Grave Tone: Horror Podcast

Grave Tone
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  • Film Reviews
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Grave Tone is a horror podcast covering the genre across books, film, TV, and games. From cult classics to fresh nightmares, we dig into the stories that scare us — and why we can’t stop coming back for more. Whether it’s a blood-soaked slasher, a slow-burn psychological thriller, or the horror novel everyone’s talking about, we cover it all. If it bleeds, reads, streams, or screams… it’s on Grave Tone.

  1. 23h ago

    The Glorious Dead Review: The Adams Family Go Full Apocalypse

    The Glorious Dead review: the Adams Family wake a small town to blood in the taps and dead that will not stay buried. Meaghan and Arthur close out their Fantasia 2026 coverage with a mini review of The Glorious Dead, the sixth consecutive film from the Adams Family to world premiere at Fantasia. John Adams and Toby Poser wrote and directed it. Poser stars as Sheriff Deb McCloud, who wakes up on her day off to a total blackout, blood coming out of faucets, missing people, holes in the ground that should not be there, and creatures in the woods. Zelda Adams plays her deputy Mikey. The whole thing unfolds over roughly twenty four hours in the dead of an upstate New York winter, and it goes exactly where you do not expect. The Adams Family and Their Sixth Fantasia World Premiere John Adams and Toby Poser write and direct together, Poser stars, and daughters Zelda and Lulu Adams act in the films. They shoot, score, and edit as a unit out of upstate New York. The Glorious Dead is the sixth consecutive film from the family to world premiere at Fantasia, following The Deeper You Dig, Hellbender, Where the Devil Roams, Hell Hole, and Mother of Flies. John Adams told the room before the screening that Fantasia is where they find out what their movie is actually about. They screen it, they read the reaction, then they know what they made. The Glorious Dead: Blood in the Taps and a Town Coming Apart Toby Poser plays Sheriff Deb McCloud, woken on her day off by a full blackout in the dead of an upstate New York winter. No power, no wifi, no cell service. The cars still run (do not think about it). Zelda Adams plays Deputy Mikey, bringing in reports of blood from faucets, missing people and holes in the ground that nobody can explain. The story covers roughly twenty four hours. Calling it a zombie movie is technically true and completely misleading. Adams Family Style: Quick Cuts and a Heavy Metal Score Fast interspersed cuts, deadpan performances everyone fully commits to, and a metal score the edit syncs to. There is a shot of windshield wipers moving in time with the beat and it rules. Every film in their catalogue is a different subgenre: supernatural thriller, folk horror, Great Depression period piece, creature feature body horror, dark fantasy. Mother of Flies is streaming on Shudder now if you want an entry point  The Ratings and the Ending Nobody Called Meaghan started around a six on the night and moved up to a seven after a few days. The first two thirds landed immediately, the ending took time. Arthur went a hard seven, setting the film's closing message aside. The last ten minutes are wild enough that he wanted more of that energy earlier. TERM: Dean Norris, Mark Hamill and a Hell of a Short Written and directed by Chadrick Preuss, also a Fantasia 2026 world premiere, playing before The Glorious Dead Dean Norris of Breaking Bad carries the whole thing basically alone as a state senator facing a miracle that turns into a nightmare across one night before a major vote on abortion. Every other character speaks to him over the phone, and one of those voices is Mark Hamill. The producing team reached out to Hamill on a maybe and got a yes. Ask for the thing. Where Fantasia Shorts Go After the Festival Shorts this good are almost impossible to watch again once the festival ends, and that is a real problem worth naming. Fingers crossed for a Shudder pickup on The Glorious Dead, since most of the family's catalogue already lives there. One more Fantasia 2026 minisode is coming for the closing film Follow us & Subscribe: SpotifyApple PodcastTikTokInstagramThreadsGrave Tone Horror Podcast Website Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    The Glorious Dead Review: The Adams Family Go Full Apocalypse

