Board 8 > 2025 Horror Topic - Happy Nosferatu Day

(+) Yeah! (+)

I don't expect it to reach the incredibly high expectations set up for it, but if it's still a good movie I'm happy with that

I watched the first two episodes of Hell Motel on Shudder! This one is by the creators of the Slasher series. And it definitely feels like it too, because it follows the same formula where they explore backstories and then give you a kill of a character (or two) every episode in a gruesome and really cool way.

I have to say, it's a lot more interesting of a premise than the whole Slasher series, which basically gives you the generic story plot of "Documentary of Small Town Murder" or "Cabin in the Woods" or "Apartment Complex". A bunch of true crime adjacent people are invited to an opening of a motel where satanic murders happened, and murders start happening again. The first episode ends with us getting a solid twist on the whole idea of it, and it's honestly really interesting.

Interested in seeing where this series go, but it feels like an upgrade over Slasher in most ways, but also kind of feels like Slasher enough I don't know why it isn't just called Slasher: Hell Motel. I'm just hoping it continues the good quality.

Finally watched Bloodlines

Tony Todd is a treasure

FFDragon posted...

Tony Todd is a treasure

Apparently the scene was all him too. I think I mentioned it, but I wasn't expecting to get misty-eyed during a Final Destination movie.

We finally got a chance to watch Marshmallow last night. This had a limited theatrical run (at least in our area) during our anniversary week but we were out of town on vacation and as soon as we returned, the movie was gone unfortunately. It's now available on VOD, and I'd recommend checking it out because it's pretty good. This is one of those "summer camp style horrors", but with a bit of a twist (or two, or three). It's a really interesting story that I can't quite relate to anything I've seen before really, so if originality is something anyone's looking for I think you might find it in this film.

I liked this a good deal more than the film's other main camp movie (at least that I've seen so far), Hell of a Summer. That movie is good, but a little too safe. This one takes a lot more risks and I think has a lot more rewards too.

Seeing M3GAN 2.0 screening at midnight...

Critical reviews are lukewarm, at best. This is in stark contrast to the originals 93% score, but I was already really wary of this movie when the trailer debuted. I think it looks tonally off and just seems to lack the original's character, instead they've opted for this scaled down T2 ripoff with cringe sounding dialogue. Unlike a lot of the other major releases lately, this isn't one I have very high hopes for.

I didn't really care for M3GAN to begin with (just dont like living doll horror at all) but Megan 2 just looks so cringey in every trailer I've seen, very like "brand trying to be current" vibes

Count me as disappointed for the direction based on the trailers too, seems like it dropped most of the horror.

Snake5555555555 posted...

Count me as disappointed for the direction based on the trailers too, seems like it dropped most of the horror.

I feel like anytime a popular franchise tries to go camp it never really works

Johnbobb posted...

I feel like anytime a popular franchise tries to go camp it never really works

Yeah, it tends to come off as really forced and corny. And like the first Megan wasn't like an overly serious movie either, but it definitely wasn't cringe.

It managed to overcome the shlock of the Blumhouse name only to succumb to it here I guess

I'm on record really enjoying M3GAN until towards the end where it leaned entirely too much into sassy girl boss bot.

The fact it doubled down on that tone is disappointing. I'm not necessarily thrilled about seeing M3GAN 2.0, but I'll end up watching it probably.

You know, it wasn't bad actually.

That being said, it is definitely barely a horror movie. It bills itself as such still but I think it mostly relies on the fact the first one was; this one could easily just be an action comedy if not for the pre-established lore. But it's not bad; it isn't as cringe as the trailers made it look at least. That might be because 3 instances in the trailer are just outright not even in the film at all so that helps. I'm not sure why movies keep doing that. Of the positives, I think M3GAN herself is portrayed well. Again, the trailer shows you what to expect and it is that but I found it not as offensive as I came in thinking it would be. But it is still this very Judgement Day sort of vibe where the titular character just gets too popular and you have to make them into the hero, thereby finding a new, more dangerous threat to replace her role with. The Amelia character is... okay. I feel like there's some wasted potential there but there are some cool scenes.

