Welcome once again to Creepy Catalog’s daily horror digest. It’s the weekend, so that means it’s a light news day, but I have a lot of daily trivia to make up it. Before that, I’m starting with a new movie that I’m kind of split about how much I do or don’t like it.
Movie of the Day
Today’s movie is Saint Clare. It’s described by many outlets as, at least partly, a horror movie. I think that description is a holdover from the novel it’s based on, Clare at Sixteen by Don Roff. The novel is apparently a “dark teen horror comedy” that’s like Dexter crossed with Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (if you believe the marketing). The movie, Saint Clare, is more of a dark crime thriller with psychological elements. I enjoyed it fine, but it’s not what I was hoping for based on the trailer and the descriptions I read.
Bella Thorne plays Clare Bleeker, a student who lives with her grandmother and occasionally kills people. She specifically targets men who do harm to women. It’s unclear how often she engages in her vigilante activities, but we know she’s done it enough to start getting paranoid about people finding out her secret. Her paranoia grows stronger after she kills a guy who tries to kidnap her, and the police start questioning all the students at her school about the murder. But through that guy, Clare stumbles upon a connection to the town’s alarming history of missing women. She knows she has to stop killing, but she is driven to find the men responsible for so many disappearances.
There’s a lot more going on in the story though. Really, the plot I described above is just one of multiple interweaving threads woven into Saint Clare. There’s also a teen drama aspect with Clare just wanting to be a normal girl and get along with her friends. There’s a school play she gets wrangled into performing in. Clare’s grandmother (played by Rebecca De Mornay) knows she is up to something. There’s also a religious theme where Clare feels like a modern-day Joan of Arc. There’s a lot going on, and that ultimately becomes the biggest issue in the film.
Knowing that Saint Clare is based on a book, the movie feels like a CliffsNotes version of the story (or I guess a more modern comparison would be to say the movie is like an AI summary of the source material). Many ideas are introduced, but they all feel reduced to just the minimum of information needed to keep the plot together. For instance, the conspiracy that Clare investigates is solved way too easily because there’s not enough time to spend building it up. Pretty much all the other plot threads feel the same way. Like, we don’t even get a good sense of Clare and her friendships because her friends just aren’t on screen enough.
All that is to say, Saint Clare makes sense and has a fine plot, but everything feels a little flat. Too many ideas, not enough time to develop any of them. The story needed some heavy trimming to allow the most important aspects time to develop.
But, I did still enjoy the movie okay. I like the basic idea a lot, and the camerawork is consistently good. The story’s central mystery, despite being solved too easily, has some interesting moments. One big twist felt obvious, but there’s another moment later that I enjoyed quite a lot. I was also sufficiently invested in the character of Clare. I had to connect some dots on my own as far as her characterization is concerned, but the danger she intentionally puts herself in to achieve her vigilante goals is extremely intriguing.
Star Rating: 3 out of 5 (pretty good)
I don’t think I would recommend Saint Clare for a full digital rental price. Wait until it gets cheaper, or wait until it hits Tubi or a subscription streaming surface. But if you’re into dark crime thrillers with a simple story and a great visual appeal, Saint Clare might be worth checking out. You can rent it on platforms including Amazon Prime Video.
In the News
- Toho International president Koji Ueda says that there is “potential” for a sequel to Shin Godzilla in addition to the Godzilla Minus One sequel already in the works. (Bloomberg via Bloody Disgusting)
- Adrianne Palicki (John Wick, Friday Night Lights) will star in the film Remote about a woman who witnesses a murder during a livestream. (The Hollywood Reporter)
- Callum Vinson (Henry Collins in season 3 of Chucky) has been cast as Jason Voorhees in the Crystal Lake series for Peacock. Nick Cordileone, Joy Suprano, Danielle Kotch, and Phoenix Parnevik will also appear in recurring roles. (Variety)
Birthdays
For today’s birthdays, we start off with a few notable filmmakers who work predominantly behind the camera. First is Kiyoshi Kurosawa, born July 19th, 1955. He works in a broad range of genres, but his horror films are particularly good. He’s best known for directing Pulse (aka Kairo, 2001), Sweet Home (1989), Creepy (2016), and Cure (1997).
Other famous film directors and writers born on July 19th include:
- Hideo Nakata (1961) – Ring (1998), Dark Water (2002)
- Abel Ferrara (1951) – The Driller Killer (1979), Body Snatchers (1993), Bad Lieutenant (1992)
- Tom McLoughlin (1950) – Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
- Simon Barrett (1978) – Seance (2021), writer of You’re Next (2011)
Moving over to actors, Patty Mullen was born on this day in 1966. Patty is best known as the star of Frankenhooker (1990). Before that, she appeared in Doom Asylum (1988).
Today is the birthday of three victims from the Friday the 13th franchise! Born on this day in 1961 is Robbi Morgan who played the hitchhiking Annie in the first Friday the 13th. Peter Barton, born today in 1956, played Doug in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, and he got his head shoved into the wall of a shower. And finally, Elizabeth Kaitan (1960) was Robin who got thrown out of a second-floor window in Friday the 13th: The New Blood.
Also celebrating a birthday on July 19th are:
- Jared Padalecki (1982) – Supernatural (2005-2020), Friday the 13th (2009), House of Wax (2005)
- Angela Trimbur (1981) – Tina in The Final Girls (2015), Harley in Halloween II (2009)
- Vinessa Shaw (1976) – Hocus Pocus (1993), The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
Events on This Day
July 19th is apparently a popular day for horror movie releases. First up is The Frighteners, released on this day in 1996. This dark and funny film from Peter Jackson stars Michael J. Fox, and it’s gained a sizable cult following over the years. You can rent it on Prime Video.
The Conjuring was released in theaters on July 19th, 2013. Seven movies in the shared Conjuring Universe have been released since then (eight if you count The Curse of La Llorona which isn’t officially counted). The next film set for release later this year, The Conjuring: Last Rites, will see the end of The Conjuring line of films, though the wider universe might continue. Stream The Conjuring on HBO Max.
The Poughkeepsie Tapes, a pseudo-documentary about a serial killer and his VHS collection, was given a release on DirectTV video-on-demand on July 19, 2014. That was six years after its originally scheduled release date, and seven years after its film festival premiere. It left VOD shortly after its 2014 release, and it didn’t show back up again until years later on DVD and Blu-ray. After all that, you can stream it now on Tubi.
More movies released on July 19th:
- Invasion of the Neptune Men (1961)
- Day of the Dead (1985) – wide theatrical release
- The Breed (2001)
- Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005)
- Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf (2015) – Syfy
- Amityville in Space (2022)
Thank you for reading, and have a good weekend filled with on-screen horrors!
