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!

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Spoiler-Free Review of “Last Seen Alive” on Netflix: Modern take on “The Vanishing” has its moments

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

“Tell me where she is…”

Last Seen Alive originally premiered in June 2022, but released in the US on Netflix on October 1st 2022. The action thriller film stars Gerard Butler, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Hornsby, and Ethan Embry. It runs for approximately an hour and thirty-five minutes.

After Will’s wife goes missing at a gas station, he takes the law into his own hands to track her down before it’s too late.

Here is the trailer:

Last Seen Alive has a great cast with some really intense moments built in. Is it worthy of your next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Netflix

My kind of thriller…

This movie definitely channeled The Vanishing in a lot of ways. The premise was really similar and it had a darker tone that I really liked. Even though this film was far from perfect, it fit very nicely into that “movie of the week” category with lots of action and a mystery that kept you on the hook in a good way.

Images courtesy of Netflix

Fast-paced plot with a really solid opening.

This film didn’t waste too much time with unnecessary fluff or set-up. There were some flashbacks thrown in to reveal a little bit more about the relationship between Will and Lisa, but this never impacted the pacing in a negative way. Everything moved really quickly with lots of action and that opening was really chilling in the best way possible!

Sure, this movie took some ridiculous turns after that, but as long as you manage your expectations, you’ll still enjoy the ride.

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Netflix

Far-fetched at times…

I’m not sure that this film really did its research on police procedures and a lot of things just seemed really outrageous. I’m all for letting Gerard Butler cause some serious damage, but there were some moments that were really out there…

As long as you just go with it, you’ll still enjoy the film, however.

I also found Lisa’s parents to be really odd characters. The dialogue was awkward and forced. It might have been better to leave them out of the film all together because I’m not sure that they added anything to it.

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Netflix

I’m in!!!

Far from perfect, but still an intense thrill ride with plenty of action and a simple formula that worked. If you enjoy films like The Vanishing, you’ll find lots to like with this one.

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

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

PLAY BY THE RULES…STAY ALIVE…

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A harmless night of fun turns deadly for six college friends but the game has only just begun. Take a mystery thrill ride right from your own living room. Dash and Seek is out now! I hope you enjoy!

READ IF YOU DARE…

Dash and Seek is available here!

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