Hello, my horror-loving, hapless homebodies. Now that we are months into sheltering in place with no end in sight (fall? 2021? this decade?) I’m sure you’re running your remote ragged, scraping the bottom of the streaming barrel trying to get your horror fix while the theaters remain shuttered. Maybe a few of you have even braved the newly-resurrected drive-in theaters to catch some of the films I recommended in my last summary judgment. Well I’ll level with you. The bad news is we are still stuck without movie theaters or big blockbuster horror releases until August at the earliest. But the good news is there are new streaming releases to be sure to catch—and others I’ll save you the time and energy from seeing—all summarized here in my latest SpecialK summary judgment.
The Vast of Night – This film is a true throwback to the 1950s, when sock hops, poodle skirts, and thick-rimmed glasses reigned, when the country’s imagination had just turned to the skies after the 1947 Roswell, New Mexico incident, and when radio hosts were the TikTok influencers of their time. In The Vast of Night, a girl who works the switchboard in a small town spends a night geeking out with a boy who hosts the local nighttime radio show as the two try to track down the source of an unidentified sound.
The characters are earnest and convincing, and through long camera shots as the teens race around, we are drawn into these eager explorers’ adventure. Meanwhile, darkly-lit scenes both indoors and out turn the eye to empty corners and up to starry skies, leaving us wondering who—or what—might be staring back. But what’s most impressive is in a few scenes, The Vast of Night takes a step back from traditional filmmaking to tell a captivating story through a single actor on screen. Sometimes, the visuals are even fuzzed out to nothing at all, leaving us alone with just the words and our own imaginations, an effective nod to the radio dramas of days past. The entire film is packaged with a neat bow, framed as one tale in a series titled “Paradox Theater,” a delightfully vintage nod to The Twilight Zone that any horror fan will love. All in all, The Vast of Night is an entrancing beauty of a film that you shouldn’t miss.
The Vast of Night streams exclusively on Amazon Prime starting on Friday, May 29.
Dark Encounter – In this film, a young girl vanishes in 1982 and her family, plagued by grief and uncertainty, gathers in her memory at her parents’ house a year later. Just when the family thinks the day is over, weird things start happening at this house in the woods – strange lights, lost time, and visions that simply can’t be explained. Much like The Vast of Night, Dark Encounter tries to flip the sci-fi horror genre on its head, making the film much more about the human characters than any otherworldly beings. Also much like The Vast of Night, Dark Encounter accomplishes this deftly.
With a plot that unfolds slowly, this film is a study in simple, symphonic storytelling—and I’m not just talking about the emotionally-effective score. Like a beautiful musical composition, it welcomes each character into the melody slowly, but not a moment too late, and reveals more and more about the characters’ harmonic relationships with one another along the way. The film crescendos into a heartbreakingly stunning ending that I dare not spoil, other than to tell you that you have to see it for yourself. Short on bone-chilling scares but full of masterful filmmaking, this film is meant for any horror fan willing to keep an open mind.
Originally released in August 2019, Dark Encounter is now available for rent on a range of streaming services.
The House in Between – I know what you’re thinking – “SpecialK, what’s with all the sci-fi?!” Fear not, dear readers, for I’ve not let up on my love of all things supernatural. This is why I gave The House in Between a shot, a documentary film about an extremely haunted house in Mississippi, and a paranormal researcher’s attempts to capture activity on camera and test it against the views of real scientists, all in hopes of helping out the harried homeowner.
I’ll admit, I was skeptical about this one. I’ve never enjoyed any of those television ghosthunter shows shot in night vision mode with people running around pretending to hear nonsense words in static noise—sorry, I mean, EVP readings. Thankfully, The House in Between is much better than the typical hunt for paranormal activity. Sure, the film includes what you might expect – psychics, EVP readings, “sensitive” people who “feel something” about the house, and visits to the local library to uncover the history of a dark past. But impressively, The House in Between rarely veers into cheesy, and the narrator injects healthy skepticism (and science, yay!) throughout, all while satisfying those of us who spend hours on YouTube hunting for video evidence of real ghosts. But perhaps above all, the filmmakers paint a striking picture of a small town in Mississippi full of believers and nonbelievers alike, and tell the story of a homeowner who simply wants to live her life in peace.
The House in Between opened Tuesday, May 5, and is available for rent on a range of streaming services.
Dreamkatcher – In this film, a young boy named Josh is taken to a remote cabin for some time away with his dad and dad’s new girlfriend. Just as dad is called away to work, leaving Josh along with his step-mom-to-be, Josh starts to see weird visions of his dead mother and seeks the help of a local woman who sells dreamcatchers to protect him from his nightmares. Unfortunately, by the end of this film, I wished something had protected me from clicking “rent.” Dreamkatcher has so much potential, guys: a storyline that mirrors one of my recent favorites (The Lodge), myths about dreams and demons, and above all, Lin Shaye! But unfortunately, this film flops. The plot falters and fades, characters aren’t even interesting enough to hate, and scares are no more predictable or captivating than my quarantine wardrobe. Save your $3.99 and thank me later.
The Dreamkatcher opened on Tuesday, April 28, and is available for rent on a range of streaming services.
SpecialK Verdict: If you’re looking to get your latest horror fix from the comfort of your couch, make sure you skip the snoozefest that is Dreamkatcher, but be sure to check out captivating sci-fi throwbacks like The Vast of Night and Dark Encounter, or give EVPs a shot in The House in Between.
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