While I have enjoyed the previous movies from Brandon and Ryan Christensen, I tend to forget that I am fans of their work. That's why I wasn't aiming to watch Night Of The Reaper, a film that had a fairly generic title and was described as a slasher with an '80s vibe. I WILL eventually watch films described in that way, but I've been burned enough in recent years to make me wary of them. Then I started to see people mention a couple of details that piqued my interest. I won't mention them here, because this is best viewed without any spoilers, but there is a fun third act that more than makes up for some of the other flaws.
Jessica Clement plays Deena, a young woman who ends up babysitting young Max Arnold (Max Christensen), son of the local Sheriff, Rodney Arnold (Ryan Robbins). This wouldn't be a big deal under normal circumstances, but there have been some recent murders that put Deena on edge. And things get a lot worse when it becomes clear that she's being targeted by the killer.
Written by both Brandon and Ryan, and directed by Brandon, Night Of The Reaper is decent enough until it becomes a bit more than that in a fun finale. It's a shame that it feels a bit too tame and bloodless for the majority of the runtime, but a couple of decent moments near the end try to make up for that. This is more about making use of familiar slasher movie tropes (including, of course, the babysitter in peril, which is handled well in an enjoyably tense opening sequence) than it is about delivering loads of kills and carnage.
Clement is a decent young lead, and she works well in her scenes with her young onscreen charge. The two of them feel absolutely convincing in the babysitter/babysittee relationship depicted. Robbins also does well as the desperate Sheriff, Matty Finochio is a good fit for the role of Officer Butch Cassidy (yes, that is the name given to them), and Keegan Connor Tracy is a welcome addition in the role of Elizabeth Talbot.
The emphasis is always on building things up (be it the tension, the suspect pool, or the obstacles placed en route to the expected climax), but the Christensens just about deliver enough pay-off to make it all worthwhile. I think they could still have gone a little further when finally leaning into the fun factor and bloodshed.
An enjoyable way to pass the time, and there's certainly a good dollop of spooky atmosphere throughout, Night Of The Reaper should do enough to keep horror fans happy. Those wanting something with that classic "old school" vibe, however, will probably still do best to simply (re)visit one of the many lesser slasher movie entries from the halcyon days of the sub-genre.
6/10
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