  2. 2d ago

    Home Bodies Review: Casey Walker's Fantasia 2026's Creepiest Smart Home

    Home Bodies review time. Casey Walker's Canadian sci-fi horror had its world premiere at Fantasia 2026, and it left us with a lot to chew on. Two children, Red and Blue, have been raised in total isolation by an automated house. The fridge restocks itself the second you close it. The dishes vanish into the trash. A disembodied voice they call Papa runs the whole operation. Then a stranger arrives as a Christmas gift, the kids name it Pal, and twelve years of routine come apart. Home Bodies Fantasia 2026 World Premiere Home Bodies had its world premiere on July 23, 2026, at the 30th Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. Casey Walker directs. The pitch is simple and nasty: two children raised in total isolation by an automated house start asking questions after an enigmatic stranger arrives from outside. We call it dystopian science fiction more than straight horror, but the premise alone is horror enough if you sit with it for a second. No wide release date yet. VVS Films is handling distribution, and the film also screens at Tubi FrightFest 2026 in London. The Cast: Emma Ho, Ian Ho, and Ess Hödlmoser Red and Blue are played by real-life twins Emma Ho and Ian Ho, and that is the single biggest reason the film works. The arguments land because the chemistry is real. Ess Hödlmoser plays Pal, the silent gift who arrives at Christmas. Hödlmoser is a Toronto contortionist, aerial performer, and stunt artist. Their credits are a genre deep cut list: Pennywise motion capture and contortion work on It, Cindy on The Boys, S on Station Eleven, M on Motherland: Fort Salem, plus The Expanse, Titans, Code 8, Star Wars Outlaws, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Retro-Futuristic Production Design That Steals the Movie The house is the best thing in Home Bodies. Seventies futurism, worn in and lived in, and every appliance is doing thematic work. Close the fridge and it restocks. Throw dishes in the trash and they disappear. Arthur wants to live there. That is a problem the film is aware of. Total automation is why the kids never learned to take care of themselves. The convenience is the cage. Cain and Abel: The Sibling Dynamic One sibling starts questioning everything. The other does not want to anger Papa. That split is the engine of the whole film. Pal's arrival is what tips the balance. Two becomes three, and the routine that held their world together stops holding. Screenwriters Adrian Murray and Marcus Sullivan build the rules carefully, which makes the breaks land hard. Where Home Bodies Loses Us Meaghan's issue is the final quarter. Too much gets revealed too quickly and there is not enough time to sit with any of it. Arthur's counter is that we only ever see what the kids see, so the abruptness is the point. Take your pick. Both of us want more. The door for a sequel or an expanded universe is wide open, and we would watch it. Background music by: Steve Swisher from the Producer's Chair Podcast Follow us & Subscribe: SpotifyApple PodcastTikTokInstagramThreadsGrave Tone Horror Podcast Website Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Home Bodies Review: Casey Walker's Fantasia 2026's Creepiest Smart Home

