Game Over: TRUTH OR DARE (2018) Review

Slasher Studios*Horror

A group of college friends go to Mexico for spring break where they are lured to an abandoned church and play a game of truth or dare. When they return home they realize something evil has come back with them and isn’t finished playing the game. Now they must play the game or die.

Truth or Dare is a PG-13 teen horror film that is exactly what you’d expect it to be. Silly teen drama, over-the-top, and plenty of clichés. However, despite this the movie is extremely fun from beginning to end. The events actually start up pretty quick and once the games begin it’s one truth or dare after the other. Some the dares are pretty thrilling, a rooftop scene was pretty intense, and the truths that are revealed tear the friends apart even in the dire circumstances. The laughs in the film didn’t work for me at all, and it goes to some pretty great lengths as far as revealing rules about the game and the origin of the spirit coming after them. On top of this it does have some plot holes, but to its credit it does put up a fight to try fill some of them up, even it doesn’t always work.

In terms of characters, some are pretty cardboard cut-outs like Tyler Posey’s leading male character, Lucy Hale’s good girl character, and the cocky asshole played by Sam Lerner. Violett Beane’s character Markey was a character I feel should have been given a lot more to do other than storm out of the room crying every time she hears a truth she doesn’t like, and with that brought up some groan-worthy teen drama. What sucks is that Markey has so much edge to her when she wasn’t all about her drama and could be a total bad ass, so I wish more focus had been given to that side of her instead of all her drama between Hale and Posey’s characters. For the most part though the characters are developed well-enough. The performances are passable, but it’s really Hale and most especially Beane who turn in the most standout performances. The biggest thing I praise the movie for is its dark ending. While I did love that the ending was dark, it was actually clever in how it ties into events and conversations that happen very early on in the movie.

Truth or Dare probably won’t be remembered in the future and it is far from an all out good movie, but if you want to watch a fun horror film that is entertaining from beginning to end with a couple of thrills and a hot cast, this one will do the job.

–Cody Landman

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Something To Talk About: A QUIET PLACE (2018) Review

Slasher StudiosQuiet Place

Set in a world that has been taken over by horrifying creatures, a family must now live in a world of silence in order to survive. Every day, a husband and wife live in fear that they will be unable to protect their children.

A Quiet Place is easily one of the most intense, heart-pounding, and terrifying horror films I’ve seen in a long time. Despite being a monster film, it’s an extremely fresh film. Most of the family is completely silent except for slight whispers you may hear from the characters. And the silence is what really escalates the horror. The slightest sounds that the character might or do make is enough to make you tense up and your heart jump into your throat and hold your breath. The scare/jump scenes that occur are so well-executed and go very much hand-in-hand with the intensity built up to them. What really helps build up the fear as well is how much you feel attached to the family and care about them. And of course the creatures themselves are pretty damn horrific.

For the most part there a very few calm moments and any that do come about exist to not only give us some emotional development between the characters, but also for the audience to finally catch their breath. For most of the film I was holding my breath, clenching my fists, or putting my hand over my mouth. When a film can emit that big of a reaction out of me (something that rarely happens), it’s one that is clearly doing something right. Apart from the horror elements, we also have a great family drama with plenty of emotional depth involved. This movie does bare some similarities to the movie Signs in how it combines a solid horror with family drama. There are some other elements that are similar to Signs, but I won’t reveal those here. This isn’t to say that this is a negative, but it is a thought came to mind. Finally, it’s worth mentioning that the performances in this movie are fantastic all across the board. Each actor delivers their own personal and outstanding performances with no one person standing out more than the other. However, real life couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt projects their romance on-screen with their fantastic chemistry. Okay, I do have to say that I’ll give Emily Blunt the torch for the best performance of the film. She brings forth a grand amount of emotion and fear in her role that stole the show. Millicent Simmonds (who is actually deaf in real life) turns an extremely excellent breakthrough performance as the couple’s oldest child.

I couldn’t recommend this fantastic horror movie more. It’s scary, fresh, and offers some solid drama and fantastic performances.

–Cody Landman

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Clown Carnage: TERRIFIER (2018) Review

Slasher StudiosTerrifier

A psychotic serial killer dresses as a clown and pursues three young women on Halloween. They find themselves trapped inside of a run-down building where the clown known as Art resides.

