#terrorgram

[fearsmagazine]

In Corin Hardy's new film WHISTLE we are introduced to Chrys, the new girl in school. She is befriended by Ellie and her misfit group of friends. The unwitting high school students stumble upon a cursed object, an ancient Aztec Death Whistle.

They discover that blowing the whistle and the terrifying sound it emits will summon their future deaths to hunt them down. As the body count rises, the friends investigate the origins of the deadly artifact in a desperate effort to stop the horrifying chain of events that they have set in motion.

Director Corin Hardy on the set of WHISTLE. Courtesy of Michael Gibson. An Independent Film Company and Shudder Release.

From a screenplay by Owen Egerton, WHISTLE is directed by Corin Hardy. Corin’s debut feature is the 2015 genre film “The Hallow” that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and proceeded to win international awards for directing, cinematography and effects including Best Horror Film at the UK's Empire Film Awards 2016 and 5 Awards at the Los Angeles Scream Fest including Best Direction, Cinematography, Score, Visual FX and Practical FX. He went on to direct 2018’s “The Nun,” the next installment of James Wan's blockbusting 'Conjuring Universe' franchise. Hardy grew up in a world immersed in creatures & creativity, beginning his early career at 12 years-old as a special FX 'monster-maker' in his parents' bike shed. Inspired by Ray Harryhausen’s monster movies and 70's & 80's horror film, he made a number of Super-8 films with school-friends who regularly stood in for his cast of zombies, werewolves, and slasher victims and he created elaborate sets to make plasticine stop-motion epics in his bedroom. He studied theatre design at Wimbledon School of Art before hand-crafting his 2004 award-winning stop-motion short film 'Butterfly.’ From working in the theater to his short films, to music videos and episodic tv series, Hardy remains passionate for the genre.

Sophie Nelisse, Dafne Keen, Ali Skovbye, Jhaleil Swaby, Nick Frost and Sky Yang in Corin Hardy’s WHISTLE. Courtesy of Michael Gibson. An Independent Film Company and Shudder Release.

WHISTLE will be in theaters Feb 6th, 2026, from IFC & Shudder.

The music heard in the background of this episode is from WHISTLE, composed by Doomphonic.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Far-right extremists flee from Telegram to SimpleX over privacy features

App that doesn’t require users’ emails or phone numbers secured over $1m in funding with help from Jack Dorsey

Ben Makuch at The Guardian:

Some far-right extremists have fled Telegram for a new haven: SimpleX, a messaging service that just secured over $1m in funding with the help of Jack Dorsey, once the CEO of Twitter, now known as X. The migration from Telegram began after the app’s founder and chief executive, Pavel Durov, announced a crackdown on illegal content and cooperation with law enforcement requests. Just weeks ago, Durov was arrested in France on a litany of charges that allege Telegram helped spread child sexual abuse material and fuelled criminal activities among its users. Some of those users are far-right extremists who are now avowedly nervous to use the app and have pivoted to SimpleX, an obscure secure messaging app promising unparalleled privacy and encryption options. The app is perceived as a safer alternative and consequently gaining momentum, because it does not require any user authentication or identifications in the form of an email or phone number, which SimpleX says “radically improves your privacy”.

[...]

Steven Rai, an analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), said several extremists he monitors could see the upside of replacing Telegram with SimpleX. “SimpleX has numerous security features that extremists view as advantageous compared to Telegram – in addition to having end-to-end encryption activated by default for all messages, it boasts being the first chat platform that circumvents the need for user IDs,” he said. Rai continued: “On most social media platforms like Telegram, accounts are assigned a unique identifier that remains static even when users change their display name, which allows law enforcement and other investigators to track them across time and space, find out who they are communicating with, and possibly identify them.”

All of these features combined, became a selling point for far-right extremists to begin downloading SimpleX, which has the option for one-to-one messaging and broader chat groups – similar to Telegram. “Nothing is bulletproof,” said one far-right user in a discussion on SimpleX about how the app was better than Telegram, “but [SimpleX] doesn’t need your email or phone number (unlike Telegram and such) and doesn’t store chats on their server”. In August, the company announced more than 100,000 downloads of its Android app and that it “raised a $1.3m pre-seed round” of funding led by Dorsey and a Boston-based venture capital firm. “Jack, we are super lucky to have your support and investment,” said the company in an online press release. “Thank you for believing in our ability to build a better messaging network!” Dorsey had sung the praises of SimpleX on X in 2023, calling the app “promising” and potentially better than Signal, a well-known secure-messaging app considered the gold standard among privacy experts.

