As chilling winds blow the ghouls and goblins down from their roosts and werewolves roam the streets howling at the moon, millions across America will be huddling up on the couch, hidden behind steaming pumpkin spice drinks and caramel apples, looking for something to watch to escape the real-life horrors on the news. Which streamer’s door should we knock on this October?
Creaking open Amazon’s door on Halloween night will reveal "Welcome to the Blumhouse," a four-storied haunted house of sorts for a mix of treats and tricks. Partnering with Blumhouse Productions, the company behind such iconic modern horror features as Get Out, Paranormal Activity, Insidious and Sinister, Amazon has delivered 4 original films boasting diverse casts and exciting new directing voices. Which ones are worth sticking around for?
At the top of the list and bottom of the pile is “The Lie,” a tense family drama that asks just how far two parents will go to protect their child’s future when she makes a terrible mistake. While offering the fewest scares, “Lie” boasts the strongest performances – Mireille Enos and Peter Sarsgaard carry the film as estranged parents desperately trying to cover up a crime, while Joey King and Cas Anvar round out a stellar set of leads.
Were you to turn off “The Lie” 10 minutes before the credits role, you’d be left with a great, if inconclusive, film. But instead the story cuts straight to the obvious “twist” ending, a choice that torpedoes the best efforts of what came before. Many horror films have disappointing endings, but few have managed to render the entire movie as nonsensical as the final minutes of "The Lie."
Next up is “Nocturne,” a music-based sibling rivalry thriller with a demonic spin. Two gifted twins, Juliet and Vivian (played by Sydney Sweeney and Madison Iseman) have been in competition their whole life. Now, on the cusp of college, Juliet is driven down a dark path as her patience with playing second to her sister finally comes undone. This role will provide an apt highlight reel for the bright career that is most certainly in Sweeney’s future. Well-acted and artfully directed with a creeping feel of dread throughout, “Nocturne” is well-made, if largely forgettable in its lack of originality.
“Evil Eye” tells a story of obsession and familial love across two generations and two continents. Sunita Mani stars as Pallavi, a young woman tired of the horoscope-guided dates arranged remotely from India by her protective mother, Usha (Sarita Choudhury). When she finds a boyfriend who seems too good to be true (Omar Maskati), he arouses her mother’s suspicions and reignites memories of long-buried past trauma.
The heart of the story is the bond between Usha and Pallavi, the journey of a mother and daughter learning to accept and trust each other and stand united against evils that may have found a supernatural vessel in “Evil Eye,” but are all too human for women in the real world. The tension grows to a satisfying climax, the only weak link being Maskati as Sandeep, who doesn’t seem to quite figure out what to do with his character until the final moments.
The best of the lot is “Black Box,” taking a sci-fi journey into the dark corners of the human mind. Mamoudou Athie shines as Nolan, a young father who barely survived the accident that killed his wife and now suffers from memory loss. Struggling to raise his daughter on his own and piece his life back together while haunted by inexplicable nightmares, Nolan takes a chance on an experimental procedure to restore his mind, only to discover that not all is as it seems, and he may not be alone inside his own head.
The bond between Nolan and his daughter (Amanda Christine) pulls you in quickly, and makes it easy to root for the protagonist on his dark journey. The “memory-scape” and the monster within are well-designed and the creeping mystery displays an expert building of tension leading up to the climax. In the end, “Black Box” proves the most innovative, most memorable and overall best executed of this creepy quartet.
One thing to note is that, in contrast to Blumhouse’s most famous offerings, none of these movies are exceptionally scary. This is fine, horror is a broader genre than many give it credit for. But if you’re looking for big scares to cap off Spooky Season, look elsewhere. For quality dramas with an eerie edge, showcasing talent on both sides of the camera that will hopefully be bringing scares for years to come, then they may be worth the look.
Except “The Lie.” “The Lie” can stay at the bottom of the river until Christmas season comes by to freeze it over.
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