The Substance (2024)

Direction: Coralie Fargeat
Country: USA

Coralie Fargeat’s sophomore feature, The Substance, is set to be hailed as the shock film of the year. A grotesque blend of body horror with sharp satirical overtones, it escalates in bizarre intensity until it reaches the brink of madness.

The film stars Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, an aging TV star who injects a miraculous substance designed to unlock her DNA, creating a younger, more beautiful version of herself. That version is played with mischievous charm by Margaret Qualley. However, Sparkle fails to adhere to the crucial condition—switch bodies every seven days—and struggles to comprehend the delicate balance needed for both versions to coexist.

The pumped up narrative swirls us up in this woman's obsession, invoking the transgressive and visceral visual traits reminiscent of David Cronenberg and John Carpenter. At its best, the film maintains a tense and unnerving atmosphere, but just as it has you on the edge of your seat, it spirals into gratuitous violence and excessive gore.

Fargeat's creation is undeniably horrific, but she pushes it too far, especially in the final act. The relentless gore feels less like a narrative necessity and more like a transgressive indulgence, ultimately undermining the careful creepiness that initially made it gripping. The last section is so filthy and exaggerated that it risks alienating viewers, leaving one to wonder why the director chose to tarnish what could have been a chillingly effective film.

The Substance is nauseating but undeniably powerful, shocking yet audacious. It’s an outrageously bloodthirsty dark fantasy that demands a strong stomach. Had Fargeat reined in the excess, it could have been a standout horror. Nevertheless, both Moore and Qualley deliver striking performances.

Oddity (2024)

Direction: Damian McCarthy
Country: Ireland

Oddity, a slow-blooming portrait of doomed love, immediately thrusts its audience into a realm of disquiet and discomfort. With a Hitchcockian mood and tone, the film itself is a cinematic oddity, playing well with symbolism and emotions but failing at cohere completely.  

Surreally mounted and beautifully shot, Oddity follows Darcy Odello (Carolyn Bracken), a blind token-objet reader woman and antique shop owner who decides to investigate her twin sister’s murder one year after it happened. Armed with a mysterious wooden figure, she stays at the country house where her sister was killed, allegedly by a former patient of her psychiatrist husband, Ted Timmis (Gwilym Lee). 

Without straining to make an obvious point, the director Damian McCarthy (Caveat, 2020) builds tension as we keep gaining interest, teasing before delivering a few well-placed chills. His proclivity for the horror genre is no fluke, but his sophomore feature is one to be savored for its atmosphere than remembered for its impact. Oddity unfortunately culminates in a bland, disappointing finale, one that is more amusing than spooky. While the film doesn't totally click on all fronts, there is enough darkness in its DNA to satisfy enthusiasts of the genre.

Alien: Romulus (2024)

Direction: Fede Alvarez
Country: USA 

Set chronologically between the first two films of the saga, Alien: Romulus marks a return to the basics, reviving the franchise with a blend of old and new elements. Without Sigourney Weaver, this visually captivating, energetic, and intense science-fiction horror flick is enhanced by magnificent sets and thrilling action sequences. It relies on a rejuvenated cast that delivers, even if most of the characters lack full definition. The standout exception is Rain (Cailee Spaeny), a young space colonizer who, along with her friends and humanoid brother, explores an abandoned space station named Romulus, only to face the most terrifying life forms in the universe.

Directed by Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, 2013; Don’t Breathe, 2016), who co-wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues, the film is invested with awe-inspiring ingenuity in some sequences and details for the sake of a deliriously entertaining experience. While it borrows elements from its predecessors, it still manages to find originality in its design and tone, delivering impactful moments. The beast’s drool still causes some frisson; the velocious, creepy Facehuggers inject new excitement; and the humanoids makes us feel the coldness and indifference of machines. 

Alvarez directs with a blend of technique and artistry, crafting a visually arresting experience. He knows how to create suspense in confined, claustrophobic places and pumps this new chapter with nauseating fluids and relentless adrenaline. Alien: Romulus never reaches the potential of Ridley Scott’s original or James Cameron’s sequel, but it’s terrifically executed and, just the same, viscerally monstrous.

