Night of the Reaper (2025) review – A Shudder slasher with a killer twist

Welcome to Knockout Horror. How about we head back to the 80s for today’s horror review? A time where the hair was big, the furniture was brown, and the horror was usually of the slasher variety. We aren’t talking about an actual 80s classic, though. We are talking about Shudder’s latest effort Night of the Reaper (2025).

A familiar plot and more faux nostalgia

The story takes place in the 1980s and follows college student Deena (Jessica Clement). Deena has just returned home for a visit but finds herself roped into babysitting for a family friend. Deena’s sister was murdered by a snuff movie making masked assailant a few years before. An assailant who is about to make their return. After receiving some killer tapes, the local sheriff is forced to spring into action to try and stop them before another babysitter is butchered.

Look, I am going to be perfectly honest here. I was not looking forward to checking this movie out and there were a couple of reasons for that. The first being the fact that I am tired of all this faux nostalgia crap in horror. I know, a lot of people enjoy this type of stuff but I just feel like it is really overdone.

I can appreciate it when it’s approached the way Ti West approached it in The House of the Devil. You know the deal; filming with period accurate equipment and basing the story around a theme that was prevalent at the time, ie. Satanic Panic. But most of these movies aren’t made like that and simply don’t need to be set in the 70s, 80s, or 90s. It’s purely trend hopping.

The second reason is that I really didn’t rate director Brandon Christensen’s previous work – Superhost. That movie was saved by an excellent performance from Gracie Gillam as Rebecca. Outside of that it was dull, formulaic, and very difficult to recommend. User reviews for his other movies were middling at best.

With that being said, I decided to check Night of the Reaper out, regardless. I am trying to pack October with as many new releases as possible so it seemed like a good idea.

There’s more than meets the eye, here

I have to be honest, it started off pretty rough. The ultra derivative “babysitter stalked by a masked killer” theme is absolutely ancient and really not that interesting. There is almost zero that you can add to this genre to surprise the viewer outside of what Better Watch Out did almost a decade ago.

“When said babysitter started convulsing around the kitchen in one of those obnoxious, toe-curlingly cringe, moments of spontaneous dance, I legitimately rolled my eyes.”

When said babysitter started convulsing around the kitchen in one of those obnoxious, toe-curlingly cringe, moments of spontaneous dance, I legitimately rolled my eyes. My immediate reaction was “not another one of these desperate to be on-trend horror movies!”.

I always get these weird mental images of male directors with grey beards telling their leading ladies to dance more enthusiastically. All while nodding to themselves in approval of how much the kids on TikTok are going to love this.

Look guys, when we start having to consider what we eat after 8pm because of the indigestion implications, we should stop trying to make things that appeal to young people. It’s over, let’s mature a little.

Luckily, it does get better, though. As far as direction goes, this is a big leap from Superhost. Everything looks a lot more professional, the shot setups are more considered, and there is an era accurate grittiness that suggests a director who has come a long way. I was impressed! Night of the Reaper feels well made and like it has a higher budget than it probably does.

It’s formulaic but enjoyable enough

As far as the story itself goes, it’s pretty standard fare… for the most part. You know how these movies tend to play out. We have the babysitter alone in the house; scary noises from outside and unexpected phone calls; the plucky child who might just be playing a trick on her. It’s very formulaic until it isn’t.

“As far as direction goes, this is a big leap from Superhost. Everything looks a lot more professional… Night of the Reaper feels well made.”

Luckily, acting is pretty solid and Savannah Miller brings some much needed levity with a great performance as Deena’s friend Haddie.

Along with the focus on our college girl protagonist, we have a side-story featuring a grizzled cop. Said grizzled cop, Sheriff Rodney Arnold (Ryan Robbins), just so happens to be the father of the child Deena is caring for. Rodney lost his wife in a horrible accident years before and now has a steely resolve to stop the killer haunting their town.

The action flits back and forth between the cop’s ongoing investigation as he picks apart the mystery and Deena’s babysitting shenanigans. As the night goes on, more clues are revealed but each one seems to be just another red herring. Deena, meanwhile, is starting to experience strange events that worryingly mimic the events that took place before her sister was murdered.

As I said, it’s formulaic stuff and nothing all that new or exciting. The scares are predictable, the false scares even more so, and the detective work is ordinary, if not fairly interesting. It feels as though, for the most part, Night of the Reaper isn’t going to take any chances with its tried and tested babysitter horror shenanigans.

A big twist comes along to save the day

In the last 25 minutes, or so, the story switches up significantly. Christensen pulls the proverbial horror rug out from underneath you and tries something new. Obviously, I won’t spoil it but, suffice to say, it was nice to have my expectations subverted. A big chunk of narrative misdirection leads to a twist that is actually legitimately satisfying.

“Christensen pulls the proverbial horror rug out from underneath you… A big chunk of narrative misdirection leads to a twist that is actually legitimately satisfying.”

It’s enjoyable stuff and definitely works to elevate Night of the Reaper from standard babysitter horror into something far more interesting. I wouldn’t say it makes it essential viewing by any measure but I definitely enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. It was a very refreshing change and, to be honest, very well executed.

There are some issues, of course. The killer here isn’t what you might call iconic or even all that interesting. Even after the big reveal, it’s difficult to care. That speaks to some of the lack of character development. Nobody is all that well fleshed out, the world feels a bit shallow, and reasons to invest are limited. It’s a slasher, though, so that’s not a huge problem.

Kills are very forgettable and the snuff movie aspect has been done to death. I could have lived without the movie tipping its hat to other horror films at numerous points. The dialogue in the final scenes is pretty awful, too. It’s trying very hard to be epic but feels cheesy. Still, this is all pretty forgivable stuff. When a slasher manages to surprise the viewer, it deserves a watch.

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