Oct. 11, 2026
Countdown To Halloween! Amy & T.J.'s Creature Feature Pick #3: “Passenger”
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RSS Feed Today’s horror category is the “creature feature”, aka monster horror. We picked our top three favorites and reveal them throughout the day. Every weekend we are counting down to Halloween, giving you our top recommendations for guaranteed horror movie hits. There are so many sub-genres in the horror movie category, so each Saturday and Sunday we’ll highlight our top movies within that category.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:11
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks.
00:00:11
Speaker 2: It is Sunday, October 11th. We continue our movie countdown to Halloween. On Saturday, we committed to comedy horror. Today, Sunday, we're dedicating it to a different genre, and things are about to get serious. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ, where we're giving you our number three creature feature horror movie. Now, Rose, It's hard to do a creature feature horror movie without it being a pretty hardcore horror movie. It's getting serious now.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: Yes. Things usually get a little messy, and when you've got a creature involved, either claws or fangs or some sort of supernatural power, what have you. Yes, you do tend to get more of the slasher style or gore-filled films. I mean, look, even Jaws itself gets pretty damn bloody.
00:01:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, you don't see the shark for a while, but when he comes, he starts ripping people apart. Yeah.
00:01:07
Speaker 1: And so, yes, the creature feature does come with some stomach-churning qualities to it, but it is.
00:01:13
Speaker 3: Such a good one. I love.
00:01:15
Speaker 1: There is... You just get in the mood. I can't explain it, but, like, I want a monster.
00:01:20
Speaker 3: I want a creature.
00:01:21
Speaker 1: I want something that's large and about to destroy all of mankind.
00:01:25
Speaker 2: Scary, and to your point sometimes, Rob, when, as you explain to people that we're not completely crazy because we love horror movies, this... type of horror movie, this sub-genre does allow for escapism that you always speak of.
00:01:40
Speaker 3: Yes, it's just you get immersed into another world. Think about it.
00:01:43
Speaker 1: It's fun to watch a shark movie because I can choose whether or not I go into the ocean. We, I think, last season talked about one of our favorite creature movies, which is The Descent. I don't plan on caving anytime soon to find some sort of subterranean creature down below.
00:01:58
Speaker 3: And yeah, even the woods. It's your choice.
00:02:01
Speaker 1: You can go into the woods if you want. But this next film, it's number three on our list. I kind of love this one because the creature is lurking. If you just love an RV trip or want to take a long drive where you might overnight, beware because there is something lurking for travelers in the woods.
00:02:22
Speaker 2: This could almost be a sub, sub, sub genre, right? A drive through the woods at night horror movie. This is what that is. And this whole thing takes you on this journey. It has two very, well, not that recognizable necessarily to American audiences, but they deliver really great performances and they carry a lot of what this movie is. But the movie is, And this is a rare one for us, Robes. It's very recent. This is a brand new movie, 2026.
00:02:51
Speaker 1: Yep.
00:02:52
Speaker 2: It just came out. I'm not even sure how we found this one, but we love it.
00:02:56
Speaker 3: Yes, it's called Passenger.
00:02:57
Speaker 1: And I found it, I think, because it was just being promoted on one of the streaming services. And I thought, huh, that looks interesting. And we fell in love with it. This release date was May 2026. We'll give you the synopsis for the film. After stopping at the scene of a gruesome accident.
00:03:16
Speaker 3: On a remote highway... A couple.
00:03:19
Speaker 1: Soon realize they didn't leave alone. A demonic presence known as the passenger has hitched a ride, turning their road trip adventure into a nightmare they can't escape.
00:03:31
Speaker 2: That's a good write-up.
00:03:32
Speaker 3: It is. And it is a good film.
00:03:34
Speaker 1: If you love The Hitcher, I mean, those kind of films, even kind of, I know what you did last summer, kind of a feel to it, but now combine it with some supernatural, demonic creature that has powers that nearly, I guess, just about no one can escape.
00:03:50
Speaker 3: But there are great jump scares in this.
00:03:52
Speaker 1: And look, if you've ever taken a long drive at night, if you love a road trip, this movie is perfect for you because now, yeah, it always feels a little creepy if you've driven out west or even driven through a desolate wooded passage, which I certainly have, and I love the way that feels.
00:04:10
Speaker 3: There's a little bit of chill in the air, a little.
00:04:13
Speaker 1: Bit of, ooh, I wonder what would happen if we broke down kind of feeling. Yeah, this movie explores all of those moments.
00:04:21
Speaker 2: I'm trying to think. There's not a lot of daytime moments. There's a lot of the two of them in a van on a road trip. There's tension between them a little bit that carries through, but they, and we'll get into who this cast is and who the director is. Robes, I just, I didn't realize. Now I'm like, okay, I see why this movie is such a good movie when I saw who the director was. Robes, these, this is a, yeah, we're going to get into why we guarantee it. But Robes, this is, I don't know, babe. I don't expect a whole lot when it comes to scripts, when it comes to a creature feature.
