Silent Hill on paper should be an easy enough horror film to make. Great location, characters, story, and the creep factor is all there. Somehow though we are now 0-3 on good films based on the games with this years Return To Silent Hill by far being the worst entry yet.

French director Christophe Gans, who directed the 2006 Silent Hill, is back at it this time around though the films are not related at all. We follow James Sunderland, a tortured problematic artist, who after losing the love of his life appears back in Silent Hill based on a feeling that she is still alive. He attempts to piece together clues of what may have happened to his love Mary, the town, and his own life as reality starts to blur even further.

The story is the first part of this films issues though. James, once in Silent Hill, runs from spooky situation to spooky situation, with really nothing in between. The world feels empty in the worst way, nothing feels like a threat, and it all comes across as boring and lackluster. Iconic enemies make their appearance here and are quickly either dumbed down and ignored as if they aren’t a real threat.

It tries so hard too with the story to make it a convoluted plot of what may or may not be real but never seems to embrace it enough to let us in. We get hints of sub plots including the town, a cult, his love Mary and what happened, as well as his life post Mary, but the film just sort of moves on without explaining it in even a simple way.

Visually the movie is hideous too. The green screen is constant and looks beyond cheap. So many effects are just keyed in to where its clear nothing is actually around them. It doesn’t help too that our only two actors here are both acting with the enthusiasm of someone who doesn’t want to be there and hold zero chemistry together.

At 106 minutes the film slogs on. Though the ending tries its best to redeem itself, which is supposedly one of the endings of Silent Hill 2 which this game is based on, the journey there is boring and not done well enough to endure the travel there.

Score :

.5 / 5

Don’t you just love a terrible love budget movie where really nothing in it stands out because it seems they always find their way to me.

The Vindicator follows a true crime podcast crew who has a serial killer disrupt their show as they are filming at a famous location. From there he slowly starts to go after them causing them reveal things they wish were kept hidden.

This is low budget and awfully boring. The plot never becomes interesting with the twist mainly because everyone here is so horribly unlikeable. Its a room of people who don’t get killed quick enough.

Sadly not even the kills here are worth it because there really isn’t anything noteworthy at all and really nothing till the final few minutes. You are stuck with shoddy camera work and bad acting at a slow pace instead in an attempt to build towards our climax.

Its a premise that we will likely see way more in horror and if done right, could be great. Here though it just isn’t worth it.

Score :

1 / 5

The legend John Carpenter, director, writer, composer legend in horror, had his concert from LA Halloween night 2025 professionally recorded and released on Screambox.

With a setlist mixing themes and songs from some of his iconic films like Halloween, Christine, Escape From New York, The Fog and more alongside some of his recent stuff from his Lost Theme albums.

Covered in brooding dark and red lights while a screen in the back plays clips from his films or other videos while the band gives fans synth filled greatness. Its such a treat to see how even his lesser known Lost Theme stuff works so well. The hits for sure are his film works and they provide that certain feeling inside of just knowing its stuff that will be major forever.

Fans of the genre, his work, or just synth music in general will enjoy seeing this legend blast through a set filled with hits.

Score :

4 / 5

Review available due to promotional code provided by Screambox

Its fun to see a New Years related horror film as its a holiday that is often ignored but New Fears Eve isn’t doing it much justice.

With a story that barely clinges to life and just barely sets up our situation as we follow a small team of people during their companies New Years party. The bosses are jerks, the employees are all unlikeable people as well, and now theres a masked killer roaming around taking people out one by one.

Thankfully the kills here have some solid practical effects but even then feel mixed. Its almost like they wanted to mix different horror themes into this slasher where it felt off sometimes like they wanted slasher meets Saw type kills. The gore is fine in parts but never really goes too far out.

Our killer has a generic plague doctor look to him and by the end it sort of just finishes without any bit of a satisfying ending to it. Its a low budget and straight to Scream Box exclusive but it just could have been better.

Score :

1 / 5

Filmed reviewed with promotional code provided by Screambox

At last after much anticipation, Youtube sensation Markiplier’s debut feature length film has finally been released on the big screen. As a long time fan of Mark Fishbach, I along with the rest of his 38 million subscribers rushed to the theatre to watch Iron Lung this weekend. And let me say, it was worth it.

Iron Lung, an adaption of David Szymanski’s video game of the same title, is set in a distant future after a cataclysmic event that has left the world without stars. What is left of humanity, which is hardly anyone according to the movie’s opening narration, are trying to find a way to survive and save those who are left. The entire movie takes place inside a small submarine being descended to the bottom of an uncharted ocean of blood filled with creatures humanity has no information about. Our main character, played by Mark, is a man named Simon, a convict who is promised his freedom upon his return of the mission- which is to collect evidence and information of what lurks in the ocean.

Without giving away much of the story, I can tell you that this is one of the best video game adaptations I have ever seen. From the set design to the mechanics of the game to the costuming, there is no detail too small to be unincluded. This was truly a passion project funded and created by a number of people who love the game, namely Markiplier and Syzymaski. Mark directed, wrote and starred in this production which is an impressive feat considering this is also his debut movie as all three. He delivers though, bringing his vision to life through creative camera angles and a stellar performance as a man also descending into madness. The movie preys on the fear of the unknown and builds slowly to an explosive final act that leaves the viewer with many unanswered questions, adding to the unknown nature of both the sea of blood and the world outside it. 

If you are planning on seeing this film, which I do recommend, I advise watching Mark play the game on his youtube channel before viewing. While the movie is stellar, it is absolutely made for fans- fans of Mark and the Game Iron lung specifically. I also agree with the general consensus that it has a rather long runtime, sitting over two hours, but that is truly the only thing lacking in this film. From the digital effects, to the sound and set design, everyone involved in this production made a phenomenal piece of work. 

Iron Lung has grossed $3.5 million in domestic previews, reportedly has made $7 million in presales and is being projected to gross around $9-10 million in total. It has also rivaled Sam Raimi’s Send Help for #1 at the box office, all within it’s opening weekend. My final score upon first watch sits at about an 8.5/10, a hit in my books!

Attention Booktok Girls: January 9th marks the day our screens are blessed with the first adaption of New York Times best selling author Emily Henry’s romance novels. I first read People We Meet on Vacation around 2022, not long after it was published. I am an avid reader, but I wouldn’t say romance is a genre I typically find myself gravitating towards. However at the time, I had heard wonderful things about the book and wanted a break from my usual reads. Upon finishing it, I recommended it to everyone I knew. Emily Henry has made her way into my favorite authors list with every new book she publishes, and, in my opinion, People We Meet on Vacation isn’t even her best novel. It’s safe to say I was heavily anticipating this film release this year.

Starring Tom Blythe (The Hunger Games, Billy the Kid) and Emily Bader (My Lady Jane, Paranormal Activity), People We Meet on Vacation is the love story of two people who couldn’t be more different. Poppy (Bader) is an outgoing, bubbly, happy-go-lucky travel blogger who values her freedom and independence. Alex (Blythe) is..well, normal. Alex likes routine, familiarity, and above all wants to plant roots somewhere he feels at home. When we start the movie, Poppy and Alex have not talked in two years for reasons unknown to the viewer. Alex’s brother, David, calls Poppy begging her to come to his wedding in Barcelona for a week- there is only one problem. Alex will be there. On a whim, Poppy accepts the invitation and whisks herself off to Spain, thinking this might be her chance to finally fix things with Alex.

As we watch Poppy and Alex dance around each other in present time, we are given flashbacks of the trips the two take together every summer to ensure they always stay friends and always have a trip to go on. It’s through these flashbacks that we really start to see the way the two of them bring out different sides of each other. Particularly Alex, who, when he’s with Poppy, is a more fun, care-free, less structured version of himself he calls, “Vacation Alex.” We also see Poppy start to evaluate the things in her own life, like relationships and what she truly wants out of life which she never seems to know the answer to. 

I think the movie does a fantastic job bringing the chemistry the characters had in the books to the screen. They really do feel like best friends. The movie also does a wonderful job of catching the same vibe as the book- fun and bright, but with that care-free edge that gives you the same feeling as a vacation. Where I think it falls flat compared to the book is Alex. We don’t hear or see many of his motivations and hang-ups as to why he never pursued Poppy in the first place, which really gets hashed out in the books. This insight to him is what gave the love confession in the book a grandiose feeling. We know how Poppy feels, but the look into Alex’s head we get in the book are only brief, passing lines in the movie. While I understand we are following Poppy and this is her story, as well as things being cut down for movie and screentime purposes, the choice to add a little more substance to Alex would’ve made a huge difference to the way their love story finishes on screen.

Overall, I think this is a decent adaptation of Emily Henry’s vision. It feels safe for a debut movie release; fun, charismatic and quite funny at times. It also still feels like we’re watching and learning about real people, which is one of the things that has always driven me to seek out Henry’s work year after year. I am excited to see more adaptations of her work on the big screen in the future.

Score :

8/10