Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for horror movies like The Bayou:
Meg 2: The Trench
With a floundering script and painstakingly uninventive cast, Ben Wheatley falls victim to this behemoth shark franchise. Meg 2: The Trench capitalizes on very few aspects that made the first movie an occasionally enjoyable romp.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2
Blood and Honey 2 capitalizes on the infrequent highlights of the first Winnie the Pooh horror movie, and improves around the edges where the original flopped. But despite an infusion of new ideas and kills, the core premise can only go so far. A schlocky, unique time at the movies doesn’t translate into an objectively good film.
Cocaine Bear
Cocaine Bear reinvents the boundaries of cinema and what’s possible for the medium moving forward. An absolutely groundbreaking work that sets the tone for 2023. Just kidding. But it’s still goofy and wild. And a bear does cocaine, confirmed.
Sting
Sting has its moments, but the genre has offered much better this year, and a premise like “growing killer spider gets loose” doesn’t do enough to tie the movie together and keep you engaged. It is worth the price of admission once, but it’s not much to write home about after the fact.
Evil Dead Rise
There aren’t many horror franchises able to reinvent themselves as often as Evil Dead does while still maintaining relevancy and quality. Maybe it’s because Sam Raimi holds his creation so close to his heart that only a select few are able to take on the premise, or maybe it’s because the premise seems simple and malleable enough to make nearly anything work. It can shoot for the downright zany and ludicrous with Evil Dead II or Army of Darkness, or it can strive to be like Lee Cronin’s newest spin Evil Dead Rise – a movie so sick and twisted that you can’t help but give it its dues by the time the credits roll.
The Watchers
It’s not all bad, but I wished The Watchers tied together better. A monster movie with diluted monster energy, the movie wanders along, yanked forward by solid captives and a couple noteworthy scares. Ishana Night Shyamalan should keep attempting to make movies like this because I’d imagine most will achieve greater success.
Death of a Unicorn
Death of a Unicorn is the kind of misfire that feels like it started with a compelling pitch but never found its footing in script or tone. It has the potential to be a midnight movie curiosity for some, but for most, it’s likely to be a forgettable experiment. This is one A24 project that stumbles far from the high standards the studio has set for itself—and feels far closer to Tusk or Heretic than to The Lighthouse or Uncut Gems. A few moments of bizarre creativity can’t rescue it from its fundamental problems.
Wolf Man
Wolf Man is another uneven entry in Universal Pictures’ long-running struggle to make their classic monster IP feel vital again. Leigh Whannell may be one of the more exciting genre filmmakers working today, but this misaligned project is more whimper than howl.
Barbarian
Zach Cregger‘s Barbarian is still refreshing and thrilling, and it’s easily one of my favorite theater experiences of 2022. Films try over and over again to use the schlocky marketing bit of audiences screaming in theaters only to be disappointing in actual terror when places in front of you – but Barbarian is genuinely jaw-dropping.
Renfield
Nicolas Cage‘s version of Dracula sure is unique. A movie about the bloodthirsty vampire teaming with Nicholas Hoult for centuries may sound good on paper, but Renfield is too concerned with various subplots that don’t amount to much.
