In SOUTHBOUND, various travelers along a remote stretch of desert road are on a collision course with their sins. Somehow, this little 2016 indie horror gem got past me, but I was happy to finally catch it, as it turned out to be a ton of fun.

The movie is actually an anthology of stories, though it doesn’t feel like one, as each story seamlessly blends into the next. The result is a different take on the theme–a patch of ground that is something like a very real Hell on Earth–resulting in an intriguing mythology that develops over the course of the film.

In one story, two men on the run flee from what appear to be angels of death. In another, three members of a band break down on the road and are given a lift by a nice but strange couple. And more. I don’t want to say more as knowing little going into the film makes for some nice surprises.

Besides the variety in storytelling, the anthology approach also works well here in that there’s no lengthy act one–you’re thrown right into the story. While this sacrifices some getting to know and care about the characters, it keeps the pace brisk and the mood tense.

On the downside, it’s clearly an indie production. Overall, the production quality is pretty good, but some of the acting is a little uneven.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with SOUTHBOUND and recommend it.

Based on the novel by Adam Cesare and directed by Eli Craig (TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL), CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD (2025) appears to offer the usual slasher but develops into something far less shallow and rote. It offers a lot of fun in a familiar package.

Quinn is a teenager moving to a small rural town in Missouri from Philadelphia with her dad, a doctor who is looking to escape after the death of his wife. The town is economically depressed after its single major factory–a corn syrup factory with a clown as a mascot–closed. Quinn gets in with a gang of teens who love horror movies, only for them all to find themselves fighting to survive a night of a very real horror.

What I liked: There are a few nice twists, a surprising monster, some great kills, and a theme of the old not understanding the young and trying to hold them back as they struggle to write their futures. The movie softens the gore with some nice touches of comedy that don’t feel grafted on. These and other variations freshen up the familiar story, but what made it work for me was it has just enough heart. The teens are charming, and their interactions feel pretty natural. When it all falls apart, I found myself rooting for them instead of anticipating a juicy kill of some unlikable jerk.

What I didn’t: The last act loses its edge in my view as we get an exposition dump on why this is all happening, and it then overreaches for setting up a sequel. As this is a campy teen slasher, my bar was set fairly low going into it, so these things didn’t bother me.

Overall, I thought CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD was fun and would recommend it to those looking for something new and inventive in the slasher.

Adapted from a Stephen King novella of the same name, Mike Flanagan’s LIFE OF CHUCK (2024) is an interesting movie that nails a big theme–that each human consciousness is a universe unto itself, and when that human dies, an entire universe dies with them, though they continue to have a lasting impact on those they leave behind.

The movie begins with Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor, perfectly cast in the role), a lonely schoolteacher struggling to keep his students interested in learning while the world appears to be rapidly ending due to ecological catastrophes. Everyone is giving up. While all this is happening, Marty begins to notice mysterious ads and billboards appearing around town, showing a smiling man in a business suit with the words: 39 GREAT YEARS. THANKS, CHUCK! As things get progressively worse, he seeks out his ex (Karen Gillan), whom he’s still close with, to watch it all end.

This is act one in a three-act story told in reverse chronological order, same as the King story. In the second act, we meet Chuck himself (Tom Hiddleston), understand his illness, and then go back to examine his life back to his childhood when he first learns about death and eventually comes to terms with it.

What I liked: Flanagan lavishes his love for filmmaking and the story in every frame. He’s loyal to the actors he works with, and many of them take part here. Hiddleston has a dance number that is a lot of fun to watch. The film is loaded with feeling and has a big, kinda sappy theme, but it never got saccharine for me. This is a top-notch adaptation.

What I didn’t: I simply didn’t find Chuck a compelling character as an adult, as we barely get to know him. Most of our time is spend on his childhood and adolescence. It’s all pretty enjoyable to watch, but honestly I wished we’d stayed with Marty and kept the odd Chuck appearances mysterious longer. For the short amount of screen time he receives, I really connected with his character and story. I just didn’t find Chuck quite as interesting; a lot of the time we spend with him as an adult is narrated (Nick Offerman), making the story feel detached.

Overall, I liked LIFE OF CHUCK quite a bit. If you’re a Stephen King fan, I think you’ll appreciate how much love Flanagan and his cast pour into adapting this story. Even if you’re not, there’s a lot to admire here.

In SINNERS (2025), two Black men return to rural Mississippi after serving in the First World War and a stint working for Al Capone in Chicago, hoping to open a juke joint for the local Black community only to run afoul not only with the KKK but an infestation of vampires. The result bursts at the seams, can be pretty messy, but is ultimately a really good time.

Smoke and Stack (twins played by Michael B. Jordan) spend quite a bit of time pulling together the people they need to open their establishment while reuniting with those they left behind. Among them are past loves (Hailee Steinfeld and Wunmi Mosaku), a veteran blues musician (Delroy Lindo, one of my favorite actors), and upcoming blues prodigy Sammie (Miles Caton). Smoke and Stack are haunted men, real sinners, and they hope to see Sammie mature and find his own way in the world while also taking steps to protect his innocence so he doesn’t follow the same dark path as them. The men open their joint and throw an amazing party, but Sammie’s music catches the interest of a passing vampire and all hell breaks loose.

The movie is about a lot of things and is trying to be a lot of things, but that’s fine, I was enjoying it for its Southern Gothic feel and great cinematography, but once the vampires show up, the movie takes off. Jack O’Connell steals the show as Remmick, the Irish vampire who sees his kind as full of communal love and beyond racism. He also absorbs the memories of everyone he turns, which is why he wants to invade the juke joint so badly–he falls in love with Sammie’s music and wants his stories. A lot of whether a vampire movie today really works, at least for me, is in how the vampire is handled, and I loved this portrayal of a cheerful but very hungry and lonesome cult.

Did I mention this movie is trying to be a lot of things? One of them is a musical, with several songs, two of which are amazing set pieces that made me wish I’d seen SINNERS in the theater. In one, Sammie’s playing transcends time and space to draw dancers and musicians from across history, and in another, the grinning vampires jam to an Irish folk song while Remmick jigs. These scenes are surprising and elevate the story even while it relies on familiar tropes like stakes and garlic, creating something new.

Overall, all the disparate elements in SINNERS didn’t quite come together perfectly for me, but they came together well enough, and where it worked for me it shined. In short, I loved it and would recommend it.