My biggest gripe about the movie though has to be Gemma. What a downright unlikable, awful character in this movie. I mean they made this character so shockingly bad. To M3GAN, to her coworkers, to her niece. Her entire character just seems to be there to shit all over everyone else and then obsess over the dude who is clearly the villain of it all. Ugh, the hardest parts to sit through were some of the scenes involving her.

The reviews seem to be heading towards a splat on RT, though just barely so. It also isn't tracking particularly strong in the box office which is a bit of a surprise, not sure if the scores are hurting it but I thought for sure this movie would make a lot of money no matter what it did because of the phenomenon the first one was on social media. It's kinda a shame because even though I don't think this movie is as good as the first, I still like to see new horror franchises succeed in our world. Along with Smile, this one was kinda this decade's new darlings but this might end up being a franchise ender before it starts. It's obviously no Smile 2 in quality, but again, I thought it was fine.

Just saw 28 Years Later and loved it

I do agree that the ending stuff felt a little too much like obvious sequel setup that kinda took the movie from having its own ending but basically everything else was excellent

M3gan 2.0 got $10 million opening weekend. The first film did $30 million opening weekend.

I'm gonna just go ahead and guess people thought the direction for the new one was dumb and wanted more of what the original was. They probably leaned into girl boss bitch too much, which to me was the least enjoyable part of the first film. My wife doesn't even want to see it either, and she loved the first movie.

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

I'm gonna just go ahead and guess people thought the direction for the new one was dumb and wanted more of what the original was

One of the things that'll live with me forever about this movie is one of the times we watched the trailer in front of another movie, not sure which one. But there was a group sitting a few rows in front of us and at the end of the trailer, after a brief pause, a guy said loud enough for us to hear "I hate it." in such a deadpan tone.

I did a bit of restructuring for my list, and I think I'm a lot happier with how it's divvied out now. I will repost it once we hit 70 horror/horror adjacent films watched. Just to confirm with hubby... that's three off right? I sure hope I haven't missed any!

More horror films:

Maa: This is an Indian horror, set in the universe of last year's Shaitaan (though I think Genny and I might have been the only ones around here to watch it). It's not a direct sequel or that closely related, but the films are connected during a small scene at the end and share a director/writer. That being said, eh... it's okay. I do like watching horror movies from other countries because it's nice to see how different parts of the world represent the genre in different ways. As you might expect, there's a lot of pomp and circumstance and pageantry here. It does feel like a reflection of the style of movie production that's often associated with India; T-Series even produces the music here and there are multiple songs interwoven into the film. There's even a big musical number at one point, which is kinda cool to see in a horror movie since outside of Sinners this year, it isn't a typical thing.

There are some problems with this movie, at least for me, though. It often feels disjointed because it simply tries to do too much; there are a lot of characters, and a lot of ideas. Things often don't really feel that well explained and when they are, it sometimes doesn't really feel like it's hitting for me. The film is better earlier on when things are a little more subtle, because near the end it feels an awful lot like someone watched the most recent season of Stranger Things and was a big fan of Vecna (but forgot what makes him a compelling character). The CGI gets a little questionable at times too. That said, like I said it's okay. I appreciate it for being unique in its own ways if nothing else. I won't say it's boring.

Shadow of God: This is one of Shudder's exclusives that's been out a couple of months. Little behind on those, and I think this was the oldest one we hadn't watched yet. As you might expect from its title this is an exorcism movie, but it's much less redundant than those typically are. Not saying it's great, because no, but it does at least offer something a little more unique. The main plot point here is that the exorcist battles a holy spirit, not a demon, as the possessing force. Specifically, God has resurrected the exorcist's cult leader father and has possessed him, wishing to be given a mortal form because he needs that... to destroy the world because he hates it now. The ideas here are much stronger than the movie itself, because there's a combination of a lack of budget (some of the effects here are downright terrible, like 80's camp cheese stuff but the movie isn't presented in a fashion that makes effects like those usable) as well as writing that isn't very good. The actors are fine, I'd even say above average in some cases. Like I think the lead here is just as good as Russell Crowe is in these roles... probably better. But they try to tell a story that needs to be more detailed and fleshed out, without ever really doing so.

But I wouldn't call it bad like The Ritual was, so at least it has "not the worst exorcism themed movie on 2025" going for it. It's totally skippable though.

