The Beach House (2020) - Shudder Spree

 

Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: The Beach House (2020)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Length: 88 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: Low Spark Films, Uncorked Productions, Shudder, Front Row Filmed Entertainment
Director: Jeffrey A. Brown
Writer: Jeffrey A. Brown
Actors: Liana Liberato, Noah Le Gros, Jake Weber, Maryann Nagel, Michael Brumfield, Matt Maisto, Steven Corkin, Dan Zakarija, Veronica Fellman
 
Blurb from IMDb: A romantic getaway for two troubled college sweethearts turns into a struggle for survival when unexpected guests - and the surrounding environment - exhibit signs of a mysterious infection.

Cat’s Point of View:

It’s taken me a good deal of time sitting and staring at my screen to realize that I’m not experiencing an ADD moment. I honestly don’t have a lot to say about our Shudder Spree’s next stop – The Beach House.
 
The premise seemed interesting. The fact that the film’s writer/director has spent their career thus far as a location manager for prominent productions and has now made their directorial debut with this movie was another element that added some extra allure to the title. Now that I’ve watched it, I’m not sure that the best bits weren’t already shown in the trailer.

 
One positive note, however, is that the location the production utilized was wonderful for the setting. The producer that allowed their beachfront home to be used for filming deserves kudos.
 
To be fair, The Beach House wasn’t bad. I just felt like it drug on a little bit and I wasn’t excited about it.
 
I didn’t like the boyfriend character – but then, I’m not sure I was supposed to. The whole situation was just a bit odd. I did appreciate the fact that the girlfriend, Emily, had a good head on her shoulders and that she was given good sense to match the level of her implied intelligence.

I did find a few bits unique and special. These were mostly environmental elements. I enjoyed the effects employed regarding the bioluminescence and the use of the ‘fog’ as elements of the story.
 
Unfortunately, I’m not sure I’m going to remember this movie since it generally left me with a meh feeling. I wouldn’t steer anyone away from it. I imagine anyone wanting to dabble in a little minor body horror might find this a good stepping stone towards other movies. I just don’t see myself going out of my way to recommend The Beach House – especially in this season where everyone’s generally looking for heart-pounding thrills leading up to Halloween.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 81%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 28%
Metascore – 64/100
Metacritic User Score – 6.5/10
IMDB Score – 5.3/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2/5
 
Trust the Dice: Parental Advisory Rating – R
 
Movie Trailer:

Can’t Take it Back (2017) - Shudder Spree

Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: Can’t Take it Back (2017)
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Length: 88 minutes
Rating: NR
Production/Distribution: Big Block Media Holdings, Screen Gems, Afterparty VFX
Director: Tim Shechmeister
Writer: Matt Shechmeister, Tim Shechmeister
Actors: Ana Coto, Noah Centineo, Ivanna Sakhno, Lexi Atkins, Jill Larson, Logan Paul, Meredith Foster, Keith Pillow, Mandy Gonzalez, Paul Urcioli, Brenna Bloom
 
Blurb from IMDb: Following a group of students who leave hateful comments on the page of a fellow pupil who recently committed suicide.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
My first thought? “Ew. Logan Paul’s in this movie.” I mean, he’s on the cover so, naturally, I expected him to be in the movie quite a bit. Instead he’s pretty much inconsequential.
 
The significance of him being involved in a film about the soul of a girl who killed herself seeking revenge, is not lost on me. Logan Paul (The Thinning, Where's the Money, Airplane Mode) is just the worst.
 
Moving on.
 

Can’t Take it Back was basic. It was a paranormal horror film. It followed all the tropes and painted by all the numbers. It was acceptable, but not something I see myself even remembering by tomorrow.
 

It just didn’t have anything to set itself apart from every other flick tackling the same subject and sub-genre.
 
