Time To Get Obsessed With Michael Johnston

I thought I might spend 2026 feeling more in line with my fellow critics on the horror movies than I did in 2025 -- when I wasn't jiving with movies lik Weapons and Good Boy that my peers were loving -- but my reaction to Obsession, writer-director Curry Barker's extremely well recieved new horror flick out in theaters now, has me second-guessing that instinct. Ciuz I didn't like it! Okay that's a bit harsh -- there are things I do like about it and I do mention them in my review which just dropped over at Pajiba, read it. But generally I think it's not nearly as daring as it believes itself to be -- although one thing I didn't mention there that I will mention here is that the film's leading man is played by that handsome fellow seen above; his name is Michael Johnston and I guess he was on the Teen Wolf series? 

I thought we'd run out of hot guys from that show by now who would force me to once again point out I never watched that show, but here we are. Anyway Johnston is good as the lead and he is very cute and, most importantly, he is also apparently openly gay! We love that for him! And for us! And our imaginations later. (He shows off his bum in the movie and it's one helluva bum y'all.) Anyway I bring up this fact not (just) so I could talk about his bum, but because the fact that casting a gay dude in this role is itself an extra-textual point in the movie's plus column. The movie is working very hard to obliterate the sad boy mindsets of incel straight dudes, and casting a gay guy to play that part is finely subversive stuff. I still think the movie doesn't really succeed with what it's trying to do for reasons I explain in the above-linked review, but it's got stuff going for it! My thoughts are really more mid than they are hateful. And hey that's something. Also something -- Google is telling me Mr. Johnston is partnered with a filmmaker named Anthony Sellitti who you can see below and umm... my goodness.

Plug Her In, Plug Her In

I'm glad that Yellowjackets actor Sophie Thatcher has broken out from that show -- she was immensely watchable even in movies like Heretic and Companion, both of which I personally found extremely underwhelming. I wasn't in the majority with those opinions, most people seemed to love those movies, but they both felt half-baked to me. But not her work in them! She's great. So I'm glad she's the star of the new Nicolas Winding Refn movie, and I am extremely happy about this morning's new news -- she's going to star in the new movie from The Babadook director Jennifer Kent! Okay the thing I am excited about is that Jennifer Kent is making another movie -- it's been EIGHT YEARS since The Nightingale y'all (make that make sense) -- but Sophie can ride that wave. The movie's called The Girl Who Was Plugged In (which yes could've been an alternate title for Companion) and it's based on a 1974 sci-fi novella by writer  James Tiptree, Jr, and... yeah this is very Companion-adjacent sounding through and through:

"The surreal dystopian tale revolves around a woman who loses her soul to technology in an effort to be loved. Thatcher plays disfigured, suicidal young protagonist P Burke who is hired by a mega tech corporation to virtually operate a beautiful but brainless ‘flesh body’ called Delphi, grown in a lab with the sole purpose of influencing the masses and selling products. "

But I have no doubt Kent will make her own thing, and Companion will entirely slough off our brains watching this. And I'd be fine with that! Doesn't feel like a massive loss to me.

HOLY! F*CKING!! HELL!!!

Yes I realize that's the French poster for Ken Russell's The Devils there, but that's the poster I actually own and which hangs on my bedroom wall, so that's the one I'm using to share this incredible news I really wondered whether I'd ever be able to share in my entire life -- this movie, long banned and buried by the studio, has officially gotten a 4K restoration from Warnes Brothers and it will be premiering at Cannes this month. HELL HATH OFFICIALLY FROZEN OVER, Y'ALL. 

ME REACTING TO THIS 'THE DEVILS' NEWS

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— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) May 5, 2026 at 4:10 PM

There have actually been little whispers of this for the past several weeks so I'm not exactly crapping my pants here as I totally one hundred percent would have if this had come completely out of nowhere -- and to the people who were doing the whispering I can only say thank you, since nobody wants to crap their pants. Okay maybe our President does. But not me! I can safely say I am not a person who wants to crap my pants. Now do you see why you keep coming back here? You come for news about a notorious film classic that's been hidden away for literal decades and instead I go on a coprophilia tangent. Keepin' y'all on ya toes, baby! Just like Ken Russell did! 

