Into the Dark: Blood Moon

Parents of "problem children" with severe mood swings and behavioral issues could very well feel like they are raising werewolves. Leave it to Blumhouse to take the metaphor to its most macabre extreme. Esme’s son Luna (notice his name) is a good kid, except for one night out of every month. However, the devoted mother will do whatever it takes to protect Luna and his secret in Emma Tammi’s Blood Moon, the season conclusion of Blumhouse’s Into the Dark, which premieres today on Hulu.

Luna can be a handful, but it isn’t his fault. He inherited his lycanthropy from his father. Esme tries not to talk about him much. Instead, she does her best to home-school Luna, while constantly moving from one remote southwestern town to another. She has strict rules to prevent the outside world from discovering Luna’s therianthropic nature, but he understandably yearns for a more normal life. It is hard for her to get by, but Miguel, the sympathetic hardware store owner, is willing to offer her credit. Unfortunately, she also attracts the attention of the local harassment-inclined sheriff.

Frankly, Blood Moon is so realistic, both emotionally and aesthetically, it arguably does not even feel like part of the horror genre. This is nothing like the Howling direct-to-DVD sequels (which might disappoint some werewolf fans). However, Tammi’s execution is impressively tight and economical. Maternally-themed horror is becoming her thing, but Blood Moon is fresher and more fully developed than her prior Into the Dark film, Delivered.

Into the Dark: Tentacles

According to Bob Dorough and vocalists like Irene Kral and Carmen McRae, love is supposed to come on stealthy fingers. This isn’t exactly the same thing, but there is stealthiness involved. It is also a case of a spoiler right there in the title. Sam is going to fall for Tara hard, but there is something different about her in Clara Aranovich’s Tentacles, the latest, Valentine’s Day-themed feature-length installment of Blumhouse’s Into the Dark, which premieres today on Hulu.

Thanks to the death of his parents and career frustrations, Sam had already been going through a boozy rough patch when he meets Tara. When viewers first spy her, she is burying a bag of cash in the desert, so she could very possibly be trouble. She wastes no time picking up Sam at the open house, where he was working for his real estate photography day gig (now really full-time work). Soon thereafter, she moves in with him, ostensibly to help remodel his mother’s home. Things are moving way too fast for Esther, Sam’s business partner and torch-carrying best platonic pal.

However, it is not all pure love and red-hot lust. There is also the stress of Tara’s stalker, who apparently knew her when she went by a different name. He has some strange stories to tell about the debilitating effect she supposedly has on people, which awkwardly seems to match Sam’s recent health problems.

Basically, Tentacles follows the basic seduction-horror template established by dozens of vampire and succubus films and then cribs the slithery romantic elements of Moorhead & Benson’s Spring, but Aranovich’s slow-burning execution is still highly effective. Watching Sam fall under Tara’s influence and deliberately ignore her suspicious history that he uncovers is compelling and all-too believable, in the manner of a traffic accident unfolding in slow motion.

Into the Dark: Good Boy

Maggie is rather mousy and under-assertive, but she is still probably pushing credulity claiming her newly adopted dog is a legit “emotional support animal.” Reuben looks like a cute little guy, but there is an awful lot of fight in this dog—too much. Ally Sheedy’s character in Man’s Best Friend could definitely relate to what Maggie will go through, but the characterization and dialogue is much sharper in Tyler MacIntyre’s Good Boy, which premieres today, to commemorate National Dog Day or Pet Appreciation Week or whatever, as part of the current season of Hulu’s Blumhouse-produced Into the Dark.

Maggie’s neighborhood newspaper employer just switched over to an online-freelance model and her landlord effectively raised the rent with new fees. These developments come at an especially bad time, since she is just started preparing for an egg harvesting procedure. She adopted Reuben hoping he would alleviate her stress. It is a responsibility he takes deadly seriously.

Although we never see the entire transformation, it seems furry Reuben is a bit like the Incredible Hulk. You do not want to make him angry. Several people who have been bugging Maggie will lean that the hard way—permanently. Unfortunately, Reuben might also be getting a little jealous of her new boyfriend Nate, who also happens to be a cop.

