Tag: horror

Ice Cream Man “Review”

Release date: August 7, 2026 (USA)

Director: Eli Roth

Language: English

Running time: 1h 27m

Producers: Eli Roth, Christopher Woodrow, Kate Harrison

Distributed by: Iconic Events

Wish they didn’t reveal AI was used in the making of this film. Saw no hate before that announcement. Then I see 31% on RT. I’ve got a different score for Popped. Let’s dive into the scoop …unless the prior comment puts you off. For everyone else – Let’s discuss… 😀

Eli Roth & Snoop Dogg have the makings to entertain a small niche audience, and I’m here for it. Between this and what I saw during the trailers for “Don’t go in that house, Bitch!”. I honestly enjoyed their humor. This isn’t a great movie by any means. Yeah, some effects were weak, and the story wasn’t the best. But that’s okay when it comes to horror, especially on a small budget or horror like this, where you may have seen it on Shudder before but fits well in theatres with an audience ready to be entertained…. even if the audience doesn’t show up :(. Think it was me and 2 others in there.

There are moments I thought were honestly great. Scenes where I felt like I was watching an awesome zombie movie but with kids being kids while the gore was turned up to an 11. Playing jump rope with intestines. Massing up children to kill their parents in brutal ways. The humor was spot on, and I loved it.

[*Small Spoiler* – The kids believe they’re watching cartoons and the horrific scenes the audience is watching are a part of the show.]

This fits on the B horror shelf, and I’d honestly not be mad watching it again if someone asked me to come check it out or watch it later at home with a group. You’re not going to praise it for an Oscar nomination. I couldn’t imagine the creators thought it was when revealing the use of AI.

About the use of AI. I’m not trained to see when AI is, or isn’t, used. But, honestly, if anyone watched this movie without knowing that prior. What are you complaining about to give it a 30%? A critic on RT said it’s the worst movie of the year…. Gosh darn, I wish it was because I was hoping that to be true with the hate on AI….but alas for Popped, I’m giving Ice Cream Man a 7/10. Very curious to see the audience score on this one.

Do you plan to, or have you watched, Ice Cream Man yet? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Thank you for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Also releasing this weekend is One Night Only, which I “Reviewed” last week. Go check it out if you’re lactose intolerant for this title. Next week I’ll be getting my implant, so we’ll see if anything releases that brings me back to the theatre. Maybe a second round of Spider-Man BND? I do need to re-review it for that potential 9….hmmmm let’s see shall we.

Until next time though fellow movie-goers, happy movie-going! 😀 Be careful not to get brain freeze…

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Evil Dead Burn “Review”

Release date: July 10, 2026 (USA)

Director: Sébastien Vaniček

Producers: Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert

Screenplay: Sébastien Vaniček, Florent Bernard

Cinematography: Philip Lozano

Production companies: Ghost House Pictures, New Line Cinema, Screen Gems

Preferred this over Lee Cronin’s The Mummy – Was actually good gory fun 😀

Watched a ScreenCrush recap before watching this yesterday. Was a good watch. Plenty of gory gory moments, kills, action of variety 😉 was a good time despite weak character depth / attachment.

New to Evil Dead maybe this is a hard watch. Otherwise this is very much inline for an Evil Dead feature. Got the gore, horror, comedy (Thanks grandma :D) and action to boot. Sadly weak on the characters but did enjoy the connection between the two intros we get connecting our cast and villain together.

Deadites are back and their after the family of their grandfather that stole from them many many years prior….. nothing at the end to stick around for from what I saw but otherwise a good one time watch of 7/10. Gore fest lovers will enjoy :D.

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Stick around as we dive from the depths of hell into the depths of the ocean with Moana live action :D.

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Jackass: Best and Last “Review”

Release date: June 26, 2026 (USA)

Director: Jeff Tremaine

Cinematography: Dimitry Elyashkevich

Distributed by: Paramount Pictures

Executive producers: Pete Chiappetta, Anthony Tittanegro, Greg Iguchi, Andrew Lary, Shanna Newton

Genres: Documentary, Comedy, Adventure

This will have varying weight depending your love/attachment to the series – I thought it was great!

They joke about this being the finale in the movie but it honestly did feel like their last. It was rather touching and insane watching this as it relived unwatched footage from day 1 to the very last. Adding new content and challenges amongst revisiting epic moments. This was a total blast and a hoot! Laughed so much.

With the mixture of entertainment. You may even get further entertainment watching this in the theatre amongst a crowd. I had a guy constantly turning away for the poop content, which even had me going at times. Bad Grandpa has always been my fave and didn’t disappoint seeing him again in the best and last!

Stick around throughout the credits as you get to relive all the moments of a certain sketch throughout each movie 😉 :D. Stick around even further to get a little trolled. Regardless, had a blast with a Popped score of 8/10. This was a great movie, which I can see some scoring into the 9’s and owning on Blu-Ray :D.

This marks 50 movies watched thus far for 2026. With Jackass being the last movie for the first half of the year, 50 is looking pretty good. I appreciate you all for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. We have a few titles to explore for Summer 2026, a pretty major one being Spider-Man 😀 – Minions coming this Wednesday, the 1st of July. Live action Moana, anyone? Followed by The Odyssey before getting to Spider-Man, at the end of July.

Until next batch those fellow movie-goers. Happy movie-going 😀

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Leviticus “Review”

Release date: June 19, 2026 (USA)

Director: Adrian Chiarella

Cinematography: Tyson Perkins

Distributed by: Neon

Editor: Nick Fenton

Executive producers: Mia Wasikowska, Robert Connolly · See more

Typically I quite enjoy Neon movies, seeing a 93% RT score I expected a lot more from Leviticus, let’s disucss!

Sadly didn’t get to watch the entire batch last week as I was glued to completed Kingdom Hearts 2 on critical mode :D. After seeing a 93% I had to check this out today. To say I was disappointed is only the start of this movie.

For a movie 14 minutes shorter than Toy Story 5, this movie draws out the point. Feels overly boring. Pretty much lays out the story through its trailer at a vastly quicker pace. When I see 90+ % I’m expecting the level of polish and quality that Obsession displays. The villain or big bad wasn’t scary. Wasn’t fleshed out nor did it feel resolved by the end of the movie unlike Obsession.

A baited intro and a small build-up at the end were probably the better parts of the movie. Sadly, a disappointing 6/10. It’s barely above average for a theatrical release. I can see this finding an audience on streaming one day.

Stick around as coming up next Super Girl! – Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “reviews” :D.

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Scary Movie “Review”

Release date: June 5, 2026 (USA)

Director: Michael Tiddes

Producers: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Rick Alvarez, Craig Wayans, Neal H. Moritz

Screenplay: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Rick Alvarez, Craig Wayans

MPAA rating: R

Production companies: Miramax, Wayans Bros. Entertainment

13 years since Scary Movie 5 & 23 years since Scary Movie 3, which had a lot of memorable parodies, so how’s 6?

Calling itself a Rebooquel, this is a sequel within a reboot of this classic franchise that feels like returning home. Back in control once again under the Wayans Bros. This is Scary Movie doing what it does best, just like the first couple of movies did. Loved the collection of films to parody. Is this your first Scary Movie? Then you’re in for a treat. Arrive with a drink or high, and you’ll have yourself a good time. Hey, even without it, you’ll have yourself a great time.

Some scenes occur out of nowhere without warning, having you laugh out loud. So what are you waiting for? Go check out Scary Movie 6 at the theatre this weekend and let’s get that White Chicks Sequel going… 😀 8/10 Solid great movie.

From your old or classic fandom for the O.G Cast to the new cast joining alongside them. Everyone does a great job fitting together. Olivia Rose Keegan, playing Sara Campbell, the daughter of O.G. Cindy, does a great job channeling her mum’s energy while developing both their characters through flashbacks and keying the audience in to how she’s been affected by having Cindy as her mother.

Regina Hall slays her Brenda Meeks character, not missing a beat, returning along with Dave Sheridan as Doofy. There are so many returning and new cast members; I’ll let you discover them on your own. Had a great time, a barrel of laughs, and would love to check it out again. Especially to get this franchise back with so much new horror releasing that can be spoofed on :D.

Checked out the new Scary Movie yet in theatres? Love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. New or an O.G to the franchise, I’d love to hear from you :D.

P.S (I almost forgot to mention!) – Stick around for the crawl for extra fun scenes. Nothing after the credits, but prior & during the crawl were great additions :D.

Thanks for coming by, Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Going to watch Master of the Universe Saturday morning for this week’s batch with possibly Power Ballad if showtimes work out.

Until next time, fellow movie-goers, happy movie-going 😀

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Backrooms “Review”

Release date: May 29, 2026 (USA)

Director: Kane Parsons

Cinematography: Jeremy Cox

Distributed by: A24

Editor: Greg Ng

Executive producers: Kane Parsons, Alayna Glasthal, Jenni DePiero

FNAF type experience? – Let’s Discuss! Shall We 😀

To the Point!?

I really enjoy the Five NIGHTS at Freddy’s. Not so much the made-up movie adaptation storyline outside of the FNAF universe. Same thing with this feature. When the movie opens, it captures that feeling of playing a horror video game. This experience, however, someone else is driving at the helm, so I can’t back away. Then an hour of long, stretched out character story that I couldn’t care less about, before exploring more of the Backrooms. I’m torn between a fine & good one-time watch rating. – 7/10 Popped Score.

The “Deeper” Dive In

Mentioned above. But the sense and atmosphere from the intro captured what I expected this movie to feel and be about. Loved the setup & ending. The middle hour felt extremely long and drawn out, meant to string the audience along with sequels to get the full picture. They could have combined movies 1 & 2 into this for a complete, worthwhile experience.

Sadly, it focused on (For me personally) the wrong things. Leaving many questions unsolved and unanswered to focus on characters and their story, which felt had no impact on the backroom story and lore being dropped. Took me out of the experience each and every time, which made this hour-and-45-minute-long movie a bit of a bore. When there are movies out there like Obsession, coming in 3 minutes longer, it feels much more entertaining and worth your time & money. 7/10, it’s a one-time watch for me personally.

Thank you for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Checking out Backrooms this weekend? Love to know your thoughts in the comments below. Lots of movies releasing this weekend, so let’s see if we’re able to hit 3 or even 4 movies in this week’s batch :D.

Until next time, though, fellow movie-goers, happy movie-going 😀

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Passenger “Review”

Release date: May 22, 2026 (USA)

Director: André Øvredal

Cinematography: Federico Verardi

Distributed by: Paramount Pictures

Editor: Martin Bernfeld

Executive producers: Pete Chiappetta, Anthony Tittanegro, Andrew Lary, Jenny Hinkey

Not all horror can be of the caliber of Undertone, Hokum, or Obsession. Sometimes a generic horror feature drops….

Pretty average horror movie, to be honest. With a rather weak, cheesy, pitiful ending, my audience laughed at how bad it was. I’d place this in the average to stream/skip tiers for Popped score.

Honestly, if you’re choosing to purchase a ticket between this and Obsession, hands down go watch Obsession. Wait for this on streaming or skip it.

I thought this was going to be a horror version of Disney’s Haunted Mansion (the ending of the ride, if you get what I mean :D). Sadly this is so generic it has overly used horror elements. The entity even had a generic cry sound. Plus once revealed not even the characters felt scared of it anymore. Choosing to battle it over running away :S.

You get the picture. 3/10 Skip it or Stream it. Don’t waste your $ on this. Check out Obsession or the other titles from the above list. Thank me later.

Thanks for coming by, Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Stick around, as for this batch, we finish it off with I Love Boosters :D. The wackiest movie I’ve seen since Everything Everywhere All At Once.

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Obsession “Review”

Release date: May 15, 2026 (USA)

Director: Curry Barker

Budget: 1 million USD

Running time: 1h 49m

MPAA rating: R

Language: English

Be careful who & what you wish for! Let’s discuss!

Non Spoiler

To avoid any type of spoiler for those avoiding the trailer, let’s discuss a little and then go in a little more with a spoiler-ish segment afterwards :D.

Bear (Played by Michael Johnston) uses a “One Wish Willow” for his best friend and love interest, Nikki (Played by Inde Navarrette), to make her love him more than anyone else in the entire world.

He’ll soon discover the dark and sinister price of making this wish. A one-hour and 50-minute experience that I was locked in for (No post-credit scene, which, according to a Google search, stated there was). Usually I’ll have popcorn to keep me awake, but I had placed it down pretty early on as I was completely on the edge of my seat, locked into these characters and story.

A $1 million budget is insane. The profit on this one will be easily come by. Honestly, I’m locking this into my top horror of 2026 thus far, 9/10. Inde Navarrette was never on my radar, but after Obsession. I’ll be keeping an eye on her next film. (More on that during the next section – Short end – I’d nominate her for an Oscar).

Spoiler-ish

What got Obsession into my 9’s and repeated horror viewing was the incredible acting and scene atmosphere created. You never know when a situation or scene could be relaxed in or be on edge. The tension and unease was spot on. To say ramped up would undercut the earlier setups and scenes.

The subject matter, consequences, underlying, and straight-up in-your-face decisions being made had you locked into these characters and their stories. We can discuss that more in the comments. Supporting characters and cast sold their roles and characters perfectly. It allowed Nikki or Inde Navarrette to truly soar high as an actor and allowed her to commit to this role/s.

I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments below.

Otherwise, good luck, have fun, and be careful for what or who you wish for 😀 9/10.

Thank you all for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”.

Next Thursday is my birthday, looking forward to watching, or at least intrigued by how The Mandalorian & Grogu does next weekend. I may return earlier than this, however, with Is God Is sometime this weekend, potentially. Depending on whether I get time tomorrow, as I’ll be busy celebrating my wife graduating this weekend! 😀 WOOT WOOT! :D.

Until next time, fellow movie-goers. Happy Movie-going 😀

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The Devil Wears Prada 2 “Review”

Release date: May 1, 2026 (USA)

Director: David Frankel

Story by: Lauren Weisberger

Distributed by: 20th Century Studios

The gangs back together after a 20-year gap – Have they still got the magic? Let’s discuss!

Loved the throwback jokes and references to the original. Checked who wrote the first story compared to sequel. It’s the same person!. But I really didn’t care about the story in this one sadly. Having just watched the original again last week in preparation it’s not as strong for me personally.

The movie felt darker in tone with less bright colors. Which is odd since the poster is fully white, making the characters pop. Moments shone through with the music and all, which I loved the feel of connecting with the first title, but again, from my last “Review,” I was in and out of sleep for 25 minutes in the middle. AC Kicked on and got SUPER COLD, which is why I need a blanket going forth, haha :D.

That being said, without going into spoilers for a major moment that felt off. Some major character reintroductions played off poorly, written in a way that maybe tried to re-create the original but didn’t come through well, and felt completely odd after watching how the first title left the story and character dynamic off.

Having just finished watching the ENTIRE Office Fan Edition – Loved! Seeing B. J. Novak being himself in this movie. I think I missed some key moments of his, which I’ll catch again sometime down the road if another sequel is made in 20 years. But otherwise, I’m good with a 1-watch.

Popped score of a 7/10

Love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Should I re-watch this movie? Or just wait for streaming to catch the scenes I may have missed. Either way, appreciate you coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”.

I’m really hopeful Mortal Kombat 2 can succeed from the stage setup from the first title. With Street Fighter coming out in a few months. That trailer was insane! I’m super pumped and excited from seeing that as it feels like they captured the game energy. So fingers crossed MK2 gets it right with the epic music and cool action.

Until next time though fellow movie-goers, happy movie-going 😀

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Hokum “Review”

Release date: May 1, 2026 (USA)

Director: Damian Mc Carthy

Running time: 1h 41m

Screenplay: Damian Mc Carthy

Language: English

Producers: Derek Dauchy, Roy Lee, Mairtín de Barra, Steven Schneider, Ruth Treacy, Julianne Forde

I’ve learnt from this weeks batch of movies that I need a blanket & to sleep better haha…..

This one gets interesting without dabbling in spoilers, so let’s paint a scene, and I would love to hear your thoughts on Hokum.

Adam Scott plays Ohm Bauman, a novelist that retreats to a remote inn to scatter his parents ashes. (I was in and out of sleep for the first portion but believe this was a dear place of his parents which is why the inn.)

From the start we see Ohm being haunted by someone and as this visual and the story intensifies we get a lot of haunting imagery being displayed. These moments were and are what’s making me want to revisit this feature again in a more awaken state :D. The combination of dark tones on a paranormal and Psychological level are great discussion points that I loved my wife breaking down on the way home.

There’s a lot of layers here which I can see why it came out with a strong 92% (Now sits at 86%). Sadly I was a little sleepy, so the long stretches for the first half had me in and out of sleep. For the second half when my wife jumped at a scene that had me locked in for the remainder of the film.

For now, I’m going with a Popped score of 7.5. Possibly could get to an 8 as I’m wanting to re-watch it once more. That’s why I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below :D. What did you think of Hokum?

Stick around for the next movie “Review” – Devils Wear Prada 2.

Appreciate you coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Next week we have Sheep Detective & Mortal Kombat 2 😀 very excited for those. Followed by Obsession, Mandalorian & Backrooms. for the month of May. With some extra sprinkles of goodness I’m sure along the way 😀

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