Thingy (2026) | Thingy starts with a hookup gone wrong and eventually becomes a gooey supernatural house party nobody should have RSVP’d to. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 3.9/10. Thingy opens with the usual drunken partygoers being caught on camera before settling into an overhead shot of a town. A lone woman waits on a corner for her online date. And by “date,” I mean the sort of date that skips dinner, conversation, and any pretense of getting to know each other and heads straight to a motel room.

After their quick session, the guy heads into the bathroom looking like he has contracted something significantly worse than regret. He emerges, chokes her, and leaves her unconscious with a nice little saliva bonus in her mouth. So what are we dealing with here? A warning about the dangers of online hookups? A PSA about condoms? A statement that humanity is inherently evil? Thingy isn't particularly interested in clearing that up.

Instead, we follow Frankie (Dora Hewitt), who reluctantly heads to a remote house party to avoid her ex. Along the way, she and her friend drive past the motel and notice the emergency response. Naturally, this information does absolutely nothing to stop everyone from proceeding with their evening.

The party introduces us to the usual collection of young adults through a suspicious amount of selfie-camera footage. I am sure that is meant to make us care about them. Doesn't really work. In Silas's case, it mostly establishes how annoying he is, particularly when he's doing his wannabe rapper routine. Frankie eventually hooks up with Jason (Zach Schnitzer), and before long everyone starts playing Hot Seat, a game that should really be called We Will All Be Trying to Kill Each Other in Approximately One Minute.

Thingy moves at a pretty leisurely pace, using young-adult drama, drinking games, relationship angst, and general party stupidity to keep things moving. If you've ever been to one of those house parties where half the people are drinking, some are doing drugs, others are disappearing for sex, and nobody actually knows what anyone else is doing, that's the uncomfortable and familiar feeling I remember.

The supernatural force spreads through physical contact, producing some impressively gooey clear slime that Thingy clearly wants you to find disgusting. The practical blood effects work well enough, although the kills themselves are mostly mundane repeated bashings. The synth soundtrack kicks in whenever something is happening, just in case you weren't sure that something was happening.

There's also one questionable decision that pissed me off. Frankie finds Wendy passed out after taking all her pills and then puts her behind the wheel to drive home. Because apparently surviving the supernatural outbreak isn't enough. Somebody has to add vehicular manslaughter to the evening's itinerary.

Writer/director Jae Matthews never really explains what this thing is. I am sure that is on purpose. It's basically an STD on steroids crossed with zombies, with a generous helping of saliva. There are also dangling subplots involving schizophrenia and pregnancy that never amount to much. And after all the face-sucking, apparently the infection needs one final mouth-to-mouth slime transfer for maximum gross-out effect.

Thingy (2026)

The concept has been done before, and better. Thingy isn't terrible, but there's not much story here. The kills are ordinary, the characters range from tolerable to irritating, and the ending barely qualifies as an ending. Imagine being invited to a party, discovering everyone is annoying, and then realizing nobody actually planned how to get home. That's what you get if you hit play.

https://jackmeat.com/thingy-2026/

Bayi Ajaib (2023) | Indonesia has been cranking out some great horror flix and this one is scary enough to recommend even if a step down from others #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.4/10. In case you didn’t know, Indonesia does some scary-ass horror movies. So, when one manages to fall into my circle, I am always eager to watch it. Bayi Ajaib is a remake of an Indonesian horror movie of 1982 called Bayi Ajaib. Having never seen the original, I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to pretend that I can judge the remake based on that. So I won't.

The story follows Kosim (Vino G. Bastian), a man who unexpectedly strikes gold in the village of Hirupbagja. Suddenly flush with cash, he marries Sumi (Sara Fajira), and life appears to be heading in a considerably better direction. Naturally, because this is a horror movie, that's about where the good news ends.

Their child becomes the vessel for a malevolent supernatural force, and what initially looks like a blessing quickly turns into a very serious case of your baby is possessed by something evil and everybody should probably start running.

Director Rako Prijanto clearly knows his horror history. Bayi Ajaib wears its influences pretty openly, particularly The Exorcist and Evil Dead. Some of the imagery and supernatural mayhem feel like they're tipping their hat directly at those classics, but Prijanto generally handles the material well, particularly as the movie heads toward its finale.