The Devil's Bath (2024)

Direction: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Country: Austria / Germany

The Devil’s Bath, a period psycho-horror film set in upper Austria in 1750, is a gripping exploration of marital terror, depression, and religious fanaticism. Directed by the filmmaking duo of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the film quietly and steadily builds depth, drawing inspiration from Kathy Stuart’s research: Suicide by Proxy in Early Modern Germany: Crime, Sin and Salvation (2023), as well as criminal trial records for Agnes Catherina Schickin (Germany, 1704) and Eva Lizlfellnerin (Austria, 1761-62). Co-produced by Ulrich Seidl (Rimini, 2022; Paradise Trilogy), the film stars Anja Plaschg in the leading role, an experimental musician that also composed the music score.

The story follows Agnes (Plaschg), from her wedding day to her demise. The narrative is subtle and gradual, with the directors prioritizing the human drama above horror-film gimmickry. They’ve crafted a harrowing, austere story that, once you know the tragic twist, morphs into a somber study of depressed, suicidal women in the 18th-century Central Europe.

The low-key, handsomely photographed production drips with atmosphere, and we know there are competent hands behind the camera and just enough mystery to keep the audience guessing. Plaschg’s performance perfectly fits the demands of a film that resonates through its dark ambiance and creepy conclusion.

A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

Direction: Michael Sarnoski
Country: USA

A Quiet Place: Day One, the third installment in the A Quiet Place film series, is a patchy and uninspired apocalyptic horror film that functions as both a prequel and a spin-off. Written and directed by Michael Sarnoski (Pig, 2021), the film fails to surpass the intrigue of the two previous films directed by John Krasinski.

This early chapter follows the journey of two survivors in a silenced New York: Samira (Lupita Nyong'o), a courageous, terminally ill woman craving pizza, and Eric (Joseph Quinn), a terrified British law student who never takes off his tie. Amidst the chaos, the real hero turns out to be Samira’s intelligent and surprisingly quiet cat.

Overall, the film offers too little and nothing new, with Sarnoski overly confident that style can substitute for substance. For the most part, the film is just a tired tread through the usual elements. It is well-produced, acceptably performed, and features decent special effects packing in some impressive dystopian imagery. However, we’ve seen it all before. There’s no reason to stay invested in something so uninventive. A Quiet Place: Day One is nothing but a dull apocalyptic routine that doesn’t pay off.

Longlegs (2024)

Direction: Oz Perkins
Country: USA

Written and directed by Oz Perkins, the elder son of late actor Anthony Perkins, famous for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), Longlegs is a dry horror thriller tinged with occult malignancy that, despite its enticing premise, doesn’t hold up in the end. The film stars Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage, who also produced.

The plot centers on the sleepless, cold, and often absent-minded FBI agent Lee Harkin (Monroe), the only person who seems capable of solving a series of massacres involving entire families as she’s gifted with psychic abilities. The perpetrator, known as Longlegs (Cage), is a satan worshiper who likes to leave coded messages based on complex algorithms next to the victims. What is more intriguing about him is that there are never any signs of forced entry into the houses. 

Longlegs rings hollow, quickly melting as its banal plot is unveiled. It is a sluggish exercise in horror that stands on its feet in its first half, just to nose-diving into the abyss in the second. The gloomy side of things is there, but thrills don’t abound, and it’s all too predictable toward a bland ending deliberately left open for a possible sequel. While Monroe stands out for her credible introspective temperament, Cage, looking like a cross between a decrepit heavy-metal legend and the Joker, delivers very few moments of creepiness. 

Films like Seven (1995) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) may come to mind, but Longlegs is miles away from them in many crucial aspects, including originality. It’s all surface psychodramatics, sporadically watchable yet mostly inert. Hence, quickly forgettable.

MaXXXine (2024)

Direction: Ti West
Country: USA 

Writer-director Ti West likes his films infused with blood and anger. Due to his successful past collaborations with actress Mia Goth in X (2022) and Pearl (2022), everyone was curious about the third installment in his X film series, MaXXXine, but the film fails to deliver, soon plummeting into ridiculousness and a mutilated sense of justice. 

