Night of the Reaper (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – College student Deena visits home and is roped into babysitting. The local sheriff is mailed a piece of evidence and is led on a scavenger hunt to reveal the killer of another babysitter.

My Take – With older franchises coming back to life and newer one being constantly created, the slasher genre is on a quite upswing after taking a downward turn in the ’90s. With newer filmmakers finding their unique spins on the formula to keep things fresh.

Trying their best to deliver an offering that remains distinct enough to avoid being a simple carbon copy of everything viewers have already seen. Such is the case of this latest from director Brandon Christensen (Superhost, The Puppetman), that is currently streaming on Shudder, whose retro setting, thrilling opening sequence, and solid design for the central killer had all the makings of a fairly straightforward effort, well, that is until it pulls the rug in the third act and plays with concept just enough to make it a bit more special.

Co-written by Brandon Christensen and his brother Ryan, the film pays homage to classics like John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) and Fred Walton’s When a Stranger Calls (1979), to create its own twisty tale filled with serial murder, red herrings, false paths and carefully calculated traps. Resulting in a fun 80s throwback slasher that incorporates just enough of a mystery and atmosphere to keep dedicated horror fans engaged. Scratching the slasher itch without being particularly demanding.

Sure, there aren’t many kills, and most of which come via videotapes, but slashers aren’t usually that intelligent. Normally, it’s just a chance to see young adults (mostly teenagers) putting down a villain who has been terrorizing a community. And compared to most in an increasingly crowded genre, this one particularly sticks the landing with its ending. And if you’re a fan of the genre, it is well worth a watch.

Set in a 1980s suburb, the story follows Deena (Jessica Clement) who back from college, visiting her family following a family tragedy. A result of which her family is still struggling to put the pieces of their life back together. A result of which Deena is more comfortable spending time with her best friend, Haddie (Savannah Miller), who has a part-time job babysitting the perfect boy Max (Max Christensen) for the widowed Sheriff Rod Arnold (Ryan Robbins).

But when Haddie comes down with a nasty bug, she requests Deena to fill in for her so she doesn’t lose her job to another sitter in town, she hesitantly agrees. While the babysitting gig goes pretty well, but soon finds Deena herself stalked by a masked figure with a camera and homicidal intent. Meanwhile, Sheriff Rod Arnold is busy in his own investigation.

After receiving an unmarked package on his doorstep earlier in the day, Rodney has been tracing unmarked boxes that continue to pop up everywhere his hunches has been leading him to, with each subsequent one containing a videotape of The Reaper’s home videos, some of which show deaths no one even knew were murders.

Here, Christensen proves him to be a confident director, ably assembling a thriller of modest ambitions with strong visual storytelling. Right from its opening sequence, his film is hard-coded as a product from the second half of the 80s.

It is not just the setting, that obviously means to evoke retro vibes using fuzzy VHS snow flickering over opening credits and conspicuous close-ups on vintage Coke cans to confirm the time period, it is unfolding scenario, familiar from many a slasher, in which teen babysitter Emily Golding (Summer H. Howell) finds herself and her two younger wards coming under attack from an intruder in robe and death’s skull mask, intent on toying with this helpless prey before moving in for the kill.

The story doesn’t explicitly take place on Halloween, yet that seems to be the season, what with suburban homes all decked out in plastic jack o’ lanterns and cardboard skeletons adorning doors in the neighborhood.

Though the pacing may not be the best, he effectively creates a chilly late-October small town atmosphere to lay out his central mystery. Making the quiet, familiar setting feel unsafe and threatening. He wisely keeps the killer shrouded in shadow for much of the runtime, turning the story into a tense whodunit instead of a straightforward gore fest.

The script lays out a few intriguing red herrings and keeps the audience guessing, saving its biggest reveals for a final act that, for the most part, pays off the suspenseful buildup. Not only does the villain’s identity prove an interesting surprise, but the way in which Deena looks to turn the tables on them makes the preceding story an interesting setup of clues.

Where the film actually stumbles is in its reluctance to fully embrace the brutality of its premise. For an R-rated slasher on a niche horror service, the film is surprisingly tame. While there are a few interesting and well-staged kills, they often happen just off-screen or are shot in a way that minimizes the visceral impact.

Performances wise, Jessica Clement makes for a capable and exciting protagonist. She has some complex emotional arcs to navigate through the film, and she does it all very well. Ryan Robbins similarly proves to be particularly outstanding. With a nuanced role to spare that rises above a typical local cop trying to find a killer he brings a lot to his character.

In supporting turns, Keegan Connor Tracy, Matty Finochio, Ben Cockell, Bryn Samuel, Savannah Miller and Summer H. Howell are decent enough. On the whole, ‘Night of the Reaper‘ is a competent 80s throwback slasher that tries something unexpected with the routine formula.