Viewings: December 2025

 

Blogging may have taken a substantial hit, but I still managed to cover a bunch of new and old film discoveries worth writing about in 2025. Hope to repeat the same for next year.

Lam Nai-Choi's bonkers sci-fi actioner The Cat was easily the best find for me this month. It features one of the most epic fights you will ever witness between a cat and a dog; not to mention a multitude of other insane sequences.

Close behind is the N.Y.C. crime thriller Night of the Juggler. A cult film which was rescued from video hell this year, and was well worth it.

 

Film:

The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1947)

Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)

Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956)

North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)

Ikarie XB1 (Jindřich Polák, 1963)*

Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (William Beaudine, 1966)*

Carry On Screaming! (Gerald Thomas, 1966)

Carry On Doctor (Gerald Thomas, 1967)

Carry Om Camping (Gerald Thomas, 1969)

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (John D. Hancock, 1971)

Horror Hospital (Anthony Balch, 1973)

Sex of the Witch (Angelo Pannacciò, 1973)*

Torso (Sergio Martino, 1973)

Rollerball (Norman Jewison, 1975)

The House with Laughing Windows (Pupi Avati, 1976)

Logan’s Run (Michael Anderson, 1976)

Death on the Nile (John Guillermin, 1978)

New Year’s Evil (Emmett Alston, 1980)

Night of the Juggler (Robert Butler, Sidney J. Furie•, 1980)

The Hidden (Jack Sholder, 1987)

Lustmord (Hisayasu Satô, 1987)*

Love Letter in the Sand AKA Pervert Ward (Hisayasu Satô, 1988)*

The Cat (Lam Nai-Choi, 1992)

Death Machine (Stephen Norrington, 1994)*

Chicken Run (Peter Lord, Nick Park, 2000)

Darkness Falls (Jonathan Liebesman, 2003)*

The Belko Experiment (Greg McLean, 2016)

Malignant (James Wan, 2021)

Stelios (Girogos Tsemperopoulos, 2024)*

Nosferatu (Robert Eggers, 2024 / 2025)

Strange Harvest (Stuart Ortiz, 2024 / 2025)*

Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2025)*

Reflection in a Dead Diamond ( Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani, 2025)*

The Running Man (Edgar Wright, 2025)* 

 

Television:

The War Between the Land and the Sea (Dylan Holmes Williams, 2025)

Mastermind - Episodes 20-22 (Various, 2025 / 2026)*  

 

* First time viewings.

• Uncredited. 

 

Dada Debaser Notes:

• I wrote about some of my very favourite queens of giallo this month.
• Speaking of giallo, there aren’t too many that I like produced in between Argento’s Deep Red (1975) and Tenbrae (1982), Pupi Avati’s The House with the Laughing Windows, is superb, however. Additionally, it also happens to be a fantastic folk horror, too.
• I wish James Gunn stuck with writing horror screenplays instead of comic book movies. His irreverent humour felt more natural in The Belko Experiment compared to being shoehorned in Superman (2025).
• One half of The Vicious Brothers is back! It’s another faux TV show, too. Strange Harvest could have been another cult horror film like Grave Encounters (2011), but I found it somewhat lacking, despite the cosmic horror appeal.
• Reflection in a Dead Diamond might be one of the best looking films for me this year, but it's also one of the biggest disappointments as well, sadly. The constant flip-flopping of meta levels of reality and eras in time made it a slog to sit through. This experimental treatment just doesn't work in a what's essentially a throwback to Euro-spy films like it did with the directors' prior films.
• I was going about to blog about Russell T. Davies's latest unintentional comedy, The War Between the Land and the Sea (2025), but never had the time nor the motivation. The best thing about it was its acronym being changed to T.W.A.T.B.L.A.S.T. by Doctor Who fans.
• Bidi-bid-bidi rest in peace, Gil Gerard! Best known as Captain William "Buck" Rogers in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979). Coincidentally, two recurring characters, Colonel Wilma Deering and Princess Ardala, are featured in Buck Roger's 500 year wet dream in the opening credits of the pilot, despite the astronaut having not even met them yet.

In terms of the blogosphere, I enjoyed The Martorialist's fave choons old and new in 2025; Glen McCulla's in depth piece on Sergio Martino gialli; and The Flashback Fanatic's review on Rollerball (1975), which inspired me to rewatch the film and a host of other sci-fi flicks this month.

Best Old Films Discovered in 2025

As a realist, the chances of ever discovering a lost giallo on par with Tenebrae are none. As a dreamer, I'm watching dud after dud like Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes to prove myself wrong, regardless. That's why I'm always excited to watch an unfamiliar film as if it might potentially be a long, lost treasure. Granted, there could be booby traps everywhere, but occasionally you do find that precious gem. And that's what this lot of films are for your host:

The Mask of Fu Manchu (Charles Brabin, 1932)

The Mask of Fu Manchu is an outrageous, yet amusing gem from the pre-Code era. Like one of Fu Manchu's concoctions, the fact that it's over ninety years old and still a potent mix of sex, sadism and racism, makes it cinematic gold for me. ★★★★

 

Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang, 1945)

Fritz Lang’s morality tale unfolds unpredictably, shifting from melodrama to comedy before ending on a sour note. Edward G. Robison embodies the male mid-life crisis, while Joan Bennett is the quintessential femme fatale. Superb noir. ★★★★

