and whatever walked there, walked alone

Cape Fear (season 1, 2026). 10 episodes, each 55 minutes long. notorious murderer is released after 17 years behind bars due to a miscarriage of justice. the husband and wife who were involved in that trial, as well as their family, are in danger.

TV remake of the famous film from the 1960s, which I haven’t seen, but I did watch Scorsese’s rather good 1991 remake.

i liked the series, but with some reservations. it was difficult to form a definitive opinion until I’d watched at least 6 or 7 episodes out of 10. the pacing is rather slow, with a constant build-up of tension but no resolution. it became clear quite early on that they were saving everything for the final episodes.

there are plenty of moments that might make you want to give up on it early on. it’s too slow; the plot is stretched out over 10 hours in a thin layer; at least three characters are constantly infuriating, and the rest from time to time. the dialogue is very camp. as for Javier Bardem, I still haven’t decided whether he’s scary in this or not – campy scary, yes; genuinely frightening – probably not.

i realised almost straight away that this was an ‘AHS’ (American Horror Story) type of show. it’s the same sort of horror soap opera, with that same American gloss. and in this case, that’s a compliment, as this is a above-average AHS, and it’s been a minute since I’ve watched a good one, so overall it went down well, although I did struggle a bit in the first half. then the plot started taking its crazy twists, and I was hooked.

this show is pretty much a matter of personal taste. you’ll either get this kind of camp or you won’t. in the end, it all clicked for me, and i was left with a pleasant impression. is it the best series this year? absolutely not, but I don’t regret watching it as it was fun.

Rooster (season 1, 2026). 10 episodes, each 30 minutes long. famous writer visits his daughter, university teacher, and unexpectedly ends up teaching there himself for a semester.

show’s main star is Steve Carell, and he’s excellent as a cosy, kind 60-year-old father who tries to look after everyone, while getting himself into silly situations along the way.

a cosy but mild series. it seems to be modelled on Ted Lasso (which is hardly surprising, given that it’s from the creators of Ted Lasso), only in a more subdued way; I’m not sure if that was intentional or just how it turned out. show isn’t bad, but as far as I’m concerned, you won’t be missing out on anything if you just skip it. there’s nothing in particular that sets it apart from other shows.

Scary Movie (2026). 1 hour 36 minutes. directed by Michael Tiddes.

it was an absolutely dreadful experience. not a single good joke; utter cringe throughout the whole film, especially in the meta humour. i only managed to sit through it in two sessions. i simply cannot understand how it not only recouped its costs but actually became a success (a budget of 30 million and box office of 200 million +). i was suffering.

Light Sleeper (1992). 1 hour 43 minutes. directed by Paul Schrader. a drug dealer considers a career change when his boss (played by Susan Sarandon) plans to leave the business.

it’s a rather complex film. easy to watch, but I didn’t quite manage to get it. i certainly liked the night views of a wet New York set to saxophone and more pop-style songs; at times it looked like a music video, as the songs weren’t just in the background but more as a part of the film itself. Willem Dafoe, who plays a drug dealer, wanders melancholically amongst mountains of trash bags and writes some sort of memoir in his notebook.

for the most part, not much happens in the film. towards the end, there’s some drama and a bit of violence. i don’t know – there’s certainly plenty of atmosphere, but I found the content a bit lacking. is this neo-noir? in form, perhaps, but the narrative is too disjointed. The melancholic, almost apathetic atmosphere—which stems mainly from the protagonist—pulls the film in a completely different direction.

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989). 1 hour 43 minutes. directed by Hayao Miyazaki. A young witch moves to a new town and sets up a delivery service.

rare occasion of me going out to the cinema. a life-affirming and heart-warming film about growing up. it’s incredibly charming, yet at the same time delves quite deeply into human relationships, the search for one’s identity and other challenges of growing up. an unquestionable masterpiece.