Where the movie really gets interesting for me is the Indonesian folklore and culture woven through the horror. The village setting, local beliefs, traditions, and superstitions give the movie an identity beyond simply throwing another possessed child at us and hoping everyone screams. There is something genuinely appealing about watching horror rooted in a culture and mythology that isn't the same collection of familiar Western demons we've seen a thousand times.

The performances also work. Bastian and Fajira pull off the fear and desperation quite convincingly, so I never found myself shaking my head. I saw the film with subtitles, and I would have to give some credit to whoever was behind them, as I never found myself wondering whether I was watching a horror film or some accidental comedy. Bad subtitles can certainly ruin a foreign language film. Luckily, not this time.

Sadly, however, Bayi Ajaib isn't really frightening enough. While there is a certain degree of creepiness in the film and a good sense of atmosphere, the scares aren't often enough. In addition to this, the plot does take some time getting on its feet, and some viewers may get bored by it.

The finale brings some of that energy back, although even then I found myself wishing the movie had gone all in. After all that buildup, you would think that the payoff would blow down the doors and throw some furniture at you. Instead, it was quite timid.

However, there’s a lot of good stuff here as well. The Indonesian folklore adds some much-needed character to Bayi Ajaib, the acting is solid, and the horror scenes are effective thanks to the grotesque visuals they employ at times. It simply fails to scare enough to make it worth a re-watch.

But if your baby starts talking in a voice that definitely isn't a baby's, maybe don't stick around to see what happens next. That's usually a pretty reliable horror-movie warning sign.

Miracle Baby (2023)

https://jackmeat.com/bayi-ajaib-2023/

Evil Dead Burn (2026) | I love Evil Dead, so watching Burn unleash this much gore while everyone makes stupid decisions made for a bloody good night #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating -  7.1/10. Evil Dead has been my favorite horror franchise ever since my uncle brought home the original 1981 classic on VHS. I loved every gory second of it and watched that tape so many times I wore the damn thing out. So yeah, I had some expectations going into Evil Dead Burn.

Thankfully, director Sébastien Vanicek understands the assignment.

The movie opens with someone researching the Necronomicon while listening to creepy reel-to-reel recordings. The voice warns him about what will happen. He pulls out the package containing the thing he's been warned about, and...of course opens it. Welcome to horror movies. Apparently "leave the evil book alone" remains a difficult concept after 45 years.

It doesn't take long to go from warning to carnage. A couple of people fishing are among the first to meet their brutal demise, eventually ending with one of the undead getting introduced to a speeding car. Then we cut from the lake to a club, where our next collection of future corpses gets introduced. A lovers' spat ends with a drunk driver speeding away, and while it initially looks like another example of spectacularly poor decision-making, the sequence eventually connects back to the opening.

That's a solid 15 minutes of fun before we even get the title screen.

After losing her husband, Alice (Souheila Yacoub) seeks solace with her in-laws at their secluded family home. Naturally, this turns into a family reunion from hell when the Deadites start taking over one by one. You think your family dinners are intense? Try one where Grandma might eat your face.

The performances work well, particularly Yacoub as Alice, along with the first possessed girl, the grandmother, and the cowardly brother. The humor is also nicely placed, giving us brief moments to breathe without ever destroying the tension.

Vanicek is clearly a student of the Raimi school. He uses focused shots on ordinary objects while isolating the sounds they make, turning everyday household items into ominous little promises of future violence. Having enjoyed his previous movie Infested, I was looking forward to seeing what he would do with Evil Dead, and he brings some excellent visual instincts to it.

The movie also does a nice job teasing what weapon will get used next. You see an object sitting there and immediately think, "Oh, that's going to hurt somebody." The fun is waiting to see exactly how badly and if that is the weapon they chose.

And this movie has a mean streak.

As a sensory assault, which is exactly what Vanicek wanted to create, Burn succeeds. The cinematography is excellent, the sound design gives everything a physical quality, and the gore factor is high. The CGI effects have also been used sparingly throughout most of the film.

Then we get the ending.

