Dir - Benjamin Barfoot
Overall: GOOD
British filmmaker Benjamin Barfoot's sophomore full-length Daddy's Head is one of many to deal with the psychological turmoil suffered by those whose beloved dead ones leave them behind. In this case, it is a young boy's father that checks out after a brutal car accident, unintentionally sticking him with his well-intended yet also traumatized step mother who has never been able to connect with her stepson and now questions if she wants such a responsibility when in reality, neither of them are on board with it. This provides Barfoot's script with a messy and relatable conundrum to spring from, and the weight of it is handled expertly by actors Rupert Turnbull and Julia Brown. Thankfully though, the film also excels with its scare tactics. Barfoot utilizes a low-key yet relentlessly ominous approach, keeping the already subdued musical score at bay and trusting some freaky visuals to work their magic without the use of excessive jump scares or hackneyed tropes left and right. That said, there is still a sense of arbitrary logic to the behavior of the mysterious menace that Turnbull and Brown face, but the story wisely keeps the specifics nebulous and never breaks into unintentional schlock or heavy-handed sentimentality. Instead, this is both grounded and otherworldly and that much more unsettling because of it.
Dir - Kimo Stamboel
Overall: MEH
The latest from another one of Indonesia's current horror trailblazer's Kimo Stamboel, Dancing Village: The Curse Begins, (Badarawuhi di Desa Penari), also serves as a prequel to Awi Suryadi's 2022 film KKN di Desa Penari and is allegedly the first movie from the country to be shot in IMAX. Given a wider release after the box office success of the previous installment, this one is at least comparatively shorter and manages to keep the pace up due to enough sinister moments inching things along. Stamboel maintains a tone that is void of humor, and the only tenderness comes when young women are wailing away at the suffrage of their mothers, two of whom are caught up in some kind of supernatural illness brought on by the franchise's sinister dance trope demon lady. There is some gnarly make-up on these unfortunate birth-givers as well as several deformed ghosts, (plus we get one sequence where a skinned monkey is uncovered), but most of the emphasis is on a relentlessly ominous mood as opposed to gore-ridden set pieces. Prequels are inherently an unnecessary burden on movie-goers, but this one stands well enough on its own to not only follow, but to also get soaked up in its malevolent atmosphere, even if there is not much meat to the story and it could still afford to shave off twenty or so minutes.
Dir - Coralie Fargeat
Overall: GOOD
For her sophomore full-length The Substance, filmmaker Coraline Fargeat goes full-on body horror, crafting something that is as demented as it is disgusting as it is ambitious. Shot in a France which stands-in for good ole seedy LA, and running nearly two and half hours, the excessive length slowly builds itself up to a fevered pitch where the adoration of youth and celebrity becomes literally monstrous. Wisely, Fargeat maintains a tongue-in-cheek tone since the premise itself is ridiculous, and the way that it unfolds only becomes more exaggerated to the point where any fans of Brian Yuzna's Society, Peter Jackson's Braindead, or anything that David Cronenberg has ever made will be standing up and applauding. Several other famous cinematic works are referenced along the way, and Fargeat and her team have crafted something that is eye-catching in every frame, even when the things that are in that frame are cartoonishly repugnant, (cue Dennis Quad's hilariously awful TV producer sleazebag shoving shrimp in his mouth like a cave troll). The dual performances of Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore are pitch-perfect as two women who forget that they "are one" along their quest for perpetual juvenescence, and it is a wise move that Fargeat chooses to paint them with such broad strokes. This crystalizes the movie's superficial theme where outward appearances are everything when it comes to showbiz, and if the positive reinforcement game has not sucked one dry of humanity, then the desperation to perpetuate it sure as hell will.
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