2020s horror movies – Horror Ghouls

What Josiah Saw (2021)

Posted on May 12, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

On an isolated farm somewhere in Texas, Thomas (“Tommy“) Graham lives with his alcoholic father Josiah. Tommy is a man with intellectual disability, and his father Josiah…well, let’s just say he doesn’t seem to be the best company for Tommy. Between emptying one bottle of whisky after the other, Josiah rambles on about all kinds of things, including when he saw a leprechaun farting a rainbow of of his ass. Josiah has seen quite some things, it seems. But this story isn’t about something as jolly as rainbow-farting leprechauns, as you might’ve guessed. The Graham farm has a dark and troubled past, and we get a flashback story to how Josiah’s wife Miriam hanged herself from a tree in the garden while Tommy and his two siblings were still young. And speaking of his siblings…they’re not faring too well off either.

Tommy’s brother and sister are Eli and Mary, who are twin siblings. They have long since left the farm, and have more than enough troubles to deal with. Eli is a drug addict, gambler, and you can add sex offender to the list. Scumbag, in other words. Mary is struggling with trauma and tries to live a normal life wanting a child of her own…which is a problem since she decided to have a tubal ligation operation 20 years back. When she was young she was convinced she wouldn’t want to become a mother, but now there’s a total u-turn for that…because her apparently wrecked marriage and the feeling of emptiness inside will be totally fixed if they can just have a baby, right..? Pfft. Then, when the three siblings all receive a letter from an oil company wanting to buy the farm and the land around it for oil drilling, it sounds like an opportunity that’s very hard to say no to. Except Eli and Mary now have to return to the place…and face the horrors from their past.

What Josiah Saw is a Southern Gothic psychological horror drama film from 2021, written by Robert Alan Dilts and directed by Vincent Grashaw in his directorial debut. While this movie is mostly a psychological drama, the horror elements are more than present enough. I really liked the bleak, dark atmosphere that remained like a blanket over the entire movie, even in the segments that took quite different turns than I imagined.

Now, they say all families have their issues. And that’s no doubt true, but some have far more serious issues than others. In this twisted family drama there are past trauma and horrific acts committed, all presented in chapters where each one focuses on each of the siblings. When we start off with Tommy, there’s that oppressive and dark vibe already from the very start, sprinkled with some supernatural elements. When coming into Eli’s segment, though, there’s a very big tonal shift and we’re suddenly in a drug-drama with child-napping gypsies. Not…exactly what I expected. It all still connects and blends with the rest, and in order to fuel the story and climax it was pretty much needed to spend some time with each of the characters. They all have committed sins of the past and have had sins committed against them, and it all unravels towards the end.

There are some twists in this movie that can be figured out very early on if you pay enough attention to certain details, especially in one of the early scenes with Tommy. This didn’t ruin anything, though, as there’s more than enough mystery surrounding the three siblings and their past, and why things turned out the way it did and what Josiah actually saw. It also reminded me a little of another family farm horror movie from 2020, called The Dark and the Wicked. That one is pure supernatural horror very much throughout so they’re not all that similar in story, but it has some of that same vibe and atmosphere of an isolated and worn farmhouse and family drama coming to the surface.

What Josiah Saw is kind of a trauma film with more focus on the family drama than any supernatural stuff, and these kinds of movies are often a bit hit or miss with me. I really think the horror elements worked well here, though, bleak and gritty with a tense slow-burn and dark atmosphere. Not the kind of movie you put on when you want to have a fun popcorn type of time, but for those days when you want something a little gloomy.

Director: Vincent Grashaw
Writer: Robert Alan Dilts
Country & year: USA, 2021
Actors: Robert Patrick, Nick Stahl, Scott Haze, Kelli Garner, Tony Hale, Jake Weber, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Troy Powell, Louanne Stephens, Winston James Francis, Billy Blair, Anthony Gaudioso, Dana Namerode
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3097396/

Hokum (2026)

Posted on May 5, 2026May 11, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

Ohm Bauman is sitting at home, sipping whiskey and writing the epilogue of his latest novel. It’s not going to end on a happy note, and we also realize that Ohm is a miserably guy (as if sitting there and sipping whiskey while writing the bleakest ending he could probably come up with wasn’t proof enough of that), but it appears he’s also haunted. Whether by actual ghosts or memories…who knows. But we see him glimpse his mother on the staircase, something that triggers him into packing his bags and going all the way to rural Ireland, to visit The Bilberry Woods Hotel. This was the place where his parents had been on their honeymoon, and he’s keeping a photo of his mother who is standing nearby a large tree, where she’s smiling from ear to ear and looks as happy as can be. Quite the contrast to her gloomy son, but there’s of course a reason for this. There always is.

Once arriving at the hotel, we do notice that Ohm is…kind of a dick. He’s dismissive and mean towards nearly everyone he meets, with perhaps the exception of the no-bullshit bartender Fiona whom he shows the photo to and asks if she knows where the tree is located. She does, of course. Once he’s there, he spreads his parents ashes, carefully placing his mother’s around the tree’s roots, while emptying the container of his father’s ashes the same way you shake the last few drops from a can of beer you’re about to discard. Sometimes a small scene like that tells you a lot more than words can do.

