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Evil Dead Rise
(2023)
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Michael Gingold
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Once EVIL DEAD RISE gets cranking, it sustains a pitch of intense, sometimes painful terror that’s leavened by just the right amount of black humor.
Posted Mar 16, 2023
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65
(2023)
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Michael Gingold
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If the lack of significant character interaction means that 65 becomes largely a strung-together collection of setpieces, they’ve been staged and put together by Beck and Woods to elicit some solid jumps and thrills.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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Scream VI
(2023)
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Michael Gingold
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Getting us to care and be scared for the leads while simultaneously winking at us has always been the challenge for the SCREAM teams, and on evidence of SCREAM VI, the franchise is currently in very good hands.
Posted Mar 09, 2023
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Unseen
(2023)
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Michael Gingold
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It’s no small achievement that Okumura and co. make UNSEEN a cohesive whole while intertwining a pair of plotlines with widely varying tones.
Posted Mar 01, 2023
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Cocaine Bear
(2023)
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Michael Gingold
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Is COCAINE BEAR a movie you'll be thinking about a couple of days after you see it? Not likely. Is it a movie that delivers plenty of low-rent entertainment, particularly if seen with an enthusiastic audience? Does a bear poop in the woods?
Posted Feb 24, 2023
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B
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You Won't Be Alone
(2022)
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Jenn Adams
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Despite moments of horror and gore, writer and director Goran Stolevsk is far more interested in exploring humanity through the mystical creatures who live on its periphery than in terrifying audiences with superstitions and folklore.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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B
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Wicked Games
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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WICKED GAMES doesn’t exactly tread any new ground, but writer and director Teddy Grennan tells the story of a luxurious resort home invaded by masked killers in such an innovative way that the simple premise feels fresh and new.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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C
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Seance
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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SEANCE’s premise is more exciting than its execution. Barrett steps into the role of director resulting in a vaguely entertaining, if slightly lifeless supernatural slasher.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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B
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Apartment 413
(2019)
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Jenn Adams
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APARTMENT 413 is an example of a small indie film that is much more than the sum of its parts, delivering a message that feels both timely and relatable.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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D
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Royal Jelly
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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It’s an intriguing premise from writer and director Sean Riley (Fighting Belle), but there is no honey in this hive. Sloppy execution, stilted performances, and an incoherent story keep this feminist fairy tale from ever taking flight.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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B+
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Christine
(1983)
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Jenn Adams
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But hidden within this high-octane horror story is a deeper tale of love and friendship in the waning days of adolescence. Arnie must battle competing forces telling him what it means to be a man and how he should treat the women in his life.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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B-
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Son
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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But hidden within Son’s familiar beats is a story about parenting while dealing with PTSD from sexual assault and the difficulty of caring for a child while struggling to care for yourself.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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B
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Shutter Island
(2010)
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Jenn Adams
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Similar to Scorsese’s Academy Award winning The Departed, SHUTTER ISLAND presents its characters in clear opposition as men of empathy and men of violence, exploring the inherent destruction caused by the glorification of toxic masculinity.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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C
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Firestarter
(1984)
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Jenn Adams
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While FIRESTARTER has its problematic elements, the character of Rainbird alone could fuel many think pieces on appropriation and stereotyping, it is a story of female rage and patriarchal control.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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A
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Oculus
(2013)
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Jenn Adams
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We’re left with the terrifying fear that if Tim and Kaylie can lose themselves in the mirror’s reflection, so can we.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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A
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The Yellow Wallpaper
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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THE YELLOW WALLPAPER is a haunting nightmare about the prison of rigid femininity that hits uncomfortably close to home.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
(2023)
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Michael Gingold
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A prime example of a clickbait-friendly project realized without a shred of wit or imagination.
Posted Feb 16, 2023
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Project Wolf Hunting
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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There are only so many times you can watch someone’s body or throat get violently savaged, with an accompanying geyser of blood, before a sameness sets in and the fun drains away.
Posted Feb 14, 2023
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She Came from the Woods
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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Not only a consistently entertaining homage to summer-camp shockers of the past, but a lot more inventive than many of those that have come before.
Posted Feb 09, 2023
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Trouble Every Day
(2001)
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Isaac Feldberg
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Trouble Every Day treats cannibalism as a transgressive allegory for some hidden, innermost, all-consuming hunger.
Posted Feb 06, 2023
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Knock at the Cabin
(2023)
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Michael Gingold
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KNOCK AT THE CABIN overcomes its sometimes unbelievable dialogue via the sense that everyone on screen truly believes in what they’re doing.
Posted Feb 02, 2023
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Fear
(2023)
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Michael Gingold
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"I feel like we're in GET OUT right now," a character says early on in FEAR. He only wishes.
Posted Jan 26, 2023
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Infinity Pool
(2023)
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Michael Gingold
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Cronenberg builds real, uneasy tension as James and Em are lured into a vacationer’s nightmare, then goes whole hog into a phantasmagorical concept that also probes some deep psychological veins.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
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Skinamarink
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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So abstract and elliptical, it makes David Lynch look like Michael Bay... [It feels like] something that crept out of the dark recesses of the Internet after stealing the nightmares of its users.