For real though this is incredible fucking news. I have a DVD from the U.K. (or Germany?) of the movie, but obviously a 4K upgrade showcasing this film's tremendous beauty -- those Derek Jarman sets, my god! --  along with the fact that this is apparently trhe longest cut assembled since its release... well this is the movie news of the year, hands down. I know the version of the film I saw at MoMA ages ago before Russell died (he was there, I shared the air with Ken Russell, I am still not over that) was a longer version of the film than I'd seen before, but I'm terrible at keeping track of what cut's from what version et cetera. So how much of the "Rape of Christ" sequence has been dug up??? I'm agog y'all. AGOG. While I go on agogging below is a doc I uploaded onto YouTube thirteen years back that shows some of the "lost" footage (it's age-restricted cuz NSFW obviously):

Hokum Sweet Hokum

I hope some of you went to see Damian McCarthy's new horror movie Hokum over the weekend! Starring Adam Scott as a writer who finds himself trapped inside a haunted hotel -- yes yes The Shining, The Shining, although honestly it made me think of Ti West's The Innkeepers more -- it's the third movie from the Caveat and Oddity director, and his best, says me in my review of the movie right here. Which is saying something because I loved the hell out of Oddity. McCarthy has cemented his place in the "director you should be very excited about" category now anyway -- we'll await every fresh announcement from him with bated breath. Oh and not to brag (that's a lie, I am one thousand percent bragging) but I managed to score one of the limited run of Hokum dolls that Neon dropped last week -- I've got a new cherished nerd collectible y'all!

They had TWENTY of these Hokum dolls on sale on Neon's webstore this morning AND I GOT THE LAST ONEEEEEEEE

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— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) May 1, 2026 at 11:11 AM

Whither Heather

I assume a lot of you already saw the news breaking today that the reboot of The Blair Witch Project that was announced a couple of years ago has added much of the team from the original film to its executive producer line-up -- they really make you have to wade through some clickbait muck to get to the meat of what's being announced though! Original stars Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams, original directors Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick, and original producer Gregg Hale have all signed on to be Executive Producers, full stop. Every headline is making it seem as if Mike and Josh are starring in the new movie but nowhere in the actual text of this news does it say any of that. Also notable is of course the complete omission of our queen Heather Donahue's name anywhere on any of this. I even double-checked with her new name (she changed her name in 2020) and nothing! Anyway I'm not trying to crap on this project or anything -- I would love for a good new Blair Witch movie to happen. I just found all of the headlines extremely misleading today; twas weird. But hopefully Heather signs on for that Executive Producer title so she too can make some much deserved dollar signs FINALLY off this franchise. She deserves it. 

Pretty Pictures For Pride

The line-up for the 2026 Pride Edition of New York's NewFest has been announced today -- they're screening Gregg Araki's new movie! The one called I Want Your Sex starring Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman (as well as Mason Gooding whose fine visage I have included above) which I have talked and talked and talked about with great vigor and enthusiasm. No I have not seen it yet, and yes I think this will be my first chance. (It's hitting theaters on July 31st.)  The line-up also includes Leviticus, the queer horror film that I have seen and heartily recommend -- last time I mentioned it here was when I was complaining about my inability to write about it just yet, and as you can see I haven't done that yet. That's out much sooner -- that hits theaters on June 19th. But if you're in NYC NewFest is beating that by a few weeks! Tickets are on sale right this minute so go buy some, New Yorkers! And as a reminder the "Pride Edition" of NewFest that happens at the beginning of June is the smaller version of the festival -- the larger one happens in October. But if you'd like to see everything they are screening besides the two aforementioned titles (including some Heated Rivalry goodness) hit the jump...

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Bring Her Back (2025)

Laura: Respect my fucking privacy.

