{"id":245371,"date":"2026-01-22T02:26:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T02:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/245371\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T02:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T02:26:16","slug":"first-look-at-julie-benz-ron-perlman-busy-philipps-more-in-meta-horror-comedy-horrified-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/245371\/","title":{"rendered":"First Look at Julie Benz, Ron Perlman, Busy Philipps, More in Meta Horror-Comedy \u2018Horrified\u2019 [Exclusive]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Julie Benz (\u201cDexter\u201d) stars as down-on-her-luck scream queen Jamie Jaymes in the meta horror-comedy Horrified, and we have your first look above.<\/p>\n

Below you\u2019ll find more exclusive images of Ron Perlman (Hellboy) as Jamie\u2019s father Charlie Hecht, Busy Philipps (\u201cFreaks and Geeks\u201d) as hotel manager Tawny, Jim Rash (\u201cCommunity\u201d) as Sheriff Straley, and Birdie Silverstein (Philipps\u2019 real-life daughter) as Megan, who replaces Jamie in the reboot of her cult slasher.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote Horrified almost 14 years ago, and as a horror fan my entire life, I set out to showcase the fandom in honest and fun light on screen,\u201d writer-director Michael Zara (\u201cMajor Crimes\u201d) tells Bloody Disgusting. \u201cThis one is truly for the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the film, Jamie Jaymes (Benz) was once the star of the cult horror franchise Hell Hog, but now she\u2019s broke and drowning in bad decisions. Reluctantly, she returns to Horrified for an easy paycheck, hoping to endure a weekend of awkward fan encounters and nostalgia.<\/p>\n

The event quickly takes a dark turn when a masked killer dressed as her franchise\u2019s killer begins terrorizing the convention. As if that weren\u2019t enough, Jamie\u2019s estranged father (Perlman) unexpectedly shows up, dredging up painful memories she\u2019s spent years trying to escape.<\/p>\n

As the convention unfolds, the murders escalate, and Jamie finds herself trapped in a nightmarish scenario where the rules of her own movies might be the only thing that can keep her alive.<\/p>\n

With her fellow genre stars and die-hard fans caught in the crossfire, she must navigate both a relentless killer and the unresolved trauma of her past. But years of poor choices have dulled her once-sharp instincts, leaving her to question whether she still has what it takes to fight back.<\/p>\n

The ensemble also includes Doug Jones (The Shape of Water), Jason Behr (\u201cRoswell\u201d), Allison Dunbar (\u201cThe Sopranos\u201d), Natalie Lander (\u201cThe Middle\u201d), Kearran Giovanni (\u201cMajor Crimes\u201d), Jay Donnell, Jessica Meraz (\u201cSupergirl\u201d), Jude Barnett (\u201cReservation Dogs\u201d), Aimee Teegarden (\u201cFriday Night Lights\u201d), Alexandra Harris (Hellraiser: Judgment), Cody Mayo (\u201cRunaways\u201d), and Harry Jowsey (The Wrong Paris).<\/p>\n

Heading into the final phase of post-production, Horrified has partnered with The Art of Elysium<\/a> for a fiscal sponsorship, allowing the project to operate under the nonprofit\u2019s tax-exempt status.<\/p>\n

\u201cLos Angeles nonprofit arts charity The Art of Elysium came on board after reading the script and learning that this was my feature directing debut, as well as the film\u2019s themes of sobriety and overcoming inner demons in order to survive,\u201d Zara explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur partnership with The Art of Elysium has been nothing short of miraculous, allowing us to up the ante across various departments, including collaborating with A-list craftspeople, acquiring popular licensed music, and securing designer costumes that an indie film like ours could not otherwise have access to,\u201d Zara continues. \u201cThe Art of Elysium\u2019s fiscal sponsorship has been instrumental in offering not just support but a shared belief in the power of storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tax-deductible charitable donations<\/a> can be made to The Art of Elysium in support of the movie by selecting Horrified\u00a0Film Project from the drop-down menu.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ron Perlman in \u2018Horrified\u2019<\/p>\n

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Busy Philipps & Jim Rash in \u2018Horrified\u2019<\/p>\n

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Birdie Silverstein in \u2018Horrified\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Julie Benz (\u201cDexter\u201d) stars as down-on-her-luck scream queen Jamie Jaymes in the meta horror-comedy Horrified, and we have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[143503,35797,156,1017,37772,143504,143505,409,111,139,69,143506],"class_list":{"0":"post-245371","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-birdie-silverstein","9":"tag-busy-philipps","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-exclusive","12":"tag-horrified","13":"tag-jim-rash","14":"tag-julie-benz","15":"tag-movies","16":"tag-new-zealand","17":"tag-newzealand","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-ron-perlman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}