There’s No Such Thing as Vampires (2020)
Backroads Pursuit by a Vampire
A modestly effective indie film with two people fleeing through the desert backroads pursued by a vampire
Films of 2020
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Videogame Adaptation/Supersonic Alien Hedgehog
After a disastrous fan reception of its initial trailer, the film of the videogame arrives on screen. The surprise is that for such a zero expectation film and one that defies the engagement of any of your braincells it is as much fun as it is.
Life After The Navigator (2020)
The Making of Flight of the Navigator
Documentary about the making of Flight of the Navigator and the mind-boggling story of Joey Cramer, the film’s child star turned bank robber
You Should Have Left (2020)
Sinister House
David Koepp has an impressive resume as a screenwriter, even better as a director. Here he makes a film where Kevin Bacon rents a sinister holiday home that has shifting topography
History of the Occult (2020)
TV Interview with a Black Magician
Argentinean horror film about a tv interview with a black magician where things then proceed to start going wrong. Shot in a dense black-and-white and claustrophobic mock-up of an old tv show
Host (2020)
Internet Seance
The first major genre film made during the Covid lockdown, a modestly effective work that borrows the basics of Unfriended for a story about a séance being held over a Zoom call
Dune Drifter (2020)
Planetary Survival
Modestly well made low-budget planetary survival film about a pilot crashlanded on a hostile world. An entire space opera that was shot in the director’s apartment during the Covid-19 lockdown
Deep Blue Sea 3 (2020)
Genetically-Engineered Killer Sharks
After the genuinely terrible Deep Blue Sea 2, all it took to improve the Deep Blue Sea series was a better director. This no more than a B movie but is certainly halfway watchable
Exorcism at 60,000 Feet (2020)
Exorcism on an Airplane/Bad Taste Comedy
A possession film set on an airplane. This sets out to parody exorcism movie cliches but makes a beeline for outrageous bad taste humour. It does include a great cast of genre regulars
The Special (2020)
Man Becomes Sexually Obsessed with a Mysterious Box
Film about a man who develops an obsession with a mysterious black box that gives him the best sex of his life
The Banishing (2020)
Haunted House
Christopher Smith seemed one of the most promising genre directors of the 2000s with films like Triangle and Black Death. Here he returns with a venture into the English ghost story
Superintelligence (2020)
Artificial Intelligence Comedy
We have had some standout A.I. films in the last few years. This is comedy variant where Melissa McCarthy is befriended by an A.I. who adopts the voice of James Corden
Greenland (2020)
Disaster Movie/Comet on a Collision Course with the Earth
There seems something redundant in 2021 with the world in the grip of a very real apocalypse about watching an old-fashioned mass destruction disaster movie about an oncoming comet impact
Subferatu (2020)
Vampire on a German U-Boat Comedy
Comedy about a shipwrecked crew that are rescued by a German U-boat that is carrying a vampire on board
Stay Out of the Fucking Attic (2020)
Nazi Mad Scientist
A team of house movers find they are working for infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele who has an attic full of deformed mutations
DragonHeart: Vengeance (2020)
Dragon Fantasy
Quite why the largely forgotten DragonHeart has produced four sequels is beyond me. Where does such a loyal fanbase come from that they keep churning out more of these films?
Spiritwalker (2020)
South Korean Gangster/Bodyswap Film
A conceptually intriguing cross between the bodyswap film and the South Korean gangster film
Songbird (2020)
Plague-Ridden Future
Film shot during the pandemic lockdown from Michael Bay’s production company set in a future where Covid has become even more virulent
Spare Parts (2020)
Girl Punk Band Become Gladiators with Weapons Attachments
I was sold from the point of reading the premise where an all-girl punk band is abducted, surgically given weapons attachments and forced to fight in an arena
Before the Fire (2020)
Countrywide Pandemic
Released in March 2020 just before the arrival of Covid-19, this makes an uncanny prediction about the US being affected by a nationwide pandemic
Smiley Face Killers (2020)
True Crime/Cult of Mysterious Killers
A film based on the so-called Smiley Face Killings, a series of theorised true-life serial killings. With a script by Bret Easton Ellis of American Psycho fame
Dragon Soldiers (2020)
Soldiers vs Dragon
Low-budget film directed by a former soldier about a troupe of mercenaries sent into the woods to round up vagrants who find they are fighting against a dragon
Skull: The Mask (2020)
Possessed Skull
Brazilian film about a possessed skull that inhabits a man to lay a gore-drenched trail across the city
The Silencing (2020)
Hunt for a Serial Killer
Thriller where Nikolaj Coster Waldau is the alcoholic manager of a game preserve who becomes drawn in to the search for a serial killer who hunts girls
Side Effect (2020)
Witch’s Spell
Another work of Russian dark fantasy where a man asks a witch for a spell to help his wife, only to get very different results than intended
Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
Time-Travelling Slackers Reach Middle-Age
The two time-travelling slackers are back after nearly thirty years and the film amusingly sees them having reached uneasy middle-age. But was the wait worth it?
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)
All-Girl Superhero Team/Comic-Book Adaptation
The DC comic-book Birds of Prey is hijacked to become a vehicle for Harley Quinn, the breakout character from Suicide Squad. Margot Robbie gives the impression she has zero interest in making a film for comic-book fans
Black Box (2020)
Amnesia and Mind Transference
Blumhouse film in which an initial plot about a man suffering amnesia undergoes a twist to become a body theft story
A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting (2020)
Monster-Hunting Babysitters/Young Adult
Adapted from a Young Adult series of books, this is a bland and utterly superficial film about a secret society of monster-hunting babysitters
Baba Yaga, Terror of the Dark Forest (2020)
Modern Version of a Legendary Witch
A new Russian-made version of the Baba Yaga folktale where the old witch is rewritten as a seductive nanny stealing children and their parents’ memories of them
Save Yourselves! (2020)
Hipsters Face Alien Invasion Comedy
Comedy that comes comes with a winning concept – clueless hipsters try to get away from their social media devices for a weekend only to find the Earth has been invaded by aliens
Vivo (2021)
Animated Musical/Talking Monkey
Animated film about a talking and singing monkey from Cuba that travels to the US on a quest
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Comic-Book Superheroine
The much-anticipated sequel to the Gal Gadot starring Wonder Woman is a highly divided success, partly due to an inane plot centred around a magic wishing stone
Alone (2020)
Survival Thriller/Woman Flees an Attacker
Survival thriller in which a woman is abducted by a man but affects an escape where she must then make a harrowing run through the woods while pursued by him
The Alpha Test (2020)
Android Rebellion
Another film on the topic of androids and A.I.’s run amok. This concerns a robot maid that ends up rebelling against her human owners and turning murderous due to conflicting orders
Fantasy Island (2020)
TV Series Remake/Island That Makes Fantasies Come True
The big screen remake of the popular 70s/80s tv series about an island that makes guests fantasies come true. In the hands of Blumhouse, this has now been turned into a horror film
The Witches (2020)
Evil Witches/Roald Dahl Adaptation
Robert Zemeckis’s remake of the Roald Dahl story and Nicolas Roeg film proves a head-scratching effort that misfires on almost every cue
The Amityville Harvest (2020)
Sinister House/Possible Vampire
Another film masquerading with some relevance to The Amityville Horror, although this extends no further than the title. This is an almost interesting effort where a film crew interview a possible vampire
Evil Eye (2020)
Reincarnated Stalker
Blumhouse film where a Westernised Indian girl rejects her traditional mother’s fears about her new boyfriend being a bad man reincarnated only for them to come true
Freaky (2020)
Bodyswap Slasher Film
A slasher film with a novelty (gimmicky?) premise where the Final Girl and the hulking killer of the show end up swapping bodies. Essentially a conceptual mash-between a slasher film and Freaky Friday
Fried Barry (2020)
Man Inhabited by an Alien
A South African variant on a film like Starman where a man is inhabited by an alien and stumbles through a series of encounters on the seedier side of life
Vicious Fun (2020)
Support Group for Serial Killers
Horror comedy set around the wonderfully appealing idea of a support group for serial killers
Ten Minutes to Midnight (2020)
Vampire at an All-Night Radio Station
This is almost a female version of Vampire’s Kiss. Caroline Williams lets all stop go is an aging rock dj at a radio station who receives a bite from a vampire bat
Apples (2020)
Plague of Amnesia
This is a strange and not particularly accessible deadpan Greek-made film where people are affected by a plague of amnesia. Similar to early Yorgos Lanthimos
Archenemy (2020)
Homeless Man May Be a Superhero
An interestingly odd film where a videographer looking for a story investigates homeless man Joe Manganiello’s claims to being a superhero, which may or may not be true
G-Loc (2020)
Space Journey
SF film with Stephen Moyer as a spaceship survivor who boards a ship with the crew mysteriously dead and becomes caught up in interplanetary politicking
2067 (2020)
Time Portal
Australian film in which Kodi Smit-McPhee heads through a time portal to save a polluted world resulting in a time paradox that ties back to his childhood. This had promise but badly lets down on its premise
Two of Us (2020)
Zombie Film
Thai-made film that gives off some initial vibes of The Quiet Earth as two girls enjoy a private paradise in a holiday resort following the collapse of civilisation, before becoming a zombie film
Trump vs The Illuminati (2020)
Gonzo Satire/Trump's Clone Fight The Devil in Space
A clone of Donald Trump battles The Illuminati and the Egyptian god Anubis on Mars before travelling to Hell to sort out The Devil. The sheer dementia of the premise alone has one sitting down to watch
Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020)
Monster Movie
After thirty years, the Tremors series has held up in terms of quality much better than most other monster series. This is the seventh and what would appear to be the last of the films
Arthur & Merlin: Knights of Camelot (2020)
Arthurian Legends Adventure
A B-budget venture into the Arthurian Legends that never much finds the rich myth of the cycle and emerges as just a routine fantasy adventure
This Was America (2020)
Near-Future Totalitarian USA
A film that offers the depiction of a totalitarian future USA where Donald Trump has refused to leave office. This was made at the end of Trump’s first term and before his second term return to power.
Axcellerator (2020)
Teleportation Device
Lightweight action in which a young carjacker gains possession of a teleportation device and is pursued by government agents
Scoob! (2020)
Ghostbusting Team/Hanna-Barbera Crossover
An animated film revival of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? This also makes an misguided attempt to build a shared universe among assorted Hanna-Barbera characters
Siberia (2020)
Surreal Journey
From cult director Abel Ferrara, a film described as being being about the language of dreams in which Willem Dafoe drifts through a series of surreal landscapes searching for the meaning of life
Held (2020)
Married Couple Imprisoned in a House
A bizarre thriller where a husband and wife are imprisoned in a luxury house and forced upon threat of torture to improve their marriage
Intersect (2020)
Time Travel Experiments
A film with Lovecraftian overtones about a group at the Miskatonic University doing research into time travel that proceeds to go wrong, while unleashing mysterious monsters
The Occupant (2020)
Psycho Ex-Tenant
Spain’s Pastor Brothers have been rising genre name in the last few years. This is a psycho film concerning an unemployed man forced out of his apartment who returns to manipulate the life of the new tenant
Brahms: The Boy II (2020)
Sinister Doll
Sequel to The Boy in which a nanny was hired to tend a sinister doll. Now in what is clearly an attempt to imitate the Annabelle franchise, the doll gains life
A Nightmare Wakes (2020)
Mary Shelley-Lord Byron Meeting
One of several films based on the famous writer’s workshop at Villa Diodati in 1816 and the meeting with Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and Dr Polidori that led to Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein
The New Mutants (2020)
Comic-Book Superheroes
What will be the very last of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men films, this is more like a superheroic version of The Breakfast Club than any of the other X-Men films
Cabal (2020)
Hitman vs Hulking Backwoods Killer
Film from low-budget director Rene Perez where a hitman who wears a beaten steel mask is pitted up against a hulking backwoods killer
Mulan (2020)
Disney Live-Action Remake
The Disney live-action remake of Mulan finally arrives mired in controversy but the film itself proves a solid production for the most part, although never quite soars as a work of fantasy
Death of Me (2020)
Tourists Caught Up in Sinister Rituals
Darren Lynn Bousman is a director that leaves me wondering why he keeps attracting money to make films. Here he makes a work about a couple caught up in sinister rituals while tourists in Thailand
In Search of Darkness II: A Journey Into ’80s Horror Continues (2020)
Documentary About the 1980s Horror Film
A follow-up to the documentary about the 1980s horror film, this deals with some of the lesser-known and overlooked works that were not covered the first time around
The Invisible Man (2020)
Invisible Stalker
Blumhouse deliver an invisible man, although one that has nothing to do with H.G. Wells or the previous invisible man films. Indeed, this feels like an invisible man film that doesn’t even want to be about an invisible man at all.
The Dinner Party (2020)
Sinister Dinner Party
A young couple are invited to a posh dinner party, only to find that sinister and deadly things lurk not far beneath the niceties before things get really strange. A directorial outing for actor Miles Doleac
Cosmoball (2020)
Future Sports
A Russian SF film about humans who have been selected to participate in an intergalactic sports tournament. This feels that it has been construed as an anti-Alita: Battle Angel and has some stunning design work
Jiu Jitsu (2020)
Action Film/Alien-Human Combat
The action film has largely died off in the 2010s. This is very much a throwback with a set-up reminiscent of Predator about an action team fighting an alien in the jungle
The Craft: Legacy (2020)
Teen Witches
Blumhouse revival of/sequel to The Craft, the film about a quartet of teenage witches. This updates the original to the modern era in ways the original never did
Crimson (2020)
Found Footage/Killer Clowns
A film based around real-life YouTube influencer Brian ‘Faze Rug’ Awadis as he buys a new mansion only to move in and find his neighbours are an alley of sinister clowns
Love and Monsters (2020)
Journey Across a Post-Apocalyptic World of Giant Animals
A nerdy guy sets out across a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with giant animals to be with the girl of his dreams. This sound promising in description but suffers an identity crisis on screen
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020)
Animation/Comic-Book Superheroes
The DC Comics animated version of an Avengers film where they put every superhero under their roof on screen at once, including Justice League Dark, the regular Justice League, Suicide Squad and Teen Titans
Curse of the Blind Dead (2020)
Blind Knights Templar Zombies
A revival of the popular 1970s Blind Dead series about Knights Templar zombies. In this era of zombie films homages and remakes, it is a surprise nobody has thought to do so before
Kandisha (2020)
Mythical Boogeywoman
Directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury made the brutally extreme Inside. Here they return with what feels like an unofficial copy of Candyman about a vengeful boogeywoman
The Last Days of American Crime (2020)
Near-Future Heist Film/Action Film
A heist film set in a near-future USA where a group of criminals are preparing a last big caper before the activation of a mind control device that will make crime impossible
The Old Guard (2020)
Immortal Mercenaries
Huge Netflix hit adapted from a comic-book about a team of immortal mercenaries
Breach (2020)
Parasites Aboard a Space Mission
Another of the last films made by Bruce Willis, before his retirement. Here Bruce is on form and gives a decent performance. The film is an Alien copy with the crew of a space mission under attack by a parasitic lifeform
Books of Blood (2020)
Clive Barker Anthology
A new Clive Barker film is always something to be excited about – Barker has been absent too long as a creative force. This is an anthology based around Barker’s celebrated story collection
Re-Elected (2020)
Zombies of US Presidents
Horror comedy about an attack by the zombies of resurrected former US Presidents
Bloodshot (2020)
Augmented Super-Soldier/Comic-Book Adaptation
That starts out seeming a standard mindless action film in which Vin Diesel is resurrected as an augmented super-soldier only for everything we assume to get turned on its head in interesting ways
The Owners (2020)
Home Invasion/Sinister Occupants
Maisie Williams and an aging Sylvester McCoy in a film about house burglars who break in to a home to discover sinister things afoot
Rondo and Bob (2020)
Documentary About Rondo Hatton and Robert Burns
A documentary about Rondo Hatton, the 1940s horror actor who suffered acromegaly, and Robert Burns, the eccentric art director from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Bloodthirsty (2020)
Female Werewolf
Promising film about an ingénue singer under the control of a Svengali-esque record producer who is struggling against giving in to her true werewolf nature
Rogue (2020)
Killer Lion
Megan Fox is the leader of a troupe of mercenaries (!) conducting a hostage extraction from rebel territory as they come under attack by a killer lion
How I Became a Super-Hero (2020)
Superpowers Film
The title suggests either a comedic take on the superhero film or a teen film about a kid discovering superpowers. The least thing you expect this to be is a French police thriller about a unit investigating super-powered crimes
Black Water: Abyss (2020)
Killer Crocodile
The Australian-made Black Water was a gripping thriller about three people in a tree being menaced by a crocodile in the water below. This is a sequel with a further group trapped in a cave and menaced by a killer crocodile
Bleed With Me (2020)
Sinister Happenings at a Cabin in the Woods
A film where a girl goes to stay with her girl friend at a cabin in the woods but thinks her friend might be drugging her and taking her blood
The Pale Door (2020)
Western/Town of Witches
Weird Western where a group of outlaws on the run end up in a town of witches
Bloody Hell (2020)
Imprisonment By a Strange Family
Oddball Australian Backwoods Brutality film with a man imprisoned by a strange family in Finland who intend to feed him to their hulking son
H.P. Lovecraft’s The Deep Ones (2020)
H.P. Lovecraft Adaptation
A low-budget adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth. That is if you can imagine Lovecraft’s story about fish people mating with humans relocated to a California AirBNB
Come True (2020)
Dream Horrors
A Canadian-made horror film about a teenage runaway who signs into a mysterious dream institute that conduct experiments that open up something disturbing inside her
The Reckoning (2020)
Witch Persecutions
A few years ago, Neil Marshall seemed a major genre director on the rise with The Descent. Here he returns with a film about the historic witch persecutions
Markham (2020)
H.P. Lovecraft Homage
British-made homage to H.P. Lovecraft that has some of the most stunning black-and-white photography seen in some time but I am still trying to puzzle out what the film was actually about
Anastasia: Once Upon a Time (2020)
Princess Anastasia Time Travels to the Present
Bizarre family film in which Russian princess Anastasia travels through time to the present day and discovers mall culture
Proximity (2020)
UFOs and Alien Abduction
Cheaply made and frequently unintentionally hilarious variant on UFO conspiracies that wheels out all the usual cliches – alien implants, the Men in Black, recovered memories etc
Last Journey of Paul W.R. (2020)
Earth Endangered by an Oncoming Moon
French film about Earth endangered by an oncoming moon and how only one man can save the world. This seemed it might be something culty – before the mind-bogglingly bizarre science becomes apparent
The Watch (2020)
Terry Pratchett Adaptation
Mini-series based on the works of Terry Pratchett that feels as though it is made, designed and cast by people who haven’t even read the books
Alone (2020)
Zombie Film
English-language version of the Korean zombie film #Alive about a guy stranded in an apartment during the zombie apocalypse trying to communicate with the girl across the street
Wait, Wait, Don’t Kill Me (2020)
Zombie Outbreak
Film about a virus that causes people to become dehydrated and turn into zombies