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In 2013, Naughty Dog — a video game developer — unleashed “The Last of Us” on Playstation to critical acclaim and huge sales at stores. The game sold over 1.3 million copies in the first week and less than a year after the game was released a film adaptation was already in the works.  Unfortunately, just two years later the film was languishing in development hell and the rights to the adaptation eventually reverted back to original creator Neil Druckmann. Then in 2019, Druckmann was introduced to Craig Mazin, who was fresh off an Emmy win for his series “Chernobyl” and the two immediately hit it off, especially when they started talking about a fresh new idea to adapt “The Last of Us” into a TV series rather than a film.  A week later they were pitching the idea to HBO and it didn’t take long for the network to bite on the project with an order given to develop the series in 2020. Druckmann and Mazin worked hand-in-hand to stay faithful to the original story from the game while injecting new life into a nine-episode first season that ended up building an audience that rivaled the “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon.”  The post-apocalyptic story at the center of it all focused on Joel, a hardened smuggler who has seemingly lost everything, and a young girl named Ellie, who is immune to the deadly infection that effectively ended the world, as they travel across the country together… In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to tell some punny jokes and hope there’s not a fungus among us as we review the first season of “The Last of Us”… Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell

After original “Scream” creator Kevin Williamson split with the franchise following the fourth film in the series, the team at Radio Silence — a group comprised of Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett — pitched an idea for a fifth sequel that ultimately went onto find great success while helping to reinvigorate the series that laid dormant for over 10 years. “Scream 5” had barely been in theaters for two weeks when a sequel was ordered with a release date already attached for March 2023.  James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, the same writers behind the fifth “Scream” film returned to pen the sixth movie, but dramatic changes had to be made after series star Neve Campbell couldn’t come to terms on a financial agreement to make her return.  With Sidney Prescott no longer the focus, the attention shifted to the surviving characters from the fifth film, who were then relocated out of Woodsboro into the sprawling concrete jungle in New York City where a new and much more brutal Ghostface was awaiting them… In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to observe the rules of a franchise and trust no one as we review the 2023 sequel “Scream 6”…. Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell

When Kevin Williamson was originally writing a script he called “Scary Movie,” he was so nervous about handing it over to his agent that he immediately began penning the opening scene to a potential sequel.  After sending those pages over to his agent, the idea struck them that they were no longer just selling a script to a studio — there were introducing them to a franchise. The film eventually became “Scream” and after a massive opening month in theaters, Miramax executives were frothing at the mouth for a sequel.  Because there was so much mystery surrounding the identity of the killers in the first film, Williamson knew he had to be extra secretive for the sequel so he wrote multiple endings and even had his assistant write a dummy script that got leaked with Dewey as the killer.  Williamson’s worst nightmare came true when the real script actually did get leaked but by then the dummy version had made the rounds and nobody believed the second one was legit. At that point it was just a time crunch with production because the studio wanted to release the sequel less than one year after the original hit theaters.  The follow up centered around Sidney Prescott heading off to college in Ohio but soon the past comes back to haunt her when a copycat Ghostface starts murdering people around her…. In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to talk about the rules of the sequel and make sure the body count is higher as we review “Scream 2”…  Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell

The 1980s were a haven for horror cinema and that’s what led to exploitation and hardcore pornography filmmaker Dick Randall and Italian producer Roberto Loyola to get together and write a script for a movie under the pen name “John Shadow.”  The end result was a project called “Jigsaw” that eventually landed in the hands of director Juan Piquer Simon, who had just recently been approached to helm “The Last House on the Left” sequel but he passed because he felt the script was too boring.  That’s when he read the treatment for “Jigsaw,” which was somehow supposed to be made as a TV movie. Simon was so blown away by the script that he decided to help mold this into a feature length film.  What resulted was a gruesome, blood soaked film that was far more concerned with jaw dropping kills than anything that could pass as a coherent story.  Four decades later, this is a film that Eli Roth called a “glowing work of art.”  In the latest edition of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to rev up our chainsaws and put together a puzzle as we talk about the 1982 film “Pieces”…

Found footage films in horror go back many years with the controversial movie “Cannibal Holocaust” credited as one of the first to come to prominence.  It wasn’t until 1999 when “The Blair Witch Project” landed in theaters that found footage horror films truly exploded in popularity with audiences even going as far as questioning if what they were watching might actually be real and not a work of fiction.  It was from that movie that up and coming filmmaker Robbie Banfitch was inspired to make his own found footage film. His concept actually started with the title — a word that he made up yet sounded like a great name for movie. From there, Banfitch started contextualizing an idea for a film that would take him to the deepest reaches of the Mojave desert where he would be joined by three of his real life friends for a journey into madness.  Banfitch didn’t write a script for the movie but instead went scene by scene as he directed his rag-tag group of actors by pushing them into his ultimate vision for a terrifying road trip that spiraled into a fever dream filled with sand, sun and blood.  In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to grab our memory cards and sunscreen as we review the 2023 found footage horror film “The Outwaters”…  Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell 

