Nightbooks

A timeless quality pervades this enjoyably grim and gritty children's fantasy film from Brightburn director David Yarovesky, which draws clear inspiration from the likes of The Lost Boys, Ghost Busters and even Robert Eggers's The Witch. When story-loving loner Alex (Winslow Fegley) decides to burn his horror books in the basement of his apartment complex, he stumbles into the Tardis-like home of blue-haired witch Natacha (Krysten Ritter). Held captive and ordered to tell one scary story every night, Alex plots his escape, but his efforts are thwarted by a hairless cat that can turn invisible, while sullen fellow prisoner Yasmin (Lidya Jewett) has long since given up on breaking free. With its sumptuous production design, nod-wink music cues and brilliantly realised monsters, Nightbooks delivers a refreshingly grisly blast of pre-teen horror. Tonally, it cannonballs all over the place, the supremely creepy visuals often at odds with Alex and Yasmin's cutesy friendship. But the plot takes a few unexpected turns, Fegley is a great nerd-hero, and Ritter has the most fun of all as a punk-rock Elvira in platform shoes.