All through October, I’ll be posting reviews of the best of the best films in the horror genre released since October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. As an added bonus, I’ll be adding a secondary review that may be somewhat related to the main review or slightly missed the countdown by inches. Follow along the countdown every day in October. Feel free to agree, disagree, or better yet, give me your own picks for your favorite horror movies of the year. Happy Halloween!

#22 – YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME (2023)
Released on March 22, 2024, and is streaming on Shudder!
Directed by Josiah Allen, Indianna Bell.
Written by Indianna Bell.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/y1EHT838rrg
Brenan Rock plays Patrick, a man living a lonely life in the back of a trailer park. One dark night, he hears a knock at his door and a young woman (played by Jordan Cowan) begs with the man to let her in out of the rain and possibly give her a ride into town. After inviting the young woman in, the two strangers begin a conversation showing that both are quite leery of one another and as they get to know one another, they begin wondering if each poses some kind of danger towards one another.

YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME feels like a modern retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s THE RAVEN where a man with a shady is visited by someone or something that reminds him of past sins and regrets. All taking place within one dimly lit trailer, the story is a simple one that unfolds ever so slowly and meticulously. But for the longest time, you don’t know if it is Patrick who is in danger from this night visitor or if the night visitor is the one in trouble. Filmmakers Josiah Allen and Indianna Bell keep these answers tightly wrapped up, offering clues that lean one way, then other hints that lead another. For almost the entire run-time, there is a delicate tug of war, amping the tension as the time ticks by.

Those looking for an explosion or kill a minute are going to need some toothpicks to keep their eyes open, but I soaked in the palpable atmosphere and was enrapt in the mystery the entire time. Allen and Bell keep the story moving through strange camera angles, slow zooms in on dark corridors, and focus on suspicious yet typical objects within the trailer. The constant tapping of the rain and rumble of the thunder helps punctuate every sentence with pressure. This is a film that is soaked in atmosphere.
But it is the excellent lead performance by Brendan Rock that put me in the trailer with these two strangers. Rock goes from sympathetic to defensive to paranoid and back again throughout this movie, making each emotion feel convincing. Rock sort of reminds me of a gruffer Australian version of Paul Giamatti and shows comparable range and presence as the wizened actor in this film. Jordan Cowan, as the visitor keeps right up with Rock, trembling like a newborn fawn then throwing accusations around like stilettos. Seeing these two talented actors go back and forth is another reason this low action, dialog heavy suspense piece works so well.

I understand that YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME might not be for everyone. I kind of predicted the outcome, but there are moments I doubted those predictions as the film really could go either way, casting either actor as the predator and prey. In many ways, this one reminded me of MANIAC (both the Lustig version and its remake) as it really gets into the head of someone overcome with guilt and possibly remorse. I can also understand that this might have been a better short film rather than one extended to feature length. But for me, the way the filmmakers and actors maintained the tension for so long deserves recognition and praise, so I’m going to give it. If you would rather feel your horror than have it smack you in the face, YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME is that type of movie.

Plus – GHOSTS OF THE VOID (2023)
Released on October 13, 2023, and is streaming on Tubi from Speakeasy Films!
Directed/Written by Jason Miller.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/XsCUDLz8jwI
Jen (Tedra Millan) and her husband Tyler (Michael Reagan) are a couple evicted from their home and forced to live in their car. Looking for a safe place to spend the night, they pull into a park in an affluent neighborhood only to be tormented by three masked strangers bearing weapons. Jen and Tyler attempt to survive the night while the film flashes back on how they arrived in this very dire situation.

GHOSTS OF THE VOID has a very familiar premise. For the most part, it’s THE STRANGERS in a car, where a couple on their last leg find themselves tormented by masked creeps who appear and disappear in the darkness around them. Much of the same techniques used to make Bryan Bertino’s classic thriller work so well are utilized in GHOSTS OF THE VOID such as long-drawn-out segments with masked marauders moving strategically in the background. While it might not have captured the atmosphere completely and immersed the viewer as much into the suspense as THE STRANGERS did, writer/director Jason Miller does ape the style well, delivering quite a few sequences of sheer terror.

One of the things that separates GHOSTS OF THE VOID from THE STRANGERS is the reason the couple is in trouble in the first place. Given the current culture of the country, it is easy, believe me, too easy, to find oneself overwhelmed by bills, responsibilities, and other aspects of adulthood. Believe you me, I’ve paid my dues in situations like this and while I’ve never lived out of my car, I’ve come damn near close a time or two in my long and storied life. What GHOSTS OF THE VOID does so well is illustrate how easy it is to take one or two wrong turns and how life’s pressures can take their toll on a persons’ psyche as well as the bonds of a relationship. Tyler is a writer who is pursuing his dream to write his dream novel. Jen is supportive of Tyler’s dreams, doing what she can to make a living. But as the bills pile up, filmmaker Miller along with the deft performances of Millan and Reagan, illustrate just how many problems can come from this type of situation. Add in the fact that Tyler is a drunk and Jen is at her wits end with panic attacks about bill collectors and evictions, and that’s a whole lot of real-world drama going on. But Miller does a great job of making sure all of the melodrama doesn’t overshadow the horrors that are lurking in the darkness just outside the vehicle. All of the relational and adulting stuff only intensifies the situation all the more in this expertly paced white knuckler.

While the idea of a strong female lead is not at all new to the horror genre, there has been a rise in stories featuring a woman who has become increasingly fed up and resentful with her ineffectual and entitled partner. I don’t know if this is a sign of the times we live in, but seeing these themes show up in the recent DO NOT DISTURB, last year’s INFINITY POOL, the excellent Danish thriller SPEAK NO EVIL (which is getting a big budget American remake next year), and now here in GHOSTS OF THE VOID, it’s hard not to see some kind of message about the male’s role in a relationship and how modern culture may have caused that role to atrophy. It’s a subject a want to explore maybe in a future essay now that I’ve noticed this trend in more subversive and “elevated” horror. As is, GHOSTS OF THE VOID once again depicts the lead male as downright useless in day-to-day life as well as during a time of great crisis. How those notions were implanted in the current cultural mindscape is debatable, but this trend is noticeably present in a lot of films these days and deserves some dissecting real soon.

GHOSTS OF THE VOID, though the vague title leaves a lot to be desired, is an impressive small-scale horror revolving around both modern relationships as well as things that lurk in the dark. I definitely recommend this low budget, but high impact little shocker.

The Best in Horror Countdown 2023-2024
#31 – HERE FOR BLOOD (DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS)
#30 – THANKSGIVING (THE SACRIFICE GAME)
#29 – MILK & SERIAL (LOWLIFES)
#28 – PROJECT SILENCE (FROGMAN)
#27 – THE SEEDING (DARK HARVEST)
#26 – BEEZEL (THE FRESH HELL TRILOGY)
#25 – ABERRANCE (COLD MEAT)
#24 – OUT OF DARKNESS (ALL YOU NEED IS DEATH)
#23 – ARCADIAN (A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE)
#22 – YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME (GHOSTS OF THE VOID)

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Music & Arrangement by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy https://youtu.be/PDySbxQgZMg
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