★★★★.5 out of ★★★★★
Archive 81 is the best piece of horror that’s ever dropped on Netflix and rest assured we’ll be talking about this as one of the best things that 2022 will offer us. Yes, you heard that right.
Liz’s Review: Speak No Evil (Sundance Film Festival 2022)
★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Speak No Evil is going to be the film everyone is talking about!
Eric’s Review: Don’t Breathe 2 (2021)
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Stephen Lang’s Blind Man is back. Though this time he’s managed to flip the script and is now the nominal protagonist in the sequel to the 2016 break-out surprise hit. Once the fearsome monster from the first movie, he is still a force to be reckoned with, but now he has a young charge to care for. It is tense and exciting, but there are still some major questions that require answers though.
The Scariest Things Podcast Episode 139: The Worst Horror Films of 2021
This is the annual ritual of summarizing the year that was. We first celebrate the best of the year, and then we have to get real. Not everything was worth your time when it comes to scary movies last year. We don’t enjoy doing this, but we have to name names. Welcome to Episode 139 where we dish out what wasn’t good in 2021.
Liz’s Review: Master (Sundance Film Festival)
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
A witch is not the only thing that haunts a college campus in Mariama Diallo’s debut feature, Master.
The Scariest Things Review: Scream (2022)
The movie that brought meta front and center to horror, and gave an adrenaline boost to a tired slasher genre is back with its fifth installment. The movie remains meta, and brings a fresh new group of victims… I mean characters… to the screen, along with a few old familiar friends. Is it any good? For a feature this significant it takes all three of the Scariest Things Podcasters to weigh in.
Mike’s Review: Sssssss (1973)
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Don’t say it…hissss it! The tagline from the trailer for the most unusual horror film ever made really hits the nail on the head.
MidWest WeirdFest Set to Blow Minds with the Supernatural, Slashers, and Science Fiction
MidWest WeirdFest has a stellar reputation for presenting edgy, provocative cinema fare, and the first wave announcement for this year’s edition of the Eau Claire, Wisconsin-based fest shows that the tradition continues. From paranormal strangeness to creepy creature features, MidWest WeirdFest has it all!
Joseph’s Reviews: Nocturna: Side A — The Great Old Man’s Night and Nocturna: Side B — Where the Elephants Go to Die
Nocturna: Side A — The Great Old Man’s Night ★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★ Director Gonzalo Calzada takes two decidedly different […]
Dead List: Gas Station Horror!
What’s the scariest setting in a horror movie? A graveyard? A dungeon? A basement? Nah. Try gas station. The gas station is a favorite point of conflict in a horror movie. If it shows up in your favorite horror film, you know something really bad is going to happen. Check out our dead list of how awful gas stations really are in horror movies.
Mike’s Review: Beyond the Darkness (1979)
★★★.5 out of ★★★★★
Come for the insane 1970s Italian gore! Stay for the superb Goblin soundtrack! It’s all here! Frankly, is there anything more you could ever ask from a horror film? Well, maybe.
Trailer Alert! A24 is dying to show you a good time with Ti West’s “X”
A24 is dying to show you a good time with Ti West’s “X”
Trailer Alert! “The Long Night” Serves Up Creepy Cult Horror
Here’s a truly promising trailer for Scout Taylor-Compton’s (Rob Zombie’s Halloween and Halloween II) latest fear-fare feature, The Long Night, which […]
The Scariest Things Episode CXXXIII: An Examination of Ti West’s Masterpiece: The House of the Devil (2009)
We have decided to do something a little different, this time: A single film analysis. We look back at one of our favorite independent horror films of the last 20 years: The House of the Devil (2009), by Director Ti West. It’s a near-perfect exercise in horror story development and execution, and you can hear our rationale in this bonus podcast episode!
Trailer Alert! Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night and Nocturna: Side B – Where the Elephants Go to Die
Breaking Glass Pictures is set to release Argentine writer-director Gonzalo Calzada’s double bill Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night and Nocturna: Side B – Where the Elephants Go to Die on DVD and Digital on January 18.
Joseph’s Review: The World We Knew
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
British featureThe World We Knew combines a gangster film with supernatural and psychological horror elements. The result is a sharp-as-nails outing that delivers plenty of eeriness along with solid direction and crackerjack performances.
Liz’s Book Report: Devil House
John Darneille invites readers to move into the Devil House.
