Lisa and the Devil (1973) | Mario Bava could make somebody handing over a piece of cake look more interesting than most modern action scenes. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.4/10. Something I haven't done in quite a while. Shuffle mode. Only new releases ot me, no genre restrictions, just one simple filter. Under two hours. And what did the movie gods give me? Lisa and the Devil, from 1973, the same year I was born. Coincidence? Of course. Don't be stupid. So the algorithm felt the need to remind me I am old. Luckily, this film was dubbed, so I don't need those new glasses. More surprisingly, it was a Mario Bava flick I hadn't seen before.

The story follows Lisa Reiner (Elke Sommer), a tourist visiting Toledo, Spain, who spots an ancient image of the devil. She promptly does what our final girls have been doing for decades. Wander off alone. She gets lost, hops in a car with strangers, and ends up stranded at a mysterious mansion occupied by a bunch of weirdos. In other words, getting what she deserved. We also see a butler named Leandro (Telly Savalas) who looks a lot like the devil she saw earlier. As nightmares, past lives, and bizarre encounters begin piling up, Lisa starts wondering what the hell she got herself into.

One thing I never get tired of is those classic gothic horror shots where somebody peers out a doorway while thick fog swirls dramatically around them for no logical reason. Nobody asks where the fog came from. Nobody seems concerned that it only exists within a six-foot radius of the front entrance. It simply does its job, so don't question it, dammit.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped paying attention to the plot and started watching what Bava was doing with the camera. That sounds like a criticism. It isn't. A wine bottle shatters, and the action continues through a reflection. A simple exchange of cake becomes a carefully choreographed movement through the frame. It doesn't scream for attention. Why should it, since every shot feels deliberate? It's the kind of filmmaking that reminds you why Bava remains such an influential figure in horror cinema.

The settings are just as impressive. Between the music and the visuals, the whole thing feels like somebody else's uneasy dream. Sometimes I wasn't entirely sure what was happening. It didn't matter. Things just worked.

Telly Savalas is also impossible to ignore. Even in this bizarre gothic horror story, he's walking around sucking on lollipops. Apparently that habit wasn't just a Kojak thing. Seeing him wander through this surreal nightmare while casually enjoying candy somehow makes him even more unsettling.

Of course, Mario Bava's name alone is horror royalty. If it doesn't sound familiar, his A Bay of Blood laid the groundwork for countless slashers. If you wonder where those ideas for Friday the 13th came from. He is the man. Watching Lisa and the Devil, it's easy to see the craftsmanship that earned him that reputation.

I felt like the story focused on atmosphere over clarity, at times. This is a film built on mood, visuals, and unsettling imagery over straightforward answers. And that genuinely satisfying ending? I have to say shuffle tossed me a forgotten gem that was well worth the trip back to 1973.

Lisa and the Devil (1973)

https://jackmeat.com/lisa-and-the-devil-1973/

The Forbidden Lands (2025) | I came for creepy folk horror, and this love letter to Fulci did not disappoint. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.2/10. One thing that I didn’t like about getting The Forbidden Lands is making the director of the movie, Mattia De Pascali, wait until I had the chance to see what I thought of it, since apparently, my eyes had betrayed me. They required an updated prescription for the glasses, which gave me a hard time watching subtitles due to headaches. But my new glasses showed up, and I jumped into this flick immediately.

The trailer gave me serious Lucio Fulci vibes, and that is 100 percent a compliment.

The Forbidden Lands opens with what appears to be a father and son hunting in the woods. The father looks normal enough, but young Tore (Keoma Vetrano) is dressed as if he got lost on his way to join The Warriors. Before long, the mysterious score kicks in, and the atmosphere settles over everything. The kid wanders off and discovers exactly what you expect someone to find in a horror film. A mutilated body.

The body belongs to a priest, and once it is dragged back to town, the locals quickly blame a wolf. Someone points out wolves don't typically live in caves. Ok, you just shush with those booksmarts.

This is a mystery thriller that is slowly cooked in a pot of superstitions and paranoia, and a town where everyone always looks like they have something to hide. The entire town seems to know about the Forbidden Lands surrounding them, and with additional deaths, the atmosphere becomes quite contagious. What I liked about the movie is that it goes where many others would not dare to go. Let's just say if you think children automatically have plot armor, foreign horror occasionally likes to remind you otherwise.

