The defence The Adrenaline Seeker
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
Pooka!
Horror · Thriller · TV Movie · 2018
A struggling actor gets a holiday season job as a Christmas character in a plush suit to promote the hottest toy of the year, Pooka; he slowly develops two personalities—one when he's in the suit and one that's outside it.
Movie details
Pooka!
“This Christmas, do you fear what I fear?”
2018 Horror · Thriller · TV Movie 1h 23m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
5.9 / 10
Community rating
A struggling actor gets a holiday season job as a Christmas character in a plush suit to promote the hottest toy of the year, Pooka; he slowly develops two personalities—one when he's in the suit and one that's outside it.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Pooka!?
For the defence
The Adrenaline Seeker
“If it slows down, you check your phone.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Trick
Horror · 2019
A detective tries to track down a masked killer who reappears every Halloween to wreak bloody havoc.
I, Madman
Horror · 1989
A bookshop clerk starts seeing the disfigured killer from her favorite 1950s pulp novels come to life and start killing people around her.
Pooka Lives!
Horror · 2020
A group of thirty-something friends from high school create their own Creepypasta about Pooka for laughs, but are shocked when it becomes so viral on the internet that it actually manifests more murdererous versions of the creature.
The Sacrifice Game
Horror · 2023
Christmas break, 1971. Samantha and Clara, two students who are staying behind for the holidays at their boarding school, must survive the night after the arrival of uninvited visitors.
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Thriller · 1984
After a man dressed as Santa Claus brutally murders Billy Chapman's parents, little Billy then endures the cruelty of a sadistic nun at his orphanage. Years later, when adult Billy has to fill in for an absent in-store Santa, his childhood trauma brings him to the breaking point.
Uncanny Annie
Horror · 2019
On Halloween night a group of college students get trapped in a mysterious board game that brings their darkest secrets and fears to life, where they must play to escape…and win to survive.
The Deliverance
Horror · 2024
Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.
The Jester
Horror · 2023
A malevolent being known as The Jester terrorizes the inhabitants of a small town on Halloween night, including two estranged sisters who must come together to find a way to defeat this evil entity.
The Body
Thriller · 2018
In Los Angeles, on Halloween night, a hitman tries to transport a corpse in plain sight, but people he stumbles upon on the street, believing that his sophisticated appearance is a magnificent disguise, constantly stand in his way to congratulate him.
Crawlers
Horror · 2020
On Saint Patrick's day—a night of wild parties and drunken revelry—three unlikely friends band together to save a college town from a vicious horde of body-snatching aliens.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Nacho Vigalondo
Written by
Gerald Olson
Nyasha Hatendi
Wilson
Latarsha Rose
Melanie
Jon Daly
Finn
Dale Dickey
Red
Jonny Berryman
Ty
B
Bryan Billy Boone
Diner Dad / Angry Dad
Caden Dragomer
Little Boy
Court is in session
Put Pooka! on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Prestige Tourist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.