Readers: Please note that there are spoilers for “Iron Lung” in this article.
On Jan. 30, 2026 the indie horror film “Iron Lung” was released in theaters across the US. “Iron Lung” is directed, edited, produced and stars Mark Fishbach, famously known as the YouTube gamer “Markiplier.” The film is based on the 2022 horror game of the same name, “Iron Lung,” which similarly to the movie follows a convict in a submarine who is exploring a bloody ocean on the moon by using a small x-ray camera and window to navigate through the thick liquid.
Simon, Mark Fishbach, is stuck in a claustrophobic submarine to catalogue and collect data on the mainly unexplored bloody ocean on the moon by taking black and white photos of the area around him. The element of uncertainty and obscureness helps to build the intensity of the “scare factor” of the film. We feel the anxiety and fear that Simon faces as he is tasked with navigating a place he can’t see, all while he suspects that there is something else in the ocean with him. Personally, I really enjoyed this element of the horror of the film, we all know the feeling of walking around in the dark and being unable to see and having strange shapes morph into what our brains fear it is. I believe that the most relatable part of the terror that this movie places upon people. This part of an elusive source of horror, reminds me of the1999 horror hit “Blair Witch,” where the source of distress to the main characters of the film goes unseen.
Some of the most impactful scenes of the movie include when Simon begins to become disillusioned with his reality. The film uses bright whites and reds which leave the audience squinting and turning away from the screen in the dark movie theater. The bright lights help to demonstrate Simon’s descent into madness as his oxygen levels are dropping in the submarine. With overlapping voices, which are questioned to be real or not, pound not only into Simon’s head but also the viewers’ head, it creates an overstimulating and disorientating several minutes of the film.
Additionally, the final scene of the movie is one of the best highlights of visual horror that I have seen this year. The final minutes of the movie bring back the overwhelming and oversaturated reds of blood filling the submarine as Simon is being grabbed but reddish and black clots and vines, he struggles and a gruesome shot of him tearing his own arm off is the biggest payout of body horror throughout the film.
The oversaturation of unrelenting use of blood can be overwhelming to many viewers, but by adding the fear of the unknown and the claustrophobic nature of the submarine creates the exact level of balance needed for a movie that uses so much blood that could become tacky.
Overall, I recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of horror and buckets of blood. “Iron Lung” is currently playing in select theaters.
