Smile (2022)
Viral Curse
Horror film about a viral curse that bends the victim’s sense of reality and illusion, this settles in with some undeniably creepy effect
Films of 2022
Smoking Causes Coughing (2022)
Gonzo Deadpan Vignettes
Another of Quentin Dupieux’s hilariously gonzo comedies made up a series of deadpan surreal vignettes, including a witty parody of the modern superhero film
Something in the Dirt (2022)
Mysterious Unexplained Phenomena
Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead have become must-watch directors in the last decade. This film, which was shot in their apartment during Covid lockdown, becomes the ultimate conspiracy theory rabbit hole
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)
Videogame Adaptation/Supersonic Alien Hedgehog
Sequel to the hit videogame adaptation, this offers up fairly much the same mix of elements as before – a cutely anthrompomorphic creature and Jim Carrey going to rafter-rattling excess
Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar (2022)
Space Opera
An enjoyable low-budget modern space opera that ably conjures the knockabout spirit of a host of low-budget 1980s Star Wars knockoffs
Speak No Evil (2022)
Sinister Hosts/Black Comedy
A darkly funny Danish film about a couple who accept an invite to visit another couple who seem to have no boundaries, before everything gets nasty
Spiderhead (2022)
Illicit Behaviour Modifying Pharmaceutical Experiments
From Joseph Kosinski, then riding high as the director of Top Gun: Maverick, Chris Hemsworth is cast in an interestingly ambiguous role as a scientist conducting illicit experiments with behaviour altering drugs
Spirited (2022)
Modernised A Christmas Carol
Imagine A Christmas Carol retold as a bromance where Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present abandon hauntings and become besties
Station Eleven (2021-2022)
Post-Apocalyptic World
A beautifully-made post-apocalyptic story told as a mandala of threads and surprise connections that stretch over twenty years
Strange World (2022)
Disney Animation/Lost World Adventure
Disney’s 61st animated film. A lost world adventure that emerges as Fantastic Voyage by way of Avatar
The Stranger (2022)
Mysterious Stranger
A British film about a mother and daughter who open a B&B only to be taken hostage by a mysterious stranger on the run from sinister forces
Studio 666 (2022)
Foo Fighters vs Deviltry/Horror Comedy
A horror comedy starring the Foo Fighters where the band’s antics sit alongside some entertainingly outrageous gore
Suzume (2022)
Anime/Quest to Close Portals
Beautifully made anime from Makoto Shinkai about a young girl and a three-legged chair on a quest to close a series of portals across Japan and prevent unimaginable chaos emerging
Talk to Me (2022)
Occult Artefact
An Australian film has been getting some great word of mouth, a teen horror that stands it head and shoulders above its contemporaries
Teardrop (2022)
Haunted Western Town
The director of the I Spit on Your Grave remake makes a low-budget film about a haunted Western ghost town
Terror Train 2 (2022)
Trainboard Slasher
Sequel to the remake of the 1980s horror classic, shot back-to-back with its predecessor, this is a better film than the remake was
Terror Train (2022)
Trainboard Slasher
Terror Train starring Jamie Lee Curtis was one of the classics of the original slasher film fad. This is a remake
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
Backwoods Brutality
The ninth Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, this offers the intriguing idea of Leatherface vs millennials
Thor: God of Thunder (2022)
Norse Superhero/The Asylum Mockbuster
A low-budget mockbuster from The Asylum designed to jump aboard the bandwagon of Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
The fourth of Marvel’s Thor films, where director Taika Waititi gets the balance of humour down much more successfully than he did in the previous film
Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)
Djinn Appears
George Miller of Mad Max fame makes a fantastical and charming film where djinn Idris Elba appears to Tilda Swinton
The 355 (2022)
Spy/Action Film
Female-led spy/action film that serves everything up in an enjoyably kinetic mix with likeable characters. Not wheel reinventing but more enjoyable than most Hollywood product
The Time Capsule (2022)
Man’s Teenage Love Returns Unaged from a Space Journey
This has an interesting premise where a middle-aged man suddenly faces his teenage girlfriend returned unaged from a relativistic space voyage
Titanic 666 (2022)
Ghosts of the Titanic
An offering from The Asylum where a replica of the Titanic sets sail only to be beset by the ghosts of those who sank aboard the original ship
To the Solitary Me Who Loved You (2022)
Multiverse Film/Anime
Multiverse films are all the in-thing in superhero films right now. This anime is a treatment of multiverse themes far away from superheroics that works beautifully in its sophistication of ideas
Torn Hearts (2022)
Batty Old Dame
Rather good film featuring Married … With Children’s Katey Sagal who gives a splendidly deranged performance in the full Baby Jane mode as an aging Country and Western star
Troll (2022)
Giant Troll Amok
