Quick Reviews: Slanted (2026) and Whistle (2026)

A Chinese-American teen gets surgery to change her race to win prom queen, leading to body horror as she deals with the consequences

Slanted is directed by Amy Wang which is her directorial debut.

Slanted is one of those films where I do think the bizarre idea is more interesting than the film itself. That mainly comes down to execution and the film really not going far enough with its premise, despite that however I do think the movie manages to stick the landing in the end.

I do think this is McKenna Grace’s first performance since Gifted (2017) where she actually got a lot of depth for her character. There are some emotional moments here that wrap into the film’s themes and McKenna Grace is able to really capture said moments and make something devastating. Shirley Chen is also quite great here as well, the first bit of the movie we see Joan Huang (played by Shirley Chen) wanting to change. The acting from Chen is careful and quite devastating especially since the viewer does know what is going to happen. When we do get the change of Joan Huang becoming Jo Hunt the result has its character moments but does eventually dry up.

What hurts the movie the most is the writing, as a body horror movie it’s just not there at all. Outside of a few moments towards the end there really isn’t a whole lot of body horror going on here. As a satire that tackles themes of racial identity and self-hatred they are done decently enough, but the execution feels like it’s missing some power hitting moments. The whole idea of the race change through this technology is far more interesting idea than the movie itself, the more interesting moments come in with Joan Huang’s parents reaction to her change. It’s genuinely devastating to watch seeing them completely destroyed and disappointed.

Then you have the rest of the movie that just kind of feels there and does not really do much with the themes. I think for the most part the movie gets the job done, but for a movie that tackles quite a heavy topic it surprisingly feels lacking.

Slanted is available on all VOD platforms.

6/10 C+

A group of high schoolers finds a cursed whistle that, when blown, causes a supernatural entity to hunt them down, manifesting their future deaths.

Whistle is directed by Corin Hardy director of The Hallow (2015) and The Nun (2018).

Whistle is if you took any of the Final Destination movies and proceeded to make your movie far less entertaining. While Whistle is not the worst copycat out there, it is a very forgettable one that is slightly frustrating due to having some interesting ideas that are held back by terrible writing.

The cast try their best with the script that’s given, Dafne Keen being the movie’s lead gets the bigger end of the stick naturally. So she’s able to turn in a decent enough performance, Sophie Nélisse is also not bad here either. A far more interesting movie is hiding in the romance between Chrys Willet (played by Dafne Keen) and Ellie Gains (played by Sophie Nélisse.) The rest of the cast do what they can, I don’t think anyone here turns in a bad performance it’s just a matter of the script being terrible and not giving a lot of these actors anything to work with.

The writing is what flat out kills this move on arrival, the dialogue has a few laughably bad moments that the movie tries to play as being serious. The large amount of cliches and lack of tension completely take the viewer out of the movie and can easily be predicted as to what is going to happen.

There are some creative kills here, but just getting to them feels like a chore. Which is a shame because I do think the whole idea of the whistle causing the deaths of how someone is going to die is pretty interesting. Unfortunately the movie completely botches the idea and goes for the most generic direction possible.

There really isn’t much else more to say here, if you have seen any horror movie within the last 10 years. Then you have already seen Whistle and know exactly how it’s going to end. In a year that so far has delivered a lot of great horror movies, this one really feels out of place.

Whistle is available on all VOD platforms.

3/10 D-

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (2026) Film Review

A young girl disappears in Egypt and returns eight years later, physically unwell and possessed by a demon, terrorizing her family in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is directed by Lee Cronin director of The Hole in the Ground (2019) and Evil Dead Rise (2023).

After Evil Dead Rise (2023) I was quite excited to see what Lee Cronin was going to do next, when it was announced it would be a take on The Mummy I was pretty intrigued. I’m always a sucker for different takes on the Universal monster movies, while Lee Cronin’s The Mummy isn’t a terrible movie and does have a lot to like here. There is a whole lot holding it back that ultimately makes the experience feel incredibly lackluster.

The acting for the most part is decent, everyone does what they can with a very generic script that does not give any of the cast anything striking to work with. May Calamawy who plays Detective Dalia Zaki probably gives the best performance here even though her character is one note and by the end we really don’t know much about her. Natalie Grace as Katie Cannon gives a creepy performance but that’s really about it, there are times when the creepiness works well and other times where it comes off as incredibly over the top.

