and his wife first met during a bereavement group after both being widowed when they were young.

“I said to John, ‘I don’t think I could do it’,'” Coluca continued. “He said, ‘Well, Steve has a bit he wants to do and I really think it’s going to be funny.’ I said, ‘All right, I’m going to talk to my wife’ but then John called my wife. And he’s the most soothing person in the world.”

Coluca and his wife have since seen the premiere and had nothing but praise for the scene’s execution.

“The way they handled it was great,” he said. “It might be the funniest scene I’ve ever done in my career and I’m dead.”

“Only Murders in the Building” releases new episodes Tuesdays on Hulu.

The post ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Stars Steve Martin and Martin Short Spar Over Their Approach to Physical Comedy appeared first on TheWrap.