HOKUM is Not Hokum

HOKUM (4K + Blu-ray)

2026 / 107 min

NEON

Review by Mr. Bonnie and Princess Pepper (transcribed by D.M. Anderson)🙀

After a dinner of Fancy Feast and a quick trip to the litter box, Princess Pepper and Mr. Bonnie take their usual spots on the sofa to review the new 4K/Blu-ray release of the horror hit, Hokum. 

PRINCESS PEPPER (rolls eyes): Oh…joy. Yet another haunted house movie. 

MR. BONNIE (reading the synopsis): Actually, it’s a haunted hotel this time.

PRINCESS PEPPER: You mean like The Shining, 1408 and God knows how many others? Didn’t these things stop being scary a long time ago?

MR. BONNIE: It depends on who's behind the camera, doesn’t it? This one is written and directed by Damian McCarthy, who did Oddity. That one was pretty good.

PRINCESS PEPPER (shrugs): It was okay…nothing to meow home about. Okay, let’s fire it up. Here’s hoping Hokum isn’t a bunch of hokum…

Mr. Bonnie hits play, The film opens with alcoholic writer Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) struggling to finish his latest novel. He also appears to be haunted by a mysterious dark figure lurking nearby. Then after spotting the urns of his parents, he decides to fly to Ireland to the rustic old inn where they had their honeymoon, planning to spread their ashes in the nearby forest.

PRINCESS PEPPER: Okay, I’ll concede I’m a bit intrigued. I like how the movie opens with a scene from the book Ohm’s trying to finish. Kinda brutal…with the book's character getting ready to kill a kid.

MR. BONNIE: Maybe…it’s not clear if that conquistador actually went through with it. 

PRINCESS PEPPER: I like ambiguity in a horror movie, rather than being spoonfed everything. Keeps things interesting. I wonder what this whole scene has to do with Ohm heading to Ireland.

MR. BONNIE: Maybe it’s to establish that Ohm is haunted, as well. Perhaps by something from his past.

PRINCESS PEPPER: Well, it would certainly explain why he’s a surly, unlikeable douchebag, treating the innkeepers like shit. And they certainly picked the right actor. Adam Scott has always been good at playing douchebags. 

During his first night at the Bilberry Woods Hotel, Ohm hears stories from the staff, including friendly bartender Fiona (Florence Odesh), that the honeymoon suite is haunted, which is why nobody’s allowed to enter. Naturally, Ohm is skeptical.

PRINCESS PEPPER: But of course it is…and of course he is.

MR. BONNIE (hissing): Quiet, you!

That night, Ohm tries to hang himself, but is saved by Fiona. After his recovery in the hospital, he returns to the inn as it’s ready to close for the season, only to learn that Fiona has since gone missing. Everyone, including the police, suspect a homeless hermit named Jerry (David Wilmot) is behind her disappearance. Ohm becomes somewhat obsessed with finding out what happened to Fiona, going so far as to seek out Jerry, who lives in a van in the woods. Jerry suspects Fiona is still in the hotel…more specifically, the honeymoon suite. Once the hotel is empty, the two venture inside to look for her. However, Jerry is captured by Fergal the groundkeeper, who plans to haul the man to jail. Ohm is now alone in the hotel.

PRINCESS PEPPER: This is pretty interesting so far…and the hotel setting is actually kinda creepy.

MR. BONNIE: I’m even starting to like Ohm a little bit. He seems genuinely concerned about Fiona.

PRINCESS PEPPER: And lemme guess…he’s gonna go up to the honeymoon suite by himself. 

MR. BONNIE: Of course he is. Otherwise the movie would be over.

Ohm was certain he booked a bigger room.

Ohm does indeed make his way to the honeymoon suite, which has become dusty and dilapidated from years of neglect. He soon falls asleep, at which time the narrative serves up a look at Ohm’s childhood trauma through a dream sequence. Later, he’s startled by the arrival of the desk clerk, Mal (Peter Coonan). When Ohm discovers Fiona’s dead body stuffed into a dumbwaiter, Mal locks him in the room. It’s at this point that Ohm becomes increasingly terrorized by a horrifying entity established as a witch, who appears aware of Ohm’s past. This comprises the bulk of the film’s middle act.

