A predominantly two-person exorcism/haunting story done on a dime doesn’t stand much chance of being a barnburner to begin with.
iBOY (2017)
Many will find “iBoy” content with convention when it could unleash the kraken of its crazy concept if only it had flair or ferocity.
DON'T KNOCK TWICE (2016)
Even with some dull stretches and dodgy dot-connecting, there remains a witchiness in its air that keeps “Don’t Knock Twice” creepily compelling.
SADAKO VS. KAYAKO (2016 - Japanese)
Creative energy puts fun into the frights, capturing the kind of ‘anything goes’ enthusiasm that makes us want to see two franchises fused in the first place.
THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS (2016)
Like a 'hungry' on a human neck, “The Girl with All the Gifts” offers something meaty and meaningful that can be chewed on as entertainment or introspection.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK (2017)
“Justice League Dark” is everything I loved about animated adventures as a kid, but with a dark edge of horror appealing to more mature tastes.
ARRIVAL (2016)
“Arrival” captures the wonder of first contact in its first moments with an authentic air of astonishment, awe, apprehension, and terror.
RATS (2016)
“Rats” treats its titular topic not as a subject to be explored academically, but a babadook to be feared and frightened of.
SPLIT (2016)
“Split” is precisely the type of trip into tension once synonymous with Shyamalan's name, and a more consistently entertaining thriller too.
THE REZORT (2015)
Forced to summon a non-Crichton simile, one might say “The Rezort” is something like the idea behind “Hostel” meets video game “Dead Island."
STAKE LAND II: THE STAKELANDER (2016)
For anyone fascinated to see the difference ten story years makes, “Stake Land II” is a suitable sequel good for 90 minutes of melodramatic horror entertainment.
STAKE LAND (2010)
If “Zombieland” wasn’t a comedy, or “The Road” had slightly less somber drama, their similar setups would fall right in line with “Stake Land’s.”
CLINICAL (2017)
It’s a Tin Man built from a cold frame containing the necessary limbs to be a basic movie, but missing internal guts giving it life beyond being average entertainment.
BEFORE I WAKE (2016)
“Before I Wake” leaves an impression of being the movie the director wanted, though not necessarily what accustomed viewers expect.
UNEARTHED AND UNTOLD: THE PATH TO PET SEMATARY (2016)
If you want to revel in as much material about making “Pet Sematary” as is currently documented in film format, you really don’t need anything that “Unearthed and Untold” doesn’t have.
HUNTING GROUNDS (VALLEY OF THE SASQUATCH) (2015)
Watering down the title to “Hunting Grounds” makes strange sense because it speaks to how interchangeably tame the well-meaning movie is.
BORNLESS ONES (2016)
As far as standard cabin-in-the-woods creepshows go, “Bornless Ones” is one of the better-acted and most efficiently executed productions out there.
THE FRONTIER (2015)
Imagine the pre-shower Marion Crane scenes of “Psycho” tinged with a touch of Tarantino pulp and you’re halfway to picturing the neo-noir story and style of “The Frontier.”
AMITYVILLE EXORCISM (2017)
Figuring out that “Amityville Exorcism” is homemade horror not worth watching takes ten seconds. So why sit through the remaining 4,610?
OUIJA 3: THE CHARLIE CHARLIE CHALLENGE (2016)
“This is how all bad horror movies start,” says one character early in the movie, approximately 20 minutes after you’ve already said it to yourself.
There's nothing intriguing about watching Eric track down and slaughter stuntmen instead of exacting a deserving vendetta against distinct villains.