Encouraged by her father from a young age, Maxine Minx (Goth) seeks fame in the movies, growing up with his advice in mind: “I will not accept a life I do not deserve”. At 33, after starring in porn films, Maxine finally has a chance to work in a real Hollywood film, The Puritan II, directed by the ruthless British director Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki). However, due to a dark past, she’s followed by a shady private detective (Kevin Bacon) and a couple of LAPD agents. The events take place in 1985, when The Night Stalker, the satanic serial killer who murdered at least 14 people, is still at large on the dark streets of LA. 

Buckling under the weight of trying to subvert expectations, MaXXXine ends up being a muddled, trashy piece of madness whose narrative jolts rather than compels. It is a gory B-movie with no style or rhythm, plagued by a lamentable script populated by obnoxious characters and terrible dialogue. This silly satire tries to sell a murderous psycho with a conscience for justice, but anyone jonesing for clever plots should look elsewhere as the last part of West’s trilogy is a significant letdown. Skip it.

The Vourdalak (2024)

Direction: Adrien Beau
Country: France

With The Vourdalak, newcomer filmmaker Adrien Beau draws inspiration from Alexei Tolstoy’s short story, creating an exhilarating celebration of the gothic style. Despite the low budget, the director lets his imagination soar, crafting a human-seized puppet to represent the vourdalak, a sort of proto-vampire that spares not even his own family. He also gives voice to it.

The story follows the inquisitive Marquis Jacques Antoine Saturnin d’Urfé (Kacey Mottet Klein), a noble emissary of the King of France, who loses his way in the woods after being attacked and robbed by bandits. He finds refuge with a strange, cursed family. 

The director and cast waltz through this sinister tale with bizarre, ritualistic steps. The minimalist decor, complemented  by effective cinematography, creates an atmosphere reminiscent of another time, moving between eerie medieval mysticism, patriarchal dominance, and ridicule. However, the film's theatrical staging leaves uncertain whether it aims to be a campy homage to cult vampire black comedies or a nightmarish horror odyssey. 

Retractable fangs fail to deliver a significant bite, resulting in an outrageously fascinating failure that could have been a laugh riot. Enthusiasts of mysterious old tales and legends can go for it, but they’ll have to adapt to and accept this peculiar aesthetic, which can sometimes be coarser than expected.

Arcadian (2024)

Direction: Benjamin Brewer
Country: USA

In its second collaboration with actor and co-producer Nicolas Cage, director Benjamin Brewer (The Trust, 2016) brings us a post-apocalyptic horror tale set in a world overrun by lethal nightly creatures that frantically clap their jaws before massacre anyone in their path. Cage portrays Paul, a vigilant father of two teenage boys, the impulsive Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) and the resourceful Joseph (Jaeden Martell), whom he instructs in defense techniques and survival strategies. When Thomas fails to return from the nearby Rose Farm before nightfall, panic ensues, and danger looms both inside their farmhouse and beyond its walls.

Arcadian rightfully earns its place among contemporary apocalyptic films, kept engagingly off-balance between horror tale, family drama, and teen romance. The special effects and characterization are awesome, but the tale risks running out of ideas at some point. However, it denotes a firm command of tone and decent visuals. The creepy, original monsters are a motivation and a mystery; Cage, who is revealed to have a special ability to return from the dead, discloses the bravest of the hearts; while the youthful energy and recklessness of the boys inject vitality into the story. 

The handheld camera work may be a minor drawback for some viewers, and opportunities for deeper exploration of character dynamics and the catastrophic events could have been better utilized. Nonetheless, Brewer's direction demonstrates unwavering commitment, resulting in what is arguably his strongest work to date.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Direction: Takashi Yamazaki
Country: Japan

If you enjoy adventure films with a combination of intense action and dramatic flair, Godzilla Minus One might be the movie for you. Directed by Japanese filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki, the film offers a visceral and fast-paced fantasy with striking visuals and a strong sense of conviction. Yamazaki employs blockbuster tactics to depict multiple dangerous situations with a radioactive Godzilla wreaking havoc on a postwar Japan. 

The story revolves around Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a former kamikaze pilot turned deserter and sea-mine extractor. His lack of courage brings shame to many of his fellow countrymen. However, when he encounters Noriko Oishi and her rescued orphan baby, he discovers a new purpose in life. As Godzilla heads to Tokyo, Koichi sees an opportunity to redeem himself and prove his bravery and piloting skills.