PRINCESS PEPPER: I’m getting definite 1408 vibes here, but in a good, creepy way. 

MR. BONNIE (chuckles): Imagine if Samuel L. Jackson was in this one, too. 

PRINCESS PEPPER: And imagine him with an Irish accent…Aye be sick ‘o these mootherfookin’ ghoosts en this mootherfookin’ rewm!

MR. BONNIE: Those revelations about Ohm’s past…no wonder he’s so screwed up. As for the rabbit man on the TV…he kinda freaks me out.

PRINCESS PEPPER: I think he’s a donkey man.

MR. BONNIE: Either way, the guy is nightmare fuel.

PRINCESS PEPPER: I, for one, was surprised by Mal. What a bastard! Why the hell would he do that?

The conflict involving Ohm, Jerry (who managed to escape and return), Mal and the witch eventually culminates in a chilling, tension-filled climax. In the interest of avoiding spoilers and preserving certain plot revelations, some of Pepper and Mr. Bonnie’s comments have been redacted.

PRINCESS PEPPER: Man, I can believe Mal murdered Fiona just because she got pregnant. Still, it makes him one hell of a hateful villain. He sure got what was coming to him.

MR. BONNIE: Yeah, and Ohm’s character arc was definitely engaging. You don’t often see that in a horror movie. I also appreciate how McCarthy uses atmosphere and a deliberate pace to slowly build dread, rather than bombard you with cheap jump scares.

PRINCESS PEPPER: Now that I think about it, a lot of the narrative was kind of unpredictable, especially the part where I don’t know what to write here. Then there’s that one shocking reveal that do be go cke cjfrfc. I didn’t see that coming. And what Ohm is forced to endure, like this and that and this and that, makes the denouement especially iesonant. By the end, he’s a changed man in the djsdjdj.

MR. BONNIE: Yeah, it’s a great ending that gives the prologue context in a clever, almost poetic way, which certainly reflects the protagonists emotional growth.

The end credits roll…

PRINCESS PEPPER: I was skeptical at first, but Hokum is a pretty damn good horror movie, maybe even better that 1408. 

MR. BONNIE: Like I said before, in the right hands, even the hoary ol’ trapped-in-a-haunted house theme still has some life in it. 

PRINCESS PEPPER: Haunted hotel, Bonnie. Haunted hotel.

MR. BONNIE: Right. Now let’s take a look at those bonus features. I’m dying to learn more about Jack the Donkey. (see below)

PRINCESS PEPPER: You go ahead, Bonnie. I’m still trying to unsee that guy.

EXTRA KIBBLES:

4K & BLU-RAY COPIES

FEATURETTES - The Making of Hokum features cast/crew interviews and behind the scenes footage; Jack the Donkey, A Family Favorite is raw footage of the film’s freakiest character  (who caused a few sleepless nights for Princess Pepper).

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By writer-director Damian McCarthy.

TRAILERS

Not a KEEPER (4K)

KEEPER (4K UHD)

2025 / 99 min

Neon/Decal Releasing

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

As horror directors go, Osgood Perkins has been worth paying attention to, even if he doesn’t always hit it out of the park. I’ve also noticed a couple of common threads among his films. One, he generally favors slow-burning, atmospheric horror (his adaptation of Stephen King’s The Monkey being an amusing exception). And two, his best ones tend to have screenplays he had a hand in writing.

He didn’t write Keeper, and while it’s plenty stylish and full of creepy, surreal imagery, I can’t help but wonder if Perkins felt much ownership with this one…at least in terms of the story. 

