Friday the 13th Movie Marathons Take over L.A. Screens

Friday the 13th Movie Marathons Take over L.A. Screens originally appeared on L.A. Mag.
Horror films are big business. Shudder and Screambox are streaming monster movies 24 hours a day. The Alien, Saw, and It franchises have all grossed more than a billion dollars, and Universal just spent $7 billion on their new Florida theme park where Frankenstein, Dracula the Wolf Man reign over their 'Dark Universe.' Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees were the big horror baddies of the 1980s and continue to haunt the world, at least at Halloween, but only Jason gets two holidays to celebrate. This year, the only one Friday that falls on the 13th is tonight and old hockey mask is making himself known around L.A. with eight venues pulling out all the stops for the murderer from Camp Crystal Lake on his 45th anniversary. Encino producer Sean S. Cunningham got an MFA from Stanford and worked for Lincoln Center and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival before releasing his first Friday the 13th film in 1980. The franchise has currently clocked twelve feature films, a TV series, books, video games and boatloads of merchandise. Cruise around Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank and you'll find store after store filled slasherabilia and horror collectibles. Today's Jason-fest sprawls out from art house cinemas to an esteemed museum to that funky revival house in Gardena. Hardcore fanatics can bunker down at the Frida Cinema, which is screening ten of the films in a two-day marathon. For those who just can't get enough Karo syrup-soaked teenagers, Vidiots has added a late-night screening of Dude Bro Party Massacre III. Be sure to check with venues in the curfew zone for the latest updates.
(1980)Alamo Drafthouse DTLAVidiotsFrida CinemaRooftop Cinema Club DTLAAutry MuseumArt Theatre Long Beach
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Frida Cinema
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Frida Cinema
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Frida Cinema
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New Beverly Cinema
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New Beverly Cinema
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Gardena Cinema
This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 13, 2025, where it first appeared.