Ana Coto (DisCONNECTED, Ouija, True Fiction) was decent in her part and I enjoyed seeing Noah Centineo (The Fosters, Charlie's Angels, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You) in a movie that wasn’t a teen romantic comedy – but even they didn’t elevate it. Hell, it had an ending that I rather enjoyed… but it needed something more.
 
Can’t Take it Back was meh. I won’t steer anyone away from it, but I also won’t be recommending it. There are much better paranormal, and revenge, flicks on Shudder.
 

Cat’s Point of View:
When I saw that we would be watching Can’t Take it Back during October, I was just as divided about it then as I am now. It bugs me. Some things you just can’t shake, though.
 
I’ll address the elephant in the room first. I can’t bring myself to forgive Logan Paul for his 2018 stunt in Japan. The world keeps turning and he was, technically, punished through loss of sponsorships for his distasteful antics. I, however, don’t feel that earned him redemption by any means. For that reason, I find myself going out of my way to avoid his work in an effort to not support him.
 
At the same time, the other actors and production crew working on films he just happens to be a part of are not responsible for him being a shit person. I was excited to see Lexi Atkins (Anatomy of Deception, The Boy Next Door, Some Kind of Hate) and Noah Centineo attached to this movie. I wanted to watch for their sake. We’ve reviewed and enjoyed other projects of theirs over the years, after all.
 
That being said, let’s talk about Can’t Take it Back.
 

I generally enjoyed my experience with the movie and was relieved to see that a certain person had a relatively small role. Atkins was great in her ‘mean girl’ role. Centineo did a great job with his part, as well. There was a fresh face at the forefront of this production. Ana Coto was a good fit leading the cast. I bought her story 100%.
 
There were a few spots here and there throughout the movie that were a bit more of a hard sell for me, but I was invested all the same. Nothing was wonky enough to lose my interest or make me roll my eyes.
 
The overall production value was really pretty good. The spectral effects were creepy, even if some of the jump-scares felt a smidge over-the-top. But hey, for a teen-centric horror, it wasn’t that bad.
 
I think Can’t Take it Back got the message across, as well as offered some good thrills and chills. I’m afraid this won’t haunt me as long as some of the other films within our Shudder Spree, though.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 4.1/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 2.5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3/5
 
Trust the Dice Parental Advisory Rating: R
 
Movie Trailer:

32 Malasaña Street (2020) - Shudder Spree

Streaming Services: Shudder

Movie Name/Year: 32 Malasaña Street (2020)

Genre: Horror

Length: 104 minutes

Rating: NR

Production/Distribution: 4 Cats Pictures, Atresmedia Cine, Atresmedia, Bambú Producciones, Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA), Malasaña Movie, Movistar+, Mr. Fields and Friends, Warner Bros. Entertainment España, Warner Bros. Pictures, Pioneer Films, Zima Entertainment, Lotte Entertainment, BfParis, Exponenta, Joy n Cinema, Studiocanal Film, Weird Wave, Westec Media Limited, NOS Audiovisuais

Director: Albert Pintó

Writer: Ramón Campos, Gema R. Neira, David Orea, Salvador S. Molina

Actors: Begoña Vargas, Iván Marcos, Bea Segura, Sergio Castellanos, José Luis de Madariaga, Iván Renedo, Concha Velasco, Javier Botet, Maria Ballesteros, Rosa Álvarez, Almudena Salort

 

Blurb from IMDb: A family moving to a new house to live the dream of the big city. A house where dreams turn in nightmares.

SPOILERS BELOW

 

Selina’s Point of View:

In the beginning of 32 Malasaña Street, I found myself thrown back to Poltergeist (1982). It felt distinctly similar, where the type of scares was concerned. Then the flick evolved into something else.

 

Once the big bad started showing itself, I found myself see it more like the basic haunted house movies we’ve been seeing in the last decade. It had a lot of the same, predictable, scares. The saving grace was just how frightening they made the physical representation of the being. It was so well done that I wound up sucked into it and even getting pretty scared here and there.

 

Then the ending happened.

 

The moment I understood what was going on, when the backstory of the creature was revealed, I had to pause the film in order to come to terms with what I was seeing.

 

It’s 2020. We should be passed this kind of transphobic representation.

 

That’s what it came down to. It was the same ending we’ve seen numerous times before, one that we should have grown out of by now. What it boils down to is the movie decided that trans = scary.

 

For a few moments, I thought they might save the story from completely hanging itself. THAT would have been interesting. Instead, it went with the completely phobic conclusion.

 

It’s upsetting, it’s unnecessary, and it’s unacceptable.

 

If project creators are going to regurgitate material from other creations, the should at least try to evolve the stuff we’ve grown out of.

  

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 44%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None

Metascore – None

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score – 5.4/10

 

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 1/5

 

Trust the Dice Parental Advisory Rating: R

 

Movie Trailer:

Boar (2018) - Shudder Spree

Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: Boar (2018)
Genre: Adventure, Horror, Thriller
Length: 96 minutes
Rating: NR
Production/Distribution: Slaughter FX, OZPIX Entertainment, Universal Pictures, GatebreakR, Impact Films, Meteor Film, RLJ Entertainment, Shudder, Signature Entertainment
Director: Chris Sun
Writer: Kristy Dallas, Chris Sun
Actors: Bill Moseley, Nathan Jones, John Jarratt, Steve Bisley, Ernie Dingo, Roger Ward, Hugh Sheridan, Chris Haywood, Simone Buchanan, Madeleine Kennedy, Christie-Lee Britten, Melissa Tkautz, Chris Bridgewater, Sean Gannon, Trudi Ross
 
Blurb from IMDb: In the harsh, yet beautiful Australian outback lives a beast, an animal of staggering size, with a ruthless, driving need for blood and destruction. It cares for none, defends its territory with brutal force, and kills with a raw, animalistic savagery unlike any have seen before.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
I want to be very clear about something before I talk about Boar. I love creature features. I adore anything from mainstream stuff like Jurassic Park (1993) to campy over-the-top ‘so bad it’s good’ stuff like Big Ass Spider! (2013) – and most stuff in between. When I do dislike any kind of creature feature, there’s a reason for it.
 
Now, let’s talk about the movie of the day.
 
I was excited for Boar. I’ve had some good experiences with Australian films and I was up for some rampaging giant wild pig action. I didn’t expect much from it, I was just looking forward to some creature thrills.
 
Still, it left me disappointed.
 
Quite frankly, the plot wasn’t developed enough for Boar to take itself as seriously as it did.
 

For one thing, the audience is introduced to the ‘main characters’ early on in the movie, but they disappear after about 10 minutes and don’t come back into the story until half-way through. When they do finally reappear, the movie expects you to care about them as though the whole film has been developing that field of fucks, but it hasn’t.
 
As happens when you don’t tend to a field, it was barren.
 
The script did feel very natural in some parts, but then the writers would slip into these tropey lines that felt out of place and made me cringe.
 
It just wasn’t very good. Whether you’re looking for a serious creature feature, or something campy and fun, Shudder has better films to fill those needs.
 
I will say this, though. Australians have some of the best slang in the world.
 

Cat’s Point of View:
A month-long binge of horror movies would be seriously lacking if we didn’t have a creature feature mixed in.
 
One of the reasons I was initially interested in this movie was the premise of the creature, itself. Why is a wild pig scary, aside from the monster size of it? Ask any boar hunters out there – they’re no joke. Hell, wasn’t it a boar that took out a major character in Game of Thrones (2011-2019)? (It was.) I guess the bad guy monologue from Snatch (2000) regarding the efficacy of pig farms for body-disposal has stuck with me, too. Wild bacon is scary if you don’t have the stopping power. A wild hog the size of a car? That has the potential to be terrifying.
 
