CUCKOO is the second film from German director Tilman Singer who had his student thesis film LUZ released in theaters. LUZ was an interesting debut, but CUCKOO improves on everything he did right in LUZ. CUCKOO is a mix match of genres, but it is definitely a unique horror movie that feels like a Giallo mixed with a monster movie and a family drama. Actress Hunter Schafer impresses as 17 year old girl Gretchen who moves with her father and his family to Germany after her mother has died (but was she murdered?). Dan Stevens is impressive too as the creepy German hotel owner Henri who wants her father to design a new hotel for him in the German Alps. Gretchen takes a job at the hotel as she starts to seeing weird things happening and she dreams of escaping back home even though her mother is dead (but she refuses to face the truth). Her mute half sister looks up to Gretchen, but she starts to develop seizures for some reason and a creepy screaming lady is stalking women at the hotel.

CUCKOO is a fun and scary horror movie with a great story and wonderful character development and twists. I consider this movie to be one of the best horror movies of 2024. The mix of genre and storytelling makes it very memorable.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
A five and a half minute MAKING OF CUCKOO featurette that has behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew. THE CUCKOO VIDEO DIARIES takes us further into the making of the movie while On-Set interviews with Hunter Schaffer, Frauke Fihl, and Dario Menedex Acosta provides insight into working on the movie and working with the director.

Also on the blu-ray are six deleted scenes cut for pacing and story clarification purposes, but they are interesting to watch anyway, a teaser trailer, and the theatrical trailer.



FINAL ANALYSIS: CUCKOO is a wild and impressive sophomore horror movie from Tilman Singer. It is one of the best of 2024 and a highly recommended horror movie.

This review is ©11-1-2024 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com