Tag Archives: thriller

31 Days of Horror: Caddo Lake (2024; PG-13; 99 mins.)

Posted on October 11, 2024 | 3 comments

With a name like M. Night Shyamalan attached to this MAX movie, I was eager to dive into the creepy Caddo Lake of Texas for some thrills and chills. With gorgeous cinematography and a mind-bending plot twist, it ended up being a slow-building southern mystery more than the horror feature it could have been, but I still enjoyed it for its eerie vibe.

A community living around and commuting via Caddo Lake is dealing with a drought, making it harder to get around by boat. When a teenager who is fighting with her mother and stepfather boats to a friend’s house to spend the night, her 8-year-old stepsister goes missing. As the town looks for her, the teenager joins in, experiencing odd things on parts of the lake. Meanwhile, a man whose mother had a seizure years earlier while driving them and ended up submerged in the lake (he survived but she didn’t), is still trying to figure out why she had her seizure after six years without any. His girlfriend is about to move away, but puts that off while they spend some time together and he explores parts of the lake where he works after odd things begin happening to him there.

As the two who are experiencing the odd occurrences in the lake explore further, the lake works against them in an unusual manner, making it harder for them to each solve their mysteries and move on with their lives. In the end, though, their stories pull together in a way that is both satisfying and haunting.

  • Top Scare: None
  • Heartbeats: 1 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 1 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 1 1/4 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 13 and up

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Entertainment, Halloween, Horror Movie, M. Night Shyamalan, Movies, mystery, Paranormal, Reviews, scary movies, Streaming, Television, Thriller

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31 Days of Horror: Night Swim (2024; PG-13; 98 mins.)

Posted on October 7, 2024 | Leave a comment

Based on the trailer for this movie, I was expecting a chilling, poltergeist-type movie. And sure, about 10% delivered something like that. But the rest? Well it was more a mix of Creature from the Black Lagoon/The Shining/It meets Stranger Things. Kind of.

When baseball player Ray, who is fighting a muscular disease, realizes swim therapy might help him get back to playing the game he loves, he and his wife Eve buy a house with a large backyard pool, not knowing its dark history. Once Ray starts swimming daily, he not only improves, but heals. Meanwhile, creepy and scary things are happening to Eve and their kids each time they use the pool (especially at night), but of course each victim either dismisses it as his or her imagination or just stays out of the pool.

When the family decides to have a large pool party to welcome neighbors and new friends, Eve learns from the Realtor who sold them the house of the pool’s sad history involving the drowning of a child (said Realtor said she just learned of this recently), while outside in the pool, Ray is instigating a cutthroat game of Chicken. When the pool’s entity takes over the game, not only does the party end in near-disaster, but Eve decides now is the time to finally look into the house’s history. What she finds convinces her the family must leave. But the water, and Ray, have different ideas. Because the water has given, and someone must pay.

  • Top Scare: Poolside
  • Heartbeats: 1 3/4 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 1 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 2 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 13 and up

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31 Days of Horror: There’s Someone Inside Your House (2021; TV-MA; 96 mins.)

Posted on October 3, 2024 | Leave a comment

This Netflix-powered teen slasher movie from the producers of Stranger Things and The Conjuring movies starts out-and keeps going-strong, with plenty of suspects and victims to choose from, as well as that small-town claustrophobic feel necessary to the plot of so many such movies centered around football, outcasts, parental pressure, connections, parties, and secrets.

The story centers on Makani, a new senior from Hawaii at a small Nebraska high school, her group of friends, and her hidden relationship with an outcast named Ollie (the town deputy’s little brother) who she says is the only one who truly “gets” her.

As the movie opens, one of the star football players napping before Friday night’s kickoff awakens after dark to photos taped throughout his house of him and other players beating up another guy (his family for some reason is already at the game which is in full swing, trying to call him to see where he is, but when not reaching him simply shrugging as if to say, Hmm…you know how he is!). The photos lead him into a closet and an ambush, where a killer wearing a mask of his face stabs him, then sends a video to the entire town of the original beatdown. This event kicks off further outings of the secrets other students are hiding, along with their gruesome deaths by the hand of the look-alike masked killer, more released videos, and Makani’s growing fear that her own secret will be discovered. One by one, the victim count increases as the suspect pool decreases, and this Nebraska corn town soon celebrates harvest season (in a suspiciously still-green November cornstalk maze) with its own fiery oranges and yellows that will put and end to the killings once and for all.