The film explores strong anti-patriotic sentiments associated with the loss of war, mixed with a sense of unity among a group of civilians led by former naval weapons engineer and strategist Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka). Despite some plot holes and sentimental moments, Yamazaki enhances the film with stylized visuals, well-composed frames, and knockout sequences that blend ferocity with desolation. The director bends the rules of the genre by providing reinforced visual effects and relying on an intense musical score. While Godzilla's new roar is a result of a simple amplification of the original, the overall experience feels fresh and new.

Dream Scenario (2023)

Direction: Kristoffer Borgli
Country: USA

In Dream Scenario, Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli continues his exploration of stubborn, obsessive characters, taking viewers on a tortuous journey into the world of unexplainable dreams and unexpected fame. On the heels of his previous work, Sick of Myself (2022), Borgli's first English-language feature is a bizarre and exhilarating tale that thrives on complexities and dilemmas, offering an unconventional cinematic experience. The filmmaker doesn’t aim to deliver a blatant message in this well-told fantastic story that, even not for everyone, will likely earn the appreciation of adventurous film fans. 

The film grabs hold in a powerful way, as long as we can let ourselves be carried along by its complexities and dilemmas. It tells the story of Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage), a respected biology professor who mysteriously appears in the dreams of strangers. The narrative takes unexpected turns as Paul transitions from a passive bystander to an aggressive force, leading to fame, scandal, fear, and even a sexual encounter with a young woman played by Dylan Gelula.

Horror fantasy blends with psychological drama and dark comedy as Borgli, combining imagination and technique, explores dysfunctional aspects of modern life. The structure may challenge some viewers, but those who stay engaged will find plenty of awkwardness offering a distinct cinematic pleasure. In summary, the surreal and ambiguity never dwindle the emotional stakes.

Huesera: the Bone Woman (2023)

Direction: Michelle Garza Cervera
Country: Mexico / Peru

This Mexican chiller written and directed by Michelle Garza Cervera, signing here her first feature film, has its way in terms of mood, visuals and storytelling. On top of that, it comes with an insightful message about motherhood, a recurrent subject in horror movies, but one that's rarely treated with such peculiarity and gravitas.

Bolstered by a nervy plot that was executed with efficiency, Huesera: the Bone Woman tells the horrific story of a fearful young woman, Valeria (Natalia Solián), who, after receiving confirmation of her first pregnancy, becomes haunted by a sinister figure and occult forces that interfere with her body and behavior. Self-doubt, emotional confusion and furious delirium impel her to participate in a dismaying ritual led by a trio of witches. It can be her salvation or her ruin. 

This anxiety-inducing exercise in horror, engrained with creepy reality/dream dualities and heavy dark music, also works as a metaphor for unwanted lives camouflaged by false happiness and marked by family and societal impositions. 

Cervera is adroit at manipulating dark settings, dragging us into Valeria’s disturbed psyche and making us hostages there. Huesera, a downright effort composed with trenchant expressions and a spellbinding atmosphere, prefers subtle suggestions to overt statements.

Moon Garden (2023)

Direction: Ryan Stevens Harris
Country: USA 

Moon Garden, the daring sophomore feature by Ryan Stevens Harris, is a freakish visual delight told from an unconventional perspective. Redolent of works by Jan Svankmajer, Guillermo del Toro and Tim Burton, the film follows a sweet 5-year-old girl, Emma (Haven Lee Harris), who wanders through a scary subconscious realm filled with dark phantasmagoria while trying to leave a comatose state.

The girl is often encouraged by whispered messages from her parents (Augie Duke and Brionne Davis), who are locked in an unhappy marriage. She avoids coming across invisible entities and grotesque monsters with teeth that seem to claim her soul, but occasionally bumps into sinister men whose intentions are uncertain. Once in a while, her mind erupts at the surface, recalling past moments of love and self-confidence. This gives her the strength and courage to keep going. 

A simple story at the core opens up vast possibilities for experimentation, and the director, who has been working as an editor since his feature debut - Virus X (2010) - finds some magical love among petrifying horror and chaos. The inventiveness of detail makes it a sensory experience; one of those that is hard to stay laser-focused as the screen gets crammed with such a proliferation of bizarre elements. 

With warped sounds enhancing the industrialism of the setting, this twisted fairytale is pretty darn hypnotic.