Lauren Francesca | Love Horror film reviews and news

Crowdfunding a horror film is difficult enough without the production itself turning lethal. That is the idea behind Pay to Die, the new horror-comedy from Shawn C. Phillips and Lauren Francesca, which arrives free to stream on Tubi from today and features one of the final screen appearances of Robert Carradine. The film stars former Saturday Night Live cast member Jeff Richards as a struggling commercial director who decides to finance his dream slasher through a Kickstarter-style campaign. What begins as a familiar exercise in low-budget filmmaking quickly descends into something far uglier as fame-hungry actors, faded celebrities, obsessive fans and opportunists begin circling the production. As the body count rises, the distinction between manufactured horror and genuine danger starts to collapse. Carradine appears as the police officer investigating the murders, adding a bittersweet note to the release given that the film represents one of his final performances. Richards also co-produced Pay to Die and contributed music to the film. The cast around him includes Bai Ling, James Duval, Ken Davitian, Angel Salazar, Joe Estevez, Lorelei Linklater and Kato Kaelin, giving the project a deliberately eclectic collection of genre faces and pop-culture personalities. Phillips and Francesca direct, continuing a run of independent horror projects that has also included the seasonal slasher Mistletoe Massacre. Phillips recently directed creature feature Desert Fiends, while Pay to Die shifts the focus inward towards the mechanics, personalities and desperation that can surround DIY filmmaking. The idea gives the pair plenty of room to poke fun at the familiar rituals of independent production, from chasing visibility and attaching recognisable names to keeping a campaign alive long enough to get cameras rolling. The joke, of course, becomes much darker once the fictional project starts attracting people whose ambitions extend beyond getting their names in the credits. Richards brings his own comedy background to the film. He previously became the first performer to serve as a cast member on both Saturday Night Live and MADtv, and now hosts The Jeff Richards Show. His 2023 “Buttered Sausage” episode later became a viral hit online, generating widespread memes and clips. Pay to Die is already available through Amazon and Fandango via BayView Entertainment, but its arrival on Tubi gives the film a free streaming home just as Halloween viewing begins to accelerate. Pay to Die will be available to stream free on Tubi from Wednesday 7 October 2026. For more information, visit: tubitv.com/

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