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‘Home Alone’ as a Horror Film: Unearthing ‘Deadly Games’

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The killer Santa in "Deadly Games"

I try to watch “Home Alone” around this time every year, and one of the thoughts that often pops into my head is that this plot would make a great horror movie. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered Rene’ Manzor’s “Deadly Games” on Shudder, and even more surprised when I discovered it came out a year before “Home Alone!”

Manzor’s 1989 film has been known by many names, including “Dial Code Santa Claus,” “Game Over,” “Hide and Freak,” and “Deadly Games.” It stars Thomas (Alain Musy), a 10-year-old genius who programs computers, builds gadgets, dresses like Rambo, sports an awesome mullet and believes in Santa Claus. Thomas’ mother owns a chain of toy stores, so he has all the toys a kid could ever want, and he lives in a mansion full of high-tech gadgets.

"Deadly Games" is like "Home Alone," but horror

Deal / Garance / L.M. Productions

Using Minitel, an internet precursor, Thomas thinks he’s telling Santa what he wants for Christmas. However, a psycho (Patrick Floersheim) uses a public terminal to pose as Santa and find out more about Thomas. He steals a Santa costume, paints his beard white, and stows away in a delivery truck bound for Tommy’s home. The intruder leaves bodies in his wake before breaking into Thomas’ house — coming in through the chimney, of course.

His mother is working on Christmas Eve, and Thomas is home taking care of his elderly grandfather. He’s determined to prove that Santa is real, so he’s rigged his mansion with surveillance cameras and staked out a spot. When the deranged Santa shows up, a thrilling cat and mouse chase ensues. However, Thomas is hardly helpless. He uses his security cameras and an array of booby traps to keep the madman at bay.

Tommy in "Deadly Games," dressed like Rambo

Deal / Garance / L.M. Productions

Whereas the “Home Alone” films lean heavier on the humor and feature cartoonish violence, “Deadly Games” is grisly in a grindhouse vein. It also has a lot of heart, and I really enjoyed seeing Tommy protect his diabetic, partially blind grandfather.

There are some truly beautiful shots here. My favorite is of Floersheim in his Santa suit standing in the snow with an eerie light behind him. It’s magical, even with the bloody knife in his hand.

“Deadly Games” is destined to be a Christmas classic. I’m just so glad this previously forgotten gem is now available to a wider audience. It was only available by bootleg VHS until 2018, when the American Genre Film Archive restored it. The film made it’s North American premier at last year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin. It’s now available on Blu-Ray and it’s currently streaming on Shudder.

If you’re looking for a new movie to add to your Christmas season watch list, I can’t recommend this one enough. Check out the restored trailer below:

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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