The Adam Project (2022)
Time Travel
Likeable but lightweight time travel film where Ryan Reynolds gains the aid of his twelve year-old self after travelling back in time to the present on a mission to save the future
Films of 2022
Alienoid (2022)
South Korean Time-Hopping SF Action
A South Korean SF film that comes with a wide canvas involving alien invasion, time hopping between two eras and some epic action in possibly one of the most head-scratching plots seen in some time
Amityville Karen (2022)
Possessed Karen
The term Karen has come to mean an entitled woman who complains a great deal. This is a horror comedy about one such Karen who becomes possessed after drinking wine that comes from the Amityville house
Among the Living (2022)
Post-Apocalyptic Survival
Modest, low-budgeted British film about people trying to survive in the aftermath of a catastrophe. A zombie film that has borrowed a few leaves from A Quiet Place
Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (2022)
Animation/Coming of Age Story/Kid Flies a NASA Moon Mission
Richard Linklater makes a charming animated film about a kid selected for a secret Moon Landing. Most of all a film with a lovely nostalgia for growing up in the era of the Moon mission
The Artifice Girl (2022)
Artificially Intelligent Program
One of the best of the recent spate of artificial intelligence films. A programmer creates an A.I. for the purpose of trapping sexual predators on the internet only to be faced with ethical questions about what he has created
Attack of the 50 Foot Camgirl (2022)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman Parody
B budget director Jim Wynorski makes another of his bimbo films, a parody of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman where a cam girl is turned giant size after eating GMO food
Attack on Titan (2022)
Space Opera
Not to be confused with the Japanese manga/anime of the same name, this is a space opera from The Asylum, which boasts some very good effects on a budget
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
War Between Human Colonists and Aliens
James Cameron finally delivers his sequel to Avatar. Nothing could quite repeat the same phenomenon a second time but this does well with Cameron taking the opportunity to show more depth to his alien world
Barbarian (2022)
Sinister AirBNB
The directorial debut of Zach Cregger that received great word-of-mouth. A film that shifts points-of-views to tell the story of people discovering a horrible secret in the basement of an AirBNB
The Batman (2022)
Comic-Book Superhero
The reboot of the Batman franchise post Zack Snyder returns to the Christopher Nolan conception with Robert Pattinson as an emo Batman who resembles The Cure’s Robert Smith. Not completely successful on all fronts but a promising start
Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022)
Comic-Book Superheroes/Animation
Animated film featuring a team-up between the sons of Batman and Superman, which ends up being far more fun than you expect
Battle for Pandora (2022)
Planetary Exploration/Alien Body Snatchers
The Asylum’s mockbuster take on Avatar: The Way of Water, which ingeniously exploits the fact that Saturn has a moon called Pandora. The rest is a low-budget body snatchers film
Beast (2022)
Killer Lion
A survival horror film where Idris Elba is on a trip to Africa only to be hunted by a rogue lion. Decently produced, this never works as well as you expect it would have
BigBug (2022)
The Machine Rebellion Comedy
French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet of The City of Lost Children and Amelie fame returns with an appealingly eccentric, beautifully designed comedic take on the machine revolution
Birdemic 3 – Sea Eagle (2022)
Bird Attacks
At one point, Birdemic had a bad movie cult that rivalled The Room. Whether we asked for it or not, this is a third film in the series. James Nguyen seems to think everybody has come for a lecture about Global Warming.
Black Adam (2022)
Superhero Film
An entry from the abortive attempt to create a DC Comics shared universe. Dwayne Johnson takes on the role of the DC’s anti-hero in a film that is far more fun than the recent Marvel offerings
Black Glasses (2022)
Giallo Thriller
Dario Argento makes a highly anticipated return to the director’s chair after a decade’s silence, once again revisiting the giallo film, but the results are a major letdown
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Marvel Comics Superhero
The MCU’s sequel to Black Panther. This offers the peculiarity of a work in which the superhero of the title never actually appears and is instead set around his absence following the death of Chadwick Boseman
The Black Spider (2022)
Pact with the Devil/Mediaeval Fantasy
A standout Swiss-made film, an exceptionally well written work about a pact made with the devil by a mediaeval village that unleashes a plague of spiders and other curses upon them
Blank (2022)
Imprisoned by an A.I. House
A film about a writer who retreats to a fully automated smarthome in order to complete a novel only to end up imprisoned by a malfunctioning A.I.
Blasted (2022)
Laser Tag Team vs Alien Invaders Comedy
Norwegian comedy where two friends who were a champion laser tag duo in their teens are now in adult life where they are forced to pair back up to fight off alien invaders
Blood (2022)
Boy With a Mysterious Illness
Brad Anderson, director of Session 9 and The Machinist, makes a great horror film with Michelle Monaghan as a mother trying to cope with her son’s sudden taste for blood
Blood Relatives (2022)
Vampire Discovers He is a Parent Comedy
An appealingly eccentric indie comedy directed by and starring Noah Segan as a vampire who suddenly discovers he has fathered a kid
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
Killer Lurks at a Party
Scathingly funny film where a party held by a group of self-absorbed twentysomethings turns deadly as it appears there is a killer in their midst
Bones and All (2022)
Young Adult Cannibalism Film
Suspiria director Luca Guadagnino sinks his teeth into making a film about cannibalism. Forget the Young Adult label the film was sold with, this is quite an impressive work
The Breach (2022)
Lovecraftian Horrors
Rodrigo Gudiño, editor of Rue Morgue magazine, directs a horror film with strong Lovecraftian overtones about a portal opened at a mysterious cabin in the woods
Brian and Charles (2022)
Man Builds a Robot Comedy
At contrast to all the serious films being made about A.I, and androids, this is a wonderfully charming and really quite eccentric comedy where a man builds a robot out of junk
Bridge of the Doomed (2022)
Zombie Film
This is in essence a zombie film version of the classic historical film Zulu with a small group of soldiers tasked with protecting a bridge against a zombie horde
Brightwood (2022)
Couple Trapped in a Timeloop on a Trail in the Woods
Remarkable little film where a couple go for a jog only to find they are trapped on the same stretch of trail in the woods by the lake where time starts looping around on itself in strange and increasingly sinister ways
Bubble (2022)
Anime/Mysterious Bubble Covers Tokyo
Anime in which Tokyo is covered by a mysterious energy bubble of alien origin and of a group of defiant youths who live on in its midst until the appearance of a mystery girl
Bunker (2022)
Haunted WWI Bunker
Film that draws on the basics of The Keep and takes place in a haunted bunker in the British-German trenches of the First World War as soldiers face something that preys on their fears
The Bunker Game (2022)
LARPers Trapped in a Haunted Bunker
Horror film in which a group of LARPers (live-action role-players) use a wartime bunker as a location and are trapped where the bunker appears to be haunted
Candy Land (2022)
Killer at a Seedy Truck Rest Stop
This conducts a seedily grim depiction of the world of the prostitutes working at a highway truck stop. In the midst of this, they try to deal with a killer eliminating their numbers
Carnifex (2022)
Monster Movie in the Australian Outback
A monster movie that takes place as a documentary crew are trying to study the wildlife displaced by the Australian bushfires
Catnado (2022)
Tornado of Cats Anthology
We’ve had Sharknado. Now comes Catnado, an anthology about storms of cats. This contains episodes so pitiful and ineptly made that this enters into the unwatchable
Catwoman: Hunted (2022)
Animation/Comic-Book Super-Thief
Animated adventure given over to Catwoman that comes with an appealing sense of humour that easily erases all memory of the Halle Berry film
The Cellar (2022)
Mysterious House
An Irish horror film that generates undeniably mysterious atmosphere after a family move into a new house and the teenage daughter disappears after going down into the cellar
Cerebrum (2022)
Frankenstein Film
A young man recuperates from a brain injury while tended by his father. As he tries to piece together what happened, we discover we are in the midst of a Frankenstein-type film
Chariot (2022)
Surrealism/Strange Hotel
A very strange surrealist film about the strange characters that populate a rundown hotel. Includes reincarnation, alien bug people and John Malkovich as a psychiatrist with red hair in a bow
Choose or Die (2022)
Cursed Videogame
A British horror film in which people open an old 1980s videogame that is cursed and forces them to make horrible choices concerning the deaths of people around them
The Civil Dead (2022)
Ghostly Companion Comedy
A laidback slacker comedy where a man is befriended by the ghost of a school friend who proves annoyingly needy and won’t go away
Cocaine Crabs from Outer Space (2022)
Drug Addled Invading Alien Crabs
Another of the films inspired by Cocaine Bear, this features an invasion by alien crabs that become wired on cocaine. It is hard to tell if this is being deliberately ridiculous or not
The Communion Girl (2022)
Cursed Doll
Spanish-made film that feels like a mash-up of Annabelle and The Nun about the communion doll belonging to a girl who went missing that appears and curse everyone it touches
Consecration (2023)
Deviltry Afoot at a Convent
Christopher Smith was a highly promising director several years ago with Creep, Triangle and Black Death. Here he returns with a film about sinister happenings in a convent
Corrective Measures (2022)
Prison for Super-Villains/Comic-Book Adaptation
Another of the last films made by Bruce Willis before his retirement. This one has a watchable central idea and is set around the idea of a prison for super-villains even if Bruce is not up to much
Crimes of the Future (2022)
Future Surgical Experiments
A 79 year-old David Cronenberg returns with one of his best films, a synthesis of his major themes in an extraordinary and perverse look at a future where surgery has become performance art. This site’s best film of 2022.
Cryo (2022)
Cryogenic Thriller
This has an intriguing premise where a group awake from cryogenic suspension with their memories blank as someone among their number now begins killing them
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022)
True-Life Serial Killer
Best TV of the year. A mini-series that offers an absolutely compulsive dive into the disturbing mind of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and an exactingly detailed charting of his crimes. Evan Peters shines in the title role
Dampyr (2022)
Vampire Film/Comic-Book Adaptation
A comic-book adaptation about vampire wars in a modern East European war zone. A slick Underworld-styled vampire action film that has some interesting ideas going on inside it
Dark Cloud (2022)
Trapped by an A.I. House
SF film about a woman suffering amnesia who is sent to an automated house to recuperate only to be made prisoner by the sinister A.I. that runs the house
Dark Nature (2022)
Monster in the Wilderness
A horror film made by Canada’s indigenous Metis people that concerns a group of women on a therapeutic wilderness trek are stalked and attacked by a monster
Day Shift (2022)
Vampire Hunters
An enjoyably entertaining film featuring Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco as vampire hunters. This plays out as a comic buddy film mixed with a series of wildly charged action scenes
DC League of Super Pets (2022)
Animation/DC Comics Superhero Pets
Superheroes have overrun screens. It is starting to seem a little too much when we now get an animated film about animal superheroes who form their own Justice League
Dead Zone (2022)
Zombie Film
Not to be confused with the Stephen King novel/film. A zombie film with a military focus that appropriates the basics of Escape from New York as a tactical unit is sent into an infestation zone to retrieve an antidote
Deadstream (2022)
Livestream from a Haunted House Comedy
A rather funny horror comedy based around the concept of a livestream conducted from a haunted house – all of which proceeds to quite hilariously go wrong
Demonic Christmas Tree (2022)
Possessed Christmas Tree
Yes, exactly what the title announces – a film about a possessed killer Christmas tree. A rather amusing Christmas horror entry from prolific low-budget British producer Scott Jeffrey/Scott Chambers
Deus (2022)
Space Expedition Finds Gateway to Heaven
This has distinct overtones of 2001: Space Odyssey and Event Horizon about an expedition to Mars to investigate a mysterious black sphere – only to find that it offers a gateway to Heaven
The Devil Conspiracy (2022)
Theft of the Shroud of Turin/Clone Body for The Devil
This has an insane plot about Satanists stealing the Shroud of Turin to clone a body to incarnate The Devil and a priest possessed by the archangel Michael wading into action with a glowing sword
Devil’s Workshop (2022)
Actor Consults an Exorcist
This comes with an intriguing premise in which a struggling actor consults a demonologist to prepare for a role and agrees to spend a weekend with her during which she decides to exorcise him
Diabolik: Ginko Attacks (2022)
Masked Super-Thief/Comic-Book Adaptation
The 2021 Diabolik was a witty and stylish revival of the cult Italian comic-book about a masked super-thief. This was the first of the sequels, albeit with a different actor playing the title role
Discontinued (2022)
Shutting Down the Reality Simulation
We’ve all heard the theory that we might be living in The Matrix. This asks the question of what happens when it is announced that the simulation is being shut down
Disenchanted (2022)
Fairytale Characters in the Real World
Enchanted in which Amy Adams played an animated fairytale princess entering the real world was a reasonable hit. This is the long-planned sequel that reunites the principals but feels like a joke that belabours in the retelling
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Marvel Comics Magician Superhero
Doctor Strange was one of the better MCU films. Here Sam Raimi takes over in the director’s chair. This readily delves into multiverse themes but requires a major crash course in a plethora of Marvel tv series to follow
Don’t Fuck in the Woods 2 (2022)
Body-Snatching Parasites
Don’t Fuck in the Woods was a reasonably smart slasher film that came with an attention-grabbing title. This is a sequel that introduces body-snatching parasites to the mix
Don’t Worry Darling (2022)
Sinister Utopian Town
Actress Olivia Wilde creates a variant on The Stepford Wives set in an idyllic 1950s town where the women seem to be prisoners. Wilde is making a feminist parable but the plausibility of her SF scenario falls apart
Dracula: The Original Living Vampire (2022)
Dracula Adaptation
The Asylum conduct their own version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and this becomes one of the most radical screen adaptations of the story to date, swapping genders of characters
Dragon Knight (2022)
Epic Fantasy
Quite a decent low-budget epic fantasy film from promising Scottish director Lawrie Brewster. This manages to create a reasonable suspension of disbelief on modest resources
Drifting Home (2022)
Anime/Apartment Building Drifts Out to Sea
Peculiar but very nicely made anime about a group of children who go on a fantastical journey in an abandoned apartment building that is washed away to sea
Dual (2022)
Woman Must Fight a Death Duel with Her Clone
Film in which a dying Karen Gillan has a clone made of herself only to make an unexpected recovery and be forced into a televised duel to death with the clone for ownership of her life
Eating Miss Campbell (2022)
Bad Taste Comedy
The sight of the normally super-offensive and un-PC Troma Films trying to adjust to the post-#MeToo and Cancel Culture era while making a film about high school cannibalism is a bizarre one indeed
The Elderly (2022)
Elderly Act Disturbed
Quite creepy Spanish film where the elderly everywhere without any explanation begin to act disturbed and turn on the young
Enys Men (2022)
Mysterious Happenings on an Island
Fascinating film about a woman isolated on an island off the Cornish coast who is haunted by cryptic mystery figures, who are possibly all in her imagination, possibly not. A film that creates a fascinating enigma
Escape the Field (2022)
People Trapped in an Endless Cornfield
This comes with a near-identical premise to the Stephen King adaptation In the Tall Grass where a group of people are trapped in an endless cornfield
The Eternal Daughter (2022)
Possibly Haunted Hotel
This received acclaim on the arthouse circuit. Tilda Swinton plays both the daughter and her mother who go to stay a hotel that may be haunted. Everything hovers in a state of ambiguity
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Multiverse Comedy
A multiverse comedy in which Michelle Yeoh is propelled through an hilarious series of alternate selves. One of the most mind-spinning films of recent viewing. Also the first SF film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)
Harry Potter Spinoff
Third of the Fantastic Beasts films, this comes as a mix of ennui with the franchise and promise. It feels like about right now would be a good time to retire the series
Final Cut (2022)
Zombies on a Zombie Film Set Comedy
One Cut of the Dead was one of the freshest takes on the overworked zombie film in recent years. Here Academy Award-winning director Michel Hazanavicius conducts a French remake but misses the mark
Firestarter (2022)
Pyrokinesis/Stephen King Adaptation
One of Stephen King’s best books is given a new film workover by Blumhouse. Keith Thomas made a standout directorial debut with The Vigil, but this is a disaster, one of the worst of all King adaptations
5-25-77 (2022)
Filmmakers Autobiography
Forget The Fabelmans, this is a superlative autobiography of a filmmaker and the influence Star Wars had on his life. Neck-deep in fannish enthusiasm for the genre and the love of Super 8 filmmaking
4 Horsemen: Apocalypse (2022)
Disaster Movie
The Asylum build a disaster movie around the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse who are causing various volcanoes eruptions, locust swarms and other worldwide disasters
Fresh (2022)
Woman Imprisoned by a Cannibal
Strong and effective film in which Daisy Edgar-Jones is charmed becomes involved with Sebastian Stan, only for him to imprison her, intending to sell her flesh as meat
Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Transmutation (2022)
Anime in Live-Action/Magician Heroes
The concluding chapter of the trilogy of live-action Fullmetal Alchemist films, this follows the manga’s storyline closely and brings the series to an epic conclusion
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar (2022)
Anime in Live-Action/Magician Heroes
The first of two sequels to the live-action Fullmetal Alchemist. The first felt uninspired but this and the third film expand the saga and its storyline out with considerable depth
Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncharted (2022)
Gerry Anderson Documentary
Fascinating documentary about the life of cult producer Gerry Anderson, the creator of puppet shows like Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet et al. Made by Anderson’s son Jamie
Girl at the Window (2022)
Girl Thinks Next-Door Neighbour is a Serial Killer
From Mark Hartley, known for his documentaries about cult cinema, a film that borrows the premise of Disturbia where a teenage girl thinks her neighbour is a serial killer
Glorious (2022)
Man Trapped in a Bathroom with a Deity
Film with a literally off-the-wall premise in which Ryan Kwanten is trapped in a rest stop bathroom with a Lovecraftian deity that speaks through a glory hole in the next stall
Good Boy (2022)
Man with a Furrie Companion/Imprisonment Thriller
A wonderfully disturbed film from Norway. A girl goes on a date with a man and discovers he has a roommate who wears a furrie suit and lives as a dog. And then things start to get really twisted
The Good Nurse (2022)
True Crime/Serial Killer Nurse
Sober realistic True Crime film based on the story of Charlie Cullen, a nurse in New Jersey that killed some 400 patients, injecting them with lethal doses of drugs
Goodnight Mommy (2022)
Boys Believe Their Mother Has Been Replaced
The Austrian Goodnight Mommy was one of the most effective horror films of recent years. This is the toned-down English-language remake starring Naomi Watts as the mother
Green Lantern: Beware My Power (2022)
Animation/DC Comics Superhero
Green Lantern is a classic comic-book character but his screen presence were damaged by the Ryan Reynolds film. This conducts a severe reset of the character’s continuity
Grimcutty (2022)
Internet Meme Boogeyman
A film about Grimcutty, a boogeyman that lurks inside an internet meme and thrives on causing parental fears. This sits on the edge of being almost interesting
A Guide to Dating at the End of the World (2022)
Last People on Earth Romantic Comedy
Australian film that is a romantic comedy take on The Quiet Earth, the classic work about three people who awake in an entirely deserted world
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)
Living Puppet Boy/Stop-Motion Animation
Guillermo Del Toro offers up his dark, more adult take on the classic children’s story in this beautifully made stop-motion animated film. Winner of that year’s Academy Award for Best Animated Film.
H.P. Lovecraft’s Monster Portal (2022)
Lovecraftian Film
Low-budget film about a woman who inherits a British country estate to find someone has opened a portal to unleash entities. One of several low-budget films of late to appropriate Lovecraft’s name
Halloween Ends (2022)
Slasher Film
David Gordon Green and Jamie Lee Curtis return to round out their highly underwhelming Halloween reboot trilogy. By now, this feels like a Halloween film in name only
The Harbinger (2022)
Dream-Invading Demon
A standout work concerning a demon that invades dreams and then erases all memory of the person in others. Shot during Covid lockdown and haunted by an incredible sense of isolation
Hatching (2022)
Girl Adopts a Monstrous Creature
A fascinatingly creepy Finnish film in which a young girl adopts and bonds with a grotesque bird-like creature, which proves murderous at the same time as it starts to become more human-like
Hellhole (2022)
Sinister Secrets of a Monastery
This Polish film starts out seeming like a possession film set in a monastery but rather pleasingly keeps turning all the expectations on their head with increasingly wilder effect
Hellraiser (2022)
Sadomasochistic Demons
A valiant attempt to remake Clive Barker’s glistening and brilliant original that only emerges as a better made version of one of the sequels. This has a disappointing tameness that would never have inspired a series of sequels