Without spoiling it, let's just say somebody apparently watched Terminator 2 and thought, "You know what this Evil Dead movie needs?" It isn't enough to ruin the movie, but the creative decision definitely pulled me out of the violent fun.

Is it another masterpiece? No. But when you're competing with the original, you're basically walking into a chainsaw fight carrying a butter knife. I'll happily take Evil Dead Burn for what it is. A bloody, intense and relentlessly nasty 110-minute horror flick. It understands the mythology, delivers the gore, keeps the humor where it belongs, and gives the franchise another worthwhile entry.

Evil Dead Burn (2026)

And then there's that little Evil Dead Wrath tease, followed by a gruesome after-credits scene featuring Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) from Evil Dead Rise. Because apparently the Deadites weren't finished ruining everyone's evening. Neither was I. I always stay until the very end.

After all these years, apparently I'm just another idiot who hears, "Whatever you do, don't watch that," and immediately reaches for the remote.

https://jackmeat.com/evil-dead-burn-2026/

Supergirl (2026) | Supergirl takes Kara into space for a Guardians-style adventure, but apparently finding enough Lobo for the movie was too difficult. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.3/10. Melissa Benoist was so good as Supergirl in the TV series that I knew I was going to have a hard time not comparing the new version to her. So I decided to wait until the end before passing judgment on Milly Alcock.

We start with This Summer by Sleigh Bells blasting away, which immediately made me grin. And yes, this is the same band I found years ago and apparently never shut up about. James Gunn clearly had some influence on the musical choices here, even though Craig Gillespie directs, because nobody drops a song into a superhero movie quite like Gunn.

We get a quick look at Kara Zor-El's life before things go sideways. She's carefree, having fun and hanging out with a very cute dog. Then the music shifts into something ominous as a ship races past, and we get our first look at Planet Holzherr, sitting in the solar Red category. A brief confrontation involving Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) goes badly for the sellers, and we're off.

Kara eventually finds herself drinking in a bar populated by a wonderfully weird collection of alien creatures. In a drunken stupor, she helps Ruthye (Eve Ridley), whose family was murdered during the opening events. Kara initially wants nothing to do with the girl's quest for revenge, but Krem shoots Krypto with a poison dart, steals Kara's ship and gives her 72 hours to save the dog.

Well, there goes the "I don't want to get involved" plan.

The interstellar adventure that follows is a lot of fun at times, and when Kara stops for information, we finally get Jason Momoa as Lobo. This is such an obvious and inspired casting choice that it's quite annoying how little of him we get.

We also get a nicely done look at Krypton's history, although the movie does ask me to accept that alien civilizations across the universe apparently all agreed that looking exactly like humans was the way to go. Even the dogs. Come on, guys. You have an entire universe to work with.

Eve Ridley does a good job with Ruthye, but the character itself becomes increasingly irritating. They really pushed making this kid a pain in the ass, and several of the increasingly bad situations are caused by her decisions. That's not a knock on Ridley's performance, but I kept wondering whether I was watching Supergirl or Ruthye's Extremely Expensive Space Adventure Featuring Supergirl.

David Corenswet's Superman eventually shows up, more or less as a tour guide. We get another sequence where one person spins around while everything explodes around them, which immediately reminded me of The Flash. I also found myself wondering why Superman didn't simply pick her up and fly away. Because apparently that isn't cinematic enough. I did like how the sequence resolves, and the Superman/Supergirl conversation afterward is one of the better moments in the movie.

My bigger problem is the screenplay.

There's nothing terribly wrong with Supergirl. It's entertaining, visually polished, and has some good performances. Alcock works well as Kara, particularly with this younger, more carefree version of the character. But considering the talent involved and the money on screen, it should have had far more punch. The script feels surprisingly weak, and the story never quite develops the oomph it seems to be reaching for.

I'm also not completely sold on the Guardians of the Galaxy meets DC Supergirl approach. I understand the intention. It gives Kara a bigger universe to explore instead of keeping her stuck in Superman's shadow on Earth. But something about the combination never quite clicked for me.

And I kept coming back to the same question: Is Supergirl actually the main character here?

The camera certainly seemed convinced it was Ruthye.

