This was actually the worst movie I've ever seen.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Skinamarink’:
Just, no. I went in with an open mind. But no. This was way too random for me. I need some semblance of a story, not a string-out of creepy visuals and sounds. If I hadn’t read the synopsis, I would’ve been even more lost than I already was. The toy phone scene is a perfect example of something eerie that existed for no particular reason other than to be eerie. No.
The interactions and reactions were not realistic enough. I understand this film was more of a mood than a story. More of a dream than reality. But there were too many characters talking to other characters without a proper response, if that makes sense. And no child would be wandering that house alone.
There is something here, somewhere. An original idea that may inspire future horror films. The familiar glow and hum of a TV that we wake up to from nightmares. That momentary feeling of helplessness. It was all supremely atmospheric, for sure. But there was zero payoff.
This is a very unique film and is definitely not for everyone. The pacing and lack of a gripping narrative will put off most audiences. For me, this was easily one of the most frightening movies I have ever seen in my life.
As a child (and sometimes even as as adult), the fear of darkness and loneliness can be crippling. This fear is very human and innate in most of us. The feeling you get when peering into the wood line at night, or staring down a long, dark hall. Irrational fears when you think about it, but still fear nonetheless. In this movie, your fears are justified. There is something staring back at you, and yes, it does want to hurt you. You cannot hide, and you cannot escape.
The film manages to do so much with so little, but I do wish there was a bit more subject matter. I understand what the director's intent was...but it got a little dry at times. With that said, I can't remember the last time a movie made me feel genuine fear and anxiety. I actually shielded my eyes at times, and that takes a lot!
This one hit different.
This movie captures that feeling of being alone in your bedroom in the dead of night as a kid, the soft glow of your nightlight casting shadows that morph and dance into random forms as you desperately try to focus your eyes in the darkness. It’s a very specific, anxiety inducing feeling for me, and this is the best I’ve seen it captured. That being said, the threadbare plot, stoic camerawork, arthouse delivery and obvious budget shortcomings will make this movie impenetrable for some (dare I say most?) but those willing turn off the lights, turn up their headphones and zone into this one will be treated with a lovely indie horror that I’m sure will become a cult classic in the usual circles.
A more obscure personal reference: This feels like those modern horror indie games that are made to look like PS1 games, but for movies. If that makes sense to anyone but me.
Only watch if you enjoy a string of fuzzy still images of walls, doors and the floor. In addition to mumbling that is rarely understanding and no plot whatsoever.
This movie should be called Skidmark
You can see from the comments that if you don't want to have to put any sort of brain power into a movie, you won't like this.
If you enjoy films that leave the narrative more up to your imagination and require some intellectual input, this is a superb watch. Amazing what they accomplished with such a small budget and cast. Beautifully shot and I was surprisingly invested in the characters despite the limited dialogue. Watch in the dark with headphones for a deeply disturbing experience.
This felt like a self-absorbed film school project. Getting to the end was a lesson in tedium.
VHS coverage of walls and ceilings
i think i prefer more fast pace movies, but loved the under the bed scene! definitely a really uniquely designed film
Look no further, the cure for insomnia is here..... :sleeping::sleeping:
i hate the fucking phone, dammit what a scream him give
Yeah, I'll never watch this again.
makes me sad to read the comments. but i guess in our times people want so see more generic stuff like smile, every james wan movie or the 9th halloween. or 10th. ah i see its 13 now. lel. but yeah taste ist different. especially for horror movies.
i really love this movie. it kept me at the edge of my seat and at some point i even felt exhausted because i could not endure the thrill anymore. the idea of the movie, to have to little children be kinda of alone at home where the windows and doors and parents diasappear. how can anybody find this not scary. its a long time since i really was scared the hole time. and additional to that, the movie gives you so much stuff to think about. i had to keep watching and reading stuff after the movie to see if people see or feel the same way.
its great to see movies like this. something new, something unique, so much with so less. but i guess you have to enjoy movies which are not the typical 0815 horror movie and present you something you might not thought about until you watchted this movie. sure for fans of blair witch or paranormal activity (first one) and slow burn horrific experiences into the unknown.
I can’t believe how much this movie hates it’s audience. Truly aggressively awful and frustrating.
