#–A–B–C–D–E–F–G–H–I-J-K–L–M–N-O-P-Q-R–S–T–U-V–W-X-Y-Z

A

Antlers
Released: 2021
Director: Scott Cooper
Synopsis: When a teacher notices one of her students may be suffering (physically and mentally) at home, she takes matters into her own hands, and eventually the hands of the local sheriff and police force. Unbeknownst to those looking out for the boy, his family have recently suffered a malignant curse that the boy desperately tries to keep under wraps
Verdict: A decent scary movie for those with a weaker constitution for horror, but for those who enjoy being SCARED, this one could still be worth a watch if only for the themes and storyline. Jeremy T. Thomas does a really good job for such a young actor too, reminiscent of a (super) young Thomas Brodie-Sangster. 3/5
Read the Tiny Tapes Antlers review.

B

Best Wishes to All (Japanese: みなに幸あれ)
Released: 2022
Director: Yûta Shimots
Synopsis: A young woman visits her grandparents in a rural town, and what she discovers at their house opens up a world of terror.
Verdict: An interesting look at how happiness sometimes requires the suffering of others, balanced well with body horror and the horror of waking up to the real world. 4/5
Read the Tiny Tapes Best Wishes to All review.

The Blair Witch Project
Released: 1999
Directors: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez
Synopsis: A group of student filmmakers embark on the creation of a documentary film about a myth known as the Blair Witch, and upon their eventual disappearance, the footage they shot is found and compiled in a bid to find out exactly what they found and what happened to them.
Verdict: A groundbreaking horror that very much revived the ‘hand-held’ style of filming and storytelling, It continues to terrify audiences, with its lack of score, frightening atmosphere and masterful shocks and scares. Many have attempted to do justice to the found-footage framework, but not so well as the OG. 4/5

C

The Curse of La Llorona
Released: 2019
Director: Michael Chaves
Synopsis: In 1973 Los Angeles, caseworker and mother Anna (Linda Cardellini) is pulled into the case of two truant and potentially abused boys. After a disaster befalls the boys, their mother curses Anna, and the lives of Anna’s own children are in danger of falling victim to La Llorona.
Verdict: This is one film that takes all the stereotypical tropes and cliches of horror filmmaking and throws them into one over-the-top yet bland film. Some scenes are under utilised while others are over-done and way longer than they should be. Ok for a basic scare, but not particularly thrilling. 2/5

E

Exhuma (Korean: 파묘)
Released: 2024
Director: Jang Jae-hyn
Synopsis: Shaman Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) and her protégé Bong-gil (Lee Do-hyun) team up with Feng shui master Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik) and mortician Yong-geun (Yoo Hae-jin) to rid a family of an ancestor’s murderous spirit.
Verdict: This film not only features Decent creeps with an interesting plot that involves much of Korea’s turbulent history and incorporates traditional shamanistic rituals. Practical effects are deftly used to keep things as realistically frightening as possible, and the performances are top-notch. 4/5
Read the Tiny Tapes Exhuma review.

G

Gretel & Hansel
Released: 2020
Director: Osgood Perkins
Synopsis: Two young siblings are cast out by their mother and left to fend for themselves in the woods when they take refuge in the house of a strange old woman.
Verdict: It’s certainly a fresh take on the tale, adding in more fantastical elements to turn into a darker fairy tale than it already was, however the mix of accents is a little jarring, and the pacing slows too often for it to remain consistently interesting. 3/5
Read the Tiny Tapes Gretel & Hansel review.

H

Hereditary
Released: 2018
Director: Ari Aster
Synopsis: Annie (Toni Collette) reveals her tense relationship with her mysterious mother, and she worries about her daughter, who spends a lot of time alone, observing and drawing. When her son is invited to a party, Annie insists his sister accompany him, and things take a serious turn, causing Annie to dive into a perceived madness that scares her family.
Verdict: Aster’s ability to create tension in this story is, frankly, second to none. A particular incident occurs and it’s generally a tension-creating cliché, but it builds well from one genuine, understated view. If there is one downside to the story, however, it’s that it isn’t the most original. 4/5
Read the full Hereditary review.

