Crystal Lake Review: A Bloody New Chapter in the Friday the 13th Story

Linda Cardellini brings heartbreaking depth to Pamela Voorhees in a bloody reimagining that gives the Friday the 13th legend a new origin story.

Spoilers ahead for Crystal Lake’s first season.

Widow's Bay (S1, Ep. 10) "We Hope You Enjoyed Your Time!" Season Finale

The Season 1 finale of Widow’s Bay blows the finish line to smithereens with a gut-punch twist that rewires the show’s balance of dark humor and terror. It’s a masterclass in misdirection and long-game payoff. Here's my recap and review.

Widow's Bay (S1. Ep. 9) "Emergency Shelter"

The penultimate episode of Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay, “Emergency Shelter,” is a tense that perfectly sets the stage for the finale. A hellstorm slams the island just as the trio discovers that Richard Warren’s curse still holds because a blood relative is alive. The revelation that the missing link is someone they care about adds a brutal emotional twist. Here’s my recap and review.

Widow's Bay (S1, Ep. 8) "Your Baggage"

In Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay, Episode 8 (“Your Baggage”) shatters the illusion of safety, blending blood‑pumping slasher thrills with raw emotional drama. Anchored by Matthew Rhys’ outstanding performance and a Halloween‑style hunt, it’s the series at its best. Here's my recap and review.

Widow's Bay (S1, Ep. 5) "What to Expect on Your Trip"

Five episodes into its first season, Apple TV+’s Widow’s Bay delivers its most unhinged hour yet. “What to Expect on Your Trip” shatters the lead character’s skepticism, trading dry wit for a hallucinatory plunge into trauma and dread. Anchored by Matthew Rhys’s stunning performance, the episode reveals how the island’s quirks have always been a mask for something far more terrifying. Here is my review.

Widow's Bay (S1, Ep. 4) "Beach Reads"

Widow’s Bay focuses on the town’s overlooked residents in “Beach Reads,” a tense, character-driven hour blending social horror and supernatural chills. Led by Kate O’Flynn, it explores isolation, bullying, and the dangerous desire to be seen, delivering some of the show’s most unsettling and emotional moments. 

Widow's Bay (S1, Ep. 3) "The Inaugural Swim"

Widow's Bay blends folk horror and cringe comedy, with a water-logged curse and Tom’s paranoia making it more dangerous than local legends. Here’s my review.

Widow's Bay (S1, Ep. 1-2) "Welcome to Widow's Bay"/"Lodging" Series Premiere

 

Apple TV's Widow’s Bay, created by Katie Dippold, blends classic horror with humor, producing an atmospheric, unsettling series that honors genre tropes with a cynical twist. Here's my take on the two-episode premiere.

Animal Among Us

If you think that "Animal Among Us" was a film that you know all too well without seeing it, guess again. This film keeps you guessing until its mind-blowing ending. 

When a campground is reopening celebration fifteen years after two girls were murdered and lead to a best-selling novel, Anita and Penelope Bishop (played by Larisa Oleynik and Christine Donlon), deals with issues of an animal like creature on the campsite, after two people had been attacked and killed. But when the author. Who wrote the book on the previous murders comes for the celebration at the Bishop's mother; the plot twists and turns about man and creature.

"Animal Among Us" is a horror film that might have the same plot devices as previous classic horror films like Friday the 13th. I enjoy some originality in this film; while for a 90-minute movie with some slow parts, it builds to an ending that I would have never had thought of. Larisa Oleynik, who won Best Actress in a Feature at Northen Horror Fest 2019, gives a stunning performance unlike we've seen her do from her previous roles. Even Don Frye and Erin Daniels were outstanding and stood out in the film as well.

I give the film an 8/10.

You can catch "Animal Among Us" available now on DVD and digital.