Countdown: this year’s Halloween horror film about... a death app

Countdown horror movie

Life


Countdown: this year’s Halloween horror film about... a death app

By Hollie Richardson

6 years ago

Elizabeth Lail, who stars in Netflix’s You, hits the big screen in new horror film Countdown. Here’s everything we know about it.     

Oh, how we love a horror film (even if it means half watching from behind a cushion). And this year really has delivered the goods for the horror genre. The Perfectionist on Netflix was so scary that it literally made people sick. Stephen King’s In The Tall Grass made sure no one will ever want to leave their house again. And viewers had to sleep with the lights on after watching Eerie

With Halloween just around the corner, we’re being treated to some deliciously dark releases in the cinema. Doctor Sleep is the sequel to The Shining, starring Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson. And Lupita Nyong’o faces an impending zombie apocalypse in Little Monsters.

But, the one that has really piqued our interest, is Countdown

So, why the excitement? Firstly, the movie stars Elizabeth Lail who played luckless Beck in Netflix’s disturbing thriller series You. And, the plot follows the story of a smart phone app that predicts and counts down to the day of your death. I mean, what’s there not to love here? OK, so the reviews haven’t been great (more on those later) but, if the trailer is anything to go by, it looks like the perfect guilty pleasure for Halloween – in the same way that A Christmas Prince is for the festive season.

Watch the trailer for Countdown

What is Countdown about?

If there was an app that could tell you exactly, down to the millisecond, when you would die – would you want to know the answer? That’s the big question being asked here. And what would you do if you found out you only have three days to live? That’s what Lail’s character Quinn needs to deal with in the film. After a series of other deaths related to the app, she tries to gather a squad to stop the app from killing people (including herself and her sister). But will she be able to take on the supernatural figure with a claw hand that’s doing been the deahtly rounds?

What are the reviews like for Countdown?

Right, well, they’re not great. 

After watching a preview, one Stylist writer described the movie as being a “schlocky, B-grade thriller”. However, she added: “The film has some plot holes, sure, but it looks like a fun way to spend Halloween. Just make sure to turn your phone to airplane mode before you go into the cinema.”

The Guardian has called it a “hapless haunted app horror” that “should be uninstalled”.

And The Verge has described it as being “funny” with “above-average competence”.

It’s also received a 24% rating on film review website Rotten Tomatoes

But, doesn’t all this actually make you want to go and see it even more?

Whether or not the film is good is clearly up for debate. But, if you’re looking for some thrills (and maybe a few laughs) this windy, wet weekend, it could be the ideal way to get in the mood for Halloween.

Release date for Countdown: 25 October in the US and the UK. 

Images: STX Entertainment

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