MONSTERZERO NJ’S FINAL GIRL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 2022!

This year’s MonsterZero NJ’s Final Girl Rookie of the Year is a relatively new girl on the block, though technically not a total rookie. She did appear in the 2018 cyber stalker chiller 14 Cameras, but her character was more of a damsel in distress. This Native American actress made a huge impression this year in her final girl debut in Prey as Naru, a young Comanche tribeswoman who has the heart of a warrior! When a strange creature starts stalking and killing her fellow tribe members, Naru vows to hunt and destroy this unknown “Predator”. While the iconic Predator franchise is more sci-fi than horror, Amber was so ass-kickingly awesome we couldn’t not nominate her on such a thin technicality! So, without further ado…MonsterZero NJ’s Final Girl Rookie of the Year 2022…

AMBER MIDTHUNDER!

 AMBER MIDTHUNDER as NARU in PREY!

Amber Midthunder as Naru, a young Comanche woman with the heart of a warrior!

Naru discovers a horrifying new “Predator” that has come to hunt in her tribal lands!

Disbelieved by her tribe, Naru vows to track and kill this hunter along with loyal dog Sarii (Coco)!

Many have fallen before this strange hunter, but Naru is not afraid!

Naru draws blood against the hunter that fell from the sky!

 BONUS: Amber Midthunder’s Danielle, a pretty girl having gotten the wrong attention in 14 Cameras.

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Amber Midthunder! A beautiful and talented actress we want to see more of!

Photo Credit:  Emma McIntyre/Getty Images via IMDB

There’s no telling where this beautiful and talented actress will show up next. She has been acting since she was only 4 years-old! Prey has gotten her much deserved attention and she appears to have a few projects currently in the works! Hopefully she’ll return to the horror or sci-fi genres soon, as she made a kick-ass final girl!

-MonsterZero NJ

And don’t forget to check out our previous Halloween Hotties!

Head over to the Halloween Hotties listings! to read them all!)

MONSTERZERO NJ’S 15 REASONS WOMEN OF COLOR ARE GOING TO ROCK YOUR HALLOWEEN!

Native American actress Amber Midthunder made quite an impression as Comanche warrior Naru in Prey!

Horror films have always been a step ahead with having diversity in their casts and women of color have played important roles for decades! To celebrate their contribution to our favorite genre, here are 15 reasons women of color are going to rock your Halloween🎃!

VONETTA MCGEE in BLACULA!

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PAM GRIER in SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM, GHOSTS of MARS and BONES!

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KELLY JO MINTER in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD, THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS and POPCORN

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EIHI SHIINA in AUDITION

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LUCIANA FAULHABER in THE NIGHT CREW and DON’T LOOK!

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CHASTY BALLESTEROS in THE NIGHT CREW and GIRLHOUSE!

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LUPITA NYONG’O in US and LITTLE MONSTERS!

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TARA BASRO in SATAN’S SLAVES and IMPETIGORE!

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CHELSEA ISLAN in MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU and MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU TOO!

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KIANA MADEIRA in THE FEAR STREET TRILOGY!

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ROSA SALAZAR in BRAND NEW CHERRY FLAVOR!

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CRISTINA RODLO in NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE!

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JENNA ORTEGA in SCREAM and X!

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AMBER MIDTHUNDER in 14 CAMERAS and PREY!

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TSAI HSUAN-YEN in INCANTAION!

Versatile and talented Latina actress Jenna Ortega in Ti West’s’s chilling X!

These talented ladies aren’t the only ones and women of color are now also getting a chance to add their voices behind the cameras, with writer/directors like Nia DaCosta (Candyman) and Gigi Saul Guerrero (Mexico Barbaro) making a name for themselves and opening doors. All the more reason that women of color are going to rock your Halloween🎃!

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-MonsterZero NJ

BARE BONES: PREY (2022)

PREY (2022)

Prequel to the now classic franchise takes place in 1719 with the iconic Predator coming to Earth to hunt near the home of a Comanche tribe. Tracker and would-be warrior Naru (Amber Midthunder) has seen the arrival of a strange flying thing in the sky and soon believes there is something other than a mountain lion or bear stalking the nearby woodlands. Her hunter brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) disagrees and brings home a dead mountain lion to prove it. Naru vows to show her tribe that she is a true warrior and sets out to hunt whatever is lurking in the trees. Little does she know; she tracks a hunter (Dane DiLiegro) unlike anything she or her people have ever faced.

Back to basics entry in this series is well directed by Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) from a script by Patrick Aison. It is by far the best entry since the original and manages to return the series to its roots, making it both fresh and familiar. Prey cleverly turns back the clock and has the creature face a people whose very lives depend on tracking and hunting, but without any modern technology. The Predator itself is over 200 years older than the one Arnie faced, and while technically advanced, does not quite have the gadgets that creature did. It is more savage and makes the titular beast scary again. The action is violent and bloody and the Native American cast, especially leading lady Amber Midthunder, give the film the air of authenticity it needs to make it more involving. There is also some commentary about the advent of European settlers, when a group of Frenchmen invade the area looking for animal pelts and meet the other invader on the Comanche lands. It’s a gritty, suspenseful and sometimes gruesome flick with Amber Midthunder being a solid action heroine and a star in the making. Some subpar CGI blood aside, this fifth entry in this franchise really brings back the spirit and intensity of the original. Flick is currently streaming on Hulu but deserved a theatrical release.

