Lady In White (1988)

Are there any hidden treasure hunters out there?

If so, Lady In White is a contender. A wondrous small-town mystery that’s glowingly photographed, it looks and feels like a Disney YA feature, but with an undercurrent of real darkness that should be of interest to fans of Hitchcock and David Lynch alike.

Lukas Haas from Witness and Brick plays Frankie Scarlatti, an adorable tyke getting his Dracula costume in shape for Halloween 1962. The inquisitive boy lives in a Norman Rockwell-style New England community with his widower father Angelo (Alex Rocco), older brother Geno (Jason Presson), and comedy relief Italian grandparents.

We get a deep dive into Frankie’s psyche. He’s a burgeoning writer with a penchant for monsters, and also dealing with the recent death of his mother, as revealed by a macabre dream sequence.

A pair of asshole classmates lock Frankie in the school cloakroom for the night as a prank, leading to the lad witnessing the ghost of a young girl (Joelle Jacobi) being murdered in there ten years before!

Young Frankie now has a mystery to solve, especially after the ghost follows him home and he discovers that nine other unlucky local kids have been knocked off in recent history.

Lady In White also effectively utilizes the eerie old Eddy Duchin song, “Did You Ever See a Dream Walking” as a recurring motif that provides a valuable clue to the killer’s identity.

Writer-director Frank LaLoggia received a measure of negative feedback for the overly campy and whimsical visual liberties he takes in Lady In White, but we must remember that the protagonist is a child, which is why some scenes are rendered with exaggerated magical details and others are captured through a darker lens of shadows and fog.

Sheesh! Might as well get miffed over the works of Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam.

The film’s era references hope for the future, with President Kennedy in the White House, but it also foreshadows both the struggle for human rights, and a near future assassination, when the school’s black janitor is circumstantially blamed for the murders, giving Frankie another compelling reason to find the killer’s identity.

If he can just stay alive long enough.

Lady In White is definitely a unique specimen, a vivid childhood recollection, autumnal ghost story, murder mystery and domestic tragedy that moves with enough pace and purpose to secure everyone’s attention.

Manifest some gratitude for this humble seasonal offering.

Hokum (2026)

Looks like another winner from Irish horror auteur Damian McCarthy, as Hokum hits the same creep spots as his previous entries Caveat and Oddity, while flexing new creative muscles in a more ambitious project.

A less-than-lovable Adam Scott (Severance, Parks & Rec) portrays Ohm Bauman, a horror writer intent on scattering his parents’ ashes at a picturesque hotel somewhere in the wild Irish boondocks.

Bauman’s rudeness and sarcasm rubs the staff the wrong way, with the exception of Fiona (Florence Ordesh), a friendly bartender who informs the word famous author that the honeymoon suite is haunted by a witch.

After laughing off the tale as “hokum,” Bauman’s sensibilities take a dramatic turn after he’s over-served at the bar, reeling him, kicking and screaming, into a haunting murder mystery with multiple suspects—including a vengeful spirit that appears to be ensconced upstairs, restlessly ringing the bell for room service.

Like a mashup of A Christmas Carol and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, there is a definite story arc here, with Bauman getting a taste of humility and forgiveness that ultimately may make him a better person and writer.

Writer-director Damian McCarthy literally keeps Bauman (and us) in the dark for most of Hokum, nervously exploring the halls and tunnels that permeate the inn like paranormal prairie dog runs.

Adam Scott is pitch-perfect as an unfeeling prick in desperate need of redemption, which can only be found in the darkest corners of his soul.

And if he finds it, will he know what to do?

I recommend you find out.

Extinction (2015)

The wife and I came upon Extinction quite by accident while lost in the dense forest of Roku.

She screamed three times, so you know it’s scary.

In a frozen future, Jack (Jeffrey Donovan, Burn Notice, Fargo) and Patrick (Matthew Fox, Lost, Bone Tomahawk) are survivors of an infectious plague that reduced humanity to savage, bloodthirsty zombiedom.