Close by, he meets the groundskeeper Jerry, who lives in his van and drinks milk mixed with magic mushrooms. Probably a fun guy to be around, and seemingly a very kindhearted dude. Once Ohm gets back to the hotel, he gets as shitfaced as possible at the bar, and gets in talk with Fiona again and the bellhop Alby, where they tell him about the closed off honeymoon suite that’s supposedly haunted by a witch that the hotel owner once trapped inside. To this, Ohm’s simple reply is “hokum“! He doesn’t believe a single word they say, and thinks of it all as nonsense (and yes, hokum means nonsense). Despite Ohm’s original plans for the stay at the hotel, though, he is soon to find out that there’s less “hokum“ to the story than he’d expected…

Hokum is a supernatural horror film, written and directed by Damian Mc Carthy in his third feature length film. We have already reviewed his earlier films Caveat (2020) and Oddity (2024), and ever since watching those two we have been looking forward to Mc Carthy’s next entry into the horror field. This is the first movie of his that we’ve been able to view at the theater, and it was a great experience to watch a spookfest like this at the big screen!

Just like his two previous films, it’s filled with thick atmosphere and a constant eerie vibe. While there are a few jump-scares, the movie doesn’t rely on them in the slightest. The setting, locations and scenery are all spot-on when it comes to creating such a moody, isolated and foreboding place ideal for a horror story like this. I so, so much prefer these old-fashioned spooky places over any modern-looking place. I also think Mc Carthy nails the feeling of isolation in the places he use in his films.

Adam Scott is doing a solid performance as the alcoholic, depressed and unlikable Ohm. It just goes to show that you don’t always need a charismatic and likable protagonist. He’s a jerk but we still want to root for him. And yes, of course he’s got a backpack of trauma and childhood shit to drag alongside with him, and even though this doesn’t explain or excuse his behavior in the slightest, we do at least get a bit of sympathy for him. There is also a little bitty redemption arc in store for him, and no, that still doesn’t make him a good or likable guy but we don’t always need a character to be that in order to deliver a good story. And speaking of story, this one has a lot more of it than Caveat and Oddity. While the previous ones relied a lot more on atmosphere and slow build, this one presents several mysteries between it all, adding more layers to the narrative.

It has also become apparent that Mc Carthy’s got a thing for rabbits, and in Hokum there’s a rabbit man/entity (which I first actually believed to be the witch upon seeing the trailer), having a very small yet not insignificant role. We only see this creature in a few scenes, mostly during what appears to be some kind of children’s TV show, and while the significance is never fully explained it’s not hard to get the underlying meaning of it once you learn more about Ohm’s past. Gotta give props to the design of this rabbit-man thing, it looks menacing as hell! Speaking of creepy-looking creatures, I also have to say the witch in the movie is also pure nightmare fuel. Some of the scenes involving her are terrifying, especially the early ones where we only see glimpses of her in the dark. I know for a fact that had I seen this movie in my less desensitized days, sleep would have been less comfortable for at least a few nights to come…

Hokum is a horror movie that makes us even more excited to see what Mc Carthy will brew next! According to an article at Dread Central, he’s mentioned that For my next film, I definitely want to make the ultimate haunted house movie which is a statement that I (not gonna lie) hypes me up a bit. He also stated that I really feel like if I was to make another horror film, I think I’d really nail it, although personally I think he very much “nailed it” with Hokum. Already looking so much forward to what comes next from this director.

Writer and director: Damian Mc Carthy
Country & year: Ireland/United Arab Emirates, 2026
Actors: Adam Scott, Mallory Adams, David Wilmot, Michael Patric, Will O’Connell, Brendan Conroy, Peter Coonan, Florence Ordesh, Sioux Carroll
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35672862/

Hellhole (2022)

Posted on May 1, 2026May 1, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

We’re somewhere in Poland in 1957, where a priest enters a church with a baby that bears a unique scar. He’s not there to drop the baby off for some nuns to take care of, though, he proceeds to try killing the infant. Fortunately for the baby, the Milicja (the Polish militia) enters the place and shoots the priest dead.

Fast forward to thirty years later, we meet another priest: Father Marek. He arrives at a Polish monastery where women are brought in to undergo an exorcism. He’s vetted and checked before entering the place, but when he starts unpacking in his room we see that the suitcase he’s brought with him has a concealed compartment where he’s hidden a gun, a flashlight, and some other stuff. Seems like he’s come prepared…but for what? We’ll find out.

Marek is then taken to a room where they’re performing an exorcism on a woman. All kinds of textbook-exorcism stuff go on in there, with a cross suddenly starting to burn, a shaking bed, and the usual demonic shenanigans. When Marek investigates the room later, he discovers that things are not exactly what they might seem at first glance, though. Marek’s mission at the place is, in fact, to investigate some cases of many missing local women which he believes has something to do with this place. And things are certainly happening in this dark, foreboding hellhole where everything looks rotten, and the food being served is so horribly foul and nasty that it looks even more biohazardous than the fridge contents in Resident Evil 8.

Hellhole (original title: Ostatnia wieczerza, which literally means Last Supper) is a Polish horror film from 2022, written by Mirella Zaradkiewicz and directed by Bartosz M. Kowalski. It is available on Netflix as one of the Netflix originals. It was filmed in Lubiaz, Poland.

Starting off, this movie doesn’t offer too much new to the typical demonic/possession genre, but it’s atmospheric and creepy, much aided by the setting and visuals. It’s very mystery-fueled for the most part of the film, where you follow Marek as he keeps investigating the place and finds the one ominous thing after the other. And poor Marek pretty much finds himself in Hell already, with no means of actually leaving the place and being served the worst meals possible. Yes, those nasty meals have a deeper meaning, of course.

