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She Came from the Woods (2022)
She Came from the Woods Review
She Came from the Woods is trite and vapid, seemingly unaware of what makes the movies it purports to pay tribute to work. It doesn't provide any of the thrills, surprises, or guilty pleasures that make slashers tick. It feels like a sterilized notion of the sub genre as opposed to something that finds a path of its own or carries any real weight or knowledge about the half-century of films it lazily emulates.
The production is competent but entirely uninspired, with everything from the sets to the costumes to the cinematography being perfectly plain. The revelations and escalations hit hollow and most of the would-be horrific moments are marred by the inherent lameness of kids in camp clothes. It sometimes seems like She Came from the Woods could have been a home movie shot in someone's back yard.
Vikingulven (2022)
Viking Wolf Review
Viking Wolf is, for better and worse, a surprisingly standard werewolf tale. Its tone is strikingly similar to other recent melancholy creature features, such as Antlers and You Are Not My Mother, with a dark and foggy aesthetic and slowly built emotional stakes. It throws its punch but it doesn't land square.
It has an unfortunate habit of cutting away too quickly from its best moments. Multiple times it jumps from a scene right as it gets good, which can be a stylistic flourish when used sparingly, but feels over relied on here. It does pick up steam at the end with some cool wolf action but it takes a long time to get there and the road is somewhat uneven.
In a familiar story, one of the biggest detriments to Viking Wolf is the CG effects. While practical effects likely would have necessitated a lot of changes, and the wolf looks okay enough most of the time, as a monster movie it is anchored by an uninteresting CG monster. In almost every measure, Viking Wolf is passable but not particularly special.
Knock at the Cabin (2023)
Knock at the Cabin Review
Knock at the Cabin is sweet and suspenseful, a notably unafflicted effort from Director M. Night Shyamalan. It largely avoids the wooden cheesiness that characterizes some of his films by the strength of its strong, limited cast. Dave Bautista's performance in particular is transformative, seizing a role that defines the movie and could have derailed the whole thing and delivering a portrayal that sets the tempo and carries the tone of the entire production.
Based on a novel by Paul Tremblay, Knock at the Cabin has familiar elements of modern horror that it takes in creatively empathetic directions. While it has a carefully calibrated sum of home invasion and apocalyptic attributes, it subverts tropes about strangers breaking in or a band of survivors holed up in a claustrophobic location. These factors exist but they are merely the base of the equation. The horror in Knock at the Cabin stems from pervasive feelings of our modern age: helplessness in the face of constantly tragic headlines, the confoundingly entrenched confusing motivations of others, a universal lack of trust, the ever present specter of bigotry, a phantom online underworld of groupthink and conspiracy, the sense that we are all on the brink.
It is mostly contained, close-up shots of conversation but is able to serve up some spectacle as well. The craft of scares isn't entirely dialed in but that is perhaps a byproduct of the admirable restraint demonstrated by Shyamalan and his willingness to let the story carry the tension. It bumps up against his somewhat signature heavy-handed strain and isn't too concerned about being sensible but overall pulls through unscathed.
Knock at the Cabin is that special concept that could have been executed at almost any time in the genre's history but springs up at the moment most suited for it. It doesn't perfectly achieve everything it tries to do but it nails the big beats. It could have easily been a mess but a respectful focus draws the most out of its timeless yet timely notions and classic cinematic components.
Skinamarink (2022)
Skinamarink Review
Skinamarink is a portal to another realm, a direly creative vision that really is as much of an experience as it is a film. It can be frustratingly hard to follow and downright boring at points but coalesces into something remarkable, a haunting, enduring memory that starts to sink in after the fact. Watching Skinamarink is an investment as it isn't so much about the actual viewing of it as it is the feelings and echoes it leaves.
The film follows two very young children trapped in a surreal nightmare of a dark, desolate home, looping cartoons, stray Lego blocks, and cruel voices in the shadows. It plays like a perversion of found footage, as if a college art course possessed Paranormal Activity. There are many long, abstractly framed shots of indecipherable doorways and dimly lit objects, punctuated by jump scares or disturbing developments.
Skinamarink is ambitious, thought-provoking, and challenging, but by the same token it can be dull and hard to watch. The mileage will vary incalculably from viewer to viewer, predetermined by one's appetite for the stylings of abstract art. For all intents and purposes, there is no plot, story structure, dialogue, or characters. It won't work for everybody but for those it speaks to, it's a whole new language of horror.
