Surprisingly tense and well-paced with stellar creature work, Underwater is aquatic horror done right in what is admittedly an Alien ripoff in almost every way. Kristen Stewart genuinely surprises with her presence as a “Ripley-off”. The walk across the bottom of the trench and that ending made the outcast, 12-year-old Lovecraft devotee in me grin from ear to ear. It’s one of those movies whose reputation and appreciation are growing by word of mouth over time, and sometimes that’s for the best. January release date be damned!

You can read the review at GetOnMyDamnLevel.com by clicking here.

Oz Perkins’ take on the classic Grimm’s fairy tale is the best-looking version you’re likely to ever see. It’s a narrative slog at a couple of points, but it just looks so damn perfect that you won’t give a damn. This is no children’s fairy tale. Gretel & Hansel is so dark, it’s unnerving on occasion. Sophia Lillis has such a strong career ahead of her, and she’s already established herself pretty well in the last three years since It premiered in theaters. That’s not the last time you’ll hear her name in this list, either.

You can read the review at GetOnMyDamnLevel.com by clicking here.

A movie that’s all about triggers, trauma, and terror, The Lodge takes you into seriously ugly territory and splits the audience down the middle. It’s the definition of “love it or hate it”, a frozen nightmare that is guaranteed to get a reaction. There’s so much baggage to unpack here that it takes a degree-laden child psychologist to sort it all out, but my kid gave me the footnotes. I’m here to talk if you need, but you'd be bettter off talking to her. 

You can read the review at GetOnMyDamnLevel.com by clicking here

Here’s a movie that gives defenders of the remake such as myself another bullet for their bandolier. Elizabeth Moss is legitimately one of the finest actresses working today, and she brings another of her patented “bend but don’t break” badass performances against an extremely cool (and surprisingly horrific) Invisible Man design that brings the classic Universal monster into the 21st century. The violence is adequate, but the tension builds to an operatic crescendo. If you’re putting together a list of the best remakes, The Invisible Man definitiely isn’t hanging around near the bottom.

You can read the review at GetOnMyDamnLevel.com by clicking here.

Shudder’s surprise series hit is a highlight of 2020. The tale of a Maori warrior named Waka Nuku Rau and his trip from death back to life in order to save his people from the literal denizens of the underworld is the template for indigenous horror. Glenn Standring’s highly authentic world of Maori spiritual warfare is breathtaking and utterly transfixing. This is no whitewashed production; this is a true Maori production that is something you’ve never seen before.

You can read the review of the first three episodes here.

I’m not mincing words when I say that I have not seen a comic series better adapted. The job done here with the work of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez is nothing short of perfection. I’m a completist and heavy nerd for the source material, and it is exactly as it should be. The differences are minor and the spirit is always one hundred percent on point. It’s a series that has the magic of old Spielberg productions; I say that with a deathly straight face. Go get sucked into Key House.

You can read the review here.

Netflix couldn’t resist going classic with the second season of what is fast becoming their signature horror series, and who can blame them? Based on the works of Henry James for this season, The Haunting of Bly Manor is an atmospheric and unsettling ghost story that has a lot to say about the power of love and how sometimes it just won’t fucking die. The series hallmark of requiring a little bit of tissue continues to great effect while the horror burns itself onto your retina. Why are spirits with blank faces so damn creepy?

You can read the review here.

I told you Sophia Lillis’ name would come up again, didn’t I? This time, she’s Sydney Novak, a downtrodden teen girl with a shitty life and new superpowers. It’s not a good idea to mix childhood trauma, puberty, hormones, weed, and superpowers together, but this is Carrie re-imagined for today with two of the young veterans of It and It Chapter Two. The even cooler part? This Netflix show’s first season has a total binge time of four hours. What are you waiting for?

You can read the review here.

This short film by The Ice Cream Truck director Megan Freels Johnston takes us into the vacation home of a couple who quickly realize they’re being watched and toyed with. An impressive amount of tension is built in a short film, ending with the possibility of what’s next. It inspired me so much I scored an interview one of horror’s leading new female voices.

You can read the review here and the interview here.

No one knows yet if this Travel Channel show will get a second season, but it was a damn fun first season that harkens back to the Unsolved Mysteries format but with horror’s biggest icon as the host and narrator. It’s a folk horror lover’s dream or, at least, a quality diversion for six lively episodes of the unexplained and the unexplainable. True Terror with Robert Englund is wonderfully old-school folk horror with one hell of a host.

You can read the Episode One review here.