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Terror Trips (2021)

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Terror Trips

Where to watch.

Rent Terror Trips on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Jeff Seemann

Hannah Fierman

Damian Maffei

Lucas A. Ferrara

Chaney Morrow

‘Terror Trips’ Trailer – Take a Tour of the World’s Most Famous Horror Film

Independent distributor Mutiny Pictures has shared with Bloody a first look at the art and trailer for writer/director Jeff Seemann’ s tourist horror film Terror Trips .

In the film…

“Six friends start a business, providing guided tours to the shooting locations of the world’s most famous horror films, until they find the one spot where the horror is real.”

Terror Trips features V/H/S favorite Hannah Fierman alongside Abigail Esmena ( Hard Kill, Don’t Tell a Soul ), Chaney Morrow ( Wrong Turn, Haunt ), Roni Locke ( Ohio 10, Wrong Turn ) and Damien Maffei ( The Strangers: Prey At Night, Haunt ).

“ Terror Trips is what happens if you take horror fans and put them in Eli Roth’s Hostel ,” says Jonathan Barkan, Mutiny Pictures’ Head of Acquisitions.

The film was written and directed by Jeff Seemann with Hannabelle Farrell, Damian Maffei, and Felissa Rose as producers. It played this year’s Cine-Excess festival in Birmingham, UK as well as Columbus, OH’s Nightmares Film Festival.

Book your trip for June 14th, 2022 .

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

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‘Tarot’ Filmmakers Spenser Cohen & Anna Halberg on Practical Creature Effects and ‘Insidious’ Inspirations

An evil curse gets awakened in Screen Gems horror movie  Tarot  when a group of friends recklessly ignore a sacred rule: never use someone else’s deck. Writers/Directors  Spenser Cohen & Anna Halberg  unleash a variety of Tarot card-inspired entities on the group through practical effects, and create an unexpected connection to Insidious along the way.

The film comes exclusively to movie theaters on  May 3, 2024 .

Bloody Disgusting spoke with Cohen and Halberg ahead of Tarot ‘s release, where the pair shared more about the film’s practical effects-driven horrors and revealed how Tarot drew from Insidious in a specific way .

To start, though, the filmmakers reveal  just how closely their horror movie sticks to the source novel Horrorscope  by  Nicholas Adams .  The short answer is, well, it doesn’t at all!

Cohen explains, “It’s so different.  We never even read the book and took nothing from  the book . The only thing ,  the studio had a title that they liked, and so that’s why there was an association.   Then we changed the title. So, now there’s  literally  zero connection to the book. “

“Sony had come to us wanting to make a horror movie about astrology, but there’s nothing that’s inherently scary to us about Zodiac signs. So, we came up with the idea of combining tarot readings and tarot cards with astrology, and that’s what ended up becoming the movie. There’s such incredible iconography in these cards that we really had a plethora of amazing characters to choose from,” Halberg adds.

Adain Bradley ‘Grant’ and Jacob Batalon ‘Paxton’ in Screen Gems TAROT

With a group of seven friends, expect to see their fates sealed by  a number of  cards. In other words, expect to see  a wide variety of Tarot-inspired creatures tormenting the protagonists. The filmmakers stressed the importance of practical effects for their creatures.

Cohen tells us, “ From the get-go, we said every creature  is going to be practical. We were thinking of [David] Cronenberg, of  Alien  and  The Thing , and we want our actors responding to real things, not a tennis ball. It always just looks better. You get better performances. With the designs themselves, if you look at the tarot cards and these specific characters, there’s nothing inherently terrifying about them, even though we associate the cards with being supernatural and terrifying.  And [it’s] why we partnered  with Trevor [Henderson] ,  who was  the only designer we met with. We were like, this is our guy because he has this ability to make the familiar feel unnatural.

“His designs are really  grounded. I am sure you’ve seen a lot of his stuff where it’s like a hallway, and there’s something there, and something’s off about it, but it  really  feels like it’s in the space. We knew that he has a special brain for creating unique creatures, and he hadn’t done a movie, which is  just shocking to us . Then, we knew that  in order to  pull that off, we would need a design team with equal skill.  That was   Dan Martin and his amazing team  who  worked hand in hand with Trevor to bring those to life.”

Larsen Thompson ‘Elise’ in Screen Gems TAROT

Great designs and practical effects are one thing, but it also falls to the performers to infuse these monsters with personality to make them memorable.  That was also at the forefront of the filmmakers’ minds.

“ In order for  the creatures to translate, underneath all the prosthetics, you have to have great actors ,” Cohen confirms. “We met with a lot of people. We were looking for people  who were  talking to us about the psychology and the movement and how they could move in a way that we hadn’t seen before or incorporate dance. We were looking for those outliers, and basically, everyone we hired approached the part as if there were no makeup or prosthetics. It’s like, ‘I am the Magician, so this is what I want to do. I’m going to have a limp. My body’s going to do this. I feel like my head  is hunched .’  And we would watch these actors  just  embody these roles.   It was  really   just  picking great people, honestly.   It’s hard to act through prosthetics and create emotion  and fear  and other things.  You have to have an incredible control to be able to do that.”

