Amityville Rex (2026) | If you enjoy gloriously bad movies, Amityville Rex delivers enough accidental comedy to make the 69 minutes surprisingly painless. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 2.6/10. After I pressed play on Amityville Rex, I figured there was no possible way adding dinosaurs to the Amityville curse could make things any worse than last night's cinematic crime against humanity that was Amityville Backrooms.

Right? RIGHT???

I'll let you know in approximately 69 minutes.

With Mark Polonia directing, I already know exactly what kind of movie I am getting. Who could forget Mummy Shark? If you've seen one of his films, you've got a pretty good idea of the glorious bargain-bin stupidity you're about to experience.

The movie opens with the words "One Year Earlier." Earlier than what? Nothing has happened yet. Two random guys wander around the woods, decide the location is "perfect," then leave. Perfect for what? Don't worry, the movie has no intention of explaining itself.

Instead, we're treated to some educational text informing us that the Tyrannosaurus Rex was one of history's deadliest predators.

Thanks, movie. I was worried I'd accidentally confused it with a golden retriever.

Before long, a hiker discovers this fact firsthand, and that's where the special effects really announce themselves. The CGI dinosaur lumbers onto the screen and starts chomping people apart while gallons of digital blood explode everywhere. It's impossible not to laugh.

Once that's over, another text screen confidently declares Amityville to be "the most haunted and cursed location in American history." Is that actually true? Probably not. Has that ever stopped one of these movies? Absolutely not.

Then we get reporters discussing a museum exhibit, another Satanic ritual, and somehow dinosaurs become involved because... sure, why not? This is an Amityville movie. Internal logic left town about thirty sequels ago.

It is surprising how the effects bounce between CGI and stop-motion animation. It's a bizarre combination that never quite settles on a style, yet in some way this is what makes it amusing.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/950867073/eec0c135f6

The story, however, is another matter.

A police officer literally witnesses the dinosaur attack, yet barely two minutes later dismisses someone claiming a dinosaur committed the murder as completely insane.

Buddy...you were THERE.

Characters constantly forget things they've just seen, motivations appear and disappear on a whim, and the plot simply shuffles everyone toward the next digital bloodbath.

Thankfully, the dinosaur has a very efficient hunting strategy. Nearly every victim loses only their head, allowing the filmmakers to unleash another glorious shower of CGI blood without worrying too much about the rest of the body.

It's absolutely ridiculous.

It's also surprisingly entertaining.

Not because it's good. Let's not get carried away. But because it embraces its own insanity with such unwavering confidence that I found myself laughing far more than groaning. Every questionable acting choice. Each awkward effect. All the nonsensical plot turns. It all somehow stacks into an experience that's impossible to take seriously.

Would I recommend Amityville Rex as a quality horror film?

Absolutely not.

Would I recommend it to friends who enjoy gathering around with a few (hundred) drinks to watch something spectacularly terrible?

Honestly...yes.

It's objectively awful, but I laughed enough that I'm letting it narrowly escape the #turkey label. Sometimes being entertaining for all the wrong reasons is enough.

Amityville Rex (2026)

One final note. The poster artwork deserves an award for false advertising. It's easily the best thing about the entire production and promises a movie the budget could only dream of delivering.

https://jackmeat.com/amityville-rex-2026/

Amityville Backrooms (2024) | This movie trapped me in its own Backrooms, where every scene led back to the exact same boring scene. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 0.7/10. Thought I’d start my week-long Amityville experience (and when I say "experience," I really mean "torture") with Amityville Backrooms. After watching (and reviewing) Backrooms recently, I thought to myself, “Why not see what happens if I just throw the name Amityville onto another internet horror trend?”

I have my answer now. It was a mistake. At least letting Evan Jacobs make it.

The movie opens with some amateur footage of a guy discussing the idea of combining Amityville with the Backrooms on his podcast. That's followed by a news report featuring one of the most painfully obvious green screen effects you'll ever see as a reporter explains that an abandoned house in Amityville can't be sold. If this movie had a budget, I suspect somebody accidentally left it in another dimension before filming started.

We then meet Keith (Chris Lohman), who's trapped inside the house. He's the world's most irritating real estate guy, constantly calling about selling the house. His performance somehow manages to be even more grating than the endless stock howling noises that randomly appear on the soundtrack. Why is there howling? I have no idea. Wolves? Ghost wolves? Discount sound effects from a 1998 horror CD? Your guess is as good as mine.

Most of the next hour consists of Keith wandering around what looks like an entirely normal suburban home while talking to himself. He spends so much time standing in the kitchen I started wondering if the real horror was waiting for the kettle to boil.

The editing deserves a special mention. Keith walks somewhere. Cut. And suddenly he's back where he started. That's the entire movie. Repeat for 72 minutes.

At the 26-minute mark I checked the runtime. That is never a good sign.

By the 36-minute mark, it honestly felt like I'd been trapped in the Backrooms myself for a week.

Every so often the film throws in a superimposed ghostly face or a random creepy image, apparently to remind us it's supposed to be horror. The funniest part is Keith usually doesn't even notice any of it. The Backrooms creatures make blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearances while our hero continues having lengthy conversations with himself like he's forgotten the audience exists.

Eventually his coworker Alex (Mike Hartsfield) shows up...

...and exactly the same thing happens to him.

The end. That's it.

There are no twists. No escalating tension. No payoff. I couldn't spoil anything even if I wanted to because absolutely nothing happens. The concept had potential, but instead of creating the unsettling, reality-bending nightmare that made the Backrooms popular, the filmmakers somehow turned it into 72 minutes of watching a guy unsuccessfully navigate a very average-looking house.

Honestly, "Amityville: Two Middle-Aged Virgins Make a Movie" would've been a more accurate title.

This is easily one of the worst Amityville films I've sat through, and considering this franchise has produced more disasters than functioning haunted houses, that's saying something. It sits comfortably alongside Amityville: Mt. Misery Road in the race to the bottom. That link is the whole movie if you want to punish yourself.

Amityville Backrooms (2024)

If getting trapped in the Backrooms is supposed to drive you insane, watching Amityville Backrooms is probably the cheaper alternative.

https://jackmeat.com/amityville-backrooms-2024/

Kraken (2026) | If you're after non-stop Kraken action, lower your expectations. If you like old-school creature features, you'll probably have fun. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.2/10. Kraken tries to convince you that lurking beneath Norway's deepest fjord is a mythical sea monster capable of flattening boats, swallowing tourists, and ruining everyone's weekend. Unfortunately, it also expects you to wait...and wait...and wait before it remembers the title of the movie.

The film opens with some creepy black-and-white archival footage of locals being interviewed about mysterious sightings in the Sognefjord, immediately setting up a nice old-school monster mystery. Then we're treated to sweeping modern-day shots of the fjord that honestly deserve their own tourism commercial. It's stunning scenery, and for a while it's the most entertaining thing on screen.

Enter two jet ski enthusiasts who apparently graduated from the Horror Movie School of Bad Decisions. They decide it'd be hilarious to create their own whirlpool in the middle of the fjord. Spoiler alert: nature wins. They vanish into the depths, and the Kraken finally gets its first snack.

Sara Khorami plays Johanne, a marine biologist returning to her hometown after the mysterious disappearances. From there, director Pål Øie checks off nearly every box in the "nature has had enough of humanity" playbook. Missing tourists? Check. Environmental activists exposing dirty secrets on social media? Check. Scientists nobody listens to? Absolutely. All that's missing is someone suggesting they split up.

The biggest problem is that the movie spends so much time setting all of this up that the Kraken itself feels like it's stuck in traffic. For a film literally called Kraken, there is a surprising lack of...well...Kraken. I was beginning to think the creature had called in sick.

Once those enormous tentacles finally burst from the water, things improve considerably. The second half delivers some excitement, a handful of action scenes, and enough giant suction cups to satisfy those of you wondering what an octopus on steroids might look like. Sadly, they keep the monster mostly hidden, teasing us with tentacles and one massive eye instead of giving us the full mountain-sized nightmare.

The horror is fairly restrained, the body count isn't especially graphic, and you'll most likely guess who survives long before the credits. Still, there's something nostalgic about its straightforward creature-feature approach. It never tries to reinvent the genre. It simply wants to tell a classic "something enormous lives underwater, and everyone ignored the warning signs" story.

Kraken may not unleash enough monster mayhem to fully satisfy creature-feature fans, but once it finally lets its tentacles loose, it's entertaining enough to justify the slow journey. Just don't expect wall-to-wall sea monster action...because this Kraken definitely believes in being fashionably late.

Kraken (2026)

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

Disclosure Day (2026) | Spielberg still can put on a show. Shame the massive conspiracy reveal felt more like a polite shrug than a mic drop. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.6/10. It takes about thirty seconds for Disclosure Day to let you know you're not watching a typical alien conspiracy movie. It opens with a professional wrestling match. Nope, I'm not kidding.

And if you are also a wrestling fan, you might recognize it's Lance Archer taking on Brian Cage. Somewhere in the crowd, while everyone else is busy enjoying two giants trying to knock each other's heads off, Daniel (Josh O'Connor) has a different agenda. He's there to rescue Jane (Eve Hewson), and before long it's obvious he's carrying something that a very powerful corporation desperately wants back.

In 2026, the most valuable thing in the world isn't gold. It's data. That's about all I'll say because the less you know going in, the better.

If for some reason you didn't get that from the previews, this definitely has the Spielberg touch. This guy just does it so well that it's no wonder that he's still one of the best directors out there. And what else can you expect when the legendary John Williams comes along? Apparently, those two signed a friendship contract several decades ago that nobody is allowed to break. The score is classic Williams. Instantly recognizable without overtaking the whole show.

Emily Blunt is fantastic as Margaret Fairchild, a local weather reporter who accidentally finds herself becoming... well... something far more important than she ever planned. Wyatt Russell is solid as her boyfriend Jackson, while Colin Firth quietly steals scenes whenever he appears. Nobody phones it in here. The performances across the board are excellent.

The action is also handled nicely. Steven Spielberg still knows how to stage a chase sequence better than most directors half his age. Cars, helicopters, people sprinting through locations they probably shouldn't be sprinting through. It all looks fantastic. Sure, a few character decisions had me wondering if common sense had taken a sick day, but that's blockbuster cinema. If everyone made smart decisions, we'd lose about an hour of running time.

My biggest issue is that Disclosure Day feels like it's building toward a jaw-dropping revelation...and then it kind of shrugs.

The conspiracy never gives the payoff it promises, but even more bizarre is that there is no fallout from all this. This is one of those stories that you will definitely look at the person next to you and say, “Is that it?” If you have watched it, you know exactly what I mean.

That's too bad since everything leading up to it is genuinely entertaining. There is nonstop movement, a bit of mystery, and Spielberg shoots everything with his signature flair. The problem is that all of this excitement is building up to an anticlimactic ending.

I also couldn't help comparing it to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. That film left me thinking about it long after the credits rolled. Disclosure Day never landed that emotional punch. Instead of blowing my mind, it gave me a polite little nudge on the way out of the theater. The film shows that empathy exists in everyone, even if we call them the villains.

Maybe thirty years ago this ending would've sparked endless conversations. In today's TikTok-sized attention span world, though, audiences expect something that really sticks the landing, and this just doesn't quite get there.

Disclosure Day (2026)

Still, if you're looking for a slick conspiracy thriller with great performances, exciting action, and Spielberg doing Spielberg things, there's plenty to enjoy here. Just don't expect the universe's biggest secret to completely blow your socks off.

https://jackmeat.com/disclosure-day-2026/

Kill Trip (2026) | Road trips are supposed to create memories. Kill Trip mostly creates second-hand embarrassment. For me? The actors? Both. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 3.2/10. Talk about suckering me in. Kill Trip kicks off with a surprisingly stylish graphic novel-inspired opening credits sequence. The visuals themselves are rather impressive, and it briefly seems as if the credits will lead somewhere interesting that will tie back into the movie itself. They do…sort of. Just enough to remind you that writer/director Kristian McKay had at least one good idea.

Then reality hits.

We wake up with Katy (Diletta Guglielmi) and her group of four friends on their way to a Texas music festival. After demonstrating that not a single one of them possesses even a passing familiarity with rhythm, they're soon stranded on the side of the road. Enter Dallas (Tate Christensen), a friendly bloke driving a van who happily offers them a lift.

Because accepting a ride from a stranger in a creepy van has never gone badly in horror movies.

Oddly enough, Dallas turns out to be the most accommodating serial-killer-looking chauffeur imaginable. Need a swim? Sure. Want random sightseeing stops? No worries. He's practically running the world's least profitable Uber. The giant flashing warning signs couldn't be brighter if they were sponsored by Vegas.

The dialogue doesn't help matters. Every conversation feels painfully forced, with characters delivering lines that sound like they were generated by a "Teen Horror Dialogue" starter pack.

My personal favourite - "You think this guy picked us up to murder us, and then kill us." 36-minute mark if you think I am joking.

To make matters worse, the group spends so much time arguing with each other that you almost find yourself rooting for the mysterious van driver. These people don't seem to like each other, and before long neither will the audience.

There are a few light gore scenes scattered throughout, but nothing particularly memorable. The kills don't overshadow the stupidity of the script, and unfortunately that script is where Kill Trip completely falls apart. It borrows ideas from far better road-trip horrors without using them properly. That and the plot threads dangling everywhere don't help. All this before stumbling into an ending that's unintentionally hilarious.

It's frustrating because the opening storyboard and the basic premise had potential. With tighter writing and characters that behaved like actual human beings instead of walking horror clichés, there might have been a fun little indie slasher hiding underneath.

Kill Trip (2026)

Instead, Kill Trip spends most of its runtime trying to hitchhike on the success of better films and never reaches its destination.

https://jackmeat.com/kill-trip-2026/

The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026) | It's Star Wars with a Marvel vibe. Plenty of laughs, action and aliens, but don't expect that classic galaxy-far-far-away magic. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 7.1/10. Disney's latest trip back to a galaxy far, far away comes in the form of The Mandalorian and Grogu, where the Empire is gone but cleaning up the mess is proving to be a full-time job. The evil Empire has fallen, Imperial warlords are still scattered across space causing trouble while the New Republic tries to glue everything back together. To help keep the peace, they call in the galaxy's favourite babysitting bounty hunter, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), and his pint-sized apprentice, Grogu.

The movie opens with the usual Imperial board meeting. You know the drill. Someone questions the boss, someone gets shot for questioning the boss, and everyone else suddenly becomes very supportive of management. The only problem this time? Somebody crashes the party. I'll give you one guess who. And yes, Baby Yoda...sorry, Grogu...is along for the ride.

What follows can only be described as Disney standing in the middle of the room yelling, "Look what we can do with CGI!" Thankfully, it's not just visual flexing. It's also a great reminder that the Mandalorian can dismantle an army with the calm efficiency of someone crossing items off a grocery list. Before the opening credits even roll, you've already had about ten minutes of explosions, blaster fire, jetpacks, and general chaos. That's a pretty good way to start a movie.

Sigourney Weaver joins the Star Wars universe as Colonel Ward, the latest person willing to hire Mando for another impossible mission. We also get a fun nostalgic surprise when his first client turns out to be Jabba the Hutt's uncles looking to rescue Jabba's son, Rotta. It's a nice callback without feeling forced.

Visually, the movie is fantastic. The worlds are vibrant, the creatures are everywhere, and the underground fight sequence is packed with enough weird aliens to make the galaxy feel properly lived in again. There are plenty of Easter eggs and nods to classic Star Wars that fans will appreciate, while Grogu continues stealing every scene he appears in. Watching him suit up like a tiny green Rambo had me laughing. Whoever came up with that deserves a raise…or at least first pick at the buffet.

Oddly enough, my biggest criticism is also one of the movie's biggest compliments.

The Mandalorian and Grogu doesn't really feel like a movie. It feels like someone accidentally stitched together four really good episodes of The Mandalorian and said, "Yep...that's two hours, send it to cinemas." There are plenty of entertaining side quests, but no single storyline that ever feels massive enough to justify the jump to the big screen. That's not really a knock on the film because the series has always been consistently entertaining. It just never quite reaches the cinematic scale I was hoping for.

