For just seven dollars a month, Shudder gives horror fans access to one of the largest and most varied libraries in streaming. This year alone, the service has released a dozen original films of wildly different quality, from exciting slashers like Clown in a Cornfield to franchise-killing disasters like Hell House LLC: Lineage. While it can sometimes feel like a content mill designed to keep subscribers on the hook, it is hard to deny that Shudder has created a thriving ecosystem for the genre. In the middle of all the hits and misses lies Night of the Reaper, a serviceable but ultimately forgettable slasher that will satisfy diehards but leave casual viewers wanting more.
Night of the Reaper Review
Directed by Brandon Christensen, Night of the Reaper opens with a stereotypical scene from the slasher playbook: a local babysitter is stalked and murdered by a mysterious masked figure (thankfully, the tiresome meta commentary on how derivative this is isn’t present). Sometime later, our protagonist, Deena (Jessica Clement), takes a new babysitting job in the now-terrified town, effectively taking up the mantle of the slain girl. Her quiet evening quickly spirals into a nightmare as she realizes the dormant killer, “The Reaper,” has returned. This forces Deena into a desperate fight for survival while a pair of detectives race to unmask the killer before he strikes again.
The film’s greatest strength is its central mystery. Christensen does a commendable job of building a sense of suburban dread, 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.
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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. The performances are solid for a film of this scale, with Jessica Clement making for a capable and exciting protagonist. The detectives investigating the case also bring a grounded, procedural feel to the narrative that helps balance the more traditional horror elements.
Where the film stumbles, however, is in its reluctance to fully embrace the brutality of its premise. For an R-rated slasher on a niche horror service, Night of the Reaper 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. This feels like a missed opportunity.
Subscribers to Shudder are not a squeamish bunch; they come expecting a certain level of intensity that the film seems hesitant to provide. This restraint keeps the film from ever achieving the kind of memorable, shocking set pieces that define the best slashers. Without the gut-punch of effective gore or the lingering terror of truly masterful suspense, the film occupies a strange middle ground where it is unsettling but never genuinely scary.
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On a technical level, the film is competently made but lacks a distinct personality. The cinematography is clean and effective, capturing the nighttime setting with a visual palette that looks neat but does not add much in the way of a unique visual identity. The score is similarly functional, providing the expected ominous tones and jump-scare stingers without offering anything particularly memorable. It all contributes to the feeling that Night of the Reaper is a solid piece of content, a well-oiled machine designed to fill a slot in a streaming library rather than a passionate, standalone work of horror.
Is Night of the Reaper worth watching?
Night of the Reaper is the quintessential Shudder original; a fine, 90-minute distraction that offers just enough mystery and atmosphere to keep dedicated horror fans engaged. It scratches the slasher itch without being particularly demanding or innovative. It’s not slop, but it also does not have much to say, nor does it do enough to stand out in an increasingly crowded genre. For those who live and breathe horror, it’s a perfectly acceptable way to spend an evening. For everyone else, it’s a decent but disposable thriller that is unlikely to linger in the memory once the credits roll.
Night of the Reaper is on Shudder on September 19.
