The Box in the Woods, A Review

Don’t look inside.

Truly Devious Review. The Vanishing Stair Review. The Hand on the Wall Review.

The Box in the Woods follows amateur detective Stevie Bell following on from her success at solving the Truly Devious case, now back home for the summer and looking for something new to sink her teeth into. Adventure comes calling in the form of Camp Sunny Pines, formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls and renowned for its unsolved murder case back in the 70s. Stevie and her friends are invited to join the camp as counsellors and take a crack at the case, hoping that they can finally lay this matter to rest. Back in 1978 four teens were found dead in the titular box in the woods and left in a gruesome display in a case which has since remained unsolved.

Travelling to the camp Stevie hopes to spend her summer interviewing old witnesses and piecing everything together. Not everybody is happy at this development however and soon enough Stevie will realise that murder follows her wherever she goes. With time running out can the forty year case finally be brought to rest or will Camp Sunny Pines once again become known for murder, death and destruction?

It’s no secret that I’ve really struggled with this series so far and I did debate whether to even continue after the main trilogy. If I’m being completely honest part of the only reason I bought this book was that it was on sale and I was slightly curious about the standalone factor, especially because my main issue with the trilogy was how dragged out it was. I was also intrigued by the summer camp setting and the call-back to classic slashers, two things I normally really love. Whilst I do think The Box in the Woods was a slight improvement on the trilogy as a whole I still haven’t been won over and I think it’s time to admit defeat. I really cannot see myself continuing with this series which is unfortunate because I know that a lot of people really love these books, I am just not one of them.

To kick things off though I will say that I enjoyed the camp setting here and how we flashed between the present day chapters and the murders in 1978. It was a nice change to get away from Ellingham Academy and like I said above I’m always a lover of your classic summer camp feels. The mystery itself was also pretty intriguing here and I liked how it was all contained to one book and not unnecessarily dragged out like last time. The Box in the Woods definitely won me over in some regards, it’s just a shame that I couldn’t have loved it more.

For me the pacing is still a real issue with this series and even in this standalone mystery things still felt off. It’s ironic that last time I complained about things being too dragged out whereas here I felt like it all moved too fast. Stevie spent the first half of this book just meeting everyone and then over-investigating the smallest of things and then in the last 100 pages or so it’s like she solved everything in 10 minutes flat. The end twist here really came out of left field and I cannot imagine anybody actually managed to guess it all because there was absolutely no clues along the way, as soon as Stevie found the diary she just instantly solved the case.

This book was a last chance for me with this series and I hate to say it but Stevie and her friends have yet to win me over and I will not reading the next instalment. Whilst there were definitely some highlights here such as the change in scenery, camp setting and classic slasher vibes, the actual mystery and pacing still felt off and there’s just something about these books that I cannot get into. This is obviously just my opinion because I’ve seen how popular Stevie is elsewhere, she just isn’t for me and I don’t think she ever will be.

Wreck- Series 2, A Review

It’s going to be a trip.

Wreck Series 1 Review (Top 10 2022).

The second series of Wreck sees Jamie (Oscar Kennedy) and Vivian (Thaddea Graham, Sex Education) seven months on from their Velorum cruise ship mishap now living together alongside Lauren (Amber Grappy) and working to bring their enemies down whatever the cost. The trio are having little luck however, with most of their former co-workers having either gone into hiding or taken pay outs from the ship, including Olly (Anthony Rickman) who has since broken up with Jamie because of his obsession with revenge. Lauren manages to get a lead however through new source Ben (Orlando Norman) who is investigating a wellness festival in Slovenia where he found all of the guests dead from apparent poisonings.

Reuniting with Cormac (Peter Claffey) and Rosie (Miya Ocego) the group decide to travel to Slovenia to infiltrate Exodum, also unexpectantly joined by Sophia (Alice Nokes) who is nearly killed by another ducked-masked killer. Once at the festival Jamie comes face to face with the thought to be dead Pippa (Jodie Tyack, Agatha Raisin), now under a new alias and apparently on the exact same mission. Together can the group defeat another evil power source and save a bunch of innocent festival goers or will Exodum prove even more dangerous than ever before, leaving Jamie and his friends suffering loses bigger than ever?

