Night of the Reaper Trailer Breakdown!
Tricks and Treats
The Night of the Reaper trailer hit the internet today, and it’s already causing a stir. The upcoming film, which slashes onto Shudder on September 19th, has a very familiar plot.
A young woman, Deena (Jessica Clement), returns home from college to her quiet 1980s suburban neighborhood. She reluctantly accepts a babysitting gig on Halloween night.
Unfortunately, a mysterious maniac in a skull mask has his own holiday itinerary. He plans to spill as much babysitter blood as possible before Samhain is complete. Meanwhile, a package of creepy VHS tapes shows up at the local sheriff’s office.
A babysitter getting stalked by a masked killer on Halloween. An ’80s setting. VHS found footage. Is any of this original? Of course not. Could the movie still kick ass anyway? Of course!
Or it might be a disappointment like Fear Street: Prom Night, another straight-to-streaming 2025 slasher with an ’80s setting and a killer who wears a skull mask. The main thing that makes me believe this will be better is that Night of the Reaper is directed by Brandon Christensen, who helmed another Shudder film, Superhost (2021).
I really enjoyed that movie. It has a great villain and a fun, fast paced story. If Night of the Reaper is as good or better than Superhost, it will become a new Halloween season favorite for me.
Night of the Reaper Trailer Breakdown
0:11-0:19 – We see the sheriff receive a package of VHS tapes that contain disturbing snuff movie footage. Night of the Reaper is mainly a traditionally shot film, but Christensen is adding a found footage element here, similar to the social media material in Superhost.
0:20-0:41 – Deena drives up to a house and plays hide and go seek with the kid she’s babysitting. The kid warns her not to go into the basement. This may be something designed to throw the audience off, or maybe it’s a clue to the identity of the killer.
The ’80s setting seems much more believable than Fear Street: Prom Night. That movie was too shiny and glossy. Night of the Reaper has a gritty, blue collar House of the Devil-ish vibe. I also like Jessica Clement as the protagonist. She has a “girl next door” look.
0:45 – A quick shot of a VHS tape on top of what appears to be a motel bed. Apparently the killer has hidden tapes around town and is planting clues for the police to find, like a twisted version of an Easter Egg hunt.
0:53-0:54 – “Nothing is as it seems,” the trailer tells us. I don’t think this is going to be a generic slasher, despite how derivative it appears. I’m sure Christensen is going to subvert some tropes here.
Could the babysitter actually be the killer? Seems unlikely based on the trailer. The masked assailant appears taller than her, for one thing. But I’m sure there’s going to be some kind of twist.
1:19 – Weird shot of Deena holding a knife, running toward a camera, and screaming. This could be her attacking the killer while he’s filming her, or it could be a misdirect, like a Halloween prank video.
As previously mentioned, Night of the Reaper releases on September 19th, a full six weeks before Halloween. Here’s the trailer:
