No Spooky Season would be complete without subjecting yourself to several twisted, bloody, psychological, gut-tearing, horror films to watch right before bedtime! And now we’ve reached the top 5 so sit back and see what Ashlyn has in store for us on the way to her #1!
#5 – 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
I watched this so early in the year I almost forgot it came out in 2026. Nia DaCosta really did something special with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. This is a zombie movie with soul. The best in the series I’d say.
We pick up where we left off in 28 Years Later with Spike joining The Jimmy Gang and Dr. Kelson looking for a cure.
Fresh off his crazy year with Sinners, we get Jack O’Connell as the sadistic, satanic, Sir Jimmy Crystal. I think horror villains may just be his niche. When he’s not skinning people alive, he’s leading his little band of bottle blondes to find “Old Nick” so they can act as devious as they desire.
But where The Bone Temple really shines is Dr. Kelson and Sampson. Ralph Fiennes really gets us to love zombies. As he forms this kinship with the infected, we can see the humanity start to return to him, and it gives a glimmer of hope that maybe there is a way to cure this.
The Bone Temple puts an emphasis on empathy and how it goes a long way for humanity. It’s a masterclass on compassion versus cruelty and what becomes of it. It’s a can’t miss.
#4 – Leviticus
From the first frame to the last, this film made me emotional. At its core, this is a really touching love story between two Australian boys named Ryan and Naim who are being raised in a hyper religious conservative town. The real horror is the church.
After being exposed for being gay, Ryan and the pastor’s son Hunter are made an example of by their church. They bring in what they call a “deliverance healer” to perform an unsettling spirit healing which turns out to be more like a paranormal conversion therapy. It quickly becomes apparent that something is deeply wrong when both boys start violently convulsing by the end of the ritual. That’s not where their torment ends — over the next few days we watch both boys fighting an unseen entity. Said entity even going as far as killing.
After seeing the impact that the deliverance healer had on the boys, Naim’s mother, played by Mia Wasukowska, decides to bring him there as well. We go from wondering exactly what the boys are seeing to knowing firsthand. The entity takes the form of the person they desire most and only that person is able to see it. For Ryan and Naim, it is each other.
The tension that Adrian Chiarella builds through this concept is beautiful. We spend the majority questioning if who we’re seeing is the real Ryan and Naim, if there’s a way they will make it out and if there’s a way they can overcome this deceptive entity to be together. You find yourself rooting for them the entire time.
This isn’t the most jump scary or capital H horror of the bunch, but it is the one with the most heart. And in this day and age where a lot of the queer community is under attack all over the world, stories like these are more important than ever.
#3 – Resident Evil
Zach Cregger’s done it again. And it seems like he’s found a new power couple with Austin Abrams. After being a scene stealer in Weapons he’s been upgraded to protagonist in Resident Evil.
Immediately we meet Bryan, a medical courier who agrees to accept an organ delivery to a hospital farther away in Raccoon City because it pays more. When travelling down the snowy abandoned road, he hits a woman with his car who begins behaving erratically and it’s all downhill from there for him.
The use of red light as a visual device to build tension in the opening sequence of the drive heading to Raccoon City is beautifully evocative of his impending torment, and we see Cregger use red as a visual device throughout.
Austin Abrams’ performance is deeply funny and realistic, hooking you from the instant you meet his character. Dude’s just trying to do his job and is having truly the worst night of his life. I mean look, he’s trying to deliver a human organ or something and save a life, noble really!
Bryan doesn’t seem like the brightest bulb, but he is scrappy, constantly making jokes at his fate and doing what he has to until things get really stressful. He’s just like me — coping with humor.
What seems like a funny, intense little run in with a dog chase quickly becomes a nightmare and we see more of Cregger’s creature builds, morphing a farm dog into a nasty, fleshy tentacle monster.
As Bryan finds refuge after the dog incident in an idyllic farmhouse, it quickly turns into a heart-pounding, zombie-ridden blood fest where we learn more about the parasitic entity that is infecting not only the rural area he’s in, but the world around it.
After learning exactly what he’s carrying in the bag he’s been guarding with his life, will he make it to his destination? Will the virus and the increasingly horrific monsters get him? Or will it be too late?
Cregger is a master of gnarly gore. I remember sitting through Weapons and being impressed by it during certain scenes. I normally don’t bat an eye, but this is the second of his films that have made me go “OH!” at how realistic and interesting some of his kills are. I just love a blood bath I guess.
There’s so many shots that feel like you’re playing the game and Bryan specifically is playing at a level that’s too difficult for him. His stress is palpable. Combined with the dark almost desaturated look of the world around him and Abram’s stellar, heartbreaking at times performance, this really captures the soul of the game and I don’t think fans will be disappointed.
We’re almost at the end but let us know what you thought of the latest additions. Also, be sure to check out the previous entries if you missed out on them!
Ashlyn Anarchy
