Welcome to another daily horror digest from Creepy Catalog. I’m back on the path of new, 2025 horror for the movie of the day. I also play the Kevin Bacon game for today’s birthdays, and catch up on the news with a rapid-fire briefing.
Movie of the Day
Today’s movie is The Twin, a psychological horror movie about trauma. There’s also a monster in it that is inspired by Irish folklore, but really, the movie is about trauma. No question about it. Trauma. Why am I being so bland and obvious about the movie’s theme? Because that’s the same way it often feels watching The Twin, bland and obvious.
The story focuses on a father, Nicholas, whose son dies in an accident. Nicholas blames himself, and the experience brings up more trauma from his past. He starts seeing an evil double of himself, which is described as a “fetch.” A fetch is basically a doppelganger. Seeing one usually means you’re going to die. I know this because the movie shows us the definition of “fetch” before the movie begins, in on-screen text that is nearly a word for word copy of the opening lines of the Wikipedia article for fetch. Like, it’s so close that it looks like a copy/paste job.
Anyway, Nicholas is separated from his wife, and he works on his mental health with the help of a doctor whom he doesn’t like at first. Nick spirals as he endures more scary moments with the fetch, as well as other supernatural/psychological creepiness. It’s all very competently presented to the viewer, but in a way that always feels underwhelming.
Part of the problem is that the movie explains too much, too often. Like the Wikipedia definition at the beginning of the movie. Don’t show that before the story even begins. It’s much more interesting to introduce something like that as a mystery that gets teased out as the story progresses.
Also, about halfway through the movie, the doctor explains absolutely everything about what’s going on with Nicholas. Over-explaining like that drains the horror out of the situation because it makes the viewer hyper-aware that the monster is a metaphor. Then the metaphor takes over the plot, making The Twin feel less like a horror movie, and more like a trauma drama with dark lighting and a weird guy harassing the main character.
There are good moments in The Twin, but I can’t really recommend it. It’s a very average psychological horror movie that undercuts its horror with obvious metaphors that end up controlling the action. If you do still want to check it out, it’s streaming as a digital rental on platforms including Prime Video.
Related Movie Recommendation
My additional recommendation is Fréwaka. It’s an Irish folk horror movie that, like The Twin, deals with themes of family and trauma. However, Fréwaka is much better. It’s one of my favorite movies of this year so far. The story is about an in-home caregiver who looks after a woman who has delusions about the people living near her. But is she having delusions, or are they really out to get her? You can watch it on Shudder.
Birthdays
Today’s birthdays begin with Kevin Bacon! Born on July 8, 1958, Kevin’s first horror movie was Friday the 13th (1980) in which his character Jack memorably got stabbed through the neck with an arrow. He’s traveled through many different genres throughout his acting career, but notable horror movies he’s been in include Tremors (1990), Flatliners (1990), Stir of Echoes (1999), Hollow Man (2000), and MaXXXine (2024).
Next up is Maya Hawke (who was in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with Dakota Fanning, who was in Trapped with Kevin Bacon). Maya was born on this day in 1998. Her list of horror roles is short but memorable. She was in the opening scene of Fear Street Part One – 1994 (2021), and she plays Robin beginning in season three of Stranger Things.
Born on July 8th in 1977 is Milo Ventimiglia (who was in Armored with Matt Dillon, who was in Asteroid City with Maya Hawke). Milo appeared in a supporting role in Cursed (2005) as Bo, a bully who eventually befriend Jesse Eisenberg’s character. Other horror appearances include the video-game horror movie Stay Alive (2006) and the supernatural horror film Devil’s Gate (2017).
And finally, also born today, in 1993, is David Corenswet (who was in Affairs of State with Mimi Rogers, who was in Order of Chaos with Milo Ventimiglia). David is Superman now, but before he was a superhero he was the projectionist in Pearl (2022).
And just to bring the Kevin Bacon game full circle, David Corenswet was in Pearl with Mia Goth, who was in MaXXXine with Kevin Bacon.
Events on This Day
On July 8th, 2022, Netflix released the excellent Taiwanese found-footage movie Incantation. It’s presented as a film made by a mother who is desperate for help when she learns that a curse is affecting her young daughter. So, really, it’s more of a pseudo-documentary in which she tells her story through has a lot of spooky supernatural happenings caught on video. You can steam it now, and I suggest that you do.
Also released on this day, in 2005, was the American remake of Dark Water. Sure, the Japanese version is better, but the American one is pretty decent. Plus, the cast boasts Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, and Tim Roth.
The Ward also made it’s theatrical debut on July 8th, in 2011. The Ward isn’t one of John Carpenter’s best, but an okay John Carpenter movie is still pretty darn good. You can stream it with a Prime Video subscription.
Phantasm II also came out on this date, in 1988. The sequel follows Mike and Reggie from the original movie as they hunt the Tall Man to try to end his reign of terror.
In the News
There are a few of smaller news items today, so I’ll go as quick as I can. To start things off, Neon released a new trailer for Together. I think I’m really going to like this movie. Take a look.
- Like Blumhouse did with the first M3GAN, M3GAN 2.0 will have an R-rated cut released on home video. (Discussing Film)
- A new anime series adapting the works of Junji Ito is headed to Crunchyroll. No word on when it will premiere. (Bloody Disgusting)
- Odette Annable (The Unborn) is set to star in an upcoming psychological horror movie, Amina, from writer/director Andrés Beltrán. (Deadline)
That’s all for today. Have a pleasantly horrific Tuesday!