M3GAN (2022)
M3gan Review
M3gan is like an NBA player on the driveway basketball hoop, technically stunning but complacent and contained. It successfully achieves its transparent goal of creating an iconic killer and launching a new horror franchise but it's as generic as that sounds more than 30 years after Child's Play. M3gan does distinguish itself as a monster doll for the modern age with issues around AI learning and data collection but its base progression is as predictable as every other major studio slasher.
M3gan herself is impressive, believable as a technical marvel and imbued with personality. Allison Williams and Violet McGraw elevate a sometimes clunky script. There's an okay kill or two but it isn't slightly scary.
M3gan takes the baton and sets out at a comfortable trot, concerned with setting up a brand more than wowing anyone. It is a satisfactory start to a series that is going to be around for a while and it easily, although somewhat lazily, completes its objective.
Dashcam (2021)
Dashcam Review
Dashcam is an interesting experiment that ping pongs between highs and lows. The lead character might be the most unbearably grating protagonist in history. Even though it's intentional it smothers everything else happening and makes it hard to connect to their struggles and triumphs. However a novel concept elicits some truly scary scenes and frames them in a visually memorable way.
Director Rob Savage, fresh off of 2020's found-footage milestone Host, is again up to his technological tricks as this time the entire film is captured through the livestream of a wannabe influencer. This constructs a unique perspective, including an interactive chat that provides on screen commentary the entire time. It's a convincing setup that genuinely makes the film more interesting. Conversely, even more than Host, Dashcam toils in pandemic culture, and some of these elements already feel dated.
Dashcam is captivating and creepy, effortlessly lunging between jump scares and the kind that sit with you. The decision to be as annoying and abrasive as possible was a big one and is off-putting, regardless of what it is trying to say about politics or online culture. It certainly has a personality though and operates in an arena all its own.
Eight for Silver (2021)
The Cursed Review
The Cursed is a fabulously traditional werewolf tale with a few effective twists to capture its identity. Shadowy woods, fog filled nights, and giddily grotesque practice effects establish the familiar mood but some clever swerves in creature design and supplemental threats keep things interesting. The period piece standard is well established by the sets, wardrobe, and acting and a unique lore is set in memorable moments with a signature prop.
It can be a little slow at points, leading to a slightly bloated runtime. A few instances of subpar CG are distractingly unnecessary and subtract from the film's otherwise stunning visual style.
The Cursed is one of the best monster movies in years, a welcome throwback to genre roots. If you like werewolf movies, you will like this one, and even if it doesn't reinvent the game it brings some enticing ideas to it.
Halloween Ends (2022)
Halloween Ends Review
Halloween Ends slashes through expectations, delivering what feels to be a deliberately divisive experience from the opening scene. It is a hard swerve into esotericism following the straight up, standard nature of Halloween Kills. It seems like the difference could have been split between these two final entries for more well-rounded experiences, but the disparate, almost contradictory progression manages to make Kills shine more in retrospect while offering a surprising, explosive finale to this Halloween trilogy.
The obvious focal point of conversation is how much the attention is taken off of Michael Myers. In this way the film channels the spirit of Halloween III: Season of the Witch, an influence that is made clear in a comparison of their title card and credits. There is also a correlation to Christine - another John Carpenter project - assuring us that the movie is cognizant of its place in history and is wittingly making its controversial calls.
It's difficult to sort through all of this to find what Halloween Ends is and how it stands on its own. Expectations or intentions aside, the fact is that Halloween Ends is engrossing, shocking, nerve-wracking, and surprisingly ponderous, with some memorable kills and great images of Michael Myers. Jamie Lee Curtis is terrific once more and Andi Matichak and Rohan Campbell create some of the deepest characters in the franchise's history.
Halloween Ends isn't afraid to polarize, in fact it strives for it in challenging what constitutes a Halloween movie. It is bound to disappoint many people in what it isn't but doesn't shy from carving a bold place in the legacy it inherited. This does certainly seem to be the end, as with this being such a departure in form, whatever comes next will almost certainly have to restart the clock. This makes Ends feel appropriately conclusive, and parting is always a sweet sorrow.
Don't Worry Darling (2022)
Don't Worry Darling Review
Don't Worry Darling's reputation precedes it, which ostensibly means its circus of a marketing campaign worked. Little of that turbulence is apparent on screen, as Director Olivia Wilde chisels a suspenseful daydream out of 1950s idyllicism. While not every thread of imagination ties together, its lucid quality is appropriately thematic for the story.
Florence Pugh delivers a career defining performance. Chris Pine matches up to her, magnetic if a little forced. While Harry Styles might be working to keep up, his disarmingly sweet and sincere charm is perfect for the role.
Horror has different meanings to different people. With its lack of violence and traditional scares, it may be a stretch to call Don't Worry Darling a horror film. But it is certainly a creepy one, with an uneasy atmosphere slowly drilling to terrifying conclusions and surreal, startling imagery that mosaics into Kubrick-esque suspense. The combination of confusion, tension, and an almost willing denial of the implications articulates anxiety in a sub textual fashion.
Criticisms about its influences or what it inherits are petty. Some plot points are predictable but that doesn't make the journey any less enthralling. It doesn't have to reinvent storytelling to say something interesting and it does so with artful confidence and an entertaining swagger.
Don't Worry Darling is sharp, upsetting, stylish, and meaningful. It never falters from what it wants to be. Beyond its moment of zeitgeist, it is one of the year's best films.
The Black Phone (2021)
The Black Phone Review
The Black Phone is inventive and heartfelt, a surprisingly sweet inside beneath its harrowing mask. It deals with modern anxieties of kidnapping, trafficking, and grooming with as much class as is possible for the issues in a horror film. It is creepy and unsettling although generally plays it safe and doesn't cross any major red lines with the subject matter. While it's good that it doesn't do anything tasteless, it is almost surprisingly tame and the absence of gruesomeness or any big scares somewhat dulls the tension and consequences of the scenario.
It is a strong film in the traditional sense, with a superb cast and engrossing story. Ethan Hawke is enigmatic as The Grabber, a villain that seems destined for a franchise with his trademark masks and black balloons. Mason Thames and Madeline McGraw bring a real heart to the production as the lead kids. Director Scott Derrickson, known to horror fans for Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and to moviegoers at large for the first Doctor Strange, brings a big budget polish to tie it all together.
A vintage Americana is well presented in mis-en-scène and grainy flashback footage. The titular Black Phone adds a supernatural intrigue, compounds the layers of tragedy, and generally adds an extra dimension to the prison-like location. These ghostly scenes provide a personality to the crisis and offer a couple of the best frights.
The Black Phone is exceptional mainstream horror, one of the best new properties to spring up from a major studio in a while. It feels remarkably contemporary; there are even elements of survival/crafting video games like Minecraft and Don't Starve, in that the hero child must find resources in their environment while learning the rules of the "game" they are trapped in and trying to survive. The Black Phone seems designed to call current audiences and it's not hard to imagine that this is just the first dial.
Pearl (2022)
Pearl Review
Pearl is a dream of a movie, a nightmarish fantasy that works almost like a trance. Its period piece setting, retro cinema vision, and surreal progression plays with the memory of classic films. It then butchers all of its beauty in startling scenes of savagery and sets the whole thing on fire.
A prequel to Ti West's X, Pearl reveals the origin of its namesake character and X's primary villain. Mia Goth reprises her role from X, and also picks up producing and writing credits. It is a horror performance for the ages, a forceful showing that is genuinely worthy of Academy consideration. It brings to mind meticulously designed yet entirely believable performances from horror history, such as Jack Nicholson in The Shining or Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs. Mia Goth is that good.
At points, the film really does feel like an apparition from yesteryear. The colors, textures, lighting, camera focus; everything is finely tuned to the exact degree. The accuracy of this warm familiarity makes the cuts even deeper when things come crashing down.
Pearl is unlike anything else, a master class of beautiful filmmaking with very sharp edges. There is almost nothing holding it back, save for a bit of one-track predictability and an abstract nature that may disillusion some viewers. Pearl fully earns its haughtiness though and is rightfully just as unyielding as its star.
Deadstream (2022)
Deadstream Review
Deadstream is actually hilarious, easily the funniest horror-comedy in years, with some outlandishly bizarre horror moments as well. It is no small thing to say it is a spiritual successor to Evil Dead, but not many other films have so perfectly married laugh out loud humor with shield-your-eyes gore and chills. It is the kind of movie that could only be made because someone knew exactly what they wanted to make and believed in it.
Found footage is stronger than ever in 2022 now that everyone always has a camera on them at all times. Deadstream follows a disgraced influencer who is trying to win his reputation back by doing a livestream of an actual haunted house. It's familiar and believable, not having to reach for answers as to why someone would be keeping the camera rolling through everything like these films used to do. The interaction between the star and his virtual audience is not only crucial to the story but also plays a part in the laughs and scares. Its format is impactful in both style and substance.
Another knockout directorial debut, this time for the team of Vanessa and Joseph Winters, Deadstream is one of the most fun and genuine horror movies of the year. It is a must watch for fans of found footage and a glorious flashback for those who like their horror weird and silly. At a pinnacle point for a long dominant subgenre, Deadstream makes the formula feel as fresh as ever.
Nope (2022)
Nope Review
Nope is everything that makes a Jordan Peele movie special: cinematic but still emphasizing casual entertainment, equal parts scary and funny, irreverent but sincere, and a visual feast of iconic imagery. It is quite simply one of the best UFO movies of all time. Nope is Peele's third consecutive home run, solidifying him as the leader of his generation of horror and further cementing his status in genre history.
In many ways, Nope is a traditional "watch the skies" movie. A filter of suspense and opportunity is reminiscent of 1950s science fiction, although here the actors are regular people instead of scientists or military men. The alien aesthetics are also (for the most part) more of that era than anything Hollywood has produced in a very long time. Somehow, Peele's style and vision makes UFOs scary again, in scenes of the threat slipping between the clouds like a shark on the hunt or appearing smoothly and silently out of nowhere. There is one big twist that won't be spoiled here that adds a signature element and extra dimension to their portrayal, making something new while paying so much tribute to what has come before.
Nope feels self-indulgent at points and asks that you take a lot at face value. Yet it also demonstrates another gear for Peele, one that leans towards the mainstream imagination and big budget production of a blockbuster movie. It is unmistakably Spielbergian in the grandness of its tone; the fully throttled effects, epic cinematography, and comfortable swagger in its dance with the audience.
Nope has redefined alien invasion movies for a new generation of moviegoers. It is the first meaningful mark for that subgenre in a long time and thus feels creative and fresh, while reinventing a formula that seemed entirely exhausted. It is another tremendous achievement for Jordan Peele and demonstrates exactly why just a one word title is enough to be excited about when his name is attached.
Barbarian (2022)
Barbarian Review
Barbarian is a headtrip shockfest, a conglomerate of suspenseful atmosphere and gonzo violence. It is as smart as any "prestige" horror film and as demented as any recent theatrical release. Barbarian boldly plays to both crowds and manages to carry each tune equally well.
The principle cast deserves tremendous credit for creating a web of interesting characters that anchor the insanity. Georgina Campbell and Justin Long especially work to get the audience invested amidst the high octane chaos. Bill Skarsgård sizzles in the role that sets everything off balance.
A startling (and spoilable) premise is rocket fuel for the many twists and turns. The effects are viscerally brutal. Barbarian knows exactly when to hold back and when to go full throttle.
There aren't many movies like Barbarian, it is a unique and confident ride. It speaks to horror fans of different dispositions and splits the difference in a remarkable way. It is fascinatingly sturdy as a directorial debut and new idea, finding footing in different segments of the genre. It is above all just a powerful, well-made movie and it leaves a mark that is not soon to be forgotten.
Terrifier 2 (2022)
Terrifier 2 Review
Terrifier 2 erects its own mountain and scales it, creating a near perfect version of its unique experience. As a franchise now, Terrifier somehow constructs a bridge between arthouse horror and violent spectacle, portraying depraved sadism with an artist's eye. Terrifier 2 melds an unforgettable intersection of these different horror tracks into what is indisputably one of the most important horror films of the year.
Art the Clown feels more like a mascot than ever, an idea that is toyed with in the film with his own theme song and movie monster cereal. His already iconic appearance is a character unto itself and his penchant for hijinks imbues him a unique identity amongst slasher villains. Terrifier 2 builds up Art's lore without revealing too much and guarantees that we will see more of him.
It also has a strong protagonist in Sienna Shaw, who the audience is encouraged to not only empathize with and pity but root for and be curious about. Lauren LaVera is everything she needs to be in the role and more. It is the type of performance that defined Laurie Strode as a key component of the Halloween franchise and is a big part of what makes Terrifier 2 feel so special.
There is no doubt that, despite all this depth, it is a revolting film with a degree of barbarity rarely seen in mainstream releases. At two and a half hours it is a gauntlet of pain, a marathon of extreme savagery. This is what makes Terrifier what it is but it's a significant threshold.
Terrifier 2 is a landmark in horror cinema. Director Damien Leone has forced the door open and overrun the asylum. It might be the kind of film that starts new trends in the genre, potentially shifting the landscape of audience interest and what's to come from other auteurs.