Huesera: The Bone Woman (Spanish: Huesera)
Released: 2022
Director: Michelle Garza Cervera
Synopsis: Excited at the prospect of becoming a mother, Valeria (Natalia Solián) soon finds her pregnancy threatened by dark forces.
Verdict: With themes of women’s mental health and the pressure to have children, a subplot of traditional medicines and healing and subtle yet effective horror, this is a solid all-rounder that should probably be avoided by new/expectant mothers. 4/5
Read the TIny Tapes Huesera: The Bone Woman review.

I

Incantation (Chinese: 咒 )
Released: 2022
Director: Kevin Ko
Synopsis: A woman visits her boyfriend’s family and disturbs a ritual, cursing her and her unborn daughter. After a few years and seeking some psychiatric help, she is reunited with her daughter, only for things to take another turn for the worse.
Verdict: In this film, the found footage techniqueis executed very well with some great visual effects and framing. It is a genuinely creepy movie that also has a pretty scary realistic vibe to it, particularly thanks to the narrator who bookends the story with some terrifying revelations. If you enjoy the likes of The Blair Witch Project and REC, this will certainly be right up your Elm Street. 4/5
Read the Tiny Tapes Incantation review.

K

Krampus
Released: 2015
Director: Michael Dougherty
Synopsis: When Max’s (Emjay Anthony) dysfunctional family get together for Christmas, he quickly becomes disillusioned with the holiday, in spite of his belief in Santa Claus. As a result, he unknowingly awakens the Krampus, demonic entity that appears to punish those who lose their belief in Christmas.
Verdict: It’s always a little odd when another country’s legends end up as American films. The Northern European/Alpine legend of the Krampus is scary yet fun one, and although this film does go to great lengths to keep things creepy and shocking, it does infuse much of that American humour and tropes that take away from the creepiness. Not a bad film, just very Americanised. 3/5

M

The Medium (Thai: ร่างทรง)
Released: 2021
Director: Banjong Pisanthanakun
Synopsis: When the niece of a shaman in the Isan region of Thailand becomes possessed, the shaman has to do everything within her (questionable) power to help her niece while also dealing with some family issues that come to the fore when the girl becomes increasingly violent.
Verdict: A very well-paced found-footage style film, building up to the possession by slowly increasing the girl’s strange behaviour and planting good foreshadowing. The frights are mostly frightening indeed, though interspersed with the odd gratuitous jump-scare here and there, and the performances are excellent and immersive. 4/5
Read the Tiny Tapes The Medium review.

Midsommar
Released: 2019
Director: Ari Aster
Synopsis: College student Dani (Florence Pugh) lives a chaotic life, and she relies a lot on her boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) despite their dissolving relationship. Christian invites Dani to a commune in Sweden where they experience a midsummer celebration that occurs once every ninety years. As they come to discover, not all is as innocent and quaint as it first appears.
Verdict: For the horror enthusiasts, lovers of an abstract plot and/or visuals, films like this keep things fresh and takes horror, particularly the psychological kind, to new levels. For the casual horror viewer, this one may seem a little odd in places, but it’ll have enough shock factor to keep all audiences on their toes. 4/5
Read the full Midsommar review.