  3. 6d ago

    Los Vampires & The Leader Review | Fantasia 2026 Double Bill

    Los Vampires review, plus The Leader, both caught at Fantasia 2026 and both built on things that actually happened. Meaghan went to these two solo (Arthur could not get into either screening) so this one runs as a spoiler-free double feature. Los Vampires is Craig Mitchell's fictionalized account of the 1931 Spanish Dracula, the version George Melford shot overnight on Tod Browning's sets while Bela Lugosi's crew slept. Henry Ian Cusick plays Luis de Ossario, the Spanish actor handed the Count and ordered to copy every mannerism off the dailies of Kürt Orlov (Thomas Kretschmann), his English-language counterpart. The rivalry turns ugly. Then people start dying on the soundstage. Meaghan calls it the more fun of the two and the period detail is why: 1930s costumes, one location worked every way it can be worked, English and Spanish trading off inside the same scene. It runs a little long and starts repeating its ideas, which is the only real knock. Rating: 8/1- digs. The Leader is the harder watch. Michael Gallagher wrote and directed this one about Heaven's Gate, the UFO cult that ended in 39 deaths at Rancho Santa Fe in March 1997. Tim Blake Nelson plays Marshall Applewhite. Vera Farmiga plays Bonnie Lu Nettles, the nurse who went from dissatisfied wife and mother to co-running one of the most notorious cults in American history. Jim Parsons plays Warren, a follower, and it is one of the best things he has done. The tone swings between absurd and awful on purpose. Not horror by category. Real-life horror by every other measure. Rating: 9/10 digs. The Spanish Dracula Night Shoot That Los Vampires Rebuilds In 1930 Universal ran two Dracula productions on the same sets. Tod Browning had the day with Bela Lugosi. George Melford had the night with a Spanish-speaking cast, because dubbing technology did not exist yet. The Spanish version starred Carlos Villarías as the Count and Lupita Tovar as Eva Seward. Tovar died in 2016 at 106. Plenty of critics now argue the Spanish cut is technically the better film. Melford's crew watched the day's dailies before shooting, which is the exact detail Los Vampires builds its entire rivalry on.  Los Vampires Cast, Craig Mitchell, and What Actually Works Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume on Lost, Marcus Kane on The 100) plays Luis de Ossario, the Spanish actor handed the Count. Peruvian-Scottish, debonair, exactly right for the period. Thomas Kretschmann plays Kürt Orlov, the Lugosi stand-in. Their scenes in the dailies room are where the tension actually lives. Oscar Nuñez (The Office), Daniela Couso, Jefferson Mays and Jorge Diaz fill out the cast. The film switches between English and Spanish and it never feels forced. The real complaint: it runs long enough to start repeating its own ideas, and the single-location staging starts to feel like a play. Meaghan's rating: 8/10 digs. The Leader and the Heaven's Gate Story Michael Gallagher wrote and directed. World premiere at Tribeca on June 5, 2026, Canadian premiere at Fantasia, with distribution reportedly in motion for the US, UK and Canada. Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Minority Report, Syriana, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) plays Marshall Applewhite. Vera Farmiga plays Bonnie Lu Nettles, and she was at the Fantasia screening. Jim Parsons plays Warren, one of the followers, and it is one of the best things he has done since The Big Bang Theory. The film tracks Nettles from nurse and unhappy wife to cult co-leader, which is the 180 that makes the whole thing land.  Why a Cult Movie Belongs on a Horror Podcast The tone swings between absurd and awful on purpose. You laugh at what these people believed, then the next scene is a humiliation ritual and it stops being funny. Heaven's Gate taught that the body was a vehicle to be shed, and sexual desire was repressed hard. The film gets into what that did to people. Bonnie Nettles died of cancer in 1985, twelve years before the 39 deaths at Rancho Santa Fe in March 1997 that were timed to Comet Hale-Bopp. Meaghan's rating: 9/10 digs. Not horror by category. Real-life horror by every other measure. What Is Coming Next From Fantasia 2026 Colony from Yeon Sang-ho, Buddy from Casper Kelly (the Too Many Cooks guy), and Freaks Part II from Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, which closes the festival. Shorter episodes are coming while festival coverage runs, and most stay spoiler-free since wide release dates are not locked yet. Follow us & Subscribe: SpotifyApple PodcastTikTokInstagramThreadsGrave Tone Horror Podcast Website Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Los Vampires & The Leader Review | Fantasia 2026 Double Bill

  4. Jul 30

    No Rest for the Wicked Explained: Fantasia's Award-Winning Queer Vampire Film

    No Rest for the Wicked is a queer vampire love story from the 1862 Faroe Islands, and it wrecked us in the best way. This one had our attention before the festival schedule even dropped, and it earned every bit of that hype. Kasper Kalle's world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival follows Baldur (Egor Venned), a young fisherman stuck caring for his widowed mother on a treeless island in the North Atlantic, and Helge (Pilou Asbaek), the drifting whaler who washes into his life and changes everything. What starts as a reluctant friendship turns passionate, then turns strange; there is a supernatural element folded into the story that gives us one of the most unusual takes on vampirism we have seen on film. A Queer Vampire Love Story in the 1862 Faroe Islands Kasper Kalle's world premiere follows Baldur (Egor Venned), a bored young fisherman caring for his widowed mother, and Helge (Pilou Asbaek), a drifting Danish whaler who washes into his life. A reluctant friendship turns into a passionate, secret relationship on a tiny, deeply religious island where hiding is survival. Set on a treeless island in the North Atlantic, with dialogue in both Faroese and Danish (yes, it is subtitled, and worth it). The Cast: Egor Venned and Pilou Asbaek Carry It Newcomer Egor Venned (himself from the Faroe Islands) plays Baldur, and we would have handed him a performance award too. Pilou Asbaek (Euron Greyjoy in Game of Thrones, Overlord) plays Helge, a full swing away from the villains he usually gets, and it is a great look for him. Sofia Nolsoe Mikkelsen plays the mother, and Johannes Haukur Johannesson (Succession, Captain America: Brave New World, Vikings: Valhalla) turns up as a villager. Robert Eggers Vibes and Nordic Gothic Atmosphere The natural light, the fog, the night shots with barely any lighting (because 1862): it all felt very Eggers-esque, just softer and more romantic. The score is beautiful the whole way through, and there is a funeral song halfway in that nearly had Meaghan crying in the theater. The film leans on the real landscape instead of manufactured spectacle, and it earns that authenticity. A Vampire Movie Unlike Any We Had Seen This is a vampire film at its core, but nobody is running around biting the village. The supernatural element is quieter, stranger, and much more beautiful. No Dracula crossing from Transylvania, no jump-scare machine. The dread is woven in naturally, and the horror stays understated. Underneath it all: religious oppression, repression, and a real theme of acceptance by the end that a lot of these stories skip. Fantasia 2026 Awards and Where to Watch No Rest for the Wicked won Best Director (Kasper Kalle) and an Outstanding Performance award (Pilou Asbaek) in Fantasia's Cheval Noir competition. Screening at the New Zealand International Film Festival on August 9, with a Denmark release on September 3 through SF Studios. No North American release confirmed yet. We are hoping for a VOD or limited theatrical run, so keep an eye on a cinema near you that plays foreign genre films.  Coming Up on Grave Tone: Fantasia Closing Week The Glorious Dead, the new one from the Adams family (Hellbender, Mother of Flies, The Deeper You Dig). Junction Row, the Katharine Isabelle creature feature, plus the Comic-Con darling Buddy and the festival closer Freaks Part II. Follow us & Subscribe: SpotifyApple PodcastTikTokInstagramThreadsGrave Tone Horror Podcast Website Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    No Rest for the Wicked Explained: Fantasia's Award-Winning Queer Vampire Film

