Movies
Sight (V)
“If Ahlbrandt had spent half as much time scripting this film as he did setting up the lighting and splicing footage, he might have wound up with a much better production.”
If the eyes are the windows to the soul, how does one go about making a soulless film called SIGHT?
Jeffrey sees dead people. One day, Jeffrey meets Dana. Dana also sees dead people. Could be a match made in heaven, but since this is a horror film, things aren’t looking too bright for these intrepid souls—and that’s not just the desaturated lighting scheme talking. See, Dana has an ex-boyfriend Paul, and Paul doesn’t like Jeffrey. In fact, when Dana calls Jeffrey for help, and winds up spending the night at his apartment, her Ex comes over with a baseball bat and leaves Jeffrey in a coma for over a year. When Jeffrey finally wakes up, and tries to piece together what happened, no one can find any trace of Dana or Paul.
Someone needs to tell Adam Ahlbrandt to learn how to delegate—for the sake of his career. As the Writer, Director, Cinematographer, Editor and Composer on this film, he’s set himself up as the fall guy for virtually everything that could go wrong with a feature. I mean, no one blames the Producer or Actor when a film looks bad, sounds bad, is cut bad or is chock full of banal dialogue. But they do blame those other guys. To be fair, SIGHT doesn’t have all these problems, but man…the ones it does have are killing it.
Let’s start on the positive points. It’s obvious that Ahlbrandt is a student of J-Horror and in that manner; he populates his film with a collection of really creepy ghosts, most of which have blue skin, wet hair and float a few centimeters above the ground—just high enough that their pointed toes ever so gently scrape the floors of their haunts. It’s textbook stuff, but on a budget, it’s effective and well executed. Plus the make-up is well done and the spooks are generally spooky. The concept of the story is interesting at the outset, but it misses the bus so many times that by the end, the film is concluding a storyline that began at the half-way point and ignoring the one they started at the beginning. Is it confusing? Maybe not as much as your typical J-horror film, but yeah…it’s confusing. Also in typical J-horror fashion, the film is a talk fest, with the final explanation and action arriving just moments before the whole thing is thankfully over. So, if those were the positives—properly aping the pluses and minuses of Asian Horror Films—then you can see where the problems are gonna start to pile up.
To begin with, there is a world of difference between Sound Design and Sound Mixing and in that world Doug Sakmann’s got some explaining to do. Doug used to be the head of production at Troma and over the past few years he’s been churning out some fun, psychotic and pornographic microbudget genre films like PUNK ROCK HOLOCAUST 1 & 2 and RE-PENETRATOR. None of these films sound as bad as SIGHT. Want to know why? Cause Doug Sakmann didn’t do the sound on them! SIGHT suffers from the most extreme jumps in sound quality of any film I can remember seeing at this moment. It goes from a whisper to a scream from a mumble to a screech in jarring blasts that had me repeatedly cranking the volume up and down to keep my eardrums intact. If the sound mix is designed to scare the living shit out of you, congratulations guys, here’s to a job well done.
The other problem comes from the fact that, even though the film tries to conclude its story as a mystery, it never really clarifies why Jeffrey or Dana can see dead people. In THE SIXTH SENSE we didn’t need it explained because the point was who was dead. In STIR OF ECHOES we see dead people so we can solve the murder. SIGHT seems to want to follow that path, but the ending is so left-field it almost makes you forget the connection the two main characters had to begin with. The film’s ultimate breaking point is that other than a show reels for Ahlbrandt’s Cinematography and Editing skills—which the film feels like—SIGHT fails as a cohesive and compelling tale.
It makes no difference if Adam Ahlbrandt can craft a visually interesting film full of Hollywood styled jump scares and flash cuts if he has nothing interesting to say. Of course some loony studio exec just greenlit a sequel to Tarsem’s film THE CELL, which also has no story to go along with it’s visuals, so what do I know! Still, I’ll tell you this much. If Ahlbrandt had spent half as much time scripting this film as he did setting up the lighting and splicing footage, he might have wound up with a much better production.
This week’s big new horror release is of course Evil Dead Burn in theaters later in the week, but you don’t have to wait until this weekend to inject fresh nightmares into your eyeballs.
Five brand new horror movies have already released at home this week.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Tuesday, July 7, 2026!
Director André Øvredal’s (The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, The Last Voyage of the Demeter) new movie Passenger is now available on Digital at home.
Here’s the synopsis for Passenger: “A few weeks into their van life adventure, a young couple witnesses a horrific accident that leaves the driver dead. Soon they’re being pursued by a demonic stalker who’s impossible to outrun and follows them wherever they go.”