Norway attempts to compete with the Godzilla films in the story of a giant troll amok and pull off a work that does the whole mass destruction spectacular well and with some top notch effects
Turning Red (2022)
Pixar Animation/Girl Transforms Into a Panda
This was the 25th Pixar film and becomes in effect a Pixar-ised version of The Incredible Hulk about a young girl who transforms into a red panda whenever she gets upset
2025 Armageddon (2022)
Alien Invasion/The Asylum Crossover
A crossover between all the menaces in The Asylum’s films, which are brought to life as part of an alien invasion plan
Umma (2022)
Vengeful Ghost Mother
Undeniably effective ghost story where Sandra Oh plays a woman who is haunted by the ghost of her abusive traditional mother
Unhuman (2022)
School Pupils Under Attack in the Woods
From writers of several Saw films and The Collector, a film about teens under attack in the woods where it is unclear what is going on oe who they are facing for most of the film
Unwelcome (2022)
Faerie Creatures at the End of the Garden
Irish horror about a couple who inherit a house with faerie creatures at the end of the garden
Venus (2022)
Occult Horror/Sinister Apartment
Jaume Balaguero of [Rec] fame returns with an occult horror where a woman on the run is drawn into sinister happenings at an apartment
Vesper (2022)
Environmentally Devastated Future
Visually extraordinary film set in an environmentally devastated future, this place enormous creativity into depicting a strange, very alien world
V/H/S/99 (2022)
Anthology of Found Footage Horror Tales
The fifth film of the Found Footage horror anthology series, including one episode that is among the best of the series so far
Viking (2022)
Mars Habitat Simulation Comedy
A sublimely funny comedy about a group in a habitat who have been selected to roleplay the astronauts on a Mars mission
Viking Wolf (2022)
Werewolf Film
A Norwegian-made werewolf film where you have to admit the title Viking Wolf sets up some intriguing possibilities
Violent Night (2022)
Dark Christmas Film
Dark and definitely not sentimental Christmas film with David Harbour as a cynical Santa repelling a home invasion. This does not let down on the violent half of the title
Virus: 32 (2022)
Argentinean Zombie Film
Slapped with a misleading pandemic-related title, this is an Argentinean zombie film made with an admirable ferocity
The Visitor (2022)
Sinister Small Town
Blumhouse production where Finn Jones moves to a small town and finds the portrait of the town’s founder is a ringer for him
The Visitor from the Future (2022)
Time Travel Comedy
A French film about a time traveller come to prevent the catastrophic explosion of a nuclear power plant. A low expectation film that turns out to be a comedy that sparkles with wit and inventivity
Warhunt (2022)
WWII Soldiers vs Supernatural
A supernatural variant on Overlord where G.I.’s during WWII enter the Black Forest and encounter something supernatural
Warriors of Future (2022)
Action Spectacular/Plants Invasion
One of the most intensive and exciting action films of recent with humanity engaged in a furious battle with plants and killer robots
Watcher (2022)
Possible Stalker in the Apartment Opposite
Nicely chilling film in which Maika Monroe believes that the person in the apartment opposite might be stalking her
The Watcher (2022)
True Crime/Family Terrorised by a Mystery Letter Writer
Compulsively watchable Ryan Murphy mini-series about a family whose life is torn apart by a sinister letter-writing campaign. A true story that gets far most bizarre than most fiction
Weredeer (2022)
Weredeer Transformation
Exactly as the title suggests, a film in which a girl is transformed into a weredeer after a bite from a deer. Surprisingly enough, the film plays itself seriously
What to Do With the Dead Kaiju? (2022)
The Aftermath of a Giant Monster Attack
An amusing take on the Japanese Monster Movie that takes place in the aftermath of a monster battle as various government agencies debate what do with the carcass of a giant monster lying in the countryside
White Noise (2022)
Satire/Toxic Cloud
Noah Baumbach makes a bitingly satiric adaptation of a Don DeLillo novel about the panic caused by a toxic cloud
Who Invited Them (2022)
Sinister Party Guests
A very different type of home invasion film where two mysterious and charming party guests succeed in turning the hosts against each other
Wifelike (2022)
Android Wives
This is like a version of The Stepford Wives updated to the era of Ex Machina and the modern A.I./android film
The Witch Part 2: The Other One (2022)
South Korean Psychic Powers Film
The Witch: Part 1 – Subversion was an impressive South Korean psychic powers film. This is Part 2
Wolf Manor (2022)
Werewolf Film
A British werewolf film that takes place during the shooting of an old-fashioned Hammer-styled film
A Wounded Fawn (2022)
Date with a Serial Killer
This starts with a woman going on a date with a man she does not realise is a serial killer, before things go off at a very strange tangent
X (2022)
Psycho Film on a 1970s Porn Film Set
Ti West returns with a fascinatingly charged psycho film that takes place on the shoot of a 1970s porn film
You Won’t Be Alone (2022)
Folk Horror/Body Hopping Witch
An absolutely extraordinary work of Folk Horror about a young witch who learns the ability to inhabit the bodies of others