10 Recent Horror Movies Which Broke The Fourth Wall To Scare You

Regardless of any genre, setting films in contemporaneous events is a difficult task to accomplish. The story might age poorly in a matter of years, or it might try too hard to maximise its connection to said event to maintain relevance. Low-budget COVID horror flick Fresh Hell manages to use its pandemic-era setting and found footage/video chat format interestingly (but still has its flaws) while still providing the requisite frights expected from its genre.

The Ryan Imhoff/Matt Neal-helmed picture follows a group of friends who wish to reconnect but are unable to do so due to the restrictions of the era. Therefore, they hold a Zoom reunion but one of the friends, Laura (Christina Reis) is a no-show, leading to a rather unconventional take on the slasher villain trope.

Its primary antagonist, The Stranger (Imhoff) is a twisted play on villains such as Jigsaw and Ghostface filtered through a decidedly cyber-horror lens, and his attacks on the unlucky friends take a deeply surreal turn as the movie reaches its climax and becomes a bizarre talk show seemingly out of nowhere.

While the film's meta nature was meant to poke fun at personality archetypes that emerged during the pandemic as well as serve as commentary on the precarious nature of that work during that time, its tonal shifts may prove to be out there for some who would prefer a more traditional resolution to its events.