281 | The Damned

• Rated R

• Runtime: 1hr 29min

• Directed by Thordur Palsson

• Written by Jamie Hannigan

• Stars: Odessa Young, Joe Cole and Siobhan Finneran

• Premiered at Tribeca Film Festival June 6, 2024

• Released in US January 3, 2025

• RT: 90% critics / 47% audience

• Currently Streaming on Hulu

  Synopsis

  A widow is tasked with running an isolated fishing outpost in Iceland at the end of the 19th century. When a ship wrecks on some rocks off the coast, she makes the decision not to rescue the passengers, dooming her crew to madness and danger.

Join us again in two weeks when we will be reviewing The Rule of Jenny Pen, currently streaming on Shudder and AMC+

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

280 | 28 Years Later

• Rated R

• Runtime: 1hr 55min

• Directed by Danny Boyle

• Written by Alex Garland

• Stars: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes

• Release in US theaters June 20, 2025

• RT: 88% critics / 63% audience

  Synopsis

  12yr old Spike lives with his domineering father and mysteriously ill mother on a small island less than a mile away from mainland northern England. While safe there from the infected, the citizens uphold a tradition that sees their young people escorted to the mainland to kill infected as a rite of passage. Disillusioned after his outing and determined to locate the rumored doctor there, Spike sneaks out of the compound with his mother in tow in an attempt to cure her illness.

Join us again in two weeks when we will be reviewing The Damned, currently streaming on Hulu

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

279 | The Ugly Stepsister

• Not Rated 

• Runtime: 1hr 49min

• Written & Directed by Emilie Blichfeldt

• Stars: Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss and Ane Dahl Torp

• Premiered at Sundance January 23, 2025

• Limited Release in US theaters April 18, 2025

• Currently Streaming on Shudder and AMC+

• RT: 96% critics / 86% audience

  Synopsis

  Rebekka and her two daughters, Elvira and Alma, move into the estate of her new husband, Otto, and his beautiful daughter, Agnes. Elvira, the oldest of Rebekka’s daughters, is a dreamy, braces-wearing teen who swoons over the kingdom’s handsome prince and his romantic poetry. But when Otto dies suddenly and it is revealed that he was deeply in debt, Rebekka is forced to pile all her hopes for financial stability on the prince choosing Elvira as his bride at the upcoming ball. In order for the plain and gawky Elvira to catch his eye, she must undergo a series of horrifying medical procedures to become more beautiful.

Join us again in two weeks when we will be reviewing 28 Years Later, currently playing in theaters.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

278 | Bring Her Back

• Rated PG-13 

• Runtime: 1hr 43min

• Written & Directed by Logan George & Celine Held

• Stars: Dylan O'Brien, Eliza Scanlen and Lauren Ambrose

• Released on streaming October 10, 2024

• RT: 76% critics / 79%  audience

  Synopsis

  Siblings Andy and Piper, who have just lost their father, are placed in foster care with a mysterious and seemingly unstable woman named Laura who is also grieving a loss. They also meet their new foster brother, Oliver, a mute and extremely creepy little boy.

Join us again in two weeks when we will be reviewing The Ugly Stepsister, currently streaming on Shudder and AMC+.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

257 | The Night House

• Rated R

• Runtime: 1hr 47min

• Directed by David Bruckner

• Written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski

• Stars: Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg and Vondie Curtis-Hall

• Premiered at Sundance January 24, 2020

• Released in theaters August 20, 2021

• RT: 88% critics / 69% audience

Synopsis 

A woman grieving the recent suicide of her husband experiences strange disturbances in her home and begins to believe that his ghost is attempting to contact her.

Join us in two weeks when we review Alien: Romulus, opening in theaters August 16.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

184 | No One Gets Out Alive

• Directed by Santiago Menghini

• Written by Jon Croker (story by) and Fernanda Coppel (novel by Adam Nevill)

• Stars Cristina Rodlo, Marc Menchaca, David Figlioli

• Premiered on Netflix 9/29/2021

• Rated R

• Runtime: 1hr 25min

• RT: 71% critics 63% audience (fewer than 50 audience reviews)
  

  Synopsis 

  A young woman rents a room in a creepy old house. The landlord said there was only one other tenant besides himself, yet she keeps hearing crying coming from supposedly empty rooms and running into strange people in the halls. And then there are the strange nightmares she’s been having since moving in...

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Next up, the long awaited sequel to the rebooted sequel to Halloween, Halloween Kills. That’s right, it’s time for more Jamie Lee Curtis and her distinguished natural grey hair kicking ass and taking names, along with her daughter, Judy Greer. I just love that those two are the leads again. Assuming the trailer hasn’t misled us. Guess we’ll finally find out.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

183 | Martyr's Lane

• Written & Directed by Ruth Platt

• Stars Kiera Thompson, Denise Gough and Sienna Sayer

• Premiered at Fantasia International FF August 19, 2021

• Released September 9, 2021

• Available on Shudder

• Unrated

• Runtime: 1hr 36min

• RT: 93% critics 62% audience (less than 50 audience reviews)

  Synopsis: Leah lives with her family in a large old vicarage. In the daytime she is mostly overlooked by her busy family but at night she has a new friend - a little girl who has started to come visit her. At her window. On the second floor.

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Next up, something new from Netflix. No One Gets Out Alive is based on a novel by favorite of the podcast Adam Nevill.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/