CategoryReviews
Honest horror reviews of films, series, games and books — no hype, no spoilers, just whether it is worth your time and your nerves.
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MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
If you are hunting for a terrifying, deeply disturbing film that will rattle your nerves and make you second-guess ever starting a family, look no further than Nightborn. Dropping on Shudder on July 31, 2026, this latest nightmare from director Hanna Bergholm is an absolute must-watch. Written by Bergholm and Ilja Rautsi, the film follows Saga and her British husband, Jon. The couple pack up and move into an isolated woodland home to build a perfect, picture-postcard family life. Naturally, because this is a horror film, that pastoral dream immediately implodes. Postpartum Panic & Diaper-Clad Terror The second their baby is born, Saga realizes something is deeply, horribly wrong with her newborn son. Well-meaning outsiders and doctors casually chalk her escalating panic up to postpartum stress. Jon is forced to watch their marriage fracture as Saga uncovers a truly sickening truth about their new little bundle of joy. The film boasts an incredible blend of talent, including Harry Potter alum
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Once again, our coverage of Bucheon International Film Festival (BIFAN) reviews is cowritten by Film Festival Editor Joseph Perry and Guest Contributing Writer Chris Weatherspoon. A man of the world, guest reviewer Chris Weatherspoon has lived in South Korea for “quite a bit.” A huge fan of all cinema, Chris also works locally in the entertainment industry, and knows what he is talking about . . . alright!? Knock (South Korea, 2026); review by Chris Weatherspoon Official BIFAN synopsis from program notes written by Kim Hyeung-Seok: In his first feature, The Berefts (2024), co-directed with Huh Jang, director Jung Bum presented a desolate portrait of home and family. With Knock, his first solo feature, he turns to a reality just as bleak—perhaps even darker. A documentary crew filming a youth care facility turns its camera on the teachers and children there. Yet there are truths the camera cannot capture. When In-a, a former resident of the facility who now works
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Once again, our coverage of Bucheon International Film Festival (BIFAN) reviews is cowritten by Film Festival Editor Joseph Perry and Guest Contributing Writer Chris Weatherspoon. A man of the world, guest reviewer Chris Weatherspoon has lived in South Korea for “quite a bit.” A huge fan of all cinema, Chris also works locally in the entertainment industry, and knows what he is talking about . . . alright!? Killing Time (South Korea, 2026); review by Chris Weatherspoon Official BIFAN synopsis from program notes written by Kim Hyung-Seok: The popular horror YouTube channel ‘Killing Time’ is forced to shut down after a fatal accident during a live broadcast. Later, in hopes of making a comeback, the channel’s staff plan even more sensational content, this time set in an abandoned psychiatric hospital deep in the mountains. Can they make it through the broadcast without another disaster? Review Director Jang Jun-yeop’s Killing Time opens with unease baked right into the premise: a mysterious
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesParanormalReviewsThriller
In a seaside 19th Century German Village, young Laurin’s (Dóra Szinetár) pappy, Arne (János Derzsi) is shipping out for another long sojourn at sea leaving our heroine with her mother, Flora (Brigitte Karner) and grandmother, Olga (Hédi Temessy). Meanwhile, a sinister cloaked figure stalks the fog-shrouded nights, putting a murder on the local child populace. One such murder is witnessed by Flora, and she ends up six feet under right quick! But has time passes, it becomes ever-more apparent that Laurin can seemingly receive visions from her mother from beyond the grave… visions of not only the face and corpse of her mother herself, but ominous portents such as a black dog and obsidian kite… but will she be able to identify the psycho terrorizing the village?!! Coming from Director Robert Sigl (who also co-wrote the picture along with Ádám Rozgonyi), Laurin is an atmospheric journey into a surreal, and at times sinister, world. While at it’s heart, the film
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsSci-Fi
Ancestral Beasts (Canada, 2026) Official Synopsis After cutting ties with her toxic sister, Elyse (Morgan Holmstrom) retreats to her rural ancestral home to rebuild her mental health. But a grotesque, centipede-like creature begins to stalk her, a physical manifestation of buried trauma. As it feeds on her emotional turmoil, Elyse must confront the past she tried to escape to save herself and those she loves. Review Morgan Holmstrom is excellent in Ancestral Beasts as Elyse, a Red River Métis woman who goes back to the family home where her mother committed suicide in an attempt to get away from her verbally abusive older sister Nikki (Darla Contois). Writer/director Tim Riedel takes Elyse on a riveting, harrowing journey in which a diabolical creature is a metaphor for mental illness, and Holmstrom nails her character in a role that certainly wouldn’t be easy to play. She portrays the different emotions through which her character goes winningly, and is reason enough to recommend
