Film Review: The Last House (2026)

 

There's an abundance of tropes in The Last House, and most of the time, the film doesn't seem like it has any problem with that. Instead, it is content to try its best to create what I believe is a new, hopefully sci-fi horror franchise like A Quiet Place, but with a water/sea theme in this case. In that sense, the role of The Last House is to establish the lore - one day, after a storm came, everyone was locked into their house, with no way of escape. One family is determined not just to keep their sanity through that, but to even thrive under these absurdly difficult conditions that are only deteriorating. 

However, that approach does involve a small twist there, which is the passage of time through the story. For some reason, the very first trailer immediately signals this, killing the surprise. Those who enter the film without this prior knowledge will likely have a somewhat more interesting time, even though I suspect it won't be a massive change when it comes to the overall experience. Like the tropes it uses, the plot progression of these kinds of films is not very divergent.  

Thanks to a good cast and well-written dialogue, which never stray into banal or ridiculous territory, The Last House is a modestly entertaining but very predictable film. I'm not sure if the success it generates allows for a full franchise. Yet, it will likely have a long shelf life for streaming viewers who want something not overly clever, but watchable.  

Film Review: The Long Walk (2025)

 

There's some truly deep cinematic magic in the way Francis Lawrence can make things ordinarily extraordinary. His first film, Constantine, did this quite literally, but his latest, another adaptation of a great literary work, returns to this topic. This time he does it from a completely different angle that is anything but magical. In the alternate contemporary world of Stephen King, a group of teenage boys begins a challenge where they need to walk continuously, getting shot by their military escort if they slow down, until only one remains.

This stripped-down version of so many Battle Royale tales is here much more visceral. King's novel is a minimalist masterpiece of absolute doom and this sense of being stuck in a hell of one's own choosing. The film fatefully adapts this notion into a film that keeps going, even though its cast struggles to fill the worn, bloody shows of the much more impactful individuals from the book. Lawrence solves the problem of limited time and exposure by focusing on the constant movement of both characters and the plot. 

With that, The Long Walk is a film that probably broke the record of lines being said by actors in motion and with it, made a disturbing work of art about grim perseverance. That perseverance doesn’t let up even when it fails to make anything or anyone anything but dead. But, that's ultimately also the story of life itself, isn't it?

Film Review: Skinamarink (2022)

It’s hard to have a film that is practically faceless, but not impossible, as Skinamarink shows. This highly experimental horror takes the idea of space and personality, only to twist both into something so uncanny that it cannot do anything but stick in your mind. But does this make the film great? For me, it’s impossible to say, as the process of watching for me was just as boring, and it was terrifyingly memorable. 

The film’s premise involves two kids, aged four and six, waking up in their home in the middle of the night. Their father is missing, and all of the doors and windows of the same house are gone too. In the preceding hours and days, we get an experience that is not just survival of those unable to care for themselves, but something horrifically transcended. 

The problem is that this experience elongates through time almost to infinity. Endlessly long shots of corridors and room corners, kids whose faces are (almost) never shown, and a pressing design of eerie soundscapes all build into a cumbersome watching process. If the film lacks anything, it is that power to immerse the viewers in its strange rhythm. Similarly, low-budget, experimental films like Come True do that almost miraculously. Skinamarink struggles with it nearly from the beginning. 

The film’s writer and director, Kyle Edward Ball, clearly made film history with this work of art. It’s so unusual and impactful that it will leave few in any other state than adoration or complete rejection. Yet, I can’t stop myself from believing that with a more immersive setup and a clearer drive for its obscured narrative, Skinamarink could have been one of the best horrors in the past decade.

Film Review: Frankenstein (2025)

 

Guielrmo Del Toro is well-known for his vocal and very negative stance towards all manner of CGI effects, generative AI, and other digital-only movie-making tools. In his latest film, he tries his hardest to put his money where his mouth is, making the latest version of the classical Mary Shelly tale about playing god and being the victim of that playtime. 

The result is a very moving film with a fantastic showing by Jacob Elordi, who created one of the most iconic monsters/poets that the cinematic world saw in both this and the previous century. Oscar Issac also did exceedingly well with Victor Frankenstein, a man whose genius was only shadowed by his dark ambitions. Once more, we can see just how effective Issac is as the support character and lending his efforts to the film as a whole, not just his part in it.

