Netflix Horrors is a regular column in which Shock Till You Drop alerts you to the latest genre titles to hit the VOD service. For our archive of titles, head right here.
Today brings three 2014 titles, one of which found a firm place on my best of the year list.
APP Bobby Boermans Dutch thriller is a swift, fun piece of work. Its gimmicky in that it encourages a second screen viewingyou can download an app which will clue you in to further information during the filmbut thats part of the party. APP is certainly bolstered by its proactive lead performance from Hannah Hoekstra, playing a student whose phone is infected by an all-seeing, all-knowing, malevolent app.
Stephen Kings A Good Marriage Starring Joan Allen and Anthony LaPaglia, this adaptation of Stephen Kings novella (from Full Dark, No Stars) found little favor upon release last fall. Its trailer carried the style of a 90s thriller (currently seeing resurgence in films like The Boy Next Door), as does its plot, concerned with a wife who discovers, after 25 years of happy marriage, her husband is likely a serial killer.
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014) The feature debut of breakout American Horror Story director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (whose second film Me, Earl and the Dying Girl just won immense favor at Sundance and sold for $12 Million) was pretty underseen last fall. Thats a shame. Heres what I wrote on my Top Films of 2014: The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) is rooted in the self-referencing ending of Charles B. Pierces original, all-out De Palma flair and meta, knowing post-Scream slashers. The film lives in some amalgamation of reality and heightened style. Yes, the original picture about the true-life Texarkana Moonlight Murders plays in Texarkana annually, and so its premise is both grounded and metatextual. The former, its imagery is not. Rejon goes nuts with sweeping cameras, diopter shots, big color and a mean spirit as a new Phantom Killer takes Texarkana by storm. The filmmaker isnt visually creative with just murder however, playing with Texarkanas border location and the regions two police forces. And then theres Anthony Anderson, going big as dick-swinger Lone Wolf Morales, a character I want partnered with Cold in Julys Jim Bob (Don Johnson) for a ten gallon buddy comedy.