Famed special effects technician Robert Kurtzman — best known for his work on films such as “Evil Dead 2” and “Night of the Creeps” — developed a story for a movie he wanted to make but he soon realized he didn’t quite have the chops to actually write it.  So he hired a young filmmaker named Quentin Tarantino to take on that job. Tarantino had started earning buzz around Hollywood for his “True Romance” and “Natural Born Killers” scripts but at the time he was still jockeying a register at a local video store.  The $1,500 that Kurtzman paid him to write the script allowed Tarantino to quit his job and focus on filmmaking full time but he also made Kurtzman agree to provide the effects for a little movie he was planning to write and direct called “Reservoir Dogs.”  A few years later following the release of his second film “Pulp Fiction,” Tarantino was the hottest director in Hollywood but rather than stepping behind the camera, he decided to play actor while his friend and fellow indie maverick Robert Rodriguez directed a film that ultimately plays out in two parts — the first involves a pair of bank-robbing brothers on the run from the law and the second features them engaged in a showdown with a group of vampires… In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to make some crosses, bless the water and the ramblers will get rambling as we review the 1996 film “From Dusk Till Dawn”… Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell

Author Paul Tremblay had already received international acclaim for his past books including “A Head Full of Ghosts,” which earned the 2015 Bram Stoker Award for best novel.  In 2018, Tremblay unleashed his newest work called “A Cabin at the End of the World” — an apocalyptic yet intimate tale about faith, belief and the end of the world. It didn’t take long for Hollywood to get interested in an adaptation with the original writers behind a screenplay reaching out to famed director M. Night Shyamalan about producing the project.  Unfortunately, he loved the story but didn’t enjoy one particular aspect to the book and that made him shy away from signing onto the film. Time passed and the same team returned to tell him that they actually really enjoyed his idea for the changes from the source material.  Rather than just produce, however, Shyamalan decided to take on the entire project himself as both a director and a co-writer. The final adaptation centers around a family confronted by four strangers promising that the end of the world is upon them unless they are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice… In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to keep an eye out for biblical disasters and catch some grasshoppers as we review the 2023 film “Knock at the Cabin”… Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell

Writer and director Brandon Cronenberg has developed a style of his own that seamlessly blends elements of horror and science fiction as evidenced in past films such as “Possessor” and “Antiviral.”  He was working on a story revolving around human clones and using them to stand in for executions when he remembered a particularly off putting vacation that led him to an entirely new idea. Cronenberg had traveled to an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic where the visitors were bussed in at night, the entire area was surrounded by razor-wire and the whole experience felt completely artificial.  When the bus left to take the tourists back to the airport, Cronenberg couldn’t help but notice the extreme poverty that surrounded the posh resort where the wealthy lived like kings while the people who actually resided in the country were nearly destitute.  That eventually became the script for Cronenberg’s twisted vision about an author who visits a similar all-inclusive resort but after getting arrested, he soon realizes that money really can absolve you of anything — even a murder… In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to put on our dog collars and watch a clone get executed as we review the 2023 film “Infinity Pool”…  Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell

After attending the American Film Institute and receiving critical acclaim for a pair of short films he wrote and directed, Ari Aster was suddenly getting opportunities in Hollywood but after several feature length scripts got rejected, he decided to turn his attention back to horror — a genre he loved growing up but fundamentally avoided with his writing despite constantly focusing on bleak and dreary material.  What started as a film centered around a family tragedy and the trauma involved with the aftermath of a sudden death eventually transformed into what Aster called a “full bore nightmare.”  The film eventually landed at A24, a studio famous for backing projects that don’t fit into any easily described categories. The finished product delivered exactly what Aster promised as a family spirals into a pit of despair and they’re soon visited by a malevolent force with the cruelest intentions in mind… In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to stick our heads out the window and swerve to miss the roadkill as we review the 2018 film “Hereditary”… Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell

Kevin Williamson — best known as the screenwriter behind the original “Scream” as well as films such as “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “The Faculty” — was looking for a setting for a new slasher movie but he wasn’t sure if tackling a subject as serious as the COVID-19 global pandemic was something he should explore.  Previous attempts to set films during the pandemic had largely failed but he was inspired by other genre filmmakers like Jordan Peele, who have used movies to tackle hard-hitting issues while still making a truly compelling story.  Williamson timed his story for April 2020, which was just after the global pandemic really took hold and he kept his film small yet continued to look for ways to ratchet up the tension at every turn.  The plot centered around a pair of college friends who decide to quarantine at a family lake house far away from the city but they soon discover that being isolated doesn’t mean they are actually alone after a masked killer begins stalking them. In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to put on our masks and spray down everything with Lysol as we review the 2023 slasher film “Sick”… 

