Writer/director Mike Flanagan has been killing it for the horror genre lately, between his solid follow-up to The Shining, Doctor Sleep, and his Netflix shows The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. It’s safe to say after honing his craft with earlier features like Oculus, Hush, and Gerald’s Game, he has carved out a place for himself in the halls of creepiness with a style of his own. He has come a long way from his first spooky film Absentia.
Trick or Treats is the bargain bin, off-brand Trick ‘r Treat Mom says you have at home. Not an anthology, the movie is about the son of magicians being babysat on Halloween night by the most gullible sitter in the world. I have to be more careful with which doorbells I ring.
Mom and Dad took me by surprise with its speedy approach and upfront humor. Nicolas Cage (Color Out of Space, anything he can get his hands on) and Selma Blair (Hellboy, The Sweetest Thing) star as typical heads of the household who get swept up in a whirlwind of mass hysteria that causes parents to stop at nothing to eliminate their offspring. Written and directed by Brian Taylor, the creator of the Crank movies, so you know you’re in for a wild ride!
Daniel Isn’t Real is a psychological horror film featuring the “talent” of Miles Robbins (Halloween, Blockers) and Patrick Schwarzenegger (Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse). It’s about a boy who locks away his imaginary friend after something awful happens only for him to suddenly return years later.
Bone Tomahawk harkens back to times when men had nothing better to do than go out in a blaze of glory. An age where someone would get shot down in the middle of the saloon and everyone would go about their business. An era where one minute you are practicing exquisite etiquette and the next you are showing the savages the dangerous end of your repeater, only to die a hero.
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