Then arrive the Holy Hermit (Fabrizio Pugliese) and the Knight of the Sacred Order (Fabrizio La Monica), two figures who immediately set off every scam detector in my brain. The moment these guys rolled into town, I was practically yelling at the screen. When the Hermit dramatically declares, "We must close the Gates of Hell," I couldn't help smiling at what felt like a nod to Fulci's classic City of the Living Dead (my VHS was titled Gates of Hell, same movie).

With the mounting hysteria, Rosa (played by Paola Medici), Selvaggia (Denise Cimino), and the incarcerated witch unite their efforts to trace the wandering travelers, which may ultimately help rescue Rosa’s brother, Fiacrio (Ivan Raganato). Eventually, their quest leads them deep inside the Forbidden Lands where they come across quite frightening flesh-eaters resembling Tusken Raiders lost in the wrong forest.

Visually, this is an impressive indie production from De Pascali. The cinematography is consistently strong. The lens flare shots are used effectively, and the entire film looks far more expensive than it probably was. The atmosphere remains captivating, even when the pacing slows down. If you're expecting constant action, you might get impatient, but I enjoyed soaking in the suspense.

My only major issue comes right at the end. After spending like 97 minutes looking polished and cinematic, the final effect feels surprisingly cheap and underwhelming. It's an unfortunate note to end on because everything leading up to it works so well.

Still, The Forbidden Lands provides a gripping tale of folk horror. The movie is full of paranoia, superstition, and very much Fulci-like energy. Despite its indie nature, the movie is surprisingly good and demonstrates yet again that atmosphere (as well as skill) beats deep pockets. Oh, if you are looking for it, the original title is Le Terre Incolte.

Le Terre Incolte (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/the-forbidden-lands-2025/

Red Riding (2026) | Red Riding is basically a depressed teen who moves to a creepy Scottish estate and proceeds to make every possible bad decision. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.0/10. Fair warning. Red Riding starts off depressing enough to make you wonder if somebody accidentally loaded the wrong movie file before eventually remembering there’s supposed to be a horror angle. Teenager Red Riding (Victoria Tait) is already furious at life, then things somehow manage to get worse when her mother Lauren, also known as Scarlet (Ayvianna Snow), overdoses. This forces Red to leave London behind and move into her estranged grandmother Penelope’s (Lynsey Beauchamp) giant Scottish estate. Because when life falls apart, apparently the answer is always “go live in a spooky mansion with a relative you’ve never met.”

The early stretch leans hard into bitter teen drama, and wow, Red is not making it easy to root for her. She’s angry, rude, impulsive, and seems determined to speedrun every terrible decision imaginable. Wander into the creepy forest after being explicitly warned not to? Of course. Start making questionable choices around town almost immediately? Naturally. At one point, Red Riding almost feels less like a horror movie and more like a public service announcement titled “How Not to Survive Literally Anything.”

That said, credit where it’s due. Victoria Tait absolutely nails the role. If writer Peter Stylianou intended Red to be frustratingly obnoxious and make me regularly mutter “oh come on” at the screen, mission accomplished. Tait commits fully to the attitude, bitterness, and reckless behavior, making Red believable even when she’s actively testing your patience.

The problem is that Red Riding moves at a pace that could politely be described as “taking its sweet time.” There are creepy moments sprinkled throughout, particularly an eerie forest sequence where it’s never quite clear whether what Red experiences is real or a dream, but the film spends much more time in slow-burn family drama territory than actual thriller or horror. The monstrous wolf mythology, missing children, and dark family secrets all sound juicier on paper than they feel in front of my eyes.

For a directing debut, Craig Conway does an adequate job, and to be fair, the movie looks great. After he has acted in some pretty good films, including the criminally unheard of Dog Soldiers, I expected he had learned plenty of tricks. The Scottish setting gives Red Riding an atmospheric backdrop that practically begs to do half the storytelling itself. Unfortunately, Conway seems terrified of silence. The soundtrack rarely stops and often blasts its way through scenes, constantly reminding viewers how they’re supposed to feel instead of letting atmosphere and emotion breathe naturally. Sometimes less really is more.

Conway and the crew also make sure nobody forgets this is a Little Red Riding Hood adaptation, dropping reminders whenever possible. Thankfully, there’s a fun little wink for sharp-eyed viewers, including a genuinely amusing easter egg involving Conway’s own name appearing on one of the missing person flyers.

Red Riding (2026)

By the time Red Riding finally embraces the horror side, things get satisfyingly bloody, with practical effects thankfully doing the work. In the end, this is a decent first effort from Craig Conway, but not one I’d rush back to revisit. If you stumble across it and enjoy slow-burn horror dramas, leave it on. Just don’t go trekking through the woods specifically looking for it. You’ve already seen how bad decisions work out here.

https://jackmeat.com/red-riding-2026/

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War (2026) | Ghost War moves fast, explains everything twice, and feels like a paint-by-numbers streaming spy assignment. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.3/10. If there is one thing Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War wants you to know immediately, it is that absolutely nobody in this universe can simply have a quiet day at work. The movie opens exactly how you would expect a streaming-era espionage thriller to open. People yelling into earpieces, guns firing, computers doing mysterious “important hacking things,” and a covert team trying to digitally steal something so classified the audience is apparently not trusted to understand it yet. Naturally, everything goes sideways.

Then we are whisked away to New York City where Jack Ryan (John Krasinski) is attempting that mythical concept known as having a normal life. He is out on a peaceful jog, minding his own business, trying very hard not to save the world for five whole minutes. Unfortunately for Jack, espionage movies have the same respect for retirement as horror movies do for common sense. Before long, James Greer (Wendell Pierce) shows up for what is essentially “Hey buddy, quick favor…” The kind of favor that inevitably ends with international conspiracies, gunfire, and several passport stamps.

To be fair, Ghost War does have moments where it almost remembers what made the Jack Ryan series work so well. Partnering Jack with MI6 officer Emma Marlowe (Sienna Miller) gives the film some solid chemistry, while Greer and Mike November (Michael Kelly) remain welcome additions. The globe-trotting scenery also deserves credit because if the script is going to drag us through another secret rogue black-ops conspiracy, at least it has the decency to provide nice travel footage along the way. Even if it felt like a travel advertisement for Dubai at times.

The problem is that Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War explains absolutely everything far too early and far too directly. A good espionage thriller thrives on tension, paranoia, and restraint. Fear, loyalty, guilt, and uncertainty should simmer beneath the surface while characters carefully navigate impossible situations. Here, the movie feels terrified that viewers might become confused for seventeen seconds, so it overexplains itself into submission.

What remains is a polished but painfully formulaic streaming spy thriller that checks boxes instead of creating suspense. The final extended gun battle is entertaining enough, but somehow never feels particularly tense. Things explode, bullets fly, people yell tactical instructions, and yet it never quite earns the investment needed to make any of it matter.

Honestly, Ghost War feels like it was written by an algorithm fed every “CIA accidentally causes terrorism” plotline from the last twenty years and instructed to make it shiny. Compare this to the first season of Jack Ryan, which actually understood espionage storytelling. That show gave us layered characters, conversations dripping with tension, emotional stakes, and consequences that mattered. You cared about Jack, Greer, and even the villains because they felt human.

Here? Everyone mostly feels like they were assembled in a streaming-content factory where the mission briefing included the words: “Make it loud, expensive, and vaguely political.”

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War (2026)

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War is watchable enough if you simply want spies running through airports and tactical teams kicking doors in, but compared to the show, this mission feels very much compromised.

https://jackmeat.com/tom-clancys-jack-ryan-ghost-war-2026/

Bad Voodoo (2026) | The biggest twist in Bad Voodoo was realizing IMDb reviews accidentally belonged to a completely different movie. Funny stuff. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 3.2/10. Bad Voodoo starts off in a way that immediately makes you think, “Alright, maybe this thing is going somewhere weird.” Some girls are chatting in a car when suddenly, bam, one screams, “Dad!” before getting absolutely obliterated by a car. It is abrupt enough to wake you up if you happen to be checking your phone already. From there, we cut to Abigail sitting in a field with what looks suspiciously like a cult gathering while candle-lighting rituals and chanting pop up like the movie is desperately trying to say, “Trust us, spooky things are happening.”

