Welcome to the heart of Knockout Horror. This is where we keep the hundreds of reviews we’ve written over the years. Let’s be honest: the horror genre is a minefield. For every Hereditary, there are a dozen low-budget disasters waiting to waste your Friday night. That’s where we come in.
We watch the good, the bad, and the absolute trash so you don’t have to. From the latest theatrical blockbusters to the obscurest oddities hiding in the depths of Tubi and Shudder, you’ll find our honest, unpretentious, and jargon-free verdicts right here. No film school lectures, just a horror fan telling you if it’s worth the popcorn.
A killer premise ruined by cowardly execution. Slanted (2026) promises Cronenberg-style body-horror but delivers a tame, derivative teen drama wearing a cheap rubber mask. Save your money and wait for streaming.
Spinning the Tubi original roulette wheel usually lands you on trash, but Hive (2026) manages to be something far more frustrating: aggressively average. It looks slick and features a great lead performance, but the interesting class-exploitation commentary is quickly ditched for generic, recycled “scary kids staring menacingly” tropes. It’s free to stream, but don’t bother pushing it to the top of your watchlist.
I am a massive fan of André Øvredal’s previous work, so I was incredibly excited to see what he would cook up with Passenger (2026). Unfortunately, my excitement was completely misplaced. Despite a highly promising van-life setup, this road-trip thriller is one of the most generic horror movies of the year. It completely squanders its unique setting, defaulting instead to predictable Hollywood jump scares and a recycled demonic haunting formula that is difficult to recommend to anyone but the most easily pleased genre fans.
You do not need to be well versed in reddit lore to enjoy Backrooms (2026). Directed by hyper-talented first-time filmmaker Kane Parsons, this big-screen adaptation of the internet analog-horror phenomenon delivers genuine, visceral scares. The first half is exceptionally scary, utilising a 90s camcorder aesthetic to tap into pure spacial dread. While the plot suffers from frustrating narrative gaps down the stretch, it remains a fantastic, self-contained nightmare that you need to catch in theatres before it is gone.
James Nunn’s Hungry is a surprisingly serious creature feature that trades campy tropes for atmospheric dread and brutal practical effects. While the Louisiana-set plot involving a rampaging hippo suffers from a sluggish middle act, its ruthless approach makes it a solid, visceral entry for horror fans seeking an atmospheric break from standard low-budget shark movies.
You can find independent British thriller Lure (2026) for free on Tubi right now, but you might want to consider scrolling past. While director Oliver Cox avoids the amateur technical pitfalls that usually plague low-budget projects, he commits the ultimate horror sin by delivering an incredibly dull, poorly explained movie. Heavily copying mechanics from Saw and Would You Rather, this single-room torture feature recycling its own ideas very quickly.
Folk horror is thriving on a worldwide scale, and Didier Konings’s Dutch entry Heresy (2024) is a magnificent hidden gem that deserves to be on your radar. Clocking in at a razor-sharp 61 minutes, this atmospheric period piece completely strips away unnecessary filler to deliver concentrated dread. Outstanding cinematography and an incredible performance from Anneke Sluiters make it an absolute triumph for genre purists.
Looking for some easy thrills and toothy spills? In our review of Deep Water (2026), we dive into a glossy survival piece that breaks away from typical Asylum-level garbage thanks to a real Hollywood budget. While the sharks ultimately play second fiddle to generic human drama and floating airplane fuselages, the film offers a perfectly fine, average afternoon watch… Just save your cinema ticket money and wait for it to hit streaming.
Body horror is in the midst of a massive, female-led rebirth, turning its lens toward societal expectations and bodily ownership. Natalie Erika James follows up Relic with Saccharine (2026), a Shudder release that tackles the raw, real psychological torment of binge-eating disorder via an ash-filled diet pill. It is an incredibly fresh and respectful concept, but a bloated runtime and tedious repetition keep it from reaching greatness.
Horror is maturing, moving far beyond faceless killers to fearlessly confront heavy historical trauma. Taratoa Stappard’s Mārama (2025) delivers an uncompromising, deeply unsettling Māori Gothic revenge tale that tackles the brutal atrocities of colonialism head-on. It is an essential, beautifully shot piece of cinema, but don’t walk into it expecting casual popcorn entertainment.
I love a good shark movie, but Chum (2026) is an absolute aquatic disaster. Scraping a barrel that spent the last few years rotting at the bottom of the ocean, director Jonathan Zuck completely squanders decent CGI shark effects on a tedious, hour-long kidnapping drama filled with inane dialogue. Read our full review to see why you should swap this VOD trap for a dishcloth.
Craving more after the record-breaking success of Obsession? It’s time to look back at where it all began. Curry Barker’s 2024 zero-budget debut, Milk & Serial, is a gritty, raw, and genuinely creepy found footage gem that weaponises internet prank culture into an absolute nightmare. The best part? You can watch it on YouTube right now for free.