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Time​ Magazine

8 hours ago

• Time​ Magazine

The 25 Best Zombie Movies of All Time

It's fitting that, much like the walking dead themselves, zombie movies just can't stay down. The latest major example of this reliable horror subgenre shuffling (or in this case running) into theaters is 28 Years Later. Coming not quite 28 real-life years after 28 Days Later but basically close enough, the new film is a long-awaited continuation of one of the iconic zombie franchises. It's credited as being among the few movies that revolutionized the subgenre—and given how many times the undead have been reinvented on the big screen, that's saying something. Why are zombie movies so enduring? The central themes at play are undeniable. Zombies confront us with death, our universal, ultimate fear, in a very literal and visceral way. They're metaphors for disease and social unrest, capable of horrifying audiences or delighting them with gory, over-the-top gags. It makes sense that so many zombie movies are comedies; it feels good to laugh in the rotting, decaying face of death. The fact that zombie movies are not inherently especially expensive to make also must account for their popularity. The only real special effects you need to make a cheap-o zombie movie are a little makeup and some fake blood, which a bunch of buddies with a camera can easily do. There's a whole horde of cheap and/or forgettable zombie movies, but these 25—whether their budgets were in the tens of thousands or tens of millions—are the ones that have resisted decay and stood the test of time. All 25 of these movies are good; but just as crucially, they're all important to the history of zombie cinema, starting with black-and-white movies about the voodoo zombies of Haitian folklore. This sort of zombie—which originated the term—brings up the surprisingly tricky question of determining what counts as a zombie movie. It can't just be any undead being—ghosts don't have a body and it's not always clear if a demon from hell was once a person or if they're just some devilish entity. In theory, mummy movies and Frankenstein adaptations could count as zombie flicks, yet they seem like their own thing. Does a zombie need to have originated from a viral outbreak or can some magic be animating the dead? Do the zombies need to be dead or can they just be infected with a virus that turns them into mindless cannibals? There's no cut and dry definition for a zombie movie; you've just got to trust that you know one when you have it in your sights—and that you're aiming for the head. White Zombie (1932) White Zombie is widely regarded as the first zombie movie, though walking dead did appear in cinema before, as in a silent adaptation of Frankenstein or the 1919 French film J'accuse, which ends with countless World War I dead rising up and returning home. But White Zombie was certainly the one that codified so many of the zombie tropes later movies would follow. Inspired by an American occultist's 1929 book documenting a real (but much exaggerated and misunderstood) old Haitian form of religious punishment where people were drugged, buried alive, and then dug up and ordered around in a dazed state, White Zombie has been criticized for offensive and racist depictions of Haitians, very much a product of a different era. Under the thrall of evil voodoo practitioner "Murder" Legendre (Dracula himself, Bela Lugosi), dozens of zombified Haitians mindlessly follow his orders, shuffling around ominously with vacant dead-eyed stares. The 1932 film's zombies don't eat people or spread out of control—those traits would come later—but it's easy to see White Zombie's influence in the nights, dawns, and days of the dead that would follow. As a movie on its own terms, White Zombie (which would be followed up by something of a sequel, Revolt of the Zombies) can at times feel a bit stagnant, a trait that's not uncommon in these early '30s horror movies where the cinematic language of the genre was still being developed. At its best, though, White Zombie turns its lethargy into something akin to a surreal dream whose nightmarish qualities are slow but undeniable and inescapable. I Walked With a Zombie (1943) Although voodoo zombies were the original zombies, this version of the walking dead linked to Caribbean folk tradition would eventually fall out of vogue—though tropical islands would continue to be a frequent haunting ground for the undead, and there were a few scattered later efforts like Wes Craven's 1998 movie The Serpent and the Rainbow. The greatest of the traditional zombie movies has to be I Walked With a Zombie, from director Jacques Tourneur. A Gothic story about a wealthy family, dark secrets, an innocent young nurse and a reclusive, unwell wife that's set in Jamaica rather than some English moors, I Walked With the Zombie is a chilling tale that's features some legitimately haunting imagery, like actor Darby Jones' bug-eyed, deathly stoic zombie-like guard of the crossroads, Carrefour. Also notably, it's one of the great early examples of how well zombies work as a vehicle to explore societal themes. It's almost surprising how earnestly and respectfully this horror-drama engages with the legacy of slavery, racism, and the religions of the African diaspora, including vodou, though its handling of race—including the way it centers a white woman who is at best a tourist in this complex Black tradition—is not without critique. Night of the Living Dead (1968) Undeniably the most important and influential zombie movie ever made (not to mention terrifying), George A. Romero's indie horror masterpiece established the modern idea of a zombie, one no longer tied to folklore and a master controlling mindless slaves but a flesh-eating menace whose greatest threat might come from how it could not be controlled. Shot on a meager budget in a condemned farmhouse not too far outside of Pittsburgh, Night of the Living Dead has "ghouls" rising from their graves to feast on the living—a level of gore that's both unshowy and unflinchingly upsetting. A random assortment of characters all take refuge in the farmhouse as the dead descend on it; a representative smattering of America and the societal unrest that comes with it. Duane Jones, a Black actor, plays Ben, the film's protagonist—a bold first for horror filmmaking, which Romero says was only due to Jones having the best audition. Whatever the reason, the casting adds so much more weight to Night of the Living Dead's gut-wrenching ending. After surviving the undead, Ben emerges only to be shot by some good ol' boys who mistake him for a zombie. If Night of the Living Dead's greatest legacy is how it shaped all the living dead to come in the days that followed, it's no less important for how it didn't let the living off the hook. Shock Waves (1977) Zombies and Nazis are the two villains that you're supposed to feel no remorse for killing in genre fiction, so it makes sense that plenty of movies (and video games) have combined the two, creating a Nazi zombie foe that's twice as scary and that you can feel twice as good about headshotting. Later films like Dead Snow and Overlord would have bloody fun with this premise, but Shock Waves, an under-appreciated 1977 movie, deserves the spot on this list. One of the earlier Nazi zombie films (though The Frozen Dead beat it by a decade), Shock Waves is notable for how little zombie-slaying its protagonists do. Instead, the stranded vacationers find themselves fleeing goggle-wearing undead in the Caribbean where a former SS commander (Peter