Supergirl (2026)

Still, Supergirl isn't a bad movie. Alcock is good, the action works, the interstellar setting is fun, and there are enough entertaining moments. I just wanted that extra something. That little superhero movie that makes you walk out thinking, "Hell yeah."

Instead, I was left thinking, "That was pretty good." Oh, and not enough Lobo!

Which might actually be the biggest crime in the whole movie. Damn, I need to stop typing LOL.

https://jackmeat.com/supergirl-2026/

Piercing Screams (2025) | This feels less like a horror movie and more like an infomercial for people really passionate about body suspension. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 3.2/10. I'm always willing to roll the dice on an obscure horror movie. Sometimes you uncover a forgotten gem. Other times you discover why nobody was talking about Piercing Screams in the first place.

This flick wastes no time introducing its killer. A couple stops for a late-night roadside break, someone gets stabbed, a giant spike gets hammered into a woman's head, and then the title card arrives with a surprisingly groovy soundtrack that immediately promised me a better movie than the one I was watching. It has that cheap '80s slasher vibe, right down to the freeze-frame character introductions that basically scream, "Here's the order everyone dies in."

The story follows a group of young adults celebrating their rehabilitation program by taking a bus trip into the middle of nowhere. Because apparently the reward for turning your life around is immediately making stupid decisions. Locals warn them that people have recently been disappearing and getting murdered, but horror protagonists treat warnings the same way toddlers treat "Wet Paint" signs.

Naturally, they stay.

Soon enough they cross paths with a bizarre gothic cult whose favorite pastime appears to be body suspension. Not sacrificing people. Not stalking victims. Just...hanging around on hooks. It honestly feels like the filmmakers discovered suspension art halfway through production and decided the entire movie should become a demonstration video.

The acting doesn't do anyone any favors either. Every conversation feels like the cast met each other five minutes before the cameras started rolling, and when characters inevitably decide to split up after someone disappears, their collective survival instincts somehow manage to score lower than my final rating.

I've seen low-budget horror make ridiculous ideas work before. Strangeland managed to weave body suspension into a story that actually had some purpose behind it. Here it's just...there. Scene after scene feels less interested in building tension than reminding you, "Hey, remember the hooks?"

As is expected from such a limited budget, the special effects are pretty much what you would expect. However, while not entirely without merit, they certainly aren't entertaining enough to make up for the lackluster acting and poor plot. I only recognized Elley Ringo playing the cult leader from her stint in Devil's Knight, but she didn't have much to do in this one.

I admire independent horror filmmakers taking swings with limited resources. Unfortunately, Piercing Screams swings wildly, misses the target, drops the bat, and somehow impales itself on one of its own giant hooks.

Piercing Screams (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/piercing-screams-2025/

Scary Movie (2026) | It's not a disaster, but after all the hype around the Wayans returning, I expected a lot more than polite chuckles. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.2/10. I have been watching these parody movies since the day I first watched Airplane on Showtime. When they are at their best, they hurl so many jokes at us that you don't get time to react from one joke before another hits you. I'm checking out the extended cut of Scary Movie (2026), although I honestly couldn't tell you what was added. If I track down the differences later, I'll update this review.

Twenty-six years after surviving a suspiciously familiar masked killer, Cindy, Brenda (Regina Hall), Ray (Shawn Wayans), and Shorty (Marlon Wayans) are back, and this time every horror franchise is fair game. Reboots, remakes, requels, legacy sequels, elevated horror, spin-offs...if Hollywood has squeezed a dollar out of it, this movie wants to make fun of it. The Wayans return determined to prove they still know how to push buttons, and for a while, they absolutely do.

The movie wastes no time jumping right in. Teyana Taylor kicks things off in a bar with Carmen Electra behind the counter. I won't even attempt to list every cameo because I'd still be typing next week, but it was nice seeing Electra pop up again. She's always entertaining, especially on Nation's Dumbest. If you're not watching, you're missing out.

Anna Faris slips right back into Cindy like she never left. She's now the mother of Sara (Olivia Rose Keegan), while Savannah Lee Nassif plays Tuesday, Sara's sister. Yes...Tuesday. You can probably guess where at least half the jokes write themselves.