While we follow Marek on his investigative routes (and in between him violently vomiting for obvious reasons) it all becomes a little muddled with a mix of him finding apparent hoax effects that the monks use during the “exorcisms“, to him experiencing some really weird supernatural devilry. It never manages to elevate the atmosphere and creepy settings to some real scares, though, and it’s definitely a little slow at times, but it does gradually reveal bits and pieces along the ride which is pretty much what I crave and expect from mystery-based stories: just give us a few nuggets here and there and keep us wondering for a while still. Then…we get towards the final part of the movie, and oh boy, things certainly take a different turn! In some ways, it reminded me a little of how the buildup was presented in They’re Watching, even though those movies have very little in common otherwise. I’m talking about the somewhat “generic“ start which later presents you with something totally bonkers. Hellhole is one of those movies that saves the best parts for last, and there’s even a scene where it all also turned unexpectedly comedic. This certainly wasn’t a movie I expected to get some good laughs from.

With all of the above being said, Hellhole is for the most part a creepy, mystery-based horror film. If you want something with a sinister atmosphere, with some twists and turns and a fun finale thrown into that mix, then give Hellhole a watch!

Director: Bartosz M. Kowalski
Writers: Bartosz M. Kowalski, Mirella Zaradkiewicz
Original title: Ostatnia wieczerza
Country & year: Poland, 2022
Actors: Piotr Zurawski, Olaf Lubaszenko, Sebastian Stankiewicz, Lech Dyblik, Rafal Iwaniuk, Krzysztof Satala, Malwina Dubowska, Zbigniew Walerys, Antoni Augustyniak
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19724142/

Pretty Lethal (2026)

Posted on April 24, 2026April 24, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

A group of ballerinas from Los Angeles have gotten the opportunity of their lifetime: to attend a prestigious international competition in Budapest. Too bad the group have as much chemistry as water and hot oil. The teacher, Thorna Devenport, tries her best to make the girls work together but their differences are creating too much of a gap between them. You have rich and bratty Princess (yes, that’s her name), deeply religious Grace (fitting name, right?) Zoe and her hearing-impaired sister Chloe, and rebellious and street-smart Bones. Well, ahead to Budapest for the time of their life anyway…and of course, things go bad already from the get-go: there are mix-ups at the airport, resulting in them having to take a bus which breaks down. As they leave the bus to find a cab, they are invited to a place called Teremok Inn, which is run by a former prima ballerina called Devora Kasimer. Huh! What a coincidence. And this place is located in the middle of…bumfuck nowhere, it seems, with nothing but forest around for miles. How convenient…for some.

As they’re trying to wind down a bit inside the inn that looks like a colorful Haunted Mansion, the one red flag after the other is waving in front of their faces. Devora Kasimer is also the head of a small crime family, and bad things happen at Teremok Inn. Bad things that doesn’t really have anything to do with the American troupe, but they get mixed into the shit anyway, because, well…Europe is always so, so dangerous for Americans, ya know! At least according to American horror movies. After their teacher gets killed and the girls locked up and ready to be slaughtered, they finally band together and use their ballerina skills to survive.

Pretty Lethal is an action thriller film, directed by Vicky Jewson and written by Kate Freund. It premiered on South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on March 13, 2026, and released worldwide on Prime Video on March 25. It was originally announced as Ballerina Overdrive back in 2023 and was supposed to be filmed in Serbia, but things changed and it was instead filmed in Budapest, Hungary.

If you want something fun, colorful and vibrant, then this is it. This movie doesn’t only promise some kick-ass ballerina fights and blood ‘n gore to follow with it, it actually delivers. It is fast paced, highly energetic and so, so much fun! In stark contrast to the more dark and brooding Livide from 2011 (which is also a great horror movie featuring a ballerina), this one is a different kind of beast that pumps up the fun and action!

The choreography during the fight scenes are just awesome, and the fight where they take on a group of people in the inn’s pub while having Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers playing is pure gold. These ballerinas kick ass, and the Hungarian mob doesn’t stand a chance! That being said, I love how the movie doesn’t give them some kind of magical-girl superpower where they’re suddenly practically invincible. They get kicked around, punched and hurt too, their ballet-fu isn’t going to stop the Hungarian mob from being a very, very dangerous threat. But this is a bonkers setting where a high tolerance for pain, flexible bodies, and ballerina shoes armored with razor blades manage to beat guns and knives, and it works surprisingly well. Ballerinas are known for having a very high pain tolerance, often disassociating to perform their best, so it makes sense for them to endure as much as they do. A scene where one of them is being “tortured“ by a guy starting with pulling our her toenails makes for a nice gag – she’s a fucking ballerina, you idiot! A broken toenail is almost an everyday occurrence for these ladies…

Visually, the movie looks good with rich visuals and contrasts, with lovely interior matching the setting. Performances are solid, with all the ballerinas doing well with their roles, and Uma Thurman in the role of Devora Kasimer does a pretty good job on portraying a vicious crime-queen with a thick Eastern European accent. The hearing-impaired girl Chloe is played by Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place) who is deaf in real life.

Pretty Lethal is a high-energy wild ride from start to finish, with a lot of gore and silly violence, and it’s always totally aware of what it is. A fun time with some killer ballerinas who dance and slash their way out of danger!

Director: Vicky Jewson
Writer: Kate Freund
Country & year: USA/Hungary
Actors: Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Lydia Leonard, Avantika, Millicent Simmonds, Iris Apatow, Tamás Hagyó, Uma Thurman, Tamás Hagyó, Julian Krenn, Miklós Béres, Péter Végh, Adam Boncz
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26678938/

Re/Member (2022)

Posted on April 14, 2026April 14, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

Asuka is a high school student who’s a bit of a loner. She’s very shy, apparently doesn’t have any friends, and keeps walking to school by herself while the other students keep laughing and clinging together. Then everything changes when Asuka sees the apparition of a dead girl named Haruka, who simply asks her to “find her body“. After some other strange incidents during the day, Asuka gets back home like it’s just been another normal day in Japan, preparing for the next lonely day at school. Well, she’s in for a new kind of normal from now on. After going to sleep, she wakes up in the middle of the night together with several of her classmates. They’re inside the school, and no one has any idea how they got there. What they quickly find out, however, is that they are now part of some kind of occult game called “Body Search“, and they need to find the eight pieces of Haruka’s body and place it inside a coffin. Sounds like fun, eh?

Not exactly, as their biggest problem isn’t finding the body parts, but being stalked and killed by an entity called the Red Person. When the first night is over, the Red Person has successfully killed them all before they’ve been able to find as much as a single body part. Game Over? Nope, it seems we have a fair share of continues. Asuka wakes up, and initially believes it all to be a strange nightmare…but the date remains the same as of yesterday. Her mother repeats the same lines and actions from the day before. Asuka and the other students who were with her on the Body Search last night, are all now stuck in a time loop. And they will all remain stuck, until they’ve found all of Haruka’s body parts.

Re/Member is a Japanese horror film directed by Eiichirō Hasumi, produced by Warner Bros. Japan. It is based on a Japanese manga series called Karada Sagashi, written by Welzard and illustrated by Katsutoshi Murase. Upon checking this movie out on Netflix we didn’t know much about it, and plot-wise I was actually surprised it wasn’t based off of a video game. The whole setting is quite reminiscent of Corpse Party, the RPG Maker indie game which also centers around a group of students in a school, chased by a girl in red. In the world of the supernatural, the “Lady in Red“ is often a very benevolent ghost, compared to her more friendly counterpart the Lady in White, which is mostly a western thing. I guess red means danger even in the ghost world.

The movie starts off very straightforward, presenting the characters and mystery in a somewhat generic manner but it’s still interesting enough from the get-go, and I really liked the build-up of atmosphere and mystery, together with some nice kills. The pacing can sometimes feel pretty wonky though, where it’s trying to balance gory horror with the anime-esque romantic comedy elements. But overall I never found myself bored with it. From the introduction of the characters, the old murder mystery and the Body Search itself, it was all packed with enough suspense and atmosphere to always keep me interested. It’s also such a huge plus that it doesn’t shy away from showing some gory kill scenes! And, while this is too much fun and action-packed to really be scary, it did manage to build some tight, creepy atmosphere in several of the scenes. And my heart always melts a little when I see the use of practical effects. Sure, there is some CGI here too, but a good amount of practical is used here which looks way more decent than the CGI (which is often the case). Nothing had me prepared for the scenes later in the movie involving a monster though! It’s such a fun mix of uncanny, goofy and creepy at the same time. Must’ve been a struggle for the actor inside that costume though…

Re/Member was more fun that I’d expected it to be, and despite some pacing issues here and there and some strange tonal shifts, I had a pretty good time with it. I totally loved some of the old-school practical effects, especially for the monster. While it’s not exactly anything groundbreaking or awesome, it’s a fun Japanese teen-horror movie mixing supernatural elements with time loops and monsters.

In 2025 a sequel to this movie was released, called Re/Member: The Last Night. And this takes a considerably bigger tonal shift where it’s much more of a teen comedy. Wasn’t our thing, but if you’re interested in checking it out it’s also available on Netflix, at least in some regions.

Director: Eiichirô Hasumi
Writer: Harumi Doki
Country & year: Japan, 2022
Actors: Kanna Hashimoto, Gordon Maeda, Maika Yamamoto, Fûju Kamio, Kotaro Daigo, Mayu Yokota, Yumemi Ishida
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21250176/

Primate (2025)

Posted on April 3, 2026April 3, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

Bad Ben! No, not you. I’m talking to my pet chimpanzee. He’s been quite agitated lately. Must be something in the water.

We’re at a big lux cliff side house somewhere in remote Hawaii where no one can hear you scream. That also goes first and foremost for the owner, Adam, a deaf novelist who’s made himself a lucrative career by writing books like A Silent Shadow, A Silent Death and… Deaf Fury, if I’m not mistaken (har-har). Adam is played by Troy Kotsur, who’s actually born deaf, by the way. Adam also has a pet chimpanzee named Ben who wears a red T-shirt but unfortunately not a red cap. That would probably be just enough for Nintendo to eagerly slam the glowing red sue button, and I’m not even joking. Anyway: the film opens with a banger where a vet is about to enter Ben’s big cage in the backyard to get his face ripped off. Ouch. And it’s not the first time that has happened. Ooof.

But this is not just a chimp snapping and attacking by pure primal instinct, as it turns out that he has rabies. And how could that be when there’s no such thing in Hawaii? Well, maybe, just maybe there’s some space rabies going on here when we already have a cute n’ snotty, wild alien on the island called Stitch? Whatever. After this brutal opening, we jump back 36 hours earlier, where we meet the college student Lucy, who arrives in Hawaii to reunite with her dad, Adam, her younger sister and, of course, Ben. Lucy has a friend with her, and to enhance the upcoming body count, they meet some other college dudes at the airport who get invited to a house party to “fuck their brains off.“ Alrighty then. As soon as dad Adam goes on to a signing session, the kids have their whole house for themselves for the night while Ben starts rampaging to where that escalated quickly meme is a fitting way to say it.

Primate is co-written with Ernest Riera and directed by Johannes Roberts, who’s made horror films and been on the grind since 2001. He’s most known for 47 Meters Down (2017), 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019), and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021). The last mentioned, despite its flaws and messy script, is the first Resident Evil film that actually felt and looked like a Resident Evil film, as super low as the bar has already been during the past twenty years. Just saying.

On paper, Primate is as basic and formulaic as it can get. Johannes Roberts simply wanted to make a straight-forward 1980s style-slasher where Jason Voorhees was replaced with a killer chimp. Not the most unique idea as we already have Link from 1986. But that’s what you get — an easy, digestible slasher meal with a perfect runtime of 89 minutes and not to be taken too seriously, like most slashers. What makes this one stand out is, of course, the killer chimp himself, who is not CGI, but played by the movement specialist Miguel Torres Umba in the most realistic-looking monkey costume since who knows. Just very impressive stuff which also gives Ben more personality and the more feeling of real threat to our body counts as he chases them around the house. Nothing will ever beat Shakma though. Those poor doors.

Then there’s the gore, or the carnage candy, as the cool kids say, which is all practical, where we have all from ouch!-moments to more slow and ruthless jaw-ripping. Gnarly stuff. Johannes Roberts clearly shows his love for old-school filmmaking with nods to films like John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), spiced with a delicious synth-heavy score by Adrian Johnston, and it all clicks in that regard. A perfect mini banana on the cake would be to include the song Monkey by Harry Belafonte at the end credits. Oh well. The film also looks bright and vibrant, which goes hand in hand with the tropical environment — and if not a stark contrast from the gray and washed-out color palette we usually see in even way bigger budget films nowadays. All that said, the film is nothing new and can come across as super predictable. Still, its technical achievement alone showcases a director who has come a far way since his early bumpy 2000s, and has earned his spot on the radar.

Director: Johannes Roberts
Writers: Johannes Roberts, Ernest Riera
Country & year: USA, 2025
Actors: Johnny Sequoyah, Jess Alexander, Troy Kotsur, Victoria Wyant, Gia Hunter, Benjamin Cheng, Charlie Mann, Tienne Simon, Miguel Torres Umba
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33028778/

Send Help (2026)

Posted on March 27, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

Sam Raimi is back (babyyy) with his first horror film in seventeen years. Time flies, and sooner or later we’ll all die and burn in Hell along with Christine Brown. So enjoy life to the fullest while you can — just like the hobby survivalist Linda Liddle that we get the pleasure of meeting over a pouch of tuna in Send Help.

A new horror film by the legend himself, Sam Raimi, is never just any horror film. It’s a rare cultural event where just the announcement itself would make the Earth stop spinning for a moment. But I have to admit that the trailers for Send Help gave me next to nothing. Something felt off, if not missing. Maybe it has to do with the fact that this is the first horror film of Sam where he isn’t credited as screenwriter, nor his brother Ivan. So, instead we have Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, the duo who wrote Freddy vs. Jason (2003), Friday the 13th (2009) and Baywatch (2017). It’s fair to say Uh-oh…

Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) works in an open-office area as a corporate strategist where she’s never been able to fit in. Calling her awkward is an understatement. She’s a socially inept goofy freak who reeks of tuna, looks like a total mess, and talks in a certain way that would get on anyone’s nerve. But she’s at least good at her job. Still, no one hates her as much as her new boss, Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien), who gives all her credit to Donovan, a Patrick Bateman-ish slimeball. To add insult to injury, Preston gives Donovan the promotion that was promised by her former boss. What a wonderful work environment. There is a reason that her last name rhymes with Little, by how much they think of her.

And yes, Bruce Campbell (Linda’s former boss and Sam Raimi’s longtime friend) has a cameo here, well, kinda — in the form of a wall picture in the background, based on his IMDb profile pic. Better than nothing, I guess.

Bradley invites Linda to join him and some of his team to a business trip to Bangkok. And her involvement seems more of a set-up so Bradley and his buddies can mock and bully her. Yes, Bradley is a complete narcissistic scumbag, if that wasn’t obvious already, and people like Linda is a perfect victim for him to abuse. Then the plane crashes and everyone dies, except for Bradley and Linda who get stranded on a small exotic island somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand. While Bradley never seemed to have set up a campfire or even touched a pinecone, it’s good to know that Linda is an obsessed fan of the competition TV show Survivor, and have learned a few skills. The power dynamic gets suddenly turned upside-down in the most primitive ways possible as Bradley is badly injured and Linda is holding the knife. Who’s laughing now, huh? Cast Away meets Misery, for sure, with some interesting twists and turns where we all root for Linda while we wish the absolute worst for Bradley. Right..? Well…

Send Help was a mild disappointment. Mostly because there’s very little of the raw and unique, frantic Sam Raimi-style to be seen here. He’s way past his Evil Dead days, and someone on the interweb gave it a fitting description by calling it Raimi Lite. The goriest moment the film has to offer is when Linda fights a cartoonish CGI boar that looks more like a scrapped creature-design from The Lion King live-action remake. The CGI is made by Disney, after all. Then we have a foggy and gloomy dream sequence with a quick shoehorned-in ghoulish jumpscare to remind us that Sam Raimi is somewhere in the room. The puke scene made me chuckle though, and “that knife-scene“ was a pretty clever and unsettling one.

