The Black Phone (2021)

A teenager is kidnapped by a serial child killer and starts receiving messages from old victims through a disconnected phone.

'The Black Phone' is a supernatural horror/thriller. With good performances, well thought out, but with a bittersweet effect.

Director:  Scott Derrickson     

With: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Ethan Hawke, Jeremy Davies

Rating: 7/10

Teen Wolf (2011–2017)

The lives of teenagers Scott and Stiles change forever when Scott is bitten by a werewolf.

'Teen Wolf' is the unexpected answer to supernatural fans' desperate search for watching material. Possibly avoided, unfairly, because of the werewolves premise, this series offers much more, with its easy-to-like characters, and a rich, varied and multicultural supernatural lore. It offers less humor than Buffy or Supernatural, but it balances  out the offer through much originality.

Director:  Russell Mulcahy and others

Production:  MTV   

Creator:  Jeff Davis   

Duration:  6 seasons of 12/20/24 episodes (42 minutes each)   

With: Tyler Posey, Holland Roden, Dylan O'Brien, Linden Ashby, JR Bourne, Shelley Hennig, Tyler Hoechlin, Crystal Reed, Melissa Ponzio, Ian Bohen, Daniel Sharman, Seth Gilliam

Rating: 8/10

Odd Thomas (2013)

Odd Thomas is a young man with premonition and other supernatural abilities who helps the police in murder cases or predicts other bad events.

'Odd Thomas' is a dark adventure movie that looks and feels like a Young Adult novel based film, but is actually an adaptation of a Dean Koontz novel. The film stars the late and beloved Anton Yelchin in the lead role, which makes the film tolerable, but in general, the picture is a disoriented mixture of a multitude of ​​chain reaction events, which overloads the viewer without allowing him get attached to the characters or the idea of ​​their failure.

Director:  Stephen Sommers      

With: Anton Yelchin, Ashley Sommers, Leonor Varela, Matthew Page, Willem Dafoe

Rating: 6/10

Midnight Mass (2021)

A recovering alcoholic returns to his parents' house, on an isolated island, where the community is going through a lot of change with the arrival of a new charismatic priest.

'Midnight Mass' is a new miniseries made by Mike Flanagan, with no connection to 'The Haunting of Hill House' or 'The Haunting of Bly Manor'. It is again inspired by the supernatural, but it is merely a pretext to enrich a faithful and rich depiction of human nature when it's under the control of religious fanaticism and in a desperate need of new chances from life. Some stylistic but perfectly understandable choices (such as choosing young actors in older roles) will (probably) cause some accidental spoilers.

Director:  Mike Flanagan   

Production:  Netflix   

Creator:  Mike Flanagan   

Duration:  1 miniseries of 7 episodes (7 hours and a half in total)   

With: Kate Siegel, Zach Gilford, Kristin Lehman, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Annabeth Gish, Henry Thomas, Hamish Linklater

Rating: 8/10

The Irregulars (2021)

A group of orphans in Victorian London help investigate paranormal mysteries, initially at the request of Dr. Watson and then on their own.

An interesting series for lovers of the supernatural and of the Victorian historical period. The investigation cases are not bad, the execution is interesting and the special effects are modern and look right. What probably didn't catch on were the main characters who failed to attract the public's empathy and camaraderie, as would probably have been necessary.

Director:  Joss Agnew and others  

Production:  Netflix  

Creator:  Tom Bidwell   

Duration:  1 season of 8 episodes (~1 hour each)  - cancelled after just 1 season 

With: McKell David, Thaddea Graham, Jojo Macari, Harrison Osterfield

Rating: 7/10

Ghostbusters (2016)

Four scientists passionate about supernatural come up with a way to fight the sudden surge in ghost invasions.

A remake of the classic Ghostbusters from 1984, with a modern and more politically correct take. The humor is fresh and palpable, Kate McKinnon enriches any movie and the fantasy side of the story is no more ridiculous than the old film's; one might even say that an obvious effort has been made to make the story sound like something that might actually make sense.

Director:  Paul Feig   

With: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones

Rating: 8/10