Terrifier is the feature-length film based off the character seen in the anthology film All Hallows Eve, the director of the latter returns to direct Terrifier. The first half of the film is an extremely solid and actually pretty damn scary horror film. We are introduced to two young women returning from a party that decide to ease their drunkeness with some pizza before allowing themselves to drive. Prior to they come across Art the Clown in an alley and the blonde friend, Dawn, decides to mock him, while the very alert friend, Tara, feels very uneasy. While trying to enjoy their pizza, Art has followed them and stares menacingly at them. From there on out, it becomes a very stalk and slash film when we are ultimately introduced to Tara’s bookworm sister, Vicky. Much of the films gives very heavy vibes of Halloween and Scream in how it chooses to pursue to the stalk and slash formula. And this works just as well as those two classics. It also helps that Art the Clown is downright terrifying (I would honestly say more so than Pennywise), and really it’s thanks to David Howard Thornton who does an amazing job playing the psychotic clown, along with the excellent make-up work. Art is just as terrifying taunting his victims as he is when he’s being all-out psychotic. As mentioned, the first half is super intense, not just with Art doing his thing, but because of how well certain scenes are done in general. There’s a chase scene in a garage (similar to Paris Hilton’s chase in House of Wax), that is extremely intense.

As far as characters, Tara is extremely likable as the lead, and Jenna Kanell does a great job with the role, and while Dawn is supposed to be the obnoxious and idiot friend, I couldn’t help but enjoy her character that Catherine Corcoran clearly had a blast playing. Samantha Scaffidi does well enough as Victoria, but the only problem with her is that she just doesn’t have much to do. She’s introduced studying for an exam and has to go pick up Tara and Dawn, and that’s all we get from her. About halfway through the film is when we get a mid-point twist that didn’t really work at all for me. Had this been more warranted and had more foreshadowing or development, I would have been more okay with it. Not only this, but it is during this left half that I felt the film lost its momentum and started becoming a bit more silly than scary. This isn’t to say it’s still not enjoyable, but that the first half was clearly more inventive. I don’t know if this is because everything before the mid-point twist was more engaging and established, but something did feel a bit more lacking in the latter half. One thing that may be hit or miss with viewers is the kill and gore. This film is gory as hell and the gore looks great and is pretty brutal, but that could be its downfall in that some may find the movie turning into more of a torture porn film. I can understand this viewpoint, but I wasn’t personally bothered too much by all of the gore.

For a low budget slasher film, Terrifier is an extremely solid movie. We have some great kills, an excellent first half with a couple of fun characters and good performances, and more than anything we have an extremely terrifying (I swear all of these uses of “terrifying” are no pun intended) killer. This film is a blast and despite the issues with the last half and mid twist that I had, I would still highly recommend this movie.

-Cody Landman

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Stylish Slashing: THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT (2018) Review

Slasher StudiosStrangers: Prey at Night

A family stays the night in rental trailer park that is seemingly abandoned. It’s not too long after they arrive that they get a knock at the door, and from there the three masked killers from the first make this family their next targets. Now the family must fight to survive.

After being in purgatory ever since the original film came out, 10 years later the sequel has been released. I was very skeptical about this, especially feeling like the original has lost its effect through time. Thankfully, I was massively surprised with this follow-up. Was it a sequel we absolutely needed, let alone 10 years later? Not really. But it sure as hell is a sequel that is surprisingly fantastic. What I think makes this sequel so great is that it could easily stand on its own. This follows a completely different beat and tone than the original. The original was a slow burn home invasion film, and this one is a suspenseful slasher film. And as a slasher, it is one of the most fun and suspenseful slashers I’ve seen in a very long time. The first act follows the family and their pretty basic drama with their teenage daughter being angsty, the son being in his own world, etc. Thankfully this is blown through really quick and we finally get to the horror. Once the horror kicks in it grabs you and never lets go.

Despite his first film The Other Side of the Door being a pretty terrible film, director Johannes Roberts has since impressed the hell out of me with 47 Meters Down, and now this film. With these two films, Roberts has proved to have a master touch of building suspense and perfectly timing some great jump scares. He also uses the entire trailer park to his advantage and making you feel as lost as the characters. What also helps deliver the suspense is the fantastic score and the soundtrack. Who would have thought 80s pop songs could be used so well to build suspense? The film’s score, along with its overall tone does really well of giving it a retro feel without being too on the nose about it. Not only this, but the film also features some pretty great nods to other horror films, and Roberts nails them too without coming off as rip-offs. Finally, the Strangers are more deadly and vicious than ever, so when our protagonists get the upper-hand on the villains you are hardcore cheering them on. The whole cast does a fine job, but it’s our sibling leads in Bailee Madison and Lewis Pullman that sell the movie. On their own their performances are solid, but together you love seeing them together with their bond. And these are characters who actually fight back despite being in fear for their lives, but even out of fear they don’t make very many stupid decisions, but when they do something violent, they are effected by this instead of acting super human about it. The siblings were actually fairly realistic in how they were written and portrayed, I could easily imagine this is how real people would react.

