When a short film got stretched on the rack Violation is the kind of movie that walks into the room wearing a festival laurel wreath and dares you to say you didn’t “get it.” It’s a Canadian horror drama, a rape-revenge film dressed in art-house clothing, and it absolutely meanssomething. You can tell, because it’s … Read More “Violation (2020) Prestige revenge, now with extra trauma and no pause button” »
Faith healing, but make it a supervillain origin story The Unhealer starts with a premise that’s actually kind of great: a bullied teen with a rare disorder gets accidentallysuperpowered by a scammy faith healer, then uses said powers to launch a bloody revenge tour. That’s basically elevator-pitch gold. Unfortunately, the movie then spends two hours … Read More “The Unhealer (2020) Carrie + The Crow + an after-school special about bullying, run through a wood chipper” »
Henry James did not haunt this set, and it shows The Turn of the Screw is one of the great ambiguous ghost stories of all time: eerie, psychologically rich, and soaked in repressed dread. The Turning (2020) is like its chaotic younger cousin who skimmed the book, forgot the ending, and tried to wing the … Read More “The Turning (2020) When endings go to die in a nice house” »
Therapy, but Make It a Cursed Episode They’re Outside is what happens when you mash together a YouTube self-help channel, British folk horror, and a very bad idea involving the phrase “ten-day challenge.” It’s part faux-documentary, part found-footage, part urban-legend creep-out—and somehow, it works. This is not a loud jumpscare machine. It’s a slow, quietly … Read More “They’re Outside (2020) YouTube psychology meets folk horror bad life choices” »
“Vampires aren’t real,” said right before the screaming There’s something immediately charming about a horror movie that starts with a guy interrupting a screening of Nosferatuto yell, “Vampires are real!” while everyone laughs at him like he’s just failed Intro to Subtlety. There’s No Such Thing as Vampires takes that wonderfully pulpy setup and then … Read More “There’s No Such Thing as Vampires (2020) Road trip, cult vibes, and very real fangs” »
Film students vanish, coherence follows Stoker Hills is one of those movies that clearly started life as a decent idea scribbled on a bar napkin: “What if film students are making a horror movie… and then they actually get abducted by a real killer, and the cops find the footage?” Not bad as a hook. … Read More “Stoker Hills (2020) Found footage, lost plot” »
“Based on a theory” (and not much else) Smiley Face Killers is billed as a slasher “loosely based” on the Smiley Face murder theory, which is already a bit of a red flag. “Loosely based” in this case means: it has water, college dudes, and smiley face graffiti, and then mostly just wanders off to … Read More “Smiley Face Killers (2020) Serial killers, sad boy, zero payoff” »
When Folk Horror Goes on a Weekend Break Sacrilege wants to be British folk horror for the Instagram era: four friends go to a remote village, there’s a pagan festival, people drink, smoke, and then die horribly in the name of a local goddess. On paper, that’s a rock-solid setup. In execution, it’s more “ITV … Read More “Sacrilege (2020) Fear, festivals, and wasted potential” »
Hiking, Therapy, and One Very Bad Forest Spirit Bruce Wemple’s The Retreat is the kind of movie that starts like a low-budget outdoorsy hangout film and gradually mutates into “what if guilt had antlers and liked to stalk you in the snow?” On the surface: two dudes go winter backpacking in the Adirondacks. Underneath: grief, … Read More “The Retreat (2020) Bro trip, but make it eldritch” »
The Plague Is Catchy, But the Movie Isn’t Neil Marshall once gave us The Descent, one of the best claustrophobic horror films ever made. Fifteen years later, he gave us The Reckoning, which feels like someone fed The Crucible, Braveheart, and a perfume commercial through a plague-ridden blender. It’s technically about a woman accused of … Read More “The Reckoning (2020) Witch trials, but make it boring” »