Your Daily Horror Digest for September 29th, 2025

The Draft!

The Draft! is streaming on Screambox.

Table of Contents


Movie of the Day: The Draft!

The Draft! (2023)
The five friends discuss the villa and how it could be a setting for a horror movie.

Today’s movie is the Indonesian horror comedy The Draft! This review is going to be brief because The Draft is one of those movies that you can barely say anything about without spoiling the entire premise of the movie, and discovering the premise is the most enjoyable part. I’ll do my best to entice you to watch without getting too deep into the story.

The Draft begins with five friends taking a trip to an old villa far away from the nearest town. It’s a “cabin in the woods” setup that will feel familiar to most horror fans. A few of the characters feel that familiarity too, which adds a strong layer of meta commentary to the opening scenes of the movie. After spending just one night in the villa, the friends find something horrific, which sets them down a path of discovery that will test their survival skills and their wits.

The Draft! (2023)
There are lots of fun horror moments scattered throughout the story.

That’s all I should share about the story. It’s just the initial setup, but going into further detail will ruin the journey. What I can say is that The Draft is a very fun horror comedy that is designed for fans of horror movies, especially if you’re a fan of Indonesian horror. The reveal of the premise does remove most of the film’s stakes, but clever writing more than makes up for any perceived lack of true danger.

The Draft! (2023)
There appears to be no escape from their predicament.

There are times when the basic idea of the story is overexplained, and those scenes can drag on too long. But again, the good outweighs the less good. If you’re able to get on board with the way the characters begin to think about their plight, there’s a ton of joy to be had. The Draft pokes fun at horror tropes while celebrating them at the same time. If you’re a fan of movies with meta commentary like Scream, The Cabin in the Woods, and One Cut of the Dead, you’ll probably enjoy The Draft.

Star Rating: 3.5 out of 5

If a few of the scenes were tighter, this would be an easy four stars. Regardless, I had a lot of fun with The Draft. You can stream it now on Screambox.


Birthdays

Reggie Bannister in Phantasm.
Reggie Bannister in Phantasm.

Reggie Bannister was born on September 29th, 1945. Reggie is beloved by horror fans for his role as Reggie in the Phantasm franchise, and for being a stalwart presence in the horror genre for more than four decades. Rather than list the numerous movies he’s been in, I’d rather tell you that Reggie entered hospice care earlier this year due to a prolonged battle with dementia and Parkinson’s disease. As of the last update sent out by his friend Russell Mauck on Facebook, letters of support could be sent to Reggie at: PO Box 4387, Crestline CA, 92325. The last update I could find on his wife Gigi’s Facebook was from a few weeks ago, stating that she is still caring for Reggie.

More birthdays on September 29th:

  • Anita Ekberg (1931) – Fangs of the Living Dead (1969), The Killer Nun (1979)
  • Stuart Charno (1956) – Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981), Christine (1983)
  • Erika Eleniak (1969) – The Blob (1988), Bordello of Blood (1996), Dracula 3000 (2004)
  • Michelle Garza Cervera (1987) – director and co-writer of Huesera: The Bone Woman (2022)

Events on This Day

The Curse of Michael Myers
This image is from the theatrical ending, which is dumber than the later-released Producer’s Cut ending.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers was released on September 29th, 1995. To this day people debate whether the theatrical release or the later Producer’s Cut is better. Everyone has their opinions, but the Producer’s Cut is better. The theatrical release drastically changes the natural course of the story in a nonsensical way leading into the final act. The theatrical cut also has no real ending, instead just fading away on a mask and a scream. The Producer’s Cut isn’t good (because the basic idea of the movie itself is bad), but it’s better because it follows its story through to its natural conclusion. Plus, this cut features more Donald Pleasence, which is good for any movie. All that said, I can still watch and enjoy either cut for the fun moments they do have, and for some of the goofiness contained in the story.

Meet The Author

Chris has a degree in film studies at Temple University’s campus in Tokyo, Japan. He is a renowned expert on horror cinema.