Pooka!(2018)
2018 · Nacho Vigalondo · 83 min
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.
Horror · Thriller · TV Movie
5.9130 votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
1/5
Gore
4/5
Stays with you
How Pooka! scares
Pooka! spends most of its time inside one man's crumbling head rather than jumping out at you. It builds an uneasy, off-kilter mood around identity, loneliness, and mental unraveling, leaving you unsure if anything supernatural is real or if it's all in his mind. The dread comes from watching someone slowly lose their grip, not from gore or chases. It's a strange, unsettling watch better suited to a quiet night alone than a group scare session.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Pooka! rates psychological 5/5, visceral 2/5, gore 1/5, lingering effect 4/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 5 of 5
- Visceral: 2 of 5
- Gore: 1 of 5
- Lingering: 4 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 15 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 50 of 100 — balanced
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 75 of 100 — leans Disturbing
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, unsettling slide from mundane discomfort into escalating psychological unease that builds toward a chaotic, disorienting finish.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 3.
How scary is Pooka!?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, Pooka! rates 3/5 — solidly scary, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. The fear is mostly in your head — it unsettles far more than it assaults. Expect it to be restrained with gore and genuinely disturbing. Expect it to stay with you for days.
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