Surprisingly, the longest of these three selections from my watchlist was the most interesting of the bunch. Let’s find out why.
SITE 13 (2023)
This film didn’t do it for me, but I respect the variations in plot points as the story unfolds.
A college professor studying supposed devil’s circle portals takes his students on a field trip…to a field.
Ten years later he awakes with no memory of what happened. The woman working his case begins watching (found) footage of the day all his students disappeared and he was discovered unconscious in the field.
We spend a good chunk of time just waiting to see what eventually happened to all the students, as is typical with found footage movies. The most exciting part for me was a dude with a big booty mooning the camera.
In between, the newly awakened professor begins acting possessed. I wasn’t enthralled, but it was nice to see the film attempt to go big with no budget.
For the grand finale, the patients in the hospital get “possessed” briefly, and a giant CGI portal eye floats around outside the hospital. Awesome.
NIGHT OF THE CAREGIVER (2023)
Another cliché film, this one offers a slow burn buildup and a fun demon in a creepy house, so I enjoyed it.
It pointlessly begins with a scene from later in the film in order to deliver immediate demon action.
It also starts with Eric Roberts in unneeded cameo—the whole purpose of his career at this point. He’s a parapsychologist who gives a tip to a detective chasing down an urban legend.
Next we meet our main girl, a lipstick lesbian who takes a one night caregiver job at an isolated house for an elderly woman. The woman is very sweet but also very elusive about the status of her health.
The main girl begins to see unusual things around the house and becomes convinced someone is there with them. Some suspense carries us through until the demon finally makes its presence known about 45 minutes in. This is the meat of the film, with all the fast-paced horror packed into the last half hour. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before and you’ll most likely sense where it’s all going right from the start, but it’s still worth watching for the cheap thrills.
TWISTED FICTION (2023)
Although this anthology of three stories with no wraparound runs almost two hours long, each one was well made and intriguing enough to hold my attention….plus they all revolve around sex! Wahoo!
1st tale – this one becomes a total mind fuck, literally. A straight couple goes to a performance by a hypnotist who claims he can give people hypnorgasms. After the show, the guy in the couple becomes convinced his girlfriend is still under the hypnotist’s power. This shit enters weird 80s sci-fi horror territory and turns sexually depraved, demented, and gory.
2nd tale – this is a clever but slow-paced, dialogue-heavy story about a motel manager who collects souls of unfortunate people that indulge in debauchery in their rooms.
Not a scary tale, but definitely a good conclusion.
3rd tale – a film producer invites women to come audition at his home and then rapes them. Little does he know the latest actress he sexually assaults is a member of a vengeful witch coven. The revenge is quite satisfying and twisted, but this is an excessively long tale, so it takes a while to get there.
