Speaker 1: May there are folks. It is Wednesday, October the twenty second,
Speaker 1: and we have made it to our top ten favorite
Speaker 1: horror movies that you might not know about, and number
Speaker 1: ten on our list today might be a bit of
Speaker 1: a tough sell. And with that, welcome to this episode
Speaker 1: of Amy and TJ. Roabes. This is maybe the or
Speaker 1: second one of the second lowest Rotten Tomato scores.
Speaker 2: Correct. This one is of distinction in that the critics
Speaker 2: gave it a very low rotten Tomato ah, but the
Speaker 2: audience gave it a high Rotten Tomato score, which I
Speaker 2: always think is the perfect combo, because if the critics
Speaker 2: were looking for something I always keep using this word elevated,
Speaker 2: but some sort of you know, yes, an elevated horror
Speaker 2: movie experience. But if the fans just wanted to have
Speaker 2: some fun and they loved it, I know that's going
Speaker 2: to be a certain kind of movie we're going to enjoy.
Speaker 1: Always said that that is almost how you find a
Speaker 1: horror movie. Critic hat it, audience loved it. That's for me,
Speaker 1: and I don't know if we've ever missed on one.
Speaker 2: No, I think when the audience loves it in spite
Speaker 2: of the critics. It's exceptionally good.
Speaker 1: All right, so this one is special in that category.
Speaker 1: And tell the folks robes number ten on our list
Speaker 1: as we count down. Number ten movie is countdown.
Speaker 2: Yes, that seems appropriate. Yes, its release date was just
Speaker 2: actually almost exactly six years ago, October twenty fifth, twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2: It's an hour and thirty minutes, just a ninety minute
Speaker 2: just I don't know, explosion of fun. That's how I
Speaker 2: would describe it. And this is our only PG thirteen. Yeah,
Speaker 2: horror movie. In fact, I feel like if you were
Speaker 2: known that ahead of time, you wouldn't have watched it.
Speaker 1: Maybe so I've known about this one for years. I
Speaker 1: don't know why I found it, But PG thirteen, I'm
Speaker 1: thinking back to the movie. We've watched it again here
Speaker 1: in the last couple of days. How tough some of
Speaker 1: the death scenes are? The scares? Huh? Maybe not.
Speaker 2: It's creepy. I definitely have a few jump scares in there,
Speaker 2: but it's not gory to the point where or foul
Speaker 2: enough that it got that many rs. So, in fact,
Speaker 2: that is and was among some of the complaints.
Speaker 1: By folks that was scary enough for gory And yes that.
Speaker 2: The PG thirteen held it back, which I agree it
Speaker 2: probably did, but it helped, I think significantly at the
Speaker 2: box office because.
Speaker 1: I didn't know until this moment it was PG thirteen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and now you're like, second guest, No.
Speaker 1: I love that I didn't know that because I probably
Speaker 1: held it against it in some way been prejudiced against
Speaker 1: the movie. I am really loving that. I didn't know
Speaker 1: until this moment.
Speaker 2: I'll be honest. I didn't know until I did the
Speaker 2: research either. I assumed it was a rated R. But
Speaker 2: it does speak volumes for the box office. This is
Speaker 2: the reason why some movies do PG thirteen because obviously
Speaker 2: you get in a much younger group of folks who
Speaker 2: can come in, spread word on social media, et cetera,
Speaker 2: and your movie can do Gangbusters that way, even though
Speaker 2: you might piss off some diehard horror fans who like
Speaker 2: things a little bit grittier. But box office forty eight
Speaker 2: million dollars internationally, twenty five point six domestically, So it
Speaker 2: did really well.
Speaker 1: World back, that's a hit for that budget.
Speaker 2: That's a hit six point five million for the budget.
Speaker 2: That's it. So yes, this did really well, and the
Speaker 2: rating could have had a lot to do with it.