  • Top Scare: Knife in Wall
  • Heartbeats: 2 out of 5
  • Gore Factor 3 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 2 3/4 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 16 and up for gore, violence, language, and drug use

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31 Days of Horror: The Privilege (2022; TV-MA; 107 mins.)

Posted on October 31, 2023 | 3 comments

The Privilege

This German movie dubbed in English is one of those that starts out with a bit of promise for good scares and an interesting plot, but veers off the rails about halfway through. The best thing I can say about it is that the dark spirit which appears is truly very creepy and does offer a couple of good jump scares.

In The Privilege, teenager Finn attends an elite school with his twin sister Sophie and various friends. He has been seeing a psychologist/doctor and taking medications since he was young and watched his older sister jump from a bridge after being attacked by an evil spirit. Now, he is once again noticing odd things happening, this time involving his parents, twin, and others near his family. As he, his best gal friend, and new girlfriend seek answers, they uncover a dark conspiracy, yet he is gaslighted left and right by his family and won’t stand up for himself or what he knows is true. All is not lost, though, as they do manage to fit in a ménage à trois (it is a teen flick, after all) during all the running around and investigating (add eye roll here). When his parents’ plan progresses toward helping the spirit become all-powerful, Finn et al must put the puzzle pieces together and stop it before it’s too late.

  • Top Scare: Evil Spirit
  • Heartbeats: 2 1/4 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 2 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
  • Recommended For: 15 and up

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Entertainment, Ghosts, Halloween, Hell, horror, Horror Movie, Movies, mystery, Reviews, scary movies, Streaming, Teenagers, Television, Thriller

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31 Days of Horror: No One Will Save You (2023; PG-13; 93 mins.)

Posted on October 24, 2023 | 3 comments

No One Will Save You

If you are looking for an atmospheric, creepy/eerie, sci-fi horror movie, look no further–No One Will Save You has it all and brains to boot! With an incredible performance by Kaitlyn Dever (as Brynn), which is not always easy with so little dialogue and working with special effects, this Hulu-streaming movie sucks you right in and never lets up. And as Stephen King himself said after its release, it’s “brilliant, daring, involving, scary…truly unique.”

Brynn is an anxious young woman living alone in a rural farmhouse, basically exiled from the nearby town after an undisclosed event involving her childhood best friend. Nevertheless, she works as a seamstress, and has a rich inner life and unique throwback style. One night, an invader enters her home, and she soon disovers it is an alien. She is able to fight it and flee, only to discover her neighbors weren’t so lucky and have been possessed by the aliens. As Brynn tries to escape, fight, or outsmart the increasingly scary invaders, her past returns to intertwine with her present in unexpected ways.

  • Top Scare: First Invader
  • Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 1 1/2 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 4 out of 5
  • Recommended For: 13 and up

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, aliens, Entertainment, Faves, Halloween, haunting, horror, Horror Movie, Movies, Outer Space, Paranormal, Reviews, scary movies, Streaming, Television, Thriller

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31 Days of Horror: The Conference (2023; TV-MA; 100 mins.)

Posted on October 20, 2023 | 1 comment

the conference

I was looking for something humorous, and saw this Netflix movie from Norway (dubbed in English), so I decided to give it a try. Well, maybe the humor just didn’t quite translate (were they going for dark humor?), because I didn’t laugh once and found it mind-numbingly boring and over-the-top gory as well.

