DISFORIA is a Spanish Horror movie set in a world on the brink of total collapse. How do they face the apocalyptic events? Well, in very different ways, and a terrible lack of communication. World Premiere at Fantastic Fest. Read our full Disforia movie review here!

DISFORIA is a horror movie from Spain getting its World Premiere at Fantastic Fest 2025. This is one of the more tragic and sad horror movies of the festival this year. Both due to the plot and the characters of this particular story.

The movie is set in a world where everything has gone wrong, and survival may be possible for some, but no longer very desirable for many. If you’re feeling blue, this movie won’t help. Even if it does ultimately offer some hope.

Continue reading our Disforia movie review below.

Who wants to survive this?

The world we’re presented with when Disforia opens seems to be one that has given up. In fact, many people have decided to leave this world behind as hope has vanished from their lives.

Those who continue to struggle will also come across those who have said goodbye to life. They take what they can from those people and move on. Oh yes, Disforia features an extremely dark worldview.

Sadly, it also shows how some people continue to gain pleasure from the pain of others. Not least via social media and other digital platforms.

We meet the married couple, Esther and Tomás, as they try to leave behind their home in a city ravaged by looting and economic collapse. They decide to flee a brutal and impossible life by taking their young daughter to their country house.

If they could sell this place, they would have a hope of getting enough cash to escape the country altogether. However, that’s easier said than done, and we will soon learn that Esther and Tomás don’t quite see eye to eye on these plans.

Desperation meets depression

With Disforia, the world may be an awful place full of desperation. However, a human being with depression is no picnic either. For our married couple, both desperation and depression play huge roles in their plans.

As survival becomes paramount to the small family, it feels like a game to the stranger (Claudia Salas) standing at the door. Instead of everything they had planned, they are forced into a violent nightmare.

I recognize that the whole “a stranger at their door” part may sound like something out of The Strangers horror franchise, but Disforia is something very different.

At times, the vibe reminded me of Vincent Must Die, though the plots actually differ wildly. That particular movie was French, and I highly recommend it. A survival movie with a sci-fi element, which Disforia does not have.

Disforia World Premiere at Fantastic Fest

Disforia comes from director Christopher Cartagena González, and his idea of horror is definitely of the more grim and bleak variety. Human nature can be (or get) extremely dark, as highlighted by the plot in this movie.

The movie is based on the novel Disforia written by David Jasso, while the screenplay comes from director Christopher Cartagena with Joan-Pol Argenter and Imanol Ortiz in their feature film debut.

At its core, this Spanish horror movie deals with mental health and motherhood, but it also has a horror story that is tied entirely to the apocalyptic situation playing out. In other words, you can watch it however you please.

For me, Disforia is at its strongest when it combines both, which is exactly what happens for most of this movie. Can it be frustrating as well? Oh yeah. But isn’t that just the way life is, as well?!

Disforia enjoyed its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2025.

Details

Director: Christopher Cartagena
Screenwriters: Joan-Pol Argenter, Christopher Cartagena, Imanol Ortiz
Cast: Fariba Sheikhan, Claudia Salas, Eloy Azorín, Noah Casas

Plot

Desperate to escape their city collapsing into chaos, married Esther and Tomás flee with their young daughter to their country home—only to find themselves trapped in a violent nightmare when a stranger arrives.

CRUSHED is a new psychological thriller with dark horror elements. This is not for the weak of heart – such as myself. A movie that stays with you and can be difficult to forget, which is clearly the point. Screening at Fantastic Fest 2025. Read our full Crushed movie review here!

CRUSHED is a horror-thriller with a psychological driver of a story. One that gets under your skin. Especially if your weak spot is for children or animals. Mine is both, but particularly animals, which is the same for the young girl in the story.

And when I say “young girl”, I do mean a young child. She will also come to play a role that leaves scars on one’s soul. Clearly, this is the intention of the filmmaker, and I respect that. We cannot pretend it doesn’t happen in real life.

Continue reading our Crushed movie review below. Screening at Fantastic Fest 2025.

Your faith in everything will be challenged

Crushed plays out in the suburbs of Bangkok, Thailand. Here, we meet a British pastor, Daniel (Steve Oram), his Thai wife, May (Nattapohn Rawddon), and their ten-year-old daughter, Olivia.

Their lives are seemingly peaceful and idyllic, with Olivia going to school and Daniel caring for his congregation. They discuss scripture at home, and as a pastor, he believes in love and compassion.

Unfortunately, Olivia is about to have her faith in a loving God challenged.

It all begins when a video depicting extreme animal cruelty is circulating. An older boy shows Olivia this video, solely to torment her.

Olivia cannot let go of these disturbing images, and when her beloved new kitten disappears shortly after, nightmares about its fate start haunting her. She sets out to find and rescue her kitten, and instead, she’s captured herself.

Daniel and May struggle to cope with their daughter’s disappearance, which will soon lead them to a world they knew existed, but clearly hoped never to be confronted with.

Now, this is true horror

At its core, Crushed is essentially a true crime horror movie. Everything we see and hear about in the movie happens in the real world. Every single day. Fortunately, most of us are blessed that we’re not confronted with it.

Still, all the more reason to recognize and acknowledge that we are indeed the lucky ones. Also, it probably means you (like myself) live in a part of the world where the rights of children and animals are offered better protection.

Well, in theory, anyway. Surely, we all still acknowledge that abuse of children and animals happens worldwide. And no, I’m not just talking about child labor or the meat industry, but actual abuse for the sake of causing physical harm.

Like I said, Crushed is not for the weak of heart. As someone who cannot stand when animals are hurt or abused, this was a very difficult watch for me. However, this filmmaker never utilizes gratuitous shots.

Instead, he uses sound and implies things, so our own minds fill in the blanks. It’s both brilliant and impacts its viewers even deeper. Well, this viewer, anyway.

Crushed has its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest

Simon Rumley is the writer and director of Crushed. He previously made the movie Red White & Blue (2010). That movie also stayed with me for quite some time after watching it – as will this 2025 movie.

Also, the topic of “crushing”, featured in this movie, has already been explored by Simon Rumley. That happened in the short “P is for Pressure”, which was a segment in The ABCs of Death (2012).

There is usually a physical aspect to the horror in his movies and stories, but somehow, they are still mainly in the psychological horror realm. Not least when the villains of this movie point out certain double standards.

Crushed is not a movie I enjoyed watching, but this is clearly very intentional. Also, it ensures I certainly won’t forget it anytime soon. A raw and relentless look at the darker side of human nature.

Crushed is screening at Fantastic Fest 2025.

Details

Director: Simon Rumley
Writer: Simon Rumley
Stars: Steve Oram, Kevin Lea Davies, May Nattaporn Rawddon, Christian Ferriera, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Nadech Chatwin, Margaux Dietrich

Plot

A family’s faith and resilience are tested when their daughter is kidnapped, leading to a harrowing journey of discovery and justice.

PIG HILL is a new horror movie with a very gory visual style that became a lot more violent than I ever expected. The visuals are one thing, but the storyline ultimately hits even harder. Even folklore and urban legends are based on something. Read our full Pig Hill movie review here!

PIG HILL is a horror movie that hits hard. It’s based on the novel by Nancy Williams, which I’m not sure I could handle reading after watching this movie. And yes, I do actually mean that as a compliment, because this movie is intense.

The cast is full of familiar faces in key roles, but it’s the story that really packs a punch. Unfortunately, the storytelling is very choppy and fragmented in a way I did not like at all. The flow of the story only really works in parts of the final act.

Continue reading our Pig Hill movie review below. The movie will have its World Premiere at FrightFest.

Based on a real urban legend

Pig Hill was shot on location in Meadville, Pennsylvania, which is the origin of the real urban legend. I have to give it props for that. I mean, sure, the notion of a “real urban legend” might be a bit strange, but it’s also just another word for lore.

And I am a sucker for both folklore and urban legends, so it works for me.

In Pig Hill, we follow the young woman, Carrie (Rainey Qualley), who is looking into the urban legend of Pig Hill. Not so much an investigation of this urban legend, but more because it seems to overlap with a series of unexplained disappearances.

When women go missing in the same area as the local lore of “pig people”, it’s hard not to become fascinated by this wild myth. A story of people kidnapping and breeding to create pig-human hybrids.

Yes, it does sound like a particular sinister episode of the X-Files, which isn’t too far off. Not from the actual story of this movie, but the urban legend.

Heroes, villains, and victims?

The question of heroes and villains is one that becomes a little muddled in Pig Hill. Mostly one can be both to different people. And also, whether you’re ultimately a hero or a villain, you can also be a victim.

All these things can intersect as the victim can later become a hero battling what happened to them, or become a villain and repeat the offences they were subjected to.

This may all sound a bit too much like foreshadowing, but believe me when I tell you that Pig Hill isn’t as simple as it might appear. As much as I disliked the fragmented style and extreme use of blue and red lighting, I really liked the third act.

A very strong core cast

Alongside Rainey Qualley (yes, sister of Margaret Qualley) as Carrie, we have Shiloh Fernandez (Torn Hearts) as her brother, Chris, who desperately wants to protect his little sister. The siblings are each other’s only remaining family.

Of course, when Shane West (Walden) arrives as a newcomer, and Carrie quickly befriends him, Chris hates him for intruding on their union.

Who can you trust, and why are Carrie’s nightmares becoming increasingly linked with the urban legend of the pig people? Is it all a coincidence, or is something in Carrie’s past that is finally surfacing?!

Pig Hill screened at FrightFest – watch it on digital later

Pig Hill comes from director Kevin Lewis, who you probably know best for Willy’s Wonderland starring Nicolas Cage. I was very entertained by that movie and actually liked it better than Five Nights at Freddy’s.

Maybe because it came first, but that also just made it seem more innovative. Even though I obviously recognize that this is neither true nor fair, as the story of Five Nights at Freddy’s is an older original story from a video game.

Regardless of his previous movie, I wish Kevin Lewis had done a few things differently with Pig Hill. I can still recognize his style, but the choppy storytelling of moving from one scene to the next with no flow just ruined a lot of the horror vibe for me.

The screenplay comes from Jarrod Burris, and the story is fascinating, so once I got to the third act, I was completely mesmerized by the storytelling. This is the first feature film from Jarrod Burris as a writer, so I look forward to the next.

I have no doubt Kevin Lewis intentionally told the story as he did – maybe even to get this final act impact – but that means two-thirds of the movie felt subpar. And yet, I do ultimately recognize this movie due to the practical effects, cast, and the overall plot.

Pig Hill will have its World Premiere at FrightFest on August 23, 2025. It will be out on digital on December 9, 2025.

Details

Director: Kevin Lewis
Writer: Jarrod Burris
Cast: Rainey Qualley, Shane West & Shiloh Fernandez

Plot

Carrie has been fascinated by the local legend of the pig people of Pig Hill, revolting creatures who breed and cause havoc in the area. As the tenth woman goes missing, Carrie can’t stop thinking that there could be more to these stories.

YOUR HOST is a new slasher with a serial killer plot and a revenge story. It feels like a movie made from past horror hits, which was disappointing. The production quality, however, is very impressive. World Premiere at FrightFest 2025. Read our full Your Host movie review here!

YOUR HOST is a horror slasher that sounds very interesting on paper, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. We’re watching a serial killer choose his victims and then putting them through the wringer by making them think they can survive.

It’s obvious from the opening scene that he is no Jigsaw.

This isn’t about teaching his victims a lesson. He wants revenge and wants his victims to suffer. Both psychologically and physically. It’s brutal and efficient, but the movie isn’t good. It just could have been.

Continue reading our Your Host movie review below. The movie will have its World Premiere at FrightFest 2025 on August 22, 2025.

Killing as a game

With Your Host, the title refers to the serial killer, who kills his victims in a very creative and elaborate way. He pretends to be the host of a game show where his intended victims are contestants.

The victims in this particular round are four 23-year-old friends. Well, according to the plot, because honestly, the “friends” part isn’t obvious at all. I’ll get back to that later.

In any case, the game show host character reminded me of The Ringmaster from the Danish horror movie (org. title: Finale) due to his flamboyant ways and focus on entertainment. And yes, Jigsaw is another obvious comparison.

Whatever familiar character or plot you want to compare Your Host to, the soon-to-be victims end up in a gameshow-inspired torture room. The “games” will be very creative and extremely bloody.

Nobody is likable

With Your Host, the biggest issue for me was the fact that nobody is likable, and I did not buy or understand their friendship at all. In fact, even the characters in the movie don’t seem to like each other and comment that they’re not truly friends.

Why are they spending time together? Do they all suck so badly that they can’t do better?!

It seems like the strangest setup, and even the fact that all four end up in the “killer game show” doesn’t ultimately make sense. Not when the origin story of the game show killer and his revenge motive is revealed.

Finally, and worst of all, one of the characters made absolutely no sense to me. This person’s driving force has to do with love of animals (and, hello, do I relate to that!), but somehow their moral compass is also the opposite?!

You’ll see… especially if you love animals.

Characters or caricatures?

This leads me to another issue with Your Host: The characters mostly end up being caricatures. Even those characters that begin as nuanced and relatable will soon make choices or act in ways that seem so exaggerated that it’s kitsch (at best) or just off.

Your Host stars iconic horror actor and Academy Award-nominee, Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hypnotic) in the title role.

As the “players” in the horrible game show, we see Ella-Rae Smith (The Stranger, My Bloody Galentine), Jamie Flatters (Black Dog), David Angland (The Devil’s Hour), and Joelle Rae (Get Even).

Most of the actors do what they can with what they’re given, but the story is a real mess, and the characters are extremely underdeveloped. It’s a shame because if I don’t care about the characters, then I don’t care what happens to the characters.

Your Host will have its World Premiere at FrightFest

This is directed by DW Medoff, who previously wrote and directed I Will Never Leave You Alone. A movie I much preferred to this one, which he did not write. The screenplay comes from Joey Miller, who has no previous credits on his IMDb page.

It also feels like the script should’ve been worked over a bit more. And don’t even get me started on the story that sets everything in motion. One that would have you believe women are liars, men are victims, and everyone should be tortured.

However, as revealed by the final scene, women are also victims, and some men are the creeps women claim they are. It’s a whole mess of a story that wants to both root for women and shame them while making men victims and villains.

Yet it only ever manages to point fingers and never truly dives into any of it. A missed opportunity. If you go down that road, you’d better be damn clear about what you’re saying. Your Host wants to say everything and nothing at the same time.

I was expecting something much better than Your Host ultimately offered. With many of the choices made, this was more of a kitsch horror movie than I ever expected. Instead of the origin story making it darker, it just made it less credible.

YOUR HOST will have its World Premiere at FrightFest on August 22, 2025. It will also be available on VOD (rental & purchase) on October 14.

Details

Director: DW Medoff
Writer: Joey Miller
Cast: Jackie Earle Haley, Ella-Rae Smith, Jamie Flatters, David Angland & Joelle Rae

Plot

Four friends get trapped in a sadistic game show, forced to outwit a twisted serial killer while racing against time. Every move brings them closer to freedom or a gruesome fate.

COLORS OF EVIL: RED on Netflix is a Polish crime-thriller (org. title: Kolory zla. Czerwien) about the brutal murders of women. Not an easy watch but important – and with great twists. Read our Colors of Evil: Red movie review here!

COLORS OF EVIL: RED is a new Netflix movie from Poland (org. title: Kolory zla. Czerwien). It’s a crime-thriller and Polish filmmakers are truly excelling at genre productions these years. Especially when it comes to Netflix productions, which we’ve reviewed quite a few of by now – both movies and series.

This Netflix movie is dark and features brutal murders of women. Overall, it covers a lot of violence towards women, but also the good men fighting for women. It’s based on a book that is the first in a trilogy, so hopefully we’ll be getting Netflix adaptions of the other two as well.

Continue reading our Colors of Evil: Red movie review below. Find it on Netflix from May 29, 2024.

So much evil

In Colors of Evil: Red, the body of a young girl is found on a beach in Tricity. Her lips have been cut off and this isn’t the first murder victim with that detail. This leads everyone to immediately recognize that the murder resembles a crime from fifteen years ago. However, can it be that easy?!

Well, not really, which is hardly a spoiler as the movie would be over within 15 minutes of starting. Instead, something much more sinister appears to be happening. It becomes even more obvious when the prosecutor on the case gets a direct order to stop investigating any further.

His supervisor forbids him to reopen a closed case. However, this is one of the good guys, so he decides to collaborate with the mother of the victim. She’s a judge and ready to do whatever she can to find the people responsible for the brutal end of her daughter.

Pretty much everything in Colors of Evil: Red shows us the worst and most sinister sides of human beings. I should warn you that things get brutal, but I suspect you’ll know that from the plot. Instead, I do want to give you a heads-up that the timeline is a bit wonky.

So, stay alert and focused with this one!

Based on the first book of a trilogy

Colors of Evil: Red is a Netflix movie based on a book which is the first in a trilogy by author Małgorzata Oliwia Sobczak. So fingers crossed we’ll be getting Netflix adaptions of the other two as well.

If this first adaption is a hit, surely Netflix has everything ready to go for the next two. Actually, they may already be in the making.

All books have the same title except for the color. The first is “Red”, the second book is “Black” – which somehow seems even darker – and finally, book 3 is “White”.

The focus of these stories is brutal femicide cases. In case you’re not familiar with the term “femicide” it refers to the killing of women or girls. It’s a dark world, we’re getting introduced to. Gangsters are working alongside law enforcement and other people who should be protecting women.

The ending of Colors of Evil: Red on Netflix

A good 20 minutes or so, before the actual ending of Colors of Evil: Red, it feels like the story is getting wrapped up. It was only because I knew the runtime beforehand that I knew something was up.

The Colors of Evil: Red ending has an additional level that is just built for breaking us viewers a tad more. Because, trust me, the conclusion up until that point has been plenty dark. However, before it’s all over, we do need to get a bit deeper and darker.

The cast of this Polish crime-thriller delivers excellent performances which makes it all the better. Whether portraying villains or those trying to do right, we see nuanced and natural characters who are just doing what’s in their nature.

From Maja Ostaszewska and Jakub Gierszał in the lead roles as Helena, the judge, and Bilski, the prosecutor, respectfully to Zofia Jastrzębska (Infamy) as Monika. The unfortunate woman who is suffering at the hands of bad men.

Those who have watched some of the previous Netflix productions from Poland will recognize several actors in Colors of Evil: Red. Including Przemyslaw Bluszcz (Feedback) as the gangster Kazar, and Andrzej Konopka (Signs) as the forensic examiner Dubiela.

Watch Colors of Evil: Red on Netflix now!

This new Netflix movie, based on Małgorzata Oliwia Sobczak’s crime novel (the first book in a trilogy, as mentioned earlier), was directed by Adrian Panek. He previously wrote and directed the horror drama Werewolf (2020). He also co-wrote the adapted screenplay with Lukasz M. Maciejewski.

As good as Colors of Evil: Red is – and it really is good – the story is told in a way that can confuse a bit. There’s no help from the filmmakers by way of a “3 months earlier” message. Instead, we suddenly see someone, who we know has been murdered, alive yet again and can conclude that this is a flashback.

Other than these slight flashback moments (which are not themselves very chronologic either), I really was impressed with the plot, world-building, and character gallery of the Netflix crime-thriller.

Colors of Evil: Red is on Netflix from May 29, 2024.

Details

Director: Adrian Panek
Writers: Lukasz M. Maciejewski, Adrian Panek, Malgorzata Oliwia Sobczak (book)
Stars: Zofia Jastrzębska, Maja Ostaszewska, Jakub Gierszal, Andrzej Zieliński, Andrzej Konopka, Przemyslaw Bluszcz, Kagga Jayson

Plot

After the body of a young girl is found on a beach in Tricity, an ambitious prosecutor discovers that the circumstances of the murder resemble a crime from fifteen years ago.

PANDEMONIUM is a French Horror Movie. It’s basically an anthology about death, which sounds dark, but it’s also wonderfully weird. And slow-burn and brutal. Extremely brutal. Read our full Pandemonium movie review here!

PANDEMONIUM is a new horror movie from France. It’s slow-burn and will surely be labeled as art house – or just “artsy” – by many. And they wouldn’t be wrong. It’s just also a slow-burn horror anthology about dying and finding out what comes next.

The first part of the movie turns out to be more of a wrap-around segment for the rest of the stories in the movie. However, as wrap-around stories go, this one is a very strong and damn creepy one. The runtime is 1 hour and 35 minutes, but it feels longer. Just not in a bad way as it gets increasingly wild.

Continue reading our Pandemonium movie review below. Find it on VOD from May 27, 2024.

A journey to the afterlife

The super short plot description for Pandemonium is to say that it’s about a man traveling to the afterlife and realizing he’s not going up, but down. We follow him on his journey as he descends into the Hell that he has been “sentenced” to for his actions in life.

The man is Nathan (Hugo Dillon) and he’s very much an ordinary man. When the movie opens, he’s been in a car accident and is surprised he made it out unscathed. Right until another man shows up, who was on the motorcycle that was also in the crash.

He points out that they did not survive the crash alive. After Nathan is forced to acknowledge that he died at the scene of a car crash, two gates appear. One pearly white with beautiful music and another dark and gnarly with nothing but screams coming from the other side.

Descending to the depths of hell

Nathan cannot enter the pearly white gates, which means the only other option is the one for him. Basically, his actions in life (which we hear about early on) have resulted in him going straight to hell.

As Nathan descends into the depths of hell, he comes across a few other bodies lying just inside those dark gates. When he touches one of the bodies, he sees their life story (or at least the final moments of their life) and finds out why they are also there.

In other words, he is doomed to experience the pain of all the tortured souls he comes across along the way. That is until he reaches his own next destination which is pure horror. I mean, hearing a demonic force describing what he will go through is so intensely terrifying.

It’s actually beyond human comprehension. You’re bound to realize this when you hear Nathan trying to argue and bargain his way out of his eternal damnation. Oh yeah, it’s dark!

Watch Pandemonium on Arrow or VOD

Director Quarxx (All the Gods in the Sky) is the creative mind behind this aesthetically stunning yet indescribably brutal tale. Those familiar with the themes of Dante’s “Inferno” and Milton’s “Paradise Lost” will surely see them in Pandemonium.

This French horror movie is a disturbingly dark fairy tale that has the darkest of comedy and sinister thriller elements. The movie had its world premiere at Neuchâtel and went on to screen at Fantasia, Frightfest, Fantasy FilmFest, Sitges, Grimmfest, Trieste, and Screamfest. Basically, all the big ones!

The Streaming Service ARROW will release Quarxx’s French horror anthology feature in the US, Canada, the UK, and Ireland. On the same day, Pandemonium will also be available on all major VOD platforms – including Apple TV and Prime Video.

If you want something that will touch the darkest corners of your soul, then this is it!

Pandemonium is on Arrow and VOD from May 27, 2024.

Details

Director: Quarxx
Writer: Quarxx
Cast: Hugo Dillon, Arben Bajraktaraj, Ophélia Kolb, Carl Laforêt, Manon Maindivide, Jérôme Paquatte, Sidwell Weber

Plot

Pandemonium follows Nathan (Hugo Dillon), an ordinary man on a journey he never expected. After realizing he has died at the scene of a car crash, Nathan descends into the depths of hell, where he is doomed to experience the pain of tortured souls along the way.

SIKSA NERAKA on Netflix is a horror thriller from Indonesia with a religious supernatural plot that was not my cup of tea. It was way too slow and heavy-handed in its focus. Read our full Siksa Neraka movie review here!

SIKSA NERAKA is a new Netflix horror movie with supposedly both slasher and thriller elements. I say “supposedly” as all of the first act passes without much interesting taking place. There’s setting the scene and then there’s just slow-burning to the point of killing the fire.

In any case, as I’m sure you can gather, I am not a fan of this one. It has a supernatural plot with religious overtones. I am fine with that as long as the story is good, but it just is not. Its core message is that it’s nearly impossible not to sin. Yet when you do, you will be tormented in Hell for eternity.

Continue reading our Siksa Neraka movie review below. On Netflix from April 25, 2024.

Beware of sin – or just doing anything!

In Siksa Neraka, we meet four siblings, Saleh, Fajar, Tyas, and Azizah. The two boys and two girls have all been forced to listen to stories about heaven and hell since they were born. Now they’re teenagers and getting ready to embark on their own lives.

They were educated strictly by their father, who was well respected in the village as a man of Faith.

One night, the four siblings head for a competition in another village. It’s against the wishes of their parents, but one of the sisters is in the talent competition and her brothers want her to succeed.

On their way there, a greater power intervenes and they are swept away by a strong river current. They then wake up in another realm, which is the hell their father talked about. They are then tortured relentlessly. Bodyparts are cut off, only to grow back out, and then be cut off again.

During flashbacks, we will see the sins the kids committed to deserve this fate. I almost understood the appeal of catholicism where everything is a sin, but at least you can be absolved rather easily. Here, you go straight to hell no matter how small the sin.

Clumsy and heavy-handed

Having watched my share of both amazing and subpar Indonesian movies, I never know what to expect. This one is based on a comic book and has a song in English during the (very cool, I might add) opening credits.

A song that I found myself humming later on, much to my own irritation. It’s not that good, but it just got stuck somehow. Maybe because I was so surprised that it was in English. Nothing else in this movie is in English.

Other than the song, what stuck with me is that even the smallest of “sins” will land you in Hell. And as we see the siblings being tormented in Hell – mostly via bad CGI, which just feels like additional punishment to us viewers – it’s like something you might be forced to watch in Sunday school.

No matter what house or book of worship you follow, these heavy-handed stories are simply not for me. Give me Satan’s Slaves over this mess anytime. In fact, anything by Joko Anwar!

You can watch Siksa Neraka on Netflix now

The director of Siksa Neraka is Anggy Umbara, who also co-directed a movie with Rocky Soraya, who makes a lot of Indonesian horror movies – but not with this kind of plot. The screenplay comes from Lele Laila, who previously wrote Qorin and Primbon. Both are better!

This 2023 Indonesian movie is a film adaptation of the comic “Siksa Neraka” by M.B. Rahimsyah. Its depiction of hell has led the movie to be banned in countries like Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam for “portraying the atmosphere of hell”.

However, this probably only added to the domestic success of the movie. I can’t help but feel angry about the message, which is that even the smallest of sins is reason enough to go to hell. Making your children scared and sad isn’t a sin though. And being a girl is inherently a sin.

Good stuff all around. Yeah, like I said, I am not a fan of the story or heavy-handed messages in Siksa Neraka. Then again, as an agnostic gay girl, I’m sure this movie was never intended for me. I am already a lost soul in their eyes.

Siksa Neraka is on Netflix from April 25, 2024.

Details

Director: Anggy Umbara
Writer: Lele Laila
Cast: Safira Ratu Sofya, Slamet Rahardjo, Kiesha Alvaro, Ariyo Wahab, Nayla D. Purnama, Rizky Fachrel, Astri Nurdin, Ingrid Widjanarko, Wina Marino, Joseph Kara, Rency Milano, Bella Novita

Plot

Four siblings go missing and wake up in the afterlife, undergoing punishment for their worldly sins in the depths of hell.

DETECTIVE FORST on Netflix is a new crime thriller series from Poland. As always, the production is gorgeous and the story brutal. This season has six 45-minute episodes. Read our Detective Forst season 1 review here!

DETECTIVE FORST is a new Netflix series from Poland. We’re in the crime, thriller, and mystery genres. Also, the story is all about hunting down a brutal serial killer. One with a flair for the dramatic – not quite in the vein of Se7en, but along those lines.

These Netflix productions from Poland always have the most amazing production value, so you’re in for a treat. The season has just six episodes, so it’s a quick watch. For me, the story felt too forced, so maybe a few more episodes would’ve been a good idea.

Continue reading our Detective Forst season 1 review below. Find it on Netflix from January 11, 2024.

A serial killer is on the loose

We’re in the Tatra Mountains in Poland, which means we also keep seeing the altitude we’re in. In these otherwise beautiful and calm mountains, a series of murders happen. The victims are always found in very creative places – and poses!

The first is found hanging on a huge cross at the top of a mountain peak, so it’s quite symbolic as well. The discovery that a serial killer is the perpetrator is easy to make; The killer leaves a gold coin in the mouth of each victim, making it clear that they are connected.

Detective Wiktor Forst is assigned the case (well, at first, anyway) and is quick to utilize the help of a journalist named Olga Szrebska. This isn’t popular, so he’s taken off the case again. Not that this stops him from still investigating it.

The fact that he’s sleeping with the daughter of the police chief probably doesn’t help.

Borys Szyc is Detective Forst

As the main character, Borys Szyc (Cold War) portrays Forst as the broken and vulnerable man he is. As a police detective, he uses unorthodox methods and even works on cases that he’s been removed from.

I know this is a classic brooding male detective type we see in many crime thrillers, but it doesn’t always work as well. In Detective Forst, the title character worked better for me than I expected it to.

A lot of that has to be thanks to how Borys Szyc portrays the character. Also, you might not recognize the name, but you could recognize his face if you’ve watched the Netflix series Into the Night which had a very international cast.

Watch season 1 of Detective Forst on Netflix now!

Season 1 has six episodes and is based on books by Remigiusz Mroz. Detective Forst season 1 is based on the novels “Exposure” and “Przewieśnie”, which are the two first books in the “Forst” book series.

THE INFLUENCES OF THE AUTHOR

Remigiusz Mroz is a Goodreads Author and lists his influences as being Stephen King, Jo Nesbø, and Stieg Larsson. And yes, it does come across.

The fact that this is based on a book series just makes it all the better that the director of the series is Leszek Dawid.

He has experience with directing the Polish series based on a Harlan Coben book titled The Woods. Leszek Dawid also directed episodes of the Polish Netflix series Feedback, which is another good production.

On the writing side, the script comes from Agata Malesinska, who worked on two Harlan Coben-based series with both The Woods and Hold Tight. Also writing on the series is Jacek Markiewicz.

Will we get a Detective Forst season 2?

As the final moments of episode 6 play out, you’ll probably be wondering if we’re getting a Detective Forst season 2. The answer is unknown at this time, however, surely Netflix is ready to make a season 2 if this first season is a success.

And there are more books to adapt, so the material is already there to work off of, if and when Netflix decides to make a season 2 of Detective Forst.

Detective Forst season 1 is on Netflix from January 11, 2024.

Details

Director: Leszek Dawid
Screenwriters: Agata Malesinska, Jacek Markiewicz
Cast: Borys Szyc, Zuzanna Saporznikow, Andrzej Bienias, Kamilla Baar, Aleksandra Grabowska, Szymon Wróblewski, Maciej Pesta, Artur Barciś, Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Piotr Franasowicz, Remigiusz Mróz

Plot

When a detective’s maverick approach to investigating gets him suspended, he teams with a journalist to solve a series of brutal murders outside the law.

GYEONGSEONG CREATURE on Netflix is a South Korean series that takes place in a historic WWII setting but has a supernatural element. The episodes are long as it’s character-driven. Read our Gyeongseong Creature Part One series review here!

GYEONGSEONG CREATURE is a new Netflix series from South Korea. As you can imagine, the episodes are rather long and the series has quite a few episodes. Maybe that’s why Netflix has divided its release into two parts.

The series has 10 episodes in total. We’re getting Part One with the first seven episodes now while the remaining three episodes come out on January 5, 2024. If you’re intrigued by episode 1, you’ll want to keep going. With the ending of the first episode, I suspect most will keep watching.

Continue reading our Gyeongseong Creature Part One series review below. Find the first seven episodes on Netflix on December 22, 2023.

Before it was Seoul, it was Gyeongseong

Gyeongseong Creature is set in early 1945. In other words, towards the end of World World II, when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. This setting makes for a gorgeous production that shows the city of Gyeongseong – now known as Seoul – and how people lived during this time.

Obviously, the WWII setting in a country under the rule of a neighboring nation makes for brutal scenes and moments. This is the perfect backdrop for the real horrors of this series; The human experiments that turn humans into creatures. Well, sort of. I don’t want to give away too much.

The Netflix series focuses on two young adults, who discover the creatures as well as other dangers in Gyeongseong. The mix of historical drama and genre elements isn’t foreign to Netflix, as the zombie period piece The Kingdom is another one of their South Korean hits. Including a spin-off.

More genre production than its K-Drama label

These days, the K-Drama label is slapped on anything from South Korea. Do not let it fool you into missing out on amazing South Korean genre productions. Watch the opening scene which has an extreme amount of deaths (wartime execution style) and shows a human-like creature!

If I was to compare it to anything, it would probably be a mix of The Handmaiden and Overlord. It’s nothing like either, but set during WWII in South Korea under Japanese rule (like in The Handmaiden) and with a monster story in the middle of it (like zombies in Overlord).

Also, if you like the creature feature element of Gyeongseong Creature, be sure to check out Project Wolf Hunting. A wild action-packed slasher with a human-based monster at the heart of it.

Watch Part One of Gyeongseong Creature on Netflix now!

Gyeongseong Creature was written by Kang Eun-kyung (Dr. Romantic) and directed by Chung Dong-yoon (Hot Stove League). The cast includes a few familiar faces as there are actors from Parasite and The Handmaiden, to name just some of the biggest South Korean hits.

Also, there’s Claudia Kim who has been in huge productions such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Dark Tower (2017), and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018).

However, it isn’t the cast that will attract you to this South Korean series. Instead, it’s the intriguing characters (portrayed wonderfully by the cast, obviously) and the fascinating story that is rooted in real-life events of World War II.

Also, there’s a creature feature element to the series, which genre fans will surely love. For me, this is a much better release than the huge Zack Snyder production it shares its release date with.

Interestingly, both have a Part One coming out now and Part Two releasing in 2024. That’s about all they have in common. And Gyeongseong Creature is the victor on every other parameter. Well, except for name recognition in cast members, but you won’t care. Watch both and see for yourself.

Gyeongseong Creature Part 1 premieres Dec. 22, and Part 2 debuts Jan. 5, 2024.

Details

Director: Chung Dong-yoon
Writer: Kang Eun-kyung
Cast: Park Seo-joon, Han So-hee, Claudia Kim, Wi Ha-jun, Cho Han-cheul, Kim Hae-sook

Plot

Gyeongseong, 1945. In Seoul’s grim era under colonial rule, an entrepreneur and a sleuth fight for survival and face a monster born out of human greed.

SAW X is another horror movie where John “Jigsaw” Kramer wants his victims to play or die. And yes, since it takes place between the first and second film in the franchise, Jigsaw is back. For real. The movie actually starts off quite heartbreakingly. Read our full Saw X movie review here!

SAW X is a new chapter in the SAW franchise, but with a story that takes us back in time. John Kramer AKA Jigsaw is still very sick due to a brain tumor. However, out of nowhere, there is suddenly hope. A doctor with highly experimental procedures and impressive results may be his salvation.

Unfortunately for our brutal “game player”, it turns out that this miracle is, in reality, an elaborate scam. Not only is he not cured, he has also lost a lot of money, and feels – of course, one is tempted to say – compelled to create a series of lessons for those involved. And no, this is not a spoiler, but the plot itself, which also appears in the trailer.

Continue reading our Saw X movie review below. The movie is out in US theaters on September 29, 2023.

Heartbreaking background story

Unlike most other films in the SAW franchise (if not all of them), SAW X features an extensive backstory that takes up a good portion of the runtime. With this film, we get real insight into John Kramer’s life between the first and second movies in the franchise.

During this time, his view of humanity is destroyed to an even greater extent than what you see in the first film.

With a brain tumor and the associated death sentence hanging over him, a sick and desperate John travels to Mexico. Here, a doctor must try to perform a risky and experimental medical miracle. However, it quickly turns out that John Kramer has been the victim of extensive fraud.

You don’t scam John “Jigsaw” Kramer, and take away his only hope, without paying the price. For John/Jigsaw, the price is having to play a game in order to continue living. Everyone involved in scamming him finds themselves in one of Jigsaw’s creative traps. Every single one of them must inflict physical pain on themselves (and endure the discomfort) to survive. Classic Jigsaw games.

Synnøve Macody Lund is awesome

For me, Saw X absolutely hit the jackpot with the casting of Norwegian Synnøve Macody Lund (Ragnarok). She plays Dr. Cecilia Pederson, who is leading the very experimental miracle cure that turns out to be a hoax. Rarely have we seen such a defiant victim in a SAW movie.

Dr. Cecilia Pederson laughs at both the methods used by Jigsaw and even his catchphrase. She is cold and cynical in a way that Jigsaw can’t actually match. After all, he wants to teach people a lesson. Dr. Cecilia Pederson just wants to get rich. Plain and simple!

From start to finish, Synnøve Macody Lund is the actor who delivers the most stable and believable performance. She is the true villain of the movie, which is kind of nuts in a SAW movie. Jigsaw is the Avenger in SAW X, and this time around the people he is forcing to play his games, have done truly despicable things. Yet, Cecilia is just so cool and calm that I was almost rooting for her.

It almost seems like Jigsaw and the Doctor could make a great team. If their moral codes were even remotely similar, that is.

Even actors age

Although it is absolutely wonderful to see both Tobin Bell back as John Kramer (aka “Jigsaw”) and Shawnee Smith as his assistant and student, Amanda, it has a big challenge built in. The two actors were also in the very first SAW from 2004 and had a lot of screen time in SAW II from 2005.

In other words, they played these characters almost 20 years ago.

The challenge with SAW X is that chronologically, it takes place between the first and second movies in the SAW franchise. However, the actors have (surprise surprise) aged chronologically in real life. As human beings do.

Sure, Tobin Bell plays a terminally ill person, which can help explain his aged look somewhat. And yes, Shawnee Smith plays a character who has been a drug addict and was rehabbed after surviving her Jigsaw challenge.

But still, it seems brutal to get an actor who is now 54 years old (probably 53 when the film was shot) to pretend she is 20 years younger. They try with restrained facial movements and maybe also some CGI, facial prosthetics, or other effects.

I say “maybe” because it doesn’t work.

I have nothing bad to say about Shawnee Smith’s acting because she delivers a solid performance. After all, she knows this character inside and out by now. It’s just very strange to me that more hasn’t been done to visually ensure the two actors look like they did around the first two films.

Admittedly, I did re-watch the first two SAW movies in preparation for the SAW X press screening. But if we know horror fans (and we do!), many will surely be doing the same. Consider this a recommendation to not re-watch the first two movies just before watching this one. If you want to avoid being distracted by the fact that actors also get older to look at after 20 years, anyway.

Watch SAW X in theaters!

In the SAW X trailer, you see some of the victims and games/traps that are part of the story. However, there are also some scenes in the trailer (at least one of the official trailers) that are not in the movie. This means the movie does evolve a little differently than what you might expect from the trailer.

It doesn’t make much of a difference in the end. I just always think it’s weird when scenes from the trailer aren’t in the movie.

The director of this tenth SAW movie is Kevin Greutert. He also directed directed SAW 3D and SAW VI. In addition, he has been the editor of most movies in the franchise. Yes, starting with the first movie. He was also an editor on movies such as The Strangers (2008), Cobweb (2023), and yes, also on SAW X.

I don’t always think it’s great when someone is both director and editor, and this movie might have been better for having another editor to tighten it up a bit. This is the longest movie in the franchise!

I personally felt SAW X was strongest in the first half. Which is before all the gameplay begins. The ending becomes too long-winded. Yes, there are creative traps (as always!), but it also becomes predictable and forced. No real room for surprises despite such a long runtime.

However, yes, there is an end-credit scene. Do stick around for that one, which is a scene that only serves to confirm a suspicion you’ll probably already have.

The script was written by Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger. The two have written many horror films together. Including Jigsaw (2017) and the rather hideous Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021). But also Piranha 3D and 3DD.

Overall, I did find SAW X to be better than what I expected. And it is certainly better than many other SAW movies. Still, it could easily have been better, so it’s a shame that it isn’t. However, the bottom line is still that if you’ve enjoyed the franchise in general so far, you should go watch SAW X. And then go home and rewatch the very first SAW movie and remember how it all began!

SAW X is premiering exclusively in theaters on September 29, 2023.

Details

In Theaters: September 29, 2023 (USA)
Director: Kevin Greutert
Writer: Peter Goldfinger & Josh Stolberg
Cast: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Renata Vaca, Paulette Hernandez, Joshua Okamoto, Octavio Hinojosa, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Michael Beach

Plot

John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back. The most disturbing installment of the Saw franchise yet explores the untold chapter of Jigsaw’s most personal game. Set between the events of Saw I and II, a sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer – only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, the infamous serial killer returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through devious, deranged, and ingenious traps.