The Strangers: Prey At Night is a sequel you may not have wanted or needed, but it’s a sequel that surprised the hell out of me. Thinking about it now, it’s actually a very satisfactory follow-up and one I think we actually deserve by having characters actually fighting back. It may have a groan-worthy first act, but it doesn’t overstay its welcome before the horror begins and from there it’s a fun slasher thrill-ride.

–Cody Landman

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IRRATIONAL FEAR & Slasher Studios T-Shirt Sale

Slasher Studios*Horror

For a limited time only, all Slasher Studios shirts are now just $15. Score a killer limited edition Irrational Fear shirt or pick up a Slasher Studios logo tee and help us celebrate the slasher love! Pick up both shirts and receive two FREE 11×17 posters with your order while supplies last.


Irrational Fear





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Terror For the Brain: ANNIHILATION (2018) Review

Slasher StudiosAnnihilation

After her husband returns after being missing for a year, Lena sees something has changed in him. She now seeks to find out the truth. Eventually she is grouped with other highly intelligent females who seeks to know what secrets lie within The Shimmer, a mysterious force that has been gradually spreading and only growing larger. The group eventually come to realize the truth may not be as concrete as they expected.

Alex Garland brings us one of the most-blowing films of recent years. He so perfectly wrote and directed this film with a lot of thought in mind, and on top of that he mixes genres so well in it. The movie balances elements of drama, horror, and science fiction all in one. One scene as far as horror goes, is easily one of the most intense scenes I’ve experienced, and one towards the end is just as intense, but it’s a scene unlike anything you’ve seen in horror before. As far as drama and sci-fi, it brings forth a story that is extremely thought-provoking in how it has some really dramatic and poetic ideas, but at the same time it’s also a pretty horrific way of showing it. This is not the full-on horror film that the full trailer makes it out to be. When in actuality it goes so much deeper than that. It’s not a physical or even psychological horror film in the traditional sense, but it’s one that uses doses of horror to bring forth a more cerebral and thought-provoking horror. But if I’m being honest, this movie is pretty hard to categorize, it’s definitely more geared toward sci-fi, but it’s so complex and has many different layers to it. It does move at a fairly slower pace with only instances of eventful scenes thrown in, but it’s really an exploration film, and we are exploring The Shimmer and what it contains just as much as the characters are, and they are what really drives this film.

The basically all female cast does such an amazing job. Natalie Portman delivers some of her best work yet as the ex-military turned biologist Lena, Jennifer Jason Leigh immerses herself in a character with so much mystery that at first can seem like such a hollow performance, but really she’s channeling such a hollow and closed-off character, Tessa Thompson and Tuva Novotny are also great in their roles, but the biggest surprise comes from Gina Rodriguez who easily as the most to work with in her muli-surfaced character. She’s at first represented as this tough and bad ass chick who’s got everyone’s back, but the further she gets into The Shimmer, the more her character begins to change out of fear and hostility. On top of all of this, we have such amazing and beautiful visuals and cinematography that I can only hope can leave a lasting enough impression to garner Oscar nominations for 2019, as well as the brilliant and often haunting score. This is one film I highly recommend, it may not be full-on horror, but there is horror within its roots and the ideas it brings about.

–Cody Landman

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No Cure: INOPERABLE (2017) Review

Slasher StudiosInoperable

A young woman named Amy wakes up in the hospital after a escaping a major pile-up. With a hurricane quickly approaching, Amy discovers that something isn’t right about this hospital. For some reason she is trapped in time loop until she can escape the hospital, but if she is captured and killed she will be stuck there forever.

I’m going to be upfront about this, this is a bad movie. Films involving time loops can often be fun or suspenseful where you’re kept guessing or rooting for the lead get out of their loop. The most recent example being Happy Death Day, it took the tired “Groundhog Day” time loop plot and made it feel fresh and fun. Inoperable was 80 minutes of boring nothingness. The whole time with each loop it’s Amy running around hallways with only small bit thrown in to possibly explain the loop, and it makes zero sense at all. Nothing in this movie makes any sense, even when the ending reveal comes about, even that doesn’t make any sense. I can’t deny that it doesn’t make use of its hospital setting, because it certainly does. As far as intensity, there isn’t any of that here, they could have amped this up so much more and the hospital and the people working so much more horrific. Instead, we get Amy running around like Pac-Man trying to avoid the Ghosts. It’s just so boring and repetitive (in the worst way). Had each loop been different and something more significant been revealed each time, along more intensity, this could have been even at least a smidge better than it was. But then it all comes out to the nonsensical plot. Danielle Harris is fine in the role and appears to be committed, she plays the confused and panicked Amy very well, and her very last scene was hands down her best moment of the film. Other than Harris the rest of the cast is just plain awful.

It’s unfortunate that even Danielle Harris couldn’t save this movie, as much as I love her, I really wish this was one film I hadn’t watched. She’s done some pretty bad ones in the past, but I’ve at least found them watchable and semi-entertaining. This one is hands-down the worst film of hers I’ve seen, which pains me to say as a fan. Just stay away from this one.

–Cody Landman

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Monster Mania: THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX (2018) Review

Slasher StudiosCloverfield Paradox

The world is running low on energy and life is on the brink of extinction. It is now up to a group of scientists to save mankind, in order to do so they go into space to run a particle accelerator which will create a grand amount of energy to save lives. Ignoring warnings of a paradox that will lead to disastrous consequences if they continue the mission, the scientists unlock something sinister that could destroy the very thing they’re trying to save.

The surprise release of the 3rd Cloverfield film on Netflix got me extremely excited. I loved the first two films, and part of me could feel that the next entry would be just as great. Sadly, I was wrong. It’s not that Cloverfield Paradox is an entirely bad film, it just suffers from a bad script. This film promised to reveal how the events of the first two films were set in motion, and to an extent it does. What this film ultimately does is leave more questions than answers and leaves fans of the Cloververse to throw out more theories than ever. As I watched the film, I loved seeing the little connections and reveals, but at the same time I realized just how forced these connections were. Along with this, it also left an extreme amount of unbalance between the film standalone story and its connection to the Cloververse. It becomes quite a bloated mess, it constantly goes back and forth between the events happening and in space, and what’s happening on Earth, and it’s easy to tell how much of the Earth stuff was added in just for the sake of connection.

In all honesty, I wanted much more of the events on Earth than we got. What made 10 Cloverfield Lane so great was that it could easily stand on its own, but it also gave us subtle hints in its connection to the Cloververse, even in tone. That’s not to say that some of the tone fits along with the first two films, but as mentioned, the script tries way too hard to fit in with this established world with how much they stuff into the script. As far as its set-up to explain all of the events, it is clever, but it also feels a little too convenient and (again), leaves way more questions than answers and essentially throws out the straightforward anthology concept. The FINAL connection to the Cloververse I admit made me happy as hell, but that too left some more questions. The Cloverfield connections aside, the story itself for this particular film is rather interesting and kept me interested the whole time, but again, due to the uneven script, much of it (along with the characters) felt really undeveloped, there was so much more they could have explored with the concept, but it felt really rushed.

Some of the events that occur are more weird than terrifying, which was kind of disappointing. Had there been more scenes like the one that mirrors Alien, it would have improved things a little more, that’s not to say that are a few intense scenes, but not as many as there should have been. One of the biggest things that bugged me was the bits of humor thrown in that was so cringe-worthy and didn’t fit with the tone at all. The biggest strengths that this film has are the production value and the performances. The effects and set pieces are great and are used to its advantage. As far as the performances go, the biggest standout is Gugu Mbatha-Raw as our lead. She nails it on bringing the emotional side of her character, but also a strong female character that is relatable and you root for. Daniel Bruhl also turns in a fine performance, as does David Oyelowo. The rest of the cast is fine, but they are very limited with their characters and feel like your typical doomed crew members.

The Cloverfield Paradox is rather disappointing when it had opportunities to be great. The plot of its standalone story had a great concept, and of course the Cloverfield connections are nice, but it suffers with trying to have the best of both worlds, and ultimately both worlds do suffer because of it. Let’s hope the next entry (supposedly due later this year) will be a somewhat improvement (it’s also worth noting that the next film has a slight nod early on in the film), but with what they established in this and how this world is connected, we’ll have to see whether this ultimately make or break the franchise and potentially screw up continuity. Who knows? By this point I have no idea what to expect from J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot. Despite this film’s flaws, I do recommend it for fans of the Cloverfield films, and if you’re not a fan, maybe you’ll enjoy it more and not care about the connection flaws. It’s definitely a film that will be talked about amongst the hardcore fans that’s for sure.

