Jason Statham, Iron Lung, and much more
Streaming offers plenty of scares and thrills this week. Fans of David Lynch and Alfred Hitchcock should watch The Ice Tower, Lucile Hadžihalilović’s deeply creepy spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen. The film about the seductive magic of movie making is ready to captivate you on Shudder. Mark Fischbach’s self-financed adaptation of David Szymanski’s video game Iron Lung became an unlikely box office hit. The claustrophobic horror movie about a sub exploring an ocean of blood is now available to stream on YouTube.
Oddity and Caveat director Damian McCarthy delivers another deeply spooky film with Hokum, which stars Adam Scott as a writer trapped in a haunted hotel. The film is available to rent. Pixar’s Hoppers may have been made for kids, but its ending is surprisingly scary thanks to some freaky visuals and an unhinged performance from Dave Franco. The animal antics are available to watch now on Disney Plus.
Here’s a rundown of the most notable new releases on streaming and VOD, including the biggest, best, and most popular new movies you can watch at home right now.
Yes, Pixar’s latest is firmly in the thriller genre — you’ll understand how hard it goes once you get to the final 30 minutes.
Fierce college student and nature lover Mabel (Piper Curda) steals experimental technology that allows her to place her mind in the body of a robotic beaver in a desperate attempt to stop the mayor (Jon Hamm) from destroying a glade she loves. She gets the local wildlife to join her cause, but winds up facing problems from some overzealous animals.
From our review:
Pixar’s animation continues to be top-notch. The other animal monarchs answering George’s call are introduced with ridiculous, showy fanfare reminiscent of the opening of The Lion King or King Triton’s court in The Little Mermaid. The chase scenes offer some goofy fun, even if they don’t have the rich background details found in Zootopia 2. An encroaching forest fire is both beautiful and terrifying. But that artistry isn’t enough to rescue an incoherent plot.
The latest film from Longlegs and The Monkey director Osgood Perkins follows Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland) and Liz (Tatiana Maslany), a couple celebrating their one-year anniversary in a secluded cabin. Their getaway gets extremely disturbing as Liz experiences disturbing visions hinting at the building’s dark secrets.
A horror spin on Frozen, The Ice Tower is a deeply creepy tale about escapism. Runaway orphan Jeanne (Clara Pacini) finds herself on the set of a film adaptation of The Snow Queen, where she becomes infatuated with the star, Cristina (Marion Cotillard). As she’s drawn into the film’s magical world, Jeanne discovers just how dark a fairy tale can be.
Michael Mason (Jason Statham), a former elite assassin, lives in seclusion on an island off the coast of Scotland, only talking to Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), a teenager who brings him supplies each week. When Michael rescues Jessie from a bad storm, she winds up caught in the crosshairs as his past catches up to him and he has to fight for both their lives.
In a future where most of humanity has disappeared, a group of convicts are sent to explore an ocean of blood on an isolated moon with tiny submarines. Condemned for a crime he didn’t commit, Simon (Mark Fischbach) is trapped in a dark, crumbling sub as he tries to make it to the sea floor without losing his mind.
After a car accident, Ellie (Jessica Rothe) is afflicted with a condition that continually resets her memory, leaving her experiencing seizures and unable to recognize her family. While the people around her claim she’s in isolation in hopes that her condition will improve, Ellie seeks to find the truth.
A group of friends go on a boat trip during a destination wedding in Malta, but a fire onboard forces them to abandon ship and hitch a ride with a fisherman. Unfortunately, their rescuer turns out to be hunting a shark with a taste for human flesh and plans to use the vacationers as bait. They’ll have to fight for survival to escape the trap.
American author Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) travels to the Irish hotel where his parents honeymooned to scatter their ashes. He discovers the honeymoon suite is locked and supposedly haunted by a witch as he deals with the strange locals and staff, and has to confront his own past and the place’s secrets.
Twin sisters Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) were badly burned by a fire their father set before abandoning them. When the mother they thought was dead summons them to her deathbed, she tasks them with finding their father and getting revenge. While reluctant to kill, they accept the quest as their destiny.
A tech billionaire enlists a group of elite scientists to travel to a remote island to work on a device that could allow them to communicate with aliens. When the project works, the team has to weigh the risk of making contact with an unknown entity even as the U.S. government seeks to intervene.
Nun Sister Lu (Katie Cassidy) has lost her faith and given in to alcoholism, but gets a shot at redemption from Father Novak (William H. Macy). But when a demonic idol possesses one of the passengers on their train from Montreal to New York, Lu must save the souls of everyone onboard before they crash.
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