Cushing) is hiding out. In the war, he'd been in charge of a Nazi Death Corps of zombie troopers who specialized in aquatic warfare, though they proved impossible to control, leading him to sink their ship by this remote island. It's a weird, uncanny film. Dawn of the Dead (1978) There's a credible case to be made that Romero's 1973 movie The Crazies, about a biological weapon that causes residents of a small town to go feral, qualifies as a zombie movie. His official return to the living dead came a few years later, though, resulting in one of the greatest horror movies of all time. A clear indictment of the consumerism that had shoppers shuffling mindlessly through malls, Dawn of the Dead is a masterpiece of makeup and grotesque effects, following a group of survivors as they take refuge inside of a mall while hoards of dead mull about outside. This seeming paradise of capitalism soon curdles into a prison that strips the survivors of their humanity, yet at the same time Romero never forgets the humanity that the mass of zombies once had. Dawn of the Dead has been parodied and referenced many times since, including Shaun of the Dead, the video game series Dead Rising, and a remake that's good enough to appear later on this list, but none of its successors quite captured the level of dread and malaise the original does. Zombi 2 (1979) Also known as Zombie Flesh Eaters but named Zombi 2—despite there not being a Zombi 1 because Italian copyright law allowed for any film to be marketed as a sequel to any other film, regardless of any association with the original—this unofficial follow-up to the Italian release of Dawn of the Dead is a shockingly effective movie in its own right. Lucio Fulci, well known in the giallo genre, directs an English-speaking cast in a story about a woman, accompanied by a journalist, investigating her missing father on a remote Caribbean island. Turns out the island's rotting dead are rising from the grave—the result of a voodoo curse. (If movies and the '30s and '40s were actually engaging with Haitian tradition and spiritualism, for better or worse, by this point most movies used it as a cheap plot device.) Zombi 2 is legendary for a couple of extreme scenes, like one where a zombie's decaying hand slowly pulls a woman's head into a jagged piece of wood as it pierces her eyeball, and another where a zombie fights a shark. (The very real tiger shark, to the credit of sharks everywhere, seems entirely unaggressive and mostly just annoyed that some guy in a costume is trying to manhandle it.) These over-the-top moments and the absurdity of its title may be the elements that made Zombi 2 famous, but beneath them is a movie with an eerie, uncanny vibe that's shockingly easy to get lost in. Day of the Dead (1985) "Perhaps the real walking dead is us!" is at this point such a well-established zombie trope that it might as well be decaying itself, but Romero's third Dead movie pulled it off early and extremely well. (Romero has the distinction of appearing three times on this list because of how undeniably important he was to zombie cinema.) Set after the undead have already overrun the world, Day of the Dead focuses on a remnant of humanity living inside a missile bunker in Florida. The scientists there are trying to find a cure for zombism—or at least that's what they're supposed to be doing, as lead scientist Dr. Logan has gotten fixated on training zombies to be docile. The soldiers protecting them, meanwhile, are led by Captain Rhodes, who is itching to exert his authority with force now that society has fallen. With the zombies already having essentially won over the living, Day of the Dead lets mankind finish the job for itself. The zombies in Day are almost heroic—especially "Bub," the somewhat intelligent undead that Logan trained. Tellingly, he's more sympathetic than most of the living, breathing cast. The Return of the Living Dead (1985) John Russo, co-writer of Night of the Living Dead, retained the rights to the "Living Dead" portion of the title, a deal that eventually led to the visceral punk zombie movie The Return of the Living Dead in 1985. It was this movie that popularized the idea of zombies who specifically crave "brains," and Return has a sense of humor that in retrospect feels like the patient zero for The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror" episodes' entire sensibility. Following a group of punks as they hang out in a cemetery (as one does)—unaware that two bumbling employees at a medical warehouse have accidentally unleashed a corpse-reviving toxic gas—Return of the Living Dead manages to strike the right balance between gleeful absurdity, knowing silliness and legitimately gross gore and decaying zombies. This sort of wry boundary pushing, elevated by the great and goopy practical effects of the '80s, would largely define the zombies in the decade to come—reaching a peak (or maybe a nadir, depending on your taste), with Peter Jackson's 1992 New Zealand splatterfest Dead Alive. Evil Dead II (1987) The first Evil Dead is a straightforward horror movie, following Bruce Campbell's Ash Williams as he and some friends spend the night in an old cabin in the woods, read from the Necronomicon, and unleash zombie-like demons upon themselves. For Evil Dead II, Sam Raimi had a larger budget and essentially remade his original film, though this time around it was much more of a comedy, full of Looney Tunes-esque gags and spooky pratfalls. Your mileage may vary on whether or not Evil Dead's "deadites" should count as zombies; there's a whole mythology and other sorts of supernatural evil like menacing, living trees to account for, too. What's undeniable is Evil Dead II's impact; it may represent the purest example of '80s filmmakers using the undead as a playground. Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) The '90s were something of a fallow period for zombie movies. A glut of undead films from the previous decade—many of which were overtly comedic, gory to the point of absurdity, or extremely cheaply made (or all of the above)—had given the subgenre a trashy reputation even by horror standards. So it's a bit ironic that one of the best zombie movies of the '90s was a direct-to-video Scooby-Doo feature. Every episode of the original, charmingly formulaic Scooby-Doo series had the Mystery, Inc. gang unmasking the very-real perpetrator of whatever spooky phenomenon they were investigating and in doing so undermining the scares. Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island does the opposite. After going their separate ways for many years, Shaggy and Co. reunite and go to a bayou island outside of New Orleans. Once there, they discover very real zombies, voodoo curses, and werecats who have been luring victims to Moonscar Island for decades. It's an earnestly effective (and kinda scary!) bit of kid-friendly horror, one that does justice to the history of zombie movies despite Scoob's silly TV origins. Wild Zero (1999) Although the zombie movie genre in the West was mostly rotting in a creative grave, so to speak, during the '90s, things were happening in the East. In Hong Kong, movies featuring jiāngshī like Mr. Vampire had been popular in the previous decade. (Jiāngshī, also known as hopping vampires, are really more like zombies than bloodsuckers, though you'll find Mr. Vampire on TIME's list of the greatest vampire movies rather than here all the same.) Then, in 1993, Capcom released the first Resident Evil video game in Japan, the success of which would inspire a wave of Asian zombie movies and whose impact would eventually reach the states, including an American film adaptation of the game (more on that in a minute). The 1998 Hong Kong movie Bio Zombie is one key example of this era of Asian zombie horror, but no zombie movie rocks harder than the '99 Japanese film Wild Zero—literally. An over-the-top romp with horror, sci-fi, and comedy elements, Wild Zero stars the Japanese rock trio Guitar Wolf as themselves, heroically leaping into action to help a fan when the dead start attacking. Motorcycles belch fire from their exhaust pipes, zombie heads explode with just the right level of CGI cheesiness to make it fun, and Guitar Wolf's lead singer uses a sword sheathed in his guitar to take down a UFO. It's a lot, but gloriously so, and it's also a righteous display of trans allyship. When the young fan is initially repulsed to learn that a girl he's fallen for is trans, he sees a vision of Guitar Wolf, his idol, who tells him that "love has no borders, nationalities, or genders." Hell yeah. Resident Evil (2002) Almost certainly the worst movie on this list of great movies, Paul W. S. Anderson's Resident Evil is nonetheless hugely important to the history of zombie cinema, as it was the one-two punch of Resident Evil and 28 Days Later in 2002 that revived the subgenre in the West and gave it some critical legitimacy. (Well, perhaps not so much Resident Evil on the latter front.) The (loose) adaptation of the video game series is an action-packed bit of schlock with a handful of engaging setpieces, baffling narrative choices, and some poor-looking early-'00s CGI. Milla Jovovich stars as Alice, an amnesiac ass-kicker who goes into a secret underground Umbrella Corporation lab following an outbreak of their corpse-reviving (and corpse-mutating) T-virus. It's nu-metal zombies for a new age, one where zombies weren't just metaphors for societal ills but enemies for gamers to mow down, and Resident Evil and its many sequels reflected this. 28 Days Later (2002) Although credited with popularizing "fast zombies" (though its infected are not technically undead but humans turned into mindless flesh-eaters by a Rage Virus), what makes 28 Days Later so hauntingly effective are its many slower moments. Filmed on digital cameras that give the entire movie an uncanny, slightly fuzzy look (and whose light weight compared to film allowed director Danny Boyle to shoot unbelievable footage of Cilian Murphy's recently awoken coma patient wandering a deserted London in the wee hours of the morning), 28 Days Later is full of eerie tranquility until the infected rush in. The September 11th attacks occurred while the movie was filming, and as a result 28 Days has an additional resonance; an all-too-familiar picture of societal fear and unease. The Rage Virus, too, worked as a metaphor for America and its allies' seeming bloodlust for retaliation and the forthcoming war in Iraq. 28 Days Later, the only real rival to Romero's zombies in terms of importance to the subgenre, was groundbreaking in the way it was made and in how its zombies behaved. It was still very much in the tradition of using the undead (or close enough) as a means to examine the failings of the living, and 28 Days Later would mark the start of a zombie renaissance that would last more than a decade. Dawn of the Dead (2004) Zack Snyder's debut film, a remake of Romero's zombie masterpiece of the same name, has no right to be as good as it is. Taking the trapped-in-the-mall premise of the '78 film and adding fast zombies and a heavy dose of post-9/11 America, the '04 Dawn of the Dead is an intense, mean, and unrelenting experience. After an opening sequence where Sarah Polley's protagonist comes home from her hospital job, goes to bed, and then wakes up to discover that the world as she knew it has ended (a sequence that's up there with the single greatest 10-minutes of any horror movie), Dawn of the Dead plunges into violent, action-packed nihilism. If Romero's Dawn was about what happens to the living when they give their brains over to consumerism, Snyder's looks at a nation in crisis, one whose residents are grappling for any sort of safety—and any power they can grasp as the ground crumbles beneath them. Shaun of the Dead (2004) The final of the three most important zombie movies of the '00s, Shaun of the Dead is as cheekily referential to the history of zombie cinema as you'd expect with a punny name like that. Directed by Edgar Wright, the horror comedy follows Simon Pegg's titular slacker as he and his buddy Ed (Nick Frost) slowly realize they're in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Shaun's plan is to head to the local pub with his ex-girlfriend to wait it out. Extremely funny before a climatic turn that gets a bit too suddenly depressing, Shaun of the Dead knowingly uses all the zombie tropes as a vehicle for comedy and the outbreak as a setting for a very human character-based drama. It's the type of deft genre-blending that can only land when the audience is familiar with the material it's sending up. Fido (2006) This Canadian zom-com basically takes the final joke of Shaun of the Dead—a reveal that zombies are being used for mindless manual labor—and makes a feature-length romp out of it. Drenched in a '50s-style Americana with shades of Tim Burton's early work, Fido takes place in a world where pet-like zombies are the norm and special collars inhibit their flesh-eating tendencies, making them useful labor. When young Timmy starts forming a bond with his family's new zombie, which he names Fido, hijinks ensue (including Timmy's mom, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, basically cucking his dad with the zombie). Fido is mostly content to be a clever, splattery spoof. It's smartest when it contrasts the walking dead with the conformity and repression of the 1950s. [Rec] (2007) This Spanish movie, remade in the U.S. with the name Quarantine, represents two '00s horror trends: zombies and found footage. [Rec] happens to be one of the best examples of both subgenres. Told from the perspective of a TV cameraman filming a reporter for a news show about what happens in Barcelona at night, [Rec] has the pair tagging along with some firefighters when they get a call about a woman needing medical assistance. Once inside, they and the residents of the apartment building realize they're trapped—and that there's an outbreak of something that's making people mindlessly violent and aggressive. Once the action starts, it's terrifying and relentless, and [Rec] uses its unique format to make audiences feel like they're right there with the zombies in a way that no other movie really has. Pontypool (2008) Though undermined by a pretty dumb ending, the majority of Pontypool is a gripping and intelligent twist on traditional zombie movies as it relies on language—in more ways than one—rather than gore. Grant Mazzy is a shock jock radio announcer in the small town of Pontypool, Ontario, and while recording an episode of his show, he and his producers start catching wind of strange occurrences. From the (seeming) safety of the sound booth, Grant starts fielding calls from listeners and the station's helicopter reporter about an outbreak of madness, cannibalism, and dismemberment among the town's residents that seems to be spreading. Eventually, Grant learns that the infection is spread not through a virus but through words, as the English language itself has been infected. The ending really is a tremendous letdown that saps the incredibly narrated tension of the rest of the movie and replaces it with too-neat explanations. Until that point, though, Pontypool is like no other zombie movie you've seen because you're mostly just hearing the terror, which makes it all the more horrific in your mind's eye. Zombieland (2009) If Shaun of the Dead was a horror comedy built on the knowledge of zombie tropes, Zombieland went a step further, venturing beyond homage into making the "rules" of the walking dead explicitly part of the text. Zombieland makes its post-apocalyptic setting, where the undead lurk around every corner, look like a pretty fun hang, following Jesse Eisenberg's neurotic Columbus and his traveling companions (Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin) as they road-trip across the country seeking refuge. Even when Zombieland does get serious or lean more into horror, it's still a pretty breezy time, full of jokes, a killer Bill Murray cameo, and the possibility that awaits young folks when the undead have eaten through any chance of them having to assume societal responsibilities. After decades of zombie movies, Zombieland looked on the bright side of a zombie apocalypse. Train to Busan (2016) The zombie virus infected South Korean cinemas in the 2010s, resulting in one of the best modern zombie films, Train to Busan. A masterful blend of character drama, societal critique, and white-knuckle zombie action, Train to Busan follows white-collar workaholic Seok-woo and his estranged young daughter as they board the titular train—just as an undead outbreak begins to overtake South Korea. When one bitten person boards just as they're leaving the station, it soon spreads throughout the train, forcing Seok-woo and some other survivors to band together and keep moving forward on the train, hoping they'll eventually find some safe place to stop. Many zombie movies focus on the horrible things that selfish people do in times of trouble, and Train to Busan has plenty of that in the form of the rich elites who care only about their own safety at the expense of others. What makes Train to Busan special is how it also keeps highlighting selflessness from normal, working-class people, eventually helping Seok-woo learn to do the right thing. That, and an absolutely terrifying depiction of zombies that sprint and crawl over one another like a wave of gnashing undead rather than individuals. (It's worth noting that the 2013 adaptation of World War Z did put an ant-like swarm of zombies on the big screen before Train to Busan—a legitimate innovation when it comes to depicting the undead. The rest of the film is a generic letdown despite the unusually high budget for a zombie movie, especially considering that the book it's loosely based on is one of the great works of undead fiction.) The Girl With All the Gifts (2016) Part of what makes zombies such scary monsters is the knowledge that they were once people like you or me, only now they're mindless flesh-eating corpses. A few zombie movies have explored the idea that zombies might still be people inside and shown sympathy towards them. (Romero's Day of the Dead famously suggested this with the somewhat intelligent zombie Bub.) A pair of movies in the mid-'00s, the zombie rom-com Warm Bodies and the post-apocalyptic movie The Girl With all the Gifts, both focused on this theme. The former is fun but fairly disposable; the latter follows a scientist and a teacher who are trying to understand—and protect—a girl infected with the parasitic fungus that turned most of mankind into zombies. Despite her infection, she can suppress the hunger it brings (to some extent). Is she still a monster, then, or something more? The Girl With all the Gifts confronts the audience with difficult questions about the nature of humanity. (The movie also feels especially relevant given the popularity of The Last of Us and the HBO adaptation of the video game, which also feature fungus zombies.) One Cut of the Dead (2017) The history of zombie movies is littered with cheap, DIY horror flicks by low-budget filmmakers with inventiveness and gusto. One Cut of the Dead is a joyful, exuberant (and fittingly scrappy) celebration of zombie movie-makers. The first half hour of the 90-minute Japanese movie is a single take, following a group of actors and filmmakers as they attempt to make a cheap zombie movie—only for real zombies to descend on the set while the camera is running. At the risk of spoiling One Cut of the Dead's delightful twist, the second act reveals a whole different story that recontextualizes the opening action, and the final half hour is just a wonderfully inventive ode to a genre filmmaking. Blood Quantum (2019) It's always a thrill when a genre sinks its teeth into a novel premise or brilliant metaphor that hasn't been done before. Such is the case with Blood Quantum. When a zombie pandemic breaks out in 1980s Canada, the residents of a First Nations tribe discover that those with Indigenous blood are immune to the infection—a reversal of the incredibly tragic historical reality, as countless native populations were decimated by disease brought over by white settlers. Safe from being turned into zombies by a single bite but still at risk from all the other horrors a post-apocalyptic world entails, the members of the Red Crow Indian Reservation fortify themselves, trying to determine what to do about the undead and the many white people who are coming to them for supposed safety. Blood Quantum isn't perfect—despite the inspired premise it does at points get a little lost in generic zombie plot beats—but it shows just how much life there still is in the undead genre. #Alive (2020) The only way #Alive could've been a more perfect COVID-19 movie would have been if the South Korean zombie movie had actually been made for the pandemic instead of just presciently filmed the year before and released in 2020. (Its global premiere was on Netflix in September, just about when people were more than stir-crazy and starved for something new to watch.) Protagonist Oh Joon-woo is a gamer who is forced to hide in his apartment after a zombie outbreak seemingly overtakes Seoul, and he finds himself isolated, bored, and scared about an unsure future since there's no timeline for when (or if) things will ever go back to normal. Pretty relatable stuff! Luckily, #Alive is not nihilistic nor does it summon memories that are too unpleasant to return to. Instead, it's about the importance of human connection, and the lengths to which we'll go to find another person in scary times. Handling the Undead (2024) When zombies rise from the graves in most movies, it's immediately understood to be a bad thing. But don't those who have lost a loved one want nothing more than for the deceased to be back in their lives? The recent Norwegian movie Handling the Undead uses zombies as a profoundly upsetting exploration of grief. When the dead inexplicably come back to some semblance of life in Oslo, three families—a bereft mother whose son is dead and buried, an old woman whose partner recently passed, and a husband whose wife died in an accident on the very day the dead rose—grapple with this grotesque disruption of the stages of their grief. The returned dead haven't been miraculously resurrected; they're decomposing, they don't speak, and they display no emotion. It's worse having them here than when they were actually dead, but what are their loved ones supposed to do? It's almost a relief at the very end once the undead start displaying more traditional zombie tendencies and begin eating the living. That sort of horror is much easier to sit with than grief and the slow, undeniable realization that what is lost really can't ever come back.

Los Angeles Times

8 hours ago

• Los Angeles Times

A changing China, captured in 25 years of outtakes, emerges in the poetic ‘Caught by the Tides'

Dispatches from northern China, Jia Zhangke's movies constitute their own cinematic universe. Repeatedly returning to themes of globalization and alienation, the 55-year-old director has meticulously chronicled his country's uneasy plunge into the 21st century as rampant industrialization risks deadening those left behind. But his latest drama, 'Caught by the Tides,' which opens at the Frida Cinema today, presents a bold, reflexive remix of his preoccupations. Drawing from nearly 25 years of footage, including images from his most acclaimed films, Jiahas crafted a poignant new story with an assist from fragments of old tales. He has always been interested in how the weight of time bears down on his characters — now his actors age in front of our eyes. When 'Caught by the Tides' premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival, critics leaned on a handy, if somewhat inaccurate, comparison to describe Jia's achievement: 'Boyhood,' which followed a young actor over the course of 12 years, a new segment of the picture shot annually. But Richard Linklater preplanned his magnum opus. Jia, on the other hand, approached his film more accidentally, using the pandemic lockdown as an excuse to revisit his own archives. 'It struck me that the footage had no linear, cause-and-effect pattern,' Jia explained in a director's statement. 'Instead, there was a more complex relationship, not unlike something from quantum physics, in which the direction of life is influenced and ultimately determined by variable factors that are hard to pinpoint.' The result is a story in three chapters, each one subtly building emotionally from the last. In the first, it is 2001, as Qiaoqiao (Zhao Tao) lives in Datong, where she dates Bin (Li Zhubin). Early on, Qiaoqiao gleefully sings with friends, but it will be the last time we hear her voice. It's a testament to Zhao's arresting performance that many viewers may not notice her silence. She's so present even without speaking, her alert eyes taking in everything, her understated reactions expressing plenty. Young and with her whole life ahead of her, Qiaoqiao longs to be a singer, but her future is short-circuited by Bin's text announcing that he's leaving to seek better financial opportunities elsewhere. He promises to send word once he's established himself, but we suspect she may never see this restless, callous schemer again. Not long after, Bin ghosts Qiaoqiao, prompting her to journey after him. 'Caught by the Tides' richly rewards viewers familiar with Jia's filmography with scenes and outtakes from his earlier movies. Zhao, who in real life married Jia more than a decade ago, has been a highlight of his movies starting with his 2000 breakthrough 'Platform,' and so when we see Qiaoqiao at the start of 'Caught by the Tides,' we're actually watching footage shot around that time. (Jia's 2002 drama 'Unknown Pleasures' starred Zhao as a budding singer named Qiaoqiao. Li also appeared in 'Unknown Pleasures,' as well as subsequent Jia pictures.) But the uninitiated shouldn't feel intimidated to begin their Jia immersion here. Those new to his work will easily discern the film's older footage, some of it captured on grainy DV cameras, while newer material boasts the elegant, widescreen compositions that have become his specialty. 'Caught by the Tides' serves as a handy primer on Jia's fascination with China's political, cultural and economic evolution, amplifying those dependable themes with the benefit of working across a larger canvas of a quarter century. Still, by the time Qiaoqiao traverses the Yangtze River nearby the Three Gorges Dam — a controversial construction project that imperiled local small towns and provided the backdrop for Jia's 2006 film 'Still Life' — the director's fans may feel a bittersweet sense of déjà vu. We have been here before, reminded of his earlier characters who similarly struggled to find love and purpose. The film's second chapter, which takes place during 2006, highlights Qiaoqiao's romantic despair and, separately, Bin's growing desperation to make a name for himself. (This isn't the first Jia drama in which characters dabble in criminal activity.) By the time we arrive at the finale, set during the age of COVID anxiety, their inevitable reunion results in a moving resolution, one that suggests the ebb and flow of desire but, also, the passage of time's inexorable erosion of individuals and nations. Indeed, it's not just Zhao and Li who look different by the end of 'Caught by the Tides' but Shanxi Province itself — now a place of modern supermarkets, sculpted walkways and robots. Unchecked technological advancement is no longer a distant threat to China but a clear and present danger, dispassionately gobbling up communities, jobs and Qiaoqiao's and Bin's dreams. When these two former lovers see each other again, a lifetime having passed on screen, they don't need words. In this beautiful summation work, Jia has said it all.