When you factor in the cast here, it gets even better. My interest was instantly piqued seeing horror veteran Bill Moseley (Repo! The Genetic Opera, Death House, 3 From Hell) attached to this film. This is a slightly different role for him than his character in Rob Zombie’s (House of 1000 Corpses, Halloween, The Lords of Salem) Firefly clan movies. Nevertheless, it gives some extra ‘cred’ that he’s attached to the cast here.
 
I was also excited to see the modern-day giant and former WWE Superstar, Nathan Jones (Charlie's Farm, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Scorpion King: Book of Souls) involved with this production. Giant boar vs. giant man seemed like a pretty cool match up to me. Then, of course, I was surprised and giddy to recognize Ernie Dingo (Bran Nue Dae, Australia Day, Mystery Road) and the slice of levity that he brought to the story. My inner 80’s nostalgia fan had to squee, considering he was the titular character’s best friend Charlie in Crocodile Dundee II (1988).
 

Regrettably, I wish I could say that I recognized the female cast members here. I certainly didn’t find fault with their performances, I’m just not all that familiar with them.
 
I am looking forward to checking out other movies by writer/director Chris Sun (Come and Get Me, Daddy's Little Girl, Charlie's Farm). He seems to have utilized the same core cast members in most of his 4 films to date.
 
The kicker to a successful creature feature is largely determined by how the actual critter is handled. If I’m honest, I have some mixed feelings about the effects used with the boar here. Understandably, there wasn’t going to be any safe way to use a real one. Some of the effects were clearly CGI and didn’t exactly fit right, while others were spot on. The same can be said of the practical effects. There were some close-ups of the boar that are outright horrifying, and others that are clearly either animatronic or a guy in a suit. That took me out of the moment in a few places.
 
Overall, I enjoyed Boar. I don’t know that I’d watch it again; but I do know that, as I said, I am interested in seeing other projects by this director and I certainly wouldn’t steer anyone away from this movie. That being said, I can’t say that it would be my first choice for recommendations. Shudder has so many titles to choose from that would be decidedly better. If you do decide to give this film a shot, be sure you’re watching in the dark for maximum effect.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 50%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 44%
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 5.2/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 2/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3.5/5
 
Trust the Dice Parental Advisory Rating: R
 
Movie Trailer:

Turbo Kid (2015) - Shudder Spree

 

Streaming Services: Shudder, Prime Video, Tubi, Crackle
Movie Name/Year: Turbo Kid (2015)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Length:  95 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: EMA Films, Epic Pictures Group, Timpson Films, Epic Pictures Group, Atlantic Film, Filmoption International, Nippon Shuppan Hanbai, A Contracorriente Films, Amplify, Eagle Films, Epic Pictures Releasing, Film1, Filmfreak Distributie, Ledick Filmhandel, Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Raven Banner Entertainment, Remain In Light, Transmission Films
Director: François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell
Writer: François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell
Actors: Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Michael Ironside, Edwin Wright, Aaron Jeffery, Romano Orzari, Orphée Ladouceur-Nguyen, Steeve Léonard, Yves Corbeil, Evan Manoukian, Anouk Whissell, François Simard, Tyler Hall, Pierre-André Sigouin
 
Blurb from IMDb: In a post-apocalyptic wasteland in 1997, a comic book fan adopts the persona of his favourite hero to save his enthusiastic friend and fight a tyrannical overlord.

Cat’s Point of View:

This latest movie in our month-long Shudder Spree isn’t exactly a traditional horror movie, as most of the films we’re watching this month are. There isn’t anything supernatural about it, in fact. It’s got a grindhouse level of blood-fountain gore – but only because of the ultra-violent post-apocalyptic setting.
 
When I say blood-fountain, I’m telling you that they gave a new definition to ‘making it rain.’
 
That being said, Turbo Kid is definitely packed with some crazy nostalgic fun. One of the quotes seen on some posters and the DVD covers likens this movie to “Mad Max on a BMX.” I think that sums things up rather well – if a bit understated.

