Poché Pictures

Us is the rare horror movie where the more you think about it, the worse it gets—and Jordan Peele seems very confident that you’ll be thinking about it a lot. Unfortunately, most of that thinking is, “Wait… what?” followed by, “No, seriously, what?” Don’t get me wrong: the performances are strong, the imagery is striking, … Read More “Us” »

If you’ve ever watched Sweeney Todd and thought, “This would be better with more sunshine, more sausages, and way more casual racism,” Two Heads Creek is basically your unhinged wish granted. It’s a cheerfully deranged little horror-comedy that takes on xenophobia, colonial guilt, and small-town Australian weirdness—all through the lens of cannibal sausage production. Somehow, … Read More “Two Heads Creek” »

There’s a version of To Your Last Death that exists only in its own marketing blurb, and that version sounds incredible: R-rated animated horror. Time loops. Cosmic entities gambling with human lives. William Shatner narrating like it’s a Twilight Zone fanfiction. Morena Baccarin as a sadistic extradimensional game master. You read that and think, Oh, … Read More “To Your Last Death” »

If you’ve ever watched Cast Away and thought, “This would be better with less volleyball and more sea demon,” Sweetheart is basically your wish granted by a very spiteful ocean god. It’s a lean, stripped-down survival horror movie that quietly does about twelve things better than most big-budget monster flicks: it’s tense, focused, gorgeously shot, … Read More “Sweetheart” »

There’s slow-burn horror, and then there’s Silence & Darkness, which is less “slow burn” and more “damp match that occasionally hisses menacingly.” On paper, this movie sounds like the kind of indie thriller that could really mess you up: two disabled sisters, isolated in the countryside with their unnervingly clinical father, gradually realizing they’re the … Read More “Silence & Darkness” »

If He Never Died was “immortal grumpy dad discovers he’s basically a biblical monster,” then She Never Died is his chaotic little sister who shows up, eats sex traffickers, shrugs off bullets, and still has less patience for humans than for oatmeal. It’s bloody, weirdly sweet, surprisingly smart, and powered almost entirely by Oluniké Adeliyi … Read More “She Never Died” »

There are many ways to adapt a manga about cute girls surviving the zombie apocalypse while one of them is having a full-blown mental break. School-Live! (2019) bravely chooses the one where you strip out most of the nuance, add idols, and hope nobody notices because the cast smiles a lot and there are school … Read More “School-Live! (2019)” »

There’s something almost poetic about Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark taking a series of gloriously creepy, minimalist campfire tales and turning them into a PG-13 episode of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” directed by someone who just discovered Instagram filters. This is a movie based on Alvin Schwartz’s nightmare fuel books and … Read More “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” »

There’s a special kind of disappointment reserved for when the creator of a legendary horror icon returns… and delivers what feels like a YouTube fan edit with a hospital budget and a ghost that’s doing more brand maintenance than actual killing. Sadako (2019) is Hideo Nakata coming back to the Ring franchise, and instead of … Read More “Sadako (2019)” »

There are movies about lonely old ladies that break your heart. Room for Rent is about a lonely old lady who breaks into your psyche, rearranges the furniture, and leaves a faint smell of Airwick and homicide. And somehow, it’s still… kind of boring. This is a film that looks at the “older woman slowly … Read More “Room for Rent” »