However, it’s still Elodi who manages to provide such an original, animalistic entity. His monster is not a monster at all, but a being born unto a strange and violent world, who does not give up on seeking both meaning and connection. At the same time, Elodi manages to transform into pure and utter aggression, where his body becomes a weapon and his voice a harbinger of death. Throughout, his presentation is snake-like, both when it comes to his curiosity and his willingness to hurt others when he chooses to.

The film’s only odd downside is the strange post-production that Del Toro decided upon. Because of it, gorgeous physical sets and props, just like costumes, too often feel overly-cleaned and sparkling, as if most of the things we’re seeing are made from some weird CGI plastic. Yet, this doesn’t manage to drown out the performances, and ultimately, for a film about a man made from parts of others, this might be ultimately strangely fitting.

Everyday Evil: A Horror Analogy - Powerful and Frightening Visions of the Human Beast

 

The horror genre is by far the most welcoming domain of cinematography when it comes to bold and unusual visions. After the relative slump of the Hollywood-style teen slashers that marked the 1990s, the 21st century brought about a true renaissance of this filmmaking domain, and now, Patrick A. Albright has added another fantastic film to the same body of artistic work. 

The film created by this award-winning black photographer and director is called Everyday Evil: A Horror Anthology, and from the first shot, it beckons the viewer into what seems like a beautiful and very ordinary world, but one that also hides unspeakable horrors behind it. That way, it will turn out that Albright is actually telling us about our real world.

The anthology covers six separate stories told from a first-person perspective. In all of them, the common theme is the notion of evil itself, but not as some grand, majestical, and even attractive force. Here, instead, it is something more similar to a deep-rooted but ultimately randomly dispersed energy that does not come with a complex backstory or detailed explanation. To the horror of all of us, it simply exists. 

Visually, the film does an amazing job with a very minimal budget, mostly by using a lot of natural lighting and liminal locations that in themselves offer a note of terror. From empty parking lots to desolate roads and green fields with odd, out-of-place details, Albright finds ways to boost the sheer quality of photography in the film to a level of a much bigger film production. The same goes for ambient sounds and the film’s soundtrack, which also enhances the experience through these stories. Generally, it’s tough to find independent films that do their sound right, and especially those that blend it with music that is neither overused nor underplayed. Everyday Evil manages to do just that, creating a balancing act that was clearly worth the substantial effort in post-production. 

There is no doubt that this film shows the value of having a powerful vision and employing it to the maximum effect, regardless of the size of the production’s budget. Everyday Evil: A Horror Anthology and Patrick A. Albright created a marvelous sequence of films and brought them together into one of the best independent horror films of this year. Be sure to watch it now on Fawesome.tv, where you can be impressed and terrified in equal measure.

Film Review: Sinners (2025)

The kinetic force behind the film Sinners is a tangible type of energy that you feel in your rib cage. Like a muffled baseline in a club, it reverberates with you but does not hamper you in any way. Besides, it doesn’t force itself upon you, asking for your unwavering attention. It simply grooves, and you grove with it. The film that Ryan Coogler created works like that, allowing the audience to jump into as deep or as shallow as they like. All who do leap will get immersed in a world completely in tune with Coogler’s vision, which is a space of music, culture, danger, and endless injustice. 

The film places the viewers in the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s, where a pair of criminals and twins, both played by Michael B. Jordan, set up a speakeasy. Their efforts to make an underground club for the downtrodden African-Americans face numerous hurdles, which include both the oppressive white figures and the local black population. However, Elijah "Smoke" and Elias "Stack" Moore won’t take no for an answer and make their vision happen. The first night of the club, however, a stranger from Ireland enters the same vision and quickly turns it into a escalating, bloody nightmare. 

Even though Sinners, like another modern vampire movie, From Dusk Till Dawn, is broken into two substantially different parts, it still works as a unified work of art. It tells its viewers about the pain and the suffering of the black US population and how music was and continues to be a way not just to endure, but to thrive and prosper. In its tale, the film presents so much pain and suffering, but still remains eternally hopeful that things can and must get better. The notion of the main antagonist and his background in the downtrodden Ireland works perfectly alongside this, following it as a form of backup singer who can still steal the spotlight when needed.

Many already label Sinners as a modern masterpiece that goes a long way further than a good horror action film. However, the cultural influence that the film could have in the coming years is even bigger. With the proper mindset of the future viewers who enjoy it - and learn from it - Sinners could become a crucial element of the Black US culture that was created in our lifetime. Presently, the movie, along with the incredible Weapons, is the best horror film of 2025.