00:04:58
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:04:59
Speaker 2: I don't want to feel a whole lot. It's going to be a monster. It's going to rip some people apart.
00:05:03
Speaker 1: They.
00:05:05
Speaker 2: They put together tension in this movie that is kind of woven in from the beginning to the end. And some of that tension is between the couple, even for a little while. But Robes, there are a couple of scenes in this movie that you almost want to rewind. I think you stopped one one night and said, you got to see it and waited for me to either wake up or come back. It was the parking lot scene. Oh, that seems crazy.
00:05:26
Speaker 3: Okay, a parking lot.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: You get it if you like a horror movie. And honestly, anytime I'm walking into a parking lot, I feel like I'm in a horror movie from Drag Me to Hell to plenty of other parking lot scenes. But this one is awesome because it's an open parking lot.
00:05:38
Speaker 3: It's not a parking garage.
00:05:39
Speaker 2: Big, open, and dark.
00:05:40
Speaker 3: But it's dark, and she's walking from the gym. It seems so innocuous.
00:05:44
Speaker 1: She kisses her fiancé on the lips and says, I'm going to go to the van, see you when you get back. It's kind of a thing that folks do when, I guess, the van life, you get like a day pass to a gym and that's how you shower and you work out. And so this is, they got that little tip from someone along the road. So she's done early and she's walking back in this dark open parking lot. It kind of looks like a Walmart and you've got like a gold's gym, but she's the only one there and the van.
00:06:09
Speaker 3: And as she's walking, I won't give it away, but it is so well done.
00:06:14
Speaker 1: And it is, it builds so much tension because, And it's nothing I've ever seen done before, actually. It was a unique way to build incredible tension and a feeling of disassociation.
00:06:25
Speaker 3: Like, wait, what's happening? Where am I? Where is she? It's so brilliant.
00:06:30
Speaker 2: And so much of the movie, it takes a while before you actually get a good handle or the reveal, if you will. You're not exactly sure what their enemy is almost for a little while or what's after them. It's done so well, but the director role is... I didn't realize who he was. Is he Swedish?
00:06:48
Speaker 3: He's Norwegian.
00:06:49
Speaker 1: Norwegian.
00:06:50
Speaker 2: That makes sense. But he has so many other credits to his name that we love. that a lot of people might not know about Robes when I saw that he is the director of The Autopsy of Jane Doe.
00:07:02
Speaker 3: That's one of your favorite horror movies.
00:07:04
Speaker 2: I saw, okay.
00:07:05
Speaker 3: You get it. And you know what?
00:07:06
Speaker 1: Some of the people, and we'll get into the scores because they do not reflect the brilliance of this film. The biggest complaint people had was that it was a slow burn. This one.
00:07:14
Speaker 3: Yes, but I actually felt like it.
00:07:16
Speaker 1: Started off with a bang, but it does build.
00:07:18
Speaker 3: Tension builds.
00:07:19
Speaker 1: If you're not willing to sit down and listen and watch i guess maybe if you just want all action and if you're signed up for a creature feature and you think it's just going to be non-stop action like independence day or something like that that's not what this is but it's so well i just feel like it's i felt like my skin was tingling and i was on the edge of my seat but remember the opening scene the two guys in the car the guy's drinking too much and has to pee i thought from the get-go it was a great.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: I knew i was hooked You will, without question, the first five minutes of this movie, you're in. I mean, I could say the first 60 seconds because you're like, what the hell is going on? And something kind of funny happened. And then it was, oh, no, no, no, no. The tension builds. So when you, I didn't read through a lot of the reviews. You're talking about people's complaints about it being a slow burn. Man, Roach, you do not have to have blood, gore, drama, chasing, to have tension. This has constant tension, even if the parking lot scene you're talking about, nothing necessarily runs and nobody's running. And you're scared to death.
00:08:25
Speaker 1: Right. And even when they end up not going where they want to go in the first place, because he has plans, the whole movie is great.
00:08:32
Speaker 3: It's got storylines within storylines.
00:08:34
Speaker 1: But just the fact that she wants to go get barbecue and then what happens, it builds tension. Like all these little decisions made along the way set them on the path of a very dangerous and deadly and horrific road trip, the cast. So we were mentioning they aren't household names, but they're so well done.
00:08:51
Speaker 3: Jacob Scipio is Tyler. He's the main guy.
00:08:54
Speaker 2: Now, I recognized him immediately because I like the Bad Boys movies. So he was the one, Bad Boys for life, when Will Smith and Martin Lawrence decided to, doing other bad boys for the first time in 20 years or whatever, he was a new character that was brought on as essentially the son of Will Smith that he didn't know he had with a Mexican drug lord. That's hilarious. Okay, complicated story, but he played kind of a badass in that movie. He was cool, he was charming, good-looking, he could fight. So you were impressed. He made an impression on me in that movie. Had no idea who he was.