I still kind of can't believe that there was absolutely no awards buzz for Sally Hawkins' work in Bring Her Back last year -- I guess there could have been conufsion on whether her role was Lead or Supporting? I'd personally call it a Lead -- and I'd say she deserved a nomination more than half the people who did get nominated for that statue, too. Hell I liked Hawkins' work more than I liked Buckley's steamrolling performance in Hamnet, even -- as a person who generally loves Buckley I found her work in that movie overwrought; I found Mescal more moving. But I guess there are similarities between Hawkins and Buckley's characters that I hadn't even considered until now, and perhaps they're the reason Hawkins gained no footing with precursors -- both characters are after all women lashing out in grief after the death of a child. Hawkins' work is the only one that, to me, felt truly surprising though. Not to get lost in old Oscar talk! JFC who cares! So anyway! Sally Hawkins is 50 today! She's a gem and I'm so happy we have her. The movies are 75% more interesting with her running around. 

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Special Effects (1984)

Neville: Like I always say, I don't know what I like 

until I see it. And then I know I don't like it.

Have any of you seen this sleazy 1984 Larry Cohen film? (Redundancy after redundancy there.) I only saw it a few weeks ago because the fine folks at Radiance Films put out a gorgeous new restoration of it on blu-ray and it was exactly what I wanted from a sleazy 1984 Larry Cohen film that stars Eric Bogosian as a movie director who decides to use a real life murder he commits as inspiration for his next movie. It's kind of Larry Cohen's spin on Vertigo and it's terrific. I totally felt like I needed to take a shower afterwards. Anyway speaking of Eric Bogosian, a happy 73rd birthday to the character actor whose career has as of late gotten a bump thanks to the double-punch of Uncut Gems and the Interview With the Vampire series. And speaking of the latter -- we have a trailer for the new season, baby! Sweet Rockin' Lestat gimme! I'm surprised they officially changed the name of the show to go with the book though.

Interview With the Vampire... excuse me, 

The Vampire Lestat returns on June 7th.

Alternately Poltergeist Prison

You know how people who are really genuinely afraid of clowns get irritated about how, some time post-It, everybody decided clowns are creepy? Maybe I just have that one territorial coulrophobe in my life,  but I think there is something to people being suggestively brainwashed into thinking they find something scary after enough repetition or reinforcement, and I say this from experience because I am pretty certain I never used to have Trypophobia (otherwise known as a fear of clusters of holes or bumps in irregular patterns). I don't remember this being a thing in my life anyway, not until I'd heard about it being a thing thanks to the internet -- then suddenly I felt myself becoming convinced it's true, that it's fucking digusting to look at clusters of holes or bumps in irregular patterns. Anyway that's the reason you're looking at the above poster for the movie Ghost in the Cell and not the official poster that's on its IMDb page, which makes me want to never stop barfing. If I couldn't stop barfing then I wouldn't be able to continue typing, and then you'd never have had read all of that blather -- and wouldn't we all be so much worse off that way? I thought so. 

Anyway I thought I'd posted about this news but I guess I just did it on social media (which happens more than it ought to) -- Joko Anwar, the modern maestro of Indonesian horror behind films like Impetigore, Satan's Slaves, Satans Slaves 2: Communion, and the upcoming Satan's Slaves 3: Origin (and that's new news of its own), has a horror movie out in theaters in Indonesia right this minute! It is indeed called Ghost in the Cell and it's about a -- god I have done this gag so many times -- you guessed it! A ghost, it's in a cell. It's a horrible specter, a ghoul, a poltergeist, and it's inside a prison, a jail, a penitentiary. Use any of those words and you too can have a movie title. Seriously though I love love love what Anwar's been cooking over the past decade -- he would wield Trypophobia for his poster, since that's so perfectly in sync with how good his movies have been at poking me in uncomfortable places. Remember the dude eating a fistful of furry caterpillars in his script for The Queen of Black Magic? I sure fucking do ughhh. There's a sweaty tactility to his movies that really worms around in your flesh, so I can't wait for a new movie from him! 