GenesisSaga posted...

I did a bit of restructuring for my list, and I think I'm a lot happier with how it's divvied out now. I will repost it once we hit 70 horror/horror adjacent films watched. Just to confirm with hubby... that's three off right? I sure hope I haven't missed any!

Yes, I have 67 films on my list (omitted The Wild from my last posting but you already know about that).

I was finally able to watch Bring Her Back, and damn, I feel like this film was kind of slept on in a lot of places. This thing was brutal, both in its surface-level visceral horror and on its psychological and emotional terms too. It had me wincing and squirming and crying, it's a truly masterful horror film in almost every regard. An instant classic for me.

I definitely didn't sleep on it! I think ultimately, I didn't like it as much as Talk to Me, even if it was perhaps the objectively better film as far as production value and practical effects. Both S tier, just comes down to personal preference I suppose.

As for the most recent horror I watched, I don't know if I have the words to describe it. It's a J-horror on Shudder called Best Wishes for All and.... I think it's the kind of film you just have to see for yourself. I don't know if I can honestly recommend it. It's very bleak, but also very entertaining. I think the most app comparison I can make is The Coffee Table from last year, but it's not quite THAT disturbing. It is possibly more unnerving though, depending on what kind of content gives you the chills. The first act is very strong in the traditional horror sense, but by the third act it evolves more into existential horror. I don't know if I can say more than that without spoiling it, but if anything I've said interests you, then look into it. I'm curious as to people's thoughts other than my husband's!

It was a bit too bleak for me. Kinda in that slow, sullen way. Like Bloodlines for example everyone ends up dead and no one survives, but the movie was so hard hitting that it made up for it. If you offer a downer ending, and honestly I guess Bring Her Back didn't necessarily do that since the protagonist survives, I just can't be sort of slowly tortured like this movie did. Still very good, I just can't quite give in the masterpiece title personally.

Speaking of dark and bleak, yeah Best Wishes for All was even moreso than Bring Her Back. Very, very depressing by the end. I get the allegory; which is that some must suffer so others can be happy, essentially feels like a commentary about wealth disparity in society. but I guess I really didn't want to be reminded of it in such a stark and cold sort of way. It is a well crafted film throughout though, and if you want something that is from Japan but not a traditional style of horror from that region you might enjoy this one. Or at least, appreciate it.

It was a slow week for releases so we squeezed in another streaming film last night, this one is currently free with Prime. Candlewood is a movie about a family that moves from the city into the country, and the typical sorts of horror things happen like the community is unfriendly (sort of) and maybe the house is haunted. The reviews for this are all over the place; the early reviews seem like they were from the family/friends of the production team because they glaze it pretty hard. The newer ones are mostly from people calling it the worst thing ever. I think it's somewhere in between there personally. It's obviously a small-budget production, but I thought it was okay. The actors are mostly decent, a few perhaps aren't. The twist in this film gives it a bit of an edge, but I don't think they went quite as hard as they could have with the idea they had here. That might be a budget issue perhaps, but I feel you don't need a huge budget to pull off what they were going for here. That said, again, I found it to be alright. One of those many titles you can find on Prime that will end up being in the "eh, okay sure" realm of your memory or entirely lost, but inoffensive.

I watched it just yesterday and I barely remember it, but my mind has been all over the place lately

Several very limited releases, but they're all around our area... unfortunately we might not get to see any of them oof.

Skillhouse: Another influencer centric horror. Probably not going to top what's already been done (surprisingly I can think of at least a couple of good ones), but it does star... Paige VanZant, 50 Cent and Neal McDonough?

Abraham's Boys: What you think, probably. Van Helsing's sons star, presumably it's a Dracula movie (it's the subtitle).

Hot Spring Shark Attack: I was today years old when I even heard of this one despite all my endless cataloging. For some reason, the only theater to have this is our local "retro/fancy" option we seldom visit (but have for select horrors in the past). Japanese comedy horror shark movie... not sure if want or need.

So I think we've made time for all but that shark movie because well, yeah I can't justify that ticket price for a single watch. Skillhouse should be on the agenda for Monday night.

