Shudder Saturday: Bodycam (2025)

I have liked a number of movies from Brandon and Ryan Christensen (Brandon being the director, Ryan being a co-writer on a number of their past few features). Bodycam is easily their worst film yet, and it's almost insultingly bad in a number of ways. I'm annoyed with myself for being mildly impressed by the trailer that I watched last month. That didn't really misrepresent anything. I just allowed myself to think that it was a good concept that might be executed well. I was wrong on both counts.

What you have here is a tale of two cops. There's Officer Bryce (Sean Rogerson) and Officer Jackson (Jaime M. Callica). Their shift quickly goes from bad to worse when they're called to a domestic disturbance that leads to the accidental killing of a baby. Bryce is the one who could end up in major hot water, and he wants to figure out a way to change the narrative. That would mean figuring out a way to get rid of their bodycam footage though. Not only does that seem unlikely, the bodycams soon start showing more and more disturbing events as the two officers are manipulated and terrorised by numerous individuals who seem to be serving some malevolent deity.

I have mentioned it many times before, and will undoubtedly do so again, but there are certain warning signs to keep an eye out for when watching any "found footage" film. Bodycam doesn't manage to stay true to the nature of the format, which is actually one of the warning signs, but that would be the main descriptor for it. Many of the early scenes use torchlight, there are hardly any moments that don't have the action being obscured by the movement and unsteadiness of the camerawork, and the third act feels based around one or two main jump scares. I won't namecheck the far superior horror movie that this made me think of, but some imagery in the last scenes may have a lot of people thinking of the same one. (and thinking "I wish I'd watched *insert the title here* instead of this rubbish") 

It's hard to really rate the performances of Rogerson and Callica, who both do well enough at hitting their marks, but are hampered by the constantly painful hyperactivity of the pacing and the camerawork. Catherine Lough Haggquist, playing the mother of Callica's character, isn't as obscured, although her performance feels so weak that I wish it had been. Some others onscreen do quite well, despite the fact that they're simply moved around hither and thither in service of the central concept.

Are there some moments to give you chills? I guess so, but nothing that wouldn't work better packed into a short. This isn't an effective feature. It's a potentially enjoyable V/H/S segment, at best. The attempts to build atmosphere don't work, a lot of the first half feels like a waste of time as our two main characters go around in circles trying to cover up something that feels impossible to cover up, and the details littered throughout, meant to create a bigger picture of a dark world pushing at the membrane of our own, feel more tiresome than interesting. 

2/10

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Shudder Saturday: Night Of The Reaper (2025)

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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Shudder Saturday: The Puppetman (2023)

Director Brandon Christensen makes movies that I like, and he's been doing so for a while now. I wouldn't say that he's been improving with every film he makes, but he has certainly maintained a consistency over the past few years that have marked him out as someone I should be keeping more of an eye on.

The Puppetman is a good, if slightly silly, concept. A man is on death row for murder of his wife many years ago. His daughter, Michal (Alyson Gorske), knows that something very odd happened on that day, and she soon starts to learn about a presence that can jump around and force people to act against their own will. It uses people as puppets, if you will. As people around Michal start to die in a variety of grisly "accidents", she starts trying to figure out how to convince people of what is really happening, and how to put an end to it.

With a screenplay also co-written by the director, alongside Ryan Christensen, and story input from Matt Manjourides, The Puppetman confidently moves between impressive moments of tension and slightly ridiculous plot beats that are handled with just the right level of seriousness to make them palatable. Nothing feels too overly earnest, but it's not being mocked either, and everything gets more exciting as Michal starts to find her situation more unbearable and hopeless.

The runtime is 96 minutes, a sweet spot that allows time for the plot to unfold nicely without feeling stretched too thin, and everything is polished enough to show a budget put to great use, while also having a few rough edges to remind you that this certainly isn't a slick and mainstream release. And when you get to the death scenes, oh boy, that's where you can see that they have pulled out all of the stops. There are a few moments here that are brilliantly gnarly. Yes, I would have liked to use words here that didn't make me seem like a blogging version of Bart Simpson, but "brilliantly gnarly" seems to be the most appropriiate phrase.

