Oops! All Horror 2026 - Day 2 - Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026)

  Content warning:  blood, dismemberment

Kris Williams (Hannah Einbinder) is an up-and-coming filmmaker hired to reboot an 80s slasher franchise called Camp Miasma.  She is granted an interview by the film's original Final Girl, Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson), now a recluse living in the same abandoned summer camp where the movie was filmed.  Ostensibly, Kris is there to discuss Billy returning for a cameo, but the longer she spends with Billy, the more infatuated she becomes.

This is a very sweet romance but ironically, it's too in its head to really succeed as a horror movie.  It wants to be meta and manages to be arch, instead.  There are some great themes to unpack and I think it's director Jane Schoenbrun's most accessible movie, but it didn't work as well for me as I Saw the TV Glow.  Still, this will be a lot of people's favorite movie this year and I'm thrilled by that.

Gillian Anderson is absolutely incredible.  I'm also watching the final season of Hannibal (which I'm hoping to finish in time to review for the month.  TV shows are hard.) and it's great to see the amount of range she has in these side-by-side projects.  I'm not familiar with Einbinder but her line delivery is excellent on the few spoken jokes.  (A lot of the humor is visual, playing with the slasher tropes.)  There are also cameos from Dylan Baker, Patrick Fischler, and Kevin McDonald.  Jack Haven plays the Camp Miasma killer, Little Death, although they are mostly hidden behind a boxy ceiling vent headpiece.

It wasn't for me, but if you get a chance track this one down.  It's finishing up a theater run and should be available VOD for rent or on your favorite VPN-friendly site, but I would encourage you to actually put money towards this as a rental when it's not $20.

Oops! All Horror 2026 - Day 1 - The Conjuring 4: Last Rites (2025)

  We're starting this month with an ending!  Content warning:  blood, suicide (hanging), vomit

In 1964, Ed (Orion Smith) and Lorraine Warren (Madison Lawlor) consult on a case where an antique store dealer is being haunted.  Lorraine traces the energy to a mirror but goes into labor before they can exorcise it.  The mirror changes hands, eventually ending up in West Pittson, Pennsylvania, where it is gifted to Heather Smurl (Kila Lord Cassidy) for her confirmation in 1986.  The Smurls begin experiencing paranormal events, which eventually come to the attention of Judy Warren (Mia Tomlinson).  Her parents (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) are retired from ghost hunting due to Ed's heart condition, but Judy convinces them to help the Smurls.

Honestly, I'm not here for the story, which is basically a retread of the original movie.  I'm here to close out the book on The Conjuring, a series I have followed through highs and lows.  If The Devil Made Me Do It was a love story, Last Rites is a passing of the torch.  

Production-wise, it maintains the quality level for effects that I've come to expect.  Farmiga and Wilson are great, if a little let down by the material.  There's a really sweet collection of cameos from the other installments at the end and the soundtrack is good.  It's streaming on HBO Max.

Coyote vs Acme (2026)

I don't know if you followed the battle behind the scenes on this one but basically, Warner Bros. intentionally shelved it for a tax write-off and only allowed distribution after a massive public outcry.  It's always worth it to stand up to giant corporations if only to remind them that they are outnumbered but also because this was a very good movie that deserved to be seen.

Wile E. Coyote is sick of being injured by faulty ACME products.  He hires a local lawyer, Kevin Avery (Will Forte) to sue.  Avery does a lot of low-level suits against ACME, usually settling for a couple hundred bucks each time.  It's routine paperwork that isn't glamorous but pays the bills.  Coyote isn't satisfied with that and includes every single product in the catalog.  This triggers a massive lawsuit that gets the attention of ACME's top lawyer, Buddy Crane (John Cena).  The more Avery digs into ACME, the shadier things get.

This film felt like a spiritual successor to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  The mix of live-action and cartoon was really well integrated.  I also loved the use of archival Looney Tunes clips standing in for historical footage.  The human cast is very good.  I've not seen Will Forte in a lot of things because I don't particularly like SNL or it's various spin-off characters but I do like Lana Condor and John Cena.  Eric Bauza is also a new name to me and he does the lion's share of work in the film as the voice of nearly all the Looney Tunes characters.  Truly, a herculean effort to stand in Mel Blanc's shoes.

I know going to the theater is hard because of all the options streaming right to your couch, but if you can, stick it to Warner Bros. by seeing this as it was intended to be seen.

Eighth Grade (2018)

  Look, I'm sure this is relatable to somebody.  Just not me.

Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) is desperate to end her eighth grade year successfully.  She vlogs about positivity and "fake it til you make it" self-esteem, while fighting her own anxiety and shyness.  An opportunity to shadow a high schooler (Emily Robinson) seems like a perfect chance to re-invent herself but there are traps to navigate that she could never anticipate.

If you like awkward comedy, this movie is a goldmine.  Personally, I do not.  I found myself sighing in aggravation more than once and actively fast-forwarding through the most annoying bits.  As always, your mileage may vary.  This was a huge hit with the critics, an indie darling, praised for its realism and Fisher's performance.  Sure.  I don't hang out near middle schoolers because that's gross, but it seems like an accurate portrayal.  It's streaming on Tubi.

Destroyer (2018)

  It is shocking how dull this film is, given how stacked a cast it has.

Erin Bell (Nicole Kidman) is a bad cop.  She has drifted into alcoholism and substance abuse after a disastrous undercover operation with a gang of bank robbers led to the death of her partner (Sebastian Stan).  But when it appears that the gang leader, Silas (Toby Kebbell) has resurfaced, Erin goes on a mission of revenge.

This should have been better.  It has a high-profile cast, which includes Tatiana Maslany, Bradley Whitford, and Scoot McNairy, and is directed by Karyn Kusama.  Kidman even donned horrible fake teeth and put on makeup to make her skin look bad.  And I think that's ultimately my problem.  It felt like a math problem, a calculated effort to win an award, instead of trying to tell a story well.  And that sucks.  Because it's a good story with an unlikable protagonist that unfolds like origami over the runtime, building an empathetic response.  It just doesn't work.

It is only streaming on Amazon Prime until the end of the month, after which it presumably returns to the dust heap of history.  It's a shame because Kidman is very good.  She just looks like she's trying too hard to be Charlize Theron.

Boyz N the Hood (1991)

  Content warning:  homophobic and racial slurs

Tired of her son, Tre, getting in fights at school, Reva (Angela Bassett) sends him to live with his father (Lawrence Fishbourne) in Crenshaw.  Seven years later, Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is set to graduate high school.  His best friends Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut) still live across the street, but are on vastly different paths in life.  Doughboy has an extensive criminal record and Ricky is hoping for a football scholarship.  The three teens try to navigate life, love, and the crushing oppression of poverty and discrimination.  

This was an incredibly powerful film and I'm ashamed it took me this long to watch it.  John Singleton died several years ago at a relatively young age and watching this only reinforces what a talent was lost.  It launched the careers of Bassett, Gooding, Jr., Chestnut, Regina King, and Nia Long.  Ice Cube was already famous as a rapper and lyricist, but this showcases his dramatic talent that gets unfairly overlooked.  The pitfalls of an abundance of riches.

It is streaming on Tubi but only until the end of the month so if you've been waiting, you might want to jump in soon-ish.

Come From Away (2021)

  I add things to my To Be Watched list with reckless disregard.  So sometimes I get surprised.  Like with this musical about 9/11.

The town of Gander, Newfoundland, is home to around 7000 residents and, at one time, the largest airport in the world before transatlantic flight was achievable.  In September, 2001, it suddenly became the emergency stopping point for 38 passenger planes diverted from U.S. airspace after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  With only hours to prepare, and a gridlock with the school bus union, the townspeople scramble to find accomodations, food, toiletries, and all the other necessary things.  There are language barriers, dietary restrictions, fear, panic, grief, and suspicions to overcome.  All conveyed through 16 songs by a cast of 12.

This is a filmed production of the original Broadway cast.  I literally knew nothing walking in and I was blown away by how easy it was to keep track of all the characters being played.  The entire cast was incredible.  Every person played at least four roles as well as all the background work in the chorus.  

I had never heard this particular 9/11 story before and it was extremely wholesome and Canadian.  A++.  Still not going to Newfoundland.  It looks really cold.  But the musical is warm and cozy and streaming on AppleTV.