Tonight, after the first showing was cancelled (we were the only two tickets) in favor of another Superman showtime, we returned a few hours later to have a shot at watching Abraham's Boys. Unfortunately it was with closed captions on, but we got used to it eventually. Apparently this is a Shudder produced film, so it should appear on the platform at some point this month or next; didn't know that. This wasn't the movie I was expecting at all; very much not your traditional vampire movie in the slightest. The events take place 12 years after the death of Dracula, and Van Helsing has moved to California's wildness to avoid contact with the human world as much as possible in hopes that the vampires won't follow after them. Sort of an interesting idea here... Mina Harker has remarried Van Helsing and Jonathan is nowhere to be seen and barely mentioned. With her, he has two teenage sons and eventually he begins to introduce them to the things he does, in order to protect Mina whom is battling her ordeal from the previous decade.

Hard to talk about it much without spoilers, but it is a really interesting and unique take. It's shot and acted well, I thought at least, though it isn't the most exciting or gripping film made I have to give it some credit for doing something different. It is based on a book of the same name, so I guess credit to that book instead.

70 horror/adjacent films watched, here's my updated list before I forget

Total (70)

SS Tier (2):

01. Sinners
02. Dangerous Animals

S Tier (5):

03. Companion
04. Heart Eyes
05. Prvulos: Children of the Apocalypse
06. Opus
07. Bring Her Back

A Tier (20):

08. Marshmallow
09. The Rule of Jenny Pen
10. 28 Years Later
11. The Monkey
12. The Dead Thing
13. Creepbox
14. The Ugly Stepsister
15. Best Wishes to All
16. Final Destination: Bloodlines
17. Frwaka
18. Presence
19. Detective Kien: The Headless Horror
20. Wake Up
21. Daydreamers
22. The Damned
23. Hell of a Summer
24. Locked
25. Screamboat
26. The Surfer
27. I Don't Understand You

B Tier (18):

28. Ash
29. Sumala
30. A Desert
31. Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story
32. The Woman in the Yard
33. Grafted
34. Death of a Unicorn
35. 825 Forest Road
36. Control Freak
37. Clown in a Cornfield
38. Drop
39. Megan 2.0
40. The Ruse
41. Wolf Man
42. Popeye the Slayer Man
43. Dark Match
44. Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare
45. Maa

C Tier (14):

46. Until Dawn
47. Candlewood
48. Member's Club
49. Bystanders
50. Shadow of God
51. The Wild
52. Dead Mail
53. Uncontained
54. Rosario
55. The Bayou
56. The Ritual
57. The Yorkie Werewolf
58. The Shrouds
59. Are You There?

D Tier (9):

60. Home Sweet Home: Rebirth
61. Night of Wrath
62. Dark Nuns
63. Inhabitants
64. The Monster Beneath Us
65. Tarot Curse
66. The Demoness
67. Rounding
68. Werewolf Game

F Tier (2):

69. Hurry Up Tomorrow
70. I Heart Willie

Where I'm at a little over halfway through the year:

All-timer
Sinners

Great
28 Years Later
Companion
Final Destination Bloodlines
Presence

Good
Heart Eyes
The Gorge
Death of a Unicorn
The Monkey

Ok
Bring Her Back
Dangerous Animals
Drop
The Damned

Bad
Until Dawn
Locked

Nothing I'd call truly atrocious though; I just have not been bothering with any more of the horror movie public domain Disney adaptations after how much of a waste of time Blood and Honey was

also I fee

Bruh, M3gan 2.0 did so bad and they invested so much in this dopey franchise that they are doing mass layoffs in Blumhouse.

This has to be one of the all time worst horror franchise screw ups, right?

Well they tripled down on the worst parts of the first one somehow so I don't know what they expected

Yeah that is a huge blunder, and don't they have a Megan spin-off coming out too next year lol

Snake5555555555 posted...

Yeah that is a huge blunder, and don't they have a Megan spin-off coming out too next year lol

I thought it was more of an adjacent thing, and it sounds a lot more interesting than the route they went with 2.0. Though I feel like a film just like it starring Megan Fox came out like last year (never made it around to watching it, I think it was called Subservience).

Again, I wouldn't called M3GAN 2.0 a bad movie by any means. It's decent, and less offensive than the trailers made it seem. But they were looking for a T2 sort of fanfare and didn't quite get that, so I imagine the franchise is most certainly dead in the water now.