Film Review: Weapons (2025)

 

There’s a recent tendency in filmmaking, especially those circles that gravitate more towards the indie scene than the modern Hollywood approach, to explore the boldest topics through horror. It Follows is now more than a decade old, but it grappled with the topic of STDs probably better than any film since Kids. More recently, Oddity delved into loss and mourning with stunning effectiveness. Now, Weapons has come along and, in my view, immediately became a future cult classic.

The film’s creator, Zach Cregger, grabbed the movie-going world’s attention with the quirky and unexpected Barbarians. In his latest creation, however, Cregger found a way to take that potential and blast not just out of the park, but out of the stratosphere. The story of the film is eerie, strange, yet very familiar beyond its surface – a classroom of children simply disappears one night by running out of their homes and into the darkness. In the same class, only one boy remains, clueless about what has transpired. From that point, a frantic series of individual tales ensues, overlapping and intersecting, which all show a unified epic of fear, determination, survival, and hope, which all stand against an utter, soul-crushing hopelessness.

The cast of the film works marvels with a great script that is laden, somehow, with very effective dark humor. Here, Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, and Josh Brolin shine through in particular, along with what is likely the best role Austin Abrams has had in his career. They all complete their roles spotlessly throughout a film where at least a dozen different facial and cranial injuries occur, many of which result in gruesome, gory deaths. But, even these merge into the bigger whole, along with subtle and not-so-subtle references to one of the biggest collective dreads in the mind of modern America.

A masterpiece of social commentary, nail-biting horror, and out-of-place humor, Weapons is definitely not a film that comes around very often. Cregger already proved that he has a brilliant and remarkably different kind of mind, which is appreciated by everyone who loves art. Weapons show what can be done if the stars (human and metaphorical) align for people like him, and we need that alignment to keep going even stronger!

Film Review: Alien: Romulus (2024)

 

Well-made horrors usually tend to include some form of elegant simplicity. Recently, works like Oddity excelled in that regard. But, when you're dealing with a massive, world-famous franchise like Alien, it's a lot harder to keep things simple. Luckily for all fans of sci-fi and horror, director Fede Álvarez managed to pull this off with Alien: Romulus.

The simplicity begins with the plot - on a destitute corporate world where the Weyland-Yutani corporation turns workers into slaves, a group of young people wants to escape and find a better life among the stars. The way to do it is to reach a derelict space station and recover the necessary gear for their years-long journey. On the same space station, however, a xenomorph awaits.

The plot is simple, while the elegance of the film comes from the clever obstacles and dangers that the scavenger team tries to overcome, as well as some gorgeous cinematography. The cast is securely led by Cailee Spaeny, who echoes the collected composure of the much more famous Ellen Ripley. At the same time, the film does not suffer from injected nostalgia or oppressive homages, even though it does transplant (pun intended) one of the original characters into the plot.

The presence of that character, like everything else in the film, is ultimately very smooth. From start to finish, Alien: Romulus is probably the most worthy successor to the first film that was made so far, which is why both the cast and crew deserve a lot of praise.

Film Review: Heretic (2024)

 

Hugh Grant's transformation is truly a spectacular sight to behold. From a bumbling but very charming Englishman, through his career, Grant grew into something that can possess so many horrible human forms. Films like The Gentlemen and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre show a Grant that is sly, greedy, and selfish to the point of disgust. But in Heretic, he took his ability to inhabit unique villains to an entirely new level.

In this setup, he plays Mr. Reed, an elderly recluse who is visited by a pair of young women, acting as missionaries of the LDS Church. But, in his deceivingly humble home, Mr. Reed begins to question the church and their faith, slowly but surely putting them on a path of choices and terrible outcomes. As he does this, he remains both relatable and clearly driven, while each and every idea or question of his comes with a potentially sinister edge behind it.

The film, written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, navigates an interesting space that is brimming with social commentary - connecting things like versions of Jesus-like god throughout history with the Landlord's game - but remains a chilling horror tale that is constantly ratcheting up. The linchpin in all of that is Grant, of course, but both Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East do a great job of initially clueless missionaries engaging themselves in his web of choices and beliefs.

While there is a sense of constant danger that Heretic will slide into the tropes of other similar pawn-in-a-maze-like films, it dodges all of them and instead blossoms into a space neither too fresh nor too stale. Besides being a really good genre film, Heretic also convinced me that I can't wait for what new monsters Grant will create in his upcoming movies.