Halberg elaborates,” Even though we enhanced some  of the  creatures with visual effects, we didn’t want to rely on that. So we needed people, like Spenser said, who each brought their  own  unique feel to these characters.  They were just as important as all of the  other actors in the movie and are so  crucial to making sure that these sequences are scary and believable.”

Humberly González ‘Madeline’ in Screen Gems TAROT

One of the many  Tarot  creatures in the film is the Magician, who comes with an original song by the film’s composer,  Joseph Bishara . While Bishara has delivered no shortage of  great  contemporary horror scores, including  The Conjuring  and  Malignant , horror fans are likely more familiar with Bishara as the Lipstick Demon in the  Insidious  franchise. Cohen and Halberg can be counted among Insidious fans, so much so that they wanted an original song from the Lipstick Demon himself.

They explain, “ We  actually ,  in prep, we called Joe, and we said, ‘Hey, we’re going to do some kind of an old-timey song there.’  We knew something creepy, very  Shining -esque. Then we had the idea to do a song called ‘I Saw You’ to be a pun on that whole thing. And actually use saws as the instrument. We found these YouTube videos, and   our DP, I think, Elie [Smolkin] had found these videos of someone playing a saw. We were like, that’s terrifying.

“So we called Joe ,  and  we  said, ‘You know Tiptoe through the Tulips , how that’s like in Insidious ?’  That’s the thing you leave the theater thinking about, and it gets under your skin. We were like , ‘Can you do that for us with an original song?’ He said yes. What you hear in the movie is basically what he played for us the first time. He was just like, ‘I have an idea. I’ll talk to you guys in a week.’ And then that was what we heard, and it was amazing.”

With so many entities and horror sequences, Halberg can’t pick a favorite. Instead, she offers one last tease, “I hope people come away with the realization that each of the sequences is so unique and different, and that each of the creatures is so special because we took a lot of time trying to craft each of these kills or scares to be their own thing and to feel different.

“Hopefully everybody can choose their own  favorite.”

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Terror Trips

Where to Watch

Hannah Fierman (Ginny) Damian Maffei (Lucas A. Ferrara) Chaney Morrow (Eli) Abigail Esmena (George) Ashton Rogers (Ludwig) Kate Kiddo (Aleksandra) L.C. Holt (Ed) Andrew Gordon (Rob Carpenter) Anita S Martin (Jen Silver) Carol Ann Van Natten (Anna)

Jeff Seemann

Six friends start a business, providing guided tours to the shooting locations of the world's most famous horror films, until they find the one spot where the horror is real.

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‘Terror Trips’ Review

Stars: Hannah Fierman, Damian Maffei, Chaney Morrow, L.C. Holt, Abigail Esmena Froehle | Written and Directed by Jeff Seemann

Six friends start a business providing guided tours to the shooting locations of the world’s most famous horror films, until they discover the one spot where the terror is real.

The saddest thing about Jeff Seemann‘s Terror Trips is that it’s easy to tell it was entirely made from a place of love for the horror genre. There is so much heart, soul, passion, and care injected into the film to the point where it’s legitimately upsetting knowing what unfolds throughout the course of the movie.

Long story short, Terror Trips is one of the most boring and uneventful horror films of the year. It runs at an extremely brisk eighty-seven minutes including credits, and yet so much of the film focuses on this young group of friends travelling around to various filming locations.

It’s part of the movie’s story, but they drag it on for far too long. It takes about forty minutes or more for something remotely “creepy” to happen in the script. It’s interesting to see what unfolds throughout the last stretch of the film, but it’s impossible to shake the feeling that it’s all too little too late.

This film definitely would have benefited from a higher budget as well, because so much of the film looks as though they had to skimp on some genuinely important elements. This is a slasher film, and yet whenever somebody dies, it’s always off-camera.

Sometimes, off-camera kills can be effective, but other times, it’s difficult to brush it off because after all, we’re watching a horror movie. We want to see these kills with our own two eyes. The film definitely would have been ten times more entertaining had the filmmakers secured the proper budget that would have allowed them to show some legitimately brutal kills.

The villains in the film are actually quite believable and realistic for the most part, despite the fact that they don’t really do a whole lot. They’re not shown too often, but when they are, they can be quite effective. The main group of friends are all likeable people as well.

And, amazingly, they’re all smart. There are few things more annoying in horror films than a group of characters who make the dumbest decisions imaginable. Here, that’s not the case. In fact, one truly brilliant part about this film’s script is that, oftentimes we will see somebody make a smart decision, and quote a horror film to show that they’re not dumb.

There’s one incredible scene in which one of the many villains lay supposedly dead on the ground. But, for one of our protagonists, that’s not enough to convince him they’re actually dead. He pulls out a scalpel and stabs them right in the neck, before saying “Zombieland, rule number two. Double tap.”

Terror Trips had the potential to be a brilliant and engaging horror film, but it instead falls flat due to a majorly boring script that waits far too long to get to the nitty-gritty.

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Terror trips.

Directed by Jeff Seemann

Your nightmare is our business

Six friends start a business providing guided tours to the shooting locations of the world's most famous horror films, until they discover the one spot where the terror is real.

