Even though we’re enjoying the warmer temperatures of spring right now, that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the chilling intrigue of a dark horror film. The best horror film right now is Hokum, and it absolutely delivers a good time. Horror films get produced a lot in mainstream Hollywood, and this year is no exception. We have already seen "Lee Cronin’s The Mummy," "Scream 7," "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Return to Silent Hill," and "The Strangers: Chapter 3" all released so far this year. But the newly released "Hokum" proves some horror films can still be interesting and attractive without buckets of blood.
A grumpy famous novelist named Mr. Bauman (Adam Scott, "Severance," 2022- ) visits a small hotel in the Irish countryside to spread his long-held parents’ ashes in the nearby woods. This premise seems ordinary enough, right? But things get creepy when some hotel staff reveal their honeymoon suite is closed and rumored to be haunted by a witch. The writer is hospitalized for a few days, one of the hotel workers disappears, and a bearded hermit is targeted by the local police.
All these events push the rude, unlikable Mr. Bauman to sneak into the honeymoon suite alone in a drunken grasp for answers but to also satisfy his growing curiosity. With a run-time of one hour and 47 minutes, I was totally fixed on the screen the entire time. "Hokum" successfully combines the suspense of a realistic murder mystery with the terror of the supernatural.
Irishman Damian McCarthy is the writer and director for this, and he has previously brought us the horror films "Caveat" (2020) and "Oddity" (2024). This guy loves gloomy settings, isolated people, and frightful bunny rabbits. But what’s more important in a film like this is the director has a confident grasp on the mechanics of scaring viewers and gradually magnifying an unsettling atmosphere. So many contemporary horror films have copious jump scares, so they feel cheap, cliche, or too easy to captivate viewers. And "Hokum" has multiple jump scares.....but surprisingly, they work.
"Hokum" actually has lots of expected horror cliches from creaking doors and rickety elevators to strange noises from the dark and the flickering light of a handheld lantern. Despite all this, I kept wondering why I had such a great time with this while driving home after leaving the theater. I settled on the film’s creativity, its timing, and its visually sparse hints at hidden grief.
Actor Adam Scott has established his brand as a part of great comedic TV ensembles in shows like "Parks and Recreation" (2010-2015), "The Good Place" (2016-2018), and "Party Down" (2009-2010 and 2023). But his performance in this is so dreary and unexpected, I was very pleasantly surprised. His psychological misery is shown through striking hallucinations, tired eyes, and quietly shaky breathing. "Hokum" and "Severance" prove he's meant for more than the straight man playing opposite wacky character roles.
Being set in an old hotel, "Hokum" easily reminds me of "The Shining" (1980) but also "What Lies Beneath" (2000). It also plays with the folk horror subgenre like in "The Ritual" (2017). The climax is predictable, but horror lovers will still have a feast with "Hokum." (The dusty old-fashioned honeymoon suite obviously represents the protagonist. Being closed off from the world concealing awful secrets. It's a little on the nose.) The trappings might be traditional and customary, but I promise you, this will get your heart racing.
