The three flicks I chose from my streaming watchlists for my latest movie marathon begin with B, C, and D, a coincidence that never fails to tickle me. But did the movies tickle my fancy? Let’s find out.
BED REST (2022)
Melissa Barrera’s Scream days might be behind her, but she found her way back into horror with this cliché but fun little supernatural chiller. There’s nothing here you haven’t seen before, but the creepy moments are highly effective, so it never gets boring.
Melissa is pregnant when she and her husband move into their new home. She begins seeing a little boy running around their home at just about the time she is forced to stay in bed for the duration of her pregnancy. This gives the boy ghost plenty of chances to freak her out.
In true old school ghost story fashion, the husband doesn’t believe her! But the family cat sure does—and even makes good on a classic cheap pussy scare.
Some spooky spirit highlights include a window encounter, a video monitor appearance, footprints on a wall and ceiling, and an under the bed scene. EEK!
While the film keeps up the tension and suspense, it does actually turn into somewhat of a hokey, sentimental Ghost type of situation in the final act, but it’s an interesting detour from the usual haunted house movie.
CHOMPY & THE GIRLS (2021)
This is the most fun the hubby and I have had watching a quirky horror comedy in a long time. The main girl, actress Christy St. John, is reason enough to watch it, because she’s a great, likable character.
She plays an emotionally struggling twenty-something who reaches out to the father she never knew.
He agrees to meet her in the park, and within minutes of them having an awkward conversation, they witness a creepy man walk up to a young girl and just swallow her whole with a giant mouth.
You’ll get total It Follows vibes as father and his newly found daughter are stalked by the big mouth man!
As frightening as it is funny at first, the film takes some major turns midway through that give it a life of its own, heading into campy, cosmic horror territory, and the chemistry between father and daughter is absolutely endearing.
DON’T SUCK (2023)
The hardest thing for me about watching this movie is that Jamie Kennedy shows no concerns about his appearance these days (which just happens to benefit the character he’s playing), and Matt Rife is on the opposite end of the spectrum, looking like he cares so much about his appearance that he’s turning into a Real Housewife.
I liked the concept of Don’t Suck as well as the first half, but the movie begins with a scene that takes place later in the story solely for the purpose of hooking viewers with vampire acti0n.
This moment also spoils the whole point—Jamie is a washed-up comedian and Rife is a newbie that wants Jamie to be his mentor, but he also happens to be a vampire. Fact is, this opening scene is one of few vampire attack scenes in the entire movie.
Instead, the movie is all about Jamie coming to terms with his fading star as the pair hits the road for a lowbrow comedy tour in a bunch of redneck dives. I’m not saying the movie is political, but there are some subtle comments that could be read as such—mention of storming the capitol, references to the struggle of being a white, cisgender, straight male comedian, a Let’s Go Brandon comment, a gender-neutral bathroom “joke”…. For a horror comedy, the movie is only occasionally funny. It’s mostly moody.
Some notable cameos include JJ Walker, Carrot Top, and Lisa Wilcox of Elm Street 4 & 5, and there are pop culture references to vampire movies, including Dracula: Dead and Loving It (fresh) and a jab at the Twilight movies (tired).
I wish the movie had focused more on the vampire elements, because love him or hate him, Rife really works as a mysterious, pretty boy vampire.
