The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond

Like the very best gothics, this story keeps you reading fervently to the very end, with plot twists to keep you up late into the night.

/ October 30, 2024

The Watkins Book of Urban Legends

Engaging and insightful, rekindling the joyousness in the contemplation of the “it’s true, I swear!” secondhand stories we all tell.

/ October 14, 2024

Last Straw

The viewer gutting it out to the bitter end will be treated to some unexpected flourishes that are arguably worth the wait.

/ September 20, 2024

Inherit the Witch

For a few rare moments it all comes together for something approaching chilling, but the finished results are lacking.

/ September 18, 2024

The Vourdalak

A beguiling film that rewards patience, The Vourdalak looks like nothing else that’s graced our screens for years.

/ September 15, 2024

The Baykok

Frightful Folklore of North America: Illustrated Folk Horror from Greenland to the Panama Canal is available from Watkins Publishing.

/ August 20, 2024

The Beast Within

Stunning cinematography, strong performances and a palpable sense of isolation make for powerful viewing.

/ August 11, 2024

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person

Faith in its characters and directorial vision, rather than gore and gimmicks, elevate this picture into a fable about morality.

/ June 9, 2024

The Coffee Table

The simplicity of its narrative arc is its biggest strength, allowing the script’s jet-black humour to work its absurd wizardry.

/ May 12, 2024

Lovely, Dark, and Deep

Consummately juxtaposes the staggering beauty of its locations with their immense (and somehow suffocating) vastness.

/ March 22, 2024

Lord of Misrule

William Brent Bell's irreverent world throws the viewer into what feels like something between a fever dream and a nightmare.

/ January 8, 2024

Herd

Herd implores us to ask the most important question at the heart of every great zombie fable: who are the real monsters?

/ October 22, 2023

Ghosts, Monsters and Demons of India

This trek through the dark corners of India’s cultural imagination gives a layered, textured view of the supernatural world.

/ September 12, 2023

Hunt Club

Hunt Club is an erratic, nebulous mess, but in many ways it perfectly mirrors and satirises the absurdity of toxic masculine ideals.

/ August 13, 2023

Swallowed

A more delicate expression of the body horror subgenre that is closer to reality and, arguably, more tragic and disturbing.

/ April 18, 2023

V/H/S/99

A gritty, bitty car crash into memory lane that impressively stitches its eclecticism together like a grotesque mixtape.

/ March 23, 2023

Lunacy

As a carefully cultivated horror story that resonates in the fear-laden recesses of modern life, Lunacy is a book to savour. 

/ February 22, 2023

Bitch Ass

Some memorable performances, but ultimately fails to make us squeal or laugh. Go in with low expectations to enjoy the ride.

/ December 5, 2022

Most Horrible Things

Fails to find the level of wit necessary, yet in spite of so much, Most Horrible Things is compelling, exciting and surprising.

/ November 15, 2022

Vampire Cinema: The First One Hundred Years

A charming visual guide offers the convincing case that the vampire genre tells us more about who we are than we may think.

/ October 30, 2022

The Deep House

A suffocating rollercoaster that breathes new life into an enervated subgenre, trapping us into a nightmare that refuses to let go.

/ October 28, 2022
Malachi Pullar-Latchman

Hounded

Throwing subtlety aside, Hounded is a straight-up lampoon of the kind of snooty toffs that believe the world is their birthright.

/ October 26, 2022

Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences

With sleek production and sheer enthusiasm peppered throughout, this is an excellent companion to King’s own words on his craft.

/ October 12, 2022

The Watkins Book of English Folktales

This reissue, one of the most comprehensive on English folklore ever published, is a gift to the whole world, not just England.

/ October 5, 2022

The Retaliators

Objectively superficial and messy, but that doesn’t mean it fails to entertain; The Retaliators is arguably brainless genius.

/ September 13, 2022

The Witch

Commitment to authenticity creates a genuinely foreboding, oppressive climate that engulfs The Witch and its characters.

/ July 25, 2022

She Will

Haunting cinematography and subtle, constant terror are a perfect reflection of the patriarchy’s oppression of women.

/ July 21, 2022

Sick & Beautiful

A surreal psychodrama charged with urban decay and all the hopeless decadence a 21st Century audience could ever want.

/ July 3, 2022

Lingering

A psychological depth that pushes the meaning of ‘haunting’, urging readers to question the origins and nature of evil.

/ June 22, 2022

Friend of the World 

Packed with big ideas that outshine its minimal budget, this Troma is daring, interesting and resolutely not for everyone.

/ June 17, 2022

The Righteous

A reluctance to spiral into the supernatural or grotesque prevents The Righteous from landing its message with conviction.

/ June 10, 2022

The Prey: Legend of Karnoctus

For fans of action with a twist of gore and a knowing wink, the laugh-out-loud Prey has a genuine sense of fun at its heart.

/ June 6, 2022

Night Caller

Both authentic and reverent of the genre’s greatest hits, Night Caller is as gleefully distasteful as the films that inspired it.

/ May 13, 2022

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair

A delirious trip into the culture of the terminally online, with a sense of unease that's repellent and deeply relatable.

/ April 29, 2022

England On Fire

A enchanted wonderland to change the way you see England, not for showing anything new, but what has been there all along.

/ April 28, 2022

The Sacred Spirit

Interesting and intense directorial choices find the sweet spot where absurdity, anxiety and satisfaction coexist in harmony. 

/ April 13, 2022

Father of Flies

Unreliable characters in an ethereal setting drive this powerful parable on disintegrating families and stolen childhood.

/ April 11, 2022

Agnes

Peppered with deadpan comedy, Agnes is a film of two halves that examines faith, loss, and what it truly means to be possessed.

/ April 4, 2022

The Exorcism of God

Creepy set pieces compound sequences that build to crescendo and do not relent, while quiet moments offer little solace.

/ March 27, 2022

Kissing the Lizard

Justin David tells a touchingly twisted tale, a story with a spinning compass that won’t let you figure out where home is.

/ March 23, 2022

The Beta Test

A cautionary tale for the post-Weinstein generation that lampoons the futility of Hollywood’s facile approach to money-grubbing in all of its glory.

/ March 18, 2022

Amulet

With an allegory that seethes on its underbelly, Amulet is a disturbing and enigmatic picture that reflects a strikingly bleak view.

/ January 27, 2022

Soaking in Strange Hours

Teeming with macabre delights, Erik Hofstatter’s story is one that you don’t so much read as ravish.

/ December 12, 2021

Prisoners of the Ghostland

The world Sono builds is engrossing and overwhelming, but the narrative never appears to shift out of first gear.

/ September 18, 2021

Jakob’s Wife

Hallmarks of the vampire genre coupled with a small-town America backdrop challenge patriarchal institutions.

/ August 19, 2021

My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To

Incredible performances drive an emotional weight that oozes a transcendent power guaranteed to haunt you.

/ June 28, 2021

Initiation

Despite some shortcomings, Initiation, particularly in the wake of #MeToo, should be applauded for tackling these issues with gravity.

/ May 24, 2021

Threshold

An impressive slow burner that develops beautifully through to a spine-chilling climax, with unexpected, shocking results.

/ May 9, 2021

I Blame Society

This at times excruciating feminist satire is propelled forward by Gillian Wallace Horvat’s delightfully deadpan delivery.

/ April 19, 2021

Willy’s Wonderland

An unapologetically ridiculous, trippy ride that will satisfy ardent fans of carefree horrors and, of course, Nicolas Cage himself.

/ April 12, 2021