Speaking of dead in the water franchises... heading to see the I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot/sequel tonight at midnight. The reviews have started to come in and they don't look good, but I didn't really expect them to be. Even the original wasn't particularly critically acclaimed; it just had some really popular actors in there for the time period and people were moreso a fan of them than the actual film. It was always Scream's doofy little cousin.

Couple of films watched over the first part of the week:

Skill House: This one apparently hasn't picked up very good feedback, but I actually thought it was pretty good. It's another influencer horror film and follows a very similar pattern as last year's Tubi original Clickbait: Unfollowed (I still think that one was the better of these two, but I also really liked that one). Influencers of different types are brought together to a house, and they need to not be the one at the bottom of the views/likes by the end of each round not to die. I guess 50 Cent must have funded this because I was surprised at the production value it had; a lot of the kills were actually pretty good looking and the gore was surprisingly realistic in parts. There are a few too many characters to begin with, but once you start getting down to the end this movie actually did a decent job making you like these unlikable characters. I'm not sure why some people seem to be hating this one, it's definitely not terrible or anything and I'd say worth a watch.

Fear Street: Prom Queen: Finally got around to this one on Netflix. I know I'll probably get some heat for this... but this was my first Fear Street movie. I know... the others are all supposedly a lot better than this one. But that was before my "watch everything" phase and I find it hard to make time for films not released this year anymore. As for this particular movie itself; I mean, it's highly generic stuff. Set in the 80's and at a high school prom, a mysterious killer starts killing off the competitors to be prom queen. A lot of cliches and tropes are present, and I get that's sort of the point but most of the characters are not interesting and have the problem of not standing out from one another. Decent practical effects though; without the gore this would have been a chore I think. But yeah, it's just sort of there.

I really liked the Fear Street trilogy but Prom Queen was just not it, I mean that was BEYOND generic. I'm not sure a single original idea was in the film honestly. And it wasn't just homage or pastiche either.

I didn't bother with Prom Queen but the trilogy was definitely fun

I completely forgot Prom Queen came out. Lol sorry to hear it wasn't great.

And yeah, Subservience was... better than I expected but that's probably the highest praise I can give it. I wouldn't call it bad, however. Just a passable film.

https://twitter.com/afraidofwasps/status/1945675516704428220?t=IMhStp22w8zKtOnKP7YkWw&s=19

Caught up through episode 6 of Hell Motel. Two episodes left!

I've got to say, I really enjoyed these past two episodes a lot. They were very twisty and the show continues to just be an intriguing continuation of Slasher with a better budget.

I still recommend folks check it out. These deaths are absolutely gnarly and some are probably better than Slasher, which has always had some awesome kills.

Reviews aren't looking good for I Know What You Did Last Summer! I'm kind of curious where it fails, because I feel like the vibes were off with the direction of this movie entirely.

I dont understand who that's for

Like who was asking for a I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot? Who was so nostalgic for it that this was necessary?

I'm personally tired of the "We brought back the original cast as seasoned veterans!" trope in all of these reboots now. Just give us a new story with new characters or some kind of clever reimagining.

Who has some deep nostalgia for the survivors of the original movie that you just needed to see them come back years later? I can't even remember their names.

Just saw IKWYDLS and Julie James says it herself : "Nostalgia is overrated." I hold a certain degree of it because I was in high school when it came out, but if anything it was a slightly depressing reminder of long gone youth, replaced by gen z tropes that still annoy me. Freddie Prinze Jr. is basically a grizzled old man. It was fine, and you pretty much know what you're going to get, but I think the box office returns will show that we didn't really need this.

After credits sets up a possible sequel with Brandy making an appearance which we super don't need.

It feels like they're trying to be Scream

nobody wants them to be Scream

Yeah they'll always be tied together because of when they came out, to the detriment of Summer

I was shocked to discover House On Eden was being played at the theater close to me. We don't normally have deep indy movies like that at this theater. I thought maybe one of the girls who made it were local but... nope. Canadian.

I would normally love to support a pair of Youtubers making an actual movie, but it's your typical found footage romp, and there's so many other movies I want to see right now. So I think I'll end up at Eddington or I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot.

