Shudder - Night Of The Reaper : Brandon Christensen Revives ’80s Babysitter Horror With a Sinister Twist

By Mulder, 25 august 2025

With Night Of The Reaper, Canadian filmmaker Brandon Christensen cements his reputation as one of the most inventive voices working in contemporary horror. Known for films such as Still/Born, Z, Superhost and The Puppetman, Christensen has carved out a space for himself by weaving familial anxieties into supernatural terror, often experimenting with format and perception to maximize unease. This new project, which premieres on Shudder on September 19, 2025, represents both a nostalgic return to the slasher traditions of the 1980s and a modern reimagining of the babysitter-in-peril archetype. Co-written with his brother Ryan Christensen, Night Of The Reaper was born from their shared love of horror classics and builds on a desire to reinterpret those genre staples through a more experimental lens.

At its heart, the film follows Deena, a college student reluctantly taking on a last-minute babysitting job in her suburban hometown, portrayed by Jessica Clement. What begins as a mundane evening quickly spirals into a nightmare, as the local sheriff—played by Ryan Robbins—receives a cryptic package that draws him into a deadly scavenger hunt. As the sinister game unfolds, the lives of both Deena and the town are pulled into the grip of a masked killer. Alongside Summer H. Howell, Matty Finochio, Max Christensen, Ben Cockell, Bryn Samuel, Savannah Miller, Susan Serrao, Huxley Fisher, Isla Spencer, Blair Young, and Drake Seipert, the cast gives life to a suburban community teetering between innocence and menace, creating a setting that feels as much a character as the masked reaper itself.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Night Of The Reaper lies in its aesthetic choices. Known for using technology as narrative tools in his past works—whether through baby monitors, vlogs, or bodycams—Brandon Christensen again integrates format into form, this time leaning into VHS visuals and found-footage inserts. These stylistic decisions do more than simply evoke nostalgia; they unnerve the viewer by blurring the line between fiction and eerie documentation. This approach harks back to Christensen’s formative experiences, particularly his first encounter with When a Stranger Calls at a childhood birthday party, where the simple premise of a babysitter’s night gone wrong left an indelible mark. In many ways, Night Of The Reaper feels like the director’s personal attempt to revisit that formative scare and pass it on to a new generation.

The film’s retro tone and structure have already begun to resonate in festival circles, with Popcorn Frights praising its atmospheric throwback style and other outlets like Fangoria and Bloody Disgusting highlighting its clever balance of homage and originality. What makes the film especially engaging is its scavenger-hunt framework, which transforms the narrative into an intricate cat-and-mouse game rather than a straightforward slasher chase. Each clue brings a surge of tension, demanding active engagement from the audience as well as the characters. This layered narrative construction suggests that Christensen is less interested in recycling slasher tropes than he is in evolving them, bending nostalgia into something unpredictable and urgent.

Ultimately, Night Of The Reaper promises to be more than a nostalgic trip back to the golden age of slashers. It is a reflection of Brandon Christensen’s ongoing exploration of how ordinary lives and everyday responsibilities—such as babysitting—can be disrupted by unfathomable horror. It thrives on its balance between familiarity and innovation, allowing audiences to recognize the shadows of the past while confronting something newly terrifying. By fusing childhood memories, stylistic experimentation, and a cast capable of grounding the surreal in authentic fear, Night Of The Reaper stands poised to become a defining horror release of 2025, one that reclaims the suburban babysitter tale and reshapes it into a haunting reminder of why we fear the night.

Synopsis :
In the heart of a quiet, 1980s suburb, college student Deena returns home and reluctantly takes on a last-minute babysitting job. That same night, the local sheriff receives a cryptic package that pulls him into a sinister scavenger hunt that sets off a game of cat and mouse with a dangerous killer. As the clues unravel, Deena finds herself ensnared in a nightmarish mystery that she may not survive.

Night Of The Reaper
Directed by Brandon Christensen
Written by Brandon Christensen, Ryan Christensen
Produced by David Hiatt, Matt Manjourides, Justin A. Martell, Michael Peterson
Starring Jessica Clement, Ryan Robbins, Summer H. Howell, Matty Finochio
Max Christensen, Ben Cockell, Bryn Samuel, Savannah Miller, Susan Serrao, Huxley Fisher, Isla Spencer, Blair Young, Drake Seipert
Cinematography : Clayton Moore
Edited by Brandon Christensen
Production companies : Not the Funeral Home, Superchill
Distributed by Shudder (United States)
Release dates : September 19, 2025 (United States)
Running time : 93 minutes