Bad Voodoo (2026) | Review

In 1968, a young filmmaker from the state of Pennsylvania by the name of George A. Romero released what would become the most influential “zombie” film of all time with Night of the Living Dead. The film was a game changer for the horror genre as a whole, standing out among the teen drive-in monster flicks of the era as a contemporary classic speaking truth to the societal imbalance of race and gender equality. Romero did so by taking a long-dead, or in this case undead, subgenre of horror where reanimated corpses would come to life to attack the living, thus giving birth to the modern zombie film. 

Poster for Bad Voodoo

But what about zombie films before Night of the Living Dead? How was the undead or reanimated portrayed in cinema before Romero established the modern rules of zombies? Well, the biggest example we can look towards is the Bela Lugosi-led White Zombie, released in 1932. White Zombie uses the more traditional mythology of Haitian “zombies”, cursed by a voodoo priest to do their bidding. In the near century since the release of White Zombie, the voodoo representation of zombies on film has largely been replaced by the brain-eating undead that Romero popularized in his ...of the Dead trilogy. 

As it relates to White Zombie, Bad Voodoo is a 2026 voodoo “zombie” horror film from the freshman directing duo of Andrew Adler and Andre Hepburn, released by Deskpop Entertainment. After a tragic accident upends her seemingly quaint family life, Abigail (Christina Moody) seeks help through a self-help convent before evil rears its ugly head once again, as a group of recently escaped convicts take Abigail hostage in her secluded countryside home. The group, led by Doc (Manny Perez), seeks refuge inside the home but soon discover that they may not actually be the captors, but the captives. 

Bad Voodoo is a solid debut showcase for first-time feature film directors Adler and Hepburn, who show a great understanding of technical filmmaking behind the camera, including the stylized presentation of the film entirely in a 4:3 aspect ratio. Through this intimate aspect ratio, we as the audience feel much like the characters, trapped in this location, almost as if four walls are holding us hostage. It gives the film a claustrophobic quality, as well as a “should we be watching this?” feeling when the voodoo elements begin to appear.

As far as the voodoo elements go, I am by no means an expert in voodoo practices or how accurate they are to traditional tellings of voodoo magic. What I can say is that I appreciated the throwback elements to voodoo stories I have experienced through media, including the aforementioned voodoo zombies as well as voodoo dolls. Among the cavalcade of low-budget zombie films, this element allows Bad Voodoo to stand out as something both fresh and throwback in a sea of brain-eating zombie films.

Christina Moody as Abigail

As the story threads of Bad Voodoo begin to unravel, I found myself shocked at a few moments that caught me by surprise as clever forms of storytelling. Specifically, there is a first-act reveal that flips the remaining runtime on its head, changing the film from what I expected into something completely different. In that reveal, the voodoo priest Houngan, portrayed by Haitian-born actor Jimmy C. Jules, is introduced. Jules delivers the standout performance for me, bringing authenticity to Houngan and an aura of mystery to the voodoo priest.

Coming in at 90 minutes, Bad Voodoo peaks for me at about the 70-minute mark. Unfortunately, much of the third act felt unnecessary or underdeveloped. But as far as low-budget debut features go, Bad Voodoo is a welcome surprise in the “zombie” genre, relying less on brain-eating terror and more on the historical background of voodoo mind control and home-invasion-type tension. The acting and overall production might come off as amateur or lower budget, but something audiences have to remember is that every film is different and should be judged as such. Not everything has the budget of a studio feature, or the non-existent budget of weekend-warrior filmmakers. There is a scale to every film, and on the Bad Voodoo scale, the film is an overall success.

Bad Voodoo is available February 10th on Digital and Video on Demand.