Marty Supreme (2025) | A beautifully made movie about a ping pong genius who’s such an ass I spent the whole time hoping he'd lose. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 7.1/10. Marty Supreme is another one of this year’s Best Picture nominees that I felt obligated to check out, if only to see what all the awards-season noise was about. Set in 1952, the film follows 23-year-old New Yorker Marty Mauser, played by Timothée Chalamet, a man who puts 110% into everything he does. Unfortunately for everyone around him, that energy is directed solely at his own selfish ambitions. Marty is convinced he could be the best table tennis player in the world, and he is dead set on proving it at the world championships in Japan, even though he has no money, no official support, and the personality of a cheese grater.

Marty works in his uncle’s shoe store while dreaming of ping pong glory, all while claiming he needs success to support his overbearing mother (played by Fran Drescher), who is currently supported by the very relatives Marty regularly inconveniences. Along the way, he manipulates just about everyone in his orbit, including his married childhood friend Rachel (Odessa A’zion), with whom he’s carrying on an affair without a second thought for the consequences. Marty genuinely believes that an American champion would elevate the sport’s profile, but the film makes it clear that his real motivation is ego first, everything else second.

To fund his unlikely journey, Marty tries to ingratiate himself with retired movie star Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow) and her wealthy businessman husband, Milton Rockwell (Kevin O'Leary). Calling the scene where Marty hooks up with Kay "fiction" is a huge understatement. It would never happen. Marty’s schemes and hustles often play out over ping pong tables rather than pool tables, which makes for some entertaining and unusual sequences. It was especially satisfying to see how his first meeting with Endo (Koto Kawaguchi) ultimately plays out.

The film is very well shot and convincingly acted across the board. The 1950s set design feels authentic and lived-in, helping sell the period setting without drawing unnecessary attention to itself. The cinematography and overall production quality are undeniably strong, and Chalamet delivers a performance that proves just how convincing he can be as a complete jerk, since he doesn’t seem like one in real life, that’s actually a pretty impressive feat. The hustle sequences around the ping pong table are genuinely fun to watch and give the movie some personality.

Where Marty Supreme stumbles is in its script and flow. It’s just that the story feels so disjointed, and Marty’s character development is completely lacking by the end of it. He seems to learn nothing from his experiences and faces virtually no consequences for his actions. It’s hard to get behind him when he’s been so obnoxious throughout the entire thing that I found myself wanting him to fail at pretty much everything he tries.

The music choices also feel strangely out of place for a 1950s setting, even if any movie that sneaks in a track by Public Image Ltd. earns a few bonus points from me.

Ultimately, Marty Supreme is a technically impressive but emotionally unfulfilling film. It’s a well-made movie with a strong central performance, but it’s one that never provides you with any reason to ever care about its protagonist. Not my choice for Best Picture, no matter how hard the marketing tries to persuade me otherwise.

Marty Supreme (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/marty-supreme-2025/

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026) | Less zombie nightmare, more human insanity, and somehow that makes it even more disturbing. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 7.3/10. If 28 Years Later proved the infected weren’t done ruining everyone’s day, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple proves the humans are doing a pretty solid job of that on their own.

We pick up right where things left off, with Spike (Alfie Williams) now on the mainland and running with Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal’s gang of Satan-worshipping sadists, because apparently surviving the apocalypse wasn’t chaotic enough. The film wastes zero time throwing Spike into a stabby fight-to-the-death with a pack of blond kids. Childhood: cancelled.

Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) remains a theatrical, unhinged nightmare of a villain. Part cult leader, part glam-rock warlord, part motivational speaker from hell. O’Connell plays him with such manic conviction that he’s both terrifying and weirdly hilarious. Every time he’s on screen, you feel like someone’s about to lose a limb or deliver a punchline. Whichever comes first.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) finds himself in a deeply unexpected relationship that could reshape this broken world. His storyline quietly becomes the emotional backbone of the film. Kelson’s insistence on seeing Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) not as a monster but as a being capable of connection is radical in a world ruled by carnage. In a franchise built on infection and collapse, empathy becomes the most subversive act of all. Fiennes plays it with an intensity that never tips into melodrama. Just quiet defiance against moral decay.

Erin Kellyman’s Jimmy Ink feels like a missed opportunity. She could have been a stronger survival mentor for Spike instead of hovering at the edges. And don’t let the brief stretch I jokingly called “My Zombie Buddy” fool you. This isn’t soft. And yes, I was talking to myself. The film is graphic, intense, and choreographed with brutal precision. The violence is relentless, but it’s staged beautifully, with practical effects and makeup work that make every wound feel personal.

Visually, it’s a stunner. That creepy forest makes a welcome return, still looking like it eats hikers for sport. The sound design and the strategic lack of sound amplify every breath and snap of bone. Then there’s the moment with the fingers meeting “Old Nick,” blasted perfectly with Iron Maiden. As someone lucky enough to see them live, that needle drop hit like a sledgehammer.

Interestingly, this entry barely feels like a zombie movie. The infected remain more as background than centerpiece. Rather, the series is guided by director Nia DaCosta and writer Alex Garland into a post-apocalyptic horror that is infused with politics and philosophical undertones. At times, a bit too obvious, but never boring. The convergence of the storylines of Spike and Kelson results in some electrifying repartee between Fiennes and O’Connell.

It’s stranger, richer territory for the franchise - heavier on gore, heavier on ideas, and bold enough to shift the focus away from the infected entirely. And judging by that ending? We’re not done yet.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)

The apocalypse, it seems, still has sequels left in it. And if they can combine the human aspect with the zombie mayhem into a single flick, well, I cannot wait.

https://jackmeat.com/28-years-later-the-bone-temple-2026/

Blood Barn (2025) | Blood Barn is basically Evil Dead in a farmhouse (with barn), but with rope demons and acting that never found rehearsal. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.3/10. Blood Barn tries to kick off its summer of terror with a camera glide straight out of The Evil Dead playbook. Something unseen crashes out a window, glides across a field, and slithers into a barn before settling inside a locked chest. Moody? Yes. Original? Not in the slightest. But hey, at least they let you know immediately what shelf they’re pulling from.

To celebrate their final summer before college, Josie (Lena Redford) invites six fellow camp counselors to her family’s abandoned barn. Within two minutes of meeting this crew of soon-to-be-demised twenty-somethings, they’re already openly questioning why they’re even friends with Josie. Nothing says “tight-knit group” like eye-rolling your host before the beer’s warm.

Amanda (Andrea Bambina) stands out as the resident bully, and honestly, she plays it well. Her mean streak conveniently masks her eventual possession arc. Although when your face is painted blue and black like a Halloween clearance rack demon, subtlety isn’t exactly hiding. Still, she commits.

The film leans hard into its 80s homage vibe. We’ve got camp counselors (hello, Friday the 13th), a remote location, flimsy logic, and a whole lot of practical effects. The group of guys? Completely interchangeable. You could swap their names mid-scene, and I would not have noticed. When they strip down for a lake dip, the grass literally sucks their clothes underground. Nature said, “Nope.”

The family backstory, which is supposedly central to Josie’s connection to the evil, is frustratingly thin. There are old photos, ominous hints, and then… nothing. No real explanation of what crawled out of that chest either. It looks like demonic rope. Or snakes. Or haunted extension cords. Your guess is as good as mine.

The possession spreads rapidly, leaving one uninfected friend scrambling to contain the chaos. What follows is a string of cheesy, energetic confrontations. Cheap props. Flimsy effects. Questionable acting (okay, none of them can act). I mean, Rachel is played by Chloe Cherry, and if that name sounds like it is from another genre, you are correct, porn (sorry, kids, no link). But there’s an undeniable low-budget charm. The wine-dripping-lightbulb moment - clearly inspired by Evil Dead - looks like they poured it down the side instead of into it because… physics is hard.

There’s even a gender-flipped nod to the infamous forest assault scene, which at least shows they’re aware of horror history, even if they don’t quite elevate it.

Look, I can’t fault indie filmmakers for wanting to craft their own Evil Dead. That’s practically a rite of passage. But I can fault them for doing such a messy job, unless the mess was the point. And honestly? It might’ve been. There’s a self-aware wink buried under the rubber snakes and dollar-store demon makeup.

Blood Barn (2025)

For horror fans who enjoy spotting references and appreciating all practical effects, Blood Barn offers some sketchy fun. For anyone else? It’ll feel like being trapped in that barn yourself, waiting for something interesting to crawl out of the chest.

https://jackmeat.com/blood-barn-2025/

Mutants of Nature Cove (2024) | You almost have to admire the naked cast's confidence, because everything else, especially the effects, is impressively terrible. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 2.1/10. Mutants of Nature Cove opens with what looks like stock footage of nuclear scientists conducting suspiciously generic “testing” at a beach, along with a few vague hints about radioactive contamination. It’s the closest thing the film has to a production value highlight, and also about the last time anyone appears on screen wearing clothes.

From there, the movie follows a group of party girls who drag shy Beth (Geneva Robinson) along to a supposedly secluded nude beach that’s crawling with hallucination-inducing mutants and one extremely committed spell-casting woman trying to resurrect her dead husband. Beth eventually decides that the soul-stealing mutants need to be sent back to hell permanently, but getting to that point is a long, awkward journey through one of the cheapest-looking productions you’re likely to see.

It becomes obvious almost immediately that the “beach” exists mostly inside a computer. The cast looks like they’ve been dropped in front of a green screen and told to pretend sand is between their toes. The backgrounds rarely match the lighting on the actors, and the illusion collapses constantly. The extras appear to have been filmed somewhere else entirely and pasted into scenes with all the subtlety of a middle-school video project. If you enjoy spotting visual effects mistakes, this movie turns it into a game. Around the 46-minute mark, I saw the green screen bleed-through start appearing in people’s hair, and from there, the errors pile up as if the effects team simply gave up.

The sound design somehow makes things worse. Dialogue echoes with the hollow acoustics of an elevator shaft, which is impressive considering the characters are supposed to be outdoors. Conversations drift in and out with little ambient noise, making every exchange feel awkwardly staged. It doesn’t help that the acting often looks like performers waiting for off-camera direction. Beth spends multiple scenes staring blankly into space in what appears to be less “deep emotional turmoil” and more waiting for Beau Mann to yell action so she knows when to swing the prop weapon.

Mutants of Nature Cove (2024)

The mutants themselves are spectacularly terrible, highlighted by dinosaur-headed snake creatures that look like unfinished animation tests. When the entire beach population joins in to fight them, the results are downright pathetic, with actors flailing at empty air while digital creatures float unconvincingly in front of them.

The movie makes constant attempts at landing jokes, but most of them fail. There is even a meta joke about how the beach is a great location to film a movie, followed by a weak dig at exploitation that somehow recognizes what the movie is doing without being clever or self-aware.

The oddest thing about Mutants of Nature Cove is the tone. Despite the nudity and the plethora of slow motion lotion and insect repellent application scenes, it feels strangely innocent instead of sleazy. The cast deserves some credit for their sheer confidence, because performing in a project like this requires a level of commitment most actors wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot boom mic. It appears as if only a handful of actors were ever filmed at one time and then composited together.

Unfortunately, confidence alone can’t save a movie this poorly executed. The effects are awful, the performances are stiff, and the production values barely qualify as amateur. Aside from my admiration for the cast’s willingness to go all-in on a very questionable project, Mutants of Nature Cove is simply a bad movie from start to finish. And if you’re expecting a trailer to preview what you’re getting into, be warned. With a cast that’s fully naked about 99.9% of the runtime, I really didn't think that was going to happen.

https://jackmeat.com/mutants-of-nature-cove-2024/

Hellfire (2026) | Grabbed this for the cast alone, and honestly, it’s a scrappy little 80s-style vigilante throwback for STV fans. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.8/10. I picked Hellfire for one reason and one reason only. The cast. You put Stephen Lang, Harvey Keitel, and Dolph Lundgren in the same small-town action flick, and I’m at least renting. And let’s be honest, Scottie Thompson isn’t exactly a stranger to my TV after all those years on NCIS.

The setup? A small, dying Southern town called Rondo is being terrorized by a politically connected drug kingpin. The locals are exhausted, worn down, and afraid. And they look it. Hope arrives in the form of a mysterious stranger known only as “the MAN.” Yes, capital letters. And yes, writer Richard Lowry goes to almost comical lengths to make sure Stephen Lang never gets an actual name. Not a nickname. Just a throwaway alias, Nomado. The commitment is impressive.

We open in a diner where Lena (Thompson) works for her father, which conveniently allows the town riffraff to stroll in and establish their bullying credentials. It doesn’t take long for things to feel familiar. The tension-filled meeting with Sheriff Wiley (Lundgren) has strong First Blood energy - small-town law enforcement sizing up an outsider who clearly didn’t wander in by accident. The broader setup smells heavily of Road House, too. I’m fairly certain Lowry has both on Blu-ray within arm’s reach.

Then we cut to an older man playing piano, because of course we do, and surprise! Keitel is the father of the local town bully. It’s a nice touch, but criminally underused. Keitel deserved more screen time. When you cast Harvey Keitel, you don’t keep him in the corner like a decorative lamp.

Director Isaac Florentine clearly knows his lone-vigilante cinema. The first big gunfight/car chase combo has serious The A-Team vibes, meaning Uzis blazing, shotguns pumping, enough bullets to restock a small army… and somehow no one gets hit. It’s almost nostalgic. But after that, the movie finds a mean streak and suddenly remembers bullets are, in fact, lethal. Bodies start dropping, and there’s even a surprisingly decent hand-to-hand fight scene mixed in.

The story itself? Completely by-the-numbers. You know this story of the battered town and the reluctant hero from before, and this one doesn’t deviate an inch from the formula. It’s highly implausible, at times bordering on ridiculous, and has one cringe-worthy war flashback that looks like it was taken straight from the ’80s straight-to-video bargain bin.

Hellfire (2026)

And honestly? That’s kind of the charm. Hellfire just feels like a lost 1988 VHS rental. Gritty, simple, and unapologetic. I wasn’t mad I spent 95 minutes with it. I just won’t be revisiting Rondo anytime soon. If you have a soft spot for old-school vigilante flicks and recognizable tough-guy faces, you might squeeze some fun out of this one. Just don’t expect it to reinvent the genre. It’s too busy paying tribute to it.

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

Diabolic (2025) | Bravely confronting your past is commendable. Doing it by camping at the cursed cabin? Not my first choice. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.4/10. That poster caught my eye a few months back when I popped Diabolic on the weekly slider. What we have is hope for a miracle cure, which eventually turns into “maybe let’s not mess with cursed witches today.” Inspired by true events, right after a quick and deeply disturbing Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints fact drop, the movie opens with a creepy ritual full of ominous chanting and imagery that screams, “This will not end well.” Spoiler: it does not.

We jump ten years ahead to Eise (Elizabeth Cullen), who is understandably still haunted by her past. Earlier, we saw that she was forced into a baptism at a remote cabin. So naturally, the adult solution is to… go camping outside that same cabin. Nothing says emotional healing like pitching a tent next to your trauma.

The plan involves some kind of séance-slash-drug-induced spiritual ceremony designed to confront the past head-on. If you’re a fan of unexplained black ooze, shadowy demon figures, and “what exactly are we summoning here?” energy, you’ll get your fix. The visuals in these moments are effective, leaning into that grimy, occult aesthetic. When the horror shows up, it shows up.

But getting there takes a minute. Actually, it takes most of the runtime. The story moves at a slow simmer until the final ten minutes suddenly decide, “Oh right, we’re a horror movie.” The last stretch cranks up the intensity with some painful-looking practical effects and bursts of violence that feel appropriately nasty. If the entire film had matched that energy, we’d be talking about a much stronger flick.

John Kim plays Adam, the supportive boyfriend, while Mia Challis plays the best friend who, intentionally or not, looks genuinely bored for large portions of the movie. It almost becomes its own subplot: “Is she possessed, or just over this camping trip?”

Director Daniel J. Phillips does a solid job maintaining suspense within a very by-the-numbers cult framework. There’s some witch lore sprinkled in, but it never fully digs into anything fresh. The film hits most of the horror tropes you’d expect. Isolated cabin, ritual gone wrong, stupid decisions, you get the idea.

Visually, though, it’s strong. Michael Tessari makes South Australia convincingly stand in for Utah, and the cinematography gives the film a polished, moody look. The practical gore effects are well done; they’re just used a little too sparingly to leave a lasting mark.

Overall, Diabolic is watchable and competently made, but it doesn’t do much to stand out in the crowded “cursed cult witch” subgenre. A couple of decent jump scares, some solid practical effects, and then, and you knew this was coming, an ending that lightly teases a sequel. Apparently, evil black ooze is a franchise opportunity now.

Diabolic (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/diabolic-2025/

Mercy (2026) | It’s basically “prove you didn’t do it” to an AI judge who already kinda thinks you did. Log me in. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.3/10. In Mercy, the near future apparently decided that the best way to streamline the justice system was to hand it over to a shiny AI named “Mercy.” Because nothing says compassion like a machine that acts as judge, jury, and executioner. Subtle.

Chris Pratt plays Detective Chris Raven, who finds himself strapped to a chair on trial for murdering his wife. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the AI system he once publicly supported. Yes, the same system that is now very politely preparing to kill him. That’s what I call a rough day at work.

The idea itself is strong right out of the gate. Prove your innocence to an algorithm or face execution. The Mercy system sounds less like AI and more like ICE without the “Intelligence.” It calculates guilt in decimal points, adjusts probabilities on the fly, and somehow treats discovering a whole new suspect like it’s a minor clerical update. In what universe does finding another viable suspect only drop your guilt level by 0.8 points? This thing is supposedly built on millions of prior cases. I’ve seen fantasy football apps with better analytics.

Raven’s defense strategy doesn’t exactly inspire confidence either. His go-to argument of “I couldn’t” isn’t the mic-drop he seems to think it is. It’s less an airtight alibi and more a shrug emoji. To be fair, the guy went off the rails and dove headfirst into the bottle after his partner, Ray (Kenneth Choi), was killed. Yes, that Kenneth Choi from 9-1-1. So the emotional instability angle doesn’t exactly scream “wrongly accused saint.”

What does work surprisingly well is the tension. For a film where the protagonist is literally tied to a chair for the better part of the running time, it does keep the pace going. The countdown clock does a lot of the heavy lifting, but it gets the job done. The pacing is extremely fast, sometimes almost too fast. You get quick bursts of character info, then bam, on to the next revelation. There’s barely time to process one plot point before another breadcrumb gets tossed your way.

The relationship between Pratt and Judge Maddox, played by Rebecca Ferguson, is one of the better aspects of this flick. Their growing partnership, which is both professional and slightly personal, is a much-needed addition to the film, which could have otherwise been a completely mechanical thriller. Ferguson brings that robotic presence that balances Pratt’s frantic energy.

The downside? The 90-minute limit and all the tools ot prove yourself (which, conveniently, only the accused can access - so I guess innocent people don't get cool tech perks?) leave little room to truly know the characters. It’s all urgency, all the time. Effective for suspense, not so much for depth.

That said, as a high-concept whodunnit with an inherent ticking clock, Mercy is entertaining. It handles its twists well enough to keep you guessing, even if the logic behind the AI sometimes seems like it was written in a lunch break coding session. If you're in the mood for something interesting with a possible caution flag and aren't particular about a few glaring algorithmic errors, Mercy is definitely worth watching.

Mercy (2026)

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

The Haunted Forest (2025) | For something called The Haunted Forest, the coming-of-age angle completely overshadows whatever horror this wanted to be. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 3.7/10. There must be something in the water that makes teenagers think the middle-of-nowhere make-out spot is the place for safe smooching. The Haunted Forest begins by gently reminding us that it is never the case. The scene is so tame it feels like a public service announcement sponsored by “Bad Decisions Anonymous.” If you are waiting for someone to be slaughtered, move along.

We follow Zach, played by Grayson Gwaze, a high school senior who lands his first job as a scare actor at Markoff's Haunted Forest. He quickly befriends the ragtag crew of year-round haunt employees, all of whom appear to be more interested in brooding than actually frightening anyone. When one of them dies tragically on the grounds, Zach begins to question his own obsession with death and the macabre, which sounds like the beginning of a horror movie, but for the most part just feels like a very low-energy coming-of-age story hiding behind a horror mask.

And when I say slow, I mean day-in, day-out, punch-the-clock slow. We spend an alarming amount of time watching people “work” at what appears to be a haunted attraction open 365 days a year for absolutely no reason. The dialogue doesn’t help. It’s stiff, cue-card-reading stiff. Like everyone is terrified of missing their line more than being murdered.

A couple of accidents shake things up, including the baffling decision to give mock chainsaws actual chains, resulting in an “oops, we cut his arm” moment. Not a horror movie maiming. Not a shocking severed limb. Just a workplace safety violation waiting to happen. OSHA would’ve been the real villain here.

The opening of the haunted forest is briefly in question...for roughly three minutes of screen time. Then, crisis averted, they reopen for Halloween, which at least justifies the existence of this place. Small victories.

The humor? Flat. The horror? Practically PG. Most of the early “kills” are suggested, like the movie is politely asking you to imagine something scarier than it’s willing to show. Later on, a few on-screen kills finally happen, but by then I had been waiting so long for the movie to start that I half expected an intermission.

The twist isn’t a twist. It’s more of a gentle narrative shrug. The writing feels lazy, especially when the marketing leans so heavily into the horror angle. Honestly, this plays like a movie trailer that oversold the product. Scary is the one thing this film never manages to be, no matter how many times it insists otherwise.

That said, the production values are solid. The sets look good. The atmosphere is there. And Meghan Reed as Carly is easily the most interesting character in the entire film. Every time she was on screen, I perked up, hoping the story would follow her somewhere more compelling.

Instead, The Haunted Forest is far more invested in its coming-of-age identity crisis than delivering actual chills. If you go in expecting introspection with a side of light slasher seasoning, you might get something out of it. If you’re expecting a genuinely scary experience? This forest doesn’t have much buzz.

The Haunted Forest (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/the-haunted-forest-2025/

Dinner to Die For (2025) | Shamilla Miller holds it together with a memorable ending, even if the road getting there was undercooked. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.5/10. I had no idea what I was getting with Dinner to Die For, but it serves up a fun premise with a sharp knife. Then spends most of its runtime trying to figure out which course it actually wants to be.

The film follows Hannah, played by Shamilla Miller, a culinary photographer with a taste for true crime, and her equally obsessed friend Evan, portrayed by Steven John Ward (serial killer-sounding name). The two decide to spice up their hobby by role-playing their own true crime scenario, complete with a killer meal and the “girl next door” trope. Naturally, because this is a thriller and not a Food Network special, fantasy and reality collide, and one deadly mistake ensures that no one at the table leaves with clean hands.

Here’s the main issue. This story definitely did not have to be 75 minutes long. It is either a tight and vicious 25-minute short film or a fully fleshed-out mini-series with time to breathe. Instead, it awkwardly falls right in the middle, like an uncooked entrée. The film completely skimps on the development of the recipe book angle, which could have easily been its own compelling thread. Then it rushes into a flashback structure that feels crammed. Each character’s psychological descent could’ve used a solid 30–40 minutes of dedicated focus. As it stands, the material just doesn’t fit the feature-length format.

That mismatch is the movie’s biggest drawback. The bones of a good story are here, but the pacing is all over the place. It skates around its concept without ever fully embracing it until the finale. And while memorable, it isn’t quite as explosive as it needs to be. The suspense never fully simmers. It kinda stays at a light boil (I will run out of cooking references LOL).

Performance-wise, though, the film is held together by Miller. She carries the emotional weight and makes Hannah feel grounded even when the story isn’t. Steven John Ward plays Evan as a complete doormat, which he absolutely has to be for the story mechanics to function, and he commits to it. You may find yourself wanting to shake him through the screen, but that’s part of the design.

The effects, when they show up, are decent enough. They don’t dominate the film, but they do their job without pulling you out of the experience.

For a first-time feature-length effort, director Diana Mills Smith shows promise. There is a good understanding of tone and character relationships, even if the execution isn’t quite there. With a different pacing or format that is more suited to the story, this could have been something unique.

As it stands, Dinner to Die For is an interesting concept, plated nicely, acted well, but served in the wrong portion size. Some of you may get more out of its psychological angle, but for me, the suspense just didn’t quite satisfy. Sometimes the recipe is good, but it just needs the right cooking time.

Dinner to Die For (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/dinner-to-die-for-2025/

Slayer: The Repentless Killogy (2019) | Pressed play expecting a concert, got a stabbing spree and Danny Trejo first. Honestly, still counts as a warm-up act. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 7.5/10. I popped on Slayer: The Repentless Killogy, thinking I had just queued up some nice, gentle background music for chores. You know - fold some laundry, maybe wash dishes, casually melt my ears with metal. Instead, I accidentally pressed play on a revenge-soaked, blood-spraying short film that looks like it was made by someone who asked, “How about a music video…but way more stabbing?”

Turns out this isn’t just a concert video, it’s a full-on violent mini-movie stitched together with Slayer’s music and the three brutal videos from Repentless: “You Against You,” “Repentless,” and “Pride in Prejudice.” Writer/director B.J. McDonnell builds an exploitation-style revenge tale packed with prison brawls, gang retaliation, and enough arterial spray to make a horror effects crew blush. There’s a mix of CGI and practical gore, and thankfully, a lot of the practical stuff looks satisfyingly nasty. If you’re squeamish, this is not your pre-laundry warmup. If you’re not, welcome home.

Jason Trost plays the reformed skinhead on a vengeance tour, and he sells it with cold, determined intensity. No wasted motion, no overacting. Just pure “you picked the wrong guy to mess with” energy. And when Danny Trejo shows up, it’s like the film unlocks a bonus level of credibility. Trejo fits into violent revenge stories the way blast beats fit into Slayer songs - naturally and aggressively.

What surprised me most was how well the music-video segments and narrative scenes blend together. It doesn’t feel like random cutting between story and songs. It actually flows. The tracks become part of the storytelling rhythm rather than just background noise. That first half hour grabbed my attention way more than expected. My laundry sat there, abandoned, judging me.

Around the 38-minute mark, the story portion wraps up, and the film transforms into what I originally thought I was starting in the first place - a full Slayer live performance from the Forum in Inglewood, CA. And it’s a beast of a concert recording, tight, loud, and shot with real polish. The crowd looks like they’re experiencing a shared spiritual event, if that spiritual event involves headbanging and possible neck injuries.

I was lucky enough to see Slayer live once, and this brought that memory roaring back. The sheer volume, the wall of sound, the feeling that your internal organs are being rearranged by guitar riffs. My current ears probably wouldn’t survive round two…but let’s be honest, I’d still go again. With earplugs. And maybe a will prepared.

This is absolutely built for Slayer fans first. If you’re not into their music, the concert half won’t convert you, and the film half will probably just concern you. But if you are a fan, it’s a bloody, thunderous farewell package that delivers exactly what it promises: revenge, murder, bloodshed, retribution. And one heck of a show. I came for background noise. I stayed for the carnage.

Slayer: The Repentless Killogy (2019)

Concert tracklisting:

1. Delusions Of Savior 2. Repentless 3. The Antichrist 4. Disciple 5. Postmortem 6. Hate Worldwide 7. War Ensemble 8. When The Stillness Comes 9. You Against You 10. Mandatory Suicide 11. Hallowed Point 12. Dead Skin Mask 13. Born Of Fire 14. Cast The First Stone 15. Bloodline 16. Seasons In The Abyss 17. Hell Awaits 18. South Of Heaven 19. Raining Blood 20. Chemical Warfare 21. Angel Of Death

https://jackmeat.com/slayer-the-repentless-killogy-2019/

Primate (2026) | Turns out “family pet chimp” plus “unsupervised teen party” equals total chaos, gore, and way more fun than expected. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.3/10. Primate wastes absolutely no time reminding us of one important life lesson. If it has teeth, strength, and the emotional range of a toddler with a chainsaw, maybe don’t treat it like a fuzzy roommate. The film opens with a gruesome scene that basically slaps you and says, “Wild animals are still wild, you absolute morons.” Message received.

We then shift to sunny Hawaii, where Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) returns home for summer break and reunites with her father, Adam (Troy Kotsur), her sister Erin (Gia Hunter), and their pet chimp Ben, who is introduced as gentle, sweet, and absolutely not going to stay that way for long. Lucy and her friends decide that the best use of an empty luxury house is, of course, a pool party. Because nothing bad ever happens in horror movies when teens throw unsupervised parties. History confirms this. Repeatedly. With blood.

Once Ben gets bitten by a rabid animal, things escalate from “quirky family chimp” to “primal nightmare rage.” About 25 minutes in, the story loops back to the opening brutality, and director Johannes Roberts makes it very clear he did not come here to be polite. He came here to weaponize your childhood zoo memories.

The tension setup works surprisingly well. The pool becomes a barricaded island, phones are out of reach, help isn’t coming, and the group has to outthink an angry, infected chimpanzee who did not skip upper body day. The camera work deserves credit with several shots that make Ben look genuinely creepy, and stalking like a furry slasher villain. The hunting sequences are the clear highlights. Tense, mean-spirited, and just a little bit gloriously over the top.

There are also some classic “don’t do that” horror decisions sprinkled throughout. My favorite being if your girlfriend pukes and passes out, maybe - just maybe - don’t lay her flat on her back like you’re tucking her in for a Victorian ghost portrait. And at one key moment, you’ll absolutely catch yourself yelling, “Why not splash him?” at the screen. Audience participation wass alive and well the other night.

The film smartly introduces additional victims in a way that feels scripted but satisfying. Fresh targets delivered right to the danger zone, like horror-themed food delivery. Practical gore effects are used well, messy and effective, without feeling cartoonish.

Ben himself is oddly impressive. His look shifts from innocent, almost cuddly chimp to nightmare ape depending on the lighting and angle, which makes him even more unsettling. It’s a simple plot executed with sharp teeth and a nasty streak.

I expected something mediocre at best, but ended up quite enjoying Primate. Don’t overthink it. Lock the doors, stay out of arm’s reach, and enjoy the monkeying around.

Primate (2026)

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

Haunters of the Silence (2025) | A grief-soaked experimental nightmare that’s visually creative and sincere, but sometimes wanders so far it forgets why it left. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.3/10. I recently received an email invitation to check out Haunters of the Silence, which is one of those films that doesn’t just invite you into its story. It quietly locks the door behind you, turns off the lights, and whispers, “Good luck figuring this out.” That score comes with both respect and a slightly confused head tilt.

This is a deeply experimental, grief-soaked, dream-logic experience about a man mourning his wife and slipping into a cycle of nightmares he can’t wake from. If you’ve ever had one of those dreams where you keep “waking up” only to discover you’re still dreaming, yeah, that’s the neighborhood this movie lives in. Property values are low, reality is negotiable, and the HOA is run by existential dread.

The soundtrack does a lot of the heavy lifting here, setting the mood and signaling when something important is happening, or at least when something would like you to think it’s important. It’s like an emotional GPS recalculating every five minutes. The film mixes styles freely. Live action, abstract imagery, animated comic-strip panels, and even some stop motion touches. I genuinely liked the comic-strip inserts. They help frame the narrative and give your brain a small handle to grab onto before the movie gently pries your fingers loose again.

Performance-wise, Tatu Heikkinen (as K) is restrained yet effective, which works well against the surreal presentation. Veleda’s appearances as the wife feel intentionally distant and dreamlike - more passionate echo than physical presence. The repetition of images and sequences mirrors how real nightmares recycle elements, which is thematically strong, though it does test your attention span. I checked the runtime twice, 73 minutes, because it feels longer in that art-installation way where time becomes soup.

The film uses on-screen quotes and title cards drawn from Madison Julius Cawein’s poetry, among other sources, to build atmosphere and thematic structure. Sometimes they help. Sometimes they feel like philosophical pop-up ads interrupting your dread.

Now, I need to address the arthouse elephant in the room. For a few moments, I feared this was heading into Skinamarink territory, which for me is cinematic broccoli without seasoning. Thankfully, Haunters of the Silence actually has intention, structure, and emotional purpose. It’s not just vibes and darkness stretched to feature length. It knows what it wants to say, even if the path there is foggy and occasionally wanders off the trail to look at a symbolic tree.

Knowing this was made for around $2,000 by a married couple who co-wrote and co-directed it, with Tatu handling cinematography and Veleda the editing and sound, makes it feel like a very personal, handmade expression of grief. It plays less like a conventional film and more like stepping into someone else’s processing of loss. Thank you, Tatu Heikkinen and Veleda Thorsson-Heikkinen, for sharing your movie with me.

Not a hand-holding journey. More like a hand-releasing one. Watch it for the experience, not the roadmap. (More streaming options will be added as they become available.)

Haunters of the Silence (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/haunters-of-the-silence-2025/

Redux Redux (2026) | A low-budget multiverse thriller that jumps straight into chaos, keeps things tight, and makes revenge feel dangerously addictive and fun. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.6/10. Some movies ease you in with a slow burn. Others kick down the door, set the couch on fire, and yell, “Figure it out later.” I would have to say Redux Redux proudly chooses option two. We open on a woman standing over someone tied to a chair, engulfed in flames - which is certainly one way to warm up the audience (are you counting the heat puns? I regret nothing). The film then smash-cuts to the same woman being choked out by a guy she promptly escapes and shoots, making it very clear that this is not going to be a quiet, tea-and-biscuits multiverse drama.

The story follows Irene Kelly, played with serious conviction by Michaela McManus, a mother who discovers a way to travel across parallel universes to repeatedly hunt down her daughter’s killer. Not just once. Not just twice. But enough times that revenge starts to look less like justice and more like a hobby she should probably discuss with a therapist. The film wastes absolutely no time getting her into the universe-hopping groove, and her jump chamber has a delightfully retro, garage-built sci-fi look that feels nostalgic without screaming “we blew the entire budget on one glowing prop.” Still not sure how it makes its way into vehicles, but ditch that logic thing.

One of Irene’s jumps leads her to Mia, played by Stella Marcus, a kidnapping victim she manages to save from Neville, portrayed by Jeremy Holm. Neville is intentionally underexplained, more force-of-evil than fully fleshed-out villain, which works thematically, even if I wouldn’t have minded a little more meat on those villain bones. Mia becomes a larger focus for a stretch, and while she’s likable overall, her attitude occasionally cranks past “understandably upset” into “okay, dial it back two notches.” Mileage will vary there.

The action and fight scenes are consistently solid and well-choreographed. Nothing too flashy, but always clear and engaging. When the characters go part-hunting for the machine, they encounter Billie, played by Taylor Misiak, who I instantly recognized from my guilty-pleasure sitcom rotation, Going Dutch. Always fun when two totally different genre worlds collide in your brain for a moment.

Redux Redux is low-budget indie sci-fi in a good way. Concept-first, character-driven, and not drowning in CGI soup. Impressively, it avoids getting tangled in the narrative pretzels that usually strangle time-travel and multiverse plots. It actually plays things surprisingly safe with the alternate worlds - most are only slightly different - and while that feels like a missed opportunity to go truly dark and weird, it also keeps the story clean and focused. Credit to directors Kevin McManus and Matthew McManus for resisting the urge to overcomplicate things just because they can.

The takeaway seems to be - if you find a version of reality that works for you, maybe stop poking the cosmic machinery with a wrench. A pleasant surprise that could’ve been great, but still lands comfortably in the quite good multiverse lane, and without melting your brain in the process. Which, these days, is a win.

Redux Redux (2026)

I'll be back with streaming links when they are available. As of now, it hits theaters on Feb. 20th, 20026.

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

Twisted (2026) | Two scammy apartment flippers meet DIY surgery nightmare. Great cast trapped inside a script that clearly skipped its final inspection. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.8/10. There are movies about real estate scams, movies about mad doctors, and movies about terrible people making worse decisions. I watched Twisted, which tries to flip all three at once like a dodgy Brooklyn condo listing with “great bones” and a raccoon in the kitchen.

The setup is stable enough. Two millennials run a slick apartment-flipping con in New York, selling properties they don’t actually own to buyers who don’t realize they’re being scammed. It’s a fun, modern premise that feels like it was ripped straight from a late-night true crime binge and a housing crisis support group. Our con artists are played by Lauren LaVera (Paloma) and Mia Healey (Smith), and let’s just say the casting department did not accidentally pick two extremely photogenic scammers. Subtlety was not invited to this open house.

The slow-burn approach might have completely collapsed under its own artsy seriousness if not for Djimon Hounsou as Dr. Kezian. The one target they absolutely should have skipped. He brings instant gravity and menace to the screen, like he wandered in from a much better, more expensive movie and decided to stay. Once he takes center stage, Twisted at least has a pulse, even if the script’s brain activity is questionable.

If you recognize LaVera, it’s probably from the blood-soaked chaos of the Terrifier films, and fans expecting that deep a stab may feel slighted. The dialogue frequently sounds like it was workshopped by aliens who learned human speech from property scam emails. Conversations don’t flow so much as stumble down the stairs.

There’s a brutal assault-and-fight sequence that’s effective, but it exists mostly to steer the characters into Dr. Kezian’s DIY nightmare clinic, where the movie leans hard into bargain-bin medical horror. The procedures are so wildly implausible that they feel less like science and more like someone angrily assembling IKEA surgery. The central experiment, involving his wife (played by Alicia Witt) and her very unclear brain situation, is murky enough that you stop trying to understand and just nod politely.

A big structural problem. Everyone is awful. The scammers are terrible people. The doctor is a terrible person. The police are…present, technically. Their investigation subplot has all the impact of a muted notification and is basically swept under the rug until the end. No brains, no urgency, no payoff.

Twisted (2026)

Director Darren Lynn Bousman has done sharper work. Horror fans of his entries in the Saw II era will spot a very familiar surgical vibe, and even the messy but interesting Abattoir aimed higher. This one isn’t terrible, but it feels like a rough draft that accidentally got listed as a final pitch. Watchable, flawed, occasionally effective - but definitely not luxury horror. More like “as-is, no inspection.”

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

Night Patrol (2026) | Justin Long chews scenery as a shady cop in a brutal, weird genre mashup that almost sticks the landing. Almost. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.9/10. If the Shudder logo pops up before a movie, you can usually expect one of two things. A hidden gem or a cinematic science experiment. Night Patrol kinda slides itself into both categories.

The movie opens with a bleeding teenager in an interrogation room, begging for help while a cop basically says, “Sure, but first, paperwork.” There’s something sticking out of the kid’s side, but bureaucracy is the real final boss. It’s a darkly funny, grim little opener that promises payoff later, and yes, the film does eventually loop back around to it.

We then shift into a routine bust of a make-out session with Officers Marcus (CM Punk) and Hayworth (Justin Long), and things escalate from “routine bust” to “that escalated extremely quickly” when an initiation goes very, very wrong. Long plays the role with a smug, controlled edge that makes you instantly suspicious, like a motivational speaker who owns too many knives. Able to escape the scene is Wazi, played by RJ Cyler, who some folks will recognize from The 'Burbs, and you should recognize from the interrogation room. And that gets us to the opening credits.

Chapter 1 is entitled LAPD, and Hayworth introduces himself to school kids by staging what is essentially a live-action trauma drill. Officer Xavier (Jermaine Fowler) submerges himself entirely too much into the role of the stereotypical gunman. Nothing says “don’t steal” like simulated mortal terror before homeroom.

The structure is split into chapters, which gives the film a graphic-novel rhythm. There’s a conspiracy brewing inside a special police task force, a manufactured gang war setup, and a colonial-court battleground sequence with heavy smoke and heavier firepower that genuinely looks great. When the Night Patrol rolls in through the haze and starts wiping people out, it’s stylish and brutally disturbing.

Dermot Mulroney shows up as Sarge, adding some veteran presence, while director Ryan Prows and company put a new-ish twist on vampire lore. Not a better twist, not a worse twist, just one that made me tilt my head like a confused dog.

There’s some legitimately strong stuff here. The early kills are sudden and nasty, the moral lines are clearly drawn, and the setup is loaded with potential. There’s even a goofy planning scene with a puff-puff-pass strategy session that almost tricks you into thinking the third act will hold together.

Unfortunately, once the story hits its mystical-power phase - complete with an energy effect that looks suspiciously like it borrowed a prop from Green Lantern - the movie drives straight off the beaten track. What starts tense and entertaining turns chaotic and quite stupid.

Night Patrol (2026)

It’s frustrating, because most of Night Patrol works…right up until it really, really doesn’t. Still worth a watch for the concept, the gore, and Long having a blast, but this patrol needed one more rewrite before clocking in. And don't expect another Sinners.

https://jackmeat.com/night-patrol-2026/

OBEX (2026) | A glitchy, retro-style side-quest reminding you that too much screen time might cost real life, told by one determined dog owner. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.4/10. Some flicks feel like they were made in a studio. Others feel like they were made in a garage with a haunted typewriter and a stack of obsolete computer manuals. OBEX proudly belongs to the second category, and I mean that as a compliment.

This is the kind of movie I lined up specifically because it looks weird, and thankfully, it does not betray that promise. The story follows Conor Marsh, played by Albert Birney, a reclusive, agoraphobic VHS-hoarding introvert whose home décor style can best be described as “Blockbuster exploded.” His main real-world interaction is with grocery delivery driver Mary (Callie Hernandez), his dog Sandy, and approximately seventeen thousand hours of analog media. When he starts playing a mysterious new computer game, and Sandy goes missing, he dives into the game world to get her back. In movies, that’s always step one and never a terrible idea.

Shot in black and white and set in 1987, the film leans hard into a retro computing atmosphere. You get dot matrix printer music, old-school UI charm, chunky hardware, and enough ambient tech noise to trigger flashbacks in anyone who’s ever heard a modem scream. I loved the old-school video game sounds during the credits. That alone nearly earned a nostalgia bonus point. There’s also a glorious stack of televisions and enough VHS tapes to survive several media apocalypses. I refuse to judge Conor for this because I do not live in a glass house. Mine has been made of all sorts, from VHS through Bluray.

The vibe is lo-fi analog nightmare with a surrealist streak. The game world characters are creative, awkward, and delightfully strange. There’s a moment with a guy who has a giant monitor for a head (Frank Mosley) getting into a car, and the camera very conveniently cuts away because there is absolutely no universe where that man folded into a sedan like origami. Respect to the edit.

That said, the nostalgia sometimes feels more “researched aesthetic” than lived-in memory. It has a bit of that YouTube-retro-essay energy rather than firsthand tech-era trauma. Also, while I appreciate that they found an old Mac for authenticity, it was very clearly just there for emotional support.

The themes land better than the suspense. The movie explores digital escapism and how screen obsession can quietly replace real connection, especially the simple, important kind (like, say, noticing your dog exists). The emotional core works. The game-world action is fun but very limited and never especially intense. Budget is clearly the final boss here.

I’d love to say the ending surprised me, but my brain called it early and made popcorn. Still, points for commitment. OBEX is intentionally small-scale, creative, and amusingly surreal. Not thrilling, but unique and memorable. Like finding a cursed floppy disk and still putting it in your computer anyway. You know you would.

OBEX (2026)

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

Grizzly Night (2026) | Not a crazy killer-bear splatterfest, more a realistic survival drama where the wilderness wins and common sense shows up late. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.7/10. Grizzly Night is the rare “based on a true story” survival thriller that doesn’t try to turn nature into a CGI supervillain, and for that alone, it earns a respectful nod from me. Preferably from a safe distance, inside a locked vehicle, with the windows up. Directed by Burke Doeren, the film recounts the real events of August 12, 1967, when two fatal grizzly bear attacks occurred nine miles apart in Montana’s Glacier National Park. Same night, same park, very bad luck, zero common sense.

Right from the opening scene, the movie signals what kind of ride you’re in for. Realistic, tense, and not interested in turning the bears into horror movie slashers with fur. This isn’t Cocaine Bear or Grizzly Rage 9: Campground Carnage. It plays more like a dramatic procedural survival thriller, focused on human decisions, and the horrifying realization that nature does not care about your camping itinerary.

The structure is effective. A little preview to get us started up front, and we come back around about half an hour later with the context, the dread, and the growing realization that a few of these individuals here shouldn't be permitted anywhere near the wildlife without a release form and a chaperone. The way it handles the unpreparedness of the park for dealing with the multiple animal assaults is quite good.

Visually, this is where the film really shines. The cinematography by Brian Mitchell and Ian Start captures Glacier National Park as both breathtaking and deeply intimidating. The wide framing constantly reminds you how small and snack-sized humans are out there. The scale works in the movie’s favor. Every tree line feels like a possible jump-scare waiting room. The mix of practical effects and what appears to be real bear footage adds a gritty authenticity. The post-attack effects are especially well done. Brutal without feeling cartoonish. I’ll admit I wanted a bit more on-screen attack action, but what we do get is convincing and handled with restraint.

Lauren Call (Joan) - thrust into reluctant-hero territory - delivers a strong performance, selling the fear and responsibility arc nicely. And yes, it was fun seeing Brec Bassinger (Stargirl) show up as Julie, one of the campers whose decision-making skills strongly suggest she would also try to pet a chainsaw. She does well, though. Believable, earnest, and exactly the kind of character who makes you yell at the screen.

The darkest, most fascinating part is the historical mindset. Many people at the time genuinely underestimated grizzly danger. Modern viewers will spend half the movie thinking, “Congratulations, you have invented the Bad Idea Olympics.” But Grizzly Night backs this up with contextual detail, so the questionable choices feel historically accurate rather than lazily written.

Grizzly Night (2026)

No over-the-top monster mayhem here. Just a sober, well-shot reminder that apex predators don’t need a musical score to be terrifying. Recommended for fans of killer animal flicks, survival dramas, or movies that will make you think twice about having a picnic, ever again. Definitely a 0/10 for vacation inspiration.

https://jackmeat.com/grizzly-night-2026/

The Morrigan (2026) | Great Irish folklore setup and mood, then the effects team released a PS2-era snake and lazy logic took over. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.3/10. I'll admit, the trailer for The Morrigan did get my attention. It takes a stab at mythological horror with a strong concept and some genuinely creepy atmosphere, then unfortunately trips over its own cursed artifacts and faceplants into the CGI bargain bin.

We open in “Pagan Ireland, 1500 years ago,” which is cinematic shorthand for - bad things are about to happen to people with poor armor and worse luck. Cue crusading soldiers, throat-slashing, and enough grim mood to let you know nobody here is getting a happy ending or dental coverage. It’s a promising start that suggests folklore-heavy dread is on the menu.

Fast-forward to modern day, where archaeologist Fiona (Saffron Burrows, who brings instant credibility just by showing up) is explaining the legend of The Morrigan, a vengeful war goddess with a serious grudge and apparently no hobbies outside of possession and murder. She heads to Ireland with her teenage daughter, Lily (Emily Flain), who is fresh off an expulsion and fully committed to the Teen Horror Movie Daughter Starter Pack. Sulking, eye-rolling "whatever" responses, and wandering off at the worst possible times.

The Irish scenery does some heavy lifting here with misty hills and ancient sites scoring points, though the script occasionally forgets basic geography. There’s a snake incident that raises a big question. Did The Morrigan also banish St. Patrick and sneak the snakes back in? Because Ireland is famously snake-free. Even Google would’ve caught that one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ9g3GP24BM

Joining the expedition is Jonathon Horner (Jonathan Forbes), a character so aggressively handsy and glory-hungry that you can practically see the red “DO NOT TRUST” label hovering over his head. Sure enough, someone finds a mysterious burial casket, and the one person least qualified to open it decides to open it anyway. Archaeologists everywhere screamed into the void at that scene.

There are a few moments where the tension actually works. The possession arc with Lily builds some decent unease, and her glowing-eyed Morrigan look is legitimately creepy. Unfortunately, the film keeps undercutting itself with rough effects and logic-defying escape scenes, including a “throw lighter - random explosion - freedom” sequence that feels like the writer yelling, “We’ll fix it in post!”

The CGI animals, especially the snake and dog attacks, are distractingly bad. Not charmingly bad. Not “so bad it’s good.” Just “1999 cable TV original at 2 a.m.” bad. Every time the atmosphere starts to thicken, a rubbery digital creature shows up and kicks the tension down the stairs.

Character depth is pretty thin across the board, and the script never digs as deep as its own tomb. Still, Burrows and Flain do what they can with the material, and the mythological angle remains engaging enough to keep things watchable.

It almost wraps up in a respectable way - and then, like a horror villain with franchise ambitions, it pops back up for a sequel tease nobody asked for. The Morrigan may be eternal, but this script needed another rewrite ritual. It's a decent legend trapped in less-than-legendary execution.

The Morrigan (2026)

https://jackmeat.com/the-morrigan-2026/

The Vindicator (2025) | A serial killer hosts the world’s worst livestream, forcing podcasters into cringe confessions with logic gaps big enough to escape through. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 3.2/10. The Vindicator opens the way many slashers do. A woman running for her life, chased by someone we’re clearly supposed to fear. Don’t worry, we’ll definitely come back to that. Or at least, the movie thinks we will. From there, we’re introduced to a group of true-crime podcasters who could generously be described as “annoying” and less generously as “a few dipshits with microphones.” Naturally, they’re given the opportunity of a lifetime, getting exclusive access to the last known location of the infamous serial killer known as The Vindicator. What could possibly go wrong?

Instead of journalism, they’re treated to a bargain-bin Saw setup crossed with a live-streaming podcast gimmick. The hosts are locked into a gameshow-style nightmare where The Vindicator himself forces them to play a twisted version of truth or dare. They’re fitted with shock bracelets that supposedly keep them trapped. Bracelets they put on themselves and could absolutely remove just as easily. But hey, the movie needs to happen, so let’s all agree not to think about that too hard.

The “tasks” are where the film really shows its hand. If you’re expecting elaborate death traps or creative brutality, think again. This isn’t Saw. It’s more like Oversharing: The Movie. The killer’s grand plan mostly involves forcing people to answer embarrassing or morally compromising questions on camera. It’s less horrifying punishment and more awkward group therapy session run by a murderer. Riveting stuff.

The acting is, unfortunately, terrible across the board. And while bad acting can sometimes be fun, here it just compounds the real problem - the writing. The dialogue feels like it was drafted during a lunch break in elementary school, revised once, and immediately sent to set. I’m confident I wrote better material in high school without even trying. I bet you did, too. The plot twists, or lack thereof, are especially painful. You will guess the killer almost immediately, not because you’re clever, but because the film gives you no other viable options. It’s like a whodunit where only one person bothered to show up.

And the motivation? I won’t spoil it outright, but let’s just say it relies on the killer playing an absurdly long game with absolutely no guarantee it would ever pay off. If you watch this nonsense, you’ll know exactly what I mean. Add to that moments where victims fail to notice the killer standing practically beside them, and you’ve got a film that regularly insults basic human perception.

To its credit, The Vindicator doesn’t look cheap. The production value is surprisingly decent, and it at least resembles a real movie rather than someone’s home project uploaded with confidence. I should also clarify that despite sharing a title with an ’80s film involving robots (yes, that was a thing), this has absolutely nothing to do with that movie. Too bad, since killer robots might have been an improvement.

The Vindicator (2025)

Ultimately, The Vindicator hopes to be edgy and witty, trying desperately to be relevant in modern social circles. But what it really manages is to be frustrating, and even comically so. Watch this for an evening only if you enjoy yelling at screens and wondering just how something with this premise managed to go so wrong.

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