I also never got that classic Star Wars feeling. The sweeping orchestral moments are mostly missing, the story never feels truly epic despite hopping all over the galaxy, and the whole experience occasionally feels like Marvel borrowed Mando's helmet for the weekend. Fun? Absolutely. Legendary? Not quite.

If you're already a fan of The Mandalorian, you'll probably have a blast. It's packed with action, humour, familiar faces, fantastic creatures and plenty of Grogu being impossibly adorable.

If you're a lifelong Star Wars fan looking for the next big cinematic event, you'll probably enjoy it, but don't expect it to recapture the magic of the original films.

And if you've never watched the series? You'll probably spend two hours wondering why everyone keeps risking their lives for a tiny green puppet...before eventually deciding you'd probably risk your life for him too.

Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026)

https://jackmeat.com/the-mandalorian-and-grogu-2026/

The Breach (2022) | The Breach is like an all-you-can-eat horror buffet where none of the dishes match, but you're weirdly glad you stayed. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.2/10. Some horror movies slowly build toward insanity. The Breach blew off the instructions, threw every horror trope into a blender, hit "liquefy," and hoped nobody noticed.

Sometimes it works. Most of the time, I was wondering what exactly I was watching.

Chief of Police John Hawkins (Allan Hawco) is only days away from escaping the tiny town of Lone Crow forever. Naturally, because horror movies have a strict "no retirement without trauma" policy, a horribly mutilated body washes up along the Porcupine River. Instead of spending his final week packing boxes and saying awkward goodbyes, Hawkins finds himself investigating a mystery that quickly spirals into body horror, cosmic horror, science gone wrong, and enough goo to make any practical effects artist smile.

The biggest problem with The Breach isn't that it's bad. It's that it constantly reminds you how good it could have been.

Director Rodrigo Gudiño throws a lot onto the screen. There are hints of Lovecraftian horror, psychological tension, gruesome creature effects, mystery, conspiracy, and enough strange events that you begin wondering if the script accidentally shuffled its own pages. Every individual ingredient sounds fantastic, but they never fully come together into the terrifying feast they're aiming for. It's that horror buffet where none of the dishes match.

As Linda, the mysterious wife of the town scientist, Natalie Brown is definitely the standout performer. She brings an eerie sense of presence to every scene that she appears in, with something far more to her than what meets the eye. But before we can learn anything about her, the movie takes us off on another odd tangent.

That becomes the recurring theme throughout the movie.

Every time The Breach starts building momentum, it immediately gets distracted by another idea.

The pacing never quite settles into a rhythm. One moment it is establishing suspense, the next one, throwing out-of-the-blue exposition, and then going crazy on monsters again. Instead of mystery, the constant detours make the story feel disconnected. Instead of wondering what's coming next, I found myself wondering whether the writers remembered where they were heading in the first place.

Thankfully, us horror fans still have something to enjoy.

The creature effects are clearly the best part of the movie. It is always great to see practical effects get so much attention in an age when CGI takes the spotlight in most movies. The creature designs in some cases are rather frightening and provide some of the best parts of the movie.

Almost.

The atmosphere also deserves some credit. The isolated Canadian setting creates a bleak backdrop, and the eerie soundtrack maintains that uncomfortable mood even when the story starts wandering off into the forest.

By the time the credits rolled, I wasn't angry. I was just disappointed.

The Breach had all the ingredients to become a fantastic Lovecraft-inspired horror film. Strong practical effects. An intriguing premise. Some solid performances. Hell, even some genuinely creepy moments are in there. They simply never lock together into the terrifying experience I had hoped for.

The Breach (2022)

It's still an entertaining 90-minute creature feature if you're a fan of cosmic horror, practical effects, or movies that embrace weirdness without apology. Just don't expect every question to be answered. Or even for every subplot to remember it exists. Sometimes the biggest breach wasn't reality. It was the script.

https://jackmeat.com/the-breach-2022/