Dir - Chris Nash
Overall: MEH
The world has not needed another slasher movie since John Carpenter made Halloween, and four plus decades later, Canadian filmmaker Chris Nash at least had the good sense to do something unique with what is arguably horror's most tired formula. In a Violent Nature not only plays out almost entirely from the supernaturally-charged killer's perspective, (a killer who is Jason Voorhees in all but name), but it does so with a subdued arthouse agenda. There is no dramatic music, no narrative emphasis on any of the victims, and the pacing is still and deliberate. At the same time though, Nash's script has all of the cliches in tow, at least on paper. This makes it an experimental work in its presentation alone, one that offers up an alternate perspective on what is otherwise consistently stale storytelling. In other words, it is junk, but cleverly disguised junk. Lingering yet gratuitously gory, it can be argued that many moments overstay their welcome and provide no decipherable purpose, but just when you think that it is spinning its wheels without any wherewithal, an underlying theme of spontaneous danger emerges. By emotionally distancing the viewer from everyone on screen and simultaneously letting things play out in real time, it unveils a type of sitting dread that the sub-genre is fundamentally and usually never able to convey without resorting to schlock.
Dir - Ti West
Overall: MEH
Opening with potential and then continuing with a slam dunk for its second instalment, Ti West and Mia Goth's X series, (hopefully), closes out with Maxxxine, unfortunately arriving as a mess that is both convoluted and lackluster. Sticking with the throwback aesthetic of both X and Pearl, (each of which frequently recalled the decade in which they were set), this one finally thrusts us directly into a seedy ole 1980s Tinsel town itself, full of every cliche imaginable. There is cocaine everywhere, VHS stores, cheap horror movies being made, sleazy private investigators, self-righteous protestors, coin-operated peep shows, neon galore, 80s hits on the soundtrack, pretentious filmmakers, porn being shot behind strip clubs, good cop/bad cop partner teams, Hollywood agents in bad wigs, Richard Ramirez on the loose, and a Bible-quoting nut job who is overacting as if he has a gun to his head. At the heart of all of this is Goth's title character who is still hellbent on being a star at all costs and up until a point, West's story seems to be leading somewhere ghoulish with its tongue still in cheek, as was the case with the previous two films. The director's shortcomings as a screenwriter rear their ugly yet again though, flying off the rails in the third act with a lame killer reveal and an ending that says nothing profound and instead puts Goth in the passenger seat of an arc that she previously led with cocksure abandon.
Dir - Oz Perkins
Overall: MEH
Oz Perkins continues his auteur trajectory with his forth full-length Longlegs, a movie that is suffocating with unhurried and dread-fueled style yet unremarkable from a narrative stand-point. Benefiting from a cryptic marketing campaign that all horror movies should utilize, (as well as the unfortunate hype-machine that at least one genre film a year suffers from), it still proves to be a singular work in its presentation. Perkins has consistently favored still pacing and pristine cinematography, and this is an exemplary-looking work, capturing an early 90s, unassuming, Oregon autumn full of wood paneling, slow zooms, and inventive camera angles. While its tortoise-like flow could afford some agency, the tone is relentlessly sinister and odd, as if anything horrible can happen at a moment's notice. This brings into play the film's faux pas in that it does not deliver much in the way of left turns, despite the expectations that it consistently raises. Fusing the FBI procedural with some scatter-brained genre cliches works up until a point, but the plot is ultimately predictable and even lackluster in its revelations. While Maika Monroe is her usual emotionally void self, (appropriately so here, mind you), the involvement of Nicolas Cage is a mixed bag since even under heavy guise and with his always consistent thespian chops in tow, he essentially turns in a Nicolas Cage parody performance, going over the top with a part that demands eccentricities yet may have been better suited for an actor who is not so universally known for such eccentric performances.
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