There are lots of folks who are concerned about the privacy factors surrounding DNA testing services like Ancestry and 23&Me. Do they keep your DNA info? Can they sell it? There are valid concerns. But what people aren’t thinking about is the fear that you will reconnect with previously unknown relatives who invite you to a creepy countryside manor in the UK and try to murder you in some ritual. Thankfully, “The Invitation” is here to serve as a cautionary tale. 

Continue reading ‘The Invitation’ Trailer: Nathalie Emmanuel Meets Distant Relatives With Devious Motives In Sony’s New Horror Film at The Playlist.

The 2010s felt like a banner decade for the horror genre. It’s difficult to say that definitively as time is the only thing that can really make that distinction, but as the decade comes to a close, it feels like one that is going to be held up as a “golden era.”

READ MORE: The 25 Best Foreign Language Horror Movies Of All Time

It’s easy to understand why. After a decade filled with remakes, cheap, careless gunk from the likes of Dark Castle and Platinum Dunes, and the “torture porn” movement that metastasized from taking the extreme violence out of the “French New Extremity” (at least in mainstream horror), audiences were yearning for something more adventurous, and filmmakers were more than happy to oblige.

Continue reading The Best Horror Movies Of The Decade [2010s] at The Playlist.

Christmas Day saw the long-awaited release of filmmaker Karyn Kusama’s “Destroyer.” After a rocky career, featuring incredible highs (“Girlfight” and “The Invitation”) and devastating lows (“Jennifer’s Body” & “Aeon Flux”), the director is poised to come back and assert herself as one of the best creators in the industry. And she has been able to bounce back thanks to some lessons she learned from previous films.

Continue reading Karyn Kusama Explains What Went Wrong & What She Learned From ‘Aeon Flux’ And ‘Jennifer’s Body’ at The Playlist.

We know — it’s February and the last thing you want to hear about is another awards show, but believe us when we say that the American Independent Film Awards are different. Generally speaking, the awards season tends to celebrate the best in cinema, with the caveat being that many movies get on the Oscar radar because they have the money and influence behind them helping to make that push. And while the Indie Spirit Awards somewhat the fill the gap of the Oscars, focusing on movies produced outside the studio system for less than $20 million, it still means that worthy films get overlooked.

Continue reading Nominations For Inaugural American Independent Film Awards Revealed at The Playlist.

Maybe it was just because it provided a respite from the year’s most terrifying drama, “American Horror Story: The 2016 Presidential Election,” but the past 12 months have been unusually good for the horror movie. In a year where franchise after franchise underperformed, horror films remained a consistent draw in multiplexes, and for the most part with new original movies rather than the umpteenth sequel or reboot of “Friday The 13th,” “Saw” or “Paranormal Activity.”

Away from mainstream theaters, there was great stuff too, whether it was Netflix getting into the scary game with a pair of excellent low-key chillers, A24 having their biggest hit ever with a Sundance fave, a couple of inventive Korean pics, or arthouse crossovers drawing on fears from Iran and Portugal.

Continue reading The 15 Best Horror Films Of 2016 at The Playlist.

There’s an old saying at the Playlist Mansion: you do not truly know a person until you’ve asked them to chose the one film they feel was most overrated and the one they feel was most underrated in any given year. It’s not very catchy. But it is a credo with a surprising amount of wisdom in it, as well as the welcome potential for our beloved, esteemed and generally faultless contributors to make complete public fools of themselves.

Continue reading The Most Overrated & Underrated Films Of 2016 at The Playlist.

We’ve been having a bit of a horror-fest at The Playlist this month (terrifying Halloween party costumes of choice at Playlist Towers include: Mike Pence, the ghost of the never-made second season of “Vinyl” and Vin Diesel in the high-frame-rate sequences from “Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk”), with the last few weeks serving as something of a potted history of the last half-century or so.

Continue reading The 50 Best Horror Movies Of The 21st Century So Far at The Playlist.

This summer has been a pretty good one for fans of things that go bump in the night. Netflix has raised hairs with “Stranger Things,” while the multiplex has seen “The Conjuring 2,” “The Purge: Election Year,” and “Lights Out” hit the big screen. And while Karyn Kusama‘s terrific “The Invitation” may not have any ghouls, the thriller will get your heart-racing all the same, and we want make sure you get a chance to experience one of the best genre pictures of the year.

Continue reading Contest: Win Karyn Kusama’s Thriller ‘The Invitation’ On Blu-ray at The Playlist.

June is here, and with Sundance, Berlin, SXSW and Cannes over, and the summer blockbuster season well underway, the year in the film world is starting to take shape. And while superhero clashes and fairy-tale remakes have dominated the mainstream talk, there’s been a lot more variety and depth to be found for anyone digging a little deeper, either in the mainstream or the arthouse worlds.

Continue reading The 20 Best Films Of 2016 So Far at The Playlist.

Review: Karyn Kusama's Taut, Nerve Jangling Thriller 'The Invitation'

Continue reading Review: Karyn Kusama’s Taut, Nerve Jangling Thriller ‘The Invitation’ at The Playlist.

The Movies That Changed My Life: ‘The Invitation’ Director Karyn Kusama

Continue reading The Movies That Changed My Life: ‘The Invitation’ Director Karyn Kusama at The Playlist.

15 Movies To See In April

Continue reading 15 Movies To See In April at The Playlist.

Continue reading Exclusive: Join The Reunion In These Character Posters For Karyn Kusama’s Thriller ‘The Invitation’ at The Playlist.

Watch: Dinner Gets Deadly In New Trailer For Karyn Kusama's 'The Invitation'

Continue reading Watch: Dinner Gets Deadly In New Trailer For Karyn Kusama’s ‘The Invitation’ at The Playlist.

Watch: First Teaser Trailer For Karyn Kusama's Thriller 'The Invitation'

Continue reading Watch: First Teaser Trailer For Karyn Kusama’s Thriller ‘The Invitation’ at The Playlist.

Fantasia Review: 'Girlfight' Director Karyn Kusama's Tense, Single Setting Thriller 'The Invitation'

Continue reading Fantasia Review: ‘Girlfight’ Director Karyn Kusama’s Tense, Single Setting Thriller ‘The Invitation’ at The Playlist.

The 20 Most Anticipated Films Of The 2015 SXSW Film Festival

Continue reading The 20 Most Anticipated Films Of The 2015 SXSW Film Festival at The Playlist.

SXSW 2015 Brings 'Ex Machina,' Karyn Kusama's 'The Invitation,' Michael Showalter's 'Hello, My Name is Doris' & More

Continue reading SXSW 2015 Brings ‘Ex Machina,’ Karyn Kusama’s ‘The Invitation,’ Michael Showalter’s ‘Hello, My Name is Doris’ & More at The Playlist.

Doug Liman Adapting 'The Legacy,' Orson Scott Card's 'Unaccompanied Sonata' Head To The Big Screen & More

Continue reading Doug Liman Adapting ‘The Legacy,’ Orson Scott Card’s ‘Unaccompanied Sonata’ Head To The Big Screen & More at The Playlist.