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My bad day Friday (Halloween) in which I was informed my car would cost $712 to MAYBE fix and another $1700-$1800 if they fixed the timing belt, shaft belt, and water pump but found a valve had been broken (which apparently they can't know until they fix those other things; currently asking for second opinions) ended with a trip to El Chico, the mall, and the movies in Lufkin with my friend and his girlfriend. So kind of a half-and-half day. 

Anyway, the movie we watched was a 10:35pm showing of Nightcrawler, the new Jake Gylenhaal (who I just learned is probably the subject of Taylor Swift's "Never Ever Getting Back Together" thanks to Buzzfeed Quiz) thriller with a certified fresh score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. It premiered on Halloween when we saw it, though most posters I Google Image searched have a release date of October 17. 

This is one of the only poster images I got with the right release date

I'm guessing what happened is they figured it wasn't really a Halloween movie. It's a dark satire about the modern American economy and "if it bleeds it leads mentality" of television news. But then they may have made the same connection I did between Gylenhaal's almost charmingly sociopathic go-getter main character Lou Bloom and classic Hollywood boogymen like Freddy Kruger and decided it was the perfect Halloween movie. 

Obviously, if you can't tell by now and from the trailers (which helped me guess the direction the movie went in, but I wasn't exactly right), this Nightcrawler has less in common with X-Men and is more comparable to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, which starred Michael Rooker of Walking Dead and Guardians of the Galaxy fame and basically faux-documented a few days in the life of a psychopathic murderer. 

Except Lou Bloom isn't a serial killer. Armed only with a camera and a creepy business sense, his goal is simply to get graphic footage of crime scenes and send them to the highest bidding station. He is a "freelance video journalist" colloquially referred to as a "nightcrawler" or "stringer" and he hires an assistant; a homeless guy named Rick, played by Riz Ahmed; to help him navigate Los Angeles and get better footage than Joe Loder, a rival nightcrawler played by Bill Paxton. Bloom even manages to build a relationship based on ultimatums with a local news director named Nina, played by Rene Russo. 

The movie is a slow burn as far as plot progression, but it does such a good job of being entertaining, funny, tense, and disturbing all at the same time that I didn't mind. And it is disturbing, with Gylenhaal's performance rivaling and in my opinion exceeding that of Christian Bale's American Psycho performance. In many ways, this movie is a more restrained, modern day American Psycho, pointing out the disturbing characteristics of what it means to be a successful businessman when that concept is taken to illogical extremes. The performance is entirely believable yet captivating in how creepy it is. 

The performances by the supporting cast are also great, particularly Riz Ahmed (Rick) as the voice of reason Gylenhaal's Lou continually denies an opportunity to speak as an equal, much like he denies the voice of reason in his own mind if he has one. And then there's Rene Russo (Nina) acting believably as both the frightened woman reacting appropriately to Lou's advances in her personal life and the sociopathic businesswoman willing to show his over-the-top graphic footage to grab ratings. 

I will say some of the footage they aired was unrealistically violent and probably would have come under more scrutiny than it did in the movie were it to be aired by a network in real life (though this is addressed in the film), but sometimes you have to exaggerate a bit when you're making a point, and this movie's point is as sharp as they come. 

So no, it's not a traditional Halloween film, but to me it's so much more distrubing than those can be at my age. Freddy and Jason are cartoon illustrations of nightmares. Lou Bloom could very well exist. 

If you have the stomach for it, I highly recommend the movie and agree with Schmoes Know Movies' Kristian Harloff that Gylenhaal will likely be nominated for an Oscar for his performance. This may even end up being this year's Silence of the Lambs in that reagard, though I doubt it. 

Nightcrawler is sad, disturbing, and may make you question how many have chosen to balance work life with interpersonal relationships. It is also a genuinely funny dark comedy with a quiet grace and intense chase scenes that make for a great time at the movies if you have the patience and stomach for it.