Hokum (2026). 1 hour 47 minutes. directed by Damian McCarthy. a writer arrives at a remote hotel in Ireland to scatter his parents’ ashes, unaware that a witch’s ghost is trapped within the hotel.

an excellent, classic ghost story. lingering camera shots, the howling wind, fluttering semi-transparent curtains and creaking doors. films like this don’t come along often, as they aren’t the most popular due to their slow pacing and gradual immersion into the atmosphere. this is a sophisticated film for fans of the genre.

there are jump scares in the film. some are predictable, some aren’t, but that didn’t distract me. some of them are quite well done in fact. wonderful Adam Scott plays the writer (presumably a horror writer).

this director has a rather decent filmography. previous works include: the quite atmospheric Caveat (2020), and the excellent Oddity (2024). i think Hokum is his best film so far.

here, just like in the first film, a rabbit appears, but this one is completely different. It’s simply a killer character – he’s so good that they should make a separate film just about him. you could watch the film just to see him in those couple of scenes.

definitely one of the best horror films of 2026.

Obsession (2026). 1 hour 48 minutes. directed by Curry Barker. after using a mysterious wish-granting toy to win a girl’s heart, things take a dark turn. man gets more than he bargained for.

festival people raved about this film to me at the end of February, and I was surprised that it’s become such a hit this year. i thought it would be a niche film. i waited patiently for it to be released in decent quality online.

i definitely enjoyed the film. plot is simple and even a bit silly, somewhat reminiscent of Stephen King (The Monkey), but the execution is great! yes, a couple of jump scares seemed a bit too forced, but that doesn’t spoil the experience. the most important thing for me in the film was the atmosphere – very stressful and unsettling.

i’m not at all familiar with the director’s name, but judging by the descriptions, he’s made some interesting short films in a similar style. he’s even got *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* in pre-production, which really surprised me.

overall, it’s an excellent film. the lead actress is amazing, and all the other actors as well. The ‘uncanny valley’ atmosphere is very strong.

it’ll probably rank highly in my list of top horror films of 2026, but most likely not in first place. i’ll keep my fingers crossed that I’ll find something else that suits me better.

Dead Calm (1989). 1 hour 36 minutes. directed by Phillip Noyce. after a tragedy, a husband and wife set off on a yacht trip to spend some time together. out at sea, they come across a stranger from a sinking ship.

i was sceptical at first. the first half wasn’t particularly inspiring, but by the end i quite enjoyed the film. there are just three actors: Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill and Billy Zane. i think it’s obvious who plays the devious stranger. the second half is good; there are plenty of mini-twists that are a real pleasure to watch. Billy Zane is at the height of his mysterious, sinister charm. the ending was a treat too, it was actually quite funny, but for all the right reasons.

of course, you can criticise the film on its merits, but one thing is certain: it’s well-made and a pleasure to watch. that’s enough for me.

by the way, there’s also a nude scene with Nicole Kidman (not under this cut).

overall, it’s a decent thriller, with some nice moments of suspense here and there, which melted away my initial scepticism.

( +1 )

Colony (2026). 2 hours 2 minutes. directed by Yeon Sang-ho. A biotech conference turns into a disaster when a rapidly mutating virus breaks out.

i’m certainly not the biggest fan of this trilogy, although the first film, Train to Busan (2016), clearly stands out as the best of the three, even though I didn’t particularly like it either because of its excessive melodrama. the second one – Peninsula (2020) – was frankly rubbish. and this one is about on a par with the first, perhaps slightly worse, because a train is just too cool of a setting. actually, of this director’s work, I liked Psychokinesis (2018) the most, which I stumbled across by chance back in the day.

i finally managed to get myself to the cinema to see this film. I was more or less preparing for a hatewatching, but it turned out to be reasonably entertaining. It’s an interesting take that the zombies are patients, victims who have families, rather than monsters. The film explores this fine line, which you rarely see. The zombie extras seem to be professional dancers, so it’s a bit of a ballet – some might like that, but I wasn’t really into those theatrical, ballet-style pirouettes. Yes, the ‘hive mind’ is, again, a reasonably interesting twist on the zombie genre, but was it worth reviving a genre that was practically dead? For me, the answer is a definite no.