Prolific writer and director James Wan has plenty of experience with terrifying dolls because you have to look no further than his signature series “The Conjuring” to find Annabelle staring back at you.  But Wan wasn’t looking for another haunted doll when he came up with the idea for a premise centered around “embracing technology too much” and “what happens when technology runs amok.”  That was the spark of an idea that was handed over to screenwriter Akela Cooper, who had previously worked with Wan on the 2021 film “Malignant” as well as the well regarded horror film “Hell Fest.”  What Cooper ultimately crafted was a horrific science fiction film with plenty of black comedy centered around a scientist who creates a childlike android as the next innovation in artificial intelligence except this time aimed at befriending kids. Unfortunately her creation soon becomes a cautionary tale in technology gone wrong… In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to bow down to our robot overlords as we review the 2022 horror film “M3gan”… Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell 

Italian horror have often been revered or considered revolting by audiences all over the world. Famed directors like Dario Argento have built rabid fanbases centered around the stylized way many directors from the European country color a canvas with blood.  Lucio Fulci — who was nicknamed the “Godfather of Gore” — was one of the most beloved directors of Italian horror films with his work on movies such as” “Zombi 2” and  “City of the Living Dead.”  In 1982, Fulci released what would become one of his most controversial films — a movie set against the backdrop of New York City where a serial killer with a fetish for speaking like a duck is stalking and killing women in the most horrific ways possible.  The movie was so graphic that it was banned in the United Kingdom after being called “simple the most damaging film” of all time.  In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to practice our best quacks and polish up our silver toes as we review the 1982 Lucio Fulci film “The New York Ripper”….

Following a global pandemic, movie theaters were still struggling to pack in audiences but two genres — along with Tom Cruise flying a jet — proved resilient in the face of falling box office numbers — superhero movies and horror films.  Week after week, critics were stunned at the staggering returns on horror films at the box office including a feature called “Smile” that wasn’t even supposed to earn a theatrical release yet it went onto gross more than $216 million worldwide to make it the highest earning horror film of the year.  2022 was also the year that Jordan Peele searched for aliens, Mia Goth introduced us to Maxine and then eventually to Pearl, Art the Clown sent audience members screaming from their seats, Ralph Fiennes served up a deliciously wicked four course meal, Ghostface returned and Amber Midthunder reminded us all how fight off a Predator. All in all, it was a great year to be a horror fan. In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we present our special year end extravaganza as we reveal our top horror films and best horror moments for 2022… Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell 

There was a time when studios would actually accept screenplay ideas from the general public and that’s how producer Scott Schiend got his hands on a short story entitled “He Sees You When You’re Sleeping,” which was written by a Harvard student named Paul Caimi.  The story centered around a killer Santa Claus and the concept was interesting enough that Schiend decided to develop it into a film.  Under the working title “Slayride,” numerous directors were targeted to lead the film including Sam Raimi, Albert Magnoli and Ken Kwapis but the studio was interested in working with television producer Charles Seller Jr., who had famously worked on the “Life and Times of Grizzly Adams” film and TV series.  Principle photography started in March 1983 in Utah with the movie centering around a traumatized young boy who witnesses a killer in a Santa costume murder his family and years later he decides to take up the same mantle to punish all those who misbehaved before Christmas… In our special holiday episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to find out if you’ve been naughty as we review the 1984 classic “Silent Night, Deadly Night." Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell

When Wes Craven first terrified audiences by unleashing dream demon Freddy Krueger in 1984, no one could have predicted that his film that had to scrape together financing just to get made would ultimately become one of the most successful horror franchises of all time. In the nearly 40 years since the first film was released, the “Nightmare on Elm Street” series has spawned nine total movies while earning more than $474 million at the box office.  The series also managed to create one of the most iconic characters in horror history with fans still scared to fall asleep out of fear that Freddy might get them. In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead as we wrap up our series on the entire “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise we’re going to take one final look at the house that Freddy built and we welcome a special guest as we interview Lisa Wilcox — the only final girl to truly survive her nightmares….

