Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Place famously eccentric actor, John Malkovich into a story about a messianic pop star leading a death cult commune, under the A24 umbrella and you have the makings of an art house classic, right? Almost. It's a combination of The Menu, Midsommar, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This A24 production falls a bit shy of its incredible promise.
A fun found footage mash-up of Paranormal Activity (2007) and The Amityville Horror (1979) with some DIY home renovation YouTubers thrown in for good measure.
Self-image, beauty norms, popularity. Grafted takes all that, mixes it with a corpse flower, and comes up with some murderously gnarly body horror.
Intensity: 🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
When a film becomes so firmly ensconced in our nation’s, nay the world’s, cultural zeitgeist there’s often nothing left to say about it. The film score, the triad of perfectly perfect actors, one of the best villains of all time, and more metaphorical subtext than you can shake a stick at.
Intensity: 🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Are you a fan of obscure and cheesy cult films? Odds are, you would appreciate the efforts of Sinister Cinema, the Medford, Oregon-based distribution company that lovingly restored and distributed thousands of almost-forgotten films. This documentary from Jack Perez goes in-depth on the company that wouldn't let these films die.
Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
How is it that babysitting, traditionally the lowest common denominator flexible starter job, is so dangerous? Dooba Dooba is a lo-fi found footage film exploring the perils of a woman babysitting an odd girl full of tricks and dark secrets. If you think you know babysitter horror, think again; this movie has some wild twists. The film creates a moat of anxiety which will have you twitching from the dramatic irony of knowing too much, while the characters head blindly into awful decisions.
Intensity: 🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
In a slightly dystopian future, Mia Sheldon finds herself imprisoned at home for the crime of having a miscarriage. She has been acquitted of her husband's death, which was ruled a suicide. What opens as a promising premise slides into the overly familiar. Unfortunately, the film dodges what could have been a fascinating sociological critique. House of Ashes contains some humorous and chilling moments, but overall, the film fell a little flat.
Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
It Needs Eyes examines the link between the dangers of obsessive and addictive behavior when coping with grief. "It", in this case, is the dark web. Brutal social media requires people to watch the dreadful material to have any power. It has found an addict, corrupting the otherwise innocent Rowan, who is struggling through grief by watching things she should not see. This is a beautiful, slow-burning movie featuring terrific performances from young actresses Raquel Lebish and Isadora Leiva. The film never terrifies, but the story will get under your skin and unnerve you.
Intensity: 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
This is a BRUTAL film with the biggest capital B that there ever was. Revenge with a capital R and blood with another capital B. NOTE: This film is not for the faint of heart!
Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Alma and the Wolf spins a strange and surprising story that weaves themes of unfulfilled dreams and dark secrets. Ethan Embry, Li Jun Li, and the rest of the cast provide an emotionally poignant and ultimately tragic fable. Part psychological thriller, part folk horror, this film may be the best showcase of Embry's acting chops in his extensive filmography. This movie was the opening film at the Portland Horror Film Festival.
Intensity: 🩸🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
28 Years Later is an exceptional cinematic achievement replete with iPhone footage, goat cams, and lots of drone footage. The problem is Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s non-sequitur approach to the film has audiences ending up feeling like they’ve watched three films instead of one. Each act of the film ends up almost being an entirely different film.
Intensity: 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Predator: Killer of Killers is the second installment in the reinvigoration of the venerable action/sci-fi/horror franchise, following the 2023 release of Prey. Suffice it to say, the Predator franchise is in good hands. This animated feature picks up the baton from Prey, going back in history to epic battles between the Yautja (Predators, for the uninformed) and warriors of ages past. The production is gloriously illustrated, packed with action, and is written according to the mantra of show, don't tell.
Toxic relationships, sexuality, vigilante justice, and meat. Lots of meat.
