Though it's big twist doesn't hit as hard as it could, Night of the Reaper has enough atmosphere to earn a light recommendation for genre fans.
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The slasher genre is an interesting one. Why? Because filmmakers who know and love the genre understand that if you're going to make a slasher movie, you need to do something different. Your killer's motivation and gimmick, maybe something about the hero, or the presence of something supernatural (or lack thereof), all play into what will make your slasher stand out amongst a murderous pack. And Night of the Reaper has two distinctive elements that make it stand out. One that I can talk about without spoiling anything. And one I can't. So this is going to be a half and half spooky spoilerific review.
The Setup
Taking place in the eighties, the movie follows a young college student named Deena, who's returned to her hometown after a break from college. But almost as quickly as she returns, Deena is tasked with babysitting the sheriff's son...on the worst possible night. Because someone is terrorizing our sheriff with evidence from a series of gruesome murders that have happened in this small town and it looks like Deena and the sheriff's son are their next targets...
On a surface level, Night of the Reaper offers a lot of familiar territory for slasher fans. We have a young girl babysitting who's being stalked by a blade-wielding baddy who has killed before and is looking to kill again. So what makes this one stand out?
The first is build-up. Now any slasher film worth their salt works their way up to every kill. Especially the first one which needs to feel memorable and terrifying. So if you're say, Wes Craven and want to make the audience feel like nobody is safe, you kill off your biggest named actor in the opening sequence (shoutout to Scream). And that entire scene might take 10-15 minutes.
From there the build-up and payoff to violence tends to accelerate once the killer makes their presence known or has stalked their prey for the majority of act one.
But Night of the Reaper doesn't. Instead it continues to ratchet up the tension on two fronts: at the sheriff's house with Deena and with the sheriff himself.
At the sheriff's house we're getting a slow burn into terror as Deena starts to realize that someone else is in the house with her and the kid. Because our villain appears to enjoy f**ing with their food. Doors open. Pictures get moved. And little sounds that could be from the kid, but the kid's right in front of Deena, keep happening. A whole lot of discomfort for the audience and Deena to stew in.
This is exacerbated by the sheriff's journey who is seemingly being taunted by the killer with evidence of their crimes. First we get a piece of evidence that's been missing from one of the murder cases for years. Then a video. Then another video that provides evidence to another crime no one was thinking about.
The effect is that the killer is seeming more and more dangerous at the very same time that Deena is being stalked by them and the sheriff is becoming more violently unhinged looking for answers.
And all of this works really well. Director Brandon Christensen drifts between two equally unsettling visual styles including VHS tapes that provide evidence to the sheriff and what I'll call "limited lighting" setups at the house. Basically one room or light is on which means anything that moves in the dark has a threatening vibe. Likewise, the back and forth prevents either storyline from going off to deep end or becoming boring, because as much as being stalked in a house by yourself is freaky, there's limits to how much you can realistically extend that.
So that's the first hook. This double edged slow burn towards the killer revealing themselves. What's the second? Spoiler time.
Giant Spoiler Warning
The second hook for this movie is all about Deena. Because as it turns out...almost everything that's happened tonight is part of Deena's plan. While it's been alluded to before, the victim from the very beginning of the movie was Deena's sister, and Deena has spent every waking moment since then trying to find out who the killer is and to trap them so she could carry out her revenge. This includes drugging her friend so she couldn't babysit and Deena would have to fill in, getting the sheriff's kid out of there...and also sending all of that evidence to the sheriff to keep him away from the house and get him mad as hell.
And I'm torn on this one.
On the one hand, I generally like the idea of a smart female protagonist like Deena flipping the slasher script on the slasher villain. It's a lot like similar ideas explored in movies like You're Next and other modern slashers.
And it's not like there weren't signs dropped along the way. There's a number of scenes that makes a lot more sense once you have all of the information and Deena has been hinting at a desire to "solve" her sister's case.
The problem mostly comes down to the other players including the killer.
Without revealing who they are, the ultimate reveal of the killer doesn't land that hard. Not because we needed more backstory or anything but because the movie doesn't give a concrete motivation outside of "ehehehe I'm evil." Which makes even less sense considering how targeted and cruel their crimes were.
This is further complicated because not only is this killer knowingly going after the sister of someone she murdered, she's also attacking the house of a woman, whom it's revealed earlier, they also killed. This screams personal, and yet...it isn't. It's just targeted malevolence.
I also think the movie doesn't expand on a promising idea, which is how hurt can transform someone into a monster.
See Deena going from average college student to supervillain level planner who's planning to murder a murderer, or the violent rage that the sheriff brings to every interrogation or suspect interaction over the course of the night.
If we had a better idea of who these people were before their lives were upended by tragedy this could hit a lot harder.
Instead what we have is a more or less standard slasher movie with a semi-novel twist.
The Verdict: It's Alright
Though it's big twist doesn't hit as hard as it could, Night of the Reaper has enough atmosphere to earn a light recommendation for genre fans. 6/10
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