2020 Horror Part Eleven

FRIED BARRY

Dir - Ryan Kruger

Overall: GOOD

After over a decade of cranking out quite a collection of shorts, (including one of the same name that this is an expansion of), South African filmmaker Ryan Kruger delivered his full-length debut Fried Barry which is a flashy, funny, gross, naughty, and highly stylized "fish out of water" alien abduction bit of madness that is surely to please midnight movie aficionados.  Local actor Gary Green is perfectly fitted for the title role; a towering, strikingly ravaged, odd looking man whose character passes through Cape Town's seedy underbelly as a drugged-out zombie when in fact he has either been taken over by or cloned by extraterrestrial forces.  Six of one, half dozen of the other is essentially the joke since Kruger presents a universe so full of lowlifes, drug addicts, prostitutes, and homeless psychopaths that Green's Barry effortlessly glides through all of it, uttering almost no words with his bugged-out eyes and twitchy motions.  Written as a series of set pieces, it is presented in a visually as well as sonically striking manner with eerie synth music setting a sinister mood even as the actual events of the film are often hilariously outrageous and need to be seen to be believed.

 

THE NEW MUTANTS

Dir - Josh Boone

Overall: MEH

 

Unceremoniously released during COVID-19's heyday over two years after it was initially completed due to Disney's corporate takeover of Fox, Marvel's The New Mutants unfortunately hits with a whimper in its attempts to bypass superhero movie burnout by being a straight ahead horror film, at least of sorts.  The intention from co-writer/director Josh Boone is certainly admirable, especially considering that the cinematic X Men franchise has cranked out lackluster duds more often then not, all on top of the detrimentally formulaic framework that both Marvel and DC movies have been safety sticking by.  Tone wise, this is indeed a different beast as its claustrophobic, single location, minimal cast, and lack of a world-ending threat is refreshing in and of itself.  Even with their silly accents in tow, the performances are acceptable as are the cartoony special effects, but the story line still ends up falling victim to the same type of plot-hole heavy blunders that every comic book adaptation seems to possess.  Having an entire establishment run by a single woman who is tasked with "helping" a handful of kids with little to no control over their immense powers, (well, no control when such a thing is convenient for the script), is still impossible to take seriously despite the standard scary movie tropes and less pizazz-heavy approach to the material.  Not nearly as awful as its mangled reputation, but it is still assuredly a swing and a miss.

 

ANYTHING FOR JACKSON

Dir - Justin G. Dyck

Overall: GOOD

Quite hilariously, the effectively wicked Anything for Jackson comes from the writer-director team of Justin G. Dyck and Keith Cooper, both of whom have made an otherwise career almost exclusively out of syrupy, made for television Holiday movies.  In this sense, there work here represents a lighting bolt of bottled up, incredibly evil gruesomeness that even more surprisingly manages to balance a tone that is equally absurd and very creepy.  Somewhat of a dark comedy reworking of Liam Gavin's exceptional, 2016 occult nightmare A Dark Song in which a grieving parent, (or in the case here, grandparents), embark on ancient, insanely risky rituals to find some sort of closure with a traumatic loss, there are various details here that keep it just fresh enough to be persistently interesting.  Stand-out performances from both Sheila McCarthy and Julian Richings in the leads, as well as deadly serious scary music on the soundtrack juxtapose some outrageous moments that nearly disguise their comedic nature.  Even during the finale which does seem to show cracks a bit in the intricate, Satanic specifics of the plot, there is an aura of heaviness that leaves an unsettling, macabre aftertaste.  Here is hoping that Dyck and Cooper find the need to make more 180 degree shifts from their Christmas extravaganzas and have more diabolically fun ideas like this up their sleeves.

2020 Horror Part Ten

THE LAST MATINEE

Dir - Maximiliano Contenti

Overall: GOOD

 

For his second solo directorial effort The Last Matinee, (Al morir la matinée, Red Screening), Uruguayan filmmaker Maximiliano Contenti delivers an unapologetic giallo/80s slasher throwback that is both high on gore and low on originality by design.  As one could logically guess from the title alone, it takes place entirely in an independent movie theater that is of course showing a horror movie, (Ricardo Islas' ultra-cheap, retro Hammer-styled Frankenstein: Day of the Beast, Islas also appearing here as the eyeball collecting maniac).  Contenti utilizes extreme, unsettling close-ups, slow-motion suspense building, vividly eerie color schemes, a synth musical score, campy call-backs, and cliche-heavy plot points that recall many video nasties of the Euro-horror/low-budget American trash variety.  The film looks far better than many of the genre movies it is a homage too though, beautifully photographed even in its most grotesque moments.  There is also a simple charm to the whole thing that while deliberately not trying to reinvent the wheel in any fashion, also does not come off as insulting by means of a lazy execution.  If it took itself too seriously or winked too hard at its nostalgic-hungry audience then it might not get a pass, but it is an innocently unfancy, stylish bloodbath as is.

 

PG: PSYCHO GOREMAN

Dir - Steven Kostanski

Overall: MEH

 

The latest from Astron-6 writer/director/special effects man Steven Kostanski is an aesthetically impressive yet largely unfunny and obnoxious sci-fi spoof.  Part of the charm with a movie like PG: Psycho Goreman is how it manages to exist at all, cobbled together with a noticeably minimal budget yet featuring inventive practical and makeup effects that look like a cross between tokusatsu action TV and 80s monster movies.  Tonally, it is deliberately chaotic, indulging in splattery violence, filthy jokes, fish out of water plot points, and cringe-worthy musical numbers all within a preposterous, comic book parodying framework.  While much of this sounds fun on paper and one or two chuckles land as intended, nearly every character merely behaves in a fashion to simply allow for whoever they are conversing with to respond with groan-worthy quips.  In the process, it is mostly a series of arbitrary behavior from all involved, except of course where Nita-Jose Hanna's brat protagonist/antagonist is concerned who simply will not stop being annoyingly awful.  Her wacky, unnatural parents are a completely different problem, having a bizarre ark that persistently falls flat in every instance that they are on screen.  An admirable mess, yet one that needs a substantial rewrite from top to bottom in order to be worth one's time.