Trailer Alert! British Supernatural/Gangster Chiller “The World We Knew”
Independent distributor/sales agency Mutiny Pictures will be releasing the UK horror/thriller THE WORLD WE KNEW on VOD and DVD on January 11th, 2022.
Dead List: The Elderly in Horror Movies
It’s hard enough being an older actor in the movies. In horror movies, it can be exponentially harder to make an impact, but there is a new and growing trend to feature older performers in horror movies. Is it a change in the movie culture? Is the audience growing older? The truth is probably that Horror films are casting a wider demographic net than ever, and Hollywood may now recognize that audiences who grew up as teens loving their ’70s cult films and ’80s slasher flicks are now in their 50s and 60s… and we still love our horror!
The Scariest Things Podcast Episode 138: The Best Horror Movies of 2021
Happy New Year Scariest Friends! The Scariest Things has now banked FOUR YEARS of podcasts and reviews, and despite a world-wide pandemic, we were able to see a lot of good movies and share our impressions with our ever growing fan base. It’s a good time to thank everybody who has checked in with us over the year. The new Golden Age of horror continues on, unabated, and we look forward to sharing with you a fantastic 2022!
Mike’s Review: Death Valley (2021)
★ out of ★★★★★
It’s always disappointing when someone takes one of your favorite horror sub-genres and brutally bastardizes it. The “we’re trapped in a secret military base and there’s only one way out” storyline takes some care and feeding. The situation is made even worse when it’s given the ham-fisted SyFy treatment. Little attention, little point, and little effort.
Movie Posters We Love: Top Ten Horror Movie Posters from 2021!
We warned you that we’d be back in the theaters in 2021 and we were! The Scariest Things Podcast, spread all across the globe, represented well in theaters far and wide. We were up close and personal for Conjuring III, Halloween Kills, Malignant, Candyman, and many, many others.
Mike’s Review: Bingo Hell (2021)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Last year brought us engaging septuagenarians battling it out the save their decrepit community center in VFW. Earlier this year saw the posthumous release of George Romero’s frightening PSA, Amusement Park. concerning the oft forgotten repugnance of elder abuse. Now, Amazon Studios is treating us to the latest in elder horror, Bingo Hell. The golden (girls) age is upon us with a new subgenera of horror, AARP horror. You heard it here first!
The Scariest Things Podcast Episode CXXXVII: The Psychology of Horror Movies
We Horror fans are an odd lot. We actively seek emotional sensations that make us uncomfortable, agitated, and if done well, terrified. To say that we are adrenaline junkies testing our courage is an easy way out, and doesn’t really get to the truth of things. Ashley Hirusina, a graphic artist managed in one poster, a deep but succinct analysis of why we seek the scary.
Eric’s Review: Bashira (2021): Another Hole in the Head Film Festival
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Bashira is an artistically ambitious and technically accomplished feature debut film from special effects auteur Nickson Fong. As much as it is a treat for your eyes and ears, though, the film’s plot is overly complex and the execution of the work sometimes over-shoots the target. The story often feels like two competing stories going at the same time.
Liz’s Top 10 Horror Films of 2021!
Big studio productions, festival gems and a TV series- they’re all on my list of the best of the best in 2021.
Mike’s Top 10 Horror Films of 2021!
In 2020, the global pandemic gave us an interesting dynamic in film. Stripped down productions. The re-rise of independent horror. Big budget films either shelved, delayed, or cancelled all together. Last year’s horror scene definitely had a peculiar and, well, dystopian quality.
Enter 2021! The big budget films that coldly sat on the shelves for the last year, or in some cases years, or in other cases almost a half century, are now out in the theaters for us all to enjoy. And enjoy them we did! It shouldn’t be a terrible surprise that (often) the more money, time, energy, and talent you ply to your project the better quality you’ll receive in return. Mostly.
Here’s some of the best from another spooky year…
Eric’s Top 10 Horror Films of 2021
Chalk 2021 into the history books! And, every year that I do this, I find it hard to separate my favorite films, and this year was no different. There were really good films from both the festival side and the studio wide release efforts from the past year.
Robert’s Top 10 Horror Films of 2021
It’s that time of year again! This is what’s been stewing in the cauldron all year long. Welcome to my Top 10 for 2021.
Joseph’s Top 10 Horror Films of 2021
What a great year for horror films! I hope some of your current and future favorites are on my list!