Film Review: The Crow (2024)

It's hard to deny that the new rendition of the The Crow murder & revenge story is not stylish. The tattoos, the dark lights, the janky spaces - all of it fits into The Crow's neo-gothic iconography. However, in the clash of style versus substance, director Rupert Sanders found very little substance. Because of that, the result is a bland retelling of the film that back in 1994 had so many macabre vibes going for it, even though a bit of that came from the tragedy of Brandon Lee's death.

In the 2024 version, yes, there is a lot of fictional, violent death as well and loads of goth visuals too (not on the level of the brilliant Nosferatu, but still sufficient). But, the chemistry that should either bind characters in eternal love or place them on a path of bloody vengeance is missing. Bill Skarsgård does well as the torn Eric but fails to get it on with FKA twigs. Danny Huston is always interesting to watch, but as the main antagonist, he simply fails to make his character have the kinetic force of evil that is needed here.

Sanders is by no means an inexperienced director, but with The Crow, so much stuff simply falls through the metal mesh floor that should have been the film's foundation. I'm certain that the same foundation in this case has to be the characters, but there's just too much room between all of them, allowing for so much void space. The same sense of pretty emptiness is what the film ends up providing to its viewers.

Film Review: Nosferatu (2024)

The wholehearted dedication that director Robert Eggers provided to gothic horror during the making of Nosferatu is mind-blowing. This director, who has so far been somewhat of a mixed bag for me - The Lighthouse, for example, was a thoroughly unenjoyable experience - went above and beyond to do justice to its source material. In this case, this is not the Bram Stoker novel, but its unauthorized German adaptation from 1922, called Nosferatu.

The film, today iconic for its visuals but unknown to many, did slight adjustments to the story of Count Dracula and Eggers decided to focus on that rendition completely. Besides that, he also stayed true to the dramatic and often tragic concepts of gothic horror and romanticism in general, providing a script that must have been read in a very odd and offbeat way. Finally, Eggers managed to mix into that a lot of pan-Slavic, pagan-rooted notions and rituals, focusing on Eastern Romania and the region of Transylvania. For the making of the film, this brilliant director even found inspiration in art like the Yugoslav TV movie The She-Butterfly, an obscure work of Balkan filmmaking.

The cast fully embraced this brilliant script. Bill Skarsgård, Lily-Rose Depp, and Nicholas Hoult are top-notch in their lead roles, while Willem Dafoe is simply mesmerizing in every scene he appears as the wise and learned Albin Eberhart von Franz (Van Helsing, in the original tale). Throughout the film, breathtaking cinematography follows the storyline to the heartbeat, even with its drastic changes in scenery and settings, covering castles from high mountains, strange ships on high seas, and beautiful salons from high German society. Even the ending, which will disappoint many who are looking for regular vampire horror tropes, is a tiny masterpiece in its own right.

Many stated for some time that Robert Eggers is one of the leading film directors of his generation. I can honestly say that I didn’t fully see things the same way for a long time, despite many hints and glimmers of that greatness. Then, I watched Nosferatu and so should you.

Film Review: I Saw the TV Glow (2024)

As someone born in the 1980s, I too, just like I Saw the TV Glow, can attest to the power of great television. In my case, the shows of choice during my childhood include a narrow band of science fiction, mainly seen in The X-Files, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, and Star Trek: Voyager. In these shows, as a kid, I found almost total immersion, where I truly got lost in each episode into a very believable world that is so much unlike my own reality.

I Saw the TV Glow focuses on that mental and emotional space for its two main characters, Owen and Maddy. Both of them are growing up in the US suburbs and finding life incredibly challenging as teens in 1996. However, what also binds them together is The Pink Opaque, a fictional TV show that features two characters with a psychic connection who are fighting an ever-present, but subtle evil force seen in the form of Mr. Melancholy.

The film was written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun, who clearly also understands the power and horror of finding escape from both the real world and the physical bodies that inhabit it. The experience of watching I Saw the TV Glow is thus very odd, as it mixes tones of teen bonding and finding solace in each other's company, with a sharp sense of dread and despair, even utter horror. The latter come from the lifestyles that are to a point forced on the main characters, as well as their controlled and asserted perceptions of themselves.

