Texas Frightmare Weekend is one of our favorite horror conventions every year but it can also become COMPLETE chaos if you’re not prepared 😅

After nearly 20 years attending TFW, we finally put together the convention survival guide we wish we had years ago.

In this special episode, we cover:

We also built a FREE downloadable Texas Frightmare planning spreadsheet with:

Convention resources + spreadsheet:

Watch the full video version:

Around here, The Fear is Family.

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#TexasFrightmareWeekend #TFW2026 #HorrorConvention #TheFearReview #thefearisfamily

A zombie outbreak hits immediately in This Is Not A Test and honestly? The opening had us completely locked in. Fast infected, chaos in the streets, and strong 28 Days Later energy had us thinking this was going to be a brutal zombie ride. Then the movie slows way down once everyone reaches the high school, and that’s where it lost Amy almost completely.

In this episode, William and Amy break down Shudder’s latest zombie horror film, the performances from the cast of FROM, Heart Eyes, and The Strangers: Chapter 1, the bleak emotional ending, and whether the movie’s character drama actually works once the action stops.

Streaming on Shudder May 22.

Around here, The Fear is Family.

Spotify → https://spotify.thefearreview.com

Whistle had everything it needed to work… and somehow still never gets scary.

We went into this expecting something tense and unsettling, but instead found ourselves calling almost every moment before it happened. The concept is strong, there are a couple creative kills, and there’s even a quick appearance from Nick Frost — but none of it adds up to actual fear.

In this episode, we break down why Whistle feels so predictable, why the tension never builds, and where it falls short compared to movies that do this concept better.

There are a few things worth watching it for… just don’t expect it to scare you.

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Amy screamed during Hokum and still walked out feeling hopeful. Damian McCarthy’s latest haunted hotel story turns into something deeper: a haunted man confronting the past he never escaped. After revisiting Caveat and Oddity earlier this week, we close out our Damian McCarthy spotlight with what might be his most emotional and accessible horror film yet.

It’s scary without being punishing, personal without losing its mystery, and somehow both unsettling and hopeful at the same time.

We break down why Adam Scott’s character arc works so well, how McCarthy uses ghosts differently from most haunted-house movies, and why this one left Amy hiding under a blanket in the theater.

Around here, The Fear is Family.

After Caveat unsettled Amy the first time, we didn’t expect Damian McCarthy to do it again.

But Oddity builds its tension differently. Instead of claustrophobia, this one leans into mystery — starting with a late-night warning at the door and slowly unfolding into something stranger, quieter, and harder to shake once it’s over.

We talk about what makes the wooden figure so effective, how the story layers its reveals, and why Carolyn Bracken’s dual performance anchors the entire film.

Before spoilers, we’ll tell you exactly who this movie is for and where it lands on our rating scale.

Oddity is streaming now on Shudder.

This week kicks off our Damian McCarthy Director Spotlight with one of the most quietly unsettling horror films of the last decade: Caveat (2020).

A remote island.

We break down what makes Caveat so effective, why its slow dread works differently than most modern horror, and how McCarthy builds tension without relying on jump scares.

Then we head into spoilers to talk about what’s really happening inside the house—and why that ending lingers long after the credits roll.

If this one got under your skin, you’re not alone.

⚠️ Spoilers begin later in the episode.

We dig into:

• what the rabbit actually represents

This episode is part of our Damian McCarthy Spotlight Week, where we’re taking a closer look at the director behind Caveat, Oddity, and Hokum.

If you enjoy slow-burn horror and psychological dread like this, follow the show so you don’t miss the rest of our spotlight coverage this week.

New episodes drop weekly from The Fear Review.

We’re closing out our Samara Weaving Spotlight Week with Mayhem (2017) a workplace horror-action movie that’s way more brutal than its reputation suggests.

Before Ready or Not, Samara Weaving was already leaning into darker genre territory alongside Steven Yeun in this corporate meltdown nightmare about a virus that removes social inhibitions and turns an office building into a pressure cooker of revenge.

Is Mayhem just a chaotic action movie… or is it secretly one of her meanest roles?

We break down:

Ratings are revealed before spoilers, with a clearly marked spoiler section later in the episode.

Around here, The Fear is Family.

Samara Weaving didn’t become a scream queen overnight. But The Babysitter is the movie where it really started.

Directed by McG, this fast-paced horror-comedy blends brutal kills, dark humor, and unexpected heart into what feels like Home Alone written by Stephen King. What starts as a simple babysitting job turns into a night of survival when a kid discovers his babysitter is part of something far more dangerous than he imagined.

We’re continuing our Samara Weaving spotlight with a look back at the film that helped launch one of modern horror’s most recognizable leads.

Is The Babysitter still one of the most fun horror-comedies of the last decade? Or does it rely too much on its shock factor?

We break it down.

Spoilers begin at 7:17

Around here, The Fear is Family.

Over Your Dead Body (2026) surprised us more than we expected.

The trailer makes it look like a lighter dark comedy, but once the violence kicks in, this turns into something much bloodier, meaner, and funnier than advertised. The opening spends time setting up a dysfunctional relationship that feels darker than expected, then the movie flips into the chaotic horror-comedy ride we were hoping for.

Samara Weaving continues proving she’s one of the most reliable horror-comedy leads working right now, and Keith Jardine quietly steals multiple scenes with one of the biggest surprises in the cast.

If you like relationship horror with the energy of The War of the Roses but pushed into full genre territory, this one delivers.

We both landed on a Buyer.

Around here, The Fear is Family.

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy isn’t the monster movie we expected.

Instead of a classic adventure-style creature story, this version twists the mythology into something much darker — a demonic family nightmare built around grief, possession, and some seriously uncomfortable body horror. Amy even brought blanket armor to the theater… and still barely survived it. 😬

We talk about how the film compares to Evil Dead Rise, whether the family story actually works, the scenes that got the biggest reactions from us, and whether this one is worth seeing opening weekend.

Non-spoiler thoughts first. Spoilers later in the episode.

Around here, The Fear is Family.