Tag: Night Swim

Spoiler-Free Review of “The Woman in the Yard” in Theaters: Another Missed Opportunity for Blumhouse…

**This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!**

“Today’s the day…”

The Woman in the Yard released in theaters on March 28th 2025. The psychological horror film stars Danielle Deadwyler, Peyton Jackson, Russell Hornsby, and Okwui Okpokwasili . It runs for approximately an hour and twenty-five minutes.

After losing her husband in a car accident, a woman named Ramona attempts to cope with her grief while taking care of her two children in a rural farmhouse, but when a mysterious woman shows up on her property, she soon realizes that she will need to do everything in her power to protect her family from harm.

Here is the trailer:

The Woman in the Yard attempts to terrify us with an eerie enough premise, but it over-complicates things in the end. Is it worthy of your next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Blumhouse

Creepy premise.

I don’t know about you, but I would be completely terrified if this woman showed up randomly on my property. There was this lingering sense of dread that worked well in the film. I thought the idea was solid enough for what should have been an entertaining horror film, but sometimes it’s difficult for a terrific concept to translate into brilliant execution.

Images courtesy of Blumhouse

Decent performances.

Danielle Deadwyler put as much into this film as she could. I thought she was very believable as a grieving mother. Everyone played their part well. I can’t fault the actors, but unfortunately they weren’t given much to work with here…

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Blumhouse

Over does a premise I’ve seen a million times before.

I’m really getting tired of psychological horror films that attempt to connect grief to horror. I get the connection, but we’ve seen this done way too many times recently in these films. There was a lot of potential here, but it quickly disappeared the moment it tried to copy every other film I’ve seen in the last two years within this genre.

The jump scares were silly and while I found the overall premise frightening on some level, there wasn’t anything about this film that really scared me.

By the time I got to the end of this movie (thankfully it wasn’t long), I felt like I had wasted my time. Blumhouse has been having a lot of misses lately (Imaginary, Night Swim) and this one falls into that forgettable horror genre a little too easily. We can do better!

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Blumhouse

I’m out on this one…

The Woman in the Yard doesn’t have an ounce of originality, ultimately making it a forgettable and pointless horror film despite its eerie premise.

I didn’t expect much here, but this film was very disappointing.

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on The Woman in the Yard in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

DON’T TAKE THE JOB…

It was only supposed to be temporary…but when Olivia Crewe accepts a new position that seems too good to be true, she soon discovers that twelve other girls previously had the same job as her. Only none of them lasted for more than thirty days. No notice. Nothing…right before they mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

My supernatural thriller Girl Number Thirteen is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Girl Number Thirteen is available here!

**If you enjoyed this blog, I would love it if you would click the follow button on your way out to subscribe.  Thanks for your support!

Spoiler-Free Review of “AFRAID” (2024) on Demand: The Screen Time Premise is Getting Exhausting…

*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“I feel like it’s listening to us all the time…”

AFRAID released in theaters on August 30th 2024 and is now available to stream on Demand as of September 17th 2024. The sci-fi horror film stars John Cho, Katherine Waterston, Havana Rose Liu, Lukita Maxwell, and David Dastmalchian. It runs for approximately an hour and twenty-five minutes.

A marketing executive is selected to take home a new digital device named AIA to organize his family’s life, but when AIA thinks she knows what’s best for his family, she begins to take control of every situation, threatening their safety in the process.

Here is the trailer:

AFRAID channels M3gan in a lot of ways, but its gimmicky plot and cheap scares do little to enhance this viewing experience. Is it worthy of YOUR next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing

Talented cast.

I’m always happy to see John Cho in horror films and I thought this film had a pretty recognizable cast, which was a plus. Havana Rose Liu stole the film for me. She is quickly becoming one of my new favorite actresses. I loved her in No Exit and Bottoms. She managed to be charming and eerie at the same time with her portrayal. I just wish she got a better film…

Unfortunately the pros stop here…

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing

Uninspiring plot.

I just recently watched Subservience starring Megan Fox (which also channeled M3gan), but that film was a lot more interesting than AFRAID. I’ve seen too many movies with the AI taking over theme recently and while some have clever takes on it, this film fails to say anything new. The plot felt lazy and that ending was atrocious.

Images courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing

Lack of suspense.

I would have been fine with the overdone plot if this movie was actually scary. Instead it relied on cheesy jump scares, which was beyond frustrating. There was one scene that actually had potential, but it cut away from it before showing us anything that violent or frightening. It just felt like they phoned it in with this film and didn’t really care to put in any real effort here.

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing

Unfortunately I’m out on this one…

AFRAID fails to deliver with nothing new to say, but at least Havana Rose Liu ate up every ounce of screen time.

