October 22, 2025 • 20 mins
We’ve made it to our TOP TEN! Coming in at number 10, “Countdown." Each day in the month of October we will count you down to Halloween with our favorite, not-so-obvious guaranteed horror hits! We’ll tell you why each one made the list, what the critics say, who should watch it and who should NOT and what food/drink/atmosphere to pair it with each night…. And of course, where you can watch it.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
May there are folks. It is Wednesday, October the twenty second,
and we have made it to our top ten favorite
horror movies that you might not know about, and number
ten on our list today might be a bit of
a tough sell. And with that, welcome to this episode
of Amy and TJ. Roabes. This is maybe the or
(00:30):
second one of the second lowest Rotten Tomato scores.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Correct. This one is of distinction in that the critics
gave it a very low rotten Tomato ah, but the
audience gave it a high Rotten Tomato score, which I
always think is the perfect combo, because if the critics
were looking for something I always keep using this word elevated,
but some sort of you know, yes, an elevated horror
(00:56):
movie experience. But if the fans just wanted to have
some fun and they loved it, I know that's going
to be a certain kind of movie we're going to enjoy.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Always said that that is almost how you find a
horror movie. Critic hat it, audience loved it. That's for me,
and I don't know if we've ever missed on one.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
No, I think when the audience loves it in spite
of the critics. It's exceptionally good.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
All right, so this one is special in that category.
And tell the folks robes number ten on our list
as we count down. Number ten movie is countdown.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yes, that seems appropriate. Yes, its release date was just
actually almost exactly six years ago, October twenty fifth, twenty nineteen.
It's an hour and thirty minutes, just a ninety minute
just I don't know, explosion of fun. That's how I
would describe it. And this is our only PG thirteen. Yeah,
(01:51):
horror movie. In fact, I feel like if you were
known that ahead of time, you wouldn't have watched it.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Maybe so I've known about this one for years. I
don't know why I found it, But PG thirteen, I'm
thinking back to the movie. We've watched it again here
in the last couple of days. How tough some of
the death scenes are? The scares? Huh? Maybe not.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
It's creepy. I definitely have a few jump scares in there,
but it's not gory to the point where or foul
enough that it got that many rs. So, in fact,
that is and was among some of the complaints.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
By folks that was scary enough for gory And yes that.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
The PG thirteen held it back, which I agree it
probably did, but it helped, I think significantly at the
box office because.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I didn't know until this moment it was PG thirteen.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, and now you're like, second guest, No.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
I love that I didn't know that because I probably
held it against it in some way been prejudiced against
the movie. I am really loving that. I didn't know
until this moment.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I'll be honest. I didn't know until I did the
research either. I assumed it was a rated R. But
it does speak volumes for the box office. This is
the reason why some movies do PG thirteen because obviously
you get in a much younger group of folks who
can come in, spread word on social media, et cetera,
and your movie can do Gangbusters that way, even though
you might piss off some diehard horror fans who like
(03:10):
things a little bit grittier. But box office forty eight
million dollars internationally, twenty five point six domestically, So it
did really well.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
World back, that's a hit for that budget.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
That's a hit six point five million for the budget.
That's it. So yes, this did really well, and the
rating could have had a lot to do with it.
The cast was great though, so her name you might
not know, Elizabeth Layle. She's the star. But if any
of you listening love the Netflix series You, which I
have been obsessed with, she is beck in You, so
you will know her face. She's been in a couple
(03:43):
other movies as well. Jordan Callaway such a cutie. Had
not seen him before, haven't seen him since. But that's
her co star.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Oh black guy, yeah, oh yeah, look the Nelly look alike.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yes, yes, I love them together too. I was rooting
for them the whole time. And then Ta Litha Elena
Bateman again a name you might not know, but if
you are a horror movie fan, she is the little
girl who has polio in Annabel Creation. So she's the
star of Annabel Creation, which I think is one of
the best of the Conjuring adjacent movies. It's so good.
(04:15):
If you haven't seen that one, we didn't include it
because it's a part of our classics. The whole Conjuring
series would take up the entire list pretty much. But
she is the star of Annabel Creation. So some familiar
faces and I think some great acting.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
She's how many years older right in this one? Than Annabel.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Well, I actually went back and looked because I was like, wait,
she was a little girl.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
She was playing more of a hardcore teenager in.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
This correct But the difference is only I believe three years.
But that's the difference between being a little girl and
being a teenager. We've seen it happening with savine O.
God Like, think about it at she was nine three
years ago. Now she looks like she's eighteen.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
So it was don't go that far.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Well, she kind of does.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
She kind of does.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
The director justin deck. So anyway, the Rotten Tomato score
the aforementioned. The critics gave it a twenty six percent.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
That's is it the lowest on our list.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
I think we might have had one in the teens.
I'll have to go back and check screepers. But the
audience score is at seventy two percent. That's good, so
a much big difference, and again I think that's a
bell weather of success in terms of watchability. All right, critics, consensus,
here we go, and prepare yourselves for some bad reviews
(05:32):
here that we are going to completely disagree with. But
the critics consensus reads countdown may offer a few fleeting
jolts for horror fans with barren ces, but it lacks
enough wit or creativity to have a lasting impression.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
It lacks enough wit in creativity. I don't take too
much issue with what they're saying, because did you read
the synopsis yet?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
You skipped right over the gift over the synopsis?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yes? Good, and then we'll get back to that review
and it'll make sense. So good.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Okay, here's this, sorry, thank you for that. When a
young nurse downloads an app that claims to predict when
a person is going to die, it tells her she
only has three days to live, with time taking away
and death closing in, she must find a way to
save her life before time runs out.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Okay, obviously that's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
That's an awesome, awesome premise for a movie.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Though, for a supernatural mystery thriller thing. That's exactly what
kind of a teeny bopper. It has to do with phones, apps, time,
How much do you have left? Do you want to
know how you're gonna die? And you yes? All of
those things get you kind of worked up, and it's
a part of the experience of this movie. So now
go to the review.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Thank you all, right, I get that. So sample critic reviews,
and it did take some time to find a good
one among the critics, but I did find a couple.
Countdown is pretty damn fun and does an exit one
job of tapping into technology driven terrors for the modern
age that completely surprised me and left me thoroughly entertained
to boot is exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
What I would say entertaining movie.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yes, here is another. This is I put it in
the good category. I didn't like this movie at all,
but damn I had a good time.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Okay, that's fair. All right.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Here's another one. You could get drunk and laugh at it.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That's fair as well.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Here is another one. Think Final Destination plus flatliners, but
minus all of the fun.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Okay, that's too much. I don't even want to think
about what they were trying to say.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Disagree too, because it is fun. It is a fun
movie period. Here's another negative review by a critic. Countdown
relies too heavily on jump scares, but still fails to
distract from a gimmicky premise, a poorly developed script, and
thin characters.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
It's a gimmicky concept. Yeah, I have an app I
download and it tells me exactly when I'm going to die.
I that's a gimmick.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
I loved this movie because of that, and I actually
loved the conversations people were having when they found out
they had eighty more years to live. Yeah, but they
found out they had seventy two. And then it was
all in group settings. When was at work? When was that?
I think it began at a game, like a college
drinking game. But yeah, you know, especially if you were
that age, you absolutely would have downloaded that app.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Everybody would be curious about that app because you would think,
there's no way it's for real, so I might as
well just have some fun with it. And then it
gives you a number, and then what are you gonna think?
Oh my GOHI what if it's right. It's just that
it makes you have those types of conversations. So if
it sparked something in you and the people around you,
the movie did a good job gimmicky or not exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
And within the first few minutes of the movie, someone
finds out that they're gonna die in a matter of hours,
so it sets off I think a very fast pace
based situation where you have a pretty immediate death and
I have to say, I was riveted the entire time,
and I couldn't wait to figure out how someone was
going to try and escape their death that so far
(09:14):
as you watch the movie unfold, no one is able
to and then all of a sudden you get the
main character, TikTok, TikTok. So, yeah, you're at the edge
of your seat.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Do you have any other negatives in the Uh?
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Well that was just from the critics. I do have
some negatives. Well, actually I found some, so it was
easy to find positive ones'm on the audience. The negative
ones just got so mean. I just didn't feel like
put them in there, and I didn't want to turn
off anyone listening from watching because of these snobby critics.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Well shown what from the audience reviews, the people who
took issue with it. It was there a theme to.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Boring, that it was gimmicky, that it wasn't scary enough,
that it wasn't gritty enough.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It's it wasn't that's okay.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
It's like bubble gum.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
It was a bubblegum horror movie. Yes, that's it.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
It's like yeah, And there's a time and a place
for them. And that's why I think we definitely wanted
to include it because I think it's fun sometimes to
have a bubblegum horror movie. And this is, yes, exactly
what it is. Sample audience reviews. Here's a couple fun ones.
This is one of those movies that I know is
not very good, yet I can't help enjoy throwing it
on every five or six months.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Was it comfort Yeah, so it's.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Like chicken soup for horror movie fans.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
It's a comforting movie. It's not going to scare the
hell out of you. You're going to catch something that
you missed once before. It's not even one you have
to sit down and even pay close attention to. You
can go into the kitchen and grab another drink. You
can maybe even take a bathroom break and keep it
rolling and you'll be fine. It's one of those movies.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
It's highly digestible, and it's one you can watch over
and over and over again. So I thought that was
a good point. Okay, here's another one. Better than I
thought it would be. It is helped with a pretty
nifty final act and some humorous supporting characters. A slow
start and bland main characters. Not get down a star,
but this is a horror film that suffers from its
PG thirteen rating. If the and I don't know this word,
(11:09):
if the quinnoessences of breaking the user agreement were more severe,
the film would tension up and the scare.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Factor were more severe.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Okay, fine, fine, they wanted more terror, they wanted more horror.
That's okay. So here's another one, and this is I
actually think a lot of the people who went on
to write these reviews read the critics reviews before they
watched the movie. So this next one, I honestly expected
to dislike this movie, but it was so much fun
to watch. The characters had some genuinely funny moments, and
(11:40):
there were even a few scenes that really creeped me out.
I agree. I felt the same way. Here's another one.
Not too bad. Could have been better, but hey, we
needed a thriller horror movie and it delivers on its
version of what could possibly happen. And with things in
today's age, why not have an app that's going to
tell you if you're going to die in four hours?
You know you have downloaded it to lol make a
(12:02):
good point.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
I think a lot of people might do so, and
it sparked those conversations. It was fun. Ask yourself, right now,
ask the person sitting next to you as you're listening
to this, would you download an app that would tell
you exactly when you're going to die?
Speaker 2 (12:16):
We have had this exact conversation, and my answer at
this age is absolutely no.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah, my answer is the same because it would change
the way you live. Right. Life is more beautiful because
we know this one right here, this could be our
last podcast exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
But if you actually know in twenty twenty nine I'm
going to die, that is terrifying. I don't want to
know that.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
And how is it going to happen?
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Right? And even if you do get another fifty years,
say still the last five you're like TikTok, it's always
going to be weighing on you. No, no, no, no, no, no,
it's better not to know, all right. When we come back,
we're gonna tell you why I've made our list, who
it's for, who it's not for, what to parrot with,
where to watch it, and a ts for number nine.
(13:11):
Continuing our conversation about number ten on our horror hitless
Countdown to Halloween, it is countdown the name of the movie.
It's PG thirteen, It's horror, supernatural, but it is so
much fun. If you're looking for something super super, super
duper scary, maybe this one isn't for you. But here's
(13:33):
why it made our list number one. It's fun. It's
a fun horror movie. They aren't always fun, but this
one keeps things fairly light. It's entertaining. We love the
premise of the movie. Well acted and just a good
time all around.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
It's a fun movie there. It's rare to have fun
horror movies. Even the jump scares okay, fine, some you
see them coming. Some of the stuff is predictable. We've
watched loo horror movies, yes, and that's okay to have
this movie be what it is. But this is a
rare one that you're not necessarily scared. You're not hiding
under anything. You're kind of smiling at the screen and
(14:11):
at the characters. And who's insult there that say that
there was not a lot of depth through. Yeah, well
they were saying. I mean they were fun and what
they should have been, and just young folks who found
and they were odd pairing as well. That worked. I
loved all of it.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I did too. It reminded me a little bit of
another gem that we love that we didn't include on
the list for whatever reason. But Happy Depth Day. That's
a great It reminds me a little bit of that movie.
So who is this for? Well, you don't get to
say this very often, but it's good for the whole family.
But seriously, you could watch this with your teenagers and
even the people who put out the ratings of movies.
(14:49):
Whoever those people are at the National Picture Association, I'm
not sure agrees Pg. Thirteen. So actually, if you have
older children in the house, maybe even some tweens, this
one is fun. They're interested in dipping their toe into
horror movies, this is a fun one to do it.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Yes, this is a good introductory horror movie. It's also
this is why I recommend with a big group you
got fun with this one, because even the people are
a loud a little bit, and then you're young at
the screen, you're not going to miss anything necessarily. I
think this is the fun when you get everybody having
a debate. Yes, you'll be talking during and after, Yes,
about the scenario.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
And I love the we talk, but I love the
conversations that come about. Do you start talking about do
you want to know what's the best way to die?
I mean, you just get into these I know it
sounds funny to say those are fun conversations, but the
what ifs and the just speculative conversations that ensue are
worth it in and of itself. Now, who's it not for?
I think we've made it pretty clear anyone who is
looking for highbrow horror, this is not your movie.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Again. There's just place. There are places for this sometimes, right,
sometimes I want to hear Kendrick Lamar sometimes just gimme
Yin Yang twins right place for all of it? Doesn't
that all right? This high thing? So that was no
insult to either one of them brothers, right, But what
I'm saying is just I'm surprised, as we've gone through
(16:12):
this process, just how few folks critics are willing to
accept that there is a lane for this type of movie,
for this type of thing that's just kind of a
teeny bopper fun ride.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yes, and it's teeny bopper and fun, But I really
do think I thought it was clever. I thought the
premise was interesting, I thought the acting was good. I
thought the scares were compelling and.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Sufficient sufficient horror movie.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
That's yes, but I just I love this, So yeah,
it's not for you if you're looking for something, you know,
like Nosferatu, like this is the opposite of that. Right,
all right, food drink pairing, you know what you need
to just keep the fun atmosphere. I'd say have some
beer flowing, some popcorn, keep it light and fun. And
you mentioned this is a great party group movie, so
(16:59):
if you're having some sort of up on Halloween movie fest,
this would definitely be included. I think it's just fun.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I don't know why this is the first one where
this is popped into my mind. Candy. This is a
candy Swizzlers sitting out, some gummy bears and whatever you do, chocolate,
Eminem's peanut m and ms. Yeah, it feels like that
kind of a movie.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
DJ coming to the table with some food pairing. I
like that. I won't bring up the raisinets and popcorn
because that set you off last time. It's a salty
sweet snack and it's fun.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
People.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
People don't didn't make it up. I learned it from
other people who showed me the way.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Wow where you all had a commune together.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
It was the party in the I think I actually
was oh, yeah, I was in high school. I'd have
friends buying the raisin ets.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Oh, this is just something you did in a weird circle.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
No, we thought a weird circle. I think this is
a well known thing that people do. They put raisin
ets in their popcorn.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Raisinets are the things that are covered in chocolate. Is
it hard?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
They're true, there's a hard case.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Case, That's what I'm saying. So, but they look like
hard things. You put those in a bucket of popcorn? Correct?
Speaker 2 (18:09):
So good, so good, by the way. I also think
this is a movie you can watch alone and have
a blast party of one. There aren't many movies that
you can do that. But I think I actually watched
this the first time by myself, and I've watched it
so many times I can't even remember funny enough the
original showing. But I feel like I watched it alone.
Don't hold me do it. But it's definitely okay to
(18:32):
do so. Now, where can you watch it? This was
a little bit of a problem. Yeah, we searched and
I even tried to buy it because I loved the
movie so much. I thought, we'll just keep this in
our arsenal, our library of horror movie. No I couldn't
even I couldn't find a place to buy it. So
Amazon Prime right now is showing it, but you have
to watch it with commercials. That's a bit of a bummer,
(18:53):
I know. But it was on Netflix. It just went away,
so maybe it'll come back. Just I'm absolutely gonna keep
my eye out, in fact a watch list so that
when it becomes available, I can purchase it. Okay, that's
fun because this is how much I love the movie,
and we watch it enough that this is one to buy,
true because we will go back to this like what
kind of mood am I end? Ooh I'm in a
countdown mood? Yeah, we are definitely like that. And by
(19:15):
the way, here is a pro tip. Stay for the credits.
There is a fun additional scene that was actually it
made me love the movie even more. I forgot about
it until we rewatched it, and I was like, oh,
I love when movies do that. And when you see
people not leaving, you're like, oh, at the theater.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Don't see that a lot in horror movies.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
It doesn't happen often. And it was comedic and funny
and it just worked. The whole ending worked, so stay
for that also, please stay tuned for tomorrow where we
have number nine on our countdown to Halloween, and this
one is a complete departure from countdown. It's still fun,
(19:57):
it's still entertaining, but it's it's definitely rated R and
it's highly reviewed.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
It's twisted, it's a little sadistic, and Thor himself plays a.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Starring Yes, it's so funny. I had written in here
as a tease. Has a devilish twist with some excellent
award winning actors.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Twist. This is a twisted movie.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
There are twists within the twist.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Oh my god, this is such a twisted movie.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
And cannot give one more hint. This movie is set
in our favorite setting for a horror movie. And with that, everyone,
thank you for listening. I'm Amy Roboch alongside TJ. Holmes.
We'll talk to you soon.
May there are folks. It is Wednesday, October the twenty second,
and we have made it to our top ten favorite
horror movies that you might not know about, and number
ten on our list today might be a bit of
a tough sell. And with that, welcome to this episode
of Amy and TJ. Roabes. This is maybe the or
(00:30):
second one of the second lowest Rotten Tomato scores.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Correct. This one is of distinction in that the critics
gave it a very low rotten Tomato ah, but the
audience gave it a high Rotten Tomato score, which I
always think is the perfect combo, because if the critics
were looking for something I always keep using this word elevated,
but some sort of you know, yes, an elevated horror
(00:56):
movie experience. But if the fans just wanted to have
some fun and they loved it, I know that's going
to be a certain kind of movie we're going to enjoy.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Always said that that is almost how you find a
horror movie. Critic hat it, audience loved it. That's for me,
and I don't know if we've ever missed on one.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
No, I think when the audience loves it in spite
of the critics. It's exceptionally good.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
All right, so this one is special in that category.
And tell the folks robes number ten on our list
as we count down. Number ten movie is countdown.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yes, that seems appropriate. Yes, its release date was just
actually almost exactly six years ago, October twenty fifth, twenty nineteen.
It's an hour and thirty minutes, just a ninety minute
just I don't know, explosion of fun. That's how I
would describe it. And this is our only PG thirteen. Yeah,
(01:51):
horror movie. In fact, I feel like if you were
known that ahead of time, you wouldn't have watched it.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Maybe so I've known about this one for years. I
don't know why I found it, But PG thirteen, I'm
thinking back to the movie. We've watched it again here
in the last couple of days. How tough some of
the death scenes are? The scares? Huh? Maybe not.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
It's creepy. I definitely have a few jump scares in there,
but it's not gory to the point where or foul
enough that it got that many rs. So, in fact,
that is and was among some of the complaints.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
By folks that was scary enough for gory And yes that.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
The PG thirteen held it back, which I agree it
probably did, but it helped, I think significantly at the
box office because.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I didn't know until this moment it was PG thirteen.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, and now you're like, second guest, No.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
I love that I didn't know that because I probably
held it against it in some way been prejudiced against
the movie. I am really loving that. I didn't know
until this moment.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I'll be honest. I didn't know until I did the
research either. I assumed it was a rated R. But
it does speak volumes for the box office. This is
the reason why some movies do PG thirteen because obviously
you get in a much younger group of folks who
can come in, spread word on social media, et cetera,
and your movie can do Gangbusters that way, even though
you might piss off some diehard horror fans who like
(03:10):
things a little bit grittier. But box office forty eight
million dollars internationally, twenty five point six domestically, So it
did really well.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
World back, that's a hit for that budget.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
That's a hit six point five million for the budget.
That's it. So yes, this did really well, and the
rating could have had a lot to do with it.
The cast was great though, so her name you might
not know, Elizabeth Layle. She's the star. But if any
of you listening love the Netflix series You, which I
have been obsessed with, she is beck in You, so
you will know her face. She's been in a couple
(03:43):
other movies as well. Jordan Callaway such a cutie. Had
not seen him before, haven't seen him since. But that's
her co star.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Oh black guy, yeah, oh yeah, look the Nelly look alike.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yes, yes, I love them together too. I was rooting
for them the whole time. And then Ta Litha Elena
Bateman again a name you might not know, but if
you are a horror movie fan, she is the little
girl who has polio in Annabel Creation. So she's the
star of Annabel Creation, which I think is one of
the best of the Conjuring adjacent movies. It's so good.
(04:15):
If you haven't seen that one, we didn't include it
because it's a part of our classics. The whole Conjuring
series would take up the entire list pretty much. But
she is the star of Annabel Creation. So some familiar
faces and I think some great acting.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
She's how many years older right in this one? Than Annabel.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Well, I actually went back and looked because I was like, wait,
she was a little girl.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
She was playing more of a hardcore teenager in.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
This correct But the difference is only I believe three years.
But that's the difference between being a little girl and
being a teenager. We've seen it happening with savine O.
God Like, think about it at she was nine three
years ago. Now she looks like she's eighteen.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
So it was don't go that far.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Well, she kind of does.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
She kind of does.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
The director justin deck. So anyway, the Rotten Tomato score
the aforementioned. The critics gave it a twenty six percent.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
That's is it the lowest on our list.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
I think we might have had one in the teens.
I'll have to go back and check screepers. But the
audience score is at seventy two percent. That's good, so
a much big difference, and again I think that's a
bell weather of success in terms of watchability. All right, critics, consensus,
here we go, and prepare yourselves for some bad reviews
(05:32):
here that we are going to completely disagree with. But
the critics consensus reads countdown may offer a few fleeting
jolts for horror fans with barren ces, but it lacks
enough wit or creativity to have a lasting impression.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
It lacks enough wit in creativity. I don't take too
much issue with what they're saying, because did you read
the synopsis yet?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
You skipped right over the gift over the synopsis?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yes? Good, and then we'll get back to that review
and it'll make sense. So good.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Okay, here's this, sorry, thank you for that. When a
young nurse downloads an app that claims to predict when
a person is going to die, it tells her she
only has three days to live, with time taking away
and death closing in, she must find a way to
save her life before time runs out.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Okay, obviously that's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
That's an awesome, awesome premise for a movie.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Though, for a supernatural mystery thriller thing. That's exactly what
kind of a teeny bopper. It has to do with phones, apps, time,
How much do you have left? Do you want to
know how you're gonna die? And you yes? All of
those things get you kind of worked up, and it's
a part of the experience of this movie. So now
go to the review.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Thank you all, right, I get that. So sample critic reviews,
and it did take some time to find a good
one among the critics, but I did find a couple.
Countdown is pretty damn fun and does an exit one
job of tapping into technology driven terrors for the modern
age that completely surprised me and left me thoroughly entertained
to boot is exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
What I would say entertaining movie.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yes, here is another. This is I put it in
the good category. I didn't like this movie at all,
but damn I had a good time.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Okay, that's fair. All right.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Here's another one. You could get drunk and laugh at it.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That's fair as well.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Here is another one. Think Final Destination plus flatliners, but
minus all of the fun.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Okay, that's too much. I don't even want to think
about what they were trying to say.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Disagree too, because it is fun. It is a fun
movie period. Here's another negative review by a critic. Countdown
relies too heavily on jump scares, but still fails to
distract from a gimmicky premise, a poorly developed script, and
thin characters.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
It's a gimmicky concept. Yeah, I have an app I
download and it tells me exactly when I'm going to die.
I that's a gimmick.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
I loved this movie because of that, and I actually
loved the conversations people were having when they found out
they had eighty more years to live. Yeah, but they
found out they had seventy two. And then it was
all in group settings. When was at work? When was that?
I think it began at a game, like a college
drinking game. But yeah, you know, especially if you were
that age, you absolutely would have downloaded that app.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Everybody would be curious about that app because you would think,
there's no way it's for real, so I might as
well just have some fun with it. And then it
gives you a number, and then what are you gonna think?
Oh my GOHI what if it's right. It's just that
it makes you have those types of conversations. So if
it sparked something in you and the people around you,
the movie did a good job gimmicky or not exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
And within the first few minutes of the movie, someone
finds out that they're gonna die in a matter of hours,
so it sets off I think a very fast pace
based situation where you have a pretty immediate death and
I have to say, I was riveted the entire time,
and I couldn't wait to figure out how someone was
going to try and escape their death that so far
(09:14):
as you watch the movie unfold, no one is able
to and then all of a sudden you get the
main character, TikTok, TikTok. So, yeah, you're at the edge
of your seat.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Do you have any other negatives in the Uh?
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Well that was just from the critics. I do have
some negatives. Well, actually I found some, so it was
easy to find positive ones'm on the audience. The negative
ones just got so mean. I just didn't feel like
put them in there, and I didn't want to turn
off anyone listening from watching because of these snobby critics.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Well shown what from the audience reviews, the people who
took issue with it. It was there a theme to.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Boring, that it was gimmicky, that it wasn't scary enough,
that it wasn't gritty enough.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It's it wasn't that's okay.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
It's like bubble gum.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
It was a bubblegum horror movie. Yes, that's it.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
It's like yeah, And there's a time and a place
for them. And that's why I think we definitely wanted
to include it because I think it's fun sometimes to
have a bubblegum horror movie. And this is, yes, exactly
what it is. Sample audience reviews. Here's a couple fun ones.
This is one of those movies that I know is
not very good, yet I can't help enjoy throwing it
on every five or six months.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Was it comfort Yeah, so it's.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Like chicken soup for horror movie fans.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
It's a comforting movie. It's not going to scare the
hell out of you. You're going to catch something that
you missed once before. It's not even one you have
to sit down and even pay close attention to. You
can go into the kitchen and grab another drink. You
can maybe even take a bathroom break and keep it
rolling and you'll be fine. It's one of those movies.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
It's highly digestible, and it's one you can watch over
and over and over again. So I thought that was
a good point. Okay, here's another one. Better than I
thought it would be. It is helped with a pretty
nifty final act and some humorous supporting characters. A slow
start and bland main characters. Not get down a star,
but this is a horror film that suffers from its
PG thirteen rating. If the and I don't know this word,
(11:09):
if the quinnoessences of breaking the user agreement were more severe,
the film would tension up and the scare.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Factor were more severe.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Okay, fine, fine, they wanted more terror, they wanted more horror.
That's okay. So here's another one, and this is I
actually think a lot of the people who went on
to write these reviews read the critics reviews before they
watched the movie. So this next one, I honestly expected
to dislike this movie, but it was so much fun
to watch. The characters had some genuinely funny moments, and
(11:40):
there were even a few scenes that really creeped me out.
I agree. I felt the same way. Here's another one.
Not too bad. Could have been better, but hey, we
needed a thriller horror movie and it delivers on its
version of what could possibly happen. And with things in
today's age, why not have an app that's going to
tell you if you're going to die in four hours?
You know you have downloaded it to lol make a
(12:02):
good point.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
I think a lot of people might do so, and
it sparked those conversations. It was fun. Ask yourself, right now,
ask the person sitting next to you as you're listening
to this, would you download an app that would tell
you exactly when you're going to die?
Speaker 2 (12:16):
We have had this exact conversation, and my answer at
this age is absolutely no.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah, my answer is the same because it would change
the way you live. Right. Life is more beautiful because
we know this one right here, this could be our
last podcast exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
But if you actually know in twenty twenty nine I'm
going to die, that is terrifying. I don't want to
know that.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
And how is it going to happen?
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Right? And even if you do get another fifty years,
say still the last five you're like TikTok, it's always
going to be weighing on you. No, no, no, no, no, no,
it's better not to know, all right. When we come back,
we're gonna tell you why I've made our list, who
it's for, who it's not for, what to parrot with,
where to watch it, and a ts for number nine.
(13:11):
Continuing our conversation about number ten on our horror hitless
Countdown to Halloween, it is countdown the name of the movie.
It's PG thirteen, It's horror, supernatural, but it is so
much fun. If you're looking for something super super, super
duper scary, maybe this one isn't for you. But here's
(13:33):
why it made our list number one. It's fun. It's
a fun horror movie. They aren't always fun, but this
one keeps things fairly light. It's entertaining. We love the
premise of the movie. Well acted and just a good
time all around.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
It's a fun movie there. It's rare to have fun
horror movies. Even the jump scares okay, fine, some you
see them coming. Some of the stuff is predictable. We've
watched loo horror movies, yes, and that's okay to have
this movie be what it is. But this is a
rare one that you're not necessarily scared. You're not hiding
under anything. You're kind of smiling at the screen and
(14:11):
at the characters. And who's insult there that say that
there was not a lot of depth through. Yeah, well
they were saying. I mean they were fun and what
they should have been, and just young folks who found
and they were odd pairing as well. That worked. I
loved all of it.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I did too. It reminded me a little bit of
another gem that we love that we didn't include on
the list for whatever reason. But Happy Depth Day. That's
a great It reminds me a little bit of that movie.
So who is this for? Well, you don't get to
say this very often, but it's good for the whole family.
But seriously, you could watch this with your teenagers and
even the people who put out the ratings of movies.
(14:49):
Whoever those people are at the National Picture Association, I'm
not sure agrees Pg. Thirteen. So actually, if you have
older children in the house, maybe even some tweens, this
one is fun. They're interested in dipping their toe into
horror movies, this is a fun one to do it.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Yes, this is a good introductory horror movie. It's also
this is why I recommend with a big group you
got fun with this one, because even the people are
a loud a little bit, and then you're young at
the screen, you're not going to miss anything necessarily. I
think this is the fun when you get everybody having
a debate. Yes, you'll be talking during and after, Yes,
about the scenario.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
And I love the we talk, but I love the
conversations that come about. Do you start talking about do
you want to know what's the best way to die?
I mean, you just get into these I know it
sounds funny to say those are fun conversations, but the
what ifs and the just speculative conversations that ensue are
worth it in and of itself. Now, who's it not for?