Fortunately, the nuclear winter (?) that ensued, allowed Jack, Patrick, and Jack’s daughter Lu (Quinn McColgan) to build a secure compound in the tiny town of Harmony.

These are not basic cardboard characters. Jack is relentlessly protective of Lu, who’s mother died from an infected bite. He rarely acknowledges Patrick, only referring to him as “Neighbor.”

They work independently: Jack trains Lu in the art of survival, and Patrick forages on his snowmobile for supplies, broadcasts distress signals and loud rock music from his home radio station, and then drinks himself unconscious.

There is overwhelming evidence of bad blood between Patrick and Jack, and Lu can’t fathom her father’s animosity toward their reclusive provider, the only other person in existence, as far we know.

Despite Jack’s optimism that the monsters that munched mom all froze to death, a new threat arises in the form of agile, blind, albino zombies that have their own set of rules and behavior.

And they’re coming this way!

Spanish director/co-writer Miguel Angel Vivas makes the most of the Hungarian countryside location, contrasting the blinding snowy nights hiding horrid creatures that blend into the landscape, with vistas of glorious mornings worthy of inspirational postcards.

I took this as a promising omen. Perhaps all is not lost, though with a title like Extinction, one can be forgiven for expecting the worst.

The film also works as a well-intentioned metaphor for the necessity of estranged parents to put aside their issues and come together for the sake of the kid.

Or she might get eaten.

Extinction is a genuine post-apocalyptic jewel, conceived by a confident craftsman and executed by a superb cast.

Trigger warning: Dog doesn’t make it.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)

Dracula’s all-inclusive cruise to London doesn’t actually include the crew, but he paid for extra eats, so he’s entitled to certain liberties at mealtime.

Based on the Captain’s Log portion of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, director André Ovredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Troll Hunter, Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark) pipes us aboard for The Last Voyage of the Demeter, as the good ship and its sturdy sailors transport mysterious crates of soil from the Black Sea to England, circa 1897.

Our protagonist Clemens (Corey Hawkins) is a Cambridge-educated black doctor who lands a high-paying job among the small crew of The Demeter, led by Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham) and his able first, Wojchek (David Dastmalchian)

Clemens, an able hand with a keen mind, discovers a stowaway in the person of Anna (Aisling Franciosi), an anemic young girl boxed away in one of the crates of dirt and attempts to revive her using transfusions of his own blood.

Anna did not buy a ticket nor did she sneak onboard of her own accord. She was part of the cargo to feed a VIP guest in the hold. Needless to say the guest is not amused by her removal, and so begins a terror campaign against a rapidly shrinking squad of swabbies.

The crusty crew has no idea what they’re up against, and it’s only Clemens, the social outcast, that refuses to give in to fear and superstition, reasoning that if the thirsty creature can bleed, it can also die.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter does what it’s supposed to do—bring the darkness and ramp up the tension of being trapped at sea with an impossible predator breathing down your neck.

It’s not comforting, just ask Chief Brody. Can also be used in outer space!

The inability of the seamen to find the vampire during daylight hours is a troubling detail as is the accelerated transformation of Anna from feedbag to formidable fighter.

Even so, the winged vampire effects and indeed the creepy, creaky look and feel of this voyage of the damned are first-class all the way. Ovredal has us booked as reluctant passengers witnessing a terrible, unnatural nautical calamity.

Remember the old saying, “Worse things happen at sea?” It’s true.

Trigger Warning! Ship’s dog Huckleberry doesn’t make it.

The Devil’s Mouth (2026)

No need for a deep dive into The Devil’s Mouth, there’s not much to see.

Five easily forgotten college friends take a break from soaking up Thailand’s breathtaking scenery to follow a guide into a series of partially submerged caves currently inhabited by a very hungry shark.

I smell a bad Yelp review.

Blonde beauty Sara (Kathryn Newton) is miffed at her friend Max (Lana Condor) for being an irresponsible party princess. Max wanders off at one point, forgetting to tell anyone that Sara is swimming and not on the boat.

