Next Club Meeting: September 20, 2025, at the Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

The Animatrix Network is an anime & manga fan club located in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. We usually meet on the third Saturday of each month (except when holidays or conventions coincide). The meetings are free and open to the public. Join us for a day filled with anime.

This site provides news, reviews, commentaries, and previews of the world of anime and everything it inspires, such as live-action films, comics, music, art, and other weird things to enjoy and contemplate.
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

The fight isn’t over yet...

STRANGER THINGS
Get ready for the epic series finale of Stranger Things.
Volume 1, November 26, 5pm PT* 
Volume 2, Christmas, 5pm PT* 
The Finale, New Year’s Eve, 5pm PT* 
 
* (Releasing worldwide all at once, date may vary based on your local timezone)

Sunday, June 1, 2025

"Only Monsters Play God..."

FRANKENSTEIN
Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, FRANKENSTEIN is on Netflix this November. Starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, with Charles Dance, and Christoph Waltz. Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

Thursday, April 10, 2025

Miss me?

M 3 G A N  2.0
The murderous doll who captivated pop culture in 2023 is back.
And this time she’s not alone.
The original creative team behind that phenomenon—led by horror titans James Wan for Atomic Monster, Jason Blum for Blumhouse and writer-director Gerard Johnstone—reboot an all-new wild chapter in A.I. mayhem with M3GAN 2.0. Two years after M3GAN, a marvel of artificial intelligence, went rogue and embarked on a murderous (and impeccably choreographed) rampage and was subsequently destroyed, M3GAN’s creator Gemma (Allison Williams) has become a high-profile author and advocate for government oversight of A.I. Meanwhile, Gemma’s niece Cady (Violet McGraw), now 14, has become a teenager, rebelling against Gemma’s overprotective rules. 
 
Unbeknownst to them, the underlying tech for M3GAN has been stolen and misused by a powerful defense contractor to create a military-grade weapon known as Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno; Ahsoka, Pacific Rim: Uprising), the ultimate killer infiltration spy. But as Amelia’s self-awareness increases, she becomes decidedly less interested in taking orders from humans. Or in keeping them around. 
 
With the future of human existence on the line, Gemma realizes that the only option is to resurrect M3GAN (Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis) and give her a few upgrades, making her faster, stronger, and more lethal. As their paths collide, the original A.I icon is about to meet her match. 
 
M3GAN 2.0 is written and directed by acclaimed returning filmmaker Gerard Johnstone, from a story by Gerard Johnstone and Akela Cooper, based on characters created by Akela Cooper & James Wan. 
 
The film co-stars returning cast members Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jen Van Epps as Gemma’s loyal tech teammates, Cole and Tess, and new characters played by Aristotle Athari (Saturday Night Live, Hacks), Timm Sharp (Apples Never Fall, Percy Jackson and the Olympians) and Grammy winner and 11-time Emmy nominee Jemaine Clement (Avatar: The Way of Water, What We Do in the Shadows). 
 
Produced by James Wan, Jason Blum and Allison Williams, the film is executive produced by Gerard Johnstone, Adam Hendricks, Greg Gilreath, Michael Clear, Judson Scott and Mark D. Katchur. 
 
The first M3GAN film shattered box office records, opening to $30.4 million domestically to become the biggest opening weekend for a PG-13 horror film since A Quiet Place Part II. The film went on to gross more than $180 million worldwide.

Saturday, March 29, 2025

We were safer in space...


ALIEN: EARTH
When a space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's biggest threat.
Alien: Earth is an upcoming American science fiction horror television series written and directed by Noah Hawley, based on the Alien franchise. It serves as a prequel and is set two years before the events of the 1979 film Alien. It stars Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Essie Davis, Adarsh Gourav.
Alien: Earth to be released on FX on Hulu in mid-2025.
 
 

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

A New Survival Horror Game...



M . I . N . S . K .
MODULAR  INTEGRATED  NETWORKED  SYSTEMS  KINETICS

M.I.N.S.K. is a third-person survival horror adventure set in a dark, post-apocalyptic world.

You control an android created by a lone engineer struggling to survive. The cities are shrouded in toxic fog, and the last remnants of civilization hide in the towering ruins above. But when the android encounters another robot—controlled by a biologist searching for answers—their connection sparks something deeper than just survival.

Now, they share a common goal: to reunite in the real world and uncover the truth behind the devastation. But between them stand treacherous landscapes, hostile machines, and ruthless scavengers who will do anything to take what little remains.

🛠 Key Features

A Thoughtfully Crafted Experience
Designed by a passionate small team, M.I.N.S.K. offers a seamless and immersive experience where every aspect—from gameplay to storytelling—blends harmoniously. Expect a refined adventure that balances exploration, action, and emotional depth.

A Deep, Emotional Storyline
Step into a world filled with loneliness, hope, and love. Experience a story that unfolds through the interactions between humans and machines, where choices and relationships shape the journey in unexpected ways.
AAA-Level Visuals & Immersive Sound Design
Explore stunningly detailed environments brought to life with cutting-edge Unreal Engine 5 technology. From towering ruins to eerie, fog-covered streets, every location is filled with rich visual storytelling, complemented by an atmospheric soundtrack that deepens the immersion.
A Unique Vertical Level Design
Venture through a city structured across multiple layers—each with distinct challenges, dangers, and mysteries. Climb, explore, and adapt as you traverse this intricate world, uncovering secrets hidden in the depths of the ruins.

AI GENERATED CONTENT DISCLOSURE
The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:
AI work on some textures and soundtrack of the game


MATURE CONTENT DESCRIPTION

The developers describe the content like this:
This Game may contain content not appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work: Frequent Violence or Gore, General Mature Content.
Planned Release Date: To Be Announced Soon!
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
MINIMUM:

OS: windows 10 / 11
RECOMMENDED:
OS: windows 10 / 11

 

Monday, March 10, 2025

Yes, they made a live-action version of...

BAMBI: THE RECKONING
After a mother and son get in a car wreck, they soon become hunted by Bambi, a mutated grief-stricken deer on a deadly rampage seeking revenge for the death of his mother.

Monday, January 6, 2025

Fatui Harbingers...

Stairway to Heaven
[Genshin Analog Horror Animation]
And the angels, each of them with six wings,
are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night
they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy…”
A string of disappearances linked to mysterious doorways appearing all over the continent has senior researcher Zandik investigating one such passageway for himself. Driven further upward by more than just academic curiosity, his search into spaces beyond this world may leave him with more questions than answers.

Saturday, December 21, 2024

They accidentally hit a unicorn with their car...

DEATH OF A UNICORN
Riley (Jenna Ortega) and Elliot (Paul Rudd) hit a unicorn with their car and bring it to the wilderness retreat of a mega-wealthy pharmaceutical CEO (Richard E Grant). Naturally, the mythical beast has restorative properties, raising the question of what to do with the body.

Thursday, December 12, 2024

World's most dangerous secret lies between them...

THE GORGE
Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy star in The Gorge
Premiering February 14 on Apple TV+

Two highly-trained operatives (Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy) are appointed to posts in guard towers on opposite sides of a vast and highly classified gorge, protecting the world from an undisclosed, mysterious evil that lurks within. They bond from a distance while trying to stay vigilant in defending against an unseen enemy. When the cataclysmic threat to humanity is revealed to them, they must work together in a test of both their physical and mental strength to keep the secret in the gorge before it’s too late. An Apple Original Film, “The Gorge” is directed by Scott Derrikson and written by Zach Dean. Hailing from Skydance Media, “The Gorge” is produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger for Skydance, alongside Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill and Sherryl Clark through Crooked Highway as well as Adam Kolbrenner, Zach Dean and Gregory Goodman. Miles Teller executive produces.

Monday, December 2, 2024

"You're not the real Hikaru, are you?"

THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED
Upcoming anime adaptation of Mokumokuren’s psychological horror series.
Yoshiki and Hikaru are two teenage boys living in a small town in rural Japan. Despite having opposite personalities and different hobbies, the two maintain a close friendship. However, on one winter day, Hikaru is fatally injured while hiking in the mountains alone. Before dying, a mysterious eldritch being comes across him and consumes him, becoming him physically in the process. This "Hikaru" has all the feelings and memories of the original, yet remains a separate being, something Yoshiki realizes rather quickly. Yoshiki still wants to stay with "Hikaru"; however, his alien nature, along with other eldritch beings and hunters of said beings, may make that impossible.

Friday, October 25, 2024

Wait, there's another Werewolf Movie!?

WOLF MAN
What if someone you loved became something else?
From Blumhouse and visionary writer-director Leigh Whannell, the creators of the chilling modern monster tale The Invisible Man, comes a terrifying new lupine nightmare: Wolf Man. Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott (Poor Things, It Comes at Night) stars as Blake, a San Francisco husband and father, who inherits his remote childhood home in rural Oregon after his own father vanishes and is presumed dead. With his marriage to his high-powered wife, Charlotte (Emmy winner Julia Garner; Ozark, Inventing Anna), fraying, Blake persuades Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the property with their young daughter, Ginger (Matlida Firth; Hullraisers, Coma). But as the family approaches the farmhouse in the dead of night, they’re attacked by an unseen animal and, in a desperate escape, barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter. As the night stretches on, however, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable, and Charlotte will be forced to decide whether the terror within their house is more lethal than the danger without. The film co-stars Sam Jaeger (The Handmaid’s Tale), Ben Prendergast (The Sojourn Audio Drama) and Benedict Hardie (The Invisible Man). Wolf Man is directed by Whannell, whose previous films with Blumhouse include The Invisible Man, Upgrade and Insidious: Chapter 3. The screenplay is written by Leigh Whannell & Corbett Tuck, Lauren Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo (Dumb Money). The film is produced by Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum and is executive produced by Ryan Gosling, Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner and Leigh Whannell. Wolf Man is a Blumhouse and Motel Movies production.
Only in theaters January 17, 2025

Saturday, October 19, 2024

We need a really good werewolf movie right now...

WEREWOLVES
Two scientists try to stop a mutation that turns people into werewolves after being touched by a super-moon the year before. Starring Frank Grillo.

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

"Light doesn't always mean Goodness..."

MERRY MADNESS
"This is the story of the Rat and the Hound.
A tale of Great and Terrible times!"

"Once upon a time, under a rock on a hill, there lived a Rat. Many would come to visit the Rat for he told stories and sang songs. He loved poetry and painting and merry madness without reason! He often sat and told his tales to men and women and monsters alike!"

Saturday, August 17, 2024

"We can't keep running. This ends NOW!"

STRANGER THINGS: SEASON FIVE
Witness the Fifth and Final Season of the Hit Series...
Stranger Things is set in the fictional rural town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s. The nearby Hawkins National Laboratory ostensibly performs scientific research for the United States Department of Energy but also secretly experiments with the paranormal and supernatural, sometimes with human test subjects. They have inadvertently created a portal to an alternate dimension they refer to as the Upside Down, whose presence begins to affect the residents of Hawkins in unusual ways.

The first season begins in November 1983. Will Byers is abducted by a creature from the Upside Down. His mother Joyce; the town's police chief, Jim Hopper; and a group of volunteers search for him. A young psychokinetic girl named Eleven escapes from the laboratory and is found by friends of Will. Eleven befriends and assists them in their efforts to find Will.

The second season is set eleven months later, in October 1984. Will has been rescued, but he begins having premonitions of the fall of Hawkins caused by a creature in the Upside Down. When it is discovered that Will is still being possessed by an entity from the Upside Down, his friends and family learn that there is a larger threat to their world.

The third season is set nine months later, in the days leading up to the Fourth of July celebration in 1985. The new Starcourt Mall has become the center of attention for Hawkins residents, putting the majority of other local stores out of business due to the mall's popularity. Hopper becomes increasingly concerned about Eleven and Mike's relationship and becomes very protective of his daughter. Unbeknownst to the town, a secret Soviet laboratory underneath Starcourt seeks to open the gateway to the Upside Down. Meanwhile, the Mind Flayer uses mind control to make Billy do his bidding.

The fourth season is set eight months later, in March 1986. Joyce, Will, Eleven, and Jonathan have moved to Lenora, California for a fresh start. In California, Eleven struggles with the loss of her powers and being bullied in school. Meanwhile, in Hawkins, a being from the Upside Down—an entity later dubbed Vecna—begins killing the residents of Hawkins, opening new gates between the two worlds in the process. Planning to stop Vecna, Dr. Sam Owens takes Eleven to a facility to help her regain her powers. Simultaneously, Joyce and Murray fly to Russia to rescue Hopper from the Gulag in Kamchatka.

Friday, August 16, 2024

Welcome to the New Era of the Hunt...

HUNT: SHOWDOWN 1896
Out now on PC, PS5 & Xbox Series X|S!
With the Corruption spreading across the lands, twisting people into malformed monstrosities, Hunters from all walks of life answer the call for blood, revenge, and good old-fashioned greed. Armed to the teeth with lead and steel, it isn't just the dead who find themselves looking down the barrel of a gun.
Play now on Steam, Free this Weekend until August 19th!

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

In space, no one can hear you scream...

A L I E N :  M O N D A Y

"Animated by myself over six years and co-directed by Claudia Montealegre, this short film is a tribute to both Ridley Scott's Alien and classic 80s anime alike. I hope you enjoy it!"
- Paul "Otaking" Johnson

Thursday, July 11, 2024

Something in These Hills... Something Haunted...

HELLBOY: THE CROOKED MAN
From master storyteller, and Hellboy original creator: Mike Mignola and Brian Taylor, the twisted mind behind Crank, comes Hellboy: The Crooked Man based on the critically acclaimed graphic novel. Coming Soon.

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

In Space, No One Can Hear You...

A L I E N: ROMULUS
“Alien: Romulus” takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe. The film stars Cailee Spaeny (“Civil War”), David Jonsson (“Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy”), Archie Renaux (“Shadow and Bone”), Isabela Merced (“The Last of Us”), Spike Fearn (“Aftersun”), Aileen Wu. Fede Alvarez (“Evil Dead,” “Don’t Breathe”) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (“Don’t Breathe 2”) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. “Alien: Romulus” is produced by Ridley Scott (“Napoleon”), who directed the original “Alien” and produced and directed the series’ entries “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant,” Michael Pruss (“Boston Strangler”), and Walter Hill (“Alien”), with Fede Alvarez, Elizabeth Cantillon (“Charlie’s Angels”), Brent O’Connor (“Bullet Train”), and Tom Moran (“Unstoppable”) serving as executive producers.

Monday, May 13, 2024

Fear is Reality...

LATENCY
When Hana, a professional gamer who suffers from acute agoraphobia, receives new equipment that enhances her game, she begins to wonder if it is reading her mind - or controlling it.

Sunday, March 24, 2024

They are hiding among us...

PARASYTE: THE GREY
When unidentified parasites violently take over human hosts and gain power, humanity must rise to combat the growing threat.
Only on Netflix, April 5