THE BOY BEHIND THE DOOR
Dir - David Charbonier/Justin Powell
Overall: WOOF

 

An aggravatingly unoriginal and ergo insulting cat and mouse thriller from the newcomer writer/director team of David Charbonier and Justin Powell, The Boy Behind the Door has very little to offer.  Since it has such a bare-bones premise, it is necessary for it to get by on a clever use of its set pieces which in this case are predicated on pure suspense building.  Regrettably though, Charbonier and Powell rely on obvious call-backs, (*cough rip-offs), to much more famous horror movies, particularly The Shining whose entire "Wendy trapped in the bathroom while Jack hacks it down with an axe" scene is recreated almost shot for shot.  Also, public domain classics Night of the Living Dead and The House on Haunted Hill are heard in the background which have been used for characters to be watching on TV in horror movies for decades now.  These are honestly more minor blunders though as the rest of it is littered with obvious psyche-outs and twists to wrack up the tension, one-note villains who are not only evil just for the sake of it but also morons, groan-worthy "friends till the end" nonsense, and eye-wincing nastiness for mere gross-out value.  The more it builds to its conclusion, the easier it is to entirely check out and lose any and all interest in something so thoroughly underwritten and lazy.

2020 Horror Part Nine

AMULET

Dir - Romola Garai

Overall: MEH

 

The debut, directorial effort Amulet from British actor turned filmmaker Romola Garai is an exercise of mood over substance, for better or worse.  It is admirable that for a first time behind the lens, Garai tests the audience's patience tremendously, exhibiting a sense of confidence in her material that while ultimately unfulfilling, certainty emphasizes a heavy atmosphere of something dark and disturbing that will eventually let itself be known.  While this eventually happens, the trek there is tremendously stagnant and the payoff just seems half-cooked instead of efficiently shrouded in a challenging, macabre sense of ambiguity.  On every technical level, it is well put together with strong, somber performances, intimate camerawork, a haunting musical score, and some garish, icky gore which thankfully fails to come off as tasteless for mere shock value's sake.  That said, the overblown finale while memorably stunning in some respects, still does not match the rest of the melancholy tone and leaves a psychologically messy aftertaste.

 

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Dir - Emerald Fennell

Overall: GOOD

 

Emerald Fennell's solid, topical directorial debut Promising Young Woman brings the rape and revenge sub-genre into the #MeToo era with unavoidably dark yet carefully orchestrated humor.  Allegedly sold to Margot Robbie's production company LuckyChamp Entertainment merely based on the synopsis of the opening scene, the balancing themes of complacently, victim blaming, self-serving denial, vengeance, and forgiveness surrounding a med school rape are given substantial weight in a quasi rom-com parody framework.  What is most impressive though is how Fennell's script stays respectful to these issues even when the tone steers heavily towards the comedic.  Whatever jokes are made serve a purpose of highlighting the obvious wrongful acts committed by people who try and regard such atrocities with endless excuses.  Carey Mulligan's protagonist encompasses the complexity of it all as logical points can be made to her finding happiness by "moving on", though such a thing is at the cost of justice failing to be served.  The casting of known male actors with a public likability to them is a deliberate move to show the dangers that women-targeting atrocities can be committed under heavy guise, but it also showcases the flawed thinking of those very same men who see themselves as "good guys" in the grand scheme of things.  An intelligent work that skews several thriller motifs while using others to its well-intended agenda, this is commendable stuff.

THE BANISHING

Dir - Christopher Smith

Overall: MEH

The latest from British filmmaker Christopher Smith, The Banishing is a predominantly unremarkable haunted house movie that fails to justify itself amongst hordes of other near identical ones.  Set in England during the cusp of World War II, things start off pedestrian as a woman, her daughter, and her new Vicar husband all move into an, (of course), creepy, giant house with an, (of course), creepy past.  Supernatural stuff occurs almost straight away, stuff that characters refuse to mention to anyone or just shrug off as soon as they are distracted.  Such hacky familiarity is bad enough, but the story contrived from David Beton, Ray Bogdanovich, and Dean Lines is surprisingly lackluster despite its multitude of spooky-on-paper details.  It certainly takes more this day and age for hooded figures, walking nightmares, scary dolls, cults, and arbitrary, "mirrors do freaky things" gags to come off as anything but painfully derivative without an inventive, engaging narrative behind them.  Sadly, this particular movie has no such narrative and despite one or two somewhat freaky shots and decent performances all around, one is likely to forget that they even watched it as soon as the title credits roll.

2020 Horror Part Eight

THE NIGHT HOUSE

Dir - David Bruckner

Overall: GOOD

Though imperfect in ways, The Night House is a largely gripping, psychological horror movie that subverts enough tropes along the way to forgive its narrative ambitiousness.  A directorial follow-up to the also flawed yet particularly successful The Ritual from director David Bruckner, the film was written by frequent collaborators Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski.  On paper, a number of typical ingredients are present; namely waking "nightmare within a nightmare" sequences and a central protagonist who is going through an enormously traumatic event which allows every other character to be concerned for her mental well-being when she describes the unexplainable occurrences that she has become privy to.  Still, the execution is refreshing as the spooky moments are played for emotional effect while deliberately avoiding insulting jump scares or any other far over-played nonsense.  Most important of all though is Rebecca Hall's outstanding performance as she perfectly manifests the utter frustration and confusion of a grieving widow.  The story bites off a little more supernatural mumbo jumbo than it can chew, but its priorities are in the right place and it has a resonating quality that is admirable.

RUN

Dir - Aneesh Chaganty

Overall: MEH

 

The sophomore effort from director/co-writer Aneesh Chaganty is the Munchausen syndrome by proxy thriller Run, a partially effective if ultimately predicable one.  While there is clearly some mysterious foul-play at hand, the audience will have an easy time putting the pieces together before the movie itself reveals all of its cards.  So, an example of mind-blowing, narrative deception this assuredly is not.  Chaganty plays with many familiar, Misery-style tropes, such as but not limited to the debilitating pills that the wheelchair-bound victim catches on to and secretly stops taking, their thwarted attempts at escape, being locked into rooms, and racing against their "just around the corner" captors in order to obtain information.  The angle here though is that it is all played in a sincere, schlock-less fashion.  While this does not garnish any excusable sympathy for Sarah Paulson's mentally-ill, manipulative caregiver, it does provide some psychological gray area to play around with for the overall extremities of narcissistic selflessness.  Both Paulson and relative newcomer Kiera Allen as the dysfunctional mother/daughter combo are quite excellent, carrying the movie virtually unaided by any other performers.  It does not quite elevate the derivative material and there are one or two conflicting blunders along the way, (including a mysterious clue dropped in a shower scene that has no payoff whatsoever and a campy tag at the end which clashes with the more plausible tone), but it is still impressively made.

THE EMPTY MAN

Dir - David Prior

Overall: MEH

If someone wanted to know what an artsy version of offensively moronic teen horror garbage like The Bye Bye Man or Slender Man would look like, David Prior's big screen adaptation of Cullen Bunn and Vanesa R. Del Rey's graphic novel The Empty Man may partially satisfy such curiosity.  An international co-production that was largely shot in South Africa, a finished cut of the film was rushed for test audiences who presumably hated it almost as much as a later, ninety minute edit that was pre-screened.  The resulting two and a half hour release is a bloated mess as one could imagine, a movie that takes on the impossible task of making its cliche-ridden, on-paper laughable premise come off as profound.  What the movie does do rather effectively is create a series of eerie set pieces that have a low-key approach which offers up a few jarring surprises even if pretty much all of the supernatural occurrences barely variate from the horror movie norm.  In this regard, the derivative nature may have more to do with the source material than with Prior's less-hacky interpretation of it, a source materiel that has its own version of a "chosen one", a protagonist with no free will, a clandestine doomsday cult, Hollywood-moody teenagers that no actual teenagers ever behave like, a shadowy figure who arbitrarily messes with people, and various other "creepy for the sake of being creepy" moments.  Its trippy intentions are in the right place, but it is ultimately rather futile to make whispery chanting, a skeleton stature encased in a cave wall, people blowing into bottles, and a ripped up teddy bear all that frightening.

2021 Horror Part Eleven

SON

Dir - Ivan Kavanagh

Overall: GOOD

 

Another solid genre offering from Irish filmmaker Ivan Kavanagh, Son treks through very psychologically dark terrain while managing to offer up some disturbed surprises.  Tonally, things play out very straight as the story mainly focuses on a woman's emotional downfall as she is trying to care for her ill son while simultaneously venturing back to a diabolical past that she had only until recently been able to leave behind.  The old "woman that everyone thinks is insane" trope usually gets old before it can even get off the ground, yet even as it becomes more abundantly clear which direction things are and have been heading here, Kavanagh successfully plays such a card while balancing between supernatural nastiness and emotionally ravished trauma.  Occasionally, some of the performances fail to land and/or come off as too melodramatic for such a dour presentation, but Andi Matichak carries things through well enough in the lead at least.  Though it is tricky to throw some humorous elements into something with such heady, occult subject matter, said humor dashes are handled appropriately to allow the audience one or two, (probably). necessary chuckles along the way.

 

TWO WITCHES

Dir - Pierre Tsigaridis

Overall: WOOF

Easily one of the worst horror films in many years, Pierre Tsigaridis's debut Two Witches is an incessant bombardment of baffling tonal issues, ridiculous plotting, and only the most hacky tropes that the genre has to offer.  The glaringly broadcasted, loud jump scares are criminal in their abundance and apparently Tsigaridis is six years old in thinking that quick shots of wide-eyed women either smiling, mumbling, or opening their mouths are really creepy.  Narratively, it is structured like two different movies with half of their scenes missing and the script by Tsigaridis, producer Maxime Rancon, and actor Kristina Klebe embarrassingly jumbles head-scratching schlock with ambiguity.  It would be impossible to believe that something so relentlessly stupid was not intended to be a comedy, but the tripe presentation is so insulting and confused in its agenda that all of the intended humor evaporates right into the ether since it is made abundantly impossible to care about anything happening at any time.  This is the type of anger-inducing trainwreck that most sane viewers will turn off within the first nine-minutes while the rest of us gluttons for punishment will finish the whole thing while cursing the fact that the medium of cinema exists in the first place.

 

BINGO HELL

Dir - Gigi Saul Guerrero

Overall: MEH

The debut from Mexican/Canadian filmmaker Gigi Saul Guerrero and the fifth installment in the Welcome to Blumhouse series, Bingo Hell has some heart and chuckles, yet it eventually turns into a barrage of simple-minded schlock.  Predominantly headed by a multi-racial, senior citizen cast, Guerrero and fellow screenwriters Shane McKenzie and Perry Blackshear use a knowingly silly premise for laughs, a premise of a flashy bingo hall run by, (probably), Satan to feast off of the desperation and disappointment of a downtrodden community.  The "we are all a family" themes are pretty pedestrian and rev up to a hokey finale, but until it becomes a borderline embarrassing series of old people delivering cliche one-liners while curb stomping Richard Brake's over the top creepy bad guy, there are some sticky, neon-colored fun to be had.  Visually it is quite fetching in its quirkiness, playing with some demented, eye-popping moments that keep the violent yet heart string-pulling tone very much on the comedic side.  Most of the humor stems from the committed performances who make for a fun group of elderly badasses cracking endless jokes on each other, with the "Batman and Robin" duo of Adriana Barraza and L. Scott Caldwell particularly standing out.  Likeable to an extent, it shows some promise for Guerrero to deliver some flashy full-lengths in the future and judging by her body of work so far as well as her appearance in In Search of Darkness: Part III, it also seems likely that she will stick with horror.

