Kim Newman

The posters — inspired parodies of recent horror films — are wittier than the film, suggesting that maybe next time get those ad creatives into the writers’ room. Not your favourite Scary Movie.

Hokum isn’t just hokum. On top of an affecting personal quest for a non-despairing ending, it delivers a full evening of scares, chills, wicked jokes and haunted escape-room hijinks.

A clever, funny, suspenseful, interestingly cynical science-fiction horror movie with a great collection of monsters — courtesy of make-up geniuses Dave and Lou Elsey — and a cast whose enthusiasm is, appropriately, infectious.

Okay, so it’s Cujo with a chimp and a pool instead of a dog and a car – but Primate delivers good, gruesome business and has a sense of fun. Solid horror hokum.

Just the right recipe for a seasonal horror cocktail — gruesome kills, proper suspense, sly wit, likeable leads and a dose of just deserts for very, very bad boys and girls.

An unashamed exploitation movie with teeth, this has all the dinosaur devilry and gung-ho soldiering you could want. There’s even a sweet Tyrannosaur love story in the mix.

Affleck and Bernthal make a funny, if morally dubious, double act, as Christian’s autism lets sociopathic hit man Brax think of himself as the ‘normal’ brother. Best bit: the line-dancing scene.

Managing to go further over-the-top and pushing more offence buttons than you think possible, this is recommended only for the strong of stomach and hard of heart. 

The business of this story in both versions is suspense, and Watkins is very good at ratcheting screws . . . but also springs satisfying reversals and pay-offs.

Capping an unusual trilogy, MaXXXine is an intense woman-fights-back thriller. Mia Goth’s Maxine is what you’d get if the Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster of Taxi Driver were fused in the telepod from The Fly.