Surgeons of Horror

Surgeons of Horror A dedicated website looking at horror movies, dissecting classic screen legends and more.

Trans horror’s fiercest voice returns with her most personal and spellbinding film yet at Fantasia International Film Fe...
22/07/2025

Trans horror’s fiercest voice returns with her most personal and spellbinding film yet at Fantasia International Film Festival

Trans horror’s fiercest voice returns with her most personal and spellbinding film yet Australian filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay returns to the Fantasia International Film Festival with the Canadian p…

Retrospective: The Devil's Rejects"The Devil’s Rejects is an uncompromising sequel that deserves recognition for its ton...
21/07/2025

Retrospective: The Devil's Rejects
"The Devil’s Rejects is an uncompromising sequel that deserves recognition for its tonal shift and character focus. But its descent into brutality-for-brutality’s-sake leaves little room for nuance, and its adoration for nihilism can grow tiresome. Rob Zombie knows exactly what kind of film he wants to make—and fans of his aesthetic will defend this to the bitter end—but for others, it may feel like style over substance… with a soundtrack."
Saul Muerte

Rob Zombie trades haunted house horror for outlaw grime — but is it worth the ride? Rob Zombie is, and always has been, a divisive filmmaker. For some, he’s a torchbearer of grimy grindhouse horror…

Retrospective: What Lies Beneath (2000)"What Lies Beneath is a classy, mid-budget thriller that flirts with greatness bu...
21/07/2025

Retrospective: What Lies Beneath (2000)
"What Lies Beneath is a classy, mid-budget thriller that flirts with greatness but ultimately gets bogged down by cliché. It wants to say something about guilt and repression, about the fractures hidden in a “perfect” marriage, but it’s more comfortable delivering stylish scares than true depth. Still, as a slice of supernatural cinema from a director best known for time travel and talking cartoons, it remains a curious, if uneven, detour."
Saul Muerte

Glossy ghosts and domestic dread, but the water’s not quite as deep as it thinks. Robert Zemeckis’ What Lies Beneath drips with old-school atmosphere, evoking the glossy, suspense-laden style of Hi…

1960s Retrospective: Horrors of Malformed Men (1969)"As the 1960s came to a close, this film seemed to herald what horro...
20/07/2025

1960s Retrospective: Horrors of Malformed Men (1969)
"As the 1960s came to a close, this film seemed to herald what horror cinema would increasingly become in the decades ahead: challenging, transgressive, and unafraid to look into the abyss. It’s a flawed but unforgettable swan song to a daring era."
Saul Muerte

There’s no better way to close a retrospective of 1960s horror cinema than with Horrors of Malformed Men, a fever dream of grotesquery and surrealism that was so transgressive, it vanished from cir…

Retrospective: The Irrefutable Truth About Demons (2000)"At the time, The Irrefutable Truth About Demons may have aimed ...
20/07/2025

Retrospective: The Irrefutable Truth About Demons (2000)
"At the time, The Irrefutable Truth About Demons may have aimed for edgy, underground horror, but in hindsight, it feels more like an overwrought student film with delusions of grandeur. It wants to scorch the screen with dark revelations but instead fizzles out long before it finds its footing.
Thankfully, Karl Urban emerged from this chaos largely unscathed—and the only real truth here is that his career went in a much better direction."
Saul Muerte

There’s little irrefutable about The Irrefutable Truth About Demons, other than the fact that it’s a mess. Directed by Glenn Standring, this early-2000s New Zealand horror feature tries desperately…

1960s Retrospective: It's Alive! (1969)"Looking back, It’s Alive! might be worth a glance for die-hard fans of no-budget...
13/07/2025

1960s Retrospective: It's Alive! (1969)
"Looking back, It’s Alive! might be worth a glance for die-hard fans of no-budget horror or as a curiosity in the Buchanan filmography. But for most, this is one fossil that should’ve stayed buried."
Saul Muerte

Trapped in a Cave of Terror! is the tagline, but what It’s Alive! really traps you in is 80 minutes of painfully sluggish pacing, cardboard performances, and a prehistoric monster that looks like i…

Movie Review: Heretics (2025)"Some heresies are unforgivable. This is one of them."Saul Muerte
09/07/2025

Movie Review: Heretics (2025)
"Some heresies are unforgivable. This is one of them."
Saul Muerte

Heretics, directed by José Prendes, is yet another entry in the ever-bloated found footage genre—a tired rehash of tropes that aspires to be The Blair Witch Project in a haunted house but crashes a…

Retrospective: 2001 Maniacs (2005)'2001 Maniacs wants to be a wild, tongue-in-cheek bloodbath—an-d to a point, it is. Bu...
08/07/2025

Retrospective: 2001 Maniacs (2005)
'2001 Maniacs wants to be a wild, tongue-in-cheek bloodbath—an-d to a point, it is. But the novelty fades fast, leaving behind a film that’s more exhausting than entertaining. For die-hard splatter fans, it might still satisfy a curiosity itch. For everyone else, it’s best enjoyed with your brain firmly in neutral—and maybe a barf bag nearby."
Saul Muerte

Tim Sullivan’s 2001 Maniacs rolls out the red carpet (and the entrails) for fans of grindhouse gore and Southern-fried sleaze, but 20 years on, its brand of horror-comedy feels more like a hangover…

Retrospective: Dark Water (2005)"Soaked in mood but lacking menace, Dark Water leaves only a damp impression."Saul Muert...
07/07/2025

Retrospective: Dark Water (2005)
"Soaked in mood but lacking menace, Dark Water leaves only a damp impression."
Saul Muerte

Directed by The Motorcycle Diaries’ Walter Salles and boasting a stellar cast led by Jennifer Connelly, Dark Water (2005) had all the ingredients for a compelling psychological horror. But de…

Movie Review: M3gan2.0 (2025)"The film-makers have put careful thought into this sequel by analysing the first film’s su...
07/07/2025

Movie Review: M3gan2.0 (2025)
"The film-makers have put careful thought into this sequel by analysing the first film’s success, identifying what worked, and leaning into those markers."
Antony Yee

Me-Three-Gan Two. The sequel we all knew was coming. And yes, we will be referring to our checklist of what makes a good sequel, but that aside, is this outing any good, and was it necessary? From …

Movie Review: Push (2025)"Push is watchable enough for fans seeking a late-night thrill about survival that, ironically,...
07/07/2025

Movie Review: Push (2025)
"Push is watchable enough for fans seeking a late-night thrill about survival that, ironically, never quite finds a pulse."
Saul Muerte
Push will be streaming on Shudder from Fri 11th Jul.

Push, the latest Shudder Original, arrives with a high-stakes premise that promises maternal terror and psychological tension—but despite its visceral setup, this horror-thriller quickly loses stea…

Retrospective: Species (1995)"Species remains a slick, oddly lovable oddity—a creature feature dressed up in prestige ca...
07/07/2025

Retrospective: Species (1995)
"Species remains a slick, oddly lovable oddity—a creature feature dressed up in prestige casting and dressed down in late-night thrills. It may not have evolved into a sci-fi classic, but it sure carved out its own curious corner in ‘90s genre cinema. And for that, it deserves its moment in the moonlight once again."
Saul Muerte

It’s been three decades since Species first slithered onto screens in 1995—a glossy, genre-blending hybrid of sci-fi, horror, and late-night cable erotica that became something of a cult sensation.…

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