240 | Rare Exports

Director: Jalmari Helander

Writers: Jalmari Helander, Juuso Helander

Stars: Jorma Tommila, Peeter Jakobi, Onni Tommila

Synopsis: On the border of Finland and Russia, 486 meters deep within the Korvatunturi mountains, lies a long-buried secret of Christmas. After a group of excavators unearth this secret, the nearby village learns that some secrets should remain buried. With so few Christmas-themed horror movies to choose from, Rare Exports is a wonderful holiday treat!

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Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

$17.99

Starring Jorma Tommila, Peeter Jakobi, Onni Tommila

Buy on Amazon

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We're back next time with our review of Eli Roth's Thanksgiving

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239 | Dark Harvest

• Directed by David Slade

• Written by Michael Gilio, based on the novel by Norman Partridge

• Rated R 

• Runtime: 1hr 36min

• Stars: Casey Likes, Emyri Crutchfield and Jeremy Davies

• Released October 13, 2023 on VOD

• RT: 71% critics / 48% audience

  Synopsis 

  The teenage boys in a small town compete in a macabre contest each Halloween to hunt down and devour a monster called Sawtooth Jack before he can make it to the local church. Fortune and fame come to the winning boy and his family. This year, the angsty brother of the last winner badly wants to compete and win his ticket out of town, despite his entry being against the rules.

Join us next time when we'll review Thanksgiving, currently playing in theaters.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

238 | When Evil Lurks

• Written & Directed by Demián Rugna

• Unrated 

• Runtime: 1hr 34min

• Stars: Ezequiel Rodríguez, Luis Ziembrowski and Demián Salomón

• Premiered at TIFF September 13, 2023

• Released in limited theaters October 6, 2023 and on Shudder October 27, 2023

• RT: 99% critics / 57% audience

  Synopsis 

  Two brothers in a small village discover a possessed man on their neighbor’s property who is infecting the nearby livestock. When they attempt to move him they unleash the demon on everyone around them.

Join us next time when we'll review Dark Harvest, currently available for rent.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

237 | Appendage

• Written & Directed by Anna Zlokovic

• Rated TV-MA

• Runtime: 1hr 34min

• Stars: Hadley Robinson, Emily Hampshire and Kausar Mohammed

• Premiered at South by Southwest March 11, 2023

• Released on Hulu October 2, 2023

• RT: 52% critics / 62% audience

  Synopsis 

  A stressed-out young woman finds that her anxieties are manifesting themselves in strange ways, as a growth begins to appear on her stomach and soon dislodges itself and develops a mind of its own.

Join us next time when we'll review Argentinian import When Evil Lurks, currently in theaters and coming to streaming October 27.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

236 | V/H/S 85

• Not Rated

• Runtime: 1hr 50min

• Stars: Freddy Rodríguez, James Ransone and Jordan Belfi

• Premiered at Fantastic Fest September 22, 2023

• Released on Shudder October 6, 2023

• RT: 73%/71%

  Synopsis 

• Total Copy (frame story): Directed by David Bruckner

• No Wake (Segment 1): Directed by Mike P. Nelson

• God of Death (Segment 2): Directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero

• TKNOGD (Segment 3): Directed by Natasha Kermani

• Ambrosia (Segment 4): Directed by Mike P. Nelson

• Dreamkill (Segment 5): Directed by Scott Derrickson

Join us next time when we’ll be reviewing Appendage, streaming on Hulu starting October 6.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

235 | Perpetrator

• Written & Directed by Jennifer Reeder

• Stars Kiah McKirnan, Alicia Silverstone and Christopher Lowell

• Not Rated

• Runtime: 1hr 41mins

• Premiered at Berlin International Film Festival February 17, 2023

• Released September 1, 2023

• RT: 80% critics, 32% audience

  Synopsis 

  Teenage outcast Jonny is sent to live with her strange aunt in a town where girls have been going missing. As her aunt introduces Jonny to her burgeoning new powers, she decides to utilize them to find her missing classmates.

Join us next time when we’ll be reviewing V/H/S 85, streaming on Shudder starting October 6.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

234 | Cobweb

• Directed by Samuel Bodin

• Written by Chris Thomas Devlin

• Stars Lizzy Caplan, Antony Starr and Cleopatra Coleman

• Rated R

• Runtime: 1hr 28mins

• Released in the July 21, 2023

• RT: 59% critics, 71% audience 

  Synopsis 

  A lonely little boy with overprotective parents is kept up at night by a tapping on his bedroom walls. 

Join us next time when we’ll be reviewing Perpetrator, currently streaming on Shudder.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

233 | The Snowtown Murders

• Directed by Justin Kurzel

• Written by Shaun Grant, based on the book by Debi Marshall and Andrew McGarry

• Stars Lucas Pittaway and Daniel Henshall

• Not Rated 

• Runtime: 1hr 59mins

• Premiered at Cannes May 16, 2011

• Released in the US March 2, 2012

• RT: 85% critics, 66% audience

  Synopsis 

  Based on the true story of John Bunting, Australia’s most prolific serial killer, who was charged with the murders of 11 people.

Join us next time when we’ll be reviewing Cobweb, currently available to rent on Amazon Prime.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

232 | The Last Voyage of the Demeter

• Directed by André Øvredal

• Written by Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz

• Stars Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi and Javier Botet

• Rated R

• Runtime: 1hr 58mins

• Released August 11, 2023

• RT: 49% critics, 74% audience

  Synopsis 

  Based on a single chapter, the Captain's Log, from Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel "Dracula", the story is set aboard the Russian schooner Demeter, which was chartered to carry private cargo - 24 unmarked wooden crates - from Carpathia to London.

Join us next time when we’ll be reviewing Snowtown, now streaming on Shudder, AMC+ and Kanopy.

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Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/