00:09:25
Speaker 3: That's funny. And he's kind of the sweet wannabe fiance in this one.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: So a very different role for him. But he does a great job. And then loved the main female. Lou Lobel is her name. She played the role of Maddie. She's Zimbabwean. And she doesn't really have a lot of credits to her name. But, you know, she's so effortless and natural. She just, she felt like she was playing herself. It was just really well acted. And then there's another, there aren't a lot of actors in this, but Melissa Leo, that name should be familiar. She's an Academy Award winner, Best Supporting Actress in The Fighter. She plays Diana. She kind of explains to this young woman. couple what may be happening to them and gets Maddie in tune with the fact that they are actually being chased as if a predator was coming after them.
00:10:12
Speaker 2: You just made me think about something. We have a list of... the elements that every horror movie needs. That wasn't on our list. Is it, babe? Should we add that every movie has to have like an old person that explains to the young people why they're being chased? Like the gas station attendant. That whole thing.
00:10:27
Speaker 3: There's some like older, wiser, and it kind of goes in line with Scooby-Doo. Like, you know, there's always that old person who's telling them, the kids, something.
00:10:36
Speaker 1: But yeah, you usually find that in some of the classic movies that follow that script. And it's fun when directors recognize that. They know horror movie fans are waiting for them, and so they'll drop them in. And so, yes, they have an Academy Award winner playing that role.
00:10:49
Speaker 3: Runtime, perfect.
00:10:51
Speaker 1: An hour, 34 minutes. And look, I hate to even give the Rotten Tomatoes scores because I don't want to.
00:10:56
Speaker 3: Turn anyone off from this movie. I was genuinely shocked when I saw it.
00:10:59
Speaker 1: 45% from the critics, 54% from the audience.
00:11:04
Speaker 2: What's their problem? Mainly the critics?
00:11:06
Speaker 1: Here's the critic consensus. A stylish ride weighed down by the litany of cliches it picks up along the way. Passenger drives in circles but has some memorable bumps and jolts during the journey. That's the critic's consensus.
00:11:25
Speaker 2: And again, it's that... Read that again for me. I'll jump in, the part that annoyed me.
00:11:30
Speaker 3: It said, a stylish ride.
00:11:32
Speaker 2: Awesome.
00:11:33
Speaker 1: Weighed down by the litany of cliches it picks up along the way.
00:11:37
Speaker 2: There we go. It's a horror movie.
00:11:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, duh.
00:11:41
Speaker 2: And sometimes you need cliches and tropes and stereotypes, and you do the same thing. Some things just require... I hear that and I understand, but... It's almost used against you that you follow a formula of good horror movies.
00:11:57
Speaker 1: Right? Look, and a lot of these critics, I'm looking, like, eviscerated it, but I do see this one critic, and I agree with this. Passenger is no horror game changer a la Obsession, but it sharp shocks people. And sinister antagonists ensure it's a rough road worth taking. Just don't stop for a nighttime nap. That's true because you don't want to miss anything. But I think people maybe were just expecting more action.
00:12:24
Speaker 3: That's the best.
00:12:25
Speaker 1: I do think expectations are always such a huge, huge thing. part of this but i some of the people who did like it i agree with it um the film's slick formal language game central performances and intelligent thematic explorations make it a satisfying thrill ride i believe that someone a audience member i love the jump scares of this movie taught me a thing or two about traveling yeah i mean honestly people like this could happen in.
00:12:50
Speaker 3: Real life.
00:12:53
Speaker 1: I loved how emerging it is and shows behind the scenes. It gives us like we were there in person.
00:12:59
Speaker 3: Loved it. I thought it was great.
00:13:02
Speaker 2: It did. There's some element of it that you feel like you are along for the ride. And you almost want to tell your friends, hey, guys, let's not go that way. It almost feels like some people yell at the screen. You felt like you were in the van differently this time instead of just, hey, you idiots. You actually gave a damn about these two and what was happening to them. Come on, guys. Do we have to go that way?
00:13:23
Speaker 3: Do we have to go ahead and decide to have movie night in the woods, just the two of you?
00:13:28
Speaker 2: That was a good scene, too.
00:13:29
Speaker 3: That was a great scene.
00:13:30
Speaker 2: That was a good scene, too.
00:13:31
Speaker 1: All right, when we come back, we're going to tell you where you can watch this film and why we loved it and why it's going to be a guaranteed hit in your house.
00:13:50
Speaker 3: Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ.
