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.
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.
Amnesia, seizures, and a strangely intense husband… Something is deeply amiss in BT Meza’s Affection (2026). Anchored by a great performance from Jessica Rothe, this slow-burn sci-fi thriller shifts from a sluggish domestic drama into a viscerally nasty horror show. Is it worth a trip to the cinema? Read our full review to find out.
Everyone is talking about Backrooms, but why not wander through the looping liminal spaces of a Japanese subway instead? In our review of Exit 8 (2025), we look at how director Genki Kawamura successfully transforms a simple, viral indie walking simulator into a surprisingly tense, engaging, and emotional psychological thriller.
Curry Barker’s Obsession is a standout dark romantic horror film that breathes new life into the classic monkey’s paw trope. When a hopeless romantic makes a supernatural wish for love, he triggers a terrifying descent into extreme obsession. Featuring a star-making performance by Inde Navarrette, this unsettling and darkly comedic film is a must-watch horror highlight.
Damian McCarthy returns with Hokum (2026), a chilling supernatural mystery starring Adam Scott. Set in a rural Irish hotel with a dark past, this incredibly atmospheric horror film brilliantly blurs the line between human and supernatural terrors. Read our full review to find out why it is a must watch.