horror

There’s a good chance that a horror movie will be nominated for the 2025 best picture Oscar.

And if Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” or Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” make the cut, it will be the first time in the Academy Awards’ 97-year history that a fright film has been nominated in consecutive contests.

It’s long overdue. And if you believe part of Oscars’ purpose is to promote the industry and celebrate its achievements, there’s no better time for the academy to get over its traditional disdain for cinematic monstrosities.

As most other sectors of Hollywood’s film business look precarious — adult dramas, the traditional awards season ponies, are dropping like dead horses at the box office, while attendance for the once-mighty superhero supergenre continues to disappoint — horror has hit its highest annual gross of all time, $1.2 billion, with a good two months left to go.

“Sinners,” released in April, remains in fifth place on the domestic box office chart with $279 million. Its fellow Warner Bros. offerings “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” “Weapons” and “Final Destination: Bloodlines” occupied slots 12 through 14 as of mid-October.

“Horror has been, historically, the Rodney Dangerfield of genres,” notes Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for global media measurement firm Comscore. “It can’t get no respect.

“But horror is very important to the industry on so many levels now,” he continues. “We have four horror movies in the top 15 this year, all of those generating over $100 million in domestic box office. And to make a significant scary horror movie, you don’t have to break the bank. Look at [‘Weapons’ filmmaker Zach Cregger’s 2022 breakout feature] ‘Barbarian’; half of that was shot in a basement.” Similarly, compare “Sinners’” $90 million price tag to “Black Panther’s” $200 million.

Horror’s popularity has gone in cycles since Universal’s run of classic monster movies in the early 1930s. But profitability has been a reliable bet more often than not — and Karloff’s “Frankenstein” and Lugosi’s “Dracula” still resonate through pop culture while most best picture winners of the same era are forgotten.

Still, it wasn’t until 1974 that “The Exorcist” received the first best picture nomination for a horror film, and ahead of the success of “The Substance” at the 2025 Oscar nominations the genre’s fortunes had only marginally improved. Indeed, many of the titles usually cited as a mark of horror’s growing foothold in awards season — “Jaws,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Black Swan,” 1991 winner “The Silence of the Lambs” — are arguably better characterized as something else entirely, or at best as hybrids. (To wit, the sole monster movie that’s won best picture, Del Toro’s 2017 “The Shape of Water,” is primarily considered a romantic fantasy.)

Fright films’ reputation for delivering cheap thrills to undiscerning audiences was often deserved, but there were always stellar horror films that the academy overlooked. And more recently, films such as “The Substance,” “Sinners” and Jordan Peele’s 2017 nominee “Get Out” have pierced ingrained voter prejudices against the genre by adding social commentary and undeniable aesthetic quality without compromising gory fundamentals.

“The horror genre really does seem to be attracting great directors who are immersed in it, have a real auteur point-of-view and make interesting movies that have horror elements but explore other themes as well,” notes The Envelope’s awards columnist, Glenn Whipp. “‘Sinners’ is Ryan Coogler’s vampire movie, but it’s also about the Jim Crow South and American blues music. How can you resist that if you’re an academy voter?”

And with horror packing in filmgoers like no other genre, high-profile nominations could help the Academy Awards broadcast attract the bigger ratings its stakeholders have been desperately seeking at least since “The Dark Knight” failed to make the best picture cut in 2008.

“That was the whole reason we went to 10 potential nominees,” Dergarabedian recalls. “We wanted to have more blockbuster representation at the Oscars. This may be the perfect storm. If I were an academy voter, I would vote for ‘Sinners’ and ‘Weapons.’ I don’t think that’s an overstatement, given the films that have come out this year.”

Even beyond this “perfect storm,” though, Whipp sees a sea change afoot.

“Everything’s an Oscar movie now if it’s well made,” he says. “Studios aren’t really making traditional, grown-up dramas and the academy can only nominate what’s in front of them. Horror is being produced at a rate that is greater than it used to be, and at least two of these Warner movies really landed with audiences and critics. The genre is attracting some of our top filmmakers right now, and that’s something that will trickle down to the Oscars.”

“This is not a blip,” Dergarabedian concludes. “It’s a trend that feels like it’s happened overnight but it’s been a long time coming. Back in 2017 we had our first $1-billion-plus horror movie box office. If they stop making good horror movies it might be a blip, but I think Hollywood should take this and bloody run with it.”

Bethany Clarke and her best friend Simone White were backpacking together around Southeast Asia when they drank bootleg shots laced with methanol – and it proved tragically fatal for Simone

A woman has died after unknowingly drinking shots laced with methanol.

Bethany Clarke, 28, from Orpington, southeast London, went backpacking around Southeast Asia with her best friend, Simone White, 28, last year.

Both the women drank the bootleg alcohol, and tragically it proved fatal for Simone.

Bethany and Simone started their backpacking in Cambodia and went from there to Laos. They had spent the day tubing down the river – a popular tourist activity – before returning to their hostel for a night of drinking.

Bethany said: “We had methanol-laced shots. We had five or six each, just mixing them with Sprite.

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“The next morning, we didn’t feel right, but we just assumed it was a hangover. It was strange though – unlike any hangover I’d had before.

“It felt like being drunk but in a way where you couldn’t enjoy it. Something was just off.”

Despite their condition, they continued on with their plans, heading to the Blue Lagoon and kayaking down the river again.

Bethany added: “We were just lying on the backs of the kayaks, too weak to paddle. Simone was being sick off one of them. Neither of us wanted to swim or eat – which, we later learned, are early signs of methanol poisoning.”

It wasn’t until hours later, after they’d boarded a bus to their next destination, that things worsened, with Bethany fainting and Simone continuing to vomit.

Eventually, they were taken to a local hospital – one that Bethany described as “very poor”.

She said: “They had no idea what was wrong, they talked about food poisoning, but we hadn’t eaten the same things. It didn’t make sense.”

Still confused and deteriorating, the women made it to a private hospital. But by then it was too late.

READ MORE: Pensioners snorting cocaine skyrockets as UK hospitals in crisis

Bethany said: “They told me they’d do all they could to save her. She was having seizures during dialysis.”

When Simone’s condition worsened, her mother, Sue White, flew out to Laos, arriving just as her daughter was being wheeled into emergency brain surgery.

Bethany said: “Her brain had started to swell, and they had to shave her head. The surgery relieved the pressure but caused bleeding and the other side started swelling.”

The results confirming methanol poisoning wouldn’t arrive until two weeks later. By then, Simone had died.

Bethany said: “On an emotional level, it’s been a lot to process. Sometimes I still think, ‘Why don’t you reach out to Simone for that?’ and then I remember I can’t.”

Bethany has channeled her grief into campaigning for change and awareness. She said: “People still aren’t aware and don’t know the signs to look for.

READ MORE: Fake vodka poisoning kills 19 people with one fighting for life as nursery teacher arrested

“The government aren’t doing enough to educate British citizens about the signs of methanol poisoning.

“In Australia, where I live now, they have a big TikTok campaign and signs in all the airports.

“There’s a lot more work to be done in the UK – we’re behind. Anywhere there is organised crime, the opportunity exists – even in the UK.

Bethany also reckons there will be more deaths until people become more aware.”It’s highly likely we’ll see more deaths unless the UK government acts in a more radical way,” she said.

“It has to be in people’s heads – stick to canned drinks. But bottles can be more risky because the cap could have been replaced.

“Any spirits can be a risk. I say ‘steer clear, drink beer’ which rolls off the tongue.”

READ MORE: Limoncello poisoning victims’ parents reveal they bought booze that killed couple

Just recently, the Foreign Office added eight further countries to the risk list for methanol poisoning due to risks associated with counterfeit or tainted alcoholic drinks.

The list already covered Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Turkey, Costa Rica and Fiji.

Ecuador, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Russia and Uganda were now included in the list following incidents.

Methanol poisoning results from methanol being added to drinks such as cocktails and spirits to up the volume and cut costs.

Signs of the poisoning include nausea, vomiting, dizziness and confusion – and more distinctive symptoms, such as vision issues, can develop between 12 and 48 hours after consumption.

Ariana Grande has been confirmed to star in the 13th season of American Horror Story alongside a host of franchise regulars

American Horror Story season 13 has revealed its star-studded line-up will feature pop sensation Ariana Grande alongside a roster of franchise favourites.

The two-time Grammy Award winner, currently portraying Glinda in the musical films Wicked and its forthcoming sequel, will lead the series with an ensemble cast.

Whilst she’s never featured in the acclaimed horror anthology previously, she has collaborated with its creator Ryan Murphy on the cult favourite series Scream Queens, which launched a decade ago and spanned two seasons.

Grande is joined by several cast members unveiled this Halloween, including Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe and Leslie Grossman.

The official line-up was revealed on Murphy’s Instagram account through a mysterious video featuring Vera Lynn’s rendition of I’ll Be Seeing You, reports the Express.

American Horror Story’s forthcoming season will follow the Kim Kardashian -fronted Delicate, which broadcast from September 2023 through April 2024.

Fans have since started theorising that the 13th instalment could be its final chapter and revisit a previous narrative.

It’s scheduled to premiere on FX in precisely one year’s time, 31st October, 2026.

Numerous fans have already flocked to social media to express their enthusiasm, with one X user writing: “Ariana Grande will be in AHS season 13!!! What a Halloween treat!”

Another declared: “ariana in AHS alongside all the iconic actresses that carried the series… y’all IM GAGGING-“

One particularly enthusiastic Ariana fan commented: “Ariana Grande is about to be that girl yet again in the next 12 months.

“She can essentially win an Emmy (Wicked TV special, AHS 13), an Oscar (Wicked), and another Grammy (Brighter Days Ahead MV, any ES deluxe nomination).

“She would only need the Tony to become an EGOT. She’s been that girl and I will be seated for each of her projects.”

Have you already marked the 13th season of American Horror Story in your diary?

American Horror Story season 13 premieres 31st October 2026 on FX.

The horror film is hands down considered to be one of the scariest movies of all time and it’s only available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer for 16 more days.

