Episodes

  • The End of Oak Street, Black Box, Goodnight Mommy, and Ju-On: The Grudge

    The End of Oak Street, Black Box, Goodnight Mommy, and Ju-On: The Grudge
    Oct 4 2026
    This week’s new releases are “The End of Oak Street,” and “Black Box” both from this year. We’ll also look at a couple of classics, “Goodnight Mommy” from 2014 and the original “Ju-On: The Grudge” from 2002. Mostly good stuff!All this, plus the latest issue of “Horror Monthly,” issue #60, for September 2026, is out now! Check out all the back issues, as well as our other books, with one easy link: https://horrormonthly.comMainstream Films:2026 The End of Oak Street* Directed by: David Robert Mitchell* Written by: David Robert Mitchell* Stars: Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella* Run Time: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes* Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment ZoneThe Platt family bands together for survival when their whole neighborhood is transported back to an era when dinosaurs were thriving. The title has a double meaning of the end of Oak Street and perhaps the literal end of Oak Street. They nailed the retro vibe setting it in 1982. The blood and gore is surprisingly tame considering the violence. Somehow they managed to avoid an R rating. The special effects are good as is the story, and we thought it was very entertaining.Spoilery SynopsisThere’s a big block party on Oak Street, and Denise, Greg, Audry, and Brian Platt are all having a great time, probably because this is vaguely the 80s, when everyone was happy (Carl Sagan was alive and Chrysler was still a thing). Denise and Greg are having some martial issues because he’s working too many jobs. There’s a radio report of strange waves out in space.Denise has written a book, and the old lady who’s editing it shows her a weird plant in her back yard that she can’t identify that’s grown really fast. The kids and the dog have typical problems. That night, there are weird lights in the sky; only Brian and the dog see them.In the morning, nasty neighbor Mel comes over and blames the kids for piling hundreds of pounds of poop in his backyard. Later, the local bully, Kaden, chases Brian around the neighborhood. That night, the strange lights in the sky return, and everyone sees them this time. The power goes out and the rain instantly stops. They all hear screaming, so Greg goes out to investigate. When he returns, he warns them all to lock the doors before going back to bed.In the morning, the power is still out. The water isn’t working either, which is unexpected. Greg and Denise go out for a walk, and it’s very quiet– almost too quiet. They hear lots of unusual animal noises.Denise finds her elderly neighbor friend half-eaten in her kitchen, and there’s a full-on jungle in her backyard that wasn’t there yesterday. Greg, on the other hand, gets chased around the neighborhood by a dinosaur. They run home, and there is much screaming and panicking.Everyone hops in the car, but all the roads out of the neighborhood stop in forests, as if the whole subdivision was transported into a dinosaur-infested jungle. The camera pulls away, and we see that that’s exactly what has happened. They all rush home and start boarding up the windows.Greg admits that he was recently laid off and didn’t want Denise to worry. Denise’s book got destroyed when the basement flooded. The kids are terrified. Good times all around. The small dinosaurs hear something that scares them away. They talk about portals through time; could they be in the past?That night, they watch as Mel is torn apart by flying reptiles. We see larger dinos slowly moving into the area. Brian runs out after the dog, and Audrey runs out after Brian; the parents soon notice and go out again, looking for them. Something big attacks the car, so that doesn’t last long.Brian and Audrey run into Jeannette, the new kid at private school, and her parents have already been eaten. Greg and Denise find a portal that appears to lead back to the normal world, but it vanishes before they can do anything. There’s a lot of running around and being chased until Greg gets caught by a big one and eaten.There’’s a fire that’s coming, and it’s going to burn everything.They spot another portal, but it’s way across town. The group gets there without too much trouble and goes upstairs, where the portal is. Mr. Valcourt, the town’s librarian, is there with a shotgun. The elevated portal is blinking on and off, so they need to time their jumps. Jeanette goes through, no problem. Brian’s not so lucky and falls three stories to hurt his leg.They retrieve Brian and then go back to the roof, where they all jump together, even the dog. They wind up in 1982 in someone’s swimming pool, and the owner isn’t happy. Their neighborhood is still there, like nothing happened. It’s the night the portal came, in twenty minutes from now!Can they save all the people? Jeanette runs off to save her parents. Denise runs to a phone booth and makes a call. Turns out, she ordered a pizza from the company Greg has been working for, and that gets him out of the “transport zone.” The family ...
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    21 mins
  • Bloodshine, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (and The Beginning), and The Slime People

    Bloodshine, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (and The Beginning), and The Slime People
    Sep 21 2026
    This week’s new release is “Blood Shine,” which we assume was a vampire story but isn’t. We’ll dismember and eat up two more Leatherface films, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003) and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” (2006). Finally, we’ll come up from someone’s bowels with “The Slime People” from 1963– yuck!All this, plus the latest issue of “Horror Monthly,” issue #60, for September 2026, is out now! Check out all the back issues, as well as our other books, with one easy link: https://horrormonthly.comMainstream Films:2026 Blood Shine* Directed by: Emily Bennett, Justin Brooks* Written by: Emily Bennett, Justin Brooks* Stars: Emily Bennett, Brendan Sexton III, David Call* Run Time: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes* Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment ZoneIn an isolated country estate, a young filmmaker is held prisoner by a religious zealot. The beginning segment - about 16 minutes long - held promise, but things change after the opening credits. The two leads give it their all, but we both thought it was pretty dragging and dull.Spoilery SynopsisWe open on a creepy TV preacher talking about how our bodies are cages.We cut to some guys working on a farm with cows; more newborn cows have died this year than have been born alive. The farm is failing, so the farmer lays off Keith, who’s obviously already broke. Keith’s truck breaks down on the way to another farm that was recommended to him – he’s not having a good day.Keith walks to a farmhouse to make a phone call. The woman inside, Clara, offers to call him a tow truck. She invites him inside; he does seem safe, at least. She’s kinda plain-looking, but the more he looks at her, the better she looks. They start talking about being lonely and alone.They touch hands, and we then get a glimpse of her and knife, and a trail of blood; she’s stabbed him, and now she wants him to stab her as well. He kills himself instead, even though she wants him to kill her. “You wasted it! You wasted all of it!” Credits roll.We cut to Brighton West showing off his latest new horror short. He’s got an actress there auditioning for a new role, and he Weinsteins her. Later, he calls the producer and promises to finish writing the promised film. He’s going to go off to the country to force himself to finish the movie script for “Craven IV.” The producer is skittish because Brighton’s had addiction issues in the past.At the cabin, Brighton meets Lucy, a neighbor, and avoids her. He ends up spending most of the evening at the local bar drinking. He admits to the bartender that he can’t find any inspiration here. Manny the bartender gives him directions to a nearby town where he’ll find some inspiration in a cave.Brighton goes out to the woods and spots Clara there, naked in the river. Suddenly, he’s knocked out by a falling branch. He wakes up at Clara’s house. They talk about being single, just as she did with Keith earlier, and he admits that no one is home waiting for him.Clara gives Brighton some drugged tea, and the next thing he knows, he’s chained up in a dark place watching a recording of the preacher telling him that he’s going to die. “In 26 days, you will die in agony.” We see that she’s got a whole videotape series about kidnapping and torturing for the cult. She beats, cuts, and shocks him daily after that.Eventually, Brighton takes the hint and starts cutting himself on command; it’s easier than getting beat up first. Brighton figures out that he’s not the first one held here when he finds a message, “She’s afraid of the dark.”There’s a long montage of torture, cult-speak, and suffering between the two. After a very long while, he sorta seduces her and trades places with Clara, chaining her to the floor in the dark.After a great amount of discussion, the two are soon cutting each other and putting their hands under each other’s skin.Eventually, it’s time. She hands him a knife and wants him to kill her, but he doesn’t want to do it. He does do it, and she thanks him before dying.The other cultists arrive on the scene, along with the leader. All the other characters we’ve seen in the film are involved. The leader pokes out Brighton’s eyes, but Brighton doesn’t mind; he smiles and looks at the sun.Brian’s CommentaryIt’s all about loneliness, isolation, and of course, cult murder. It’s well acted and looks good, but the pacing is awful and it’s really, really slow at times. It’s really all about the two characters bearing their souls to each other, but it’s actually all pretty boring.I was eager for it to end.Kevin’s CommentaryThe opening scene was so long, and with the main character being killed, it almost felt like two movies in one. Unfortunately, the first segment was really good, and I thought the rest of the movie dragged. The two leads were just acting their hearts out, but I thought it was pretty boring.2003 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* Directed by: ...
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    24 mins
  • The Last House, Penny Lane is Dead, Her Private Hell, and The Unearthly

    The Last House, Penny Lane is Dead, Her Private Hell, and The Unearthly
    Sep 18 2026
    This week, we’ve got three new releases and one campy classic. We’ll open with “The Last House,” which seems fairly polarizing with the critics. “Penny Lane is Dead” comes up second, with the very strange “Her Private Hell” up next. For an oldie, we’ll watch John Carradine in “The Unearthly” from 1957.All this, plus the latest issue of “Horror Monthly,” issue #60, for September 2026, is out now! Check out all the back issues, as well as our other books, with one easy link: https://horrormonthly.comMainstream Films:2026 The Last House* Directed by: Louis Leterrier* Written by: Matthew Robinson* Stars: Greta Lee, Wagner Moura, Riley Chung* Run Time: 1 Hour, 52 Minutes* Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment ZoneA family of four is sealed in their house, along with everyone else in their houses apparently, and we get to watch them survive with the resources that they have on hand.After seeing a lot of bad reviews and online hate for this movie, we were bracing ourselves for the worst. We were pleasantly surprised, and we both liked it. It’s got a lot of questionable points and unexplained things, but we were entertained.Spoilery Synopsis“Everyone remembers where they were when the rain came,” we are told. Everyone looks up at the weird-looking storm, as the voiceover gets pretty ominous. Credits roll.Jason comes home from bad fishing, and he’s brought donuts to his wife Ann, and two kids, Ruth and Graham. The garage door and the electronic front door won’t open, and the kids are super whiny, and everyone talks over each other, so it’s gonna be bad. It must be a prank, right? The Internet is down, as are the cellphones. Even the glass in the window won’t break– it reforms and “heals” itself.The neighbors across the street signal with a mirror that they can’t get out either. A jogger runs by, and they get her attention to go for help. They all wonder about conspiracy theories. Ruth thinks the rain did this. “The rain looked different today.”Jason shows Ann his gun, and she freaks out. Night falls, and the rain continues. Jason tries to drill through the door, but the holes re-seal themselves. The rain is making some kind of barrier around the house, even underneath it.No Internet. They dig out old DVDs and records to entertain the kids. They have power and water, but food is going to be limited. The dog, on the other hand, has to poop, so that’s a problem. Jason teaches the kids how to gut a fish, but they don’t have any fish.After a week, some of the neighbors run out of food. After the second week, they’ve all adjusted to the new normal. After a month, Ruth notices something walking around outside in the rain, but no one believes her. Ann saves the seeds from their vegetables and starts growing more. Another month, and neighbors are dying, and they’re out of dog food.One night, a crazy person with a knife beats on the doors and windows. “They’re dead! Everyone is dead!” Is that jogger from a long time ago, and she’s clearly gone insane. The rain itself tears her away from the window and drags her away. They all believe Ruth’s stories about rain-people now. It’s time to start covering up the windows.The crappy old house is falling apart, especially the cracks in the chimney and foundation. Could they get out through the chimney? They hoist Ruth up through the chimney and she gets her hand through, but the hole is too small to get out completely.The dog runs out of medicine and dies. What to do with the body? The fireplace… or the freezer? There are now big tentacle-monsters outside when it rains.Three months, and all the food is gone. There’s a wild dog outside that keeps coming around, and Jason builds a trap that he sends out through the chimney to catch it. It takes a few attempts, but he eventually catches a squirrel. “Chimney fishing,” they all joke. They also expand the garden by pulling up the floor. Eventually, the power goes out.Five years later, most of the house is garden. The kids have gotten much bigger. There are bears living in the street outside. The house is still sinking, and the cracks are getting worse. The monsters keep coming to the door, and they always hide from them. The monsters can open the door and come inside, but the people can’t open them. Something calls the monster away.After the rain stops, the door still won’t open. The monster left a puddle of seawater behind, so Ruth figures the creatures are from our oceans, not outer space. It also kills most of their garden with the salt water. It poisons their soil and drinking water.Ruth gets bitten by a weasel and gets infected. Jason figures out a way to dig down into the sewer pipes, and Ann volunteers to crawl through to the neighbor’s house to get antibiotics (Why would a retired dentist have antibiotics in their home that would have expired years ago?).Ann makes it to the neighbors house and gets the drugs, but it starts to rain, and the monsters ...
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    22 mins
  • Pinocchio: Unstrung, Eegah, Trog, and Teenage Cave Man

    Pinocchio: Unstrung, Eegah, Trog, and Teenage Cave Man
    Sep 6 2026
    We’re back with four movies and a short this week. We’ll start off with the latest in the Twisted Childhood Universe, “Pinocchio: Unstrung,” recently released. Then we’ll go way back in time with three horrible caveman films: “Eegah” (1962), “Trog” (1970), and “Teenage Cave Man” (1958). UGH! OOG!All this, plus the latest issue of “Horror Monthly,” issue #60, for September 2026, is out now! Check out all the back issues, as well as our other books, with one easy link: https://horrormonthly.comMainstream Films:2026 Pinocchio: Unstrung* Directed by: Rhys Frake-Waterfield* Written by: Rhys Frake-Waterfield* Stars: Jude Evan Lloyd, Richard Brake, Robert Englund* Run Time: 1 Hour, 22 Minutes* Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment ZoneIt’s a modern telling of Pinocchio, created by Geppetto as a companion for his grandson, and his wholesome journey to becoming a real boy. Actually it’s brutal and violent.The practical effects were impressive - the closing credits show a series of behind the scenes clips.We’re both in agreement that the series is getting better as they go along. This was quite good.Spoilery SynopsisWe hear about the narrator’s grandson James, who came to live with him. Then James’s best friend died. The old man made something for James that would never die… Pinocchio…James and Geppetto talk about death and life. Geppetto then coughs, which in movie tropes, means he’s dying. That night, James chases something small throughout the house. Turns out, it’s Pinocchio, who lives in a creepy-looking hole in the basement wall. That is one creepy doll.Geppetto insists that Pinocchio’s existence remain a secret, so he can’t go to school with James. Instead, Pinocchio talks to his “wood mother,” made of the same wood as him. She tells him to take human flesh and wear it.The next day, Pinocchio does go to school with James, pretending to be a doll. Pinocchio watches a really fun chain of accidents that would make “Final Destination” proud (this is why I don’t go to the gym). When the bullies come for James, Pinocchio observes. When Dudley and Mia see the doll move, James says it’s an “AI Thing.” When James goes to the dentist, Pinocchio observes.There’s a traffic accident on the way home, and Pinocchio goes to the hospital with him. “Best friends protect each other,” he says as he leaves. He tracks down the drunk driver in a nearby room and gets his somewhat excessive revenge. He takes some of the man’s organs to make himself more real.The wood mother is thrilled to hear that Pinocchio has killed someone, so now things are just beginning. She sends an evil-looking cricket to assist him.Meanwhile, Mia finds some home movies and watches them. In the film, Geppetto talks about cheating death and what he’s done. The first experiment went really badly.Pinocchio and the cricket go after the dentist next. He gets his dentribution on her. After that, there’s a trio of bullies that don’t live long.Geppetto realizes that Pinocchio is gone, and James and his friends are gone as well.With teeth, eyes, hair, lips, and some organs, Pinocchio sits in front of a mirror and pretties himself up. Geppetto shows up and drives Pinocchio home. Pinocchio realizes that the wood mother has tricked him. He smashes both her and the cricket with a hammer.Geppetto shows Pinocchio where he was created, and it’s really something. There’s a special magic tree that makes magical wood. Pinocchio was supposed to be the reincarnation of James’s dead friend, Zach. He plans to kill Pinocchio and end the experiment. Instead, Geppetto shoots the annoying friend, Dudley.Pinocchio gets the drop on Geppetto with the shotgun, and the doll shoots his maker. He mostly misses and releases the really bad wood creature that was in a cage behind him. The house burns down, and James, Mia, and Pinocchio get out. “I’m gonna need a new dentist,” jokes James. And a couple quick wrap ups make us think it isn’t really all over.Brian’s CommentaryThe 5th film from The Twisted Childhood Universe after “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey” (2023), “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2” (2024), “Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare” (2025) and “Bambi: The Reckoning” (2025).Kevin’s CommentaryThey earned the R rating through the gore, which is excessive and realistic looking. Though also a little tedious.Somehow this managed to be both unexpected and predictable at the same time. Yes, it was a twist that Geppetto was evil, but would anyone expect Richard Brake to be playing a benign good guy? Though I do think it was an improvement over the previous Twisted Childhood Universe tales. They are getting better at them.1962 Eegah* Directed by: Arch Hall Sr.* Written by: Bob Wehling, Arch Hall Sr.* Stars: Arch Hall Jr., Marilyn Manning, Richard Kiel* Run Time: 1 Hour, 32 Minutes* Watch it: Spoiler-Free Judgment ZoneTwo teens encounter a prehistoric giant in the desert. The poster ...
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    29 mins
  • The Dollmaker, The Voices of Our Mother, Project: Hail Mary, Underworld: Blood Wars, and 20 Million Miles to Earth

    The Dollmaker, The Voices of Our Mother, Project: Hail Mary, Underworld: Blood Wars, and 20 Million Miles to Earth
    Aug 30 2026
    We’ve got FIVE big films to discuss this week. We’ll open with “The Dollmaker,” which was the favorite of the week for both of us. “The Voices of Our Mother” comes up second, followed by the sci-fi sorta-apocalypse with “Project: Hail Mary,” all three of which are recent releases. For our oldies, we’ll wrap up the vampire series with “Underworld: Blood Wars” and then a real oldie, “20 Million Miles to Earth” from 1957.All this, plus the latest issue of “Horror Monthly,” issue #59, for August 2026, is out now! Check out all the back issues, as well as our other books, with one easy link: https://horrormonthly.comMainstream Films: 2026 The Dollmaker* AKA “Encantador”* Directed by: Jose Maria Cicala* Written by: Jose Maria Cicala, Griselda Sanchez* Stars: Mario Alarcon, Alejandra Baldoni, Griselda Sanchez* Run Time: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes* Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment ZoneIn a town filled with quirky characters, Tomas leads a quiet life taking care of his mom and working two jobs with doll making and collecting as a hobby. But women are disappearing in town, and when a police inspector comes to town to help, things start getting even weirder. It’s a strange movie, kind of surreal, almost a Twin Peaks vibe. We both thought it was great.Spoilery SynopsisWe watch some crafty credits, and then get on with it. A girl gets whacked in the head with a shovel and dragged off.Tomas finds a doll’s head on the road on the way to the doctor’s office. He makes and repairs the world’s ugliest CPR dolls for the doctor. He hallucinates his mother suffering in the mental ward. He then attends a group therapy session where Tina talks about her family as Tomas sketches her. The bloody ghost of her dead mother attends the session as well. He follows her most of