the director, in typical Korean fashion, tries to sit on several chairs at once, but when it comes to the zombie genre, I think it’s trickier, because one of those chairs already has rotten legs. I don’t know what kind of state of nirvana you’d need to achieve these days to make an interesting (let alone a modern one—with fast zombies) zombie film. I think it’s practically impossible, unless you cosplay the 70s and 80s.

Overall, the film is entertaining, but I didn’t find it particularly interesting. The last really good zombie (or quasi-zombie) film was in 2021 – taiwanese *Sadness*. Nothing better can be made now. The genre can be left to rot.

May has definitely been the month of these two bands for me: Turnstile and Deafheaven. The first one play such positive hardcore—it’s a mix of lots of genres—and it took me a while to really get into them, but now their latest album (Never Enough) is basically my album of the year.

Deafheaven is melodic black metal (or blackgaze as they are called which makes sense as i feel shoegaze in some of their songs = Heathen) with an amazing voice that almost dissolves into the sound. it’s heavy, yet surprisingly not, at the same time. i particularly like their 2018 album.

Ted (season 2, 2026). 8 episodes, each 30 minutes long. the sequel to the sitcom about a teddy bear and a family in the 90s.

pretty poor season overall. the start is really rough in terms of how unfunny the sitcom has become. the jokes are forced, and all the characters are extremely rude. episode 1 is the worst. the series get slightly better from episode 5 onwards, but it still doesn’t reach the standard of the first season, which I really enjoyed.

they’ve lost a certain balance here. the quality of the jokes has dropped significantly and the characters’ rudeness immediately becomes unpleasantly obvious. i struggled to finish watching it. even despite a couple of funny jokes in the second half, it turned out to be a poor season. and Seth MacFarlane, the show’s creator, has said there are no plans for a third season yet.

Ginger Snaps (2000). 1 hour 48 minutes. directed by John Fawcett. two sisters are obsessed with images of death; one of them gets bitten by a werewolf.

i enjoyed it just as much as the first time. a relatively unknown Canadian teen horror film, which nevertheless isn’t your typical campy product of that era. it’s shot in a rather tragic style and is filled with allegories about growing up and direct commentary on the role of women in society. very good practical effects.

one of the sisters looks a bit like a young Bernard Butler. i’d never really thought about the title before, but the second word is a verb.

the most memorable thing here is, of course, the serious, tragic atmosphere. a unique film. the director would later go on to make the decent TV series Orphan Black (2013).

Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed (2004). 1 hour 34 minutes. directed by Brett Sullivan. one of the sisters tries to slow down her transformation into a werewolf and ends up in a clinic for young women with drug addictions. another werewolf is stalking her.

one of the rare instances where a sequel, released four years later, turned out to be quite decent. the same generally bleak atmosphere, but at the same time there is a comedic tone (all thanks to Tatiana Maslany’s role and performance!), excellent practical effects – the werewolf make-up in the final scene took seven hours to apply, and the lead actress is lovely (the one who looks like Bernard Butler). unexpectedly, there’s an interesting role played by Tatiana Maslany at the age of 17; 10 years later, she’ll be in Orphan Black. the location is interesting (the dilapidated part is a real abandoned mental hospital).

this instalment has a different director (he was the editor on the first film), but it seems they still worked together there (with the first director) in a different capacity; this is particularly evident in their subsequent work (Orphan Black). so there’s absolutely no difference in atmosphere!

my only criticism is that the role of the other sister here was completely unnecessary. the ending seemed a bit odd, though I didn’t see it coming. there’s a cut version, including on YouTube; the correct running time is 1 hour 34 minutes (the cut version is about 1 hour 24 minutes).

Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004). 1 hour 34 minutes. directed by Grant Harvey. 19th century: the sisters take refuge in a fortress, which is soon attacked by werewolves.

the prequel was filmed immediately (or during) the making of the second instalment, and I didn’t like it. its very existence is illogical. neither sister looks like she belongs in the 19th century; the script is too basic and doesn’t stand out from the rest of the genre. perhaps the prequel was the only way to fully bring one of the sisters back into the plot.

on the positive side, the film is visually well-made, and the make-up looks excellent. both sisters look good on screen. however, none of this helps much. i found it boring to watch.

a direct sequel to the second film would have been far more interesting.

A Fish in the Bathtub (1998). 1 hour 36 minutes. directed by Joan Micklin Silver. a rift develops in an elderly couple’s relationship, and their grown-up children try to reconcile them.

it is a quiet masterpiece. such a witty, heartfelt, sincere and warm portrayal of family relationships. there isn’t a single false note in this film. i fell in love with it within the first 10 minutes.

all the actors are wonderful; there’s a young Mark Ruffalo here, and every actor is perfectly cast. however, the biggest star here is, of course, Jerry Stiller (Ben Stiller’s father). i’ve seen him in several films (from the 80s and 90s), and first came across him in Seinfeld of course. here he plays his signature role as a grumpy elderly New Yorker, rough on the outside but soft on the inside, and he pulls it off 200% once again. he’s incomparable; he doesn’t even need to speak his lines on screen to shine – he’s a true acting talent.

there are so many recognisable little details in this couple’s relationship; it’s hard to put into words. and with age, it all feels much closer to home. i probably wouldn’t have appreciated it as much at 25–30 as i do now in my 40s.

as I’ve already said, it’s a quiet masterpiece, and a hidden gem, at least for me. it’s funny that the title is quite literal.

A Perfect Murder (1998). 1 hour 47 minutes. directed by Andrew Davis. a wealthy Wall Street broker discovers that his wife has a lover. he meets with the lover and persuades him to kill his wife. in theory, it’s the perfect murder.

it’s a variation on a Hitchcock film, or films; very typical Hitchcock. the wealthy broker is played by Michael Douglas, and roles like this suit him well. In that decade, starting from the second half of the 1980s, he played several similar roles, including, again, Wall Street (1987). his wife is played by Gwyneth Paltrow, and his lover by Viggo Mortensen. the actors offer nothing surprising; what surprised me most was the supporting role – David Suchet, the legendary Hercule Poirot! unfortunately, he doesn’t have much screen time. It’s definitely the best role in the whole film though.

the film itself is full of unexpected twists and Hitchcockian suspense in the second half. objectively, it’s not bad, but it didn’t really grab me all that much. the plot twists themselves felt too artificial, and the actors, once again, don’t offer anything particularly special. it’s watchable, but all the twists left me feeling indifferent.

it’s funny that while watching it, I kept imagining I was watching a Korean film. Koreans really do love that sort of slow-evolving, full of intrigues and twists plots—Park Chan-wook, for example. now, there’s someone who was unexpectedly (for me at least) influenced by Hitchcock.

completely unrelated to this film, but the most convoluted Korean film I’ve seen is probably A Tale of Two Sisters (2003).

L.A. Story (1991). 1 hour 32 minutes. directed by Mick Jackson. a TV weatherman getting messges from a large electronic billboard by the motorway, and it helps him win the heart of a woman.

i didn’t quite get the vibe of this rom-com. it clearly lacks a strong central plotline. the chemistry between the lead couple isn’t very convincing. there are plenty of unexpected actors (Richard E. Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patrick Stewart) in supporting roles, and the eccentric Steve Martin takes the lead with his trademark humour.

i’m surprisingly familiar with the director from the film Threads (1984), which I haven’t seen (yet).

by the end, I was already bored. the film is too sweet in a wrong way, and the humour is mostly forced.

meanwhile, the sudden gaming remission continues. we’re levelling up our skills (real life), communication, map knowledge and role distribution in Killing Floor 1. it’s a really engaging process. we’re tackling Hard mode.

