Being that season, I'll catch up on some horror movies I've watched over the last few months ...
Spookies (1986) dir. doesn't matter; starring also doesn't matter (Shudder)
Just don't.
Peculiar supernatural sorta-slasher with minimal plot. Bunch of party-ers enter deserted mansion and are picked off one by one somehow fueling a guy's attempt to bring back his lost love. Low budget movie made mostly to show off fairly good, if gross, practical effects.
Really. Don't.
Dog Soldiers (2002) dir. Neil Marshall; starring Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Emma Cleasby (Shudder)
A movie I've finally caught up to. A military exercise in the Scottish wilderness becomes a nightmare for the soldiers involved when they have to confront werewolves. The action starts early, but not before some give-and-take between the soldiers gives the viewer an idea who they are and how they interact. Pertwee is very good as the squad leader, as is McKidd as his second in command, who has tried out for a special ops team and almost made the cut except for showing compassion for a dog. Liam Cunningham is suitably steely as the special ops commander who eventually shows up in the woods with the soldiers. Cleasby portrays a zoologist aware of the area's odd inhabitants. One note: Pay attention to the ending shot. It echoes the famous closing scene in The Searchers.
This mixes action/adventure with horror very well, but if you're allergic to gore, it may be a bit much for you.
Exorcismo (2024) dir. Alberto Sedano; narrated by Iggy Pop (Shudder; documentary)
Interesting recounting of Spanish cinema in the years immediately after General Franco's death. Spain had a democracy for about 5 years, then in 1936 several forces (according to the movie, the Fascists, the wealthy and the Catholic Church, all of whom were concerned with losing power under a democracy) conspired to overturn it. Franco ruled for around 35 years. During that time the film industry was continuously censored, forced into providing pro-family, pro-Catholic films with little to no violence -- the Franco government feared opening the wounds of the Civil War by depicting violence. In the late '50s, early '60s, the economy was suffering so they opened the country to Spanish and foreign filmmakers to make movies appealing to audiences in other countries; violence, sex and nudity were back in play and those films could not be set in Spain nor were they shown there. For example, Paul Naschy's movies. Once Franco died and censorship faded away, all h*ll broke loose as the industry began re-inventing itself, no holds barred. This was the time when Jess Franco returned to Spain, as did Jose Ramon Larraz. An "S" classification was devised -- not "S" for sex, but for sensitivity, as in, these are images/subjects much of the audience might find objectionable. Naturally, these movies made boatloads of money as an entire society let down from decades of repression. It all came to an end when the new democracy formed a department to oversee financing of movies and the person who took on the job aimed at social realism.
From what was shown and discussed, it appeared that the horror movies coming from this new freedom were obsessed with the interplay of sex and death. Many film clips are included, some both fascinating and disturbing. Very disturbing. Some of the movies might make giallos look rather tame.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026) dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett; starring Samara Weaving, Katherine Newton, Elijah Wood (Hulu -- I think)
Seems Grace's (Weaving) survival in the last movie triggers a power struggle among several families. Twins Ursula (Sarah Michelle-Geller) and Titus (Shawn Hatosy) organize a kidnapping just as Grace's estranged sister, Faith (Newton), is visiting Grace in the hospital. Both are flown to a vast estate, the main members of the families gather, and the hunt is on: Who kills Grace, gains the power. Handcuffed together, Grace and Faith have to resolve their differences in order to work together and survive. Comedy and drama ensue.
If you haven't seen the first one, you really should, whether or not you watch this one. This is more of the same, mostly, and yet I find it hard to look away from Weaving and pairing her with Newton (Freaky; Abigail; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri -- as was Weaving), another of the relatively recent Scream Queens, was a great idea as was giving them some action and dialog they could have fun with. As in the first movie, there is some vicious fighting of the semi-Hollywood type, which means getting bloodied but nothing seriously broken and a shower gussies up the actresses just fine. There's one scene that I think goes on a few beats (no pun intended ... this time) longer than necessary, though the scene itself establishes the seriousness of Grace and Faith's peril. Then there's another fight scene, completely over-the-top, between two characters blinded by pepper spray that is very funny.
On the whole, a good cast given enough to do to be entertaining.
Grabbers (2012) dir. Jon Wright; starring Richard Coyle; Ruth Bradley (Shudder)
A crash into the ocean not far from an island town, a fishing ship attacked, islanders disappearing, a huge storm ready to wash over the island, and a redoubtable but drunken lawman (Coyle) and his newly arrived help (Bradley) realize they are being attacked by something like a giant, mobile sea anemone. A vampiric sea anemone. With one weakness. But can the townsfolk defend themselves when not sober?
It's a bit like the filmmakers watched a bunch of '50s monster movies then saw Shaun of the Dead and said we can do that, but in Ireland with a Lovecraftian critter. It has a moment or two that reminded me of Gremlins as it laid its foundation and then played out the probable consequences. Rarely laugh out loud funny, it's still fun to watch a monster movie that's well-acted and doesn't take itself too seriously. Some nice comic moments from Lalor Roddy as a constantly somewhat inebriated townsman.
Cold Storage (2026) dir. Jonny Campbell; starring Joe Kerry; Georgina Campbell; Liam Neeson; Lesley Manville; Sosie Bacon (MGM+)
When Skylab fell out of orbit, a container that didn't burn up in the atmosphere landed in Australia and NASA missed finding it. It contained a fungus that had mutated. Neeson, Manville and Bacon are called in when a small settlement calls in distress. They manage to destroy the settlement -- the inhabitants are already dead -- but a sample was taken and put in -- you got it! -- cold storage. Many years later the storage facility was sold to a storage company, the fungus not removed, and now climate changes have undermined the containment. Kerry and Campbell work for the company and as the uncontained fungus wreaks havoc, they try to survive.
A mostly understated comedy. I was a bit surprised to see Kerry hold his own with the others -- I liked him in Stranger Things but wouldn't have pegged him as a potential movie star. A fair amount of violence and some gross effects as we watch several complete jerks get a fungal comeuppance as our erstwhile heroes try to survive. Not quite the Abbott and Costello vs. The Andromeda Strain, but leaning that direction.
1000 Women in Horror (2025) dir. Donna Davies; writer, Alexandria Heller-Nicholas (Shudder)
Intriguing documentary covering women who have made horror movies -- actresses, directors, writers, mainly -- and how horror movies tend to portray women: girls, teens, mothers, crones, victims, etc. The take-away is that more and more women are using the genre to explore the lives and expectations of women. If it's a subject you're interested in, this might be worth a couple of viewings.
Messiah of Evil (1974) dir. Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz; starring Marianna Hill, Michael Greer, Royal Dano, Anitra Ford (Shudder)
The documentary above prodded my memory that I had access to this. Generally seen as one of the folk horror movies that came out in the late '60s and early '70s (Witchfinder General; The Wicker Man; The Blood on Satan's Claws). It's an odd low-budget but effective mixture of Rosemary Baby-like occultism and Night of the Living Dead. Arletty's (Hill) artist father (Dano) has gone missing after moving to a small, isolated California seaside town for a quiet place to work. No one in town admits to knowing much; a body washes up on the beach and local authorities claim it's her father, but she sees it's not. There's a back-story about the town that works in context, while the artist angle opens up opportunities for striking visuals in the artist's home. There are three or four effectively chilling scenes, the best known being of a young woman (Ford, last seen by me slathering young women into Bee-girls) approaching and entering what looks like an empty grocery store.
Dust Bunny (2025) dir. Bryan Fuller; starring Mads Mikkelsen, Sophie Sloan, Sheila Atim, Sigourney Weaver (HBO Max ?)
Stylish and stylized horror-comedy, in which an eight-year-old girl hires a hit-man to kill the monster under her bed.
And if you're at all interested, that should be about all you know going in. That said, Sophie Sloan might be the kind of child actress that Hailee Steinfeld was 15 or so years ago. Mikkelson is his usual low-key very good. Weaver gets to slightly and entertainingly ham it up. Atim makes an excellent social worker. And David Dastmalchian makes a welcome and effective appearance.
This movie is not for everyone. It doesn't really break out into full-on comedy, but the premise and the tone are largely comedic, with a touching moment or two. It would make an interesting second bill behind The Babadook.
The Black Phone (2021) dir. Scott Derrickson; starring Mason Thames, Madeline McGraw, Ethan Hawke (Amazon?)
Finally caught up to this. Effective chiller about a kidnapped boy, Finney (Thames), trying to out manouver his kidnapper known as The Grabber (Hawke). The cellar in which he's imprisoned has a black phone. The cord's been cut. And yet, it still rings. When Finney answers, there is someone on the other end.
This is a well-made movie. Derrickson makes sure you have a feel for the victims, he establishes Finney as a decent, if timid, young man whose mother died. Finney and his sister Gwen (McGraw) share the chore of caring for dad. The love between Gwen and Finney comes through and her search for him after he's taken gives the movie added dimension. Gwen has dreams. Her mom had dreams, too. Seems sometimes they learn real things from those dreams.
There are a couple of moments in this movie that might affect the really squeamish, but it's not a gore-fest, just suspenseful. Based on a Joe Hill (Horns; NOS4A2) short story, the script was co-written by C. Robert Cargill. I haven't read him, but Cargill has also written horror short story collection and this movie suggests he knows what he's doing.
Huh. Didn't realized I'd watched quite this much horror and horror-adjacent movies.
Spookies (1986) dir. doesn't matter; starring also doesn't matter (Shudder)
Just don't.
Peculiar supernatural sorta-slasher with minimal plot. Bunch of party-ers enter deserted mansion and are picked off one by one somehow fueling a guy's attempt to bring back his lost love. Low budget movie made mostly to show off fairly good, if gross, practical effects.
Really. Don't.
Dog Soldiers (2002) dir. Neil Marshall; starring Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Emma Cleasby (Shudder)
A movie I've finally caught up to. A military exercise in the Scottish wilderness becomes a nightmare for the soldiers involved when they have to confront werewolves. The action starts early, but not before some give-and-take between the soldiers gives the viewer an idea who they are and how they interact. Pertwee is very good as the squad leader, as is McKidd as his second in command, who has tried out for a special ops team and almost made the cut except for showing compassion for a dog. Liam Cunningham is suitably steely as the special ops commander who eventually shows up in the woods with the soldiers. Cleasby portrays a zoologist aware of the area's odd inhabitants. One note: Pay attention to the ending shot. It echoes the famous closing scene in The Searchers.
This mixes action/adventure with horror very well, but if you're allergic to gore, it may be a bit much for you.
Exorcismo (2024) dir. Alberto Sedano; narrated by Iggy Pop (Shudder; documentary)
Interesting recounting of Spanish cinema in the years immediately after General Franco's death. Spain had a democracy for about 5 years, then in 1936 several forces (according to the movie, the Fascists, the wealthy and the Catholic Church, all of whom were concerned with losing power under a democracy) conspired to overturn it. Franco ruled for around 35 years. During that time the film industry was continuously censored, forced into providing pro-family, pro-Catholic films with little to no violence -- the Franco government feared opening the wounds of the Civil War by depicting violence. In the late '50s, early '60s, the economy was suffering so they opened the country to Spanish and foreign filmmakers to make movies appealing to audiences in other countries; violence, sex and nudity were back in play and those films could not be set in Spain nor were they shown there. For example, Paul Naschy's movies. Once Franco died and censorship faded away, all h*ll broke loose as the industry began re-inventing itself, no holds barred. This was the time when Jess Franco returned to Spain, as did Jose Ramon Larraz. An "S" classification was devised -- not "S" for sex, but for sensitivity, as in, these are images/subjects much of the audience might find objectionable. Naturally, these movies made boatloads of money as an entire society let down from decades of repression. It all came to an end when the new democracy formed a department to oversee financing of movies and the person who took on the job aimed at social realism.
From what was shown and discussed, it appeared that the horror movies coming from this new freedom were obsessed with the interplay of sex and death. Many film clips are included, some both fascinating and disturbing. Very disturbing. Some of the movies might make giallos look rather tame.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026) dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett; starring Samara Weaving, Katherine Newton, Elijah Wood (Hulu -- I think)
Seems Grace's (Weaving) survival in the last movie triggers a power struggle among several families. Twins Ursula (Sarah Michelle-Geller) and Titus (Shawn Hatosy) organize a kidnapping just as Grace's estranged sister, Faith (Newton), is visiting Grace in the hospital. Both are flown to a vast estate, the main members of the families gather, and the hunt is on: Who kills Grace, gains the power. Handcuffed together, Grace and Faith have to resolve their differences in order to work together and survive. Comedy and drama ensue.
If you haven't seen the first one, you really should, whether or not you watch this one. This is more of the same, mostly, and yet I find it hard to look away from Weaving and pairing her with Newton (Freaky; Abigail; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri -- as was Weaving), another of the relatively recent Scream Queens, was a great idea as was giving them some action and dialog they could have fun with. As in the first movie, there is some vicious fighting of the semi-Hollywood type, which means getting bloodied but nothing seriously broken and a shower gussies up the actresses just fine. There's one scene that I think goes on a few beats (no pun intended ... this time) longer than necessary, though the scene itself establishes the seriousness of Grace and Faith's peril. Then there's another fight scene, completely over-the-top, between two characters blinded by pepper spray that is very funny.
On the whole, a good cast given enough to do to be entertaining.
Grabbers (2012) dir. Jon Wright; starring Richard Coyle; Ruth Bradley (Shudder)
A crash into the ocean not far from an island town, a fishing ship attacked, islanders disappearing, a huge storm ready to wash over the island, and a redoubtable but drunken lawman (Coyle) and his newly arrived help (Bradley) realize they are being attacked by something like a giant, mobile sea anemone. A vampiric sea anemone. With one weakness. But can the townsfolk defend themselves when not sober?
It's a bit like the filmmakers watched a bunch of '50s monster movies then saw Shaun of the Dead and said we can do that, but in Ireland with a Lovecraftian critter. It has a moment or two that reminded me of Gremlins as it laid its foundation and then played out the probable consequences. Rarely laugh out loud funny, it's still fun to watch a monster movie that's well-acted and doesn't take itself too seriously. Some nice comic moments from Lalor Roddy as a constantly somewhat inebriated townsman.
Cold Storage (2026) dir. Jonny Campbell; starring Joe Kerry; Georgina Campbell; Liam Neeson; Lesley Manville; Sosie Bacon (MGM+)
When Skylab fell out of orbit, a container that didn't burn up in the atmosphere landed in Australia and NASA missed finding it. It contained a fungus that had mutated. Neeson, Manville and Bacon are called in when a small settlement calls in distress. They manage to destroy the settlement -- the inhabitants are already dead -- but a sample was taken and put in -- you got it! -- cold storage. Many years later the storage facility was sold to a storage company, the fungus not removed, and now climate changes have undermined the containment. Kerry and Campbell work for the company and as the uncontained fungus wreaks havoc, they try to survive.
A mostly understated comedy. I was a bit surprised to see Kerry hold his own with the others -- I liked him in Stranger Things but wouldn't have pegged him as a potential movie star. A fair amount of violence and some gross effects as we watch several complete jerks get a fungal comeuppance as our erstwhile heroes try to survive. Not quite the Abbott and Costello vs. The Andromeda Strain, but leaning that direction.
1000 Women in Horror (2025) dir. Donna Davies; writer, Alexandria Heller-Nicholas (Shudder)
Intriguing documentary covering women who have made horror movies -- actresses, directors, writers, mainly -- and how horror movies tend to portray women: girls, teens, mothers, crones, victims, etc. The take-away is that more and more women are using the genre to explore the lives and expectations of women. If it's a subject you're interested in, this might be worth a couple of viewings.
Messiah of Evil (1974) dir. Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz; starring Marianna Hill, Michael Greer, Royal Dano, Anitra Ford (Shudder)
The documentary above prodded my memory that I had access to this. Generally seen as one of the folk horror movies that came out in the late '60s and early '70s (Witchfinder General; The Wicker Man; The Blood on Satan's Claws). It's an odd low-budget but effective mixture of Rosemary Baby-like occultism and Night of the Living Dead. Arletty's (Hill) artist father (Dano) has gone missing after moving to a small, isolated California seaside town for a quiet place to work. No one in town admits to knowing much; a body washes up on the beach and local authorities claim it's her father, but she sees it's not. There's a back-story about the town that works in context, while the artist angle opens up opportunities for striking visuals in the artist's home. There are three or four effectively chilling scenes, the best known being of a young woman (Ford, last seen by me slathering young women into Bee-girls) approaching and entering what looks like an empty grocery store.
Dust Bunny (2025) dir. Bryan Fuller; starring Mads Mikkelsen, Sophie Sloan, Sheila Atim, Sigourney Weaver (HBO Max ?)
Stylish and stylized horror-comedy, in which an eight-year-old girl hires a hit-man to kill the monster under her bed.
And if you're at all interested, that should be about all you know going in. That said, Sophie Sloan might be the kind of child actress that Hailee Steinfeld was 15 or so years ago. Mikkelson is his usual low-key very good. Weaver gets to slightly and entertainingly ham it up. Atim makes an excellent social worker. And David Dastmalchian makes a welcome and effective appearance.
This movie is not for everyone. It doesn't really break out into full-on comedy, but the premise and the tone are largely comedic, with a touching moment or two. It would make an interesting second bill behind The Babadook.
The Black Phone (2021) dir. Scott Derrickson; starring Mason Thames, Madeline McGraw, Ethan Hawke (Amazon?)
Finally caught up to this. Effective chiller about a kidnapped boy, Finney (Thames), trying to out manouver his kidnapper known as The Grabber (Hawke). The cellar in which he's imprisoned has a black phone. The cord's been cut. And yet, it still rings. When Finney answers, there is someone on the other end.
This is a well-made movie. Derrickson makes sure you have a feel for the victims, he establishes Finney as a decent, if timid, young man whose mother died. Finney and his sister Gwen (McGraw) share the chore of caring for dad. The love between Gwen and Finney comes through and her search for him after he's taken gives the movie added dimension. Gwen has dreams. Her mom had dreams, too. Seems sometimes they learn real things from those dreams.
There are a couple of moments in this movie that might affect the really squeamish, but it's not a gore-fest, just suspenseful. Based on a Joe Hill (Horns; NOS4A2) short story, the script was co-written by C. Robert Cargill. I haven't read him, but Cargill has also written horror short story collection and this movie suggests he knows what he's doing.
Huh. Didn't realized I'd watched quite this much horror and horror-adjacent movies.