 

Gun Crazy (Joseph H. Lewis, 1950)

Incredibly sexually suggestive film involving a Bonnie and Clyde like duo of gun nuts. In most films, there is a natural inclination to root for the underdog, in the case of Gun Crazy, this is particularly evident in the outlaw couple’s thrilling and tense heists. The film also stands out for its remarkably modern filmmaking style which has earned it a reputation for being ahead of its time. ★★★★

 

Yield to the Night (J. Lee Thompson, 1956)

Thompson, a staunch opponent of capital punishment, delivers a powerful film from his early oeuvre. Yield to the Night also showcases the acting talents of Diana Dors who shuns her glamourous image to demonstrate her acting abilities as a sympathetic prisoner awaiting her execution. It is unfortunate that Dors never had the opportunity to demonstrate her skills in more of her work, as her performance in this is exceptionally strong. ★★★½

 

The Demon (Brunello Rondi, 1963)

Daliah Lavi delivers a fantastic performance as a beautiful peasant woman whose rejection by her lover leads to madness and despair. To the town locals, she is a possessed woman. This unconventional Italian horror, shot in a mondo style at times, draws damning parallels between peasant superstitions and the Catholic Church. Highly recommended. ★★★★

 

Incubus (Leslie Stevens, 1966)

Despite its reputation as a poorly received and cursed film, Incubus exceeded my expectations. In fact, I actually found it to be a very good film. The pretentiousness of the Esperanto dialogue and its pretence of emulating an European art house production were not detracting factors, either. They were all part of its surreal charm. I also found William Shatner’s performance to be superb, too. A remarkably strange film that is undeserving of its negative reputation. ★★★½

 

The Ear (Karel Kachyňa, 1970)

Ludvík, a deputy minister, returns home from a political gathering with his intoxicated wife, Anna. Upon arrival, they encounter unsettling events, leading to paranoia and anxiety. Flashbacks reveal potential clues to their dire predicament. A tense and paranoid thriller, expertly filling a jigsaw puzzle and a fractured relationship over the course of the night  This was easily the standout title amongst the Eastern Bloc films I discovered this year. ★★★½

 

Night of the Juggler (Robert Butler, Sidney J. Furie, 1980)

Night of the Juggler is a film that really has earned its cult following. It’s a fascinating blend of sleaze, violence and a delightful nod to unapologetic film making seldom made today. It will definitely find appreciation by anyone who loves gritty crime thrillers from the 1970s and early 1980s. It’s packed with a dark and cynical atmosphere and keeps you on the edge of your seat with genuine suspense and tension. ★★★½

 

The Cat (Lam Nai-Choi, 1992)

The Cat is an amazingly eccentric film that should appeal to anyone with an interest in unconventional and whimsical films from around the world. Its influences are evident yet it instils its own brand of bizarre entertainment; making it a unique viewing experience. ★★★★

 

Tesis AKA Thesis (Alejandro Amenábar, 1996)

Alejandro Amenábar’s Hichcockian style thriller, centred on snuff tapes, is notable for its abundant plot twists and its red herrings. This is a particularly impressive film given its obvious low budget and the fact that it was written and directed by a 23-year-old film graduate shooting in his university. ★★★½

Cure (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 1997)

A chilling psychological thriller that makes me question why I didn’t watch it sooner. Unlike typical police procedurals, it develops in a rich, nuanced and intelligent way. It’s a slow-burn shocker that lingers on, especially after that final scene. Its subesequent influence on J-horror seems very obvious, in retrospect. ★★★★½

 

The Platform (Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, 2019) 

The Platform is a disturbing film; brutal, nihilistic and difficult to recommend to the squeemish. However, its most extreme aspect is its sci-fi concept. The brutalist construct that confines everyone to various levels serves as an allegory for both capitalism and the class system. Can't believe I slept on this film for so long. ★★★★ 

 

In hindsight, there were a few films which grew on me the more I marinated on them. At the very least, they warranted an honourable mention here: 

 

Mystery of the Wax Museum (Michael Curtiz, 1933) 

Phantom Lady (Robert Siodmak, 1944)

Where the Sidewalk Ends (Otto Preminger, 1950)

Assault! Jack the Ripper (Yasuharu Hasebe, 1976) 

Her Vengeance (Lam Nai-Choi, 1988)

Polytechnique (Denis Villeneuve, 2009)  

Best Films of 2025

With so many so-called blockbusters, Oscar-bait films and international sleepers, I managed to see 37 titles released in 2025 which potentially appealed to me; some of which were technically released in another country last year. The overall quality was slim pickings and a substantial downgrade compared to the previous year. Anyway, here are the best new films I saw:

Warfare (Alex Garland & Ray Mendoza)

A gripping and intense story based on the memories of two Navy SEAL platoons involved in a tense firefight after the Battle of Ramadi in 2006. It’s a tough film to watch due to its harrowing and uncompromising nature. Both the sound and visuals made me regret not seeing it in the cinema during its brief theatrical run. ★★★★

 

The Ugly Stepsister (Emillie Blichfeldt)