So poor Sara watches her pals sail off into the sunset while she’s mugged by a gang of rogue jellyfish! The kids recover and retrieve her, but she’s rightfully pissed at Max, even though the latter is paying for the trip.

This is director Jeff Wadlow’s only attempt at character development, so please take note.

Somehow this passel of feuding tourists end up underground, snorkeling their lungs out in search of an exit soon after their guide detects the unmistakable signs of a maneater in the house: a pool of fresh blood and a scuba mask that’s got two huge tooth holes in the face.

The cave decor is sufficiently rendered as to produce a measure of anxiety that is desperately needed in The Devil’s Mouth.

The shark, clearly some sort of prodigy, thrives in a mixture of salt and fresh water and instantly adapts to hunting prey in a cave, ramming the limestone to knock trembling swimmers into his watering holes.

It can also leap and jump like a porpoise, pivot its head, and swim backwards.

Not to give away too much plot, but after watching a ravenous predator make a picnic out of a half-dozen humans in less than 24 hours, and continue to hammer away at the geology trying to get Max and Sara into its belly, one can only conclude that the shark has a severe eating disorder.

In any case, the size and scale of the shark fluctuates along with viewer interest. In The Devil’s Mouth, entertainment is chiefly derived from watching hapless nitwits get chewed upon, but there’s nothing noteworthy happening (apart from magic shark antics) to keep us afloat or awake.

We’ve been on this vacation. Bring a couple good books.

Horror Castle (1963)

Get used to the sight of Mary Hunter (Rossana Podesta) wandering the grounds of a gloomy castle in a blue nightgown, accompanied by a heavy handed James Bond-style jazz score that erupts whether the scene calls for embellishment or not.

Welcome to Horror Castle, aka The Virgin of Nuremberg, directed by versatile veteran Antonio Margheriti (Castle of Blood, The Long Hair of Death, Cannibal Apocalypse).

Mary, the new bride of Max Hunter (Georges Riviere), moves into his family’s ancestral estate in Germany, an imposing edifice loaded with bad juju, thanks to the legacy of Max’s maniac ancestor, The Punisher, who tortured local girls he suspected of sinful behavior.

In straight Rebecca fashion, Max has business elsewhere for much of the movie, leaving Mary in the care of Erich (Christopher Lee) a scarred and taciturn family retainer, and Martha (Laura Nucci) the morose, stoned-faced housekeeper.

If you’re one of those folks that can’t get enough gothic atmosphere and macabre accoutrements, Horror Castle is littered with skulls, secret passages, and vintage torture devices that are still kept in fine working order.

It’s a bit of a stretch, but Marheriti tries to make a case for the monster of the house, a sadistic freak skulking about in executioner garb (Mirko Valentin) being a sympathetic character, since he was himself disfigured by fiendish Nazi surgeons to resemble a skull.

However, eliciting pity for a guy that stuffs a woman into an Iron Maiden, and torments another with a hungry rat loosed on her face is a mighty tall order.

Maybe next time.

I wish Horror Castle rated a definitive restoration, because the version I saw had been heavily edited and dubbed in English to the point of absurdity. Even so, it’s a tingly tour in a creepy ass location, with the enchanting Rossana Podesta guiding us by candlelight.

Trust me, there are worse ways to spend a dark and stormy night.

If you can handle the rough edges of budget constraints and decaying filmstock, Horror Castle sustains an eerie charm, with all its roads leading straight to the torture chamber.

Watch your step!

The Barge People (2018)

London filmmaker Charlie Steeds is earning a reputation as a British Roger Corman, grinding out low budget shockers with machine-like efficiency, as we saw in Freeze, his community theater version of a doomed polar expedition.

In The Barge People, Steeds crams scraps and trimmings from Wrong Turn, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Humanoids From the Deep, and The Hills Have Eyes into a Turducken tale of hungry amphibian mutants living in the nasty waters of England’s canal boat system.