Wreck was one of my favourite new shows back in 2022 and I have been so excited for this second series ever since, it’s truly been a long time coming. The mix of horror and comedy with the very openly queer cast is everything to me and I’m obsessed on every level. Shows like this continue to be so important and I just love the writing and obvious thought behind the series, it’s clear that Ryan J Brown and his team and not just big horror fans but also active members in the LGBT community. With a killer duck, a trans badass and so much blood along the way Wreck is truly a series for the gays and I loved every second of it.

Series two kicked things off in a whole new location, leaving behind the Velorum cruise ship and instead heading to a Slovenian wellness festival, giving things a very different sort of vibe. Instead of your classic isolated slasher we now headed into more cabin in the woods territory, also incorporating the medical/wellness side of things which I really liked. Despite no longer being at sea the group were no less trapped and Exodum made for a really fun new location. The seemingly endless woods, creepy cabins and makeshift medical centres were all plucked right out a horror film and I really liked how the series has a very modernised slasher feel, I’m really interested to see where we get to go next.

The group dynamic continues to be excellent here and I really loved the development of the main cast and how we got see them working more as this combined unit, really emphasising that found family feel. In the seven months that passed between series one and two the group have been living together and obviously bonded over their extreme trauma and you could really feel the emotional bond between them all, no spoilers but things get pretty teary towards the end. I also liked how we got some characters from last series returning in bigger roles, I really wasn’t expecting to see Sophia again and I lowkey loved seeing her tag along with the others. In the same way I loved Karen’s (Harriet Webb) bigger role and definitely wasn’t expecting her redemption arc, I kind of love her now? Honestly nothing surprised me more.

A big part of this second series focussed on the moral dilemma of Jamie’s revenge and how far he was actually willing to go to carry out his mission. I think finding out that Pippa was still alive really changed things for him because her ‘death’ was the whole reason he went undercover in the first place. Initially this was just a search and rescue mission but I think along the way the number of deaths really took its toll and something in Jamie broke, changing him for the worse. The series ended with him and Karen seemingly going full darkness and setting off to destroy the Deveraux family, leaving behind a shellshocked Vivian and Pippa begging him not to leave. Jamie does now seem to be in his ‘villain era’ and honestly my heart breaks for his character, losing Olly absolutely broke him (and me) and I’m really interested to see where the show takes him next and whether he’ll be able to come back as the same person.

Overall I really enjoyed this second series of Wreck and was so excited to get back to my beloved gay little horror, series two brought us to a brand new location and I really liked the cabin in the woods/wellness retreat horror vibes. Once again I loved this modern feeling slasher and how largely queer the main cast is, it’s such an overall vibe. We really went a lot harder on the kills here and the writing went darker than ever before. Another fantastically gay watch, I really hope we get a series three, Jamie’s story feels far from over.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, A Review

This ain’t no bedtime story.

Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey follows the infamous inhabitants of The Hundred Acre Woods years on from Christopher Robin’s (Nikolai Leon) childhood days, having grown feral and crazed in his absence. Because of their lack of food supply the group were forced to turn on each other and eat Eeyore, vowing there and then to lose their humanity and never speak again. Now returning as an adult Christopher and his wife to be Mary (Paula Coiz) are shocked at what they find and are then attacked on the spot by a deranged Pooh and Piglet.

Meanwhile trauma victim Maria (Maria Taylor) and her friends head to an isolated cabin for a stress free weekend where Maria then reveals she had been targeted by a stalker. The girl’s weekend is cut short however when Pooh and Piglet attack the cabin, leading to a fight to the death. With no phone reception, no way out and nowhere to run can Maria and her friends survive to the morning or will The Hundred Acre Woods claim yet another group of victims?

Before I even started this film I knew that it had been widely panned, with some even calling it ‘the worst horror movie they’d ever seen’, despite this it had also been optioned for a sequel as well as an apparent franchise and so I decided to try and go in with open eyes. Ahead of my main review I will say that I praise the film for trying something new and not being afraid to be crazy and/or stupid. Like I said in my fairly recent review of fellow horror film Slotherhouse I do like it when films, especially horrors, don’t take themselves too seriously. The very idea of Winnie the Pooh and his friends turning feral is absolutely crazy and I can’t believe this film actually got greenlighted. At the same time it’s kind of crazy in a good way and there is a part of me that enjoys seeing such a childhood classic adapted in this way, you can definitely give the film credit for its uniqueness.

