“The Companion” is probably my favorite of the Shudder series; no surprise I’m sure considering the name of the blog is “Scarecrow’s Blog…” An older dick brother mistreats, bullies, and abuses his younger brother, tormenting him for kicks, even leaving marks on the kid’s face. Logan Allen is sweet-faced Harold, seemingly just an ordinary teenager who obviously fears his jerk brother, Billy (Voltaire Council), while fishing near a creek under a concrete bridge on the outskirts of some rural town. A friend stops by, Smitty (Dylan Gage), the pudgy but comforting pal of these 80s teenage coming-of-age plots, peeking at a nudie mag, snacking on a chocolate, and talking about creaming his mom’s feet…but Smitty doesn’t stay in the tale long, leaving behind Harold with Billy eventually rushing up on him for shits and giggles. Harold avoids Billy, fleeing across the creek and into the woods, soon locating a cemetery, a scarecrow on a wooden cross within a field, and a decaying, creaky wooden house, seemingly left to deteriorate. While Billy gives up on finding Harold, Harold holes away in the home behind a locked door, not realizing that the cane he pulled from the scarecrow “regenerates” it into action. Now trying to run upstairs, the steps are unable to bear weight, with Harold falling through into the basement where he finds the former owner absent a head, a rotted corpse in a chair, with a suicide note left behind. The note foretells the owner’s devastating loss of his wife, the creation of the scarecrow as a companion to help with his void, and the death of a girl scout looking to sell him cookies; puncturing a valentine that served as the scarecrow’s heart with a cane, the owner (Afemo Omilami), realizing the death caused by the companion he created, takes his own life with a shotgun. Harold had pulled the cane (a cane that the owner’s wife used) from the scarecrow and once it appears to be closing in on him reacts in fear of it…Harold now realizes that the cane is a device he can use to keep the scarecrow at bay and even weaponize against his brother! I definitely felt vibes of the framing device of the Romero “Creepshow” film, with Atkins’ bullying stepdad getting his comeuppance from the son who found a way to hurt him supernaturally. Very atmospheric tale has a spooky night with “blue” fog, a scarecrow with extending branches that reach for victims, the abandoned house with its rickety structure and dusty air, and rural environs off the beaten path, cutaway from civilization, an isolated location perfect as a hideaway. And meted vengeance on the vicious Billy as Harold satisfactorily unleashes his companion on the abuser. 4/5
A rainy night in NYC, Joan Severance, a fashion designer, is offered a ride in a taxi cab by fellow occupant, Stephen Bauer, who flirts with her, even providing his coat to "keep her warm" since her dress was damp and the night cold. Eventually the cab stops at Bauer's apartment complex, and he convinces Severance to come up to his flat. Eventually Bauer is seducing Severance, unable to resist her innermost desires and ready to just take him up on Tuesday and Thursday hookups, agreeing to nothing serious. But can these "meetups and fuck" with no relationship talks continue or will real feelings and want for something more develop? When Severance's brother dies and she happens to spend the night, Bauer reiterates his displeasure in breaking the arrangement set up by them both. Zalman King's Red Shoe Diaries was, to me, a rather corny exercise in why so serious? softer-than-softcore Showtime Channel "entertainment". Rarely was I ever actuall
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