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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MoviesNewsReviewsShudderStreaming TVTrailers
Post-apocalyptic warfare meets seasonal horror in Hallowarrior. An energetic, high-octane thriller that turns Halloween nostalgia into a bloody fight for survival. The film marks the feature directorial debut of Ben Sottak. He also produced alongside Emmajane Hoffman under the Strange Eons banner, with The Spitting Image and The Dazey Phase. Pitting a solitary survivor against a ruthless band of raiders, the feature serves up an engaging blend of wasteland action, profound isolation, and seasonal mayhem. It’s time for our Hallowarrior review; let’s get into it. Milly Shapiro Anchors a Gripping Story of Isolation and Warfare At the center of the carnage is Milly Shapiro (Hereditary). She delivers a tour-de-force performance as Pumpkin, a young woman navigating a desolate, post-plague Earth. Believing she is the last living human, Pumpkin spends Halloween scavenging for supplies to celebrate her favorite holiday in solitude. Shapiro effortlessly captures her character’s emotional arc. She conveys the horror and sadness of true isolation. She transforms from an
Continue reading →
GamingNewsReviewsSci-Fi
If Little Nightmares and Dead Space had a baby, it would be Section 9’s End of Abyss, hands down. Over time, I’ve become not-so-much of a fan of top-down games, but this one has won me over. I want to thank Section 9 and Epic Games for the review opportunity and for restoring my faith in top-down games. End of Abyss is a top-down atmospheric dark sci-fi action-adventure where you play as Cel, a combat technician sent deep into an underground facility to uncover what’s happened to those inside and what’s trying to reach her. Now, onto the game itself! The controls for End of Abyss will take a little getting used to, but after a little time, you’ll get used to them. Headphones are a must for this, as they’ll help immerse yourself into the dark world the story is taking you into, along with helping you hear what’s crawling in the dark… There is no true “spoken dialogue,” as the
Continue reading →
NetflixNewsReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
The fourth installment of Ryan Murphy’s true-crime anthology has arrived with “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.” And true to form, historical fidelity takes a back seat to grand cinematic spectacle. Rather than delivering a grounded exploration of the infamous 1892 Fall River ax murders, Murphy opts for sensationalized drama, exaggerated psychosexual tropes, and timeline manipulation. While long-time viewers of the franchise have come to expect artistic license over forensic accuracy, the sheer volume of historical liberties taken in this season creates a vast divide between the real-life figures and their screen counterparts. The Real Lizzie Borden vs. Murphy’s Caricature The most glaring departure in the series lies in the characterization of Lizzie Borden herself. Murphy frames Lizzie as an isolated, bumbling, and deeply bizarre outcast who spends her days lurking in the family parlor. The historical record paints a drastically different picture. The real Lizzie was an active, well-regarded member of her community. She served in local social clubs, held
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
The long-awaited sequel to 2015’s cult horror-comedy hit Deathgasm has finally made its way to theaters and digital platforms. After a high-profile festival run featuring stops at Fantastic Fest, Sitges, BIFAN, and Fantaspoa, Deathgasm II: Goremageddon promises fans a return to the heavy metal demon apocalypse. However, while the original film struck a satisfying balance between endearing underdog humor, headbanging metal anthems, and creative practical gore, this second offering trades much of its charming heart for pure, unadulterated nastiness. Resurrecting the Band for One Last Battle Years after surviving the original film’s bloodbath, Brodie (Milo Cawthorne) finds himself washed up, broke, and rotting in small-town purgatory. A desperate lifeline appears when the legendary NoizeQuest battle-of-the-bands competition rolls into town. It offers Brodie a chance at redemption and a shot at winning back his former love, Medina (Kimberley Crossman). The catch? His drummer is missing an arm, and the rest of his bandmates are completely dead. Armed with lingering pages from
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesParanormalReviews
Official synopsis Never After Dark follows Airi (Hoshi), a wandering medium who spends her life guiding restless spirits out of the world of the living. Summoned to an isolated country house, she comes face to face with a grotesque apparition with powers that defy Airi’s experience. As she digs deeper into the house’s past, a secret comes to light — and Airi finds herself hunted by a far more unpredictable force. For the first time, her greatest adversary is not the supernatural, but the living. Review I’ve been waiting to see writer/director Dave Boyle’s Never After Dark since its film festival debut. Alas, my festival viewing dates and the film never matched up, but now that it is on its wide release, I finally had the opportunity to watch . . . and the wait was more than worth it. Never After Dark is the type of fear-fare feature that I don’t want to spoil in any way, because going
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Welcome to Dolly’s House (Taiwan, 2026) Official synopsis Maria stumbles into a surreal trap after she finds a video of a girl running from a mysterious woman and is drawn to an eerie, mind bending mansion. Fantasy-horror animation inspired by the classic literary anthology Taiping Guanji. Review Codirectors Rady Fu, Tree Muta, and Seven Ych have crafted an intriguing rotoscoped fear-fare animation feature in Welcome to Dolly’s House. The story follows young online influencer Maria as she and her deceitful boyfriend try to uncover the mystery of the woman named Dolly who appears in a video where a young girl suddenly vanishes into thin air. The animation is absolutely gorgeous and is reason enough to recommend this supernatural offering, but the third act is also a strong reason to seek out this film, as it goes into quite unexpected territory. Aficionados of creepy-doll horror should especially find Welcome to Dolly’s House an engaging watch. It’s a colorful, trippy, eye-popping experience.