00:13:53
Speaker 1: We are in our, yes, amazing horror movie weekend mode and Sunday. Today is creature feature, monster movies. And number three on our list is a new one. It's called Passenger and it is a ride you're going to want to take. Because I do, sometimes I realize it as we talk about this together. I really did feel like I was in the van with them, which made the jump scares all the jumpier for me. And I loved the formulaic part of it.
00:14:25
Speaker 3: I loved to know that there.
00:14:26
Speaker 1: Was just the certain people and characters were gonna come into the movie They were going to make the wrong decisions along the way. I love that it even began with a proposal. So many times, horror movies either begin or end with a proposal, like.
00:14:40
Speaker 3: A fiance and then the wedding ring and what happens to the ring.
00:14:44
Speaker 1: That was all a part of this. And that, I thought, was a fun part of the whole movie. Like, will she or won't she? Does she really love him? Are they going to end up together? That was playing alongside the horror movie.
00:15:01
Speaker 2: As you were talking, I was thinking back to all these other horror movies where there is some type of... Often it's the couple that dies in the group of friends, like the ones that are horny.
00:15:11
Speaker 3: Those are the people who are having sex.
00:15:13
Speaker 2: Yes, so that's part of the rules. You have to die if you have sex in a horror movie. But these two, there weren't a lot of characters to kill. No. And so that was kind of a cool part of the movie. You had two people to root for, and this was almost a survivor sub-sub-genre. To a certain degree. But yeah, we talked about it the other day. Their ensemble cast, certainly in a creature feature, the creature needs people to kill. This time it had people to torment.
00:15:35
Speaker 1: It reminded me a little bit of one of our other favorite creature features that we featured last year called.
00:15:39
Speaker 3: Backcountry, where you have the couple.
00:15:41
Speaker 1: And again, there was a proposal and the bear comes after them. It was based on a real life story of a couple in Canada. But that story just had the two of them.
00:15:50
Speaker 3: Basically, they had that strange man that came in.
00:15:53
Speaker 1: Um, one night and you were always wondering what role he was going to play, but there was a very similar intensity where you were wondering who was going to die, when they were going to die, how they were going to die. And yes, what was going to happen to the ring, the proposal ring that played a big role in back country too. I thought this took a nod from that great, great creature film.
00:16:15
Speaker 3: Did you like back country as much as I did?
00:16:16
Speaker 2: I don't think so.
00:16:17
Speaker 1: I don't think you did either because you haven't said much.
00:16:20
Speaker 3: I love that country.
00:16:21
Speaker 1: Oh, my gosh. It's one of my favorites. That's just a little bonus in this episode. If you want to check that out, too, it's really, really good. But I thought just the tent scenes were amazing. Without a lot of bloodshed, you know, there wasn't a lot of gore in this one, which is unusual for a creature feature.
00:16:39
Speaker 2: Yeah. You need it literally ripping people apart. Monsters, creature features is what we're talking about.
00:16:45
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:16:46
Speaker 2: Think of any classic. Go back to Godzillas. I mean, they destroy people and things. This wasn't that. This is a rare one. I guess there are some that go into the area robes of supernatural because sometimes I even think about Babadook right now. That was kind of a creature feature. It was more of a paranormal thing. It's not ripping people apart. This is in a different lane, but this does belong in theâ Taunted by a monster.
00:17:12
Speaker 3: The opening scene does have some gore for sure.
00:17:15
Speaker 1: I mean, believe me, when he does get a hold of people, it doesn't end well for those folks. So, or he, thing, whatever it is, the passenger is what it's called. But apparently, I just love it because it's based on this known folklore among people who are long distance travelers that apparently they whisper and talk about. But you know when the telltale sign is when you get the three claw marks on your car. So, by the way, just after seeing this film, definitely going to be checking the vehicle every time I get back into it.
00:17:45
Speaker 3: If there are those three claw marks.
00:17:47
Speaker 1: I'm out.
00:17:47
Speaker 2: No, you're not. It's not going to happen.
00:17:48
Speaker 3: No, it's not.
00:17:48
Speaker 2: See, that's what we mean. This is why these movies aren't necessarily that scary. You're not going to get three claw marks. There's not some entity in your car. And that's why these are fun.
00:17:57
Speaker 3: This is basically the hitchhiker meets predator, I feel like.
00:18:00
Speaker 1: And we loved it. We hope you do, too. Don't look at the reviews. Don't listen to the critics. But just have your expectations. This isn't some big action-packed, gore-filled creature feature. but it delivers in every other way. Highly recommend.
00:18:15
Speaker 2: Has to be watched at night, I would recommend. This is one, sit quiet. Don't watch it with the people who like to talk a lot through movies either. Don't do that. But this is a tension-building, fun movie. grab the blanket popcorn type movie. Let's get under this blanket together and snuggle up and watch this thing. Dark room. It's that movie.
00:18:33
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:18:33
Speaker 3: It's your like 9 p.m. movie with your boo. I love it.