The legend of the Blair Witch is easily one of the scariest tales to do the rounds in modern memory — and it all stemmed from a harmless horror film.

The Blair Witch Project (1999), written, directed and edited by Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick, is hands down considered to be one of the scariest documentary-style horror movies of all time.

It not only introduced the ‘found footage’ genre to horror films — seen since then in blockbuster hits like the Paranormal Activity franchise — but it’s also one of the most successful independent films of all time, originally made on a budget of $35,000–$60,000, with the final cost rising to between $200,000 and $750,000 after marketing and post-production.

The pseudo-documentary centers around three students, played by Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams, who set off on a hike into the Appalachian Mountains near Maryland’s Burkittsville to film a documentary about the Blair Witch — a local urban myth of the community.

Currently available to watch for free on BBC iPlayer for the next 16 days, the legend of the fictional Blair Witch was conceived by Sánchez and Myrick in 1993. The director-editor duo developed a 35-page screenplay in which the dialogue was to be improvised. Entering production in October of 1997, principal photography of The Blair Witch Project lasted all of eight days in total.

Close to 20 hours of footage was shot for the docu-film, which was then edited and whittled down to 82 minutes. The film first premiered at midnight on January 23, 1999 at the famed Sundance Film Festival and received rousing acclaim, following which its distribution rights were acquired for $1.1million.

It eventually received a theatrical release and went on to become a sleeper hit, grossing close to a whopping $250million at the global box-office. The Blair Witch Project is consistently listed as one of the scariest movies ever, and consistently ranks as the best found footage movie of all time on several prestigious lists. However, despite the movie’s success, the three main actors of the film reportedly lived in poverty till they sued the film studio that acquired its rights, eventually reaching a settlement worth $300,000 in 2000.

With a 86 per cent critics approval rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the documentary-style film is widely critically lauded. One reviewer says of the film: “[The Blair Witch Project is] the most effective and unsettling horror movie in quite a long time. Just to clarify: after seeing this, you will not sleep well. Invest in a night-light.”

While another writes: “The Blair Witch Project” is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. Not the goriest, the grossest, the weirdest, the eeriest, the sickest, the creepiest or the slimiest… Just flat out the scariest.”

A third critic has said: “No sequel or remake will ever match the power of what The Blair Witch Project managed to do a quarter of a century ago.”

While a fourth critic said: “I could tell you the story — give away every detail — and The Blair Witch Project would still freeze your blood.”

Viewers are equally impressed by the film, with one writing: “This movie is pure horror, it’s the scariest movie I have ever seen in my life, at the end, I was terrified. It all connects — the legend and the film. The Blair Witch Project is a masterpiece of pure terror, horror and suspense. Daniel Myrick is a genius!!”

Another audience review says: “Absolute classic, one of the most raw horror films out there.”

The Blair Witch Project is currently streaming for free on BBC iPlayer till November 16.

Few recent films have had quite the reversal of reputation as Karyn Kusama’s 2009 supernatural high-school thriller, which can now clearly be seen for the wise, witty gem it has always been. Overwhelmed at the time by the cultural backlash that swarmed both its star Megan Fox (fresh from the media firestorm of the “Transformers” franchise) and screenwriter Diablo Cody, after her meteoric ascent with the Oscar-winning “Juno,” initial audiences were unprepared for a savage horror-comedy about the traumas of navigating the world as a teenage girl. The bond of two best friends (Fox, Amanda Seyfried) is put to the test when, after a ritual sacrifice goes awry, one of them becomes a possessed succubus who must feed on human flesh. Kusama’s finely modulated direction keeps all the plates of the story spinning as the film moves between being funny, scary and surprisingly tender toward its characters. A conversation with Kusama, Fox and professor Tananarive Due, who specializes in horror, should make this a special evening.

“Jennifer’s Body” is playing Oct. 25 at the Academy Museum. Tickets here.

WHERE’S America’s most-haunted place?

Salem? New Orleans? Maybe Maine, the eerie backdrop to so many of Stephen King’s stories? Think again.

The spookiest city might be Wilmington, North Carolina.

With its seaside sister city Southport, Wilmington is known as the “Hollywood of the East” due to the number of films and TV shows shot there.

Dubbed Wilmywood, it’s earned a reputation for horror films in particular.

Here, James Draven takes a look at just a few of the cult classic fight-night films shot there . . . 

FIRESTARTER (1984)

THE spark that ignited Wilmywood, Drew Barrymore portrays a young girl with terrifying pyro powers in this early Stephen King adaptation.

Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, this was the first film shot at his new studio in Wilmington.

It launched the city’s film industry, which has since hosted more than 1,350 film and TV productions.

Partly filmed at the historic Orton Plantation just south of the city, the film didn’t play well with critics.

But it is soaked in synth music and nostalgia – and the fiery climax is still a blast to watch, even if the plot is a slow burn.

THE CONJURING (2013)

MADE for just $20million and raking in a bone-rattling $320million, The Conjuring didn’t just scare the life out of audiences, it kicked off a whole new golden age of horror.

Forget cheap jump scares, this one creeps under your skin with eerie silence, creaking floors and shadows that slip just out of sight.

Its devilishly good atmosphere owes plenty to Wilmington, too.

The creepy Carolina Apartments play host to Annabelle the haunted doll, left.

And the spooky First Baptist Church opposite is where ghost-hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren meet their priestly back-up, Father Gordon.

THE BLACK PHONE (2021)

ETHAN HAWKE is chilling as The Grabber, a 1970s child-snatching monster with a magician’s grin and a basement full of secrets.

Adapted from a short story by Joe Hill (son of Stephen King, no less), it’s a tense, supernatural thriller where the dead want justice.

Filmed largely in Wilmington’s outskirts, the production transformed streets into a retro Denver nightmare.

The house at 2415 Shirley Road looms with menace, while Pinecrest Parkway captures key moments.

Kids on vintage bikes were shot at Cape Fear Optimist Park, and basement scenes inside EUE/Screen Gems Studios.

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (1997)

THIS film, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, is peak ’90s slasher cheese – think wet-look gel, bad decisions and a killer who just won’t quit.

Between all the tragic hairstyles and gasps, it became a huge hit, spawning two sequels and a TV show – proving that nothing says horror like a killer in a raincoat and some stilted dialogue.

Filmed mainly in Southport, a charming coastal town a short drive from Wilmington, it provided the perfect backdrop for all that screaming.

THE CROW (1994)

A DARK revenge tale soaked in rain and angst, The Crow is forever shadowed by the tragic on-set death of Brandon Lee, whose haunting performance only adds to the film’s legacy.

Filmed at EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, the flick transformed the studio into a gritty cityscape.

The nightclub scenes were shot at the Ideal Cement Factory, near Castle Hayne, near Wilmington.

Sergeant Albrecht’s home was filmed at the Carolina Apartments, and one iconic alleyway scene is also believed to have been shot in Wilmington, capturing the film’s dark fantasy vibes.

SCREAM (2022)

THIS slick reboot-slash-sequel saw the return of Ghostface and a whole lot of fresh blood to the classic slasher formula.

It was shot around Wilmington, including at Williston Middle School and on Castle Street, dressed up as small-town Woodsboro.

The film pokes fun at modern horror while still delivering gore and tense chase scenes.

It’s self-aware, fast-paced – and a solid fan hit.

HALLOWEEN KILLS (2021)

KILLER Michael Myers stalks the shadows of Wilmington in this middle chapter of the reboot trilogy starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

Some exteriors were filmed around 20th Street and Greenfield Lake, while most of the gore was on sets at Screen Gems Studios.

Critics were split over the film – some loved the nastiness, while others found it relentless.

Still, the film is unapologetically harrowing and filled with callbacks for die-hard fans.

CAT’S EYE (1985)

THIS anthology of creepy tales stars a young Drew Barrymore and follows a stray cat through three stories, mixing black comedy and horror.

Written by Stephen King and shot in downtown Wilmington, including at the Graystone Inn on South 3rd Street and near Water Street, it shows off the city’s more elegant side, before things turn nasty.

The film’s a bit uneven, but full of ’80s charm. The goblin showdown is as weird as it is unforgettable.

Matt Groening knows what a real theremin sounds like.

As a kid who grew up on the celluloid junk food of the 1950s and ’60s, “The Simpsons” creator heard the ghostly wail of that early electronic instrument in sci-fi film scores and in albums by his beloved Frank Zappa. Its cousin, the ondes martenot, was featured in one of Groening’s favorite classical pieces — the “Turangalîla-symphonie” by Olivier Messiaen — which would inspire the name for a lead character in “Futurama,” Turanga Leela.

So, when composer Alf Clausen was recruited in the sophomore season of Groening’s popular new show about a yellow nuclear family and answered a request to use theremin — a small lectern with two metal antennae sticking out, which a musician plays by moving their hand in the space between — in the inaugural “Treehouse of Horror” episode in October 1990, Groening immediately recognized it was a fake; it was bouncing around the scale in a way a real theremin can’t do.

“And [Clausen] admitted, yeah, it wasn’t a theremin; it was a keyboard,” Groening recalls. “And it took many years for us to get a real theremin. The downside of the theremin is that it can’t play all the notes — but it’s got a feel to it that is so great.”

Clausen quickly became a fixture of “The Simpsons,” scoring every episode from that first “Treehouse of Horror,” now an annual Halloween tradition, all the way through the end of the 28th season, which wrapped in 2017, as well as composing many unforgettably funny songs with the show’s writers. Groening often referred to Clausen as the show’s “secret weapon.”

The show’s producers were always pushing to save money, Groening says, and to have the show scored with synthesizers and a drum machine — par for the course for TV music in the 1990s. But Groening felt differently. “I always thought that the music really helped the show in a way, because I thought the animation was kind of … primitive,” Groening punctuates the word with a laugh, “and I thought, man, though, if we have great orchestral music backing up these goofy drawings, it’ll mean: ‘Hey, we really meant it!’ And Alf got that right away.”