I do think that the actual execution of this film was a bit of a mixed bag and there were definitely aspects I liked and aspects I didn’t. As far as slashers go this is far from the worst I’ve seen and we got plenty of blood, guts and gore as well as some pretty solid kills. Winnie and Piglet themselves were also interestingly done and they definitely got the horror side of things down. I think my issues with this film come down to character and failed potential. For starters there was little to no character development in this film and Maria and her friends all felt like exact copies of each other, the group had little to no distinguishing features and we barely got to know them before they all died, Christopher Robin also had far too small of a role and I do think we should have just followed him and Mary instead. I also think that despite this being a somewhat okay slasher the actual Winnie the Poohness of it all didn’t hit its full potential and aside from looking the same Pooh and Piglet had little resemblance to their iconic counterparts. Obviously with this being a horror retelling they weren’t going to be identical but I do wish the Winnie the Pooh backstory/lore had been used a bit more and not just carried out like any old generic slasher.

Overall this was definitely a mixed bag kind of watch, I do applaud the film for trying something different and out there but at the same time the execution fell slightly flat and despite the wild premise this kind of felt like any generic slasher film. The concept of Pooh and Piglet going wild was done well and I did lowkey love their horrified appearances but at the same time they acted like any other slasher killer and I kind of watched some Pooh specific kills. I do know that the sequel has been much better received and I do definitely plan on watching, I’m excited to see what happens next and how other characters such as Tigger and Owl are brought into the storyline.

Clown in a Cornfield, A Review

The kids are not all right.

Clown in a Cornfield follows Quinn Maybrook as she and her Father move to small town Kettle Springs following the death of her Mother. Kettle Springs is a small, rural town and completely different to Quinn’s previous city life, emphasising town pride and a real classical sense of views. On her first day at school Quinn finds herself falling in with the popular kids who regularly film pranks for fun, infuriating many of the town’s adults especially the authority figures.

During the Kettle Spring annual fair a prank then goes horribly wrong, resulting in a revenge taking of the worst kind. Several of the town’s adults don clown costumes and begin hunting the kids as they party, turning into a fight for survival as Quinn and her new friends run for their lives and desperately try and flee to safety. With the clowns swarming in can Quinn get out alive or will her new hometown end up being the complete death of her?

This one had an interesting start and I think us as the reader and Quinn were both thrown headfirst into Kettle Springs with little to no context, only to then become wrapped up in this literal clown massacre. It seemed like one second Quinn was adjusting to her first day at school, making friends and learning the town’s history and the next second she was being shot at and running for her life- it was all very fast paced and I completely flew through the chapters. The first third or so did move a bit slowly but I think once the killings started everything moved a lot quicker and the book definitely found its pacing.

Despite being marketed as ‘Young Adult’ there was something pretty sinister about this book and the whole concept of adults killings kids was gloriously dark. I think going into this one I’d assumed we’d only be dealing with one, singular killer but really it was entire conspiracy to rid Kettle Springs of its younger population, which was terrifying in itself. As the plot began to unveil itself and we discovered the identities of the multiple killers (including some of the kid’s own parents which was just horrific) the motives got darker and darker and the story really earned its horror title.

Quinn made for such a fantastic lead character/final girl and I really like how quickly she adapted to everything, especially considering the terrible situation she found herself in. We see her go from shy new girl to gun-ready badass in a matter of pages and she completely stole the show with how naturally she slotted into to her final girl role. With two more books in the series I’m definitely excited to continue following Quinn and see what she gets up to next and how she and the other characters all deal with the grisly aftermath.

The town setting of Kettle Springs was used brilliantly here and the wide open plains and titular cornfield all added to the overall horror vibes. The town’s backwards attitudes towards its younger generation almost matched the setting as well with the poor tech connections and middle of nowhere feel. Quinn and her friends found themselves stranded with multiple killers swarming in and it truly felt like there was no hope, no help and no way of escape.

Overall I really enjoyed this one and am already excited to read the next two sequels. The middle of nowhere town and creepy clown vibes made for the perfect horror feel and the even darker motives behind the killings really elevated this above its YA status. Quinn made for a fantastic lead final girl and I’m really excited to continue this journey with her and see what she gets up to next.