  5. Jul 27

    Penny Lane Is Dead Review: The Ozploitation Slasher That Made Fantasia Faint & Someone's Daughter Review

    Penny Lane Is Dead review: the 1986 Ozploitation slasher that dropped a Fantasia audience member on the floor, plus the world premiere of Someone's Daughter.   PENNY LANE IS DEAD The feature debut from Australian writer-director Mia'Kate Russell, and a straight throwback to 1980s Ozploitation. It is 1986, three friends are celebrating at an isolated beach house, and Penny's jealous cousin Kat turns up with a container of spiked cupcakes. What starts as a prank collapses into a home invasion and then into a revenge film. Meaghan covers the content warnings up front, the tonal wobble between dark comedy and genuine brutality, the practical effects (excellent), the final girl payoff, and the audience member who fainted during the Fantasia screening. Streaming on Shudder August 28. Meaghan gives it 7 digs. Cast: Bailey Spalding, Tahlee Fereday, Alexandra Jensen, Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn, Ben O'Toole, Steve Le Marquand, Fletcher Humphrys.SOMEONE'S DAUGHTER The world premiere of Wiebke von Carolsfeld's survival thriller, shot in Quebec's Eastern Townships. A criminal defense lawyer and the client she once got acquitted of an assault charge wind up stranded together in the wilderness, and the longer they walk, the less certain she is that she was right. Pascale Bussieres and Francois Arnaud carry nearly the whole film. Slow burn, very quiet, gorgeous, and not as twisty as the thriller label suggests. Meaghan gives it 7.5 digs. PENNY LANE IS DEAD: MIA'KATE RUSSELL'S OZPLOITATION SLASHER DEBUT - Feature debut from Australian writer-director Mia'Kate Russell, who previously screened shorts at Fantasia. Premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival in October 2025. - Set in 1986. Three friends celebrating at an isolated beach house, one jealous cousin, one container of spiked cupcakes, and a prank that turns into a body count. - Prank-gone-wrong film, home invasion film and revenge film stacked on top of each other. - North American premiere at Fantasia on July 20. Streaming on Shudder August 28.   CONTENT WARNINGS AND THE TONAL BALANCE PROBLEM - Meaghan flags the assault sequence up front. It happens off-camera but is heard, and the film sits in rape-revenge territory. Go in knowing. - The film plays as horror dark comedy, but the brutality keeps overriding the jokes. Some laughs did not land in the room. - Reviews are split, and Meaghan gets why. Australian horror runs mean, and this one leans all the way into it. - Comparison point on-mic: The Loved Ones.    THE CAST, THE GORE AND THE FANTASIA FAINTING - Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn as Kat is the engine of the whole film. Ben O'Toole as Angus is genuinely unhinged. - Bailey Spalding plays Penny, Tahlee Fereday plays Toni, Alexandra Jensen plays Amy. Jensen was also in Talk to Me from Danny and Michael Philippou. - Practical gore and makeup effects are the highlight, and the final girl payoff earns its catharsis. - Yes, someone fainted at the screening. Meaghan was there and is not convinced the film gets the credit.   SOMEONE'S DAUGHTER: A QUIET QUEBEC SURVIVAL THRILLER - World premiere at Fantasia. Directed and co-written by Wiebke von Carolsfeld, whose Marion Bridge won Best First Canadian Feature at TIFF in 2002. - Criminal defense lawyer Sam ends up stranded with Paul, the client she once got acquitted of an assault charge. The longer they walk, the less sure she is. - Pascale Bussieres and Francois Arnaud carry nearly every frame. Peter Outerbridge turns up early. - Shot in the Eastern Townships, and the landscape works as a third character. Meaghan gives it 7.5.   SHORT FILM SPOTLIGHT - Best Friends with the Devil, from writer-director Hugo de Sousa, played before Penny Lane Is Dead. Nine minutes, a missing friend, a hiking trail, and a comedy of errors that keeps escalating. - Someone's Daughter screened without a short. Follow us & Subscribe: SpotifyApple PodcastTikTokInstagramThreadsGrave Tone Horror Podcast Website Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Penny Lane Is Dead Review: The Ozploitation Slasher That Made Fantasia Faint & Someone's Daughter Review