 
It feels like the world, today, is going insane already. All these post-apocalyptic movies get more believable by the day. I’m not sure that I 100% buy into this particular vision… but I really don’t think we’re supposed to. Take into consideration the fact that a movie released in 2015 is calling 1997 “the future.” (Though, I do believe that bicycles are a more feasible mode of transportation in an apocalyptic situation, considering the finite supply of gasoline. I digress…)

This film was heavily weighted to 80’s retro. I have a great love for that decade, and so my inner-kid was having a happy-dance with each new ‘artifact’ that made its appearance on the screen. This love-letter to the 80’s post-apocalyptic sub-genre is even reflected in Turbo Kid’s synth score. It was well-done and was a good fit for the action on-screen. I could ramble on about all of the references, but I think you get the point.

The cherry on top for me, and frankly one of the deciding factors to watch this movie in the first place, was Michael Ironside’s (Extraterrestrial, Patient 7, The Harrowing) involvement with the production. I can’t think of a single movie I’ve seen him in that I haven’t enjoyed. He does tend to get involved with some off-the-wall projects and crazy B-movies; but he’s also held key roles in hits such as Starship Troopers (1997), Top Gun (1986), and Total Recall (1990). He was a perfect choice for the ‘big bad’ of this movie.

Turbo Kid definitely has some camp and cheese involved with it, but it is also very aware of such, and I was loving it. It hits just the right tone so that it’s not an eye-rolling situation and I definitely wasn’t bored as this film pedaled its way into my heart.

I realize this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. If, however, you’re not a fan of the ultra-spooky or other nightmare-fuel driven horror movies; or even if you just need a break for a few laughs in between heavier films Turbo Kid might just be for you. 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 91%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 77%
Metascore – 60/100
Metacritic User Score – 8.0/10
IMDB Score – 6.7/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3.5/5
 
Trust the Dice: Parental Advisory Rating – R

 
Movie Trailer:

The Mortuary Collection (2020) - Shudder Spree

 

Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: The Mortuary Collection (2020)
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Length:  108 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: AMP International, Trapdoor Pictures, MVK, Front Row Filmed Entertainment, Loona Film, Shudder
Director: Ryan Spindell
Writer: Ryan Spindell
Actors: Clancy Brown, Caitlin Custer, Christine Kilmer, Jacob Elordi, Ema Horvath, Jennifer Irwin, James Bachman, Barak Hardley, Sarah Hay, Ben Hethcoat, Mike C. Nelson, Brennan Murray, Michael Bow, Tom Woodruff Jr., Bradley Bundlie, Sam Eidson, David Fierro, Alison Gallaher, Kirk C. Johnson, Josephine McAdam
 
Blurb from IMDb: On the cusp of retirement, an eccentric mortician recounts several of the strangest stories he's encountered in his long career, but things take a turn for the phantasmagorical when he learns that the final story - is his own.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
 
When we are set to watch a horror anthology, I tend to flinch a little. I think I’m scarred for life from my experience with The ABCs of Death (2012) movies. I find myself with an inner-mantra repeating the wish over and over again - ‘please let it be different in a good way.’
 
I’m excited to report that my wish was fulfilled. The Mortuary Collection was actually one of the best representations of a cohesive horror anthology I’ve seen in a long time.
 
I believe that it really helped that the film maintained a singular voice throughout with writer/director Ryan Spindell (The Root of the Problem, Two Sentence Horror Stories, 50 States of Fright). While anthologies that showcase multiple writing styles and direction are great for showcasing filmmakers so that you could be introduced to someone new and interesting, it often just causes the overall film to become scattered. There’s also the potential for a disparity with the quality of each segment. Not so, here!