Groening was none too happy, then, when Clausen was fired by Fox in 2017. The official reason stated was the high cost of recording every episode with a live orchestra; but the veteran composer, who had previously scored TV series like “Moonlighting” and “ALF” (no relation), was 76 when he got the boot, later suing Disney and Fox over age discrimination. (Clausen died earlier this year at age 84.)

Enter Bleeding Fingers Music, a composer collective founded in 2014 by Hans Zimmer, Russell Emanuel and Steven Kofsky that has grown from its original six composers to a stable of 26. Zimmer had been a longtime go-to for “Simpsons” executive producer James L. Brooks, and he won over a skeptical Groening with his zany score for “The Simpsons Movie” in 2007.

With a composer void, Brooks approached Zimmer about taking over the series, and Zimmer proposed Bleeding Fingers — whose credits at that point included several entries in the “Planet Earth” series and various History Channel documentaries and reality shows.

“It took a long time for the decision to be made,” says Emanuel, a cheeky Brit who got his start making soundalike rock albums in the 1980s and co-formed Extreme Music in 1997, a music library company that produced EDM tracks for shows like “Top Gear.” Zimmer was an early contributor to Extreme Music, and in 2001 the company moved into his vast Remote Control Productions campus in Santa Monica.

“It was taken very seriously,” Emanuel adds. “The first I knew about it was Hans calling me into his room and going, ‘We’ve got “Simpsons.” Don’t f— it up.’”

It was an awkward arranged marriage for Groening — and a “baptism by fire” for Emanuel and his cohort. They had an ample three weeks to tackle their very first episode, a “Game of Thrones” parody titled “The Serfsons,” which featured some theremin solos. Groening asked if it was a live theremin. It was not, the new composers sheepishly replied.

“He could hear it immediately, and completely called us out on it,” says Emanuel. “We had to go back and redo that whole thing. There were two or three big issues for him — but, you know, that was part of us learning the language.”

On a recent Friday morning on the Fox scoring stage, just around the corner from Groening’s office of nearly four decades, the “Simpsons” creator was smiling as a live orchestra recorded the score for Sunday’s new “Treehouse of Horror” episode (streaming next day on Hulu). There was a woodwind virtuoso, Pedro Eustache, making wild and beautiful sounds in an isolated booth with his arsenal of flutes — and out on the stage there was a real, live theremin.

Running the session was Kara Talve, a young but dominant digit of Bleeding Fingers who has been the principal composer on “The Simpsons” since Season 30; this is her sixth “Treehouse of Horror” episode. After graduating from Berklee College of Music, she took an assistant job at Bleeding Fingers — mostly, she says, because she wanted to work on “The Simpsons.”

“But I had to convince Russell that I could do it,” Talve says, sitting in her studio next to her boss. “I don’t think he trusted me yet. But also: Why would he, because I was like 5 years old.”

It’s quickly apparent how self-deprecating and silly they both are — Emanuel recently got a tattoo of a Spotify code that, when scanned, triggers Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” — but also how seriously they take this job.

“The responsibility of working on a show like this, we don’t take it lightly,” Talve says. “And because I was so intrigued by the show, and I really, really wanted to work with Russell on ‘The Simpsons,’ I went back and I listened to those old episodes — because I want to honor the musical language that Alf left, and that Danny Elfman left.” (Elfman composed the iconic theme song, which Emanuel and Talve consider “the heart of the show.”)

“And it’s a very specific palette,” she adds. “Like, not to get too nerdy about it, but there really is this harmonic language that’s only in Springfield.”

There are other, subtle ingredients to a good “Simpsons” score: For instance, the music should (usually) duck out of the way for the verbal or visual punchline. And the show has always overflowed with pop culture references and spoofs, which requires an almost bottomless well of musical knowledge. That’s one area where having two dozen other composers working in the same building comes in handy.

“There’s this adaptability that you have to have on this show,” says Talve, “and it’s every genre under the sun, and you kind of just have to figure out how to do that. And Russ was a big part in teaching me, because he’s the king of production music.” She adds that the composers in the collective also play a variety of instruments, so “I can just ask them to come in and play this line, because we can’t sell it to the showrunners if it sounds too fake.”

The average “Simpsons” episode has between five and 10 minutes of score — which might sound like easy street.

“The amount of starts is very challenging,” Talve says. “And it is deceiving. People go, ‘Five minutes? Oh, you’re just doing a bunch of stings’ or whatever. But I want to debunk this because it’s actually way harder, for me personally, to do 30 short cues for one episode than to have one long cue that’s five minutes because the amount of emotional turns that the music has to have, and that you have to hit all this stuff within 10 seconds — it’s actually really frickin’ hard.”

(In 2014, Clausen told me he always joked that “I can make you feel five ways in 13 seconds.”)

Most episodes are recorded with small ensembles at the Bleeding Fingers facility, but the “Treehouse of Horror” chapters are special; they tend to have wall-to-wall music, and the producers splurge on a full orchestral session at Fox — just like the old days.

This year’s anthology spoofs “Jaws,” “Late Night With the Devil” and “Furiosa.” Talve’s score bobs and weaves accordingly, from big brassy horror to eerie synths to world percussion and a custom-made plastic flute.

Groening, who was full of praise for Talve’s “Treehouse” score, has gradually warmed to the Bleeding Fingers team approach — viewing it less like a factory churning out product and more like the way animators work.

“The nature of animation, with maybe two or three exceptions in the history of the medium — it’s all a collaboration,” Groening says. “We’ve got a lot of ‘Simpsons’ writers, we have a lot of voice actors, a lot of animators, a lot of musicians. I mean, one of the great things about that particular session was that these are some of the greatest musicians in Los Angeles, playing amazing music.”

He even wishes people could witness it in person.

“There should be live concerts of this music because it is so much fun to listen to,” he says.” And it gets a little constrained, you know, when it’s supporting goofy animation — but as music, it’s really fantastic.”

It’s clear from the existence and execution of “Black Phone 2” that Universal and Blumhouse never expected 2021’s “The Black Phone” to be a hit. If there was ever an inkling that the first film might have been more than a quick and dirty ’70s-style riff on a boogeyman tale, there’s no way those in charge would have let their big baddie, the Grabber, be killed off at the end of the movie.

But a hit it was and so, for a sequel, supernatural elements must be spun out and ’80s slasher classics consulted, especially since it’s now four years later, in 1982. Masked serial killer the Grabber, played by Ethan Hawke (we never really see his face, though we do hear his voice), continues to haunt, torment and maim children, despite the inconvenience of death.

Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill co-wrote both films, with Derrickson behind the camera as director. The first was based on a short story by Joe Hill (the son of Stephen King) and is set in 1978 Denver, where plucky Finney Blake (Mason Thames) had to escape the clutches of kidnapper the Grabber while fielding phone calls from the ghosts of his previous victims, offering tips and tricks. What distinguished “The Black Phone” was its shocking approach to violence with its young characters, who all sported entertainingly profane potty mouths. While it was daring in its hard-R riskiness and played on our basest fears, it didn’t reinvent the wheel, or even try to. However, the film’s phone conceit played well enough and young star Thames was outstanding.

In “Black Phone 2,” Finney’s now a high school student, drowning his trauma in weed and schoolyard fights, sometimes the bully himself. He’s protective of his sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), who has the gift of psychic sight, but mostly he just wants to check out from his own brain. The sequel is primarily Gwen’s movie. She starts lucid dreaming and sleepwalking, receiving phone calls from beyond — like from their dead mother when she was a teenager beyond.

The messages bring Gwen, Finney and her crush, Ernesto (Miguel Mora), to a winter retreat for Christian youth, Camp Alpine, now run by Mando (Demián Bichir) and his niece, Mustang (Arianna Rivas). As it turns out, this camp is rife with the ghosts of young dead boys — the phone keeps ringing and it won’t stop until Finney picks it up.

If “The Black Phone” dabbles in crimes that are taboo and is even unforgivable in its depiction of brutality against innocent children, “Black Phone 2” commits its own unforgivable crime of being dreadfully boring. This movie is a snooze, not just because all of the action takes place entirely during Gwen’s dreams.

The film can’t shake its lingering scent of “Stranger Things,” but the filmmakers have also turned for inspiration to another iconic ’80s-set property: The whole movie is a “Nightmare on Elm Street” ripoff, with a disfigured killer stalking his prey through their subconscious. Those sequences are fine, action-packed if not entirely scary, but at least it’s something more rousing than the awake scenes, where the characters stand in one place and make speeches to each other about their trauma and backstories. The entire affair is monotonously one-note and dour, with only a few pops of unintentional humor.

You realize almost immediately what the deal is with these ghost boys, but the film takes its sweet time explaining it all. It’s a fairly simple story, so you do understand why Derrickson gussies it up with grainy dream sequences and shaky 8mm flashbacks, and a pretty terrific electronic score composed by his son, Atticus Derrickson.

It’s also a bit surprising that “Black Phone 2” turns out to be so pious and deeply Christian, which is a bit of an odd mix. For a film about Jesus and the power of prayer, it also features a scene in which a kid’s face gets sliced in half by a windowpane. Then again, horror’s trend toward the faith-based isn’t a surprise when you take a look at the success of the Bible-thumping “Conjuring” franchise.

However, it seems like this might be the Grabber’s last hurrah. You’ll root for the characters to vanquish him only because then the drudgery might finally end. Who knows, maybe it’ll be a hit and they’ll figure out another way to reanimate this utterly uninspiring horror villain. Personally, I’ve had my fill of the Grabber’s grabbing.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

Freddie Flintoff was injured in the crash which happened at Dunsfold Aerodrome near Cranleigh in Surrey, where the former cricketer had been filming for BBC One’s Top Gear

Freddie Flintoff has told how his two-year-old son wouldn’t go near him after his horror Top Gear crash.

The former professional cricketer, 47, said he became “a snappy mess” following the smash which happened during filming for the BBC One programme at Dunsfold Aerodrome near Cranleigh, Surrey. The three-wheeled Morgan supercar overturned on the track and Freddie, who played cricket for England for 11 years, dragged his face along the ground, cutting open the side of his nose, cheek and lips, and shattering his jawbone and teeth.

But he has spoken this week of how traumatic the mental injuries were, revealing for the first time how the ordeal impacted his children. Freddie, who had PTSD following the accident, said: “(After the crash) I would get snappy and angry.

“The kids were incredible… It was the younger one, Preston, because he would have been about two, two and a half, at the time and he wouldn’t come near me to begin with because I was a mess.”

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Top Gear was shelved following the crash, and Freddie reportedly received £9m in compensation from BBC Studios, who make the show. Yet, the star has spoken since at how the experience changed his life, including how he wouldn’t leave his home – except for medical appointments – for six to eight months in the wake of it.

But the former fast bowler, a Lancashire Cricket Club legend, has now said he is on the road to recovery, to a great extent thanks to wife Rachael Wools, whom he wed in March 2005.

Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Freddie said: “I have flashbacks and nightmares, but I’ve probably got more of an acceptance of them now.

“I suppose that the biggest thing it did do, was brought me back to cricket. Family and friends and cricket have been things that now, have probably helped me more than anything. It’s all good now. But Rachael was strong. I suppose she had to be for both of us.”

Freddie, originally from Preston, Lancashire, has returned to TV work in recent months too. A second series of Freddie’s Field of Dreams – in which he creates a brand-new cricket team with a group of promising teens and inspires a fresh generation – aired on the BBC in 2024. The BBC has given the green light for a third series, it is understood.

And the dad was chosen to front the revival of game show Bullseye, which returned as a trial on Christmas Day last year on ITV. It became so popular ITV commissioned Bullseye for a full series, which is set to broadcast before the year is out.

Watch Freddie’s full interview on Thursday on Piers Morgan Uncensored on YouTube.

A horror series that has been described as the “most terrifying” TV show ever made is streaming for free, and fans are being warned to prepare for a chilling experience

One of the most spine-chilling horror series ever made, which viewers insist ‘just gets scarier’ after each episode, is now available to stream for free in the UK.

The Terror, adapted from the acclaimed sci-fi and horror author Dan Simmons’ book of the same name, depicts the ill-fated Franklin Expedition of 1845, which aimed to discover the Northwest Passage, the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Arctic Ocean.

Simmons, also the author of the Hyperion Cantos, fictionalised the accounts of the expedition’s Captain Sir John Franklin as two British ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, became trapped in Arctic ice, eventually vanishing without a trace and leaving no survivors.

Across 20 episodes, featuring Jared Harris, Tobias Menzies, and Ciaran Hinds amongst others, historical fact is woven with supernatural horror as the crew aboard the Terror succumb to starvation and cannibalism whilst grappling with the mysterious creature that haunts them.

The series, which was recently revived in 2025 following its first two seasons in 2018 and 2019, has received rave reviews on both IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes film and TV review platforms, scoring 7.8 stars out of 10 and an approval rating of 87%, respectively, reports the Express.

Evidence of its bone-chilling nature can be found on Reddit’s Horror subreddit, which boasts over 3 million members who post reviews and pose questions to the site’s leading horror entertainment community.

Horror enthusiasts can watch the programme without charge in the UK via ITVX’s streaming service, following account registration and enduring several advertisements.

Reddit user gtr011191 put forward a query to the online forum: “So just finished The Haunting of Hill House again, just looking for something else now to watch. What, in your opinion, is the most terrifying TV series?”.

Numerous Reddit contributors were swift to suggest The Terror, alongside other programmes, with user Hookums garnering more than 40 upvotes for their comment, “The Terror, season 1. F***ing horrifying. Episode one has some really chilling moments, and it just gets scarier from there.”

On IMDB, a verified critic named mohahaa13 awarded the programme nine out of 10 stars, cautioning audiences: “Going into the series with no expectations or impressions from the novel, and barely reading about the series at all before binge watching it, I was expecting a high-paced master and commander type of series.

“And, while it’s set in roughly the same time period, it’s unlike anything I was expecting. It’s quite suspenseful and chilling.

“Much thanks to the great acting, casting and details. The ambient soundtrack (R.I.P. Marcus Fjellstrom) is fantastic and really helps with the eerie feeling.

“There were some moments that made me feel really at unease. Right up there with the top series for sure. Well worth a watch.”

THIS is the terrifying moment a helicopter crashes onto a freeway just feet away from shocked drivers in California.

Three people on board are in a critical condition after the Airbus lost control before plunging towards the busy road and smashing into the ground.

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Footage showed the chopper flying low above Highway 50 near Howe Avenue in Sacramento.

Within seconds it started plummeting towards the ground with huge plumes of smoke seen billowing across the highway as it smashed.

Pictures from after the crash shows the medical helicopter upside down in the middle of the road.

Smashed glass and debris can be seen strewn across the highway as firefighters and cops surround the wreckage.

Motorist Davyd Bychkoviak was driving past just after 7pm local time (3am UK time) as the helicopter spiralled through the air.

Mr Bychkoviak said: “I’m still shaking. It was a brush with death.

“The helicopter crashed inches away from me. The dust kicked up into my face, and I could feel the wind of the propellers in the car.

“If it had crashed on the road there would have been multiple fatalities.”

The Sacramento Fire Department and Federal Aviation Administration said the helicopter went down on the eastbound lanes of Highway 50 near Howe Avenue.

They added that it was a helicopter that provides air medical services.

REACH Air Medical Services later confirmed to ABC7 news that three of its crew were hurt in the crash.

Captain Justin Sylvia, from the Sacramento Fire Department, confirmed three people were “transported in critical condition” to local hospitals.

These included two females and a male made up of a pilot, nurse and paramedic.

No patient was on board at the time of the disaster, Captain Sylvia added.

Speaking at a press conference today he said: “There was one victim that was trapped underneath the helicopter… [with] the help of just civilians that were standing around, they were able to lift part of that helicopter out and get that victim out.

“There’s a pretty large debris field around that at this point.

“The lucky portion for us, I’d say, is the fact that the helicopter did not catch on fire.”

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A THREE-year-old boy has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after a horror van crash.

The tot was walking in a car park in Bournemouth, when a blue Vauxhall Vivaro hit him on Saturday.

Dorset Police were called to the scene, in Landsdowne Road, at 12.35pm.

Paramedics rushed the three-year-old to hospital with serious injuries.

His family is being supported by specialist officers.

No arrests have been made and the van driver is assisting officers with the investigation, said the force.

Sergeant Richard Stroud, of the Roads Policing Team, said: “Our thoughts are with the young boy involved in this incident and his family.

“Our enquiries into what happened remain ongoing and I would urge anyone who witnessed the incident, or who has any information that might assist our investigation, to please contact us.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police online, via email at [email protected] or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55250147249.

Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online using its website or by calling Freephone 0800 555 111.

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Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s horror film “Bone Lake” announces itself with a startlingly cheeky opener and closes with a bloody gore-fest, the song “Sex and Violence” by U.K. punk outfit the Exploited spelling out the thesis of the film for us. It’s about the intertwining of sex and violence, you see. But what unfolds between these naughty, viscera-drenched bookends is less of a traditional horror film and more of a psychosexual thriller, like “Funny Games” played between two, young attractive couples, with a setup borrowed from “Barbarian.”

In the script by Joshua Friedlander, a double-booking of a secluded rental mansion becomes a double date when Will (Alex Roe) and Cin (Andra Nechita) stumble in on the intimate weekend vacay of Sage (Maddie Hasson) and Diego (Marco Pigossi). The couples decide to make the best of it and stay, promising to rock-paper-scissors for the house if anything gets “weird.”

And get weird it does. While Diego and Sage seemed perfectly happy on arrival, the sexy, uninhibited Will and Cin have a way of nosing out their insecurities, finding the cracks in their connection and weaseling their way in. Suddenly, their lackluster sex life is on trial, and Sage’s resentment about financially supporting Diego while he pursues his dream of writing a novel bubbles to the surface.

Like any weekend-goes-awry horror movie (e.g., “Speak No Evil”), the female half of the couple catches a bad vibe that her male partner dismisses, due to his vested interest in wanting to stay. For Diego, it’s the promise that Cin will share his writing with his favorite author, for whom she claims to work. They overlook the red flags, blow off their opportunities to leave and decide to go all in with this wanton pair, drinking, playing games, breaking into secret rooms and dodging sexual overtures from each of them.

Morgan and her cinematographer Nick Matthews make the location fun to look at, with a saturated color palette and clever camera movements. However, there are scenes where the film is frustratingly dim and underlit, even if it might be justified by the power going out during a storm.

While there’s a certain verve and style to the middle section, where Will and Cin draw in their prey and toy with them, the Grand Guignol climax bears no rhythm or suspense; it’s merely a bludgeoning of the audience with carnage — too much too late.

Other blunt instruments? Roe and Nechita, who don’t play their roles with any subtlety. Roe’s Will comes off as a dangerous himbo; Nechita’s Cin is an over-the-top minx in her seduction of both Diego and Sage. While Hasson’s Sage is a plausibly strident freelance journalist type, you wonder if she has much experience with female friendship, because Cin’s manipulation is so painfully obvious. Pigossi’s self-obsessed novelist, however, is perfectly pitched in his all-around obliviousness.

There’s a kernel of something fascinating at the center of “Bone Lake,” a melding of sex and violence into gestures that are familiar from true crime stories. But there’s not enough motivation baked into the big third-act twist, and the performances just aren’t strong enough to suggest anything deeper.

“Bone Lake” offers up an appealing surface but it’s ultimately too shallow to get you immersed.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

PRO-Palestinians have hit the streets of Manchester to protest against Greta Thunberg’s flotilla detention.

It comes just hours after the vile terror attack on Manchester‘s Heaton Park synagogue, which unfolded on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

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Protesters were marching at Manchester Piccadilly station today in solidarity with the members of Global Sumud Flotilla – a fleet of 40 ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The Israeli navy intercepted several vessels at sea beginning Wednesday, after warning activists against entering waters it says fall under its blockade.

As the nation mourned the sick terror attack against the Jewish community – which killed two people – protesters marched through the streets of Manchester.