Hannah Fierman Damian Maffei Chaney Morrow L.C. Holt Abigail Esmena Froehle Mike Blaney Kate Kiddo Carol Ann Van Natten Roni Locke

Director Director

Jeff Seemann

Writer Writer

Cinematography cinematography.

Chance Madison

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Karen Burke Hannabelle Farrell Gareth Morgan

LRB Productions, LLC

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

Russian English Polish

Alternative Title

Thriller Horror

Releases by Date

14 jun 2022, releases by country.

87 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by haley ★ 1

this starts off bad and somehow keeps getting worse as it goes on. it's about a group of friends who start their own business where they give tours of famous horror movie locations. some examples are camp crystal lake from friday the 13th , the abaddon hotel from hell house llc , and a few others. i'm so confused by their planning for this business because instead of trying to get it all started right away, they only visit one location a year over the course of four years. would it not be smarter to scout all of these locations as quickly as possible so that you can actually get your business started? maybe i missed something, but that sounds like poor…

Review by kaero the unseen ★★

A group of young adults start a business based on creating attractions about filming locations from famous horror movies.  While scouting a new location for Terror Trips, it turns into their own personal terror trip.  This sounds great BUT in reality we get to see some travel photos/videos for a few minutes and the rest of the film is set at one rural location.  And it’s kind of boring. There’s a lot of focus on dialogue in general. This multilingual film also includes a short cameo from Hector (Hell House LLC). It starts off seeming like it might be okay, but quickly turns into a predictable dilemma about camping in a foreign country. The actors did fine, I think for me it falls flat at the script itself for me. Low on practical effects. Meh.

Review by Travis Lytle ★★

If it were not for its dubious performances, flimsy production value, and entirely-to-predictable final three quarters, "Terror Trips" would almost land as something watchable. The set-up is sound: a handful of friends form a business involving horror film shooting locations. Premise moves to plot, however, and the energy of the opening stretch is quashed by cliche. The overly recognizable story beats, along with the film's other issues, easily overwhelm the work's highlights, and any committed strengths are quickly forgotten.

Review by Dustin Baker ★½

Starts off immediately with my biggest pet peeve in films now, where it just parades how much of fanboys the filmmakers are like they're the coolest for knowing the big names of Horror Films 10-fucking-1 that every goddamn person knows and spends an inordinate amount of time waxing on about it, before another 80 minutes of a movie that has fuck all to do with it. Whatever parade of annoyance this begins with, chuck it out the goddamn window because we're in store for yet another half-assed TCM/organ harvesting bit of tedium that joins 200 other films this year. It has no style or grace or savvy for effects or even a fucking coherent ending. Just people (that I can't…

Review by Matt Crosby ★

Not exactly the type of indie horror movie that’s groundbreaking or influential, but I do like the idea of vacations dedicated to visiting places where movies were filmed.

Review by FilmFan1970 🎞 🔪 🪓 🔥🌩🧨🔍🔦🪦 ★

PRIME VIDEO 🖥

Loved the sound of this but fell asleep as so dull, it started very badly with some terrible acting and dialogue, the idea of tours to Horror film locations and one is a place that real horror happens to them us great, and the fact its in a foreign country (poland) makes it even better but tje fact they only do a few locations a year is a bad business to me and expanding it to Europe and taking the four friends for free is mind bending (a tax rite off) the film location is from a underground old Polish film (handy that) it gets even worse, turns into a hostel style film without the gore, (nearly…

Review by D Edward ★

I don’t really wanna be that guy, but this movie unfortunately did very little for me. What bugged me most is how it sets up a premise that showers love on horror classics like The Blair Witch Project and Dawn of the Dead , only to evolve into a thriller plot that isn’t all that thrilling. The movie opens with these references as the main characters are guinea pigs for a new business that goes to real-life locations where films were shot. The opening credits highlight some of these visits, and while at times it reminds me of The Houses October Built 2 where it feels the filmmakers are saying “look how much fun we’re having”, the movie handles it better…

Review by Chris ★½

I give credit to actor Abi Esmena, who gives an incredibly watchable performance, editor Jim Bailey, who admirably pieces this together with what he's given, and the makeup team led by Jason Ervin and Cheyenne Wright, who provide some good gore effects.

Unfortunately, the script is very dysfunctional, while director Jeff Seemann seemed overmatched.

The script's structure is off: the movie starts with a prologue that brings a team together to go on "terror trips," which is touring real life places where famous horror scenes were shot (e.g. the actual Camp Crystal Lake, the actual Dawn of the Dead mall, etc.). This seems highly promising, as we're going to get a funny, campy, potentially scary road trip movie through a…

Review by Rui Ozpinhead ★

In less than two minutes I knew this was a bad choice. Terrible writing and the performances to match. As the film progressed it just confirmed my initial impression. This was annoyingly bad from start to finish. Do yourself a favor and don't go on this terror trip.

Review by melinda_belinda ½

I never would have guessed how much Poland looks exactly like Ohio.

Review by NicoleIsWeird

everyone says this starts off really good. i gotta tell you, i only saw the first quarter or so of the movie before going to sleep, and it baffles me how anyone could say this movie started off good, lol. the only thing i can think of is people who make/watch youtube horror bro bullshit felt seen for about ten minutes. awful, and a waste of a good poster/title sequence, neither of which even remotely fit the vibe of the movie.

