‘Barbarian’

Whilst not a fan of the horror genre, Barbarian is a surprisingly effective chiller of a thriller as the airbnb rental is not what it seems.

It’s bad enough for Tess (Georgina Campbell – TV’s Suspicion, His Dark Materials) when the house rental proves to be double-booked, with Keith (Bill Skarsgård – It, Eternals) already ensconsced in what proves to be an almost abandoned, derelict neighbourhood of Detroit. Against her better judgement, she stays. Meanwhile, in LA, the owner of the house, AJ (Justin Long – Live Free or Die Hard, Going the Distance), needs to make himself scarce and decides to return to Detroit.

Whilst undoubtedly a tongue-in-cheek poke at the genre, written and directed by Zach Cregger (Miss March, TV’s Newsboyz) Barbarian proves to be simultaneously tense and humorous as the subterranean claustrophobia of suburban Detroit reveals its chilling secrets.

Rating: 57%

‘The Voices’

Unexpectedly black, The Voices mixes comedy, whimsy and horror in equal – and surprisingly effective – measure.

Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool, Mississippi Grind) is chillingly perfect as the nice-yet-tormented Anthony Perkins/Bates Motel type of guy. A cute, good looking doozy fancied by most of the secretaries at his local place of work, Jerry lives alone above an abandoned bowling alley with Bosco (the dog) and cat Mr. Whiskers. But not everything’s right in Jerry’s head as advice from the angelic, supportive Bosco is balanced by the vitriol that comes out of Mr. Whiskers’ mouth. Things go horribly wrong when he is stood up by Fiona (Gemma Arterton – Their Finest, Rogue Agent), much to the concern of his court-appointed psychiatrist (Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook, Animal Kingdom).

It loses momentum in the last quarter but with candy colours contrasting the darker material of Jerry’s mind, director Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis, Chicken With Plums) in her English-language debut creates a genuinely funny yet shocking feature with Reynolds pitch-perfect as the immensely likeable psychopath!

Rating: 61%

‘Alien: Resurrection’

Famed for the half-court basketball shot, Alien: Resurrection sees Ripley (Sigourney Weaver – Alien, Working Girl) revived as a powerful human/alien hybrid clone 200 years after her death on Fiorina 161, the maximum security prison of Alien 3.

Genetic cloning is the key to director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s (Amelie, Bigbug) foray into sci-fi. The Company is looking to extract the alien from the then pregnant Ripley. But experiments have seen her DNA fused with the queen, resulting in one kickass superclone. Restricted to the science lab space ship where more experiments on the aliens are taking place (who, of course, escape), Alien: Resurrection is an oddball haunted house tale as the likes of Winona Ryder (The Age of Innocence, TV’s Stranger Things) and Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Nightmare Alley) look to destroy the labs – and survive.

To be honest, the whole thing is something of a mess that adds little to the development of the franchise – but it’s an eminently watchable mess.

Rating: 55%

‘Aliens’

The big budget follow up to the deeply disturbing Alien, James Cameron’s (Avatar, The Terminator) Aliens sadly lacks the psychological undercurrent of its predecessor. Instead, Aliens is simply a testosterone-fuelled high adventure war film.

With Lt Ripley (Sigourney Weaver – Avatar, Paul) the only survivor from the ill-fated Nostromo, she finds herself disbelieved and dismissed from duty. The Company refuses to accept her story. In the 57 years Ripley has been in hyper sleep, there’s been no reported problems from LV-426 on which the Nostromo landed. But then communication with the planet is lost.

Reluctantly agreeing to travel, on arrival the planet settlement is found to be deserted – with the exception of Newt, a surviving young girl. Taking her under her wing, Ripley discovers she is in the company of trigger happy grunts – and a Company representative (Paul Reiser – Whiplash, Diner) determined to recover the aliens for biological weapon research.

It’s a full-on, blast-your-way-out-of-trouble approach from Cameron that ultimately becomes dull and tedious – not helped by a Newt that spends most of the time she is on screen screaming.

Nominated for 7 Oscars in 1987 including best actress, editing, art/set direction, won 2 for best visual and sound effects.

Rating: 50%

‘Last Night in Soho’

Arriving in London from the quiet of a remote Cornwall home, Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie – Leave No Trace, Jojo Rabbit) finds herself struggling in the fast, judgemental life of a fashion student. Frequent visions of her dead mother do not help.

Directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), nothing is straightforward as Eloise’s grasp on reality is threatened by the presence of the spirit of Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy – Emma, Split), a feisty, wannabe singer from the 1960s. As emotions heighten and the story flips into a dark, eerie supernatural horror flitting between the 1960s and the present day, so the pace increases and the narrative slides into a hyperactive, delirious frenzy.

The presence of ’60s stars Terence Stamp, Diana Rigg (in her last film) and Rita Tushingham is a nice touch but sadly Last Night in Soho degenerates, after a promising start, into a messy let down of predictability.

Rating: 48%

‘Hypnotic’

Pedestrian and predictable it may be but there’s something about the feature from directing duo Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote that makes it strangely enjoyable – dare I say even hypnotic….

