Horror fans get your watchlists ready as Matt Glasby – author of The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film, available here – takes a look at what horror to watch (and what to watch out for) in March and April.
The Rule of Jenny Pen
With a seal of approval from Stephen King, no less, this witty New Zealand horror by James Ashcroft pits acting titans Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow against each other—in a nursing home. Rush plays a nasty judge sent to recuperate after a stroke; Lithgow, a strange resident who rules the roost with his dementia doll, Jenny Pen. The battle for precedence moves from jet-black comedy to outright sadism, but it’s safe to say you won’t have seen its like before. Extra points for the use of The Settlers’ creepy TV theme The Lightning Tree.
Opus
A24’s horror-adjacent thriller has an intriguing premise and impressive call sheet. The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri is a journalist invited to “an exclusive listening experience” at the compound of reclusive singer John Malkovich, where she will hear the “greatest album of modern times”. Only it looks a lot like a cult. From the creepy greeter to her host’s fondness for shaven “lady gardens”, the weirdness mounts. The supporting cast includes the indomitable Juliette Lewis and Murray Bartlett from that episode of The Last of Us. Festival reviews have been a bit iffy, but the original songs by Nile Rodgers should be some consolation.
Y2K
Directed by comedian Kyle Mooney, and stuffed with 20th-century nostalgia, this “apocalyptic science-fiction comedy horror” centres on the virus supposed to cause a technological meltdown on New Year’s Eve 1999. Only this time, it does. It stars Jaeden Martell (It), Julian Dennison (Hunt for the Wilderpeople), Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) and, of course, Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), who knows a thing or two about going off in the late 1990s. Essentially it’s an update of Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive, which even he admits was terrible. The trailer’s best line, “Oh shit, a Tamagotchi just drilled through a chick’s head,” gives you the general idea.
The Woman in the Yard
Is there anything scarier than a woman, in a yard? Well yes. But to be fair it’s a pretty nice yard. Although he’s better known for his Liam Neeson-on-the-run films, prolific director Jaume Collet-Serra has made some decent horrors—from the underrated House of Wax to Orphan and The Shallows. This one stars Danielle Deadwyler (Station Eleven), Okwui Okpokwasili (Agatha All Along) and Russell Hornsby (The Affair). Instead of Liam Neeson on a tram/bus/Segway, it’s about a woman, in a yard, bringing deadly tidings.
Death of a Unicorn
More A24-style oddness in this excellent-looking horror-comedy from writer/director Alex Scharfman. On the way to a meeting with richer-than-the-devil boss Richard E Grant, Paul Rudd and his daughter Jenna Ortega run over some kind of “horse-like mammalia”. Or, as she puts it, “It’s a fucking unicorn”. While Grant, his wife Téa Leoni and son Will Poulter want to exploit the creature’s magic powers, its mate has other ideas—stabby ones.
Sinners
The latest collaboration between director Ryan Coogler and star Michale B Jordan is a slick-looking period piece set in the 1930s Deep South—a place of very real horrors, not least the Ku Klux Klan. Jordan plays twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who arrive back in their hometown to fight a deep evil. Although Coogler has been keeping details close to his chest, the trailer shows Hailee Steinfeld and the reliably evil Jack O’Connell, some great blues music and a dash of devil-at-the-crossroads black magic. It looks like From Dusk Till Dawn retooled for the Prohibition era—and that’s quite the pitch.
Cloud
In the latest from J-horror misfit Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who made Cure and Pulse, “nameless hunters” go after “oblivious prey” and there’s a scary man with a bag on his head. Kurosawa’s works are divisive—often brilliant, but also not for everyone. While this veers more towards psychological thriller, or even action, it’s guaranteed to have a stately pace, bags of atmosphere, and more head-scratching than a primary-school nit inspection.
Until Dawn
We have a soft spot for David F Sandberg’s previous horrors, Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation, but this video game adaptation could go steeply either way. It’s got a big following, a great tagline (“Every night a different nightmare”) and Peter Stormare heading a fresh-faced cast (including Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino and Odessa A’zion). But we’ve seen quite a few Groundhog Day-style reset flicks in recent years (Happy Death Day being the biggie). So is there really room for one more? The trailer promises masked killers, disgusting ghouls and face worms. Let’s hope it’s more Silent Hill than Alone in the Dark.
