Revealer – Shudder Review (3/5)

REVEALER on Shudder is a new horror movie made in the most gorgeously kitsch 80’s style. With just two main characters who have such awesome chemistry that it effectively becomes a buddy movie as well. Read our full Revealer movie review here!

REVEALER is a new Shudder horror movie that has so much going for it. Great characters, a simple but efficient plot with the perfect choice of special effects, and set in that glorious 80’s horror movie style.

Also, it has the added advantage of being perfectly character-driven all while taking place during a biblical rapture. Yes, this is actually a horror/buddy-movie hybrid. And I loved that! I mean, to be fair, Shaun of the Dead could easily be called the same thing. If your movie can carry the same labels as that iconic movie, you’re in a very good place!

Continue reading our Revealer movie review below. You can watch it on Shudder from June 23, 2022.

So well-made you’ll excuse this…

The only thing that doesn’t work too well for Revealer is the runtime. It would have made for an amazing horror short movie or an episode of a horror anthology. A solid hour would have been to this movie’s definite advantage. To be fair, the runtime is still fairly short at just under 90 minutes.

Still, it does lose some momentum which is a shame since everything else works. Also, admittedly, the horror movies of the 1980s did have a tendency to maybe run longer than necessary, So, you could actually excuse it as just wanting to be extremely true to the 1980s vibe.

And that’s actually a key point; You want to make excuses for the misses of Revealer because everything else just works so damn well. You never want to give up on it or anything. Quite the opposite. You’ll be rooting for the two main characters in various ways.

A buddy movie with a horror twist

The entire story in Revealer does play out over the course of just a few hours. During an apocalypse in 1987’s Chicago. As things very suddenly start to go awry, a stripper and a religious protester are trapped together. Of course, they’re trapped in a peep show booth – think Madonna’s Open Your Heart music video.

Based on that particular music video reference, you might think that I’m an 80s girl myself. And you’d be absolutely right. In other words, this plot and setting in itself is plenty of reason to want to watch Revealer. Well, for me anyway.

The two main characters have met many times since the protester is always right outside the stripper’s place of work. Now, they must come together to survive the apocalypse, which is of biblical proportions, and – more importantly – design. That means the religious protester knows what each new event means in terms of how close the end is.

Caito Aase (upcoming horror movie Black Mold) is simply perfect as the peep show booth dancer, Angie. So much heart and attitude in one badass woman! Meanwhile, Shaina Schrooten (Scare Package II: Rad Chad’s Revenge) is equally intriguing and does surprise quite a lot along the way as the religious protester, Sally.

Watch Revealer on Shudder now!

I definitely wanted to watch Revealer based on the plot and style of the poster and everything else I came across by way of PR material. However, I never actually expected it to be this good. While I wish the runtime had been tighter (as it was with the Shudder megahit Host) or had some added storyline, I am still highly recommending this movie.

More than anything, it means I’ll be keeping my eye out for whatever director Luke Boyce makes next. He definitely has a style that hits my sweet spot. Well, several of my sweet spots, I’d say. I mean, his current profile picture on IMDb alone could’ve told me that!

Luke Boyce also came up with the story in cooperation with the scriptwriters. The script was written by popular comic authors Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash, Revival) and Michael Moreci (Barbaric, The Plot). I can’t say I’m familiar with these comic books, but I certainly hope they continue writing horror movies with this awesome vibe and attitude.

This was a good taste of what’s to come, I hope, and I am definitely ready for more. Be sure to check it out on Shudder to make sure we’ll be getting more from these deliciously crazy filmmakers.

Revealer premieres on Shudder on June 23, 2022.

Details

Director: Luke Boyce
Script: Michael Moreci, Tim Seeley
Stars: Caito Aase, Shaina Schrooten, Bishop Stevens, Buzz Leer, Phil Bogdan, Sammy DelPurgatorio