-MonsterZero NJ

PREDATOR PREQUEL “PREY” GETS A TRAILER!

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“The Hunt Begins!”

 

From the official synopsis…

“The origin story of the Predator in the world of the Comanche Nation 300 years ago. Naru, a skilled female warrior, fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly-evolved Predators to land on Earth.”

20th Century Fox film premiers on Hulu on 8/5/22 and is directed by Dan Tractenberg from a script by Patrick Alson. The flick stars Amber Midthunder as Naru.

 

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-MonsterZero NJ

Source: IMDB/Youtube

HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: 14 CAMERAS (2018)

14 CAMERAS (2018)

(Remember, clicking the highlighted links brings you to other reviews and articles here at The Movie Madhouse!)

Sequel to 13 Cameras is again written by Victor Zarcoff, though directing chores have been handed off to Seth Fuller and Scott Hussion. Follow-up takes place years later with creepy landlord Gerald (Neville Archambault) continuing his stalker ways and filling his properties with hidden cameras, watching the occupants and occasionally kidnapping female ones that suit his fancy. He’s upped his game and now streams the footage on the web and charges other creeps to watch it. He still has Claire (Brianne Moncrief) captive and raises her young son “Jr.” (Gavin White) as his own. His current targets are a vacationing family, with their daughter, pretty college student Molly (Brytnee Ratledge) and her hot, flirty friend Danielle (Amber Midthunder) as the objects of his gross attention. Things get complicated when his footage attracts like-minded individuals, and he now has competition for making Danielle one of his collection.

New directors, Fuller and Hussion, keep this second installment creepy, and sometimes violent, as the scenario is opened up a bit to focus on not only Gerald’s disturbing habits, but having Claire and her son in captivity. Claire is almost used to her life in what looks like a bomb shelter dug into the desert floor and tries to convince new roommates, like athletic and pretty Sarah (Chelsea Edmundson), that escape attempts are not a good idea…and to a degree they are not. Pervert Gerald has set his sights on pretty, flirtatious Danielle and his intrusions into the house and in her belongings conveniently get blamed on Molly’s teen brother Kyle (John-Paul Howard). It’s creepy and very unsettling to follow mouth-breather Gerald as he watches the girls shower and romp around in bikini’s and then sell the footage…and a pair of Danielle’s panties…to his creepy subscribers. Things start to fall apart for the deranged landlord when “Jr.” starts to get curious about his “dad’s” activities and one of Gerald’s subscribers starts a bidding war for Danielle. It’s very disturbing to watch unfold and even though it shares some of the first film’s flaws…like gimp-legged Gerald getting out of occupied houses unseen…it has the viewer squirming in their seat enough to work. The idea of being watched in the privacy of your own home and having that privacy invaded is a concept that still hasn’t worn out its effectiveness. Add to that, the idea of having your most private moments sold to deviates on the dark web is equally as chilling. This flick makes good use of both scenarios.

Once again Neville Archambault paints a disturbing individual as the vile Gerald. He is a pervert and a deviate and has no moral compass whatsoever. His activities make your skin crawl and feel sympathy for those under the watchful eye of his hidden cameras, especially those who find themselves bound and gagged in the back of his truck. In this installment he even finds a way to make money off his sick behavior from like-minded creeps…and apparently, there are a lot of them. Brianne Moncrief is solid as the captive Claire. She’s pretty much given up all hope of escape and is accepting of her life in captivity, though when it comes to reuniting with the son she barely knows, it ignites a bit of fight in her. Amber Midthunder is very likable as the lively and playful Danielle. She is the type of girl that gets attention, though the wrong kind here. The cast portraying family members are all fine in support with Brytnee Ratledge as Molly, John-Paul Howard as Molly’s high school student brother Kyle, Lora Martinez-Cunningham (Sicario, Fender Bender) as their hot mom Lori and Hank Rogerson as their dad Arthur. Whether it was intentional or not, it made the older and pervy Gerald even creepier that he ignores sexy mom Lori and goes after co-ed Danielle, who’s still a teenager. Last, but not least, Chelsea Edmundson is effective as the strong-willed captive Sarah and Gavin White, equally so, as “Jr” who is becoming quite the nosy young man.

Sequel adds up to pretty much an equal as while it shared some of 13 Camera’s flaws, it was also very disturbing and unsettling. Gerald is proving to be a very effective and creepy character in his second outing and Neville Archambault really makes him realistic and scary. The flick has a good cast, and the makers took the first movie’s concept and opened it up a bit with Gerald now taking his perversions to the dark web and profiting on them from others of his ilk. An effective second film in this franchise and directed well by Hussion and Fuller.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) surveillance cameras.

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