Eureka! A double dose of streaming selections that revolve around kidnappings and deliver plenty of popcorn horror along the way.
KILLERS WITHIN (2018)
Unless you haven’t been paying attention to modern horror releases—or not reading my blogs about current movies—you’ll know that a common twist in home invasion films these days is that the real danger is what’s already inside, and the baddies doing the invading are the ones in trouble.
That’s the case with Killers Within (hell, the title says it all). A woman and her ex-husband plot a home invasion after their son is kidnapped.
It takes a while to get past the usual home invasion stuff—and it’s hard to pick a side since the invaders are the protagonists, but the monster movie fun finally begins about halfway in, and it’s total sci-fi creature feature fun, complete with rubber costumes.
The gore is standard and therefore mildly satisfying, and the mythology behind the creatures is cool, for it delves into evolution and science—something we really need in these days of religious lunacy overthrowing our government.
If you grew up in the 80s and lived through the V The Mini Series phenomenon, you’ll really appreciate this one.
DEVIL’S MILE (2014)
What a relief to watch two movies with the same general theme (kidnapping) and find them both satisfying horror experiences, well-crafted, and completely different horror subgenres.
In Devil’s Mile, one male and two female kidnappers abduct two girls, but as they transport them to their boss, they take a detour on a deserted road and shit gets bad really fast.
This is how you start a film right, as a series of fast, unexpected situations occur before we even get to the horror part.
The kidnappers get sucked into a vicious cycle of trying to leave the scene of a car accident while being repeatedly attacked by an Asian ghost girl.
And the only way to temporarily vanquish her is with light.
Essentially, this is Dead End meets The Grudge meets Darkness Falls, making it an awesome combination in my book. The ghost girl is ghoul cool (if not a bit overly CGI), and there’s plenty of suspense and jump scares, making this a perfect flick when you just need a fix of cheap thrills.