Yahoo

12 hours ago

• Yahoo

Netflix Tudum 2025 recap: All the trailers and release dates you missed for 'Stranger Things,' 'Squid Game,' 'Wednesday' and more

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Netflix's Tudum 2025 event kicked off tonight, May 31 at 8pm Eastern Time (5pm Pacific), streaming live worldwide from a sold-out IRL event at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. And with it came exclusive sneak peaks and starry cast appearances from some of the streaming service's most anticipated titles. We're talking beloved returning series like "Squid Game", "Wednesday" and the final installment of "Stranger Things", as well as high-profile films like Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein", the "Happy Gilmore" sequel and "Wake Up Dead Man", the latest entry into the "Knives Out" universe. As has become tradition at the annual Tudum event, fans got fresh intel like release dates, new trailers, first looks and the latest news on those Netflix properties—along with plenty of surprises, too. (Two words: Lady Gaga!] Tom's Guide chronicled all of the action so you didn't miss a thing — before, during and after the Tudum live event. Check out all of the latest news on your favorite Netflix shows, movies and more. Given that Tudum 2025 is Netflix's biggest live event of the year, the organizers are unsurprisingly pulling out the big names for tonight's fandom fest. Here are a full list of the series and films participating in Tudum 2025: Movies: Frankenstein Happy Gilmore 2 My Oxford Year The Life List The RIP Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery Series: America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (Season 2) Emily in Paris (Season 5) Forever (Season 1) Ginny & Georgia (Season 3) Love is Blind My Life with the Walter Boys (Season 2) Nobody Wants This (Season 2) ONE PIECE (Season 2) Outer Banks (Season 5) Squid Game (Season 3) Stranger Things (Season 5) Wednesday (Season 2) WWE And as well as major updates and exciting reveals from Netflix's biggest franchises, the global fandom event will include high-energy live performances, with musical headliner Lady Gaga (who has been confirmed to star in the second season of 'Wednesday') and Indian hip-hop sensation Hanumankind taking the stage. The whole proceedings will be hosted by actress Sofia Carson, known to Netflix fans for her roles in "Purple Hearts" and "The Life List". For fans of 'Stranger Things', Tudum 2025 is going to be a must-see event — with the Duffer Brothers' sci-fi juggernaut set to premiere its fifth and final season this year, there's certainly going to be plenty to talk about where the Upside Down is concerned. And given that longtime fans of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Will (Noah Schnapps) and the rest of the Hawkins crew still don't have an official release date for the new episodes — nor trailers and clips teasing what's to come in the series' last chapter — excitement is high to see what updates the creators and cast member unveil during tonight's live event. Speaking of updates, a viral audio clip linked to 'Stranger Things' season 5 dropped on May 30 ahead of Netflix's Tudum event, a grainy mix of loud bangs, radio status, muffled voices and other disturbing noises that has generated much speculation among fans about the significance of the eerie sounds therein. Is the cryptic 30-second clip connected to Vecna, the murderous big bad portrayed by Jamie Campbell Bower and formerly known as Henry Creel? 'Stranger Things' fans will likely get insights into what that creepy new audio clip is all about during tonight's fandom event, as well as other titillating tidbits that will hopefully hold them over until the fifth and final season of the horror hit premieres on Netflix later this year. Check back here to find out all the latest 'Stranger Things' news coming out of the Tudum 2025 event! Calling all outcasts! 'Wednesday' will return for another season of supernatural adventures this summer in a two-part premiere, with four episodes debuting on August 6 and another four to follow on September 3. Fans of the spooky mystery-comedy — which stars Jenna Ortega as the titular Addams girl — have also already gotten to see a teaser trailer of what's to come for Wednesday, roommate Enid (Emma Myers), frenemy Bianca (Joy Sunday) and the rest of the Nevermore Academy gang. And we already know that there will be several fresh faces joining the main cast this season, including Steve Buscemi, Billie Piper, Evie Templeton, Owen Painter and Noah B. Taylor. And yes, pop icon Lady Gaga is also set to cameo in season 2, though specific details about Mother Monster's role are still under wraps. So, what can we hope for 'Wednesday'-wise from the Tudum 2025 event? Potentially, a new full-length trailer, exciting plot points, behind-the-scenes details, insights on how filming season 2 differed from its predecessor and plenty more gloomy goodness. Stay tuned! Fans of Rian Johnson's 'Knives Out' film franchise (which includes 2019's 'Knives Out' and its 2022 sequel 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery') have been waiting with bated breath for a deeper look into the upcoming third title of the murder-mystery movie series, especially after that deliberately vague teaser dropped earlier this week. The mysterious new clip for 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery' — which will see Daniel Craig reprise the role of investigator Benoit Blanc, joined by a splashy ensemble that includes Josh O'Connor, Josh Brolin, Glenn Close, Jeremy Renner, Cailee Spaeny and Kerry Washington — opens on a gloomy church, with bells ringing louder and louder until the screen cuts to black. The caption reads: 'The wicked desire the stronghold of evildoers, but the root of the righteous endures.' It's not a whole lot to go off on, but we'll surely get more extensive reveals during tonight's Tudum event. Maybe the mystery of exactly when fans can watch 'Wake Up Dead Man' on Netflix will get solved! Season five of 'Emily in Paris' sees a lot of change ahead for our titular heroine: Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) is switching up her hometown (benvenuti a Roma!), her hot beau (she's now dating Italian cashmere heir Marcello Muratori, played by Eugenio Franceschini) and even her haircut in the fifth installment of the (usually) French-set romantic comedy series. Plus, joining returning favorites like Mindy (Ashley Park), Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu), we'll also have some new character to meet in season 5, including Oscar-nominated actress Minnie Driver as Princess Jane, a friend of Sylvie's who married into a royal family. However, 'Emily in Paris' fans are still missing key points of intel regarding the upcoming fifth season, including the official release date, a full-length trailer and some fun Italian production stills. Here's hoping there's plenty of la dolce vita to go around during the 'Emily in Paris' segment of Netflix Tudum 2025. Get ready for more hilarious hijinks on the golf green — "Happy Gilmore" is back in a soon-to-come sequel, which is scheduled to hit Netflix on July 25, 2025. Along with a set release date, fans of the original sports comedy (which sees Adam Sandler play a titular hockey player-turned-competitive golfer) also already got to see a full-length teaser trailer for 'Happy Gilmore 2', which will have Sandler reunite on screen with several O.G. cast members, including Julie Bowen as Happy's longtime love Virginia Venit and Christopher McDonald as his golf nemesis Shooter McGavin. Those familiar faces will be joined by franchise newcomers including Bad Bunny, Ben Stiller, Travis Kelce and Sandler's own daughters Sadie and Sunny, along with IRL professional golfers like Jordan Spieth and Jack Nicklaus. Given how much of a fan-favorite the 1996 comedy is, we're sure that some special insights about the long-awaited sequel film will tee off tonight during the live Netflix event. It's been a good time as of late to be a 'Squid Game' fan — there's been a lot of news dropping recently ahead of the third and, sadly, final season of the South Korean dystopian hit. For one, we know that the new episodes will premiere on Netflix on Friday, June 27, and that season 3 will have six episodes in total, down one from its previous installment. 'Squid Game' fans also got an official teaser of the new season earlier this month, picking up in the aftermath of season 2's bloody cliffhanger: What challenges will Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) and Co. face in their struggles to shut down the torturous games for once and for all? Netflix subscribers will likely get to hear even more chilling revelations about exactly how brutal this final chapter of the story will be during the soon-to-start Tudum event. Netflix Tudum 2025 is kicking off at 8pm Eastern Time, which means this is your last call for bathroom breaks, snack runs, dog walks and the like. There's a lot to come from the streamer this evening, so sit back and get comfortable — Tom's Guide is here to, well, guide you through all of the Netflix news as it happens live. Let's get into it! Our big show opening sees host Sofia Carson parody her recent Netflix hit "The Life List", as she ticks off several bucket-list activities like dancing "like Nicole Kidman is watching" and saving the world from an explosive suitcase à la Taron Egerton in "Carry-On". However, her on-screen mom Connie Briton reminds her that she still has one item left on her list: "Fly!" Thus, Carson does her best "Mission Impossible" and descends from the ceiling of the Tudum 2025 ceremonies dressed in a tuxedo. "Tonight is for you, because this is the place where the biggest stars on Netflix get to connect with you!" our host announces to the excited studio audience, citing A-listers like Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jenna Ortega, Lady Gaga and more among the evening's high-profile attendees. Let the show