2021 Horror Part Ten

BENEDETTA

Dir - Paul Verhoeven

Overall: GOOD

 

As a modern day nunsploitation epic, Paul Verhoeven's Benedetta has a throwback charm to the Euro-horror heyday when trashy spectacles of such an ilk were dished out by various studios well into the video nasty era.  This is not to say that Verhoeven's work here is strictly in adherence with the campier aspects of The Devils, Satánico pandemonium, Killer Nun, or inquisition sleaze like Mark of the Devil, but there is certainly a boundary pushing element already inherent in the real life account of the title character; an Italian nun who was excommunicated after being convicted of engaging in fornication with one of the Sisters in her convent.  The fact that Benedetta Carlini also claimed various mystical visions and manifestations, (including stigmata, speaking in tongues, resurrection, and being the betrothed wife of Jesus himself), gives this film plenty of blasphemous material to work with and the script from Verhoeven and David Birke even throws in a wooden dildo carved out of the Sister Mary which is gleefully used by the title character and her farm girl lover.  Such elements are assuredly ridiculous on paper, but there is a profound sincerity to the actual production which ultimately showcases religious fervor, mental illness, ambition, and sexual fulfillment with a clear nod and a wink to its lack of supernatural authenticity.  Again, considering that the historical source material is bombastic enough, (and ripe for a cinematic interpretation), the director behind RoboCop, Total Recall, and Showgirls proves ideally suited to bring it to violent, decadent life.

 

THE MEDIUM

Dir - Banjong Pisanthanakun

Overall: MEH

Another in a now tradition of problematic horror mockumentaries, Banjong Pisanthanakun's The Medium, (Rang Song), blows its intriguing set up on a bombardment of found footage cliches in the finale, throwing serious doubt as to whether or not such a format was the correct one in taking with such material.  The script by Chantavit Dhanasevi and Na Hong-jin seems richly detailed in its exploration of ancient Isan religious practices and whether or not the specifics are wholly the creation of the screenwriters or actually authentic, they create a compelling backdrop.  Pisanthanakun's instincts for dreadful mood setting are on point as are the performances, yet as is unfortunately almost always the case with contemporary works in the genre that take such an approach, it is simply too much to ask of the audience to suspend disbelief when traditional cinematic tactics are abandoned for a completed, conventionally edited "documentary" showcasing harrowing, undeniably supernatural events with scary music and screen text in tow.  This does allow for expository information to be conveyed with characters being interviewed on camera, but when the typical horror movie motifs start taking over with reckless abandon, buying into the validity of it all becomes a fruitless exorcise.  Taiwanese filmmaker Kevin Ko's Incantation from the following year suffered an identical problem with even more similarities in its subject matter and though both movies have various redeemable qualities, they also cannot dig themselves out of their own holes.

HELLBENDER

Dir - John Adams/Zelda Adams/Toby Poser
Overall: MEH

The Adams family of dad John, daughter Zelda, and mom Toby Poser, (with their other daughter Lulu also appearing on screen), returns with Hellbender; another flawed yet partially enjoyable indie horror outing.  Filmed at the family's own home in Catskill, New York during the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of a mother/daughter rock band stemmed from their own real life musical project H6LLB6ND6R, here contrived as a story about a bloodline of witches living an isolated existence as to not wreak unchecked demonic power on the populous.  As is usually the case with their cinematic output, there is a clashing combination of B-movie camp and grittiness, so the film rides a razor-thin line of trying to balance such a complicated tone.  Both Zelda and Toby have a wonderfully refreshing dynamic on screen, making light of their disturbing, often gross magical prowess.  Though the songs themselves are not bad, scenes of them performing their own music in full-blown pagan Goth attire are a bit cringe-worthy, as are numerous supernatural montage sequences that scream "student film with costumes from Hot Topic".  The story itself which uses its over the top subject matter to deal with how one traumatized parent tries to break the cycle with their own offspring is quite inventive and thankfully forgives many of the other silly attributes.  It is far from a slam dunk, but it is hard not to rally for the family's DIY genre worship that does in fact throw a few unique ideas into the mix.

2021 Horror Part Nine

WHEN I CONSUME YOU

Dir - Perry Blackshear

Overall: GOOD

The latest from writer/director Perry Blackshear When I Consume You is his third straight independent horror film in a row, baring a psychological resemblance to his other works as well as once more sharing several of the same actors.  Stylistically, Blackshear sticks to handheld camerawork and sparse DIY production aspects, yet there is a claustrophobic intimacy here with blurry editing, extreme closeups, and a distorted sound design that puts the viewer on a persistent edge where it is difficult to grasp what is actually happening most of the time.  Its gritty occult depictions are positively freaky, yet their details are left largely ambiguous as is the traumatic backstory of the two central sibling characters, played excellently by Libby Ewing, (in her first time working with Blackshear), and regular Evan Dumouchel.  The emphasis is certainly on the co-dependent yet harrowing relationship between Ewing and Dumouchel, where overcoming intense hardships even when such a thing is seemingly beyond one's means serves as the thematic backbone to the entire movie.

THE BLACK PHONE

Dir - Scott Derrickson

Overall: MEH

The latest horror effort from director Scott Derrickson The Black Phone is an adaptation of Joe Hill's short story of the same name which went into production once Derrickson found himself let go from the MCU's Doctor Strange sequel.  Sadly, there is very little to recommend with the results here.  Early moments tease at a possibly interesting supernatural context yet as things go on, the story quickly looses one's interest and becomes a monotonous series of vaguely tense set pieces punctuated by awkward humor and half-baked plot points.  Ethan Hawk turns in an adequate if unoriginal crazy guy performance yet there is absolutely nothing substantial to his character, a character that does not deliver the kind of bogey man menace to make him ambiguously frightening.  Cliches exist elsewhere of a psychic kid, (who police detectives ridiculously confine in for clues), an abusive, alcoholic father, creepy masks, school bullies, and an ultimate arc being about overcoming personal weakness and finding inner strength or whatever.  Hokey, derivative, and boring, it at least has some cool classic rock songs on the soundtrack.

WE'RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR

Dir - Jane Schoenbrun

Overall: GREAT

A fascinating, ambiguous, mumblecore debut from non-binary filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, We're All Going to the World's Fair is a deliberately challenging work that explores the deep psychological need for connection amongst the introverted.  Told almost exclusively through Creepypasta-esque, faux-YouTube videos with occasional long, hand held camera single takes, Schoenbrun still manages to create something visually and surrealy captivating.  This is enhanced by a low-key indie soundtrack from singer-songwriter Alex G as well as ambient soundscapes that give everything a hypnotic tone that is appropriate for a story that focuses on people spending untold amounts of hours zoning out to internet content.  Certain elements temporarily break up the tranquil spell, crossing over extremely into the absurd which causes a combination of knee-jerk laughter and unsettling chills for the viewer.  It is a movie that is so calmly assured yet deliberately challenging that anything can happen at any moment in the most unorthodox of manners; something that far more contemporary films in the horror genre can take a lesson or two from.

