We’ve got another fun mix of films for you this week. We’ll start off with the much-hyped “Obsession.” Is it as good as the Internet hype machine claims? How about “Hungry,” a movie literally based on Hungry Hungry Hippos. That couldn’t be any good… could it?
We’ll then watch something really unusual. What if Star Wars was a horror film? “Project: Blackwing” is exactly that. We’ll then watch a couple of vintage classics, “The Black Sleep” from 1956 and “I Spit on Your Grave” from 1978. Good stuff!
All this, as well as the latest issue of “Horror Monthly,” issue #58, for July 2026, is out now! Check out all the back issues, as well as our other books, with one easy link: https://amzn.to/4vlSZv3
Mainstream Films:
2026 Obsession
Directed by: Curry Barker
Written by: Curry Barker
Stars: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson
Run Time: 1 Hour, 48 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
A guy taps into some magic to make a wish that his crush will like him back. And the movie proceeds into a lesson of be careful what you wish for. It’s said that it was made on a small budget, but you wouldn’t know it. The pacing, direction, effects, story, and cast are all excellent. It’s an all around very good movie. We both really enjoyed it.
Spoilery Synopsis
Bear tells Nikki how much he loves her, and that she’s out of his league. No– he’s just rehearsing with friends; he could never tell the real Nikki all that. He’s afraid to even flirt with the real girl. Ian tries to give him tips on asking her out, but it’s obviously not going to work. Bear gets home and finds out his cat got into his drugs and died, which makes his day even worse. Credits roll.
Nikki calls and wants Bear to meet her for trivia night, the one thing Ian warned him not to do. He goes to a store to buy her a necklace, but instead, he finds a “One Wish Willow,” which supposedly grants wishes. The clerk tells him not to come back and complain.
After a trivia night with Ian and Sarah, Bear drives Nikki home. They talk, and she’s going to quit her job, where she works with him. We see that Sarah really likes Bear, but he only has eyes for Nikki. He’s just too shy to say anything and blows the opportunity badly.
He forgot to give her the “One Wish Willow,” so he opens it himself. “I wish Nikki would love me more than anyone in the fucking world!”
Nikki comes back to the car, and her attitude seems different; she invites him inside. No, she wants to go to his place. He doesn’t want to take advantage, but she doesn’t make that easy, since she wants him to sleep in the same bed with her. Turns out, she doesn’t want to do any sleeping. Occasionally, she seems to “wake up” from whatever is controlling her.
Bear Googles the One Wish Willow to see if they really work, and the consensus is “No,” they’re a scam.
In the morning, Nikka has made a really gross memorial to Bear’s dead cat. At work, he tries to explain the previous night to Ian, but he doesn’t understand it. Nikki spends all day at work just staring at Bear.
That night, Nikki shows up dressed for their date, and Bear didn’t even know they had one. She apologizes for being on MDMA last night, and she doesn’t remember much about last night.
Soon, they are inseparable. Ian notices the sudden change in Nikki and tells Bear that something is wrong. Bear just has no confidence at all, and Nikki loves that more than anyone in the world. He knows what’s up, but he doesn’t stop, either.
She watches him sleep. She wears his clothes. She gets just a little bossy. In the morning, he makes her promise “No more weird stuff.” Except he soon finds that she’s taped the door shut so he can’t go to work today.
Sarah also thinks that Nikki is playing some kind of game with Bear, but he knows better. Sarah complains about the notes someone keeps sending her at work. Is Bear’s lunch sandwich made of weeks-old dead cat?
Bear notices a customer-service phone number on the box of the One Wish Willow and calls it. The man on the other end says he can cancel the wish, but he can’t modify it. No, just kidding, he can’t cancel it either. “As long as you live,” says the man. “If you die, the wish will go away.” The man puts the real Nikki on the phone, and all she does is scream.
At Ian’s party, Niki reads a story she’s been working on, and it’s…. Weird. The party games get awkward– really awkward. The party ends badly. It gets to the point where she waits outside the bathroom door when he has to pee.
Bear tries to explain to Nikki that this is not normal. He just wants her to be normal.
