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Movie of the Day: Night of the Reaper
Today’s movie is Night of the Reaper. It’s a movie that seems to have some people confused about what it is. The opening scene sets up what appears to be a typical slasher scenario, but, despite the trappings, this is not a slasher movie. Not really. Night of the Reaper is a murder mystery mixed with home-invasion horror, plus one other major genre that I won’t divulge here because it would spoil the movie. But that genre is not slasher, despite the movie beginning with a stereotypical slasher setup.
Night of the Reaper opens with a babysitter who meets an unfortunate end before the opening credits. After a short time jump, the majority of the movie follows another young woman, Deena. She’s visiting home while taking a break from college when she is convinced by a friend to take a last-minute babysitting job. While Deena is looking after the sheriff’s son, she begins to suspect that she’s being watched. Meanwhile, a mysterious package containing a VHS recording of a murder sends the sheriff hunting for a killer whom he has a personal stake in bringing to justice. The stories of Deena and the sheriff play out in parallel, suggesting that the person the sheriff is looking for and the person stalking Deena might be the same.
When I started watching Night of the Reaper, I immediately started getting the feeling that it might be too cheesy in its attempts to create a 1980s-set horror movie. The stalked babysitter scenario felt too contrived, and the look felt too artificial and “hey look, it’s the 1980s” for me to take it seriously. But that was done intentionally to cause viewers to expect one thing while actually giving them something different. Deena’s story in the middle part of the movie is all about gradually building suspense, and that is done well. The sheriff’s hunt for a killer is also interesting, though it did seem like he went rogue a bit too quickly and easily when dealing with potential suspects. That made the story feel a bit uneven, but I still enjoyed it.
Then there’s the final act which I can’t say much about in a review like this. What I can say is that Night of the Reaper gets extremely twisty towards the end, almost to the point of ridiculousness. There’s a major twist which I mostly enjoyed, but then the story keeps trying to subvert expectations over and over. That’s all I’ll divulge, because the movie is worth watching unspoiled. I’ll just say that I didn’t enjoy the ending as much as I enjoyed the middle section of the film.
Star Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Night of the Reaper is a fun horror/suspense movie that I definitely recommend if you already subscribe to Shudder or AMC+. It tries maybe a little too hard to be clever in its plotting, but, regardless, it’s still a fun movie with a good, dark atmosphere.
In the News
- Keke Palmer will host Dread Manor, an anthology horror series premiering on KeyTV Network’s YouTube and Facebook accounts beginning September 25th. (Bloody Disgusting)
- Zach Cregger is developing a prequel to Weapons which focuses on Aunt Gladys (as played by Amy Madigan). (Variety)
Birthdays
Alyssa Sutherland was born on September 23, 1982. Alyssa famously played Ellie in Evil Dead Rise, a character who became one of the franchise’s most recognizable Deadites. Her first horror movie was 2009’s Don’t Look Up which also featured Henry Thomas and Eli Roth in the cast. She also starred in The Mist TV series from 2017, and she was in the vampires-on-a-boat movie Blood Vessel (2019). Alyssa will also star in the upcoming “psychological creature thriller” The Room Below.
Also celebrating a birthday today is Rohan Campbell. Born on September 23rd, 1997, Rohan starred as Corey Cunningham in the divisive final movie in director David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy, Halloween Ends (2022). Before his breakthrough in that film, he’d appeared in episodes of Supernatural and iZombie. He also had a supporting role in Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey, and he’s set to star in the upcoming films Violence and Silent Night, Deadly Night.
More birthdays on September 23rd:
- Jason Alexander (1959) – The Burning (1981)
- Robert James-Collier (1976) – The Ritual (2017)
Events on This Day
According to Box Office Mojo, Pieces was released in the United States on September 23rd, 1983. This international co-production was mostly filmed in Spain, though the story is set at a college in Boston, Massachusetts. A spate of violent murders is occurring, and each time a body is found, a body part is missing. Pieces is a movie that falls somewhere in-between a slasher and a giallo.
Also released on this day, in 1988, was David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers. The film is about twin gynecologists who share everything, including women. But obsession and drugs get in between the brothers which leads to dire consequences. The story was inspired by real brothers, Stewart and Cyril Marcus, though their true story was not as salacious as the film.