N

Noroi: The Curse (Japanese: ノロイ)
Released: 2005
Director: Kōji Shiraishi
Synopsis: A documentary filmmaker investigates an ancient curse that is far darker and widespread than he realises.
Verdict: An early example of the found footage technique being used to create some intense and realistic horror and doing it effectively. With an interesting plot that keeps you hooked, you’re sure to be creeped out, though the occasional use of a non-diegetic soundtrack takes viewers out of the immersion at times and the time between creepy events is sometimes stretched. 3.5/5

Nosferatu
Released: 2024
Director: Robert Eggers
Synopsis: Soon after their wedding, Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) leaves his wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) alone in Germany to journey east to Transylvania. There, he meets the decrepit Count Orlok (Skarsgård). When Thomas returns, he has become aware of the dark nature of Count Orlok, and he is disturbed to find his wife is already aware of the Count’s desires and his thirst for blood.
Verdict: Whether you want to be shocked, entertained or disgusted, this version of Nosferatu is likely to satiate many kinds of appetites. Eggers has managed to put his own unique stamp on this enduring legacy, with stunning cinematography, an electrifying and repulsive atmosphere, and some fantastic performances. 4/5
Read the full Nosferatu review.

P

Pumpkinhead
Released: 1988
Director: Stan Winston
Synopsis: When a group of teenagers accidentally fatally injure a young boy, his widowed father Ed (Lance Henrickson) takes his body to a witch. She cannot bring him back, but she offers Ed revenge, which comes in the form of a demonic creature known locally as ‘Pumpkinhead’.
Verdict: An underrated classic of 80’s B-movie horror that makes great use of animatronics and VFX, even if the story is somewhat lacking and the characters a little weak, the monster more than makes up for much of it. 3/5
Read the Tiny Tapes Pumpkinhead review.

R

The Ritual
Released: 2017
Director: David Bruckner
Synopsis: Four university friends reunite for a hiking trip in Sweden. As they make their way along the trail, they encounter strange objects and occurrences, with the trip eventually turning deadly as they discover the existence of an evil spirit on their trail.
Verdict: Like most folk horrors, The Ritual plays on local myths and legends to induce fear and does a pretty good job of it. The dark atmosphere and remote location of the setting lends a feeling of isolation, and the fractuous relationships between the characters only builds on the tension. 4/5

S

Sinners
Released: 2025
Director: Ryan Coogler
Synopsis: In Mississipi 1932, twins Smoke and Stack Moore (Michael B. Jordan) return to their hometown to open up a bar, but their opening night turns out to be anything but grand.
Verdict: Coogler shows a great understanding of horror and how to blend it with real themes, much like his contemporary Jordan Peele. One may even call Sinners a Peaky-Blinders-meets-From-Dusk-Till-Dawn-via-Stephen-King-and-the-Jim-Crow-era masterpiece, and that’s nothing to be sniffed at. 4.5/5
Read the full Sinners review.

Sleepy Hollow
Released: 1999
Director: Tim Burton
Synopsis: Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp), a rather green and weakly constituted detective, is sent to investigate grisly murders in the small town of Sleepy Hollow, a town plagued by the folk tale of the Headless Horseman. The townspeople are quick to blame each other, while others are convinced it is the Horseman. It is up to Ichabod to get to figure out why people are being decapitated.
Verdict: Based on the classic tale by Irving Washington, Sleepy Hollow brings to life what is otherwise a fairly dreary tale when read. Burton injects his expertly gothic magic into making this film a fun yet shocking horror that plays on physical and psychological fear. 4/5

Starve Acre
Released: 2023
Director: Daniel Daniel Kokotajlo
Synopsis: Archaeologist Richard (Smith) and his wife Jules (Clark) live a quiet life on a farm left to Richard after the passing of his abusive father. Soon, Richard and Jules suffer the unimaginable in the loss of their son, and events from Richard’s childhood begin to come up again as they navigate their grief and things turn a little more supernatural.
Verdict: Starve Acre goes beyond the physical to the mental strain on Richard and Jules and the effect it has on their relationship to create something harrowing and, frankly, tragic in more ways than one. It’s at once familiar and bizarre, throwing in odd situations amidst a situation that is sadly familiar to many. 4/5
Read the Tiny Tapes Starve Acre review.

