Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of Movie Reviews 2026 – your guide to what to watch and what to avoid in the world of film. And this week, Movie Reviews 2026 is definitely covering all the bases when it comes to ‘watching’ and ‘avoiding’.
So, what’s on the horizon? Well, this week you’ll find reviews for horror-thriller, Send Help; action-thriller, 96 Minutes; and aquatic-thriller, Shark Terror!
Plus, Renny Harlin’s reboot/remake trilogy of The Strangers FINALLY draws to a close with The Strangers – Chapter 3. And for those of us who have followed along through thick and thin, it couldn’t come soon enough.
Right, so that’s what’s on offer this week, now let’s get to it!
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In cinemas…
Send Help (2026)
First up it’s off to the cinema for the horror-thriller, Send Help. Directed by Sam Raimi, the movie stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien and follows the story of an employee and her boss who find themselves stranded on a deserted island.
In the movie, good natured Linda Liddle is a corporate strategist for a successful company. She puts in the hours, thinks outside of the box, and deserves recognition for all her hard work.
Unfortunately when the owner of the company dies, Linda is quickly overlooked by his son, Bradley, who takes over as CEO. Bradley has no time for Linda and believes she is a problem.
But when the pair are caught up in an airplane disaster, which leaves them as the only survivors on a deserted island, the power dynamic between the two begins to shift. Bradley’s influence in the boardroom suddenly means nothing, whereas Linda’s resourcefulness, as well as her keen interest in the reality show, Survivor, could be the key to keeping them both alive.
There are just two problems. Bradley isn’t happy to let Linda take charge, and Linda is done with being pushed around.
Four years have passed since Sam Raimi’s last movie, the MCU sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and it sure is great to have him back calling the shots on another film. And it’s a film which not only has an intriguing premise, but includes a sizeable dose of Raimi’s black humour.
There are a few sequences in Send Help which are pure Raimi through and through. While Send Help isn’t the darkest of his movies (it’s not Drag Me to Hell), he still finds ways to have fun with the gruesome or macabre elements of the narrative.
For example, the plane disaster which causes Linda and Bradley to be stranded on the island could easily have been a simple crash, but instead Raimi has gleeful fun with it. Likewise, a scene involving a wild boar, as well as a sequence featuring projectile vomiting, leans into the absurdity of the situation and is all the better for it.
If you have a fondness for the director, and the whacky situations he puts his characters through, you’ll enjoy what’s on offer here. There’s much to like, plus the island backdrop is certainly a beauty to behold, and McAdams and O’Brien are on top form.
In terms of the story, it’s fairly straightforward stuff, and doesn’t take too long to get Linda and Bradley onto the island. It’s here where the balance of power is brought into question.
Linda’s survival skills are the only thing keeping the pair alive, and Bradley would be lost without her, but are things better under her watch? Writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift introduce an extra wrinkle which suggests maybe Linda isn’t quite the hero she appears to be.
This adds more depth to the story, and keeps things trucking along nicely. Send Help moves into darker territory as the tale unfolds, with Linda’s decisions playing a key role in how things play out, and it all builds marvellously.
Send Help is a solid film, which offers up a good balance between storytelling, spectacle, and the sheer fun of Sam Raimi’s direction. McAdams is excellent as Linda Liddle, while O’Brien is great as ass-hat boss Bradley, playing the part in such a way it becomes almost impossible to feel any sympathy for him, even when he’s clearly in distress.
All-in-all an enjoyable movie and one to catch while it’s playing in cinemas. If you’re off to the flicks, be sure to give this film a look-see.
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Now streaming…
96 Minutes (2025)
Moving over to streaming now for the Taiwanese action-thriller, 96 Minutes. Directed by Hung Tzu-hsuan, and starring Austin Lin, Vivian Sung, and Wang Po-chieh, the movie focuses on an explosives expert tasked with defusing a bomb on a train.
In the film, three years have passed since a devastating twin bombing took place in Taiwan, which caused the deaths of 26 people. On his way back from a memorial to the victims, explosives whiz A-Ren becomes aware of another bomb, this time planted on a high speed train.
With the clock ticking, A-Ren has less than 96 mins to save the day. But will he manage to achieve his goal and will audiences stick around long enough to find out?
Clocking in at two hours (a tad longer than the title suggests) 96 Minutes is a so-so thriller which does have its moments, but at times it is somewhat lacking. The premise is fairly simple, which works perfectly fine for what’s being presented, but the action and thrills are limited, and this ultimately holds things back.
For a movie which contains some important revelations, high-speed trains, and a countdown to destruction, there are times when things drag a bit. One can’t help but wonder if the creative team should have stuck to the time limit suggested by the title, or even streamlined things further.
However, it’s not bad, and perfectly fine for a bit of late night viewing. Just keep in mind things get a bit bumpy as it trundles down the track, and you may like it for what it is.
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On disc…
Shark Terror (2025)
Sliding over to disc now for the DVD release of Shark Terror. A movie which does indeed contain sharks (plural), but the terror appears to have gone AWOL.
Anyway, this low-budget tosh from The Asylum follows the story of a guy and a gal who go overboard on THE LEAST POPULATED SHIP YOU EVER DID SEE, only to end up in shark-infested waters. Making it to the shore of a remote bit of land, which is conveniently located close by (ain’t that lucky?), the pair try their best to survive… by erm… simply not going back in the water, and waiting for the rescue party.
Directed by Mario N. Bonassin and starring Carly Medina and Javier Duran, Shark Terror is yet another shark movie which is absolute cobblers. Not only is it cheap, boring, and bloody slow, the film lacks any suspense, tension, or believability.
After the lead characters escape the shark-filled waters, which takes about a minute to get out of, they simply need to stay on the beach and keep away from the sea. Yet, at multiple times they both sit by the water’s edge, essentially offering themselves up as a tempting snack for the sharks.
Sharks by the way, which are brought to life using a mix of poor CGI and stock footage. Although, they barely feature in this movie, which instead devotes far too much time to a rescue mission which is about as exciting as a colonoscopy.
*Sigh*
This is nonsense. Utter, utter nonsense.
Anyway, should you have more money than sense, Shark Terror is available to buy on DVD priced at £6.99. But why you’d want to buy this movie is anyone’s guess.
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In cinemas…
The Strangers – Chapter 3
And finally, from one terrible film to another. Yes, this one is a stinker too, but please remember, I just review these things – I don’t make ‘em!
Anyway, the film is The Strangers – Chapter 3, which is the third and thankfully final entry in director Renny Harlin’s The Strangers trilogy. For those who can’t recall, this is a trio of horror films which were shot back-to-back in 2022, and over the last few years have been drip-fed to us on an annual basis whether we wanted them or not.
Chapter 1 was released in May 2024, while Chapter 2 hit screens in September 2025. For those out of the loop, the first was bad, while the second was bloody awful.
In fact, in my review for Chapter 2 I called the movie “abysmal bollocks”. Five months on and I still stand by that review.
So, are things any better for this third and final film? Nope, this is utter drivel and thoroughly tedious.
Picking up after the events of Chapter 2, Maya (Madelaine Petsch) is still being hunted by masked ‘strangers’ and is still trying to stay alive. Meanwhile, as Maya’s family arrive in town to question the locals, the narrative flips back and forth filling in details about the origins of the killers, in increasingly frustrating and confusing ways.
In fact, there are times when things get so confusing, the film almost becomes incomprehensible. The script jumps here, it jumps there, it jumps every bloody where, and keeping track of it all is an art in itself.
If you were fortunate enough to have skipped Chapters 1 & 2, then unfortunately you’ll have no clue what is going on in Chapter 3. Although, on the flip-side, if you were unfortunate enough to have sat through the first two films, you will be at least fortunate enough to have some idea about what’s happening.
Not that you’ll enjoy it either way. The Strangers – Chapter 3 is complete dross, devoid of life, devoid of creativity, and largely devoid of dialogue.
Barely anyone speaks, and when they do there’s not much being said. How this thing even made it past the script stage is beyond me, and how it got funded is truly baffling.
Like its predecessors, The Strangers – Chapter 3 is a complete waste of time. And having sat through all three of these awful films I refuse to waste any more time on them.
Here’s all you need to know: It’s shit. Don’t bother.
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Also out…
Recent Releases
Not quite done yet? Want more movies? The above suggestions aren’t enough?! Well, here’s what’s also doing the rounds:
The Big Fake (2026)
“Slick, well-acted, and relatively interesting, The Big Fake is a decent crime picture about one man’s descent into the dark corners of the Italian crime scene.”
Mercy (2026)
“Mercy isn’t as awful as some might suggest, it’s just not great either. Had this been a 30-minute episode of a television show it would work far better.”
The Wrecking Crew (2026)
“The pairing of (Jason) Momoa and (Dave) Bautista works well, and when the movie leans into scenes of spectacle there’s fun to be had, but there are sections which slow the story down to a crawl.”
Primate (2026)
“Chimp unleashes primate pandemonium; youngsters run for their lives; and so on and so on. It’s certainly not the Citizen Kane of animal attack movies, but the story moves from Chimpan-A to Chimpan-Z without any major problems.”
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Movie of the Week
Onto Movie of the Week, which this week goes to Sam Raimi’s horror, Send Help. Which is pretty obvious really, as everything else this week has been a bit of a let down.
However, Send Help is a highly enjoyable romp, which includes the usual brand of Raimi’s signature dark humour and playfulness, alongside a great story. So, yeah, it’s recommended!
And if you like Send Help you might also like:
- Drag Me to Hell (2009) – Sam Raimi directs this supernatural horror about a young woman desperate to lift a sinister curse.
- The Gift (2000) – Sam Raimi calls the shots on this supernatural thriller about a clairvoyant who gets caught up in a missing person’s case.
- Cast Away (2000) – Robert Zemeckis directs this survival drama about a FedEx employee who gets trapped on a deserted island following a plane crash.
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Forthcoming attractions
And that’s your lot for this week, but coming soon there’s animated antics in The Goat; steamy shenanigans in Wuthering Heights; and fun and fungus in comedy-horror, Cold Storage. Plus This is Not a Test, Firebreak, Scream 7, and Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die are all on the way!
You’d be mad to miss it. Mad I tells ya!
Alex
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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this edition of Movie Reviews 2026. For more posts be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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