This week kicks off with four brand new horror movies at home, including a Hellraiser-inspired film starring horror legend Doug Bradley as well as new werewolf and scarecrow flicks. Here’s all the new horror that released on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar. The next movie […]
This week kicks off with four brand new horror movies at home, including a Hellraiser-inspired film starring horror legend Doug Bradley as well as new werewolf and scarecrow flicks.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
The next movie in the killer scarecrow subgenre is Deescalated Pictures’ indie horror film Field of Screams, and Gravitas Ventures has released it on VOD at home today.
In Field of Screams, “Having recently inherited his late grandfather’s farmhouse, Allen, his boyfriend Justin, and their friends Luke, Lisa, Britt, and Shane clean out the old man’s house and get it ready for sale. While packing and cleaning, the tensions begin to rise as Allen tries to deal with his grief and his boyfriend tries to play nice with the rest of the group.
“Meanwhile, a living scarecrow named Billy creeps in the shadows, killing anyone who speaks ill of his dead creator or plans to sell the farmland he calls home. Using the organs harvested from his victims, Billy makes living scarecrows of his own. With violent scarecrows lurking around every corner, Allen and his friends must overcome their interpersonal conflicts and figure out a way to escape Billy’s wrath.”
The film was written and directed by Alix Moad and Evan Runkle.
Jessica Shepherd, Bill D. Russell, Justin Marxen, Calvin T. Shepherd, Randy Rochford, Justin Heinz, Savanna Steinhoff, Jared Chandler, J. Jordan Parsons, and Charlize Delenn star.
Director Douglas Schulze (The Dark Below, Hellmaster, Mimesis) took inspiration from horror classics including The Thing, Alien, and The Exorcist for his new movie Thorns, but it’s pretty clear that the biggest inspiration on the film was Hellraiser. In fact, Thorns looks like something of a lost Hellraiser sequel, right down to Doug Bradley starring in the film.
The film was released onto VOD outlets beginning today. Thorns is said to be “ripe with physical makeup effects and plenty of gore,” and you can watch the trailer below for a taste.
In Thorns, “An ex-priest working for NASA is sent to investigate a remote observatory that went silent after receiving a mysterious radio signal from deep space. Upon arrival, he discovers the signal has opened a portal unleashing a thorned monster. The former priest must now summon his lost faith to stop the signal from jumpstarting the end of the world.”
Douglas Schulze previews, “At its core, Thorns is an homage to 80’s era monster movies, from our use of practical effects to a synth fueled music score and lots of easter eggs. Hellraiser, The Thing, Alien are all great films with even greater practical makeup effects. For me the best horror cinema steers away from the computer realm when pursuing all things visceral.”
If lycanthropy is a virus, can it be cured? That’s the premise behind writer/director Peter McLeod’s indie First Moon, which looks to mix the werewolf and exorcism subgenres.
First Moon howled its way onto VOD outlets today.
In the film, “A waitress is abducted by a religious cult, who are hell-bent on curing her from a werewolf virus – or killing her in the process. Will she escape before her first full moon?”
Lauren Esposito (The Conjuring 2) stars alongside Julian Curtis and Shannon Ryan.
“We all agree that werewolves are monsters,” McLeod said. “I wanted to delve into the idea of what makes someone monstrous. We vilify people in the real world easily, but psychologically, if you dig down far enough, very few people are truly evil. They’re just damaged.”
And finally, only the elite will survive inPrimal Games, which is also available on VOD now from Uncork’d Entertainment. The indie action/sci-fi/horror/thriller mashup draws influence from Richard Connell‘s classic 1924 short story “The Most Dangerous Game.”
In the film from director David Ryan Keith (The Redwood Massacre), “A newlywed couple’s honeymoon turns into a waking nightmare when they are thrust into a sadistic survival game created for the world’s thrill-seeking elite. Hunted and outnumbered, they must fight to survive and uncover the truth about the twisted reality they’ve been dragged into.”
Hannaj Bang Bendz, John Love, Gary Kasper, Mark Wood, Liam Matheson, and Ryan Livingstone star.
