A new resident in a nursing home believes the establishment has a horrifying secret. Brisk, unfussy supernatural horror with a Twilight Zone episode feel: maybe needs more meat on its bones, but it nevertheless tells a straightforward story with minimum fuss, while offering Barbara Hershey a welcome lead.
Here’s the trailer.
A teenager moves with her mother to a new town and a new step-family, and finds she has latent magical powers. Belated sequel to The Craft that has some fun with the high school witch stuff, but which struggles to settle down and tell a story, though there’s a couple of nice moments along the way.
Here’s the trailer.
Tree finds out the reason for her time loop; but she’s trapped inside it again. Decent SF-tinged sequel to the Groundhog Day-aping original, this time with an expanded cast and a greater focus on humour throughout. No classic, but still fun and inventive enough to make Part 3 a welcome prospect.
A group of students on a Mexican spring break vacation become embroiled with a murderous game-playing demon. Contrived but watchable low-budget horror with elements of Final Destination; played commendably straight, with some good moments and one neat idea.
A child survivor of a cult mass suicide returns to the site; as an adult with a documentary crew. There’s some good stuff here – not least in Thomas Jane’s rockstar performance as a Jim Jones-ish messiah figure – but the narrative is messy throughout, and the washed-out visuals are an affectation too far.
An ex-cop’s investigations lead to another family in supernatural jeopardy. More creepy jump-scare shenanigans from Blumhouse; this starts well but gets bogged down in underdeveloped plotlines and discarded ideas.
Part 3 is a prequel, offering backstory on Elise, and her team-up with Specs and Tucker, plus another demonic yarn. Lots of jump scares, handled well enough if you like this sort of thing, with series screenwriter/actor Whannell now elevated to director.
Teens on an isolated housing development are caught up in a parasitic epidemic. Not actually a virus at all, then, but this low-key horror does the usual things well enough to maintain interest throughout by keeping its focus tight on its protagonists.
A dysfunctional family comes under attack from ancient demons. Standard Blumhouse jump-scare oooga-booga with a clear debt to Poltergeist, though enlivened by a strong cast (Bacon, Mitchell, Reiser) and confident direction from Wolf Creek’s Greg McLean.
![The Craft: Legacy [AKA Blumhouse’s The Craft: Legacy] (2020, dir. Zoe Lister-Jones)](https://255review.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/the-craft-legacy-poster.jpg?w=616)
![Truth Or Dare [AKA Blumhouse’s Truth Or Dare] (2018, dir. Jeff Wadlow)](https://255review.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/truth-or-dare.jpg?w=464)
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