00:18:36
Speaker 1: All right. And with that, everyone, please check our feed out because we're going to have our number two and our number one for creature features that'll get you into the Halloween spirit. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes.
00:18:49
Speaker 3: We will talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks.
00:00:11
Speaker 2: It is Sunday, October 11th. We continue our movie countdown to Halloween. On Saturday, we committed to comedy horror. Today, Sunday, we're dedicating it to a different genre, and things are about to get serious. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ, where we're giving you our number three creature feature horror movie. Now, Rose, It's hard to do a creature feature horror movie without it being a pretty hardcore horror movie. It's getting serious now.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: Yes. Things usually get a little messy, and when you've got a creature involved, either claws or fangs or some sort of supernatural power, what have you. Yes, you do tend to get more of the slasher style or gore-filled films. I mean, look, even Jaws itself gets pretty damn bloody.
00:01:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, you don't see the shark for a while, but when he comes, he starts ripping people apart. Yeah.
00:01:07
Speaker 1: And so, yes, the creature feature does come with some stomach-churning qualities to it, but it is.
00:01:13
Speaker 3: Such a good one. I love.
00:01:15
Speaker 1: There is... You just get in the mood. I can't explain it, but, like, I want a monster.
00:01:20
Speaker 3: I want a creature.
00:01:21
Speaker 1: I want something that's large and about to destroy all of mankind.
00:01:25
Speaker 2: Scary, and to your point sometimes, Rob, when, as you explain to people that we're not completely crazy because we love horror movies, this... type of horror movie, this sub-genre does allow for escapism that you always speak of.
00:01:40
Speaker 3: Yes, it's just you get immersed into another world. Think about it.
00:01:43
Speaker 1: It's fun to watch a shark movie because I can choose whether or not I go into the ocean. We, I think, last season talked about one of our favorite creature movies, which is The Descent. I don't plan on caving anytime soon to find some sort of subterranean creature down below.
00:01:58
Speaker 3: And yeah, even the woods. It's your choice.
00:02:01
Speaker 1: You can go into the woods if you want. But this next film, it's number three on our list. I kind of love this one because the creature is lurking. If you just love an RV trip or want to take a long drive where you might overnight, beware because there is something lurking for travelers in the woods.
00:02:22
Speaker 2: This could almost be a sub, sub, sub genre, right? A drive through the woods at night horror movie. This is what that is. And this whole thing takes you on this journey. It has two very, well, not that recognizable necessarily to American audiences, but they deliver really great performances and they carry a lot of what this movie is. But the movie is, And this is a rare one for us, Robes. It's very recent. This is a brand new movie, 2026.
00:02:51
Speaker 1: Yep.
00:02:52
Speaker 2: It just came out. I'm not even sure how we found this one, but we love it.
00:02:56
Speaker 3: Yes, it's called Passenger.
00:02:57
Speaker 1: And I found it, I think, because it was just being promoted on one of the streaming services. And I thought, huh, that looks interesting. And we fell in love with it. This release date was May 2026. We'll give you the synopsis for the film. After stopping at the scene of a gruesome accident.
00:03:16
Speaker 3: On a remote highway... A couple.
00:03:19
Speaker 1: Soon realize they didn't leave alone. A demonic presence known as the passenger has hitched a ride, turning their road trip adventure into a nightmare they can't escape.
00:03:31
Speaker 2: That's a good write-up.
00:03:32
Speaker 3: It is. And it is a good film.
00:03:34
Speaker 1: If you love The Hitcher, I mean, those kind of films, even kind of, I know what you did last summer, kind of a feel to it, but now combine it with some supernatural, demonic creature that has powers that nearly, I guess, just about no one can escape.
00:03:50
Speaker 3: But there are great jump scares in this.
00:03:52
Speaker 1: And look, if you've ever taken a long drive at night, if you love a road trip, this movie is perfect for you because now, yeah, it always feels a little creepy if you've driven out west or even driven through a desolate wooded passage, which I certainly have, and I love the way that feels.
00:04:10
Speaker 3: There's a little bit of chill in the air, a little.
00:04:13
Speaker 1: Bit of, ooh, I wonder what would happen if we broke down kind of feeling. Yeah, this movie explores all of those moments.
00:04:21
Speaker 2: I'm trying to think. There's not a lot of daytime moments. There's a lot of the two of them in a van on a road trip. There's tension between them a little bit that carries through, but they, and we'll get into who this cast is and who the director is. Robes, I just, I didn't realize. Now I'm like, okay, I see why this movie is such a good movie when I saw who the director was. Robes, these, this is a, yeah, we're going to get into why we guarantee it. But Robes, this is, I don't know, babe. I don't expect a whole lot when it comes to scripts, when it comes to a creature feature.