Speaker 2: The cast was great though, so her name you might
Speaker 2: not know, Elizabeth Layle. She's the star. But if any
Speaker 2: of you listening love the Netflix series You, which I
Speaker 2: have been obsessed with, she is beck in You, so
Speaker 2: you will know her face. She's been in a couple
Speaker 2: other movies as well. Jordan Callaway such a cutie. Had
Speaker 2: not seen him before, haven't seen him since. But that's
Speaker 2: her co star.
Speaker 1: Oh black guy, yeah, oh yeah, look the Nelly look alike.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I love them together too. I was rooting
Speaker 2: for them the whole time. And then Ta Litha Elena
Speaker 2: Bateman again a name you might not know, but if
Speaker 2: you are a horror movie fan, she is the little
Speaker 2: girl who has polio in Annabel Creation. So she's the
Speaker 2: star of Annabel Creation, which I think is one of
Speaker 2: the best of the Conjuring adjacent movies. It's so good.
Speaker 2: If you haven't seen that one, we didn't include it
Speaker 2: because it's a part of our classics. The whole Conjuring
Speaker 2: series would take up the entire list pretty much. But
Speaker 2: she is the star of Annabel Creation. So some familiar
Speaker 2: faces and I think some great acting.
Speaker 1: She's how many years older right in this one? Than Annabel.
Speaker 2: Well, I actually went back and looked because I was like, wait,
Speaker 2: she was a little girl.
Speaker 1: She was playing more of a hardcore teenager in.
Speaker 2: This correct But the difference is only I believe three years.
Speaker 2: But that's the difference between being a little girl and
Speaker 2: being a teenager. We've seen it happening with savine O.
Speaker 2: God Like, think about it at she was nine three
Speaker 2: years ago. Now she looks like she's eighteen.
Speaker 1: So it was don't go that far.
Speaker 2: Well, she kind of does.
Speaker 1: She kind of does.
Speaker 2: The director justin deck. So anyway, the Rotten Tomato score
Speaker 2: the aforementioned. The critics gave it a twenty six percent.
Speaker 1: That's is it the lowest on our list.
Speaker 2: I think we might have had one in the teens.
Speaker 2: I'll have to go back and check screepers. But the
Speaker 2: audience score is at seventy two percent. That's good, so
Speaker 2: a much big difference, and again I think that's a
Speaker 2: bell weather of success in terms of watchability. All right, critics, consensus,
Speaker 2: here we go, and prepare yourselves for some bad reviews
Speaker 2: here that we are going to completely disagree with. But
Speaker 2: the critics consensus reads countdown may offer a few fleeting
Speaker 2: jolts for horror fans with barren ces, but it lacks
Speaker 2: enough wit or creativity to have a lasting impression.
Speaker 1: It lacks enough wit in creativity. I don't take too
Speaker 1: much issue with what they're saying, because did you read
Speaker 1: the synopsis yet?
Speaker 2: You skipped right over the gift over the synopsis?
Speaker 1: Yes? Good, and then we'll get back to that review
Speaker 1: and it'll make sense. So good.
Speaker 2: Okay, here's this, sorry, thank you for that. When a
Speaker 2: young nurse downloads an app that claims to predict when
Speaker 2: a person is going to die, it tells her she
Speaker 2: only has three days to live, with time taking away
Speaker 2: and death closing in, she must find a way to
Speaker 2: save her life before time runs out.
Speaker 1: Okay, obviously that's ridiculous.
Speaker 2: That's an awesome, awesome premise for a movie.
Speaker 1: Though, for a supernatural mystery thriller thing. That's exactly what
Speaker 1: kind of a teeny bopper. It has to do with phones, apps, time,
Speaker 1: How much do you have left? Do you want to
Speaker 1: know how you're gonna die? And you yes? All of
Speaker 1: those things get you kind of worked up, and it's
Speaker 1: a part of the experience of this movie. So now
Speaker 1: go to the review.
Speaker 2: Thank you all, right, I get that. So sample critic reviews,
Speaker 2: and it did take some time to find a good
Speaker 2: one among the critics, but I did find a couple.
Speaker 2: Countdown is pretty damn fun and does an exit one
Speaker 2: job of tapping into technology driven terrors for the modern
Speaker 2: age that completely surprised me and left me thoroughly entertained
Speaker 2: to boot is exactly.
Speaker 1: What I would say entertaining movie.
Speaker 2: Yes, here is another. This is I put it in
Speaker 2: the good category. I didn't like this movie at all,
Speaker 2: but damn I had a good time.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's fair. All right.
Speaker 2: Here's another one. You could get drunk and laugh at it.
Speaker 1: That's fair as well.
Speaker 2: Here is another one. Think Final Destination plus flatliners, but
Speaker 2: minus all of the fun.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's too much. I don't even want to think
Speaker 1: about what they were trying to say.
Speaker 2: Disagree too, because it is fun. It is a fun
Speaker 2: movie period. Here's another negative review by a critic. Countdown
Speaker 2: relies too heavily on jump scares, but still fails to
Speaker 2: distract from a gimmicky premise, a poorly developed script, and
Speaker 2: thin characters.
Speaker 1: It's a gimmicky concept. Yeah, I have an app I
Speaker 1: download and it tells me exactly when I'm going to die.
Speaker 1: I that's a gimmick.
Speaker 2: I loved this movie because of that, and I actually
Speaker 2: loved the conversations people were having when they found out
Speaker 2: they had eighty more years to live. Yeah, but they
Speaker 2: found out they had seventy two. And then it was
Speaker 2: all in group settings. When was at work? When was that?
Speaker 2: I think it began at a game, like a college
Speaker 2: drinking game. But yeah, you know, especially if you were
Speaker 2: that age, you absolutely would have downloaded that app.
Speaker 1: Everybody would be curious about that app because you would think,
Speaker 1: there's no way it's for real, so I might as
Speaker 1: well just have some fun with it. And then it
Speaker 1: gives you a number, and then what are you gonna think?
Speaker 1: Oh my GOHI what if it's right. It's just that
Speaker 1: it makes you have those types of conversations. So if
Speaker 1: it sparked something in you and the people around you,
Speaker 1: the movie did a good job gimmicky or not exactly.
Speaker 2: And within the first few minutes of the movie, someone
Speaker 2: finds out that they're gonna die in a matter of hours,
Speaker 2: so it sets off I think a very fast pace
Speaker 2: based situation where you have a pretty immediate death and
Speaker 2: I have to say, I was riveted the entire time,
Speaker 2: and I couldn't wait to figure out how someone was
Speaker 2: going to try and escape their death that so far
Speaker 2: as you watch the movie unfold, no one is able
Speaker 2: to and then all of a sudden you get the
Speaker 2: main character, TikTok, TikTok. So, yeah, you're at the edge
Speaker 2: of your seat.
Speaker 1: Do you have any other negatives in the Uh?
Speaker 2: Well that was just from the critics. I do have
Speaker 2: some negatives. Well, actually I found some, so it was
Speaker 2: easy to find positive ones'm on the audience. The negative
Speaker 2: ones just got so mean. I just didn't feel like
Speaker 2: put them in there, and I didn't want to turn
Speaker 2: off anyone listening from watching because of these snobby critics.
Speaker 1: Well shown what from the audience reviews, the people who
Speaker 1: took issue with it. It was there a theme to.
Speaker 2: Boring, that it was gimmicky, that it wasn't scary enough,
Speaker 2: that it wasn't gritty enough.
Speaker 1: It's it wasn't that's okay.
Speaker 2: It's like bubble gum.
Speaker 1: It was a bubblegum horror movie. Yes, that's it.
Speaker 2: It's like yeah, And there's a time and a place
Speaker 2: for them. And that's why I think we definitely wanted
Speaker 2: to include it because I think it's fun sometimes to
Speaker 2: have a bubblegum horror movie. And this is, yes, exactly
Speaker 2: what it is. Sample audience reviews. Here's a couple fun ones.
Speaker 2: This is one of those movies that I know is
Speaker 2: not very good, yet I can't help enjoy throwing it
Speaker 2: on every five or six months.
Speaker 1: Was it comfort Yeah, so it's.
Speaker 2: Like chicken soup for horror movie fans.
Speaker 1: It's a comforting movie. It's not going to scare the
Speaker 1: hell out of you. You're going to catch something that
Speaker 1: you missed once before. It's not even one you have
Speaker 1: to sit down and even pay close attention to. You
Speaker 1: can go into the kitchen and grab another drink. You
Speaker 1: can maybe even take a bathroom break and keep it
Speaker 1: rolling and you'll be fine. It's one of those movies.
Speaker 2: It's highly digestible, and it's one you can watch over
Speaker 2: and over and over again. So I thought that was
Speaker 2: a good point. Okay, here's another one. Better than I
Speaker 2: thought it would be. It is helped with a pretty
Speaker 2: nifty final act and some humorous supporting characters. A slow
Speaker 2: start and bland main characters. Not get down a star,
Speaker 2: but this is a horror film that suffers from its
Speaker 2: PG thirteen rating. If the and I don't know this word,
Speaker 2: if the quinnoessences of breaking the user agreement were more severe,
Speaker 2: the film would tension up and the scare.
Speaker 1: Factor were more severe.
Speaker 2: Okay, fine, fine, they wanted more terror, they wanted more horror.
Speaker 2: That's okay. So here's another one, and this is I
Speaker 2: actually think a lot of the people who went on
Speaker 2: to write these reviews read the critics reviews before they
Speaker 2: watched the movie. So this next one, I honestly expected
Speaker 2: to dislike this movie, but it was so much fun
Speaker 2: to watch. The characters had some genuinely funny moments, and
Speaker 2: there were even a few scenes that really creeped me out.
Speaker 2: I agree. I felt the same way. Here's another one.
Speaker 2: Not too bad. Could have been better, but hey, we
Speaker 2: needed a thriller horror movie and it delivers on its
Speaker 2: version of what could possibly happen. And with things in
Speaker 2: today's age, why not have an app that's going to
Speaker 2: tell you if you're going to die in four hours?
Speaker 2: You know you have downloaded it to lol make a
Speaker 2: good point.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people might do so, and
Speaker 1: it sparked those conversations. It was fun. Ask yourself, right now,
Speaker 1: ask the person sitting next to you as you're listening
Speaker 1: to this, would you download an app that would tell
Speaker 1: you exactly when you're going to die?
Speaker 2: We have had this exact conversation, and my answer at
Speaker 2: this age is absolutely no.
Speaker 1: Yeah, my answer is the same because it would change
Speaker 1: the way you live. Right. Life is more beautiful because
Speaker 1: we know this one right here, this could be our
Speaker 1: last podcast exactly.
Speaker 2: But if you actually know in twenty twenty nine I'm
Speaker 2: going to die, that is terrifying. I don't want to
Speaker 2: know that.
Speaker 1: And how is it going to happen?
Speaker 2: Right? And even if you do get another fifty years,
Speaker 2: say still the last five you're like TikTok, it's always
Speaker 2: going to be weighing on you. No, no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: it's better not to know, all right. When we come back,
Speaker 2: we're gonna tell you why I've made our list, who
Speaker 2: it's for, who it's not for, what to parrot with,
Speaker 2: where to watch it, and a ts for number nine.
Speaker 2: Continuing our conversation about number ten on our horror hitless
Speaker 2: Countdown to Halloween, it is countdown the name of the movie.
Speaker 2: It's PG thirteen, It's horror, supernatural, but it is so
Speaker 2: much fun. If you're looking for something super super, super
Speaker 2: duper scary, maybe this one isn't for you. But here's
Speaker 2: why it made our list number one. It's fun. It's
Speaker 2: a fun horror movie. They aren't always fun, but this
Speaker 2: one keeps things fairly light. It's entertaining. We love the
Speaker 2: premise of the movie. Well acted and just a good
Speaker 2: time all around.
Speaker 1: It's a fun movie there. It's rare to have fun
Speaker 1: horror movies. Even the jump scares okay, fine, some you
Speaker 1: see them coming. Some of the stuff is predictable. We've
Speaker 1: watched loo horror movies, yes, and that's okay to have
Speaker 1: this movie be what it is. But this is a
Speaker 1: rare one that you're not necessarily scared. You're not hiding
Speaker 1: under anything. You're kind of smiling at the screen and
Speaker 1: at the characters. And who's insult there that say that
Speaker 1: there was not a lot of depth through. Yeah, well
Speaker 1: they were saying. I mean they were fun and what
Speaker 1: they should have been, and just young folks who found
Speaker 1: and they were odd pairing as well. That worked. I
Speaker 1: loved all of it.
Speaker 2: I did too. It reminded me a little bit of
Speaker 2: another gem that we love that we didn't include on
Speaker 2: the list for whatever reason. But Happy Depth Day. That's
Speaker 2: a great It reminds me a little bit of that movie.
Speaker 2: So who is this for? Well, you don't get to
Speaker 2: say this very often, but it's good for the whole family.
Speaker 2: But seriously, you could watch this with your teenagers and
Speaker 2: even the people who put out the ratings of movies.
Speaker 2: Whoever those people are at the National Picture Association, I'm
Speaker 2: not sure agrees Pg. Thirteen. So actually, if you have
Speaker 2: older children in the house, maybe even some tweens, this
Speaker 2: one is fun. They're interested in dipping their toe into
Speaker 2: horror movies, this is a fun one to do it.
Speaker 1: Yes, this is a good introductory horror movie. It's also
Speaker 1: this is why I recommend with a big group you
Speaker 1: got fun with this one, because even the people are
Speaker 1: a loud a little bit, and then you're young at
Speaker 1: the screen, you're not going to miss anything necessarily. I
Speaker 1: think this is the fun when you get everybody having
Speaker 1: a debate. Yes, you'll be talking during and after, Yes,
Speaker 1: about the scenario.
Speaker 2: And I love the we talk, but I love the
Speaker 2: conversations that come about. Do you start talking about do
Speaker 2: you want to know what's the best way to die?
Speaker 2: I mean, you just get into these I know it
Speaker 2: sounds funny to say those are fun conversations, but the
Speaker 2: what ifs and the just speculative conversations that ensue are
Speaker 2: worth it in and of itself. Now, who's it not for?
Speaker 2: I think we've made it pretty clear anyone who is
Speaker 2: looking for highbrow horror, this is not your movie.
Speaker 1: Again. There's just place. There are places for this sometimes, right,
Speaker 1: sometimes I want to hear Kendrick Lamar sometimes just gimme
Speaker 1: Yin Yang twins right place for all of it? Doesn't
Speaker 1: that all right? This high thing? So that was no
Speaker 1: insult to either one of them brothers, right, But what
Speaker 1: I'm saying is just I'm surprised, as we've gone through
Speaker 1: this process, just how few folks critics are willing to
Speaker 1: accept that there is a lane for this type of movie,
Speaker 1: for this type of thing that's just kind of a
Speaker 1: teeny bopper fun ride.
Speaker 2: Yes, and it's teeny bopper and fun, But I really
Speaker 2: do think I thought it was clever. I thought the
Speaker 2: premise was interesting, I thought the acting was good. I
Speaker 2: thought the scares were compelling and.
Speaker 1: Sufficient sufficient horror movie.
Speaker 2: That's yes, but I just I love this, So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's not for you if you're looking for something, you know,
Speaker 2: like Nosferatu, like this is the opposite of that. Right,
Speaker 2: all right, food drink pairing, you know what you need
Speaker 2: to just keep the fun atmosphere. I'd say have some
Speaker 2: beer flowing, some popcorn, keep it light and fun. And
Speaker 2: you mentioned this is a great party group movie, so
Speaker 2: if you're having some sort of up on Halloween movie fest,
Speaker 2: this would definitely be included. I think it's just fun.
Speaker 1: I don't know why this is the first one where
Speaker 1: this is popped into my mind. Candy. This is a
Speaker 1: candy Swizzlers sitting out, some gummy bears and whatever you do, chocolate,
Speaker 1: Eminem's peanut m and ms. Yeah, it feels like that
Speaker 1: kind of a movie.
Speaker 2: DJ coming to the table with some food pairing. I
Speaker 2: like that. I won't bring up the raisinets and popcorn
Speaker 2: because that set you off last time. It's a salty
Speaker 2: sweet snack and it's fun.
Speaker 1: People.
Speaker 2: People don't didn't make it up. I learned it from
Speaker 2: other people who showed me the way.
Speaker 1: Wow where you all had a commune together.
Speaker 2: It was the party in the I think I actually
Speaker 2: was oh, yeah, I was in high school. I'd have
Speaker 2: friends buying the raisin ets.
Speaker 1: Oh, this is just something you did in a weird circle.
Speaker 2: No, we thought a weird circle. I think this is
Speaker 2: a well known thing that people do. They put raisin
Speaker 2: ets in their popcorn.
Speaker 1: Raisinets are the things that are covered in chocolate. Is
Speaker 1: it hard?
Speaker 2: They're true, there's a hard case.
Speaker 1: Case, That's what I'm saying. So, but they look like
Speaker 1: hard things. You put those in a bucket of popcorn? Correct?
Speaker 2: So good, so good, by the way. I also think
Speaker 2: this is a movie you can watch alone and have
Speaker 2: a blast party of one. There aren't many movies that
Speaker 2: you can do that. But I think I actually watched
Speaker 2: this the first time by myself, and I've watched it
Speaker 2: so many times I can't even remember funny enough the
Speaker 2: original showing. But I feel like I watched it alone.
Speaker 2: Don't hold me do it. But it's definitely okay to
Speaker 2: do so. Now, where can you watch it? This was
Speaker 2: a little bit of a problem. Yeah, we searched and
Speaker 2: I even tried to buy it because I loved the
Speaker 2: movie so much. I thought, we'll just keep this in
Speaker 2: our arsenal, our library of horror movie. No I couldn't
Speaker 2: even I couldn't find a place to buy it. So
Speaker 2: Amazon Prime right now is showing it, but you have
Speaker 2: to watch it with commercials. That's a bit of a bummer,
Speaker 2: I know. But it was on Netflix. It just went away,
Speaker 2: so maybe it'll come back. Just I'm absolutely gonna keep
Speaker 2: my eye out, in fact a watch list so that
Speaker 2: when it becomes available, I can purchase it. Okay, that's
Speaker 2: fun because this is how much I love the movie,
Speaker 2: and we watch it enough that this is one to buy,
Speaker 2: true because we will go back to this like what
Speaker 2: kind of mood am I end? Ooh I'm in a
Speaker 2: countdown mood? Yeah, we are definitely like that. And by
Speaker 2: the way, here is a pro tip. Stay for the credits.
Speaker 2: There is a fun additional scene that was actually it
Speaker 2: made me love the movie even more. I forgot about
Speaker 2: it until we rewatched it, and I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: I love when movies do that. And when you see
Speaker 2: people not leaving, you're like, oh, at the theater.
Speaker 1: Don't see that a lot in horror movies.
Speaker 2: It doesn't happen often. And it was comedic and funny
Speaker 2: and it just worked. The whole ending worked, so stay
Speaker 2: for that also, please stay tuned for tomorrow where we
Speaker 2: have number nine on our countdown to Halloween, and this
Speaker 2: one is a complete departure from countdown. It's still fun,
Speaker 2: it's still entertaining, but it's it's definitely rated R and
Speaker 2: it's highly reviewed.
Speaker 1: It's twisted, it's a little sadistic, and Thor himself plays a.
Speaker 2: Starring Yes, it's so funny. I had written in here
Speaker 2: as a tease. Has a devilish twist with some excellent
Speaker 2: award winning actors.
Speaker 1: Twist. This is a twisted movie.
Speaker 2: There are twists within the twist.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, this is such a twisted movie.
Speaker 2: And cannot give one more hint. This movie is set
Speaker 2: in our favorite setting for a horror movie. And with that, everyone,
Speaker 2: thank you for listening. I'm Amy Roboch alongside TJ. Holmes.
Speaker 2: We'll talk to you soon.