André Øvredal told Bloody Disgusting in an exclusive chat, “It’s a road movie, which is what I really fell in love with. It’s totally unique for me as a horror movie. Bridging the road movie with a haunting, essentially, on the road. I think it’s the scariest movie I’ve made.”
The cast includes Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell, Melissa Leo, Tony Doupe, Bonni Dichone, Devielle Johnson, Jessica Cruz, Miles Fowler, and Alan Trong.
The screenplay is written by Zachary Donohue (The Den) and T.W. Burgess (Mister Howl). Former Warner Bros production executive Walter Hamada, who steered the Conjuring and It franchises, is producing via his 18hz as part of his first-look deal with Paramount. It screenwriter Gary Dauberman is also producing via Coin Operated.
Supernatural horror, psychological suspense, and an eye-catching creature take center stage in The Leaching, now available on Digital from Dark Star Pictures and Uncork’d Entertainment.
“After waking up in a grave on her father’s isolated forest property with no idea of who she is or how she got there, Vivian must use her limited memory to piece together the nightmarish truth, all the while being tormented by the undead, a giant leech monster, and her ‘father.’
“Over the next few days, she will uncover the framework of a truly nefarious supernatural scheme, but will it be too late?”
The Leaching is written and directed by Evan Showalter (Ante Mortem, Bad Music Terry).
“The Leaching is an exploration of faith, the loss of self, and the monsters (literally) that emerge when people surrender themselves to something greater than they can understand,” says Showalter. “It’s an isolating horror film that plays with a very uncomfortable question.”
A film student finds herself trapped in a giallo nightmare in lo-fi horror movie City Wide Fever, which is now streaming exclusively on the Midnight Pulp streaming service.
The meta horror movie is from debut writer/director Josh Heaps.
In City Wide Fever, “Sam, a young film student, discovers a USB detailing the life and career of forgotten Italian horror director Saturnino Barresi.
“As she begins to investigate his mysterious disappearance, Sam finds herself pulled into a violent conspiracy eerily similar to those of the films she adores.”
Diletta Guglielmi, Angelica Kim, and Nancy Kimball star with Onur Tukel (Summer of Blood), Larry Fessenden (You’re Next), Carolyn Farina, and comedian Ian Fidance.
Paul Lê wrote in his review for Bloody Disgusting, “This isn’t just a case of throwback filmmaking that’s been achieved with contemporary technology; the director used era-authentic equipment to help create this striking and nostalgic piece of modern horror. The end result is a movie… teeming with enough verve and style to make it feel fresh.”
A Gen Z slasher that pays homage to ’90s teen slasher movies, You’re Dead to Me is now available on Digital outlets at home courtesy of distributor Dark Star Pictures.
In the slasher film, “Three high school seniors skip prom for a secluded weekend party free from parents, school, and responsibility, but their escape turns terrifying when they learn one of their classmates has been brutally murdered.”
Denise Richards (Valentine) stars alongside Siena Agudong (Sidelined: The QB and Me, Sidelined 2: Intercepted), Jessica Belkin (“Baywatch” ), Ella Anderson (“Henry Danger,” Song Sung Blue), and Conor Husting (“Boo, Bitch”, Hollywood Stargirl).
The film was directed by Juan Pablo Arias Munoz.
You’re Dead to Me was co-written by Sarah Howard and Terry Castle, the daughter of the legendary producer and filmmaker William Castle (House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler).
Steven Quale (Into the Storm, Final Destination 5) directed the supernatural thriller Black Box, which has now taken flight on Digital outlets courtesy of Aura Entertainment.
The film is based on the short film The Vessel, and an original screenplay from horror writer Stephen Susco (The Grudge, The Grudge 2, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Hell Fest).
Black Box (Flight 298) follows the supernatural events surrounding Vero Airlines 298 from New Orleans to Seattle.
Tom Brittney, Holly Leena White, Betsy Blue English, Dane Whyte O’Hara, Kaja Chan, Asa Ali, Boadicea Ricketts, Ceallach Spellman, Georgina Leonidas, Molly Belle Wright, Hanneke Talbot, Danny Mack, and Weronika Rosati star in Black Box.
Hammerstone Studios’ Alex Lebovici (Barbarian, Boy Kills World) and Jon Oakes (Drive, The Guilty) will produce alongside Capstone’s Christian Mercuri and David Haring (Bill & Ted Face the Music), Warren Zide (The Final Destination, American Pie), and Susco. Ruzanna Kegeyan and Roman Viaris of Capstone, and Clark Baker (Vessel) will executive produce.
What happened to Flight 298? Find out on Digital outlets now.
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