2021 Horror Part Eight

THE SADNESS

Dir - Rob Jabbaz

Overall: MEH

 

The debut from writer/director Rob Jabbaz is the ruthlessly ridiculous and incredibly on the nose The Sadness, (Kū bēi), yet another movie that is desperately trying to squeeze some sort of individuality out of the criminally over saturated zombie outbreak market.  Noticeably inspired by the comic book series Crossed, the differentiating quality here besides its blunt tie-ins to the COVID-19 pandemic and its politicized ripple effect is that the infected victims break out into depraved rages, maintaining their ability to speak and gleefully acting like all-around moral-lacking sociopaths.  They bite and eat any and all body parts that they can get their hands on yes, but they also rape and torture with reckless abandon, even amongst themselves if they cannot find any innocent pedestrians to violate.  All of this leads to unflinching amounts of gore, even if Jabbaz spares us extreme closeups of the rape at least.  The tone quite frequently indulges in all out camp, but the entire presentation is so overblown anyway that throwing sentimentality to the side rather fits when oceans worth of bloodshed are fighting for screen time.  The highly derivative nature makes it unmistakably redundant, but it is a knowingly nasty mess that will undoubtedly delight splatter hounds.

THE DEEP HOUSE

Dir - Julien Maury/Alexandre Bustillo
Overall: MEH

The latest from the French horror writer/director duo of Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo The Deep House takes a somewhat ambitious and gimmicky approach to age old spooky cliches.  A haunted house movie except underwater, it finds an excuse to use a contemporary found footage framework where the two leads are ghost hunting YouTubers.  While logical then from a narrative standpoint, unfortunately this also provides an excuse for absolutely wretched dialog as James Jagger's obnoxious and unlikable character narrates to his audience in the most unnatural of ways when cartoonishly creepy things are happening all around him.  Two thirds of the film take place in such an environment and sadly, this cornball approach makes it a serious offender of "dumb people in horror movies" nonsense that has long, long become hack.  This is a shame since the basic premise is rather clever and Maury and Bustillo are adept enough as filmmakers in the genre to deliver a multitude of freaky set pieces.  Nothing is underneath the surface though, at least nothing all that interesting, plus coupled with the tripe aspects, the movie kind of undermines itself.

BLOOD RED SKY

Dir - Peter Thorwarth

Overall: GOOD

There is a hefty amount of ingenuity in Peter Thorwarth's Blood Red Sky, (Transatlantic 473); a high tension action movie that fuses enough wild ingredients together to make it pretty consistently gripping.  Part airplane heist and part vampire film, the most impressive aspect is how Thorwarth and Stefan Holtz' script toys with familiar tropes.  The two-hour running time only occasionally feels monotonous in its claustrophobic setting since so many fresh plot points keep popping up to wrack up the increasingly off the rails stakes.  Movies that feature blood-sucking creatures of the night have been regularly pumped out since the silent days and it is nice to see a human element so prominently on display here.  It often feels more like a zombie film, with this particular brand of vampirism coming off as more of a plague that spreads alarmingly fast, putting characters in fight or flight, (pardon the pun), scenarios as to how they manage it.  While appropriately ramped up, the last act unfortunately indulges in too many loud, animalistic vampire squeals on the soundtrack and stretches plausibility to borderline schlock-level, but this is otherwise a fun ride that delivers on its ambitious premise.

2021 Horror Part Seven

BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION

Dir - Jacob Gentry

Overall: MEH

 

Following in a long line of conspiracy thrillers and utilizing many of the tropes therein, Jacob Gentry's Broadcast Signal Intrusion makes a noble yet bland attempt at getting under its audience's skin.  In order for the film to properly work, one has to be considerably forgiving of forced creepiness and ambiguity, as well as being unencumbered by easily recognized horror staples.  As the title would suggest, it uses the factual backdrop of broadcast signal intrusions, perhaps made most famous by a still unidentified Max Headroom hijacking that happened in Chicago around the same time that some of the tapes here were set.  Which is most likely not a coincidence.  Throwing in more contemporary creepypasta influences and referencing everything from All the President's Men, to Possibly in Michigan, Silence of the Lambs, 8mm, and The Poughkeepsie Tapes, the script here fails to break any new ground under its large, identifiable pool of ingredients.  Furthermore, the busy, jazzy, prog-esque score by Ben Lovett is occasionally hip, but it is also tone-clashing and as equally genre-pandering as the story.  The central theme of grief-fueled obsession leading us to dangerous destinations is sufficiently convened, but it is done so in a rather on-the-nose fashion.  The whole thing is a bit overbearing in this very capacity actually.

TITANE

Dir - Julia Ducournau

Overall: GOOD

 

The full-length, sophomore effort from filmmaker Julia Ducournau continues engaging in some of the unflinching and uncompromising visual motifs that her debut Raw did.  Titane is pure body horror in many respects and again similar to Raw, it does not spoon-feed its audience with many of the narrative components.  Fantastical elements hardly serve as mere MacGuffins though.  In fact much can be debated as to their effecting inclusion, all the while the core examination of grief-bonding is thoroughly unmistakable.  Stylistically, Ducournau successfully fuses some humor into the proceedings while maintaining a very severe tone with occasionally squeamish violence and uncomfortably bizarre set pieces pushing it further into bold, Midnight Movie terrain.  It is beautifully photographed throughout and the performances are flawless from top to bottom.  In her feature debut, model/journalist/actress Agathe Rousselle is particularly fearless, making a character sympathetic who logically should garnish zero such sympathy.  Vincent Lindon could even be more impressive though as a deeply traumatized father, enabling the duo's connection to be as increasingly captivating as it is highly disturbed.

