THE DANMAN CAN

"You have chosen to live in agony." A candy-colored, crystal-coated, mist-enshrouded, hyper-stylized comic book fairy tale fever dream, filtered through  Bava ,  De Palma ,  Friedkin , Lynch , and  Mann , with an absolutely gorgeous score by  Pino Donaggio . Bold cinematography, sumptuous production design, delicious artifice. Bizarre, mysterious, lovely. Nicolas Winding Refn Ranked

My least favorite Evil Dead  film so far, Evil Dead Burn (2026) is about 15 minutes too long (at 109 mins it's the longest ED ), has that drab grey look that too many modern horror movies do, is yet another horror-movie-as-trauma allegory (yes, I know many, even older, horror films are as well, but they didn't feel so on the nose about it), and uses far too much CGI (the finale is particularly poor, in that sense, and just in general). EDB is not without merit though—it contains a lot of great gore gags (many of which appear to be practical effects?), some innovative camerawork, and I enjoyed it just fine. Solid overall, but here's hoping  Evil Dead Wrath (a prequel set in 1972) is better. You can find my reviews of the other films in the series here , here , here , here , and here . Evil Dead Franchise Films Ranked

Another perfectly serviceable, entertaining film by Radio Silence , purveyors of perfectly serviceable, entertaining films. Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come (2026)* includes some fun (if a few underutilized) additions to the cast and some creative kills, but it's a touch longer than it needs to be and I wish the visual style was a little more distinctive. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett Feature Films Ranked *The title card for the film does not include the "2" and, personally, I think it's better without it (also, it's not necessary).

I appreciate its ideas, its audacity, and its production design, but The Bride! (2026) could have used better editing, a shorter running time, and wow, what a schizophrenic film (reminded me a lot of 2013's  Gangster Squad   [ review ]).

It's hard to believe that the  Scream   franchise is 30 years old this year and that I've seen every single film in the series in its original theatrical run. I find it humorous the way fans rate/rank some of the films so  much higher than others, and the reasons they point to as to why one film is superior to another just make me chuckle. I guess that's because I think this series is just fine—outside of 1997's  Scream 2 , I don't really love any of them—so my expectations are always firmly kept in check. Anyway, I had fun with  Scream 7   (2026). You can find my reviews of the previous  Scream  films here:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 , 6 Scream  Franchise Films Ranked

"Just a little nibble. Just a baby bite." Sam Raimi Feature Films Ranked

Safdie sure loves sociopaths. I guess I do too. Movie Supreme.

There is definitely some fun to be had in this update and I appreciate that it did its best to set itself apart from the 1984  original  [ review ] (other than the obvious but expected callbacks), but it leaned too hard on the Dexter angle and did that whole going-for-gravitas-while-also-eating-its-exploitation-cake thing that a lot of modern horror films attempt and don't quite nail.

I came. I saw. I ran. Edgar Wright Feature Films Ranked

The Andromedan Strain Yorgos Lanthimos Feature Films Ranked

 Super dumb and totally awesome. A  Kostanski  joint through and through. Steven Kostanski Feature Films Ranked Deathstalker  Franchise Films Ranked

Much like the earlier  Caught Stealing   (review), Roofman (2025) was sold as a crime caper comedy (which seems to be in vogue this year), and, while I suppose there is some of that to the story, this dramedy (thankfully) felt more like a Derek Cianfrance film than the trailer let on. Roofman is  actually more akin to a  Steven Soderbergh  movie in look and feel, playing like a cross between 1998's  Out Of Sight   ( review )   and 2000's  Erin Brockovich ( review ) (with a bit of  Alexander Payne  and  Hal Ashby  for good measure). The picture plays it a little safe and it's a tearjerker at times, but I have to admit Channing Tatum is really charming here. Kirsten Dunst is good too, as is the always reliable Peter Dinklage , but Juno Temple 's talent is completely wasted in a throwaway role (and Ben Mendelsohn doesn't get enough screen time either). Derek Cianfrance Feature Films Ranked

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025) recycles two-thirds of its jokes (and basically its entire structure) from the first film (which works for its premise) and there were surprisingly more concert scenes than I was expecting, but it's still entertaining and funny. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) [ review ] is an all-time classic, so it was going to be all but impossible for the sequel to be anywhere near as good. Rob Reiner Feature Films Ranked

"Sad world." "Broken world." Caught Stealing (2025) was better than I expected from the Guy Ritchie -esque trailer. There is still a crime caper aspect to the film, but there is a melancholic quality hanging over the proceedings and  Darren Aronofsky 's trademarks are present, here and there. I really enjoyed this one. Nice cat , too. Darren Aronofsky Feature Films Ranked

A very fun update. Macon Blair's  The Toxic Avenger   (2023) has the same energy and vibe as  Hobo With A Shotgun   (2011) ( review ) and the films of  Steven Kostanski . It's a little longer than it needs to be (all the  TA  films are, honestly) and there is a bit more CGI than I typically like (although it bothered me less here because the violence is so cartoonish anyway), but there are some hilarious gore gags, it's got a great cast, and this is easily the most well-made and best-looking  Troma  film ever. Also,  this  is cool. Macon Blair Films Ranked

Honey Don't!   (2025), the second in  Ethan Coen  and Tricia Cooke 's "lesbian B movie trilogy" (following 2024's  Drive-Away Dolls   [ review ]) again stars  Margaret Qualley  and throws Aubrey Plaza and Chris Evans into the mix for a nice trifecta ( Charlie Day  is also pretty funny). This neo-noir comedy gives off definite  The Big Lebowski   (1998) [ review ] vibes at times, but I'm also reminded of  Elmore Leonard . I liked the film slightly more than its predecessor (which I also thought was a lot of fun). "The Pharisees were macaroni."

The mystery and horror of suburbia. I liked Weapons (2025) slightly more than Zach Cregger 's 2022 feature debut  Barbarian   ( review ), but his films don't quite grab me the way that they apparently do everyone else. There are some great tense moments (and a good deal of laughs) in Weapons  and it gave off Donnie Darko  (2001) ( review ) and  It Follows   (2014) ( review ) vibes, but the characters felt slight and for a longish high concept horror film (that felt like it could have shaved off 15 minutes) it didn't quite pay off for me. Also, I don't know if it was the DCP or a bulb that needs adjusting in the theater where I saw this, but the dark scenes (which comprise a lot  of this film) were so dim that I had trouble distinguishing 75% of what I was seeing. All that said,  Amy Madigan  gives an MVP performance and there were a few nice, gory moments. Zach Cregger Feature Films Ranked

So damn funny. I loved it. Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson were perfect. There were even callbacks to  Police Squad!  (1982), which I appreciated.   I hope they make another trilogy.   Jim Abrahams  and  Leslie Nielson  would be proud.

Chaos, conspiracies, confrontation. Bigots, brainwashing, button-pushing. Ari Aster Feature Films Ranked

Wes Anderson takes some risks here and the production design is immaculate, as always, but it's still dense. The Phoenician Scheme (2025) is very enjoyable, but in that Anderson-of-the-last-decade way of if you throw enough stuff at people they are bound to laugh for at least some of it. I'd still consider this one of the best films of the year so far, but part of me wishes Anderson would scale back or do something radically different. Wes Anderson Feature Films Ranked Top 20 Directors