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Welcome to today’s daily horror digest! I’m excited to share today’s movie, Brute 1976. I was looking forward to it, and I feel like it delivered most of everything that I wanted it to be! Take a look at my quick review below, and keep reading for daily news and trivia!
Movie of the Day: Brute 1976
Today’s movie doesn’t try to hide its influences (which is a good thing). In the dedications at the end of the credits, Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven are listed in the “In Memory Of” section. How does that apply to this film? Because Brute 1976 is like a mashup of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes.
The story takes place on August 19th,1976. The movie begins with a couple, June and Raquel, getting into some serious trouble after their car breaks down in the desert while traveling to a photo shoot. We then meet the rest of the photo shoot crew. Their search for the missing women leads them to the seemingly abandoned town of Savage. However, a family of masked maniacs lives in Savage, and they have horrible plans for their uninvited guests.
I had a lot of fun with Brute 1976. As an homage to 1970s horror, it does commendable work. It’s not as gritty or unnerving as the best of that era of horror can be, but the movie does a good job of emulating that style through a modern lens. Which is to say, the movie always feels like an homage, especially when it starts to get heavy-handed with its themes. It’s not bad, it just gets too twisty and explanation-heavy towards the end. I feel like the movies it references tended to let the horror drive the story, and the audience was trusted to decipher the themes for themselves.
The kills throughout the movie are done well. There was potential for the movie to be way more brutal with what it actually shows, but the filmmakers did well with a smaller budget. Plus, there isn’t much blood actually shown in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), so I feel like the way the kills are done in Brute 1976 is totally intentional. There is one moment where a certain body part involved in a kill is blurred, and I would have preferred if that had been handled more creatively. Just don’t do it if you can show it without getting a rating that would limit the movie’s availability. Or cut away from the offending moment and include it uncensored if there’s ever a physical media release. Most of the other kills are effective without showing the actual killing blow, so this one moment was jarring in an unintentional way.
But that’s a rather minor complaint in the context of the whole movie. There are absolutely a lot of standout moments. Gigi Gustin is fantastic as Raquel, a woman who is held captive by the family of killers. Her ability to convey fear and desperation (and her screams) help add an essential layer of incredible tension. I also really enjoyed the interactions between Roxy (Adriane McLean) and Sunshine (Sarah French), two more potential final girls whose stories play out in interesting ways. Also, each member of the family of killers has a memorable look and intimidating presence.
Star Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Brute 1976 is a movie for fans of movies in the vein of a Texas Chainsaw or Hills Have Eyes. It’s not quite as good as its inspirations, but it’s better than many of the modern homages to that era. You can rent Brute 1976 on platforms including Amazon Prime Video.
In the News
- The Toxic Avenger is working with a non-profit to clear millions of dollars of medical debt. While partnering with the charity Undue Medical Debt, Cineverse has pledged to use a portion of its marketing money to erase $5 million in medical debt for real people in the real world. Plus, for every $1 million that the movie makes at the box office, they’ll eliminate another $1 million in debt. Read more about the campaign on Bloody Disgusting.
- You can see the first images of the remake of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle starring Maika Monroe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead on People.
- Netflix released a trio of new posters for the upcoming series Monster: The Ed Gein Story. Check them out on Instagram.
- New trailers and clips released yesterday:
Birthdays
Brian Thompson was born on August 28th, 1959. I associate him most with his recurring role in The X-Files as the Alien Bounty Hunter, and as Luke and The Judge from seasons one and two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His career started out with a minor role in The Terminator in which he played one the punks that the Terminator first encounters when he arrives in 1984. He was also the Night Slasher in Cobra (1986), and he appeared in horror movies including Nightwish (1989), Fright Night Part 2 (1988), Flight of the Living Dead (2007), and more.
Also born on August 28th was E. E. Clive (his birth year is listed as both 1879 and 1883 in various sources). He appeared in nearly 100 movies between 1932 and 1940. In horror, he was in The Invisible Man (1933) as a constable, Bride of Frankenstein (1935) as a burgomaster, and Dracula’s Daughter (1936) as a police sergeant. Sadly, his career was cut short when he passed away in 1940.
More birthdays on August 28th:
- Simon Oakland (1915) – Dr. Richman in Psycho (1960), Tony Vincenzo in The Night Stalker movies and TV series
- Vera Jordanova (1975) – Axelle in Hostel: Part II (2007)
- Kelly Overton (1978) – The Ring Two (2005), Van Helsing (TV, 2016-2021)
- Sarah Roemer (1984) – The Grudge 2 (2006), Disturbia (2007)
Events on This Day
The Final Destination was released in 3D and in 2D on August 28th, 2009. It is the lowest rated movie in the franchise. It did well at the box office despite the ratings, earning the second most out of any film in the series, only behind the newest movie, Final Destination Bloodlines (2025).
The New Mutants was released in US theaters on August 28th, 2020. This date was more that two years after its originally scheduled release date, mostly because the movie became a casualty of Disney’s acquisition of Fox, and because of the pandemic. The movie ended up being okay, but it wasn’t exactly as “horror” as it was described to be.
More movies released on August 28th:
- Hell Night (wide release, 1981)
- House II: The Second Story (1987)
- Sorority Girls and the Creature from Hell (video, 1991)
- Pet Sematary Two (1992)
- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Thank you as always for reading!