Let me start off by saying that I love analog horror. It's one my favorite new genres that spawned from indie creators on youtube... With that said - If anyone else decides to try and make a full length analog horror movie, please take notes from mainstream youtube series like Walten Files, Mandela Catalogue, etc... It takes more than a few filters and a loud noise every 20 minutes to make it work effectively. Out of the entire movie there was like... one scene that felt effective in bringing that anxiety you're SUPPOSED to feel.
For a movie that's mostly shots of walls and floors, I gotta admit, it made me feel deeply unsettled. The grainy image made me feel like my skin was crawling and the concept was quite scary. However, the execution was bad. If this was 30 minutes, it would be really fucking good.
I can't give a star, i don't know what i watched for 100 mins.
I can only give it a single star, I wish I could give it less, negative stars even.
What an absolute waste of 100 minutes, I defy the reviewers here that say it is a polarizing movie, it really isn't, not even close, there is nothing to invest in, no characters to care about, nothing, this movie would have been better served by not being made at all and the makers should be ashamed of themselves for doing so.
It isn't an easy movie to get through. The style won't be for everyone. It is slow, yet methodical and intentional. Do you remember waking up as a child in the middle of the night, wondering if you are the only one left if the house? Do you hear things in that empty space of night and wonder "Am I safe?" Are you able to reach out to a sibling, hopefully in your room and grasp for reassurance to know that you aren't alone in this dreadful quietness? Do those voices you hear in the darkness tell you to do things that seem hurtful or against your will, even if those voices sound friendly? Skinamarink plunges into the depths of a lot of concepts that really haunt the soul. Abuse, injury and abandonment and just plain lonliness can wreak havok on a young mind. Especially in the dark when it seems no adults are around.
This is not a "show me what you got" kinda movie. This is an investment of time and allowing yourself to invest into the lives of others and seeing where they come from. Putting yourself in the shoes of someone helpless.
This will be a polarizing horror film. It will be loved or hated by the community. I recommend that you take some time, turn off your phone and just invest the dread that is Skinamarink.
I read the Wikipedia plot details after watching the movie and was like wtf.. when did all this happen?? Lol ppphhhfffrrrttt
Conceptually, I should love this movie. It's a deconstructed take on the found footage genre and very successfully builds a vibe that is unique and equally unsettling. A crunchy, analogue dream of visuals and slow, whispering dread. Unfortunately, after the masterfully nostalgic stage setting is fully established, there is nothing behind the window dressing to form any kind of narrative. Sure we can hypothesise if this is a metaphor for child abuse and abandonment, or if this household really is haunted by a window and door stealing phantom that wants you to push cutlery into your eyes, but the complete lack of cohesion means Skinamarink falls apart like loose Lego bricks after the first 40 minutes. You can almost feel the movie struggling for air, resorting to sharp, loud noises to jolt the audience as it realises the concept is wearing thin with every passing minute. I respect the hell out of Kyle Edward Ball for swinging for the fences to make this experimental feature, but I just don't think it's as high concept or profound as it thinks it is. A masterclass in viral marketing and aesthetic, but not much else.
This is one of the worst movies I have ever sat through the entirety of, which I may add was not my first choice to do so.
It's set in 1995 but the camera has a terrible film effect? You stare at nothing but artificial film artifacts for over 10 seconds (repeating every 20 seconds) wondering if it was important and if you just blinked and missed anything. Then the horrific strobe lighting effects and repetitive cartoon noises, let me guess...in your mind "it's building ambiance" right?
There are 2 maybe 3 poor jump scares with negative effort and positive volume gain. Hint: just because you made it loud, doesn't make it scary, it's just obnoxious and low effort.
This is tedious to watch and even after leaving it until the next day to ponder my thoughts, I still stand by this rating of 1/10.
Genuinely not scary or interesting in the slightest. You can barely see what’s happening on the screen, it’s awful for your eyes. I was so bored I fell asleep several times, and then fast forward several times because absolutely nothing was going on.
“Critics are calling this the scariest movie of all time”, yeah it’s so scary how dull and uneventful the movie is. There’s almost zero dialogue. There’s nothing unsettling, just annoying, unless of course you love spending your time looking at walls, ceilings or random angles.
Watched this at 3.5x speed, still I found it unbearable to watch. Art or not. Editing for this movie must've been really painful.