  6. Jul 25

    Nightborn Review: Rupert Grint's Monster Baby Folk Horror Nightmare

    Nightborn review time. Hanna Bergholm's Finnish folk horror lands on Shudder July 31, and we caught it at Fantasia first (the North American premiere, no less). This is her follow-up to Hatching, and it takes the motherhood horror thing somewhere darker and a lot more visceral. The Setup: Hanna Bergholm's Folk Horror Follow-Up - Nightborn is Hanna Bergholm's second feature after Hatching (2022), and it pushes deeper into body horror and Finnish folklore. - Saga (Seidi Haarla) and her British husband Jon (Rupert Grint) move into her crumbling childhood house deep in the forest and start a family. - World premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February; North American premiere at Fantasia Film Festival on July 22 as part of the festival's 30th anniversary. Motherhood Horror as Allegory - The whole film reads as an allegory for postpartum and first-time motherhood, the fear, the isolation, and nobody believing you. - Saga names the baby Kuura (frost) and refuses to call him anything but 'it' while everyone insists she is the one who needs help. - It lands somewhere between Rosemary's Baby and We Need to Talk About Kevin, run through Finnish folk horror.  Use of Space, Set Design, and the Score - The house does storytelling work: the broken floor, the renos, the tree growing up through the middle as Saga's bond with the child shifts. - The gothic-in-the-woods nursery is a standout, dark greens and muted grays with a cloud light and hot air balloon over the bassinet. - The score is by Eicca Toppinen, Finnish cellist and founder of Apocalyptica, and it carries the tone scene to scene. Body Horror, Gore, and the Growling Baby - There is a real amount of gore here, plus visceral childbirth and body-transformation makeup that earns its warnings. - The CG baby munching meat and growling tips into accidental comedy, which becomes part of the experience. - Content note for parents especially: some of the motherhood and childbirth material hits hard. The Verdict - Seidi Haarla carries the whole film and makes the impossible stuff believable; her performance is the anchor. - Arthur landed closer to a seven; Meaghan sat around a six, with the tonal 'too on-the-nose' quality as her main sticking point. - If you like folk horror and films about the harder edges of motherhood, this one is worth your time. Nightborn streams on Shudder from July 31. Follow us & Subscribe: SpotifyApple PodcastTikTokInstagramThreadsGrave Tone Horror Podcast Website Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Nightborn Review: Rupert Grint's Monster Baby Folk Horror Nightmare

