(putting a SA trigger warning here just in case you need it) Number 3 of (hopefully) 31 for October of 2025 is Bystanders. Another movie that I knew nothing about. I found it in Tubi’s “Horror by Women” category. You’d think that category would be a wellspring, but it’s not. Several of the titles are not directed by women. Either the names sound vaguely feminine, or they’re just dudes directing. But I found this one and watched it! Let’s get into it, shall we?
Three young women get ready for a party with some cute guys. The cute guys – 4 of them – get ready too, but there’s a tension in the air on their end. (the description says they’re frat guys, but i don’t remember them saying they were in a frat. maybe i just missed it) Meanwhile, a couple drives to (or maybe from) a wedding as they talk about the woman’s period being very late. The women arrive at the remote cabin where the party is to take place to find just the guys and no other partiers. Oh well, let’s get our drink on! (i’m assuming they thought that as they accepted open containers) It turns out the guys are evil pieces of shit. They roofie and rape the women, one of whom – Abby – overhears their plans to hunt them for sport and kill them as she dips in and out of consciousness. The boys release their prey into the woods when they come out of their drug-induced stupor to give them a head start before the hunt. All the while, the guys throw around vitriolic statements about “bitches”, “whores”, and worse. Abby makes it to a road where she flags down our probably pregnant couple. The murderous rapists show up just as they stop to help. It seems all is lost for Abby and the kind couple who stopped to help. But, what’s this?! The two are actually/coincidentally serial killers who kill bad guys exclusively! What are the odds?! And so, the tables are turned.
Bystanders is extremely low budget and suffers from the issues that you might assume a slasher (? i guess it’s not quite a slasher but here are people stalking and killing people one-by-one, so i’m going to count it) with a micro-budget would have. It has some very unnatural dialogue. The acting is mostly awful. Characters make illogical decisions. (four drinks are drugged for three women. they fill a bathtub with alcoholic “jungle juice” for just seven people) It features amateurish direction, videography, and shot composition. The audio isn’t always great. And the blood sometimes looks just like red paint. But… it’s really not bad. The concept is clever enough to sustain one’s attention. There are some good kills. And it has enough levity to let us know that it is aware of its own shortcomings. One of the “frat boys” even calls the bad-guy-murderer Dexter at one point. That’s just the type of pluckiness that you like to see in a no budget DIY horror film!
The Final Cut: Bystanders is a micro-budget rape-revenge slasher with all of the issues that may imply. But its unique story and root-for-the-bad-guys plot make it worth checking out for fans of that type of thing.
No Real Danger 