PLOT: College student Deena visits home and is roped into babysitting. The local sheriff is mailed a piece of evidence and is led on a scavenger hunt to reveal the killer of another babysitter.
REVIEW: If there’s one thing that I love it’s a slasher movie set in the 1980s. The decade that gave us the most slashers is also one that’s absolutely prime for them. No cellphones, no social media, and no meta element where characters are self aware. But unfortunately, Night of the Reaper seems to forget that it’s an 80s slasher after the opening scene and thinks it’s more clever than it is.
Summer H Howell (who we’ll see next year in Mike Flanagan’s Carrie as the title character) appears in the intro, setting up the film. It’s a pretty standard slasher opening and feels a bit tonally off from what we get later. Eventually, Night of the Reaper settles into a story about a girl coming home from college and babysitting. Unfortunately for her, the town has had a bit of a problem with a killer. Only…no one really knows about it. It’s a strange setup. Jessica Clement is great as Deena and easily the most interesting character. As much as the story follows Deena and her night babysitting, it splits time with the sheriff investigating the murders in the town. There’s a whole mystery element, with the sheriff being given various bits of evidence to lead him in a certain direction.
I can’t really say that the mystery element works too well. Maybe I was just hoping for a more straightforward slasher film, but this felt closer to something that Blumhouse would do, with a more PG-13 approach. Thankfully, we do get a bit more violence as the film goes on, but it’s very scant for the first 80 or so minutes. There’s also a very strange “overly planned” element that feels like it may work on paper, but is poorly executed here. The twist is unsatisfying and feels a bit wasted.
Despite being set in the 80s, the camerawork is all very modern. This looks like every other horror movie out there in terms of its framing and camera movement. I was a bit disappointed because, especially with the VHS elements at play, I thought it’d be more of a throwback like House of the Devil did with the 70s. One thing that I appreciated about Night of the Reaper was how it utilized darkness in the frame. Too often with these films, everything is fully visible at all times, and there’s no mystery at play. But by allowing true blacks, it has a great look that allows it to actually look like a movie versus a commercial.
Director Brandon Christensen (Superhost, The Puppetman) presents the story in a bit of an odd way. I’ll avoid spoilers but there are actions that don’t make as much sense in its second watch. It feels a bit misguided and lacking in cohesion. The pacing also leaves a lot to be desired, and the film doesn’t really pick up until the final act. There’s also not much intrigue with the kills themselves, as they’re very basic, and none of the characters feel layered outside of Deena.
Night of the Reaper is a perfectly serviceable…slasher? I struggle to even call it that, as it doesn’t really follow typical slasher beats. There aren’t many kills, and most of which come via videotape, and having already happened well before the events of the film. It tries to do a “gotcha” twist but it mostly comes across poorly formed and surface level. It doesn’t really hold up to scrutiny and feels a bit silly overall. Even still, at least it’s trying something different, so I’ll give it that.
NIGHT OF THE REAPER IS STREAMING ON SHUDDER ON SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2025.
