 From the opening act to the establishment of a cop sibling, Freaky is a spiritual cousin of Scream that delivers what it promises. A “small town” known as Blissfield has a killer problem when a sadistic jerk (Vince Vaughn) goes around killing teenagers left and right in overly brutal ways that are sure to get the bloodhounds howling. But his reign of terror takes a detour when he accidentally switches bodies with awkward blonde teen Millie (Kathryn Newton). It’s Freaky Friday with a horror skin that, while not really scary, is downright funny and a little bit touching.
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 Sometimes, we wish we could go back and relive a particular moment in our lives. Either because we were embarrassed or to have unseen knowledge. Antebellum did not have that kindness in mind for Veronica Henley (portrayed by Janelle Monae): a successful author forced to relive her ancestors’ struggles and hardships as a plantation slave. You know, the “normal” stuff. A name change, forgetting where you came from, and no talking. This twisted Thriller hits you with scary, harsh realities that address current societal issues.
 Many tales of possession, transformation, and replication of the human form have graced the screen for decades. Prime examples of this would be William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, John Carpenter’s The Thing, and the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers helmed by Don Siegel in 1958, Philip Kaufman in 1978, and Abel Ferrara in 1993. These films, despite their differences, have one thing in common, the desecration of one’s own identity at the expense of the fragile flesh that is the human body.
 Since the beginning of the recent pandemic, we have seen a surge in food deliveries and takeout orders. Stressed out and hungry, more people are turning to takeout and delivery rather than face the prospect of cooking yet another meal. If you’re one of the many people that has found themselves ordering takeout or delivery a little too much lately, perhaps one of these scenes will scare you back into the kitchen.
 Kindred isn’t a gory film. There is no masked boogeyman or supernatural monster, either. Rather, the horror comes from a family trying to control a woman’s every single move and action, including her reproductive rights. The result is a film with the type of dread that encapsulates this very moment, when women’s rights are under attack at the global level. Intentional or not, Kindred feels incredibly relevant
 Nazi zombies are an easy, novelty trope that has continued to hold traction for over 75 years, and for good reason. If you want easy villains, look no further than the 20th century’s most notorious monsters. You can write them to do horrific, terrifying things, and you don’t have to worry about adding any redeeming qualities. During the heyday of the exploitation film, the trope was solidified in films such as They Saved Hitler’s Brain, Zombie Lake, and the definitive Shock Waves. Of course, the trope has seen a resurgence in the last decade thanks to popular video game franchises like Call of Duty and Wolfenstein. Most recently, the Nazi Zombie trope has had its most mainstream undertaking with 2018’s Overlord, directed by newcomer, Julius Avery, and more notably, produced by J.J. Abrams.
 Experimental and uneven, Shortcut is one of those films that keeps hitting bumps just as
it reaches smoother roads. To be sure, the parts that work, really work, with some impressive cinematography by and characters that have a few quirks tucked away. However, at only an hour and a half, the movie is both too short, and too long. What we’re left with is a shell for a much better film.  In September of 2016, the horror community lost one of its legendary pioneers when Herschell Gordon Lewis passed away at age 90. Alongside Italy’s Lucio Fulci, Lewis is credited here in America as “The Godfather of Gore,” laying the groundwork for what we know as the “splatter” film. With on screen buckets of blood and exposed entrails, in full color, this was uncharted territory for the Hays Code era of the 1960’s. This legacy all began with a little film, appropriately titled Blood Feast, the slimy tale of a psychotic caterer and his need to make sacrifices to an Egyptian goddess. The film was the start of a trilogy of unrelated splatter films, The Blood Trilogy, and three decades after retirement, in 2002, Lewis would return to direct a satirical direct sequel, Blood Feast 2: All You Can Eat. Over fifty years later, Blood Feast’s legacy lives on, even receiving an official remake in 2016. That wasn’t the first attempt at a remake of the film however, as in 1987, an attempt was made at a spiritual sequel to the original but would become its own entity. This was Jackie Kong’s Blood Diner.
 As a mother of a young son first and a genre writer second, I’m always astonished at how far in either direction I sway where there are children concerned in horror movies. Come Play, written and directed deftly by Jacob Chase, brings us a timely and emotional tale of longing, loneliness, and the lack of connection in a terrifying way.
 Directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s latest film, Synchronic, may initially seem like a far-out sci-fi horror flick about a time-altering drug, especially based upon the opening scene. However, the film is anchored to reality, specifically the personal struggles of two paramedics working in New Orleans. Their story and character arcs ground Synchronic in all the pain and beauty of everyday life. The result is a powerful genre film about human connection.
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