Thank you for taking part in The Film Magazine’s horror and Halloween movie quiz. Follow @thefilmagazine on social media—on Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter)—for more quizzes, features and film recommendations. We’d love to see your results, so be sure to share your score on the relevant posts and tag @thefilmagazine to join the conversation. In … Read more

Jurassic Park (1993) introduced a world where humans and dinosaurs collide, and where the struggle between control and chaos drives every scene. In that world, the lines between species blur and the scientists who think they are masters of nature often appear foolish. Among them, Dr Henry Wu stands out—brief in appearance but huge in … Read more

Nicolas Cage has long been synonymous with high-energy, larger-than-life performances. For many casual viewers, he’s either the action star from blockbuster thrillers or the meme-ready figure whose most extreme moments have been clipped and shared across the internet. Those impressions capture a slice of Cage’s artistry—his distinct emotional intensity and unpredictability—but they don’t reflect the … Read more

Woman of the Hour (2023)Director: Anna KendrickScreenwriter: Ian McDonaldStarring: Anna Kendrick, Daniel Zavatto, Nicholette Robinson, Autumn Best, Kathryn Gallagher, Pete Holmes, Tony Hale Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, dramatizes the chilling real-life case of Rodney Alcala and shifts the typical true crime focus away from the killer to the women whose lives … Read more

Smile 2 (2024)Director: Parker FinnScreenwriter: Parker FinnStarring: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson The original Smile arrived in 2022 as a compact, effective piece of commercial horror that managed to turn a modest budget into notable box office success. That film’s straightforward premise … Read more

Salem’s Lot (2024)Director: Gary DaubermanScreenwriter: Gary DaubermanStarring: Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Alfre Woodard, John Benjamin Hickey, Bill Camp, Alexander Ward Remaking a beloved adaptation of a classic Stephen King novel carries a heavy burden: fans expect reverence for the source material and enough fresh insight to justify revisiting the story. The track record of recent … Read more

Mr Smith Goes To Washington (1939)Director: Frank CapraScreenwriter: Sidney BuchmanStarring: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Thomas Mitchell, Edward Arnold, Claude Rains, Harry Carey In dark or uncertain times, finding a guiding light can feel impossible — and yet hope persists. Sometimes we turn away from it, comforted by our melancholy. Other times, hope arrives unexpectedly: a … Read more

Sexual violence appears repeatedly across horror cinema, from Rosemary’s drugged impregnation in Rosemary’s Baby to the killer stalking sorority girls in Black Christmas. The slasher subgenre in particular is built around sexualised violence: a male villain stalks a group of young people, often women, and only one—often called the “final girl”—survives. She endures the worst … Read more

Jaws (1975) opens with a body: a clear, brutal sign that something in the water has attacked. The people of Amity Island, however, are slow to accept the implication. Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) stands out as the lone reasonable public official, uneasy on the beach and increasingly alarmed. Into this tense, sun-soaked community arrive … Read more

The Wild Robot (2024)Director: Chris SandersScreenplay: Chris SandersStarring: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Matt Berry, Catherine O’Hara, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot feels like a confident step into a new era for the studio. Directed and scripted by Chris Sanders and adapted from Peter Brown’s 2016 … Read more