The Invisible Man (2020)

The Invisible Man originally started as being a part of the Dark Universe but when The Mummy bombed in the way it did, the Dark Universe got shelved and Johnny Depp was suppose to play the titular character. However they decided to continue with the idea and instead decided to turn into a story of an abused girlfriend/wife who at the beginning of the film decides to escape and two weeks later he apparently kills himself but she thinks he has faked his death and is trying to ruin her life by convincing people she is mad.

This is loosely based on the novel by H.G.Wells and he doesn’t actually get credited and that’s probably for the best because I think this film has a rather loose association to the novel which isn’t a bad thing. I have no issue with a film distancing themselves with a familiar novel as long as they do something different with it and they do with this film.

I think that Elizabeth Moss is very good as Cecilia. She plays vulnerable and in complete control very well and flips from one to the other with ease. Aldis Hodge was also good as James. He was the one person who a) doesn’t die and b) helps Cecilia. I thought that Michael Dorman was quite creepy as Tom because it was clear something was up with him and I thought that he was actually in with Adrian.

The effects used in this are very good. The fight that the invisible man has with Cecilia in James’ house is quite rough and I like how the camera would look away at something almost making you think something was there or was going to happen when nothing does. If you have seen a Blumhouse film before then you would know that when the camera holds onto a particularly thing for more than two seconds then something will appear in the darkness or in the corner of the screen but that doesn’t happen her which was a nice play on expectations.

There are problems with this film. Firstly it asks you to take a leap of disbelief with certain things such as how easy Cecilia is able to escape and how long she is able to avoid being caught. There were a couple of moments where I thought that logic wasn’t being used but things were just happening to progress the plot. Apparently there was about three seconds cut from the scene where Cecilia self-harms which I could believe because it was quite a grim moment. It’s the only moment which made me look away which I suppose was the point.

The final act sees Cecilia trying to get Adrian to admit that he was the one terrorising her and not Tom. This doesn’t happen and moments later an invisible person cuts Tom’s throat and there is meant to be a question mark over whether it was Cecilia who put on the suit but bearing in mind that James was in the car, the only person it could have been was Cecilia. The final shot of Cecilia walking out was a good moment and it seems to suggest that this may not be the last time we see her (forgive the pun!).

Overall I quite liked this film. I think that whole relationship abuse aspect was perhaps a bit too much but it served a purpose and I think that this is a good adaptation of a very well used idea. This isnt your typical Blumhouse film but I think that this was an enjoyable film to watch.

Ready or Not (2019)

Ready Or Not is a 2019 horror film starring Samara Weaving who gets married into a rich family and as part of an initiation has to play a game and she selects hide and seek and if the family find her, she has to be sacrificed and there is a limited amount of time. That’s the plot and it's straight forward and doesn’t have to over complicate things. This film is directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillet who previously directed Devil’s Due (which as of writing, I haven’t seen). 

I really liked this film. I thought that it was a good idea and the whole thing moves along at a solid pace and it never feels like its padding or over staying its welcome. It's 1 hour and 35 minutes and I was surprised at how quickly the time had passed. The film doesn’t stretch things too far. They don’t keep Grace in the house and find more and more stupid ways of keeping here there and she does manage to get out and they don’t play the ‘picked up by someone pretending to be a help but turning out to be a member of the family’ trick which I appreciated. They managed to do things without me rolling my eyes which hasn’t happened in a horror for……well ages. The humour is really funny such as the killing of the maids and the reaction when Helene blows up. It’s the perfect reaction.

The performances are quite good. I thought that Samara Weaving was very good as Grace. Weaving follows that tradition of people who have starred in Australian soaps and gone on to do quite well afterwards. I thought that she led the film solidly and made me winch when she gets shot in the hand and has to impale herself to get herself out of the hole. I thought that Henry Czerny was very funny as Tony the father. Melanie Scrofano is also quite funny as the cocaine addicted Emilie who is a terrible shot except when she manages to fire a crossbow perfectly into one of the maids mouth. Andie MacDowell turns in this film and it’s the first film I think I’ve seen her in since Groundhog Day back in 1993. I think she’s there because of name recognition because she never really gets involved except to have a heart to heart with Alex towards the end although she does have a really good death. 

It’s not a completely perfect film. Firstly there is Samara Weaving’s cry/scream which sounds like she’s auditioning to play Xena. It was totally distracting and I could have done without it. Also there is flip-flopping of Alex who doesn’t want anything to happen to Grace and then willingly goes along with the sacrifice. I thought that it made him look slightly weak.  I couldn’t really make my mind up what I was supposed to think about him so when he died I was like…ok.

As I said, I really like this film. I thought it had a nice balance of horror and humour and ended in the only way that it could do. 

The Descent (2005)

Sometimes, the plot doesn't need to be complicated. The film follows Sarah and her friends who go into some caves in the Appalachian Mountains where things go wrong and they are being hunted by crawlers. That’s it. That’s the plot and it doesn't need to be anything more than that.  The defining quality of this film is that it is very claustrophobic and atmospheric. If you suffer from claustrophobia then this film isn’t for you. I’m not the sort of person that suffers from claustrophobia but there were times that I was thinking that the caves were too small and they probably shouldn’t be doing that. 

I thought the only real issue with the film is that there were too many characters. All of them were treated as part of the story with Sarah being the most important seeing as it was her loss that spurred the story along but apart from Sarah and Juno they never really felt like they were there for anything other than being dinner for the crawlers. They tried to introduce the idea that Juno and Sarah’s husband were having an affair and this made Juno the villain of the piece which seemed unnecessary. I also thought having Juno kill Holly even by accident seemed like it was done to set up the end moment where Sarah leaves Juno to be eaten by the crawlers when there was a nicer way of writing the character out.

The crawlers are really good. We don't see them that well and when we do they look disgusting and I liked how the group surmised what they are in a way that comes across as plausible without sounding like forced exposition. The writing is really good in this but the crawlers themselves are an effective monster.

The claustrophobic feel that runs through a large portion of the film gets to you without you realising as when Sarah makes it out of the cave (or thinks she does) I found myself relieved that we were outside.  As this is a horror film things were never going to end nicely and we realise that her making it out of the cave was a dream and she is in fact still in the cave at the end and this the bleaker end to the alternate version and I have to say I prefer the bleaker end. It works for this story and I think had there been a nicer ending then it would have undermined the entire film. I know people might not agree but horror really is the one genre where bleak endings are the better and stronger ending.

I really liked The Descent and considering it is 20 years old at this point really does show how good it is as I think that it can hold up to modern horror films. It has a simple story to introduce characters that are all women which was rare in 2005 and the horror never lets up for the entirety of the movie.

Get Out (2017)

Get Out was the film that made me a fan of Jordan Peele and it’s fair to say that he hasn’t really peaked from this although Nope is pretty close. The set up is that Rose (Allison Williams) is taking her boyfriend Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) to meet her parents and from the moment he meets them it's clear that something is going on. They are trying to be too nice to seem like they accept Chris. Allison’s father says that he would have voted for Obama for a third time if he could and that being black is ‘in fashion’.

This film reminded me of The Sixth Sense (in a good way). By that I mean that even when you know the twist the film is still great to watch and it's great to spot the signs. The twist is that all the black characters have white personalities transplanted into them and the original personality is still there and is basically trapped in the body which does sound terrifying. The twist also that the family aren't quite as nice as they seem worked quite well because even though its signposted from the beginning its done in a way which seems natural and creative.

Daniel Kaluuya is very good as Chris. I have always been a fan of his and think that Chris is being nice long past the point where most people would have started freaking out and its on par with his role in Nope. He doesn't scream or resort to hysterics which is quite refreshing in a horror film. I also thought that Bradley Whitford was very good. I have liked him since The West Wing and even though I would have liked to see more of evil Dean, he was great from beginning to end. I also thought that Allison Williams was good as Rose. When the twist happens it seems to come way too naturally to me. I thought she was good as nice Allison but even better as evil Allison. I thought that Kaluuya and Allison Williams made for a good couple.

Sometimes getting comedy right in a horror film is quite a difficult thing to pull off but Get Out manages this and does it well in the form of Rodney. It would have been so easy for the character to come across as over the top but Lil Rel Howery tows the line perfectly and in a way is the right amount of comedy. The reason why the comedy works is that the rest of the film is devoid of anything humorous and so when Rodney is on screen it is a welcome relief even though its only for a brief moment and does derail the pacing of the film.

This is by far the best Jordan Peele film and it showed that you could have a high concept idea in a horror film. It is slow building story with great characters and great performances and is the high watermark for this type of film.

Black Phone 2 (2025)

This sequel comes four years after the first which Scott Derrickson directed after leaving Doctor Strange 2 due to ‘creative differences’. I remember liking that film thinking that it was atmospheric and felt like a stripped down film. This definitely does have some of that.

The setup for this film sees Gwen travel to the Alpine Lake camp because Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) has been having dreams and in an attempt to cock-block Ernesto (Miguel Mora), Finn (Mason Thames) decides to join them. Due to a massive snow storm the camp which is due to have loads of kids ends up having Finn, Gwen and Ernesto along with Mando (Damian Bichir) who owns the camp, Mustang (Arianna Rivas), Kenneth (Graham Abbey) and Barbara (Maev Beaty). The connection to the Grabber (Ethan Hawke) is then revealed and that three children that the Grabber killed were never recovered and finding the bodies is what the film becomes about so that they are freed and the Grabber is defeated. 

There are things that I liked about this film. Firstly the setting is perfect. The roads are snowed in and so there is this superb isolated feeling going on. The isolated feeling along with the snow means that there is a lovely atmosphere to what’s going on. Madeleine McGraw is the lead of this film and she does a decent job. This is the second mason Thames film I have seen in 2025 (the other being How to Train Your Dragon) and he gets a bit of a raw deal as he is involved in things but doesn't really do anything. The trailers make his involvement seem more substantial but sadly he does seem like a supporting character which is quite a step down from the previous film. The character of Barb is unintentionally hilarious because she is the bible bashing person who is reluctant to help because Gwen is being fowl mouthed and just has amusing lines pretty much every time she speaks. 

The dad is sort of pointless. It seems like he is just there for the scene where we see him discover Gwen’s mom after she hung herself and they make a point to reference that he is a recovering alcoholic but it never plays into anything so there is no point to it and also he call in to his place of work to use their snowplough and that just seems to allow him to get to the camp to have a heart to heart to heart with his kids but his role is quite small. They also seem to suggest a romance between Finn and Mustang and I don't know if this got cut but it's never referenced again until a line from the dad at the end. 

I got Nightmare on Elm Street vibes with this and I don't know if that was obvious during the previous film but it felt like the film leant into that a bit too much to the point that I was half expecting Freddie Kruger to pop up at the end. The main issue with the film is the run time. It’s 114 minutes and it felt like the film was about 20 minutes too long. Horror films shouldn’t be more than 90 minutes because the stories usually don't have a plot that can last longer than 90 minutes. It’s only 11 minutes longer than the first one and yet this one seemed that it was outstaying its welcome because the plot takes too long to get going. Ethan Hawke is fine in this although it's the mask that was memorable from the first one and it looks really good in this film. As the villain, the Grabber is very good and the fact that he is just out for revenge is a simple case of motivation. I liked that as it wasn't overly complicated, which is the sort of thing that could have happened in a sequel.

This is a major let down after the first one. I thought that they struggled to get the film started and when they did it felt like some of the characters were under developed and the film ends with the Grabber at the bottom of the like like Friday the 13th: The New Blood so there might be a third one which isn’t out the realms of possibility and if this makes enough money then we will get one and if they do something new with it then I wouldn’t mind but I’m done with the Gwen/Finn story. This is worth seeing but maybe when it makes its way to streaming.

Sinners (2025)

Sinners is one of those films that I saw purely because the trailer made me curious. I didn't know too much about it. This is despite the fact that trailers tend to spoil things with all the twists and turns which leaves you slightly disappointed and I feel robbed of those sort of moments. The plot sees twin brothers Smoke and Stack open up a juke joint after buying an abandoned sawmill from a racist landowner. Things seem to be going well until vampires turn up and start to ruin things.

It’s fair to say that Michael B. Jordan is really very good as Smoke and Stack. There is just enough to separate the performances but from start to finish he brings something amazing to the film. Smoke and Stack are always throwing money around and always seem to be in control but when things go wrong he is just as powerless as everyone else.

The true revelation of this film was Miles Caton. It's rare that an actor’s voice is so wonderful that you want to hear them read an audiobook, especially nowadays. Also I am hoping he was playing and singing because he does that very well. Even if he doesn't then his performance as Sammie is very good and even next to Michael B. Jordan he more than holds his own as a strong and likeable person. Hailee Steinfeld was perfectly fine as Mary but I thought that she didn't really have much of a character. They refer to her past relationship with Stack but there isn't much else. It isn't until Mary becomes a vampire that she has something to do and even then it's not very much. Delroy Lindo is as good as he always is and does provide some light hearted moments. There were more than a couple of people laughing when Delta says that he soiled himself. Lindo is one of those actors that always elevates whatever he is in. The character like Mary doesn't have a huge amount of backstory apart from his opening scene but he manages to make it seem like something substantial. Even though Jordan is the lead, the film has a wealth of supporting characters who help in different ways to make this seem like a big deal.

The success of this film comes down to the fact that it has several genres in one film. There is a racial undertone throughout and then it becomes a vampire film completely out of nowhere. Not knowing that this is a vampire movie means that you are more. The film seems to be plodding along and then Jack O’Connell literally runs onto the screen and turns two KKK members into vampires and it's at this point that the film becomes really good as its an singular setting and no hope of rescue even if rescue wanted to help. The film starts and ends with Sammie walking into a church with his broken guitar with his father wanting him to renounce his music and repent. I say ends but then as the credits start it seems that the film has ended but then the story moves to 1992 with a much older Sammie being reunited with Stack and Mary. It’s revealed Stack made a deal with Smoke. Stack would be allowed to live if Sammie got his freedom when Sammie is offered a chance at immortality he declines and there is a lovely moment when they all agree that that evening was the best night of their lives which is a weird thing to say considering what happened.

Going into this film knowing very little is the ideal way but if you have had the twist spoiled then I suspect that you will still enjoy this film because it never felt boring and shifts what in tones and yet it all comes together to make a film that keeps you guessing from start to finish and I wish more films would take this kind of risk because whilst it wont work every single time, it will lead to potential gems like this. This sort of film should be watched repeatedly and I’m glad that I went to see it at the cinema and it was a well attended screening for 1pm on a Friday afternoon.

Nope (2022)

Being a fan of Jordan Peele meant I was going to see Nope but to try and explain what the film is about is quite tricky. The closest I can manage is that OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) have a ranch when they discover that an alien spaceship or something is above them in the clouds.

I have always been a fan of Kaluuya since I first saw him in an episode of Black Mirror and in Get Out he was amazing. In this there is a hint of just being miserable but given what is happening you can understand why OJ is not exactly a barrel of laughs. I did find Emerald annoying at first but by the second half of the film I thought she had developed into someone who helped to the success of the film instead of being a distraction. She has some smart ideas including letting a balloon rise so it can get the aliens' attention and using a wishing well’s flash to get the attention as well. Normally horror films make people come across as stupid but Peele writes better than that. 

There is a running theme about the love of cinema. There is a thing about OJ and Emerald being the descendants of the rider of a horse on some footage from the dawn of cinema and the second half of the film sees the cinematographer that we meet at the beginning of the film and brings an old style camera to try and capture what is in the clouds. It’s a great moment and the second half of the film is by far the stronger half because it's when things start happening. 

The effects of the alien ship both inside and out are very good. It doesn't look like your typical spaceship and it could only come from someone who didn't want the alien spaceships to look cliched or like anything we had ever seen before. From a cinematography point of view this film is stunning. Pretty much every shot outside is great and the isolated setting helps create the atmosphere. I didn't think it was possible to make brown dust and dirt look amazing but Hoyte Van Hoytema manages it. I really like this film but I think it's largely down to the central performances from Kaluuya, Palmer and Yeun who all help maintain the mystery even if it's unclear really what's happening. I would like to have seen more from Yeun but what we got was I don't think it's the best Jordan Peele but he manages to make confusing stuff seem interesting and entertaining. He doesn't do stupid horror, he does horror films that have an idea about them and is creative with what he does.

Good Boy (2025)

Original ideas are very rare nowadays. Good Boy was a mystery screening at my cinema and the set up of this film was that it was a horror film but from the perspective of the dog. The film follows Indy who along with his owner move to an isolated house in the middle of the woods and as you can imagine things go wrong.

I thought that Indy was adorable and did wonder whether a lot or some of his performance was achieved with CGI or AI but it looks like it was 100% genuine and the IMDB says the film took 3 years to film which if true explains why the film was only 73 minutes. Dogs are always going to be adorable and easy to like in film or television but the way that the film makes you root for Indy is quite impressive and when he comes across the skeleton of the previous dog it was such a sad moment. His owner Todd is suffering from a lung issue and he appears to being taken over by the mysterious shadowy figure and at the end is seems to be suggested that the shadowy figure has taken Todd into the darkness and ended his life seemed a bit random because the downside of just having Todd on his own for 90% of the time means that we don't get things explained and I am not talking about a full detailed exposition scene but just something to tie things together. The character of Vera is pretty much useless as she doesn't seem to do anything except pester Todd and then appear at the end to rescue Indy. I was literally amazed when the cinema lights went up at the end of the film cause I was expecting a final scene but there wasn't and I must admit that it did feel like 

Whilst the film doesn't win any awards for originality when it comes to story structure it does win originality awards for the fact that Indy is the focus of the film. We never see the faces of the humans apart from brief shots or when there is something obstructing the view. It did remind me (in a good way) of a Tom & Jerry cartoon when you would never see above the humans knees and so we were in the world of Tom & Jerry and the adults/humans were not really the main focus. 

I thought overall that Good Boy was a good horror film and a lot better than the premise suggested. The novelty of filming things from the dogs POV or level was used well and the director resisted the urge to break away from that and have a traditional scene with the humans.

HIM (2025)

HIM is a Jordan Peele produced horror which sees Tyrian Withers play Cam who is given the chance to train with his childhood hero Isiah (played by Marlon Wayans). Cam suffers a brain injury and so it is a sort of last chance type thing. The thing about Cam is that he seems like a nice guy who wants to do well for his family and to honour his deceased father but as the film progresses it becomes clear that this bootcamp will require to go above and beyond what is expected if he wants to be the new G.O.A.T.

I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed with this film. It seemed like it was being pitched as Whiplash with some occult thrown in for good measure. Strange things happen in this film just for the sake of it so ultimately this is a slightly disappointing film. It is one that has some good points but it wouldn’t have taken much to make it one of the best horror films of 2025.

That’s not to say that there aren’t things to like. I thought that Marlon Wayans stole the show. I haven’t been the biggest fan of his and felt like he didn't have a good performance in him but this film proved me wrong. It was clear that he was not what he appeared to be and Wayans seemed to be enjoying playing this type of character and showing the world he has range. I also thought that Tyriq Withers. Last time I saw him was in the ‘I Knew What You Did Last Summer’ rehash and this is by far the stronger performance. The change that he goes through is subtle and even at the end you still end up rooting for him.

The final scene is what redeems the whole thing for me. I think because it felt like the closest the film came to something making sense happening although for some it might have come too late. The idea of a football owner being in league with the devil and trying to get someone to sell their soul for fame and fortune is potentially a bit cliched but at least it was something that made sense in a film that seemed to be style over substance. I think sticking ‘from producer Jordan Peele’ was to try and get people who liked his other stuff to come a see this film cause otherwise it might struggle although I still think that it's going to struggle because people may not want to spend 100 minutes watching a film about football.

Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (2025)

Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror takes the 1922 classic which is a blatant Dracula rip off and mixes it with two Radiohead albums (KID A and Amnesiac). This intrigued me because of the idea of taking something from 100 years ago and mixing it with music not related to it in any way. 

As for the story itself, I enjoyed it. I saw it for the first time a couple of years ago and I don't know if it was because it was on the big screen or it was because of the music but I thought the story was just as good as ever. I think that this film’s version of Nosferatu is iconic and works for this film but I prefer the 2025 Robert Eggers version. The film did try and inject some colour into the film with weird bits of red and blue in an attempt to emphasise the evil???

The choice of using Radiohead didn’t work for me. It felt like they pressed play on their Radiohead Spotify playlist and left the film running. The songs didn’t have any connection to what was going on and there would be a gap between songs and yet things would still be happening. I think that you could probably use Radiohead’s back catalogue and put them together to fit better with the pace of the film. Also I don’t know if it was the cinema I was in but the volume was way too loud and it felt like my ears were going to start bleeding. To be fair my cinema is probably nearly 40 years old so it does need a major upgrade.

Overall I thought that this experiment didn’t quite work but I am glad that I went to see it on the big screen. It did make me think that you could give this film to Alexandre Desplat or Michael Giacchino or someone else to produce a more appropriate score for this film. I suppose the Robin Carolan score for the Robert Eggers version is the closest we will probably ever get. There is supposedly a R.E.M X Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr coming out in 2026 and I want to see that to see if this experiment has any future or whether we need to put this sort of thing to bed.