Posted Jan 10, 2023
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A+
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Suspiria
(2018)
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Jenn Adams
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SUSPIRIA (2018) includes four instances of spells in which dance is used to channel this intention, each involving a ritual to charge the invocation.
Posted Jan 10, 2023
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M3GAN
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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The idea that a function previously fulfilled by tablets and iPhones might someday be served by something that looks just like us gives the movie a provocative subtext that enhances the entertainment.
Posted Jan 04, 2023
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On the Edge
(2022)
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Cass Clarke
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He regresses into a child-like state, triggered by the sexplay, making this film feel like unnecessary torture for shock value instead of an empathetic look as sex-positive kink.
Posted Dec 23, 2022
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Sissy
(2022)
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Jenn Adams
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Sissy is a hilarious and viscous horror comedy that dares us to explore how we view ourselves and how we treat each other.
Posted Dec 16, 2022
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Troll
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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Clearly, Uthaug is not taking all this entirely seriously, but he never pitches TROLL as a spoof. He takes spectacle seriously...and to that end, the visual effects of the troll and its devastation are first-rate.
Posted Nov 29, 2022
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Terror Train
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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It will please neither killer-film die-hards nor casual viewers, and might even give those who disliked the original TRAIN a new respect for it.
Posted Oct 21, 2022
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Slash/Back
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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The film honors the girls' fortitude, and its approach isn’t watered down due to their ages...viewers of its stars’ ages will likely eat this up.
Posted Oct 20, 2022
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Christmas Bloody Christmas
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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A snowy splatterfest that will very likely become a perennial among fans of Yuletide terror everywhere.
Posted Oct 19, 2022
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The Possession of Hannah Grace
(2018)
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Michael Gingold
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[It] has enough going for it to deserve better than being awkwardly sold as part of another subgenre.
Posted Oct 17, 2022
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Halloween Ends
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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It makes some bafflingly weird choices regarding how to wrap up the saga and, the presence of Jamie Lee Curtis, The Shape and Carpenter on the soundtrack notwithstanding, often barely feels like a HALLOWEEN movie.
Posted Oct 13, 2022
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Terrifier 2
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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It's all held together by the frightful funnyman at its center; some scenes may run overly long, but Art never wears out his welcome.
Posted Oct 06, 2022
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Jeepers Creepers: Reborn
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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The only things worse than clichéd setups are clichéd setups with no payoffs.
Posted Sep 30, 2022
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My Best Friend's Exorcism
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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What shines through is the power of Abby’s compelling loyalty to Gretchen, and the rooting of the supernatural shenanigans in more prosaic but equally pressing teenage concerns.
Posted Sep 30, 2022
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Smile
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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The nature of the haunting allows Finn to investigate trauma and its effects in ways that go beyond the typical supernatural chiller.
Posted Sep 28, 2022
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Don't Worry Darling
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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It contains enough that’s good—especially, it can’t be said enough, Pugh’s performance—to make it worth a look even with the foreknowledge that it’s not going to stick the landing.
Posted Sep 27, 2022
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D
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Maneater
(2022)
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Jenn Adams
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Despite a few shocking kills, there’s little in this fish film to make anyone scared to go back into the water.
Posted Sep 24, 2022
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Goodnight Mommy
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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The sense of mounting danger that ran through its predecessor is missing here, and it feels like a lot less is at stake.
Posted Sep 16, 2022
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Pearl
(2022)
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Michael Gingold
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Since we know where its title character winds up, PEARL works not so much as a suspenseful thriller but as a character study dependent on its central performance, in which its star delivers in spades.
Posted Sep 15, 2022
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A+
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Slumber Party Massacre
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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Written by Suzanne Keilly and directed by Danishka Esterhazy, the remake manages to outdo its predecessor with a hilarious, heartfelt, and terrifying modernization of the ways women now view each other.
Posted Sep 10, 2022
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B+
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The Free Fall
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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Adam Stilwell crafts a lush and mysterious psychological horror film that draws the audience in with its stylish atmosphere before delivering a knockout punch in the final act.
Posted Sep 10, 2022
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B-
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6:45
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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Singer’s variation unfolds in new and intriguing directions, becoming more a study of a crumbling relationship than a murder mystery.
Posted Sep 10, 2022
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Death Cast
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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Marinelli’s film confronts us with the reality of what we would actually do in a slasher situation, asking how willing we would be to carry out the classic roles demanded by the subgenre.
Posted Sep 10, 2022
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C+
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Dead & Beautiful
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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As the title implies, the film ultimately feels rather shallow, approaching interesting themes, but never fully investigating them. While gorgeous, it’s essentially as lifeless as the vampires it depicts.
Posted Sep 10, 2022
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C+
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Great White
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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An over reliance on CGI effects and clunky attempts to imply a lurking threat fall flat, making it hard to ever really buy into the terror supposedly lurking beneath the waves.
Posted Sep 10, 2022
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Student Body
(2022)
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Jenn Adams
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Though there are moments of joy and terror, STUDENT BODY, ultimately commits the cardinal teenage sin; it feels like it’s trying too hard.
Posted Sep 10, 2022
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Flee the Light
(2021)
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Jenn Adams
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While the framework is compelling, FLEE THE LIGHT meanders through a confusing plot and often struggles under the weight of its own mythology.
Posted Sep 10, 2022
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