In The Conference, a small group of municipal employees are off to a woodsy conference center for team building, and to prepare for an upcoming groundbreaking ceremony for a project they have been working on which includes a controversial shopping center. Not only are the employees ineffective at their jobs, they are led by an odd duo with suspicious motives. Soon, one employee who has just returned from an unexplained absence–Lina–begins to question the project, various other employees, and how the group should proceed. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure has begun picking off the skeleton staff at the conference center one by one. The killer then swipes the large head from the project’s creepy “mascot” and continues its gruesome rampage in an oh, so bloody, manner.

Will Lina convince other employees to join forces with her to fight the company’s greed and corruption? Will the murderer get to all the employees, or just the weirdest ones? Will Lina save the day by figuring out who the murderer is and why they are doing this? Will any viewer still care after the first twenty minutes? Alas, all good questions, but I forgive you if you don’t care to find the answers and pass on this one for your 31 Days of Horror.

  • Top Scare: Jonas
  • Heartbeats: 1 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 4 1/2 out of 5
  • Scare Factor 1 1/2 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 17 and up, due to gore, violence, nudity

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Blood, Entertainment, Halloween, horror, Horror Movie, Movies, Reviews, scary movies, Streaming, Television, Thriller

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31 Days of Horror: Killer Book Club (2023; MA; 89 mins.)

Posted on October 7, 2023 | 2 comments

killer book club

This Netflix original-filmed in Spain and dubbed over in English-had me at “book club.” Throw in a killer clown, multiple characters with dubious motivations, and a twisty plot and I even forgave the beauty, youth, and vitality of the university students at the heart of the story. Heck, I even overlooked all the bad reviews I saw online before watching!

Eight students, all fans of the horror genre, have formed a book club at university focused on this shared interest. When one of them is accosted, the group forms a revenge plan featuring a clown costume per their latest read. However, the plan goes awry and a fatal accident occurs. Making a pact to remain silent, the group soon begins to receive chapters from a new horror book, written and sent from an anonymous stalker who knows about their secret, and who threatens to pick them off one by one. As mistrust builds among group members, people start and continue disappearing thanks to the stalker turned killer, who is wearing the same clown costume the group had worn.

Who is this killer? Why are they doing this? Is it someone who saw what the group did? Is it someone in the group? How can they make the killings stop? These are all good questions, and as the movie twists and turns, with plenty of blood and a few nice jump scares, you’ll learn the answers. If you’re a fan of Scream, you’ll like this movie too. Don’t worry about some bad reviews. I loved this movie and am glad I watched it for my 31 Days of Horror.

  • Top Scare: Library
  • Heartbeats: 2 3/4 out of 5
  • Gore factor: 3 1/4 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 3 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 16 or 17 and up due to nudity, sexual situations, violence, and gore

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Blood, Entertainment, Faves, Halloween, horror, Horror Movie, Killer Book Club, Movies, Reviews, scary movies, Scream, Streaming, Television, Thriller

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31 Days of Horror: The Watcher (Netflix Limited Series; MA; 2022; 5 hours, 32 min.)

Posted on October 27, 2022 | Leave a comment

Because I’d heard of the real-life case this show was based on, and had been fascinated and horrified by it, I was eager to watch this seven-part Netflix series, hoping for tingly vibes and slow-building tension. However, what I found instead was the tiniest kernel of the true case applied to a much-too-long storyline where weird townspeople abound, eyes are wide shut, and so many suspects emerge you stop caring which one it is and just want it all to be over. In addition, in the end I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be watching a horror show or a horror comedy, with several characters drawn so large they resembled bad sitcom characters from the 80s.

When Dean and Nora, along with their children Ellie and Carter, decide to move from the city to the burbs, they discover the most amazing home and MUST have it. So Dean puts every single penny they have into the enormous home. But wait…they still have enough to go ahead and renovate the kitchen, drink great wine, and hire a local contractor to install security cameras around the entire property after they start receiving unusual letters in the mail from “The Watcher.” These letters praise the home and say this Watcher is one of a long line of Watchers. It also lets the family know they need to care for the home, and how happy the home is to have young blood in it.

Obviously Dean and Nora are creeped out and are determined to discover which neighbor is sending the letters. There is quite the cast to choose from, but no spoilers here! Nora’s friend and realtor who sold them the house begins to suggest they should sell and, how convenient, she could help them! (This continues for the next several episodes.) Also, the police commissioner is hiding the fact that the previous owners were receiving similar letters, and refuses to help them. He does, however, suggest a private investigator type who might be able to, and they hire her (with their extra funds, hmm) to look into people and events. As the letters continue to arrive and become darker while other more dangerous things happen inside their home, and everyone around them gets weirder by the episode, their lives spin out of control until The Watcher is finally revealed (unlike in real life). But don’t reach for that remote yet! The show goes on, and on, and on for another hour or so at least. The question is, will anyone still be a WATCHER?

  • Top Scare: Scene with Carter
  • Heartbeats: 1 1/2 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 1 1/2 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 2 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 15 and up due to sex and mature content

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31 Days of Horror: Train to Busan (NR; 2016; 118 min.)

Posted on October 18, 2022 | Leave a comment

With a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes, I was eager to give this South Korean zombie-fest a go despite my laziness with subtitles of late. I am so glad I did! Train to Busan is a bullet-train of a ride–with fabulous acting by Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, the young Su-an Kim, and many, many others–as well as great suspense and special effects all combining to make a top-notch zombie movie I rank right up there with World War Z.

Gong Yoo is Seok-woo, a business-driven father in Seoul whose has custody of–but little time for–his daughter, Soo-an. All Soo-an wants for her birthday is to spend it with her mother in Busan. Reluctanly, Seok-woo agrees to accompany her on the bullet-train for her birthday visit. The timing is both very good and very bad: outside, a new infection causing people to turn into white-eyed/pop-locking/blood-sucking/fast-running zombies is spreading like wildfire; inside, an infected woman has managed to board at the last second. Both occurences are unbeknownst to those on the train.

But soon, word spreads via media outlets about the zombie apocalypse in Busan, and the train riders are both shocked and relieved they are safe. We get to know many of the key passengers: a pregnant woman and her snide husband, a teenage baseball team and a young woman who is infatuated with one of the players, two elderly sisters, a homeless man who has made it onto the train, an older, egocentric businessman, and three of the train’s crew. But, of course, the riders aren’t really safe: the infected woman on the train only needs to infect one more before the train cars become crazed blood baths. Father and daughter are soon fighting for their lives along with their fellow passengers…some of which are new friends; some, new enemies.

With plenty of twists and turns, suspense, non-stop action, full-on emotion, and an ending that is both heartbreaking and hopeful, this movie was a fantastic addition to my 31 Days of Horror. Don’t let the subtitles scare you away!

  • Top Scare: Fellow Passengers
  • Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 2 3/4 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 15 and up, mostly for gore

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Entertainment, Halloween, horror, Horror Movie, Movies, Reviews, scary movies, Streaming, Thriller, Undead, Zombies

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31 Days of Horror: The Trip (MA; 2021; 113 min.)

Posted on October 31, 2021 | Leave a comment

Billed as a Comedy-Horror-Action-Thriller out of Norway, I decided to include this in my 31 Days of Horror thinking it might be the lighter fare I was looking for. I truly cannot decide if I laughed more or cringed at the gore more thoughout, but I am so glad I found this gem and can honestly say it’s a new favorite.

Lisa and Lars are married, but their marriage is dysfunctional at best. They plan a weekend away at a remote family cabin, each with plans to knock off the other while there. But no sooner does one get the jump on the other than roles are reversed and new pains are inflicted mercilessly in an effort to find out the answer each seeks to “Why would you want to kill me?”. As the two taser and duct tape their way to the answer, they are interrupted by three escaped convicts who have been hiding in the attic all along. Suddenly, the couple must work together to survive and try to escape, with massive injuries ensuing all around, creative methods of causing bloodshed, and hilarious plans for revenge on both sides.

Not for the squeamish, this gory romp is a love story at its heart about a dark weekend trip gone awry, with great characters, some fun twists, and a delightful ending.

  • Top Scare: Basement Scene
  • Heartbeats: 3 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 4 1/2 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 2 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 17 and up

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