Fantasia 2026: 'Bowels Of Hell' Movie Review

In a time when we’re all wary of diarrhea lettuce, it seems only fitting that we get a poop-centric horror movie. And to that end, we now have Brazilian scatological chiller-comedy, Bowels of Hell. So, thanks for that, writer/director duo Gurcius Gewdner and Gustavo Vinagre.

Fantasia 2026: 'Our Effed Up World' Movie Review

At this point, it wouldn’t feel like Fantasia without an offering from Alice Maio Mackay. The prolific Australian filmmaker has dropped vampires, ancient parasites, cult murders, and even a Christmas movie, among others delightful genre goodies. She’s back once again with the world premiere of Our Effed Up World, tackling a neon-soaked ‘80s throwback sci-fi horror with her roguish, lo-fi, deep-baked queer sensibilities, and the result is a damn fine time.

Fantasia 2026: 15 Movies To See

Every year I scale back a little more and a little more on reviews and movie coverage. At this point, I barely cover wide, mainstream releases, and I’ve scaled film festival coverage down to a bare minimum. But like clockwork, when this time of year rolls around, I can’t escape the allure of Fantasia. 

'Kraken' (2026) Movie Review

A remote Norwegian fjord. A legacy of strange occurrences. Disappearing tourists. Environmental degradation. A corrupt business using questionable technology with unexpected side effects. All of this adds up to a big old mess in director Pal Oie’s new creature feature, Kraken, with mixed results. On one hand, it can be a thrilling adventure about human meddling waking up an unforeseen natural threat from the chilly depths of the ocean. On the other, it’s awash in cliches and a slow burn to the point where the fuse almost goes entirely out.

'Chum' (2026) Movie Review

I’m almost always game for a cheapo, nature-gone-wild movie, especially one involving sharks. This year has already seen a wild amount of animal-attack films. In the first six months we’ve had Primate, Thrash, Deep Water, Killer Whale, and just this week the hippo-rampage adventure Hungry. I feel like I’m even forgetting a few, but you get the point. And there are at least a handful more still scheduled to release in 2026. All of this brings us to Chum, which is dire, nonsensical, and borderline competent.

'Hungry' (2026) Movie Review

When we think about hippos, a lot of us think of them as big, cute, cuddly goofs. They make excellent stuffed animals for a reason, after all. The reality, however, is they are actually ornery, territorial, startlingly fast on land and in water, and dangerous as all hell. There is no shortage of terrifying hippo videos on the internet; they are straight up scary. And now they are getting their due in the fun new hippos-on-a-rampage movie, Hungry. 

'Speed Demon' (2026) Movie Review

Let’s be honest, you know what you’re getting into when you put on a movie called Speed Demon, about a hot nun performing an exorcism on a high-speed train. And director Jon Keeyes and writer Domenico Salvaggio deliver exactly what is advertised in what is mostly a dull thud of a film.

SIFF 2026: 'Fifteen' Movie Review

As we all know, growing up is a horror show with no equal. Such is the case for BFFs Ligia (Greta Marti) and Mayte (Macarena Oz). Outcasts, the poor kids at their hoity-toity private school, they’re bullied and mocked and picked on. All they want is to stage the perfect joint quinceanera and show up their priggish classmates, a plan that goes awry when Ligia’s ne’er-do-well boyfriend is bitten by a sewer monster and knocks her up. An unwanted teen pregnancy is tough enough, but in writer/director/brother duo Jack Zagha Kababie and Yossy Zagha’s Fifteen (Quince), it is much more monstrous than that. 

SIFF 2026: WTF Nightmare Fuel Shorts

I don’t typically watch a lot of short films. While I respect the passion, effort, and craft, they tend to be more miss than hit for me. I recognize that’s a me problem, but it’s the truth. That said, the Seattle International Film Festival always has a robust shorts program, so I thought what the hell, why not check out the eight films in the WTF! Nightmare Fuel package. There is certainly some weird and wild things to behold.

SIFF 2026: 'Marama' Movie Review

Set in 1859, Marama, the debut feature from writer/director Taratoa Stappard, follows Mary Stevens (Ariana Osborne), a young orphaned Māori woman. When she receives a mysterious letter claiming to have information about her parents, she travels around the globe to England, searching for answers to questions about her family and her ancestry. Upon her arrival, she becomes governess to a spooky young girl, the granddaughter of shipping magnate and benefactor Nathanial Cole (Toby Stephens). What begins as an unsettling feeling that all is not quite right quickly spirals into a fight for physical and spiritual survival.