The best part of the movie is the gore, if you have heard anyone talk about this movie the one thing that people will tell you is that it’s nasty. Which it absolutely is, there are a few moments here that will definitely make the viewer cringe. For a mainstream studio horror movie that’s quite surprising, while it does get very over the top. Early on it’s quite effective in bringing the viewer into the picture and effectively creates this mean spirited atmosphere.

With that being said, what hurts this movie the most is the script. It’s very clear Lee Cronin wanted to make The Mummy very Evil Dead like, so much in fact that there are times where you almost think you are watching a new installment in the series. Doing that is fine but when you mix it with very bare bone elements of The Mummy and bring in elements from The Exorcist it starts to become a gigantic mess. The character decision making is a bit too hard to ignore, I’m not expecting a Mummy movie to be grounded but there are a lot of very ridiculous decision making moments that ultimately take the viewer out of the experience.

The running time is also a huge issue, the 2 hour and 14 minute runtime is not justified here at all. There is a whole lot of padding for the sake of it and there are even some scenes that could have flat out just been cut, Katie terrorizing the family starts to become incredibly redundant, the other kids being possessed doesn’t go anywhere and the final act is a mashed up mess that feels way too over the top for its own good.

Overall you could do a lot worse than Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, but it is frustrating since there is a good movie in here somewhere. It’s just buried within a lot of extra bunk that holds the movie back.

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is currently in theaters.

5/10 C

Honey Bunch (2026) Film Review

Diana is a head trauma patient with memory loss whose husband takes her to a secluded, “cozy” mansion for a radical new treatment, only to find the staff is secretive and the therapy disturbing.

Honey Bunch is directed by Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer both of which previously directed Violation (2020).

I was very impressed with Mancinelli’s and Fewer’s directorial debut Violation (2020) so I was very excited to see what they would do next, while Honey Bunch isn’t as good as Violation (2020) I still do think this is an incredibly solid follow up and has a lot to like about it.

The performances are solid, particularly Grace Glowicki as Diana. Glowicki gives a believable, meditative and this psychological performance almost like we are seeing through her eyes. It’s a stunning performance that really gives the viewer a lot to explore as the movie progresses, she also delivers some genuinely sweet and vulnerable moments that stick with the viewer throughout the experience.

The whole theme of memory being recovered and feeling the unease about relationships is so well done here, it’s done at this slow burn type of pace that slowly creeps up on you and ultimately shows the final result. The tone plays into why the film works as well as it does, it’s unnerving and at times oddly whimsical. It reveals itself in dissociation and ambiguity without ever fully explaining itself, it keeps the viewer informed just the right amount to have you stay on the ride.

The technical aspects such as the cinematography from cinematographer Adam Crosby is very beautifully done and gives the film a personality, it has this balance of beauty and darkness that is truly mesmerizing and really keeps the viewer invested and motivates the viewer to explore the film’s world. There’s a lot of striking moments here that really leave you in awe.

Overall Honey Bunch might have some pacing problems, however the film makes up for it with just about everything else. If you are a fan of slow burn horror films this is definitely something worth checking out!

Honey Bunch is available on Shudder.

7/10 B

Sweetness (2026) Film Review

When a superfan learns that her rock-star idol is spiraling into addiction, she makes it her mission to save him, whether he wants her help or not. However, when her desperate plan spins out of control, she kidnaps him in a delusional attempt to fix him. What started as compassion soon turns into captivity as she locks him away in the name of love.

Sweetness is directed by Emma Higgins which is her directorial debut

Sweetness is basically Gen-Z Misery (1990), the main difference here is this movie released at a time where Stan culture is at its most insufferable. This one mainly focuses on the teenage celebrity obsession which the movie surprisingly executes quite well.

It helps that the Rylee (played by Kate Hallett) and her friend Syd (played by Aya Furukawa) actually do look like teenagers, it makes the movie a bit more on the grounded side and helps execute its themes a lot better. Hallett and Furukawa also give great performances as well and lead to some interesting dialogue exchanges. Hallett sells the transition from an awkward and lovestruck teenager to somebody who is very unhinged in this quite disturbing and realistic way. Without Hallett I don’t think Sweetness would have worked nearly as well as it did.