Emillie Blichfeldt’s twisted take on the classic Cinderella fairytale is a grotesque critique of impossible beauty standards and its prestigious value in society. Inspired by Cronenberg’s body horror and Borowczyk’s baroque erotica, it’s one of this year’s unexpected surprises. Glad Second Sight is releasing it on 4K UHD early next year. ★★★½

 

Steppenwolf (Adilkhan Yerzhanov)  

From Kazakhstan comes a bleak and brutal post-western featuring a protagonist who's more villainous than the archetypal antihero we're accustomed to. The contrast of life being treated worthlessly against the stunning vista of the Kazakh Steppe evokes the post-apocalyptic Mad Max films by George Miller. ★★★½

 

Weapons (Zach Cregger)

Cregger’s sophomore effort, a compelling mystery about the disappearance of a school class during the night, unfolds through non-linear chapters told through the perspectives of individual characters. It’s a surprisingly engrossing slow burner featuring one of this year’s most ghastly film characters. ★★★½

 

Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)

You know it's been an abysmal year for cinema when Robert Eggers's weakest effort thus far still makes it on your end of year list. It's also testament to the auteur's skills and talents surpassing any major misgivings I had with his remake of the bootleg Dracula tale. ★★★½

28 Years Later (Danny Boyle) 

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland created what's arguably the most significant game changer for zombie movies since George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) with 28 Days Later (2002). Their return to the franchise proved to be highly divisive, as it diverged from audience expectations. Despite this, I found it fascinating to learn about the evolution of the Rage virus along with a ravaged Great Britain. What I didn't expect were a compelling family drama and a commentary on Brexit. ★★★½

Lurker (Alex Russell)

Alex Russell’s directorial debut is a gripping psychodrama about a disturbed fan’s parasocial relationship with a rising celebrity. The film’s cringe-worthy moments and awkwardness are so intense that they leave you feeling unclean. Théodore Pellerin and Archie Madekwe deliver great performances. ★★★½

 

The Surfer (Lorcan Finnegan) 

Nicolas Cage undergoing some form of mental breakdown or existential crisis has practically become a genre in itself. Lorcan Finnegan’s The Surfer is a surreal comedy and psychological thriller that showcases Cage’s talents and the best film I've watched set mostly in a parking lot. Cage's most entertaining movie since Mandy (2018). ★★★½

 

Warfare | Opening minutes

Alex Garland & Ray Mendoza | 2025

 

 

Around this time of year, I usually try to be open-minded and hope to find notable films I might have missed in the foreseeable future. However, for the time being, I’ve really had enough. The output was so poor to mediocre that I can't even be bothered with compiling a Worst of 2025 list.

 

I hope 2026 is a significant improvement, or else I might lose my mind.

Viewings: November 2025

With the long, cold nights in full effect, binging on movies with a hot cup of cha is a necessary survival tactic for your host. The majority of November's viewings are rewatches, but there are a couple of first time gems worth praising.

Edward G. Robinson proving simpin' ain't easy in Fritz Lang's superb Scarlet Street is easily my favourite find this month. Ought to check out The Woman in the Window (1944) considering it's practically the same cast and crew involved.

Fast forwarding to the present day, Alex Russell's psychological drama Lurker is a compelling tale of fan love and obsession with a neat little twist.

Film:

La Chienne AKA The Bitch (Jean Renoir, 1931)*

The Glass Key (Stuart Heisler, 1942)*

This Gun for Hire (Frank Tuttle, 1942)

Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang, 1945)*

The Curse of Frankenstein (Terence Fisher, 1957)

The Angry Red Planet (Ib Melchior, 1959)*

Dark of the Sun (Jack Cardiff, 1968)*

Daughters of Darkness (Harry Kümel, 1971)

The Omega Man (Boris Sagal, 1971)

The Case of the Bloody Iris (Giuliano Carnimeo, 1972) 

Death Falls Lightly (Leopoldo Savona, 1972)* 

The Bloodstained Lawn (Riccardo Ghione, 1973)*

Murder by Decree (Bob Clark, 1979)

 Altered States (Ken Russell, 1980)

The Beyond (Lucio Fulci, 1981)

Ms .45 (Abel Ferrara, 1981)

Wild Style (Charlie Ahearn, 1982)

Re-Wind (Hisayasu Satô, 1988)*

Hardware (Richard Stanley, 1990)

Nikita (Luc Besson, 1990)

Dead End (Jean-Baptiste Andrea, Fabrice Canepa, 2003)

The Mother of Tears (Dario Argento, 2007)

Sunshine (Danny Boyle, 2007)

The Ruins (Carter Smith, 2008)

Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014)

Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro, 2025)*

Lurker (Alex Russell, 2025)*

One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2025)*

Warfare (Alex Garland, Ray Mendoza, 2025)

 

Television:

Blake's 7 - Series 2 (Various, 1979)  

Prisoner: Cell Block H - Episodes 3-10, Series 1 (Various, 1979)*

Mastermind - Episodes 16-19 (Bill Wright, 2025 / 2026)* 

*First time viewings.

