Popular reviews

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  Review by Mike Flanagan 36

  Absolutely excellent. Damian Mc Carthy's engrossing, terrifying followup to his atmospheric and chilling CAVEAT is a masterclass in dread, atmosphere, and tension. An arresting opening sequence involving a woman answering the door to an unsettling stranger blossoms into a tale of supernatural revenge, mournful spirits, and buried secrets.

  I loved this. One of the best of the year, for sure, and confirmation that Mc Carthy is the real deal. This one gets under the skin.

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  Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 29

  95

  Often when I watch modern horror films, I inadvertently take on the tone of the kid at the dig site from the beginning of Jurassic Park: "That doesn't look very scary." It's difficult to shake the genre's visual hallmarks and narrative tendencies and morph them into something novel for a seasoned audience. There's no type of movie that I love more than a good old fashioned scary movie, so chasing the high of an great chiller typically results in some form of disappointment now and then.

  But Oddity? This is some SCARY shit. I was not prepared at all. Don't read about it. Don't watch the trailer. Open a new tab and book your tickets. That's all you need…

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  Review by ChrisStuckmann

  Oddity actually scared me. But what does that mean nowadays? For me, it’s not about being jolted by sound design. It’s about a feeling of dread, about knowing something bad is going to happen, and that it feels inescapable. Hitchcock loved referencing the “bomb under the table.” The idea that the audience is made aware of something that the characters cannot see, and we watch, as the excruciating minutes tick away, wondering when they’ll realize they’re in danger. In Oddity, Damian Mc Carthy places a terrifying wooden man in a room, and makes all the characters aware of it. It’s not hidden. It’s just sitting there. Everyone can see it. And then we wait, wondering when that fucking thing is gonna… well you’ll have to see the movie. I felt my stomach tightening during the tensest scenes. This is the best Shudder film I’ve seen since When Evil Lurks.

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  Review by ndc32002 ★★★★ 3

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  wish i had a vengeful psychic golem wielding twin 😔

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  Review by Kit Lazer ★★★★ 8

  This is what I’m talking about! This is that early 21st century popular horror jazz, some sneaky jump scares backed by a genuinely creepy visual toolkit, that Edgar Allen Poe type shit.

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  Review by Robyn ★★★★½ 8

  Well I'd like to use that wooden man's head as a bowling ball :-)

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  Review by Matt! ★★★½ 9

  Oh yeah, this is that middle school late night Saturday sleepover with the boys type shit. 

  Like a wicked little old school Tales from the Crypt segment made full, with solid jump scares and creepy kooky wacky scene-stealing thingamabobs galore—Blind mediums? A weird old country house/castle/barn? Terrifying wooden mannequins?—count me all the way in. Feels both predictable and unpredictable at the same time (in a good way—does that make sense? Whatever) and yet the payoff at the end of such a long & titillating slow burn feels somehow sorta dissatisfying. Still unique as hell and pretty damn fun, though; didn’t know a fuckin’ thing about it going in and now I’m all aboard the hype train for whatever Damian McCarthy does next, no questions asked.

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  Review by Joe Lynch ★★★★

  Man, this movie was genuinely scary in a way I wasn’t expecting. 
  Simple, effective, all about the atmosphere, mood, style and crafts a contained horror that’s weird in all the right places. 
  And every time I think it’s lost steam or jumped the shark, it sneaks up and GRABS you. 
  There’s legit effective scares that worked fantastic thanks to wonderful build, tension and craft thanks to a very assured hand by the director and a solid cast led by the dual roles played by Carolyn Bracken, who mesmerized in two very different roles. 
  The final moments made us SCREAM for multiple reasons. 
  Can’t wait to watch again…and I really wish I saw this in the theater…don’t make the same mistake I hope to fix by seeing it with a crowd.

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  Review by aurora 𖦹 ★★★★ 1

  I need a local witch to gift me a wooden puppet on my fifth anniversary that’ll enact revenge

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  Review by theraquizt ★★★★½ 2

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Genuinely couldn’t imagine wanting to kill for a house with that awful of a layout. You have to walk down multiple flights of stairs to get from the master bedroom to the toilet for bloody sake

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  Review by 24framesofnick ★★★ 5

  PHASMOPHOBIA LORE 

  Really cool supernatural set piece with some great scares.

  Performances are a little off and pacing issues are apparent for the first half. Tension is cut by the dialogue playing it a bit too one note. 

  But there’s still a lot to appreciate. Story is intriguing and I was interested to see it all unfold. 

  Overall a cut above other Shudder movies and definitely worth a watch for anyone looking for a lil fright.

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  Review by cob ★★★★★ 2

  wasn’t planning on sleeping tonight anyway