Intensity: 🩸🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Bring Her Back is the sophomore horror feature effort from the Australian Philippou brothers, who two years ago produced the surprise hit Talk To Me. I am happy to report that they have once again delivered a spine-tingling and intense thriller that will haunt your soul for years to come. Sally Hawkins provides a villainess for the ages, and the rest of the young cast become sympathetic pawns in a horrifying possession experiment. The movie is an excellent original story, but you need to be willing to sit through a slow, steady burn and withstand some savage gory moments.
Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Control Freak might be the itchiest movie ever made. Vy Nguyen is a self-help guru on the rise and on the cusp of great fame. Despite her outward confidence, she has developed a nervous habit of scratching the back of her head. The psychological effect is due to a curse handed down to her from her parents, and what starts as an itch threatens to destroy her and everything she has achieved. You will be scratching your head by the end of this movie. (For many reasons)
A spectacular documentary style, Lovecraft adjacent, conspiracy driven deep dive into a top secret government project. You have been warned.
A gore-filled, action packed love letter to revenge westerns from days gone by. Entirely shot on 16MM film using gear from the 1960s making the whole film positively drip with vintage style.
Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Sinners proves positively that Ryan Coogler has mastered the art of making a horror blockbuster. He resides on a short list of directors who can not only deliver stunning artistic achievements, but at the same time knows how to please a demanding audience. Bathed in boozy, bluesy period atmosphere, it represents swampy cool, and celebrates the black experience of black culture in the 1930s Jim Crow South. Already a box office smash, the Academy should start preparing for another horror movie to crash the Oscar party come the next nomination period.
Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Daydreamers (Nguoi Mat Troi) announces that Vietnamese horror has arrived, boldly and with style. It takes the traditional Western tropes of vampires and packages them in a wholly Vietnamese wrapper. Two vampire brothers have taken different paths in their acceptance of vampirism. The older brother, Marco, revels in the power that is bestowed upon him. His younger brother Nhat seeks freedom from the restrictions and curse of vampirism and seeks to become human again. Themes of family honor, redemption, recovery, betrayal, and forbidden love play strongly throughout the film.
Intensity 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Sibling rivalry of the deadly kind abounds in Mexican chiller Don't Leave the Kids Alone. Here is The Scariest Things' review from Calgary Underground Film Festival 2025.
Intensity: 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Clown in a Cornfield is a return-to-basics teen slasher movie that gets all the little things right, but shares the same narrative limitations as its precedent source material. Sometimes hilarious, often bloody, this adaptation of a popular YA novel by Adam Cesare is tonally pitched still at a younger audience, and will likely be quite popular with the teen scene.
Intensity 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Ash is a big, bombastic science fiction horror film that wears its influences on its sleeves. It offers a thrilling opening sequence and a monstrous conclusion but gets completely lost in its storytelling. Director/composer Flying Lotus crafted lovely psychedelic visuals and composed a soundtrack that thunders with propulsive energy, but unmemorable characters prove to be this film's undoing.
Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
It Ends travels with four college students on a road trip as a last hurrah before sending one of their own into the working world. What was meant to be a simple food run becomes a trip down a dreadful and endless road. As the miles add up, the group struggles to determine why they have been dealt this fate, fearing that this might be the afterlife with no off-ramp in sight.
Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Good Boy is a ghost story told from a dog's perspective. If you have ever wondered why your dog has been barking at shadows or unheard sounds, you will understand the mechanics of this film. Our furry best friends know things that we can't fathom. Indy is a loyal pet to his ailing owner, who has moved into an old home with a cursed reputation.
Intensity: 🩸🩸🩸🩸out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
If we are honest with ourselves, most of us would identify more with the imperfect Elvira than the flawless Cinderella. Emilie Blichfeldt has produced a master class in deconstructing a modern myth. Beauty may only be skin deep, but its impact on one's self-worth can be devastating. The Ugly Stepsister is a boundary-pushing movie that is guaranteed to make you uneasy or even queasy and will leave an emotional mark on you.