Unfortunately that's exactly what we'll be doing since who the hell knows when Ghost in the Cell is getting a U.S. release. Anwar's enough of an international name now (he had that creepy crawly anthology  series on Netflix, after all) that I know this will come here at some point, probably via Shudder or IFC or one of the small horror-tinged studios of a similar sort. It seems a safe bet. Just when remains unclear, but believe you me I'll be all up on that business when we know it. And -- if I'm not barfing -- I will share said news with you then. Here's the trailer:

The Book of Leviticus

Neon just dropped the above... poster...s... for the upcoming gay horror film Leviticus -- since it's a gif of two images I'm not sure what to call it. I've seen the phrase "motion poster" before so I suppose that fits. Anyway they're both great images, and supposedly we're getting a trailer tomorrow (the movie is out on June 19th) but, unlike the trailer for the new Evil Dead movie that I just posted, I doubt I will share the one for Leviticus. Because I've seen Leviticus -- I posted about it about a month ago, that it was playing the "New Directors" fest here in NYC -- and I am one hundred percent certain y'all should go into this movie as cold as possible, like I did. I've really been wanting to write up my thoughts on the film, which are myriad and emotional, but I've hesitated for a couple of factors. 

One is that I'm not sure I can write about it without talking about everything going on with it, but honestly that's not been the main issue. The other is that, and I don't think this will surprise any of you who've been here lately, I've really had some writer's block bogging me down over the past several months. I've felt like it's had to be super obvious to any of you visiting -- I've really been operating on auto-pilot lately, and I need to get myself out of this funk. Especially if I'm going to write about a movie like Leviticus, which moved me in some profound and extremely personal ways. So if anybody has any words of encouragement I wouldn't hate to hear them, is what I'm saying -- the thing is that I'm hardly alone in feeling broken by the world these days, and I guess that's what's sort of kept me clammed up about it. It's been very much the preacher's funeral sermon in Synechdoche New York -- "Maybe because no one wants to hear about my misery because they have their own." It all feels redundant and obvious and in turn pointless and it cycles, and cycles. Hopefully I can dig myself out of this grave and do better! Understatement! Anyway here's some video I took of Leviticus director Adrian Chiarella introducing the movie at MoMA a couple of weeks back; he really speaks beautifully:

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Burn Demon Babies Burn

That there is the first teaser trailer for the next Evil Dead movie, titled Evil Dead Burn, and unlike what I normally say about horror movie trailers I think it's perfectly fine to watch this one! It's about a minute of footage from the movie, a single unbroken take that shows very little except the expected chaos of any Evil Dead movie. But I think it gives you a good feel for what French director Sébastien Vanicek will be rbinging to the typical Deadite-inflected proceedings -- I was a huge fan of his 2023 spider-horror flick Infested, which is in itself kinda extraordinary because I fucking hate spiders, they terrify me, and I usually can't bring myself to seek out horror movies about spiders. And yet! Even I, through my fingers, couldn't deny the fun and power of Infested. (And speaking of I will now renew my plea for a physical media release of it. Come on, Shudder!) Anyway Evil Dead Burn is out on July 11th and below (via) is the plot description, which does fill in some gap points of reference for the clip above:

"Evil Dead Burn unleashes the franchise’s most savage and terrifying ride to date, blazing onto big screens with an all-new chapter of carnage and demonic mayhem. After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home. As one by one they are transformed into Deadites—turning the gathering into a family reunion from hell—she comes to discover that the vows she took in life… live on even in death."

I Want My Mummy!

It's totally inexplicable how much not a Mummy movie this Mummy movie is. Lee Cronin's The Mummy (and I do think that's the official title in full, which... well that probably would've been a better choice had you been sure you'd made a great Mummy movie first, Mr. Cronin) is in fact, besides a couple of scenes set in Egypt and a sarcophogus, an Evil Dead movie. It's basically a remake of Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise (his last directorial effort) in fact, when it comes down to it. It's Evil Dead Rise with a bunch of CG sand flying around over everything every so often -- basically when Cronin remembers this is supposed to be a Mummy movie he makes some sand show up. Otherwise this is about a family who gets possessed one by one by a blasphemous demon, making little kids do the darndest things (or dare I even day, the damndest thing, gasp!), while ancient indecipherable artifacts get translated via obselete technology, and everything's extremely gross and obscene. 

