Thoughts On Horror

Uncle Sam (William Lustig, 1996)

Uncle Sam (1996): After being killed in friendly fire, a psychotic soldier is returned home. He wakes up and starts killing folk who aren’t American enough. Unusual for a slasher to be overtly political but this one certainly is. Some great cameos and weird kills.

In the Grip of Terror (Lawrie Brewster, 2025)

In the Grip of Terror (2025): An anthology of stories all set in the same strange hospital, told by a weird doctor in the basement. A fun tribute to Amicus productions of the past, that makes great use of a creepy location. Also has a great score.

Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland, 2012)

Berberian Sound Studio (2012): A British chap is hired to work on the sound for an Italian horror film. Out of his comfort zone, he starts to unravel. More atmosphere and brilliant sound design than there is plot, as it builds to a nightmarish third act. Jones is great though.

The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2016)

The Neon Demon (2016): An aspiring young model is new in town and everybody she meets either desires her or is jealous of her beauty. A slow burn that builds up to an unbelievably horrifying finale. Looks beautiful and Fanning is exceptional. Strange but rewards patience.

Cat People (Paul Schrader, 1982)

Cat People (1982): A woman moves in with her brother who she hasn’t seen for many years. He keeps turning into a leopard and attacking folks though. An excellent remake that doesn’t stick too closely to the original other than a couple of scenes and themes. Very violent at times.

Mortuary (Howard Avedis, 1982)

Mortuary (1982): People are being murdered by a mysterious cloaked figure who seems to have a connection to the local mortuary. Absolutely batshit insane. Takes loads of left turns, some of which are never explained. The killer is particularly crazy too.

Taste of Fear (Seth Holt, 1961)

Taste of Fear (1961): A young lady is summoned to the house of her father and step mother. The father is away but the girl, who is wheelchair bound, keeps seeing him around. Atmospheric and suspenseful, with a very twisty plot. Has an absolute banger of an ending. Great stuff.

Black Christmas (Sophia Takal, 2019)

Black Christmas (2019): Girls at a sorority house are attacked and killed by masked killers who are obviously linked to a misogynistic fraternity house. Tries something new at least but pulls too many punches and is predictable from the beginning. Didn’t need to be a remake.

Bruiser (George A. Romero, 2000)

Bruiser (2000): A meek man in a bad marriage working for an awful boss gets more confidence when he wears a mask. And also he kills people who have wronged him. Some good ideas and an interesting theme but derailed by one very over the top performance and a cheap feel overall.

The Stranglers of Bombay (Terence Fisher, 1959)

The Stranglers of Bombay (1959): A chap working for the East India Company uncovers a murderous cult that has been affecting trade in the area. Vaguely based on truth and must have influenced Temple of Doom given the amount of similarities. Enormous fun and a very dapper lead.

The Return of the Living Dead (Dan O’Bannon, 1985)

The Return of the Living Dead (1985): A pair of idiots release a chemical that revives the dead by accident. It wakes up the residents of the cemetery next door. Very silly but also quite a decent horror as well. Some fun practical effects and several zany set pieces. Good stuff.

Death Occurred Last Night (Duccio Tessari, 1970)

Death Occurred Last Night (1970): A man whose daughter has been missing for a month begs a detective for help after previous searches have proved fruitless. The detective suspects prostitution may be involved. Desperately sad with a moving performance from Vallone. Excellent film.

Antebellum (Gerard Bush & Christopher Renz, 2020)

Antebellum (2020): An author and civil rights activist in the modern day is also trapped in a brutal Confedate camp where slaves are regularly murdered. Can see why some people don’t rate this but I really liked it. Confused the hell out of me for a while. Quite a distressing film.

M3gan 2.0 (Gerard Johnstone, 2025)

M3gan 2.0 (2025): After a new robot girl goes on a killing spree, Gemma is pressured to resurrect M3gan to combat the new threat. Totally different to the first one but just as entertaining. Genuinely funny with some top notch action sequences. More straight up sci fi than horror.

M3gan (Gerard Johnstone, 2022)

M3gan (2022): A young girl loses her parents in a car crash and is taken in by her aunt, who happens to have built a robot doll. As is often the case with these things, the doll starts killing people. Predictable but still very well done and quite funny. Deals well with grief too.

Deadly Love (Michael S. O’Rourke, 1987)

Deadly Love (1987): 20 years after her lover is murdered by a friend of her father, a woman commits suicide. When her niece inherits the house, it appears to be haunted. Pretty slow until the final ten minutes when it all kicks off in quite an unexpected way. Lots of moustaches.

HauntedWeen (Doug Robertson, 1991)

HauntedWeen (1991): Years after a murder at a haunted house attraction, a fraternity group reopen the gaff to raise funds. The original killer is back though. Despite a few irritating characters, actually quite a good slasher, even if it borrows heavily from better films.

Revenge (Christopher Lewis, 1986)

Revenge (1986): A cult has been killing young women as sacrifices to their crazy god. A former resident of the area joins up with a recently widowed woman to uncover them. Way more complicated than it needs to be, although it is engaging mostly. Ending seems made up on the spot.

One Hour Photo (Mark Romanek, 2002)

One Hour Photo (2002): A lonely bloke working at a photo processing stand is obsessed with a family who are regular customers. He goes to extreme lengths to insert himself into their lives. Williams is incredibly creepy in a slow but effective film. No violence but lots of threat.

Deadbeat at Dawn (Jim Van Bebber, 1988)

Deadbeat at Dawn (1988): A gang member tries to retire from the gang lifestyle but his girlfriend is killed by some rivals. He goes out for revenge. Seems like a passion project for the director, who also stars. Ends with what can only be described as an orgy of street violence.

Happy Birthday to Me (J. Lee Thompson, 1981)

Happy Birthday to Me (1981): A group of largely unlikeable students are being picked off by a mysterious killer, although one of them keeps having blackouts when the murders occur. Builds up to a crazy twist ending that comes out of nowhere. Quite an odd film overall. Fun though.

Dangerous Animals (Sean Byrne, 2025)

Dangerous Animals (2025): A seemingly friendly bloke brings people to see sharks up close. He actually feeds female victims to the sharks too though. Courtney is perfect as the charming lunatic, and the level of tension is insane. Excellent film. Props to Harrison and Houston too as a lovely couple.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 (Renny Harlin, 2024)

The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024): A couple are preyed upon by masked strangers at a house in the woods. Not a bad film necessarily but not as good as the original. Interesting that it’s the first part of a trilogy though so maybe it will pick up a bit.

A Record of Sweet Murder (Kôji Shiraishi, 2014)

A Record of Sweet Murder (2014): A journalist is contacted by a childhood friend who is wanted for killing a load of people. He wants her and her cameraman to witness a miracle. Absolutely crazy. Like utterly off its tits. And mostly one take too. Great stuff.

Clown in a Cornfield (Eli Craig, 2025)

Clown in a Cornfield (2025): A girl and her father move to a rural town. She makes some new friends but then they are attacked by a clown. A fairly basic slasher but is well done, has some modern twists and is quite funny too. Slight but enjoyable.

Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (Shin’ya Tsukamoto, 1992)

Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992): A random gentleman is targeted by an underground group who try and turn him into a metal bastard and murder his kid. The whole thing spectacularly backfires. Not as radical as the first one, and only really linked by theme, but still pretty insane.

Reeker (Dave Payne, 2005)

Reeker (2005): Five young folk in the way to a festival are stranded at abandoned service station when their car breaks down. They are attacked by a foul smelling killer. Actually works better on a second viewing due to a huge twist. It’s still an effective supernatural slasher on first view though.

The Breach (Rodrigo Gudiño, 2022)

The Breach (2022): After a badly mutilated body washes up from a river in a quiet community, the chief of police takes his deputy and weirdly his ex to investigate a mad scientist. Starts off well, then drags for a long time to a manic ending. Well shot but poorly constructed.

Creep (Patrick Brice, 2014)

Creep (2014): A chap is hired to film a dying man going about his day for the benefit of his unborn son. They both have a lovely time. Not really. Incredibly uncomfortable portrayal of stalking and obsession done in a found footage style. Very effective and very well performed.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (Shin’ya Tsukamoto, 1989)

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989): A chap hits a metal fetishist with his car and then starts turning into a metallic man. He then has to battle the fetishist bloke. Absolutely fucking insane but hard to turn away. Feels like a bridge between Eraserhead and π. Great score and editing.