From similar suspense thrillers to other movies by its director Christopher Landon,there are plenty of great films to watch while waiting for Blumhouse’sDropto drop.Drophas been getting an enthusiastic response from critics since it premiered at South by Southwest in March.Drop’s reviewsare calling it a riveting thriller that keeps the audience guessing with its unpredictable twists and turns. Meghann Fahy stars as a single mother on a date, who’s tormented via her phone by an unseen assailant threatening to hurt her family if she doesn’t murder her date, played by Brandon Sklenar.
It’s a classic Hitchcockian high concept with the modern twist of smartphone communication, and based onDrop’s impressive 89% Rotten Tomatoes score, it seems to have pulled it off.Dropis set to be released in theaters on April 11. In the meantime, there are plenty of other great mystery thrillers and movies by the same filmmakers to check out.
One of Landon’s best previous movies isFreaky, a wildly entertaining mashup of a typical slasher and a body-swap comedy. Kathryn Newton plays mild-mannered teenager Millie and Vince Vaughn plays notorious serial killer “The Butcher.” When the Butcher attacks Millie with an ancient blade carrying supernatural powers, they magicallyswitch bodies. The Butcher finds it easier to lure victims to their deaths in the body of a high schooler, so Millie has to fight to get her own body back before it’s too late.
Freakyhas an 84% rating onRotten Tomatoes.
Freakyhilariously satirizes the tropes of slashers and body-swap movies, but it’s also a great high-concept thriller. It has clearly defined stakes and wonderfully twisty storytelling. The fact that Landon can take such a gimmicky premise and still keep viewers guessing with an engaging horror story proves thatDropis in very safe hands.
Dropisn’t Fahy’s first foray into the horror genre; she also had a standout supporting role inYour Monster, a delightful blend of horror movie and romantic comedy. Melissa Barrera stars as a young actor grappling with a cancer diagnosis. She gets a new lease on life whenshe finds a monster living in her closet and, instead of being afraid of him, finds herself falling for him. Fahy plays Barrera’s romantic rival, who steals both her playwright boyfriend and the lead role in his new project.
Drop Review: I Haven’t Had This Much Fun Watching A High-Stakes Mystery Thriller In A While & I Can’t Wait To See It Again
Landon’s film moves so quickly that there’s no time to dwell on anything & we’re thankfully encouraged to be in the moment with Violet instead.
The whole story is a bizarre horror metaphor for embracing your inner rage. The monster represents the righteous anger that this young actor is holding back, and her love for him represents the need to get that anger out and express it in order to let it go. But it conveys that message in the most unconventional way possible.
The premise ofDropfeels like a modern-day update ofthe classic thrillerWhen a Stranger Calls.When a Stranger Callsopens with a babysitter looking after a couple of kids who are sound asleep upstairs. The phone rings, she answers it, and she’s tormented by a psychotic killer who menacingly threatens the children. She has to figure out where he’s calling from before he strikes.
When a Stranger Callshas an iconic opening 20-minute sequence that the rest of the movie struggles to follow. It meanders around a bit as it follows the killer stalking someone else, then sees him come back to the babysitter years later. But thosefirst 20 minutes are a masterclass in thriller filmmaking.
The movie that put Landon on the map wasHappy Death Day. Before he combined a slasher with a body-swap movie inFreaky, Landon combined a slasher with a time-loop movie inHappy Death Day. Jessica Rothe stars as college studentTree Gelbman, who finds herself reliving the day of her gruesome murder at the hands of a masked killerover and over again. It’s likeGroundhog Dayif Bill Murray got killed on Groundhog Day. Tree uses her strange newfound power to investigate her own murder and figure out who it is that’s trying to kill her.
It’s a genre-bending gem that puts a fresh spin on the familiar tropes of two different genres by blending them together.
Happy Death Daywas popular enough to launch a franchise, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a genre-bending gem that puts a fresh spin on the familiar tropes of two different genres by blending them together.Droplooks to be another great Landon-directed thriller in this tradition.
