Hokum 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Hokum 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 4, 2026

In 2024, the horror movie “Oddity” was a pleasant surprise during the film year. Writer/director Damian McCarthy found his way around an unusual take on “The Mummy,” keeping his second picture intensity atmospheric and genuinely creepy, delivering a rare highlight in a genre that often struggles to surprise. McCarthy returns with “Hokum,” and he’s looking to creep out viewers once again with another dark tale, this time examining a depressed author’s experience inside a remote Irish hotel. It’s not a feature that’s big on plot, keeping drama relatively lean as the helmer returns to the ways of shadowy encounters and increasing hostility provided by a supernatural force. “Hokum” doesn’t offer quite the same kick as “Oddity,” but it’s assured work that understands the power of eeriness and mystery, providing charged moments during the run time.

Ohm (Adam Scott) is a writer drawn to dark tales of human suffering. He’s struggling to finish his latest book, using alcohol to calm his nerves, and he’s experienced an encounter with a ghost. Traveling to Ireland to help return the remains of his late mother and father, Ohm checks into a remote hotel run by front desk clerk Mal (Peter Coonan), also meeting bellboy Alby (Will O’Connell) and bartender Fiona (Florence Ordesh). The guest isn’t kind to the staff, unable to hide his contempt for others, but Fiona breaks through the toughness, helping Ohm to find a meaningful place to put his parents to rest, also offering a tale of a witch that haunts the honeymoon suite, which is now locked up. In a forest, the writer encounters Jerry (David Wilmot), a local with a fondness for sipping a cocktail made of goat’s milk and magic mushrooms, and he has awareness of ghostly happenings. Ohm’s trip eventually involves a hospital stay, and when he returns to the hotel, Fiona is missing and Jerry swears her spirit visited him, giving him a clue that something isn’t right in the honeymoon suite.

“Hokum” offers initial screen time inside Ohm’s mind. He’s working on his new book, a tale of a conquistador who can’t get a map out of a bottle, forced to find any kind of solid object to help break the glass in a desert, and the only thing around him is a young boy. It’s a ghoulish study of desperation, and one that plays into Ohm’s splintered mental state, making him a popular writer for those in the mood to be shocked. The author drinks heavily, and he continues to deal with the memory of his deceased parents, while an encounter with something unexplained sends him to Ireland to help bury the past. “Hokum” gets Ohm overseas with decent speed, but the feature locks into a slow-burn approach once he arrives at the hotel, putting the curmudgeon in the middle of hospitality surroundings, testing his patience with everyone.

A ghost story develops in “Hokum,” but McCarthy’s script takes a few turns before it heads back to the hotel for proper suspense. There’s more to Ohm’s experience in Ireland, and he’s soon pulled into something strange with Jerry, who’s on the hunt for Fiona and her connection to the honeymoon suite. “Hokum” eventually locks into exploratory mode, with Ohm separated from Jerry, left to examine the hotel layout after it’s been closed for the season. This leaves McCarthy with plenty of opportunities to create a spooky mood with the film as Ohm tries to find his way around, encountering things he can’t explain, including the macabre appearance of a monster rabbit that hosts a children’s T.V. show. The feature loves the dark, and the helmer plays with visuals, having fun positioning evil things just out of sight, or putting ghosts right on Ohm’s back, allowing the audience to get in on unexpected arrivals to the hotel.

Hokum 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Screencaps are taken from the Blu-ray.

The image presentation for "Hokum" is a mixed bag viewing experience. There's some level of detail, examining rougher skin particulars on the characters and their fibrous outfits. Hotel tours are decently textured at times, and dimension is found. Exteriors maintain depths around the main location, and the expanse of the conquistador sequences is understood. Color handles well, offering deeper browns and golden lighting inside the hotel. Richer reds are also found with decorative additions. Greenery is exact, along with desertscapes. Skin tones are natural. "Hokum" is an extremely dark movie at times, and blacks are reasonably supportive, preserving horror imagery. Highlights are tasteful. Compression struggles throughout the endeavor, with banding periodic. Encoding is more disappointing, with blockiness present, along with a few frozen-y moments.

Hokum 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA provides a pleasantly active listening experience for "Hokum." Dialogue exchanges are crisp, permitting understanding of accents and balance with more heated encounters. Scoring delivers powerful support at times, with sharp instrumentation. The end title song also delivers defined choral accompaniment. Surrounds are active with atmospherics and character movement, playing with separation and panning effects. Ghostly happenings are also appreciable. Low-end is active with harder musical stings and weather activity. Heavier hits of violence also register.

Hokum 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features writer/director Damian McCarthy.

• Making Of (15:47, HD) features interviews with writer/director Damian McCarthy, cinematographer Colm Hogan, production designer Til Frohlich, makeup designer Niamh O'Loan, costume designer Lara Campbell, hair designer Jennie Readman, producers Steven Schneider and Derek Dauchy, executive producer Rami Yasin, and actors Adam Scott, Sioux C, Florence Ordesh, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, and Austin Amelio. McCarthy explains his inspiration for "Hokum," looking to contribute to the haunted hotel subgenre, finally able to bring a project he's been working on for quite some time to the screen. A celebration of McCarthy's creative presence and decisions is offered, and characterization is inspected. Location work in Ireland is highlighted (along with a few days spent in Abu Dhabi), and set design is analyzed, bringing the hotel setting to life on sets. Witch design is also deconstructed, sharing influences and execution with the main threat of the movie. BTS footage is included, providing some sense of the production experience as McCarthy oversees the creation of shots.

• "Jack the Donkey, A Family Favorite" (2:02, HD) is uncut time with the ghoulish looking character as he reads a letter from a special fan.

• A Teaser Trailer (:42, HD) and a Theatrical Trailer (1:54, HD) are included.

Hokum 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

McCarthy is reliant on jump scares to rattle viewers, which isn't welcome, but there's more to "Hokum" than cheap shocks. There's care with cinematography (credited to Colm Hogan, who shot "Oddity") and sound design, and Ohm becomes a rat in a maze, navigating unfamiliar places as he tries to make his way into the honeymoon suite. McCarthy embraces the fear of open spaces and claustrophobic ones, and Scott is game to play up the character's agitation as he battles to find a way out. That "Hokum" actually has an ending is a relief, and it's a reasonably good one, creating a payoff that's worth reaching. The real strength of the feature is in the build-up, with Ohm and the messiness of his mind suddenly surrounded by folklore and horrors, forced to deal with himself and others to make sense of this challenge to his very existence.