Review by tyreehoffman ★

“Umm… Ge-George?” ”Short for Georgia.”

The whole opening scene was foreshadowing how bad this was gonna be, but that exchange between Molly and George (mentioned above) really told me how fucking bad this would be. And I was right.

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Terror Trips (2022)

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About terror trips, full cast of terror trips, hannah fierman plays ginny, about hannah fierman, damian maffei plays lucas a. ferrara, about damian maffei, chaney morrow plays eli, about chaney morrow, l.c. holt plays ed, about l.c. holt, abigail esmena froehle plays george, about abigail esmena froehle, mike blaney plays dan, kate kiddo plays aleksandra, carol ann van natten plays anna, roni locke plays molly, crew of terror trips, john zanardelli script supervisor, jeff seemann director, jeff seemann writer, karen burke executive producer, hannabelle farrell executive producer, gareth morgan executive producer, chance madison director of photography, daniel townsend key grip, michael wooten first assistant "a" camera.

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Film review: terror trips (2021).

Janel Spiegel 07/20/2022 Film Reviews

Six friends start a business, providing guided tours to the shooting locations of the world’s most famous horror films, until they find the one spot where the horror is real .

Terror Trips was directed and written by Jeff Seeman ( Haunt, Wrong Turn ). Terror Trips is the first film directed and written by Jeff Seeman.

I love horror movies and I love locations. I think when you watch a film, there are moments when houses, buildings, bridges, and more become essential characters within a film. The legendary apartment building from Rosemary’s Baby , The Amityville Horror house. I could go on and on. You get the point.

Jeff Seeman takes us on an adventure using iconic horror locations.

The film opens with a group of friends. We meet Dan (Mike Blaney) and his friends, Ginny portrayed by Hanna Fierman ( V/H/S, The Unwanted ), Ed portrayed by L.C. Holt ( You’re Next, V/H/S/2 ), Chaney Morrow playing Eli, Molly (Roni Locke), and the new business partner, George (Abigail Esmena).

We get a bit of a sneak preview of places the group visited before the terrifying trip to Poland.

Dan and friends visited, The Waldorf Estate of Fear from the film Hell House, LLC. (The owner Angie is amazing. If you are ever in Pennsylvania, go visit The Waldorf Estate of Fear.)

They head to the legendary, Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, and Burkittsville, Maryland, “while scouting a movie location for their business, Terror Trips.”

Before the journey, the friends decide to watch two classic films, Black Volga/Czarna Wolga (1973), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). I love when Leatherface is appreciated. He never gets enough appreciation. Ginny seems a little freaked out by movie. Dan and George tell them why they watched Black Volga. Dan and George are expanding.

They head to Poland to explore where Black Volga was filmed. We meet the “local guy” that George has been emailing. It turns out it’s Aleksandra (Kate Kiddo). (DON’T GO IN THE GARAGE!) Aleksandra heeds a warning to the group. She advises they tell no one why they’re in Poland. I don’t trust Aleksandra either. (You rock Kate Kiddo, I just don’t trust the character.)

The group makes a decision, and they want to leave. They do the campfire chat and they are looking forward to the next location.

Terror Trips is a fresh take on something that doesn’t always get enough appreciation. I love film locations and horror locations in general. It’s amazing to go and see the place where a movie was filmed or even something historical happened.

I visited The Waldorf Estate of Fear to meet with Angie, the owner for an interview. She was so excited and her energy was contagious while talking about this incredible location.

You can see the houses, the buildings, locations, and everything that helped make that movie fascinating. When I think about certain films like, Rosemary’s Baby, I think about the apartment building. That beautiful, unforgettable building.

I think about movies like Scream and why Wes Craven used the places he used, Friday the 13 th with the camp that everyone loves to visit.

The group decides to haul ass and leave Poland but Dan disappears. Well, Hostel is that you? We meet Katarina (Iryna Scarola) and her not-so-nice group. It gets brutal. The group decides to split up and search for Dan so they can leave.

Molly decides to go out on her own, and well this doesn’t go well for Molly. Why the Achilles tendon. OH. Katarina has her people out looking for the rest of the group. Ginny is pissed and she decides to go and get the keys herself.

Aleksandra catches Ginny and Eli in her garage. She offers to help them. Aleksandra calls security which is just more of Katarina’s people. Ludwig (Ashton Rogers) shows up. Anna (Carol Ann Van Natten) is sort of the enforcer and she gives Aleksandra shit for taunting Ginny and Eli. You know, making it harder to kidnap them.

Will there be a Sydney Prescott in Terror Trips? I’m rooting for George and Ginny but it’s not looking too good for anyone right now. This is scary because there are so many good people in the world but also there are scary horrible people.

Terror Trips is a reminder that films like Hostel, Saw, Wolf Creek, The Hills Have Eyes, The Collector, and Wrong Turn are films that had frightening reminders of what “humanity” is capable of.

It’s so nice to see women kicking ass in a horror film. No offense at all to the gentlemen. Even, Anna, she is the John Kramer/Jigsaw. People sometimes forget what bad asses’ women can be.