00:04:58
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:04:59
Speaker 2: I don't want to feel a whole lot. It's going to be a monster. It's going to rip some people apart.
00:05:03
Speaker 1: They.
00:05:05
Speaker 2: They put together tension in this movie that is kind of woven in from the beginning to the end. And some of that tension is between the couple, even for a little while. But Robes, there are a couple of scenes in this movie that you almost want to rewind. I think you stopped one one night and said, you got to see it and waited for me to either wake up or come back. It was the parking lot scene. Oh, that seems crazy.
00:05:26
Speaker 3: Okay, a parking lot.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: You get it if you like a horror movie. And honestly, anytime I'm walking into a parking lot, I feel like I'm in a horror movie from Drag Me to Hell to plenty of other parking lot scenes. But this one is awesome because it's an open parking lot.
00:05:38
Speaker 3: It's not a parking garage.
00:05:39
Speaker 2: Big, open, and dark.
00:05:40
Speaker 3: But it's dark, and she's walking from the gym. It seems so innocuous.
00:05:44
Speaker 1: She kisses her fiancé on the lips and says, I'm going to go to the van, see you when you get back. It's kind of a thing that folks do when, I guess, the van life, you get like a day pass to a gym and that's how you shower and you work out. And so this is, they got that little tip from someone along the road. So she's done early and she's walking back in this dark open parking lot. It kind of looks like a Walmart and you've got like a gold's gym, but she's the only one there and the van.
00:06:09
Speaker 3: And as she's walking, I won't give it away, but it is so well done.
00:06:14
Speaker 1: And it is, it builds so much tension because, And it's nothing I've ever seen done before, actually. It was a unique way to build incredible tension and a feeling of disassociation.
00:06:25
Speaker 3: Like, wait, what's happening? Where am I? Where is she? It's so brilliant.
00:06:30
Speaker 2: And so much of the movie, it takes a while before you actually get a good handle or the reveal, if you will. You're not exactly sure what their enemy is almost for a little while or what's after them. It's done so well, but the director role is... I didn't realize who he was. Is he Swedish?
00:06:48
Speaker 3: He's Norwegian.
00:06:49
Speaker 1: Norwegian.
00:06:50
Speaker 2: That makes sense. But he has so many other credits to his name that we love. that a lot of people might not know about Robes when I saw that he is the director of The Autopsy of Jane Doe.
00:07:02
Speaker 3: That's one of your favorite horror movies.
00:07:04
Speaker 2: I saw, okay.
00:07:05
Speaker 3: You get it. And you know what?
00:07:06
Speaker 1: Some of the people, and we'll get into the scores because they do not reflect the brilliance of this film. The biggest complaint people had was that it was a slow burn. This one.
00:07:14
Speaker 3: Yes, but I actually felt like it.
00:07:16
Speaker 1: Started off with a bang, but it does build.
00:07:18
Speaker 3: Tension builds.
00:07:19
Speaker 1: If you're not willing to sit down and listen and watch i guess maybe if you just want all action and if you're signed up for a creature feature and you think it's just going to be non-stop action like independence day or something like that that's not what this is but it's so well i just feel like it's i felt like my skin was tingling and i was on the edge of my seat but remember the opening scene the two guys in the car the guy's drinking too much and has to pee i thought from the get-go it was a great.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: I knew i was hooked You will, without question, the first five minutes of this movie, you're in. I mean, I could say the first 60 seconds because you're like, what the hell is going on? And something kind of funny happened. And then it was, oh, no, no, no, no. The tension builds. So when you, I didn't read through a lot of the reviews. You're talking about people's complaints about it being a slow burn. Man, Roach, you do not have to have blood, gore, drama, chasing, to have tension. This has constant tension, even if the parking lot scene you're talking about, nothing necessarily runs and nobody's running. And you're scared to death.
00:08:25
Speaker 1: Right. And even when they end up not going where they want to go in the first place, because he has plans, the whole movie is great.
00:08:32
Speaker 3: It's got storylines within storylines.
00:08:34
Speaker 1: But just the fact that she wants to go get barbecue and then what happens, it builds tension. Like all these little decisions made along the way set them on the path of a very dangerous and deadly and horrific road trip, the cast. So we were mentioning they aren't household names, but they're so well done.
00:08:51
Speaker 3: Jacob Scipio is Tyler. He's the main guy.
00:08:54
Speaker 2: Now, I recognized him immediately because I like the Bad Boys movies. So he was the one, Bad Boys for life, when Will Smith and Martin Lawrence decided to, doing other bad boys for the first time in 20 years or whatever, he was a new character that was brought on as essentially the son of Will Smith that he didn't know he had with a Mexican drug lord. That's hilarious. Okay, complicated story, but he played kind of a badass in that movie. He was cool, he was charming, good-looking, he could fight. So you were impressed. He made an impression on me in that movie. Had no idea who he was.
00:09:25
Speaker 3: That's funny. And he's kind of the sweet wannabe fiance in this one.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: So a very different role for him. But he does a great job. And then loved the main female. Lou Lobel is her name. She played the role of Maddie. She's Zimbabwean. And she doesn't really have a lot of credits to her name. But, you know, she's so effortless and natural. She just, she felt like she was playing herself. It was just really well acted. And then there's another, there aren't a lot of actors in this, but Melissa Leo, that name should be familiar. She's an Academy Award winner, Best Supporting Actress in The Fighter. She plays Diana. She kind of explains to this young woman. couple what may be happening to them and gets Maddie in tune with the fact that they are actually being chased as if a predator was coming after them.
00:10:12
Speaker 2: You just made me think about something. We have a list of... the elements that every horror movie needs. That wasn't on our list. Is it, babe? Should we add that every movie has to have like an old person that explains to the young people why they're being chased? Like the gas station attendant. That whole thing.
00:10:27
Speaker 3: There's some like older, wiser, and it kind of goes in line with Scooby-Doo. Like, you know, there's always that old person who's telling them, the kids, something.
00:10:36
Speaker 1: But yeah, you usually find that in some of the classic movies that follow that script. And it's fun when directors recognize that. They know horror movie fans are waiting for them, and so they'll drop them in. And so, yes, they have an Academy Award winner playing that role.
00:10:49
Speaker 3: Runtime, perfect.
00:10:51
Speaker 1: An hour, 34 minutes. And look, I hate to even give the Rotten Tomatoes scores because I don't want to.
00:10:56
Speaker 3: Turn anyone off from this movie. I was genuinely shocked when I saw it.
00:10:59
Speaker 1: 45% from the critics, 54% from the audience.
00:11:04
Speaker 2: What's their problem? Mainly the critics?
00:11:06
Speaker 1: Here's the critic consensus. A stylish ride weighed down by the litany of cliches it picks up along the way. Passenger drives in circles but has some memorable bumps and jolts during the journey. That's the critic's consensus.
00:11:25
Speaker 2: And again, it's that... Read that again for me. I'll jump in, the part that annoyed me.
00:11:30
Speaker 3: It said, a stylish ride.
00:11:32
Speaker 2: Awesome.
00:11:33
Speaker 1: Weighed down by the litany of cliches it picks up along the way.
00:11:37
Speaker 2: There we go. It's a horror movie.
00:11:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, duh.
00:11:41
Speaker 2: And sometimes you need cliches and tropes and stereotypes, and you do the same thing. Some things just require... I hear that and I understand, but... It's almost used against you that you follow a formula of good horror movies.
00:11:57
Speaker 1: Right? Look, and a lot of these critics, I'm looking, like, eviscerated it, but I do see this one critic, and I agree with this. Passenger is no horror game changer a la Obsession, but it sharp shocks people. And sinister antagonists ensure it's a rough road worth taking. Just don't stop for a nighttime nap. That's true because you don't want to miss anything. But I think people maybe were just expecting more action.
00:12:24
Speaker 3: That's the best.
00:12:25
Speaker 1: I do think expectations are always such a huge, huge thing. part of this but i some of the people who did like it i agree with it um the film's slick formal language game central performances and intelligent thematic explorations make it a satisfying thrill ride i believe that someone a audience member i love the jump scares of this movie taught me a thing or two about traveling yeah i mean honestly people like this could happen in.
00:12:50
Speaker 3: Real life.
00:12:53
Speaker 1: I loved how emerging it is and shows behind the scenes. It gives us like we were there in person.
00:12:59
Speaker 3: Loved it. I thought it was great.
00:13:02
Speaker 2: It did. There's some element of it that you feel like you are along for the ride. And you almost want to tell your friends, hey, guys, let's not go that way. It almost feels like some people yell at the screen. You felt like you were in the van differently this time instead of just, hey, you idiots. You actually gave a damn about these two and what was happening to them. Come on, guys. Do we have to go that way?
00:13:23
Speaker 3: Do we have to go ahead and decide to have movie night in the woods, just the two of you?
00:13:28
Speaker 2: That was a good scene, too.
00:13:29
Speaker 3: That was a great scene.
00:13:30
Speaker 2: That was a good scene, too.
00:13:31
Speaker 1: All right, when we come back, we're going to tell you where you can watch this film and why we loved it and why it's going to be a guaranteed hit in your house.
00:13:50
Speaker 3: Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ.
00:13:53
Speaker 1: We are in our, yes, amazing horror movie weekend mode and Sunday. Today is creature feature, monster movies. And number three on our list is a new one. It's called Passenger and it is a ride you're going to want to take. Because I do, sometimes I realize it as we talk about this together. I really did feel like I was in the van with them, which made the jump scares all the jumpier for me. And I loved the formulaic part of it.
