Dear Watchers,We’re getting our horror fix on this Genre Movie Wednesday, starting with a movie that is both a clever tribute to some horror classics — at least 20, to be precise — and a genuinely scary movie. Our expert in the genre, Erik Piepenburg, says it’s one of his favorites this year. If you’re looking for something more psychological, though, Erik has a second great choice this week: a missing-daughter thriller that keeps its characters (and viewers) guessing. Read below what Erik appreciates about each film, then head here for three more of his picks. Happy Watching. ‘Blood Barn’
Where to watch: Stream “Blood Barn” on Screambox. In a recent video, the director Gabriel Bernini and the screenwriter Alexandra Jade explained how they affectionately “ripped off” the shot-on-video oddity “Blood Lake” (1987) and 19 other horror films to make their new one. Yet their “Blood Barn” is no patchwork slop. It’s a sharp and very funny homage to classic and not-so-classic horror, “Evil Dead” most spectacularly (and venerably). It’s one of my favorite horror movies of the year so far. It starts with the conventions of a summer-set slasher film: A group of young friends vacation at a home inside a barn where one of them, Josie (Lena Redford), spent time as a child. Evil arrives in an early scene when the grass starts eating clothing, and from there this weirdo movie moves. We’re talking demonic possession, a thirsty tentacled creature, screwball humor and lakes of blood and gore The film subverts expectations of 1980s horror pastiche with comically demented stamps on the era by Benjamin Bradley-Gilbert’s rowdy cinematography, Jonathan Rado’s unsettling score and Caroline J. Mills’s sicko makeup and practical effects. I look forward to whatever these promising young filmmakers do next. ‘Firebreak’
Where to watch: Stream “Firebreak” on Netflix. After her husband’s death, Mara (Belén Cuesta) and her daughter, Lide (Candela Martínez), travel to their family’s summer house accompanied by Mara’s brother-in-law and his family. As Mara packs up the house to be sold, Lide goes missing. Mara asks her neighbor Santiago (Enric Auquer), the last person to see Lide, to help look for the little girl before an encroaching forest fire forces them to flee. Panicked, Mara starts to suspect that Santiago knows where Lide is, and she asks to look inside his house. He reluctantly obliges but won’t let her inside one of the rooms. Is Santiago an antsy but harmless guy with a thing for mushrooms? Or is he hiding something — or someone? Over a taut 107 minutes, the characters keep getting it wrong about who the monster is, like Faithfuls voting out Faithfuls on “The Traitors.” Those are just some of the sparks that ignite this psychological Spanish thriller from the director David Victori. The acting is terrific, especially Auquer as a misunderstood mystery man and Cuesta as a ferocious mama bear. Want to see more of our expert reporting in your Google search results?Add The New York Times as a preferred source.
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