Back at Abigail’s house, her brother swings by to warn her about a prison break nearby, because apparently the local neighborhood updates include escaped convicts now. Abigail (Cristina Moody) brushes it off, naturally, which of course means she is immediately abducted by the very inmates he warned her about. Horror movies and listening to common sense continue their lifelong feud.

The biggest hurdle with Bad Voodoo is that it feels like several unfinished movie ideas got tossed into a blender and nobody checked if the lid was on. There is a home invasion setup here that honestly could have worked. Add some voodoo magic, make the writing tighter, and perhaps there is a good story lurking within. But no, the film doesn’t have any sense of direction and changes its motives according to which scene you’re watching, almost as if they were still in the process of scripting it during their lunch break.

The sound mix certainly does not help. Dialogue is often so quiet that you may find yourself leaning toward the TV like you are trying to overhear gossip from the neighbors. Unfortunately, what you eventually hear is acting that ranges from stiff to aggressively wooden. The standout performance comes from the Voodoo Priest, played by Jimmy C. Jules, though “standout” might be generous. His overacting somehow circles around from entertaining to irritating, becoming the equivalent of somebody yelling directly into your ear at a party.

What really cracked me up was the total lack of urgency from characters who are supposedly in danger. Tied-up captives casually chatting like they are waiting at a bus stop instead of trying to escape, and dark supernatural forces gave Bad Voodoo an accidental comedy streak stronger than its horror.

The supernatural voodoo side of things ends up feeling half-baked, and whatever twist the movie thinks it is dropping lands with all the surprise of seeing rain clouds before a storm. If it shocks you, fair enough, but chances are you saw it coming from a mile away.

The kills are weak, the scares are basically nonexistent, and somehow the mid-credit sequel tease feels more thought out than the movie you just watched. I genuinely wondered how Bad Voodoo was hovering near a 5 on IMDb until I checked the reviews and discovered half of them appear to be for an entirely different movie. Unless “watching a man alone in a tiny capsule communicating with a ground team through crackling audio” suddenly became voodoo horror, IMDb may need a wellness check on this one. Read those reviews with caution because apparently the editors are on a very extended holiday.

Bad Voodoo (2026)

https://jackmeat.com/bad-voodoo-2026/

Thrash (2026) | Thrash basically asks, “What if surviving a Category 5 hurricane wasn’t stressful enough?” Enter the sharks. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.3/10. If natural disasters already weren’t terrifying enough, Thrash arrives to remind us that flooding your entire coastal town is apparently not stressful enough unless somebody also adds sharks to the equation. Because when a Category 5 hurricane is tearing buildings apart, obviously, the logical next step is, “You know what this situation needs? Teeth.”

To the movie’s credit, Thrash doesn’t waste time pretending the storm came out of nowhere. Everyone is preparing from the beginning, boarding windows and scrambling to get ready for what looks like a very bad few days ahead. There is something oddly refreshing about characters actually paying attention to weather warnings for once instead of standing outside saying, “Kinda windy today.”

And when that storm finally hits? It hits hard. The hurricane itself genuinely looks impressive, with the flooding delivering some surprisingly convincing destruction for what absolutely carries that charming B-budget disaster movie energy. Streets turn into rivers, buildings take a beating, and the whole thing has that “humanity had a good run” kind of atmosphere.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, the floodwaters also bring in some very unwelcome new neighbours: sharks. Lots of sharks. Suddenly, surviving a hurricane becomes step one, and not becoming dinner becomes step two.

The story follows a handful of desperate survivors trying to navigate the chaos. Lisa (Phoebe Dynevor) is heavily pregnant, because apparently, surviving a hurricane wasn’t stressful enough on its own. Dakota (Whitney Peak) struggles with panic issues, which honestly feels like the most relatable response possible considering the circumstances. Meanwhile, there are three foster kids stuck with foster parents who might genuinely qualify for Worst Guardians of the Year, complete with accents that occasionally sound like they wandered in from entirely different movies. Then there is Djimon Hounsou showing up as Dakota’s doctor uncle, heading toward disaster with a film crew because apparently some people see “catastrophic shark flood” and think, “Fantastic documentary opportunity.”

