Aachi and Ssipak Turns 20! Host a Streaming Watch Party?

Aachi and Ssipak is a gloriously collision of dystopian science fiction, black comedy and manic animation. Its crisp 2K restoration gives this bizarre South Korean cult film another chance to find its audience.

Aachi and Ssipak Title CardAvailable to stream on Darkroom

Aachi and Ssipak is one of those strange, animated works that needs to be seen to be believed. If it’s even remotely possible to say this movie is a product born from visual tropes popularized by other works, like Ren and Stimpy meets South Park, then that’s this bizarre South Korean work in a nutshell. It won’t be for everyone either, due to its very adult content; but it’s available to screen on Darkroom, a streaming platform that’s building a solid reputation as a place for the bizarre and underappreciated.

For a film that’s totally whacked out, the concept is actually quite novel. Whether there’s any truth to turning methane into fuel has been the subject of speculation for some time. What’s explored here is less about the science and more about how dystopian things can become if governments and private industries get their way. In a localized part of the world where human excrement is the city’s only source of energy, the keepers reward citizens with addictive “Hard” popsicles for keeping the supply flowing.

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Which Alpha Will Reign The Kingdom of Earth? Only A Dark Horse Knows….

A monster-filled future takes shape in Kingdom of Earth, a new four-issue horror comic from David Dastmalchian, Leah Kilpatrick, and Soo Lee. Set in a brutal world where humans face service or slaughter, the series promises a grim apocalypse packed with creatures fighting for control.

Kingdom of Earth Comic CoverDark Horse Comics

With this latest announcement from the Oregon-based comic book publisher, it seems Earth is no longer just a planet of the apes. Other creatures are ready to seize control. With Kingdom of Earth by David Dastmalchian (Count Crowley, Through) and Leah Kilpatrick (Headless Horseman, DC Horror Presents), along with Bram Stoker Award-winning artist Soo Lee (Carmilla, Minor Threats), this four-issue series looks mighty promising. What the team has teased so far already has me eager to see what arrives when the first issue hits shelves.

From the Press Release:

“It’s tempting to abandon hope when the world is dominated by monsters… right?! But thanks to the incredible passion of my creative partners on this book,” said Dastmalchian, “we created a terrifying world where a small flicker of hope burns amidst an apocalyptic landscape. I love mash-ups and this series is the ultimate mash-up. Every monster you’ve ever seen, read or studied battles for supremacy while a small movement of humans plot survival and rebellion.”

“I love being able to draw monsters and creatures that go bump in the night,” said Lee. “It’s so much more different than what I’ve been working on lately and thanks to my collaborators, I’m able to test myself by making this dark and terrible world beautiful in my own way. I hope everyone is captivated by the world we have developed in Kingdom of Earth.”

In Kingdom of Earth:

2036. Two years ago, hordes of monsters rose from the earth and sea, devouring everything in sight. Much of mankind was massacred before the monsters realized they needed humans. In this new world, humans have two options: service or slaughter. When a young child named Frankie narrowly escapes their fate as livestock, they soon realize that their fight for survival has only just begun.

Kingdom of Earth #1 (of 4) will arrive in comic shops on July 15, 2026.

Altered Turns Cyberpunk Eugenics Into a Quiet, Uneasy Family Drama

Director Timo Vuorensola trades spectacle for restraint in Altered, a mutant-versus-normal sci-fi drama led by a committed Tom Felton performance that keeps the film emotionally afloat.

Altered (2025) Starring Tom FeltonWell GO USA
Spoiler Alert

Tom Felton gives it his all in a cyberpunk eugenics drama about a fractured society where mutants and normals exist in constant tension. Altered marks a shift from what Timo Vuorensola, best known for Iron Sky, usually delivers. Instead of pulpy action excess, this film leans into a youth-focused formula, with Felton firmly at its centre. He plays Leon, a paraplegic mechanic who moonlights as a cat burglar while acting as a father figure to Chloe, played by Liza Bugulova.

Their bond is established quickly through necessity. She distracts, he sneaks, hacks systems, and steals crystalline energy sources that power advanced technology. Living outside the city, they survive by relying on each other in a world where people either fend for themselves or form uneasy alliances. The dynamic is effective, and their mutual dependence carries the film from beginning to end.

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We Bury The Dead, In Lest We Grieve

A restrained zombie drama led by Daisy Ridley, We Bury the Dead trades splatter for grief, memory, and moral unease, following a woman searching for closure on the edge of a disaster zone where the dead may not be fully gone.

We Bury the Dead Movie PosterVertical, Umbrella Entertainment
Mild Spoiler Alert

Daisy Ridley is an actress who’s selective about the roles she takes on. Whether she’s carrying the weight of the Skywalker name or stepping into something far more grounded, her presence brings a quiet gravitas that helps sell the story. In We Bury the Dead, she plays Eva, a woman suspended between grief and hope, unsure whether to mourn her husband Mitch (Matt Whelan) or believe he might still be alive.

Mitch was working in Tasmania when an EMP device accidentally detonated. With communications crippled and information scarce, Eva fears the worst. As media coverage reveals the scale of the devastation and the number of lives lost, the only certainty she has is uncertainty.

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Ideas on How to Change Netflix’s The Electric State for the Better

Despite all the star power used to get fans of post-apocalyptic tales excited for The Electric State, this film generally falls flat for its execution, but I got ideas on how to salvage it.

The Electric State Movie PosterNow Streaming on Netflix
Spoiler Alert

The Electric State is not an entirely terrible film. Had The Russo Brothers taken more creative liberty and came up with adding a horrific element, I’d love it! When the robots in this film made me think of those from the cinematic adaptation of Five Nights at Freddy’s, just what I imagined up would have been even more thrilling! But when this work is based on the work of another talent’s work, I have to wonder if Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag would approve.

While this work fails as being a road trip movie, where Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) leaves her foster home to search for Chris (Woody Norman), at least parts of the world building are done right. And when she knows her brother is a genius in science and robotics, this can lead to problems in the long run. Someone can take advantage of him. In what he knows about combining the two, nobody or no device can be safe.

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In the Lost Lands, Home Will Feel Far Away!

Paul W. S. Anderson’s In The Lost Lands feels more like a set up for an upcoming role playing game that fans of of the post-apocalyptic genre can take part in!

In the Lost Lands Movie PosterDave Bautista is almost ready to replace William Shatner as host to The UnXplained should the opportunity arise. That’s because he’s getting the practice in with Paul W. S. Anderson’s In The Lost Lands.  In this lengthy adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s, I am left wondering if this star will ever find a woman he can stay with instead of staying a drifter. Technically, he did in The Killer’s Game (movie review), but in other films prior, I sense he’ll always be a loner.

This science-fiction post apocalyptic adventure opens with him explaining how the Earth destroyed itself, and unlike The Knight’s War where the protagonist is in search for a woman with power to change the tides of war, here this individual wants nothing to do with Gray Alys (Milla Jovovich). She’s been searching for someone like Boyce (Bautista) to guide her through the said world.

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