[...] The near “Whac-A-Mole” game of chasing extremists on alternative social media apps is a long-running problem among national security officials trying to limit the online activities of terrorist organizations. During its heyday in 2014, Islamic State used everything from the question-and-answer site Ask.Fm to Facebook, Instagram and X as recruitment sites. Bans on bigger apps led to Telegram eventually becoming the choice platform for most terror groups looking to find new members. Things did begin to change as the Dubai-based app came under more and more public scrutiny. As early as May 2023, IS members signaled that SimpleX could be a new haven for covert organizing.

Far-right extremists have begun to migrate from Telegram to SimpleX over Telegram’s crackdown on illegal content in the wake of Pavel Durov’s arrest and greater privacy protections.

[moviesludge]

the rare orange F B I warning

[fearsmagazine]

Director/Co-Writer Mauricio Chernovetzky & Co-Writer Alexander Iosjpe discuss their latest film, SACRIFICIOS.

In SACRIFICIOS, Juan is consumed by guilt and grief following the tragic death of his three-year-old child. He desperately flees to the open sea to isolate himself in a world of guilt, pain and longing. He is consumed by a single, aching desire: to be with his son again.

His escape, however, turns into a supernatural ordeal when he miraculously pulls his son from the waves. Yet, this miracle demands an unimaginable cost: Juan’s own blood is the price of preserving his son. Drawing on an Aztec myth, we watch as Juan confronts grief, faith, and love in all of their most terrible contradictions.

SACRIFICIOS is co-written by Alexander Iosjpe and co-written & directed by Mauricio Chernovetzky. Mauricio is a visionary filmmaker whose previous work has screened at the Warsaw International Film Festival, Dances With Films in Hollywood, and Macabro in Mexico City.

Director/Co-Writer Mauricio Chernovetzky

Alexander is a multi-lingual, Russian-born screenwriter and independent producer whose screenplays have received multiple awards and nominations from international competitions, such as American Zoetrope International Screenplay Contest). Alexander is currently head of development for scripted material at EagleVision Media.

Co-Writer Alexander Iosjpe

SACRIFICIOS is one of three collaborations of the duo, the others include 2020’s “Ugly Ducklings” and another film produced in 2025, also a horror film, “The Dark.”

SACRIFICIOS made its US Premier at the Austin Film Festival in October 2025 and in 2026 is continuing on the festival circuit.

The music heard in the background of this episode is by composer Jason Carmer who scored SACRIFICIOS.

[fearsmagazine]

TERRORGRAM - Filmmaker Jason Yu discusses his feature film debut, SLEEP, with FEARS Magazine's executive editor, Joseph B Mauceri.

In Jason Yu’s feature film debut, SLEEP, he introduces us to Newlyweds Hyun-su, an aspiring actor, and Soo-jin, a successful executive, who have their domestic bliss up-ended when Hyun-su begins speaking in his sleep. He sits up in bed and ominously states, “Someone’s inside.” From that night on, whenever he falls asleep, Hyun-su sleepwalks doing bizarre things, with no recollection of what happened the night before. Overwhelmed with anxiety that he may hurt himself or their young family, Soo-jin can barely sleep because of this irrational fear.

Is Hyun-su’s behavior a result of a medical condition or a more sinister underlying cause? Despite treatment and taking precautions, Hyun-su’s sleepwalking intensifies, and Soo-jin begins to feel that her unborn child may be in danger. With her options running out, she turns to her mother and her shaman to look into alternative causes and solutions.

Director Jason YU was not a film major. He storytelling as part of a literary writing course in college. After his military service, he immersed himself in films, watching building a true passion for the cinema. Jason joined a film club and began creating short films, among his 8 short films his film VIDEO MESSAGE that was screened in the competition sections of the Seoul Independent Film Festival and IndieForum Film Festival. His short film THE FAVOR won the Fantastic Short Film Award at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. His short film work lead to him working as one of the assistant directors on films like SECRETLY, GREATLY and OKJA, as well as translating English subtitles for BURNING. His desire to create genre films that audiences could enjoy, as well as his fascination sleepwalking, inspired by real cases of patients with the disorder, YU wondered about the daily lives of those around the affected individuals, including their families.

FEARS Magazine's joseph B. Mauceri spoke with Jason YU shortly before the films US release on September 27th, 2024, from Magnet Releasing.

[fearsmagazine]

Playwright Clay McLeod Chapman & directed by Pete Boisvert talk with FEARS Magazine's executive editor Joseph B Mauceri about FEEJEE MERMAID.

On the eve of the 19th Annual International Taxidermy Championships, Lyman, Griffin, Lisette & P.T. - four experts of the trade have gather in Lyman’s hotel room. Fueled by an abundance of alcohol and the tension of competition, what initially begins as a friendly rivalry is transformed into a somber exploration of professional and personal repercussions stemming from the preceding year’s event. Central to their debate is the essence of creation, the pursuit of perfection, and the elusive capture of the enigmatic “spark.” As the night unfolds, one among them will demonstrate the unfathomable lengths they are prepared to go to push the boundaries of their craft, surpassing all preconceived notions of possibility.

