phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2021

Nightbooks



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 43min
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre Tags: Family, Fantasy, Horror
Plot Summary: Fun family horror! A dark fantasy tale with some legitimate creepy parts. The two kids are great and Krysten Ritter goes right up to the edge of overacting without crossing over. This would make a good double feature with Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: Fun family horror! A dark fantasy tale with some legitimate creepy parts. The two kids are great and Krysten Ritter goes right up to the edge of overacting without crossing over. This would make a good double feature with Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark.


Outside Reviews:

Tara Bennett
Nightbooks Is a Wickedly Entertaining Horror Flick for the Young and Young-at-Heart

A lot of credit also goes to Fegley and Jewett, who make you believe in the stakes of their strange predicament and sell the plausibility of their slow crawl towards friendship. Fegley also lands the emotional beats in the third act, which adds a lot of relatable resonance to why Alex is so upset in the opening minutes. Without being maudlin or corny, he earns our admiration and empathy and becomes a quiet hero because of it. And of course, Ritter's Natasha is a wickedly unhinged villain that never dips into camp. The actress has that rare superpower of being able to go big, but always tempering it with her innate acerbic edge. Plus, her look and wardrobe are divine. She has an eerie resemblance to Coraline's mom from the Laika movie, just dressed in ensembles that look like they came from a cheap tulle and rhinestone trunk sale. It’s bonkers on the eyes, but Natasha's menace and bite remain a threat to the end.


Joey Keogh
Nightbooks' Review: Gateway horror for the "weird" ones

Nightbooks can become a bit plodding for older audiences as Alex cycles through the motions of finding himself at an immature age until Yarovesky bursts into a tensely terrifying final chapter that pulls heavily from Hansel & Gretel. Spoilers aside, Alex and Yasmine face enraged danger in the form of a candy-melded foe who presents herself right out of Raimi's Drag Me To Hell. The film's pint-sized heroes sprint away from the malevolent entity as it busts through doors and screeches a banshee's cackle, which I honestly can't say will or won't be too much for intended audiences. However, it's creatively memorable and does what good gateway horror should - challenge children to appreciate pure horrors at a younger age.