Lights, Camera, Existential Terror There’s something beautifully cruel about Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. It’s a found-footage film about people livestreaming their own death—and the fact that it’s also a savage satire of social media addiction just makes it all the better. Directed by Jung Bum-shik, this 2018 Korean horror masterwork is like The Blair Witch Project … Read More “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018): Found Footage, Found Fear, and Found Fame—At What Cost?” »
The Only Mystery Here Is How Anyone Stayed Awake Let’s start with the obvious: Gogol. Viy isn’t just bad—it’s the cinematic equivalent of trying to read Russian literature while being repeatedly slapped with a jar of borscht. Directed by Egor Baranov and masquerading as a supernatural thriller, this 2018 sequel to Gogol: The Beginning manages … Read More “Gogol. Viy (2018): Where Coherence Goes to Die (and Then Gets Resurrected by a Noseless Demon)” »
When Dolls, Demons, and Delusion Collide If your idea of a relaxing evening is watching a French-Canadian fever dream about trauma, abuse, and literary ambition—all wrapped up in a candy-colored nightmare—then Ghostland (or Incident in a Ghostland) is your twisted cup of tea. Directed by Pascal Laugier, the man who brought the world Martyrs (aka … Read More “Ghostland (2018): Home Invasion, Trauma, and a Love Letter to Emotional Damage” »
When the Djinn Hits the Fan If you’ve ever thought, “I wish I could get a solid supernatural horror flick with Lin Shaye, Tony Todd, and a cursed urn that grants wishes like a demonic Amazon Prime,” well—good news, your twisted little dream came true. The Final Wishis that rare beast: a horror movie that’s … Read More “The Final Wish (2018): Be Careful What You Wish For, Especially If It’s a Horror Script” »
Blumhouse’s Bloodless Binge There’s an old saying: “If you can’t make a good vampire movie, at least make it sexy.” Family Blood somehow manages to do neither. It’s a horror film so dry, even Dracula would die of dehydration halfway through. Directed by Sonny Mallhi (The Strangers: Prey at Night producer) and released straight to … Read More ““Family Blood” — A Vampiric Relapse You’ll Wish Stayed in Rehab” »
The Devil Wears Baju Kurung When Dukun finally hit Malaysian theaters in 2018—twelve years after it was filmed—it wasn’t so much a movie release as it was a resurrection. Shot in 2006, locked away due to “sensitivity” (translation: based a little too closely on a real-life politician’s ritualistic murder), it became the cinematic equivalent of … Read More ““Dukun” — Malaysia’s Devilishly Good Courtroom Horror That Took a Decade to Cast Its Spell” »
Welcome to Blackwood: Where the Tuition Costs Your Soul If you’ve ever fantasized about an exclusive boarding school that combines the aesthetic of Crimson Peak, the atmosphere of The Others, and the emotional warmth of a tax audit — congratulations, you’ve found your alma mater. Rodrigo Cortés’s Down a Dark Hall (2018) is a slow-burn … Read More ““Down a Dark Hall” — The Finishing School from Hell, Complete with Extra Credit for Possession” »
Welcome to the House of the Lord… and Deep, Unrelenting Misery Let’s face it — the “found footage” subgenre has gotten about as stale as communion wafers left out since Vatican II. But then along comes The Devil’s Doorway (2018), an Irish horror film that dusts off the formula, dunks it in holy water, and … Read More ““The Devil’s Doorway” — A Bleeding Statue, a Screaming Nun, and Found Footage That Actually Works” »
The Only Puzzle Is Why This Movie Exists There are bad horror movies, and then there’s Escape Room (2018), a film so painfully uninspired that it makes you wish you could escape—from your own living room, from your streaming service, from existence itself. Directed by Peter Dukes and starring a visibly exhausted Skeet Ulrich (who … Read More “Escape Room (2018): The Horror of Watching Paint Dry, But Less Suspenseful” »
Marriage Counseling, but Make It Apocalyptic Ah, post-apocalyptic America—where the air smells like regret, gasoline, and old meat, and the only thing more dangerous than radiation poisoning is your spouse’s passive-aggressive silence. Mike P. Nelson’s The Domestics takes that premise and runs with it, sprinting through the wasteland in a blood-splattered wedding ring of doom. … Read More “The Domestics (2018): Love in the Time of Gas Masks” »