The last bit is the best bit -- it's what I liked about Evil Dead Rise, too. Cronin is definitely not afraid to be extremely gross and extremely obscene. But as with EDR (which brought the Deadites to the city only to then keep them entirely contained to one building for the entire run-time, making it feel like a retread of everything we'd seen before in the franchise) the plot and the characterizations in this movie make so little sense from scene to scene; it's really just "gross and obscene" strung together by the thinnest of (admittedly sticky) threads. I didn't really hate my time watching this movie, but it's in no way "good" nor should anyone be applauded for how lazy it all is. Cronin made a terrific Irish Folk Horror movie in 2019 with The Hole in the Ground, but he's just been coasting on puke and pus and kids saying fuck ever since. Bad Mummy!

Today's Mood

Still can't believe how subversive the video for Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" remains here at 32 years old (!!!) -- a rock god presenting himself as both a fetishized sexual object and a submissive all at once? How often have we seen this in the years since? Bless you, Trent, you foundational pervert. Anyway! Today's a big day for NIN fans as their highly anticipated new record of remixes with Boys Noize, smartly titled Nine Inch Noize, has dropped -- I didn't get to see them on tour this past year where they've been playing these bangers so this is the closest I will get to them. No physical release of the album just yet but fingers and toes and leather whips all crossed in knots that'll happen eventually. (Says the man still waiting for Trent to drop the Bones and All vinyl, sigh.) But maybe it's for the best that this record didn't drop today as I just spent a grotesque amount of money on...

... a scorpion-filled version of the soundtrack for Lee Cronin's The Mummy movie over at Waxwork. (Seeing as how it's already sold out I have a feeling this will be a good investment though.) Oh and I also bought the below gorgeous poster for Steven Soderbergh's film The Christophers via Neon's store, because look at her! She's gorgeous. Oh and this movie P.S. is terrific -- it's a really low-key performance but I would love it if we could manage to maintain some Oscar buzz for Sir Ian until next spring since he's so fucking overdue and he's genuinely wonderful in this movie. I doubt it will happen since it's not a super showy role but I still really want him to be the first out gay actor to get one of those stupid statues. It just feels right. 

Mount Taron

Taron Egerton has been so generous with us these past couple of years y'all. (Remember his shimmy in a g-string on that fireman show of his last year? Phew.) That slammin' still above is from his thriller Apex that sees him (sexily) terrorizing Charlize Theron, and which hits Netflix next Friday -- I shared the trailer right here. Anyway that photo (which P.S. gets extremely big if you click on it) seemed a nice place to leave us off for the day (or to "[something] us off" anyway) -- yes as forewarned earlier this week this is yet another day of a very busy week where I've got screenings to attend to. Two of them today actually, including some time with that Taron. The other one... well click here if you want to know the other movie I'm seeing today is. Just know that I usually can't manage afternoon screenings given my day-job but I'm so excited about this one that I'm taking time off for it. Anyway giddy show-offery aside I'll be back in full tomorrow, so you and Taron just stay here and wait for me then. I'm sure y'll can find something to do. Bye!

Give Me Your Huddles Masses Yearning for...

... GODZILLA!!!! 

I'd had this NYC reveal spoiled for me yesterday when this trailer premiered at CinemaCon and the news flew everywhere, so I felt fine just now tossing aside my general No Trailers rule and just watching this very brief one minute teaser for Godzilla Minus Zero -- if you didn't want to know this little tidbit and feel spoiled by me I apologize but I seriously doubt you'd have been able to make it to November 3rd without seeing at the very least this image. I'm planning on stopping here if possible -- just embrace the shock and awe of the sight of our big bad lizard friend sidling up to Lady Liberty like a lover-to-be and let your cells tingle with the thrill of it! We deserve this! (And here is my review of the incredible Godzilla Minus One if you missed it.) 

Wrappin' It Up

As seen down below this week o' mine is pretty crowded with screenings and so I'll be checking out early basically every day  -- last night was the fancy-schmancy premiere of David Lowery's Mother Mary (I saw both Julio Torres and Patti Harrison in the lobby afterwards!)  while tonight I'm off to see the new version of The Mummy from director Lee Cronin. And when I tell you I have avoided all information on The Mummy so I could go in fresh I mean it -- I didn't even know until I decided to look up a picture of it for this post that everybody's favorite shitty boyfriend slash dick-flasher Jack Reynor of Midsommar fame is in the thing. Aww we've missed him. Anyway this is me saying bye, I gotta run. Or rather I gotta "wrap it up" hardy har get it cuz The Mummy... sigh...

Good grief my screening schedule this week is BONKERS (and this isn't even counting the Herzog 3D movie and JOHN WATERS LIVE on Saturday!)

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— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 2:20 PM

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Scream 2 (1997)

Cici: Drink with your brains, 

that's our motto.

A happy 49th birthday to the legend Sarah Michelle Gellar today! Yes it's true our beloved Buffy will be turning 50 next year -- I would say don't that make ya feel old but SMG is only a couple of months older than I am so let's just shut up and not think about any of that right now. Jinkies. Let's just celebrate this lady we love so very. Picking her role in the second Scream movie might feel a little random for this post but I maintain that her stellar work at humanizing the character of Cici in such a short window of time is part of why I actually (controversially?) prefer Scream 2 to the first movie. A recent re-watch of the original I Know What You Did Last Summer gave me the same impression -- SMG does Herculean emotional lifting with her screentime in these two 1997 slashers. She's so good! And yeah it blows that the Buffy reboot fell apart but let's hope that now that her kids are raised and she's ready to work again we'll be seeing lots of her shortly. The people demand their Smidge fix!

Highway to Heck If I Know

What have I told you a million times? I have told you a million times, "Don't watch horror movie trailers!" And what have I said simultaneously a million times? "Oh by the way here's a horror movie trailer. Which you should not watch!" Hey whaddya want from me -- if I don't type up a post I'm just sitting here staring at the news and nobody wants that. We allow my brain a shark's forward momentum or panic takes hold. And hey -- speaking of panic! (King of the transitions, this guy right here.) One of my favorite horror movie directors André Øvredal has a new one coming out! Let's hope it's better than his last, the mediocre Dracula riff The Last Voyager of the Demeter, which had its moments but felt studio-mangled and suffered from some bad CG. Otherwise he's the director of Troll Hunter, Scary Stories in the Dark (underrated honestly), and his to-date crowning achievement The Autopsy of Jane Doe, aka one of the Great Horror Films of the 21st Century. All I know about Passenger is it stars a bunch of people whose names I don't recognize plus Melissa Leo and I think it's about  somebody making the mistake of picking up the wrong person while driving. Other than that I saw Bloody Disgusting quote the director as saying he thinks this is his scariest movie yet, and that there's a bunch of stuff this trailer does not give away -- that's nice but I'm still not watching. But y'all feel free!

Passenger is out on May 22nd.

Please Dacre, Don't Hurt 'Em

Consider this a mea culpa to Dacre Montgomery since I wrote that I wasn't enamored with his performance in this weekend's horror movie Faces of Death in my review -- he is clearly having a whole lot of fun with his big performance and there are a couple of shots of him wearing a skin-tight body-suit thing (just from above the waist) where he is twisting and writhing and he looks super hot. That's not nothing! But I thought he was much better in last year's surprisingly terrific Gus Van Sant crime flick Dead Man's Wire, which I'm ashamed I never reviewed -- I haven't expected much from a GVS movie in awhile but that one reminded me how wonderful a director he can be. Straight-forward, low-key, thrilling and perfectly performed by Bill Skarsgård and Dacre -- if y'all never checked that one out I say do that! It's ace. Okay -- have a great weekend! I'm out. (pics via) 

Pics of the Day

Rose of Nevada is the new "horror" film from Enys Men director Mark Jenkin -- if you've seen Enys Men then you probably understand why I put "horror" in quotes; it's because his movies are more surreal and uncanny than they are straight-up horror. They want to destabilize you in a way that's starting to feel wholly unique to Jenkin, two movies in -- I am a fan of them both, having seen Rose at NYFF last fall, and not just because this new one stars Callum Turner and George MacKay as ship-mates who look like they look in the photos seen here (via) from the set. The movie is hitting the UK on April 24th -- it comes out here in the U.S. in June so I'll try to say more then. Until then just spend some time today imagining being these boys' bunk-mate -- it's absolutely what I'm doing!