The Jester franchise has always had potential, but the first feature outing felt lackluster compared to the shorts that made the character a cult favorite. The Jester 2 marks a clear step forward. From the opening scene, it announces itself with a fresh and grotesque reintroduction to the villain: his mask no longer sits like a costume but instead appears fused to his flesh, blood seeping around the edges as if it has become a part of him. The imagery, reminiscent of Splatterhouse’s Terror Mask, instantly sets the tone.
Read MoreTraumatika (2024)
Traumatika opens with a statement about the five forms of childhood trauma, setting the stage for what could have been an unsettling and focused horror exploration of generational abuse. Directed, produced, and edited by Pierre Tsigaridis, the film is part possession horror, part slasher, part talk-show melodrama, and that genre mash-up is both its strength and its downfall. The marketing push leaned into notoriety, with its trailer banned from YouTube, sparking curiosity about what could possibly be too extreme for the platform.
Read MoreWayward: Season 1 (2025)
Netflix’s Wayward, created by and starring Mae Martin, arrives as one of the most intriguing new series of the year, a surreal and unsettling blend of mystery, dark humor, and coming-of-age unease. It constantly shifts beneath your feet, drawing from cult dramas, psychological thrillers, and nostalgic teen adventures while telling a story uniquely its own. From the first episode, Wayward establishes itself as a visual and sonic experience.
Read MoreThe Paper: Season 1 (2025)
When Greg Daniels announced a new mockumentary set in the same universe as The Office, expectations soared. Now that The Paper has landed on Peacock, fans finally get to see what the documentary crew behind Dunder Mifflin is up to, this time following a historic Midwestern newspaper, The Toledo Truth-Teller, and its attempt at revival. The result is a mix of familiar laughs, uneven storytelling, and a show that is easy to put on in the background but struggles to find its own identity.
Read More7eventh 7irkle (2025)
Ty Brueilly’s 7eventh 7irkle is not just a short film—it’s an unsettling journey into the subconscious, a fever dream that dares its audience to wrestle with fear, faith, and the fragile boundaries between salvation and damnation. As the eleventh entry in Brueilly’s ever-evolving Shucks Cinematic World, this 16-minute experimental horror short pushes further into the symbolic and surreal, immersing viewers in a kaleidoscope of images drawn from Dante’s Divine Comedy while layering in the filmmaker’s signature raw intensity. From its opening imagery of serpents, owls, and horses to its haunting circus and masked gatherings, the film brims with allegory.
Read MoreThe Threesome (2025)
Romantic comedies often thrive on awkward beginnings, but Chad Hartigan’s The Threesome pushes that discomfort into uncharted territory. What starts as a spontaneous hookup between longtime crushes Olivia and Connor, joined by Jenny during a night out, spirals into something far more complicated: both women wind up pregnant. The result is a messy, funny, and unexpectedly heartbreaking film that embraces the chaos of adulthood without ever reaching for easy answers.
Read MoreTwinless (2025)
James Sweeney’s Twinless is a harrowing yet funny exploration of grief, connection, and the fragile ways people seek meaning after loss. The film opens with a melancholy, Garden State-like atmosphere where conversations unfold with such natural ease that they feel lived-in, not performed. Clever framing tricks, mirrors, shifts in lighting, and sly compositions give the film a cool, offbeat texture that matches its tonal tightrope between comedy and despair.
Read MoreThe Toxic Avenger (2023)
Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger is both a tribute to Troma’s midnight-movie legacy and a bizarre reinvention that feels like it escaped from the wrong decade. Somehow, it manages to feel like Troma and not like Troma at the same time. It is gruesome, brutal, cheap-looking in an oddly expensive way, and packed with over-the-top performances.
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