By Teddy Grzybowski
10. Renfield (2023)
Renfield follows Dracula in the early 20th century, where he meets an English lawyer, R.M. Renfield, who ends up becoming Dracula’s familiar. Fast forward ninety years later, Renfield continues bringing victims to Dracula. After vampire hunters almost kill the Count, they move to New Orleans. Renfield stumbles upon a 12-step self-help group for codependent relationships, and he tracks down one of the members’ abusive lovers to feed him to Dracula without remorse. It was directed by Chris McKay. It’s a great story that can make you laugh when needed.
Rating: R
6/10 skulls
9. Knock at the Cabin Door (2023)
A seven-year-old girl named Wen goes on vacation with her two adoptive fathers. They stay at a remote cabin in rural Pennsylvania. Wen is approached by a stranger named Leonard, who tells her that her family has the power to save the world. Leonard and three other strangers break into the cabin, tie her fathers up, and give them an ultimatum: sacrifice themselves or cause the apocalypse. To buy time, they slowly eliminate themselves until only one of the four intruders remains. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, it’s a creative apocalypse movie. The gore is very mild, with most deaths off-screen. It’s a good option for anyone who is weak when it comes to too much blood.
Rating: R
6.5/10 skulls
8. M3GAN (2023)
Megan does a great modern twist on the haunted doll subgenre. After the death of 8-year-old Cady’s parents, she is sent to live with her aunt Gemma, a roboticist for a toy company in Seattle. Gemma uses company resources to build an android, M3GAN. When her boss tells her to dismantle it, she gives it to Cady, but Megan becomes too protective of Cady and will do anything to keep her safe—even if that requires hurting others, including Gemma. Directed by Gerard Johnstone and a talented cast. The gore is a 6/10, the plot flows well and makes sense.
Rating: PG-13
7/10 skulls
7. Thanksgiving (2023)
Thanksgiving came out on November 17th, 2023. On Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts, a mob gathers outside a local store called Supermart for Black Friday. During this event, a woman named Amanda Collins is killed, the wife of a Supermart employee, Mitch. The following year, a string of murders begins, the killer being “John Carver,” a man in a pilgrim mask who targets people involved in Black Friday the year before. After the murder of a waitress, he sends a girl named Jessica and her friends gruesome social media posts and uses his victims for a feast. Directed by Eli Roth, it is the best—and one of the only—Thanksgiving horror films. With some very gory kill scenes, it is a true standout compared to other holiday horrors.
Rating: R
7.5/10 skulls
6. The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)
On August 6th, 1897, the merchant ship Demeter washes ashore in England. A month earlier, the Demeter made its port voyage in Varna, Bulgaria, to receive a cargo load bound for London. A crate falls, revealing a woman inside buried in dirt. A doctor aboard the ship named Clemens decides to perform a blood transfusion to treat what seems to be an infection. Later that night, a mysterious figure is seen in the fog, and all the animals aboard are dead. Fearing a rabies outbreak, they throw the carcass of the captain’s dog overboard. Anna, the woman in the crate, warns of a monster from Transylvania who feeds on human blood. It’s a supernatural horror film directed by André Øvredal, a great vampire movie with solid gore.
Rating: R
7.5/10 skulls
5. V/H/S/85
V/H/S/85 is an analog film that’s part of the V/H/S franchise, composed of five short stories all set in 1985. Two of the shorts, “No Wake” and “Ambrosia,” connect, while another segment called “Dream Kill” is directly connected to Black Phone. The film includes a documentary of scientists at Stammer University studying an entity called “Rory,” showcased between the five short stories. The idea and filming are very creative. The gore will blow your mind. In “No Wake,” a group of kids are killed while camping, but the only ones who touched the lake water come back to life. With their injuries still intact, they plan to get revenge for those who didn’t survive. Another story cuts back to Rory and the scientists, showing Rory exercise videos in an attempt to communicate. These are just two segments among many amazing others. It had multiple talented directors, including Gigi Saul Guerrero, David Bruckner, Scott Derrickson, Natalia Kermani, and Mike P. Nelson.
Rating: TV-MA
8/10 skulls
4. Nefarious (2023)
Nefarious is an independent horror film that follows a psychiatrist, Dr. James Martin, as he tries to evaluate a notorious serial killer named Edward Wayne Brady, who is currently on death row. A prison warden warns James that the last man who tried to interview Edward committed suicide, and that Edward can get inside your head. Edward is supposed to be executed at 11:00 that night. Dr. Martin is tasked with figuring out whether the killer is legally sane or mentally ill and incompetent to stand trial. According to Edward, a demon named “Nefariamus” inhabits his body. Nefarious claims he wants Edward dead, as Edward was not baptized and committed sins in his childhood. Nefarious isn’t resisting and wants Edward to be killed. He tells Martin that he will commit three murders, though the doctor insists it’s impossible. Directed by Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, it’s not heavy on gore but has a great story.
Rating: R
7.5/10 skulls
3. Late Night with the Devil (2023)
Taking place in 1977, Late Night with the Devil is a found-footage horror film inspired by true events. It’s filmed like a documentary, investigating a late-night talk show called Night Owls hosted by Jack Delroy, whose wife recently passed away from cancer. Due to low ratings, he decides to hold a Halloween-themed episode. He brings on a self-proclaimed psychic medium named Christou, a skeptic and former magician named Carmichael Haig, a parapsychologist author June Ross Mitchell, and her latest subject, 13-year-old Lilly, who is possessed by a demon. During the broadcast, strange things start happening, like when Christou hears the name “Minnie,” Jack’s private nickname for his late wife Madeleine. Then Christou projectile vomits black goo. Directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes, it has good gore and a surprising ending—a great watch for fans of found-footage media.
Rating: R
7.5/10 skulls
2. The First Omen (2024)
The First Omen is a prequel to the 1976 horror mystery The Omen. It takes place in 1971 Rome, where an American novitiate named Margaret Daino arrives. She meets Cardinal Lawrence, Father Gabriel, Abbess Sister Silva, Nun Angelica, and her roommate Luz. Luz invites Margaret to a disco, where she meets a man named Paolo. Margaret blacks out and wakes up without remembering anything. She bonds with an orphan named Carlita, and later sees Carlita showing Angelica a photo of a pregnant woman being restrained. Angelica later hangs herself. The Church, in an attempt to regain power, tries to create the Antichrist. Directed by Arkasha
Stevenson, the film offers a fresh take on the concept of the Antichrist. It has great gore and gives the 1976 original a chance to be seen by a new audience.
Rating: R
8/10 skulls
1. Evil Dead Rise (2023)
It’s no doubt that Evil Dead is a classic that made an impact on the horror genre, but classics often get remakes, reimaginings, and sequels that tend to be lackluster. Evil Dead Rise doesn’t fit under that umbrella. The original came out in 1981. Evil Dead Rise (2023) follows Beth, who visits her sister Ellie after finding out she’s pregnant. Ellie, a single mother and tattoo artist, lives with her two teenagers, Danny and Bridget, and a child named Kassie. When their apartment experiences an earthquake, it reveals a concealed chamber. Danny investigates and discovers religious artifacts and a book that Ellie takes to her room. The book contains pages from the Naturom Demonto, with incantations that summon demonic entities called Deadites. The building’s power fails, and Ellie becomes possessed by an unseen force, threatening her family. Directed by Lee Cronin, the film features great gore, using 6,500 gallons of fake blood. It truly does justice to the original.
Rating: R
9/10 skulls
The SAMS Salmon 