Consider this an addendum to the (semi) recent post looking back at the horror films of 2025 (HERE)! There are still a few I need to track down but at least I’ve done my due diligence. Special thanks go to my local free library for filling in the gaps created by a multiple of slapdash streaming services!
I’m very glad that knowledgeable reader DekesYellowBikini suggested I check out Drew Hancock’s COMPANION, it certainly deserves to be mentioned among the best of the year. Boy, was I mislead by the awkward advertising for this fun flick, the trailer somehow gave away both too much AND too little! To be fair, the movie does mesh genres and changes its colors and tone like a hard to define drugged up slippery chameleon but I would have at least liked to have known how darn funny it is at times. In any case, it’s certainly not the cold, affected scold-y flick I wrongfully assumed it was. COMPANION is hilarious, horror laced, and action packed and truly thought provoking (especially for someone who rooted for the replicants in BLADE RUNNER). It also features an impressively game cast of horror alumni which includes Jack Quaid (SCREAM, 2022), Harvey Guillen (WEREWOLVES WITHIN & the much missed TV series WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, Lukas Gage ( SMILE 2), Megan Siri (IT LIVES INSIDE ) and the truly commanding Sophie Thatcher (HERETIC, 2023’s THE BOOGEYMAN). It’s loads of fun and super expedient if you’re looking to get your sci-fi, horror, action and dark comedy itch scratched in one bright and gripping fell swoop.
BONE LAKE concerns two attractive couples who find they’ve both booked a lakeside manor for a weekend getaway and (foolishly) decide to shrug their shoulders and share the joint. Seems like an easy fix except one of the couples is clearly cray, highly deceitful and super sleazy on multiple levels. This is a taunt, highly engaging psychological thriller that satisfies but doesn’t leave much of a dent due to its garden variety set-up (I mean, we already got two versions of SPEAK NO EVIL clogging up the pantry) and hardly revolutionary revelations. As a die hard fan of nineties era “Blank From Hell” flicks, I highly enjoyed the time I spent at BONE LAKE but I have a strong feeling that I won’t remember having viewed it a month from now. It’s sorta like that FRUIT STRIPE gum that cartoon zebra used to peddle; it hits the spot but has very little staying power (note: It’s possible I watched this too soon after the more flashy COMPANION which might have dulled its effect).
DANGEROUS ANIMALS has got my name written all over it because I love Australian horror, adore sharks and dig the ever-loving weirdness of Jai Courtney on account of he reminds me of the late, great (and perhaps certifiably insane) Oliver Reed. Although Courtney usually comes across as a ticking time bomb I don’t think I’ve had the privilege of witnessing him portray a truly unhinged psychotic before. He does not disappoint. Here he plays a barrel chested serial killer named Tucker with the decidedly frowned upon hobby of taking folks out on his boat, feeding them to sharks and amassing a large collection of VHS recordings of the killing (Seeing VHS tapes on a boat gives me anxiety because it seems like the perfect breeding ground for mold). One day he makes the grave mistake of abducting a feisty young woman named Zephyr (tough as nails Hassie Harrison) who has gotten the sticky end of the lollipop one to many times in life and ain’t having any of it. For the most part, DANGEROUS ANIMALS is pretty much WOLF CREEK, AHOY! and I’m afraid it has a really rough looking CGI climax (& not enough sharks) but its definitely worth checking out for the performances and for the fact that Zephyr could be one of the all time toughest, strongest, most formidable and resilient horror heroines.
In my humble opinion, 1984’s cult classic THE TOXIC AVENGER does not seem like the type of movie that should be remade. I’d assume it would be a recipe for clunky, out of touch, disaster to try to duplicate something so inherently campy, charmingly cobbled together and adorably tasteless. Well, I guess for the millionth time I’ve learned that I should have more faith in the universe because writer/ director Macon (I DON”T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD) Blair’s flavorful, properly-punk, gooey fluorescent spin is its own fine beast and does my passed away feline “Toxic” who was named after THE TOXIC AVENGER ('84) proud. Peter Dinklage is Winston Gooze, a put upon employee of a pharmaceutical company who embarrasses his son Wade (Jacob Tremblay) with his mild mannered fecklessness. Winston eventually discovers that his boss Bob Garbinger (ubiquitous legend Kevin Bacon) is beyond corrupt and has an equally sinister bro named Fritz who sorta resembles Batman’s nemesis The Penguin (the always welcome Elijah Wood). In an attempt to silence Winston, Fritz’s gang “The Killer Nutz” throw him into a vat of radioactive waste that transforms him into the monstrous yet lovable superhero we all know and adore and we are treated to a molten stew of thrills, hilarity, slapstick gore and a surprising touching tale of acceptance between father and son. I couldn’t have been more wrong about this movie so as Prince once said to Sheena Easton, “I stand corrected”.
Emilie Bilchfeldt’s THE UGLY STEPSISTER is a gruesome retelling of the Cinderella story from the viewpoint of one of the stepsisters. It is incredibly beautiful and incredibly ugly at the same time like an ornate decadent pink pastry filled with squirming worms. Theoretically unattractive Elvira (objectively lovely Lea Myren) has a dream of marrying a certain poetic prince but like many a dream, it is actually a soul shredding Hubert Selby Jr. designed nuclear warhead waiting to explode in her face. Pushed by her manipulative, abusive mother (Ane Dahl Torp), the foolhardy young woman attempts to better herself with increasingly painful and emotionally devastating results. Typically, a small glimmer of hope appears and it seems her efforts will be rewarded but alas, the light at the end of the tunnel is a freight train transporting rotting garbage. This is a glorious looking film with an incredible score that utilizes the body horror sub-genre to explore self harm, body dysmorphia and the corrosive nature of atrocious parenting. I’m so glad I watched this incredible work of art but I’m also banishing it to the “never view again” pile on account of it kicking me in the emotional shins over and over again. It’s a clever, stunning, harrowing journey that does not let up for a second and I’m mostly just going to try to forget it. But I can’t. Because of the tape worm. I can’t forget the tape worm (sobs).
