What I’ve Watched This Week

Dream demons, abducted aliens and watchful weirdos

Oct 24, 2025

It’s been a big week for new releases, especially horror, which I suppose is always the case in October. As it happens, I saw five movies at the cinema in ten days. I know, it’s a problem. But hey, there are worse things that my time and money could be going towards… right? Also, I made the mistake of buying some blu-rays from the Arrow (UK) website on my lunch break without checking the conversion first and it ended up being practically double. At least they were part of a sale. Besides, I’ve had them on my wishlist for a while, so I don’t feel too bad about it. Let it be a lesson to any of you fellow physical media collectors out there.

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t seen The Black Phone (2021) and intend to watch it before the sequel, feel free to skip ahead to Bugonia (2025).

Black Phone 2 (2025)

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Written by Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill

I enjoyed The Black Phone, which was adapted from a short story by Joe Hill, more than I thought I would. But if you’ve seen the original, then you too were probably wondering how there was a sequel. Legacy horror franchises have taught me to never trust that a villain is actually dead, even when you see them die, and this is no different. Set in 1982, four years after the events of the first film, round two sees the Grabber target Finney’s younger sister Gwen, played by Madeleine McGraw, in her sleep from beyond the grave. Sound familiar? Fortunately, she becomes quite the dream warrior and does more than hurl corny insults at him by the end of it.

It explores dogmatic faith and the effects of trauma through the eyes of outcast children with a troubled past. The characters are holed up in a youth camp run by capricious Christians during a blizzard for most of the movie, which is where much of the (unnecessary) comic relief comes from. However, there’s some great acting from Mason Thames as a reticent but volatile Finney and Ethan Hawke is fantastic as the Grabber. The super 8 dream sequences are very Sinister-esque and one is particularly shocking. Unfortunately, there are some egregious inconsistencies in the final act and a love interest setup that never goes anywhere.

Also, what happened to cool sequel titles rather than just adding a number to the previous one?

Bugonia (2025)

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

Written by Will Tracy

I seem to be hit or miss with Lanthimos, as I love the absurdity of The Lobster but found Poor Things to pretty much be a porn parody of Frankenstein. This was a hit, although the message got a little lost in the complex narrative. A friend and I were lucky enough to catch an advanced screening – it’s not out until the 30^th in Australia – and missed the first few minutes, but still got there in time to see the title card. It follows two blue-collar conspiracy theorists who kidnap and interrogate a CEO who they believe to be an alien. The concept alone is brilliant, but the dynamic between the three of them is what had me hooked.

In a standout performance from Jesse Plemons, Teddy toes the line between compassionate mentor and obsessed maniac. His cousin Don, played by Aidan Delbis, is a heartbreaking character who both admires and questions Teddy’s actions but struggles to make sense of their relationship. Emma Stone is fully committed to her role as CEO Michelle Fuller, held prisoner in Teddy’s basement with her head shaved and coated in a thick paste to prevent her “contacting the mothership.” The offbeat humour throughout pairs well with the stark horror moments – it’s produced by Ari Aster, after all – and keeps you guessing right to the end.

Alien vs. Predator (2004)

Written and Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson

I was scrolling through the movies on Disney+ in alphabetical order, looking for something new to watch, when I got to H and decided to go back to an old favourite. Little did I know that it would most likely be the last time I’ll ever watch this. It’s that bad – and I love both Alien and Predator! Strangely enough, I remembered a lot of cool lines from it, then I realised that they were all just classic proverbs. Not only is it lazily written, it has no real story beyond what it says on the tin, which is wild when you consider that the titular monsters don’t even meet face to face until almost exactly halfway through.

Okay, it’s got some merit. There’s that badarse scene where the predator slices the xenomorph’s head in half without even looking. And the one where it fashions the lead character – I can’t even remember her name and I’m not looking it up – a shield and spear from a dead xenomorph’s skull and tail. But that’s about it. The archaeologist reads ancient hieroglyphics on the ground and instantly understands the entire history of the pyramid, which magically reconfigures itself every 10 minutes. Oh, and the predator’s signature, currawong-like clicking sound is swapped for a tiger’s roar – I shit you not. At least some of the effects are practical and the fight scenes are fun.

Rear Window (1954)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Written by John Michael Hayes

Look, you may as well expect there to be a Hitchcock film on every post in this series by now. Similar to Rope, this is set entirely in one room and explores the ethics (and dangers) of people watching. Photojournalist Jeff, expertly played by Hitch’s homeboy James Stewart, is stuck in his apartment recovering from a broken leg with nothing to do but spy on his neighbours. One night, Jeff sees the man in the apartment building across from him come home without his ill, nagging wife and begins to suspect the man of murder, which only leads to further prying with grave consequences. It’s a classic mystery from the best to ever do it.

The moral of the story is that Jeff is so intent on looking at what lies in the distance, and concerning himself with the lives of others, that he misses what’s right in front of him: a woman who loves him. I find it particularly interesting that Jeff opposes getting married to Lisa, played by the stunning Grace Kelly, because of similar reasons to why the man across the way might want to kill his wife, likening the protagonist to the suspected murderer. There’s also talk of “feminine intuition” throughout, implying that women know best (which is probably true) while the detective, accuser and accused are all men. Duly noted.

Shelby Oaks (2025)

Written and Directed by Chris Stuckmann

It makes sense that a horror fan with a film review channel would know how to make one of his own, but Shelby Oaks is one impressive debut feature. This is the scariest film that I’ve seen in a while and, based on middling reviews that I’ve read online, one of the most underrated. It unravels the mystery of a film crew who disappeared while on location for their paranormal investigation channel several years prior. Mia, vehemently played by Camille Sullivan, receives an old tape of raw footage and decides to take the search for her missing sister and host Riley, played by Sarah Durn, into her own hands.

What sounds like a run-of-the-mill horror premise is actually a guise for a layered outlier in the genre. All is not what it seems, even the format of the film, and I was grinning like an idiot each time that it pulled the rug from under me. Stuckmann knows what gets under your skin – dark corridors, creaking stairs, heavy eye contact, blurry footage anomalies – and he plays with it until you’re ready to squirm out of your seat. It’s beautifully shot with an eerie score and lots of negative space to keep you guessing. There was more use of CGI than I would have liked, but hey, it’s 2025. For fans of Hereditary, Lake Mungo, and The Blair Witch Project.