Hundreds of them gathered outside the Manchester Piccadilly Station banging drums and chanting slogans against the Israeli authorities. 

They were seen waving Palestine flags and holding placards that read “Freedom for Palestine” and “Stop starving Gaza”.

Organisers of the protest said they “condemned in the strongest possible terms” the attack in Heaton Park – and called for a minute’s silence in respect for the victims.

Another protest took place in Parliament Square as activists gathered to demonstrate against Israeli authorities.

The protest sparked fury, including from Conservative MP Susan Hall, who described it as “disgraceful, disrespectful, despicable behaviour”.

The demonstrations come in the wake of today’s vile Manchester attack.

An assailant drove a car into people outside a synagogue and then began stabbing them, killing two and seriously wounding four in what police called a terrorist attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year.

Officers shot and killed the suspect outside Manchester, police said.

Authorities said he was wearing a vest that made it appear as if he had explosives. Police later said he did not have a bomb.

The Metropolitan Police force in London, which leads the nation’s counter-terrorism policing operations, declared the rampage a terrorist attack.

Israel slammed the UK government for not doing enough and warned that antisemitism is on the rise after the vile synagogue attack.

Tel Aviv said British authorities “failed” to tackle the “toxic wave of antisemitism” which led to the terror rampage.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said: “I am appalled by the murderous attack near the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester on the morning of the holiest day for the Jewish people: Yom Kippur.

“The truth must be told: blatant and rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement, as well as calls of support for terror, have recently become a widespread phenomenon in the streets of London, in cities across Britain, and on its campuses.

“The authorities in Britain have failed to take the necessary action to curb this toxic wave of antisemitism and have effectively allowed it to persist.”

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country “grieves with the Jewish community in the UK” after this morning‘s “barbaric terror attack” in Manchester.

“Our hearts are with the families of the murdered, and we pray for the swift recovery of the wounded,” he said on X.

“As I warned at the UN: weakness in the face of terrorism only brings more terrorism. Only strength and unity can defeat it.”

Sir Keir – who cut short his trip to Denmark and rushed back to chair a Cobra meeting – condemned antisemitism and said that Britain “must defeat it once again”.

Speaking from Downing Street, the PM blasted the “terrorist attack that attacked Jews because they are Jews”, committed by “a vile individual”.

Sir Keir said: “Earlier today, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day for the Jewish community, a vile individual committed a terrorist attack that attacked Jews because they are Jews, and attacked Britain because of our values.

“So many Jewish families first came to this country as a place of refuge, fleeing the greatest evil ever inflicted on a people, and Britain welcomed them.

“Communities like the one attacked in Manchester provided safety, but also the security that comes from a promise that this is a country that stands up to hatred and that we don’t just provide refuge, we provide a home.”

Starmer said the Jewish community in Britain will see a “more visible police presence” as he promised to do “everything in my power to guarantee you the security that you deserve”.

Protests spread in Europe

Thousands of people marched through the streets of Barcelona today to denounce Israel’s interception of a pro-Palestinian aid flotilla bound for Gaza.

Columns of demonstrators, many waving Palestinian flags, converged on the central Plaza de les Drassanes from multiple parts of Spain‘s second-largest city.

Protesters chanted slogans including “Gaza, you are not alone,” “Boycott Israel,” and “Freedom for Palestine.”

Other protests were reported in other Spanish cities tonight, including Madrid, Valencia, and Bilbao.

Thousands also gathered in Italy on Thursday in support of the Gaza aid flotilla ahead of a strike in solidarity with activists.

As dusk fell in Rome, several thousand protesters gathered near the Colosseum in solidarity with the flotilla and against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni‘s support of Israel — a day after a similar protest on Wednesday evening.

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Footage showed Israeli forces boarding the boats and detaining activists, including Greta Thunberg, as they headed for war-ravaged Gaza.

In video footage, Greta Thunberg can be seen being detained, as well as onboard vision of the flotilla at the time of the interception.

In a statement posted to the social media platform X, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said: “several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port”.

“Greta and her friends are safe and healthy”.

In a second post, the ministry shared two images of the flotilla activists, saying: “Hamas-Sumud passengers on their yachts are making their way safely and peacefully to Israel, where their deportation procedures to Europe will begin”.

“The passengers are safe and in good health,” the post ended.

Activists can be seen with life jackets on, holding their hands up in the surrender position.

Yesterday, members of the Global Sumud Flotilla reported army personnel jumped onboard and “illegally intercepted” their journey just hours after they were circled by a warship.

The humanitarian convoy was attempting to get essential aid, including baby formula and medication, to Gaza.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is made up of more than 40 civilian boats carrying an estimated 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists, including Thunberg.

On Wednesday, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said the activists aboard the flotilla will be deported once the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur ends on Thursday.

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The lead of the horror-tinged heart-tugger “Good Boy” is a copper-colored retriever named Indy who pads around an eerie house deep in the New Jersey woods investigating its mysterious creaks, shadows and smells. Like the Method-style actors of “The Blair Witch Project,” he goes by his real name onscreen. An ordinary dog without a whiff of Hollywood hokum, Indy doesn’t do implausible stunts like Lassie or Rin Tin Tin or comprehend anything that his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), says besides simple phrases: sit, stay and, gratefully, the title itself. But we’re invested in the mindset of this mundane hero. His nose twitches are as dramatic as an ingenue’s gasp.

First-time feature director Ben Leonberg raised Indy as a pet first, movie star second. Along with his wife, Kari Fischer, who produced the film, Leonberg shot “Good Boy” in his weekend house, staging scenarios for Indy to explore until he had enough material for a (barely) full-length spook show. Even at 72 minutes, “Good Boy” is belabored in the middle stretch. It would make a fabulous one-hour TV special.

Using his personal footage, Leonberg (who also edited the film and did its gorgeous, inky-wet cinematography) opens with a montage of Indy growing up from a tiny puppy to a loyal best friend. We love the dog more in five minutes than we do some slasher final girls who’ve survived several sequels. Indy is the most empathetic scream queen of the year so far — and I mean that literally as his breed, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retriever, is known for its high-pitched wail. American Kennel Club lists the Toller as the U.S.’s 87th most popular dog. I expect this movie will lead to an uptick. (Steve Martin already has one.)

What’s wrong in Indy’s new home? A pair of tragedies wind together like vines, although from the dog’s point of view, the distinction between them isn’t always obvious. This battered two-story home with ominous scratches on the basement door has been in Todd’s family for six generations, as the cemetery out back proves. Bequeathed to the youngish urban hipster by his grandfather (indie cult icon Larry Fessenden), a misanthrope who willed his taxidermy collection to a vegan, it’s a good place to disappear.

Todd, who’s in bad physical and emotional shape, has isolated himself in this scraggly, foggy forest to get some privacy from his sister, Vera (Arielle Friedman). There’s also a past death that the dog is able to perceive. A sniff of a rotting old chair frightens Indy so much, he wets the rug.

“Scaredy pants,” Todd teases Indy. The dog can’t explain what only he knows.

Several unnerving things are happening at once, including the presence of a silhouetted stalker, old bones that give the dog nightmares and Todd’s unpredictable mood swings. There’s also a ghost in the movie, I think — at least, there’s a heavy hinge that shouldn’t be able to open without a spectral nudge. Indy stands about two feet tall, so the camera often stays at that height too, gliding close to the floor where the view from under the bed looks as big as an airplane hangar.

A realistic dog’s-eye view of a creepy cabin is a good hook, although people hoping to see an otherwise satisfying genre thriller will feel a bit underwhelmed that Leonberg and his co-screenwriter Alex Cannon are conflicted about pushing the scary elements of the film too far into the supernatural. With a complicated backstory off the table (Indy looks restless whenever adults are having a conversation), the movie taps into our burgeoning belief that animals do have a special sixth sense, like how hospice workers know to pay special attention to whoever gets night visits from the resident pet.

Still, “Good Boy” doesn’t stray too far from the film’s core strength: a normal dog doing normal dog things. In a twitch, a head tilt or a whine, Indy communicates his emotions: curious, lonely, contented, confused, fretful, desperate or petrified. There’s no CG in the dog’s performance, no corny reaction shots and no use of animal doubles either. Todd’s own legs, however, are often doubled by Leonberg, an onscreen switcheroo that’s possible because the lens doesn’t tend to look up.

I liked the plot better on a second watch when I knew not to expect Jamie Lee Curtis on all fours. The ending is great and the build up to it, though draggy, gives you space to think about the interdependence between our species. Dogs are wired to be our protectors and yet, through generations of nurturing, they’ve come to trust that we’ll also protect them. The inarticulate betrayal in the film is that Todd isn’t making good decisions for anyone. His bond with Indy is pure and strong, yet one-sided in that Todd is too distracted to ease the dog’s fears. Indy is bereft to be left alone for long stretches of time in a strange house. But he can’t do a thing about that, nor the sputtering electricity, the fox traps in the brush and the neighbor (Stuart Rudin) who skulks around in hunting camouflage.

In Todd’s facelessness, he’s a stand-in for whatever you want: absentee parents, a struggling partner or child or friend. There’s a scene in which he comes home in obvious need of a cuddle, only to push his dog away. Maybe you’ve been both people in that shot: the person overwhelmed by their own pain and the loved one who has no idea how to soothe them. It’s terrifying to love someone this much, to give them the full force of your devotion only to get locked outside.

Consciously or not, Leonberg has made a primal film about helplessness. Watching it, I was knocked sideways by a sense memory of how it felt to be a child. Like Indy, kids get dragged around to places they don’t want to go to for reasons that aren’t explained, and when they whine, they’re commanded to pipe down. Even as we get older — when our own point of view can stand taller than two feet — the things that truly scare us are the ones that make us feel small and confused.

ARSENAL under-19s midfielder Louie Copley was handed a straight red card in his team’s Uefa Youth League match against Olympiacos today.

The team skipper was sent off for a crunching tackle on Argyrios Liatsikouras just 15 minutes into the game at Boreham Wood’s Meadow Park.

