Shudder has released a brand new trailer for Night of the Reaper. Arriving on the streamer next month, this is the latest from director Brandon Christensen, of Superhost fame, who is taking a stab at an ‘80s slasher movie this time. The new footage (in addition to the poster which you can check out below) offer up lots of nostalgic vibes. This seems like it’s going to be a welcome addition to the fall’s horror offerings for those who yearn for the heydays of the slasher craze. Check it out.
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Yep, that looks like a slasher movie alright! For anyone who is a sucker for an ‘80s throwback, this seems to have it all. VHS tapes, babysitters, a killer in a mask, a creepy basement and a mystery that needs solving. And yes, a body count made up of largely unsuspecting young people. What more could one ask for? The official synopsis reads as follows:
“In the heart of a quiet, 1980s suburb, college student Deena returns home and reluctantly takes on a last-minute babysitting job. That same night, the local sheriff receives a cryptic package that pulls him into a sinister scavenger hunt that sets off a game of cat and mouse with a dangerous killer. As the clues unravel, Deena finds herself ensnared in a nightmarish mystery that she may not survive.”
The cast includes Jessica Clement (Cross), Ryan Robbins (Sanctuary), Summer H. Howell (Hunter Hunter), Matty Finochio (Final Destination Bloodlines), Ben Cockell (Goosebumps), Bryn Samuel (Heartland), Savannah Miller (Resident Alien), Susan Serrao (Dying in Plain Sight), Huxley Fisher (The Last of Us), Isla Spencer (Don’t Kill the Babysitter), Blair Young (Fargo) and Drake Seipert (There’s No Way Out). Christensen penned the screenplay alongside his brother, Ryan Christensen (The Puppetman).
“Growing up with horror movies, there’s different time periods that you correlate with different films and I’ll forever associate the original 1979 When A Stranger Calls with my early teens,” Christensen said in a statement. “My friend had a birthday party in eighth grade, and the large gathering all sat in silence as the opening 20-minutes of it played. It was peak horror at the time, and holds up remarkably well today. Ever since then, I’d always had a desire to make a babysitter horror film of my own. And when I was shooting Superhost in 2020, my brother and I were talking about some directions we could take it. He wrote up the cold open, setting up things to come and started us on this path of doing our own twist on the genre.”
Night of the Reaper arrives on Shudder on September 19. For more, get the lowdown on the delightfully strange Starship Godzilla.
