It’s time for four random flicks from my Shudder watchlist, although three of them are from directors whose work I’ve enjoyed before.
THE CALL (2020)
The director of Gnome Alone and The Final Wish gives us a film that stars Lin Shaye and Tobin Bell acting exactly how you’d expect Lin Shaye and Tobin Bell to act in a horror movie. In other words, she screams like a crazy old lady, and he offers a bunch of young people a life or death ultimatum in a calm and controlled voice.
Meanwhile, a new kid moves to town in 1987 and immediately hooks up with the local bad kids to go torment reclusive Lin Shaye, who dies soon after.
Then her husband brings the kids to his house to let them know she’s left her money to them in her will. But there’s a catch. They each need to go use a phone upstairs and talk to the person on the other end. I was intrigued. Plus there was some faux 80s music and one kid wearing a George Michael crucifix earring, and he was almost as pretty as I was when I rocked one in 1987.
The first few trips up to the phone deliver some really creepy thrills, which would be even more frightening if they didn’t make me feel like I was back in Freddy Krueger’s boiler room 40 years ago.
Also, the first two kids are brothers, so it’s a bit of a cop out, because they both face off against the same dark memory from their past. On the bright side, the dark memory is pretty hot.
There are more Freddy-like sequences as the main boy and main girl take their turns (only four kids in total), but the film just falls flat in the end. Not to mention, it feels like it falls short, because it ends abruptly…as if the screenplay hadn’t been completed yet.
STRAIGHT EDGE KEGGER (2019)
Jason Zink, co-director of Night Terrors, a horror anthology I had fun with several years ago, brings us an indie home invasion flick with a punk rock twist. Just note that this film runs 78 minutes long, and the home invasion doesn’t start until 43 minutes in.
Before that we meet our main man and his friends (all quite cute in a variety of ways) and get plenty of footage of punk band performances to establish the feel of the group’s punk lifestyle.
The main guy is questioning his entire existence in the culture, what it means, and what his purpose in life is, which leads to various conversations and arguments with his friends. This is most definitely a timely look at indoctrination of youth into extremism in our society and whether or not they even understand what they’re angry about.
Eventually the friends go to a house party, the main guy spend time chatting up a girl…and then the home invasion just starts out of nowhere because there was simply no tension buildup towards it–not even a home invader’s shadow of foreshadowing.
This isn’t a polished flick, so it’s got a gritty look and feel as partygoers are killed off quickly in a variety of ways. It totally delivers on the home invasion goods at this point. Even the director’s Night Terrors co-director Alex Lukens makes a cameo as a victim, along with his magnificent beard.
Eventually it’s up to the main guy to fight back and take on the home invaders. It’s not particularly original, but it should give home invasion horror lovers enough of what they’re looking for to satisfy.
CAVEAT (2020)
Several years ago a friend and I were scarred for life at the horror film festival in New York City by a short film called “How Olin Lost His Eye”…so when we got home we looked up the director and ruined ourselves with more of his short films.
At last he has made a full-length feature, and his unnerving style shines through…as does his obsession with horror glory holes.
The bizarre setup alone had me twitching in my seat. Our main guy is asked to take care of his landlord’s mentally disturbed niece in an isolated house. The catch is she’s terrified of being attacked by a man, so they can’t cross paths in the house. Sooooo…the landlord fricking chains the dude up to limit his access around the house. WTF? Oh…and the chain is connected somewhere down in the dark basement. W…T…F?
The house is dingy and dark. The halls made me feel like I was back in the original Resident Evil game from over two decades ago. There are mysterious glory holes in walls. The niece comes out of hiding and tells a strange story of what went on in the basement of her house.
And something starts pulling on his chain.
Caveat is definitely a slow burn, and the strange storyline might not be for everyone, but if you like films that inch their way under your skin, this is one to watch.
And I would even suggest you warm up with a few of director Damian McCarthy’s shorts to really get a feel for his style, because it haunts this whole film. And the final act had me by the throat.
TEDDY (2020)
This is an odd little teen angst werewolf film from France (Teddy Snaps?). It’s sort of a comedy, but it’s also dreary, melancholy, and depressing. Not to mention, there is essentially no werewolf makeup or werewolf action, yet there are several icky gross out scenes.
The story is about a rebellious teen that works at a salon/massage parlor. He gets bit by a werewolf and begins going through a very slow transformation process.
In the meantime, he hangs out with his girlfriend and gets sexually harassed by his boss.
There’s plenty of exploration of male adolescent insecurities, from sexual awakenings to body changes, but the subject matter is handled with just about as much insecurity as boys actually experience concerning these issues, which is rather disappointing—especially when the promise of a butt crack waxing doesn’t come with a happy ending.
That’s about it. The final act is a little thrilling. He transforms during a bingo game at the high school, yet literally all we see is werewolf feet pop out of his sneakers.
Then he goes on a murderous rampage…after turning out all the lights. Seriously, we see nothing because it all happens in the dark. Sigh.