Still better than Night Swim though…

I hope you enjoyed the review and please feel free to share your thoughts on AFRAID in the comments section!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

IN THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS, HER NIGHT FROM HELL HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN…

After working the night shift, Ashley becomes entangled in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a local street gang, forcing her to come up with a plan to survive the night by turning the tables on them.

Ashley must fight for her life and take them out one by one if she wants to make it to morning…

My young adult revenge thriller is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Make it Through the Night is available here!

**If you enjoyed this blog, I would love it if you would click the follow button on your way out to subscribe.  Thanks for your support!

Spoiler-Free Review of “Imaginary” in Theaters: He’s Not Your Friend…

**This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!**

“I found someone else to play with…”

Imaginary released in theaters on March 8th 2024. The supernatural horror film stars DeWanda Wise, Tom Payne, Pyper Braun, and Taegen Burns. It runs for approximately an hour and forty-four minutes.

When Jessica returns to her childhood home, she becomes concerned about her stepdaughter’s behavior when she begins to spend all her time with a stuffed bear named Chauncey.

Here is the trailer:

Imaginary attempts to terrify us with a decent enough premise, but its wild twists get in the way. Is it worthy of your next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Lionsgate

Fun premise.

I really loved the idea of an imaginary friend terrorizing people in the form of a cute and cuddly bear. This had all the ingredients to be an entertaining horror film and I think that the first half of this film was creepy and interesting enough.

Images courtesy of Lionsgate

Decent characters.

I thought the cast did a solid enough job here and I appreciated that our characters were given some layers to explore. It helped me invest more in them and I was rooting for them despite some of my issues with this film.

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Lionsgate

The second half goes off the rails…

And not in a good way. There were way too many twists in this one and none of them were that satisfying. This was frustrating because I thought this film started off entertaining enough. It’s like the writers decided to take everyone’s idea on how they think the movie should end and mashed them all together hoping it would pay off.

A lot of the reveals felt completely bonkers and laughable. Some of the dialogue was really hard to get through as well…

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Lionsgate

I’m 50/50 on this one…

Imaginary had some genuinely creepy moments built in and it was a lot better than Night Swim, but the crazy second half felt really forced and silly, which was disappointing.

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Imaginary in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

DON’T TAKE THE JOB…

It was only supposed to be temporary…but when Olivia Crewe accepts a new position that seems too good to be true, she soon discovers that twelve other girls previously had the same job as her. Only none of them lasted for more than thirty days. No notice. Nothing…right before they mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

My supernatural thriller Girl Number Thirteen is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Girl Number Thirteen is available here!

**If you enjoyed this blog, I would love it if you would click the follow button on your way out to subscribe.  Thanks for your support!

Spoiler-Free Review of “Night Swim” in Theaters: Skip the Dip…

*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“I always wanted a pool…”

Night Swim (based off the 2014 short of the same name) released in theaters on January 5th 2024. The supernatural horror film stars Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amélie Hoeferle, and Jodi Long. It runs for approximately an hour and thirty-eight minutes.

A former baseball player moves into a new home and is hoping that their pool can give him the therapy he needs, but a malevolent force is unleashed instead, terrorizing those closest to him.

Here is the trailer:

Night Swim attempts to channel films like Jaws and The Amityville Horror, but goes off the deep end with its reveals. Is it worthy of YOUR next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Universal Pictures

Eerie premise with a decent enough opening.

The film started off with some potential. I liked the opening and thought we were on our way to experiencing a creepy supernatural flick, but sometimes a film can’t find its way past an initial concept.

That being said, there were some more disturbing moments sprinkled in throughout the film, but nothing to get too excited about…

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Universal Pictures

Takes itself too seriously.

I think this was my biggest issue with this film. It really could have benefited from some campy fun. Instead, it was just laughable and silly in all the wrong ways. The reveal was not worth sticking around for and some of the dialogue was beyond atrocious. The actors were decent enough, but they were stuck in uninspiring roles so it made it difficult for me to really invest in any of them.

This film also relied too heavily on desperate jump scares, which didn’t add anything to the film. Instead, it just showed off how extremely shallow it was.

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Universal Pictures

Unfortunately I’m out on this one…

Night Swim gets off to a creepy start, but it never quite finds its way past the concept, making this an uninspiring watch overall.

I was expecting a lot more from my first horror watch of the year.

I hope you enjoyed the review and please feel free to share your thoughts on Night Swim in the comments section!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

IN THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS, HER NIGHT FROM HELL HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN…

After working the night shift, Ashley becomes entangled in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a local street gang, forcing her to come up with a plan to survive the night by turning the tables on them.

Ashley must fight for her life and take them out one by one if she wants to make it to morning…

My young adult revenge thriller is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Make it Through the Night is available here!

**If you enjoyed this blog, I would love it if you would click the follow button on your way out to subscribe.  Thanks for your support!