The Surrender
Released: 2025
Director: Julia Max
Synopsis: Megan (Colby Minifie) assists her mother Barbara (Kate Burton) as Megan’s father succumbs to his illness. However, Barbara is not quite ready to let her husband go, and she pulls Megan into an occult ritual to try to bring him back.
Verdict: Although it’s got a good creepy aspect to it, its the overarching story between the mother and daughter that give the film its plausibility. 3/5
Read the Tiny Tapes The Surrender review.

W

The Wailing (Korean: 곡성 )
Released: 2016
Director: Na Hong-jin
Synopsis: When apparently possessed people start attacking and killing each other, police officer Jong-goo (Kwak Do-won) investigates after his own daughter becomes one of the possessed. Enlisting the help of a deacon, Jong-goo comes to find that there are supernatural elements to the people who have gone mad, and he must hurry to find the source before more people die.
Verdict: A fantastic creepy horror that mixes a modern setting with a folkloric legend to create a chilling story. It keeps a good pace, mixes horror sub-genres quite cleverly and manages to obtain a level of depth with the characters that’s not often done well in the horror genre. 4/5

The Watchers (UK: The Watched)
Released: 2024
Director: Ishana Night Shyamalan
Synopsis: Mina (Dakota Fanning), a fairly troubled American woman living in Ireland, finds herself trapped in the woods with three other people. They are unable to leave due to the Watchers, unknown entities that are unable to come out in the daylight and do not let anyone leave the woods once they are lost within.
Verdict: Shyamalan’s story is predictable right down to its twist, and is overall quite monotonous. The antagonists are fairly interesting but not at all used to their full potential. Mina’s backstory doesn’t really mesh with the situation she finds herself in, and many of the performances lack any real heft. 2.5/5
Read the Tiny Tapes The Watchers review.

The Wicker Man
Released: 1973
Director: Robin Hardy
Synopsis: When a young girl goes missing on a remote Scottish island, Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) goes to investigate. As a devout Christian, Neil is shocked at the pagan ways of the people of the island. As Neil begins to deepen his investigation, the people become more and more opposed to his presence, eventually taking action against Neil.
Verdict: As bizarre as its reputation suggest, the original Wicker Man begins as a standard detective story that starts to go sideways and verge on insanity. It’s an interesting look at how our ancestors used to operate with their belief systems, and how terrifying a thought it is that anyone would revert to the savage ways of old. 3/5

The Wicker Man
Released: 2006
Director: Neil LaBute
Synopsis: When his ex-fiancée informs him that their daughter has gone missing, police office Edward Malus (Nicolas Cage) heads to an island off the coast of Washington that is inhabited by neo-pagans. As Edward continues his search for his daughter, he discovers things about the island and its inhabitants, who are almost all female, and in doing so puts his own life, and possibly his daughter’s, in danger.
Verdict: Coming soon

The VVitch
Released: 2015
Director: Robert Eggers
Synopsis: In 1630s New England, a settler family are banished from their community due to a disagreement. The family build their own farm, however there are dark and mysterious forces that appear to plague them, forces that may be eminating from the forest near their farm.
Verdict: They don’t come much more folk-horror than films such as this. With the New England area of the US being quite famed for its folk tales and horror lore, stories that are set in the time of pilgrims are ripe with fearful stories that are grounded in supernatural folklore, making them all the more entertaining in a scary way. This film does a great job of digging into the tale while providing enough psychological turmoil to make it a decently creepy tale. 4/5

Y

You Won’t Be Alone (Macedonian: Нема да бидеш сама)
Released: 2022
Director: Goran Stolevski
Synopsis: In the 19th century, a baby has her voice taken by a witch, and when she is older, she is kidnapped and turned into a witch herself. Eventually, she wonders what it is like to be human, and tries to find a way to become human once again.
Verdict: A very interesting story that is told in a unique way through the inner narration of a mute woman. The way in which one becomes a witch within the story is fascinating, as is the way the mute, childlike woman navigates her way back into a community. On top of this, the commentary on the way women are treated (both in the past and the present) is presented in such a clear way that you may not help but empathise with the witches. 4/5