Horror Movie A Day: February 2026

FEBRUARY 1, 2026

GENRE: THRILLER
SOURCE: THEATRICAL (REGULAR SCREENING)

HMAD has been here for almost 20 years now, and in that entire time there's only been two Sam Raimi movies that qualified for review here. The first was Drag Me To Hell, which I loved so much I hosted a "repertory" screening of it not even five years later, and the second is Send Help (which I'd love to host someday!). In between we got a godawful Oz movie that I don't even want to remember, and his Doctor Strange sequel (which had some solid scary stuff in it too, for the record, but it was first and foremost a Marvel movie that was following up a TV show and also a Spider-Man movie, while also setting up more multiverse stuff, so it's not fully HIS). Basically it's nice to have him back, but it'd be nicer if he didn't leave at all, you know?

The plot set up is simple but genius: "What if Cast Away but also Misery?" Rachel McAdams (she will only make a genre movie if a plane is involved, I guess) plays Linda, a frumpy, awkward woman who is also the most competent employee of a finance company. The president of the company has promised her a big promotion, but unfortunately he dies (all we see of him is a painted portrait, which you should definitely pay attention to) before it goes into effect. And now his son Bradley (Dylan O'Brien) has taken over and given the promotion to his frat buddy. This part of the setup isn't all that unique, and could have been a routine office thriller where she gets her revenge, but instead, the one employee there who sees her worth insists she join O'Brien and his bros on a private flight to Bangkok to oversee a merger. During the flight the engine explodes and the plane crashes into the water just offshore of a deserted island. Only Linda and Bradley survive, and the latter only thanks to the efforts of the former, who-as we learn via her homelife and as well as Bradley's ridicule-is also a survival expert hooked on Survivor.

So the tables turn; he's an alpha male in the office but can barely tie two sticks together on his own, whereas she only needs a day to have a fire, shelter, food, and water for them (it took Tom Hanks like a week!). At first he's still berating her and dismissing her, but ultimately he realizes he has to depend on her... just as she starts realizing that she is happier here and doesn't want to leave. To say more would be spoiler-y, but I will say that part of the fun of the movie is that we are constantly shifting our sympathies. No one in their right mind would be on Bradley's side for the first 45 minutes or so (maybe longer;? the office section feels a bit longer than necessary, but this might just be some "We know it's an island movie so GET TO THE ISLAND!" type impatience on my part), but once Linda does something that almost certainly delays their chances of being rescued, and Bradley admits he was abused by BOTH of his parents as a child, we get into more of a gray area. Right down to the end of the movie, I wasn't quite sure who would be the victor, as they were both villains in a way.

Naturally, their increasing antagonism is what gives us the Raimi splatter we hoped for once it was announced that the film would have an R rating. To be fair it's mostly for the language - honestly, the PG-13 Drag Me To Hell had far more violence, but the handful of moments that unleash his goo-happy tendencies are top notch, and it was great to see such things on the big screen again. I mean, it's not really a spoiler to say that these people who are on a deserted island eventually have to hunt an animal for food, but while we've seen this sort of thing in any number of island-set movies/shows, only Raimi would do it THIS way, which had me cackling and - yes! - even jumping a bit from a well-executed scare.

But it mostly plays out as a psychological thriller, meaning it's closer in tone to his movies like The Gift and Simple Plan, dipping into "Sam Raimi, the director of Evil Dead" territory at key moments almost as a diversion. Not saying this is a bad thing, to be clear, but I think the fans of those aforementioned grounded films will be more satisfied than those going in expecting Rachel McAdams to be the new Ash Williams. There are even a few moments of bodily damage that are played off-screen, something that would be unthinkable in an Evil Dead.

Honestly though, I didn't even think much of these omissions. The real draw was seeing McAdams and O'Brien having a blast playing against their type and playing mind games with the other. It was also interesting to have a dynamic where the female was older than the male; again, the "unappreciated female goes after her asshole male boss" scenario has been done a lot, so flipping the sexes but retaining the usual age gap made for an interesting pairing. I've been a fan of McAdams for decades now, but after Saturday Night I started really appreciating O'Brien's talents (say what you will about the movie itself, but he was SPOT ON as Dan Aykroyd) and he continues that streak here, finding humanity in what could have been a generic "bro" role. And both of them go for broke when it comes to the splattery stuff, particularly a scene where... well, again, no spoilers. But it comes after a raft breaks, that's all I'll give away.

Apparently this is in DBox, and converted to 3D as well... I'm sure it's fun for a few key moments, but I had a blast at a normal 2D screening, and rarely felt I was missing out on anything (the plane crash probably would have been fun in that capacity). I have yet to be convinced that 3D conversions can look as good as the real thing, so I never bother unless I have to (most recent attempt was another island movie in fact: Jurassic World Rebirth, and I forgot it was even in 3D half the time, if that gives you any impression), but Raimi seems tailor-made for the silliness that a good DBox presentation provides, so if you're not as picky about 3D as I am then by all means add to your enjoyment. But I just want to be clear: this movie would have worked even without the moments that were clearly designed for/by its director. The most anonymous filmmaker alive could have made a good movie out of watching Rachel McAdams go psycho on a desert island - Raimi just added some very sweet gravy to it, and the world is the better for it.

What say you?