No More Room In Hell, although quite hardcore, is also a very meme-worthy game. awesome maps with an incredibly gloomy atmosphere and hilarious situations.

we’ve started Peak. unexpectedly hardcore; we can’t get past the second stage (out of four, i think). it’s fun and interesting, but I really didn’t expect it to be this difficult.

in between, i played through The Callisto Protocol. "we’ve got Dead Space at home" kind; it’s more sci-fi action than survival horror, though there are moments of that too. i wouldn’t say it’s the best game, but it’s adequately made. decent mechanics, and it’s not boring to play. it’s a great buy at a discount.

started Warhammer 40,000: Darktide and have played for 14 hours so far; i bought it on a massive discount a while back. i haven’t played it much yet, of course, but i already have a lot of mixed feelings about it. i’ve never been particularly into the Warhammer universe, but i’ve always liked the visuals. the design of the whole world, the maps, the details – it’s just top-notch. makes you want to stop in the middle of the map and examine everything in detail.

i already like it more than Vermintide I/II, although those are brilliant too. however, the game has a lot of issues, some of which may not be entirely its fault. the first and worst thing for me is the connection to the servers (Amazon, of course). it doesn’t connect very well with my usual VPN settings. it’s rubbish without a VPN too, but after about 10 attempts, it usually connects. there are loads of complaints about it on internet. i can't put the blame on them here though. still, overall I don’t like this shift from Vermintide’s host-guest system to a live service model; it always ends badly.

optimisation is average to bad, but my graphics card is below average, so I’ll let that slide too. as for monetisation and the repetitive endgame that everyone’s complaining about – i can’t say anything yet, I haven’t got that far. the game has huge potential (for me personally), but I’m afraid it won’t be realised due to serven connection stability issues and my 40 FPS. i’ll definitely finish the campaign, though; i’m currently on mission 12 i think.

Paradise (season 2, 2026). 8 episodes, each around 50 minutes long. it’s impossible to describe the plot of the second season without spoilers; the poster is probably a spoiler by itself.

i thought that after the major revelations in the first season, the series wouldn’t be able to maintain the same standard, but i was wrong. the second season managed to be even better than the first in every possible respect. it’s very emotionally charged; I didn’t expect the fourth episode to end like that.

the plot took a completely unexpected turn. a couple of strange and seemingly unnecessary scenes in the second season took on a deeper meaning towards the end.

and the finale is brilliant. so far, the best show of 2026 in terms of entertainment!

 

It looks like imdb no longer allow to read reviews without an account. first the forums, now this.

BlacKkKlansman (2018). 2 hours 15 minutes. directed by Spike Lee. set in the 1970s, a black police officer goes undercover in the Ku Klux Klan with the help of his white jewish colleague.

an excellent film by Spike Lee, in which he skilfully blends three genres. firstly, it is a superb police drama featuring a minor investigation and undercover work. secondly, the film is deeply rooted in the racial context of the era. and thirdly, subtle comedic elements complement it in an interesting way.

the first time I watched it in 2019, it was precisely this subtle humour, combined with the film’s absurd title, that puzzled me, and i didn’t quite get the film, as I was expecting a comedy. at the time, I wasn’t yet familiar with Spike Lee; I’d heard the name, but hadn’t watched his films. this kind of humour is one of his hallmarks, along with his fierce energy.

i thoroughly enjoyed this rewatch. the film works brilliantly even as a police drama. however, I still had some questions by the end. the arrest of the policeman at the end still does not feel right; i don’t understand this scene, especially coming from Spike Lee.

and the documentary footage at the end really sticks out from the rest of the film in the wrong way. they could have done without it. otherwise, a brilliant rewatch, with strong direction and cinematography.

