If you regularly spend hours trawling through Netflix trying to find a new film to truly scare the pants off you, it might be time to check out this hidden 'gem' which apparently has people spooked weeks after watching it.
Netflix fans have plenty of spine-chilling content to choose from, including the highest-rated horror film of 2023 and an 'unhinged' movie from the director of The Conjuring.
But a little-seen 2022 film might take the biscuit as one of the scariest films the streamer has in its catalogue.
"It's been over two weeks since I’ve watched Hellhole on Netflix and it's stuck in my brain!" one horror fan wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
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"When the credits came up on this I involuntarily uttered 'wow,'" another penned.
Directed by Bartosz M. Kowalski, who co-wrote the script with Mirella Zaradkiewicz, the movie in question is set in 1987 Poland.
It follows a young police officer named Marek (Piotr Żurawski) who infiltrates a remote monastery to investigate some mysterious disappearances, having to grapple with a harsh truth about the local clergymen.
Titled Hellhole (original title: Ostatnia wieczerza, which translates to 'Last Supper'), the movie may have premiered a while ago now, but its dark themes, graphic scenes and a snappy runtime of 88 minutes — a rare occurrence these days — have contributed to making it a quiet sensation on Netflix.
You can watch an unnerving clip from the movie below:
After watching it, viewers took to social media to recommend it to fellow horror lovers, though it seems clear Hellhole isn't for the faint-hearted.
"Guys watch Hellhole on Netflix it’s scary," was another heartfelt recommendation.
"Hellhole on Netflix is a terrifying gem of a horror movie set in a creepy monastery," another user wrote. "A cop infiltrates a sanatorium run by monks to investigate missing women.
"Atmospheric & full of dread it's a MUST see (I recommend viewing in original Polish with subtitles)".
A third said: "The LOOK of this Polish horror (Hellhole on Netflix) is astonishing, painterly, somehow manages to suffuse dread and disgust into every single unremitting frame. Amazing music as well."
Finally, another person praised the director, saying that Kowalski is 'one to watch'.
"The Polish film HELLHOLE on @netflix is the most essential horror-mystery of the year," reads the post. "90 minutes long and changing lives. Bartosz Kowalski is one to watch."
Sadly, critics haven't been equally wowed by Kowalski's feature (which currently sits at a meagre 57 percent critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes), but horror fans might be delighted to know that the filmmaker has directed two other, equally panned, scary flicks: 2020's Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight and its 2021 sequel.
Hellhole is streaming on Netflix.
Stefania Sarrubba