To celebrate a year together, Malcolm (Rossi Sutherland) and Liz (Tatiana Maslany) go to his remote cabin for the weekend. Well, not completely remote…Malcom’s obnoxious cousin, Darren (Kett Turton), lives next door. More ominously, some kind of malevolent presence dwells in the forest, and eventually the cabin, with a particular interest in Liz. Concurrently, Liz begins experiencing dreams and/or hallucinations, but what they actually mean - as well as the nature of the spirit? demon? monster? - is revealed gradually…maybe too gradually. 

"Damn auto-correct."

The film does a good job setting up its premise, wisely choosing to hook the audience with intriguing ambiguity rather than spoonfeed them with exposition and cheap jump scares. But despite some effective visual moments, the overly deliberate pace and repetitiveness eventually work against it. As Liz experiences one weird thing after another, there reaches a point where we wish the narrative would just get on with it. When it finally does, the revelations are kind of underwhelming.

A strong protagonist helps a bit. Liz is likable, sympathetic and well played by Maslany. Conversely, however, both Malcolm and Darren are clumsily conceived. Without giving too much away, how they ultimately figure into the climax is hampered by heavy-handed foreshadowing. One of them actually disappears from the story altogether with no real explanation. And personally speaking, I found Sutherland’s performance kind of irritating.

I dunno…after Perkins’ one-two punch of Longlegs and The Monkey, maybe my expectations were too high, but I found this one disappointing. Technically well made, Keeper’s trippy aesthetic keeps things interesting for awhile, but it's eventually undone by a slow pace and a story that runs out of gas too soon.

EXTRA KIBBLES

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director Osgood Perkins

TRAILER & TEASER

SINNERS: Blues, Booze & Bloodsuckers

SINNERS (Blu-ray)

2025 / 137 min

Warner Bros

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Normally, I don’t really care about how good or bad a movie does at the box office. However, I was truly rooting for Sinners to become a blockbuster. Now that it is one, maybe Hollywood will get the hint that not every big-budget film needs to have superheroes, be a remake or have a Roman numeral in the title. 

Better yet, it’s a horror film, one that breathes new life into a subgenre that ceased being scary a long time ago. Sinners may ostensibly be a vampire film, but there’s so much more going on - both visually and thematically - that it transcends such a label. Part horror, part musical, part historical drama, the movie is thrilling, sexy, bloody, atmospheric and sometimes surprisingly heart-rending. 

The premise is certainly original. Taking place in the deep south in 1932, the Smokestack Twins (both played by Michael B. Jordan) are a couple of enterprising gangsters who return home from Chicago to open a juke joint. What makes Sinners almost immediately engaging is the amount screen time spent establishing these two characters, as well as most of the supporting ones. The most significant of them is their impressionable cousin, Sammie, an budding blues guitarist they recruit to play that night. At the same time, the film immerses the viewer in the setting, culture and music of the era.

In fact, it’s a full 45 minutes before any actual horror creeps into the narrative, when a seemingly congenial Irishman, Remmick, turns out to be a vampire who attacks a couple of Klan members. By the time the joint opens for a raucous opening night party, we’re fully invested in all of these characters and their relationships. The juke joint sequences feature terrific musical numbers, highlighted by a surreal, visually jawdropping montage depicting the evolution of black music - from past to future - in a single extended shot. But because we’ve been made aware of Remmick’s presence, a growing sense of dread underscores the celebration.

Stack gets the cool hat.

The real horror begins when Remmick and recently-turned victims set their sights on those inside the joint, with a particular interest in Sammie (it’s suggested his music may have actually summoned Remmick). What I like about the film’s depiction of vampires is they aren’t complete monsters. Remmick’s Irish cultural leanings are almost as charming they are unnerving (presented through a musical number where his growing legion of bloodsuckers reveal a shared mind).

Jordan is outstanding in a dual role, giving each brother distinct personalities (yet both are tough and intimidating), while Wunmi Mosaku also stands out as Smoke’s love interest and voodoo expert. But really, the entire cast is great. Writer-director Ryan Coogler has put together an smart, tension-filled and emotionally resonant folk horror film that comes to an unexpected conclusion (with a wonderful post-credits scene). If not one of the best horror movies of the last ten years, it’s certainly the best vampire movie.