Surprisingly for a Blumhouse joint, MacIntye keeps most of the gore off-screen. Instead, he keeps us focused on the characters and the sly humor. The Into the Dark franchise is definitely better when it does not take itself too seriously, as was the case with Pooka Lives, Crawlers, and School Spirit. Good Boy is another fine example, especially since it proves Steve “Mahoney” Guttenberg can still be funny, garnering big laughs as Maggie’s aging pot-head editor.

Into the Dark: Delivered

Remember the 1950s way to be pregnant? Basically, it involved regular calming treatments of bourbon and cigarettes, before the hospital finally dispensed a good dose of the hard stuff. There was no yoga back then. In retrospect, the old school approach would have been far safer for a mega-pregnant mother-to-be in Emma Tammi’s Delivered, the latest installment of Blumhouse’s Into the Dark, which premieres today on Hulu.

Valerie is pregnant and more or less okay with it. Her husband Tom is thrilled. He even goes to “Momma-ste” yoga with her. Unfortunately, that is where they meet Jenny Booth. Initially, the single-mother seems very hip and funny, so they happily accept her dinner invitation way out in the boonies. Of course, viewers know right from the start Booth is not exactly what she pretends to be, as Valerie discovers when she comes to. It turns out Booth isn’t even pregnant—that’s what she wants from Valerie.

The Into the Dark franchise has a hit-or-miss reputation that continues with Delivered. Frankly, Tammi’s direction is tight and disciplined, while her thesps are all quite earnest. The problem is the predictability of Dirk Blackman’s screenplay. For instance, as soon as we encounter Valerie’s desperate-to-talk ex-boyfriend Riley, we can pretty much guess his fate with a high degree of accuracy.

What really stands out this time around is the character of Booth and Tina Majorino’s portrayal of her. Although Kathy Bates’ Annie Wilkes will always cast a shadow over a film like this, Majorino plays her with more humor and attitude than we usually see in our psycho-captors. That also helps the film’s overall credibility, because it makes it more believable Valerie and Tom would accept her invitation.

Into the Dark: Pooka Lives

Forget Chuckie. Forget Annabelle. Forget those nasty little Nazi puppets in the Puppet Master movies. Pooka is the heavy-weight champion of monster dolls. You can blame the internet for that. Online weirdos just can’t get enough of Pooka urban legends in Alejandro Brugues’ Pooka Lives!, the first sequel of Blumhouse feature-length anthology series, Into the Dark, which starts streaming today on Hulu.

Nacho Vigalondo’s Pooka! was dark, twisted, and moody, making it perfect for Christmas viewing. Brugues, the Juan of the Dead director, moves the sequel in a hipper, more irreverent direction. As is always the case in horror movies, the internet is a destructive force, before it even latches onto Pooka. Derrick, an aspiring New York writer, has returned to his childhood home of Spring Valley, after an internet influencer’s minions wrecked his personal and professional lives. His now-married high school friends, Molly & Matt, take him in, even though he is still being trolled and harassed.

Derrick has accepted a copy-writing job at the company that manufactures Pooka dolls, where his ex, Susan just so happens to work in the marketing department. Although he is determined to return to the City, Derrick enjoys reconnecting with old friends, including the formerly fat Benny, who is now an impressively fit sheriff’s deputy. During their first night of drinking, they post a larky internet challenge to invoke Pooka—inviting his wrath if you have been “naughty.” Of course, it quickly goes viral once Derrick’s online tormentor posts his Pooka Challenge. Needless to say, he has been very naughty, so Pooka mercilessly carves up the loudmouth. Inevitably, Pooka will come looking for Derrick’s friends too, but he grows steadily more monstrous as the internet continues to embellish his legend (actually coming to look a lot like Frank the bunny in Donnie Darko).

It is generally smart of Brugues and Blumhouse to take a decidedly different tack for the first Into the Dark sequel, especially since screenwriter Ryan Copple so cleverly riffs on urban lore and internet memes. This is probably the geek-friendliest film in Into the Dark series, especially due to the casting of fan-icons Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton (in a smaller role).