 

Dada Debaser Notes:

• I discovered The Misfits' Walk Among Us album cover originated from a scene from The Angry Red Planet.
• Surprised by how brutal Jack Cardiff's Dark of the Sun was; especially when it's made out to be a '60s men-on-a-mission actioner with Rod Taylor, Jim Brown and Kenneth More.
• Can't overstate my love for This Gun for Hire. Alan Ladd being an unfathomably based hitman might possibly be the earliest example of the anti-hero assassin in a film. Not hard to see the on-screen chemistry shared with Veronica Lake, either; considering she was an absolute smoke show in it.
• It's a shame Ladd and Lake's The Glass Key isn't on the same level as This Gun for Hire. Despite the so-so direction and a convoluted plot, there's a cool escape sequence in it, as well as a death by cuckoldry scene, which makes it at least memorable.
• Despite its title and associated cast, I should have realised The Bloodstained Lawn wasn't a giallo once I spotted the robot chilling in the background. Very dull and meandering, but Marina Malfatti is a definite highlight as an aristocratic noble using the aforementioned robot to suck the blood out of working class undesirables and selling it. Plus, she wears revealing garments like in her gialli. Sweet!
• Nearly seventy years old and Hammer's The Curse of Frankenstein does everything better than Mexican Tim Burton's adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic novel. It wasn't struck by Disneyfied visuals, uneven pacing and Cushing and Lee weren't playing characters with daddy issues.
• A film I never totally understood (and still don't, to be honest), is Ken Rusell's Altered States. William Hurt experiencing religious visions in a sensory depravation chamber and consuming enough psychedelic drugs to turn him into primal matter are worth watching the film, however. I love the caveman scene.
• Both of Arrow's restorations for Ms .45 and Wild Style look incredible in 4K. It's crazy how well they depict early '80s New York City on such small budgets. In the very remote chance an Arrow rep is lurking here, can we please get The Exterminator (1980) next year?
• The Mother of Tears is a perfect example as to why a director should never finish their trilogy if too much time has passed. Dario Argento fell off well before producing this unintentional comedy. I'm dreading Gareth Evans announcing The Raid Part III.
• Serious question for all the “Paul Thomas Anderson is the master of modern cinema” people: which brand of colouring crayon tastes the best?
• Already discussed the second season of Blake's 7 in detail, but I feel compelled to include Shivan's scene just to end the month on a high:

Blake's 7 | Voice from the Past | Shivan Scene

George Spenton-Foster | 1979 

A Stan Is Born

Lurker (Alex Russell, 2025)

One of my favourite books is John Ronson’s The Psychopath Test. An absorbing read that provides collective examples of psychopathy within human society; including cases amongst corporate and governmental sectors. A defining constant in all the cases noted, is the lack of genuine empathy a psychopath exhibits; an obvious sign in identifying a wolf in sheep's clothing. (The smartest ones attempt to feign it, however.) Writer and director Alex Russell’s debut feature Lurker (2025), a film dealing with celebrity obsession and the infiltration of the sycophantic inner circle of an emergent pop musician, automatically brought me back to Ronson's book.

Lurker follows Matt Morning (Théodore Pellerin), a young retail clerk at a Los Angeles clothing store frequented by local celebrities. A chance encounter occurs when Oliver (Archie Madekwe), a British singer, visits and is impressed by Matt’s choice of song playing in the shop. The two strike up a friendship which leads to Matt being invited to the singer’s concert and spending time backstage with him. It is not long before Matt is doing menial chores for Oliver in his Los Angeles apartment; including catering to the singer’s sceptical entourage. Thus Russell’s drama follows Matt’s social ascent through the ranks of Oliver’s inner circle and becoming something of a celebrity himself.

In one instance, Oliver is filming a sheep for his latest music video. Noah (Daniel Zolghadri), the videographer has run out of battery power for his camera despite being certain he had packed an extra battery pack. Matt conveniently has his own camcorder and offers advice on how to shoot it and integrate it with the existing footage. This was clearly intentional sabotage by Matt, but proved beneficial for the protagonist as it elevated his social standing within Oliver’s hierarchy.

The music video itself serves as a direct metaphor between celebrity and fandom. Matt’s camcorder is mounted on the sheep which provides its perspective of Oliver; effectively satirising fans as herdlike suckers. A fitting comparison given the deification of celebrities in the modern era.

However, Jamie (Sunny Suljic), a work colleague from the clothing store, disrupts the social climb. He asks Matt if can attend one of Oliver’s parties and subsequently gains entry to the star’s circle. Jealousy arises when Jamie receives more attention than Matt. During a London concert tour, Matt’s psychopathy becomes more than evident when he injures Jamie during a photo shoot. Consequently, he is expelled from Oliver’s circle and returns to L.A. To regain his position, Matt resorts to unethical methods, including providing backstage passes and spiking the drinks of two underage girls. The after-party being unknowingly recorded with cameras installed in Oliver’s house. This situation creates a blackmail scenario where Matt exerts control over the pop star.

The power shift in the film’s final act occasionally approaches psychological thriller territory, producing genuinely tense scenes. A notable example is the scene in which Oliver enters Matt’s room to retrieve the incriminating footage on a SSD. This sequence exemplifies the strained nature of their relationship being taken to an extreme with an unexpected and awkward homoerotic wrestling scene. WTF?

