Splatter Scoop · case log · November 8, 2026
Gore and horror film news, curated: new releases, practical-effects craft, festivals and distribution, with every story linked to its source.
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Distribution & deals Reported
Coverage noteThis desk describes technique and industry news, not plot, and treats on-screen effects as craft, not spectacle. When a story does need to discuss plot specifics, the standfirst says so before you scroll further.
Variety reports Concourse Media has boarded sales on Taylor Cohen's psychological thriller Strobe, to be shown to buyers at the American Film Market.
Censorship & ratings Reported
Collider reports that six horror films were caught in censorship disputes, and says some have since become essential viewing for cinema fans.
New releases
A dated list of horror titles arriving on streaming services in October 2026, with credits and the territory each announcement names.
Spotlight Analysis
How Canadian filmmaker Chris Bavota and creative partner Lee Paula Springer made Dead Dicks, what critics said, and where Red Acres appears in Telefilm's funding list.
Festival circuit
Ticket sales are the festival's own early figure, so they show interest in the programme and not in any one film. The prize that pays toward Spanish distribution is the part that can follow a title out of Sitges.
New releases
A festival programming note and a Spanish distributor are the only parties named here, and no release date is given. They tell us who has the film in one country and one festival, and nothing about a wider release.
Distribution & deals Analysis
Dread Central lists three directors for The Awakening, while a Variety report on Latido's site credits one and names two who finished it. What the wording tells a reader.
Festival circuit
A first version of a restoration is a work in progress. The festival's programme says what Sitges will screen, and it says nothing about when any finished version reaches anyone else.
Festival circuit
A pitch prize is a promise about a film that does not yet exist. It settles who gets the backing, not whether the film is finished, and the 2027 premiere is where that gets tested.
Distribution & deals
If Deadline's account holds, this settles who controls the film's international rights, though not when or where it opens.
New releases
A reminder more than a reset: the October 16 date was announced in August, and only the stills are new. The film itself is still unseen, so the useful fact for readers is that the theatrical window has not slipped.
Practical effects & craft
These are the makers' own descriptions, so how the finished creatures look on screen is still open, and the release itself gives two opening dates.
New releases
This is a limited release, in select theaters and on VOD and digital, not a wide one.
Censorship & ratings
A 2008 UK classification decision does not settle what is in a version streaming today.
Practical effects & craft
A director's recollection rather than a production record: it says some effects began as practical builds and names one large puppet, but not how much of the film's effects work was practical.
Festival circuit
The Canadian weight sits largely in the short-film pairings: by the festival's own list the features are largely imports, with two of them Canadian-made.
Festival circuit
A Screamfest slot is a premiere, not a release date, so this is a first screening and says nothing yet about when or where the film opens.
Practical effects & craft
Practical effects & craft
Practical effects & craft
Festival circuit
Festival circuit
Festival circuit