What the fuck do you mean they've made a The Jester 2 coming out in two months?

Literally who wanted this?

Boy, I Know What You Did Last Summer really sucked. I can usually handle Gen Z stuff but this was all so grating and distracting when they laid it on thick. One of the leads is so incredibly unlikable too. Doesn't even seem like she cares her fiance died and then she is just so annoying through the run time. And then she survived in the end inexplicably like what? Lol

Jennifer Love Hewitt was really good but Freddie Prinze Jr just seems so grizzled and lost his charm. The main lead does a fine job but everyone else sucks. And good lord, all the nostalgia bait was terrible. Absolutely rolling my eyes at the completely nonsensical Sarah Michelle Gellar dream sequence. Absolutely pointless. And the climax of the movie being Jennifer Love Hewitt screaming "What are you waiting for!?"

The worst part was probably that nothing made sense at all. It just didn't. The motivations were all jacked up and the sequel bait was just hilarious more than anything.

Probably one of the worst of these nostalgic reboots they've had in a while where they bring in all the LORE and hangups from the original.

Very bad film but somehow not as bad as I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer.

Just finished the finale of Hell Motel!

So I'm a little conflicted in terms of whether or not they should have just called this Slasher or not. Because it very much feels like Slasher in so many ways. They gave the creator a bigger budget this time though, and the direction style very much feels different as a result, and the structure of it adds in a wild card pretty early on that would be unheard of with Slasher. But for the most part, it feels like how Slasher is structured otherwise.

All of that said, I think it was pretty great for the most part. I do think there's a bit of a lull where it feels like it's a little same-y and not as much forward movement is happening, but then it picks back up again and feels super satisfying, up until the very end. I didn't feel particularly robbed or anything by the finale either, and I think it wrapped the whole story in a way it needed to, and I didn't really expect it.

It's definitely better than the last season of Slasher was. I'd need to really think on it again to decide how it compares to the other seasons of the show, but I'd say it's probably up there. They really makes some of these deaths the most gruesome they've put together though.

Overall, I recommend it, especially if you're a fan of the Slasher series.

I laughed at the fact that in the new I Know What You Did Last Summer, they act as if vengeful serial killers are some kind of natural phenomena the town needs to be protected from, and which will scare tourists away ala Jaws.

At one point the police even lock the leads in an interrogation room overnight (which the leads take relatively well), so that they won't disrupt the 4th of July?? How? Were they going to run up and down the beach saying "Get out of the water, The Fisherman's afoot!"

The main issue with I Know What You Did Last Summer is not only do they take being locked in jail all night relatively well, but they take EVERYTHING ELSE relatively well. There is absolutely no gravity to anything awful happening. People dying means nothing to them. Even at the end, one of the killers being alive means nothing to them. You'll see no budget indy movies that have the leads actually taking this stuff more seriously. I think it's pretty clear they hacked this script to pieces too, so who knows if the original script may have been better. For all we know, it could have been worse! I think they knew what they had, and that's why this thing was released between two giant superhero movies.

I finally watched 28y later

I guess I expected worse from the ending after what I'd heard, so that didn't bother me so much. I think it was about as good as the original, and definitely more affecting. The cast was so good (the kid was great) andI loved the little relevant allegories and very British references to stuff. I think the way the action was shot got in the way of itself a little bit (I didn't need that quick camera-pan thing on like every arrow shot). Ralph Fiennes doing a weird riff on Apocalypse Now was not what I was expecting either. Glad he survived because his character was the best.

Also the baby is totally an asymptomatic carrier right?

I've lost my place a bit, here are some of my thoughts for recent films we've watched:

I Know What You Did Last Summer: As a boy of like 13 when I first saw this movie (guessing, did not watch this in theaters certainly because it was out in 97 and I would have been 11) there is a fair bit of nostalgia factor for me around it. I mean obviously around that time period, JLH was everyone's crush and if she wasn't SMG probably was instead and that film had both. That said, as much as I do like that first film based on it being one of the earlier horrors I watched, I've always viewed it as the inferior Scream. The first film is really the only one I'd defend as worthwhile in the entire series, and even that film isn't as good as a single from Scream's entire franchise.