Depressed following the break-up of a relationship, Jenn Thompson (Kate Siegel) meets renowned hypnotherapist Dr Collin Meade (Jason O’Mara) at a party. Reluctant at first, Jenn is encouraged to attend sessions with Meade – only to discover strange things begin to happen around her. Yet no-one except Detective Wade Rollins (Dulé Hill) believes her.

It’s all pretty dumb – but enjoyably dumb in its immediacy.

Rating: 54%

Director: Matt Angel (The Open House), Suzanne Coote (The Open House)

Writer: Richard D’Ovidio (The Call, Exit Wounds)

Main cast: Kate Siegel (The Haunting of Hill House, TV’s Midnight Mass), Jason O’Mara (TV’s The Man in the High Castle, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Dulé Hill (TV’s Suits, Ballers)

‘Intrusion’

New house, new start for a young couple in the isolated beauty of New Mexico. But a home invasion spoils the idyll.

Architect husband Henry (Logan Marshall-Green) spends weeks in advance of the arrival of Meera, overseeing the building of a luxury home for them both. Henry wants only the best for his wife, a cancer survivor. But when a burglary is followed by three men breaking into the house, all is not what it seems. The local police, however, are focussed on a missing teenager – even though Henry shot and killed all three men. Meera (Freida Pinto) becomes increasingly suspicious of events unfolding around her.

Stunningly beautiful visuals fail to mask a wholly predictable narrative from director Adam Salky that is scary movie cliché after scary movie cliché after scary movie cliché. Derivative and more than a little dumb.

Rating: 35%

Director: Adam Salky (The College Admissions Scandal, Dare)

Writer: Chris Sparling (Buried, Greenland)

Main cast: Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus, Upgrade), Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire, Hillbilly Elegy)

‘Doctor Sleep’

A 30-year sequel to that Jack Nicholson in The Shining, writer/director Mike Flanagan is no stranger to ghost and horror stories. But this is no continuation of the pure horror that was the earlier film.

A now adult Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) finds himself ‘found’ by a young girl (Kyliegh Curran – I Can I Will I Did) whose shining powers are off-the-charts. But both are discovered by The True Knot, a small group of immortals led by Rebecca Ferguson who prey on children’s pain and fear.

Flanagan unpeels his narrative slowly and quietly as we see an alcoholic Dan battle with putting some semblance of normality into his life before the threat of the cult becomes only too apparent. The culmination, with its grand gestures, had to end at the Colorado mountain resort of the original, but Doctor Sleep is a strange, more contemplative Stephen King than usual.

Rating: 60%

Director: Mike Flanagan (Oculus, TV’s The Haunting of Hill House)

Writer: Mike Flanagan (Oculus, TV’s The Haunting of Hill House) – based on the novel by Stephen King

Main cast: Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge, Trainspotting), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Fallout, The Greatest Showman), Kyliegh Curran (I Can I Will I Did)

‘Psycho’

The seminal horror film – the iconic shower scene, the music, the (black and white) blood gurgling down the plughole. And then, later, comes Mrs Bates, sitting alone in her bath chair. It’s all rather splendidly contemporary gothic – so much so it can be easily forgotten there’s a full narrative to accompany those macabre scenes!

Janet Leigh is on the run – a well respected secretary with $40,000 of her company’s money in her purse rather than in the bank. But we already know she’s not quite that repectable – lunchtimes spent in Phoenix hotel rooms with her married lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin). A California stopover at the Bates Motel managed by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and his mother is not her best decision. It’s left to Loomis, her sister Vera Miles and private-eye Martin Balsam to piece together those final movements.

It may not have the narrative finesse of Hitchcock’s earlier Rear Window, North By Northwest or Vertigo, but Psycho is a masterful suspense tale with a truly disturbing performance from a mother-fixated Hopkins.

Nominated for 4 Oscars in 1961 including best director and supporting actress.

Rating: 81%

Director: Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window, North By Northwest)

Writer: Joseph Stefano (The Black Orchid, The Naked Edge) – based on the novel by Robert Bloch

Main cast: Anthony Perkins (On the Beach, Catch-22), Janet Leigh (The Manchurian Candidate, Touch of Evil), Martin Balsam (12 Angry Men, A Thousand Clowns)

‘Don’t Look Now’

Novelist Daphne Du Maurier has been the source for many a feature film – Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel and Jamaica Inn her better known novels. Ever present sinister overtones present perfect potential for storylines. But a lesser known fact is that her short stories provided the inspiration for both Hitchcock’s The Birds and Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now.

Grieving the recent death of their young daughter, Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are in a wintery Venice where they encounter two elderly English sisters. One is psychic: she brings a warning message from their daughter.

An almost deserted fogbound Venice with its nighttime echoes and narrow passages is the perfect setting for this creepy labyrinth of a thriller. Sutherland is in danger – but he refuses to listen. The film has dated – it’s almost 50 years old. But as a chilling, close-to-the-bone horror story, Nicolas Roeg and his vision is hard to beat.

Rating: 74%

Director: Nicolas Roeg (Bad Timing, The Man Who Fell to Earth)

Writer: Allan Scott (Joseph Andrews, Castaway), Chris Bryant (Joseph Andrews, Stealing Heaven) – based on the story by Daphne Du Maurier

Main cast: Donald Sutherland (M*A*S*H, The Hunger Games), Julie Christie (Darling, Doctor Zhivago), Hilary Mason (The Return of the Soldier, Absolution)