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Copley, 18, who signed a professional deal with the club in July, could have few complaints with Italian referee Matteo Marcenaro and it certainly changed the game.

Fellow midfielder Harrison Dudziak took the captain’s armband but Arsenal struggled and conceded twice in the first half to trail 2-0.

Ethan Cortes and Christos Filis were on target for the Greeks.

Olympiacos seemed a lot more pumped-up for the game but Arsenal did improve in the second half despite only having 10 men.

And with seven minutes left, Arsenal sub Josh Ogunnaike pulled one back.

The 17-year-old almost got an equaliser with just seconds left to play, but his effort was saved.

The attempted fightback proved to be unsuccessful for the hosts as they went on to lose 2-1 at Meadow Park.

Former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, who has previously worked in the youth set-up, was watching from the terraces.

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Arsenal lost their first Uefa Youth League game 3-1, away to Athletic Bilbao.

The Gunners currently sit 28th in the UEFA Youth League table with no points from two games.

A POLICEMAN killed in the line of duty has been pictured, as former colleagues pay tribute to the “joyful” officer.

PC Faizaan Najeeb, just 24, was hit by a car and critically injured while responding to a road crash, and tragically died a week later.

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A man in his 20s was arrested at the scene of the fatal collision and has been bailed by police pending further investigation.

Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police Ivan Balhatchet led the tributes, with former colleagues at Bedfordshire Police adding their own condolences.

The Chief Constable said: “Words cannot describe the sadness felt when an officer loses his life serving in the line of duty.

“The entire Northamptonshire Police family wish to pass on our deepest condolences to his family and friends at this truly awful point in time.

“Colleagues from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit are still investigating the collision, and specialist family liaison officers will continue to support Faizaan’s family in the coming days and weeks.

“We are also carrying out an internal health and safety investigation.”

PC Najeeb was responding to a single vehicle collision in Station Road, Raunds, near Wellingborough, on September 19 when he was hit by a blue VW Polo car.

Despite the best efforts of medical staff at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, he sadly lost his life a week later on September 26.

His former colleagues on the Bedford Community team said: “Those that knew him are absolutely devastated by his death, and he will be sorely missed.

“His ability to lift spirits was infectious, and he was always so happy.

“Faizaan would do anything for anyone, and although he was only with us for a short time, his legacy and impact on those that worked with him remains.

“His memory lives on and will not be forgotten.

“The joy he brought to people that he met can never be replicated, and those on the Community Policing Team, as well as those in other departments will miss him.

“It is with great sadness that PCSO 7001 and PC 1967 has signed off from duty. His memory will live on.

“Thank you, Faizaan, for all the joy and the legacy you brought us.”

A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said after the tragedy: “We are very sad to hear about the death of our former colleague, Faizaan Najeeb.

“Faizaan joined us in February 2021 as a PCSO with the Bedford Community Policing Team.

“He then moved onto to become a PC with Northamptonshire Police in May 2022.”

Alaa Abouzanad on behalf of the Northamptonshire Council of Mosques also paid tribute to the young officer.

In a letter to Chief Constable Balhatchet he said: “On behalf of the Northamptonshire Council of Mosques, we wish to extend our deepest condolences on the passing of your colleague, PC Faizaan Najeeb.

“His service and dedication to keeping our communities safe will always be remembered and honoured.

“At this difficult time, please know that our thoughts and prayers are with his family, his colleagues, and the wider policing community.

“We stand with you in solidarity and support.

“May Allah grant him forgiveness, mercy, and the highest place in Jannah – paradise – and grant his family patience, strength, and comfort in this time of grief.”

PC Najeeb joined Northamptonshire Police in May 2022 and had served with the Response team in Wellingborough ever since.

In line with tradition for officers who have passed away while in the line of duty, his collar number P1967 will be retired in his memory.

This week the Northamptonshire Police will hold a two-minute silence in memory of their fallen colleague at its Wootton Hall headquarters, where a flag has been flown at half-mast in his honour.

By day, I immersed myself in the magic of Universal’s parks but by night, I braved the 10 haunted houses at the 34th annual HHN event now that spooky season is well and truly underway

Summer heat clung to the air but inside my hotel at Universal Orlando theme park, shivers were running down my spine. It was late August at the Sapphire Falls Resort, but the vibe was pure Gothic terror.

I was here to mark the opening of Halloween Horror Nights 2025, and though it was not yet autumn, the screams, monsters, and blood-soaked houses made it clear, spooky season had well and truly begun.

By day, I immersed myself in Universal’s parks: Epic Universe, Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios and even a lazy escape to Volcano Bay. But by night, I braved the 10 haunted houses at the 34th annual HHN event, including the blood-drenched Terrifier, the slasher playground of Jason Universe, and the theatrical nightmares of WWE’s Wyatt Sicks.

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The trip started at Epic Universe where stepping through its portals felt like stepping on to a movie set. The Dark Universe oozed Halloween energy – haunting villages, shadowy figures, and the looming presence of some of the world’s scariest characters.

Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment saw me flung around on a robotic arm as I came face to face with Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy.

I was whipped into a frenzy on the Curse of the Werewolf roller coaster and watched in awe as The Burning Blade Tavern erupted into flames.

Then I travelled through a Metro- Floo corridor to Harry Potter’s Battle at the Ministry ride, chasing down Dolores Umbridge as she tries to escape her trial. Afterwards came the vibrant chaos of Super Nintendo World, alive with colour, sound, and nostalgia. I couldn’t stop smiling as I raced friends on Mario Kart and leaped over the broken rails of Donkey Kong’s Mine-Cart Madness.

How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk was another highlight, with Viking ships bobbing in the fiery harbour and even a chance to meet Toothless.

Over at Islands of Adventure, I white-knuckled my way through the VelociCoaster and then soared on Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, winding through the Forbidden Forest.

Riding the Hogwarts Express between parks gave me chills, especially stepping off at Diagon Alley in Universal Studios, where the cobblestones felt alive with magic.

Midway through the trip, I took a break from screams and thrills with a day at Volcano Bay. From a relaxing cabana, I enjoyed cocktails and a quiet escape between plunging down water slides and floating along the lazy river.

For a few hours, I wasn’t thinking about monsters or roller coasters, just the sun, the welcoming water and the looming Krakatau volcano in the distance.

And then came the night I’ll never forget – Halloween Horror Nights – 10 haunted houses, each more intense than the last and not for the faint-hearted (or under-13s).

Jason Universe merging all the Friday the 13th films was my favourite, despite being scared witless down a never-ending corridor of jump-scare hell (I said witless).

Terrifier was unforgettable in the worst (best) way as grotesque Art the Clown dismembered his victims before inviting guests to take the “dry path” or the “bloodbath” out.

It’s Universal’s first “unrated” house, with 35 bodies, six gallons of blood, and the foulest smells I’ve ever experienced – and I live on a farm.

I nearly lost the contents of my stomach in the bathroom scene where guts spilled from sinks and corpses floated in bathtubs, all while Art danced along to the menacing jingle of the Clown Cafe.

The WWE Wyatt Sicks house combined theatrical storytelling with scenes that left me clinging on to my squealing friends.

Galkn: Monsters of the North and Dolls: Let’s Play Dead were also disturbing in different ways, and the animatronics at Five Nights at Freddy’s, created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, are not to be missed.

But the horrors weren’t the only indulgence. The twisted show, Nightmare Fuel: Circus of Decay was a haunting spectacle filled with pyrotechnics, aerialists, and illusions.

The lagoon also burst into life with fountains, light projections and eerie music. And of course, HHN’s themed snacks also added a darkly delicious layer to the night.

I couldn’t resist grabbing myself a giant FNAF’s Mr Cupcake and sinking my teeth into his head.

Between houses, the scare zones bled into the boardwalk, where zombies and gargoyles lurked. By the time I stumbled back towards the hotel, I felt drained, shaking, and absolutely alive.

That’s the beauty of Universal if you go in October – by day, it’s soaring coasters, magical lands, and colourful adventures. By night, monsters and sweat-inducing nightmares.

Universal has always been a place of extremes, but this year, with Epic Universe opening its gates, and Halloween Horror Nights at its ultimate blood-soaked best, I felt like I experienced every side of the park’s soul.

And honestly? I’d do it all again in a heartbeat, though maybe next time I’ll keep a stronger stomach for Art the Clown.

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

The 13th edition of Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque has already begun but lasts until Oct. 8, so there is still plenty of excitement on the way.

Japanese icon Meiko Kaji will make a series of appearances during her first time visiting the U.S. A double-bill of 1973’s “Lady Snowblood” and 1974’s “Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance” will feature a Q&A with the actor moderated by Jen Yamato, while another Q&A will be moderated by “Anora” Oscar winner Sean Baker.

Other upcoming screenings include “The Testament of Ann Lee” in 70mm, “The Secret Agent” with filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho, “It Was Just an Accident” with filmmaker Jafar Panahi, a Guillermo del Toro retrospective, Mike Nichols’ 1973 sci-fi thriller “The Day of the Dolphin” in 4K and a 10th anniversary screening of “The Invitation” with filmmaker Karyn Kusama, screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi and actor Logan Marshall-Green.

Saturday will see screenings of “Manhunter” and “To Live and Die in L.A.” with star William Petersen in attendance. I spoke to Petersen this week about going from being a Chicago theater actor to starring in two now-classic ’80s crime thrillers in the span of one year.

“It was never my intention to make any movies, it wasn’t like I was seeking them out,” Petersen said. “They kind of just came and found me.”

I also spoke to some of the team behind the festival about how they manage to harness the energy of L.A’s rep-house scene and point it toward an eclectic mix of new and old titles that increasingly includes legitimate prestige titles, including awards winners from the international festival circuit.

“It’s not just all about the films — it’s about the theatrical experience, seeing it all together,” said Grant Moninger, co-founder of Beyond Fest and artistic director of the American Cinematheque. “This does not happen online. You’re not watching a screener with a watermark at your house. You’re all together, you’re just celebrating cinema and going through all the emotions together. We put on a show every year at all these theaters because we’re thankful that everyone’s coming together and we’re going to try to give them as much as we can give them.”

‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ at 50

Tonight the 50th anniversary of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” will be celebrated at the Academy Museum with a screening of new 4K restoration and an appearance by star Tim Curry. The screening will include “a full-blown audience participation and shadow cast experience,” capturing some the feeling of the riotous fan-fueled midnight shows that made the film a sensation over decades. There will be additional screenings of the film Oct. 4 at Hollywood Forever Cemetery and Oct. 15 at the Grammy Museum.

Directed by Jim Sharman, who also mounted the original stage show, from a story and songs by Richard O’Brien (who also plays Riff-Raff), the film is said to have the longest theatrical release in cinema history, thanks to its ongoing life as a cult object.

Steve Appleford interviewed the film’s star, Tim Curry at the Roxy, where the original stage show was first performed in L.A. In the film, Curry’s character, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, is a singing scientist in fishnets and high heels who introduces a young couple (Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick) to a world of new experiences.

“It was part of the sexual revolution, really,” said Curry. “Experiment was in the air and it was palpable. I gave them permission to be who they discovered they wanted to be. I’m proud of that.”

The Times identified the “Rocky Horror” phenomenon from the very start. Gregg Kilday interviewed Curry for an article published in March 1974 as the stage show transferred from London to L.A. The feature follows Curry, then only 27, from the Roxy to Musso & Frank and on to the Chateau Marmont, a pretty enviable tour of the city.

Curry described the character at the time by saying, “He says he’s a transvestite transexual, whatever that means. I don’t play him as a transexual. But he’s a fairly complex guy. He just takes anything he can get. He’s not fussy, really. Though I think he’s something of a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am.”

In his original review of the film from Sept. 26, 1975, critic Kevin Thomas (of course, it was reviewed by Kevin Thomas) said, “All of this plays less depraved than it sounds. … This Richard O’Brien musical is simply too exuberant and too funny to be seriously decadent. Indeed, there’s an underlying quality of tenderness and even innocence in this loving send-up of horror and sci-fi flicks and celebration of post-graduate sexuality.”

The format wars of ‘One Battle After Another’

The new film from Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another,” features another of the filmmaker’s impressive ensembles, one that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall, Alana Haim, Sean Penn, newcomer Chase Infiniti and Benicio del Toro.

The film is playing in a variety of film formats, and Los Angeles is lucky to be one of only four cities in the world to be screening the movie in VistaVision. (Appropriately enough, it will be at the Vista.) The film is also in Imax 70mm at the Universal Citywalk and in Imax at multiple locations including the TCL Chinese and in 70mm at the CGV by Regency in Buena Park. (Plus, it’ll be in more conventional digital formats at many other theaters.)

A politically minded action-comedy based loosely on Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Vineland,” the film stars DiCaprio as a former bomb-making revolutionary who has gone underground to protect his daughter (Infiniti). When a power-mad military man (Penn) comes after them, Bob must spring into action in ways he is not ready for.

In her review, Amy Nicholson wrote, “Paul Thomas Anderson’s fun and fizzy adaptation views its Molotov cocktail as half-full. Yes, it says, the struggle for liberation continues: ideologues versus toadies, radicals versus conservatives, loyalists versus rats. But isn’t it inspiring that there are still people willing to fight?”

Glenn Whipp spoke to Anderson in his first solo interview for the film. Despite the fact that the movie opens with a raid on a government immigration detention center, Anderson was reluctant to directly connect it to the current political moment.

“The biggest mistake I could make in a story like this is to put politics up in the front,” Anderson said. “That has a short shelf life. To sustain a story over two hours and 40 minutes, you have to care about the characters and take those big swings in terms of the emotional arcs of people and their pursuits and why you love that person and why you hate this person. That’s not a thing that ever goes out of fashion. But neither does fascism and neither does people doing bad s— to other people. Unfortunately, that doesn’t go out of style, either. That’s just how we humans are.”

Points of interest

‘A Scanner Darkly’ in 35mm

On Friday night, Brain Dead Studios will host a 35mm screening of Richard Linklater’s 2006 animated adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s “A Scanner Darkly.” A comic, deeply paranoid tale of identity, the rotoscoped film features a cast that includes Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey Jr.

Reviewing the film, Carino Chocano wrote, “As the saying goes, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that everybody isn’t out to get you. In the dismal near-future of the film, when large-scale government spying has taken the next logical step into thought-surveillance, questioning the effect of shadowy forces no longer requires an overactive imagination. It doesn’t even require a drug habit (though, of course, it helps to have one). The dropouts and burnouts of ‘Scanner’ don’t have to wonder if they’re being watched; they are in every sense part of the program. … The brilliance of ‘A Scanner Darkly’ is how it suggests, without bombast or fanfare, the ways in which the real world has come to resemble the dark world of comic books.”

Much as Linklater has recently made “Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague” in short order, in 2006 he had both “A Scanner Darkly” and “Fast Food Nation,” a fictional adaptation of Eric Schlosser’s nonfiction book.

“I make the joke that I’m like that British bus,” Linklater said at the time. “You wait forever and then two show up at the same time.”

Terence Stamp x2

The Eastwood Performing Arts Center will feature a program of two films starring Terence Stamp on Friday and Saturday, with “Teorema” and “Toby Dammit.”

Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, “Teorema” captures Stamp’s otherworldly beauty as a mysterious stranger who seduces all the members of a wealthy family in Milan (played by Massimo Girotti, Silvana Mangano, Laura Betti and Anne Wiazemsky) and then disappears from their lives as suddenly as he appeared, leaving them all in spiritual crisis.

“Toby Dammit,” directed by Federico Fellini, was one section of the anthology film “Spirits of the Dead,” with the other sections directed by Roger Vadim and Louis Malle. Stamp plays a fading alcoholic actor who makes a deal to shoot a film in Rome in exchange for a new Ferrari. He begins to suffer from terrifying visions.

Writing about the anthology in 1969, Kevin Thomas noted the film’s “swirling, shimmering worlds of fantasy populated by decadent Roman society,” adding that they only paled in comparison to Fellini’s previous triumphs “La Docle Vita,” “8½” and “Juliet of the Spirits.”

In other news

Henry Jaglom dead at 87

An insistently independent filmmaker, Henry Jaglom died this week at age 87. His deep love of actors led him to a loose, improvisatory style that gave freedom to his performers. Often drawing story ideas from his own life (and casts from his wide circle of friends), his films included 1976’s “Tracks,” 1985’s “Always,” 1994’s “Babyfever” and 2007’s “Hollywood Dreams.” A new restoration of Jaglom’s 1983 film “Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?” is premiering this weekend as part of the New York Film Festival.

I visited with Jaglom once at the offices he long kept on Sunset Boulevard, a warren of rooms stuffed with the accumulated memorabilia of a life dedicated to movies. In a corner was an editing machine he said belonged to John Cassavetes.

Jaglom well understood his own privilege in life and equally understood that there were those who would not respond to his work.

“I enjoy, even if I’m being attacked, knowing I’ve had an impact,” Jaglom told me. “People are looking at it, talking about it, thinking about it. And that some people are moved, feel better. It’s reaching out and trying to touch people. It’s what film can do. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

When I was in high school in the 1990s, I worked the box office at Tucson’s sole art house, the Loft Cinema. My favorite shift was Saturday night when a parade of true characters began lining up for the weekly midnight screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

The shadow cast arrived before the audience, a ragtag group of aspiring and established actors and fans, costumes in hand. They’d decamp in the bathrooms on either side of the lobby without regard for who was in the women’s or men’s, and proceed to cake on makeup and rib each other in delightfully uncouth terms.

The actors would wait by the theater doors to make their appointed entrances beneath the screen after the film began, and soon the theater was a sweaty mess of wild hair, dripping foundation, torn fishnet stockings, smeared lipstick, thrown popcorn, spilled soda and ribald song and dance.

There was no doubt in my 16-year-old mind that this was underground musical theater at its finest. At that time — when one of my best friends was struggling with how to come out as gay, fearing fierce social backlash — the topsy-turvy sexuality of the show, with its outlandish, cross-dressing lead, felt deliciously subversive. This was not “Grease” or “Godspell,” it had more in common with the stage shows in “Cabaret.”

Week after week, the same shadow cast arrived, treating the show as its professional run. If someone was out sick, an eager understudy would step in. This was one small art theater in Tucson. The “Rocky Horror” phenomenon, with its live shadow casts, has been ongoing around the world for decades now. That means thousands of shadow casts in thousands of cities beneath thousands of screens — each engaging in their own form of participatory community theater.

As the film honors its 50th anniversary this year with special engagements and talks across the country (see below for an Academy Museum screening), star Tim Curry is being celebrated for breaking boundaries with his onscreen portrayal of the eccentric, cross-dressing scientist Frank-N-Furter. But it’s important to remember that the show began as a stage musical in London in 1973 — with Curry originating his role upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre. The musical then moved to L.A.’s Roxy Theatre for an electric yearlong run.

“Rocky Horror” is now known as as the longest continuous theatrical release in cinema history. But thanks to the talent and dedication of its legions of shadow casts — it just might be the longest continuous piece of live musical theater too.

I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, inviting you to do the Time Warp. Here’s this week’s round-up of arts and culture news.

