10 Most Terrifying Horror Movies Released In 2021 So Far

3. The Queen Of Black Magic

Saint Maud
Shudder

As horror fans, audiences have often been conditioned to wince at the mere mention of the word remake. Or reboot. Or reimagining. Or reimaging. Or recalibration. Or... you get the point.

Where The Queen of Black Magic is concerned, it has the benefit of being a fairly loose remake, a remake of a movie many have never heard of, and is a genuinely good horror picture.

Based on the 1981 film of the same name, Kimo Stamboel's take on The Queen of Black Magic is a gripping, gory offering that hits so many of the right notes that horror hounds seek out. While the gore is indeed plentiful when it comes, the film is far more than that when it comes to terror and torment - for The Queen of Black Magic primarily plays on the supernatural in order to establish the initial dread of the tale.

Plot-wise, Stomboel's offering, much like the '81 original, centres on dark magic, deep-seated revenge plans and mystery as three childhood friends and their families return to an orphanage to pay their respects to the gravely ill man who played a part in raising them.

There's a somewhat steady and possibly slightly too plodding start to The Queen of Magic, but this picture amps up the tension and horrors once it finds its feet.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.