Ginny figures out the cell phone speech was bullshit and she calls for help. The police show up, at least I think they are police. Now you will have to watch the entire movie. It’s filled with awesomeness so watch it.

Did Anna just DEXTER him?

It’s nice to watch a film with actors that are part of the horror world and part of the real horror community. They have an appreciation for horror.

Check out TERROR TRIPS

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Terror Trips (2021)

Genre: horror, duration: 87 minuten, country: united states, directed by: jeff seemann, stars: hannah fierman , damian maffei and chaney morrow, imdb score: 3,5  (522).

Terror Trips plot

"Your nightmare is our business" Six friends start a company called Terror Trips with a striking concept. They provide tours of the locations where the world's most famous horror movies have been shot. Tourists then spend the night there and watch the respective horror film on site to enhance the scary atmosphere. As a test, they go to a European village, but as the night wears on, the tension takes a deadly turn and the horror becomes all too real.

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Terror Trips

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Hannah Fierman

Damian Maffei

Lucas A. Ferrara

Chaney Morrow

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Terror Trips

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We checked for updates on 246 streaming services on April 28, 2024 at 7:02:49 AM. Something wrong? Let us know!

Terror Trips streaming: where to watch online?

Currently you are able to watch "Terror Trips" streaming on Tubi TV for free with ads or buy it as download on Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play Movies, YouTube. It is also possible to rent "Terror Trips" on Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play Movies, YouTube online

Six friends start a business providing guided tours to the shooting locations of the world's most famous horror films, until they discover the one spot where the terror is real.

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'Them: The Scare' Cast and Character Guide: Who's in Season 2 of the Horror Anthology Series?

"Them: The Scare" is set to give audiences a second round of frightening storytelling, with a star-studded cast that's in on the terror.

"With 'Them: The Scare,' we wanted to combine our love of horror with a look at Los Angeles's rich history and evolution," creator, executive producer and showrunner Little Marvin said in a press release.

"This second installment is a new story set in the 90's, one of the most iconic decades for film, music and fashion, particularly in Los Angeles. I'm also excited about our amazing cast: Deborah Ayorinde returns as a completely new character, Luke James delivers an unforgettable performance and the legendary Pam Grier, who has played so many iconic and beloved roles on screen, makes her return to horror.... We couldn't have asked for a more fearless group to lead this second installment."

The anthology series will consist of eight episodes and premiered on Thursday, April 25. Here's a synopsis of Season 2 of "Them: The Scare"

"'Them' will once again be set in Los Angeles. The story centers on LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve, who is assigned to a new case: the gruesome murder of a foster home mother that has left even the most hardened detectives shaken. Navigating a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, with a city on the razor's edge of chaos, Dawn is determined to stop the killer. But as she draws closer to the truth, something ominous and malevolent grips her and her family..."

Check out the full cast below.

Deborah Ayorinde as Detective Dawn Reeve

Deborah Ayorinde comes in as Detective Dawn, who has been assigned to track down the killer behind the gruesome murder of a foster home mother.

The London-born actress also starred in the first season of "Them," and some of her other previous work includes "Riches," "Girls Trip," "Harriet," "Fatherhood" and more.

Pam Grier as Athena

Pam Grier stars as Detective Dawn's loving mother, Athena.

The legendary actress, who is often thought of as cinema's first female action star, made her acting debut in "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." She went on to have her breakthrough role in the 1973 blaxploitation film "Coffy," and later stunned audiences as criminal flight attendant Jackie Brown in Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown." Her other roles were in "Foxy Brown," "The Big Doll House," "Poms," "Friday Foster," "Above the Law," "The L Word" and more.

Luke James as Edmund Gaines

Actor, singer and songwriter Luke James plays Edmund Gaines, a pizza shop worker who has dreams of becoming an actor.

The three-time Grammy-nominated artist is best known for his breakout role as Noah Brooks in Lee Daniels' "Star." He went on to nab acting spots in "The New Edition Story," "The Chi," "Little," "Christmas in Harmony" and more.

Joshua J. Williams as Kelvin "Kel" Reeve

Joshua J. Williams plays Detective Dawn's teenage son Kelvin "Kel" Reeve, who is keeping secrets from his mother and grandmother, Athena (Grier).

Jeremy Bobb as Detective Ronald McKinney

Jeremy Bobb comes in as Detective Ronald McKinney, Detective Dawn's partner who is known for closing cases quickly, even if it means using controversial methods.

Before "Them: The Scare," Bobb performed in "The Knick," "Butcher's Crossing," "The Outsider, " "God's Country" and more.

Wayne Knight as Lt. Schiff

Veteran actor Wayne Knight stars as Detective Dawn's supervisor at the LAPD, Lt. Schiff.

Best known for starring as Newman on the beloved NBC sitcom "Seinfeld," Knight has a more than 20-year-long acting career, which includes acting credits "3rd Rock from the Sun," "Jurassic Park," "Space Jam," "Toy Story 2," "The Exes" and more.

Carlito Olivero as Joaquin Diaz

Carlito Olivero plays Joaquin Diaz in "Them: The Scare." Diaz is a new deputy on the team eager to impress Detective Dawn.