The BoneBat Comedy Of Horrors 2026 Lineup Is Here And As Wild As Ever

It’s springtime in Seattle, which means it’s either sunny and glorious outside or rainy as all hell. Either way, it’s the perfect time to spend a Saturday in a dark movie theater watching  horror movies. And let’s be honest, probably drinking. That’s right, the annual BoneBat Comedy of Horrors film festival is once again upon us.

'Cold Storage' (2026) Movie Review

The new sci-fi horror comedy Cold Storage is an odd movie to talk about. There’s a good amount to recommend, and it’s pretty fun. However, that’s also the best thing you can say about it, that it’s “pretty fun,” there’s not much more to it. It’s fun, but never as fun as it could, or should be. There’s gore and body horror, but nothing particularly memorable or impactful. We get some laughs, but they’re more light chuckles than full-throated guffaws. This is a movie that you can watch, be moderately entertained by, and that leaves little more impression than that. And given the pieces involved, that feels like a missed opportunity.

'Whistle' (2025) Movie Review

If horror movies have taught us anything, never blow the Aztec Death Whistle should be high on that list. Especially one you found in a dead kid’s locker. Even if you’ve never watched a horror movie before, your first instinct when you find an old-looking carved skull—again, found in a dead kid’s locker—shouldn’t be to put it in your mouth. That’s just unsanitary and asking for trouble. But without people making this initial bad decision, we wouldn’t have Corin Hardy’s new film, Whistle, and that would be a bummer, because it’s a blast.

'Killer Whale' (2026) Movie Review

2026 came out of the gate swinging when it comes to animals-running-violently-amok movies. There’s the ape-attack-centric Primate, and now this weekend’s Killer Whale from writer/director Jo-Anne Brechin. If you read our most-anticipated movies of 2026 list, you know this is one of three potential killer whale action/horror movies we may see this year. I haven’t seen Primate yet, but there’s plenty of fun chatter about it. Killer Whale, on the other hand, isn’t great, unfortunately.

The 50 Most-Anticipated Movies Of 2026

Hot on the heels of another great year of movies, it’s time to flip the calendar. Which around these parts also means it’s time to look to the future and see what cinema has to offer us this year. With that in mind, here are my 50, or at least 50-ish most anticipated movies coming our way in 2026.

'We Bury The Dead' (2025) Movie Review

It doesn’t feel entirely accurate to call writer/director Zak Hilditch’s We Bury the Dead a zombie movie, which is how it’s been marketed. At the same time, however, it’s difficult to talk about without mentioning the Z-word. There are undead to be found, though not the swarming, apocalyptic, flesh-hungry variety, nor are they the film’s focus. They exist in this narrative as the impetus, as part of the inciting event to get the ball rolling; they’re presence is unsettling, yes, but not often as dangerous as anticipated.

'Deathstalker' (2025) Movie Review

Within a span of a couple of months we’ve received remakes of early-1980s cult favorite swords-and-sorcery epics. First out of the gate was M.J. Bassett’s take on Red Sonja, and now we have Psycho Goreman mastermind Steven Kostanski’s version of Deathstalker. While the former knows it’s goofy, it plays things relatively straight. The latter, however, leans into the campiness with a winking, over-the-top glee. 

'The Toxic Avenger' (2023) Movie Review

So often when filmmakers attempt to remake a beloved niche genre film or a cult classic, you wind up with a product that may, on the surface, resemble the earlier version, but that misses the point completely. Or one that doesn’t seem to grasp what people love about the original. Writer/director Macon Blair’s (Green Room) new incarnation of Troma Entertainment favorite The Toxic Avenger is not one of those movies. 

'The Occupant' (2025) Movie Review

Wilderness survival tales, sagas of human endurance in the face of overwhelming, unrelenting odds, are common fodder for movies. But like other oft-visited genres, they can be the staging grounds for moving, powerful stories. (It feels like I’ve written a lot about this lately when it comes to post-apocalyptic films doing fresh, interesting things.) There’s plenty of room for thrills and edge of your seat tension, and they’re perfect showcases for human resilience, the triumph of man over nature, and that sort of thing. It also helps that they tend to have relatively small casts. And into this fray comes Hugo Keijzer’s directorial debut, The Occupant.

'Holy Night: Demon Hunters' (2025) Movie Review

I say this every time I review one of his movies, but watching Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee) clobber dudes is one of modern action cinema’s purest pleasures. What director Lim Dae-hee’s new film, Holy Night: Demon Hunters, proposes is, what if, instead of dudes, there were demons, and Ma punched them in the face, too? That sounds like a match made in heaven. Or hell, as the case may be.