THE MANNEQUIN is a haunting horror mystery with a crime thriller plot and a lot of blood, cuts, and limbs. We’re talking the vengeful ghost of a serial killer. Tough to battle, to say the least. Read our full The Mannequin movie review here!

THE MANNEQUIN is a horror movie with a haunting mystery and a different kind of serial killer. In many ways, this feels like a wonderful homage to several other genre classics, while also being very current.

With a runtime of just 85 minutes, it manages to deliver a solid punch with lots of cut-off limbs, and a fascinating crime thriller element. The release just weeks before Halloween is perfect as this is definitely ideal for Spooky Season.

Continue reading our The Mannequin movie review below. Find it on Digital from October 14, 2025.

The vengeful ghost of a serial killer

In The Mannequin (2025), we meet Liana Rojas (Isabella Gomez) just as her life is about to change in a drastic way. Her sister dies very suddenly, and while it’s regarded as a suicide, Liana has a hard time believing this.

As a creatively starved stylist assistant herself, she was with her sister as she was about to embark on her dream of becoming a fashion designer. Her sister had just found a dream location for her fashion studio in a historical downtown Los Angeles factory building.

Unfortunately, her sister isn’t even there for one full day before her life is over. Could the long-deceased headshot photographer of decades past be the reason? After all, he was infamous for having brutally murdered and dismembered his victims in that same place.

Solve the crime or be a victim

The murderer may have been active half a century earlier, but something is clearly going on in the present day as well. Once Liana returns to the building, she soon experiences her own supernatural event as the serial killer ghost has set his sights on her.

Now, Liana and her friends must hurry and find a way to free themselves from this sinister curse.

In the process, they may learn what truly happened to both Liana’s sister and those victims five decades ago. If they don’t succeed, their body parts just may be next in the serial killer attempting to build his own mannequin.

Repeat cast members and a director cameo

Isabella Gomez plays the all-important lead role of Liana Rojas. She was also in the filmmaker’s previous movie, and she isn’t the only repeat cast member.

Both Lindsay LaVanchy and Shireen Lai return to work with the filmmaker as friends of both Rojas sisters. Plus Maxwell Hamilton, who plays Liana’s boyfriend, the somewhat deadbeat type, a YouTuber, who has his heart in the right place and wants to help.

The writer-director of the movie plays the building manager, who is always ready to help the tenants should they experience something strange. Jack Sochet (Smile) plays the old-time headshot photographer, Jack Bernard, who wants to build the mannequin of horror.

Also, I have to mention Gabriella Rivera as Sophia Rojas, who dies early in the movie. Her story may ultimately be short, but it’s the catalyst for everything else. In a very short time, we do manage to care about Sophia and understand the impact of this loss on everyone.

Watch The Mannequin on Digital & VOD

John Berardo is the writer and director of The Mannequin (2025). Having watched and reviewed Berardo’s previous movie, the 2020 slasher horror Initiation, I was very excited for this new release.

DO CHECK OUT

Our review of John Berardo’s previous horror movie >

While I was happier with his previous movie, this one also managed to hit a lot of sweet spots for me. Or, you know, brutally bloody horror spots, obviously. I enjoyed the opening black-and-white prologue as much as the grisly and brutal finale.

I imagine most horror fans will have fun with this one. Some will love it while others will think it’s just okay, but I can’t imagine many would find it a waste of time. It does deliver on solid horror (both psychological and very visceral) and entertains wonderfully.

The Mannequin is out on Digital, Blu-ray/DVD, and VOD on October 14, 2025.

Details

Director: John Berardo
Cast: Isabella Gomez, Jack Sochet, Lindsay LaVanchy, Krystle Martin, Trevor LaPaglia, John Berardo, Shireen Lai, Laura Dromerick, Maxwell Hamilton, Peter Adler, Gabriella Rivera

Plot

A stylist assistant investigates her sister’s death in a historic L.A. building, only to face a vengeful ghost of a serial killer who dismembered victims decades ago. She must escape before she’s next.

JURNAL RISA BY RISA SARASWATI on Netflix is a new horror movie from Indonesia. It has a short runtime and features a documentary-style supernatural plot with a found footage vibe. Read our full Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati movie review here!

JURNAL RISA BY RISA SARASWATI is a new Netflix horror movie with high production quality and a very interesting plot. It’s not difficult to follow and manages to utilize some of the most popular horror subgenres.

This is an Indonesian horror movie and we have watched (and reviewed) quite a lot of those over the past couple of years. If you’ve watched both good and bad horror movies from Indonesia, I can tell you that this is one of the better. And it isn’t even by Joko Anwar, which is usually a sign that it will be good. The runtime is just 92 minutes.

Continue reading our Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati movie review below. Find it on Netflix from November 8, 2024.

A mockumentary-style horror movie

Everything about Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati is presented as a documentary. Not unlike The Blair Witch Project (1999) though this is very different. Instead of looking for a witch in the woods, Risa Saraswati is doing a show where people have volunteered to be in a haunted place. 

The purpose is to see if these people succeed at communicating with the ghosts that are supposedly there.

Risa herself is known to have supernatural abilities that enable her to communicate with ghosts and other supernatural beings (usually of the more demonic variety). And as this is a horror movie, things will obviously turn out badly.

Solid and efficient scares

Among the people who challenge themselves to be in this haunted place, one of them succeeds to such an extent that she becomes possessed.

Or does she?

This is really the core plot of Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati on Netflix.

It’s a horror movie that doesn’t have too many special effects of the CGI variety. And the ones that are there, tend to work remarkably well. Extremely efficient at creating that eerie and creepy vibe where something is moving around in the corner or background for a few seconds.

In other words, keep your eyes open for those little chilling horror treats that are sprinkled throughout.

Watch Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati on Netflix now!

The director of Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati is Rizal Mantovani, who has directed plenty of horror movies over the past few decades. The screenwriter is someone we’ve become quite familiar with as she has written several of the Indonesian horror movies we’ve covered here on Heaven of Horror.

Her name is Lele Laila and she has written some impressive and very recommendable horror movies in the past. Previous movies written by Lele Laila include Qorin (2022) and Do You See What I See (2024).

This latest movie is definitely one of the better Indonesian horror movies we’ve covered. Also, the story should work well globally. Haunting, challenges, and trying to communicate with “the other side” is something that happens all over the world.

Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati is on Netflix from November 8, 2024.

Details

Director: Rizal Mantovani
Cast: Risa Saraswati, Prinsa Mandagie, Ranggana Purwana, Nicko Irham, Riana Rizki

Plot

Risa is known to have supernatural abilities that enable her to communicate with supernatural beings. This film will present horror events packaged like Paranormal Activity.

NO VOLTEES on Tubi is a Mexican horror-thriller by the director of The Exorcism of God. A very small cast tells the story of sinister hauntings and deep family trauma. Read our full No Voltees movie review here!

NO VOLTEES is a new Tubi horror thriller that offers both intense jump scares and brutally realistic trauma and abuse. If you can’t stomach domestic abuse (of adults and kids), then this might be too much for you.

However, I have to say that the story is important. Also, if you’d rather watch it as a story simply about a haunting then you can focus on that instead. Well, maybe. I couldn’t pull the two apart – nor should you.

Continue reading our No Voltees movie review below. Find it on Tubi from September 20, 2024.

Don’t Look Back

In No Voltees, we quickly understand the title as the now adult twins have flashbacks to their childhood. The title is Spanish for “Don’t look back” (or “Don’t turn around”) and was a sentence spoken by their abusive father.

When the movie opens, the two estranged twins – a man and a woman – return to their childhood home to help their mother. She suffers from dementia and can no longer stay in her home alone.

Okay, there’s more to her situation, but you should experience this for yourself.

What makes this a horror story is the traumatic and abusive childhood the adult children are confronted with when they return home. In fact, the man has completely blocked out most of his childhood and only starts remembering now.

The woman, however, remembers all too clearly. And it’s affecting her adult life and relationships. Including her relationship with her mother!

Eerily good portrayals

As with any movies that depict abusive behavior, it requires a lot of the actors. Both those inflicting pain and those suffering under it.

For No Voltees, we see Paulette Hernández (Saw X) and Alan Alarcón as the two adult children of the house, Aurora and Martín. As adults, they are trying to escape their childhood trauma, but not succeeding very well.

Ignoring trauma rarely helps in the healing, as they will learn.

ALSO READ

Our review of THE SHADE with similar themes >

As stated initially, this is also a movie that features a sinister haunting, so we are dealing with the supernatural as well. And yes, it does get extremely creepy and very scary.

The fact that their mother (Lucero Trejo) looks very much like a stereotypical evil witch doesn’t hurt the creepy vibe either. In a small key role, we also see Rogelio Gracia from Society of the Snow (org. title: La sociedad de la nieve).

Watch No Voltees on Tubi now!

The director of No Voltees (or Don’t Look Back) is Alejandro Hidalgo. He previously directed the amazing Mexican horror movie The Exorcism of God (2021).

His feature film debut was another brilliant movie titled The House at the End of Time from 2013. Having loved – and never been able to forget – his previous two movies, I obviously had expectations to like this one as well. And he delivered again!

MORE FROM ALEJANDRO HIDALGO

Be sure to check out The Exorcism of God >

This is the first of his feature films where he isn’t always involved with writing the screenplay, so it could’ve been a miss in that sense. Fortunately, it really is not! For No Voltees, the screenplay comes from Ricardo Avilés.

After watching this story from Ricardo Avilés, I am very interested to see what else he has done. And, perhaps even more so, what he’ll be able to do next. Especially in the horror genre as he has a great sense of the sinister and creepy!

BTW, keep watching when the movie ends. There is an after-credit scene you might want to check out.

No Voltees is out on Tubi from Spetember 20, 2024.

Details

Director: Alejandro Hidalgo
Writer: Ricardo Avilés
Stars: Paulette Hernández, Alan Alarcón, Lucero Trejo, Rogelio Gracia, Pilar García Ayala

Plot

When two siblings return to their hometown, they are confronted by a violent, ominous presence that inhabits their childhood home: their father.

HAUNTED MANSION (2023) on Disney+ is a new take on a movie inspired by the Disneyland ride of the same name. It’s a horror-comedy for the whole family but do stay with your kids while watching – at least the first time. A great cast and story. Read our full 2023 Haunted Mansion movie review here!

HAUNTED MANSION (2023) is now on Disney+ and it really is a horror-comedy for the whole family. Releasing it on Disney+ in October is brilliant and I can easily imagine younger viewers managing to watch this quite a few times before Halloween is over. The story is dark in dealing with deep grief, but the paranormal horror and the comedy keep it from getting too dark.

With a runtime of just around two hours, it is too long. If a good 15 minutes had been cut, it would definitely have made for a tighter and stronger overall experience. Having said that, I could still see myself watching this again during Halloween. Especially when wanting to introduce the wonders of horror to the next generation.

Continue reading our 2023 Haunted Mansion movie review below. It was in movie theaters this past summer and is on Disney+ (and VOD) from October 4, 2023.

From Disneyland ride to a movie

Most will probably know that this isn’t the first time the Disneyland theme park attraction “Haunted Mansion” has been adapted into a movie. 20 years ago (in 2003), Eddie Murphy starred in The Haunted Mansion. However, this new 2023 version isn’t simply a remake. Instead, it’s a completely new story and movie.

One that has quite a lot of depth and layers that will hit differently for viewers of various ages.

While this 2023 Haunted Mansion movie is for the whole family, it is also a horror-comedy at its core. We’re talking ghosts trying to kill living people and lots of scary moments. Also, there’s the subject of grief and even depression.

The core story in this new version features a woman (Rosario Dawson) and her son (Chase Dillon) who are looking to start their lives in a new setting. Unfortunately, the place they plan on living in and creating a cute Bed and breakfast is the house this movie is named for. Once realizing it’s a very haunted place, mother and son enlist a motley crew of experts to help them get rid of the paranormal squatters.

Yes, I’m oversimplifying – obviously – but you need to experience all the details firsthand.

As a treat, I can tell you that if you’ve ever tried the Disneyland ride this is based on, you should feel right at home. There are plenty of direct references to the ride, so even if it’s been a while, it’ll probably ring a bell.

So many fun characters

If there’s one character who isn’t supposed to be fun, it’s Ben Matthias. He is a scientist and doesn’t really believe in the paranormal or supernatural. Of course, all this is supposed to change, and LaKeith Stanfield plays the role of Ben perfectly. He also works really well with Rosario Dawson and Chase Dillon as the mother and son in dire need of help at the haunted mansion they’ve just purchased.

Personally, I also loved that there was never much of an issue of whether the mother, Gabbie, believed her son, Travis when he said something was off. The moment she felt something was off, she took her son and ran. A small detail, but one that matters after seeing so many movies where parents ignore both the worries of their children and things happening around them.

I’m always happy to see both LaKeith Stanfield (The Changeling series) and Rosario Dawson (Calls), so it was no surprise that they worked so well in this Disney movie. However, the young Chase W. Dillon was a welcomed surprise. Kid characters can be written as over-the-top, but Chase W. Dillon (Saint X) manages to portray Travis in a way that made me wish he was in every scene. Some amazing talent in that kid!

Aside from the three above-mentioned actors, we have a true all-star ensemble cast in Haunted Mansion (2023). This includes Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, and Danny DeVito with small key roles (sometimes cameo-like) played by Daniel Levy, Winona Ryder, Jared Leto, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Watch the 2023 Haunted Mansion on Disney+ or VOD now!

Justin Simien is the director of Haunted Mansion in this 2023 version and I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. Sure, as a horror-comedy for the whole family, I knew it would be solid entertainment. However, the story in this movie goes a lot deeper in surprising ways. Previously, Justin Simien worked on Bad Hair (2020), a Hulu movie he both wrote and directed.

The screenplay for Haunted Mansion comes from Katie Dippold who has worked on a lot of solid comedy productions. Including horror and comedy hybrids such as the 2016 Ghostbusters movie. A movie I still insist on was a brilliant movie and one I enjoy re-watching every now and then. As a little treat.

Along with watching this new 2023 movie as part of your Disney+ subscription, you can also buy it digitally from all major digital retailers including Prime Video, Apple TV, and Vudu. If you do that, you’ll be getting exclusive behind-the-scenes bonus content. With this amazing cast, it might be worth considering if you enjoy that sort of thing.

Haunted Mansion (2023) is on Disney+ from October 4, 2023. 

Details

Director: Justin Simien
Writer: Katie Dippold
Cast: LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon, Daniel Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto, Winona Ryder

Plot

Haunted Mansion is the story of a woman and her son who enlist a motley crew of so-called spiritual experts to help them rid their home of supernatural squatters.

CONSECRATION is a new horror movie starring Jena Malone. It’s religious-themed but not another exorcism movie. Still, it does get quite violent and has a supernatural (or paranormal) twist. The runtime is perfectly utilized. Read our full Consecration movie review here!

CONSECRATION is a new horror movie from IFC Films and Shudder. A very solid starting point for any genre movie as this usually means a high standard, to begin with. Having Jena Malone starring in the film is yet another plus; she is good in this one.

While it is religious-themed, it has a fresh take on this horror subgenre. In other words, this isn’t another exorcism movie, but it does get quite violent and intensely creepy. Also, the storytelling works really well and the 90-minute runtime is perfectly utilized.

Continue reading our full Consecration movie review below. Find the film in theaters from February 10, 2023 (and on Shudder later).

What is good or evil?

The core story with its religious theme obviously focuses on good and evil. Or God and the Devil. And while Grace (Jena Malone) has been staying away from religion and focused on science as an accomplished ophthalmologist in London, her brother has gone in the other direction. He’s a priest at the Mount Saviour Convent in the Scottish Highlands.

Their respective reasoning for shying away from (or going towards) religion stems from their childhood which we will see in flashbacks that work remarkably well.

In any case, Grace is forced to go to the remote convent in Scotland after the suspicious death of her brother. Officially, it’s a murder-suicide situation and her brother is the one who committed suicide which Grace refuses to believe. At the convent, she is met by Mother Superior (Academy Award nominee Janet Suzman) and Father Romero (Danny Huston).

She doesn’t trust either since they clearly have the best interest of the Church and not the truth. Distrusting the Church entirely, she starts her own investigation. One that leads to her uncovering murder, sacrilege, and a disturbing truth about herself.

Still, the main question of what (and who) is good or evil remains elusive in many ways. The world is more gray than black or white in that area.

Jena Malone (The Hunger Games, Swallowed) delivers a very strong performance as Grace, so you can easily watch it for her alone. However, there isn’t one weak performance in the movie, so you should enjoy the entire cast. Her brother, who we obviously only see alive in flashbacks, is portrayed by Steffan Cennydd (The Feast).

The intense Consecration ending

As already mentioned, the runtime of Consecration lands on that perfect 1 hour and 30 minutes. And while the entire movie plays out in a very intriguing and sometimes surprising way, the ending of Consecration is what really won me over.

To be fair, this is often the case. If a movie ends on a bad note, it taints the entire movie-watching experience. This was the case with They Wait in the Dark (though I do still recommend watching it). That’s why it was great to have the opposite experience here.

There are quite a lot of twists and turns towards the end, which will definitely work best if you’ve been paying attention. Watching this in a movie theater, that won’t be a problem, but watching it at home, you need to respect the story and focus on the movie.

It has a few moments that reminded me of Mike Flanagan’s Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House, which is one of my favorite TV series ever. If you’ve watched this and could keep up with how the story evolved, you can keep up with this one as well.

Watch Consecration in theaters now and on Shudder later

Christopher Smith is the co-writer and director of Consecration. You’re probably already familiar with some of his other movies. Previously, Christopher Smith directed the horror movie Creep (2004), which was his feature debut. Since then, he went on to direct movies like Severance (2006), Triangle (2009), Black Death (2010), Detour (2016), and The Banishing (2020).

His co-writer on this latest religious-themed horror movie is Laurie Cook. This is the first writing credit for Laurie Cook, who has been producing movies for the past decade or so. She’s also a producer on this movie as well as on Smith’s The Banishing and the 2021 movie Barbarians.

Consecration is distributed by IFC Films and Shudder, which means it gets a theatrical release first and then on the Shudder streaming platform later. If you can, be sure to check it out in a theater near you first. Otherwise, you’ll be happy to know that it works very well in a home theater setting as well, which is how I screened this one.

If we did half stars here at Heaven of Horror, I would give Consecration 3½ stars. But we don’t, so I give it a solid 3.

Consecration is out exclusively in theaters from February 10, 2023, and digitally on March 3, 2023. It will also be released on Shudder later!

Details

Director: Christopher Smith
Writers: Christopher Smith, Laurie Cook
Cast: Jena Malone, Danny Huston, Janet Suzman, Thoren Ferguson, Will Keen, Steffan Cennydd, Eilidh Fisher, Victoria Donovan, Ian Pirie

Plot

In CONSECRATION, after the suspicious death of her brother, a priest, Grace (Jena Malone) goes to the Mount Saviour Convent in Scotland to find out what really happened. Once there, she uncovers murder, sacrilege and a disturbing truth about her own past.

SORRY ABOUT THE DEMON on Shudder is a new horror-comedy that just works. It leans into the kitsch and campy vibe that makes horror comedies work. A fun little treat for genre fans. Read our full Sorry About the Demon movie review here – find it exclusively on Shudder!

SORRY ABOUT THE DEMON is a new Shudder horror-comedy with a simple story that delivers exactly what you’d expect. The one thing it could’ve done better is the runtime. Having a runtime of 1 hour and 45 minutes is often too long for a horror-comedy.

LOOKING FOR MORE HORROR-COMEDIES?

Check out our “horror-comedy”-tag here >

This one wouldn’t have suffered from being edited a bit tighter either. Still, it takes nothing away from all the things that work really well.

Continue reading our Sorry About the Demon movie review below. Find it on Shudder from January 19, 2023.

The kindhearted quitter

I was contemplating calling the main character, Will (Jon Michael Simpson), a loser but realized this really wasn’t fair. He’s much more of a quitter. He’s kindhearted and wants to please everyone – including his own need to succeed – but whenever something doesn’t click immediately, he moves on to a new project.

That’s why his girlfriend ultimately leaves him. It’s not that there isn’t love there, but she can’t trust that he’ll ever get his act together. Also, he isn’t even there to support her when she’s getting ahead in her own career. He’s too busy taking calls at home as part of the one job, he has stuck with; Being in customer service for a toothpaste brand that nobody likes.

This job is a fun and quirky little detail that suits Will perfectly. This guy might quit on everything else, but he knows he needs to make money while figuring out what he really wants to do. Also, he isn’t really afraid of challenges, which will soon become an important trait.

Making a deal with a demon

When his girlfriend breaks up with him, Will very suddenly finds himself in need of a new place to live. However, luck strikes as a family need someone to live in their big house for a while. And at a very attractive rent. Of course, there is the one small catch that the house is haunted.

Or rather, there’s a demon in the house and it wants a human sacrifice. The owners have made a deal with the demon, that if they can’t find another human sacrifice, their young daughter will be the dish of the day for the demon. The family makes the very practical decision to rent out their house to a young man with no family (that would be Will).

Very early on, Will is confronted by the demon, but things don’t happen the way they’re supposed to. And that’s all I’ll say to avoid spoiling the story of Sorry About the Demon for you. The rest of the movie is focused on Will trying to figure out how to win back his ex-girlfriend and deal with the demon in his new home.

The most important character in Sorry About the Demon is obviously Will, and it’s fortunate that he’s portrayed by Jon Michael Simpson (Scare Package). He makes Will come across as a very kind and loving man that just needs to get his sh*t together.

Watch Sorry About the Demon on Shudder!

Emily Hagins is the writer and director of Sorry About the Demon, and she is definitely a filmmaker we’re keeping our eye on. She’s done a few feature films already, and she’s working with comedy, drama, crime, and romance. However, she is already well-versed in horror as well.

Her two most recent writing and directing credits prior to making this Shudder horror-comedy are from horror anthologies. She worked on both the V/H/S series and the horror-comedy anthology Scare Package (2019).

DON’T MISS OUT ON

The Scare Package sequel “Rad Chad’s Revenge” which was even better than the first anthology film >

As already mentioned, my one complaint (if you can even call it that) is that this horror-comedy runs a tad too long. And yet, this is easily forgiven thanks to the delicious elements throughout. This is a love letter to the kitsch and campy horror-comedy hybrid and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sorry About the Demon is streaming exclusively on Shudder from January 19, 2023.

Details

Director: Emily Hagins
Writer: Emily Hagins
Stars: Jon Michael Simpson, Jeff McQuitty, Olivia Ducayen, Paige Evans, Dave Peniuk, Sarah Cleveland, Presley Allard, Jude Zappala

Plot

What’s worse than getting dumped? For Will, it’s finding out that his new place is haunted. Now faced with a quarter-life crisis and a house full of spirits, Will must figure out how to make things right with his ex-girlfriend AND banish the sacrifice-seeking demon residing in his house.

SATAN’S SLAVES 2: COMMUNION on Shudder is the sequel to the terrifying – and amazing – 2017 horror movie from Joko Anwar. Director and cast return for this strong sequel. Read our Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion movie review here!

SATAN’S SLAVES 2: COMMUNION is a new horror mystery on Shudder. As indicated very clearly by its title, this movie is a sequel. Obviously, this means you should check out the first movie before watching this. Fortunately, that was a gorgeously creepy horror movie, so you’re in for a treat.

DO CHECK OUT

Our top-rated review of Satan’s Slaves from 2017 here >

The movies are from Indonesia and the first movie was actually a remake. The original title of this new movie is Pengabdi Setan 2: Communion. This was the first Indonesian film shot with IMAX technology,  so you know they were betting on drawing in the theater crowds in Indonesia.

Continue reading our full Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion movie review below. Find it on Shudder from November 4, 2022.

Cast and crew return

If you’ve watched the first movie – and you really should because it’s awesome – then you’ll already be familiar with the cast. The returning cast members of this Indonesian horror franchise include Tara Basro, Bront Palarae, Endy Arfian, Nasar Anuz, Egi Fedly, and Ayu Laksmi.

For this sequel, there is still a very profound focus on the characters and their relationship as a family. However, since they’ve moved to an apartment building (they lived in a house in the first movie), there are also many new characters.

We also get to know these characters and, once again, the story makes us care about and for them. This means we want them to survive and make it through the horrors that are coming their way. Well, most of them anyway, but this is also addressed.

For one, there is a dad who beats both his wife and kids. This is also a story element that is covered in a way that highlights the issue in a strong and sober way.

Do not miss out on this one – seriously!

When I watched the first Satan’s Slaves I was blown away. The perfect timing of scares along with the strong characters that you get to know was a very powerful combination. That’s why we gave that movie a top rating when we screened it.

As already mentioned, this movie is from Indonesia (org. title: Pengabdi Setan 2: Communion) and if you like South Korean genre productions, you’ll definitely want to keep an eye out for Indonesian movies as well. Well, certainly those directed by Joko Anwar, in any case.

MORE HORROR FROM ASIA

Make sure you check out the HBO Asia produced horror anthology Folklore >

And please don’t worry about any language barrier. Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion movie is about so much more than dialogue anyway. And the creepy, eerie and downright terrifying vibe is strong with this one!

Watch Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion on Shudder!

Joko Anwar is a truly brilliant horror master who is still underrated on a global level. However, he has managed to cross borders (and language barriers) with this horror franchise. You just cannot ignore his impeccable timing and strong storytelling skills.

And while the first movie was a remake (or based on another movie), this is an original Joko Anwar story. With the same characters still, but a fresh and relevant story.

MORE FROM JOKO ANWAR

While Satan’s Slaves is my favorite Joko Anwar horror movie, Impetigore (2019) is also a horror movie I would recommend very strongly – and it’s also on Shudder >

While Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion is a very strong sequel, it doesn’t quite reach the levels of the first movie. Then again, a sequel surpassing the original movie really is the exception more than the rule. Making a strong sequel, however, is a huge success on its own.

Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion is on Shudder from November 4, 2022.

Details

Director: Joko Anwar
Writer: Joko Anwar
Stars: Tara Basro, Endy Arfian, Bront Palarae, Nasar Annuz, Ayu Laksmi, Egi Fedl, Ratu Felisha

Plot

Satan’s Slaves: Communion follows a family living in a rundown apartment after escaping terror from an evil cult and their undead mother, unaware that their new home is a bigger threat to their lives. 

DEADSTREAM on Shudder is a new horror movie that works brilliantly thanks to its dark satire and well-timed scares. With a runtime of just 87 minutes, you don’t really need much more. Read our full Deadstream movie review here!

DEADSTREAM is a new Shudder horror movie that’s mostly more of a horror-comedy. Towards the end, however, horror comes (very much) to the forefront. So, if you think you’re “safe” due to the horror-comedy label, you might want to think again.

LOVE HORROR-COMEDY?

So do we – check out our horror-comedy tag for more in this genre >

The runtime is just shy of 90 minutes and you will not be bored at any point. 87 minutes, you don’t really need much more. Joseph Winter stars in this horror movie with deeply dark and satirical humor, so there’s plenty to keep you on your toes.

Continue reading our Deadstream movie review below. Watch it on Shudder from October 6, 2022.

Such an awesome premise

The story in Deadstream is all about a disgraced internet personality, Shawn Ruddy, trying to win back his popularity. To do this, he wants to live stream spending a night in a haunted house. And yes, you will hear more about how he came to be “disgraced” in the movie.

But pay attention or you will miss it!

It will come as no surprise to most, that the comments are ruthless. I mean, whenever something goes bump in the night, you will see his “fans” commenting that he should check it out. Or just outright say, that they hope something will kill him.

Okay, I’m paraphrasing because the comments he receives contain a lot of expletives. It is actually a lot of fun to just sit and follow these comments. And yes, he also reads them and responds to them. Since being this iconic internet personality himself, he knows the game and is ready for all that is coming.

Well, in the comments section anyway. Not so much from the haunted house!

Joseph Winter will drive you crazy!

In many ways, Deadstream is almost a one-man show. Joseph Winter plays Shawn Ruddy, the main character, and he is alone on the screen most of the runtime. Well, others do show up, but I won’t spoil the “how and why” of it all here.

Oh, and – of course – there are the comments to entertain you.

Joseph Winter as Shawn Ruddy did drive me crazy at times. But in a good way. He actually just felt like watching one of those YouTubers that have been doing the same thing for way too long. But for the story in Deadstream, it works brilliantly.

Mostly thanks to all the pop-culture references and classic YouTuber (or Influencer) trademark behavior. Something we also saw in Superhost (also on Shudder) and Sissy (2022).

Watch Deadstream on Shudder!

Along with starring in Deadstream, Joseph Winter is also one of the writers and directors behind this horror movie, which is a feature film debut. The other writer and director is Vanessa Winter, and yes, the two are married. We love a good husband and wife duo.

Just like Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel or David F. Sandberg and Lotta Losten. It just always results in something full of energy, passion, and love for the genre!

Fortunately, we won’t have to wait long to see more from the duo. Vanessa Winter and Joseph Winter are back later in October 2022 with V/H/S/99. They have co-written and co-directed the segment “To Hell and Back”. And yes, we will also be seeing Joseph Winter on the screen again for V/H/S/99.

In the meanwhile, do not miss out on Deadstream. It’s both good fun (and pretty dark and dirty fun) as well as creepy as hell. A total treat perfect for a Shudder release here in the Halloween month of October. Enjoy!

Deadstream is out on Shudder from October 6, 2022.

Details

Directors: Joseph Winter, Vanessa Winter
Writers: Joseph Winter, Vanessa Winter
Cast: Joseph Winter, Melanie Stone, Jason K. Wixom

Plot

DEADSTREAM follows a disgraced and demonetized internet personality (Joseph Winter) who tries to win back his fans by live-streaming himself spending one night alone in an abandoned haunted house.  When he accidentally unleashes a vengeful spirit, his big comeback event becomes a real-time fight for his life (and social relevance) as he faces off with the sinister spirit of the house and her own powerful following.  

NIGHT’S END on Shudder is a new low-budget horror movie with some impressive names attached. While I enjoyed the first half, the final half did not work for me. At all. Everything that had worked for me just seemed to crumble away. Read our full Night’s End movie review here!

NIGHT’S END is a new Shudder horror movie that has impressive names attached (both in front of and behind the camera). All despite being a low-budget production. Unfortunately, I found this horror movie to be one of those movie-watching experiences that stick with you for all the wrong reasons.

After a strong opening storyline, it just fell apart completely. And not in any good ways. Everything that had worked in intense and relatable ways turned into some sort of B movie creature feature. Or actually, not really because that could also have worked. Hell, I like it when a movie does a crazy subgenre or niche twist along the way. This one just stopped being good halfway through.

You can continue reading our Night’s End movie review below if you’re curious to know more (no spoilers though). Also, you can find the horror movie on Shudder from March 31, 2022.

Low-budget horror movies can be great

I have no problem with low-budget horror movies. I like low-budget movies quite a lot. In fact, scratch that, sometimes I love low-budget productions. They can offer a kind of movie magic that transcends big budgets because there’s so much passion for filmmaking and love of a good story there.

Sure, there can be issues with the production quality. Something that often affects the sound mostly and makes you appreciate just how important (and difficult) good sound in a movie is.

With Night’s End, it’s clearly shot on separate locations, which we’ve grown accustomed to in various forms during the lockdown. It has made for some amazing and creative ways of telling stories. Sometimes with amazing results as seen with the Shudder movie Host which (deservedly!) became a runaway hit. At other times, it turns into a trainwreck which we witnessed with Songbird.

Interestingly, Host had the unknown cast and crew while Songbird had quite a few familiar names attached. Still, I never expected Night’s End to fall into that latter category of becoming a trainwreck. Yet, here we are!

Geno Walker had me in the first half

While the first part of this movie intrigued and fascinated me. Yes, despite some less than impressive performances by a few supporting characters, I really liked Geno Walker (Chicago Fire) in the lead role as Ken Barber. Actually, Geno Walker continues to work in this movie, but he is up against continuously greater obstacles from the development of the plot.

Ken Barber (Geno Walker) is a real shut-in which is nothing new. From Shut-In to The Woman in the Window and most recently Kimi as well as numerous other movies, we’ve seen many stories about people who cannot leave the safety of their homes. Still, having the lead be a man is something we don’t see as often. For me, I completely accepted that Ken Barber was a man who just could not leave.

I also really enjoyed Michael Shannon and Kate Arrington (Mare of Easttown) in key supporting roles. Kate Arrington plays Kelsey, who is the ex-wife of Ken Barber. Michael Shannon plays her new husband and they both try to help Ken. For the record, I am always happy to see when divorced couples are shown as people who can still be friends and care for one another.

And, of course, Michael Shannon and Kate Arrington, work really well in everything they do. Being a real-life married couple, they could also easily shoot these scenes together despite much of the world being in lockdown. However, even their final scenes ended up being quite cringey. Not due to their acting, but rather everything around them.

Good Lord, those final 10 minutes really tested me!

Watch Night’s End on Shudder

The director of this movie is Jennifer Reeder who previously directed a segment of V/H/S/94 and Knives and Skin (2019). The latter is a thriller mystery that I actually enjoyed in all its weird and quirky ways. Of course, Jennifer Reeder also wrote that movie herself, so that probably made a big difference. Night’s End was written by Brett Neveu who has mostly worked in theater prior to this movie.

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Check out our review of V/H/S/94 which is also on Shudder >

To say that I was disappointed in Night’s End is a grotesque understatement. However, it’s important to note that I was mostly disappointed due to two things; First of all, I expected a lot more from director Jennifer Reeder and many of the actors attached to this. Second, because it started out well and I was really into the story in the beginning.

With a runtime of this 81 minutes, this movie ultimately felt much longer. Which is no small feat in and of itself. I would say you should check it out for that first half, and just hold on for the crazy final half. Maybe you’ll see something in the ending that just never managed to hit home for me.

Night’s End is out on Shudder from March 31, 2022.

Details

Director: Jennifer Reeder
Writer: Brett Neveu
Cast: Geno Walker, Kate Arrington, Felonius Munk, and Michael Shannon

Plot

An anxious shut-in moves into a haunted apartment, hiring a stranger to perform an exorcism which quickly takes a horrific turn.

THE RETURN (2021) is a new sci-fi horror movie that will surprise you and keep you guessing. But ultimately it doesn’t quite hit the target. Read our full The Return movie review here!

When horror decides to mix and mingle with other genres, one of two things can happen – absolutely magic or a big chaotic mess. Unfortunately, there’s rarely any middle ground, as diehard genre fans probably know from experience, so not everyone may be thrilled to hear that 2020’s The Return is best described as a mash-up between horror and science fiction.

However, director BJ Verot gives it an honest effort regardless. Verot also shares a writing credit for the film alongside Ken Janssens. The cast of The Return includes Richard Harmon, Echo Andersson, and Sara Thompson, among many others.

The plotline of The Return appears pretty standard at first glance if you go in knowing nothing about it. Rodger Emmerlich (Harmon) is the protagonist, an intelligent college student who takes after his pair of celebrated parents. However, he’s got an emotionally taxing task ahead of him. His father has just passed away, and now it’s up to Rodger to sort out his family’s affairs along with the help of his girlfriend Beth (Thompson) and friend Jordan (Andersson).

While they’re in town, the trio decides to stay in Rodger’s family home, which sounds innocent enough on the surface. But, of course, nothing goes quite as planned. As the three go through the seemingly endless numbers of boxes, files, and papers, something sinister appears to be keeping watch. A spectral figure begins to haunt them, which is naturally pretty unsettling.

There are also some intriguing answers about Rodger’s mysterious past coming to light, including a few sordid family secrets. Soon, Rodger and his friends find themselves trying to get to the bottom of how his father really died. There are plenty of questions that come up regarding what happened to Rodger’s mother and sister years ago, as well. With the additional help of therapist Dr. Cox (Marina Stephenson Kerr), he begins the hard work of bringing the real answers to light, no matter how disturbing they may turn out to be.

Although The Return appears to be a fairly standard haunted house story at first glance, it’s got a few surprises up its sleeve that set it apart from the rest of the pack. The mystery undertone of the first two acts of the film lends it an exciting film noir flavor that’s a lot of fun, especially when played against the haunted house elements you go in expecting. You do get wrapped up in the mystery at the center of Rodger’s family and want to see how things play out, especially as connected to the mysterious figures that seem to be haunting the house.

However, in the final act of The Return, the tone takes a pretty hard left. This is where things start descending into the realm of science fiction, which you’ll either like or you won’t. It’s not that the elements introduced at this point in the film’s progression aren’t fun, because they are. But the abrupt change in mood from gloomy to geeky may leave some viewers wondering what just happened. There’s even a bit of time travel thrown in for good measure – again, something you’ll likely either find delightful or completely off-putting.

One thing that’s for sure is The Return will surprise you and keep you guessing. It’s original and exciting. Many of the effects are well-done. But there are also many tired tropes sprinkled throughout, some of which may leave you groaning.

Ultimately, The Return doesn’t quite hit the target. But if you’re game for a little something different that isn’t trying to take itself too seriously, it might make for a nice change of pace.

The Return (2021) was released on demand and digital on August 10, 2021.

Details

Director: BJ Verot
Cast: Richard Harmon, Sara Thompson, Echo Andersson, Marina Stephenson Kerr, Zoe Fish, Erik Athavale, Gwendolyn Collins

Plot

Rodger returns home from college with two friends to settle the affairs of his recently deceased father. They begin to experience weird and unsettling occurrences in the house. Rodger is soon plagued by strange childhood memories about a haunting by a ghostly presence. These memories boil over into reality culminating in an intense showdown with the terror that has come back.