Kat (Kate Davies-Speak) and her sweetheart Mark (Mark McKirdy) rent a canal boat for a bucolic weekend with her sister Sophie (Natalie Martens) and toffy-nosed boyfriend Ben (Matt Swales).

It doesn’t take long for snobby Ben to rub everyone the wrong way, including a feral couple living on their own barge that gets sideswiped thanks to Ben’s nonexistent navigation skills.

Before we can settle into a rousing chorus of Dumb City Kids vs Rural Ruffians, a pack of scaly predators board the tiny ship and start gnawing away on everybody in sight.

This forces Kat to strike up an uneasy alliance with Jade (Makenna Guyler), one of the boat invaders, to rescue Mark from captivity, that’s undermined by their mutual distrust of each other’s social class.

“I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth,” Jade sneers. “You’re on your own.”

When confronted with a boatload of hostile monsters, Ben somewhat whimsically offers to buy them off with a deposit of $5,000 pounds into their bank account.

Ben didn’t get the assignment.

Once again, Steeds manages to offset his lack of funds with a commitment to create something reasonably fresh, and the timeless wonder of the English countryside helps considerably.

The Barge People features vegetarian gore, with not much meat to go with all the sauce, but serves as another reminder that no one should ever go anywhere for a relaxing weekend, other than back to bed.

Stay at home and read a book. You’ll live longer.

Wind and Bone (2024)

The problem with Algonquin cannibal spirits is they never know wendigo.

In Wind and Bone, budget-conscious filmmakers Michael Tuthill and Kevin Troy drop us in the wild woods of West Virginia, where a carload of reasonably attractive campers decide to pick up Sierra (Julie Kashmanian), a reasonably attractive hitchhiker stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Lacking any sort of excuse, Sierra accepts an invitation from Alistair (Eric Henderson) to join his friends at a nearby cabin in the woods to celebrate a possible proposal from alpha dickhead, Jeff (Joshua Cody) to April (Alex Cody).

Along for the ride is Curtis (Guy Wellman), a Native American guide, who’s only there for seasonal work, and proves to be less than capable when the company is marked for destruction by a local legend that feeds on pain and misery

“I thought you were supposed to be an expert tracker,” Jeff growls.

“I’m from the Burbs, bro,” Curtis confesses.

Let the body count commence!

Only Sierra, the stranger in their midst seems to have the fortitude to fight back, as her newfound camping buddies succumb to a host of attacks by the creature itself, and each other under the wendigo’s malign influence.

Tuthill and Troy wisely elect to go with practical creature effects, pasting an elk-horn helmet on a handy stuntman as a reminder that there is, in fact, a monster on the loose. Periodically we hear it whispering in the trees.

Yes, West Virginia, there is a wendigo.

There are antlers all over the place in Wind and Bone, hanging from trees and peeping around the shrubbery. Thanks to the success of The Ritual, based on the Adam Nevill novel, antlers have become the ubiquitous symbol of folk horror, much like tentacles indicate the presence of Lovecraftian cosmic horror.

Wind and Bone is not nearly as good a movie as The Ritual, but it’s good enough for a fast folk horror fix.

Undertone (2026)

Curses! Foiled again!

The debut of Canadian filmmaker Ian Tuason, Undertone is unsettling entertainment that hopefully frightens everyone into not opening anonymous attachments to their email.

As it turns out there are much worse things than viruses out there and all the Norton Utilities in the world won’t fix them.

Evy (Nina Kiri) cohosts a paranormal podcast with her friend Justin (Adam DiMarco) while looking after her comatose mother (Michele Duquet) upstairs. Thus we have the key ingredients for a very creepy and crumbly cake and newcomer Ian Tuason gets it in the oven for a torturous slow bake.

Evy and Justin play a series of audio files throughout Undertone’s 94-minute runtime that get increasingly more disturbing, detailing a young couple’s entrapment by an Old Testament demon that preys on newborn children.

Isolated and on the outs with her boyfriend, Evy, a skeptic by nature, begins hearing strange things, her home seemingly infiltrated by the evil audio.

Tuason lets his camera wander freely around the house, occasionally keeping Evy in the frame at a watchful distance. She often turns and looks around, sensing another presence, but there’s no one there.

Filmed on a measly half-million dollar budget, Undertone isn’t popping with CGI or gallons of guts. It’s a slow burner that applies steady pressure, infecting protagonist and viewer equally with a subliminal menace, and it’s well worth your time.

Pro tip: If a recording of a demonic summoning comes up on your playlist, skip that track. Do not play it out loud especially if you have a ton of unresolved guilt issues, like Evy.

Nothing good will come of it.

Over Your Dead Body (2026)

Oh, munificent bounty!

Director Jorma Taccone (Lonely Island, MacGruber) blinks into elite company with Over Your Dead Body, a graphic and gruesome thriller that methodically sequences dark domestic comedy and Home Invasion horror into something special that perhaps belongs on the same Unicorn Noir shelf as True Romance, Brick, Fargo, Something Wild, and Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, movies that squeezed out quotably absurd dialogue between explosions of breathless brutality.

Like I said, elite company.

Dan (Jason Segel) is a hack television director married to untalented Australian actress Lisa (Samara Weaving). Separately they arrive at the same conclusion, that their stupid spouse is the reason for all the matrimonial misery.

And so begins a pair of murderous conspiracies culminating in a weekend trip to Dan’s family cabin for a Death Do Us Part party.

There isn’t a lot of witty banter flying around. Dan and Lisa are trying to destroy each other with words and deeds.

“I will give you one million dollars to shoot him in the fucking face,” Lisa snarls to Henry (Jake Curran), a would-be assassin in search of meaningful employment and friendship.

Henry isn’t the only visitor to their cozy cabin. Pete (Tim Olyphant), Allegra (Juliette Lewis), and Todd (Keith Jardine), a trio of escaped prisoners literally fall through the ceiling on top of the couple as they’re wrestling for control of a shotgun.

The power dynamic abruptly shifts. These are not your garden variety criminals. Happily deranged Pete, and his lady Allegra, a sadistic prison guard, are backed up by the towering Todd, one of the scariest and most formidable goons this side of Mike Mazurky.

Based on a Norwegian language film, Over Your Dead Body gets teeth-grittingly intense, particularly when Allegra announces she’s tired of the tedium and wants to play a game she learned on the job in lockup.

“Super easy to learn,” she explains. “We just go and grab a couple of guys, and we would drag them out of their cells, down to the laundry room where it was nice and quiet, and then draw this big circle around them, and then we would see who could fuck who first.

“The winner would get a pack of cigarettes. And the loser, well, the loser would just get fucked.”

To make matters worse, Todd, their burly bodyguard, is an undefeated champ. The depth of depravity brought by the convicts is indeed disturbing, sharpening the action to a fine edge.

Over Your Dead Body makes it frightfully apparent that bitterly feuding Dan and Lisa must somehow rekindle their relationship and join forces against a twisted trio of really mean maniacs. And so they do.

The makeup effects accompanying the inevitable battle royale are executed with artful exaggeration, gleefully maxing out the emotional payloads, as Pete gets hit by a car driven by Dan’s dad (Paul Guilfoyle) and Allegra’s foot is shot to pieces.

Durable Todd continues to terrorize Dan and Lisa after being knocked out with a pool ball in a sock, shot in the ass with buckshot, and stabbed half a dozen times with an entire rack of cutlery.

This lackey takes a licking and keeps on kicking!

That’s a small sample size of the delirious carnage on tap, but ultimately, Over Your Dead Body will win you over with its high-energy twists and humor the color of onyx.

Note: Fans of Jason Segel should also check out his show Shrinking on AppleTV. Segel and Harrison Ford play psychiatrists in need of counseling, and both the writing and acting are tops.

Segel has assembled a quality body of work, beginning with the absolutely essential Freaks and Geeks, and has quietly become one of our best actors, comic or otherwise.