Olivero, who has a singing and acting background, is best known as one of the members of the Latin boy band Menudo, which was featured on MTV's "Making Menudo." In addition to the reality series, he's starred in "Breaking Through," "Step Up: High Water," "Bad Samaritan" and more.

Charles Brice as Reggie Marks

Charles Brice plays Reggie Marks, a smooth and charming Los Angeles lawyer.

Some of Brice's previous work includes "In the Cold," "Watchmen," "Pose," "The Survivor," "The Equalizer" and more.

Iman Shumpert as Corey

Iman Shumpert stars as Detective Dawn's ex-boyfriend, an on-the-go musician named Corey.

Shumpert went from hitting the court as a professional basketballer for the Cleveland Cavaliers to stepping onto the dancefloor and winning Season 30 of "Dancing with the Stars" as well as production sets for several TV shows, including "Them," "The Chi," "Under His Influence" and "Twenties."

The post 'Them: The Scare' Cast and Character Guide: Who's in Season 2 of the Horror Anthology Series? appeared first on TheWrap .

Politics latest: Ex-SNP leader 'heading for coronation' as potential rival drops out of race

Former SNP leader John Swinney is "heading for a coronation" after Kate Forbes, widely tipped to go up against him in the party's latest leadership contest, announced she would not run. Meanwhile, England and Wales are holding local elections that may be defining for Rishi Sunak.

Thursday 2 May 2024 14:13, UK

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• John Swinney to run for SNP leader  | But Kate Forbes will not
• Connor Gillies: Ex-leader Swinney heading for a coronation
• Polls open in England and Wales I How to watch Sky News coverage
• Elections taking place across 107 local authorities in England
• Mayoral contests are also taking place, including in London
• Twenty-five London Assembly seats are up for grabs
• A by-election is taking place in Blackpool South
• Voters across England and Wales will elect 37 police and crime commissioners (PCCs)
• Live reporting by Charlotte Chelsom-Pill

John Swinney is "heading for a coronation" as the next leader of the SNP after the decision by Kate Forbes not to run, says our Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies .

Ms Forbes was the main rival to Humza Yousaf in the last contest, amassing almost half of the vote.

With her choosing not to go up against former leader Mr Swinney, it's "incredibly unlikely any other candidate will throw their hat in the ring".

Connor describes it as a "major moment", coming after backroom discussions throughout today at Holyrood.

As of last night, he says Ms Forbes hadn't decided what to do - but she appears to have been swayed by Mr Swinney's speech this morning.

"Sources close to her were concerned there would be disappointment at her not throwing her hat in the ring," he says.

"But she says she is rallying behind a John Swinney premiership."

If anyone did want to run against him, they would have until midday next Monday to enter the race.

But Connor says the race is now all but over already.

Kate Forbes has announced she will not join the race to replace Humza Yousaf as SNP leader and first minister. 

There had been speculation the former Scottish finance secretary would join John Swinney in throwing her hat in the ring.

Posting on X, Ms Forbes said she had listened "very carefully" to Mr Swinney's vision, which she said she "welcomed".

She said she had spoken to Mr Swinney directly to "discuss the future of our party and our country". 

"What emerged was that we share a powerful common purpose for the country," she said.

Mr Swinney confirmed he was standing for first minister and SNP leader earlier today, saying he wanted to "unite the SNP and unite Scotland for independence".

He also said he would like to see Ms Forbes "play a significant part" in his team should he be appointed.

The leadership race comes after Mr Yousaf announced he was standing down as SNP leader and Scotland's first minister earlier this week.

As we just reported, a statement from Kate Forbes on the race to succeed Humza Yousaf as Scotland's first minister is expected shortly.

She lost out to Mr Yousaf in last year's SNP leadership contest and has already told Sky News she is considering entering the race again in the wake of Mr Yousaf's resignation.

The former finance secretary faced backlash during her campaign last year after admitting she would have voted against gay marriage in Scotland when it was made legal a decade ago.

The Free Church of Scotland member also told Sky News that having children out of marriage was "wrong" and something she would "seek to avoid".

However, the MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch stressed that "in a free society you can do what you want".

Ms Forbes had argued that "continuity won't cut it".

After losing to Mr Yousaf by 48% to 52%, she said: "If we are to continue to win elections, we need to continue to listen and maintain trust."

Ms Forbes turned down the role of rural affairs minister, which at the time was seen as a demotion.

Although her views on social issues remain unpopular with some of her MSP colleagues, she was one of the few SNP ministers who did not delete her WhatsApp messages during the COVID pandemic.

Ms Forbes would face resistance from the Scottish Greens, who have previously ruled out working with her.

SNP colleague Fergus Ewing is backing Ms Forbes, saying she is "head and shoulders" above any other potential candidate.

Kate Forbes has been widely tipped to run for the SNP leadership once again after Humza Yousaf's resignation - and we'll hear from her shortly.

Our Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies reports a statement is "imminent in the next 30 minutes".

It follows John Swinney, a former SNP leader, announcing he's running for the top job this morning.

We'll bring you Ms Forbes's statement when we get it.

By Jenness Mitchell , Scotland reporter

John Swinney has announced his bid to take over from Humza Yousaf as SNP leader and Scotland's first minister.