Later that night, Bear gets a text from Sarah, who wants to meet him in the park. “Kill me, please,” says Nikki without moving her mouth. Bear sneaks out to meet Sarah, who wants to know what’s going on. She explains that Nikki and Ian had been hooking up for years, and he believes this whole thing is to get back at him. Suddenly, Nikki shows up and beats Sarah to death with a brick. “This is all your fault,” she explains.
Bear goes back to the occult shop, covered with blood, to buy another One Wish Willow, and the man inside knows all about them. It’s called ONE wish willow for a reason, since you only get one chance. Maybe he could get someone else to make a new wish.
Ian says Sarah keeps texting him from Bear’s house, wanting him to come over. Nikki’s trying to lure him to his death. Bear explains about the wishes. Ian wishes for a billion dollars instead, and it starts raining money from the sky. Almost immediately after, Nikki shoots Ian in the head.
Knowing this will end with his death, Bear puts the gun in his mouth and can’t do it. Instead, he takes a bunch of pills. He kisses her and falls over, dead.
The spell is broken. Nikki wakes up and starts screaming.
Brian’s Commentary
How’s she going to explain all this to the police?
It starts out normal enough, but spirals more and more out of control. The pacing is really good, it never slows down even a little bit.
It’s pretty great.
Kevin’s Commentary
The most awful romance movie ever. But a great horror movie. I think I’d agree with the positive hype around this movie. It is a really good one. The whole package, all the elements are there.
2026 Hungry
Director: James Nunn
Writers: James Nunn
Stars: Madison Davenport, Tracey Bonner, Joaquim de Almeida, Michel Curiel, Samantha Coughlan, Olivia Bernstone, Jim Meskimen
Runtime: 93 minutes (1 hour 33 minutes)
Trailer Link:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
A rogue hippopotamus in the Louisiana swamp makes sport of a tour group there to see the gators. It’s a very serious movie, supposedly loosely based or inspired by the action board game “Hungry, Hungry Hippos,” but it’s not for kids.
It takes a little while to get to the mayhem, but it’s pretty realistic in how it gets there. It was a better than average people vs nature creature feature.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open on a swamp, with all the usual wildlife. There’s an alligator out there, but something big that we don’t see eats it. Credits roll.
It’s New Orleans. Sistine (Tina) and Hannah talk to Rodrigo about an alligator tour in the bayou. Tina gets the phone call that she’s been fired for taking her approved vacation days.
In the morning, the girls get on “Gator Joe’s” tour bus. There’s an older guy Tim, his daughter Sally, and her son, Mike, along as well. Dionne is there too. Rodrigo is their driver and tour guide.
The group stops at the gift ship for a look at the trinkets and bones. Mr. Walker claims that the most dangerous creature he ever killed was a hippopotamus in Africa. He explains that they’re vegetarian, but they’re still more dangerous than you’d think. He explains that at the turn of the century, hippos were brought over here as a food source to replace cows, but it never caught on.
The boat leaves, and Rodrigo homes in on the alligators, which all have tracking devices on them. They arrive where “Big Ben,” the largest alligator is supposed to be, but he doesn’t appear. They soon find Ben, torn into pieces, on the bank of the river. Tim gets scared; Dionne wants in closer for a better photo. They all start to argue.
Something big hits the boat and capsizes it. Rodrigo gets injured, and everyone gets on the bottom of the capsized boat. Some of them climb into nearby trees. Rodrigo admits that they’re off course, as he took a bribe from Dionne to see Big Ben.
Hannah thinks old man Tim, a retired firefighter, is pretty hot. Dionne just wants out of all this. Sistine is depressed about her mother’s medical bills and her lost job.
The hippo returns, smashes into the tree, and knocks Hannah into the water. Tim and Sistine jump in to help, but both Tim and Hannah become hippo chow. They all see what kind of animal they’re dealing with now.
Back at Gator Joe’s they notice the boat is five hours late returning. Walker has a tracker on all the boats and goes looking for them, alone.
Next, we get a contrived scene where Sistine has to dive under the boat to retrieve the tracker and finds Hannah’s body under there. They pour gasoline in the water to scare off the hippo. They retrieve the tracker and turn it on, which alerts Walker as to where they are.
The group watches as Walker’s boat approaches in the dark; he says it’s impossible that it could be a hippo. Everyone gets into his boat. Dionne goes berserk and pushes Mike into the water, and he’s promptly swallowed.
Walker says there’s a change of plan: they’re all getting back up into the trees. He’s got some tranquilizers, but they might not be enough for the huge hippo. Sally, who just lost her father and her son, jumps into the water and swims off into the fog.
The hippo attacks, bites Walker in the leg, but Rodrigo shoots it with one of the tranquilizers before dying. Walker, Sistine, and Dionne get in Walker’s boat, which is out of fuel, and start rowing. Walker talks about an old plan to farm hippos in Louisiana, and this one must be a leftover from that.
The trio stops at an old abandoned gator farm. Walker thinks that maybe they grew the hippos here. They find many large cages and generations of skeletons. They find a baby hippo, but then the big one attacks.
The plan is to burn the place to the ground and hope someone sees the fire. Before they can do that, Dionne locks Walker in a room with a big baddie. Dionne wants to go back to the boat, but Sistine wants to sit on top of the cages and wait for help to arrive. Dionne pays for her stupidity.
In the meantime, Sistine releases the trapped baby hippo. The big one leads the baby away as helicopters approach. As she flies away, Sistine sees the hippos playing in the river.
Brian’s Commentary
From the name and subject matter, I was expecting this to be funnier: “Hungry Hungry Hippos The Movie” or something like that. It’s actually a fairly standard people-versus-wildlife horror movie.
The first fifteen minutes or so, as the characters arrive and the tour starts, all seems very authentic, the way this sort of tour actually works.
The hippo looks surprisingly real. Overall, the whole thing was far better than I expected.
Kevin’s Commentary
I too was surprised by how serious the movie is. The game is much zanier.
Everything was seeming pretty realistic until they got to the gasoline fire on the surface of the water, a measure meant to keep the hippo away, that burned way better and longer than it should have. But other than that, the effects are good.
And as she flew away, the baby hippo said, “Thank you lady. When I get big I won’t eat you.”
I was expecting the worst, but it ended up being a decently entertaining movie.
2026 Short Film: Project Blackwing
Directed by: Courtlan Gordon
Written by: Courtlan Gordon
Stars: Mark Gonzalez, Tom Hinchcliffe, Vincente DiSanti
Run Time: 23 Minutes
Watch it:
What Happens
Rebel pilot “Orphan” gets his X-Wing shot down over a mysterious planet. He’s badly injured, and there’s no one around to help except for the disembodied head of an Imperial medical droid. The droid has a story to tell, but Orphan may not be able to wait out a rescue mission due to the strange monster that attacks every night…
Commentary
This is really good for a fan-made film. It doesn’t look cheap, the pacing and cinematography are well done, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s essentially the Star Wars version of a zombie horror movie.
If you’re a Star Wars fan who likes horror, this is a must-see!
1978 I Spit on Your Grave
Director: Meir Zarchi
Writer: Meir Zarchi
Stars: Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols
Runtime: 102 minutes (1 hour 42 minutes)
YouTube Trailer Link:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
After a writer living alone is attacked and assaulted by four men, she takes brutal revenge on them. They didn’t double check their math when they made the poster that says she took care of five men. This is a weak movie surrounding multiple long scenes of graphic violence and suffering. The violence and sexual assaults are very realistic. There’s some debate if the movie is exploitative or empowering. Either way, it’s notorious for a reason.
Spoilery Synopsis
We watch Jennifer load her car with suitcases in the big city. She stops at a small-town gas station (with 63 cent gas) to ask directions to the lake. She explains that she’s rented a summer house there.
She arrives at the house, strips naked, and jumps in the lake. When she unpacks later, she finds a pistol in one of the drawers. Matthew comes to the door to deliver her food, and he thinks New York City is an evil place. He’s pretty simple, and he’s impressed when he hears that she’s a writer. He’s weird, but he’s a nice weird.
Matthew tells all about Jennifer to the guys at the gas station. He, along with Johnny, Stanley, and Andy, go fishing and talk about the sexy chicks. Matthew insists that Jennifer is special to him, and the others notice.
