The Furious (2025) | It doesn't reinvent the revenge movie, but when the fights are this good, why would you care? #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 7.7/10. The Furious begins somewhere in Southeast Asia...at least that's what the text on the screen tells me. We meet a journalist investigating missing children who's on the phone with her partner because, apparently, she hasn't been home in a while. Instead of waiting for backup, she decides to investigate alone. You can probably guess how well that goes.

After a fantastic opening fight scene ends with her staring down an arrow, we cut to Wang Wei (Miao Xie), a mute handyman living a quiet life with his daughter, Rainy (Enyou Yang). If you've seen even one revenge flick, you already know where this is headed. Sure enough, Rainy is kidnapped, and since the police cannot do shit, Wei takes matters into his own hands.

His first lead takes him to, wait for it, a cage-fighting bar. LOL. Apparently, every criminal hangs out there waiting to be interrogated. At least Wei remembered his steel-toe boots this time. Since he can't speak, his version of questioning people mostly involves punching them until someone gives him an answer.

Also looking for answers is journalist Navin (Joe Taslim), whose wife has mysteriously disappeared (opening scene). Naturally, the two future allies have to beat the crap out of each other before realizing they're chasing the same bad guys. Action movie rules.

I wasn't as familiar with Miao Xie, but Joe Taslim has already proven himself in The Raid: Redemption and the recent Mortal Kombat II, so you know the fight scenes are going to deliver. Then they throw Yayan Ruhian into the mix as Tak, and now you've got two Raid veterans sharing the screen.

The whole movie has a dark and gritty look. Makes sense. It is about child trafficking. To describe the police chief as corrupt would be the understatement of the year. And once wealthy crime boss Paklung (Joey Iwanaga) completely loses his mind after his scheme begins to unravel, the body count ramps up in a hurry.

The action is where The Furious really shines. Bones break, bodies fly, and the choreography is excellent throughout. Rainy's motorcycle scene pushed things a little too far for me, but it's a minor complaint in an otherwise impressive action film.

Since we have two good guys, we get two final fights going on simultaneously. Having two fights of this caliber going on and mixing partners/opponents as it goes is worth the price of admission alone. Throw in another character looking for revenge, and it turns into an absolute martial arts showcase for a finale.

The Furious (2026)

The Furious isn't trying to reinvent the revenge genre, but it doesn't need to. If you're looking for a brutal martial arts movie with fantastic choreography and enough broken bones to make an orthopedic surgeon rich, this one absolutely delivers.

https://jackmeat.com/the-furious-2025/

House Sitter (2026) | House Sitter has way too much talky talky and not nearly enough stabby bloody. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 3.1/10. House Sitter kicks off with wealthy homeowner Harold Finch (David Varrieur) giving Kayla (Jenna Forcier) the grand tour of his mansion, complete with warnings about sticky doors and making sure everything stays locked. It's meant to build tension. Instead, it immediately introduces the biggest horror of the movie. The acting. If first impressions matter, this one trips over the front doorstep.

Kayla rounds up her friends for what should be an easy house-sitting gig. First is Dani (Cristina Méndez), who works at an actual comic book shop, which was a fun little touch. Then there's boyfriend Blake (Evan Eiglarsh), an influencer whose first priority is filming content around the mansion. The moment he started posing for the camera, I was rooting for the masked killer. If your biggest personality trait is "don't forget to like and subscribe," horror movies have traditionally had a solution for that.

Unfortunately, the potential victim list is tiny. Three main characters, one creepy house...and maybe a pizza delivery driver if we're feeling generous. It's hard to build suspense when you can practically count the remaining survivors on one hand before the opening credits have settled.

For an 87-minute film, House Sitter looks like it’s trying to get out of being a horror movie as soon as possible. The dialogue in this movie is terrible. It consists of pointless conversations that don’t lead anywhere. Characters are talking just for the sake of talking as per the script.

The pizza delivery driver gets a bizarre little sequence where he blasts heavy metal while yanking the steering wheel around like he's trying to beat Need for Speed. It adds nothing to the movie, but at least someone was having fun. Not me.

Not until the 35-minute mark does the first kill occur, and when it does, it's just lame. The horror junkies are left asking themselves whether or not they have started watching the film or the making-of featurette.

Of course, this is yet another modern horror movie in which everyone has a drone since we are treated to the obligatory aerial shots from up above. These days, drone shots have become just as common in indie horror movies as terrifying masks and dying flashlights.

To make matters worse, it takes nearly another half hour before anything horror-adjacent happens aside from the masked killer creeping around. The suspense is non-existent, and despite the occasional stalking scenes, House Sitter never finds any of that urgency it desperately needs.

One bright spot is director Christopher Leto's use of practical effects. When the violence finally shows up, it at least looks tangible instead of drowning everything in questionable CGI. That's always appreciated and gives the finale a little extra punch.

The mystery itself isn't particularly mysterious. The identity of the murderer is quite obvious long before the actual reveal. There are a couple of twists along the way, trying to redeem the boring first hour. When contrasted with the slow start of the film, they easily become the best parts of the movie.

House Sitter (2026)

In the end, House Sitter spends far too much time talking instead of actually giving us the horror we came for. Better pacing, sharper dialogue, and a significantly higher body count would've gone a long way. Why not throw a house party, give us some victims?

Instead, it's a movie where I spent more time waiting for something to happen than watching it happen.

https://jackmeat.com/house-sitter-2026/

The Get Out (2026) | Turns out retiring from the crime business is somehow even more stressful than staying in it. Who knew? #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.8/10. Russell Crowe has hit that wonderful stage of his career where he can walk in a room, barely raise his voice, and still make everyone realize they made a bad decision. In The Get Out, he plays a nightclub owner looking to retire from his less-than-legitimate career after a heart attack. And yes, the film wastes no time revealing that the heart attack happened during one of the few activities most men are strangely proud to admit nearly killed them. It's an opening that immediately lets you know this crime thriller isn't afraid to have a little fun with itself.

Crowe opens the film, arriving at his nightclub while narrating his Albanian journey to America and how he built his empire. He settles comfortably into the role of the aging businessman trying to cash out before the criminal world cashes him out first. His accent works well, and honestly, I've always enjoyed watching Crowe. He has that effortless ability to make even the simplest conversation sound like it could end with somebody buried in concrete.

Teresa Palmer, who I've been a fan of ever since Warm Bodies, brings some common sense to the film as the woman encouraging Crowe to finally enjoy life instead of constantly surviving it. Naturally, the universe has other ideas.

Enter masked robbers, ruthless cartels, double-crosses, and Luke Evans showing up with the sort of smile that immediately screams, "This bloke definitely has an agenda." Nina Dobrev and Aaron Paul make for entertaining wildcards, and I particularly enjoyed Carrie's explanation for wanting in on the robbery. Apparently, Point Break counts as life counseling for her.

The overall story won't exactly reinvent the crime genre, but it doesn't really need to. The script keeps the plot moving with enough twists and shifting alliances to stay entertaining. Better still, there really aren't any dead spots. Every scene serves a purpose. Every character eventually fits into the bigger picture. And the final act ties everything together in a satisfying way without feeling overly complicated.

My favourite part actually comes after the movie ends. During the end credits, Dobrev jokes about the Point Break remake before casually pointing out that the best part of the movie was that Teresa Palmer was in it. I genuinely laughed out loud. It's a fun little wink that perfectly fits the lighter touch despite all the guns, gangsters, and betrayals.

