Movies
Shutter Island
“Shutter Island might not ever be considered “classic” Scorsese but it’s a damn fine example of a master hard at work. It’s a fantastic homage to Val Lewton B-movies and an experience that’s worth having a second time at the least. If you can appreciate the nightmarish, gothic charms of the classic horror films of yesteryear, you will no doubt be entranced by the mystery surrounding Shutter Island and its inhabitants.”
Shutter Island can be explained with one word: nightmarish. Make no bones about it, it’s a film where the ending can be deciphered rather quickly – from the trailer even – and yet, it’s fascinating to watch the events unfold, if only to see how off-kilter the pieces of this filmic puzzle are. The conclusion is obvious, but watching a master craftsman pick and choose which clues to show and how is the real beauty of Scorsese’s latest foray into psychological terror.
The mood is set from the first shots as Ashecliffe – an asylum for the criminally insane – is shown through Robert Richardson’s cinematography as more of a character than a location. Between the moody lighting and the foreboding sense of dread that permeates from almost every frame, Richardson’s work proves about as integral to the atmosphere and storytelling of Shutter Island as Scorsese’s direction, DiCaprio’s acting chops and Laeta Kalogridis’ screenplay – all exemplary, I might add.
Ashecliffe might be the more obvious “haunted house” of the film but there is a second in DiCaprio’s Teddy Daniels, a U.S. Marshall sent to the asylum, along with his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), to look for an inmate that has mysteriously vanished into thin air. Of course, nothing is what it seems at Ashecliffe and the patients and doctors (with excellently evil performances by Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow) seem to be harboring a giant secret. After the initial setup, the film really starts getting into nightmare territory, offering up a disorienting reality as seen through Teddy’s eyes. Between the actual nightmares – ranging from his time liberating Dachau to his wife’s demise at the hands of an arsonist – and the waking nightmares, Teddy’s down and out Marshall is a sight to behold; a man who has ulterior motives for being on the island, and one who’s willing to take risks and a beating to get the truth. He’s not tough, he’s strong-willed. His inner turmoil over the past is manifested quite horrifically in island locales, whether it be the cold, harsh shores or the rusty, metal catwalks of the block reserved for the asylum’s most heinous offenders. And really, above all else, this is a film about dealing with guilt and coming to terms with reality, making the psychological and emotional approach Scorsese is known for the perfect fit for the material.
While Shutter Island is certainly DiCaprio’s show to steal, the aforementioned performances and turns from Ted Levine as a warden, Michelle Williams as a ghostly dead wife, and Jackie Earle Haley and Elias Koteas as crazed inmates are positively chilling. The only performance that felt shafted in the whole affair was Ruffalo’s and it’s not because he was bad (quite the opposite, actually), he just wasn’t given much to do aside from being a sidekick.
Minor Spoilers Ahead
Shutter Island is an almost flawless experience up until the end, and it’s not even because the reveal is obvious; it’s the way it’s overexplained that’s the problem. Certainly, this is a film that’s about the ride and not so much the climax, as clues are littered about the entire film which clearly hint at the ending. But having a character pull out a chalkboard to explain certain details for the benefit of the audience and the characters involved seems a bit desperate. However, the greater concern generates from the fact that after these certain details are examined, we watch them play out in flashbacks, which kind of negates the whole “whose recollection of reality is factual?” angle that could have made the film that much greater, if only because of the intense discussions that could have followed.
End Of Spoilers
Shutter Island might not ever be considered “classic” Scorsese but it’s a damn fine example of a master hard at work. It’s a fantastic homage to Val Lewton B-movies (Bedlam and a few others came to mind while viewing it) and an experience that’s worth having a second time at the least. If you can appreciate the nightmarish, gothic charms of the classic horror films of yesteryear, you will no doubt be entranced by the mystery surrounding Shutter Island and its inhabitants.
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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