2020 Horror Part One

RELIC

Dir - Natalie Erika James

Overall: MEH

 

A great deal of symbolism is at play in Natalie Erika James' full-length debut Relic; a grim, slow-boil dissension into the deteriorating mental and emotional strain of losing a loved one to time.  Such symbolism is pretty on the nose.  Black mold appears on both the interior of a house and the body of an elderly woman, each representing the disintegration of their physical forms.  The fact that each are deeply connected to memories and their loved ones, the metaphor is hardly ambiguous.  James makes an all too common error though which is how the movie leans too heavily on derivative, unengaging horror tropes.  Its structure is very textbook, unfolding gradually with increasingly more sinister moments building to a tense conclusion.  There are monsters creeping under beds or visible to the audience but not the characters, hidden, looping, bizarro-world dimensions being uncovered, characters standing emotionless and hurting/peeing themselves, jump scares, and several very concerning supernatural occurrences taking place that none of the characters mention to anyone and just shrug off and deal with.  It is effective in its poignancy, but delivers very little everywhere else.

THE INVISIBLE MAN
Dir - Leigh Whannell
Overall: MEH

After multiple botched attempts to make a Universal monsters cinematic universe, (one of Hollywood's most bonehead ideas in recent times), such a concept has at least been temporarily abandoned in the wake of the Universal/Blumhouse co-production The Invisible Man which is a stand alone story.  The first issue is in the fact that it is called The Invisible Man.  Besides there being such a man and that his last name is Griffin, literally no other similarities between this and H.G. Wells source material exist.  Meaning the only reason it is called this is because it is an existing property.  Complaining about major studios not investing money on original content void of all brand recognition is a futile exercise though so, moving on.  Directed by frequent James Wan collaborator Leigh Whannell, it is modern day horror all the way through, down to the muted color tones, swelling noise on the soundtrack leading into dead silence at the beginning, a plot twist, plenty of jump scares, and a pacing that moves too quick to fix all of its plot inconsistencies.  There are plenty of other even older cliches thrown into the mix and at its core, the film is another tale of a woman made to look crazy in a horror movie, except this time through the veil of a narcissistic, stalking control freak.  The premise is acceptable, but the entire film drains all of its mileage from it and in the process, it not only falls apart under a microscope, but its bombardment of familiar tropes and rehashed modern sensibilities do not elevate it above that premise.

 

YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT

Dir - David Koepp

Overall: MEH

 

The latest genre offering from prolific screenwriter/occasional director David Koepp You Should Have Left once again finds him working with a now-looking-his-sixty-two-years-of-age Kevin Bacon, also joined by Amanda Seyfried who is literally almost half said age.  At least such a usual, glossed-over Hollywood double standard of the elderly leading man paired romantically with a still young and wrinkle-free leading lady is addressed in the actual story itself which is an adaptation of Daniel Kehlman's novel of the same name.  As far as the resulting foray into supernatural horror, it is a typical example of a sturdy enough premise bogged down predictably by a terribly tripe presentation.  Numerous jump scares, a lack of rules established for the arbitrarily spooky set pieces that transpire, a whispering kid, nightmare sequences that every character jumps straight up in bed out of, the ole "We just spent hours walking away from this house that makes us feel trapped only to arrive right back at it" plot point, the ole "Person moves but their reflection doesn't move with them" gag, unnecessarily cryptic and rude locals, an ending where characters make utterly moronic decisions as an only means to move things to their heightened conclusion, etc.  It is a shame as Bacon and Seyfried do an admirable job as a doomed couple and themes of all-consuming guilt manifesting themselves horrifically would be so much more engaging if a far less pedestrian execution was utilized.