A long David Lynch short
An interesting experiment that works decently as a mood piece, however it did not hold my attention for the entire runtime. It’s just a little too skeletal as it stands, and it doesn’t really care about locking in the audience. Either you’re on board, or you’re not. I respect that, but it’s a little overconfident for a first time feature director. The end result is something that average people will likely hate by default, and something that will be polarizing among film fans.
4.5/10
This isn't even a movie, it's a waste of time.:poop::wastebasket:
While watching I was thinking this would be better as a short and apparently it is, does have a few creepy segments. The best part was when a toilet disappeared and it made a cartoon noise.
watching this was like watching someone try to paper cut themselves
Experimental, a concept focused on the aesthetic and sound experience, terrifying and uncomfortable. It's the kind of immersive movie, with symbolism and interpretations, where nothing is shown in a normal way, the grainy images, the unusual angles provoke scares and tension. The sound of the film is spectacular and makes the experience of watching the movie unique, it feels like a nightmare. A very original masterpiece.
Incredibly odd film. Lots of whispering. A few jump scares. Will never watch again
While there’s a lot of nothing, there’s certainly enough here to make a 10-15 minute short film but definitely not 1 hour 40 minutes. Worth checking out though, it’s weird and might be exactly what you’re wanting
Art films. Not for me.
I’ll be honest I only watched 30 minutes before I had to stop cause it hurt my eyes. You’re either gonna love this movie or hate it. But if you can get past the grainy film style the story seems really good
This movie is not for everyone, but, I enjoyed it. It's a piece of slow cinema that preys on nostalgia, taking things for children from the 90s and twisting them. It is nowhere near a normal movie, having no real characters and unorthodox cinematography.
I've heard people compare it to being a kid and waking up in the middle of the night and going to the bathroom in a haze, the familiar comforts of home turned into something...stranger. Still recognizable as your home, but feeling unwelcoming.
I would not be against more movies like this, when I first saw the trailer, I knew it would be something weird. I feel like a lot of people went into it blind, expecting something traditional, which is why they were dissapointed, no one who watched the trailer would expect a normal horror movie. My biggest issue is that it was a touch too long.
This fucking sucks. Got bored after 20 minutes because literally nothing happened, decided to skip through the movie and it is just grainy footage of walls with cheap attempts at jump scares sprinkled in between even more grainy footage of walls. What was with the heavy film grain effect anyway? (For me) it implies that it was filmed by a shitty consumer-grade camera of the 80s or maybe 90s, but who exactly was filming then? Was that intentional? If not, was it just for no reason at all?
The synopsis made it sound like a psychological, nightmare type of horror movie, and it could have been. Waking up as a kid in the middle of the night with doors and windows gradually disappearing and trapping you inside sounds like a very good premise, for a horror movie that is. I see this as a wasted idea, but even worse: a waste of your and my time.
I've watched a lot of scary movies in my life and this is the only one of two that actually scared me. And the other one was a movie I watched as a kid at an age I shouldn't have been watching it. This one scared me as an adult. This movie brought back fears I felt when I was a child.
I'm able to appreciate the movie for what it tried to do here. It really played into childhood fears of being alone in the dark and hearing things. Artistically, it was well done. But it moved quite slow, with extended shots which can be good, but for me, it just seemed a lot longer movie than 90 minutes.
Worst film I've ever seen. I'd rather watch WW84 again than this.
This movie is so meh, so very meh, because I spent half my time on my phone wondering when the damn movie was going to end. It’s not bad, but it’s also not good either, because really what was the plot?
After 34 minutes of watching this at twice the speed, I decided, in the rarest of moves, to turn it up to 3x the speed. Probably going to start reading or practicing the drums here soon. I'm hoping my coffee gets the gears turning because this movie has zero chance of scaring the shit out of me.
Points for doing it differently. I agree with one reviewers sentiment that there's "something" there that could be better integrated into a better movie, but you know how sometimes you have a good idea, but just run too far with it? Maybe like a fun animation style, so you spend an insane amount of time refining and celebrating the animation and forget to write anything interesting or compelling.
This movie has seen every horror movie ever and said, "Let's zero in on xyz elements that illicit 'creepy' from all of these movies. Then, let's shoot it in a disorienting way and drag that creepy factor out well past the point of a modern audiences ability or willingness to pay attention." No doubt this will be on every horror creator's list of "influential" things they borrow from, but, you know, as a standalone film? Gotta shut your brain off and go into "art school kid" mode or speed it way up.