But the most disgusting Eeeeew–moment in the entire film, for my part, is the tuna smudge on the corner of Linda’s mouth. For fucks sake, lady, wipe that shit away! I can handle gore all up to the ceiling, as the desensitized ghoul I am, while rolling my eyes of films like Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, but this was too much. Rachel McAdams should’ve worn this food stain on every press interview for the film, just for the lols, and see how long it would take before someone dared to react.

We’re first and foremost talking about a twisted psychological drama/thriller/mindgame where the comedic tone doesn’t always find the balance when the film tries to be more serious. Drag Me to Hell, on the other hand, was a perfect mix, but that film was also written by Sam and his brother. All credits here goes to Rachel McAdams, who runs the whole show with a way more layered performance than you’d expect, while Dylan O’Brien’s character is just a self-centered asshole. The film also goes in a direction where we should feel guilty rooting for Linda, or not. No spoilers here, but trying to make her the villain, all things already considered, felt unnecessary. That said, Send Help is overall an entertaining watch with a fun concept, but not exactly the triumphant return of horror director Sam Raimi I’d hoped for.

Director: Sam Raimi
Writers: Damian Shannon, Mark Swift
Country & year: USA/Thailand, 2026
Actors: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Edyll Ismail, Dennis Haysbert, Xavier Samuel, Chris Pang
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8036976/

Strange Harvest (2024)

Posted on February 6, 2026March 16, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

Mr. Shiny is a serial killer in California’s Inland Empire who has committed several grisly murders during a period of over three decades. What actually happened during these periods are relayed by detectives Joe Kirby and Lexi Taylor during interviews for a documentary about this case. It all started in 1993, when a young woman was found dismembered in the San Bernadino National Forest, and around the same time an elderly man in a retirement facility was bludgeoned and stabbed to death. That wasn’t all, as the third victim was a young boy that has been abducted and later found murdered in a bog, with his liver removed. At the time, these murders didn’t seem to carry any connections at all, but this was just the start of Mr. Shiny’s horrible murder sprees, with seemingly totally random victims and no clear motive at all. As people are interviewed and the detectives continue telling their stories, it becomes clear that Mr. Shiny was indeed a serial killer like no other.

Strange Harvest is a mockumentary horror film from 2024, written, directed, produced and edited by Stuart Ortiz (one of the directors of Grave Encounters from 2011). Ortiz got the idea for this horror mockumentary after seeing how the Netflix miniseries Tiger King got a lot of popularity, and he wanted to make something that had the traditional true crime story elements mixed with inspirations from for example the Zodiac Killer and H.P. Lovecraft. Ortiz went for as much realism as possible in making this look like an actual true crime documentary, and he really nailed it. Aside from small things like how certain photos and scenes of corpses would not have been shown in an actual documentary, it looks very real. The time periods, the old photos, crime scenes, the people interviewed and everything just looks so authentic, to even such small details as those “red eyes“ on 90’s photos. If someone channel-surfing on TV accidentally put this on, I wouldn’t be surprised for a second if they thought they’d put on an actual true crime documentary.

Some of the murder scenes and details are surprisingly gruesome, with such a thick layer of realism over it that it’s hard to not feel at least a little bit disturbed. Mr. Shiny himself is always perfectly mysterious and creepy, wearing a slightly silly mask that kind of looks like a malformed Shy Guy from Super Mario. His motives are for the most part very obscured, and despite getting a few hints throughout he remains a very cryptic villain whose goals can only be guessed at. Even the detectives are at a loss for understanding his whys and wherefores. Is it something Satanic? Is he collecting souls for the devil? Trying to conjure Yog-Sothoth? Does he want to open a portal so the Dark Overlords of the Universe may enter our world? Who knows. We only learn that he truly is a madman who squirms at nothing in order to achieve his goals, whatever they are or whatever he may believe they are. And that makes him even more terrifying, as nothing is more dangerous and horrible than a person who is willing to do the most atrocious acts because of things they believe in. The ending, despite being somewhat ambiguous (did that really happen or was it all just one coincidence after another, mixed in with a crazy man’s beliefs?) I think it fits really well with the rest of the film.

Strange Harvest is a really good mockumentary horror film, and one you definitely should not miss!

Writer and director: Stuart Ortiz
Country & year: USA, 2024
Actors: Peter Zizzo, Terri Apple, Andy Lauer, Matthew Peschio, Allen Marsh, Jessee J. Clarkson
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33400719/

Iron Lung (2026)

Posted on February 3, 2026February 3, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

We’re in the distant future where an incident called the Quiet Rapture has caused all star systems and planets to vanish, leaving only some space stations with a few surviving humans left. An imprisoned man named Simon has been tasked with testing and piloting the SM-13 submarine, which has been nicknamed “Iron Lung“. He needs to explore an ocean of a moon named AT-5, and this is no ordinary ocean: it’s made of blood! With the promise of being freed once he completes this mission, he reluctantly does what he’s told. In the claustrophobic confines of the submarine, Simon can only see outside with a crude camera, and communication is done only through a radio. Once he’s down there in the ocean of blood, the submarine’s detectors indicate that there’s something moving outside. Simon uses the camera and captures what looks to be a skeleton on the ocean floor. The officials want him to capture a sample of it, but it appears that the skeleton is not the only thing at the bottom of the blood ocean. And he also discovers that he’s not the first pilot being sent down there…

Iron Lung is a sci-fi horror film written and directed, and also self-funded, by Mark Fischbach aka Markiplier in his feature directorial debut. It also stars Fischbach himself in the leading role, and it is based on a horror video game from 2022 by the same name which was made by David Szymanski. The development for the film began in the start of 2023, and it was shot at Troublemaker Studios. During the production, Fischbach stated that the film would contain the most fake blood of any horror film thus far, even surpassing 2013 Evil Dead‘s 50,000 US gallons (190,000 L). Iron Lung has 80,000 gallons (300,000 L). Yikes! Fischbach even had to go to hospital during the filming as he’d gotten too much of that fake blood in his eyes (ouch).

When Iron Lung was done and ready for release, it was only supposed to be shown in some independent US theaters. Fischbach encouraged his fans to request the movie from their theaters, and ohhhh boy, did that spread like wildfire! From an initial planned release to only 60 independent US theaters, it ended up being shown in 4,161 theaters internationally. And that’s how we Horror Ghouls also got to see it at the big screen here in Norway on January 30th, all thanks to Markiplier’s dedicated fans!

Now, I’m going to admit a little sin here: I didn’t know who Markiplier/Fischbach was prior to watching this film. I pretty much went in totally blind for this one, other than knowing it was made by a very famous YouTuber and based on a horror game from 2022. And while we are rather often at the big screen, this was probably the busiest opening we’ve experienced since we watched Oppenheimer back in 2023. Sure, it wasn’t as crazy-busy as the Barbenheimer-insanity that went on back then, but it was still the busiest day at the cinema in a long time. In fact, it was so busy that the theater had (for some inexplicable reason) managed to overbook two of the seats, causing an unfortunate couple having to leave. Goddamn… (I really hope those two were compensated for the theater’s big blunder).

Sitting there in the most cramped cinema in a long while, it didn’t take long until I got the feeling of déjà vu once the movie had started. Wait…this looks familiar? And then it clicked: I had seen a walkthrough of that game before. I often watch horror game walkthroughs on YouTube (mostly indie games) and I recognized this one immediately despite that it obviously had buried itself deep within my brain somewhere. Which speaks volumes about how detailed and true to the game the set design here is. This immediately set the mood for me as well, as I knew more or less what to expect from here on. What you get here, is a slow dive (pun intended) into a slow-burn chamber drama lovecraftian sci-fi horror. Much of the horror is of the subtle kind, with an ever-growing feeling of total helplessness and how insignificant humanity is in the scope of bigger, unknown things. Which is basically cosmic horror in a nutshell. Did Fischbach hit the nail on the head with this movie adaptation? My personal opinion of that is definitely a yes. At least it scratched my cosmic horror itch well and good.

Iron Lung is a passion project through and through, and Fischbach is indeed a very decent actor. Which was a must in a chamber drama movie like this, where everything relies mostly on the shoulders of one actor. The set design looks great and exactly like the game as I already mentioned, and the effects used in this film are overall really solid. There is only one issue, and that is the movie’s runtime. It’s just too dang long. I’m not saying that a runtime of 2 hours wouldn’t necessarily work for a movie like this, but it does unfortunately become too repetitive at times and it was hard not to feel that it could have done much better with a shorter runtime. Despite some issues with the pacing and overly long runtime, I thought it managed to keep a creepy atmosphere and dense, claustrophobic vibe throughout. And those 80,000 gallons of blood? Well, they’ve been put to good use in a totally bonkers finale which really amps up everything to a hundred and eleven!

Iron Lung is without a doubt a movie that will be perceived with mixed feelings, as it’s not exactly a mainstream movie by any means. If you liked the game, I think there’s a pretty fair chance you’ll also like this movie. Despite some mixed reception (yes, it’s not a movie for everyone) it’s still been a huge success so far with a box office of $21 million after the opening weekend, against a budget of $3 million. Fischbach/Markiplier has proven that he’s both a good filmmaker and actor, so let’s hope the success will spark some ideas for future films to be made!

Writer and director: Mark Fischbach
Country & year: USA, 2026
Actors: Mark Fischbach, Caroline Kaplan, Troy Baker, Elsie Lovelock, Elle LaMont, Dave Pettitt, Isaac McKee, Asher Wagh, Kazuki Jalal, Alanah Pearce, Seán McLoughlin, David Szymanski
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27564844/

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)

Posted on January 27, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

We’re off to Emerald City, I mean the Bone Temple, to meet the Great Wizard, I mean Old Nick, the Great Satan of Oz, I mean UK. Oh, well …

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a direct continuation of the previous one, where Spike (Alfie Williams) has now been captured by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connel) and his small cute gang of Teletubbies, or chavs, for a better term. Welcom’ to Brittn, ya fockin’ cont! As we got more of the impression that Spike got saved by these bizarre individuals, in a quick scene that broke the internet six months ago, we learn that this Jimmy lad recruits young stray broken teens to join his cult-mission to torture and kill people in the name of Old Nick (Satan). Because, like Jimmy says:

— Old Nick released his demons onto the world of man.
And the world of man failed before the demons. —

Jimmy has created his own demented theology to excuse his extreme sociopathic way of life, but to put it plain and simple: his inverted cross that he got from his crazy-priest/preacher dad right before he was killed 28 years ago is not just an innocent rebellious statement. He’s evil through and through and the classic Charles Manson/dictator-type that gleefully watches his members doing the torture and killing work. The Jimmy Saville-looking wigs they wear as a form of a badge, which also matches the hairstyle of their cult-leader, only puts the rotten cherry on top. Yes, his hair is actually not a wig (!)