The Perthshire North MSP has spent a year on the backbenches after he stepped down as deputy first minister when Nicola Sturgeon resigned in 2023. 

Announcing his intention to run for first minister during a visit to Grassmarket Community Project in Edinburgh on Thursday, he said: "I want to build on the work of the SNP government to create a modern, diverse, dynamic Scotland that will ensure opportunities for all of our citizens.

"I want to unite the SNP and unite Scotland for independence."

Mr Swinney accepted that the SNP is "not as cohesive as it needs to be" to achieve its goal of Indyref2.

He said: "That has to change. I could have stood back and hoped others would sort things out, but I care too much about the future of Scotland and the Scottish National Party to walk on by."

The search is currently on to find a new leader for the SNP and Scotland following Mr Yousaf's resignation on Monday. 

Former finance secretary Kate Forbes is expected to give a statement later on Thursday.

Read more here:

It might well end up being Humza Yousaf's last First Minister's Questions, but opposition leader Douglas Ross isn't going easy on him.

The Scottish Tory used his questions to attack the SNP's record, including that of the party's former leader John Swinney, who this morning announced his bid to get the top job once again.

Mr Yousaf bit back, criticising the opposition party and Mr Ross's time in Boris Johnson's cabinet.

That prompted Mr Ross to flaunt a letter sent to him by Mr Yousaf last week when it became apparent that his government was in trouble, with the Tories and Labour filing motions of no confidence after the first minister booted out the Scottish Greens.

"He's talking a big game now," said Mr Ross.

"Has he forgotten it was just last Friday he wrote this humiliating letter to me begging the Conservatives and our colleagues here to save his skin?!

"How quickly things change in the world of Humza Yousaf."

Outgoing SNP leader Humza Yousaf is holding what could be his final First Minister's Questions this lunchtime.

Mr Yousaf resigned earlier this week after kicking the Scottish Greens out of government, which led to a motion of no confidence in him.

He arrived at the Scottish Parliament to spar with Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and other MSPs.

'I'm proud of my record'

Mr Yousaf - whose potential replacement John Swinney launched his leadership bid this morning - said he was "proud" of the SNP government's record despite not getting "everything right".

"I'm very proud of the fact I became the first person of colour to become first minister, the very first Muslim leader of a Western nation, the youngest first minister to ever serve in 25 years of devolution," he said.

Mr Yousaf has only been first minister for 13 months, but has served in the government for more than 12 years.

He also defended Mr Swinney and another potential leadership contender Kate Forbes from Mr Ross's barbs, describing them as "both more popular" that the Conservative leader.

People voting in local elections in England will need to provide photo ID.

It is the second year the requirement has been in place - but in 2023,  14,000 people couldn't cast their ballot because they didn't take ID to the polling booth.

There are 22 different types of ID you can use - and if you don't have any of them, you can register for a Voter Authority Certificate.

Here's everything you need to know to avoid being caught out:

Earlier we promised to bring you more pictures of dogs at the polls ( see post at 8.30am ).

Meet Pepper and Peggy...

They patiently joined their owner at a polling station in Baildon, West Yorkshire. 

And check out this happy pup posing for a photo at this polling station in Barnsley. 

Aggy couldn't be more thrilled to be taking part in the democratic process today.

More than 700 migrants were detected crossing the Channel on Wednesday - a new daily record for the year so far. 

According to the Home Office, 711 people made the journey in 14 boats.

That would work out to an average of 51 people per boat. 

The provisional total for the number of Channel crossings this year so far now stands at 8,278.

Crossings have surpassed the record for the first four months of a calendar year. 

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Why Are Movies so Bad at Making Civil War Look Scary?

The filmmaker has made it clear that “Civil War” is a warning. Instead, the ugliness of war comes across as comforting thrills.

• Share full article

By Ismail Muhammad

Early in “Civil War,” the writer-director Alex Garland’s dystopian blockbuster, a plucky young journalist named Jessie recalls an event called the Antifa Massacre. You can picture the eeriness that Garland must have assumed that phrase would conjure: familiar words, filtered through his apocalyptic vision, projecting today’s ideological rancor into the future. His film is an invitation to imagine what might emerge from America’s political divisions if we don’t back away from the fractious disaffection that has characterized most of the 21st century. But it is also vague about what the Antifa Massacre, or any of the war, actually is. Who was massacred? Who did the massacring? What were the stakes?

All we know is that America has descended into a chaotic conflict: California and Texas have united to battle an authoritarian Loyalist government, while other states have gathered into various alliances. Beyond that, “Civil War” obscures the war’s political and social contours. One senses that, for Garland, the ideological dimensions are beside the point, a distraction from what he hopes is a searing vision of a future nobody wants.

To that end, maybe, he has cast “Civil War” as an antiwar movie in the tradition of Elem Klimov’s “Come and See,” a 1985 fever dream about Nazi Germany’s invasion of Soviet Byelorussia. The power of “Come and See” lies in its images, which depict war’s depravity with the unsparing clarity of prophecy. One 10-minute scene forces us to watch a carnival of violence as German soldiers, who have gathered civilians into a church, set it aflame. Garland intends a similar revelation. In interviews, he and his cast have made it clear that they see “Civil War” as a warning. You can practically hear him whisper through every frame: This could happen here .