Though best experienced on the big screen, Sinners looks and sounds outstanding on Blu-ray. The transfer also includes sequences that are presented in a different aspect ratio than the theatrical version, which was apparently Coogler's intention all along for the home video release.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Dancing with the Devil: The Making of Sinners is an excellent 30-minute doc featuring writer-director Ryan Coogler and some of the cast; Blues in the Night: The Music of Sinners covers both the score and musical set-pieces; Thicker Than Blood: Becoming the Smokestack Twins shows how special effects and costuming allowed Jordan to play both roles; Wages of Sin: The Creature FX of Sinners goes into the vampire and gore effects; Spirits in the Deep South is a short doc about history of Hoodoo in the region where the movie is set..

DELETED SCENES - Almost 20 minutes’ worth.

DIGITAL COPY

ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS, VOLUME TWO Is A Folk Horror Feast

ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS: A COMPENDIUM OF FOLK HORROR, VOLUME TWO

(Blu-ray)

1952-2024 / 2113 min (24 movies)

FROM SEVERIN FILMS

Review by Mr. Paws😻

When this set arrived, my wife asked me what folk horror was, and I couldn’t really provide a concrete definition. I mean, I generally know it when I see it, but like film noir, what constitutes folk horror is fairly open ended. So instead, I offered the recent Midsommar as an example, which was enough convince the missus that she would not be joining me for this particular review. 

Too bad, really, because some of the titles included in this set, such as The Ninth Heart and the gorgeously grotesque November, could just as easily be considered dark fantasy, which she has enjoyed on occasion (okay, probably not November, which is really, really “out there”). 

In cinematic terms, when & where folk horror actually started is equally murky. Because of this, you’re likely to find conflicting views on what films were among the first in the genre. However, All the Haunts Be Ours Volume Two, Severin Films’ follow-up to their first massive boxed set, serves up the memorably haunting Finnish film, The White Reindeer, which was first released in 1952. 

Whether or not it actually was the first folk horror film doesn’t matter. What does matter is that it reflects another exhaustive effort by Severin to not-only acquire and remaster a variety of films from around the world, a couple of ‘em are so obscure that they’re scanned from a single known print (such as Argentina’s Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf and USA’s Who Fears the Devil).

Not having seen or reviewed Volume One, I cannot draw comparisons regarding the film selection, but will say that Volume Two includes what’s easily the best bonus feature of any release this year: All the Haunts Be Ours: A Folk Horror Storybook is a beautifully bound & illustrated 252-page hardcover collection of 12 original folk horror stories by various notable authors, including Kim Newman, Ramsey Campbell, Eden Royce and Sarah Gailey, among others. 

A Little Severin Book!

That’s not the only thing new, either. Volume II kicks-off with To Fire You Come At Last, a 45-minute horror film produced by Severin Films itself (and not half bad!). Additionally, Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic is a morbidly fascinating new documentary chronicling the career (and strange life) of Indonesian scream queen Suzzanna Martha Frederika van Osch. Sharing that disc is one of her biggest, best-known films, Sundelbolong, a ghostly and violent rape-revenge tale.

Altogether, there are 24 films spread out over 13 discs. Like any collection, they vary in quality and one may question whether or not a few of them constitute folk horror (if you subscribe to a concrete definition). Still, this is a huge collection of titles…some that viewers might be familiar with, others I’m willing to wager few have ever seen, much less heard of. The City of the Dead and Psychomania are probably the best-known English language titles, the former being an atmospheric little gem featuring Christopher Lee. Conversely, Edge of the Knife is an unusual and earthy Haida-language film (which is hardly spoken anywhere save for a small part of Canada).