LAMB

Dir - Valdimar Jóhannsson

Overall: GOOD

This Icelandic, uniquely strange arthouse debut from filmmaker Valdimar Jóhannsso and poet/novelist Sjón plays as an equally beautiful and perplexing folktale.  On paper, the premise seems ridiculous, but never once is it played for laughs.  There is plenty of heart and even some humor present at irregular intervals, yet by treating the material absolutely straight, Jóhannsson creates a haunting and appropriate mood.  Deliberately paced with minimal dialog, an endless array of lingering shots, and sparse musical accompaniments, the film manages to create a present yet almost stagnant level of tension.  Because so little dramatically happens, it consistently feels as if the remarkably strange situation at hand is going to meet some kind of tragic end at any moment.  The three person cast is strong and in a less controlled setting overall, the story's inherent bizarreness would become too distracting to take seriously.  The sudden and dour finale could be seen as confusing let alone overly simplifying any intended message, (if in fact it has one), but the film is captivating, singular, and ethereally powerful all the same.

2021 Horror Part Six

OLD

Dir - M. Night Shyamalan

Overall: MEH

At this point, going into an M. Night Shyamalan movie has become a predictable endeavor.  Meaning that the standard, botched end product that is Old hits all of the frequented, frustrating notes.  An adaptation of the graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters, Old is photographed lushly, with beautiful scenery and inventive camera work doing its best, (yet failing), to distract from the abundance of problems at hand.  These problems are well established, Shyamalan trademarks; comically unnatural performances, often preposterously silly dialog, numerous plot holes, and a forced, twist-ending that fails to land.  There is something to be said though for this round in that the nature of the premise, (which again, like all Shyamalan films, is adequately strong), does somewhat lend itself to the messy presentation.  For a film that examines the emotionally devastating nature of the passage of time, the cruising pace does have a bombardment quality that narratively "works", at least on paper.  With all of its components fairly taken in though, it is a distracting movie to say the least.  Well-intended and plenty stylized yes, but when you are simultaneously scratching your head, laughing, and getting annoyed at what is on the screen, such issues are difficult to forgive.

ANONYMOUS ANIMALS

Dir - Baptiste Rouveure

Overall: MEH

 

The full-length debut Anonymous Animals from filmmaker Baptiste Rouveure presents its one-note premise in a rather meandering way.  Enormously heavy-handed, it is the type of movie that one can theoretically get the gist of within the first five minutes, at which point they can then leave well enough alone.  Featuring no dialog and running just over an hour, it takes a highly simplified, moral high-ground in its humans vs animals role reversal.  Though to the film's merit, it may not be trying to convert the unconverted.  Instead, by transposing a Homo sapien point of view to abused pets and terrified livestock, it goes for visceral impact exclusively.  There are no nuances presented as far as the ethical merit of free-range, population controlled hunting per example.  While the blunt themes are just as easy to forgive as they are wholly easy to understand, sadly the presentation itself is faulty.  Even with its no-dialog gimmick, Rouveure largely relies on criminally played out tropes like white-noise build ups on the soundtrack followed by abrupt cuts to black, plus the stock, horrory musical score would have served far more effective if it was turned on mute.  Worse, the hand-held cinematography is probably intentionally claustrophobic and off-putting, but it is also frustratingly dizzying.  This is a bold, serious attempt at something bold and serious, but it falls considerably short in too many ways.

THE FEAST

Dir - Lee Haven Jones

Overall: GOOD

The Welsh, theatrical debut The Feast from television director Lee Haven Jones and screenwriter/producer Roger Williams may be too much style over substance, yet it is still boldly enticing.  There is a dark fairy tale undercurrent to the story, one that is never at least directly explained and it produces a barrage of bizarre, unsettling moments.  Such moments can be chalked up to the repercussions of man's insistence on interfering with nature to enhance their own personal wealth and prosperity, yet Jones is much more interested in concocting a cinematically ethereal mood as opposed to slamming home an obvious, moral message.  Numerous scenes are designed for gross-out and/or bewildering shock value, yet they fit the gradual, sinister tone.  The more disturbing that things get, the more that the film leans into its surreal atmosphere with little to no concern for spelling too much out for the audience.  It is certainly arty in an unapologetic sense where it is probably just best to just sit back and enjoy the evocative, supernatural nastiness, all while trying to shake some of the images from your brain hours after finishing it.

2021 Horror Part Five

OXYGEN

Dir - Alexandre Aja

Overall: GOOD

The latest from French genre filmmaker Alexandre Aja is the claustrophobic sci-fi thriller Oxygen, a movie that manages to bypass its gimmick in a rather engaging way.  Premise wise, a character waking up in a mysterious location and spending the entirety of the film trying to unlock the mystery of where they are and how they got there has an aura of familiarity to it, but the gradual unveiling of information here also has a riveting payoff that primarily hinges on Mélanie Laurent's wonderful performance.  Virtually the only character on screen, it is a challenging role to be sure and one that she thankfully excels at by making the audience invested in her desperate plight even as both we and her have the same extremely limited amount of knowledge to work with.  Aja maintains a literal ticking clock level of suspense and Christie LeBlanc's script is basically one incremental plot twist after the other.  A rather tight, polished production all around with some attractive futuristic visuals to boot, it essentially checks off all of the boxes for what one would expect for an enclosed "nightmare in space" movie.

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO

Dir - Edgar Wright

Overall: MEH

Edgar Wright's first direct foray into horror, (forgoing the comedy of his most famous work in Shaun of the Dead), is the dark, bloody, swinging 60s, London love letter Last Night in Soho.  Considering that the counter culture drug scene had one of its home bases around said era, it is a clever move to take a psychological approach here that becomes almost overwhelmingly trippy.  By the third act in particular, the incessant visions suffered by Thomasin McKenzie are quite exhausting, which is mostly a problem due to the fact that they are also not very frightening.  Hallucinations of jittery, obscured zombie creatures mixed with monotonous flashbacks of Anya Taylor-Joy and Matt Smith provide more annoyance than anything.  The messy, twist ending also does not really land, coming off a bit bloated.  Though the script and horror elements are ultimately underwhelming, Wright's flashy visual aesthetic is rather impressive as he seamlessly weaves his two lead actresses together in an engaging manner with a retro soundtrack that is persistently used to wondrous effect.  The cast is all around sufficient as well, with veterans Terrance Stamp and Diana Rigg, (in her final film appearance), turning in performances that are subtle in their disturbing quirkiness.  Wright is too good of a filmmaker to drop the ball completely and there are definitely some effective qualities present, but the sum of all of the parts fails to fully elevate it above its flaws.

