John’s Horror Corner: The Cycle (2026), a gritty, grimy, gnarly crime drama hiding a supernatural secret.
MY CALL: This film really takes its time, so be ready for that. But as long as you are patient with a slower (but still very interesting) story, it will pay off in gory monstrous returns! MOVIES LIKE The Cycle: This would pair well with The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), After.Life (2009), Unrest (2006), or Deadgirl (2008).
Director Jordan Downey (Thankskilling 1 & 3, The Head Hunter, V/H/S/Beyond) shines brightly, eviscerating the campy rubber guts shadows of his Thankskilling (2008, 2012) roots. Every dimension of this film is lovingly written, directed, staged and executed. It’s also nice to watch a horror movie that actually feels like it ends with a sense of catharsis and resolution.
When a crime scene recovers the body of the long-estranged father of a forensic pathologist Meg (Deborah Ann Woll; Mother’s Day, True Blood), she performs the autopsy on his cadaver… which reveals strange circumstances to his death. During her investigation she is haunted by his memory, the facts of the case get yet weirder, and her father’s cadaver turns up at yet another crime scene, this time with fresh flesh in its teeth.
Horror movies featuring a police investigation with medical examiners or detectives (Jeffrey Donovan; Extinction, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2) as the main characters are nothing new. Almost common, in fact, in the genre. But when a film’s opening scenes are readily mistaken for a “crime drama” (even if more a la Seven (1995)) rather than a horror movie, you’re likely in for a very well-crafted film. And that gritty crime drama tone is maintained for over half of the film.
This film essentially is a crime drama that eventually morphs into conventional horror. Interesting and atmospheric, but very much a slowburn pace, it also happens to feature some strong supernatural horror elements.
There are a lot of cadaver wound and decay effects, corpse nudity, very graphic cadaver screen time, and later in the film we wander into some much more graphic and violent gore. But the highlight is the transformation scene and the truly gruesome and bizarrely macabre monster effects. This abomination is gross and hideous, and such a delight for fans of practical effects!
It is most unfortunate that across social media, many reviewers reveal the surprise nature of this film in their review title. Crass click-bait titles like “It’s not your average zombie movie” or “The witch movie that finally gets rituals right” are fine when the trailer advertises your monster front and center. Even one of the European DVD covers gives the movie’s big reveal away! But this film is more tactful and makes you wait and wonder about its true nature. So, please, do not go searching for more reviews or reels or YouTube videos about this until you’ve already seen it first. Spoilers abound, and this film is worth your freshest eyes.