Yeah, I mean this movie isn't very good. I wouldn't call it actively terrible or anything since there's a level of competence in terms of filming and a few of the actors, but it certainly shouldn't have existed. Once you get to why exactly the killer is mimicking the appearance and style of the original guy, it's rather deflating quite honestly I think having Ray as one of the killers really sucked because I enjoyed the original film's portrayal of him in contrast to Billy Loomis. The movie wanted to make him look guilty, but he turned out not to be. Now he's this grizzled old man and randomly is the killer now; I just don't like the motive and think it's super weak. The lead was okay, JLH's part was much smaller than I expected, and I will say I did like Teddy and thought he was oddly endearing. But overall just a disappointing, unnecessary mess that definitely won't be getting that sequel.

The Home: This is Pete Davidson's new horror film revolving around a troubled young adult doing community service at a retirement home. I didn't think much of this one coming in, it seemed like it would be a middle of the road serviceable offering. I know I'll be in the minority here based on the critics and audiences scores alike, but I really liked this one a lot. It's not a masterpiece or anything, but I found it to be really effective and paced very well. Yes, Pete Davidson is once again essentially playing himself, the only role he can really do. That said, this particular character was written to his strengths in terms of that so his portrayal of Max felt really authentic to me. The supporting cast has a few good ones sprinkled in here and there, but the thing about this movie that I liked was it was way, way more wild than I was expecting. It gets completely unhinged in the final act and from Davidson to the rest of the cast, I really enjoyed that off the wall approach. I don't imagine it'll be amongst many people's favorites, but much like a few other films I've watched this year this one really won me over.

Bloat: This is tauted as being from the producers of Searching and Unfriended, and stars Ben McKenzie as a father trying to help his cursed son from a distance. Plot wise, it has some promise but ultimately fails to capitalize on its ideas. It's interesting to see a horror film about Kappas, and there's definitely a way to make that exciting but it isn't with the style of film like Searching and Unfriended. Yes, this is from the producers of those films so much so that is entirely the way this movie is also shot. It suffers from a few of the same issues these types of movies usually do; showing people doing really bad Google searches. To me, it's a little jarring because surely real people don't look up information this way... right? It's not bad, but it isn't particularly good either. If you like this style of directing a movie I still can't say this one will please you all that much.

The Surrender: New(ish) on Shudder this is one of the better offerings of their non-theatrical releases so far this year. Pretty spooky film about a mother and daughter trying to resurrect the family patriarch after his death from a long illness. There's some good familial drama horror here as well as a good dose of the supernatural to boot. It is a little bit of a depressing film throughout, from the portrayals of illness, death and false memories but it's done pretty well and feels gripping. I'd say it's worth your time; critics seemed to like it more than audiences did. I could see certain complaints and this one, but I think the actors carry the emotion drawn up here really well.

House on Eden: Another Shudder film, apparently, this one seemed to get a decently wide release somehow despite me only seeing the trailer a couple of times. I haven't seen many found footage films in 2025 so far, and while this one isn't the best I've ever seen, it is probably above average. Though I think in this subgenre there tend to be a lot of stinkers, there are some genuinely creepy things here and with the very small cast of just 3 characters there's a lot of time to devote to everyone. I think it's sort of basically like if Blair Witch tried to be a little more folk horror leaning; good way to describe it I think. I enjoyed it for the most part.

Bambi: The Reckoning: Had to go out of our way and pay a pretty penny to watch because for some reason they didn't really release this as widely as one might expect them to. I know these go onto Max first when they stream, and I don't subscribe to that so I bit the bullet for it. Worth it? I mean, I guess. It's certainly another film that shows this guys are stepping in the right direction in terms of their movie making skills. There are some janky looking CGI moments here and there but largely, I think this was a pretty good effort. If you watched Death of a Unicorn earlier this year you might find this film a tad bit... familiar. The setup of a parent and child surviving against large, four-legged monsters is honestly quite similiar and I don't feel it's possible they copied the idea since this was presumably in production during the same time period as that movie. For the star power and money behind Death of a Unicorn, honestly this movie is just about as good as that one. I don't think either are "great" per se, but both are competent and decent creature feature watches. I still have to give the edge to Peter Pan so far though as the Twisted Childhood's best film.