Into the Dark: Crawlers

Forget about killer leprechauns. Body-snatcher aliens are the real St. Patrick’s Day horror. Cleverly, they will invade a college town on the night of St. Patrick’s. It is because of the drinking and the poor judgement, unreliable witnesses, and highly vulnerable victims that results. However, the townie drug dealer is an alien conspiracy buff, so she is surprisingly prepared. She will explain to her online followers how it all went down in Brandon Zuck’s Crawlers, the latest installment in the Blumhouse-produced Into the Dark, which premieres this Friday on Hulu.

Misty thought Chloe was her BFF, but they have been on the outs, ever since the latter failed to offer adequate support after the former was roofied in a frat house. Instead of being there, Chloe has flitted off to a new bestie, the snarky New Yorker (is there any other kind?), Yuejin. However, Misty still charges after her shallow pal when she drunkenly leaves with another predatory brother from the fateful fraternity. Fortunately, Shauna, Chloe’s drug dealer reluctantly agrees to accompany Misty. However, inside the house they find evidence of sinister alien skullduggery instead of Chloe.

Eventually, Misty and Aaron, a bro who was apparently doppelgangered by the aliens, will come to believe Shauna is right about the body-doubling invaders. Being believed is important in this film, whether it be Misty’s presumed assault or Shauna’s mother, who witnessed an earlier alien landing on an earlier St. Patrick’s night, decades ago.

Wow, Blumhouse really has it info fraternities, judging from this film and last year’s Black Christmas remake. At least Crawlers still manages to be fun. Basically, it is nostalgic, like-you-know trip down dead teenager memory lane. It is easy to think of it as an updated riff on Fred Dekker’s Night of the Creeps, but it isn’t as wildly madcap as that would sound. Instead, it fits somewhere in between the Syfy original movie Killer High and last year’s back-to-school edition of Into the Dark, School Spirit (which was directed by Mike Gan, who co-scripted Crawlers).

Into the Dark: Uncanny Annie

Blumhouse definitely enjoys playing games, whether it be a friendly round of Truth or Dare, or a laidback session with the Ouija Board. This game will not be so easy for viewers to play at home, but why in the world would they want to? The rules are rigged and the stakes are life-and-death in Paul Davis’s Uncanny Annie, the first instalment of the second season of the Blumhouse-produced Into the Dark, which is now streaming on Hulu.

In honor of their late gamer friend, a group of college students will stay in this Halloween, playing one of his beloved board games and drinking heavily (naturally). Unfortunately, they chose the strange looking one nobody recognizes, named “Uncanny Annie.” Of course, once they start playing, they quickly discover they are in over their heads, but have no choice but to play the game through.

Technically, they are playing against Uncanny Annie, sort of like one of the Shining twins, aged-up two or three years, but she will have help from a few other supernatural entities. Each player must successfully complete the challenges they draw from the magical, ever shifting deck of cards, or they die and become emblazoned on the game’s vintage box. Needless to say, they are rarely given a sporting chance.

Davis exploits the claustrophobic, minimalist setting and the terrifically creepy art and design work to crank up the tension. There is no question this is the scariest feature-length episode of Into the Dark we’ve reviewed. It could also be the darkest, in purely visual terms, but cinematographer James Kniest never lets the encroaching blackness obscure the on-screen action.

Into the Dark: Pure

If there is one ironclad rule of horror movies, it would have to be camps will always be the setting for massacres. It doesn’t matter if it is a chastity camp. The Rules are the rules. In fact, those hypocritical fundamentalists preaching against promiscuity are likely to get it harder than your garden variety randy teenager. Such will indeed be the case during Hannah Macpherson’s Pure, the latest installment of Blumhouse’s Into the Dark, which premieres today on Hulu.

Even though she is in her late teens, this is Shay’s first visit to virginity camp. That is because she only recently joined the family. She was the love child Kyle never knew he had, until her mother died. That doesn’t sound very virtuous, but Macpherson and co-writers Paul Davis and Paul Fischer unsubtly suggest guys get a pass on these kind of things from their fellow fundies.

Regardless, the novelty of having of father still has not worn off for Shay, whereas her new half-sister Jo is recklessly rebellious. The virginity camp veteran is also obsessed with the mythical figure of Lilith, who figures prominently in one of Pastor’s Seth’s notorious opening day sermons. According to the apocryphal tales, Lilith was Adam’s first wife, who was damned to Hell for her faithlessness, but later returned to marry Frasier Crane. Seeing her as a figure of empowerment, Jo sets out to raise Lilith in an occult ceremony, which is most likely quite successful judging from Shay’s subsequent visions. With the Christian patriarchy acting uglier and uglier, a reckoning is sure to come.

Ironically, the makers of Pure unambiguously suggest Evangelical Christians are sex-obsessed, two-faced, emotionally abusive, and prone to violence, yet Team Pure would also be the first to accuse fundamentalists of demonizing anyone who does not share their values. Seriously folks, can’t we all just get along?

Frankly, Pure is even less subtle than Ready or Not and Satanic Panic (opening today in theaters), but it lacks even a fraction of those films’ wit. It is a shame Pure goes so polemical, because Jahkara Smith portrays Shay as a highly sympathetic and complex horror movie protag, while McKaly Miller (from Ma) makes Jo quite an entertaining hot mess.

Maybe not so surprisingly, Pure openly invites viewers to side with a demon over a group of fathers, who unforgivably believe premarital sex would be the wrong life decision for their daughters. Of course, it was the intolerant patriarchy that labeled Lilith a demon in the first place. It is all so kneejerk, it gets rather boring—and that really is a sin. Not recommended, Pure starts streaming today (9/6) on Hulu.

Into the Dark: School Spirit

There is nothing old school slashers enjoy more than killing naughty teenagers. It therefore stands to reason weekend detention would be a very happy hunting ground for some lucky psychopath. However, this is no place for a high-achieving class president like Erica Yang. Yet, that is exactly where she finds herself one fateful Saturday. The Breakfast Club gets a horror makeover courtesy of Blumhouse in Mike Gan’s School Spirit, the back-to-school installment of Hulu’s monthly Into the Dark series, which premieres tomorrow.

Yang has been working obscenely hard to become the first graduate of Helbrook High to make it into Harvard, so she is less than thrilled about this detour through detention. Her fellow detainees are quite curious what Helbrook’s “Admiral of the Year” did to warrant punishment, but she isn’t saying. On the other hand, pot-smoking Lizzy Witmore, rebellious Victor Castro, flaky stoner Russ Johns, and socially awkward weirdo Brett Calloway could have done any number of things to get there.

Unfortunately, Vice Principal Armstrong is even sterner than Paul Gleason in The Breakfast Club, but he also happens to be a raging alcoholic. Usually, when he gets into his cups, the kids can relax, but this time they will have to contend with a maniac dressed like the school mascot, the Helbrook Admiral. Legend has it, the school is haunted by the angry spirit of a teacher who was accidentally killed by her class and subsequently disposed of while camouflaged in a mascot uniform. Of course, as the story goes, she returned (still in costume) to direct her righteous rage at misbehaving students, somewhat in the tradition of Mrs.Voorhees.

In fact, School Spirit proudly wears its 1980s influences on its sleeve, which makes it jolly nostalgic fun to watch. Despite the ultra-now attitudes and dialogue, its aesthetic is old school all the way. Gan keeps it snappy and pacey, but also manages to build up a fair measure of suspense. Granted, it probably does not bring enough that is sufficiently new and fresh to the table to justify theatrical screenings, but it is quite enjoyable as an evening’s head-clearing horror streaming.

A great deal of credit should go to Annie Q., for maintaining the film’s high energy level. Admittedly, Yang has “final girl” stitched all over her cardigan, but AQ, a star in the making, keeps our sympathies engaged, while still managing to surprise us in key moments. Jessi Case and Julian Works also follow nicely in the John Hughes tradition, humanizing their bad kids to a considerable extent.

Gan definitely pushes all the right buttons for retro horror fans, without resorting to slavish imitation. This will almost certainly not go down as the best horror film of 2019, but it will probably be re-watched over time more than most. Enthusiastically recommended for those who dig throwback slashers, Into the Dark: School Spirit starts streaming tomorrow (8/2) on Hulu.

Into the Dark: Treehouse

Peter Rake acts like Gordon Ramsay when he films his cooking show and he behaves like Harvey Weinstein when [mis]conducting the rest of his business. He is definitely a jerkheel, who is cruising for an EC Comics-style bruising in James Roday’s Treehouse, the Ides of March installment of Blumhouse’s monthly anthology series, Into the Dark, which premieres today on Hulu.

It has been a longtime since Rake has visited his family home (where there is indeed a tree house on the sprawling grounds), but he has returned, so he can lay low, while his lawyer settles his most recent harassment suit. He is not so psyched to be back, until he meets the bachelorette party staying nearby. He intends to woo them with a fancy dinner, but his excessive drinking and natural obnoxiousness nearly sabotage his plans. Yet, the women stick around anyway. In fact, they seem to know him better than he realizes and they have plans of their own: the payback kind. They might even have supernatural means to accomplish them.

Presumably, Treehouse was conceived as the #metoo edition of Into the Dark, but the execution is decidedly questionable. On one hand, most viewers will find themselves identifying with Rake, regardless of their biases, because the film shows events unfolding from his perspective, including some harrowing acts of torture perpetrated by the mystery women. However, if Rake did half the things he is accused of—and he never persuasively denies anything—than he gets off appallingly easy, all things considered.

Despite the tonal misfires, Jimmi Simpson shows great range and commitment as the sleazy Rake. Julianna Guill, Sophia Del Pizzo, and Stephanie Beatriz have their moments as the avenging women, but Nancy Linehan Charles upstages everyone as Agnes, the tart-tongued, judgmental family servant. She chews the scenery and her wonderfully caustic lines with relish.

Roday does a decent job building suspense and paranoia, but he lets it all deflate with a mediocre ending. It bears direct comparison to Sophia Takal’s New Year, New You in several ways, but the New Year’s edition was far better. Anyone interested in a genre take on the issues #metoo phenomenon will also find Natalia Leite’s MFA much more compelling. Only for series completists, Into the Dark: Treehouse starts streaming today (3/1) on Hulu.

Into the Dark: New Year, New You

If you thought there was something profoundly sinister about bubbly, self-help YouTubers, Danielle Williams will confirm the heck of it for you. The veggie juice lifestyle social media maven is about to make the leap to television, but first she will ring in the New Year with her old high school besties. It goes badly for almost all of them in Sophia Takal’s New Year, New You (trailer here), the New Year installment of Hulu’s Blumhouse-produced monthly holiday horror anthology, which premieres this Friday.

Something happened in Alexis’s house during her high school years that she has yet to recover from. As a result, her parents had it sealed up tight to keep intruders out. Of course, that security glass will also makes it difficult to get out. Alexis and her average friends, Kayla and Chloe have invited Williams to join them for New Year’s. Much to their surprise, she agrees, perhaps for a cheap ego boost. Naturally, she intends to document everything on social media, but Alexis plans to take things offline.

Kayla and Chloe agreed to help Alexis confront Williams and maybe get some closure if and when she cops to her role in the unfortunate events of the past. However, matters quickly escalate and intensify. Soon it is bestie against bestie.

Takal and co-screenwriter Adam Gaines penned a largely straightforward revenge-horror thriller, but her execution as director is quite stylish. There are plenty of very-now uber-connected elements, but there are also nods to the look and vibe of 1970s made-for-TV horror movies that genre fans are sure to appreciate.

Suki Waterhouse acts appropriately moody and convincingly damaged as Alexis. Nevertheless, Carly Chaikin overshadows everyone as the utterly terrifying Williams. Anyone that manipulative, ruthless, and condescending is just a flat-out monster. There is no question, you’d be better off facing Jason, Freddy, or Leatherface rather than her.

Although New You shares some thematic siilarities with Takal’s Always Shine, this is her most traditional and fully realized work in the horror genre as a director. It is not so gory compared to Blumhouse’s theatrical films, but it definitely offers up a ghoulish   of human nature.Think of it as Mean Girls, taken to its logical extreme.

It is quite nice of Blumhouse and Hulu to keep bringing us together for the holidays. Into the Dark is kind of like the Charlie Brown specials, but with higher body counts. There are not so many surprises in Takal & Gaines’ narrative, but it is really well-produced installment, featuring a knockout performance from Chaikin. Recommended for genre fans, Into the Dark: New Year, New You starts streaming this Friday (12/28) on Hulu. Merry Christmas.