Here, in this space filled with so many feelings, the fantastic musical soundtrack only enhances this unique experience of belonging and very much sticking out. Both main characters, played by Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine, do a great job in trying to communicate this sense of split self to each other and the audience, which is so hard to explain with words. That is why both of them, just like the film in its entirety, succeeds brilliantly in showing just a glimpse - but still a powerful one - of lives where people never belong, yet yearn so much to do nothing more than fit in somewhere.

Film Review: Immaculate (2024 film)

The traditional Roman Catholic iconography easily offers itself up to a range of horror genres and Immaculate is another fine example of that dark merger. In this case, the focus is on an approach that is best described as body horror, even though the film blends several other atypical elements into the mix, including faint echoes of Giallo filmmaking.

The plot of the film follows Sister Mary, a US nun who arrives in a remote Italian Catholic convent. At first, Mary, who is played by Sydney Sweeney, is greeted by a community of different characters, where her future fitting in could be a long and arduous process. However, soon after it is discovered that Mary is with child, even though her chastity remains intact.

Directed by Michael Mohan, Immaculate focuses on the idea of being entrapped by one's surroundings, by one's body, and by one's deepest faith. Here, Sweeney's interpretation of Mary is very striking, as she provides a very downtrodden and humble character, who still harbors a strong will to fight and overcome horrible situations. As the film progresses, these situations only grow in scale and frequency.

Ritualistic and visceral, Immaculate is a strong body horror that touches upon some very real issues of female reproductive rights and the ideation that this carries with it among the faithful. Unlike other horrors rooted in rituals, like Midsommar, the film does not get entangled in its religious source material but remains focused on its crucial entity - the character of Mary and her terrible experiences.

Film Review: 'Salem's Lot (2024)

Last year was brimming with fantastic new horror films. Movies like Oddity and Longlegs are just some of the titles that managed to impress and terrify both critics and the audiences. However, 'Salem's Lot, which has the most impressive pedigree of the bunch, was not able to do the same. For me, however, the film more than does justice both to its original source material and the modern horror genre.

Created by Gary Dauberman, a modern horror-making veteran, the film is based on  the 1975 novel by Stephen King. In it, a writer comes home to a small town of Jerusalem's Lot looking for inspiration, but ultimately finds only terror and danger as an ancient vampire is slowly taking over the town. He and a small band of locals try to put a stop to it, or at least survive.

While the latest adaptation is not a masterpiece, Dauberman and a really solid movie cast still managed to turn it into a very entertaining horror. The use of light, especially in the form of glowing crosses, is exceedingly impressive from a visual side, while the photography overall manages to paint a bleak and scary picture of a small-tow-US slowly becoming a graveyard of both the dead and the undead. Yes, there is scant character development and some moments are abruptly ended by the director and the script, but I found that refreshing.

Instead of blindly trying to make a film copy of the book - necessarily in a limited TV series from - the director wanted to make a semi-original iteration of this famous tale, which is in itself basically a modern retelling of a generic folk story. Throughout this, 'Salem's Lot keeps a grip on the audience akin to the best horrors of the 1980s and early 1900s. While it might not be very innovative, it is still appealing from start to finish. Horror movies should not be judged too harshly if they end up in a position like that.

Film Review: Oddity (2024)

The power of Oddity as a very fresh and atypical horror is seen literally in the first five minutes of the film. That is the moment in the film when a brilliant and chilling conversation takes place between a woman, locked in an old Irish mansion, and a stranger on the other side of the door. In that short but impactful vignette, the film and its director Damian Mc Carthy showcase just how well they manage tension, expectation, and the bleak visual environment where both take place. In that space, we as a viewer cannot help but look for danger and threats in every dark doorway or dimly lit corner.

The same skill set propels Oddity to the very top of modern horror, especially when keeping in mind that it is coming from a European indie production. But, through the smart use of simple props and excellent storytelling, Oddity compensates for any lack of production values. Instead, it proves a deeply disturbing tale that is still very plausible and ultimately a very down-to-earth matter. Similarly to Late Night with the Devil, the film’s premise begins in an outlandish manner but becomes more and more personal and thus possible as time goes by.

With that strong and grounded setup, the tale of a blind woman and a medium, going on the quest to find out who really murdered her twin sister becomes something extraordinary. The acting cast understood that as well, which is why Carolyn Bracken and Caroline Menton do a great job, followed closely by Tadhg Murphy, Steve Wall, and Gwilym Lee. All of them attain amazing results without any apparent extraordinary effort. In a similar way, Oddity effortlessly shows that horror films are at the cutting edge of the present independent film industry.