There’s No Way I’d Die First, A Review

Tag you’re it…

There’s No Way I’d Die First follows Noelle, a horror lover and aspiring film critic who uses her love of the genre to run her own successful film club turned podcast where she discusses every trope, slasher and jump scare going, also using her platform to discuss minorities in the horror industry. With Halloween approaching Noelle decides to host the party to end all parties, inviting several of her influential classmates along for a fun night of movie trivia, themed scares and a game of hide and seek to end the night, featuring her very own killer clown she hired online. Things take a turn however when Gage the Clown takes things a bit too seriously and begins actually killing her friends, putting the entire night in a very real kind of danger. With a storm trapping them with a killer Noelle must put her horror knowledge to the test and become the final girl she’s always been destined to be. With the body count getting higher can Noelle outwit a killer in time or will her love for horror prove to be only skin deep, leaving her the latest victim in a long line?

This book was an absolute love letter to the horror genre and I loved the references throughout, movie quotes at each chapter header and how the narrative was able to play out like a real life horror movie (it gave me strong Scream 3 vibes for some reason?). Through Noelle we got a real deep dive into the genre and I really enjoyed her commentary on horror and its treatment on black characters throughout history. I think most if not all horror fans have imagined themselves in these sort of final girl situations, facing off against their own personal Michael Myers or Ghostface and I love how this book brings that idea to life and puts a horror lover front and centre in her own personal tragedy. Noelle jokes at the beginning that she’s ‘total final girl material’ but here her strength and knowledge is really put to the test and I loved her running commentary throughout as she examined things through a horror lover’s eye and tried to make the best move possible to survive.

Gage the clown was absolutely terrifying and such an iconic horror villain. Clowns alone are already pretty infamous within the genre but here Gage absolutely leapt of the page and his murder spree had me on the edge of my seat. Like I said above this book really played out like a real life horror, which I think is sometimes harder to do in the written form, but the fast paced narrative, strong characters and quickly written fight scenes had me absolutely hooked. Something about his classic costume paired with the absolute violence and hatred towards the group made him completely brilliant and I honestly didn’t expect him to have such a personality when jumping into this one.

Wealth and privilege were a real running theme here and most of Gage the Clown’s motives lied in his hatred of the group for their perceived laziness and fake wokeness. Whilst I obviously don’t condone the murder and slaughter of innocent teens I also think that Gage lowkey had a point and I liked how Springer highlighted these influencers who preach love and equality for all but never actually become proactive in their own lives. The group definitely had that slight rich kid unlikability and it was interesting how they all began to react as their secrets spilled and the body count got higher and higher.

Overall I really loved this book and how it played around with the horror genre, placing a self-proclaimed final girl right in the middle of a murder spree and basically testing out her knowledge in a real life, terrifying situation. The story here was brilliantly done and Noelle’s fight to survive against a terrifying villain paired with her commentary and quips on the genre made for such a fun read. This book is an absolute win for any horror lover and I cannot reccomend enough.

Killer Book Club, A Review

Fanfiction gone wild can be deadly.

Not to be confused with The Book Club.

Killer Book Club follows Ángela (Veki Velilla), a young writer and university student who is part of a group book club with several other literature students as well as her boyfriend Nando (Iván Pellicer). Ángela once published a semi-successful novel when she was younger but has since gained major writer’s block, attending classes in the hopes of regaining her spark. The club’s current read is a clown-filled horror and when Ángela’s professor (Daniel Grao) tries to assault her the group get the idea to scare him all donned in ‘killer clown’ costumes. The prank goes wrong however when Cruzado falls from the school’s building and is impaled, scaring the group who all reluctantly agree to keep quiet rather than going to the cops. The next however an anonymous source begins uploading chapters detailing the murder online, promising that he group will all be killed off one by one. With time now running out Ángela and her friends must fight to survive and unmask the killer amongst them, all before they become the latest in a long line of fictional bloody kills.

I really enjoyed this film and loved its classic slasher vibes tied with the more literary themes and how it was able to combine the two in a very clever way (more on that later). The film took your basic masked killer trope and really played around with it, having the killer write out his own murders and publish them online in a chapter by chapter style. The physical look of the killer was also fun and I loved the clown costume and how it again connected to the book the club were reading, exploring some fun themes of coulrophobia. Ángela made for a pretty standard final girl and whilst some of the side characters were certainly more interesting I did like the final motive behind the murders and how it all connected back to her.

