Review: Cinestudio Fright Nights

Hannah Smith ’26

Executive Arts & Entertainment Editor

Cinestudio’s Fright Nights is a collection of horror films screened throughout October to get audiences in the Halloween spirit. This year, the films include “The Front Room,” “Mahakaal,” “The Wasp,” “Cemetery Man,” “Mute Witness,” “Delicatessen,” and “Peeping Tom.” 

“The Front Room” is directed by twin brothers which is exciting, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that the film just isn’t that good. It centers around a married couple who are expecting their first child when their lives are interrupted when the husband’s mother comes to stay with them. It seems like it’s trying to combine “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Mother!” and it didn’t work. The film tries to tie in the racial themes of “Get Out” and it simply falls flat.

“Mahakaal” is Bollywood “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and it is so fun. Strangely enough, it’s the second film on this list directed by brothers, but this one is actually good. “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a Halloween classic and “Mahakaal” attacks the same story with musical numbers. There are countless scenes that are remade almost shot for shot from “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” including the scene where Nancy falls asleep in class, follows after her freshly-dead friend who is wrapped in a blood-soaked plastic sheet, and gets chased around the abandoned dreamscape high school by Freddy Krugger and wakes up with a burn on her arm. It’s the perfect combination of cheesy and terrifying, I cannot recommend it enough.

“The Wasp” stars Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer as childhood friends who reconnect when Harris’ character hires Dormer’s character to kill her husband. This film is based on a book, which I’m sure is a far better medium for this story. It’s monologue heavy and tells the story verbally in these monologues rather than showing what’s going on. These long winded speeches feel like an easier form of storytelling, like a shortcut, and I found myself wanting to see more. That’s not to say “the Wasp” isn’t good because I do enjoy the psychological horror and crazy plot twists that keep you on your toes through the entire runtime. I just wouldn’t consider this to be the best film shown during the Fright Nights.

“Cemetery Man” is truly outrageous, but wildly entertaining. It’s about the most British man ever put on screen who works at an Italian cemetery where all the bodies come back to life. It reminds me of “Zombieland” and “Evil Dead 2” if both films made absolutely no sense and had far too many plot lines. At one point there’s a zombie who shoots out of its tomb on a motorcycle and then drives away never to be seen again. If you don’t mind a ridiculous amount of sex and nudity for a movie set in a cemetery, I would absolutely recommend “Cemetery Man.”

“Mute Witness” doesn’t reach the absurdity that “Cemetery Man” does, but it certainly comes close. It revolves around a mute woman who works with props on a film set in Russia. One night she gets locked in the set and discovers two men who work for the mob filming themselves killing a woman. In classic 1990s fashion, every character is a stereotype of every film that’s come before it, from the idiotic rich American who’s too stupid to realize what’s going on, the overprotective sister, and the strong final girl who decides it’s a good idea to go home alone and take a long bath after just witnessing a murder. The Russians in the film are exactly like the nondescript Europeans in “Die Hard” and the Russians in “John Wick” and “Air Force One.” They are stormtrooper-esque in that they can’t seem to aim to save their life. You know exactly what you’re going into with this movie simply by reading the synopsis, but that shouldn’t deter you from watching.

“Delicatessen” is unlike any other movie on this list. The listed genres are fantasy, science fiction, and comedy, yet it is one of the most horrific films I’ve ever seen. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which meat is in very low supply, so people resort to killing and eating their neighbors. Shockingly, it shares similar visual aesthetics as a Wes Anderson movie, but that is not an invitation to watch this film thinking it’ll be “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” I strongly recommend looking at the trigger warning before watching “Delicatessen,” but if you’re looking for something unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, put this on.

Lastly, “Peeping Tom,” released in 1960, is the oldest film on this list. It is a film about a disturbed, lonely man who is fascinated by fear. He films people as he kills them so that he can capture that moment on his victim’s faces when they know they are about to die. “Peeping Tom” is strangely similar to “Mute Witness,” but I feel confident saying it is the superior movie. It dives into voyeurism and trauma while utilizing excellent filmmaking techniques to heighten suspense and terror without exploiting violence. The best way I can describe this movie is as a blend between Hitchcock’s “Psycho” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley.”