  7. Jul 22

    Fantasia 2026 Reviews: Tight Lettuce and Attack on Paradise, Spoiler Free

    Fantasia 2026 reviews: Tight Lettuce and Attack on Paradise, two world premieres, spoiler free and we loved both! Tight Lettuce: A Quebec Family Drama Built on a True Story Harrison Houde's debut feature had its world premiere at Fantasia on July 18, and his co-writer Dakota Daulby stars as Joel. Emmanuel Bilodeau plays Bodo, a father who moved from heroin to fentanyl about five years back. That performance is the whole reason to see this one Joel lives near the Ontario and Quebec border, works construction, and has built his adult life around saving his dad The film closes on real documentary footage of the man it is based on, and it lands hard The Opioid Crisis On Screen and What It Costs to Love an Addict Films usually show addiction across a bad few years. This one shows decades, and that changes everything about how it plays Maxim Roy plays Joel's mother Lucy and Christie Burke plays his partner. Every character makes a different call about how much they can carry. Joel's whole operating theory is that loving someone hard enough will fix them. The film takes that apart carefully The comedy is real and it never undercuts the drama, which is a difficult thing to pull off Attack on Paradise: The Raid Meets Die Hard in Antwerp Bob Colaers' Belgian and Dutch co-production world premiered at Fantasia on July 19, in Dutch and Arabic [LINK: Attack on Paradise] Saïd Boumazoughe plays Suleyman, out after seven years, walking into an apartment block run by Prince Hamza (Achmed Akkabi) The cops raid the building the same day, so he is boxed in from both directions and wants no part of either Injuries stick. He takes one in the shoulder and the arm stops working, which is a small thing that changes the whole texture of the action The Everyman Action Hero and Why This One Matters John McClane, John Wick, Monkey Man, and exactly where Suleyman fits between them Boumazoughe originated the story because he did not see anyone who looked like him leading these films The 80s and 90s build (Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van Damme) against an action lead who reads like an actual person Also a genuinely great look at how a crime lord gets seen as a protector by the people living under him What's Next From Fantasia 2026 Nightborn is up next for us, screening at Fantasia on July 22 and streaming on Shudder July 31 More Fantasia 2026 coverage, reviews and dispatches are collected over on the site. Follow us & Subscribe: SpotifyApple PodcastTikTokInstagramThreadsGrave Tone Horror Podcast Website Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  8. Jul 20

    Her Private Hell Explained (Kind Of): Nicolas Winding Refn at Fantasia

    Her Private Hell is the most beautiful movie we couldn't explain. Nicolas Winding Refn's first film in a decade opened the 30th Fantasia International Film Festival, and we sat on this one for days before we could even record (we needed to). This is our Her Private Hell review, and honestly? We're still turning it over. Refn's neon fever dream drops Sophie Thatcher's Elle into a futuristic metropolis swallowed by fog, while Charles Melton's soldier hunts for his missing daughter and a masked killer called the Leather Man picks off young women. Two movies in one, a father-daughter subplot running through both, and a color palette so stunning it almost carries the whole thing (there is no green anywhere in the film, and there is a reason for that).   Nicolas Winding Refn's First Film in a Decade The Neon Demon (2016) was his last feature; Her Private Hell is his first in roughly ten years, and you can feel him swinging for it. Refn has said a near-death experience (25 minutes) reshaped the film's obsession with rebirth and reinvention. Fantasia handed him the Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award as the 30th edition kicked off. The Cast, and the One Who Steals It Sophie Thatcher plays Elle, a model-actress worn down by an industry that chews women up. Charles Melton plays a soldier searching for his missing daughter, fresh off Beef season 2 and still Reggie to the Riverdale crowd. Kristine Froseth (Hunter) has the best comedic timing in the film; the ditzy-blonde bit is funnier and more honest than it has any right to be. Dougray Scott and Havana Rose Liu round out a genuinely stacked cast. Beautiful to Watch, Hard to Explain The color palette is stunning, and there is no green anywhere in the film (the director is colorblind, and it shows on purpose). Pino Donaggio's score, from Brian De Palma's longtime collaborator, was written first; Refn built the movie to fit the music instead of the other way around. Surprisingly phenomenal action sequences, a Neo-Tokyo look somewhere between Blade Runner and a dark Jetsons. The Spoiler Talk (Two Movies, One Fog) Our read on the Leather Man: he stands in for the industry itself, swallowing women whole. The sapphic storyline Refn added halfway through filming feels shoehorned in, and because he shot in sequence, you can see the seam. The ambiguity is a lot; loving how a film looks doesn't cancel out leaving with zero real answers. Fantasia 2026 and What's Next Her Private Hell opened the 30th Fantasia International Film Festival; Freaks Part II closes it. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga both hit the festival, so we're still holding out for a Conjuring reunion. More Fantasia coverage is dropping almost every other day through early August. Follow us & Subscribe: SpotifyApple PodcastTikTokInstagramThreadsGrave Tone Horror Podcast Website Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Her Private Hell Explained (Kind Of): Nicolas Winding Refn at Fantasia
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Ratings & Reviews

4.2
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Grave Tone is a horror podcast covering the genre across books, film, TV, and games. From cult classics to fresh nightmares, we dig into the stories that scare us — and why we can’t stop coming back for more. Whether it’s a blood-soaked slasher, a slow-burn psychological thriller, or the horror novel everyone’s talking about, we cover it all. If it bleeds, reads, streams, or screams… it’s on Grave Tone.

Information

  • Creator
    Grave Tone
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    78
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Grave Tone Podcast
  • Show Website
    Grave Tone: Horror Podcast

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