Now, does Thrash make logical sense all the time? Absolutely not. Not even remotely. Then there are scenes where people are doing things that might have you shouting at the screen about survival instincts, and for a moment, you may find yourself thinking that perhaps common sense drowned off in the flood with everyone’s furniture. However, to be honest, it seems like the kind of film where struggling against the idiocy is counterproductive.

Thankfully, the sharks themselves actually look pretty solid. No terrifying early-2000s CGI disasters swimming around here. The creatures feel threatening enough, even if the movie is surprisingly restrained when it comes to body count and gore. Considering sharks are casually living in the town at this point, I expected significantly more screaming and considerably fewer surviving extras.

In the end, Thrash works best as a casual streaming watch for creature-feature fans. It has decent atmosphere, effective sharks, and an entertaining enough disaster setup, but never quite rises above mediocrity. The potential is there, but thinner character work and uneven storytelling stop it from leaving much of an impression. Either way, if "hurricane plus sharks" appeals to you, there are certainly worse movies for your "ridiculous" Friday night viewing.

Thrash (2026)

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

Normal (2026) | Bob Odenkirk wanders into a quiet little town called Normal and immediately discovers absolutely nothing is normal there. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.3/10. Normal opens in the last place I expected a movie called Normal to begin. Osaka, Japan. Because apparently the best way to kick off a neo-Western thriller set in snowy Minnesota is with a Japanese version of “Paranoid,” a brutal loyalty test, and the kind of pinky-removal situation that makes you instinctively hide your own hand behind your back. Things escalate quickly too. Refuse the loyalty test? Off comes your head. Casual stuff. Before long, someone ships two very unlucky guys off to the tiny town of Normal, Minnesota, where things definitely do not plan to stay normal.

Enter Bob Odenkirk as Ulysses. He's a substitute sheriff temporarily escaping some personal & professional baggage. If there is one thing Odenkirk does exceptionally well these days, it is playing exhausted men who look like they desperately need a nap. Yet still fully capable of ruining your day. Through amusing narration and some genuinely funny small-town interactions, Ulysses settles into Normal, meeting locals, including the Mayor, played by Henry Winkler. Whenever the Fonz, er...Winkler shows up in something, there is an immediate boost, even if the movie surrounding him is quietly threatening to spiral into complete chaos.

The town itself feels oddly cozy at first. Snow-covered streets, quiet routines, everyone seemingly knowing each other. As someone who misses snowy weather, Normal absolutely scratches that itch with its chilly atmosphere. It looks cold enough that I practically wanted to throw on another blanket while watching.

Then comes the bank robbery. Except in a tiny town like this, a robbery feels less like an inconvenience and more like the apocalypse arriving fifteen years early. Ulysses walks in, hoping to calm things down, and from there… yeah, I am deliberately keeping things vague because where Normal goes is far more entertaining if you discover it yourself. This is one of those films where every reveal lands better without spoilers, and trust me, some of them are gloriously weird.

Director Ben Wheatley continues his tradition of making films that seem mildly offended if you expect comfort or straightforward answers. Normal is strange, unsettling, and intentionally awkward in all the right ways. The story doesn’t hold your hand, and honestly, it feels like Wheatley standing in the corner saying, “Figure it out, mate.” Somehow, that works here. The off-balance tone gives the movie personality, even if it occasionally leaves you blinking at the screen wondering if you accidentally missed ten minutes.

There is also some solid action mixed throughout, including moments of accidental violence that caught me completely off guard and genuinely made me laugh. The movie balances tension and absurdity surprisingly well without tipping fully into parody.

Inevitably, Normal will get compared to Odenkirk’s recent Nobody films, and I’d personally put it around the level of Nobody 2. Not quite reaching the heights of the first Nobody, but still a fun, violent ride with enough unpredictability to keep things interesting. Outside of Odenkirk, don’t get too attached to anybody either. This movie makes it very clear that survival is more of a suggestion than a guarantee.

If you’re a fan of Odenkirk, strange action thrillers, or movies that enjoy keeping you slightly uncomfortable while occasionally making you laugh at accidental deaths, Normal will probably be worth checking out. Just don’t expect anything remotely…well, normal.

Normal (2026)

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