And in between, the films vary in tone, pace, aesthetic and general interest. For example, the Polish film, Demon, is an often surprisingly-funny tale of possession filled with odd, shitfaced characters. Britain’s Born of Fire is surreal and apocalyptic, while the USA’s Blood Tea and Red String is a strange stop-motion animated fantasy. Czechoslovakian director Juraj Herz is represented twice, the aforementioned November and Beauty and the Beast, which offers a dark & grimy take (but still somewhat romantic) on the oft-told story. Hailing from Wales, From the Old Earth may be short (and a little clumsy), but that ancient Celtic head a character digs out of his garden is creepy as hell. 

Other titles include Spain’s Akelarre, Japan’s kitty-fied classic, Bakeneko, USA’s The Enchanted, Korea’s Io Island, France’s Litan, Thailand’s Nang Nak, The Phillipines’ The Rites of May and Saudi Arabia’s Scales (this writer’s first Saudi film!). Not all of them are particularly good, and more-than-a-few might be an acquired taste, but for folk horror fans, there’s a ton to discover. The films also feature pretty excellent transfers, most mastered in either 2K or 4K. 

The features are only part of the journey. There are also 21 short films spread throughout the set, generally paired with titles that either feature the same director, similar subject matter or hail from the same countries. In the case of Blood on the Stars, it’s actually longer than the main feature, From the Old Earth. Additionally, there are plenty of bonus features for every film, from audio commentaries to featurettes to interviews, both new and archival (outlined below). 

It’s all packaged in a sturdy box with terrific artwork inside and out (though I’m not crazy about the disc sleeves). Like Volume One, All the Haunts Be Ours Volume Two isn’t for everyone, but for folk horror lovers who've always defined the genre by the likes of The Wicker Man and Midsommar, it's a treasure trove of obscurities. In terms of quantity, comprehensiveness and presentation, this is the best boxed set of the year.

EXTRA KIBBLES 

ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS: A FOLK HORROR STORYBOOK - “A Little Severin Book!”

SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKLET - Detailed summaries, bonus features info/listings and technical specs for all 24 films, as well as stills and vintage promotional artwork.

DISC FEATURES (Listed in the order they appear over 13 discs)

TO FIRE YOU COME AT LAST: Audio Commentary by director Sean Hogan, producers Paul Goodwin & Nicholas Harwood; Featurette - On the Lych Way; Trailer; Short Films - We Always Find Ourselves at Sea (with optional commentary) and Our Selves Unknown.

PSYCHOMANIA: Introduction by Chris Alexander; Audio Commentary by Maries J. Perez Cuervo; Return of the Living Dead -  Interviews with some of the actors; The Sound of Psychomania - Interview with composer John Cameron; Riding Free - Interview with singer Harvey Andrews; Trailer.

THE ENCHANTED: 2 Audio Commentaries - 1) By director Carter Lord & camera assistant Richard Grange; 2) By authors Chesya Burke & Sheree Renee Thomas; A Magical Place - Interview with composer Phil Sawyer; Hole in the Wall - character notes by screenwriter Charme Porter; Trailer; Short Film - Swimmer.

WHO FEARS THE DEVIL: Audio Commentary by historian Amanda Reyes; Crumble Will the Feet of Clay - Interview with producer Barney Rosenzweig; Silver Strings - Interview with actor/musician Hedges Capers; Featurettes - Manly of the Mountains with author David Drake, Occult Appalachia with historian Mitch Horowitz; Alternate Opening - With alternate title, The Legend of Hillbilly John (intro by actor Severn Darden; Trailer.

THE WHITE REINDEER: The Projection Booth - Episode from the program focusing of The White Reindeer; Short Films - A Witch Drum, The Nightside of the Sky and With the Reindeer.

EDGE OF THE KNIFE: Audio Commentary by directors Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown; Featurette - Retake: Making the First Haida-Language Feature Film; Short Films - Haida Carver and Nalujuk Night.

BORN OF FIRE: Igniting the Fire - Interview with director Jamil Dehlavi; The Silent One Speaks - Interview with actor Nabil Shaban; Between the Sacred and the Profane - Lecture by Dr. Ali Nobil Ahmad; The Djinn Revisited - The djinn legend in film is discussed by director Dalia Al Kury; Trailer; Short Films - Towers of Silence and QÃF.

IO ISLAND: Audio Commentary by historian Arie Schudson; Shaman’s Eyes - Featurette on shamanism in Korean films; Short Film - The Present (animated).

SCALES: Telling Our Stories - A discussion with director Shahad Ameen and producer Rula Nasser; Trailer; Short Film - Kindil.

BAKENEKO: A VENGEFUL SPIRIT: Audio Commentary by author Jasper Sharp; Featurette - Scratched: A History of the Japanese Ghost Cat; The Vampire Cat - A story read by Tomoko Komura; Trailer; Short Film: Man-Eater Mountain.

NANG NAK: Audio Commentary by Mattie Do (a director) and scholar Katarzyna Ancuta; Love and Impermanence - Interview with director Nonzee Nimibutr; Trailer.

SUNDELBOLONG: Hantu Retribution: Female Ghosts of the Malay Archipelago - Interviews with filmmaker Katrina Irawati Graham and author Dr. Rosiland Galt; Short film - White Song.

SUZZANNA: THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC: A Conversation with Director/Co-Producer David Gregory and Co-Producer Ekky Imanjaya; Trailer.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Audio Commentary by historian Michael Brooke; Archival Interviews - With director Juraj Herz, actors Vlastimil Harapes & Zdena Studenkova; Short Film - Frantisek Hrubin.

THE NINTH HEART: Audio Commentary by author Kat Ellinger; Featurettes - The Uncanny Valley of the Dolls: The History and Liminality of Dolls, Puppets and Mannequins; The Curious Case of Juraj Herz and the Svankmajers.

DEMON: Introduction by Agnieszka Jezyk; Audio Commentary by historian Daniel Bird & critic Manuala Lazic; Video Essay - In the Shadow of the Dybbuk; Trailer; Short Film - Dybbuk.

NOVEMBER: Video Essay - The Supernatural Lore of November; Featurette - Kratt Test Footage; Trailer; Short Films - Boundary (WTF???), Journey Through Setomaa (from 1913, it's the oldest film in the entire collection); Midvinterblot.

LITAN: Audio Commentary by historian Frank Lafund; Featurette - Un Tournage Litn; TV Episode of Temps X - Jean-Pierre Mocky, Un Drole D’Oisseau.

BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING: Introduction by director Christiane Cegavske; 2021 Indie Scream Online Film Festival Q&A - Featuring director Christiane Cegavske; Stills & Illustrations; 2 Trailers (including one for the director’s current work-in-progress).

NAZARENO CRUZ AND THE WOLF: Audio Commentary by filmmakers Garcia Bogliano and Nicanor Loreti; Short Film - Love from Mother Only (with optional commentary).

AKELARRE: Individual Interviews with director Pedro Olea, actors Silvia Munt and Inaki Miramon; Featurette - Invoking The Akelarre.

FROM THE OLD EARTH: Introduction by musician Gruff Rhys; Featurettes - Getting A Head in North Wales; From the Old Earth By the Book; A Sword in the Battle of Language; Short Films - Blood on the Stars, which is actually longer than the main feature (includes introduction by Gruff Rhys), and The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras.

THE CITY OF THE DEAD: Introduction by author Kay Lynch; 4 Audio Commentaries - 1) By historians Kim Newman & Barry Forshaw, 2) By historian Jonathan Rigby, 3) By the late, great Christopher Lee, 4) By director John Llewellyn Moxey; Featurette - Sir Christopher Lee Remebers The City of the Dead; Individual Archival Interviews with director John Llewellyn Moxey and actress Venetia Stevenson; Video Essay - Burn, Witch, Burn!: A Tribute to John Llewellyn Moxey; Trailer.

THE RITES OF MAY: Audio Commentary by historian Andrew Leavold; Featurette - Portrayal of Guilt, featuring film scholar Frances N. Sangil; Short Film - Itim: An Exploration of Cinema, which is actually a Rites of May documentary.