When it comes to tone and pacing , Emma Higgins nails it. She slowly builds this atmosphere around Rylee, she starts out friendly and being lovestruck then slowly but surely turns unhinged. It’s carefully done and does not feel rushed at all, there might not be as many powerful and striking moments as there were in Misery (1990) but it’s still quite impressive to see how well crafted and paced Sweetness really is with its tone.

There are definitely moments in the writing where you need to suspend your disbelief, but even then those moments make for an interesting satirical edge that grabs the viewer’s attention. The character writing for Rylee is actually quite solid, we get a quite tragic backstory as to why she became the way she did and it’s all told decently well.

Overall Sweetness is a decent little thriller, it’s definitely not going to reinvent the whole Misery (1990) premise but I do think the way the story is told and the performances make this one worth a watch.

Sweetness is available on all VOD platforms.

6/10 C+

Thrash (2026) Film Review

A massive hurricane floods a South Carolina town, and bull sharks swim inland, forcing residents to fight for survival.

Trash is directed by Tommy Wirkola director of Dead Snow (2009), Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014), What Happened to Monday (2017), Violent Night (2022) and a few others.

Not a whole lot to comment on here since Thrash is basically if you took the idea of Crawl (2019) and replaced the alligators with sharks. It’s also clear that Netflix was trying to get their Sharknado (2013) moment with this movie, however all this results in is a very dull shark movie that has a good cast and some decent kills but that is really about it.

Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak and Djimon Hounsou all give fine enough performances, the character writing however is incredibly bland and just doesn’t have the investing or striking moments it needs to draw the viewer in. Had the movie just went nuts with the idea rather than trying to have a serious tone at certain points with the characters I think you could have maybe given this a pass. However the movie opts to go the tonally confused route with its character writing that ultimately hurts itself.

I think the main problem here is the movie wants a little bit of everything. It wants to be this silly and over the top shark movie while also wanting to be taken seriously during a lot of moments. The way the movie tries to execute this is rough and really feels like they are just trying to pad out time, the scenes with the kids raised by the abusive caretaker family are quite terrible and feel incredibly out of place. I get that most shark movies aren’t made with character writing in mind, however this does feel quite lazy and almost feels like there wasn’t exactly an attempt to really try.

I’m struggling to think of more to say, Thrash is a very forgettable shark movie that you are absolutely going to forget about almost immediately after watching.

Trash is available on Netflix.

3/10 D-

Dracula (2026) Film Review

A 15th-century prince denounces God after his wife’s death, becoming the cursed, immortal Dracula to bring her back from the dead

Dracula or Dracula: A Love Tale is directed by Luc Besson director of Léon: The Professional (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), Lucy (2014), Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017), Dogman (2023) and many others.

Luc Besson’s Dracula feels like it saw Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)and said “I can do that too” and then proceeds to fail at doing so. While not the absolute worst adoption of Dracula, it is one of the most forgettable and uninspired ones that fails to bring the viewer into its world and suffers from very shallow character writing.

The performances aren’t bad here, Caleb Landry Jones does a pretty well as Dracula even if the character writing leaves a lot more to be desired. Matilda De Angelis is clearly having a blast as Maria, Christopher Walz is also not bad here at all. It’s really a shame the character writing is just completely flat, Jones, Angelis and Walz are great actors who try what they can with the script but it ultimately feels wasted on a very messy movie.

The production design and costumes are nice and fit well with the movie, they also do a great job of complimenting the period in time. But in between all of that is bizarre and terrible VFX animated gargoyles for absolutely no reason at all. It’s a bizarre choice from Luc Besson that ultimately does take you out of the movie due to just how out of place it really is. The cinematography from cinematographer Colin Wandersman can only salvage so much because these gargoyles do stick out like a sore thumb and you can’t exactly erase something that sticks out like that.

The writing is the movie’s biggest issue, as I said before the movie desperately tries to be Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) and completely fails at it. The movie does have its original ideas but those fall flat almost immediately due to the writing just not being there to give them any power. Which leaves the movie desperately trying to pull from Coppola’s film which this movie does not even come close to, in fact if I could describe this movie in a single sentence it would be “Coppola’s Dracula but with terrible looking gargoyles.”

