Black Spines (2024) Review
Stories of monsters coming to punish bad kids are as old as time. The monster and the other details vary across time periods and cultures, but there have always been legends to scare kids into better behavior. That’s what The Pill does in the town of Page Hollow, he stalks and punishes teenagers who step out of line. They call him The Pill because “if you misbehave, you get your medicine.” That’s the backbone of the plot of Black Spines (2024), directed by Jordan Foss, but the heart of the movie beasts much more deeply. The film made its world premiere at the Telluride Horror Show this year.
While the slasher setup will likely sound familiar to many horror fans, Black Spines is unpredictable, and truly unsettling. The story follows Cameron (Jan Luis Castellanos) and his sister Kathryn (Tiana Le) as they grieve the death of their father and prepare to move into a different house with their mother. But as the people around them start to die, one by one, in brutal ways, fingers are pointed and Cameron’s love of photography is under suspicion. The whole town of Page Hollow feels suspicious and dangerous. The villain’s look and presence will get under the viewer’s skin, and leave them looking over their shoulder on the walk home from the cinema.
For fans of slashers with characters you can care about, and mysteries that are begging to be solved.
Four out of five stars
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