May Horror Month Has Nothing But Bangers Incoming

Obsession

I have repeatedly been singing the praise of this film because all of the marketing for this film couldn’t be better in my opinion. We had all of the following in the marketing campaign released gradually to lead up to this film making shockwaves across horror come May:

– Very short teaser that built suspense to establish the main plot device with the One Wish Willow without telling you anything else.

– Trailers that cut quickly not showing too much but look absolutely chaotic.

– Phone number to text that causes Nikki to text and send you creepy audio messages

– One Wish Willow available to buy online, paired with a commercial shot for the product in canon with the movie!

The performances will have to deliver on this hype to really help this film be cemented as something that has staying power in horror circles for years and decades to come. I hope it isn’t slow getting us to the wish being done, some exposition at the beginning is fine to make us care about the two, but we want carnage and to see how far Nikki is going to go to be with Bear. Also love this being the follow up for Curry Barker to his Milk and Serial short film in 2024.

Hokum

Coming out May 1st weekend, this will kickoff the amazing horror month of May that we are expecting. Adam Scott always is consistent in his roles, and him taking on a hotel suite haunted by a witch just is everything I want in a new horror film. I’m being told this is some of the best use of jump scares as well we will get in a horror film this year, and if you can make those feel effective and haunting rather than cheap, you could really appeal to a much bigger audience than this film will initially attract. Just from word of mouth after people go see it and tell their friends they shit their pants watching it. That is my hope for this film! Witch horror always deserves a spot on stage and this has enough firepower to really make a run in my opinion. With the director having done one of my favorite hidden gems in Horror with CAVEAT, and then a strong follow up with ODDITY, I trust Damian McCarthy with this bigger budget horror with a star lead to get under the audiences’ skin like his prior two films did. Can’t wait to see initial reactions and reviews. The early Rotten Tomatoes Meter score is floating around 92% last I checked which is very exciting.

Backrooms

This is the horror film I am most excited for in May. I also am concerned that this could be the one that has the biggest dud potential. Not that I think it will, just that if the lore and haunting concept of liminal space don’t ring home with viewers, it may not be received well. I think it has a big enough following and enough notable cast members in this film to 4x it’s budget at least, and hopefully more so I can keep praising that horror is winning. There are so many routes Kane Parsons can go with this and I know everyone online is already freaking out at teasers and glimpses of the movie that shows certain aspects of the lore that many loved. There is such a vast world built with this lore and the movie has a huge opportunity to send fans home happy and make new fans. Something isolated, simple, and still somehow intricate and scary is an intriguing work of art that this film can embody.

Passengers

The film that is going to go toe for toe, band for band with HOKUM for jump scares. This trailer was jump scare galore, but it looks like it has a much creepier and scarier tone that the other films mentioned in this blog. It seems like a simple premise but I feel like they have some tricks up their sleeves. Another great marketing campaign where you heard about this terrifying film upcoming without a trailer and you just were anticipating it to show up and see what it could lol like, and both the teaser and full trailer did not disappoint. Have had several website campaigns as well that put you in a loop driving like the trailer with your location and time on the camera frame to make it feel like you’re in the car and the target of the film’s presence.

All of these films carve out their own lane in horror and that is what makes their May so exciting for horror. There is something for everyone and I want nothing more than all of these to succeed.

COURTNEY ROETHLE