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CNET
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
This Horror Duology Is Still My Favorite One-Two Punch on Netflix
When a horror movie hits big in theaters or on streaming, I always expect to see at least a trilogy. (And if the sequels are popular, we'll see nine or 10.) If a film only gets one sequel, you might assume that the second movie wasn't so great. The double feature of Creep and Creep 2 from Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice -- streaming now on Netflix -- might be the strongest argument against that. The duology kicks off with a hilarious, chilling first-person account of human prey being playfully stalked, then follows with an incisive sequel that takes the franchise in a completely different direction. In the first Creep, Brice (in his directorial and acting debut) plays Aaron, a struggling videographer who's taken a random gig at a remote cabin in Crestline, California. Aaron, played by director Patrick Brice, repeatedly and unforunately gives Josef the benefit of his doubt. The Duplass Brothers/Blumhouse Productions The job? It's filming a video diary for a man named Josef (Duplass), who says that he's dying of a brain tumor and wants to leave a message for his unborn child. Right from their initial meeting, Aaron realizes something is wrong with Josef, and that creeping dread ramps up inch by inch until their final encounter. Right from the start, it's clear that something is amiss with Josef. The Duplass Brothers/Blumhouse Productions Reminiscent of classic films like My Dinner With Andre and Misery, Creep is a "two-hander," meaning the movie consists almost entirely of two characters -- Aaron and Josef -- working their way through an incredibly awkward (and sinister) relationship. (Duplass' wife Katie Aselton puts in a brief but memorable performance as Josef's sister on the phone.) As tensions rise between the two characters, Josef becomes more and more unhinged, often in hilarious asides or antics that show just how far someone can go before the other person finally breaks and says "I'm out." Aaron, desperate for work and caught in that awkward situation where you don't want to offend or lose a paying client, takes more and more of the weirdness until the character Peachfuzz shows up and all hell breaks loose. The movie is shot from Aaron's camera, so we see the action unfold from his perspective, letting Duplass cut loose as a polished and off-kilter comedian. I wasn't a big fan of Duplass before this movie, but the character fits him perfectly. I can't think of anyone else who could balance the banality and weirdness of evil as well as he does. Aaron is behind the camera for most of Creep, but some scenes involve a fixed shot as the camera gets set down. The Duplass Brothers/Blumhouse Productions Some critics complain that Creep doesn't leave enough freedom for audiences to think that Josef might not be a serial killer. I'd argue that the end of the movie is in doubt until the final scenes, when we get a satisfying and illuminating conclusion. In the sequel, Creep 2, the script gets flipped -- less "Mind of a Monster," more "Portrait of a Serial Killer in Mid-Life Crisis." Josef, now Aaron, faces a mid-life crisis in Creep 2. The Duplass Brothers/Blumhouse Productions Josef is back, but now he's named "Aaron," after his favorite victim. And he's hiring another desperate freelance videographer -- Sara (Desiree Akhavan, director-writer of The Miseducation of Cameron Post), who's struggling as a YouTuber filming random encounters with men on Craigslist. Instead of rehashing his usual m.o., Aaron is straight with Sara from the start. He tells her that he's a serial killer and that he'll let her live if she makes a documentary about him. The twist? She doesn't believe him, and every attempt that Aaron makes to scare Sara goes laughably wrong. Aaron pulls out all his old tricks in Creep 2, but nothing seems to convince Sara that he's a serial killer. The Duplass Brothers/Blumhouse Productions Sara and Aaron grow closer as the day goes along, developing the sort of oddball relationship that Sara has been craving from her unsuccessful Craigslist interviews. Aaron settles on a final resolution for their day, and Sara is having none of it, leading to a thrilling conclusion that's again in doubt until the very last moment. The ending leaves open the possibility of another movie, as we imagine someone new behind the camera, but it also resolves the Creep franchise with a compelling final scene that twists the videographer-subject dynamic into further knots. Since Creep 2, Duplass has released a 30-minute TV show prequel series called Creep Tapes that focuses on Josef's diverse experiences with his previous murder victims. Hosted on the horror streaming service Shudder, the first season was popular enough to get picked up for a second. If you're looking for a pair of indie horror films that avoid the most common cliches and tropes of the found-footage genre, Creep and Creep 2 certainly meet the criteria and provide more of a bang than many horror movies with much larger budgets. For more scary movie picks, check out the best horror movies to watch on Prime Video or Hulu.
Forbes
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Horror Thriller ‘The Woman In The Yard' Is New On Streaming
Okwui Okpokwasili in "The Woman in the Yard." The Danielle Deadwyler horror thriller The Woman in the Yard has made its debut on digital streaming. The Woman in The Yard was released in theaters on March 28. The summary for the film reads, 'A lone, spectral woman shrouded entirely in black appears on a family's front lawn without explanation and warns them, 'Today's the day.' Where did she come from? What does she want? When will she leave? Only The Woman in the Yard knows.' Rated PG-13 The Woman in the Yard also stars Russell Hornsby, Estella Kahiha, Peyton Jackson and Okwui Okpokwasili as the title character. The Woman in the Yard is new on digital streaming Tuesday via premium video on demand on a variety of digital platforms, including AppleTV, Fandango at Home and Prime Video. The film is available to purchase on PVOD for $24.99 and rent for $19.99 for 48 hours. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, The Woman in the Yard is the latest collaboration between Jason Blum's horror movie studio Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures. The irony is that the film's screenwriter, Sam Stefanak, came from the world of comedy. However, there was a lasting image that existed in Stefanak's mind throughout his years of writing — and it wasn't funny. 'For years I had this image in my head of a stranger sitting in a chair outside a window, staring at a house in the middle of nowhere,' Stefanak told Filmmaker Magazine in a recent interview. 'I didn't really know what to do with it — I didn't know what it meant, who that person was. So, that image just sort of sat there. I was writing comedy; I was in a bunch of Netflix rooms, I thought I was a comedy writer. 'Whatever this image was, I knew it was something sinister. I could feel that,' Stefanak added. 'And I think it's worth mentioning that it was a man in a chair wearing a big, wide-brim hat. I guess I was imagining Reverend Kane, the villain from Poltergeist 2, to be quite honest.' The Woman in the Yard has earned $20.3 million in North American theaters and nearly $700,000 internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $21 million to date. The film had a production budget of $12 million before prints and advertising costs, Deadline reported. The film earned a 43% 'rotten' rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 61 reviews and a 47% 'rotten' score on RT's Popcornmeter based on 1,000-plus verified user ratings. The Woman in the Yard is new on PVOD on Tuesday.
Wall Street Journal
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Arts Calendar: Happenings for the Week of April 6
• 'Warfare' (April 11): Director Alex Garland ('Civil War') returns to the battlefield in this story about a platoon of Navy SEALs on a mission behind enemy lines in the Iraq War. D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai plays field communicator Ray Mendoza, who co-directs the based-on-a-true-story drama; Kit Connor, Michael Gandolfini, Will Poulter and Noah Centineo also star. • 'Drop' (April 11): A widowed mom on a date receives threatening messages and mysterious instructions on her phone from an unknown sender vowing to kill her son and her sister if she doesn't cooperate. Meghann Fahy ('The White Lotus') stars in this thriller from Blumhouse Productions.
See - Sada Elbalad
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Austin Butler's "Caught Stealing" Sets 2025 Release, "Insidious 6" Pushed Back to August 2026
Yara Sameh Sony Pictures Sony has given the August 29 release date originally set for 'Insidious 6″ to the Darren Aronofsky-directed "Caught Stealing", starring Austin Butler. The next 'Insidious' entry has been pushed nearly a year, to August 21, 2026. The next installment of the Blumhouse Productions horror property, co-produced by Screen Gems, was confirmed to be in the works in May 2024. No further details were shared at the time. The latest 'Insidious' film, 'The Red Door,' saw series star Patrick Wilson return and also make his feature directorial debut. It was released July 7, 2023, and grossed $189 million worldwide against a $16 million budget. The incoming entry is different from 'Thread: An Insidious Tale,' an in-universe series spin-off that was first announced in May 2023 and is said to star Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani, with Jeremy Slater attached to write and direct. Barring no other 'Insidious' installments releasing before this newly announced one, this would mark the sixth entry in the horror franchise and the first since 'Insidious: The Red Door,'. Since launching in 2010 with director James Wan, the 'Insidious' franchise has collectively grossed more than $730 million globally. While the franchise has played musical chairs over the years with distributors, moving from FilmDistrict to Focus Features to Universal to Sony, Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions has been behind every installment, co-producing with various other production banners. Screen Gems returns for the newly announced feature entry after joining 'Insidious: The Red Door.' Ahead of the release of 'The Red Door,' Blum gave an interview with DiscussingFilm in which he teased a lengthy hiatus for the franchise, saying that that fifth entry 'Is going to be the last we're going to see of 'Insidious' for a while' and that 'It may not be a forever rest, but it's certainly going to be a very long rest. … There's not a plan — as there has been with every prior 'Insidious' movie — there's no current plan in place for number six.' In the release moves, Sony also announced that an untitled Marvel film, originally set for a June 27 premiere, has been removed from the release calendar. The decision comes after their 'Spider-Man' spinoff 'Kraven the Hunter' bombed. It was released on December 12 and grossed $61 million worldwide against a budget north of $110 million.