François Truffaut once said that every film about war ends up being pro-war: Whatever a director points his camera at, even violence, becomes appealing, or at least intriguing. To make an effective antiwar film, a director must find a way to unsettle this relationship between image and titillation. I think often about the 1966 Italian thriller “The Battle of Algiers,” which depicts Algerian resistance to French colonial rule. It is, generally, a triumphalist take on the power of liberatory violence, and it has proved popular among armed insurgents. There’s a mournful, cautionary undercurrent, though, that sometimes overwhelms its heroic story. In one scene, two women smuggle bombs out of a ghetto and into French cafes. One leaves hers beneath a bar, and we wait while the camera cuts from one French face to another: a flirting couple, a sullen baby, a laughing barkeep, a waiter who looks directly at us. In that long wait before the bomb goes off, we are tricked into a moral accounting of political violence’s toll on human life. The movie reminds us that our attraction to violence also threatens to destroy the society we depend on, plunging us into a Hobbesian state of nature.

This balancing act depends on depicting the social costs of war on the lives of civilians — something contemporary films about war on American soil have struggled to accomplish. “Civil War” follows Kirsten Dunst as Lee, a war photographer traveling from New York to Washington with her gonzo bro colleague Joel, hoping to photograph the president while Joel interviews him. They’re joined by Jessie and Sammy, Lee’s mentor. What unfolds is essentially a road-trip movie that shuttles this quartet from one apocalyptic set piece to another. They are journalists, but they do no reporting on the tragedies they encounter on the way to their big scoop. They don’t meet many people, and when they do, they are rigorously incurious. They arrive at a refugee camp, yet make no attempt to interview any refugees. Why are two soldiers shooting at another amid a Christmas display? Joel makes only a cursory effort to find out. These are war journalists with a strange lack of interest in covering the war’s victims or America’s shredded social fabric. Garland’s vision is almost entirely restricted to destroyed buildings and corpses.

Sam Esmail’s “Leave the World Behind,” based on Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel of the same name, takes a similar approach. Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke play two Brooklynites headed with their children to a vacation rental. They don’t get to relax very long before the home’s owner shows up with his daughter to deliver news of a blackout over in the city. The two families are soon engulfed by a crisis they can perceive only in pieces: Emergency broadcasts take over the airwaves before power goes out; a high-pitched, disabling tone occasionally sounds. We eventually understand that we’re witnessing the opening stages of a civil conflict. This, too, is a warning about social fragmentation, but Esmail restricts his attention to two upper-middle-class families, mostly ignoring the war taking place offscreen.

Both movies assume that treating the details and causes of war as MacGuffins will train our attention on what is horrifying about war itself. To that end, they give us visions of mass destruction: a terrorist bombing, an interstate choked by scorched vehicles, dead bodies littering a beach. But even if we were to imagine that civil conflict’s terror lies in the spectacle of explosions and leveled buildings — rather than the psychological abyss that faces ordinary citizens — the images in these thrillers don’t show audiences much that frivolous summer blockbusters haven’t done countless times before. In the climactic battle of “Civil War,” a bazooka blasts the Lincoln Memorial as a helicopter whirs overhead. Perhaps this will trigger sober reflection for some. For others, I suspect, it will scan as completely familiar — about as solemn as the aliens’ destruction of the White House in “Independence Day.” This is not Garland showing audiences the consequences of violence; it is Garland offering them comforting thrills.

We find ourselves back at the problem Truffaut suggested. Is there a way to deploy the tropes of the blockbuster without making war look, if not cool, at least impressive? One “Civil War” trailer highlights reviews that deemed the film “thrilling” and “jaw-dropping,” with one critic raving that it features “the best combat ever.” The film’s own promotion registers that people are finding something desirable in its portrayal of violence. It is not putting us on notice that war will force us to do horrifying things to one another, things that we are not prepared for. What it offers verges on a sales pitch: This could be pretty fun . We find ourselves like Joel, who, looking at two unspecified forces exchanging artillery fire in the distance, says it arouses him.

The best moments of “Civil War” come when we see that the ugliness of war lies not in large-scale destruction but in its magnification of our divisions, from cultural differences to mundane jealousies. When Jessie investigates two people strung up by their hands behind a gas station, an armed man tells her they’re looters — then adds, haughtily, that one of them didn’t talk to him much back in high school. Later, Jesse Plemmons gives the film its most unsettling turn as an opportunistic mass murderer who takes our heroes hostage. “What kind of American are you?” he asks, brandishing a rifle.

It’s the film’s most concrete illustration of the way dehumanizing rhetoric can make us inhuman, and it leads to Garland’s most nauseating, Boschian image: Jessie struggling to escape from a mass grave of the man’s victims. Otherwise, though, Garland simply doesn’t bother to imagine how his war would corrode American life. There are already people here who imagine a civil war would be satisfying; some are depicted, in passing, in this film. None of them will see anything here to convince them a war would be any more grotesque than the fantasies they had going in.

Above: A24; Netflix; Murray Close/Miller Avenue Productions, via A24; Chris Winsor/Getty Images; Marcia Straub/Getty Images.

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