The idea for a movie pitting Freddy Krueger against Jason Voorhees actually dates all the back to 1987 when New Line Cinema and Paramount Pictures started talking about a crossover film following the success of “Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors” and “Friday the 13 the Part VI: Jason Lives.”  Sadly, neither studio wanted to give up rights to the other character to make the film so the ambitious plans fell to the wayside. Talks about putting the two slasher icons into a single movie continued to bubble up over the years but it wasn’t until 1999 when the project really started to get support from the studios again.  Over $6 million was reportedly spent on various scripts but eventually writers Mark Swift and Damian Shannon came up with an idea that everybody liked, which eventually led to Ronny Yu being hired as a director. Robert Englund returned for the eighth time to play Freddy while Ken Kirzinger was hired to portray Jason Voorhees despite early talks that Kane Hodder would come back to play the hockey mask killer again.  When the film finally opened in 2003, the long awaited showdown landed at No. 1 at the box office for two weeks in a row as fans flocked to the theater to see two titans of horror square off… In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to load up on hypnocil and jump in a van bound for Camp Crystal Lake as we review “Freddy vs. Jason”…  Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell 

Writer David Kajganich had worked on several horror screenplays throughout his career including the critically acclaimed 2018 remake of “Suspiria” but even he was surprised when he was approached about adapting Camile DeAngelis’ book about a pair of lovestruck teenagers who both happen to be afflicted with the same instinct to consume human flesh while in the midst of a coming of age story.  It was unlike anything he’d ever been asked to write before but after talking to the author, Kajganich was sold on the idea. It wasn’t long before he spoke to previous collaborator Luca Guadagnino about serving as a director on the project but for a time it appeared no deal would be struck and he’d have to find someone else to lead the film.  Eventually, Kajganich circled back around and asked Guadagnino to just read his script and afterwards the director agreed to the job on one condition — he wanted Timothee Chalamet for one of the lead roles after they previously worked together on the film “Call Me By Your Name.”  Chalamet signed on along with Taylor Russell as well as Oscar winner Mark Rylance in what can ultimately be described as a cross-country cannibal love story…. In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to wet our appetites and sniff around for other eaters as we review the 2022 film “Bones and All”… Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell

Writer Will Tracy, who counts shows like “Last Week Tonight” and “Succession” among his credits on IMDB, was on his honeymoon in Norway when he started exploring the best options for dinner as a certified foodie.  What he discovered was a private dining location on an island where a boat was required to pick you up and drop you off for a five-hour experience where the chef and staff prepared an elaborate meal for an exclusive set of clientele.  That was all the inspiration Tracy needed to return to New York and seek out his friend Seth Reiss to explore transforming this idea into an actual film that dissected the elite world of overpriced gourmet food. During the writing process, Tracy and Reiss actually started imagining Ralph Fiennes in the lead role as the eccentric chef that sits at the center of their dark-horror comedy but the pair were even more stunned when the actor actually agreed to do the part.  The finished product centers around a group of 1-percenters who pay to have the ultimate eating experience on a private island with a world class chef but they soon find out that what they’re being fed is far more bitter than any dish that’s being served… In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to clear our palettes and try to figure out the theme for the evening as we review the 2022 film “The Menu”… 

Following the development of the “Friday the 13th” remake, Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes production company announced plans to take on another franchise with a remake of the 1984 classic “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”  The idea behind the remake was taking the “Nightmare” franchise back to its roots as a much scarier film rather than the version that had been duplicated in recent years where antagonist Freddy Krueger was defined by “cracking jokes” and making one-liners before killing his victims.  Music video director Samuel Bayer was hired to direct and the vision for the film shifted from a remake to a reimagining with plans to use elements from the original movie but not necessarily copy what Wes Craven had created. Jackie Earle Haley was hired to take on the role of Freddy — a move that original series star Robert Englund supported.  On a budget of $35 million dollars, the “Nightmare” remake was supposed to reignite the franchise with the stars of the film already signed on for multiple sequels as Bay attempted to make everyone scared of Freddy Krueger again… In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead as part of our ongoing series taking a deep dive into the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, we discuss the 2010 remake and what went wrong with this film…. Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell 

When Wes Craven contemplated returning to the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise for the third film in the series, he pitched an idea for a story where Freddy Krueger crossed over to invade the real world where he would begin haunting the actors from the movies.  The studio declined that version of the film but Craven never forgot his idea. Six years later after it appeared the “Nightmare” series was all but dead and buried, Craven returned with a similar pitch while promising to return Freddy to his roots as a darker and scarier entity rather than the cartoonish version that had appeared in many of the sequels.  The final script involved actors playing fictional versions of themselves including Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund and John Saxon all returning with Craven even putting himself in the film as Freddy Krueger returns to haunt them all again… In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to make sure the TV is unplugged and Rex stays at the foot of the bed as we review the 1994 film “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare”… Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell