When the young couple, Sage and Diego, walk into their Airbnb or Verbo or whatever, I dont really know, they can’t believe how beautiful it is. For the low, low price of I dont know, a million dollars, they get to stay in this amazing lakefront mansion for the weekend. But trouble is afoot. A second couple, Will and Cin, arrive, claiming they have also booked the property for the weekend. Instead of leaving and demanding a refund from the host as any normal person would, they decided to share the large house for the next few days. But things become more turbulent as Will and Cin show their wild side, and are increasingly inappropriate with Sage and Diego. Your social anxiety might try to tell you that they are just quirky and weird, but there may be more beneath the surface.

When Bone Lake came out in theaters, I was excited to watch it, but due to conflicting schedules and its limited release, we were unable to review it at that point. This was disappointing because I had heard it was really scary (mainly from my wife, who saw the trailer and said it creeped her out, which is usually a good sign for me). So when I saw it was streaming on netflix I immediately texted Bryce and told him we were reviewing it this week. Oh, how I wish I could turn back time. This movie is pretty boring and has been done before (and better). The whole time I kept thinking “they already did this with Speak no Evil, a movie which did so well that it was immediately remade with an American cast”. Bone lake does the same thing with a worse script and less tension. Thats not to say anything about Bone Lake is particularly bad. It’s fine. But the main stressor throughout the film is “Will these characters sleep with each other,” and that’s just kind of lame (unless you are super horned up). But even then its kind of a letdown. We’ve all had that one friend who makes the social situation a little more sexual than it needs to be, and while that is uncomfortable, it’s not scary. I’ll give it points for having some sort of funny, dark comedy kills in the beginning. But mostly I was waiting for it to be over.

Score 4/10

The Bone Temple, in addition to what I call my bedroom is the latest installment in the 28 days later franchise. It picks up almost directly after 28 Years Later leaves off. Spike (Alfie Williams) is forced to prove himself to join the Jimmies, a sadistic cult fashioned after the media personality Jimmy Savile, led by the leader Jimmy Crystal. Meanwhile, Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) furthers his research into the rage virus and befriends Samson, the Alpha.

I found 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple enjoyable, but not particularly meaty compared to it’s predecessor. The humanity and reverence for death found in the last film are spare in this film, which mostly focuses on the chaos brought on by the jimmies, and Dr Kelson’s descent into hopelessness.

The Script by Alex Garland, is high quality, but unfortunately just feels like a retread of similar story lines in The Walking Dead.

Nia DaCosta’s Direction is respectful towards Danny Boyle’s style established in the previous films in the series, while showing her own style with stylistic flair.

The standouts in the film are Jack O’connel, who played Sir Jimmy Crystal, and of course Ralph Fienes as Dr Kelson.

O’Connell balances the two sides of portraying a cult leader well. Maintaining a believable facade of delusion and inspiration, while also showing the con-man manipulator that lurks behind the curtains. O’connell takes the great dialogue and makes it come alive through his performance, and is as enjoyable to watch in this as he was in Sinners.

Ralph Fienes gets to play around a little more in this film. Instead of the stolid and enigmatic character from the last film, we get to see his humanity, practicality, and loneliness filled out and explored in this film. The best part of the film features him getting to display his own theatrics to the Jimmies, which left me laughing out loud.

If you didn’t like 28 Years Later because of the lack of zombies, you will be disappointed here as well, they play almost no part in this film with the exception of the tranquilized Samson.

Overall it was highly enjoyable, although slightly less so than the last film

8/10

Primate is about a college student named Lucy who comes home to her family house in Hawiia, along with a few of her friends. But this is no ordinary house, for it is home to humans and apes alike. Lucy’s father owns a pet/member of the family named Ben who is a fully grown chimpanzee. Im sure without explaining anymore you can already tell where this is going. When her father leaves for an important book signing, Lucy and her friends are left alone as Ben starts to act weirder and weirder, showing signs of rabies. By the time her father comes home, their fate may already be sealed.

The set up for Primate is very basic and has been done time and time again using various animals. If you’ll recall movies like the Shallows, or Crawl, then you know all about Primate. But what separates this movie from the others is the many different ways chimpanzees can kill you. With a shark, you basically got one move. They bite. Chimps on the other hand bite, beat, rip and tear, and you can be sure to see all of that here. And it is every bit as horrifying as you can imagine. Within the first 5 minutes of the movie I was fully bought in, and honestly felt extremely tense throughout the entire film. Chimps are terrifying, but they also fit in this weird slot of uncanny valley where they can also be extremely cute and hilarious. I don’t think seeing a chimpanzee on screen with ever cease to amaze me, and I am totally here for it if they want to make a Primate 2 and 3. This movie had me genuinely scared. That being said, it is also super predictable. Its a paint by numbers movie where the main color is blood red. Which is fun, but not super thought provoking.

Score 7/10

Listen to the episode for our top five and bottom five horror movies we reviewed this year as well as the top and bottom five new horror movie new releases.

Bruce Willis plays a well-respected child psychiatrist named Malcolm living in Philadelphia. After a disgruntled old patient breaks into his home to confront him for his failure to cure him, Malcolm’s life of success comes crashing down around him. As he tries to pick up the pieces, he takes on a new client, Cole, an isolated child who claims to see the spirits of dead people. Through helping this child, Malcom slowly starts to learn more about himself.

The Sixth Sense is one of my all-time favorite movies directed by M. Night Shyamalan. While the movie centers around paranormal activity and Cole’s connection to the afterlife, it really feels more like a drama than a horror movie. The characters are compelling and feel real, and the acting is knocked out of the park by Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, and Toni Collette. Willis and Osment are truly the perfect duo for the film, and their interactions feel heartfelt and at times even tear-jerking. Though I didnt find myself crying on this watch, this movie has had a profound impact on me on several other occasions. When I was a kid, it was one of the very first horror movies I ever watched and has stuck with me ever since. There is truly nothing I can say bad about this movie.

Score 10/10

Strange darling opens with title cards that explain the movie is about a nationwide serial killer’s final murders told in six parts. From there we jump into part three in media res with a chase scene with a frantic woman in a pinto is being chased by Kyle Galner in a pickup truck with intent to kill.

told non-linearly, you will be quickly be asking yourself are the filmmakers fucking with me? The answer is yes, the filmmakers are fucking with you, so sit back and appreciate it,

The first time I heard about this movie was from a Red Letter Media video lauding Kyle Galner. Our patrons have suggested it several times and it finally won the vote.

I had high hopes going in and was prepared for a good movie, so I was pleasantly surprised when that is actually what I got. this is a tense and smart thriller that plays with not only the timeline of the plot, but the assumptions of the audience. It explores the themes of consent, trust, sado-masochism, pride, and prejudice.

The film is written and directed by JT Mollner who most recently wrote the screenplay for The Long Walk. He does a great job here manipulating audience alliances and revealing just enough information to keep us on our toes.

The film looks great, and I was shocked to see that it was shot by a first time cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi. From the dramatic lighting to the old school film techniques, it is a beautiful movie.

Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald lead the movie and although they aren’t famous names, they bring top tier performances that highlight the subtlety in the script and sell the misdirections well.

Overall, this movie is thoroughly worth your time and I think is one of the best thrillers that I have seen in the last decade.

9/10

This film is another installment in the Creepshow universe, showcasing an anthology of spooky short films based on Stephen King stories.

I have to admit that I have not seen the first Creepshow, or understand what any of this is supposed to be about, but I am greatly assuming that the first movie is a lot better than this garbage. It seems as though in the first movie they found the best and spookiest Stephen King tales to put to screen, and then for this one they really phoned it in for the cash grab?

There are three tales, which thank god there are only three. We’ll get into the contents of each tale in spoilers, but the way that this movie starts off with the most boring and pointless and downright racist story baffles me. Don’t you wanna hook your viewers? Don’t you want to keep butts in seats? Because that story would have made me walk out of the theater, if not for its content, then for its horrible acting.

I wish I could say this was even fun to watch how bad it was, but it wasn’t. I slightly enjoyed the last story more than the first two but slightly is the operative word here.

The in-between sections with the creep and the kid work well, I like how it switched from real life to animated, and I was a lot more invested in that kid’s story than I was with any of the anthology. It was a great idea to add that animation, and it got me excited for the film. I was let down greatly.

The fact that this is a Stephen King and George Romero collaboration is shocking. They can, and have, done better.

3/10

After the events of FNAF 1, Mike and his not girlfriend Vanessa struggle to move on. Mike, taking a parental role over his sister Abby, constantly worries about her connection to undead animatronics, and Vanessa continues to be plagued by nightmares of her father, William Afton. When dark forces begin to beckon Abby to the original Freddy Fazbear’s location, Mike must confront Vannessa, who is still holding onto secrets from the past.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is almost indistinguishable from the first film in my eyes. Yes, I know the stories are technically different, but the viewing experience is the same. The movie is packed full of winks and nods specifically designed to make a fan of the Five Nights at Freddy’s game say, “Hey, I know what that is!” However, to the average person with limited FNAF lore, it doesn’t quite hit the same. When my theater erupted into applause as some YouTuber made a cameo, I was left wondering, “Who the hell is that guy?” The acting feels like both Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Lail just couldn’t fully get into their characters, which is a shame because I think they both do a great job in other films. The one person really bringing their A game is Matthew Lillard, who seems to have never phoned in a performance in his life. And if you’re a fan of Scream, technically, we got both the original killers in this movie. FNAF is a movie made for kids who already like FNAF. For adults who are not nostalgic for the games, there is not much to get out of these movies.

Score 3/10