the way home afterward.A new inspector starts, and the police chief shows him around the town of Palacios. The chief doesn’t even carry a gun. Soon, they get another missing woman complaint. They aren’t necessarily dead, so that’s not a crime, the sheriff explains. We soon see these cops are just a little on the incompetent side.Tomas goes home and finds his mother on the floor; she’s not well. He sometimes sees her as a big plastic doll, and he has to carry her around. He tells her about Tina, his new bride-to-be (I’m totally getting the Norman Bates vibe from him and think she’s probably really a doll).We cut to the missing woman being handcuffed and raped in a dark room.Tomas drives Tina to the drag-dancing-diner she works at after her next session, but he can’t stay because his mother is home waiting for him. She mentions having a daughter, but Tomas sees her with a child doll and thinks she’s delusional. Plus Tomas gets the wrong idea about her obviously-gay friend, Robert. He goes home and yells at Mother. Then he apologizes later and she forgives him.Tomas, who works for a very weird video store, goes to a client’s house to pick up an overdue film. The police arrest Tomas outside the house, and he misses his “date” with Tina. It turns out, the house (and video) belonged to one of the missing girls. The sheriff soon releases him and chews out the dumb cops.In case we forgot about the missing women, there’s a scene of a girl getting chopped up with a hand-saw while another captive screams watching.At the video store, the police want a list of clients. They notice the strange locked room in the back, but they don’t have a warrant. Turns out, all the missing women were clients of the video store where Tomas works.Tomas asks Tina to come over for dinner, so he has to clean up the house; he explains it all to Mother and then puts away all his way-too-heavy dolls. He goes to pick her up at work, but she left earlier because she got a call about a problem with her daughter. He ends up going home and throwing a tantrum.In the morning, Tomas goes to the video store to find his boss being arrested. The boss, the doctor, and the priest are identical triplets, which confuses the police. Tina apologizes, blaming her sick child (who Tomas thinks is a doll).We finally see Tomas in the dark room torturing the kidnapped women; yes, it really is him. He cuts out body parts, to please his mother, who really is a doll herself. He puts some real eyes in the mother-doll.Tina comes over for dinner as promised this time. She spends the night, but in the morning, she hears screaming from another part of the house. She finds “Mother” and freaks out, running away.At the police station, the video store boss implicates Tomas, who delivered gift cards to the victims’ house. Tina goes to work and tells Robert about the doll with real eyes and a heart– and the screams. They both wonder if it was real or if Tina is having another “episode.”That night, Robert goes to Tomas’s house and snoops. He, too, gets a shovel to the face.Tina and her “daughter” come to Tomas’s place to apologize, and he’s got bodies all ...
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    27 mins
  • Nightborn, Big Baby, Son of Sara, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation

    Nightborn, Big Baby, Son of Sara, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
    Aug 23 2026
    FOUR HUNDRED EPISODES? WOOOHOOOO!We’ve got a baby and family-themed episode this week. We’ll start off with the folk-horror “Nightborn” from this year. We’ll go with some meta-slasher fun with “Big Baby” next. “Son of Sara” gives us a slightly different take on the birth of the antichrist. All three of those are new this year. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation” is our oldie for the week, starting the careers of a couple of actors you might have heard of.And we’ve got a creepy short film this week as well.All this, plus the latest issue of “Horror Monthly,” issue #59, for August 2026, is out now! Check out all the back issues, as well as our other books, with one easy link: https://horrormonthly.comMainstream Films:2026 Nightborn* Directed by: Hanna Bergholm* Written by: Hanna Bergholm, Ilja Rautsi* Stars: Seidi Haarla, Rupert Grint, Pamela Tola* Run Time: 1 Hour, 32 Minutes* Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment ZoneA young couple moves to her childhood home in the Finnish woods, has a kid, and lives happily ever after. Well, actually no. The kid ain’t quite right and things get progressively worse as the story progresses. It’s kind of slow moving and talky in places, but the dread and horror builds nicely. We were both entertained, Brian more than Kevin.Spoilery SynopsisJon and Saga drive their car through the woods toward their new, isolated home. It’s her childhood home. It looks an awful lot like a haunted house. Credits roll.They go inside, and it’s really torn up. There’s a tree growing in the bedroom floor. For some reason, they seem happy to be in this mess.Out in the woods, the trees look like people, with faces and bony hands. Jon gets creeped out, but Saga rubs the belly of the pregnant-looking tree. “Grandma forbid me to come” to the forest, she explains. Then they have sex under the tree.We cut to Saga giving birth, and it’s a bloody mess. “What is this?” asks the nurse, and then they sedate Saga. When she wakes up, Jon explains that the baby is fine. The nurse says she’s never seen such a hairy baby before; it’s all down his back.The trio goes home, and we see that Jon’s been busy renovating. Breastfeeding hurts, as the baby draws blood, and she can’t make eye contact with the baby. The baby’s got a tiny little tail sprout growing on his backside. We soon see that Saga is a little afraid of the baby, who hurts her every chance he gets.They have a party for Saga’s family to come over and meet the baby. Saga explains that she plans to have two more babies before going back to work. Mother explains that Saga was always a weird kid, and then the baby pulls her earring, and a big chunk of her ear, off. “Why did it look so weird?” asks one little girl visitor. “Babies are usually cute.”The wind blows from the forest, and it tells Saga to name the baby, “Kuura.” The sunlight burns the baby, so Saga takes him inside. The parents argue over her not being able to do anything right. She starts calling the baby, “It.”Saga’s sister comes over and explains how “cold iron burns them” about something in the woods that scared their grandmother.Jon comes to the conclusion that there’s something wrong with Saga. She soon finds out that the baby is quite eager to lick up blood after an accident. They go to counseling, and Saga says the problem is the baby.Jon’s parents come for a visit, and his father is a priest. “If you don’t bless a child, a troll will take them,” someone jokes. The blessing is completely uneventful, which shocks Saga, who expected something bad to happen. The baby touches some iron and burns his hand. “It’s just cold. Cold iron.” After that, Saga realizes she’s given birth to a troll. She gives it a baby bottle filled with blood, and the baby loves it. She hides the bottle and remaining blood from Jon.Later they have a rough evening of discussion and arguing, and Jon leaves for work in the morning without saying goodbye. Saga and the baby then roar at each other as the trees encroach right up to the house. Then things get a little rough.Saga wakes up outside in the snow-covered woods. She hears the baby squealing out there somewhere, and the trees themselves try to slow her down. She tracks down little Kuura, who is eating a dead deer.Jon comes home, and he knows about the blood the baby drinks. They argue some more.Jon wants to watch the baby while she goes into town once in a while– which she does. Her fingernails look like they’re turning into wood, and her stomach has rings like a tree. She meets up with some old work friends, “None of us really knows you,” one says. All through lunch, she hears babies crying. The vegetarian menu does not agree with her anymore.Back at home, Jon takes care of the baby, and it all seems normal. Saga comes home from town, on foot, through the snow. She’s physically changing, which reverts back as soon as she gets near the baby.Saga’s ...
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    25 mins
  • Leviticus, Until Dawn, Wishmaster 4, Underworld: Awakening

    Leviticus, Until Dawn, Wishmaster 4, Underworld: Awakening
    Aug 9 2026
    We’ve got another batch of weird ones for you this week. We’ll open on “Leviticus,” and you’ll hear what we thought about that. “Until Dawn” takes us on a time-loop adventure, while “Wishmaster 4” brings an end to that franchise. And then there’s “Underworld: Awakening,” which takes that franchise in a whole new direction.And we’ve got a creepy short film this week as well.All this, plus the latest issue of “Horror Monthly,” issue #59, for July 2026, is out now! Check out all the back issues, as well as our other books, with one easy link: https://horrormonthly.comMainstream Films:2026 Leviticus* Directed by: Adrian Chiarella* Written by: Adrian Chiarella* Stars: Stacy Clausen, Joe Bird, Mia Wasikowska* Run Time: 1 Hour, 28 Minutes* Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment ZoneTwo teenagers run into trouble when a shapeshifting entity fixates on them. It’s not a happy movie, and it’s very slow-paced. But it’s got an interesting story, and it’s well made. The acting is excellent. Neither of us disliked it, but we were kind of meh.Spoilery SynopsisThe lifeguard stays late after the pool closes to take a naughty shower. Something bad happens to her that we don’t see, but it involves lots of screaming and blood. Credits roll.Ryan and Naim play with a snake and break into an abandoned mill to vandalize it and hang out. It doesn’t take long before the two are fighting with each other– and then kissing. Ryan warns Naim later not to tell anyone about what happened. Later, both boys stare at each other as the church group sings.Some time later, the boys are back inside the mill making out again. Naim’s mother is highly religious and often drags him to church groups. They also know Hunter, who is Rob, the preacher’s son. Naim sees Hunter and Ryan kissing in the backyard and realizes he’s not exclusive. Naim tells Rob what he saw and things go badly for Hunter at home after that. Ryan and his family as well.The church does a whole big thing for the two gay boys to drive the sin out of them, and there’s quite an embarrassing crowd. The Deliverance Preacher says, “All your lust, indecency, and desire has to go now!” Both boys fall down in a seizure in the middle of the ritual, going into convulsions. Naim watches all this and is terrified, since it’s partly his fault.At school later, Ryan starts getting bullied. Ryan warns Naim that he has to stop. Naim follows Ryan to the skating rink, where Ryan acts like he’s not alone. Something invisible in the photo booth attacks Ryan and scratches him up good. Ryan tells Naim to just leave him alone, he thinks it was Naim that attacked him.Naim questions Hunter about what happened at the ritual. “Did it work?” After following Hunter, he finds that Hunter’s being followed by something invisible as well. He watches as Hunter is dragged away and killed that night.Naim goes to the police about what he saw; he thinks it’s going to kill Ryan next. The detective tells Naim’s mother everything, and it’s an awkward drive to the church where Rob and the Deliverance Preacher awaits him too. The men drag him inside and do the same ritual to him.Naim tells Ryan what happened, and then Ryan attacks him. Except Ryan was inside and didn’t do anything. “You saw it, didn’t you!” Izzie, Rob’s daughter, knows something. “It comes for you when you’re alone,” she explains about two girls. One, Marnie, died in the opening sequence, but the other one didn’t. The girl who lived, Jessica, hangs out all day and night at a hospital so she’s never alone.Ryan and Naim take the bus to see Jessica, who explains that the monster looks like the person you have a crush on and then it kills them. “Nothing can make it stop. Stay away from your friend, you’re only making it worse!” For a moment, Naim is alone, and he sees it coming for him as both Ryan and Hunter.On the bus ride home, the two kiss and make out, which they both know is only going to make it worse, but they can’t help themselves.Izzie takes the two boys to the Deliverance Preacher to “take it back,” but it’s a trap. A large group of trouble makers start to beat them up, but they steal Izzie’s car to escape. Unfortunately, Ryan learns who it was who told on him. Naim tries to tell his mother about the creature, but she doesn’t understand. He sees Ryan/The Creature several more times. It just about kills Naim, but Naim soon learns that it’s vulnerable to fire.Naim runs into the old mill, with Ryan not far behind. Naim sets the place on fire with the Ryan thing inside.Naim tells his mother the story, but she already knows. This was supposed to happen, and it can’t be undone. Ryan has apparently run away or otherwise disappeared. Naim goes to the bus stop and meets him there, where they leave the depressing town altogether sitting next to each other sharing music. Along the way, Naim sees “Ryan” standing beside the road.Brian’s Commentary“...
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    27 mins