Killer Book club was very Scream coded (especially Scream 2 with the campus setting) and I liked how the film explored the horror genre and how this can effect its audiences, this time in books rather than movies and TV. Like the Scream franchise the film gave us a masked killer targeting fans of the genre, even going so far as to insert himself into the narrative and give everybody nicknames based on your classic horror tropes (eg nerd, brat, emo etc). I do wish we’d gotten to explore some more horror novels within the film (mostly for reading inspiration for me!) but I did like the meta feel of it all and definitely hope we get to see more in the future.

Overall I enjoyed watching Killer Book Club and loved the set up of the killer using the online fanfiction to kill off the members one by one as well as the running commentary on the horror genre and its fanbase, it was very Scream coded. The university campus setting was also a nice touch and I liked how each character was relegated to a teen drama trope, furthering the meta feel of the movie. An overall fun and exciting slasher, I’d definitely be down for the hinted sequel or any more works of this similar style.

My Top Watches of 2023

2018. 2019. 2020. 2021. 2022.

Poker Face. I never officially rank my top 10 shows of each year but if I’m being honest Poker Face comes out completely on top. This was an absolutely brilliant take on the mystery genre and Lyonne as Charlie Cale has got to be one of my favourite performances of the year. Borrowing from Columbo the ‘howcatchem’ method of crime writing, Poker Face follows ten exciting and unique cases, each following an impressive star-studded cast in new and varying locations. Every single episode was just amazing and season two has got to be one of my most anticipated shows of next year (assuming it actually comes out next year, fingers crossed!)

Extraordinary. A really fun take on the superhero genre, Extraordinary sees a world where everybody has powers but this time around there are no supervillains or lifesaving battles, it’s just ordinary life made a little bit special. We then follow Jen, who never received a power, and has since struggled through life trying to find where she most fits in. I loved the comedic approach to superheroes here and the wide variety of powers we got to see ranging from raising the dead to morphing through walls. With Marvel and DC on the constant rise over the years it felt nice to have a more lowkey approach to the genre and I really liked how Extraordinary played around with its narrative, I cannot wait for series two, especially after that ending!

Class of ‘07. An almost comedic version of the recently trending Yellowjackets, Class of 07 sees a school reunion gone wrong when an apocalyptic disaster strands the class of 07 reunion at the very place they don’t want to be, their old high school. Now left to fend for themselves old rivalries come to head and many of the girls regress to the younger selves in the face of disaster. A brilliantly funny take on growing up and growing down again, Class of 07 blends together the disaster comedy with an almost coming of age story, this one was a lot of fun.

School Spirits. Despite an arguably slow start where I really struggled to connect to the characters, School Spirits eventually found its footing as a really fun supernatural murder mystery. An engaging watch with a fun ghostly twist, the show definitely still has its faults but the progression of the main mystery, building group dynamic and that insane twist ending really solidified this as a top show for me and I already cannot wait for season 2!

The Crowded Room. Starring Tom Holland in one of his first post-Spiderman roles, The Crowded Room made for a gripping watch as we got to the bottom of a public shooting incident and how one boy’s trauma unravelled a whole world of mystery and intrigue. Mostly shown through flashback I really enjoyed the complexity of this mystery and how the truth was slowly revealed to us, all via the questioning of Amanda Seyfried’s Rya. All based on a very real-life case, The Crowded Room really dove into how trauma can effect us and how we can take that hurt and turn it into something else, resulting in such an amazing viewing experience.

Missing. A sort of sequel to 2018’s Searching, we once again solved a mystery all through the lens of a video camera, following our lead character June as her Mother goes missing. I really love the style of these films and how we see everything through a laptop or phone camera, exploring how much of our lives we spend online and how much information is really available on the internet if you go looking. Missing was yet another brilliantly engaging mystery and I loved following June as she frantically searched for the missing Grace. I definitely hope we get more films in this style in the future, it’s a really fun subgenre of the crime world.

The Horror of Dolores Roach. A brilliantly fun mix of horror, comedy and most surprisingly cannibalism, The Horror of Dolores Roach sees down of her luck Dolores turning to extreme measures to get her life back on track. Shocking right from the start, this show was the perfect Halloweeny watch and I really enjoyed the blend of horror and comedy and the way Dolores was painted as this very tragic hero despite everything she ended up doing. This really was a tragic tale in more ways than one and somehow I ended up feeling sorry for a cannibal, which believe me isn’t an easy feat.

Shelter. Surprisingly my first Harlan Coben show to ever crack the top ten, Shelter was the perfect mix of high school sleuthing and genuinely engaging mystery and whilst the tone was a little off at times I really enjoyed watching this one and following Mickey and his friends as they dove into a whole world of mystery and intrigue. A classic domestic noir that Coben seems to be famous for, Shelter was a lot of fun and it’s just such a shame it was cancelled only a few weeks after airing.

Scream VI. The Scream franchise is nothing short of iconic and Scream VI made a lot of bold new choices, most noticeably the absence of Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott and a move to a whole new city with a whole new Ghostface. Despite these changes though the franchise remained strong and I loved the real fear factor here of this gorier villain with some much more public kills as well as the new ‘core-four’ and the reappearance of some old faces. Yet another fantastic instalment in the franchise it’s just such a shame what happened later in the year with the planned next movie and the seemingly end and dooming of the series.

Barbie. A film that really took the world by storm, Barbie took the classic children’s toy and pulled her in a whole new direction for the modern day audience. Featuring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the iconic Barbie and Ken, this film was a brilliant take on toys, dolls and most surprisingly what it means to be human. A bizarre combination of childlike wonder and dreamhouses with feminism, the patriarchy and some serious life lessons along the way I think this film genuinely shocked a lot of people and brought everybody back to their childhoods of playing with the titular character.

It’s a Wonderful Knife, A Review

Every time a bell rings an angel gets to kill.

From the writer of Freaky, It’s a Wonderful Knife follows Winnie Carruthers (Jane Widdop, Yellowjackets), a girl from the town of Angel Falls who is excited to spend Christmas with her parents and Brother Jimmy (Aiden Howard). Whilst attending a party however a masked killer enters and begins murdering everybody there, including Winnie’s best friend Cara. Before he can then killer anyone else Winnie electrocutes and unmasks him, revealing town mayoral candidate Henry Waters (Justin Long), who was hoping to kill those standing in his way of building an extravagantly luxurious shopping centre. Flashing forward one year later it seems like everybody has forgotten Waters ever existed, all moving on with their lives and never talking about what happens. Winnie gets tired of everybody’s nonchalance and makes a wish she was never born, magically transporting her to a timeline where she never existed, meaning Waters is still running around on his killing spree.

Now stuck in a town where nobody knows her and most of those she cares about are either dead or different, Winnie teams up with town outcast Bernie (Jess McLeod, One of us is Lying), planning to kill Waters once and for all and hopefully return to her own timeline. With time running out however the town grows more and more desolate with every killer and Winnie and Bernie enter a race against time to put things right and hopefully rid the town of the killer for the second time in a row.

It’s a Wonderful Knife had a really interesting premise and I liked how it emphasised the importance of the final girl and her role in the horror genre. The killing spree may have been smaller than your average horror (more on that later) but in stopping Henry Waters so early, Winnie saved the town from transforming into the wasteland that we saw in the alternative timeline. Without her there to stop him Waters completely ruined everybody’s lives and as we later saw took over the town and turned everybody into mindless zombies (both literally and metaphorically, again more on that later). The film is a really interesting take on the genre and you can only imagine how much damage would have been done if Sidney Prescott or Laurie Strode weren’t there to stop their respective killers.

It was definitely interesting how for the majority of this film we knew exactly who the killer was, taking away that murder mystery aspect but also adding in an interesting perspective for both Winnie and us as the audience. Because of the nature of the story here it was more about Winnie setting things right than actually fighting for her life and so I liked how we got to see Waters in his rise to power, showing how he used the killer persona to make the town his and really get rid of anyone and anything standing in his way. We got some nice scenes with Winnie and Waters (although I do wish there were more) and I liked how the killer was someone in a real position of power, making Winnie’s job ever harder, especially with the police also under Water’s thumb.

I think for me the film’s ending really let it down here, mostly because so much of it made absolutely no sense. Aside from the whole ‘Winnie never existing’ no part of this film had had any supernatural or fantasy elements and so seeing the town’s residents seemingly turn into zombies was a complete 180 and it really took me out of the narrative. Everything about the killer so far had been 100% human but suddenly he could mind control people? I did not understand it and it was even explained or explored, Winnie just went home straight afterwards. On top of this we also got no explanation as to how Bernie could remember a timeline she hadn’t even been a part of and as cute as the ending was it was also something hat never got explained, the film just ended. For such a promising start It’s a Wonderful Knife really lost me at the end and just a few minutes left to explain everything properly would have saved this film so much.

One thing I really liked was how surprisingly gay It’s a Wonderful Knife was and how it was never made out to be a big deal. The film had four lead LGBT characters (not even counting their various partners or love interests) and for a film that hadn’t advertised itself as such I liked seeing such positive and low stakes representation. This was by no means a ‘gay film’ and none of the character’s queerness had anything to do with the plot or storyline but we still got some really great romance moments in between all of the killing and for considering we got no indication from the trailers that any of the characters were queer at all I was really pleasantly surprised.

Overall I enjoyed watching It’s a Wonderful Knife and loved the spin on the classic Christmas story as well as the commentary on the final girl trope in the slasher/horror genre. It was definitely interesting to see a world where nobody got saved as well as the perspective of actually knowing who the killer was. I will say some of the ending made no sense to me but I did like how massively gay the film was, so that was a nice plus. An overall good slasher film with Christmassy vibes, I had a lot of fun with this one and could definitely see myself rewatching each holiday season.

Thanksgiving, A Review

This year there will be no leftovers.

SPOILER WARNING: I DO REVEAL THE KILLER’S IDENTITY BELOW SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Thanksgiving sees a small town in Plymouth, Massachusetts struck by tragedy after the local RightMart Superstore decides to open its doors on Thanksgiving night early for Black Friday, resulting in absolute carnage as the shoppers form a mob and several people are trampled to death in the craze. One year later store owner Thomas Wright (Rick Hoffman) makes the decision to once again open early despite protests, causing controversy with the families of those who died. Thomas’ Daughter Jess (Nell Verlaque) and her friends are then tagged in an anonymous Instagram post with all of their names around a Thanksgiving table, worrying them as they themselves all snuck into the store early and were a big factor in kickstarting the mob. After local waitress Lizzie (Amanda Barker) is then found brutally murdered by a killer donning a John Carver costume, Jess realises that somebody is targeting everyone involved with last year’s tragedy, putting her and her friends right on the menu. As her friends are killed off one by one can Jess make it through the holidays still breathing or will last year’s tragedy be her undoing and make this her last Thanksgiving celebration ever?

Like the title suggests I really loved how this film played into the holiday theme, incorporating Thanksgiving into the kills and really amping up the campness throughout. Donning a John Carver costume and using various items from the kitchen table as weaponry, we got some very creative scenery here and the slashings were all completely brilliant and in theme throughout. As a Brit I’m not all too familiar with the holiday in general but I really loved the film’s take on the day and how we got this fresh new take on a literal American classic. Off the top of my head I can’t name that many Thanksgiving themed films (especially horrors) and so this really felt like something new and exciting, even to someone who’d never experienced the holiday before. Nothing says classic slasher like some over the top murders and this film had everything from being cooked alive to being beheaded and used as a centrepiece.

Thanksgiving really felt like your classic 80s or 90s slasher and I loved the vibes throughout, right down to the promotional poster which is very stylised after the og Slasher (and one of my favourites) Black Christmas. The simple storyline of a killer taking his revenge on group of friends through specialised killings made for an entertaining watch and I loved the jump scares paired with the whodunnit element. Taking inspiration from classics such as Halloween and Scream, the film really felt like a modern classic and I loved the main Thanksgiving theme, group of characters and of course the ever so brutal killings. The slasher genre is a real favourite of mine but I will admit some of the more modern takes really miss the mark, Thanksgiving on the other hand really goes hand in hand with the classics and this could easily be on par with the likes of Halloween one day far into the future.

For me there were a few things that didn’t really add up about this film’s ending and I don’t know if it’s just wishful thinking on my part but we definitely need a sequel to clear everything up. For starters Jess’ boyfriend Ryan (Milo Manheim, School Spirits) disappeared for the last third of the film with little to no explanation, at the time leading me to believe he was either the killer or being held captive, but when neither turned out to be true it just seemed like this massive, gaping plot hole. I also think that due to the scale of some of these killings it makes sense for a two-killer theory, again leading me to believe that things aren’t over. Sheriff Newton’s (Patrick Dempsey, Disenchanted) body was ‘never found’, which let’s face it is horror code for ‘is still alive’ and so I definitely think we need another film to clear everything up and just overall continue the story with even more killings that before.

Overall I really enjoyed Thanksgiving and loved the classic slasher vibes and how the film played into the holiday theme. The opening scene was brilliantly violent and I loved how it set off a chain of events leading to the killing spree, it made for a great whodunnit. A real winner of a slasher, Thanksgiving felt like a return to form for the genre with some genius kills, likeable characters and some real edge of your seat moments. This is a must-see for horror lovers everywhere and I really hope we get to see more from this universe, I feel like we’re so far from done with these characters.

Totally Killer, A Review

Murder is so 1987.

Totally Killer follows Jamie Hughes (Kiernan Shipka, CAOS) a young teen with over-protective parents, stemming from the town’s dark history when three teenage girls where stabbed to death 16 times back in 1987, with Jamie’s own Mother Pam (Julie Bowen) barely escaping with her life. Now nearly four decades later the killer returns with a vengeance and stabs Pam to death on Halloween night, destroying Jamie and putting the town on high alert once more. Still mourning her loss, Jamie discovers that her best friend Amelia (Kelcey Mawema) has invented a time machine for the school’s science fiction, hoping to use it to travel back to 87 to prevent the killings from ever happening. After a then run in with the killer herself Jamie is forced to hide in the machine with suddenly works and transports her back to the past and back to just days before the original killings.

Meeting a teenage version of her Mother (Olivia Holt, Cruel Summer) Jamie sees this as her chance to right the wrongs of the future and keep Pam alive, hoping to catch the killer now and prevent him from ever going on his spree in the first place. This is easier said than done however and Jamie struggles to keep the timeline on track, accidentally changing things and still ending up with multiple bodies. With time running out can Jamie save her Mother in the past and return to her own timeline or will she too become a victim and remain forever trapped in the 80s?

Totally Killer made for a fun and enjoyable film and I loved the incorporation of time travel into the classic slasher genre. Travelling back to the 80s gave this film a unique perspective and like I said above put Jamie in a very unfamiliar territory. At nearly forty years difference between her original timeline the 80s were a completely different world and the attitudes towards danger and safety (not to mention the sexism) really put Jamie at odds with those around her. On the one hand it helped her blend into the ‘Molly group’ but then she also struggled with people not taking her seriously and having much laxer attitudes towards danger than what she was used to. Growing up with safety-obsessed Pam, Jamie now found herself in a world ridden with teens drinking, having sex and doing drugs all the whilst also trying to stop a killer from going on his predetermined spree. I think in general people are a lot more wary about killers and safety these days in the modern world but back in the 70/80s it was open season and I really liked how the film used this in its storyline.

Jamie made for a likeable and very modern feeling final girl and I liked her personal stake in the killings as well as her trained self-defence skills because of Pam’s own history with the killer. It was a nice touch having our lead pretrained in combat (although I do wish the film has used this a little bit more), giving her a one up over usual horror lead. Jamie’s mission was also a lot more personal, trying to save her own Mother’s life, and by going back in time she was able to anticipate a lot of what was going to happen next even if she did kept accidentally changing things. Well trained for the situation but still in a very unfamiliar territory, Jamie made for a great lead and I loved Shipka’s performance throughout, she makes for an interesting addition to the final girl legacy.

I do kind of wish this film had played more into the horror genre and just went a little bit harder on the scares, feeling more like a sci-fi flick than your regular slasher. Obviously we did have a killer and a final girl but like I said above I wish Jamie and Pam’s backstories had been explored a little bit more, these were two women especially trained in self-defence and apart from Pam’s murder at the very start we never really touched on this again. I also think a lot of the film focused more on the 80s aspects and the being back in time than the actual killings and I just wish some of the chase scenes or killings had been expanded a little more. Don’t get me wrong I did enjoy this film (and I know a lot of other people have really loved it) but I wanted more scares and then it really could have been perfect.

Overall I enjoyed this film and loved the unique take on the genre by incorporating time travel into the mix. Jamie going back to the 80s gave this film a nice personal touch and I loved the family’s history with the killer and special skills in self-defence (although I do wish this had been expanded on). The film made for a fun mix of comedy, sci-fi and horror and I really enjoyed Shipka as Jamie and her performance throughout. Totally Killer was a fresh and fun take on the slasher genre and whilst I wish the horror elements were a bit more prominent I still had a lot of fun with this one.