–Cody Landman

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A Sleeper Success: BEFORE I WAKE (2018) Review

Slasher StudiosBefore I Wake

A couple who lost their young son decide to adopt, in hopes of moving on. They adopt a young boy named Cody who also comes with a troubled background. At first things seem to be going well for the couple as well as Cody, but things begin to take a strange turn. It turns out Cody has the ability to have his dreams come to life, and the wife takes advantage of this by ensuring Cody dreams of her dead son so she can see him again. However, it’s not only his dreams that come to life, but also his nightmares, the dark presence that has haunted Cody most of his life begins emerge into the life of his new family and those around him.

Mike Flanagan’s newest film has had a lot of trouble being released until just this year when it was finally released in the US on Netflix. It was initially supposed to come out theatrically in 2015 but was dropped due to financial issues with its distributor, and from there its fate was up in the air with random release dates announced but never came to be. Outside the US, it was released on DVD/Blu-Ray, and then eventually landing on Netflix in the US. It’s a shame this didn’t get a theatrical release, because this is a very good and well-done fantasy/horror film. The dream, and even nightmare sequences are wonderfully done; the dreams are beautiful, and the nightmare are really creepy and intense (the monster in Cody’s nightmare is pretty damn creepy), and just the general concept is really engaging. It perfectly blends the fantasy elements, along with the horror and drama elements. Never once did I feel it didn’t know what it wanted to be because Flanagan has such a clear vision in how he wanted to weave it together. Sure we’ve seen the grieving couple storyline done before, but this time there is something very earnest, endearing, and humane in it that works extremely well into the plot. Along with this, you really feel for the characters. You feel for Cody in seeing his struggle to control his dreams and trying to find a place he belongs and family who will love him. The same can be said for the couple, you feel their pain and understand why they are using Cody’s abilities, even if you may not agree with it, and as the film progresses you see them wanting to put the past in the past and save their new son. The characters are brilliantly brought to life from the performances by Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane as the couple and a very sweet performance by Jacob Tremblay as Cody. In terms of flaws, there are times it feels a little rushed, and the ending could have a bit more closure.

Before I Wake is another hit from Mike Flanagan who delivers in bringing another horror film that also strongly balances that with fantasy and a drama about grief that doesn’t feel like a huge cliché. The characters feel realistic and ones you really care about, and the visuals are gorgeous (and creepy). I highly recommend this movie, check it out on Netflix as soon as you can.

–Cody Landman

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Home Sweet Horror: FAMILY POSSESSIONS (2018) Review

Slasher StudiosFamily Possessions

After inheriting her grandmother’s house, a young woman named Rachael and her family move into it. But as they get settled in, Rachael starts to encounter strange occurrences within the house, not only this but she learns from the townspeople that her grandmother has been keeping some dark secrets.

At first glance, Family Possessions may come off as your average haunted house film. But in reality there is actually a lot more to it than that. Tommy Faircloth writes and directs this film with some very solid precision. As far as the script goes, it’s actually pretty fresh and original by today’s horror standards. While it draws from different sub genres of horror, they’re all wrapped up in this tight mystery tale that makes you think it’s going in one direction but veers into another. Although I do wish there was a little more focus on the witchcraft material since it’s really what sets much of the plot in motion, along with more insight on the visions Rachael has. Faircloth also directs this film with solid vision. The creepy scenes within the house are really well-executed and captured. The practical effects at hand are also pleasing, one scene early on in the film made my teeth hurt with how effective it was and how good the effects looked.

When it comes to scares, most of the jump scares are genuinely all in fun and don’t really take themselves too seriously. The script also features some genuinely funny moments, most especially involving Rachael’s encounters with the two bitchy baristas played by Elizabeth Mears and Mark Patton, and even Mears and Patton’s scene together are comical to watch, and the two actors just eat up the parts and clearly are having a blast doing it. In addition to them, we also have Felissa Rose as Rachael’s new friend Maggie’s bitchy alcoholic mother. Rose is also clearly having fun with her over-the-top role. Erika Edwards who plays Maggie does a fine job of making you really fall for her sweet but oddness but also makes you unsure of whether she can be trusted. Finally, we have Leah Wiseman as Rachael. Wiseman is no stranger to indie horror after stealing the screen in supporting roles with Dismembering Christmas and Irrational Fear, but this time she’s front and center, and she easily proves she’s more than capable of carrying a movie. She plays Rachel with some great wit, but also with some real humanity and relatability. Wiseman also does a great job of showing her struggle between wanting to find out the truth and trying to keep things together for her and her struggling family. For the most part the entire cast does a solid job, with only some performances that were a little weaker.

I highly recommend this indie horror film, it’s a fresh and fun mystery ride that boasts some fun performances and an extremely strong performance by Leah Wiseman.

–Cody Landman

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