Horror films in the modern era tend to tilt towards the academic and erudite. Sure there’s still wealth of garbage floating around in the ocean, including Minnie’s Midnight Massacre, Spiders on a Plane, and Meth Gator. However, these two worlds — trash and highbrow — seldom come together in perfect harmony.
Intensity 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Obsession is the latest movie to apply the Monkey's Paw wish dilemma. Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it. This independent horror gem is the latest example of how original storytelling and great performances can launch a tiny-budget movie into the box-office stratosphere.
What do you get when you mash up Alice in Wonderland with Rosemary’s Baby, add in hint of Midsommar, and include the American sister of the most famous scream queen, with an Italian writer and director for a film that’s shot in Germany? Why you get The Sect — AKA The Devil’s Daughter.
In the latest installment of the Breakfast Club meets Final Destination we’re treated to a modern fixation that clumsily follows a gaggle of hyper-stereotypical teens. This one has it all. The stoner (Rel), the loner (Chrys), the brain (Ellie), the jock (Dean), and the beauty queen (Grace). More miraculous? They’re all best friends. Even more miraculous? The loner is a former drug addict who is new to the school and everyone is dying to hang with her.
There are certain things in life worth obsessing over. In fact, there may be a direct correlation between the importance of the obsession and the meaninglessness of the object of fascination. Your favorite soccer club. The hunt for the perfect slice of pizza. The original pressing of the 1971 German prog LP that no one — except for you — has ever heard of. All these things and many more deserve your undivided and undying attention.
What if a film tried to mash up the Oedipus complex with vampires, Crips, Bloods, crooked cops, not-so-crooked cops, vampire cops, mother/son tensions, father/son tensions, and African mysticism? Not possible, right?
Truth be told Dolly is a pretty boring affair. That said, the film is punctuated with some pretty exceptional pieces of gore — including one moment that may not have ever been laid down on celluloid.
Intensity 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
The Southern Gothic film Parasomnia dips into the "dream demon" trope, infusing it with a voodoo twist and a delicious betrayal to spice up the story. Solid performances and carefully crafted character relationships help offset a somewhat pedestrian depiction of the demon.
Intensity 🩸🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Goody Goody delivers pregnancy horror aplenty!
Intensity 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Buffet Infinity is a film as strange as its name. This lo-fi cosmic-horror oddity spins its story through local advertisements that slowly escalate from commercial competition to societal domination. It is a clever concept that takes a while to comprehend, but it manages to combine initially incongruent media into a cohesive story of dread and destruction.
Intensity 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
American Dollhouse is what you get when a slow-burning liminal horror film decides to step on the gas and slams you into psycho murder madness. Sarah is a woman who hasn't been given many breaks in her life. When she inherits her dilapidated childhood home, she thinks she has struck the lottery. Unfortunately, the house retains awful memories, and worse yet, has a psychotic neighbor who has a strange obsession with her. Tensions rise as the neighbor's behavior escalates into violence, pushing Sarah deeper into a nightmare that threatens everything around her.
Intensity 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Embattled bride Grace is back, in Ready or Not 2: Here I come, and she's going to have to do it all over again. This time, her estranged sister will be by her side as a cadre of rival megalomaniacal families vie to murder her and claim the ultimate Satanic prize. This sequel is a bloody joy ride, and it extends the premise well, but a chunk of the magic of the first movie is missing.
Intensity 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Iron Lung is an impressive directorial debut from longtime Youtuber Markiplier, a love letter to psychological indie horror, and a huge win for the fake blood industry.