Devil's Knight (2024) - Action Horror Fantasy

There can never be too many movies set in the medieval fantasy period, especially if they're based on a blend of action and horror. Simply put, the same mix of genres always provides a level of fun and thrills that nearly guarantees a good time for cinephiles of these types of films. Devil's Knight is one such film, and this title only recently came out. Here's how the film describes itself:

In the realm of Veroka, an elite group of global monster hunters is summoned by King Samuel to vanquish the ancient Bone Devil, whose reign of terror threatens the Kingdom of Remény.

 

The movie is directed by Adam Werth and stars John Wells, Kevin Sorbo, Angie Everhart, and Daniel Baldwin. It also features the legendary Eric Roberts. It was written by Vincent V. Gelsomino and Adam Werth. Devil's Knight is produced by Michael Mahal and Sonny Mahal of Mahal Empire Productions.

For more information, check out the Devil's Knight IMDb page!

VasDahiv Uncharted - YouTube Mystery-Horror Animated Series

It's always fantastic to see innovative art that blends a range of influences. VasDahiv Uncharted is an episodic YouTube animated series that was made in the same manner, with origins that are both diverse and global. That covers the subject matter of the series, but also how its team approached its storytelling. Here's how the series describes itself:

The first issue of VasDahiv: Uncharted introduces Vandad, a young adventurer, and his companions as they explore the mystical desert landscape of VasDahiv. While on a quest to solve an ancient mystery involving a strange box and a broken seal left by Vandad’s father, they encounter strange characters, including a mysterious old man who may not be what he seems. With elements of supernatural danger, tension, and Persian mythology, the series blends adventure, horror, and suspense as Vandad and his friends face unforeseen challenges that test their resolve and uncover secrets that have remained hidden for centuries.

In the first episode, the skill of the team behind VasDahiv Uncharted is immediately clear. The style of the animation is a great blend of cartoon, cell shading, and realistic approaches. From the perspective of the narrative, characters, and the entire storyline, the episode quickly sets up its premise and the central mystery, all the while using familiar elements like a road trip, (seemingly) random encounters, and abandoned, spooky gas stations. All of these immediately catch the attention of the viewer and draw them into the emerging story of VasDahiv.

On the production side, the series is really well-made, featuring great voiceover acting and soundtrack. Also, the level of polish that the animation comes with, especially that of the characters’ faces and facial expressions, is impressive, showing that the team painstakingly made sure everything looks, sounds, and feels excellent. All of this shows that the director Younes Hommasi and the team around him know what they're doing not just now, but for future episodes as well.

If you're into animated series and ancient mysteries that combine numerous elements, check out the official website of VasDahiv Uncharted. But first, watch the entire first episode of the series right here, and be sure to subscribe to its official YouTube channel for future episodes!

Film Review: Longlegs (2024)

 

Several factors related to Longlegs and the way Osgood Perkins directed the film are simply fantastic. These include photography and frame composition, but also the glorious fact that this work again forced (or enticed) Nicholas Cage to show the world his true talent. Unlike a range of B-class films he made in recent years, Longlegs is a true work of art. Maika Monroe, as the lead character of the confused but driven FBI agent Lee Harker also provides a very impressionable psychological study.

Finally, the initial atmosphere and narrative mood hint at the film being inside of the New Weird genre, here Harker gets a hypnotic FBI test that determines whether or not she might be a psychic. All of these fit perfectly into a generic story of a series of horrific crimes where a mysterious being, known only as Longlegs, somehow forces families to murder each other. Here, the plot is reminiscent of things like the Southern Reach trilogy from the writer Jeff VanderMeer or video games like Control. In the first half of the film, Perkins wants to tell the audience that horrible things can and will happen, while forces committing these, just as the forces opposing those, might be unknowable to us.

But, as the film breaks into the second half, all of that synergy is somehow lost. The mystery shifts into occult and satanism but does so in a bland, stuttering manner. The focus of the characters is lost as seemingly all of them suddenly fall into some kind of unclear family drama buried deep in their past. Even Cage appears to be questioning his approach to the role of an intensely deranged person, finally reverting to bizarre impressionism that is again, kind of silly. As the end and the culmination draws near, the events get bloodier, but everything gets unintentionally funnier as well.

