Recent horror films can make Halloween scarier

Recent horror films can make Halloween scarier

In case you are looking for a film to watch on Halloween, here are a few recent releases available on DVD, Blu-ray or digital platforms.

“A Quiet Place” Grade B: Prequels are tricky. “A Quiet Place: Day One” shows how difficult it can be to set a film in a period before we know where the story is going to go.

The previous “A Quiet Place” movies showed the aftermath of an invasion by aliens with incredible hearing. The only way to survive is to not make a sound. It really wasn’t important in those two movies to explain why the world had become so silent. The tension came from watching the Abbott family get through another day without making a deadly noise.

That left “Day One” writers Michael Sarnoski (who also directed the film), John Krasinski and Bryan Woods the only option of going back before the introduction of the Abbotts. This was a way to give a backstory to how and why the aliens showed up.

Other invasion films bank on the glory of fighting back for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. “A Quiet Place: Day One” is all about the human spirit.

“The Succubus” Grade B: Chris (Brenden Bradley), a new father, joins a dating app and eventually concludes he should probably rekindle things with his estranged wife. Then Adra (Rachel Cook) pops up on his screen. She is so alluring that Chris thinks connecting with her would be dangerous, but his buddy convinces him to swipe right and that’s when the seduction begins that draws Chris into a sexual abyss.

Writer/director RJ Daniel Hanna has structured the tale of seduction to go very wrong in his film in a unique way. It is easy to be drawn into this tale of terror because there is both an intimate and claustrophobic feel to the structure.

“The Radleys” Grade B: Vampires have been featured in serious tales of terror such as “Nosferatu,” teen angst offerings in “Twilight” and even in a comedy like “Once Bitten.” Director Euros Lyn offers a very different perspective with his production making it more of a family drama.

The film features Bo Bragson plus award-winning actors Kelly Macdonald (“No Country for Old Men”) and Damian Lewis (“Billions”) as the Radleys. In the light of day, they might seem normal, but they can only abstain from their natural cravings for so long until the bloody truth comes to the surface and turns their quiet country life upside down.

The entire film becomes a metaphor for any type of addiction that could tear a family apart – gambling, abuse, drug use.

“The Exorcism” Grade D+: Russell Crowe never finds the emotional depth to give novice director Joshua John Miller’s spiral down through the levels of hell any power. There are a few creepy moments but overall Crowe’s performance in “The Pope’s Exorcist” was better but that was a very low bar.

The original concept of what might happen while remaking a classic like “The Exorcist” is solid. Once it is used to establish why a movie is being made about exorcisms then the concept fades. It all leads to the kind of battle with the demon that has been presented in so many other projects.

“Longlegs”: Nicolas Cage stars in this tale of an FBI agent who finds evidence of the occult after being assigned to an unsolved serial killer case.

“Evil: The Final Season”: The set includes the last episodes of the series that wrapped up on Paramount+. It features a forensic psychologist who is recruited by an assessor of the Catholic Church.

“Oddity”: Woman goes after those responsible for the death of her sister by using haunted items as her tools for revenge.

“Crackcoon”: In the grand tradition of “Cocaine Bear” comes this tale of what happens when a woodland creature consumes a synthetically altered street drug that has been discarded in the woods by a drug dealer.

“Interview with the Vampire – Season Two”: Anne Rice’s 1976 novel serves as the basis for this cable series that follows a vampire and his family formed.

“The Beat Within”: A 10-year-old girl is forever changed after seeing her father go through a transformation.

“The Witch”: Husband must prove his wife is not a witch in this story that unfolds in 1575.

“Sanctuary: A Witches Tale”: The first season of this TV series is now available. It is set in a modern world where witchcraft is real.

Available on digital platforms

“Piece By Piece”: The biopic of the life of music icon Pharrell Williams is told through LEGO blocks. It will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Dec. 17.

“The House from…”: The documentary looks real locations that were used in filming productions from “A Christmas Story” to “Halloween.”

“Hangdog”: Man must find the dog he was entrusted to watch after it gets stolen.

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