After experiencing the disappointing Longlegs (Osgood Perkins does not share his father’s talents), the “just okay” Nosferatu remake, and the nauseatingly quippy Ready or Not: Here I Come, I would say that I do not have a high regard for “modern horror.” Beyond those turkeys, I dislike the pretentiousness inherent in the phrase “elevated horror” (enough to where I go out of my way to avoid watching them) and the relentless cashing-in on new “icons” like Art the Clown and M3GAN littering Spirit Halloweens, so much so that I usually try to steer clear of anything horror post-early-nineties. Because of this, I did not have a high bar for Hokum, the 2026 Irish horror flick directed by Damian McCarthy and starring Adam Scott (you know—that Ice Clown who lost his Town Crown because of Ice Town). However, instead of “Longlegs but Mark’s Outie is Irish” like I was expecting, I was pleasantly surprised by a damn fine horror movie!
Hokum (or as I frequently mistype it, Hookum) follows Ohm Bauman (no relation to Jay), a famous author known for his Conquistador series of historical-fantasy novels. Ohm checks into a remote Irish hotel (the one his parents stayed at for their honeymoon) in order to “make peace” with his folks via ash scattering. However, a shocking reveal kicks into motion a whole Hookum of spookums that positively ruin Ohm’s European vacation!
I really dug almost everything about this movie—it’s lean one hour and forty-one minute runtime, the way that the horror was executed, and not only Adam Scott’s acting, but the rest of the cast, too. (Specifically David Wilmot for his not-so-crazy Jerry and Austin Amelio, the only time I will ever give a Conquistador a compliment.) The ending was satisfying, which is a rarity in the horror genre—even with those older movies I like! (It’s iconic now, but if I watched the original Friday the 13th when it was in theaters, I probably would’ve been a little pissed off that it was all for nothing.)
TOP O’ THA SPOILERIN’:
One thing that I haven’t heard people talking about are the numerous similarities found between Hokum and The Shining. Despite the obvious fact that they’re both horror movies that take place at a haunted hotel, they both follow an alcoholic writer who is haunted by demons from his past. Jerry takes on a similar role that Doc Holloway plays—the only person who offers any sort of help and is sadly rewarded for their kindness by getting murdered towards the end of the movie. Both movies have a person dressed up in a fuzzy animal costume: the dog man in The Shining, and Hokum’s cross-eyed children’s TV show host (as well as Fiona’s Halloween costume). The Honeymoon Suite is the off-limits room of the hotel haunted by a creepy old woman, the same thing as the infamous Room 237. These aren’t listed in a negative way (I proudly wear my influences on my sleeve in my work), I just thought that it was neat to connect the dots between these two movies that I enjoy. (On a non-Kubrickian note, the reveal of the witch’s face lost all sort of suspense for me at that moment, since she looked exactly like Bub from Day of the Dead.)
And, as much as I love him, Adam Scott’s acting felt a little wooden two or three times. However, it wasn’t during any sort of important suspenseful/emotional scene, he was great during those! No, I think of the scene towards the beginning where he meets Jerry for the first time; compared to David Wilmot’s performance, Scott’s readings sound a little bit stale.
But as I said before, he kicks ass during the horror parts and can really carry a scene on his own. The whole portion of the movie where he’s all alone in The Honeymoon Suite is fantastic, being on-the-edge-of-your-seat terrifying despite the fact that it’s just Adam for the majority of that time. It reminds me of the post-Linda, pre-Annie scenes in Evil Dead 2, where it’s just Bruce Campbell losing his mind in the cabin. The ability to carry a whole high-energy, highly entertaining sequence on your own (such as David Hyde Pierce’s segment of the “Three Valentines” episode of Frasier) is something I value in an actor. (And a director, too! Props to Damian McCarthy making this movie entertaining despite most of it taking place in one location and mostly featuring one actor on screen.)
A small thing I would change would be towards the beginning of the film when Ohm first pulls into the Bilberry Hotel. He meets a guy fixing the front of his car, and a pan towards a dead deer next to him tells us all that we need to know (despite the fact that they go on to explain why for those denser audience members). Personally, I would have changed that deer to a rabbit. Although they would have to tweak the amount of damage that occurred (I imagine a ran-over rabbit is more “annoying” to clean up than a ran-over deer is “damaging”), I think the recurring rabbit imagery would’ve benefited from some ranking up—we got the rabbit kid’s show host, we got Fiona’s rabbit costume… and that’s it. One more thing would’ve been nice to really hammer home the rabbit motif they have (for some reason). (I guess rabbits are common in Ireland or something? Or perhaps they’re meant to portray innocence—since they’re only brought up when discussing Ohm’s childhood and Fiona’s undeserving demise.)
UPDATE: Apparently the kid’s TV show host is supposed to be a donkey. His name is “Jack,” so I assumed that it was supposed to be “Jack the Jackrabbit,” but no, it’s “Jack the Jackass.” Maybe they should’ve given him a snout or something to make it more obvious, since the only people I see referring to Jack as a donkey are NEON themselves.
So shove The Mummy back in its sarcophagus and wade past Deep Water, the real horror movie to see right now is Hokum! Just make sure that you don’t buy a large popcorn like I did—medium is more than plenty, and you’ll just feel bad for loudly chewing it during this pretty quiet movie.
[This review was originally posted on 5/10/2026 via my Patreon. Subscribe for just $1.50 a month and get early access to not only my book/movie/TV/album reviews, but to my artwork, comics, and creative writing, too!]
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