A low-fi narrative exploring themes of cliques, loneliness and parasocial relationships, Lurker examines the lengths an obsessive individual would go to find a sense of belonging. While the film is not new territory, as evidenced by the 2023 film Saltburn (also featuring Archie Madekwe) which explored similar themes in the context of class, Alex Russell’s work is more nuanced and less exaggerated than Emerald Fennell’s. In contrast, Lurker is more grounded in reality and makes a parasitic individual like Matt more believable as a character existing in our world. Additionally, Matt Morning makes for a good fit as the manipulative little brother of the ghoulish Louis Bloom.

The lyrics in Oliver’s latest music video provide a contrasting perspective, illustrating the chilling conclusion that love and obsession are synonymous for the celebrity who craves adulation. This creates an unhealthy symbiotic relationship between star and fans. Consequently, much like the film’s many awkward scenes, the message lingers long after the credits roll.

Perhaps the most intentionally cringeworthy film released this year; a noteworthy achievement given Nicolas Cage’s hell in The Surfer. More significantly, it marks an impressive feature debut for writer and director Alex Russell. Primarily targeted at Gen Z with crossover appeal, Lurker is a worthy standout this year.

Viewings: October 2025

Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia's The Platform was such an enthralling, sci-fi thriller that it made me check out his two other films, post haste. Sadly, they're significant downgrades from his stellar debut; his latest effort amongst the worst watches of 2025. Still, that doesn't tarnish my appreciation for The Platform (technically, the sequel does a tiny bit) for its hellish concept and biting social commentary; earning it the coveted Dada Debaser Film of the Month™. Highly recommended,

 

Film:

 Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid, 1943)*^

Obscene Desire (Giulio Petroni, 1978)*

Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983)

Graveyard Disturbance (Lamberto Bava, 1987)

Until Death (Lamberto Bava, 1987)

Chainsaw Scumfuck (Alex Chandon, 1988)^

Creep (Christopher Smith, 2004)

Hush (Mark Tonderai, 2008)*

The House of the Devil (Ti West, 2009)

Byzantium (Neil Jordan, 2012)*

Coherence (James Ward Byrkit, 2013)* 

Circle (Aaron Hann, Mario Miscione, 2015)*

The Platform (Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, 2019)*

Deadstream (Joseph Winter, Vanessa Winter, 2022)

The Platform 2 (Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, 2024)*

The Long Walk (Francis Lawrence, 2025)* 

Rich Flu (Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, 2024 / 2025)* 

Night of the Reaper (Brandon Christensen, 2025)*

Other (David Moreau, 2025)* 

V/H/S/Halloween (Various, 2025)*

 

Television:

 Whicker's World - A Handful of Horrors: I Don't Like My Monsters to Have Oedipus Complexes (Charles Denton, 1968)*

Prisoner Cell Block H - Episodes 1 & 2 Series 1 (Various, 1979)*

Mastermind - Episodes 12-15 (Bill Wright, 2025 / 2026)* 

 

*First time viewings.

^Short film. 

 

Dada Debaser Notes:

• You know horror directors have gone full meta when The House of the Devil, a fantastic throwback to '80s horror, is also being referenced in Night of the Reaper, a not so great throwback to '80s horror.
• Hard to believe David Moreau, the director behind one of the best films of last year, could deliver such a terrible effort this year with Other. Not even Olga Kurylenko in her undies could save this indulgent snoozefest.
• A random Letterboxd'er described The Long Walk as Stand By Me meets Punishment Park, which is accurate, but nowhere near as good as those films. Imagine if George A. Romero got to direct it in the '80s like he originally planned to, instead of the bloke who did The Hunger Games films!
• So glad Deadstream finally got a Blu-Ray release, as it's one of the best horror comedies in years. Also pleased the Winters' excellent short film To Hell and Back from V/H/S/99 (2022) is included as a bonus extra.

Other stuff I enjoyed: Don't know how anyone can find the time to write an in depth film review every day of the month, but Arena of the Unwell's 31 Days of Halloween reviews were hilariously entertaining reads. I also enjoyed a video on Eagle's Doomlord in my YouTube home page. A rare algorithm win.

Viewings: September 2025

It's been a rotten film year thus far, but Zach Cregger's Weapons is a noteworthy highlight that goes against the grain, and a reason to still remain positive. A gem of a film balancing dark humour and dread filled horror with aplomb.

 

Film:

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sidney Lanfield, 1939) 

Missile to the Moon (Richard E. Cunha, 1958)*

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Terence Fisher, 1959)

Teenage Gang Debs (Sande N. Johnsen, 1966)*

A.A.A. Masseuse, Good Looking, Offers Her Services (Demofilo Fidani, 1972)*

Love and Death in the Garden of the Gods (Sauro Scavolini, 1972)

Dark City (Alex Proyas, 1998)

Caught Stealing (Darren Aronofsky, 2025)*

Dracula: A Love Tale (Luc Besson, 2025)*

Weapons (Zach Cregger, 2025)* 

 

Television:

 Earth - Season 1 (Various, 2023)*

Mastermind - Episodes 7-11 (Bill Wright, 2025 / 2026)*

*First time viewings.

 

Dada Debaser Notes:

• Torn over which is the best Sherlock Holmes film adaptation I watched this month. 20th Century Fox's 1939 film boasts Basil Rathbone, the definitive actor to have played the great detective (even after the time jump), but I can't help being mesmerised by Hammer's gothic technicolour splendour in the 1959 film.
• A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services is an awful giallo that focuses more on its lead actress getting in and out of her kit for most of the film than anything else. Predictably dull and only notable for its relative obscurity (until recently).
• Sauro Scavolini's Love and Death in the Garden of the Gods is a twisted psychosexual drama before veering into giallo territory near the end. Definitely an acquired taste, but I enjoyed revisiting this again.
• Manhattan bad girl Terry (Diane Conti) moves into a Brooklyn neighbourhood and quickly moves up the ranks of a local gang — thanks to being complete dynamite in the sack  — in the largely plotless Teenage Gang Debs. It's a juvenile delinquency movie where the teens look around thirty, dance like your parents at a wedding and wear knitted cardigans at a knife fight. It's been done better elsewhere, but I did enjoy parts of it, though.
• Keep forgetting to make notes for Alex Proyas's Dark City, as I really want to review it, but too much time passes by where I'm no longer in the right zone to cover it. Incredible film, regardless.
• Style wise, Luc Besson's utterly awful Dracula: A Love Tale borrows heavily from Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation, initially. After that, he's mining the perfect scent scenes from Tom Tykwer's Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) and Jamelia's Money music video. Even with all the makeup, Caleb Landry Jones still looks like Axl Rose than the titular count, and the CGI stone gargoyles can't be taken seriously.
• Apart from featuring every bloke's sci-fi fantasy — a planet populated with extraterrestrial babes (there's always going to be a cat fight, eventually!) — the best thing about Missile to the Moon are the laugh out loud rock monsters:

Missile to the Moon | Rock Monsters Scene

Richard E. Cunha | 1958 

 

Other Stuff I Enjoyed This Month:

The third part in Crab Apple's incredible run down of BBC 2's Horror Double Bills; The Martorialist's favourite Female Rap Songs of the 2020s; The Flashback Fanatic's review of Heavy Metal (1981), Chris Wood's review of Assault (1971) and Dave Parker's epic Top 25 Horror Movies of 1982 video essay.

Children of the Night

Weapons (Zach Cregger, 2025)

Never really understood the praise for Zach Cregger's Barbarian (2022). Despite an intriguing concept, revolving around an Airbnb in a derelict neighbourhood, it was let down by some idiotic characters, particularly its lead, along with a ridiculous final act. As a result, I found the film to be somewhat mediocre and indistinguishable from the glut of other overrated horror titles released at the time. Therefore, with Cregger's latest effort Weapons (2025) receiving an abundance of love via critics and movie goers alike, I was more than willing to let its hype die down before even mustering the strength to see it. Fortunately, Weapons is a considerate improvement over Cregger's previous film and a welcome surprise.

Centred around the mysterious disappearance of a classroom of third graders from their homes one night, Weapons is a non-linear film broken up into multiple intersecting chapters; highlighting the ripple effect of the event via various characters. School teacher Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) the town's pariah blamed for the disappearance of her classroom, and Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), father to one of the missing children, embarking on his own personal investigation of the mass disappearance, have more screen time than some of the other featured characters, such as the school's comical principal Marcus Miller (Benedict Wong). The final and most expository chapter in the film deals with Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), the only child in Justine's class not to disappear into the night.

Performance wise, Garner and Brolin are very good in their roles; the former managing to play a deeply unlikeable character initially and turn it around into a deeply flawed and sympathetic individual, whilst the latter delivers an intensely emotional state of a parent coping with the loss of his child. However, it's Amy Madigan's performance as Aunt Gladys, best described as looking like the missing link between Kathy Griffin and the Joker, who will undoubtedly be most well remembered here. Partly because she resembles an old hag, with an ill-suited orange wig and terrifying grimace, but it's also due to how great she is playing such a manipulative and chilling character. No doubt, this won't be the last we'll see of Aunt Gladys.

Much like his previous film, Cregger injects dark humour throughout this mystery tale. Considering its premise, these comedic scenes are both cathartic and very welcome relief. Cregger also laces surreal dream sequences that tread the line of conventional horror films and art-house surrealism. Other highlights include some disturbing scenes that won't be forgotten in a hurry. Seeing a bloody and bug-eyed Benedict Wong running through the town like an absolute lunatic is one such example. Additionally, it's refreshing for a film to not cop out with a vaguely ambiguous explanation for an ending. An annoying cliché, which is both pretentious, unsatisfying and a blight upon many films. 

At a little over two-hours long, Cregger's slow burn thriller is just a bit too long for a film of this ilk. It's largely due to Cregger investing so heavily in multiple characters receiving a dedicated chapter. While these chapters are executed with entertaining satisfaction, I'm not entirely sure the film needed so many segments. Both the cop and junkie storylines could have probably been streamlined better, or possibly omitted. Still, along with a few plot holes, it's not a serious gripe in what's otherwise a genuinely entertaining film with a hilariously disturbing Benny Hill ending.

Hollywood occasionally delivers a large budget, mainstream horror that actually delivers the goods; Weapons is definitely one of those films for me. Given how mediocre I found Barbarian, I'm kind of glad I gave Zach Cregger a second chance as he might be the go-between of 2010s era James Wan and pre-up his own pretentious arse Ari Aster. Which subsequently has me eager to see what Cregger delivers when he tackles the Resident Evil franchise.

Recommended.  

Viewings: August 2025

Karel Kachyňa's The Ear was the only discovery I liked enough to even bother with a dedicated blog post. One of the few films dubbed as new wave which didn't bombard me with pseudo intellectual diarrhoea. The Ear is an accessible and thought provoking film, with some alarming parallels to our current timeline. Well worth checking out.

 

Film:

The Mask of Fu Manchu (Charles Brabin, 1932) 

The Long Hot Summer (Martin Ritt, 1958)

Beyond the Time Barrier (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1960)

Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey, 1962)

Lunch Hour (James Hill, 1962)*

Doctor Zhivago (David Lean, 1965)

The Ear (Karel Kachyňa, 1970)* 

Smile Before Death (Silvio Amadio, 1972)*

The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive (Francesco Mazzei, 1972)*

The Secret of Seagull Island (Nestore Ungaro, 1982)*

Cobra (George P. Cosmatos, 1986)

Enemy Territory (Peter Manoogian, 1987)*

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (Tony Randel, 1988)

Her Vengeance (Ngai Choi Lam, 1988)*

Def by Temptation (James Bond III, 1990)*

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (George Miller, 2024)

Eddington (Ari Aster, 2025)*

Red Sonja (M.J. Bassett, 2025)*

Superman (James Gunn, 2025)*

 

Television:

Mastermind - Episodes 4-6 (Bill Wright, 2025 / 2026)* 

*First time viewings.

 

Dada Debaser Notes:

• The god Leviathan, the Labyrinth, Dr. Channard cenobite, Pinhead's origin and Julia's metamorphosis from the wicked stepmother to the evil queen; this is how you creatively expand upon a classic film and deliver one of the best horror sequels ever. Feeling like a right mug not including it in my GOAT Brit flicks list.
• Did not expect the depth and drama exploring the price for revenge in Cat. III thriller Her Vengeance. There's still enough to appease the exploitation crowd, however, particularly an '80s action movie montage and a brutally violent showdown for a finale.
• Smile Before Death is a very sleazy giallo with an insufferable theme that plays ad nauseam. Effectively guaranteeing I'll never bother with it again.
• Sticking with giallo: The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive is an acceptable murder mystery surrounding the death of a randy priest. Hilariously, the detective investigating the case winds up proposing to one of the prime suspects.
• Enemy Territory is a curious entry from the legendary B-movie company Empire International Pictures. It's neither a horror, sci-fi or a fantasy movie, but an urban thriller set in an apartment building that's very much inspired by Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and The Warriors (1979). It's nowhere near as good as those, however, but it does have a great over-the-top performance by Tony Todd as The Count, the psychotic leader of a gang called The Vampires.
• James Gunn once again transplants his tried and tested formula of outsiders finding a surrogate family in another comic book movie. Worked with unfamiliar / forgotten characters like Star-Lord or Polka-Dot Man, but surprisingly not with his Superman outing. Gunn's irreverent humour also feels very dated and ill suited for such a wholesome character like the Man of Steel, especially after years of quips being run into the ground from similar movies. However, the biggest issue is the lack of time given for the viewer to process everything, and therefore it's one CGI set-piece to the next. I gave it three stars on Letterboxd; too generous, in hindsight. 
• There's a half decent crime thriller lurking about somewhere in Ari Aster's latest overlong picture. Having to wade through over an hour's worth of cringe, satirising the insanity of 2020, is the reason why I'll most likely never bother with Eddington again.

And finally: R.I.P. Terence Stamp and Ray Brooks!

Viewings: July 2025

The International Olympic Committee got the wrong anthem, but I found the right Kazakh film. Steppenwolf is a violent, post-western which kept me completely engaged during the recent heatwave that melted my computer. Ought to appease both genre film enthusiasts and cinephiles alike.

Nicolas Cage hitting rock bottom in the Australian psychological thriller The Surfer was another favourite of mine this month. Cage's best film since Mandy (2018), in my opinion.

 

Film:

It Came from Beneath the Sea (Robert Gordon, 1955)

The Man Called Noon (Peter Collinson, 1973)*

Eyeball (Umberto Lenzi, 1975)

Zombie Flesh Eaters AKA Zombie (Lucio Fulci, 1979)

Lost Souls (Tun-Fei Mou, 1980)*

Stagefright (Michele Soavi, 1987) 

Red to Kill (Billy Tang, 1994)*

Dangerous Animals (Sean Byrne, 2025)*

Steppenwolf (Adilkhan Yerzhanov, 2024 / 2025)* 

The Surfer (Lorcan Finnegan, 2024 / 2025)* 

 

Television:

Mastermind - Episodes 1-3 (Bill Wright, 2025 / 2026)* 

 

*First time viewings.