00:14:25
Speaker 3: I loved to know that there.
00:14:26
Speaker 1: Was just the certain people and characters were gonna come into the movie They were going to make the wrong decisions along the way. I love that it even began with a proposal. So many times, horror movies either begin or end with a proposal, like.
00:14:40
Speaker 3: A fiance and then the wedding ring and what happens to the ring.
00:14:44
Speaker 1: That was all a part of this. And that, I thought, was a fun part of the whole movie. Like, will she or won't she? Does she really love him? Are they going to end up together? That was playing alongside the horror movie.
00:15:01
Speaker 2: As you were talking, I was thinking back to all these other horror movies where there is some type of... Often it's the couple that dies in the group of friends, like the ones that are horny.
00:15:11
Speaker 3: Those are the people who are having sex.
00:15:13
Speaker 2: Yes, so that's part of the rules. You have to die if you have sex in a horror movie. But these two, there weren't a lot of characters to kill. No. And so that was kind of a cool part of the movie. You had two people to root for, and this was almost a survivor sub-sub-genre. To a certain degree. But yeah, we talked about it the other day. Their ensemble cast, certainly in a creature feature, the creature needs people to kill. This time it had people to torment.
00:15:35
Speaker 1: It reminded me a little bit of one of our other favorite creature features that we featured last year called.
00:15:39
Speaker 3: Backcountry, where you have the couple.
00:15:41
Speaker 1: And again, there was a proposal and the bear comes after them. It was based on a real life story of a couple in Canada. But that story just had the two of them.
00:15:50
Speaker 3: Basically, they had that strange man that came in.
00:15:53
Speaker 1: Um, one night and you were always wondering what role he was going to play, but there was a very similar intensity where you were wondering who was going to die, when they were going to die, how they were going to die. And yes, what was going to happen to the ring, the proposal ring that played a big role in back country too. I thought this took a nod from that great, great creature film.
00:16:15
Speaker 3: Did you like back country as much as I did?
00:16:16
Speaker 2: I don't think so.
00:16:17
Speaker 1: I don't think you did either because you haven't said much.
00:16:20
Speaker 3: I love that country.
00:16:21
Speaker 1: Oh, my gosh. It's one of my favorites. That's just a little bonus in this episode. If you want to check that out, too, it's really, really good. But I thought just the tent scenes were amazing. Without a lot of bloodshed, you know, there wasn't a lot of gore in this one, which is unusual for a creature feature.
00:16:39
Speaker 2: Yeah. You need it literally ripping people apart. Monsters, creature features is what we're talking about.
00:16:45
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:16:46
Speaker 2: Think of any classic. Go back to Godzillas. I mean, they destroy people and things. This wasn't that. This is a rare one. I guess there are some that go into the area robes of supernatural because sometimes I even think about Babadook right now. That was kind of a creature feature. It was more of a paranormal thing. It's not ripping people apart. This is in a different lane, but this does belong in theâ Taunted by a monster.
00:17:12
Speaker 3: The opening scene does have some gore for sure.
00:17:15
Speaker 1: I mean, believe me, when he does get a hold of people, it doesn't end well for those folks. So, or he, thing, whatever it is, the passenger is what it's called. But apparently, I just love it because it's based on this known folklore among people who are long distance travelers that apparently they whisper and talk about. But you know when the telltale sign is when you get the three claw marks on your car. So, by the way, just after seeing this film, definitely going to be checking the vehicle every time I get back into it.
00:17:45
Speaker 3: If there are those three claw marks.
00:17:47
Speaker 1: I'm out.
00:17:47
Speaker 2: No, you're not. It's not going to happen.
00:17:48
Speaker 3: No, it's not.
00:17:48
Speaker 2: See, that's what we mean. This is why these movies aren't necessarily that scary. You're not going to get three claw marks. There's not some entity in your car. And that's why these are fun.
00:17:57
Speaker 3: This is basically the hitchhiker meets predator, I feel like.
00:18:00
Speaker 1: And we loved it. We hope you do, too. Don't look at the reviews. Don't listen to the critics. But just have your expectations. This isn't some big action-packed, gore-filled creature feature. but it delivers in every other way. Highly recommend.
00:18:15
Speaker 2: Has to be watched at night, I would recommend. This is one, sit quiet. Don't watch it with the people who like to talk a lot through movies either. Don't do that. But this is a tension-building, fun movie. grab the blanket popcorn type movie. Let's get under this blanket together and snuggle up and watch this thing. Dark room. It's that movie.
00:18:33
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:18:33
Speaker 3: It's your like 9 p.m. movie with your boo. I love it.
00:18:36
Speaker 1: All right. And with that, everyone, please check our feed out because we're going to have our number two and our number one for creature features that'll get you into the Halloween spirit. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes.
00:18:49
Speaker 3: We will talk to you soon.