Netflix users are flooding to social media in horror over a movie about artificial intelligence.

It may not reduce you to tears like another action movie available on the streaming service starring Bruce Willis and described as a ‘masterpiece’, but this dark-humored AI, action film is sure to get your skin-prickling.

Cast, crew and synopsis

The film was written and directed by Leigh Whannell – best known for one of the best horrors to exist The Invisible Man (2020) and other hits such as SAW and Insidious – and produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions – known for Get Out, Paranormal Activity and M3GAN.

It stars the likes of Logan Marshall-Green (Intrusion), Betty Gabriel (Get Out) and Harrison Gilbertson (The Tall Grass).

The cyberpunk action film centers itself around auto mechanic Grey Trace (Marshall-Green) who ends up getting implanted with a chip, which allows him to control his body after being left paralyzed. But, will the chip do more than just give him back authority over his body? And is Grey still really in control?

The movie – titled Upgrade – first came out in 2018, premiering on 10 March at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, however, since its release onto Netflix earlier this month, viewers have been flooding to social media to give their reviews.

The film was first released in 2018 (OTL Releasing)

Reactions

Upon its initial release, the film made an applaudable $16.5 million globally at the box office, as per Box Office Mojo, costing around $5 million to make, as per IMDB, and it received positive reviews from critics at the time too.

And at the time of writing, Upgrade has achieved an impressive Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 88 percent and a matching solid – and officially ‘fresh’ – tomatometer score of 88 percent too.

The film has even been described by ScreenRant as ‘the most unnerving AI movie of the past 10 years’.

And the praise has spilled out onto social media too.

One X user said: “For my cyberpunk lovers out there. Go watch Upgrade on Netflix. I can’t believe I never heard of this film till yesterday and it was absolutely fantastic. (Trailer doesn’t do it justice).”

“It is a fantastic film, beautifully shot, acted, and paced. Plus that twist is just wow!” Another added.

A third commented: “Name an underrated sci-fi movie? Not enough people talk about Upgrade (2018) for my liking.”

“Banger movie. Showed this to a buddy recently and he was over the moon about it. So inventive and stylishly shot,” a fourth wrote

And a final resolved: “The ending to this movie tho!”

A horror film with ‘insane gore’ was so terrifying that viewers went as far as to say it unlocked a ‘new fear’ – and now anyone with a Netflix subscription can hop on the couch and get that new fear.

Spoilers ahead…

Horror films done right can be an absolute literal nightmare – and unlock new fears your brain hadn’t even comprehended before.

Take the Final Destination franchise, the King of this trend.

I personally had never thought about how terrifying it was to drive behind a truck full of logs before until I watched the second film of that series and saw someone flattened.

Now am I regularly driving behind a truck full of logs? No.

Is that still one of my greatest unrealised fears? Yes.

The film in question is a horror movie that itself is part of an iconic franchise, and has the reviews to prove it.

Alongside a superb 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, fans raved about the film – it made a whopping $149 million at the box office off a budget just under $20 million.

It was added to Netflix this week, shooting up to number two in the US, behind only The Garfield Movie (which is terrifying in its own right).

Here’s the trailer for the horror:

The film in question is Evil Dead Rise, the fifth instalment of the Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell franchise.

The film’s synopsis reads: “A reunion between two estranged sisters gets cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.”

If you’re wondering what caused people’s newfound phobia, it’s a scene in the film that utilises kitchen utensils in a … let’s say creative way.

During one section of the film one of the lead characters, Bridget, is possessed and begins going after her aunt, Beth.

Evil Dead Rise has unlocked a new fear for many fans (Warner Brothers)

She proceeds to grab a cheese grater and scrape it down her calf in an attempt to get her.

The moment led to shocked reactions online, with one posting: “I’m usually a pretty quiet movie watcher, but the moment in Evil Dead Rise involving a cheese grater had me actually screaming. Lee Cronin, you’re pretty f***ed up, good job!”

Another said: “Evil Dead Rise synopsis: cheese grater fear unlocked”.

A third said: “Lee Cronin understood the damn assignment. Creative kills, unique household items used as weapons, practical effects body horror, manic laughing deadites and circus-level contortionism.”

Reviews have been largely positive for the film since it was added to Netflix, with one fan posting on Twitter to say: “Evil Dead Rise starts off slow and then refuses to take its foot off the gas.

“Insane gore and terror all of the way through mixed with incredible performances all round.

“Definitely a must-see for horror fans.”

Evil Dead Rise is on Netflix now in the US

Netflix has been accused of using AI-generated images in a new true crime documentary that captivated viewers across the globe.

Take a quick look at the Netflix Top 10, and you’ll find that crime stories are just as popular as ever.

The documentary What Jennifer Did is still ranking high as viewers are keen to get a truthful insight to the crimes of Jennifer Pan – but now accusations have emerged suggesting not all of the material featured in the documentary is authentic.

Released on 10 April, What Jennifer Did details the life and downfall of Pan, a supposed university graduate living with her parents in a quiet Canadian town in 2010.

Using new interviews, photographs and police tapes, the documentary details how Pan’s parents disapproved of her relationship with her boyfriend; how she lied to them about going to university for years, and what happened on the night she called 911 to report intruders in her home.

The documentary focuses on a case involving 28-year-old Jennifer Pan. (Netflix)

The documentary leads viewers through a tale of twists and turns – but the latest twist has emerged this week in a report from Futurism, which suggested some images of Pan may have been manipulated.

