Last Movie You Watched 2026

Think you've summed up pretty much what I thought there, PD. It looks great, I thought Scarlett Johansen was pretty good (and look how prominent she has become in the publicity!), but the script.... ugh. Add to that my favourite trope-to-hate, what we call "the kiddies in peril" in my house, and the result is a formulaic movie.... but better than the last couple of Chris Pratt ones.

It was very successful, so I suspect there will be more in the offing...
 
Following on with more horror: Hereditary. The first half was quite promising, spooky and shocking. The second half took it too far, got more and more ludicrous, and contained so many consecutive slack-jawed-slow-realisation scenes from the remaining sane character in 15 minutes that it was actually quite funny. Midsommer (the director's second film, which I saw a couple of years ago) was much better.
 
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Following on with more horror: Hereditary. The first half was quite promising, spooky and shocking. The second half took it too far, got more and more ludicrous, and contained so many consecutive slack-jawed-slow-realisation scenes from the remaining sane character in 15 minutes that it was actually quite funny. Midsommer (the director's second film, which I saw a couple of years ago) was much better.
Like The Babadook, I didn't get why there was all the positive praise for this movie myself. May have been for the reason you suggested.

But I did like the oddness of Midsommer.... very Wicker Man!
 
Like The Babadook, I didn't get why there was all the positive praise for this movie myself. May have been for the reason you suggested.

But I did like the oddness of Midsommer.... very Wicker Man!
Yes, and Toni Collette is a great actor even in this silly setting, which I think added a bit more weight to the review average. I thought Babadook was just okay and contained about 3 good scenes (a bit like Hereditary). I saw another horror film called Hostel recently but it was just a silly shock-fest really.

Can anyone recommend any good recent horror films, or at least something you enjoyed?
 
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You may want to take my recommendation with a grain of salt -- I thought The Babadook was very good. But I also agree about Midsommer, so maybe there's hope for me.

I've been hit or miss with catching recent horror movies. Sinners and X have been far and away the most entertaining; Weapons was also quite good. The follow-up to X, Pearl doesn't seem so much a horror movie at first, as a character study; then things change. I agree with critics that the third in that trilogy, Maxxxine isn't as strong; it's still a solid movie, though. (The trilogy may be more enjoyable the more you know about the horror traditions being drawn on.) Nosforatu was beautifully done, though I can't decide if it's a patch on either the original silent movie or the Werner Herzog remake. Last Night in Soho is also good, though it may depend on your tolerance for flashbacks.

I have less enthusiasm for The Black Phone but it's still worth a try, and I think mileage may vary for viewers of Smile and Smile 2 -- I didn't really care for the sequel right after watching it, but the ending has stuck with me. Definitely not great but watchable is Abigail although my generally positive memory of it may be less about the overall effect than about a striking late sequence featuring Katherine Newton -- I've seen her for years, starting in Supernatural, and constantly impressed by her.

For the lighter side of horror, I parked my brains in another room and watched Heart Eyes and found it entertaining. Going back a bit further, better options include Happy Deathday and Happy Deathday 2U, and even better yet, Ready or Not (haven't gotten to the sequel yet). If you don't mind more of the same, Scream 6 was one of the better entries in that franchise; I probably find these watchable because they aren't just horror movies, but who-dun-its. Freaky is also fun -- again with Katherine Newton.

One somewhat older movie I'd really push hard, if you haven't seen it, is The Vast of Night. It doesn't come across as horror but it starts hitting some of those notes as it goes along, and is something of an extended homage to Rod Serling.
 
Also seen The Vast of Night: and agree!

Thought The Black Phone was OK, although turning a short story into a much longer movie takes some doing. Have Black Phone 2 on the list to watch- haven't got there yet.

Sinners I also though was OK, but not really deserving all the rapid applause it seems to be getting.

Weapons
I really didn't like - it started well, but the creepy old woman killed it for me.

Abigail I quite liked - it was pretty obvious what you were going to get- and got.
 
Thanks, Randy. I did look up most of those and, annoyingly, none of them are available on Prime (my current streaming choice) without further subscriptions. However, I will keep them in mind!
 
Thanks, Randy. I did look up most of those and, annoyingly, none of them are available on Prime (my current streaming choice) without further subscriptions. However, I will keep them in mind!
Wouldn't you know.

Not a great selection of recent movies, but they have some I mean to look into but haven't: My Best Friend's Exorcism (based on a Grady Hendrix novel of that name); Susperia (2018); and Neon Demon. There's one, The Deep House, that I found very creepy, though I wasn't sure I liked it. It's decidedly Lovecraftian.

A quick look at Prime shows Totally Killer, which is another horror/comedy, this time with Julie Bowen and Kiernan Shipka; I enjoyed it, thought it found a nice balance between teenage flippancy and teenage angst. But I have a higher tolerance for teen protagonists than some folks. A lot of viewers liked the recent The Invisible Man more than I did. I did enjoy -- if that's the right word -- Candyman; I think it's one of the better sequels updating an older movie.

And Prime is definitely the place for older horror movies. Many of them just terrible.
 
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Deep House looks good but alas it's available to buy only, afraid I dislike having to pay extra for things when I'm subscribed. Neon Demon is apparently 'coming to Prime' in 7 days. I'll wait :)

Have you seen Hell House LLC? It's one of the creepiest movies I've ever seen; found footage done really well. I loved it.
 
Deep House looks good but alas it's available to buy only, afraid I dislike having to pay extra for things when I'm subscribed. Neon Demon is apparently 'coming to Prime' in 7 days. I'll wait :)
Geez.
Have you seen Hell House LLC? It's one of the creepiest movies I've ever seen; found footage done really well. I loved it.
I haven't but it's on my watch list.
 

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