★★★ out of ★★★★★
Delicious cherry pie. Would you like some eternal imprisonment with that or just coffee?
Eric’s Nightstream Review: Lucky (2020)
★★★★ 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.
Eric’s H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Review: The Hill and the Hole (2020)
★★★ 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.
Eric’s Nightstream Review: Mandibles (2020)
★★★★ 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.
Robert’s Review: Motivational Growth (2013)
★★★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!
Joseph’s Review: Dark Stories (Arrow Video FrightFest)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★ This French offering is one of the better horror anthologies you are likely to see this […]
Eric’s Nightstream Review: May the Devil take You Too (2020)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
The sequel to the Indonesian horror hit May the Devil Take You is a more than worthy successor to the storyline. Alfie, the survivor of the first film is drafted by a group of orphans to assist with the exorcism of their demon spirit of their wicked caretaker. Strong Sam Raimi and Wes Craven influences are in abundance in this bloody and fun showcase of what Indonesian Horror has in store.
Joseph’s Review: Exit (Twisted Dreams Film Festival)
★★★ out of ★★★★★ Exit is an experimental U.K. film with surreal, sometimes trippy elements that combines social and political […]
Mike’s Nightstream Review: The Hunted (2020)
★★ out of ★★★★★ What in the world happens when filmmakers run out of ideas? Well, it’s rather simple. A) In most cases they go back to the well, B) there’s always a sequel, or prequel, or a reboot, C) the idea is reimagined through the lens of an out of copyright idea, story, or myth, or D) they just run out of ideas. Sadly, for 2020’s The Hunted, the answer is D.
Eric’s Nightstream Review: The Night (2020)
★★★★★ out of ★★★★★
An exhausted Iranian couple that is struggling with fitting in their arrival in America crash in a hotel after a night of bickering. The hotel presents them with some hard, hard truths and becomes a haunted prison rather than the refuge they sought. Tightly scripted and wonderfully acted, the film finds its power through suggestion and implied concepts.
The Night: Spoiler Theory
Read the review of The Night, and then click here for some SPOILER Interpretations of the structure of the movie.
Mike’s Nightstream Review: The Queen of Black Magic (2020)
★★★★.5 out of ★★★★★ In the latest installment of “If you’re not watching Indonesian horror movies, you’re blowing it,” brings us 2020’s The Queen of Black Magic. It’s true. Indonesia is the new incubator for the creepiest crawlies that the horror genre has to offer. Every country has had their day in the sun. The UK plastered us with Hammer and Amicus throughout the 1960s. The US reimagined the genre with slashers and super killers throughout the 1970s and 80s. And Japan brought a whole new slate of water and hair-borne frights in the late 1990s and in to the early 2000s. Now it’s Indonesia time to shine.
The Scariest Things Podcast Episode CIX: The Son Of Horror Movie or Not!
Back from the grave, we are going back to one of our earliest and favorite podcasts, where we declare whether the horror adjacent films we know (and sometimes) love are horror movies or not! This is often a criticism of the criticism of films. “THAT’S NOT HORROR!” So, this is a hot take episode where we (mostly) take a definitive stance.
Liz’s Nightstream Review: Bloody Hell (2020)
★★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Creative, gory, action packed and absolutely hilarious- Bloody Hell, it’s great!
Eric’s Review: The Deep Ones (Another Hole in the Head Film Festival) (2020)
★★★ out of ★★★★★
There’s literally something fishy about this little beachside community, as a vacationing couple get entangled with a strange beachside community ritual. This is what you get if you mashup Rosemary’s Baby with Humanoids from the Deep. The film telegraphs its punches, but it is clearly for fans who like their Lovecraft stories with a thin slice of sleazy.
Mike’s Nightstream Review: Leap of Faith William Friedkin on the Exorcist (2020)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★ There exists that great space in documentaries that take place decades after the event occurred. It’s this beautiful melange of revisionist history, lucid thoughts, purposeful sleepwalking, and repressed memories. All answers are correct and infallible when the documentary is filtered through the iconic lens of a single and thoughtful directorial darling. THE William Friedkin is the ultimate bridge between Hollywood’s glorious beginnings and the revolutionary young guns of the 1970s. It should come as no surprise the Friedkin has some rather insightful things to say about one of the greatest films of the 1970s, possibly the greatest horror film of all time, and in some camps, THE greatest film ever put down on celluloid — the Exorcist.
Liz’s Nightstream Review: Run (2020)
★★★ out of ★★★★★ Directed by Aneesh Chaganty Run is the story of a mother named Diane (Sarah Paulson) who […]
Eric’s H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Review: Eerie Fairy Tales (2019)
★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Once upon a time in Estonia, there was a spooky anthology gem that stitched together four fantastical tales of dread. Though only one of them truly feels like a Fairy Tale, each of them spins scintillating storytelling and backs them up with stylish visuals.
Robert’s Review: Halloween Party (2019)
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
When your school is built on the ruins of a creepy old hospital you’re just asking for trouble.
Mike’s Review: Spiral (2020)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★ Horror movies really are the ultimate glimpse in to the soul of man. Society’s reflection upon itself. Our most base thoughts, visions, hopes, dreams, and fears all laid bare for the universe to see. The historic period of time is largely irrelevant to the equation, because the result is always the same — man’s continued inhumanity to man.
The Scariest Things Podcast Episode CVIII: Witches
Witches. They used to strike fear in communities throughout the world. But Sabrina, Samantha, and Hermione have taken some of the edge off of the concept of the witch. Can a movie about witches still provide scares? Abso-witching-lutely!
Robert’s Review: Noroi (2005)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
A classic in the mockumentary/found footage genre is finally available to a wider audience!
Joseph’s Review: Death of Me
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★ It’s folk horror island style in the latest from Darren Lynn Bousman. Engaging performances and an […]
Joseph’s Review: Girl (Celebration of Fantastic Fest)
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★ Mickey Rourke and Bella Thorne star in a rural revenge thriller that overcomes genre tropes and […]
Robert’s Review: I Am A Hero (2015)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
A live-action take on the award winning Japanese manga brings some freshness to the zombie genre.
Eric’s Review: Parable (2020) NOLA Horror Film Fest
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
A Pentecostal rogue preacher attempting to perform a dubious gay conversion “therapy” session ends up summoning a demon instead. Whoops! Filled with colorful characters, this South African possession tale weaves a well-connected tale with some fun and occasionally brutal story threads.
Mike’s Book Report: Devolution (2020)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★ The perfect metaphor/antidote to 2020. Well-meaning people set out to change the world, lessen their foot print, and revel in their own brainy viewpoint. Only to be horrifically outdone by the unplanned mysteries of mother nature and her largely uncaring and brutish ways. Devolution is exists in a very real space with very real consequences. It’s everything that 2020 has offered. From the hopefully earnest to the horrifically primal.
The Scariest Things Staff Members Choose Their Most Anticipated Films from Nightstream
The staff at The Scariest Things is absolutely thrilled to be covering NIGHTSTREAM, the virtual film festival formed as a […]
500,000 Scariest Views!
Half a million visits to our humble horror website! It’s a little hard to fathom, and we’re so proud of it! We’re so glad to have each and every visit, and we’re proud to be your source of information of the trends and tropes of the horror genre. Our big goal is 2 million views, which is when we will be eligible for Rotten Tomatoes. So keep coming back! We promise to keep bringing you the spooky!
Liz’s Review: Hawk & Rev: Vampire Slayers (Another Hole in the Head Film Festival) (2020)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Grab your secret stake and prepare to kick vampire butt! Join forces with Hawk & Rev: Vampire Slayers!