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsThrillerTrailers
From Potsy Ponciroli, the director behind Old Henry, comes Motor City. A movie that takes Alan Ritchson’s ex-con character, John Miller, and denies him the simple dream of a quiet life post-prison. Frame a guy for a crime he didn’t commit, and naturally, he’s going to paint Detroit red to settle the score. Alongside Ritchson, the stacked cast features Ben Foster, Pablo Schreiber, Ben McKenzie, Lionel Boyce, and Shailene Woodley. If you’re hunting for an action flick drenched in unapologetic blood and gore, this certainly delivers. It masquerades as a revenge-fueled love story. But don’t hold your breath for a fairytale ending—there are zero happy endings in store. It’s pure, unrelenting brutality. Now, full disclosure: I’m a big Alan Ritchson fan. From “Blue Mountain State” to “Blood Drive” to “Reacher,” I’ve tracked his career for years. And having interviewed him in the past, I can confirm he’s as genuinely nice as they come. Which makes what I’m about to say
Continue reading →
AdaptationBooksMoviesNewsReviews
The Twisted Childhood Universe is carving out another nightmare. This time, it brings a conscience made of a wooden boy. Hitting cinemas nationwide today (July 24, 2026) via Altitude is Pinocchio: Unstrung. It arrives fresh off its UK premiere at the Raindance Film Festival, where it locked down four major award nominations. Steered by director Rhys Frake-Waterfield and producer Scott Chambers, this isn’t just another bargain-bin cash-in on public-domain IP. It is easily the best, most wildly entertaining entry in the franchise that already gave us dark takes on Winnie-the-Pooh and Bambi. A Grandfather to Fear The narrative kicks off when Geppetto gifts a handcrafted wooden doll to his grandson. Clearly having never seen a single horror movie in his life, the kid introduces his new puppet to the real world. Naturally, things go horribly off the rails. Pinocchio decides that the quickest path to moral purity and becoming a “real, good boy” is by violently butchering anyone he deems
Continue reading →
BooksReviews
Author J.W. Ocker’s Don’t Go There (subtitled A Tour of the World’s Most Sinister Spots) is much more than a mere travel book. It is that, certainly, although its aim is to warn readers about places to avoid more than ones to recommend — although some readers will certainly take the writer’s warnings as challenges. It is also a captivating chronicle of paranormal places and eldritch events. Ocker divides his book into the sections Fearsome Forests, Wretched Waters, Insane Islands, Deadly Deserts, Risky Ruins, and Spooky Snowscapes. High strangeness abounds in famously familiar areas such as The Bermuda Triangle, Dyatlov Pass, and Skinwalker Ranch, of course, but along with these places, Ocker also discusses less headline-grabbing — but no less fascinating — locales like Mexico’s Isla de las muñecas, the reputed island of haunted dolls; Louisiana’s allegedly cursed Manchac Swamp, alleged home of the werewolf-like rougarou and human murderers; and the family-cursed settlement of Dudleytown, Connecticut, now a ghost town
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Suzuki = Bakudan (Japan, 2026) Official Synopsis from https://japansociety.org/events/suzukibakudan/ Based on the bestselling novel by Go Katsuhiro, SUZUKI=BAKUDAN is a big-budget blockbuster centered on Tagosaku Suzuki (Jiro Sato), a mysterious drunk who claims he can see the future. After successfully predicting a bomb will go off in Tokyo, Suzuki leads the police in a game of wits — they must solve his riddles to stop further explosions. While police fan out over the city to defuse these bombs, a young detective (Yuki Yamada) challenges Suzuki to uncover the truth behind his predictions. Is he psychic, is he lucky, is he a criminal mastermind, is he a con man? Or is he something worse? Jiro Sato delivers a tour-de-force performance and was honored with Best Supporting Actor at this year’s Japanese Academy Awards for his role in SUZUKI=BAKUDAN. Review I had just seen Suzuuki=Bakudan’s star Jirō Satō as the antagonist of the thriller Nameless at another festival just a week before
Continue reading →
GamingNewsProductReviewsSci-Fi
Our friends at Gunnar are back with their latest collaboration with Cyberpunk 2077. This time, we’re stepping out of Night City’s underworld with glasses inspired by the game’s nefarious weapons-manufacturing megacorporation, MILITECH. For those not familiar with our friends at Gunnar, they specialize in making glasses that have anti-blue light tech. Screens give off blue light that’s invisible to the eyes but can cause strain and fatigue for them. Gunnar’s glasses help block this light to allow those who look at screens all day to work in comfort. Gunnar’s glasses are used by pro e-sport players, gamers, the military, and even animators at DreamWorks. The Cyberpunk 2077 Militech glasses take on the look of range glasses, befitting a corporate merc. The polymer frame wraps around the face to offer a wide view with flexible hinges to ensure comfort for long periods of wear. The lenses will protect your eyes from harmful blue-light coming from your screen (not bullets). You can