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Official synopsis from Annick Mahnert’s Fantastic Fest summary Set in the French countryside at the end of the 19th century, The Ones Who Grieve follows Jacob, a deeply religious man who works as a soul keeper. Believing he is liberating those afflicted by a mysterious illness, he imprisons them behind wooden masks after sewing their eyes and mouths shut. His daughter, Zélie, lives under his tyrannical rule and dreams of freedom. When Jacob sells her beloved horse, Thunder, her resentment reaches its breaking point, prompting her to defy him by hiding an infected soldier in the family barn. Review Director Can Evrenol gave cinephiles perhaps the strongest candidate so far for “Feel-Bad Movie of the Year” in 2026 with his pitch-black Spanish horror comedy The Turkish Coffee Table (a reimagining of Caye Casas’s also disturbing The Coffee Table [La mesita del comedor]). But now along comes director Quarxx, who says “Hold my needles, thread, hammers, pliers, wooden masks, and guns”
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Official synopsis Eccentric musician and aspiring filmmaker Caleb becomes obsessed with his new coworker, Krista, secretly documenting every aspect of her life in an effort to make her the subject of his latest film. As Caleb’s fixation intensifies, the lines between observer and participant begin to blur, pulling him deeper into a dangerous spiral of surveillance, manipulation and obsession. As the cameras keep rolling, the question becomes increasingly unsettling: who is really watching who? Review Director Tim Kasher delivers a taut chiller with Who’s Watching. A disturbing character study of a stalker filming his target of interest transitions into jaw-dropping, unexpected territory that works satisfyingly well. Zachary Ray Sherman gives a fine, eerie performance as Caleb, a metal musician who gives off instant creep vibes that only escalate when he becomes fixated with new workplace employee Krista (Gracie Gilliam). His obsession is clear to everyone at work, and even friends of his band take notice. Krista was initially kind enough
Continue reading →
InterviewsMoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
Gator Face, the creature feature from writer-director Padraig Reynolds (Rites of Spring, Open 24 Hours), is out now. Shot on location in the murky Florida Everglades, the film shuns modern digital shortcuts for live alligators, practical gore, and in-camera effects. A Sun-Soaked Getaway Morphs into a Sacrificial Nightmare The movie follows a group of friends heading to Florida for a getaway. But their vacation quickly collapses into an isolated struggle for survival. Trapped deep within the swamps, the group falls prey to a sinister local cult that sacrifices unsuspecting victims to an ancient alligator deity. Soon, they are forced to combat both the cult members and the lethal creature worshiped at the center of their bloody faith. A Return to Old-School Practical Filmmaking and Southern Folklore Blending slasher elements, creature horror, and Southern folklore, Reynolds and his team committed to grounding the terrifying moments in physical reality. Get this: the movie features zero CGI or AI. The movie captures the chaotic, unpredictable texture of classic 1980s monster movies. Tabitha Brownstone, who discussed the
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
Crazy Lips (Japan, 2000) Official synopsis Satomi and her family are hounded by the press when her brother is accused of a vicious killing spree. Desperate to prove his innocence, Satomi goes to a psychic for help. The price the psychic asks is far more than she expected, and the answers they give her are nothing she could ever have imagined. Review I feel that it’s important to note up front that director Hirohisa Sasaki’s Crazy Lips has no less than four rape scenes, with one involving necrophilia. And that’s not all of the depravity on display, by a longshot. If you are still reading, you may well be either desensitized or curious enough to give this film a watch. The screenplay was written by Hiroshi Takahashi, who also penned Ringu and Ringu sequels, and recently wrote and directed The House of the Serpent (2023). As great and influential as Ringu is, Crazy Lips feels like Takahashi just wanted to
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
MoviesNewsReviewsShudderStreaming TVTrailers
Post-apocalyptic warfare meets seasonal horror in Hallowarrior. An energetic, high-octane thriller that turns Halloween nostalgia into a bloody fight for survival. The film marks the feature directorial debut of Ben Sottak. He also produced alongside Emmajane Hoffman under the Strange Eons banner, with The Spitting Image and The Dazey Phase. Pitting a solitary survivor against a ruthless band of raiders, the feature serves up an engaging blend of wasteland action, profound isolation, and seasonal mayhem. It’s time for our Hallowarrior review; let’s get into it. Milly Shapiro Anchors a Gripping Story of Isolation and Warfare At the center of the carnage is Milly Shapiro (Hereditary). She delivers a tour-de-force performance as Pumpkin, a young woman navigating a desolate, post-plague Earth. Believing she is the last living human, Pumpkin spends Halloween scavenging for supplies to celebrate her favorite holiday in solitude. Shapiro effortlessly captures her character’s emotional arc. She conveys the horror and sadness of true isolation. She transforms from an
Continue reading →
GamingNewsReviewsSci-Fi
If Little Nightmares and Dead Space had a baby, it would be Section 9’s End of Abyss, hands down. Over time, I’ve become not-so-much of a fan of top-down games, but this one has won me over. I want to thank Section 9 and Epic Games for the review opportunity and for restoring my faith in top-down games. End of Abyss is a top-down atmospheric dark sci-fi action-adventure where you play as Cel, a combat technician sent deep into an underground facility to uncover what’s happened to those inside and what’s trying to reach her. Now, onto the game itself! The controls for End of Abyss will take a little getting used to, but after a little time, you’ll get used to them. Headphones are a must for this, as they’ll help immerse yourself into the dark world the story is taking you into, along with helping you hear what’s crawling in the dark… There is no true “spoken dialogue,” as the
Continue reading →
NetflixNewsReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
The fourth installment of Ryan Murphy’s true-crime anthology has arrived with “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.” And true to form, historical fidelity takes a back seat to grand cinematic spectacle. Rather than delivering a grounded exploration of the infamous 1892 Fall River ax murders, Murphy opts for sensationalized drama, exaggerated psychosexual tropes, and timeline manipulation. While long-time viewers of the franchise have come to expect artistic license over forensic accuracy, the sheer volume of historical liberties taken in this season creates a vast divide between the real-life figures and their screen counterparts. The Real Lizzie Borden vs. Murphy’s Caricature The most glaring departure in the series lies in the characterization of Lizzie Borden herself. Murphy frames Lizzie as an isolated, bumbling, and deeply bizarre outcast who spends her days lurking in the family parlor. The historical record paints a drastically different picture. The real Lizzie was an active, well-regarded member of her community. She served in local social clubs, held
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
The long-awaited sequel to 2015’s cult horror-comedy hit Deathgasm has finally made its way to theaters and digital platforms. After a high-profile festival run featuring stops at Fantastic Fest, Sitges, BIFAN, and Fantaspoa, Deathgasm II: Goremageddon promises fans a return to the heavy metal demon apocalypse. However, while the original film struck a satisfying balance between endearing underdog humor, headbanging metal anthems, and creative practical gore, this second offering trades much of its charming heart for pure, unadulterated nastiness. Resurrecting the Band for One Last Battle Years after surviving the original film’s bloodbath, Brodie (Milo Cawthorne) finds himself washed up, broke, and rotting in small-town purgatory. A desperate lifeline appears when the legendary NoizeQuest battle-of-the-bands competition rolls into town. It offers Brodie a chance at redemption and a shot at winning back his former love, Medina (Kimberley Crossman). The catch? His drummer is missing an arm, and the rest of his bandmates are completely dead. Armed with lingering pages from
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesParanormalReviews
Official synopsis Never After Dark follows Airi (Hoshi), a wandering medium who spends her life guiding restless spirits out of the world of the living. Summoned to an isolated country house, she comes face to face with a grotesque apparition with powers that defy Airi’s experience. As she digs deeper into the house’s past, a secret comes to light — and Airi finds herself hunted by a far more unpredictable force. For the first time, her greatest adversary is not the supernatural, but the living. Review I’ve been waiting to see writer/director Dave Boyle’s Never After Dark since its film festival debut. Alas, my festival viewing dates and the film never matched up, but now that it is on its wide release, I finally had the opportunity to watch . . . and the wait was more than worth it. Never After Dark is the type of fear-fare feature that I don’t want to spoil in any way, because going
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Welcome to Dolly’s House (Taiwan, 2026) Official synopsis Maria stumbles into a surreal trap after she finds a video of a girl running from a mysterious woman and is drawn to an eerie, mind bending mansion. Fantasy-horror animation inspired by the classic literary anthology Taiping Guanji. Review Codirectors Rady Fu, Tree Muta, and Seven Ych have crafted an intriguing rotoscoped fear-fare animation feature in Welcome to Dolly’s House. The story follows young online influencer Maria as she and her deceitful boyfriend try to uncover the mystery of the woman named Dolly who appears in a video where a young girl suddenly vanishes into thin air. The animation is absolutely gorgeous and is reason enough to recommend this supernatural offering, but the third act is also a strong reason to seek out this film, as it goes into quite unexpected territory. Aficionados of creepy-doll horror should especially find Welcome to Dolly’s House an engaging watch. It’s a colorful, trippy, eye-popping experience.
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Official synopsis from Annick Mahnert’s Fantastic Fest summary Set in the French countryside at the end of the 19th century, The Ones Who Grieve follows Jacob, a deeply religious man who works as a soul keeper. Believing he is liberating those afflicted by a mysterious illness, he imprisons them behind wooden masks after sewing their eyes and mouths shut. His daughter, Zélie, lives under his tyrannical rule and dreams of freedom. When Jacob sells her beloved horse, Thunder, her resentment reaches its breaking point, prompting her to defy him by hiding an infected soldier in the family barn. Review Director Can Evrenol gave cinephiles perhaps the strongest candidate so far for “Feel-Bad Movie of the Year” in 2026 with his pitch-black Spanish horror comedy The Turkish Coffee Table (a reimagining of Caye Casas’s also disturbing The Coffee Table [La mesita del comedor]). But now along comes director Quarxx, who says “Hold my needles, thread, hammers, pliers, wooden masks, and guns”
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Official synopsis Eccentric musician and aspiring filmmaker Caleb becomes obsessed with his new coworker, Krista, secretly documenting every aspect of her life in an effort to make her the subject of his latest film. As Caleb’s fixation intensifies, the lines between observer and participant begin to blur, pulling him deeper into a dangerous spiral of surveillance, manipulation and obsession. As the cameras keep rolling, the question becomes increasingly unsettling: who is really watching who? Review Director Tim Kasher delivers a taut chiller with Who’s Watching. A disturbing character study of a stalker filming his target of interest transitions into jaw-dropping, unexpected territory that works satisfyingly well. Zachary Ray Sherman gives a fine, eerie performance as Caleb, a metal musician who gives off instant creep vibes that only escalate when he becomes fixated with new workplace employee Krista (Gracie Gilliam). His obsession is clear to everyone at work, and even friends of his band take notice. Krista was initially kind enough
Continue reading →
InterviewsMoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
Gator Face, the creature feature from writer-director Padraig Reynolds (Rites of Spring, Open 24 Hours), is out now. Shot on location in the murky Florida Everglades, the film shuns modern digital shortcuts for live alligators, practical gore, and in-camera effects. A Sun-Soaked Getaway Morphs into a Sacrificial Nightmare The movie follows a group of friends heading to Florida for a getaway. But their vacation quickly collapses into an isolated struggle for survival. Trapped deep within the swamps, the group falls prey to a sinister local cult that sacrifices unsuspecting victims to an ancient alligator deity. Soon, they are forced to combat both the cult members and the lethal creature worshiped at the center of their bloody faith. A Return to Old-School Practical Filmmaking and Southern Folklore Blending slasher elements, creature horror, and Southern folklore, Reynolds and his team committed to grounding the terrifying moments in physical reality. Get this: the movie features zero CGI or AI. The movie captures the chaotic, unpredictable texture of classic 1980s monster movies. Tabitha Brownstone, who discussed the
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
Crazy Lips (Japan, 2000) Official synopsis Satomi and her family are hounded by the press when her brother is accused of a vicious killing spree. Desperate to prove his innocence, Satomi goes to a psychic for help. The price the psychic asks is far more than she expected, and the answers they give her are nothing she could ever have imagined. Review I feel that it’s important to note up front that director Hirohisa Sasaki’s Crazy Lips has no less than four rape scenes, with one involving necrophilia. And that’s not all of the depravity on display, by a longshot. If you are still reading, you may well be either desensitized or curious enough to give this film a watch. The screenplay was written by Hiroshi Takahashi, who also penned Ringu and Ringu sequels, and recently wrote and directed The House of the Serpent (2023). As great and influential as Ringu is, Crazy Lips feels like Takahashi just wanted to
Continue reading →
