This trio of movies offers up a variety of styles, tones, and production quality, which I found quite satisfying. Things never got boring, and I found something to like about each of them.
THIS WAY TO HELL (2023)
This odd, 78-minute indie flick feels like a mob/revenge/supernatural hybrid horror. The initial hit man scene is actually kind of funny, as a dude comes to kill an older lady and they get into a gun fight. You’d think a hit man would know when he walks into a house and all the floors are covered in plastic that things might not go his way.
The guy heads home wounded after the shootout, only to be murdered by an ominous masked dude, who then chases his pregnant wife in a gritty, slow-motion scene. She’s killed, but as she’s dying, a devil in a plague doctor mask comes to offer her life in exchange for her soul.
She accepts, then goes on a rampage, taking out all kinds of lowlife criminals in her search for the guy who killed her man. What’s weird is that it feels like this film takes place in a rural, small town, so how did it become a haven for so many baddies?
The main woman’s vengeance kills aren’t all that interesting, but she does get visited by yet another demonic dude at one point. She then learns the identity of the killer. He’s known as The Butcher, and apparently, he’s also supernatural. He has a great onscreen presence, I just wish the focus had been on him slashing more than on her going around killing people.
BLUE MURDER (2026)
Despite the weakly branded title, this one lands on the holiday horror page because it’s a festive and fun Halloween comedy slasher! It also gives off a total early 2000s era, direct-to-DVD vibe with some nods to the 80s as well. The soundtrack even consists of retro synthpop tracks by Blaklight, a band I often play on my Future Flashbacks show.
It opens with a young woman going on a murderous rampage, killing what I assume are sorority girls.
Next, we meet a nurse who decides to dress as a sexy nurse at her hospital’s Halloween party. The killer from the opening scene has been captured, and she’s wounded, so she’s admitted to the hospital. Lightning strikes when the nurse is tending to the psycho patient, causing her to become possessed by the killer.
That’s the gist of it. The sexy killer nurse goes around using conventional means to kill anyone she comes across, including the most deserving victims of all, a couple that celebrates Christmas on October 31st because they think Halloween is Satan’s holiday.
The film unfolds more like a bunch of mini skits, jumping around between silly scenes of sorority girls, trick or treaters, an adorable, comedic cop investigating each murder scene, and a bunch of bro dudes, who are the ones that eventually have to battle the sexy killer nurse.
It’s hokey Halloween fun and humor, with some playful kills (including a crotch attack), so it’s definitely a good one to put on to set a tone at your Halloween party. The only part that didn’t really work for me consisted of occasional sequences inside the sexy killer nurse’s mind as she communicates with the killer possessing her.
NO ONE WILL HEAR YOU SCREAM (2025)
This one delivers some brutal kill scenes, has a cool premise, and perfectly celebrates the late 1980s lag that carried us into the 90s, with arcade games, mixtapes, hair band music, and a synth score.
During the 1990 World Cup in Buenos Aires, someone in a dark mask and hoodie appears to be using the distraction of the games to violently kill people, often by bludgeoning them to death. Shit gets bloody and gnarly at times.
Our main girl works at a record store, and she soon discovers another killer connection. She makes and sells mixtapes to customers, and it turns out that each of the victims has bought one of them. Eek!
Needless to say, our main girl has to take a deeper dive into why her taste in music might be triggering a psycho slasher, and if it means she will become a target herself. She also has to ensure her friends don’t become casualties of the killer in the process.
I wanted to be in Smile.
Along with the well-executed kill sequences, the main girl’s final fight with the killer at the record store rocks, and the final act takes an uncommon turn that promises—actually, demands—a sequel.
