The Lighthouse

Director: Robert Eggers

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7984734

Review: Fleshy and tactile filmmaking with two fascinating performances and plenty of corners to explore for meaning and interpretation.

Watch it if: You're ok with something that doesn't spoon-feed you.

And if you liked: The Witch, The Master, The Shining, Pi

Happy Death Day 2U

Director: Christopher Landon

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8155288

Review: Fun and silly in the right ways with a decent pace and a surprisingly sincere emotional core.

Watch it if: You’re ok with a follow-up that’s more of a science-fiction than a slasher.

And if you liked: Triangle, Timecrimes, Back to the Future Part II

Little Monsters

Director: Abe Forsythe

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7390588

Review: Rolls along at a nice pace with clear cut characters and a few large laugh-out-loud scenes.

Watch it if: You want something that zips along nicely.

And if you liked: Black Sheep, Shaun of the Dead

Let the Corpses Tan

Director: Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5827212

Review: Doesn't quite hold as clearly as it could towards the end but delivers a lot of invention in terms of storytelling and visuals.

Watch it if: You want something that plays with time.

And if you liked: The Bad Batch, Sexy Beast

Check this out: Laissez bronzer les cadavres!

31

Director: Rob Zombie

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3835080

Review: Just a long string of uninspired and unoriginal moments not saved by the one or two interesting images.

Watch it if: You love seeing shaking close-ups disguising that nothing is happening in a scene.

And if you liked: The Devil's Rejects, Saw II, Death Proof

The Monster Club

Director: Roy Ward Baker

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081178

Review: Flows along nicely with some fun ideas and a genuine glee in its own silliness.

Watch it if: You're ok with something that indulges itself.

And if you liked: Tales from the Crypt, The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Check this out: The Monster Club

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Director: Stacie Passon

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5952138

Review: Relatively light on story but makes up for it with a likeable cast and good instincts for eccentric performance.

Watch it if: You want something that can be laugh out loud funny despite not technically being a comedy.

And if you liked: Stoker

Check this out: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Terrifier

Director: Damien Leone

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4281724

Review: A few decent moments and images but nothing really holding them together except a fairly standard and unoriginal tone.

Watch it if: You're not that worried about a story or theme.

And if you liked: Saw, Holidays, Maniac (2012)

Joker

Director: Todd Phillips

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456

Review: A decent performance buried in a futile, sad, and frankly pathetic attempt to appear smart.

Watch it if: You want to see something desperately begging you to be provoked or offended.

And if you liked: Choke, My Friend Dahmer

I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House

Director: Osgood Perkins

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5059406

Review: Has some interesting ideas and images but is held back by a molasses pace and unclear characters.

Watch it if: You want something a little obtuse.

And if you liked: Nocturnal Animals, The Innkeepers

Season of the Witch

Director: George A. Romero

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069239

Review: Doesn't fully land but still contains plenty of interesting filmmaking and ideas.

Watch it if: You're interested in Romero's work outside of his big famous ones.

And if you liked: Martin, Rosemary's Baby

Possum

Director: Matthew Holness

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6081670

Review: Revolves around a deeply unsettling piece of imagery with just enough intrigue and thrust to keep it going.

Watch it if: You want something a little more cerebral but not too obtuse.

And if you liked: Spider, Pin, Martin

Check this out: Possum

The Haunting (1999)

Director: Jan de Bont

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0171363

Review: Starts strong with genuinely breathtaking sets but loses itself to nonsense melodrama and over-use of visual effects around the halfway mark.

Watch it if: You want to see what it looks like when a film has too much money.

And if you liked: Thirteen Ghosts, The Others

Check this out: The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting

The Nun

Director: Corin Hardy

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5814060

Review: A fairly predictable run-through of familiar beats and ideas that occasionally hints at being a far weirder and less mainstream film than it ends up being.

Watch it if: WATCH IT IF

And if you liked: The Omen (2006), Exorcist: The Beginning

The Ritual

Director: David Bruckner

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5638642

Review: Doesn't fully land its ending but still succeeds in building a strong atmosphere and tone with clear cut characters and creepy ideas.

Watch it if: You want something that doesn't rewrite the book but reads it well.

And if you liked: Severance, The Descent, The Blair Witch Project

Check this out: The Ritual