Tag: overdone plot

Spoiler-Free Review of “Until Dawn” in Theaters: A Forgettable Horror Flick

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

“That’s where people get in trouble…”

Until Dawn released in theaters on April 25th 2025. Based on the video game of the same name, the survival horror film stars Ella Rubin, Ji-young Yoo, Belmont Cameli, Odessa A’zion, Michael Cimino, and Peter Stormare. It runs for approximately an hour and forty-three minutes.

One year after her sister’s disappearance, Clover and her friends head to the spot where she vanished looking for answers, leading them into a never-ending trap that causes them to relive the same day over and over again after facing horrific deaths.

Here is the trailer:

Until Dawn has an eerie enough premise and some decent kills, but does it do enough to stand out in the horror genre? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Playstation Productions

Solid premise.

I was hooked by the trailer and thought this one had a lot of potential. I’m familiar with the game, but I wouldn’t say that I am that knowledgeable on it so I went into this with no real expectations. I thought the setup was a decent one and our cast did a good enough job with what they were given.

Images courtesy of Playstation Productions

Peter Stormare!

He voiced Dr. Hill in the game and I thought it was genius that they cast him in the movie. I’m a huge fan of his since Prison Break and thought he was the BEST part of the movie.

He embraced his role (even though it wasn’t a large one) and just went with it, bringing us plenty of creepy vibes.

Ella Rubin gave us a decent performance as well as Clover, but she needed some more layers. The backstory was there, but it wasn’t fleshed out enough. I liked her though!

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Playstation Productions

Cheesy jump scares and too many forced tropes.

Ugh, I really wanted to like this movie. It wasn’t bad, but it really wasn’t good either. It was just kind of meh…?

I didn’t jump once despite all of the overused scares. I thought it was cool that they had some Easter eggs for fans of the game, but I think they could have used more of them.

The reliving the same day over and over plot has been done a million times before and I don’t think this film did anything that unique or new with it. Some of the effects were cool, but everything just felt really safe and by the numbers.

I wanted this movie to just break some barriers and go for something extreme, but we never reached that point.

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Playstation Productions

Unfortunately I’m out on this one…

Until Dawn ultimately misses the mark, relying too heavily on cheesy jump scares and overdone plot gimmicks.

This was a boring and frustrating watch and I was really disappointed.

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

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

CHECKING OUT WAS NEVER AN OPTION…

A weekend getaway goes horribly wrong when Charlotte suspects that a guest at her bed-and-breakfast has gone missing. A heart-pounding thriller that will keep you guessing until the end. We Hope You Enjoy Your Stay is available below! I hope you enjoy!

We Hope You Enjoy Your Stay is available here!

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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!