Passenger (2026)

 

A couple witness a fatal car crash then find them pursued by supernatural stalker....This movie got some good press on release a few months ago and it's deserved. The film kicks off from the start with the eerie evil premise, and slowly builds throughout. Small shades of a 'Final Destination' movie when the couple release their "fate". The demon is suitably creepy with only fleeting flash frames building to an explosive climax. I have to admit I would have preferred a "different" finale but this is a satisfying small budget horror release and well worth seeking out.

4/5

Best "new" movies June 2026

 

What with the World Cup taking most of my time this month, the movie count has gone down, but still some belters I must recommend.

1.Sheep Detectives 2026 (just an absolute joy)

2. Iron Maiden Burning Ambition 2026 (not a massive Maiden fan but this is a great documentary)

3. Elephant 2003

4. The Bay 2012

5. Disclosure Day 2026 (slightly disappointing it must be said, and at times cliched)

(click the links for full reviews)

Hungry (2026)

 

Well apologies for the lack of content in the past few weeks but the World Cup has been happening if you hadn't noticed, this one I watched a few good weeks ago, so let's get this blog back on track. 'Hungry', yes in Hungry Hippo, and I gotta admit I was looking forward to a cheesy "monster" movie but what a let down. This film is a slog: wooden acting, grating characters, and zero scares. The supposed killer hippo doesn’t even appear until halfway through, killing any suspense. While the special effects are passable, that’s the only redeeming quality in an otherwise tedious, uninspired, and frustratingly dull experience with zero scares, tension or low budget "fun". Avoid, like a real Hippo.

1.5/5

Mother's Pride (2026)

 

" The feel good film of the year", " A British comedy classic" are always warning signs for a movie, especially when the quotes aren't attributed to the source, usually garbage such as 'Hello' magazine, so the bar for this one are set low....here we go! Well the good news first of all, it stars some Brit comedy regulars, Martin Clunes, Mark Addy, Josie Lawrence, but the movie is the epitome of how Yanks think England is, all frothing  pipes, Mrs Miggins pie shop, and everyone's middleclass. It's the team behind the lightweight 'Fishermans Friends from a few years ago, your Mum or Gran will like it, all Dad gags etc, you know where this film is going. If the film was a Pub it would be serving  weak lager, bags of peanuts stapled to an A4 pic of a lady in a bikini (remember those!) and "real ales" in proper pint jugs and inoffensive food.

2/5

Jennifer's Body (2009)

 

This is a rewatch of a movie I can vaguely remember, all I remember is Megan Fox for the obvious reasons but also for it's dark comedic tones, and its still  a wicked delight on rewatch. Its dark, black‑comedy tone meshes brilliantly with the film’s stylish visual violence and ever‑creepy atmosphere. Megan Fox’s sexiness fuels the absolute unhinged chaos, perfectly counterbalanced by Amanda Seyfried’s brilliant, grounded performance. The result is a sharp, seductive nasty horror‑comedy that still bites hard and entertains effortlessly

4/5

Jan-June 2026 Stinkers!!

 It's got to be said 2026 has been a really good year in the movie world, especially in the Horror sector, but of course there are the Turkeys, not many so far, but here's my pick, all equally dull, inept or boring.

*Hokum (hogwash)

*Whistle (these two ^^ were just bang average and one's I really had high hopes for)

*Thrash (two bad sharks movies in a year!!!)

*Deep Water (now this is utter garbage but worth a watch just to see how inept the entire movie is)

*Apex (just bizarrely disjointed)

Deep Water (2026)

 

Where do I begin with this garbage? A plane load of idiots crash land in the Ocean, argue a lot then get attacked by the most angry sharks ever. It stars Sir Ben Kingsley and Aaron Eckhart, you expect the latter to be in trash like this but Ben Kingsley?? The film is pure 'Airplane', without the intentional (brilliant) comedy, the CGI just appalling, especially the second half when the setting is in broad daylight, Sharks flying out of the water, teeth bared, stuff that would look bad in a PS5 "cut scene". There's a quite bizarre scene where some bloke and his hot new Wife go for the "mile high club", whilst then very young daughter is just left in her seat, you see them again briefly, then that's it. The kid doesn't give two sh*ts for the entirety of the rest of the movie, just quite bizarre. Eckhart speaks in the same monotone pitch for the entire movie, but all things considered, I thoroughly enjoyed this car (plane) crash of a movie for all the wrong reasons!!

Still though, artistically, it's a 2/5

Best Horror of 2026 Jan-June.

So here we are, it's half time in the movie world and it's been a belter for the horror genre, he's my rough top10, the top 3 are solid.

1.Obsession (a no brainer, just awesome, out on VOD soon and hoping for the uncut version with the full on "steering wheel" moment, how can that be more shocking and brutal?!)

2.Send Help (an absolute riot from start to finish)

3.Over Your Dead Body ( Samara Weaving and Jason Segal just awesome)

4.They Will Kill You

5.Lee Cronin's The Mummy (the surprise of the year)

6.Untitled Home Invasion (a "small" release to seek out)

7.Primate (mental monkey!)

8.Cold Storage (again, great comibnation of horror and tongue firmly in bloody cheeks)

9.Ready Or Not 2 (more of the same but great entertainment)

10. Anaconda (under-rated, great fun with some nice gore)

Elephant (2003)

Based on the Columbine mass shooting this is a brutal bleak drama packed  full of impending dread. The film is only 80 minutes long but packs in a almost poker faced build up to the terrible disgusting event's that will unfold. A damning indictment of US gun culture, just buying  a semi-automatic machine gun and getting it delivered to your door like buying a KFC from Uber Eats. The final 15 minutes are cold, brutal, and unflinching, innocent people, teachers, pupils gunned down in cold blood to the very final final scene. Absolute quality, and grim, something that seems to be the norm in a country that really needs to look at it's ridiculous gun laws, or lack of them, in a very dark mirror.

4.5/5

Disclosure Day (2026)

 It's a Spielberg Sci-Fi "epic", in other words it's two and a half hours long, as opposed to 1hr 20 mins of in and out action. So, the good points, the cast are excellent, Emily Blunt is superb, as of course Colin Firth and Josh O'Connor, and it was really cool to see Eve Hewson (from the superb TV drama 'Bad Sisters') given a big role in such a massive release. Right, the minus points, its running time is slow, typical Sci-Fi flim flam dialogue, the AI is quite frankly embarrassingly bad at times. There's a scene involving a Stag and a Fox, we're I thought it was a Christmas movie, borderline animation, I half expected to hear "Walking In The Air" below out and 'The Snowman' to fly over the trees! This is the man that gave us Dinosaur's that LOOKED like Dinosaur's might have been 30 years ago in 'Jurassic Park', not this sloppy lazy AI slop. As for the "big reveal", well just google "Alien 1950's" and that's what you get, 7 foot tall, big head and eyes, long skinny body parts, and again, average SFX. There's also a backstory of WW3 kicking off which is briefly touched, the Russians and North Koreans are kicking off, there's scenes of panic buying, um that's it?? And when the film ends, the big reveal/finale? .....ummm

3/5

Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition (2026)

 

Now I LOVE my metal, and Maiden when they burst onto the scene back in 1980 were just great, their debut was a classic, follow up 'Killers' wasn't bad, then along came Bruce Dickenson and the band were transformed, 'Number Of The Beast' again a classic, but after that I was more into other rock, be it the LA scene and the attitude of bands such as Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer. I only saw them once head-lining  back in the 80's, and after that pretty much ignored them for two decades. It must be said though I love a rock documentary so was quite looking forward to this film, the story of the band on their 50th (!) anniversary. And this delivers, in buckets. Starting from their early days (obviously) it charts the bands development from an up and coming new 80s metal band to one of the biggest rock bands of all time. In depth, the ups and downs are all covered with a mass of fellow musical artists contributing, Scott Ian, Tom Morello, Lars Ulrich, Tom Morello, Chuck D, plus some you might not expect, the awesome Javier Bardem (a massive Metal fan) and a nice cameo from Sooty and Sweep! Absolute quality.

5/5

Sheep Detectives (2026)

 

A kind caring Farmer is found murdered, it's up to his flock of Sheep to solve the murder, who was responsible for this baaaaaa-d crime? This is just a wonderful comedy, so, very much from the Aardman style of quaint humour, just wonderful. A great cast "supports" our wooly detectives, Hugh Jackman as the Farmer 'George' for starters and add the quint essential "Englishness" of Emma Thompson, plus the cast voicing the sheep is top notch, Bryan Cranston, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris O'Dowd and Patrick Stewart amongst the talent on offer. A film for not just kids but one that adults will enjoy equally.

4.5/5

Chum (2026)

 

Last years 'Dangerous Animals' was just a great Shark movie, gory fun and twisted, so when I heard about this movie 'Pedigree Chum', sorry that's dog food, 'Chum' my tail was wagging, idiots go on a yacht excursion in the Med, but become hunted by a Shark and a psychotic killer, aren't all killers psycho's? anyways, this got a theatrical and VOD release on the same day (never a good sign) so how is it, do we get tension, a cool shark, and hopefully, hopefully some arms and legs getting torn off. A killer shark and Alice Eve in a swimsuit, what can go wrong? well just about everything you can imagine. The characters are turgid, the AI sharks are just laughable, the dialogue spoken like it's been dubbed into English, Alice Eve must have some bills to pay to star in this Turkey alongside a bunch of nobodies, in a film you'd expect to see on the Sci-Fi channel...