 
One thing that really helps cinematic anthologies is the framework ‘glue’ that holds the individual stories together. I tend to enjoy them more when there is a larger tale that is the umbrella for all of the contents within. In this case, it’s a retiring mortician sharing ghastly tales of some of the poor souls that have ended up needing his services.
 
I really enjoyed the dynamic between ‘old-school’ mortician played by Clancy Brown (Hail Caesar!, SpongeBob SquarePants, Billions) and the ‘new-school’ recruit, portrayed by Caitlin Custer (Teen Wolf, Shut Up and Dance, Extraction). Their banter supports the framework well. They were also brilliant casting choices.
 
Overall, I was fairly impressed with the effects used here. I could tell there were a good deal of practical special effects – some more effective than others. I appreciated that there was a good balance both with the gore and the more subtle use of CGI. I loved that some of the grisly bits were left more for the imagination. Sometimes the mind’s eye can be infinitely worse than anything actually shown on the screen.

The atmosphere of the whole throwback era was also interesting. It was fun to see all the rotary phones everywhere.

I do have one caution, however. It seems that this film is an expansion on the concept from Spindell’s short The Babysitter Murders (2015). If you don’t want to be spoiled for the whole thing, for the love of Bob don’t watch that first. It would really take the punch out of some of the twists and turns.
 
Our Shudder Spree scored another hit! I really enjoyed this macabre collection of morality tales, and it fits right in with the spooky season. This is more along the lines of what I’d hoped for with the first movie that kicked off our Halloween scare-fest. If you’re looking for something to watch in between handing out candy, this might be a great addition for your holiday plans. The anthology segments offer natural pause points where you might not feel like you’ve been interrupted overall.
 
Even if you don’t plan to hand out treats, since some areas are recommending against the annual candy collection due to the pandemic, this would be a great movie for staying in with a mug of cocoa and a fuzzy blanket. 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 95%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – none
Metascore – none
Metacritic User Score – none
IMDB Score – 6.7/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5
 
Trust the Dice: Parental Advisory Rating – R
 
Movie Trailer:

Psychotic! (2016) - Shudder Spree

 

Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: Psychotic (2016)
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Length:  87 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: Destruction Inc Films, Terror Films, GoDigital, Premiere Digital Services
Directors: Maxwell Frey, Derek Gibbons
Writers: Maxwell Frey, Derek Gibbons
Actors: Aldous Davidson, Cirocco Dunlap, Clint Keepin, Courtney Maginnis, Danielle Grace, Derek Gibbons, Holland Kemp, Katie Hawthorne, Kristen Martin, Maxwell Frey
 
Blurb from IMDb: A group of hard-partying Brooklyn hipsters are stalked and savagely murdered by a masked maniac known as the Bushwick Party Killer.

 
Selina’s Point of View:

This is one of those days when the notes I take are longer than the actual review. There’s not much to say, it all boils down to one thing.
 
Psychotic is awful. It’s not even ‘so bad it’s good’, It’s just objectively bad.
 
Nothing about it feels natural. The story is not even a little original, the acting sucks, and the writing is very nearly as bad as what you would find in The Room (2003). In fact, it almost feels like that’s what they were going for.

It takes itself so seriously, though.
 
Movies like this, generally, there’s a bit of self-awareness to it. The writers will inject a little humor to make it all easier to swallow. That humor takes away from the absolute monotony of watching the whole thing. There’s nothing of the sort in Psychotic. Sitting through it is difficult. It’s like a punishment.
 
Don’t waste your time. There are many other films on Shudder that would be perfect for the Halloween season. 

 
Cat’s Point of View:

I'm pretty sure the production team for Psychotic tried to hypnotize its audience into liking this movie – and failed. There’s a swirly animation effect at the beginning and end of the film. It’s the kind of thing you typically see when people are trying to hypnotize in cartoons and the like. I don’t know if anyone can convince me otherwise. I’m pretty sure you have to actually be under the effects of mesmerism to like this movie. I certainly didn’t.
 
There was nothing that distracted from the flaws, and those were huge and glaring. Everything felt so forced. The acting was sub-par, the dialogue didn’t feel natural, it was clear the effects were low-budget, and everything else was all over the place.

 
I could tell that the cinematographer paired with the effects crew tried to use some nifty tricks to elevate the material. While it supported the trippy vibe of the drug-laced movie overall, it did nothing but make it harder to watch. The background electronica and ‘killer theme’ desperately tried to give us an 80’s slasher feeling of nostalgia. I got the point, but the rest was just so horrible that it fell flat.
 
Try as I might to find a single redeemable thing to discuss with this film, the only thing I enjoyed was the rolling of credits at the end. Our spree took a Psychotic wrong turn with this one, but I’m sure there’ll be more good movies in store for us as we continue to explore Shudder in October.

There are so many other titles available on Shudder and other platforms that I’d say just skip over this one.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 3.5/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 0/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 0/5
 
Trust the Dice: Parental Advisory Rating – R
 
Movie Trailer:

Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017) - Shudder Spree

 

Streaming Services: Shudder, DirecTV, Pantaya
Movie Name/Year: Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Length:  83 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: Filmadora Nacional, Peligrosa, Videocine, Raven Banner Entertainment, Shudder, AMG Entertainment, Karmafilms Distribution, Periscoop Film
Director: Issa López
Writer: Issa López
Actors: Paola Lara, Juan Ramón López, Nery Arredondo, Hanssel Casillas, Rodrigo Cortes, Ianis Guerrero, Tenoch Huerta
 
Blurb from IMDb: A dark fairy tale about a gang of five children trying to survive the horrific violence of the cartels and the ghosts created every day by the drug war.
  

Cat’s Point of View:
 
As we continue along our Shudder Spree for October, I couldn’t help but cross my fingers at the start of this movie – in hopes that it would both live up to my expectations and be significantly better than the first film we watched. I am quite happy to report that this experience was a full 180 degrees from the tedious other movie. Tigers Are Not Afraid deserves all the plethora of accolades it has received – and then some.

Rather than its numerous award wins and nominations, I’m more impressed by the high praise given this film by horror masters Stephen King (It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep) and Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark).

Enough about what other people have said about Tigers Are Not Afraid. Let’s dive in to my own experience.

Sometimes foreign language films can be a bit onerous to watch, because of the split attention between the action and the words flashing across the screen. I was very thankful that this was a Spanish-speaking movie. I have a loose grasp on the language, and so I didn’t have to rely entirely on the subtitles (and the translation missed a few expletives here and there). That freed me to more thoroughly experience the film. Let me tell you – this was a rollercoaster.

I was invested from the beginning. I loved the street-tag art, and how it helped frame the story. I felt real dread for the plight of the children in the lead roles. Life under the thumb of cartels is no joke. I bought in on every gritty experience of these drug war orphans.

I adored the practicality and whimsy of the chalk and its representation of the three wishes. The fantastical elements of the story were deftly portrayed so that it was easy to suspend my disbelief. I also appreciated the vague and nebulous appearance of some of the supernatural manifestations. This wasn’t a splatter-fest and didn’t rely on horrific visuals to elicit fear, dread, or other emotional responses.

The young cast was seriously impressive, considering they didn’t have prior acting experience and weren’t even given copies of the script. The production team gave them improv classes and shot in chronological order so that they could capture the genuine reactions of the actors. These kids have bright futures ahead in the industry if they continue to pursue their acting careers.

I do not think I was adequately prepared for the emotional rollercoaster here. I actually cried at one point, and the dread as I worried about the plight of these kids was nearly gut-wrenching. For that reason alone, this will be a ‘one-and-done’ viewing for me. I don’t think I could put myself through that again, in spite of the fact this was an excellent film.

 Tigers Are Not Afraid is a safe bet to add to your spooky season watch list. 

 Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 97%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 85%
Metascore – 76/100
Metacritic User Score – 7.4/10
IMDB Score – 7.0/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5
 
Trust the Dice: Parental Advisory Rating – R
 
Movie Trailer:

Scare Me (2020) - Shudder Spree

Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: Scare Me (2020)
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Length: 104 minutes
Rating: NR
Production/Distribution: Irony Point, Artists First, Last Rodeo Studios, Shudder
Director: Josh Ruben
Writer: Josh Ruben
Actors: Aya Cash, Rebecca Drysdale, Chris Redd, Josh Ruben, Lauren Sick
 
Blurb from IMDb: During a power outage, two strangers tell scary stories. The more Fred and Fanny commit to their tales, the more the stories come to life in their Catskills cabin. The horrors of reality manifest when Fred confronts his ultimate fear.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
Shudder is an all horror, all the time, streaming service. We thought it would be fun to check out what they have to thrill and chill us this Halloween. Their service has a reasonable cost and, in these times, may be more accessible to people who have less to spend. If ever you were going to switch to a horror streaming service, October is the right time. (None of the posts this month are sponsored by Shudder or any companies associated with them.)
 
A lot of their originals have struck a chord with me, but this is not one of them. It’s a pretty poor start to our Shudder Spree.
 
I have to start with what I thought immediately upon the films end: You can’t put only 15-minutes of substance into a boring, cringy film and expect it to be good. I get the ending. I get what they were saying. I understand the point of it all. That doesn’t change that it was torture to get through.
 

Scare Me with its lessons and exceptionally slow start, as well as the whole point of tell rather than show, would work much better as a book – or even an anthology film. As a movie, it’s not very scary and kind of difficult to sit through. There are people who would forgive that because of the interesting 15-minute ending… but I’m not one of them.
 
Where the content itself is concerned, it does have some good writing advice. Still, the story itself is a little hard to swallow because there’s not a likable character anywhere in the flick. Seriously, not even the cab driver.
 
Scare Me isn’t my cup of tea. I’ve seen the reviews. I know it’s an unpopular opinion. I still dislike this film.
 

Cat’s Point of View:
I’ve been fairly addicted to scary tales ever since I brought home my copies of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book trilogy from my scholastic book orders back in middle school. I was so giddy that there was going to be a movie adaptation of those very books that I wrote a whole article about them. Now, given, Scare Me was not set up in the same manner. The description of the film did give me an impression, however, that something similar was likely going to be afoot.
 
What actually transpired on the screen left me with a forlorn sense of disappointment. While I expected supernatural shenanigans to kick off our month-long Shudder Spree in honor of Halloween… what I got was decidedly not that.
 
To be fair, there were plenty of shenanigans. I appreciated how the cast quite literally threw themselves into their parts. I loved the voice work and the physicality of some of the bits. The ambiance for chilling tales was perfect. I just found myself fighting the urge to check the progress bar to see how much of the movie was left for them to squeeze the scares into.
 

I do get it. The film does make sense in a realist way. This was just not what I was hoping for. Disappointment colored the entire production for me once I figured out I likely wasn’t getting what I thought the promo paragraph had promised. There were moments that I got a rush of “oh there it is, now we’re in business,” only for those expectations to be dashed in the next moment. It felt like I was being teased.
 
The pacing was also sluggish. It just felt like it took forever for not much to happen. Had the film been framed as a playful, if dark, writer’s exercise about killing time during a storm with a dash of intrigue (and I use that word very loosely), it would have been more successful in setting the appropriate expectations.
 
Alas, with a chasm of regret that this was the movie we had to open with, I can’t say I would recommend Scare Me to anyone -- not for a scary Halloween movie, at least.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 83%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 95%
Metascore – 62/100
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 4.8/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 1.5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2/5
 
Trust the Dice Parental Advisory Rating: R
 
P.S.: Short mid-credits scene.
 
Movie Trailer: