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Welcome back for another Monday in Creepy Catalog’s daily horror digest! There’s no news to catch up with from yesterday, so let’s just get right to today’s movie of the day.
Movie of the Day
Today’s movie is Flesh of the Unforgiven. It’s a supernatural and psychological microbudget horror movie written and directed by Joe Hollow, and it feels like one of those ambitious mid-to-late 90s, straight to video (or late night cable) thrillers. You might know the type. Kind of trashy, maybe a little ambiguous, but odd enough to capture the imagination of the right audience. I mean all of that as a compliment.
The story is a bit involved, but I’ll try to set the stage as best as I can. At the beginning of the movie, we’re told about an entity called the Death Dealer. This dark entity can grant “a new life” to lost souls if they embrace their fears. But once a deal is made, that person’s soul belongs to him. The story then begins with Jack and Sienna, a couple whose marriage is in serious trouble. To add to the stress, Jack is a writer with a hard deadline coming up in just a few days, so he’s not as receptive to Sienna as she would like. As Sienna falls further into despair, she is visited in her dreams by the Death Dealer, and she has a choice to make.
There’s a lot more to the story than just that, but I don’t want to spoil how the plot unfolds. There are some interesting ideas in Flesh of the Unforgiven, and I really enjoyed many of the dark visuals whenever the Death Dealer and his realm are involved. I will say that the drama between Jack and Sienna didn’t completely grab me. It was performed well, but it felt like their story kind of lurched along with stops and starts. I also felt like the middle part of the story was maybe too ambiguous, and the beginning and the end overexplained things. So, it averages out overall, but it also feels uneven while watching. However, the visuals of the otherworldly scenes kept me interested.
Star Rating: 2.5 out of 5
I’d recommend Flesh of the Unforgiven to people who are already into microbudget supernatural thrillers. The film has good visual appeal, and it sets up some interesting lore. You can rent Flesh of the Unforgiven on Prime Video.
Birthdays
Adrienne King was born on July 21st, 1955. Adrienne played Alice, the first final girl in the Friday the 13th franchise. She also made a brief appearance as Alice in Friday the 13th Part 2, but her experiences with a stalker caused her to stop accepting on-screen roles. It would be nearly three decades before she stepped in front of the camera again for the movie Psychic Experiment in 2010. Since then she has had a steady number of acting roles in movies including The Butterfly Room (2012), Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming (2013), and Killer Therapy (2019). Adrienne is currently set to appear in the upcoming Crystal Lake series on Peacock.
Also celebrating a birthday today is David Dastmalchian. Born on this day in 1975, David’s most prominent horror role is as talk show host Jack Delroy in Late Night With the Devil. David also appeared in The Belko Experiment (2016), The Boogeyman (2023), The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023), Afraid (2024), and Rosario (2025). He’s also made guest appearances on the TV show Svengoolie, and he’s written horror-related comic books including DC Horror Presents: Creature Commandos and Count Crowley: Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter.
Also born today, in 1978, is Josh Harnett. Josh began his feature-film career in horror. Halloween H20 (1998) was the first film he made and his first film released, but the first movie he was cast in was The Faculty (1998). He’s revisited horror a few times throughout his career, starring in 30 Days of Night (2007), the Penny Dreadful TV series, and the horror-adjacent thriller Trap (2024).
More horror actors born today include:
- Rory Culkin (1989) – Scream 4 (2011), Castle Rock (2018)
- Charlotte Gainsbourg (1971) – Antichrist (2009), The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
- Betty Gilpin (1986) – The Hunt (2020), The Grudge (2019)
Events on This Day
What Lies Beneath was released in theaters on July 21st, 2000. The film stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford, and it was nominated for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress at the 27th Saturn Awards. You can rent What Lies Beneath on Prime Video, or stream it with a subscription to MGM+.
Messengers 2: The Scarecrow was released straight to video on July 21st, 2009. It stars Norman Reedus as a father trying to save his failing farm when he finds a scarecrow on his land. After putting the scarecrow up his crops start thriving, but his good fortune comes with a curse. You can stream Messengers 2 on Tubi.
Thanks for reading!
