Catherine Bray

The Paw Patrol pups rescue a family from a yacht fire before being blown onto a mysterious island inhabited by dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. The review finds the resulting adventure neither entertaining nor charming, criticizes its characters and lack of wit, and urges families to spend their money on higher-quality children's programming and films instead.

Tina Romero's queer zombie comedy follows an epidemic erupting in an LGBTQ+ warehouse-party scene. The review praises the charismatic cast, drag-inspired humor, costumes, makeup and squishy gore, while noting that the film's episodic set-pieces lack storytelling momentum and its bright, flat production design disappoints. It is likely to appeal more to Drag Race fans who enjoy silly horror than to dedicated gore aficionados.

Haley Leary and Chris Mayers play a couple who move from the city to a seemingly idyllic suburb, where a homeowners’ association party turns into a violent comedy-horror siege. The film moves rapidly into its grisly action and keeps its 75-minute runtime lean, using practical gore and restrained digital effects. Its brisk, sketch-comedy structure makes it entertaining, but the thinly drawn characters leave little emotional investment in who survives.

Film-makers, writers and Guardian critics select the Spielberg films that matter most to them, presenting the director as a rare synthesis of New Hollywood audacity and classical Hollywood craftsmanship. The selections range from the elemental thriller Duel and landmark blockbusters such as Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. and Jurassic Park to darker or more historically serious works including Minority Report, Schindler’s List and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Contributors emphasize Spielberg’s command of suspense, spectacle, actors and childlike wonder, while also highlighting his engagement with immigration, antisemitism, racism, war, family and grief. The overall assessment is strongly admiring, though films such as 1941 and A.I. receive more qualified or ambivalent readings.

Affection follows Ellie, who wakes with no memory in a home she does not recognize and is told by Bruce that he is her husband and Alice is their daughter. The film builds uncertainty around whether Alice is an innocent victim or involved in the frightening situation, using twists and shifting genre expectations. Julianna Layne’s ambiguous performance and the strong adult leads anchor the thriller, whose characters commit harmful acts while believing they are acting righteously.

The review finds Killer Whale an underwhelming aquatic horror film in which two best friends and a man become stranded on a rock with a captive orca blocking their escape. Although the premise offers occasional humor, curiosity and a few effective twists, the whale has too little presence and the limited cast leaves the relationship drama unable to sustain interest between the sparse set pieces. The film falls well short of the terror of Jaws or the entertaining excess of Deep Blue Sea.

Addison Heimann’s queer psychosexual horror-comedy Touch Me centers on the complicated friendship between Joey and Craig, whose dynamic is disrupted by Joey’s former lover Brian, a narcissistic, sometimes-tentacled alien. The film blends sensuality, horror and comedy, drawing comparisons to Rocky Horror and live-action hentai while exploring difficult relationships and millennial malaise. Its brisk, humorous tone and inventive erotic horror are strengths, though the film occasionally meanders.

A contagious disease that makes severe itching fatal traps a group of uninfected strangers in a department store. The low-budget horror is praised for an effectively realised body-horror sequence and a tense pressure-cooker premise, but its limited resources restrict the number of grisly effects. The film’s character dynamics and screenplay are considered underdeveloped, leaving its archetypal ensemble and emotional arcs less engaging than those in the genre classics it evokes.

The animated family film follows four gifted children who travel through different historical periods, including 9th-century Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age, where they meet mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. The review praises the unusual historical setting, educational content and occasional jokes, but criticizes the lacklustre animation, generic character designs, bland voice performances and exposition-heavy dialogue. It concludes that the film may keep children occupied but offers more educational value than genuine entertainment.

Steven Kostanski’s remake of Roger Corman’s 1980s fantasy film follows the muscular hero Deathstalker as he tries to break a cursed amulet’s spell in the Kingdom of Abraxeon. The review celebrates its inventive creature designs, gooey practical effects, committed performances and heavy-metal soundtrack, while acknowledging that its deliberately silly names and low-budget excesses will appeal mainly to viewers with a taste for acquired, nostalgic swords-and-sorcery fun. Executive producer Slash’s involvement and the film’s world premiere at the 2025 Locarno Film Festival add interest, but the reviewer doubts it will become a lasting cinematic landmark.

The film adaptation of The Mortuary Assistant is strongest when recreating the game’s detailed embalming procedures through convincing practical effects. Its original premise and direction also earn praise, but the film’s uniformly dark, tormented tone provides little contrast, causing its supernatural scares to lose impact. The review suggests a sequel should either deepen the characters substantially or embrace a more conventional, schlocky horror style.

The animated fantasy film follows twins Elise and Alfie after they wish themselves into a magical world. Despite an impressive voice cast led by Ewan McGregor and Helena Bonham Carter, the review finds the children unappealing, the story derivative, the visuals generic and Tim Rice’s lyrics disappointing. McGregor is seen as making the best of thin material, but the film is judged unlikely to satisfy discerning children or parents.

Daggers Inn follows a mysterious woman investigating her sister’s murder in a sinister village, where local businesspeople hired an assassin named Shark. The review finds the film muddled, poorly acted and lacking intrigue or momentum, but entertainingly sincere in its amateurish production choices. Its bizarre dialogue, awkward staging and unintentionally funny violence lead the critic to suggest it could develop a cult following comparable to The Room.

Bodycam is a low-budget found-footage horror film about two police officers responding to a domestic-violence call that turns into a supernatural nightmare. Set and filmed in Alberta, Canada, it uses body-worn-camera footage and derelict locations to create a grim, claustrophobic atmosphere reminiscent of early Paranormal Activity films. The format avoids the usual plausibility problems of found footage but limits respite and emotional connection with the leads. Despite these constraints, the film delivers energetic scares and effective, restrained digital effects.

Bad Voodoo follows Abigail, a woman grieving the deaths of her daughters, as escaped convicts arrive at her home after a police warning. The film’s plot is described as original and full of surprising twists, blending elements of Haitian Vodou with Western voodoo-doll imagery. However, the review finds the performances and dialogue clichéd, while awkward cinematography undermines the tension and pulls viewers out of the story. Its portrayal of voodoo is judged so detached from reality that it is unlikely to cause serious cultural offense.

Outgunned follows elite fighter Jessica, played by Danica De La Rey Jones, as she is hunted through South Africa by a revenge-seeking gang whose earlier crimes included poaching and kidnapping children for ransom broadcasts. The review praises the film’s energetic opening and Richard Lukunku’s committed performance as the sadistic gang leader Lazar, but argues that the 134-minute runtime needlessly stretches material better suited to a tense 90-minute action thriller.

The review praises Play Dead’s grisly opening and its premise of a wounded woman pretending to be dead in a killer’s basement. However, it argues that director Carlos Goitia cannot sustain the idea across a feature-length film. Once the story leaves the basement, its claustrophobic tension dissipates, while increasingly familiar horror tropes and convoluted plotting create silliness rather than terror.

The eighth V/H/S anthology installment is judged an uneven but often engaging collection of Halloween-themed horror shorts. Highlights include Casper Kelly’s grotesque and inventive “Fun Size,” Alex Ross Perry’s unsettling “Kidprint,” and Bryan M Ferguson’s wraparound segment “Diet Phantasma,” about scientists perfecting a haunted soda. The review argues that the found-footage premise has become exhausted and that the nearly two-hour runtime would benefit from sharper editing, despite the film’s memorable high points.

Frontier Crucible is a visually appealing 1872 Arizona western adapted from Harry Whittington's novel Desert Stake-Out. The film follows Merrick Beckford as he transports medical supplies and encounters a morally varied group of travelers, including Armie Hammer in his first on-screen role since 2022. The review praises the scenery, Ryan Masson's performance and the eventual bursts of violence, but criticizes the film's excessive dialogue, crowded cast and sluggish pacing.

A low-budget horror farce follows six young men lured to a country estate for a romantic weekend, only to find themselves trapped in a reality-TV-meets-Saw survival game. Although the premise suggests comic and horrific potential, the film is criticized for lacking conviction, realism and tonal coherence, with weak restraints and underdeveloped staging making the danger feel escapable rather than frightening.