Just like all the other Scary Movies, this one fires jokes and gags non-stop. One of the reasons why this movie is so much fun is that you have to constantly look out for something funny going on in the background while something else is happening right in front of you. I found my notes become completely worthless pretty fast.

Unfortunately, that strong opening doesn't last.

The laughs become increasingly hit-or-miss as the movie tries harder by forcing jokes instead of letting them land naturally. Every few minutes it feels like someone yelled, "We need another LOL here!" Whether it actually worked became almost secondary.

Then came the animated K-pop musical number. I'll admit I actually laughed. Not because it was hilarious, but because I found myself thinking, "Surely they're not going there." Naturally, they went there.

Not every joke misses, though. The "Ask Demi Moore" line got a genuine laugh out of me, and seeing Chris Elliott return as Shorthand delivered a surprisingly nostalgic hit for longtime fans. I also got a kick out of how they managed to work Weapons into one scene. Horror fans will have plenty to look for, with nods to everything from Sinners to recent genre hits scattered throughout the movie.

Following years of complaints about their franchise being stripped from them, I thought the Wayans' return would have been a big comeback. But it is not. It seems to be more of a happy get-together that just cannot seem to regain its magic.

There's certainly no shortage of references, cameos, or enthusiasm. The problem is that references aren't automatically jokes. The original films balanced outrageous stupidity with genuinely clever parody. Here, too many scenes mistake "remember this?" for an actual punchline.

I still had enough laughs to not get pissed about my 105-minute investment. And longtime fans will probably enjoy seeing the old gang back together one more time. I just wish the script had been as sharp as the nostalgia.

Scary Movie (2026)

https://jackmeat.com/scary-movie-2026/

Night of Blood (2026) | Six people enter a deadly endurance challenge. The real test is making it through this movie without checking the time. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 3.1/10. I wasn’t entirely sure why Night of Blood ended up on my horror watch list. Then I saw Corey Taylor was in the cast, and suddenly the mystery was solved. Apparently, my brain saw “Corey Taylor” and “horror” in the same sentence and decided this was worth investigating. Unfortunately, the investigation uncovered more of a crime scene than a good movie.

The film starts off in a diner, where a waitress appears to be locked in a never-ending battle with a simple food order. It is an impressive level of incompetence, almost like the movie is warning us of what to expect. From there, we meet a group of people receiving mysterious invitations to participate in a cash-prize endurance challenge at the infamous Val Verde Hotel. A location known for a deadly explosion and the usual “probably haunted but definitely should not be visited” reputation.

The setup sounds promising. A group of strangers trapped overnight in a haunted hotel while competing for a briefcase full of cash? Sure, there is potential there. Unfortunately, these contestants barely make it through introductions before immediately hating each other. Forget supernatural threats. The real horror is having to spend a night locked in a building with people you met five minutes ago and already want to leave behind.

Instead of a traditional masked killer stalking the group, Night of Blood goes for supernatural hauntings and immersive scares. The film shows most of the interesting moments off camera, leaving us to watch the aftermath. The movie repeatedly hints at better scenes than what we get to see.

The kills are nothing special. The “killer” element is about as memorable as a background extra, and the film spends an unusual amount of time treating ammonia and bleach like they are the ultimate horror movie weapons. Apparently, cleaning supplies are the real villains here. Somewhere, a hazardous materials safety inspector is having a panic attack.

There is one particular scene involving two of the female contestants that feels like the movie briefly remembers it needs to entertain the audience. Whether that was meant to add tension, attract more viewers, or simply check off a “we need something people will talk about” box is anyone’s guess.

And back to Corey Taylor. He plays Dusty, the bartender at the hotel, and the movie even makes sure we hear Slipknot playing on the radio. But outside of that, his presence feels completely unnecessary. I have no idea what music Corey Taylor contributed to this film, why he was chosen for the role, or what in the world he was thinking in accepting it?

By the end, Night of Blood leaves the door wide open for a sequel. Unfortunately, that door is probably opening into an empty room because I’m not sure anyone is rushing to spend another night at the Val Verde Hotel.

Night of Blood (2026)

https://jackmeat.com/night-of-blood-2026/