Dead by Dawn (2025). 1 hour 27 minutes. directed by Dawid Torrone. a group of actors are invited to the theatre at night to rehearse an avant-garde play. one by one, they are killed by an invisible killer.

rather dull Polish giallo with a load of borrowings from well-known films. for example, the plot itself is taken from Michele Soavi’s *Stage Fright* (1987) (Soavi being a protégé of Argento), and another scene is fully copied from there too. i’m sure there are far more borrowings, it’s just that I find it hard to spot such things. the twist at the end feels very familiar.

the film isn’t exactly bad; it’s adequately made. i liked some of the dialogue, and the killer’s mask is interesting. it’s just that throughout the whole film, you don’t get the feeling that you’re watching a giallo, even though all the hallmarks are there. it lacks a certain coherence. why is the film divided into chapters? it’s a completely unnecessary detail.

overall, it’s an interesting attempt, but I didn’t like the film.

Whistle (2025). 1 hour 40 minutes. directed by Corin Hardy. a group of high school students discover an ancient Aztec artefact in the form of a whistle; blowing it summons your future death to come and claim you.

it’s a pretty decent horror film. i certainly enjoyed it. it’s not without its flaws, though – for example, the CGI and jump scares are a bit of a let-down. however, the concept itself is good, and I was pleased with the ending.

although the plot is quite different, it’s essentially the Final Destination trope. the film is fun to watch, and there are two excellent deaths.

Friendship (2025). 1 hour 40 minutes. directed by Andrew DeYoung. A family man meets his new neighbour and becomes a little too attached to him.

i’m a huge fan of Tim Robinson and his absurd comedy, and he doesn’t disappoint here either. it’s that kind of uncomfortable, cringe comedy with some rather deep and sincere moments. that being said, I wouldn’t say I loved the film entirely; it’s just a bit too uncomfortable sometimes.

i’m sure Tim Robinson’s fans will enjoy it, because he stays true to himself here, though he adds a certain darkness, a bit like in the The Cable Guy with Jim Carrey.

overall, it was a decent watch. the theme really resonates with me deeply – once you’re over 40, it’s practically impossible to make friends in a small town. good finale too.

War Machine (2026). 1 hour 38 minutes. directed by Patrick Hughes. during the final test at a military training camp, aliens attack Earth and the soldiers are forced to repel the assault.

for its niche, it’s a decent, over-the-top action film, like straight from the 80s and repackaged with a more modern twist. manly men, loads of testosterone, non-stop action, explosions and plenty of patriotism. it’s a variation on the Predator theme.

Alan Ritchson is excellent as always. there’s no point scrutinising the characters and plot in detail here; this is a B-movie, and such details are merely background noise. the main focus here is the action, and the film excels at this, balancing on the edge of realism. overall, it’s a solid film, left a good impression.

Red (2008). 1 hour 33 minutes. directed by Lucky McKee. an elderly man seeks justice after three teenagers shoot his dog.

rather odd film. it’s not Gran Torino, nor is it John Wick. based on the novel by Jack Ketchum. the man seeks some form of justice, but not revenge, using moral and legal means. an interesting approach, although not the most compelling visually.

in the end, it all leads to a rather violent conclusion. overall, it’s worth a watch, but it won’t stay in your memory for long. there’s a fine line where the protagonist seeks justice, but in his quest he crosses the line, after which he blames himself. there’s a moral grey area. you don’t see that very often; it’s not the most commercial approach.

Brian Cox plays the lead role, and he’s brilliant here. Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) appears in a supporting role, and the author of the novel, Jack Ketchum, has a very small part somewhere, though I didn’t bother looking for it; I only noticed it on imdb.

the only thing that really stuck in my mind is the tragedy of the main character’s family. it’s so gruesome it makes your hair raise – a very literary description. and if the whole book is full of descriptions like that, the film doesn’t even come close, but many people say it’s a faithful adaptation, so perhaps it’s just that one episode.