The finale itself is more akin to the forest critters from South Park who engage in blood orgies and exclaim “Hail Satan” than a thought-through New Weird horror story. The film does tie all of its loose ends and provides closure to the mystery, but that closure ends up more comical than scary. With that, Perkins managed to make a work of art that feels more similar to a Tales from the Crypt episode than one of the most cerebral horror films of 2024, which Longlegs so very much could have been.

Film Review: Late Night with the Devil (2023)

It’s always great to see a particular film genre go through a big evolution. I’m not a big fan of the found-footage genre, but with Late Night with the Devil, it is clear that the film moved the entire domain of this type of moving-making. The premise involves a double layer of found footage, seen in a special episode of a late-night talk show from the 1970s, where a single guest apparently managed to summon the devil.

The film, directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes, uses the two-fold approach in a really novel, but narratively very suitable manner. The first layer is the 1970s color (and 4:3 format) show that was broadcast live decades earlier, while the second layer is a regularly framed but black and white behind-the-scenes footage. Both blend perfectly in a modest runtime of an hour and a half.

The last element of this extraordinary film is David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy, the late-night show host who has fallen to his lowest point in both life and career. Dastmalchian is fantastic in presenting the multi-faceted Delroy, where many elements of personal motivation and drive, motivation, guilt, grief, and regret all mix with the insatiable need to be the number one in his field of business.

It’s a shame that the film generated an aura of controversy due to its incredibly minor and trivial use of AI-generated images for a couple of still shots. Beyond the issue of AI art use, Late Night with the Devil is a fantastic and innovative horror film that does for its genre what few have managed in many previous years.

Arena Wars (2024) - Death Games, Bloody Mayhem, and Fun!

Humanity has always been fascinated with the concept of competitions where the participants risk mortal injuries or even fight to the death. In ancient times, cultures like the Roman Empire had their gladiators, while Aztecs sacrificed prisoners of war in similar game-like events. In the present day, such practices are either non-existent or highly illegal, but the fascination remains, especially when modern technology is thrown into the mix. That is why films like the legendary Running Man became cult classics. Now, a new feature film takes on this concept, but does it in a fresh and unique manner. That film is Arena Wars and it comes out very soon with its hellish version of death games. 

Gravitas Ventures is well known for bringing innovative independent films to a worldwide audience. On June 25th, Arena Wars will bring the battle to the big screen in North America and on VOD in most geographic regions. Be warned, folks, Arena Wars is not for the faint of heart as it places our heroes, who happen to be freedom-seeking convicted criminals, on a live television show "Arena Wars" to engage in mortal combat for your evening entertainment! Think the masked singer meets WWE but with knives, sludge hammers, convicted murderers, and chain-saws.

Our protagonist Luke Bender (John Wells) is a wrongfully convicted Marine serving a life sentence, who leads a group of ragtag convicts through a series of arenas in the ultimate quest of good vs evil, freedom vs certain death. In Arena Wars, convicted criminals can fight their way to freedom against seven of the world's most dangerous masked gladiators. Enter our masked gladiators in full combat armor: Master Blaster, a chain-saw-toting psychopath; Cutie-pie, whose machete is sure to capture your heart; Calypso, who is ready for a fight in some scary WW2 riot gear; Meat Wagon, and many more. 

 

 

 

Arena Wars also stars its TV host, Michael Madsen (Kill Bill, Hateful Eight), and Robert Lasardo as Perez (The Mule, Death Race), Eric Roberts as Admiral Jordan (Runaway Train, The Dark Knight). The very capable Brandon Slagle is at the helm, directing and capturing the action of the Arena Wars mayhem (The Flood, Battle for Saipan). Mark your calendars for June 25th, folks; that's when Arena Wars slashes, punches, and kicks its way to select theaters and VOD! Arena Wars is not to be missed!

The film is a must-watch for all fans of genres like action, gore horror, and thrillers, especially those that involve the tech aspect, seen here in humanity’s insatiable hunger for TV and online video violence. However, Arena Wars doesn’t shy away from dark humor, which is a great counterbalance to the somber note of death games. Here, a great cast, including Roberts, Lasardo, and Madsen, is a perfect fit, as veterans who can effectively dabble in both serious characters and those roles with a comedic twist. Also, as the trailer shows, the movie features a high level of polish, seen in editing and color correction, as well as other elements that make it big scene-worthy for sure.

Arena Wars will hit theaters and video-on-demand services on June 25, 2024. All who find this setup intriguing should pre-order the film on Amazon right now, but every action movie fan out there should be aware - when the 25th comes, be ready for your bloody dose of Arena Wars!