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
If you are hunting for a terrifying, deeply disturbing film that will rattle your nerves and make you second-guess ever starting a family, look no further than Nightborn. Dropping on Shudder on July 31, 2026, this latest nightmare from director Hanna Bergholm is an absolute must-watch. Written by Bergholm and Ilja Rautsi, the film follows Saga and her British husband, Jon. The couple pack up and move into an isolated woodland home to build a perfect, picture-postcard family life. Naturally, because this is a horror film, that pastoral dream immediately implodes. Postpartum Panic & Diaper-Clad Terror The second their baby is born, Saga realizes something is deeply, horribly wrong with her newborn son. Well-meaning outsiders and doctors casually chalk her escalating panic up to postpartum stress. Jon is forced to watch their marriage fracture as Saga uncovers a truly sickening truth about their new little bundle of joy. The film boasts an incredible blend of talent, including Harry Potter alum
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Once again, our coverage of Bucheon International Film Festival (BIFAN) reviews is cowritten by Film Festival Editor Joseph Perry and Guest Contributing Writer Chris Weatherspoon. A man of the world, guest reviewer Chris Weatherspoon has lived in South Korea for “quite a bit.” A huge fan of all cinema, Chris also works locally in the entertainment industry, and knows what he is talking about . . . alright!? Knock (South Korea, 2026); review by Chris Weatherspoon Official BIFAN synopsis from program notes written by Kim Hyeung-Seok: In his first feature, The Berefts (2024), co-directed with Huh Jang, director Jung Bum presented a desolate portrait of home and family. With Knock, his first solo feature, he turns to a reality just as bleak—perhaps even darker. A documentary crew filming a youth care facility turns its camera on the teachers and children there. Yet there are truths the camera cannot capture. When In-a, a former resident of the facility who now works
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Once again, our coverage of Bucheon International Film Festival (BIFAN) reviews is cowritten by Film Festival Editor Joseph Perry and Guest Contributing Writer Chris Weatherspoon. A man of the world, guest reviewer Chris Weatherspoon has lived in South Korea for “quite a bit.” A huge fan of all cinema, Chris also works locally in the entertainment industry, and knows what he is talking about . . . alright!? Killing Time (South Korea, 2026); review by Chris Weatherspoon Official BIFAN synopsis from program notes written by Kim Hyung-Seok: The popular horror YouTube channel ‘Killing Time’ is forced to shut down after a fatal accident during a live broadcast. Later, in hopes of making a comeback, the channel’s staff plan even more sensational content, this time set in an abandoned psychiatric hospital deep in the mountains. Can they make it through the broadcast without another disaster? Review Director Jang Jun-yeop’s Killing Time opens with unease baked right into the premise: a mysterious
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesParanormalReviewsThriller
In a seaside 19th Century German Village, young Laurin’s (Dóra Szinetár) pappy, Arne (János Derzsi) is shipping out for another long sojourn at sea leaving our heroine with her mother, Flora (Brigitte Karner) and grandmother, Olga (Hédi Temessy). Meanwhile, a sinister cloaked figure stalks the fog-shrouded nights, putting a murder on the local child populace. One such murder is witnessed by Flora, and she ends up six feet under right quick! But has time passes, it becomes ever-more apparent that Laurin can seemingly receive visions from her mother from beyond the grave… visions of not only the face and corpse of her mother herself, but ominous portents such as a black dog and obsidian kite… but will she be able to identify the psycho terrorizing the village?!! Coming from Director Robert Sigl (who also co-wrote the picture along with Ádám Rozgonyi), Laurin is an atmospheric journey into a surreal, and at times sinister, world. While at it’s heart, the film
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsSci-Fi
Ancestral Beasts (Canada, 2026) Official Synopsis After cutting ties with her toxic sister, Elyse (Morgan Holmstrom) retreats to her rural ancestral home to rebuild her mental health. But a grotesque, centipede-like creature begins to stalk her, a physical manifestation of buried trauma. As it feeds on her emotional turmoil, Elyse must confront the past she tried to escape to save herself and those she loves. Review Morgan Holmstrom is excellent in Ancestral Beasts as Elyse, a Red River Métis woman who goes back to the family home where her mother committed suicide in an attempt to get away from her verbally abusive older sister Nikki (Darla Contois). Writer/director Tim Riedel takes Elyse on a riveting, harrowing journey in which a diabolical creature is a metaphor for mental illness, and Holmstrom nails her character in a role that certainly wouldn’t be easy to play. She portrays the different emotions through which her character goes winningly, and is reason enough to recommend
