Screening guide: Local ghosts, perverted horror, AI Warhol and great tragedy

Beyond the Veil
(TVNZ 2 / TVNZ OnDemand)

Home is where the horror is in this new anthology show from TVNZ. Sourcing its frights from Aotearoa's Māori, Pasifika, and Filipino cultures this six-part series promises to put a local flavour on its tales of the supernatural.
The show encompasses a few of the more popular horror sub-genres like found footage (26:29), ghostly hauntings (Te Kohu - The Mist) and bloody revenge (Taumanu).
TVNZ describes the series as both "harrowing and hilarious," which means you could either die laughing or will be leaving the lights on when you go to bed.
New episodes every Monday, 9.35pm, on TVNZ 2 or stream the full season from Monday at TVNZ OnDemand.

The Andy Warhol Diaries
(Netflix)

This new documentary series chronicling the life of Andy Warhol invites controversy and curiosity of a sort that would've bemused the pop art supremo.

Andy Warhol will be voiced by an Andy Warhol AI in the Netflix doco-series The Andy Warhol Diaries.

Narrated by a facsimile of the man himself, the show embraces the same AI voice technology that sparked widespread backlash when used to have the late Anthony Bourdain voice a few lines in the documentary Roadrunner.
The big difference here is that this series has the blessing of the Warhol Foundation whereas Roadrunner's filmmakers didn't seek permission from Bourdain's estate.
Voice casting issues aside, the doco itself looks great, using Warhol's personal diaries for guidance as well as interviewing people close to him.
See if you can spot the real Warhol and the AI Warhol from Wednesday.

Fresh
(Star on Disney +)
One critic described this horror-comedy flick as "sick, depraved and perverted but in a fun way". This can be read as either a recommendation or a warning depending on your constitution.

Sebastian Stan and Daisy Edgar-Jones in horror-comedy Fresh. Streaming on Star on Disney+.

The gist is that the unlucky in love Noa bumps into a charming Steve at the supermarket and agrees to go on a date. They hit it off and giddy in the flush of infatuation plan a romantic weekend getaway together. However, the romance quickly fades when Steve reveals his unusual appetites, leading Noa into a fight for survival.
"A feminist horror with a rattlesnake bite to it," said another critic after it screened at the Sundance Film Festival, before adding, "but you'll need a strong stomach to watch it."
Streaming from Friday.

Anne
(Acorn TV)

You'll need your tissues and a stress ball handy when sitting down to watch this new historical drama that's based on a true story. Over four episodes this miniseries tells the extraordinary story of Liverpool's Anne Williams, a housewife who became an activist after her 15-year-old son's life was tragically cut short in a terrace crush at an FA Cup semifinal in 1989.

Maxine Peake in Anne, streaming on Acorn TV.

Williams dedicated her life to finding out the truth about the disaster that claimed 97 lives, challenging the official version of events and battling to ensure something similar could never happen again.
"Well written, tense, beautifully acted, unrelentingly sad and angry," wrote one critic. "Anne does everything a drama ever could."
Streaming from Monday.