On our radar

Frankenstein
San Francisco Ballet brings Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic horror story to life in a three-act production of British choreographer Liam Scarlett’s “Frankenstein.” The ballet originally premiered at the Royal Ballet in 2016 and has gone on to become a modern classic with a score by Lowell Liebermann and stage design by critically acclaimed ballet and opera artist John MacFarlane.
– Mark Swed
7:30 p.m. Thursday and Oct. 3; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4;and 1 p.m. Oct. 5. Segerstrom Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Playwright Jocelyn Bioh (“School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play”) captures the camaraderie and competitiveness, solidarity and rivalry of workplace relations in this entertaining comedy about the African immigrant employees of a Harlem hair salon earning their daily bread as they work their fingers — and mouths! — to exhaustion. The play is wildly amusing, but Bioh isn’t just kidding around. By familiarizing us with the workday rhythms of these flamboyant women, she makes us feel all the more acutely the threats that accompany their marginal status in a not-always-welcoming America. Whitney White, who directed the impeccably acted Broadway premiere, helms this much-praised co-production.
— Charles McNulty
Wednesday through Nov. 9. Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. centertheatregroup.org

Laufey
This young pop-jazz singer from Iceland shot a concert movie last year at the Hollywood Bowl; now she’s doubling down with two adopted-hometown shows at Crypto.com Arena just as her album “A Matter of Time” is garnering substantial Grammy buzz.
— Mikael Wood
7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Crypto.com Arena, 1111 S. Figueroa St., downtown L.A. cryptoarena.com

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY

🎨 Acts of Surface
A three-artist show featuring works by Edith Baumann, Chip Barrett and Vincent Enrique Hernandez that explore the literal and emotional facets of surface as a repository for memory, transformation and abstraction.
Noon-5 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday through Friday or by appointment, through Oct. 23. 7811 Gallery, 7811 Melrose Ave. 7811gallery.com

📷 Corita Kent: The Sorcery of Images
A trove of more than 15,000 35mm slides from the archive of the activist nun offers a peek into her artistic practice, her life as a teacher at Immaculate Heart College and the world she lived in between 1955 and 1968.
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, through Jan. 24. Marciano Art Foundation, 4357 Wilshire Blvd. marcianoartfoundation.org

🎤 Tate McRae
The main pop girls have been expanding their portfolios of late. After showing off a limber pop sound on 2023’s “Think Later” that made full use of her dance gifts, McRae proved her staying power with this year’s “So Close to What,” which topped the Billboard 200 by pulling from a rich seam of Y2K R&B and club jams. Yet she scored her first No. 1 single with the Morgan Wallen collab “What I Want.” Whatever you think of Wallen — and McRae’s young, queer fan base had thoughts — the song showed that McRae’s Alberta roots could drop right into a pop-country setting. (August Brown)
7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Nov. 8. Kia Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. thekiaforum.com

🎭 Parallel Process
Writer-director David Kohner Zuckerman’s drama stars Alan McRae and Tom Jenkins as brothers facing down a 50-year divide over the Vietnam War.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday, through Nov. 2 (except Oct. 26). Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. parallelprocesstheplay.com

🎞️ The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Shiver with anticipation as star Tim Curry, producer Lou Adler and a shadow cast performance alongside a 4k screening of the movie mark 50 years of delectable decadence.
7:30 p.m. Friday. Academy Museum, David Geffen Theater, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org

🎼 🎹 Daniil Trifonov
One of the most impressive pianists of his generation, the 34-year-old Daniil Trifonov, who starred in a Rachmaninoff week with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in August, opens the Soka Performing Arts fall series at Soka University in Aliso Viejo with a recital program that features seldom heard solo piano works by three early 20th century Russian composers — Taneyev, Prokofiev and Myaskovsky — along with a Schumann sonata. In the meantime, Deutsche Grammophon recently released a stunning new Trifonov recording of overlooked, intimate solo piano works by Tchaikovsky. (Mark Swed)
8 p.m. Friday. Soka University Concert Hall, 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo. soka.edu 7 p.m. Wednesday. UC Santa Barbara, Campbell Hall, campuscalendar.ucsb.edu

SATURDAY
🎭 Anthropology
Prolific and popular playwright Lauren Gunderson gravitates toward brainy subjects. Here, she delves into a fraught philosophical question: Can AI substitute for the human comfort we need, or are we only hastening the demise of our species by depending on digital simulations of people who actually care about us? John Perrin Flynn directs the North American premiere of a play by a dramatist whose work (“I and You,” “The Book of Will”) is as thought-provoking as it is emotionally resonant. (Charles McNulty)
Through Nov. 9, check specific dates. Rogue Machine at the Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Ave. roguemachinetheatre.org

🎞️ Dazed and Confused
Vidiots’ third annual celebration of Richard Linklater’s 1993 coming-of-age classic includes screenings, a takeover of the Microcinema with games on freeplay, a unique commemorative T-shirt, giveaways, food and drinks, all-vinyl DJ sets from KCRW’s Dan Wilcox and Wyldeflower and more. Close out the festivities with the period-appropriate 1976 Led Zeppelin concert film “The Song Remains the Same” at 9:30 p.m.
3 and 6:45 p.m. Saturday. Vidiots, Eagle Theatre, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. vidiotsfoundation.org

🎭 Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol
The artistic collective’s “Centroamérica” tells the story of a Nicaraguan woman on the run from Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship, exploring history and the present to discover the region’s diversity, conflict and resilience.
8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu

🎨 Vanessa Wallace-Gonzales
“Echoes,” a solo exhibition by the multiracial Black and Mexican artist originally from Southern California, now based in New York, features cyanotypes, sculptural vessels and a multimedia installation in a hybrid home/gallery.
Noon-6 p.m. Saturday or by appointment, through Oct. 18. 839 Gallery, 839 N. Cherokee Ave. 839gallery.com

🎼 Quintessential Classical
The Colburn Orchestra opens its season with conductor Nicholas McGegan, clarinetist Minkyung Chu and masterworks from Bach, Haydn and Mozart.
7 p.m. Colburn School, Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. colburnschool.edu

TUESDAY

🎨 Realms of the Dharma Gallery Tour
LACMA conservator Soko Furuhata and curator Stephen Little discuss preservation and highlights from the exhibition of pan-Asian Buddhist art created across centuries.
7-8:30 p.m. LACMA, Resnick Pavilion, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. lacma.org

📘 Oxy Live!
Occidental College’s speaker series kicks off a new season with a new host, artist Alexandra Grant, and bestselling author and feminist icon Roxane Gay. Future guests include Taylor Mac and Robin Coste Lewis.
7 p.m. Occidental college Thorne Hall, 1600 Campus Road. oxy.edu

WEDNESDAY

🎭 Littleboy/Littleman
Nicaraguan brothers have different ideas about the American dream in the world premiere of playwright Rudi Goblen’s drama, which mixes poetry, live music and ritual. Alex Hernandez and Marlon Alexander Vargas star for director Nancy Medina.
Through Nov. 2. Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Avenue, Westwood. geffenplayhouse.org

THURSDAY
🎼 The Rite of Spring with Dudamel
In an online note, the conductor writes, “if the LA Phil has a signature piece, it’s The Rite of Spring. Stravinsky shocked the world when it was first performed more than a century ago, and even today, it still feels bold, modern, and full of energy — just like this orchestra.” The evening also includes John Adams’ “Frenzy” and Stravinsky’s “Firebird.”
8 p.m. Thursday and Oct. 4; 2 p.m. Oct. 5. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

Culture news and the SoCal scene

Times art critic Christopher Knight reviewed “Ken Gonzales-Day: History’s ‘Nevermade’,” a poignant retrospective at USC’s Fisher Museum of Art. The show features a mural-sized photograph titled, “The Wonder Gaze, St. James Park (Lynching of Thomas Thurmond and John Holmes, San Jose, 1933),” which shows the scene beneath a tree used to lynch two men accused (but not convicted) of kidnapping and murder. To create the image, Gonzales-Day photographed the original photo of the brutal scene and digitally removed the ropes and the victims, leaving only a bare tree and the many humans milling about beneath it. “What’s left is a spectral scene, ghosted by the limitations of old black-and-white photographic technology and further heightened by the uneven glow generated by the camera’s flashbulb. The mob has become the subject,” Knight writes.

A trio of vibrant 99-seat theaters are in the spotlight of Times theater critic Charles McNulty’s newest column, which features reviews of Tennessee Williams’ “The Night of the Iguana” at Boston Court; the West Coast premiere of Brian Quijada’s play, “Fly Me to the Sun,” at the Fountain Theatre; and Rogue Machine Theatre’s world premiere production of “Adolescent Salvation” by Tim Venable. McNulty was particularly taken by the fine production of the not-often-revived “Night of the Iguana,” writing, “Williams is the humane, humorously defiant playwright we need when authoritarianism is on the march.”

Earlier this week, I got to spend the morning in the company of artist Jeff Koons as he arrived at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to install the celebratory first planting of a diminutive succulent in his monumental topiary sculpture, “Split-Rocker,” which is set to anchor the east side of LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries when it opens in April of next year. LACMA CEO and Director Michael Govan was also on hand, and the two men walked into the not-yet-finished building to regard the sculpture from the floor-to-ceiling windows above. “It’s an outdoor sculpture and indoor sculpture,” Govan said.

Museums across the country are feeling the chill from the Trump administration’s push against DEI, as well as its pressure campaign against the Smithsonian Institute for what it calls “divisive, race-centered ideology.” This hasn’t stopped the Getty from continuing to ramp up a growing slate of programs and grants aimed at preserving and strengthening Black arts and cultural heritage in Los Angeles and across the country. I spoke with a variety of curators, researchers and administrators at Getty about the institution’s efforts.

A 12-foot-tall statue showing President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands while engaged in a gleeful dance was removed from the National Mall earlier this week — a day after it was first erected there. The statue, created by an anonymous group that received a permit to place it on the mall, was titled “Best Friends Forever” and featured a plaque that read, “We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein.” The National Park Service removed the sculpture before it was scheduled to be taken down, saying it was “not compliant with the permit issued.”

LA Opera is staging its annual free simulcast on Saturday — this time for “West Side Story.” Per usual, one simulcast will take place on the Santa Monica Pier (bring a blanket, it will get chilly), but for the first time, a second simulcast will take place at Loma Alta Park in Altadena. The community event comes as fire recovery efforts continue, and excitement is building with a variety of local performers and vendors expected to take part in pre-show events, including “the Jets” from JPL.

George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, which awards fellowships to artists and curators worldwide, is being targeted by President Trump’s Justice Department as part of Trump’s efforts to crack down on what he calls the “radical left.”

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

Take a break from doomscrolling to read this delightful story by Deborah Netburn about how a shoemaker in East L.A. ended up with shoe forms for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.