Capsule Reviews: Shudder's 61 Days of Halloween
What to watch from Shudder’s 61 Days of Halloween Programming
With a lovingly curated grimoire of genre films that range from under-appreciated gems to blockbuster hits, Shudder is quickly becoming my favorite streaming service. Recently reaching a milestone of one million subscribers, the AMC Networks platform has cultivated a deep library of horror and thrillers, doled out by a calendar of fun and clever programming. Its latest slate? The jam-packed 61 Days of Halloween: a two-month long celebration of horror with a stacked roster of new releases. From a new Lovecraftian Nicolas Cage joint to a haunted house mega-hit from Spain, Shudder’s 61 Days of Halloween is a lot of horror to digest, so here’s the Strange Harbors guide to navigating these films. You can sign up for a 7-day free trial right here, just in time for Halloween night. Minor spoilers ahead…
Color Out of Space
Between 2018’s Panos Cosmatos fever dream of Mandy and now Richard Stanley’s Color Out of Space, Nicolas Cage has seemingly cornered the market on unhinged, neon-soaked terror. Adapted from H.P. Lovecraft’s short story of the same name, Color Out of Space finds Nathan Gardner (Cage) and his family fighting for their lives when an alien meteorite turns the neighborhood into a mutating, technicolor hellscape. Psychedelic, cosmic dread with a dash of gnarly body horror, Stanley’s first feature in decades is a gonzo rollercoaster bolstered by off-the-walls performances and hypnotic cinematography. B+
Spiral
Breathing rarified air as a horror film with a gay, interracial couple at its center, Kurtis David Harder’s Spiral is a simmering powder keg of cult terror that explores America’s never-ending cycle of hate. Malik (an excellent Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) has just moved to the suburbs with his boyfriend Aaron (Ari Cohen) and Aaron’s teenage daughter (Jennifer Laporte), but something isn’t quite right. Haunted by past trauma, a series of microaggressions, and a shocking act of homophobic vandalism, Malik begins suspecting that there’s something sinister afoot in his new neighborhood, eventually uncovering a sinister conspiracy trafficking in a broad spectrum of prejudice. With its on-the-nose messaging, Spiral isn’t exactly subtle, but its harrowing and bloody denouement will leave you reeling. B-
Verotika
Don’t get me wrong, Glen Danzig’s Verotika is awful, but it’s a special breed of awful. First played in front of a bewildered audience at the Cinepocalypse Film Festival last year, Verotika elicited howls of unintentional - yet entertained - laughter. Aptly described as The Room of horror cinema, Danzig’s directorial debut is clearly a labor of love, even if it is awash with nonsense and incompetence. With dumpster-level production quality, bad acting that must be seen to be believed, and more than a few notes of soft-core pornography, Verotika is Ed Wood and Tommy Wiseau gone berserk. Watching it alone, Verotika is sure to be an excruciating slog, but seeing it with friends, it just might be the uproarious communal viewing experience you’re looking for. F?
Scare Me
A low budget horror anthology with an ingeniously clever conceit, Scare Me finds two writers (Aya Cash and Josh Ruben) trading scary stories in a remote cabin during a power outage. What may seem like a framing device for a series of ghoulish tales instead turns into a skewering deconstruction of genre that never leaves the living room: Aided by lighting, tricks of the camera, and some rip-roaring sound design, Scare Me transforms simple conversation into a fun horror romp. Cash and Ruben are excellent in their dialogue-driven performances, but there’s also considerable strain in sustaining the film’s novelty - its 103-minute runtime is just a little too long. Nevertheless, Scare Me is ambitious filmmaking and a spooky acting showcase. B
The Cleansing Hour
A modestly efficient take on the demonic possession subgenre, Damian LeVeck’s The Cleansing Hour harkens back to early 2000s horror grunge with its aesthetics and tech-infused premise. There isn’t anything revolutionary under its hood, but the film elevates itself with a refreshing self-awareness and a handful of convincing performances. Centered around a group of internet hucksters that get more than they bargain for when one of their fake exorcisms suddenly turn real, The Cleansing Hour leafs through the trope book with a demonically straight face. It’s bloody, mindless fun, and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. C+
The Mortuary Collection
One of my favorite films from this year’s Fantasia Festival makes its way to Shudder. A haunting love letter to vintage horror and the pulp comics that inspire it, Ryan Spindell’s The Mortuary Collection delightfully reaches back to recall the frightful morality plays of Tales from the Crypt and Creepshow. An extrapolation of Spindell’s festival favorite short, The Babysitter Murders, The Mortuary Collection adds three more tales of Lovecraftian beasties, harrowing body horror, and bloody slasher violence. Expertly crafted and gorgeous to boot, The Mortuary Collection is perfect Spooky Season viewing, and a film that will likely be a Halloween mainstay for years to come. A-
32 Malasaña Street
32 Malasaña Street is gorgeously atmospheric horror that teems with potential, but it ultimately hobbles itself with a misguided third act reveal. Set in 1976 Madrid, the story focuses on the Olmedo family, who move from the countryside into the titular city apartment. Struggling to make ends meet, the family’s problems are compounded by phenomena in their new home that gradually escalate from strange to malevolent. Churning out jump scare after jump scare, 32 Malasaña Street is buoyed by creepy imagery and Daniel Sosa Segura’a lush photography, but its final twist is more than just a misstep - it’s borderline offensive. However well-intentioned, 32 Malasaña Street ends up squandering its good will with dated and problematic depictions of disabled and transgender people. C
May the Devil Take You Too
There’s no other filmmaker today that delivers the visceral gauntlet quite like Timo Tjahjanto. An adept architect of bloody horror and action, Tjahjanto - director of films such as Headshot and The Night Comes for Us - rarely delves into deep, character-driven storytelling; instead, he opts adrenaline-fueled spectacle. May the Devil Take You Too, a sequel to 2018’s May the Devil Take You, continues the story of Alfie Wijaya (Chelsea Islan), once again drawn into battle with demonic forces. While its predecessor was a love letter to the works of Sam Raimi, this installment ups its patronage to deranged homage, complete with flying POV cameras and cellar door spooks. If you can forgive its thin characterizations and some flimsy CGI, May the Devil Take You Too is sure to fill that Evil Dead-sized hole in your heart. B-