2/5 (extra point for the blatant bikini scenes)

Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001)

 

Well the World Cup just around the corner, deportation's, ESTA's refused, away fans banned, players searched the moment they get off the plane, so let's cheer ourselves up with some solid cheesy comedy from 25 years ago when I'm sure life was simpler. Yes it's a rewatch and it's just as silly as I remember, but who can't enjoy some nonsense like this? You've got Ricky Tomlinson as the hapless but loveable Bassett, ably supported by Bradley Walsh, Alison Redman, Phil Jupitus, and a load of cameos including  Brazilian legends Pele and Ronaldo (!), Keith Allen, Atomic Kitten for some brief eye candy, oh an Gaby Logan who looks like she's 20 years old, I didn't recognize her at first! The movie pretty much pans out as you'd expect but sometimes this is what you want to see for a few sh*ts and giggles.

3.5/5

The Bay (2012)

 

I'm shocked and disappointed with myself that until last week I'd never even heard of this film until it was recommended by a youtuber a few weeks ago. The biggest surprise is that it's directed by the much respected Barry Levinson who has made some absolute bangers in the past few decades, 'Diner' and 'Tin Men' are two of my all time favourite movies, and he followed these up with such classics as 'Sleepers', 'Rain Man' and 'Good Morning Vietnam' !! This is is first foray into the horror "genre", but yes there are horror moments (and they are well gruesome) but this much more to this movie. It's a found footage style documentary loosely based on true events in the USA when a virus breaks out in the small town of Chesapeake Bay. A mix of grainy footage, interviews and striking moments of gore, this is quality film making as you would hope to get from such an auteur as Levinson and well worth a watch.

4.5/5

Hostel 3 (2011)

 

So here it is on my trawl though the 'Hostel' series, which I must say I've quite enjoyed, obviously for the wrong reasons! This one isn't directed by Eli Roth though, but Scott Spiegel who is most famous, well for hard core horror fans, for the cult classic 80's VHS slasher 'Intruder'. So, the final episode flips the "action" to a bachelor party in Vegas ("baby") it's 'The Hangover' with no Tiger, and yes the vast majority of the characters are obnoxious jocks, especially one guy who's main vocabulary seems to be the words "Pussy!" and "F*ck" But the good news is they get sliced and diced as you would hope, and the gore is plentiful, especially a rip roaring face ripping, with a cool, if slightly obvious twist ending. Not quite up to the same "standard" as the previous films, but bloody and entertaining trash nether the less.

3.5/5

Hokum (2026)

 

So here it is, one of the films I've been looking forward to in this already great year for horror. An author, aka annoying Yank, travels to Ireland to scatter his Mothers, staying in an apparently haunted Hotel. "Creepy" and "a fear of dread" said the critics, really? It's never creepy, it's dull, laborious, the main character utterly obnoxious, there's a few jump scenes, if you can call them that, how this garbage got such critical acclaim is beyond me, a borderline turkey of a film, 'Hokum'? Hogwash more like.

2/5

Hostel 2 (2017)

 

Well after rewatch of the first film I thought I'd plow through the series, so it's part 2 from 2017, and is it more of the same? Oh yes, and more. It's pretty much the same scenario, some Yanks go off to dodgy parts of Europe (" there's no safe City's in Europe!") and end up having a pretty shit time. It's gore galore, it's crass, the depiction of Eastern Europe is pure MAGA, kids will kill you for bubblegum again, and rich people will kill and torture for money, again MAGA (hello Jeffery and the orange rapist) The "final girl" is awesome kicking, sorry, slicing and stabbing her way though the final act (and a wicked dick stabbing)  grimy and grubby, I loved it.

4/5

Exit 8 (2026)

 

A Man is trapped in an endless Japanese subway passage searching for the exit, 'Exit 8' he must remember everything he see's, any small change will send him back to the start. Well that's pretty much it, the film is adapted from a video game, the type of game that have ne shouting at the screen pretty soon and hitting the off button, and it's got to be said the film is a pretty slow dull watch. Not much breaks up the monotony of the "plot", only a few scenes randomly involving some mice with human ears and eyes grafted onto the them, blood pouring down a corrider, all very 'The Shining', and that's pretty much it really.

2.5/5

Hostel (2005)

 

'Hostel' is infamous for many reasons not least as it was what became the start of the so called "torture porn" genre, so I though I'd give it a rewatch 20+ years after it's release. Two young American back packers go on a European trip in search of "good time's", and they get it in the first half of the movie that's for sure! This film really is a tale of two stories, the first half they're partying, hooking up with good looking ladies (how I don't know, talk a bout punching above the weight, and then things go Pete Tong, seriously. One of the back packers apparently has checked out of the hotel, and in searching for his mate is druged, kidnapped....then the "fun" starts. It's a well made and well acted movie, plenty of gore as you might expect, and it must be said is a pretty good solid slice of horror, the copy I "got" featured the alternative ending which is well worth seeking out, something I' m pretty sure I hadn't seen viewing all those years ago.

4/5