 

Dada Debaser Notes:

• This is a remix! To what? It's a remix! To what? It's a remix! Had no idea until watching a feature on the recent 4K UHD of Zombie Flesh Eaters that its theme was a remix. The original being featured on a colourised and edited version of Godzilla (1954), released in 1977.
• Stagefright is one of the best slashers of the 1980s and it should be a punishable offence everytime it's mislabelled as a giallo, just because it’s from Italy.
• Ray Harryhausen's stop motion magic completely carries It Came from Beneath the Sea.
• Lost Souls is a shocking exploitation film about Chinese illegal immigrants held captive by a criminal Hong Kong gang. Utterly sadistic and lives up to its notorious reputation. A dress rehearsal for the director's infamous Men Behind the Sun (1988); the film responsible for the introduction of the Cat. III rating.
• Speaking of Cat. III, a jacked up, killer rapist is triggered into unspeakable acts every time he sees a woman wearing anything red, while a bunch of actors, who must have graduated from the Jack Douglas School of Acting, pretend to be mentally disabled and pulling faces in Billy Tang's thriller Red to Kill.
• Jai Courtney plays an Aussie serial killer obsessed with sharks in Dangerous Animals. The result is Mick Taylor meets Steve Irwin and one very entertaining bad guy; everything else about the film, however, is not. A shark repellent heroine, a tedious romance and multiple eye-rolling plot conveniences to fill the running time, hamper a potentially great horror film.
• Eyeball is a giallo revolving around tourists being bumped off in Barcelona. The victims are robbed of an eye. Why the tour is still allowed to continue as the body count rises is beyond me, but it makes for one of Lenzi's most entertaining gialli, regardless. Love the ghost train scene.
• Richard Crenna is an amnesiac gunslinger out for revenge and the gold in the European western The Man Called Noon. Was intrigued by this as it's helmed by the same director responsible for the kitchen sink drama Up the Junction (1968), the classic crime caper The Italian Job (1969) and the underrated Hammer film Straight on Till Morning (1972). Decent western, overall; Patty Shepard steals the show as the villainess in black:

Wave in Fright

The Surfer (Lorcan Finnegan, 2024 / 2025)

The redemption arc of the eccentric Nicolas Cage is one that will be discussed by film bros for many years. The Oscar winner and Hollywood A-lister fell from mainstream grace and spent years in straight-to-video hell, before emerging again an as an indie film hero. He had also become an internet icon, prior; thanks to comical videos and memes, putting him on similar pedestal to Chuck Norris and Keanu Reeves. And so, Cage essentially cashed-in on his unhinged performances, leading to a late career renaissance and garnering critical acclaim with the films Mandy (2018) and Pig (2021). His latest endeavour, the psychological thriller The Surfer (2024 / 2025), is another notable manic performance in his illustrious career.

Set in the fictional locale known as Luna Bay in Western Australia, our protagonist makes his entrance driving his son to a house he's eager to buy. This residential property has personal significance to Cage's character, as it was his former childhood home. It's eventually revealed why he ended up in California; hence the lack of an Aussie accent. The Surfer is eager to buy it. Like all midlife crises, looking to rekindle the good times of his past; including his love of surfing. Being a Nicolas Cage film, nothing is ever that easy. It's not long before he's facing the prospect of being gazumped over his childhood home. To make matters worse, the territorial bogans won't allow non-locals to catch the waves. "Don't live here; don't surf here". 

One would assume, given The Surfer's premise and Cage playing the action hero in the past, it would be heading into familiar territory; it doesn't. Instead, director Lorcan Finnegan opts for a surreal endurance, that's somewhere in between the fractured mental state of The Swimmer (1968) and the daylight horror of the Aussie nightmare Wake in Fright (1971). Furthermore, Cage spends much of the film trapped in a car park like a fly in a web. Finnegan absolutely relishes putting Cage through a gamut of suffering to it coming across as sadistic. Observing Cage gradually degrade to the point of having to rummage through bins for food, and drinking water from puddles littered with cigarette butts, is both tragic and farcical.

Yet, despite some heavy themes, The Surfer does not to really dwell into really psychological horror territory like those other films. It's first and foremost a vehicle accommodating Cage's comfort zone in going doolally. Therefore, Finnegan's film is equally an alternative comedy as it is a psychological thriller, in many respects.

Before long, Cage's dreams begin to shatter in a series of anxiety driven scenarios. A vagrant, credited in the film as the Bum (Nic Cassim), living in a broken down car, shares many ambiguous similarities with Cage's Surfer. The Bum warns our eponymous character that the leader of the local surf thugs is the one responsible for the death of his son, along with killing his dog, too. 

Scally (Julian McMahon), a men's surf guru, serves as the film's antagonist. Dressed in a hooded, red towel robe and sporting and a constant devilish smile, Scally puts the Surfer through the absolute ringer; where his entire world begins to collapse. It reaches the point where he even doubts his very existence given the grand conspiratorial scheme that seems to be against him. Even nature itself plays a part in crapping on the titular hero, as a parrakeet literally shit on him, along with a run-in he has with a rat; evoking the Australian ecological horror Long Weekend (1978).

The Surfer's biggest highlight is Cage charging to the beach wielding a "LOCALS ONLY" sign post as a weapon and confronting Pitbull (Alexander Bertrand), one of Scally's bully disciples. The fight results in Cage ramming a dead rat into the bully's mouth. "You eat it! Eat the rat!", the most quotable line in the entire film.

A difficult film to pin down. I enjoyed this a great deal, but it's definitely not for everyone; even I can admit to that. A very close friend of mine, who had seen it prior to me, absolutely hated it and warned me about it. Curiosity obviously got the better of me, and I was far more positive about it than him, as I found it a far more rewarding experience than many of the other films that have been released this year. Therefore, I can absolutely see The Surfer being considered a Marmite film. Personally, this is Cage's most entertaining film since Mandy, so make of that what you will.