FEEJEE MERMAID is a new play by writer Clay McLeod Chapman, directed by Pete Boisvert, and performances run through November 2 at The Flea, located downtown in New York City.

Clay McLeod Chapman, a weaver of macabre tales, he is a prolific author of books, comic books, children's books, and a 12-part horror podcast for Jordan Peele, as well as having written for film and television. His most recent novel is titled What Kind of Mother and Kill Your Darling.

Pete Boisvert is a director, actor, and graphic designer. He has produced and directed dozens of plays in NYC over the last 25 years, including Infectious Opportunity, The Adventures of Nervous-Boy, and The Brokenhearteds.

FEEJEE MERMAID is running through November 2, Tuesday — Saturday at 7:30pm, in The Siggy at The Flea located at 20 Thomas St, New York City. Tickets range from $30 — $45, and are available at www.dropsinthevase.com

Read Our Review of the Play - HERE

[fearsmagazine]

Filmmaker RYAN KRUGER discusses his latest feature film, STREET TRASH, based on the 1987 independent film.

In Ryan Kruger’s sequel to the 1987 film STREET TRASH, written by Roy Frumkes and Jim Muro, the year is 2050, Cape Town South Africa, now a dystopian world, ravaged by economic collapse and a vanished middle class. It’s a stark contrast of extreme wealth and desperate poverty. Ronald, a member of a displaced, houseless community, uncovers a chilling government conspiracy. The plan, codenamed "V," involves using an evil chemical agent to eradicate the city's houseless population. Facing overwhelming odds, Ronald and his friends must risk everything to expose this horrifying plot and confront a society that seeks to erase them. Their fight becomes a symbol of resistance against the oppressive forces of government and the ultra-rich.

Director/Co-Writer Ryan Kruger behind the scenes of the horror film STREET TRASH, a Cineverse release. Photo courtesy of Cineverse.

Filmmaker Ryan Kruger is a multi-award-winning Director, in addition to his work as a writer, producer and actor. Having begun his career at an early age by making home movies with friends, he studied acting at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama. When he wasn’t acting he was directing music videos for numerous bands such as Juliet Lewis and the licks, Black Flag, misfits, Bowling for Soup, Slipknot and many more. In 2004 he began shooting music videos in South Africa in 2008 moved there. During his stay in Cape Town he studied at the AFDA film school for 2 years and continued acting, including landing a part in director Neil Marshall’s “Doomsday.” He turned his first 3min experimental film "Fried Barry," which screened around the world with over 59 official selections and over 12 wins, into his 2020 feature film debut, of the same title.

FEARS Magazine's Joseph B Mauceri spoke with Ryan Kruger the day before the film’s release on digital platforms. Please be aware that this episode does contain frank and adult language.

The music pieces heard in the background of this episode is music by composer Ebenhaezer Smal, who scored STREET TRASH.

Read our review of STREET TRASH - HERE

[fearsmagazine]

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Director and co-writer GORDON GREENBERG, and co-writer STEVE ROSEN, discuss DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS

Currently at the New World Stages, Stage 5, in New York City is DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS, a pansexual GenZ Count Dracula is in the midst of an existential crisis. When he sets his sights on the brilliant young earth scientist Lucy Westfeldt, he meets his match for the first time – as well as a slew of other colorful characters including vampire hunter Jean Van Helsing, insect connoisseur Percy Renfield and behavioral psychiatrist Wallace Westfeldt, whose British country estate doubles as a free-range mental asylum.

(LtoR) Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Jordan Boatman, James Daly, Ellen harvey and Arnie Burton in DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS. Photo by Matthew Murphy

DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS, is directed and co-written by Gordon Greenberg, and co-written by Steve Rosen. GREENBERG laid the foundation of for his craft at Stanford, NYU Film, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. ROSEN attended NYU/Tisch. The duo has worked together on several projects including on the musical adaptation of “The Secret of My Success,” “Ebenezer Scrooge’s BIG San Diego Christmas Show,” and “Crime and Punishment - a Comedy.” Between the two of them, their awards are so numerous it would compromise the mantel they rest upon. I recently had the pleasure to chat with them about their collaboration on the hilarious off-Broadway production of DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS.

(LtoR) Playwrights STEVE ROSEN and GORDON GREENBERG. Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors. Photo by Maria Baranova.

DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS is now playing a limited Off-Broadway engagement through January 7 at New World Stages, Stage 5, in New York City, thru January 7th, 2024. Vist www.DraculaComedy.com for more information and tickets.

The music heard in the background during this segment is an original composition by Victoria “Toy” Deiorio who composed some of the original music and did the sound design for DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS .

PART 2 with GORDON GREENBERG & STEVE ROSEN - Listen Here.

Read Our Review of DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS - HERE