★★★ out of ★★★★★
Boys from County Hell is a slice of blue-collar Irish horror-comedy, where a road construction crew is tasked with the removal of a stone cairn marking the grave of a vampire that gave inspiration to Bram Stoker. Why is it that characters in Irish comedies always want to leave the isle? It might be the vampires.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
What separates a truly iconic horror film and raises it above its peers? Master documentarian Alexandre Phillipe makes a compelling argument that adhering to classical and even ancient themes can make the difference, and he casts Alien into a whole different light. Phillipe once again delivers a beautifully crafted breakdown and makes for a really compelling watch for fans of Alien.
Let’s get into the WAY WAY back machine. We’re talking back to the dawn of Cinema. For many of our fans, old horror movies mean movies from the 1970s. We’d like you to consider going back a little further. Back to the early ages of the silver screen and give some of these all-time classics a watch. Films you might not be aware of, or ones that you know but haven’t actually watched. Don’t worry, we were in the same boat as you! No shame in that.
Just in time for a Pandemic Thanksgiving, it’s time to talk food-themed horror! There exists a special and not often seen niche in the horror genre, and these films range from throwaway light and silly movies to unforgettable acts of disgusting digestive distress. You might not want to eat before watching these movies. It’s Scariest Things Podcast Episode 112: Edible Horror!
After critically acclaimed screenings as part of Fantasia and other top-notch film festivals, the mind-warping science fiction chiller Minor Premise […]
★★★ out of ★★★★★
This moody, brooding gothic ghost tale makes up in atmosphere what it lacks in likable characters.
★★★ out of ★★★★★ Found footage films can be a tricky business. You really have to sell the conceit that someone, or in this case multiple people, are going to be carrying around camera and recording every single move they make — and they might even inadvertently catch a freaky apparition in the background. A tall task made even more grand by the sheer number of found footage films that have made their way to the bottom of the bargin bin at Best Buy.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Is it a ghost story? A time travel story? The Return is a bit of both. Director BJ Verot’s first feature film is a tightly scripted sci-fi and haunted horror production, and it was one of the highlights of 2020’s H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival.
★★ out of ★★★★★
Russian torture horror for torture horror fans, of which yours truly is not one.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
A pregnant woman finds herself at the mercy of her deceased boyfriend’s peculiar family in this taut thriller.
We have seen the future of Horror Film Festivals, and it was the big Nightstream festival. While it was disappointing not to be able to go to these events in person, the streaming digital festival delivered a wealth of great movies, shorts, and special events that both horrified and delighted us. Listen in to the Scariest Things team report on our favorite moments.
Can music make a film? Break a film? Raise the hairs on the back of your head? Make you curl up in a ball and weep? You bet your bottom dollar! Open you ears and tune in to the ten most evil soundtracks your little ears ever did hear!
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
This independent Chilean sci-fi/horror feature serves up gore galore and an intriguing approach that should appeal to fans of The X-Files and similar fare.
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
|If Goosebumps with gore sounds like a winning combination to you (and it is!), check out this tale of three tweener friends who try to close the doorway for demons that one of them unknowingly opened.
★★★ out of ★★★★★ A trippy third act and solid performances highlight this vampire outing. Directed by Aaron Pagniano Writer/director […]
★★★★ out of ★★★★★ Probably the bleakest feel-bad horror film of this year, Bryan Bertino’s latest is a triumph of […]
A family hoping for a new start in life by moving to Madrid instead finds itself targeted by an angry ghost in 32 Malasaña Street, which makes up for any familiarity with technical quality and fine performances.
★★★ out of ★★★★★ At the Scariest Things Podcast we pride ourselves for being THE gateway to the trends and tropes of the horror genre. Sure, sometimes we wander in to the deep and dark recesses of the genre. We give Anthropophagous an extra viewing here/there. We cringe when we (re)watch Audition. We think twice about watching A Serbian Film. But, mostly we want to invite everyone in to the never-ending thrill ride that is horror. Sometimes that thrill ride includes PG-13 fare like Vampires vs. the Bronx.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Fright-fare favorite Brea Grant helms a dark comedy with loads of suspense, as a drug-addicted, organ-harvesting nurse tries to keep things under control on an especially wild night.
“Something’s wrong with Cujo, Mom!”
I guess you can call that an understatement. Dogs have a proud history in horror movies as both monsters and heroes. Here are some of the most notable pooches in the genre. WOOF!
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Ray Harryhausen would be proud! Love and Monsters defies expectations with more emotional resonance, visual wizardry, and storytelling surprises than you would expect. The monsters are spectacularly rendered, and convincingly animated. Dylan O’Brien is a joy to watch, in the best role of his young career. The most important thing to know is that this movie is worth the premium price for streaming entry.
★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
A grifter with good intentions, but in need of a lucky break, signs up for a job that seems too good to be true. Lapsis is a dystopian parable for the treadmill of old-fashioned hard work and the fear that technology is going to make you obsolete.
Trick or treat! Smell my feet! Give me movies to repeat! It’s that time of year, to binge scary films. So, it’s time for the Scariest Things to recommend some highly thematic Halloweeny films for you to watch while you eat your (or your kid’s) excess candy.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Breaking Surface will have you on the edge of your seat and gasping for breath.
★★ out of ★★★★★
The Doorman is a throwback action movie, starring Ruby Rose as an ex-special forces soldier turned doorman battling Jean Reno and his squad of art thieves. The film gets bogged down in stale clichés and surprisingly bland action pieces. Not everything on Nightstream was awesome, or even horror.
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Delicious cherry pie. Would you like some eternal imprisonment with that or just coffee?
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
May (Brea Grant) is an author who finds herself under repeated attack by a mysterious would-be killer. She mounts successful defense after successful defense, but each time she wins, the assassin disappears. It’s an exercise of frustration and futility for May as nobody believes her and her proof proves to be elusive.
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Sweeping cosmic weirdness has been achieved in The Hill and the Hole, an adaptation of a 1942 Fritz Leiber short story. Buoyed by stellar cinematography but burdened by an inscrutable plot, this film might be best understood under heavy hallucinogens.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Two French dullards discover a giant housefly in the trunk of a car that they stole, and they realize that this monstrous insect could be their ticket to fame and fortune. Toro! From Quentin Dupieux, the director and twisted imagination behind Rubber (2010), the bonkers Mandibles was the festival closing feature for Nightstream.
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Jeffrey Combs lends his voice to a smooth-talking lump of bathroom mold in this slow moving psychotronic film. Did I mention Jeffrey Combs? Jeffrey Combs!
