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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MoviesReviews
Forget the “video game movie” curse; The Mortuary Assistant is a bone-chilling triumph that stands entirely on its own two feet. Starring Willa Holland (Arrow) as Rebecca Owens, the film follows a newly certified mortician whose “overtime shift” quickly devolves into a grueling battle for her soul. What Makes It Work The film expertly balances the stomach-churning procedural work of embalming with a spiraling demonic nightmare. Alongside a mysterious mentor played by Paul Sparks (Boardwalk Empire), Rebecca is forced to confront both ancient evils and her own buried traumas. And boy, does she have a lot of them. Thanks to a full-scale, practical River Fields Mortuary set, the film drips with realism, like you can almost smell the rot and bloat of the bodies through the screen. The skin effects are hauntingly accurate. The way the flesh moves during surgical scenes is so visceral. I’ve seen a lot of flesh wounds in horror films and in real life, and the
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsTrailers
Every pet owner recognizes that spine-chilling moment when a dog stares intently at empty space. Naturally, directors love using evil-detecting canines as quick setup gimmicks in standard haunted house movies. However, director Ben Leonberg flips that classic trope on its head in Good Boy. He puts his own brilliant dog, Indy, at the center of the story. As a result, the film crafts a deeply terrifying exploration of genuine animal distress that hits viewers right in the feels. Indy stars alongside Shane Jensen, who plays his ailing owner, Todd. When Todd moves into his late grandfather’s isolated woodland home, a sinister entity begins closing in. Todd stays completely oblivious to the escalating horror. Meanwhile, Indy senses the looming threat immediately. The ultimate horror stems from watching a fiercely loyal pet trapped in a nightmare he cannot control or comprehend. Genius Low-Budget Craftsmanship Leonberg and producer Kari Fischer spent three years training their real-life rescue dog, Indy, for the film. Remarkably,
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Official Synopsis Mia, a courageous 10-year-old girl who is locked in a shed, must survive inconceivable odds whilst trying to discover what happened to her family. Review Writer/director/editor Steven J. Mihaljevich’s Shed (Australia, 2025) is a taut horror thriller boasting a fantastic performance from young Mani Shanks as Mia, a little girl who is locked in the family shed by her little brother during a game. Unbeknownst to her, something awful befalls her family, and after a few days surviving by herself, a maniacal stranger (Jason Robert Lester) discovers her presence. The film starts off as a survival horror in the confinement of the shed before turning into a cat-and-mouse chiller in a wider area. I don’t want to give away too much more than that, as Shed is rich with surprises. Mia is a resourceful youngster who doesn’t give up easily, and her clever ideas for staying alive are more realistic than precocious “superkid”-style elements. Shanks captured Screamfest’s Best
Continue reading →
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The Dollmaker Official synopsis In a quiet village, a charming young man named Tomás leads a simple life: caring for his mother, working at the video store and town clinic, and collecting dolls. As women start disappearing, newly arrived Inspector Porter investigates. Review Director José María Cicala’s The Dollmaker (Encantador; Argentina, 2025) is an unnerving combination of the weird and the macabre. It’s also a candidate for feel-bad horror film of the year, and a terror tale you are not likely to easily forget. Tomás (Rodrigo Noya) is both socially active and socially awkward, working at a video rental store and helping out with a support group. When a series of disappearances occur in his small Argentinian town, the video store comes under investigation by a new-in-town officer despite the police chief’s lack of concern. The screenplay by Cicala and Griselda Sanchez is full of twists, red herrings, and surprises, keeping even seasoned fright-fare fanatics questioning events and characters until
Continue reading →
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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!? Descendent (U.S., 2025); review by Joseph Perry Official BIFAN synopsis from program notes written by Kim Kani: Sean, a school security guard in a small town on the outskirts of Los Angeles, is struggling with the looming reality of fatherhood. Haunted by childhood trauma and weighed down by the pressures of his job, he feels utterly unprepared to become a parent. One night during a routine shift, he witnesses a mysterious, glowing object in the sky. After that encounter, Sean begins to suffer from disturbing visions — strange images, apparitions of alien
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!? I Kill U (South Korea, 2025); review by Chris Weatherspoon Official BIFAN synopsis from program notes written by Kim Kani: Kang Sunwoo, a former promising taekwondo athlete, now lives a life of poverty and exhaustion. One day, while carrying the weight of her painful past, she is suddenly thrust into the spotlight when people notice her uncanny resemblance to a woman named Han Jiyeon. The problem is, Han Jiyeon is the main perpetrator of a ‘drunk driving hit-and-run death case’ and also the heiress of a major conglomerate. As public anger and
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!? 100 Liters of Gold (Finland/Italy, 2025); review by Chris Weatherspoon Official BIFAN synopsis from program notes written by Kim Byeonggyu: 100 Liters of Gold is a comedy of drunkenness and a farce of hangovers. Middle-aged sisters Taina and Pirkko, who live in a small village in southern Finland, are brewers of sahti, a traditional Finnish beer. Tasked with preparing 100 litres of sahti for the wedding of their younger sister Paivi, who has returned to their hometown, they accidentally end up drinking all the beer themselves. With only 48 hours left until
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Romford Horror Festival is renowned for curating a terrific lineup of fear fare each year that ranges from mind-blowing new independent films to well-respected classics. This year’s edition runs February 27–March 2 at Lumiere Cinema in Romford, U.K. Following are three offerings from the fest for which I have had an early viewing and consider well worth a watch. Descriptions from Romford Horror Festival’s website are in italics, followed by my thoughts on the films. Psychopomp Synopsis: Amidst a super virus that ravages most of the world’s population, a tenacious microbiology student (Brian K. Millard) leads a small team through a rogue planned exposure. But the human trials end tragically, taking his friends’ lives one by one and leaving potential treatments untested. As he becomes more and more isolated, the line between what’s real and what’s not begins to blur. I’m a hard sell on genre films inspired by — and often made during — COVID-19 lockdown, mainly because of
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Witte Wieven (Heresy) (Netherlands, 2024) Director Didier Konings tackles patriarchal oppression of women, religious hypocrisy, and the search for self-identity in his beautiful looking folk horror Witte Wieven (Heresy). The story is set in a small rural Dutch village in the Middle Ages, where religion makes the rules that favor men and also where women unable to bear children have little to no use. Devout couple Frieda (Anneke Sluiter) and Hikko (Len Leo Vincent) have been unsuccessful in trying to have a baby, and even religious leader Father Bartolomeus (Reinout Bussemaker) has been unable to help. Village butcher Gelo (Leon Van Waas), who has recently been punished for what the film hints at as sexual assault on one of the village women, is released. His advances toward being able to make Frieda pregnant turn into a rape attempt in the nearby woods, during which Frieda is saved by a supernatural entity. When villagers accuse her of being in league with
Continue reading →
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After years of rumors, hopes, and dreams, the sequel to Beetlejuice has finally materialized. In fact, it is now available on digital and VOD! At first, I was hesitant to watch it. Let’s be honest: few sequels rarely live up to the original film. With movies that are such epic classics, like Beetlejuice, the chances are slim to none. I finally couldn’t stand it anymore, so I broke down and watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. This is my review. In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz is reluctantly reunited with the demonic trickster Beetlejuice in this highly anticipated sequel. Lydia’s daughter, Astrid, is kidnapped by unknown otherworldly forces. The Deetz family, grappling with an unexpected tragedy, returns to their ancestral home in Winter River. A place where a mysterious model of the town holds the key to a portal between the living and the dead. With trouble brewing in both worlds, it’s up to Beetlejuice to save the day – or at least cause
Continue reading →
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MoviesReviews
Forget the “video game movie” curse; The Mortuary Assistant is a bone-chilling triumph that stands entirely on its own two feet. Starring Willa Holland (Arrow) as Rebecca Owens, the film follows a newly certified mortician whose “overtime shift” quickly devolves into a grueling battle for her soul. What Makes It Work The film expertly balances the stomach-churning procedural work of embalming with a spiraling demonic nightmare. Alongside a mysterious mentor played by Paul Sparks (Boardwalk Empire), Rebecca is forced to confront both ancient evils and her own buried traumas. And boy, does she have a lot of them. Thanks to a full-scale, practical River Fields Mortuary set, the film drips with realism, like you can almost smell the rot and bloat of the bodies through the screen. The skin effects are hauntingly accurate. The way the flesh moves during surgical scenes is so visceral. I’ve seen a lot of flesh wounds in horror films and in real life, and the
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsTrailers
Every pet owner recognizes that spine-chilling moment when a dog stares intently at empty space. Naturally, directors love using evil-detecting canines as quick setup gimmicks in standard haunted house movies. However, director Ben Leonberg flips that classic trope on its head in Good Boy. He puts his own brilliant dog, Indy, at the center of the story. As a result, the film crafts a deeply terrifying exploration of genuine animal distress that hits viewers right in the feels. Indy stars alongside Shane Jensen, who plays his ailing owner, Todd. When Todd moves into his late grandfather’s isolated woodland home, a sinister entity begins closing in. Todd stays completely oblivious to the escalating horror. Meanwhile, Indy senses the looming threat immediately. The ultimate horror stems from watching a fiercely loyal pet trapped in a nightmare he cannot control or comprehend. Genius Low-Budget Craftsmanship Leonberg and producer Kari Fischer spent three years training their real-life rescue dog, Indy, for the film. Remarkably,
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Official Synopsis Mia, a courageous 10-year-old girl who is locked in a shed, must survive inconceivable odds whilst trying to discover what happened to her family. Review Writer/director/editor Steven J. Mihaljevich’s Shed (Australia, 2025) is a taut horror thriller boasting a fantastic performance from young Mani Shanks as Mia, a little girl who is locked in the family shed by her little brother during a game. Unbeknownst to her, something awful befalls her family, and after a few days surviving by herself, a maniacal stranger (Jason Robert Lester) discovers her presence. The film starts off as a survival horror in the confinement of the shed before turning into a cat-and-mouse chiller in a wider area. I don’t want to give away too much more than that, as Shed is rich with surprises. Mia is a resourceful youngster who doesn’t give up easily, and her clever ideas for staying alive are more realistic than precocious “superkid”-style elements. Shanks captured Screamfest’s Best
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
The Dollmaker Official synopsis In a quiet village, a charming young man named Tomás leads a simple life: caring for his mother, working at the video store and town clinic, and collecting dolls. As women start disappearing, newly arrived Inspector Porter investigates. Review Director José María Cicala’s The Dollmaker (Encantador; Argentina, 2025) is an unnerving combination of the weird and the macabre. It’s also a candidate for feel-bad horror film of the year, and a terror tale you are not likely to easily forget. Tomás (Rodrigo Noya) is both socially active and socially awkward, working at a video rental store and helping out with a support group. When a series of disappearances occur in his small Argentinian town, the video store comes under investigation by a new-in-town officer despite the police chief’s lack of concern. The screenplay by Cicala and Griselda Sanchez is full of twists, red herrings, and surprises, keeping even seasoned fright-fare fanatics questioning events and characters until
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!? Descendent (U.S., 2025); review by Joseph Perry Official BIFAN synopsis from program notes written by Kim Kani: Sean, a school security guard in a small town on the outskirts of Los Angeles, is struggling with the looming reality of fatherhood. Haunted by childhood trauma and weighed down by the pressures of his job, he feels utterly unprepared to become a parent. One night during a routine shift, he witnesses a mysterious, glowing object in the sky. After that encounter, Sean begins to suffer from disturbing visions — strange images, apparitions of alien
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!? I Kill U (South Korea, 2025); review by Chris Weatherspoon Official BIFAN synopsis from program notes written by Kim Kani: Kang Sunwoo, a former promising taekwondo athlete, now lives a life of poverty and exhaustion. One day, while carrying the weight of her painful past, she is suddenly thrust into the spotlight when people notice her uncanny resemblance to a woman named Han Jiyeon. The problem is, Han Jiyeon is the main perpetrator of a ‘drunk driving hit-and-run death case’ and also the heiress of a major conglomerate. As public anger and
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!? 100 Liters of Gold (Finland/Italy, 2025); review by Chris Weatherspoon Official BIFAN synopsis from program notes written by Kim Byeonggyu: 100 Liters of Gold is a comedy of drunkenness and a farce of hangovers. Middle-aged sisters Taina and Pirkko, who live in a small village in southern Finland, are brewers of sahti, a traditional Finnish beer. Tasked with preparing 100 litres of sahti for the wedding of their younger sister Paivi, who has returned to their hometown, they accidentally end up drinking all the beer themselves. With only 48 hours left until
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Romford Horror Festival is renowned for curating a terrific lineup of fear fare each year that ranges from mind-blowing new independent films to well-respected classics. This year’s edition runs February 27–March 2 at Lumiere Cinema in Romford, U.K. Following are three offerings from the fest for which I have had an early viewing and consider well worth a watch. Descriptions from Romford Horror Festival’s website are in italics, followed by my thoughts on the films. Psychopomp Synopsis: Amidst a super virus that ravages most of the world’s population, a tenacious microbiology student (Brian K. Millard) leads a small team through a rogue planned exposure. But the human trials end tragically, taking his friends’ lives one by one and leaving potential treatments untested. As he becomes more and more isolated, the line between what’s real and what’s not begins to blur. I’m a hard sell on genre films inspired by — and often made during — COVID-19 lockdown, mainly because of
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Witte Wieven (Heresy) (Netherlands, 2024) Director Didier Konings tackles patriarchal oppression of women, religious hypocrisy, and the search for self-identity in his beautiful looking folk horror Witte Wieven (Heresy). The story is set in a small rural Dutch village in the Middle Ages, where religion makes the rules that favor men and also where women unable to bear children have little to no use. Devout couple Frieda (Anneke Sluiter) and Hikko (Len Leo Vincent) have been unsuccessful in trying to have a baby, and even religious leader Father Bartolomeus (Reinout Bussemaker) has been unable to help. Village butcher Gelo (Leon Van Waas), who has recently been punished for what the film hints at as sexual assault on one of the village women, is released. His advances toward being able to make Frieda pregnant turn into a rape attempt in the nearby woods, during which Frieda is saved by a supernatural entity. When villagers accuse her of being in league with
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
After years of rumors, hopes, and dreams, the sequel to Beetlejuice has finally materialized. In fact, it is now available on digital and VOD! At first, I was hesitant to watch it. Let’s be honest: few sequels rarely live up to the original film. With movies that are such epic classics, like Beetlejuice, the chances are slim to none. I finally couldn’t stand it anymore, so I broke down and watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. This is my review. In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz is reluctantly reunited with the demonic trickster Beetlejuice in this highly anticipated sequel. Lydia’s daughter, Astrid, is kidnapped by unknown otherworldly forces. The Deetz family, grappling with an unexpected tragedy, returns to their ancestral home in Winter River. A place where a mysterious model of the town holds the key to a portal between the living and the dead. With trouble brewing in both worlds, it’s up to Beetlejuice to save the day – or at least cause
Continue reading →