The Get Out (2026)

The Get Out is not going to be the next great crime masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it definitely knows who it is. It is a well-paced and twisty small crime story. We get a fine Russell Crowe performance, a cast of likeable characters, and some humorous moments to even it out. Sometimes that's all I really need.

https://jackmeat.com/the-get-out-2026/

The Red Book Ritual: Gates of Hell (2025) | I watched The Red Book Ritual: Gates of Hell so you don't have to. Even the characters wanted to quit halfway through. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 2.4/10. I vaguely recall watching the first Red Book Ritual and giving it a #turkey. So why not bring on The Red Book Ritual: Gates of Hell? I am apparently a glutton for punishment.

It starts with some guy who looks like he's had a rough night. Then he glances down at a woman on a table who has clearly had a much worse one. At least the practical effects are decent so far.

We then cut to the grieving guy visiting a psychic card reader, who warns him about a dangerous ritual. Robbie (Mario González Martí) wants to contact his deceased girlfriend, so he heads to an abandoned house with a group of young people to perform the Red Book Ritual.

Finally, a horror movie where the woman sees one creepy thing and immediately starts packing her shit to get the hell out. Granted, she's being chased by a giant stuffed animal, but still. Progress.

I started wondering if this was another anthology, with the psychic acting as the narrator like the first movie. At least that would've explained why we suddenly jump from Robbie's story to a random woman boarding an empty trolley where creepy things happen for no apparent reason.

Then it's back to the ritual. Then another unrelated story. A woman hears knocking at her door, finds a weird-looking headpiece outside, and because it's a horror movie, immediately puts it on. Do adults really still pull the blanket over their heads when something supernatural is trying to kill them? Unless that comforter was blessed by a priest, I don't think it's helping.

Back to Robbie's group, where one guy grabs the Red Book and asks if he can leave the game. I completely understand. I wanted to leave too, but unlike him, I had another hour to go. Needless to say, the answer is a very bloody no.

The No Filter segment actually had a decent idea. A woman downloads a beauty filter app during a video chat with a guy whose face is covered in a nasty rash. Before long, she's the one blistering while the app keeps making her look flawless. It's a timely concept that completely wastes itself with a terrible ending.

Then comes Mystery Box, where a woman drags a strange box out of a lake. Horror movie rules say it obviously isn't full of money or happiness. Another solid premise that fizzles out by the finish.

Eventually we return to Robbie and finally learn what happened to his girlfriend. Unfortunately, the anthology never really comes together. The stories barely connect, the Red Book itself is never explained beyond "it does spooky things," and too many segments end just as they start getting interesting.

Stick around through the credits, and you'll at least get the names of each segment. IMDb couldn't even be bothered listing which director made which one, despite every story having a different director. So instead, I'll blame writer Hernán Moyano for stitching together an anthology that feels far less than the sum of its parts.

A couple of decent ideas. Too many weak endings. Another easy #turkey.

The Red Book Ritual: Gates of Hell (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/the-red-book-ritual-gates-of-hell-2025/

Enola Holmes 3 (2026) | Even Enola couldn't solve the mystery of where all the fun from the first two movies disappeared to. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.5/10. I admit. I did enjoy the first two Enola Holmes films. Rounded both of them up to a 7/10 even. They were smart, witty, and just plain fun. So I went into Enola Holmes 3 expecting another entertaining mystery caper.

This time, detective Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) heads to Malta, where her plans to marry Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge) fall apart when Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill) goes missing.

It opens with a hooded woman being marched through a prison and dropped in front of some dude who offers her freedom if she can recover some stolen goods. Insert the dramatic music as he asks if the name Tewkesbury means anything to her.

Apparently it does, because the movie smash cuts to...one year later...at a wedding.

Enola wastes no time breaking the fourth wall before giving us a quick refresher on the first two movies and explaining how we ended up in Malta. Then, just as expected, we're knee-deep in another mystery that initially seems impossibly complicated. These movies always make the case look like it requires seventeen corkboards, three maps, and enough red string to knit a sweater before everything starts falling into place.

It was great to have Helena Bonham Carter as the mother of Enola once again. Since everybody else was returning to the screen, it was just natural that Himesh Patel would come back as Dr. Watson too.

One scene had me laughing for all the wrong reasons. A box with what looked like twenty-five gold bars gets treated like something Enola can just pick up and carry away. That's roughly 675 pounds of gold. Unless Sherlock has secretly been training her as Britain's strongest woman between movies, that wasn't happening.

Unfortunately, this one never reaches the heights of its predecessors.

There's less action, less adventure, and fewer moments where we get to sleuth alongside Enola. Even the romance, which should've been the touching part, is pretty damn dull. Instead of another globe-trotting mystery, it feels a lot more like a stage production. Just too many long conversations replacing the energetic pacing that made the first two so enjoyable.

The mystery itself is also far more predictable. I found myself figuring things out well before the film wanted me to, which takes a lot of the fun out of a detective story.

I don't think the change in directors to Philip Barantini is really the issue. He's proven he can direct excellent material. The bigger problem is the screenplay. Jack Thorne, who wrote the first two, doesn't deliver the same sharp dialogue, clever twists, or sense of adventure this time around.

It's still an easy watch thanks to the returning cast and Millie Bobby Brown's endlessly likeable performance. But compared to the first two outings, this is definitely the weakest case Enola has taken on so far.

Enola Holmes 3 (2026)

Not a bad sequel. Just one that's missing the spark that made the others so much fun.

https://jackmeat.com/enola-holmes-3-2026/

Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (2023) | Onyx the Fortuitous has enough fun and practical effects, If you can survive Onyx's infomercial voice for 110 minutes. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.7/10. I was poking through my watchlist and realized I completely spaced on Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls. Better late than never, right, @redsand? Sometimes movies don't just gather dust on a watchlist. They build a small civilization. This one kicks off with the Bloody Disgusting logo, which is usually a promising omen. Now if only they'd perform an exorcism on their perpetually broken RSS feed. That thing has been haunted longer than half the characters in this movie.

Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls introduces Markus, better known as Onyx the Fortuitous (Andrew Bowser), recording an aggressively lo-fi selfie video explaining why he deserves an invitation to the mansion of his occult idol, Bartok the Great (Jeffrey Combs). Within about thirty seconds, I was thinking, "This guy absolutely came from YouTube." Sure enough, a quick search confirmed it. Bowser gives 110% to his routine, constantly shifting from awkward enthusiasm to his overly enthusiastic infomercial-like voice.

This is definitely a hit-or-miss performance style. I would say there are going to be people who turn off just because of Onyx. Others might enjoy it. I landed somewhere in the middle, tolerating the performance because I wanted to see where the story was heading.

After some mildly amusing family interactions with his mother Nancy (Barbara Crampton) and a spectacularly over-the-top round of workplace bullying at a burger joint, Onyx's luck changes when he wins the chance to attend Bartok's mysterious ritual. Jeffrey Combs is always a welcome sight, especially for anyone who remembers Re-Animator, and he brings exactly the kind of sinister charisma you'd expect. Other winners of the contest are also introduced at the dining table, each one displaying his/her own wonderfully strange personality prior to the group being engaged in Bartok’s mysterious activities related to the famous Talisman of Souls.

Bowser should be commended for his willingness to use practical effects rather than relying on CGI alone. The little monster kept under wraps in the box was an immediate attention-grabber, while there were even several of the monsters who had a retro feel to them, reminiscent of 1980s horror movies. The haunted house itself is well designed and manages a balance between being spooky and campy. Throwing Meat Loaf's I'd Do Anything for Love into the mix as an emotional anthem is exactly the kind of wonderfully bizarre creative decision this film thrives on.

The biggest problem is simply the pacing. At 110 minutes, Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls doesn't quite have enough story to justify its runtime. I initially blamed Bowser's relentless comedic delivery for my wandering attention, but as the movie went on, it became clear the script was stretching relatively thin material well past its limits. The mystery unfolds too slowly. The middle drags. And several scenes feel like they're filling time before the inevitable supernatural chaos arrives.

Despite all the problems, Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls was still a fun watch. I doubt it hit anywhere near the heights of the recent Obsession or even Iron Lung. But it is a very good-hearted mixture of horror, comedy, and special effects. Of course, it is not for everybody, but horror movie fans searching for something different will definitely enjoy the film. Interestingly enough, there is another movie from the same Bowser universe on my watch list called The Decedent. Here's hoping the next stop trims about twenty minutes off the runtime…and maybe turns Bowser's enthusiasm down from eleven to a comfortable nine.

Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (2023)

https://jackmeat.com/onyx-the-fortuitous-and-the-talisman-of-souls-2023/

Southern Scares (2026) | Horror plus a 90s video store is basically catnip for me. Too bad the VCR accidentally chewed up the last ten minutes. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.4/10. Southern horror, creepy folklore, and a dusty old video store? Southern Scares practically walked into my watchlist wearing a "Rent 2, Get 1 Free" sticker. As someone who spent plenty of time haunting video stores back in the West Coast Video days, I was already halfway sold before the opening credits finished rolling. Throw in VHS tapes, tube TVs, and pan-and-scan screens, and suddenly I was hit with enough nostalgia to start wondering if I still owed Blockbuster late fees.

The film opens with a grainy home video aesthetic before introducing Ellen (Sydney Gowan), a video store employee who discovers a package containing VHS tapes from her missing sister Roberta's (Emma Gaines) paranormal documentary series, Southern Scares. At first glance, it almost feels like an anthology, with Roberta introducing each segment by repeatedly asking, "Are you ready for a Southern scare?" Thankfully, it doesn't stay in full anthology mode, instead weaving the investigations into the larger mystery surrounding Roberta's disappearance.

Each tape explores a different piece of Southern folklore, from the Butcher of Sin City and the Southern Sasquatch to the Springer Opera House, a Werewolf Girl, the Shadows of Westwood, and the Haunts of Iron Train Bridge. The legends themselves are interesting enough that I kept wanting them to go just a little deeper. Every time one segment started getting intriguing, it was already time to eject the tape and move on to the next one. It's like ordering a sampler platter and discovering every appetizer is only one bite.

The movie absolutely nails the VHS presentation. If you miss tracking lines, fuzzy analog video, and televisions that weighed roughly the same as a family sedan, you're in for a nostalgic treat. The production intentionally embraces that homemade camcorder style. Unfortunately, that's also where it lost me. I'm simply not a fan of the "found garbage" style of filmmaking with endless handheld shaky camera work. I know it's a deliberate artistic choice, but after a while, I was ready to personally stabilize the cameraman.

Gowan and Gaines both do solid work carrying the emotional side of the story, while Jason Townsend brings some enjoyable moments as Ellen's grumpy grandfather and video store owner. Horror fans will also get a kick out of seeing Dee Wallace show up. Seeing a genre legend from The Howling, Cujo, and countless other horror classics pop into a low-budget indie always grabs my attention. I'll leave it to your imagination why she ended up in Columbus, Ohio, for this production...because I like Dee Wallace far too much to speculate out loud.

Then comes Tape 9.

Unfortunately, that's where Southern Scares completely loses its footing. As mystery has built up through the movie, the conclusion comes off as if director Paul Rowe realized that he had run out of time on the reel and said, “Oh well…what if the VHS tapes just started attacking people?” It seems to have been thrown together without explanation, with less mystery than I expected, and was more like I accidentally fast-forwarded into a different movie.

Southern Scares (2026)

That's the frustrating part because Southern Scares had the ingredients for something memorable. The nostalgic setting, the folklore, and the central mystery all work. They simply needed a stronger mythology and an ending that answered at least a few of the questions it spent ninety minutes asking. Instead, the credits rolled, and I was left feeling like I had rented a promising horror movie only to discover someone forgot to rewind. And maybe forgot to film the ending too.

https://jackmeat.com/southern-scares-2026/