I think we've made it pretty clear anyone who is
looking for highbrow horror, this is not your movie.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Again. There's just place. There are places for this sometimes, right,
sometimes I want to hear Kendrick Lamar sometimes just gimme
Yin Yang twins right place for all of it? Doesn't
that all right? This high thing? So that was no
insult to either one of them brothers, right, But what
I'm saying is just I'm surprised, as we've gone through
(16:12):
this process, just how few folks critics are willing to
accept that there is a lane for this type of movie,
for this type of thing that's just kind of a
teeny bopper fun ride.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yes, and it's teeny bopper and fun, But I really
do think I thought it was clever. I thought the
premise was interesting, I thought the acting was good. I
thought the scares were compelling and.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Sufficient sufficient horror movie.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
That's yes, but I just I love this, So yeah,
it's not for you if you're looking for something, you know,
like Nosferatu, like this is the opposite of that. Right,
all right, food drink pairing, you know what you need
to just keep the fun atmosphere. I'd say have some
beer flowing, some popcorn, keep it light and fun. And
you mentioned this is a great party group movie, so
(16:59):
if you're having some sort of up on Halloween movie fest,
this would definitely be included. I think it's just fun.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I don't know why this is the first one where
this is popped into my mind. Candy. This is a
candy Swizzlers sitting out, some gummy bears and whatever you do, chocolate,
Eminem's peanut m and ms. Yeah, it feels like that
kind of a movie.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
DJ coming to the table with some food pairing. I
like that. I won't bring up the raisinets and popcorn
because that set you off last time. It's a salty
sweet snack and it's fun.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
People.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
People don't didn't make it up. I learned it from
other people who showed me the way.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Wow where you all had a commune together.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
It was the party in the I think I actually
was oh, yeah, I was in high school. I'd have
friends buying the raisin ets.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Oh, this is just something you did in a weird circle.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
No, we thought a weird circle. I think this is
a well known thing that people do. They put raisin
ets in their popcorn.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Raisinets are the things that are covered in chocolate. Is
it hard?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
They're true, there's a hard case.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Case, That's what I'm saying. So, but they look like
hard things. You put those in a bucket of popcorn? Correct?
Speaker 2 (18:09):
So good, so good, by the way. I also think
this is a movie you can watch alone and have
a blast party of one. There aren't many movies that
you can do that. But I think I actually watched
this the first time by myself, and I've watched it
so many times I can't even remember funny enough the
original showing. But I feel like I watched it alone.
Don't hold me do it. But it's definitely okay to
(18:32):
do so. Now, where can you watch it? This was
a little bit of a problem. Yeah, we searched and
I even tried to buy it because I loved the
movie so much. I thought, we'll just keep this in
our arsenal, our library of horror movie. No I couldn't
even I couldn't find a place to buy it. So
Amazon Prime right now is showing it, but you have
to watch it with commercials. That's a bit of a bummer,
(18:53):
I know. But it was on Netflix. It just went away,
so maybe it'll come back. Just I'm absolutely gonna keep
my eye out, in fact a watch list so that
when it becomes available, I can purchase it. Okay, that's
fun because this is how much I love the movie,
and we watch it enough that this is one to buy,
true because we will go back to this like what
kind of mood am I end? Ooh I'm in a
countdown mood? Yeah, we are definitely like that. And by
(19:15):
the way, here is a pro tip. Stay for the credits.
There is a fun additional scene that was actually it
made me love the movie even more. I forgot about
it until we rewatched it, and I was like, oh,
I love when movies do that. And when you see
people not leaving, you're like, oh, at the theater.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Don't see that a lot in horror movies.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
It doesn't happen often. And it was comedic and funny
and it just worked. The whole ending worked, so stay
for that also, please stay tuned for tomorrow where we
have number nine on our countdown to Halloween, and this
one is a complete departure from countdown. It's still fun,
(19:57):
it's still entertaining, but it's it's definitely rated R and
it's highly reviewed.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
It's twisted, it's a little sadistic, and Thor himself plays a.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Starring Yes, it's so funny. I had written in here
as a tease. Has a devilish twist with some excellent
award winning actors.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Twist. This is a twisted movie.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
There are twists within the twist.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Oh my god, this is such a twisted movie.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
And cannot give one more hint. This movie is set
in our favorite setting for a horror movie. And with that, everyone,
thank you for listening. I'm Amy Roboch alongside TJ. Holmes.
We'll talk to you soon.
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