One particular image in question shows Pan grinning and throwing a ‘peace’ sign to the camera; an image shown in the doc as Pan’s high school friend, Nam Nguyen, describes her as ‘bubbly, happy, confident, and very genuine’.

The image looks like a typical photo of a young woman – but upon closer inspection, Pan’s left hand appears to be missing a thumb, ring finger and small finger.

On her right hand, she appears to be missing her other pinky finger, and some of her other fingers are blurred into the palm of her hand.

There appear to be fingers missing in the photos. (Netflix)

The discrepancies in the photos lead some to believe there has been at least some AI manipulation, but Netflix has not commented on the matter at the time of writing (19 April).

As has been pointed out previously in AI-generated images, hands can often be a clear indicator of manipulation as it can be hard for the technology to correctly produce limbs and fingers.

After Pan’s unusual hand formations were pointed out, internet users expressed their outrage and claimed whoever had manipulated the image had ‘crossed a line’.

“AI doesn’t belong in filmmaking,” one X user wrote, as another responded: “Not in a documentary anyway. Maybe sci-fi or cartoons or something, but definitely not a true crime story.”

“This should be illegal,” another commented.

UNILAD has contacted Netflix for comment.

Full timeline of the Jennifer Pan case:

Jennifer hires hitmen to kill her parents

In the hopes of inheriting a $500,000 (£393,000) fortune and getting rid of her pushy parents, in November 2010 Jennifer, 24 at the time, enlisted the help of hitmen to kill her parents.

What appeared at first to be an armed robbery – with the three men demanding that the married couple hand over all of their money – soon evolved into a brutal killing, after the group took Jennifer’s parents down into the basement and shot them on 8 November.

Her mother Bich was instantly killed upon impact, while her father managed to survive the ordeal.

The 9/11 call that changed everything

Jennifer frantically called 911 to report the crime, but police soon began to poke holes in her story about how the incident unfolded – especially as she was left unharmed and was somehow able to call 911, despite her hands supposedly being bound.

Jennifer becomes a suspect

An in-depth police investigation ultimately led to Jennifer as the police’s main suspect.

Authorities were particularly alarmed when they learned that Jennifer had managed to fool her parents into believing she was attending university in Toronto for a number of years.

Jennifer’s lies crumble and double life is exposed

The naturally average-achieving student claims she was consistently pressured by her parents to achieve top-notch grades, become an Olympic athlete, a martial arts professional and an award-winning musician.

Their pressure supposedly came at such an extent that Jennifer actually faked studying at university, creating false documents and forged loan letters.

Jennifer is jailed

On 13 December, 2014, Pan was found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder. She was sentenced the following year to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

Her co-conspirators Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong, David Mylvaganam and Lenford Roy Crawford were convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder in December 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

Eric Shawn “Sniper” Carty was given an 18-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit murder, with eligibility for parole after nine years. He passed away in prison in 2018.

Jennifer’s 2023 appeal

Last year, Pan was granted a new trial for the murder of her mother.

It was found that the original judge in her trial had made an error by telling the jury they were only to consider first-degree murder, instead of also being able to consider second-degree murder or manslaughter.

At the time of writing, Canada’s Supreme Court is still undecided on whether it will hear the case.

Netflix has recently added a psychological thriller and it’s leaving people ‘speechless’.

Now that the horrors of rushing around the crowded shops doing last minute Christmas shopping are over, how about settling down to enjoy another sort of frightening experience – a film which has just come onto Netflix which is really scrambling with people’s heads.

Prepare to jump for joy when you see some of your favorites from Clueless and Obsession, but then squeal in fear:

The psychological thriller was directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala and written by Franz, Fiala, and Sergio Casci.

It stars Daisy Jones and the Six’s Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell best known for It, Lia McHugh (A House on the Bayou), Clueless’ Alicia Silverstone, and Obsession’s Richard Armitage.

While the film was first released in 2019 – premiering at Sundance Film Festival – it’s only just become available on Netflix.

The official Netflix synopsis reads: “Snowed in with her fiancé’s two children at a remote cabin, a woman haunted by the past begins to suspect that she’s caught in a terrifying trap.”

Neon/ Sony Pictures Releasing

The thriller may only have a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 51 percent, but it has a tomatometer rating of 75 percent, making it officially ‘fresh’.

And it’s certainly having quite the impact on some viewers, with people flooding to X – formerly known as Twitter – to weigh in on Netflix’s recent addition – titled The Lodge.

One user said: “WHOA. I don’t remember what made me put THE LODGE on my Netflix list, but the first ten minutes has maybe the most shocking moment I’ve seen in a film in a while.”

“Dude I just watched the lodge on Netflix………that s**t messed me UP. holy s**t… if y’all like creepy stuff that’ll mess with your head you need to watch it. It’s insane,” another added.

Neon/ Sony Pictures Releasing

A third wrote: “I just watched ‘the lodge’ on Netflix and I’m speechless,” and a fourth said: “The Lodge 10/10 On Netflix.”

However, while many sing the movie’s praises, one user has also taken the opportunity to highlight a potentially triggering scene which takes place early on in the film.

The user said: “If you’re sensitive to suicide do NOT watch ‘The lodge’ on Netflix. There is an extremely violent suicide without warning. Please share this. 100 percent triggering and painful to watch.”

The Lodge is available to watch on Netflix now.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741

You can also call 1-800-985-5990 or text “TalkWithUs” to 66746 at the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline