Welcome to another daily horror digest! Today’s movie recommendation/review is of an indie film from director and co-writer Jennifer Wolfe. Also, daily trivia and news about a first for Sinners when it hits Max later this week!
What I Watched Last Night
Last night’s movie was Happy Ending (2025). It’s listed as a horror, thriller, and even comedy on different sites. In my estimation, it’s a relationship drama that slowly turns into a thriller. Also, it’s pretty good.
The story focuses on a couple, Brynne (Lex Helgerson) and Ezra (Bradford Downs), who are having problems in their relationship. Specifically, they’re having issues with intimacy. Ezra suggests they should try going to a massage parlor as a couple to see if a happy ending will spark something between them, but underlying relationship issues surface while they’re inside the Angel Spa. Meanwhile a man stalking one of the workers sparks a series of events that leads to a deadly situation for everyone.
If you go into Happy Ending expecting a horror movie or a thriller from the start, you might be disappointed. The first hour or so is devoted to building all the characters and their relationships, particularly those of Ezra and Brynne, and of two workers at the massage parlor, Joy (Ling Ling Huang) and Dasha (Chynna Rae Shurts). I really enjoyed that section of the movie though. The character work is well done, and the way those four characters gradually start to interact and change each other’s perspectives is really well done. Spending so much time fleshing out the characters helps add to the drama and suspense when the danger heightens later in the movie.
I’m not going to spoil anything, but I will say that something happens about two-thirds of the way through the movie that surprised me in a fantastic way. A lot of the groundwork done before that also came together at the same time, making for an intense couple of minutes that really changed (in a good way) how I felt about where the story was headed.
The only real issue I had was with some of the comedy towards the end. There are lighter moments throughout the movie, but nothing that would warrant the “comedy” label IMDB puts on Happy Ending. But, some of the movie’s most blatantly obvious jokes happen in the final few scenes when it feels like the tension should be at its highest. It doesn’t feel like an understandable gallows humor situation, it’s just like the comedy is placed haphazardly in those instances. It definitely feels strange.
However, the few moments of ill-timed jokiness aren’t that big of a deal. I still enjoyed Happy Ending quite a lot. If you want to watch it, you can rent it on Prime Video, or you can stream it for free (with ads) on Plex.
Birthdays
Karen Black leads the way in today’s horror birthdays! Born July 1st, 1939, Karen entered the world of horror in the early 1970s with an appearance in an episode of Circle of Fear (1972). However, her most iconic horror role happened a few years later when she starred in the made-for-TV anthology film Trilogy of Terror (1975). She appears in all three stories in the movie, but the most famous story is “Amelia.” That’s the one with the Zuni fetish doll that comes to life and chases Karen Black’s character throughout her apartment. She appeared in many horror films during the remainder of her career, notably including her role as Mother Firefly in House of 1000 Corpses (2003).
Dan Aykroyd was also born on July 1st, in 1952. His horror resume isn’t nearly as extensive, but he has appeared in all of the Ghostbusters movies. An underseen but super-fun horror/sci-fi movie of his is Earth vs. The Spider (2001). It’s about a guy bitten by a spider, but instead of becoming a superhero he slowly transforms into a mutated human-spider hybrid. Dan Aykroyd plays a detective investigating the spider-man’s victims.
Also born on July 1st are Deborah Harry (1945) whose most famous horror appearance is Videodrome (1983), Dale Midkiff (1959) who was Louis Creed in Pet Sematary (1989), Terrence Mann (1951) who played the shapeshifting alien bounty hunter Ug in the Critters movies, and Liv Tyler (1977) whose best horror movie is The Strangers (2008).
Events on This Day
The cyberpunk body-horror masterpiece Tetsuo: The Iron Man was released in Japanese theaters on July 1st, 1989. It’s the story of a man who gradually turns into a metal monstrosity. The story isn’t the most important part though; It’s more about the extreme cyberpunk style that the movie exudes in every frame.
Also weird but in a much different way is Salad Fingers. The first installment of the creepy animated web series was uploaded to Newgrounds on July 1st, 2004. Salad Fingers is still ongoing, with episodes being uploaded sporadically over the past two decades. The last one was a 20th Anniversary Special that was uploaded on July 1st, 2024.
Luther the Geek was also released on this day in 1989, according to The Numbers. This is a rather odd near-slasher about a guy with metal teeth who is released from prison after serving time for murder, only to immediately go back to his killing ways. There’s a strong chicken theme involved in the story since Luther had a life-changing encounter with a geek (one who bit the heads off of chickens) when he was a child.
Also released on this day are How to Make a Monster (1958) and The Purge: Election Year (2016).
In the News
Sinners begins streaming on Max this Friday, and when it does, IndieWire reports that it will be accompanied by signing in Black American Sign Language. That will make Sinners the first film to stream in BASL. Take a look at how it will work in the trailer above.
You’ve seen the Mickey Mouse horror movies (or maybe you haven’t, but you probably know they exist), but get ready for a Minnie Mouse horror movie! Deadline reports that Minnie’s Midnight Massacre has completed filming and is coming soon, whether you like it or not. It’s coming from executive producers Stuart Alson and Nicole Holland who have produced a slew of other public-domain horrors. In addition to the Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey universe films, they’ve also been involved with Popeye’s Revenge, Cinderella’s Curse, Piglet, Hook, Mouse of Horrors, Mouseboat Massacre, Fairest of Them All… You get the idea.
Demián Rugna, the filmmaker behind When Evil Lurks (2023), is developing a vampire comedy. Bloody Disgusting announced the title as FELIX: A Complex Puzzle, and it will be about a vampire whose organs are harvested when he is presumed dead. Now he’s on a mission to find his missing body parts. The script is reportedly completed, but there is no timeline for production or the movie’s eventual release.
That’s it for now. Have a good Tuesday, and watch something horrific!
