Willow Creek is a movie to believe in.

Friedkin's unflinching trailer-park noir features ugly characters, game performances, degradation and the obscene abuse of a chicken drumstick. Highly recommended, then.

A bright, breezy Irish monster mash boasting gorgeous cinematography, appealing performances and great SFX, even if it’s a little slight for can’t-miss status.

An animated film like no other, Loving Vincent is a staggering visual achievement.

It all adds up to a genuinely affecting, Seabiscuit-style underdog tale, which will get you cheering dogged Trudy past 10ft waves, a shoal of stinging jellyfish, and a plague of obstructive men. That salty liquid on your face isn’t sea water – it’s tears.

Next to message-laden, CG-soaked kids’ animations, SpongeBob stands alone. His return is a skittish but winning splash of nonsense: dip in.

It’s just a pity that the storytelling sprawls all over the place, with some plotlines (like the Beetlejuice/Delores discord) failing to pay off. But mostly Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a fun afterlife frolic.

Adams is as watchable as ever as Margaret, backed by fine support, but the problem lies with Waltz. He’s more caricature than character, and Burton proves unable to harness his energy as well as Tarantino did.

While the plot toys with credibility, director Mikkel Nørgaard ( Borgen ) conjures a squalid atmosphere – the stuff of real nightmares. This is so grimly compelling that even if you want to look away, you won’t be able to.

Derivative and a little dumb but consistently fun: there’s personality and panache to spare in this monster blockbuster.

An emotionally rewarding reunion tour for established fans and a taut, sharp-tongued, character-driven thriller for all, Veronica Mars makes a compelling case for its heroine’s continued existence.

The gleeful nastiness will be too much for many. Fans, meanwhile, will rejoice as Art wraps intestines around a Christmas tree like tinsel.

A bleak yet strangely heartening film.

Bleed for This is made with palpable commitment by all involved and there are scenes to jolt viewers out of their déjà vu.

Blending The Thing, Prince of Darkness, Hellraiser and Lovecraftian cosmic horror, this falls flat in suspense and characterisation, but ace ’80s FX – all liquefying latex – will delight genre fans.

The minions give good mayhem and the twig-armed animation’s lovely. Despite the coolest submarine-car since Bond’s Lotus Esprit, though, Despicable Me 2 is light on gadgets – and surprises, too.

A fabulous first live-action effort, combining R-rated hilarity with skilled storytelling as it slips some real heart into the stuffing of a toy bear.

Though its influences (Badlands, early Coens) are writ large, and the denouement disappoints, the performances convince, the dialogue captivates and the sense of backwater boredom is overpowering.

Undeniably beautiful, oddly moving... and quickly tiresome.

Even now we know he’ll thrive post-Hogwarts, Radcliffe impresses as Arthur Kipps, the solicitor, widower and father with an invested interest in the afterlife.

Warm and witty, Free Guy is expertly crafted disposable fun. And right now, that feels essential.

Incendiary storytelling with nuanced performances, but the transition from stage to screen lacks focus.

The end-stretch is overlong, but the Flash animation style pops with colour, the music is fun, and off-the-scale creature cuteness abounds.

The script is straightforward enough, but Lights Out director David F. Sandberg’s careful visuals emphasise shivery mood for something worthy of the Conjuring label.

Well executed if not entirely original – with werewolves, what is? – Eight For Silver is an assured, engaging chiller.

The deaths are exuberantly grisly and explosive, too, the sound mix relishing every gooey squelch. Yet as predictable twists and an underused final cameo arrive, all the blood isn’t enough to cover up the nagging shortfalls of final-act invention.

A decent adaptation of McEwan’s excellent novella. Forget Fifty Shades – this is sex to make your cheeks blush.

The Monkey might be a horror, but it's a laugh riot too, as Osgood Perkins offers up a plethora of inventively gruesome kills and some surprisingly profound ideas surrounding life and death.