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsThrillerTrailers
From Potsy Ponciroli, the director behind Old Henry, comes Motor City. A movie that takes Alan Ritchson’s ex-con character, John Miller, and denies him the simple dream of a quiet life post-prison. Frame a guy for a crime he didn’t commit, and naturally, he’s going to paint Detroit red to settle the score. Alongside Ritchson, the stacked cast features Ben Foster, Pablo Schreiber, Ben McKenzie, Lionel Boyce, and Shailene Woodley. If you’re hunting for an action flick drenched in unapologetic blood and gore, this certainly delivers. It masquerades as a revenge-fueled love story. But don’t hold your breath for a fairytale ending—there are zero happy endings in store. It’s pure, unrelenting brutality. Now, full disclosure: I’m a big Alan Ritchson fan. From “Blue Mountain State” to “Blood Drive” to “Reacher,” I’ve tracked his career for years. And having interviewed him in the past, I can confirm he’s as genuinely nice as they come. Which makes what I’m about to say
Continue reading →
AdaptationBooksMoviesNewsReviews
The Twisted Childhood Universe is carving out another nightmare. This time, it brings a conscience made of a wooden boy. Hitting cinemas nationwide today (July 24, 2026) via Altitude is Pinocchio: Unstrung. It arrives fresh off its UK premiere at the Raindance Film Festival, where it locked down four major award nominations. Steered by director Rhys Frake-Waterfield and producer Scott Chambers, this isn’t just another bargain-bin cash-in on public-domain IP. It is easily the best, most wildly entertaining entry in the franchise that already gave us dark takes on Winnie-the-Pooh and Bambi. A Grandfather to Fear The narrative kicks off when Geppetto gifts a handcrafted wooden doll to his grandson. Clearly having never seen a single horror movie in his life, the kid introduces his new puppet to the real world. Naturally, things go horribly off the rails. Pinocchio decides that the quickest path to moral purity and becoming a “real, good boy” is by violently butchering anyone he deems
Continue reading →
BooksReviews
Author J.W. Ocker’s Don’t Go There (subtitled A Tour of the World’s Most Sinister Spots) is much more than a mere travel book. It is that, certainly, although its aim is to warn readers about places to avoid more than ones to recommend — although some readers will certainly take the writer’s warnings as challenges. It is also a captivating chronicle of paranormal places and eldritch events. Ocker divides his book into the sections Fearsome Forests, Wretched Waters, Insane Islands, Deadly Deserts, Risky Ruins, and Spooky Snowscapes. High strangeness abounds in famously familiar areas such as The Bermuda Triangle, Dyatlov Pass, and Skinwalker Ranch, of course, but along with these places, Ocker also discusses less headline-grabbing — but no less fascinating — locales like Mexico’s Isla de las muñecas, the reputed island of haunted dolls; Louisiana’s allegedly cursed Manchac Swamp, alleged home of the werewolf-like rougarou and human murderers; and the family-cursed settlement of Dudleytown, Connecticut, now a ghost town
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Suzuki = Bakudan (Japan, 2026) Official Synopsis from https://japansociety.org/events/suzukibakudan/ Based on the bestselling novel by Go Katsuhiro, SUZUKI=BAKUDAN is a big-budget blockbuster centered on Tagosaku Suzuki (Jiro Sato), a mysterious drunk who claims he can see the future. After successfully predicting a bomb will go off in Tokyo, Suzuki leads the police in a game of wits — they must solve his riddles to stop further explosions. While police fan out over the city to defuse these bombs, a young detective (Yuki Yamada) challenges Suzuki to uncover the truth behind his predictions. Is he psychic, is he lucky, is he a criminal mastermind, is he a con man? Or is he something worse? Jiro Sato delivers a tour-de-force performance and was honored with Best Supporting Actor at this year’s Japanese Academy Awards for his role in SUZUKI=BAKUDAN. Review I had just seen Suzuuki=Bakudan’s star Jirō Satō as the antagonist of the thriller Nameless at another festival just a week before
Continue reading →
GamingNewsProductReviewsSci-Fi
Our friends at Gunnar are back with their latest collaboration with Cyberpunk 2077. This time, we’re stepping out of Night City’s underworld with glasses inspired by the game’s nefarious weapons-manufacturing megacorporation, MILITECH. For those not familiar with our friends at Gunnar, they specialize in making glasses that have anti-blue light tech. Screens give off blue light that’s invisible to the eyes but can cause strain and fatigue for them. Gunnar’s glasses help block this light to allow those who look at screens all day to work in comfort. Gunnar’s glasses are used by pro e-sport players, gamers, the military, and even animators at DreamWorks. The Cyberpunk 2077 Militech glasses take on the look of range glasses, befitting a corporate merc. The polymer frame wraps around the face to offer a wide view with flexible hinges to ensure comfort for long periods of wear. The lenses will protect your eyes from harmful blue-light coming from your screen (not bullets). You can
Continue reading →