Not much else to say here, you can easily do a lot worse than Dracula but there are far better adaptions out there that are much more worthy of your time.

Dracula is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

Scream 7 (2026) Film Review

A new Ghostface emerges in Sidney Prescott’s new home, targeting her daughter, forcing Sidney to confront her past.

Scream 7 is directed by Kevin Williamson director of Teaching Mrs. Tingle. Scream 7 serves as a sequel to Scream VI (2023) and as the seventh installment of the franchise.

There is a saying that I have been saying ever since I started reviewing film and that is “I like to give every film the chance to impress, surprise or disappoint” I have stayed true to this ever since.

If you know anything about the production history of Scream 7 you will know that it was a gigantic mess, to put it in short Radio Silence left due to Spyglass wanting Scream 7 to be rushed into development (Radio Silence wanted to work on Abigail first.) Melissa Barrera was fired for a Instagram story she made about Palestine that Spyglass labeled “antisemitic” (it was not) and then soon after Jenna Ortega left her reason of leaving was solidarity with Melissa. Finally Christopher Landon who was the replacement for Radio Silence left due to death threats (which this goes without saying but should not have happened, I get people were upset about Melissa Barrera being fired but this was uncalled for.)

Despite all of this however, I gave Scream 7 a fair chance and unfortunately the movie itself is just not great at all. It might have been passable for a basic slasher movie, but as a Scream movie it completely misses on what makes the franchise so great and fun.

I’ll start with the performances that are decent and good, Isabel May plays Sidney Prescott’s daughter Tatum she is a fine enough addition to the series and admittedly does have a couple of decent moments with Neve Campbell. Tatum isn’t exactly a well written character but I guess what saves her here is Isabel May’s decent performance. Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox are the movie’s best parts, Campbell works her magic as Sidney Prescott and perhaps this is one of her best portrayals of the character. Courtney Cox who although disappears during the last bit of the movie, does a great job as Gal Weathers once again (although I will say her entrance to the movie is very corny and is the definition of a “please clap” moment.) Gal Weathers has always been my favorite character of the Scream characters who have been here since the beginning, so it was great to see her heavily involved. As a duo Campbell and Cox do very well, there is one scene in particular towards the end of the movie that works wonderfully and shows some character moments that I do wish the rest of the movie had more of.

Everyone else here is fine enough, McKenna Grace is sadly not in the movie for very long but at the very least results in the movie’s best kill by far. Matthew Lillard returns as Stu Macher which he does give a fine enough performance it’s just the writing that is really holding him back. What worked so well years ago with his performance does not exactly translate here.

The main issue with Scream 7 mainly comes down to the writing, a large amount of it is nostalgia and IP worship, think of The Rise Of Skywalker (2019). It’s clear that Williamson wants to relive the glory days, bring everything back to the start. Bringing in a bunch of cameos that people will point at the screen and say “oh look I remember that guy” Williamson is clearly a talented man but in Scream 7 it feels like this was done by an entirely different person. Scream 7 introduces AI into the mix which on paper it’s a fine enough idea, but the execution is very one note and does not really say anything about AI. It’s more so seeing someone use Stu as a way to taunt Sidney and then there is the cameo fest during the movie’s third act which is embarrassing and somehow gets worse as it goes on.

The movie’s reveals of the antagonists are embarrassing to say the least, the first one which happens about the middle portion is a Roy Burns from Friday The 13th: A New Beginning (1985) moment where you get one scene of this guy and never see him again until he’s unmasked. The final act reveals are way too predictable for their own good, the motivations are horribly written and feel like an afterthought, the antagonists themselves are also just not interesting enough at all, you do not care about their supposed motivations you do not care about them as people and they most definitely don’t take you into the movie.

Scream 7 is easily the worst of the franchise, say what you will about Scream 3 (2000) but at the very least that it said something about the movie industry and is genuinely fun. Scream 7 just feels like a whole lot of nothing, a bunch of ideas squished together that feel like more of something that the in universe film series STAB would parody. Much like the live action Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (2025) remake, for a movie that has had a lot of controversies when you look at it as what it is there is just truly not a whole lot to say here.

Scream 7 is available on all VOD platforms.

3/10 D-

Quick Review: This Is Not A Test (2026) Film Review

A group of high school students takes refuge in their school during a zombie apocalypse, forcing them to deal with their personal issues alongside the undead threat.