Against Spike’s will, he has to prove himself to Lord Jimmy in the old British way by a knife-fighting death-combat, against one of the Jimmys. And watching this scene without context, one would assume that this was just some regular youth activities somewhere in Glasgow on a Tuesday evening. Americans have their guns, but you should never, ever underestimate a chav with a sharp knife. Spike hits an artillery that causes a gory mess. Lord Jimmy laughs and grins ear-to-ear. Spike is now a part of the Jimmys and, of course, very reluctant and terrified joins their murderous coming-of-rage odyssey around rural Britain as they invade homes and skin people alive in barns. How they can just walk and dance around like they owned the world while others still walk on minefields, is a fair question to ask. Alfie bonds with one of the two girls in the gang, Jimmy Ink (Erin Kellyman), the only one who has developed empathy and isn’t completely brainwashed.

Then we have our mysterious Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) who lives peacefully alone in his small underground bunker next to his impressive lifeswork, the Bone Temple memorial. Approx 5,500 fake skulls and 150,000 bones were made to construct it. It would be just way too easy to just CGI the whole thing, but big kudos for making it the old school way. Dr. Kelson is still picking up fresh bodies to add to his temple, and has a side-project by observing an alpha zombie which he calls Samson. He’s a giant who rips people’s heads off, Predator-style, and eats brains straight from the skull. Hardcore. Dr. Kelson spits morphine darts to drug him out so he can dig into his subconsciousness and maybe see if there still is any humanity left in him. And good luck with that. Jimmy Crystal spots Kelson at a perfect timing, where he’s all smeared in red’ish lodine as he always is, and having a close interaction with the alpha by the Bone Temple. Because he believes he’s finally found his big idol and his father, Old Nick, and, well…haha, this should be interesting.

I’m not familiar with Nia DaCosta’s directing work prior to this, and I had no idea what to expect from her passing the torch after Danny Boyle. DaCosta does some really heavy lifting here, where it was pretty much already clear by judging the awesome trailers that they didn’t just choose some random work-for-hire director. Her directing approach is more traditional than the experimental style we saw in the previous where we have more dialogue-driven scenes than action. And although I —personally— enjoyed 28 Years Later a bit more, this is a rock-solid entry in the expanding and eccentric world building of the franchise that still keeps its feet on a grounded level. But calling this torture porn is a far stretch. It’s not even close. Yes, there are some gruesome moments here, but the film doesn’t show too much. Thus, I was a little disappointed by the “I don’t have a ticket“-scene, which felt a bit rushed. The effects are all practical though, as far as I noticed, and it’s nice to see stunt actors in real flames, which is a rare sight nowadays. That said, the action is very minimal. The zombies/infected are barely on screen, where the focus primarily lies on the psychological aspects between Jimmy and Old Nick, I mean Dr. Kelson. It’s still the good vs evil where the humans are the real monsters. This is more of an intense thriller/drama with some exploitation-elements.

What makes this franchise still feel fresh in the year of 2026 is much thanks to the unpredictable writing of Alex Garland, and how he explores our primitive instincts. While the action has taken a morphine pill, the tension is stronger than ever. We have a very simple scene where Jimmy meets Old Nick, I mean Dr. Kelson, for the first time, sits and has a chat about life, death, religion and whatnot. It seems harmonic and peaceful at the surface while the sky is almost blue, yet you can feel the electricity where one never knows when all hell will blow up. And then we have the uncanny parallels to The Wizard of Oz, which turns up the smoke and mirrors all up to eleven in a scene that was certainly not on my bingo card. Pure post-apocalyptic Mad Max-level insanity. It’s pretty amazing how this particular scene just perfectly fits right in when on paper it shouldn’t. But there you have the genius writing of Garland. Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connel are the stars here, and they’re both intimidating in their own ways. While Fiennes is the veteran he is, who can just speak with body language and facial expressions, I hope O’Connel gets more great villain roles. We saw him last year as the Irish lead vampire in Sinners, and also as one of the sadistic kids in Eden Lake way back in 2008.

While the film in isolation has been a flop, the previous have earned well over its budget for both. And this being a middle-chapter of a trilogy, I surely hope we get the final piece as we still have the incomplete arc of Spike to fill. What happened to Spike’s dad is also an open question. Is he out in the wild and searching for him? What’s next for Samson? Are 28 Weeks Later (2007) completely retcon? Will Brittan ever be Great again? Who knows.

Until next time: Memento Mori.

Director: Nia DaCosta
Writer: Alex Garland
Country & year: UK/USA/Canada, 2026
Actors: Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Ralph Fiennes Connor Newall, Erin Kellyman, Maura Bird, Ghazi Al Ruffai, Robert Rhodes, Emma Laird, Sam Locke, Gareth Locke, Chi Lewis-Parry
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32141377/

Prequels:
– 28 Years Later (2025)
– 28 Weeks Later (2007)
– 28 Days Later (2002)