If you’ve ever looked at a shoe box and thought, “What’s the worst that could happen?”, Infested (aka Vermines) cheerfully answers: civilization. Sébastien Vaniček’s feature debut is a jittery, funny, and ferociously crowd-pleasing arachnopocalypse that treats spiders like tiny agents of chaos and social allegory—eight-legged metaphors scuttling through the cracks of a concrete high-rise and … Read More “Infested (aka Vermines)” »
If you’ve ever stared at a locked door and thought, “I bet that’s where all my bad decisions live,” Hostile Dimensions politely opens it for you and shoves you through. Graham Hughes’ found-footage sci-fi horror is the rare multiverse movie that doesn’t feel like homework; it’s nimble, nasty, and wickedly funny in that “laugh so … Read More “Hostile Dimensions” »
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if a Zillow listing, a true-crime podcast, and a cursed funhouse had a baby, Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor is your answer—and that baby arrives swaddled in Super 8 film and spite. Stephen Cognetti returns to his haunted sandbox with a prequel/sequel hybrid that is equal … Read More “Welcome Back to Abaddon-Adjacent” »
Bishal Dutta’s It Lives Inside is the kind of debut that tiptoes into the room with a jar and then smashes it on your expectations. It’s a supernatural chiller that feasts on two cuisines at once—immigrant-family drama and teen horror—then wipes its mouth on your letterman jacket. The result is lean, moody, and deliciously specific, … Read More “It Lives Inside (2023) — a hungry Pishach crashes an Indian-American coming-of-age story, proving that the only thing scarier than high school is your mother being right about literally everything.” »
Also features art school, a frat party, and a demon who’s been red for so long he’s basically a stop sign with hooves. Patrick Wilson steps behind the camera for his directorial debut and, bless him, he points it squarely at the franchise’s most persistent ghost: franchise fatigue. Insidious: The Red Door is a film … Read More “Insidious: The Red Door (2023) — Family therapy, but make it paranormal and somehow less effective than actual therapy.” »
Zarrar Kahn’s debut is the rare supernatural chiller that manages to be tender, thorny, political, and genuinely eerie without ever losing its grip on human stakes. Set in modern-day Karachi, In Flames plays like a séance conducted over a stack of inheritance forms: grief on one side, bureaucracy on the other, and a restless spirit … Read More “In Flames (2023) — a ghost story where the most terrifying specter is patriarchy in a crisp white shalwar kameez, and the jump scare is someone knocking on your door with paperwork.” »
Steven Pierce’s Herd is the rare horror film that manages to juggle zombies, queer relationship drama, and small-town militia paranoia without tripping over its own shotgun. It’s sweaty, claustrophobic, sometimes bleakly funny, and surprisingly heartfelt. Imagine The Walking Dead crossed with Blue Valentine and a dash of Duck Dynasty, then add a pinch of emotional … Read More “Herd (2023) – A zombie movie that asks the timeless question: what’s scarier—viral infection, toxic masculinity, or a canoe trip with your ex? Spoiler: it’s a three-way tie, and all of them bite.” »
Welcome to Finland’s Least Popular Tourist Destination If you’ve ever thought, “Hey, I wish Friday the 13th were slower, sadder, and somehow colder,” then The Island of Doommight be your cinematic spirit animal. Finnish filmmaker Keke Soikkeli’s 2023 slasher is a bold attempt to resurrect the backwoods horror genre in a land better known for … Read More “The Island of Doom (2023): A Vacation So Bad You’ll Pray for the Killer to End It” »
The Blair Witch Goes on Tour — and She’s Into Black Metal Now If you ever wished The Blair Witch Project had better hair, more eyeliner, and a Chilean accent that could summon Satan, Invoking Yell might be your dark little prayer answered. Patricio Valladares’ found-footage head-trip about three women recording a black metal demo … Read More “Invoking Yell (2023): A Found-Footage Black Metal Fairytale About Friendship, Feedback, and Feral Spirits” »
Once Upon a War, There Was a Fairy With a Snack Problem There’s a fine line between folk horror and folklore that makes you wish for an early death, and Kenneth Dagatan’s In My Mother’s Skin pirouettes over that line in combat boots. Set in World War II Philippines, this Amazon-acquired fever dream promises gothic … Read More “In My Mother’s Skin (2023): The Fairy, the Flesh, and the Film That Eats Itself” »