This Is Not A Test is directed by Adam MacDonald director of Backcountry (2014), Pyewacket (2017) and Out Come the Wolves (2023).

There really is not a whole lot to say here, This Is Not A Test is basically if you took any random zombie movie and put it in the young adult book adaption genre. There is definitely some positives here but a majority of the movie is bit too dull and does not really leave an impact on the viewer.

The cast is not too bad here however the stand out by a mile is Olivia Holt, she is given the most to work with and actually does have some genuine character moments especially during the movie’s opening. The dialogue definitely has young adult adaption DNA here, there are hints of emotional moments that admittedly do have promise. But none of it builds into anything particularly memorable.

The movie’s biggest problem here is it plays incredibly safe and does not really do anything to help it stand out from a very crowded genre, not every single movie needs to stand out but there just is not any sort of identity here. It’s nice that we get a ton of dialogue between the characters but when said dialogue is dull and not particularly interesting that becomes an issue.

You could do a lot worse than This Is Not A Test but you can easily do so much better.

This Is Not A Test is available on all VOD platforms.

3/10 D-

The Strangers: Chapter 3 (2026) Film Review

Maya returns for a final, brutal showdown with the masked killers, seeking revenge and a way out of the cycle of violence.

The Strangers: Chapter 3 is directed by Renny Harlin director of A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Devil’s Pass (2013), The Legend Of Hercules (2014), The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024), The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025) and many others. The film serves as the fifth installment of The Strangers series and the final installment of the new Strangers trilogy.

In my review for The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025) I said it made a huge accomplishment which was being worse than its predecessor. Well The Strangers: Chapter 3 repeats that trend by being somehow worse than Chapter 2. A lot of the issues with the last movie can be applied with this one, however there are a few differences worth mentioning here.

The acting is about the same as it was in the other two movies, Madelaine Petsch is the only one who gives a somewhat decent performance. While everyone else is just not great here at all, they all try their best with the script but none of it is effective. What remains the same is the shallow character writing, there are moments where the movie is desperately trying get you to feel something towards the characters which is incredibly strange considering how lacking of character writing this whole trilogy had.

The movie once again brings in the flashbacks that explain more about the strangers themselves, I already said this in my review for the last movie but I’ll say it again here. The flashbacks completely defeat the purpose of the whole concept, the original idea of The Strangers is that you do not know who they are. They are random people who don’t have a motive they just attack people randomly. Random attacks are a very real thing which is why the 2008 film was so effective for a lot of people. It was ridiculous to bring the flashbacks in the last movie and it’s somehow made even worse here, due to telling a story that is quite frankly dull and incredibly predictable.

What makes Chapter 3 worse than Chapter 2 simply comes down to the writing, the revelations this movie tries to present as shocking are incredibly predictable that almost anyone could have guessed. You are telling me that two characters who acted creepy are actually very creepy? No way! Another thing the movie tries to do is it hints towards Maya (played Madelaine Petsch) displaying signs of becoming a serial killer like the strangers. It’s a ridiculous idea that comes out of nowhere and does not have the character writing to back it up, Maya as a character throughout this whole trilogy was very thinly written and that does not change here.

Overall there really isn’t much more to be said about The Strangers: Chapter 3, as I said before a lot of the flaws from Chapter 2 can be applied here. This one just so happens to be a lot more dialogue heavy whereas the previous movie was more action, either way this trilogy fails in every single way possible.

The Strangers: Chapter 3 is available on all VOD platforms.

No Good Qualities….Just Absolute Garbage F

Most Anticipated Films Of April 2026!

We are one quarter of the way through of 2026! April is usually served as some sort of a ground for films that did not quite make the summer movie season. However this year April is quite packed with a ton of great looking releases!

Out Now

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Theaters)

April 3rd

The Drama (Theaters)

April 10th

You Me & Tuscany (Theaters)

Faces Of Death (Theaters)

The Christophers (Theaters)

Exit 8 (Theaters)

April 17th

The Mummy (Theaters)

Mother Mary (Theaters)

Erupcja (Theaters)

Mile End Kicks (Theaters)

Wasteman (Theaters)

April 24th

Michael (Theaters)

Over Your Dead Body (Theaters)

Fuze (Theaters)