THE FIRST SLAM DUNK TBC

★★★✩✩

OUT 1 SEPTEMBER CINEMAS

One of the highest-grossing Japanese films ever, this basketball anime is an accessible adap of hit manga Slam Dunk, whose creator Takehiko Inoue here makes his directorial debut. But while the sound design and animation impress, the narrative structure irritates. True, promoting supporting character Miyagi (Shugo Nakamura) to lead duties allows for a moving backstory. But it’s all too apparent, even for newcomers, that the central match’s MVP, Sakuragi (Subaru Kimura), is the usual protagonist, creating a distracting disconnect between the flashbacks and present-day action.

ALONE AT NIGHT 15

★✩✩✩✩

OUT 28 AUGUST DIGITAL

Following a difficult break-up, cam-model Vicky (Ashley Benson) seeks some alone time at a cabin in the woods, but finds herself mercilessly stalked by the masked Crowbar Killer. Meanwhile, Paris Hilton hosts a crappy reality show… Director/co-writer Jimmy Giannopoulos’ (The Birthday Cake) clumsy horror seeks to smoosh together sub-genres (Cam meets Friday the 13th meets Love Island) and rustle up social commentary between the (non-existent) scares, but none of it works. Pamela Anderson pops up as a sheriff and a frankly ludicrous finale ties everything together like it’s the dream of a cheese-eating child.

OTTO BAXTER: NOT A F***ING HORROR STORY 15

★★★★✩

OUT 1 SEPTEMBER CINEMAS OUT 23 SEPTEMBER SKY

Documentarians Peter Beard and Bruce Fletcher encourage their friend Otto Baxter, who has Down’s syndrome, to write/direct a short film depicting his life. Otto proves to be a fun character throughout, but there’s poignancy in his decision to make a Victorian horror tale in which he is born a monster. Elsewhere, Beard and Fletcher admirably complicate the otherwise upbeat mood by showing the crew’s discomfort at Otto’s inappropriate flirting on set. In all, it’s a doc with vital things to say about outdated attitudes towards disability.

THE DIVE 15

★★★✩✩

OUT 25 AUGUST CINEMAS

Like 2022’s vertigo-inducing Fall, director/co-writer Maximilian Erlenwein’s survival thriller puts two women in dire peril – in this case, sisters May (Louisa Krause) and Drew (Sophie Lowe). During a diving holiday, the former becomes trapped underwater by a rockfall, leaving the less-experienced Drew to return to the surface and devise a way of freeing her sibling before her oxygen runs out. A laudably padding-free remake of 2020 Swedish film Breaking Surface, it’s nail-biting enough in the moment, if a little too simplistic to be truly breathtaking.

COBWEB 15

Knock and awe…

★★★★✩

OUT 1 SEPTEMBER CINEMAS

All those scary things, they’re just in your head,’ says Carol (Lizzy Caplan) to her son Peter (C’mon, C’mon’s Woody Norman), a lonely kid living in the American ’burbs. The moral of this story? Don’t believe everything your parents tell you. First-time feature director Samuel Bodin’s highly effective Halloween-set horror sees Peter come to realise there really is something out there when he hears knocking on the walls and even a soft voice crying his name.

Is it anything to do with the young girl that disappeared in the neighbourhood years earlier? Chris Thomas Devlin’s script keeps its secrets locked away until the final, satisfying act, with plenty of misdirection and some fine performances. A dexterous Caplan and Norman lead the way, but there’s strong work from Antony Starr (The Boys) as Peter’s unhinged father and Cleopatra Coleman (Infinity Pool) as the substitute teacher who worries for Peter’s safety.

The film borrows imagery from other horrors: bullies wearing masks feels like a nod to The Purge, while the backyard pumpkin patch inevitably raises the spectre of the Halloween series. But across its lean 88 minutes, Cobweb rarely feels derivative. Shot in a creepy but never clichéd way, its revelations are more likely to make you shiver than groan with disappointment. As for the ending… It won’t leave you feeling safe in your bed at night.