The next day, Jennifer is out working on her book and sees the guys approach in their boat. They’re annoying, so she goes inside to work. That night, she hears someone outside and considers the gun, but nothing happens.
The following day, she’s out in her canoe and the guys catch up to her in their motorboat and annoy her some more. Andy and Stanley drag her boat to the swamp and chase her through the woods until they run into Johnny, the leader of the group. They hold her down and tear her clothes off, and then call Matthew over to rape her. He can’t do it, but Johnny can– and does!
When it’s done, they still want Matthew to take his turn, but Matthew knows that’s wrong. She ends up walking home through the woods and swamp, naked, crying all the way. After a long walk she runs into the same guys again, and this time, Andy takes a turn. Jennifer can barely stand up after this round.
Jennifer finally makes it home, and she’s a mess. She crawls inside and gets to the phone to call the police– except the guys are already there waiting for her. After a great deal of goading, Matthew finally loses his virginity– nope, he can’t finish with an audience. Stanley finally gets his turn, right there in the living room.
On the way out, the guys decide they need to kill Jennifer to keep her quiet. They talk Matthew into doing it. He goes inside, chickens out, and wipes some of her blood on the knife before leaving.
Jennifer eventually wakes up, cleans up, and rests up. Johnny wonders why they haven’t seen any police at Jennifer’s house, and it’s been two weeks. Someone should have found the body by now. They start to wonder if Matthew really killed her. They’re all getting jittery about the whole thing. They drive by and see Jennifer outside.
Jennifer is somewhat recovered, scars and all, and she takes the gun with her to town. She stalks Johnny at the gas station and sees that he’s married with kids. She follows Matthew on his grocery deliveries. She orders some food, and Matthew knows the address; he takes a knife. When he arrives, she lures him out into the woods and seduces him. Then she hangs him with a noose and dumps his body in the river.
At the gas station, Jennifer shows up and seduces Johnny as well. She pulls out her gun and tells him to undress. He says this was all her fault; she drove them to do it. A bit later, she castrates him in the bathtub and he bleeds to death after a lot of screaming. There’s quite a mess to clean up.
Andy and Stanley head out in their boat toward Jennifer’s place; they know she had something to do with the disappearances. She swims over to Stanley’s boat, pushes him in, and chews him up with the propeller. She then kills Andy with his own axe.
Jennifer smiles as she speeds away in the motorboat.
Brian’s Commentary
It’s gotta be compared to “Last House on the Left,” (1972), which was six years before this. Both portray brutal rape scenes followed by revenge.
There’s the rape scenes and four murders (the poster lies about the body count). Other than that, there’s not much of a plot. The gore is pretty good and everything plays out pretty realistically.
I didn’t hate it.
Kevin’s Commentary
It was originally released in 1978 under the title “Day of the Woman,” and it was a flop. In 1980 distributor Jerry Gross renamed it, and publicity took off, with Siskel and Ebert complaining about it helping quite a bit. It’s been a notorious anti-hit ever since.
I’m sure I was taken to see “Last House on the Left” (a very similar film) when it showed at the drive-in, but I am quite sure this was the first time I’d seen this one.
Some of the scenes are graphic and realistic, without any body double work. It would have been a really awkward movie to make.
It’s interesting, but I didn’t find it very entertaining.
1956 The Black Sleep
Director: Reginald LeBorg
Writers: John C. Higgins (Screenplay) | Gerald Drayson Adams (Story)
Stars: Basil Rathbone, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Bela Lugosi
Runtime: 82 minutes (1 hour 22 minutes)
Trailer Link:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
A rich and brilliant scientist isn’t quite mad, but he does have a secret lair and dabbles in extreme medication and experimental brain surgery. Once he gets a willing assistant, he goes full tilt with his work. It’s well made with good special effects of the time and great sets, but the pacing is slow and uneven. It’s on the dull side with some entertaining moments.
Spoilery Synopsis
We get a voiceover about a strange drug that essentially makes zombies. It’s an ancient drug, and it induces “the black sleep.” Credits roll.
At Newgate Prison in 1872, we watch as Sir Joel Cadman visits Dr. Ramsay in his cell. Gordon Ramsay was a promising student, but he’s scheduled to be hanged in the morning. Gordon says he was framed for killing Curry, but he doesn’t really remember any of it. Sir Joel gives Gordon some of the “black sleep” drug to help him through the execution in the morning.
In the morning, Gordon is dead, probably of heart failure, hours before the execution. Sir Joel Cadman takes possession of the body, takes him home, and tells his servant, Odo, that Gordon is just in suspension, not dead. When Gordon wakes up, Cadman reads him his own death certificate. Cadman explains the whole thing to him.
The two doctors head off to Cadman’s remote castle to do more experiments. Casimir, the butler, lets them in. One of Cadman’s patients, Mungo, chases Laurie around the house until Daphne makes him stop. Daphne’s the nurse, and she keeps all the patients sleeping with the drug. Angelina, for example, has been in a drug-induced coma for 238 days, waiting for brain surgery.
Gordon mentions that Mungo reminds him of Dr. Munro, a brilliant doctor. Turns out, it’s the same man, now insane. Cadman discusses his theories of brain surgery and phrenology. Cadman’s got his laboratory in a secret room in the castle. Daphne and Laurie are already there getting a cadaver ready for them. We see that the corpse has the same tattoo that Odo has. By electrically stimulating various areas of the brain, he can make the corpse respond in various ways. Cadman eventually admits that the man they’re cutting into is still alive, under the black sleep. Gordon objects, but Cadman says it’s all justified.
That night, Gordon breaks up another fight between Mungo and Laurie. Laurie takes Gordon into her confidence; she feels sad for Mungo, who is actually her father but is now just a monster. Cadman operated on his brain, and it went badly. Dr. Cadman has an evil streak, and she knows it.
Cadman talks about his past surgeries with Gordon, and there’s a lot he’s hiding. Odo shows up unexpectedly, and he’s had trouble from the police while acquiring new corpses.
We then get a long scene where Odo pays a woman to model for him but then drugs her. He gives her the tattoo and gets her body ready to send off to Cadman. The police show up and want to search the place. This whole scene goes on for ages, and not much happens. Afterward, Odo simply kills the woman to keep her quiet.
Gordon and Laurie talk about prisoners and patients. Gordon starts calling the patients, “victims.” Gordon theories that one of the previous patients was Curry, the man he was accused of murdering. Gordon tells her all about his situation.
They find a different secret door, and inside this one, they find a dungeon with prisoners. An old man, Bohemond, thinks it’s the year 1100. They also find the man that they operated on the other day, and he’s all disfigured now. There are more, including Curry, who’s not dead at all.
Cadman and the other characters catch them in the act, and Daphne orders Mungo to grab Gordon. They all go upstairs, not realizing that Gordon gave the cell keys to Curry.
Cadman needs Gordon to help with one more operation, this time on Angelina, Cadman’s wife, who needs brain surgery. She’s the reason he’s been doing all this. Odo shows up with the dead woman, and Cadman is not pleased. Cadman decides to use Odo as his next subject– no, maybe Laurie will do instead.
The police arrive downstairs, following Odo. Cadman gets rid of them quickly. Curry, Bohemond, and the others break out of the prison, shouting “Kill! Kill!” Meanwhile, Gordon sedates Mungo and then the crazies kill him. Cadman carries in Angelina, and the crazies make him fall off a ledge to his death. The police return and arrest Odo as they get the full story from Gordon.
Gordon and Laurie have a happy ending.
Brian’s Commentary
It’s got a great cast of old horror icons that really don’t do anything other than lend their name to the movie poster. Lugosi doesn’t speak. Chaney doesn’t do much other than shamble around, as does Tor Johnson. John Carradine gets lines, but he’s little more than a cameo.
It’s not awful, but it’s a long way from great. Probably its worst offense is all the wasted talent.
Kevin’s Commentary
That was the coolest fireplace secret door.
This was the actual last film of Bela Lugosi, or last complete role. Two big names in non-speaking roles, draws an audience and saves money. Plus lots of other recognizable faces of the time.
They almost had Peter Lorre too, he was meant to be the gypsy role, but he wanted more salary than the budget would allow.
It had some interesting moments, but overall I thought it was on the dull side.
Contact Info:
Email: mailto:email@horrorguys.com
Websites:
