Jeri Jacquin

Coming from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is a gathering of frights and evil with BLUMHOUSE OF HORROR: 10-Movie Collection.

Trying to survive a 12-hour night could only be a 2013 film called THE PURGE where James (Ethan Hawke) and wife Mary (Lena Headey) lock down their home and family. In that time murder is legal and the police will not help, and hospitals are closed if you do get hurt. There is no regulation and no punishment but the Sandin family believe they are safe. That is until one of the mask-wearing purgers manages to get inside their home and now they learn what it takes to survive.

Blumhouse starts their series of scares with the 2014 film OUIJA as the young girl Debbie (Shelley Hennig) suddenly dies and her friend Laine (Olivia Cooke) wants to find out why. When strange things begin to happen, she finds a Ouija board in the attic. Turning to Paulina Zander (Lin Shaye) who is in an asylum, there is more danger waiting for them all.

Also, in 2014 is another unusual twinge of scare with the film UNFRIENDED. Coming through a computer screen there is Skype talk between six friends about the suicide of Laura who had an embarrassing video go viral. As the evening goes on, the conversations between the friends starts to dwindle in number. Someone has access to Laura’s account

Do not think grandparents are left out of the horror genre because the 2015 film THE VISIT takes care of that! Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and little brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) are off to meet the grandparents for the first time as Mom takes a vacation with her boyfriend. Becca wants to make a documentary film about them. But these are not just any Nana (Deanna Dunagan) or Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie) – they have rules and not following them could get you, well, in a well deep of trouble. Becca goes looking for answers and what is in the basement is beyond anything they could have imagined.

THE BOY NEXT DOOR gives Jennifer Lopez a little fright on screen as Claire, a woman in the middle of a separation from a cheating husband. Her son Kevin brings around friend Noah but she already knows him. Claire teaches a Literature class that Noah attends. It is clear that the students has eyes for the teacher. After a night together and morning regret, Noah is not happy and in a vengeful mood, uses Kevin to do his dirty work. In more acts of revenge, Claire discovers that he is about to learn what happened to Noah’s family and realize he is never going to stop.

The most remarkable film came out in 2016 with SPLIT and it still freaks me out to this day! Casey is a young girl that does not stand out very much but after a birthday party, she accepts a ride home from Marcia. While waiting, a man takes out Claire’s dad and kidnaps the girls. In an underground place of rooms, Casey soon realizes she is not dealing with just one person but in fact several personalities that live inside one body. Dennis, Barry, Hedwig and more tell her about The Beast (all played by James McAvoy) warning of what it can do. Casey learns that Kevin Wendell Crumb is the person holding the personalities and so does his therapist Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley). If Casey wants to survive, she must befriend the personalities to get her freedom.

Another original horror film is the 2017 film GET OUT as Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) is a little out of sorts knowing he is going to meet girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) parents. All guys are a little nervous to meet the family but a little more so for Chris since he is African American, and Rose is white. He is introduced to dad Dean (Bradley Whitford) who is a neurosurgeon and mom Missy (Catherine Keener) who is a hypnotherapist. Almost immediately he senses something is not quite right, especially coming from housekeeper Georgina and gardener Walter. During a family and friends get together, Chris listens to the way people talk and after taking a picture, hears someone tell him to “get out”. Chris wants to get far away from these people, but it becomes clear that Rose’s family have other plans.

HAPPY DEATH DAY comes in 2017 and Tree wakes up on her birthday after a night of partying and deals with the aftermath of it all. On her way to another party, she goes into a tunnel where she is killed, but is she dead? The next day she wakes up, but everything is repeating itself except this time she does not go into the tunnel! That does not stop her killer from killing. She tries to tell her friend Carter and makes an attempt to consistency change events. It is time for her to take it one event at a time and reconcile it all before she is dead permanently. 

Oliva is talked into going with bff Markie to Mexico for Spring Break in this 2018 film TRUTH OR DARE.  They meet Carter who wants to play a game of truth or dare but it quickly turns mystic when warned they have to do what they are told, or they die. That’s when all hades break loose and the only way to make the madness stop is to return to the church where a demon lets them know there is no way out of the game. There survival depends on finding more people to play the game!

Horror comes home with the 2019 hit film MA! Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer) is asked by teen Maggie (Diana Silvers) to buy alcohol for her friends Haley (McKaley Miller), Darrell (Dante Brown), Andy (Corey Fogelmanis) and Chaz (Gianni Paolo) which she does. The next day she asks the teens if they want to use her basement for their little drinking gatherings. Thinking it is a great idea, they all go, and the only rule is not to go upstairs. But small things begin to happen to each of the teens, like missing items, so they break into her home are surprised to see Sue Ann’s daughter Genie walking around. They all agree not to go back to her house, but Sue Ann isn’t about to accept that. There is history here that starts to tell its own tale but not before there is revenge happening!

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

The Bonus Features include Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Alternative Endings, Filmmaker Commentary and More Behind-the-Scenes!

The Directors of horror include Jordan Peele, James DeMonaco, Stiles White, M. Night Shyamalan, Leo Gabriadze, Jeff Wadlow, Rob Cohen, Christopher Landon and Tate Taylor.

The best part of this collection is that there is something for everyone. Different levels of horror, unexpected stories, originality, warped humor (which is a must for me in horror) and casts that carry films fright from start to finish.

If part of your home entertainment library includes a section of horror, and I have to ask ‘why not?’ if you don’t, this is a must have and will sit nicely on the shelf to come out not just for Halloween but any time of the year. So turn out the lights, curl up and prepare yourself for spine tingling action.

In the end – it is a binge of frights!

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