 

ANTLERS

Dir - Scott Cooper

Overall: MEH

 

Based off of Nick Antosca's short story "The Quiet Boy" which was published in a 2019 edition of the online magazine Guernica, Antlers is a rather sub-par monster movie.  The first foray into horror, (at least from behind the lens), for co-writer and director Scott Cooper, it has a pedestrian presentation and premise of a small town besieged by a torso-mutilating creature.  Other tripe details like a stupid school bully, a dark secret locked up in a room in a house, Native American legends, ghostly flashbacks, and an emotionally disconnected teacher with a traumatic past ultimately bonding with an emotionally disconnected child who also has a traumatic past means that there is certainly a lot of familiarity on display.  Cooper's direction is sufficient in a standard, point A to point B context, but nothing is done with the well-worn tropes to elevate them anywhere above providing a casual yawn from the audience.  On the plus side though, the performances are fine and the atmosphere is consistently drab.  Plus the practical effects are rather excellent, benefiting further by having the monstrous wendigo kept primarily unlit and ergo, more mysterious.  Too bad that the film's narrative is far too boring and half-baked to engage with, making the whole far more forgettable than anything else.

2022 Horror Part Twelve

NANNY

Dir - Nikyatu Jusu

Overall: GOOD

 

The full-length debut Nanny from Sierra Leonean-American filmmaker Nakyatu Jusa is a strong, female-centered examination on the back-breaking struggles of motherhood and the ravishing anxiety that comes with it.  Gaining some horror mileage out of the Mami Wata from African folklore, (specifically centered around the West African Wolof people), Jusu's story paints the water spirit as a neutral force that can be terrifying to encounter yet only when the beholder is undergoing extreme emotional distress.  Anna Diop's title character suffers from the overbearing guilt of leaving her only child back at home while she dedicates herself with a caretaker position for a detached, less than happy Upper East Side, New York couple and their daughter who she has an instant, mutually loving relationship with.  Wisely, the film does not make obvious commentary on simple white and black racial dynamics, comparatively focusing more on women's hardships with both Diop and the mother that she is employed by, (played by Michelle Monaghan), experiencing their own remorse over the lack of time spend with their own children.  Jusu takes a slow-boil approach to her material here which is necessary in both establishing and soaking in the richly emotional complexities at hand, which makes the very gradual, intensified tension and otherworldly elements hit their intended impact.

BONES AND ALL

Dir - Luca Guadagnino

Overall: GOOD

 

For his follow up to the surprisingly, (and profoundly), excellent Suspiria remake, Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and screenwriter David Kajganich have adapted Camille DeAngelis' novel Bones and All into a beautiful, grotesque genre mash-up.  The criminal road movie ingredients may bring deliberate whiffs of Badlands or Bonnie and Clyde, while the metaphoric horror aspects recall Let the Right One In or Thirst, but the film is both stylistically enthralling and impressive in its focus.  By presenting the horror aspects matter of factly save for a few rapid-fire nightmare montages, Guadagnino mostly focuses on the detailed characterizations of his two leads in Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet, though every other person that we meet is treated sympathetically enough to resonate with, at least on some level which keeps the grounded tone in check.  It is consistently nuanced in its exploration of outcasts who find themselves in a world where extreme bonds are forged between the people that share their burden of loneliness and a biological need that is both helplessly unavoidable and horrific.  The musical score by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor is equally on point, (plus a hilarious Kiss reference is always appreciated), and thankfully its borderline excessive length proves justified as nothing feels rushed and the full tragic, yet empathically melancholic atmosphere is properly in place.

 

M3GAN

Dir - Gerard Johnstone

Overall: WOOF

 

Though James Wan is merely relegated to providing the story concept along with screenwriter Akela Cooper, the latest collaboration M3GAN between he and producer Jason Blum continues in both party's trajectory of delivering the most textbook, unoriginal horror films of the modern age.  It is the usual stew of tongue-in cheek humor, actors taking the material way too seriously, on-the-nose social commentary, and every form of predictable storytelling humanly possible which utilizes foreshadowing and standard genre cliches that mere casual horror partakers will still immediately notice.  Even though the finale gives up and goes for full black comedy and awkward, dumb for the sake of dumb set pieces, the one-dimensional characterizations and emotional hooks are borderline insulting in their simplicity and make for a tonal conundrum that is nauseating at worst and eyeball rolling at best.  Defenders of such tripe will probably utilize the ole, "It's a stupid horror movie about a killer doll, what do you expect?" excuse and that is all fine and good for those that just want to see how silly it will all play out while ignoring that way better such movies exist out there.  Christ, even Child's Play's concept of Brad Dourif using black magic to cheat death and jump inside of a Good Guys doll is less idiotic, let alone more interesting.  For the rest of us who uncomfortably cringe while a creepy doll sings and dances out of nowhere while trying to be threatening at the same time, this is some highly avoidable crap.

2022 Horror Part Eleven

MASTER

Dir - Mariama Diallo

Overall: MEH

A thought-provoking, full-length debut from writer/director Mariama Diallo, Master expertly explores quite complex racial dynamics within the American university system, yet it unfortunately does so while clumsily trying to meld a handful of hack-laded genre tropes into the mix as well.  As opposed to most horror films where the first act is enticingly creepy, Diallo frustratingly piles on the cliches early on as she bounces between two African American protagonists that are privy to numerous supernatural occurrences which they of course fail to mention to virtually anyone throughout almost the entire movie.  One or two of these moments are handled in a relatively fresh fashion, but they predominantly bog down a far more interesting story with manipulative scary music, hooded figures, nightmare sequences, vague witch curses, and characters investigating things in spacious, dimly-lit libraries.  A compelling about-face occurs closer to the finish line which is where the real issues are raised concerning manipulative diversity tactics and the awful, traumatic toll that it takes on those who struggle to navigate both subtle and blatant prejudices.  It is a shame that the sinister forces afoot here do not properly connect with the very real and troubling ones, but there is still definitely some merit to what it accomplishes.