Gorske isn't a bad lead, and she certainly stands out more than most of the younger supporting players around her (with the exception of Angel Prater, who does very well in the first third of the film), and there are decent turns from Michael Paré (a cop who quickly finds out what is going on), Caryn Richman (a medium who may be able to help, if she can keep people, including herself, alive long enough), and Zachary Le Vey (the imprisoned killer).

Maybe helped by the fact that I had no expectations going in, I do try to avoid expectations with most movies I watch, but hadn't even heard of this before today, The Puppetman is a film I thoroughly enjoyed, and it's one that I recommend to horror fans after something new and a bit different from the usual selection of evergreen zombie movies, monster flicks, found-footage shenanigans, and attempts to replicate the work of James Wan.

7/10

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Shudder Saturday: Superhost (2021)

Writer-director Brandon Christensen may not be immediately recognisable to most horror fans, but he's been creating some enjoyably solid genre fare over the past few years, and seems to be improving slightly with each film (I thought Still/Born was okay, I liked Z a bit more). While Superhost may not be the darkest or scariest horror movie you see this year, it's a hell of a lot of fun, helped by a completely unhinged turn from Gracie Gillam.

Gillam plays Rebecca, a young woman aiming to be reviewed as a "superhost" by Teddy (Osric Chau) and Claire (Sara Canning). Teddy and Claire have had a successful YouTube series for some time, but are currently losing followers, and relevance in that crowded field. Rebecca hopes to keep everything perfect though. A bad review from Teddy and Claire can ruin someone's business, as Vera (Barbara Crampton) discovered. 

Best summed up by the tagline "don't forget to like and survive", Superhost is generally fun from start to finish. The main potential problem that it has is the fact that Rebecca seems quite batty, to put it mildly, from the very beginning. But that's part of the fun, because Teddy and Claire think what they can get on camera will end up getting them a great reaction online, and push their numbers back up. Christensen does a good job of mixing the thriller element of the plot with a nice bit of full-on creepiness, at least one great gore moment, and the commentary on how things are presented online compared to how things are in reality. 

The leads do a good job, with both Chau and Canning believable in their normal interactions and equally believable when using their louder and more lively personas for their online videos. Crampton may only be onscreen for a few minutes, but she's as welcome as ever. Then you have Gillam, the manic and unbalanced heart of the film, giving a performance that easily puts her up there with the very best of the modern movie psychos. There's no surprise when her potential is fully realised, it's just up to the viewers to try and figure out what her actual motivation is.

Christensen gets everything right here. I can easily imagine a version of this movie that would have been painful to sit through, (either not casting the right people, deciding to go the found footage route, or any of a multitude of ways this could have felt wrong) but his instincts steer him right. And the fact that it all builds to an ending that is as darkly comedic as it is obvious means the whole experience is a satisfying and entertaining one.

I look forward to whatever we get next from Christensen. He's been on the right path for years, and if he delivers some minor modern classic in the next decade or so then remember that I told you so. Because I'll also say "I told you so".

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: Z (2019)

The second main feature from director Brandon Christensen, who once again shares the writing duties with Colin Minihan, Z is a slick horror movie that has some enjoyable twists and turns on the way to a surprisingly dark final act.

Keegan Connor Tracy plays Elizabeth Parsons, a fairly one-dimensional female character defined by the fact that she's a wife and mother. It's the latter that's the focus here, because the film centres on her young son, Joshua (Jett Klyne), and the changes in his behaviour as he starts to spend more time with his imaginary friend, Z.

I think many horror fans can see where Z is going from that plot summary. If not, the film quickly sets up a premise very familiar to many. Joshua is a sweet kid, of course, and then starts to soon show signs of become less sweet, but still with that air of childish innocence, unaware of how his actions may be impacting on those around him. There are discussions between Elizabeth and her husband, Kevin (Sean Rogerson), discussions between the two of them and a psychiatrist, Dr. Seager (Stephen McHattie), and a general rise in tension as things become more worrying and hard to explain.

This is a slight step up from the previous film that Christensen and Minihan gave us, Still/Born (2017), although it's one that utilises a very similar approach. They're not out to reinvent the wheel, but they're intent on providing some nice moments of creepiness in between one or two VERY good jump scares. There's a moment in Z that made me both jump and also rethink how the rest of the film might play out, it's a line in the sand that is crossed over to show that, despite the polished style and familiar terrain, this isn't a film that is necessarily going to play things safe for the entire runtime. That's not to sell this as something shocking and transgressive, it isn't, but it certainly becomes something much more impressive than those early scenes indicate.

