10 Mind-Bending Horror Movies That Will Melt Your Brain
3. Rent-A-Pal (2020)
Loneliness is something that affects everyone. If you're lucky enough to live without ever experiencing it, you're certainly in the minority. As such, horror often uses this ubiquitous theme to frighten the audience, and Rent-A-Pal does it masterfully.
David is a lonely middle-aged man who uses videotape dating services to try and find love while caring for his sick mother. However, his life gets upended after he discovers a mysterious VHS tape that allows him to become friends with its charming host. Soon, fiction and reality begin to crossover.
This film is a brilliant character study of a man who devolves into madness. Watching as David falls deeper into the delusion of friendship, and the tape sabotages his life, is painful as it's easy to feel sorry for him. The performances helps this massively, with Brian Landis Folkins as David and Wil Wheaton as Andy (the pal) carrying the film.
The premise is incredibly simple, yet that works in its favour. The alluring pull of Andy's charm and the misery of David's life fit together like magnets, causing plenty of tension as they intersect.
Rent-A-Pal is a film that will make you terrified of those VHS tapes you keep in your attic.