GATLOPP: HELL OF A GAME

Dir - Alberto Belli

Overall: MEH

 

After nearly a decade and a half making shorts, filmmaker Alberto Belli delivers his first full-length with Gatlopp: Hell of a Game, (GATLOPP); a quirky, horror-tinged supernatural board game movie that probably gets a little too heavy on the emotional end of the spectrum to balance its silliness.  In recent times, the concept of a bunch of friends being forced through supernatural means to reveal embarrassing and shady truths about themselves to each other has been seen in both Takashi Miike's As the Gods Will and Levan Gabriadze's Unfriended, so the "truth or dare" framework here is hardly a singular one.  At first, the cast of characters come off a bit obnoxious, partying like best friends in an exaggerated fashion that bares no resemblance to how actual human beings even in their raging, alcohol-fueled early twenties realistically behave.  As the stakes grow more dire and an unholy light gets glaringly shown on their less than admirable deeds, the movie sacrifices its comedic inventiveness which crates a tonal issue that weighs everything down.  This does bring out some more vulnerability to the performances though, which is lacking when everyone is simply carrying on like cut and paste characters in an R-rated comedy.  The whole thing may be more to some audience member's tastes than others, but there are a few chuckles and some wacky details to make it acceptable.

THE PALE BLUE EYE

Dir - Scott Cooper

Overall: GOOD

 

The third collaboration between filmmaker Scott Cooper and Christian Bale, The Pale Blue Eye is a slick, enticing adaptation of Louis Bayard's novel of the same name, yet it is also one that cannot resist the urge to out twist the murder mystery competition in its final minutes.  Bayard's source material has a fetching enough concept of a military cadet-aged Edgar Allan Poe assisting an exceptionally efficient detective in a string of occult-styled murders in West Point, New York.  The dialog is quite rich in its vernacular and the entire cast's enthusiasm for the material thankfully shines through.  Both Bale as the aforementioned, stoic, and deeply troubled Augustus Landor and Harry Melling as a piss and vinegar-filled Poe steal the show, with an almost unrecognizable Robert Duvall showing up for two scenes being a highlight as well.  While the Satanic ritual motifs seem almost shoehorned into the proceedings, they at least help contribute to what is a unique hybrid of period-set police procedural and Gothic horror film, with the latter genre's most famous author thrown in as a protagonist simply adding a delightful component to the proceedings.  It is a minor shame that the narrative tries to outsmart its audience with an unnecessary twist after an already fully-stuffed delivery, but aside from that, it is a solid production.

2022 Horror Part Ten

HYPOCHONDRIAC

Dir - Addison Heimann

Overall: GOOD

The first directorial effort from screenwriter Addison Heimann, Hypochondriac takes a dark and occasionally comedy look at severe mental illness and childhood trauma.  Things largely hinge on the devastatingly multi-layered performance from Zach Villa who plays a good-natured, silly, and compassionate potter that is struggling to deal with a schizophrenic mother, emotionally neglectful father, and benevolent boyfriend who all exhibit wildly different methods of trying to take care of him.  As is often possible in the horror genre yet only achieved with a sincere filmmaker at the helm, incredibly troubling real world events and personal afflictions can be exaggerated for emphasis while not becoming either exploitative or insulting to the viewer.  Thankfully such things are handled respectfully here as Villa's protagonist spirals into more and more detrimentally crippling hallucinations where we never feel that the terrifying outcome of his suffering is played up for anything but sympathy.  The supporting cast is well in-tune to the material as well and Heimann shows a considerable control over a difficult tone that cinematically showcases the sort of bi-polar mood swings which are in question.

THE MENU

Dir - Mark Mylod

Overall: GOOD

 

It is not too often that a horror-tinged comedy emerges that uses the very concept of soul-sucking pretentiousness as its source of nightmare fuel, which is what makes The Menu an amusing genre detour.  The concept stemmed simply enough from screenwriter Will Tracy's visit to an upscale restaurant during his honeymoon and the finished production eventually took on consultants Dominique Creen and David Gelb to give it a foodie connoisseur aura of authenticity.  Playing off of the premise that a "fine dinning as art" mentality, (at east in some respects), is inherently ridiculous, the deadly serious presentation of Ralph Fiennes' exclusive, pristine-tiered, island-set establishment is deliberately amusing as the filmmaker's utilize the horror framework to hint at a sinister, underlying threat in the first act.  When the WTF card is actually reviled, some viewers may have a hard time staying with everything that follows as it hinges on a whole crop of people doing either the bare minimum or nothing at all to relieve themselves of their increasingly dire predicament.  Even this though is brought up in some of the dialog which along with the strange scenario that plays by its own aloof rules, allows for the film's narrative to work somewhat in spite of itself.  It is a difficult tone to maintain since much of the humor may only appear subtle to those that are either not playing closer attention or simply unable to meet it on its own terms, but for everyone else down for some macabre wackiness, it hits the spot.

 

HATCHING

Dir - Hanna Bergholm

Overall: GOOD

A full-length debut from Finnish filmmaker Hanna Bergholm, Hatching, (Pahanhautoja), is a satisfyingly strange and demented take on the age old doppelgänger concept.  The story has a clear agenda of showcasing the trauma of self-consumed parenting, yet it does so in an utterly unique fashion that treats the serious aspects of the subject matter in an intelligent way which impressively shines through the more absurdist aspects.  Bergholm's plotting moves rather quickly, with a number of scenes coming off as so jarring that one would assume that they would quickly be revealed to be mere nightmaresor hallucinations.  Instead, the circumstances here are presented matter of factly and are that much more alarming in their impact.  Backed with excellent performances and nuanced characterizations which even manage to make Sophia Heikkilä's obnoxious, influencer/blogger/mother from hell garnish some level of sympathy from the audience, there is plenty going on here about not only the combination of overbearing pressure and neglect put on children, but also the reason that certain damaged parents exhibit such desperate, detrimental behavior in the first place.  For the monster movie fan, there are some halfway decent animatronic effects as well, though the loud, screechy noises still unfortunately hammer-home the fact that they seem to be the only scary vocalizations that anyone can come up with nowadays.