Tracy is very good in the lead role, she's an actress I have enjoyed in pretty much every role I have seen her take on, although I think this is the first time I have seen her in a good lead role (I cannot recall how big her part was in the Dead Rising movies, and most people will remember her from Final Destination 2). Klyne plays his part well, managing to act like the innocent kid he is, and thankfully Christensen never has him going through the all-too-obvious bag of tricks that could be on display if he was being depicted as "evil movie kid". Rogerson does okay, McHattie is always a welcome presence, and Sara Canning, Chandra West, and Ali Webb do well in supporting roles.

The budget can't quite allow Christensen the FX budget required for one or two main shots, although the practical side of things is impressively done, and I'm not entirely sure how well the very end of the movie works (well, I guess I should say that I don't think the very last scenes work at all), but this is another good horror movie from a duo who I hope to see continuing to work together, and continuing to improve incrementally with each project.

7/10

Shudder Saturday: Still/Born (2017)

Movies are like jokes, in my opinion. They can be made about absolutely anything. what matters is the context and the motivation. But it's fair to say that some people may not be able to watch Still/Born, with the horror being derived from the aftermath of something that is a hugely traumatic experience for any mother to go through.

Christie Burke plays Mary, a young mother who now has a son named Adam. That's all well and good, but Adam was born with a twin brother named Jonathan, who was stillborn. Mary is obviously seriously affected by this, to the point where she starts thinking that a demonic entity is after her son. Unfortunately, everyone else simply sees Mary in a state of deteriorating mental health, and the only one who could cause harm to her son, as far as they are concerned, is Mary herself. Her husband (Jesse Moss) is sympathetic, to a point, and she also has some support from a good neighbour (Rebecca Olson) and her own mother (Sheila McCarthy). She's also seeing a doctor (Michael Ironside), but her refusal to be completely honest with him doesn't help. As things start to escalate, Mary becomes convinced that the only way to save her son is to make a sacrifice.

It's hard to be overly critical of director Brandon Christensen, who also co-wrote the script with Colin Minihan (still probably best known to genre fans just now as one half of The Vicious Brothers). Making his feature debut, Christensen has certainly picked a subject that contains layered levels of horror. It's something that needs to be handled just right, and both the script and direction allow time for a dark fog of sadness to permeate scenes in between the standard scares. Unfortunately, those standard scares are real mixed bag. The first hour is a slog, with a number of lazy, but admittedly effective, jump scares and some fleeting glimpses of graphic nastiness that some viewers definitely won't appreciate. It also makes for a tough viewing as you wonder whether this is a standard horror movie or a look at the world through the eyes of someone in a state of painful suffering after experiencing the worst loss of their life. That uneasy blend lasts right up until the final scenes, with a coda that feels equally dispiriting because of what it reveals to another main character. Some may argue that a scene between Mary and a mother who previously seemed to share her experience (played by Jenn Griffin) keeps the film rooted in more standard scares. I would have to disagree. It feels like a shared hallucination, mainly because of the way in which nobody else is ever brought in to the proceedings at the right time to offer help.

This is a film that floods the screen with a sense of helplessness, almost as if it dresses up the main character in heavy clothing and forces her to wade into deeper and deeper water. That's a hard thing to watch, at times, but would fit more in a film that wasn't also trying to deliver the required genre goods.

Burke is good in the lead role, managing to show her terror and paranoia without her performance devolving into a mass of wide-eyed hair-pulling and shrieking (as can sometimes happen). Moss does fine in his role, although he's at the mercy of a script that has him having to be kept out of the way while things get worse for his onscreen wife. Ironside is always good to see, and his small role here is uncharacteristically non-threatening, and Olson and McCarthy both do solid work.

Still/Born is good. It walks a fine line between being considerate to the central issue that spurs on the horror and being in completely bad taste, and I think I would recommend avoiding it if you are one of the many women who have experienced the loss that Mary goes through (or at least give yourself ample time to prepare for your viewing), but it just does enough to keep itself in the right. Only just.

6/10

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