Six days have passed since the chilling finale of writer-director Parker Finn’s Smile, and Joel (Kyle Gallner) is frantically trying to escape the sinister forces closing in on him. After investigating a string of interconnected victims, each of whom killed themselves in gruesome fashion, he knows the only way out of the loop is by passing the curse on—by killing someone in front of a witness. Thanks to his police access, he’s found the perfect lowlifes deserving of such a fate and is ready to dole out karmic justice, moral consequences be damned. Things don’t exactly go as planned and the curse instead lands in the lap of low-rent drug dealer Lewis, played with fiery, cracked-out intensity by Lukas Gage. He wastes no time handing the curse off to client and pop-superstar Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) on the precipice of greatness. Soon, she’s haunted by diabolical smiling faces – as well as the public. Her big comeback tour, meant to mark her recovery from addiction and personal tragedy, derails as she unravels under the grin of her supernatural oppressor. The recovering pop star’s descent into madness is exacerbated by the expectations of her fans, the relentless pressure from her team to continue performing, and the watchdog gaze of the media—all of whom seem to be waiting for her to slip up and fall apart. And they don’t even know about the whole demonic possession thing. Read More
‘TERRIFIER 3’ Clowns Audiences With Depraved Slapstick Slashing
“It’s a Terrifier Christmas!” chimes the Terrifier 3 in-movie musical anthem, dripping with sardonic holiday cheer. Lyrics like “Let the horror fill your heart” and “He’ll burn your face with acid, he’ll saw you clean in half” set the tone for this third Terrifier film— the fifth time rising horror icon Art the Clown has graced the screen in a decade. This time out, the bloodthirsty clown is celebrating the most festive season of all. Donning the iconic red suit and hat a la the Grinch, who looks like a certifiable saint in comparison, Art joyfully embraces the Christmas spirit by sawing the jolly white beard off a still-breathing Santa Claus and attaching it to his chin. Naughty or nice, it’s all the same to Art, whose killer holiday spirit manifests as a singular goal: to “out-do himself and top his latest kill.” Or so goes the song. Not even good little boys and girls are spared from his murderous glee. Read More
Demi Moore is Breathtaking in Body Horror Triumph ‘THE SUBSTANCE’
Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is staring down the barrel of her 50th birthday, and her Hollywood star has more than a few cracks—both literal and metaphorical. To make matters worse, the once-popular aerobics queen just overheard her sleazy, keyed-up boss (played with pure snake oil charm by Dennis Quaid) plotting her replacement. The network wants someone younger, fresher, tighter in spandex. Enter a shadowy black-market pharma company with a miracle drug, the titular Substance, promising to rewind crucial time on Elizabeth’s biological clock. The promise is…misleading. As she drinks down the sketchy elixir of youth, she doesn’t just regain her youthful glow—she begins to lose herself, piece by horrifying piece, to the younger version she thought she so badly wanted. Read More
Eerie and Atmospheric ‘LONGLEGS’ a Supernatural Serial Killer Haunt
Longlegs, NEON’s much-anticipated horror film from Oz Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel), straddles the line between detective procedural and supernatural haunter with a masterful command for atmosphere and tone. As thematically dark and unforgiving as it is formally constructed and rhythmically precise, Perkins’ nightmarish vision of a satanic doll maker (played with creepy but characteristically over-the-top intensity by Nicolas Cage) and the FBI agent (Maika Monroe) pursuing him is in no rush to reveal its macabre story, demanding patience from viewers in pursuit of a frightful theatrical experience. Read More
Sundance ‘24: Buzzy and Mind-Bending ‘IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE’ Pulls Off a Terrific Magic Trick
Eight former college friends reunite the evening before their friend’s wedding to play a heady game with far-reaching consequences. Such is the set-up for Greg Jardin’s utterly transfixing debut feature, a precisely-constructed explosion of creativity that smashes together the college reunion comedy, puzzle box thrillers, and a Shane Carruth-esque level of science-fiction precision. Skillfully paced to snatch your attention early on and never lose it for a moment, experiencing It’s What’s Inside is like watching a flawlessly executed magic trick for the very first time. Read More
Shallow, Campy ‘NIGHT SWIM’ Mostly Treads Water
A former Major League Baseball player moves his family to a house with a haunted pool in the campy Jan-horror release, Night Swim. Six months after receiving a career-ending MS diagnosis, Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), his wife Eve (Kerry Condon), and their two high school aged children, Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and Elliot (Gavin Warren), struggle to accept the reality that life as they once knew it is over. Put off by the idea of moving to an assisted living community, Waller finds himself drawn to a house with a shady past (an instance of its evil detailed in the mildly effective cold open) and a mysterious pool. He soon discovers that its waters, drawn from a nearby natural spring, have healing qualities. But not all who wade into its wet quarters fare so well. Read More
‘THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER’ Fails to Resurrect the Terror
If there’s one thing an Exorcist movie, be it a sequel, prequel, remake or sequel, needs to be, it’s scary. David Gordon Green’s 50-years later requel, The Exorcist: Believer fails that most fundamental test. The very celluloid of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist hums with tension and terror – each shot more possessed with unspeakable dread than the last. It’s the original nightmare-inducing horror film, a palpable shock to the system that stands up half a century later. It’s especially remarkable when you consider the context: just five years earlier, filmmakers were ensnared in the strict confines of the Hays Code, a moral guideline that prohibited profanity, suggestive nudity, graphic or realistic violence, and sexual persuasions. The thought of a 14-year-old child actor old uttering lines like, “Your mother sucks c*cks in hell” was plain unthinkable just a few years prior. It’s also pretty unthinkable today. Read More
Chilling ‘THE BOOGEYMAN’ Rekindles Fear of the Dark
A family reeling from the sudden death of their wife and mother. A creature that feeds on grief and weakness. Crippling fear of the dark. These are well-worn horror movie tropes through and through but they are executed to impressive effect by filmmaker Rob Savage in his first traditional feature, The Boogeyman. Savage takes these overcooked conventions and tosses them in a wicked blender of terror and tension to make for a wicked fright fest that could well fling you out of your seat. Read More
INFINITY POOL is a Hedonistic Descent into Vacation Goblin Mode
“Is this a dream?” Em (Cleopatra Coleman) asks. Back at their luxurious vacation resort in the far-flung fictional developing country La Tolqa, she can’t get over the most recent heinous encounter with local law enforcement involving her and her second-rate author husband James Foster (Alexander Skarsård). They have just killed a man, having struck him with their vehicle after a day of beach gayety. As is standard practice here, his punishment is as steep a price as they come. James is sentenced to die. However it isn’t actually James who is made to pay the ultimate price. He is wealthy and therefore inoculated from consequence. A clone will do just fine. Or as they are referred to in Brandon Cronenberg’s warped vacation thrillerInfinity Pool, a “double”. Read More
‘HALLOWEEN ENDS’ Simultaneously a Weird and Rote Send-Off to a Killer Icon
Evil Goes Viral
Even if Halloween Ends is a messy, weird, convoluted, predictable, and only quasi-satisfying conclusion to the 40-plus year Michael Myers saga, you have to give it credit for actually trying something new. For much of director David Gordon Green’s trilogy-capper and alleged conclusion to the franchise (at least for now), Mike Myers is MIA. He’s gone. Not involved. For the vast majority of the film, he exists moreso as the lingering idea of the nature of evil than as an actual hulking killer. Instead the focus is on an entirely new character, Corey (Rohan Campbell), a hapless teen who gets roped into a night of babysitting. One prank gone wrong later, Corey accidents kills his charge. Read More