officially begin! After Hanumankind performed alongside the show's signature pink guards, the cast of "Squid Game" (led by Lee Jung-jae and Lee Byung-hun) took to the stage to tease the upcoming final installment of the South Korean sensation. "This huge reaction is so amazing, we're so happy to see all of you in one place," Byung-hun announced. And though Lee Jung-jae, who plays Player 456 in the series, nearly slipped up with a spoiler ("I'm not saying anything else!"), the actors did give some fresh details, including a brand-new trailer that looks like Gi-hun will be put through the ringer in the new episodes. "Why didn't you kill me? Why did you keep me alive?" we see him roaring to guards. Along with flashes of bloody corpses, jump rope games and murderous dolls, the trailer spotlights a final showdown between Gi-hun and Front Man, with the former bloodied and dressed in a tuxedo. Check out the new clip below! "I love a good surprise," director Rian Johnson takes the stage to begin the "Wake Up Dead Man" segment. "We strive to keep the audience guessing, so just when you think you have it figured it, something comes along that you weren't expecting". Enter Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Cailee Spaeny, a T-shirt gun-wielding Kerry Washington, a double T-shirt gun-wielding Jeremy Renner and seven-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close, who calls in from her car to tell everyone that she's actually "eight-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close". But that's not all: "Daniel Craig was supposed to be doing these lines and he couldn't be here," Johnson announces, before the man himself comes out to announce an exclusive sneak peek of the movie. In the new teaser, we see Craig and Josh O'Conner in a church, with Mila Kunis as law enforcement investigation a crime. "This is the holy grail," Craig's Benoit declares. "This was dressed as a miracle It's just a murder And I solve murders". We'll see how it all plays out when "Wake Up Dead Man" premieres on Netflix on December 12, 2025! Netflix Tudum 2025 is the first time the event is being held in the United States (taking place in Los Angeles at the Kia Forum) and streamed live on Netflix. And to celebrate, the streamer brought out the stars of some of its biggest and most beloved titles, including "Ginny & Georgia", "Outer Banks", "Forever" and "My Life with the Walter Boys". Led by lead Pogue Chase Stokes, the actors all came together sweetly for a "class photo" to commemorate the momentous occasion. "One Piece" fans got a sweet look back at adventures past during the Netflix Tudum 2025 event, as well as exciting peeks on all of the "big" things to expect next. And that includes an adorable introduction to Tony Tony Chopper, who will be voiced in the new season by Mikaela Hoover. "The biggest thing we get to tell you: you know what's up, the crew gets a little bigger this season", actor Iñaki Godoy teased to the screaming audience "And we get to introduce you to him right now. The reindeer you always wanted: Tony Tony Chopper." After a cookie-filled cameo from The Cookie Monster, big-screen best buddies Ben Affleck and Matt Damon rose from the Netflix "N" to crowd cheers and lots of iPhone-camera flashing to introduce their new crime drama "The Rip", which if coming to the streamer on January 16, 2027. Joined by fellow "The Rip" castmates Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor and Catalina Sandino Moreno, the actors explain that a "rip" is something you pull from a crime scene. In the film's case, it's cash, and a lot of it. And speaking of ripping, the famous buds hilariously ripped into each other during the presentation of a never-before-seen clip of the upcoming film (alas, Netflix hasn't published the video online), which channels some of their favorite movies, including "Heat" and "Training Day". "Ben would turn on all of these guys for a cookie," Matt quipped, with Affleck biting back about his bushy-bearded pal: "I trusted Matt would shave the beard before Tudum but here we are!" If there's anyone we trust to bring an excellently spooky "Frankenstein" adaptation to the big screen, it's Guillermo del Toro! With her fifth movie set for Netflix, we're officially entering the "Sarah Carson Universe" — the Netflix Tudum 2025 host will next be seen in the romantic title "My Oxford Year" for the streamer. And keeping with the tradition of having a hunky co-star (Carson cutely name-dropped Taron, Nicholas, Wolfgang and Kyle), the actress announced that she will be joined by "Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story" heartthrob Corey Mylchreest, who showed up alongside Carson onstage to announce that "My Oxford Year" will hit Netflix on August 1, 2025. As anticipated, a fresh full-length trailer for the long-awaited "Happy Gilmore" sequel is officially here, announced by original cast mates Adam Sandler, Julie Bowen and Christopher McDonald during tonight's Tudum showcase. In case you want to immediately feel old, "Stranger Things" actors Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp and Caleb McLaughlin took to the Tudum stage to share some adorable behind-the-scenes clips from the sci-fi hit's early days. (If you need an IRL marker of how much time has gone by since the first season, lead actress Millie Bobby Brown is an actual married woman at this point.) Gaten Matarazzo, who couldn't be there live at the Tudum event, videoed in to share this one of his favorite on-set memories was filming the graveyard "Dear Billy" scene. Brown also videoed in from "the void" (i.e. the set of "Enola Holmes") to reveal that her own personal fave was the scene where Eleven mind-controls the helicopter in that heart-racing scene in season 4. The final season of "Stranger Things" will be a big one: a three-parter, in fact. Along with a high-octane new teaser, the show's Netflix Tudum 2025 segment revealed the release dates of each installment of the final season: Volume one will drop on November 26 at 5pm PT, volume two on December 25 at 5pm PT and volume three on December 31 at 5pm PT. Consider your holiday plans set! "It's been an eventful summer," Jenna Ortega's character Wednesday Addams announces in the first six minutes of "Wednesday" season 2, which Ortega and the rest of the cast debuted during this evening's Tudum showcase. Proving that the show hasn't lost a drop of its dark humor, the goth teen quickly adds: "I'm tied up in a serial killer's basement." And it looks like that serial killer will be played by none other than "The Sixth Sense" great Haley Joel Osment. Misery loves company, so gather your moodiest pals in excitement for the upcoming season, scheduled to hit Netflix in two parts on August 6 and September 3, respectively. We think you'll enjoy the experience way more than Wednesday enjoys going through airport security lines! The "Wednesday" cast shared the audience's clear excitement about welcoming a very special guest to both the series and the stage: the one and only Lady Gaga, who pulled out her gothic best during a medley of her songs "Zombieboy", "Bloody Mary" and "Abracadabra", along with The Cramp's "Goo Goo Muck" and, of course, "The Addams Family" theme song. Because, honestly, how could you possibly follow up a performance like that?! Stay tuned, though, for further insights on everything that went down tonight during the Netflix Tudum 2025 live event. Sure, we got a quick, silly clip of star Lily Collins (with her pre-season 5 longer locks, mind you) acting as our beloved marketing maven, humorously pitching a new promo campaign for "Stranger Things". But other than that, Netflix Tudum 2025 saw no major updates or announcements regarding "Emily in Paris" season 5. Sacré bleu! Aside from that spirited cameo by "Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton story" actor Corey Mylchreest, Netflix Tudum 2025 didn't offer much from the "Bridgerton" Cinematic Universe either. However, fans of the Ton can't be too pressed, as we did recently get a fresh teaser trailer for "Bridgerton' season 4" during Netflix's 2025 upfronts earlier this month. 1. "Stranger Things" three-part releaseThe fifth and final season will debut in three volumes, the first on November 26, the second on Christmas Day and the third on New Year's Eve. 2. The official trailer for "Squid Game" season 3Fans of the South Korean series got a sneak peek on all of the bloody action to come in the show's final chapter. 3. The introduction of Tony Tony Chopper on "One Piece"The straw hats crew gave an adorable first look at the live-action series' anticipated newcomer, Tony Tony Chopper, voiced by Mikaela Hoover. 4. An official teaser was unveiled for Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein"Horror lovers can see Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein's monster this November. 5. Speaking of horror, the first six minutes of "Wednesday" season 2 are out!We got to see all of the horrible hijinks Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) gets into in the new season, which sees Haley Joel Osment play a murderous bad guy. 6. "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery" got a December 12 premiere dateThe release news was announced by the flick's A-list cast, including Daniel Craig, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Kerry Washington, Jeremy Renner and Cailee Spaeny. 7. And Ben Affleck and Matt Damon gave a first look at their crime thriller "The Rip"Alas, for now, the clip of the new drama was exclusive to Netflix Tudum 2025 viewers only, and has not yet been made available online. However, Tom's Guide will keep you posted if and when the sneak peek of the January 2026 title hits the internet! While "Nobody Wants This" wasn't part of this year's Tudum event, some exciting news emerged about the second season of the romantic comedy just a day later. At a Netflix For Your Consideration event, the cast revealed that "Nobody Wants This" season will premiere on Thursday, October 23, 2025.