horror Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘The Shrouds,’ starring Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce and Sandrine Holt

April 17, 2025

by Carla Hay

Vincent Cassel and Diane Kruger in “The Shrouds” (Photo courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films)

Directed by David Cronenberg

Culture Representation: Taking place in Canada, the sc-fi horror film “The Shrouds” features a predominantly white group of people (with a few Asian people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A widower, who owns an unusual business where people can visually monitor corpses that are insides of graves, tries to solve the mystery of who’s trying to sabatoge his business.

Culture Audience: “The Shrouds” will appeal primarily to people who fans filmmaker David Cronenberg, the movie’s headliners and body horror movies.

Vincent Cassel and Guy Pearce in “The Shrouds” (Photo courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films)

“The Shrouds” can get muddled and has some pacing that’s too slow. However, it’s a generally intriguing mix of a sci-fi horror story, a mystery thriller and a conspiracy tale that explores the intersections of corporate greed and death exploitation. The movie is supposed to be set in an unspecified period of time but it touches on timeless issues of grief and what happens beyond death.

Written and directed by David Cronenberg, “The Shrouds” had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and subseuqently made the rounds at other film festivals in 2024, including the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. “The Shrouds” takes place in an unnamed city in Canada. The movie was actually filmed in Toronto.

“The Shrouds” begins by showing a widower named Karsh (played by Vincent Cassel) looking through a hole in a rock wall as he sees the floating corpse of his wife Rebecca, nicknamed Becca (played by Diane Kruger), who died of cancer six years ago. The movie has several dream-like sequences where the lines are blurred between reality and hallucinations.

Viewers soon find out that Karsh is so obsessed with what’s happening to the corpse of his wife, he’s made an entire business of out it. Karsh also has an artificial intelligence assistant named Hunny (also played by Kruger), who looks eerily like a young version of Becca. Hunny is perky and helpful assistant

Karsh is next seen getting a dental exam. His dentist Dr. Hofstra (played by Eric Weinthal), tells Karsh, “Grief is rotting your teeth.” Dr. Hofstra then offers to give Karsh the JPG photos of Becca’s teeth from past dental exams. Karsh politely declines this offer.

The next scene takes place at The Shrouds, the name of the business that Karsh owns. It’s a combination of a high-tech, non-denominational cemetery and a restaurant, with the cemetery located right outside the back of the restaurant. As morbid as this might sound, apparently the business is doing well enough that Karsh hopes to expand his business to other cities and is looking for investors.

Karsh is having lunch at The Shrouds restaurant while he’s on a first date with a woman named Myrna Shovlin (played by Jennifer Dale), who describes herself as someone who’s been divorced for 20 years. This date was arranged by Dr. Hofstra, who thought that Karsh and Myrna would hit it off and because he thinks lonely Karsh needs to start dating again. The Shrouds restaurant is decorated with artifacts of ancient shrouds (displayed in glass cases) that Karsh tells Myrna are real shrouds.

Karsh and Myrna makes some small talk. He admits he’s still having a hard time getting over the death of his wife Becca. He tells Myrna that when Becca was buried, “I had an intense, visceral urge to get in the box with her.” Karsh also says that he can’t stand the thought of Becca being alone in her grave. He also describes himself as a “non-observant atheist.”

He further explains that Becca was Jewish, which is why she didn’t want to be cremated. Karsh adds, “She said she wanted to lie beside me in death.” Karsh then shows Myrna what The Shrouds cemetery business looks like by demonstrating how he uses it.

That’s how Myrna finds out that the business has high-tech graves with built-in video screens that allow people to watch and monitor the corpses inside the graves by computer-related devices with access to the screens. Karsh brags to Myrna that his company has invented the technology (called GraveTech) to make this type of grave monitoring possible. He tells Myrna that people who sign up for this service are not repulsed by looking at rotting corpses but are comforted by this activity.

Karsh also tells Myrna that by monitoring Becca’s corpse, he feels connected to her with her body in death, just as he was in life—perhaps even more in death because he has complete control over when he can see Becca. “And it makes me happy,” Karsh comments. This creepy revelation is enough to make Myrna feel uncomfortable. She quickly ends the date, and Karsh never sees her again.

Karsh will soon become consumed with two other women who become his lovers, as already revealed in “The Shrouds” trailer. Terry (also played by Kruger) is Becca’s twin sister. Terry used to be a veterinarian, but she now works as a dog groomer. Terry is a conspiracy theorist who believes that Becca was secretly being used for experiments during Becca’s cancer treatments.

Soo-Min (played by Sandrine Holt) becomes Karsh’s other lover. She meets Karsh because she was sent by her husband Karoly Szabo (played by Vieslav Krystyan), a wealthy Hungarian who might be interested in bringing The Shrouds to Europe. Soo-Min happens to be blind, but she doesn’t let her blindness stop her from being a shrewd and calculating businessperson.

Before these romantic entanglements happen, The Shrouds cemetery is mysteriously vandalized. The perpetrator also sent a video recording to Karsh of the nighttime vandalism when it happened. The video does not show the vandal’s face, and the vandal doesn’t speak in the video.

Karsh doesn’t report this crime to law enforcement because he thinks it will be bad publicity for his business. Instead, he enlists the help of computer technology expert named Maury Entrekin (played by Guy Pearce) to try to find out who’s behind this sabotage. Maury also happens to be the ex-husband of Terry, but he has remained on friendly terms with Karsh since the divorce.

The movie’s most valuable player in the cast is undoubtedly Kruger, who gives standout performances as three very different characters. She makes each character very distinct from each other in very convincing ways. Cassel is adequate in his role but comes across as somewhat stiff in some scenes. Holt and Pearce are serviceable in their performances.

Cronenberg is known for making movies with striking and inventive visuals. In this regard, “The Shrouds” continues that tradition. However, this movie won’t be considered a masterpiece. Some of the characters could have been better-developed. For example, Terry is ultimately defined by her feelings for Karsh (she had a longtime crush on him) and some sibling rivalry cattiness (Terry was jealous of the more-glamorous Becca), rather than being a well-rounded person with a full life of her own

“The Shrouds” blends the multiple storylines—the mystery of the vandal, Karsh’s love triangle, and the business expansion of The Shrouds—to sometimes clumsy results. And at one point in the movie, it becomes very easy to figure out (before it’s actually revealed in the movie) who’s responsible for trying to ruin Karsh’s business. And as a horror movie, it’s not that scary and is really more of a psychological drama. Despite these flaws, “The Shrouds” can keep viewers interested if they are curious about finding out the answer to the mystery and want to think about what would happen if GraveTech cemetery technology existed in real life.

Sideshow/Janus Films will release “The Shrouds” in select U.S. cinemas on April 18, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on April 25, 2025.

Review: ‘Sinners’ (2025), starring Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller and Delroy Lindo

April 15, 2025

by Carla Hay

Justin William Davis, Jayme Lawson, Wunmi Mosaku, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton and Lil Jun Li in “Sinners” (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

“Sinners” (2025)

Directed by Ryan Coogler

Culture Representation: Taking place primarily in 1932, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, the horror film “Sinners” features an African American and white group of people (with a few Asians and Native Americans) representing the working-class and the middle-class.

Culture Clash: Identical twin brothers open up a juke joint, and enlist their blues-musician cousin to perform on opening night, but the night descends into chaos when vampires attack.

Culture Audience: “Sinners” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and adult-oriented horror movies.

Peter Dreimanis, Jack O’Connell, Hailee Steinfeld and Lola Kirke in “Sinners” (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

“Sinners” is more than a vampire movie. It’s a sexy, stylish, gritty and gory journey that expertly layers horror with the supernatural power of music and haunting legacies about violent racism. It’s a memorable film that uses familiar legends about vampires and puts them into an original story about emotionally damaged people haunted by their pasts.

Written and directed by Ryan Coogler (who is also one of the movie’s producers), “Sinners” has some twists and turns that offer welcome surprises. The movie takes its time in revealing several things about the main characters in the film. There’s a lot of dire tragedy in the movie but there’s also joyful celebration and some comic relief. “Sinners” capably balances all of these tones.

“Sinners” (which takes place mostly in 1932, in Clarksdale, Mississippi) begins with voiceover narration from a woman who is later introduced as Annie (played by Wunmi Mosaku), “a Hoodoo conjurer, spiritual leader and healer in the community,” as she is described in the movie’s production notes. Anne talks about musicians with special powers (who are called griots in African culture) and who play music that “brings healing to their communities, but it can also bring evil.”

The first scene in the movie is startling: A 19-year-old man named Samuel “Sammie” Moore (played by Miles Caton) bursts into a small makeshift church during a church service that has about 30 people in attendance. Sammie (whose nickname is Preacher Boy) is holding the neck of a damaged guitar. He has noticeable injuries, including bloody marks on his face that looks like he’s been clawed.

Sammie’s stern father Jedidiah (played by Saul Williams) is the preacher of the church. When he sees Sammie, he knows that Sammie has come from performing blues music at a nightclub, which is something that Jedidiah disapproves of and has strictly forbidden. Sammie plays music, which Jedidiah believes is the devil’s music.

Sammie is in obvious distress but Jedidiah only seems willing to help Sammie if Sammie follows this order from Jedidiah: “I want you to live those sinning ways. Drop the guitar!” Sammy holds a firm grip on the guitar. Jedidiah repeats the order again and again. What will Sammie do?

The movie then abruptly cuts to one day earlier. Sammie works as a sharecropper for his day job. He is well-liked and respected among his sharecropper peers. But in his heart, what he really wants to be is a professional blues music artist. It’s why he eagerly takes an opportunity to perform at a Clarksdale juke joint’s opening night. It will turn out to be a very fateful decision.

Sammie is a talented singer, songwriter and musician who takes performing gigs wherever he can, much to his father’s disapproval. As far as Jedidiah s concerned, the places where Sammie performs are cesspools of sin. Jedidiah warns Sammie: “If you keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s going to follow you home.”

Meanwhile, two identical twin brothers named Smoke (played by Michael B. Jordan) and Stack (also played by Jordan), who are both are World War I veterans, have returned to their hometown of Clarksdale after seven years away. During those seven years, Smoke and Stack (who are nicknamed the Smoke Stack twins) were involved in shady business deals (including bootlegging of liquor during this Prohibition era) and gang activities in Chicago.

Smoke and Stack have come back to Clarksdale with enough cash and liquor to fulfill their dream to open up a juke joint: a nightclub in a barn or warehouse that caters mostly to African Americans and where blues music is performed. Smoke (who likes to wear a blue newsboy cap) is the more ruthless and hardened twin. Stack (who likes to wear a maroon fedora) is the more diplomatic and smooth-talking twin.

Smoke and Stack meet with a local property owner named Hogwood (played by David Maldonado) to buy a house that comes with a mill and equipment. Hogwood is skeptical about selling the property because he doesn’t think Smoke and Stack have the money for it. But when they show Maldonado the wads of cash they have to pay it, he quickly changes his mind. Hogwood is also an obvious liar when he makes a point of telling Smoke and Stack that the Ku Klux Klan doesn’t exist in the area.

Smoke and Stack are the older cousins of Sammie, whom they easily convince to be the performer for the opening night of the juke joint. The juke joint will debut that night. Smoke and Stack also enlist two longtime friends on short notice to work at the juke joint that night: Delta Slim (played by Delroy Lindo) will be Sammie’s piano player. Cornbread (played by Omar Miller) is a sharecropper who will be the juke joint’s doorman.

Smoke and Stack stop by a local grocery store to place big order of food, drinks and some other supplies for the juke joint’s opening night. And just like that, the grocery store owners—a Chinese American married couple named Grace Chow (played by Li Jun Li) and Bo Chow (played by Yao)—are also hired to be the caterers for the juke joint’s opening night. Smoke and Stack have enough cash to quickly hire everyone to work that night.

Sammie has a crush on a local woman named Pearline (played by Jayme Lawson), who is in an unhappy marriage with an older man. Pearline has an image of being too classy and refined to ever be in a juke joint. Sammie invites her to the juke joint’s opening night anyway so she can watch him perform.

Smoke and Stack have issues in their own lives that affect much of what happens in the movie. Smoke was married to Annie, but he abandoned her when he went to Chicago. He hasn’t seen or spoken to her in communicated with her in that seven-year period.

Naturally, she’s upset when she sees him, but Smoke seduces her into forgiving him. He convinces Annie to be a cashier for the juke joint. Smoke and Annie also share a tragedy: They had a baby son who died before he went away to Chicago. Annie and Smoke don’t like to talk about their child’s death.

Stack’s love interest is a feisty Mary (played by Hailee Steinfeld), who is furious with Stack because he ignored her and moved to Chicago shortly after they had a one-night stand. Mary is married to a wealthy white man but she prefers to hang out with black people. For some people, Mary might be considered a person of color because she mentions at one point that her mother’s father was half-black, half-white. But for most people, Mary is white because she looks that way.

All of these characters will encounter a trio of people who will cause mayhem at the juke joint. It starts when an Irish immigrant named Remmick (played by Jack O’Connell) frantically knocks on the door of a married farm couple named Bert (played by Peter Dreimanis) and Joan (played by Lola Kirke) to ask them to hide him at their home. Remmick explains that law enforcement is after him because he was wrongfully accused of theft.

As shown in the movie, Bert is a member of the Ku Klux Klan, which is why Remmick makes a point of telling Bert that Remmick is being hunted by law enforcement officials who are Native American. When these officials show up at the farm, Joan answers the door and denies seeing Remmick. As already revealed in a “Sinners” trailer, Remmick is really a vampire. And you can easily guess what he does to Bert and Joan.

Remmick is on the hunt for musicians with special talent that he’s heard about, which is why Remmick goes looking for Sammie. Remmick takes Joan and Bert with him when they go to the juke joint and try to gain access by posing as a musical trio. On a deeper level, Remmick, Joan and Bert represent vampires in the music industry who deceive artists by promising them fame and fortune only to exploit and cheat the artists. This has been especially true for black artists because “Sinners” always has race and racism as part of the story’s fabric.

“Sinners” has a stunning musical sequence at the juke joint that weaves together music performed by black artists in the 1930s with subsequent decades. It’s a very artistic homage to blues, funk and hip-hop (including having characters made to look similar to Bootsy Collins and LL Cool J) that is one of the highlights of the film.

Traditional vampire lore is a big part of “Sinners.” Several parts of the movie hinge on these well-known vampire “rules”: Vampires cannot enter a building without being invited by the owner or caretaker of the building. A vampire can be injured by holy water. A vampire can be killed by a stake to the heart or by being exposed to daylight sun.

Jordan does a noteworthy job in his dual performance as Stack and Smoke, although “Sinners” is the type of ensemble film where there are no bad performances. Mosaku also stands out as the strong but emotionally wounded Annie, who is in many ways the soul of the story. Lindo and Miller show excellent comedic timing for their “Sinners” characters, who have the funniest moments in the film. O’Connell makes Remmick a memorable villain. Li is a scene stealer as Grace, who proves to be a powerhouse fighter when the going gets tough.

Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson (who has worked on all of Coogler’s movies so far) crafted a gripping and suspenseful score for “Sinners,” a movie that sometimes wanders but is consistently compelling. Also worth noting is Oscar-winning production designer Hannah Beachler’s excellent production design for “Sinners.” As for surprises, the movie has a mid-credits scene and an end-credits scene that are treats for people who love and appreciate blues music. (The mid-credits scene is essential to watch.) “Sinners” is destined to be a horror classic and is sue to inspire repeat viewings.

Warner Bros. Pictures will release “Sinners” in U.S. cinemas on April 18, 2025.

Review: ‘Bloat,’ starring Ben McKenzie, Bojana Novakovic, Malcolm Fuller, Sawyer Jones and Kane Kosugi

April 14, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Bloat”

Directed by Pablo Absento

Culture Representation: Taking place in Japan and in the United States, the horror film “Bloat” features a white and Asian group of people representing the working-class and the middle-class.

Culture Clash: A U.S. Army official, whose wife and two sons are temporarily living in Japan while he is on duty in the U.S., finds out that his younger son has been infected during a drowning accident and appears to be possessed by a demon.

Culture Audience: “Bloat” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and who don’t mind watching boring and idiotic horror movies.

Kane Kosugi in “Bloat” (Photo courtesy of Lionsgate)

Much of the insipid horror movie “Bloat” consists of people looking at computer screens and being confused. That’s because this atrocious movie (about a father trying to do online help for his demon-possessed 10-year-old son) is a terrible and boring mess. The editing is sloppy, the plot is often nonsensical, and “Bloat” isn’t even that scary. And the ending of the film is absolutely horrible because it leaves a big question unanswered.

Written and directed by Pablo Absento, “Bloat” is his feature-film debut. Horror movies that rely heavily on scenes were people are just looking at screens that are on computers and phones have to maintain a certain level of suspense and tension. “Bloat” completely fails in this regard. The movie is often unfocused and has a contradictory timeline with too many plot holes.

“Bloat” begins by showing home video footage of U.S. Army official Jack Reynolds (played by Ben McKenzie, one of the producers of “Bloat”) and his wife Hannah Reynolds (played by Bojana Novakovic) in a hospital delivery room as she gives birth to their third child: a daughter named Ava. (Jack’s military title is never revealed in the movie, but conversations imply he’s a mid-level official.) Ava (who looks red and bloated when she is born) is suddenly taken away by alarmed medical professionals in the room. Hannah shouts with fear when she asks why they are taking Ava away.

The movie then abruptly cuts to text messages that are being sent between Jack and Hannah. The messages reveal that Ava died at the hospital. The cause of death is never revealed in the movie. It’s also never made clear how long ago Ava died, but Jack and Hannah are understandably grieving.

Hannah texts this message: “Jack, we lost a child, she’s gone. Let’s make sure we don’t lose what we still have.” It’s soon revealed that Jack and Hannah have two other children: Their son Steve (played by Malcolm Fuller) is about 12 or 13 years old. Their son Kyle (played by Sawyer Jones) is 10 years old.

To help with their grief, Jack and Hannah decide to take a family vacation trip with their sons to Japan. They book an Airbnb house in Tokyo to stay at during the family’s visit to Japan. However, right before they are supposed to go on the trip, U.S. military bases and facilities are attacked in Iraq and Syria. Jack is ordered to stay in the United States. He tells Hannah that she, Steve and Kyle should still go ahead with the trip to Japan.

“Bloat” is so poorly written, it has contradicting information on what year that Kyle became possessed. In one part of the movie, it says he became possessed in 2018. In another part of the movie, which is supposed to take place abut four to eight weeks later, the year is shown as 2020.

After Hannah, Steve and Kyle arrive in Japan, Hannah sends videos and does live video calls with Jack so he can see their activities. On a family outing at a lake, a tragedy occurs: Four boys who were on a school trip drowned in the lake. Kyle had also been swimming in the lake at the time and almost drowned, but he survived because a Japanese friend of the Reynolds family—a nurse name Iriko—happened to be there too and saved Kyle from drowning.

Iriko is never seen or heard from in the movie. It’s a weird loose end that is never explained, considering all the medical problems that Kyle experiences in Japan when he is far away from home. Why mention a “family friend” nurse character who saved Kyle from drowning, and then never bring the character into the movie? What kind of “nurse friend” never checks in with the family of the child she saved from drowning? It’s an example of the sloppy screenwriting in “Bloat.”

An alarmed Jack sees news video footage of Kyle being pulled from the lake. Kyle has strange green bile coming out of his mouth. Visitors’ cell phones aren’t allowed in the hospital where Kyle is getting medical treatment, so it takes a while before Jack can find out what’s going on from Steve and Hannah. Eventually, Kyle is discharged from the hospital and stays with his Hannah and Steve at the rented Airbnb house in Tokyo.

Through video calls and text messages from Steve, Jack finds out that Kyle just hasn’t been the same since Kyle’s near-death experience. Kyle has become moody, withdrawn and occasionally violent. Kyle barely talks and has become almost mute. He also has a vacant look in his eyes and doesn’t seem to connect with people who try to talk to him.

There’s a disturbing incident that Jack sees in a video call. Steve and Kyle are fighting over a small frog that Kyle wants to keep with him. Kyle has a temper-tantrum meltdown where he repeatedly shouts, “Get away from my frog!”

Kyle then bites Steve hard enough on Steve’s right arm to break the skin and leave a noticeable injury. When Jack plays back the video and does a freeze-frame right after Kyle has bitten Steve, Jack sees that Kyle’s eyes appear to be demonic and glowing. Jack wants to think it’s a technical glitch, but over time, he begins to wonder if Kyle is possessed.

Kyle is put into therapy with Dr. Shinji Ishikawa (played by Motoki Kobayashi), an English-speaking therapist based in Tokyo. Dr. Ishikawa, who treats children and adults, has diagnosed Kyle with having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The doctor advises Jack that it will takes some time before progress can be made in Kyle’s recovery.

However, Jack becomes impatient. And he starts to believe Steve’s theory that Kyle could be possessed by an unknown entity. Steve has been using a “baby cam” to secretly record Kyle in his bedroom and finds out that Kyle has been hoarding and eating dead insects and rotten cucumbers that Kyle hides underneath his bed.

Steve shows Jack this disturbing footage, which is enough for Jack to be even more convinced that something else is going on with Kyle that is not PTSD. Jack goes on the Dark Web and finds a support group called Parents of Possessed Kids. The only way to join the group is if access is approved, so there’s period of time where Jack has to wait for access.

Hannah is in complete denial about how serious Kyle’s problems are. Steve also tells Jack that Hannah is starting to drink more alcohol and might be taking pills again. Conversations between Steve and Jack imply that Hannah was in recovery for an addiction problem but she has now relapsed. As time goes on, Jack grows concerned that Hannah seems to be drunk every time he calls.

Hannah, Steve and Kyle are supposed to be on vacation, but the movie acts like they’re expected to stay in Japan during Kyle’s recovery, which is for an extended and undetermined period of time. “Bloat” doesn’t have any realistic discussions about visa issues for an extended stay or why Kyle isn’t getting treatment in the United States. After all, if Hannah, Steve and Kyle went back to the United States to live with Jack, there would be no need for the movie’s botched gimmick of Jack only able to see his family through video chats.

“Bloat” goes off on several tangents that are clumsily handled. Jack has an Army buddy named Ryan Aoki (played by Kane Kosugi), who accepts Jack’s request to go to Tokyo to check on Hannah, Steve and Kyle. A screenshot in the movie shows that Ryan goes to visit the Reynolds family in Tokyo in September 2020. And yet, earlier in the movie, it shows that Kyle’s near-drowning accident happened on February 18, 2018. But based on the way the timeline is explained in the movie, the Reynolds family has been in Japan for only four to eight weeks (at the most) by the time Ryan goes to visit.

Jack’s family problems cause distractions for him at work, where he shows up late for meetings, so his commanding officer gets increasingly frustrated and angry with Jack. The movie’s explanation for Jack not going to Japan, even though he has a family emergency, is he has been strictly ordered to stay at his military base in the United States and could be charged with going AWOL (absent without leave) if he leaves without permission. Because of the contradictory timeline, the movie does a horrible job of explaining how long Jack has been away from his family.

Jack and Ryan do some research that involves an unnamed Japanese monk (played by Hiroshi Watanabe) and a past news report about an American father named Derrick (played by Royce Johnson) whose son Gary went through a situation that was similar to what Kyle is going through. There’s some nonsense in the movie about an ancient water-dwelling demon named Kappa. Steve wants to play detective too, so he does things like secretly follow and film Kyle into a wooded area where Kyle sneaks off to at night.

The acting performances in “Bloat” are nothing special and are often very tedious. Most of the movie’s characters have flat and underdeveloped personalities. The not-surprising-at-all reveal of a demon monster is underwhelming. It leads to an inevitable part of the movie where an exorcism of Kyle is planned.

The last 10 minutes of the film bring an abrupt and slipshod turn to the story. “Bloat” could have been a much better movie if it had a clever screenplay, skilled direction, and engaging performances. Ironically, this movie about a fateful drowning accident purposely drowns itself in mishandled and dull filmmaking.

Lionsgate released “Bloat” in select U.S. cinemas, on digital and on VOD on March 7, 2025.

Review: ‘Ash’ (2025), starring Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott, Beulah Koale and Flying Lotus

April 7, 2025

by Carla Hay

Aaron Paul and Eiza González in “Ash” (Photo courtesy of RLJE Films)

“Ash” (2025)

Directed by Flying Lotus

Culture Representation: Taking place in outer space, the sci-fi horror film “Ash” features a racially diverse group of people (white, African American, Latin and Asian) portraying astronauts.

Culture Clash: Two astronauts from the same spaceship crew try to find out what happened when one of the astronauts wakes up to find out that most of the crew members have been murdered.

Culture Audience: “Ash” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and sci-fi horror movies that take place in outer space.

Kate Elliott and Beulah Koale in “Ash” (Photo courtesy of RLJE Films)

“Ash” is obviously influenced by the “Alien” movie franchise. This sci-fi horror flick (about two astronauts trying to solve the mystery of a massacre on their spaceship) has some pacing that’s too slow, but this low-budget film is watchable overall. The acting is sufficient, and the movie makes up for its dull parts in the last third of the film, which has the most action.

Directed by Flying Lotus and written by Jonni Remmler, “Ash” has its world premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival. Flying Lotus also composed the impressive music score fo the movie. “Ash” begins by showing an astronaut named Riya (played by Eiza González) waking up on a spaceship in outer space and finding out that everyone she knew on the spaceship has been butally murdered, except for an astronaut named Catherine Clarke (played by Kate Elliott), who is missing.

Riya walks around by herself in a daze, inside and outside the ship. She is soon joined by another astronaut namd Brion Carlisle (played by Aaron Paul), who suddenly appears on the ship and tells her that he was part of the spaceship crew too. Riyah doesn’t remember Brion and wonders if he’s lying. He insists that he’s telling the truth.

Together, Riyah and Brion try to find out who or what killed these other astronauts, whose names are Adhi (played by Iko Uwais), Kevin (played by Beulah Koale) and Shawn Davis (played by Flying Lotus), who was captain of the spaceship. Several flashback scenes show what happened leading to up the murders. These astronauts, who had good camaraderie with each other, have been living on an isolated planet with many craters and where breathable air has become scarce. Brion and Riyah speculate that maybe Clarke breathed toxic air and possibly had psychotic break from reality.

The astronauts were on a mission to find a way to get more breathable air. Riyah and Brion are both very strong-willed and opinionated. It leads to inevitable conflicts when they have different ideas on how to solve immediate problems. The acting performances in “Ash” aren’t anything special, but they aren’t completely terrible either.

The spaceship has a non-verbal robot with artificial intelligence called the Mobile Diagnostic Surgery (M.D.S.) Bot, which can quickly diagnosis a medical problem and do surgery if necessary. Riyah constantly uses a medical patch on her neck to treat a fever that she says she has. The M.D.S. Bot performs a diagnosis on Riyah and determines that she has swelling in the brain. Her feverish memory could be the result of this brain swelling or could be the result of something else.

Much of “Ash” consists of Riyah and Brion clashing because they have a hard time trusting each other. At times, Riyah and Brion suspect each other of being the spaceship’s mass murderer. Riyah mainly thinks Clarke is the prime suspect and believes the best plan is to try to find Clarke to get answers on why this massacre happened. Brion disagrees and says it’s better to get off the planet because they’re running out of breathable air.

Because “Ash” has a limited number of locations in the story, some viewers might grow tired of seeing the same places over and over in the movie. However, the movie’s intention is to show how the ship and this desolate planet are very confining to the inhabitants. The mystery of who caused the massacre is fairly easy to solve after a while, and the buildup requires patience. However, there are some striking visuals in “Ash,” which ends in a predictable but satisfying way.

RLJE Entertainment released “Ash” in U.S. cinemas on March 21, 2025.

Review: ‘Hell of a Summer,’ starring Fred Hechinger, Finn Wolfhard, Billy Bryk, Abby Quinn, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Krista Nazaire and Matthew Finlan

April 2, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Hell of a Summer”

Directed by Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed U.S. city, the horror film “Hell of a Summer” features a predominantly white group of people (with one African American and one Indigenous person) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Counselors at a summer camp experience a deadly rampage by masked serial killer.

Culture Audience: “Hell of a Summer” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching slasher films that rip off all of their ideas from better slasher films.

Cast members of “Hell of a Summer.” Pictured in front row: Billy Bryk, Finn Wolfhard and Krista Nazaire. Pictured in back row: Abby Quinn, Julia Lalonde and Fred Hechinger. (Photo courtesy of Neon)

The derivative and dull horror movie “Hell of a Summer” wants be like 1996’s original “Scream” movie and 1980’s summer-camp horror flick “Friday the 13th.” “Hell of a Summer” is woefully inferior to both films and has comedy and scares that are unimpressive. “Hell of a Summer” has a talented cast but ultimately falls short of being an entertaining horror movie because of the weak screenplay that doesn’t have enough originality or wit.

Written and directed by Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard, “Hell of a Summer” is their feature-film directorial debut. Bryk and Wolfhard, who are better known as actors, also co-star in “Hell of a Summer,” which had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. “Hell of a Summer” takes place in an unnamed U.S. city, but the movie was actually filmed in the Canadian province of Ontario.

It would be an understatement to say that “Hell of a Summer” is riddled with horror movie clichés. All of the movie’s plot aspects have been copied from other movies. The location (a remote area in the woods) and many of the characters are also just lazy collections of stereotypes.

“Hell of Summer” borrows so heavily from “Scream” (masked killer slays young people who talk in self-referencing quips, with a surprise reveal toward the end) and “Friday the 13th” (masked killer slays counselors at an isolated summer camp), it’s like a mashup of both movies but very watered down, without anything to make any ideas in “Hell of a Summer” truly creative and unique. It’s like if someone tried to mix chocolate syrup and milk together and sold it as chocolate milk, but it ends up tasting like stale water.

“Hell of a Summer” is a checklist of body counts until it’s revealed who’s responsible for the murderous mayhem. What makes the original “Scream” a classic horror film is that the characters were memorable, and much of the dialogue was genuinely entertaining. “Friday the 13th” was not a great horror movie, but it had a great villain, which is the reason why “Friday the 13th” (just like “Scream”) became a long-running successful horror franchise. “Hell of a Summer” doesn’t go beyond having hollow characters and a lot of boring dialogue.

“Hell of a Summer” begins by showing the murders of John (played by Adam Pally) and Kathy (played by Rosebud Baker), the spouses who own Camp Pineway, which is getting ready to host its annual summer camp. John and Kathy are sitting around a campfire. Kathy asks John to perform the song “Pineway,” which he sings while playing an acoustic guitar

Kathy temporarily leaves the campfire area to get some beer nearby. She comes back to the campfire to find John impaled with the guitar neck. A terrified Kathy runs away to her car, but a killer wearing a devil’s mask is hiding in the back seat and murders Kathy from behind with a knife.

And so begins the body counts in “Hell of a Summer,” which assembles a group of mostly annoying people in their 20s to be the next potential victims. All of these other characters are the camp counselors. They have arrived early for orientation sessions before the summer camp attendees are expected to be there.

The movie’s protagonist is a cheerful dork named Jason Hochberg (played by Fred Hechinger), a 24-year-old who has been a Camp Pineway counselor for the past six years. Near the beginning of the film, after Kathy and John have been murdered, Jason is shown getting a car ride to the camp, with his mother Maggie Hochberg (played by Susan Coyne) driving the car. Maggie wants Jason to become a lawyer, and she expresses disappointment that Jason has chosen to spend his summer being a Camp Pineway counselor again instead of doing an internship that he rejected.

Maggie also disapproves of the low salary that Jason gets as a Camp Pineway counselor: “One hundred dollars a week is not employment,” she says. Jason comments to Maggie about Camp Pinaway: “I have my whole life to be a lawyer, but how many summers do I get to spend here?” Maggie replies, “A lot, apparently.” This is the type of mundane dialogue that the movie wants to pass off as comedy-worthy.

The other counselors at the camp are:

Claire (played by Abby Quinn), who is smart, sarcastic and the obvious potential love interest for Jason.
Christian, nicknamed Chris (played by Wolfhard) is a nerdy goofball.
Bobby (played by Bryk) is Chris’ easygoing best friend who might or might not be secretly in love with Chris.
Shannon (played by Krista Nazair) is a self-absorbed diva who rejects the advances of any of the men who show a romantic interest in her.
Demi (played by Pardis Saremi) is an even more self-absorbed diva, and she wants to document her camp activities on social media.
Mike (played by D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) is a vain and arrogant self-described ladies’ man.
Ezra (played by Matthew Finlan) is a flamboyant “drama queen” who wants to stage a “political re-imagining” play of “Pinocchio” at the camp.
Ari (played by Daniel Gravelle) is an aspiring screenwriter.
Miley (played by Julia Doyle) is a generic young adult with a forgettable personality, which means she won’t last long in this slasher flick.
Noelle (played by Julia Lalonde) is a moody loner who has a fascination with mysticism and the occult.

When the counselors arrive, some are concerned that they don’t see John and Kathy. However, Jason finds a note from John and Kathy saying that John and Kathy had to temporarily leave to take care of a minor emergency. Jason doesn’t know it at the time, but that note was not written by John and Kathy.

One by one, certain people in this group of camp counselors get murdered by someone wearing a devil’s mask. After the first murdered body is discovered, the remaining counselors panic and try to leave, but they find out that they can’t use their cars, which have all been disabled. The camp counselors also find out that all of their phones were stolen, which is the least believable part of the movie, because most people in real life keep their phones nearby so that the phones are close enough to reach.

“Hell of a Summer” tries to pad out its very thin and flimsy plot with tedious storylines about potential hookups and unrequited crushes. Jason has a crush on Demi. Ari and Chris have a crush on Shannon. Claire has an obvious crush on Jason, even though she says she has a boyfriend. And then the inevitable happens when the people in the group start to suspect each other of being the killer. One person in particular is repeatedly accused of being the prime suspect.

All of the technical aspects of “Hell of a Summer” (directing editing, cinematography, etc.) are very mediocre. And although the cast members, particularly Hechinger, try to do their best to convince viewers that “Hell of a Summer” is a clever horror comedy, they can’t overcome the inane dialogue and unrealistic scenarios that pollute this dreadful dud. “Hell of a Summer” has a few quirky moments, but this horror comedy ripoff is more likely to elicit yawns instead of laughs.

Neon will release “Hell of a Summer” in U.S. cinemas on April 4, 2025.

Review: ‘Screamboat,’ starring David Howard Thornton, Allison Pittel, Amy Schumacher, Jesse Posey, Kailey Hyman, Rumi C. Jean-Louis and Tyler Posey

April 1, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Screamboat”

Directed by Steven LaMorte

Culture Representation: Taking place on the Staten Island Ferry in New York City, the horror film “Screamboat” (inspired by the animated film “Steamboat Willie) features a predominantly white group of people (with a few African Americans, Asians and Latin people) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A killer 2-foot-tall mouse named Screamboat Willie goes on a deadly rampage on the Staten Island Ferry.

Culture Audience: “Screamboat” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of campy slasher films and horror movies that are parodies of other films.

Jesse Posey and Amy Schumacher in “Screamboat” (Photo courtesy of Iconic Events Releasing)

“Screamboat” is a predictable but entertaining horror comedy that’s a slasher film parody of Disney’s 1928 animated film “Steamboat Willie.” The cast members give performances with knowing cheekiness, which makes it easier to watch. The visual effects for this low-budget movie are hit and miss.

The movie has a questionable filmmaker decision to make Screamboat Willie, the serial killer mouse who’s at the center of the story, only about 2 feet tall. However, he has extraordinary strength, which explains why he is able to kill so many people. Screamboat Willie is played by David Howard Thornton, who is also known for playing serial killer Art the Clown in the “Terrifier” horror movie series. Screamboat Willie and Art the Clown are both non-verbal, with personalities that can be described as being both ferocious and mischievous.

Directed by Steven LaMorte (who co-wrote the “Screamboat” screenplay with Matthew Garcia-Dunn), “Screamboat” takes place during the course of one night on New York City’s Staten Island Ferry, where the massacre happens. The movie pokes fun more at horror stereotypes than at “Steamboat Willie,” which was the first animated film to star Mickey Mouse, who played the mischievous title character. Minnie Mouse, who also makes an appearance in “Steamboat Willie,” is the inspiration for a plot development in “Screamboat.”

“Screamboat” introduces numerous characters who might or might not be alive by the end of the movie. The character who gets the most screen time is Selena (played by Allison Pittel), an aspiring fashion designer who has moved to New York City from Minnesota. Selena is on this nighttime boat ferry trip because she’s a reluctant guest of a birthday party for Cindi (played by Kailey Hyman), a “queen bee” type who likes to be the center of attention.

Cindi is a variation of the name Cinderella. The other women in the party also have variations of Disney princess names. Ilsa Arindel (played by Sarah Kopkin) is supposed to be like Elsa from “Frozen.” Ariana (played by Savannah Whitten) is a parody of Ariel from “The Little Mermaid.” Bella (played by Stephanie Bates) is a version of Belle from “Beauty and the Beast.” Jazzy (played by Poonam Basu) is a satire of Jasmine from “Aladdin.”

Selena wants to distance herself from the five other young women in the party because the other women are drunken cacklers and screechers who look and act like they watch too many reality shows about dating where people get drunk and make fools out of themselves. Selena is a “nice girl” who doesn’t partake in their intoxicated obnoxiousness. Selena is so studious about her fashion designer plans, she has brought a fashion sketchbook with her on this trip.

Before she boards the ferry, Selena asks a ferry employee named Pete (played by Jesse Posey) to help her ditch her party friends by telling Pete to point the party women in the wrong direction if they ask where Selena is. Pete willingly obliges. Quicker than you can say “horror movie romance,” you can tell that Selena and Pete are attracted to each other and will probably act on that attraction later. Pete’s older brother Mike (played by Tyler Posey, Jesse Posey’s real-life older brother) is the boat’s radio operator.

Other people on the boat include the blowhard Captain Clark (played by Brian Scolaro); a know-it-all emergency medical technician (EMT) named Amber (played by Amy Schumacher); various police officers and boat employees; and a doting mother named Aubrey (played by Allyson Sereboff) and her son Matteo (played by Rumi C. Jean-Louis), who’s about 11 or 12 years old. The comedic elements of “Screamboat” are what save the movie from being a formulaic bore. The cast members maintain a tricky balance of making their terror believable while also conveying that they’re in on the joke that “Screamboat” is a campy movie.

A running joke in the movie is that various people, through choice or circumstance, have to be the captain of the ship and sometime argue about it. “Screamboat” gives a nod to Mickey Mouse’s whistling in “Steamboat Willie” by having Screamboat Willie whistle “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” when Screamboat Willie is about to attack a victim. “Screamboat” spoofs a horror cliché—someone who reports seeing something strange but is not believed—when Selena sees Willie in action but hardly anyone believes what she saw. Selena describes Screamboat Willie as “a demonic mouse with shorts and a hat.”

The origins of Screamboat Willie are explained later in the movie. Because he’s supposed to only be only about 2 feet tall, “Screamboat” has awkward cutaway edits during the action scenes involving Screamboat Willie. These edits and visual effects don’t make the height/depth ratio look entirely consistent or convincing. However, some of the kills are gruesomely memorable, such as when a guy dressed as the Statue of Liberty has his torch prop used against him.

“Screamboat” is aiming for the same tone and audience of the “Terrifier” movie series. The kills in “Screamboat” aren’t meant to be as shocking as they are in the “Terrifier” movies, but “Screamboat” makes effective use of the concept that the victims are trapped on a vessel in a large body of water. This concept could work as a series, as long as the “Screamboat” filmmakers don’t keep using the Staten Island Ferry as the location in every “Screamboat” movie. An end-credits scene shows that “Screamboat” won’t be the last movie in the Screamboat Willie saga, which is good news for viewers looking for more monster mouse madness.

Iconic Events Releasing will release “Screamboat” in select U.S. cinemas on April 2, 2025.

Review: ‘The Woman in the Yard,’ starring Danielle Deadwyler, Okwui Okpokwasili, Russell Hornsby, Peyton Jackson and Estella Kahiha

March 28, 2024

by Carla Hay

“The Woman in the Yard”

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra

Culture Representation: Taking place in the fictional city of Dixon, Georgia, the horror film “The Woman in the Yard” features all-African American group of people representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A widow and her two underage children experience terror when a mysterious veiled woman shows up on their house’s front yard and won’t go away.

Culture Audience: “The Woman in the Yard” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star Danielle Deadwyler and people who don’t mind watching incoherent horror movies.

Peyton Jackson, Estella Kahiha and Danielle Deadwyler in “The Woman in the Yard” (Photo by Daniel Delgado Jr./Universal Pictures)

“The Woman in the Yard” has a mysterious title character who is shrouded in a thin black veil. This ineptly made horror film is shrouded in lousy storytelling in making a thinly veiled, bungled statement about grief and tragic deaths. People might be confused by the ending of “The Woman in the Yard,” especially if they fall asleep during this very boring and muddled film.

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by Sam Stefanak, “The Woman in the Yard” has a small number of people in the movie’s cast. That doesn’t mean you will feel like you know these underdeveloped characters by the end of this 88-minute movie. “The Woman in the Yard” might have been more effective as a short film with a better ending, because what’s in the final cut of “The Woman in the Yard” is too flimsy for a feature-length film.

In “The Woman in the Yard” (which takes place in the fictional city of Dixon, Georgia), all the present-day scenes happen at the farm house of a widow named Ramona (played by Danielle Deadwyler), who is the movie’s protagonist. Ramona is recovering from injuries that she sustained during a recent car accident that killed her husband David (played by Russell Hornsby in flashback scenes), who worked as a farmer. The movie has a few flashbacks that show what happened at a location that isn’t the house.

Because of this car accident, Ramona has to use crutches, and her right leg is in a brace. She also has recurring dreams and visions of David. Ramona is isolated at the house with the two kids that she had with David: Taylor (played by Peyton Jackson) is her rebellious 14-year-old son. Annie (played by Estella Kahiha) is her obedient 6-year-old daughter.

It’s implied that’s because Ramona has been so caught up in grief, she’s neglected basic household responsibilities. The house has no electricity or phone service. The family is also running out of food. The only vehicle that the family has is the car that was in the accident. The truck is damaged, and injured Ramona cannot drive the car. Taylor isn’t old enough to get a drive.

The family has a Labradoodle named Charlie. (And you know what that means whenever there’s a family pet in a horror movie: Expect the pet to go missing.) An early scene in the movie shows Charlie vomiting because Taylor fed non-dog food to Charlie because there’s no more dog food in the house. Ramona promises Taylor that she’ll get more dog food when she can.

In one of the flashback scenes, it’s revealed that there were problems in the marriage of Ramona and David. The family had moved from an unnamed large city to a rural farm because Ramona felt that city life was too stressful for he. But now that she’s been living on a rural farm, Ramona still isn’t happy, because she had to give up her career in the city to be a farmer’s wife. On the rainy night of the car accident that killed David, the couple had an argument at the restaurant where they went for dinner.

One day, after David has died and the family is stuck in the house, the mysterious Woman in the Yard (played by Okwui Okpokwasili) suddenly appears in the front yard. She is seated on an ornate lawn chair. Taylor is the first to notice her. There’s no explanation for how she and the chair got there. Maybe she got the lawn chair at a yard sale where mysterious entities in bad horror movies get their furniture.

Ramona goes outside and asks the woman what she’s doing there. The woman asks Ramona what her name is, but Ramona will only introduce herself by saying her first name. The mysterious woman refuses to say her name, where she’s from, or how she got there. However, the woman seems to know a lot about Ramona and the family.

The Woman in the Yard also knows how to throw some shady comments. When Ramona says that her husband bought the farm house as a fixer-upper, the Woman in the Yard snarkily comments on the run-down house: “It still looks like he’s got a lot to fix.”

Ramona asks the woman to leave, but the woman refuses. Ramona nervously lies and says her husband will be home soon, but the Woman in the Yard isn’t fooled. The woman tells Ramona that she knows Ramona is lying, and David will never come back.

The woman then says a few other creepy things that are supposed to be clues to her reason for being there. The woman tells Ramona, “Your children are such darlings … ripe enough to eat.” The woman also says that Ramona already knows that Ramona called her. “Today’s the day,” the woman says ominously in a sing-song voice. Ramona then passively goes back into the house and tells her children that they shouldn’t disturb this woman in the yard.

This lazy movie then goes on a repeat loop of one of three scenarios: (1) Taylor wants to do something that Ramona says he can’t do, but Taylor does it anyway. (2) Ramona loses her temper, yells at her children, and implies that she might harm them. (3) Ramona tries to cover up information that she knows about the Woman in the Yard and disagrees with Taylor on how to handle this unwelcome stranger.

Viewers have to pay attention and remember some obscure clues that are supposed to make sense by the end of this awful film. Here’s one of the clues: Annie has been drawing and writing in a coloring book and keeps asking Ramona if she spelled certain words correctly. Annie has trouble spelling the letter “r,” which she spells backwards, like someone with dyslexia would spell this letter.

Although there’s nothing terrible about the acting performances in the movie, there’s not much to this poorly written story, which is a hodgepodge of psychological trauma and angry outbursts. A more accurate title of “The Woman in the Yard” is “The Woman in the House, Where She Constantly Scowls and Yells at Her Kids” because that’s really what this jumbled movie shows in too many scenes.

Don’t expect to feel scared when watching “The Woman in the Yard.” Just expect to be disappointed. If you’re still confused by the movie’s ending, a public-service announcement at the end of the movie should inform viewers what happened to one of the main characters. It should also ensure that this forgettable flop won’t get a sequel.

Universal Pictures released “The Woman in the Yard” in U.S. cinemas on March 28, 2025.

Review: ‘Death of a Unicorn’ (2025), starring Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni and Richard E. Grant

March 26, 2024

by Carla Hay

Jessica Hynes, Téa Leoni, Will Poulter, Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega and Anthony Carrigan in “Death of a Unicorn” (Photo by Murray Close/A24)

“Death of a Unicorn” (2025)

Directed by Alex Scharfman

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed U.S. city, the fantasy/horror/comedy film “Death of a Unicorn” features a predominantly white group of people (with one Latina and two Asian people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: An attorney and his college-age daughter go on a weekend business retreat at the mansion of the rich family who employs the attorney, and they all fight for their lives when unicorns appear and go on a killing spree.

Culture Audience: “Death of a Unicorn” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and people who don’t mind watching empty and repetitive horror movies.

Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega in “Death of a Unicorn” (Photo by Balazs Goldi/A24)

“Death of a Unicorn” isn’t as scary or funny as this horror comedy thinks it is. The cast members give capable performances, but the movie sinks due to a weak script that doesn’t go beyond unicorns on a deadly rampage and tired clichés of wealthy villains. The unicorns are simply a gimmick to an over-used concept about rich and greedy people getting their come-uppance in a slasher flick.

Written and directed by Alex Scharfman, “Death of a Unicorn” is his feature-film directorial debut. Scharfman has previously been a producer of several other movies, including the horror films “Resurrection” (2022) and “House of Spoils” (2024). “Death of a Unicorn” had its world premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival.

Although “Death of a Unicorn” has a very talented cast, the movie is a collection and checklist of horror movie stereotypes. The story takes place in a remote wooded area in a unnamed U.S. city. (“Death of a Unicorn” was actually filmed in Hungary.) And every single character in the movie becomes a hollow parody at some point. It should come as no surprise how the movie uses the Final Girl horror stereotype.

The beginning of “Death of a Unicorn” shows widowed attorney Elliot (played by Paul Rudd) driving himself and his sullen college-student daughter Ridley (played by Jenna Ortega, in yet another role as a pouty young adult) on a road trip to this remote area for a weekend retreat at the mansion of the snooty and greedy Leopold family. Elliot works as a business attorney for the Leopolds, who made their fortune in a pharmaceutical business called Leopold Laboratories.

The mansion is located on the Leopold Wilderness Reserve in an expansive wooded area. Elliot tells Ridley what his agenda is for this trip: ingratiate himself into Leopolds’ inner circle so that he can be named to the Leopold corporation’s board of directors and earn enough money for Elliot and Ridley to be comfortable for the rest of their lives.

On the way to this mansion, Elliot and Ridley do some boring father/daughter squabbling, where Ridley tries to prove she’s anti-establishment by saying things such as, “Philanthropy is just reputation laundering for the oligarchy.” That’s about as “edgy” as the dialogue gets in this movie. Elliot and Ridley are both grieving over the death of Elliot’s wife/Ridley’s mother (played by Denise Delgado), but Elliot thinks Ridley should at some point not use this death as an excuse to be perpetually mopey and negative.

Elliot suddenly sneezes while driving, which causes him to temporarily take his eyes off of the road. He ends up hitting what he thinks is a deer because it’s about the size of a young deer. But when Elliot and Ridley get out of the car for a closer inspection of the injured animal on the road, they’re shocked to see that it’s not a deer. It’s a unicorn. And the unicorn’s blood is purple.

Aside from this initial shock, there’s no lengthy discussion between Elliot and Ridley about why unicorns exist. They act like it’s rare to see a unicorn but not completely bizarre. The movie apparently takes place in an alternate universe where seeing a unicorn isn’t enough to question one’s sanity.

The unicorn is injured severely enough that it looks unlikely to survive. Ridley touches the unicorn’s glowing horn and suddenly has a psychedelic-like experience where she’s in a pulsating, kaleidoscope-looking world that seems to have no time or space. Ridley gets snapped out of this trance when she sees Elliot take a tire iron and beat the unicorn for a “mercy killing” to put the animal out of its misery.

Ridley and Elliot do not leave the unicorn outside, which is what most people with common sense would do, especially since no one else saw the car accident or Elliot beating the dying animal. Instead, Ridley and Elliot put the unicorn in the back of the car and leave the animal uncovered. The movie doesn’t really show why they made this decision, but it’s implied that it was probably Elliot’s idea so he could figure out a way to cash in on the rarity of this unicorn.

There are three Leopold family members at this mansion: demanding patriarch Odell Leopold (played by Richard E. Grant), who has a terminal illness; shallow matriarch Belinda Leopold (played by Téa Leoni); and their spoiled bachelor son Shepard “Shep” Leopold (played by Will Poulter), who are all as pretentious and entitled as you think they will be in a movie that makes everyone a two-dimensional caricature. Belinda explains to Elliot and Ridley that there are very few staffers in the mansion because the Leopold family wants to keep Odell’s illness as private as possible.

The Leopold family’s sycophantic employees who are part of the story include a stern personal assistant named Shaw (played by Jessica Hynes) and a haughty British butler named Griff (played by Anthony Garrison), who has some of the best lines in a movie that doesn’t have a lot of great dialogue. Two scientists named Dr. Bhatia (played by Sunita Mani) and Dr. Song (played by Steve Park) become part of the story when they are recruited to figure out the mystery of the unicorn’s magical powers.

The unicorn’s magical powers are first discovered by Ridley in an awkwardly staged sequence. “Death of a Unicorn” is so sloppily written, Elliot tries to pretend to the Leopold family that nothing unusual happened to cause Elliot and Ridley to be tardy when they arrived at the mansion. And yet, there’s a unicorn in plain view in the back of Elliot’s car that’s parked in the driveway. The front of Eliot’s car is also noticeably damaged.

When Ridley and Elliot arrive at the mansion, Ridley has some of the unicorn’s purple blood on her face. Shepard points out to Ridley that she has something on her face. (There’s no explanation for why Elliot didn’t notice this blood first.) Ridley excuses herself to go to a bathroom to wipe off the blood. Shaw and Griff notice Ridley nervously looking out a window at the car, as Ridley as walking to the bathroom. And that’s when these two employees see what looks like a dead animal in the back of the car.

Inside the bathroom, Ridley wipes her face with a towel and notices that her acne has disappeared as soon as she touched her face with the parts of the towel that had the unicorn’s blood. That’s how she discovers that the unicorn’s blood has self-healing powers. She also deduces that when she touched the unicorn’s horn, some type of bond or connection was formed with the unicorn.

These healing powers won’t be a secret for very long. Elliot tells Ridley that he got some of the unicorn’s blood in his eyes when he bludgeoned it. Elliot soon discovers that he now has perfect vision and no longer needs to wear the eyeglasses that he was wearing when he arrived at the mansion. When he wears the eyeglasses, his vision becomes blurry. Elliot also had allergies that have now disappeared.

All the people at the mansion soon find out that the unicorn in the back of Elliot’s car is not really dead. The unicorn bursts out of the car, and all hell breaks loose. As already revealed in the synopsis for “Death of a Unicorn,” the unicorn is an infant. And its parents eventually come looking for it.

The rest of “Death of a Unicorn” clumsily tries to balance a storyline of the corrupt Leopolds trying to figure out how they can make huge amounts of money from this magical unicorn with a rushed-in storyline of the unicorn parents going on a rampage. The Leopolds become more ruthless and unhinged (including recovering drug addict Shepard going on a binge of snorting unicorn dust, like it’s cocaine) in trying to capture these unicorns, while everyone else does some version of trying to stay alive.

After a while, “Death of a Unicorn” just becomes another horror film with an unsurprising body count. The movie tries to shoehorn in a redemption arc for Elliot that just doesn’t ring true, considering Elliot aspired to be just as unscrupulous and elitist as the Leopolds. Ridley also goes through a sudden personality transformation that is not convincing, just so the movie can pander to horror stereotype that a Final Girl has to be likable and sympathetic. Even with the novelty of unicorns killing people in a horror movie, “Death of a Unicorn” doesn’t quite live up to its potential.

A24 will release “Death of a Unicorn” in U.S. cinemas on March 28, 2025. A sneak preview of the movie was shown in U.S. cinemas on March 24, 2025.

Review: ‘Locked’ (2025), starring Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins

March 21, 2025

by Carla Hay

Bill Skarsgård in “Locked” (Photo courtesy of The Avenue)

“Locked” (2025)

Directed by David Yarovesky

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York City, the horror film “Locked” (a remake of the Argentinian film “4 x 4”) features a predominantly white group of people (with some African Americans) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A divorced father, who’s desperate for money to fix his broken car in time to pick up his daughter from school, decides to steal a Dolus SUV (a fictional luxury vehicle) in an nearly empty parking lot, but he deliberately gets trapped inside by the SUV’s sinister owner.

Culture Audience: “Locked” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and horror movies where ridiculously illogical things happen.

Anthony Hopkins in “Locked” (Photo courtesy of The Avenue)

“Locked” is a moronic horror movie that gets worse as it goes along. In this poorly written story about a desperate man who gets tricked into being trapped in a car, viewers will feel tricked and trapped into watching this train-wreck film. “Locked” might have been better as a short film because this 95-minute movie stretches the already flimsy story to the breaking point, by making a detour that takes the story in the wrong direction.

Directed by David Yarovesky and written by Michael Arlen Ross, “Locked” takes place during a one-week period in New York City. (“Locked” was actually filmed in the Canadian province of British Columbia.) “Locked” is a remake of the 2019 Argentinian film “4 x 4,” directed by Mariano Cohn and written by Cohn and Gastón Duprat. “4 x 4” isn’t a great movie, but it’s a lot better and more believable than “Locked,” which has a clumsy mix of brutality and schmaltz toward the end of the movie.

“Locked” begins by showing a divorced father named Eddie Barrish (played by Bill Skarsgård) at a mechanic shop, where he is there to pick up his car that was in the shop for repairs. A greasy shop worker named Karl (played by Michael Eklund) tells Eddie that a car part is needed to complete these repairs, and it’s going to cost $835 for this car part. Eddie only has $300 and doesn’t have access to any more money.

It’s later revealed that Eddie is an ex-con who’s had problems finding a steady job because of his criminal record. His ex-wife Amy (who’s only heard on the phone in a voice performance by Gabrielle Walsh) thinks Eddie is a loser and a deadbeat dad to their adorable daughter Sarah Barrish (played by Ashley Cartwright), who’s about 7 or 8 years old. Eddie owes two years’ worth of child support, but he’s been trying to turn his life around and prove that he can be a responsible parent.

On this particular day, Eddie is supposed to pick Sarah up from school. And he doesn’t want to be late, like he has been in the past. (In “4 x 4,” there is no “cute kid” angle to the story.) Desperate people do desperate things, but it seems like too much of a stretch to believe that someone who already owes two years’ worth of child support would risk stealing and going back to prison, just so he can be on time to pick up his daughter at school.

As soon as you hear that’s the reason why Eddie wants to steal to get fast cash, you might immediately think, “Hasn’t Eddie heard of taking a taxi, a car service or public transportation to pick up his daughter from school?” Apparently, the filmmakers of “Locked” just don’t want viewers to think at all, because almost everything about this movie is an insult to common sense. (The thief in “4 x 4” didn’t have a motive beyond pure greed, which is actually makes more sense than the garbage storyline shoveled up in “Locked.”)

Before he leaves the mechanic shop, Eddie gets a phone call from Amy, who yells at Eddie by saying he better not be late to pick up Stephanie from school. The pressure is on for Eddie. He steals a wallet that happens to be conveniently on a table in plain view in the mechanic shop. Eddie finds only $210 in cash in the wallet, and he throws the wallet away.

Next, Eddie scours the streets for something valuable to steal. He finds a nearly empty outdoor parking lot in a run-down neighborhood. And in that parking lot is a pristine black Dolus SUV, a fictional luxury vehicle. Eddie thinks there might be something valuable to steal in this SUV. He can’t believe his “luck” when he finds out that the SUV is unlocked. But eventually, Eddie discovers that the SUV will be locked for days, with him trapped inside the vehicle.

The SUV has tinted windows and extreme soundproofing so that no one can see or hear what’s inside the vehicle. It’s all part of a sinister plan by the SUV’s owner: a Welsh-born doctor identified only as William (played by Anthony Hopkins), who communicates with Eddie first by a phone in the car, and then by making an appearance in person. William tells Eddie that the SUV was broken into six times before, without the perpetrators getting caught, so William decided to take extreme anti-theft measures. According to William, Eddie’s attempted theft was the seventh time there was a break-in for the SUV.

It’s hastily explained that William has rigged the car so that the horn can’t be honked. And because Eddie doesn’t have the keys to the car, Eddie can’t turn on the blinker lights to signal for help. Eddie has a gun with him, but he finds out the hard way that this SUV is bulletproof. The movie addresses the issues of how Eddie eats, drinks and relieves himself of bodily waste while trapped in this vehicle—except “Locked” unrealistically ignores the reality that Eddie should have bowel movements during this period of time.

The second half of “Locked” goes off the rails when William is able to operate the car remotely. And although self-driving cars exist, the silly way that this technology is portrayed in the movie is enough proof that “Locked” is just time-wasting junk. Skarsgård has plenty of scenes where he yells a lot, and Hopkins portrays yet another cold-blooded villain character, but none of the performances in the movie can be called very good or even consistently engaging. “Locked” takes viewers on a sloppy and idiotic ride that robs viewers of their time, patience and brain cells.

The Avenue released “Locked” in U.S. cinemas on March 21, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on April 22, 2025. “Locked” will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on August 26, 2025.

Review: ‘I Heart Willie,’ starring Maya Luna, Sergio Rogalto, Micho Camacho, Daniela Porras and David Vaughn

February 27, 2025

by Carla Hay

“I Heart Willie”

Directed by Alejandro G. Alegre

Some language in Spanish with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Mexico, in 2025, the horror film “I Heart Willie” features a predominantly Latin cast of characters (with a few white people and one black person) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Four young adults travel to a remote wooded area to investigate the legend of Mouse-Boy, who is said to be a reclusive serial killer.

Culture Audience: “I Heart Willie” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching slasher horror movies with uninteresting characters and mostly terrible acting.

Daniela Porras, Maya Luna, Sergio Rogalto and Micho Camacho in “I Heart Willie” (Photo courtesy of Rubey Entertainment)

“I Heart Willie” is a weak and tedious horror movie depicting Mickey Mouse’s “Steamboat Willie” character as a serial killer. Note to filmmakers who want to make a slasher flick based on a public domain character: Do something clever with the character’s unique life story. Don’t just put the killer in a costume and horror makeup and have the killer act like any generic serial killer in a forgettable slasher flick.

Directed by Alejandro G. Alegre and written by David Vaughn, “I Heart Willie” tells viewers almost nothing about the Willie character in the movie and just uses the Mickey Mouse imagery to get people’s interest in the movie. It’s an annoying bait and switch. “I Heart Willie” is just a substandard, formulaic slasher flick where the serial killer’s motives and personal history are never revealed, except he was reported as dying in a fire at age 16.

The serial killer in “I Heart Willie” is named Willie (played by “I Heart Willie” screenwriter Vaughn), but he’s been given the nickname Mouse-Boy. Why? Because he wears a mouse mask that’s similar to what Mickey Mouse would look like if Mickey Mouse were a twisted murderer in a bad horror movie.

“Steamboat Willie” (directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks) is a 1928 animated short film that is the first officially released movie featuring Disney’s Mickey Mouse character. Mickey Mouse is not named Willie in the movie, which gets its title because Mickey whistles “Steamboat Bill” in the film. In “Steamboat Willie,” Mickey portrays a mischievous steamboat operator, who frequently irritates the boat’s captain, whose name is Pete. Minnie Mouse is in the movie too.

What does the plot of “Steamboat Willie” have to do with “I Heart Willie”? Absolutely nothing. The movie doesn’t even take place on or near a steamboat. The murderous mayhem takes place in the most-overused idea for a horror movie location: a remote wooded area.

There are two other 2025 horror movies inspired by the “Steamboat Willie” movie: “Mouseboat Massacre,” directed by Andrea M. Catinella, is set for release by ITN Studios on March 26, 2025. ITN Studios is behind the Twisted Childhood Universe movie series, which makes serial killers out of children’s entertainment characters (such as Winnie-the-Pooh and Peter Pan) that are in the public domain. “Screamboat” (directed by Steven LaMorte and starring Allison Pittel and “Terrifier” movie series star David Howard Thornton) has a U.S. release date of April 2, 2025, through Iconic Events Releasing. “Screamboat” actually takes place on a boat, unlike “I Heart Willie,” which does nothing with the “Steamboat Willie” horror parody idea except put the killer in a tacky Mickey Mouse horror mask.

In the beginning of “I Heart Willie” (which takes place in an unnamed city in Mexico), a montage of newspaper clippings show that Mouse-Boy was trapped in a house fire at age 16. Mouse-Boy was the nickname for Willie, whose spirit is believed to still haunt the house that used to be owned by Willie’s parents. This is the house where Willie died. (“I Heart Willie” was filmed in Michoacán, Mexico.)

The first person to be killed in “I Heart Willie” is a mouse exterminator (played by Craig Morgan), who shows up at the house and is then tortured and slaughtered. Another unnamed man (played by Emiliano Nova) in the house has already been tied up and tortured and will eventually be killed by Willie. Don’t expect the movie to explain who this other murder victim is.

Meanwhile, four people in their 20s (three of them dress like they’ve stepped out of a 2005 emo fashion time warp) are traveling by car to this isolated house in the woods to look for Willie. All four of them want to see if the stories are true that Willie is alive and is murdering people who’ve disappeared close to this house. The plan is to do a video investigation, with the hope that what they record on video will go viral. This movie is so stupid, these curiosity seekers aren’t even shown making any of the videos that they planned.

These are the four dimwits who make the trek to inevitable mayhem:

Daniel (played by Sergio Rogalto) is the self-appointed leader of the group. He’s predictably cocky and arrogant.
Nora (played by Maya Luna) is Daniel’s ex-girlfriend. She’s the most introverted one in the group.
Nico (played by Micho Camacho) is the “horror nerd” of the group. He has a not-so-secret crush on Nora.
Jess (played by Daniela Porras) is the daredevil “bad girl” of the group. Predictably, she’s depicted as a horny temptress, and she wants to seduce Daniel.

One of these four people has an ulterior motive for this trip. The movie makes it too obvious who it is. During the car ride to the house, there’s exposition-dump dialogue with a jumbled explanation about why these four travelers are interested in finding out if Willie is real or a myth.

Willie, also known as Mouse-Boy, was born in 1928, the same year that “Steamboat Willie” was released. Since the story in “I Heart Willie” takes place in 2025, Willie is supposed to be 97 years old. When someone in the car points out that Willie would be 97 years old if they find him, Nora says cryptically: “Evil never dies.”

Whether or not Willie is a ghost or a living human being who has immortal superpowers, his appearance is as an adult man (usually shirtless) who is not elderly and not a teenager. Willie has burn scars and other injury scars on his body. And he’s wearing a Mickey Mouse-inspired mask.

Predictably, Willie does not speak in the movie. If he spoke, he would have to say the awful dialogue that the speaking characters utter in this dreadful film. “I Heart Willie” is just a “body count” horror flick, where each character is gruesomely murdered, except for the two most obvious characters who will live.

“I Heart Willie” is not even scary. It’s just a checklist of derivative kills seen in many other slasher flicks. Nava is the movie’s only cast member who brings some believability to her performance. All of the other cast members are stiff and unconvincing in how they deliver their lines of dialogue. The movie’s cinematography is drab, while the pacing is often slow.

“I Heart Willie” is supposed to be a parody, but the movie takes itself too seriously, considering how idiotic and unimaginative it is. Like a lot of terrible horror movies, the ending (including an end-credits scene) hints that there could be a sequel, although it’s unlikely there will be enough audience demand for an “I Heart Willie” sequel. “I Heart Willie” is more likely to have people thinking, “I Hate Bad Horror Movies.”

Rubey Entertainment released “I Heart Willie” for a limited one-night engagement in select U.S. cinemas on February 26, 2025.