Frightening Strikes

Undertone is a supernatural psychological horror film that   centres on Evy, a young woman with a troubled past, now living back at home and caring for her terminally ill mother. To cope with the isolation, she co-hosts the titular podcast with Justin, a London-based collaborator we never see: Evy plays the sceptic, Justin the believer, as they dissect urban legends and creepypasta stories. A Strange Email with a Cryptic Message The film opens as they prepare to record a new episode. Justin reveals he has received a strange email containing a cryptic message and a set of audio files - files he unwisely opens. After sampling one, he saves the rest for the recording, allowing both hosts to experience them in real time. What begins as natural curiosity soon develops into something far more sinister. The audio narrative starts innocently enough: a man records his partner while she sleeps because she doesn’t believe she talks in her sleep. But as the content unfolds, increasingly distur...

As the weather warms and the evenings grow lighter, those cosy nights spent with something dark and unsettling start to feel a little rarer. Still, May looks set to be a solid month for horror fans, with a line-up that covers a wide range of the genre. The month’s releases range from supernatural horror and psychological chillers to creature features, offering a mix of intense genre thrills with slower, mood-driven stories. Whatever your preference, there’s a good spread of titles arriving throughout the month. Here’s a look at what the horror films in May have in store. Hokum A reclusive novelist travels to a remote Irish hotel to scatter his parents’ ashes, hoping for solitude and closure. Instead, he finds himself drawn into the hotel’s unsettling atmosphere, where staff whisper of an ancient witch said to haunt a long-sealed honeymoon suite. As disturbing visions take hold and a sudden disappearance deepens the mystery, his grief begins to intertwine with something far more s...

The Wretched opens with a terrifying scene as a babysitter arrives at a house for what should be a routine job, only to stumble into something far more sinister, witnessing an unspeakable act that traps her in a hellish nightmare. It sets the scene for a witch-in-the-woods horror film that blends teen thriller elements with folk horror. Thirty-five years on, we’re introduced to Ben, who is staying with his dad for the summer after his parents’ divorce. Already battered emotionally and physically - his broken arm the result of a bungled attempt to steal from a neighbour - Ben arrives as a defensive, chippy teenager, testing the boundaries of his newfound adulthood, but still young enough to need a guiding hand. So Far, So Beverly Hills 90210 Next door, a young family has moved in for the summer, and mum Abby and her son, Dillon, unwittingly have a brush with a ghoulish witch in the woods as she tries to tempt Dillon into her lair. Although thwarted, the creature isn’t put off easily...

Anything for Jackson is one of those little gems you come across every now and then and wonder why you hadn’t watched it before. It had been on my radar for a while, but I’d never quite felt compelled to commit. The idea of an elderly couple performing a reverse exorcism didn’t feel like a “must-see”. That said, taking the plunge turned out to be a good decision. This is a surprisingly elegant and well-handled horror from Justin G. Dyck—better known for films with “Christmas” in the title. An Ancient Satanic Ritual Henry and Audrey Walsh are an affluent but otherwise unremarkable couple. Henry is the town doctor, Audrey his composed and quietly driven wife. After the loss of their grandson, Jackson, they turn to an ancient satanic ritual in an attempt to bring him back and repair their damaged lives. Early on, Audrey and Henry kidnap a pregnant woman and hold her prisoner in their home in order to perform the ritual and the couple go to great lengths to acquire the knowledge they need...

Bring Her Back is a dark psychological horror that peers into the abyss of grief and the dangerous lengths we might go to in order to ease it. What begins as an intense study of loss gradually morphs into something far more disturbing, unfolding with a confidence that set it apart from more formula-driven genre entries. An Unconventional Presence Andy and Piper are step-siblings reeling from the sudden death of their father at home. With Andy just three months shy of legal adulthood, the pair are placed into foster care rather than being allowed to remain together independently. Their new guardian is Laura, an experienced social worker and counsellor who initially only wants to take in the younger, visually impaired Piper. She reluctantly agrees to accept Andy as well, on the condition that he maintains good behaviour. At first, Laura appears to be an unconventional but caring presence. Her eccentricities are easy to dismiss as quirky, and her background suggests she is equipped to sup...