Definetly not for everyone. I admit, it’s like watching scary paint dry - but i think it is very effective in evoking an unnerving feeling, especially if you grew up in the late 80’s/esrly 90’s. It’s artsy, but makes you think, and actually, when the movie ended - I kinda loved it. A huge surprise for me, but i get if you hate it… scary paint
Here is a Q&A, conducted of all comments i read about Skinamarink so far:
1) The movie starts so slow, can i watch it with 2.5 Speed?
--- well, when you're not able to watch a YT Video without skipping, this Flick is not for you. Stay tuned till the very last end. Tipp: might be useful for other movies as well!
2) Why is this movie so long and annoying?
--- It is as long as it should be. If you're not patient enough, let it go! For all the others, you will see hints and hidden feautures in many scenes / Images!
3) Are there VHS dust particles or what is it crizzling effect for?
--- watch the damn movie till the last 30 minutes begin (and then till ending)!
4) Why do i see Walls and ceilings all the time?
--- its (mostly) filmed im Kids Perspective in a small House. What do you see when you look to the top?
Conclusion: please give Skinamarink a try, while letting the atmosphere making its work!
"Paranormal Activity" (Part 1) ist nearly the same. No Storyline, so the viewer needs to riddle out what is going on. Just the last Scene is real Horror. Why is that movie so popular and Skinamarink not (still)?
--- ah, yes! Internet cosumption behavoiur, i know, my fault!
Now, I’ll concede, despite having a decent interest in Skinamarink prior to watching, I was pretty apprehensive within the first ten minutes or so. It’s very experimental in its execution, offering a very jarring experience from a cinematography standpoint as well as aurally. Shots are often focused on the walls, ceilings and floors of the home for half the film or more, while the remaining half are seemingly from the perspective of the children. There are titles and subtitles included as a part of the film itself, further enhancing the unconventional approach it takes while otherwise having the potential to be found-footage.
My point being, I’ve always had a preference for coherent, comprehensive stories and characters that I can follow in the films I watch. I’m not much a fan of artistic and/or experimental works by default, which isn’t to say they’re poor products or I hate them or anything. It just remains my preference. So I had a somewhat abrasive reaction at first, but I was intrigued enough to persevere. And I have to say, it was truly worth it.
Skinamarink is honestly horrifying. That is, if you can get into what the film is offering. I’ve seen an exceptionally mixed reception toward the film, with many echoing my sentiments of aversion to experimental cinema while others praise the film’s atmosphere and execution all around.
I honestly appreciate that the film stems from what stands as modern internet horror, rather than “conventional” Hollywood horror stories that haven’t quite tapped into that market as of yet. Esoteric and cosmic, independent and analog, and ultimately experimental in their own right, viral videos like Kane Pixels’ Backrooms series, or My house walk-through, No Through Road, etc. Skinamarink plays with a tremendous deal of current horror intrigues, analog aesthetics and cerebral voids and loops.
It also very powerfully evokes childhood fears, stoking the inherent Nyctophobia we’ve all experienced at one developmental point or another, as well as offering what I feel to be honest adolescent dialogue to the point of being gut-wrenching, though the script has led to much debate in that regard. Some complain that the behavior of the protagonists comes across as unrealistic, which I personally feel mixed on, but ultimately I wasn’t distracted or bothered by their characteristics.
The story is not a step-by-step open book, which can be a considerable turn-off to potential viewers, and I completely understand and relate with that. Stories are what I want out of cinema, when you boil everything down, and generally if I have to look up the film’s synopsis on Wikipedia after the credits, I tap out. But the sequence of events in Skinamarink can be followed enough through being invested in the imagery and the characters themselves. The imagery and sound design can be pretty offputting and intense, however, screaming unconventionality while being completely fucking unnerving.
The film does have its share of jump-scares, though there are plenty of other tools at play to invoke fear and anxiety in the viewer. I will say though, I’ve always struggled to think of examples of jump-scares being done well, and I think Skinamarink might be the first one to come to mind on that front going forward. But make of that what you will.
In closing, Skinamarink is a tough sell for the common movie fan, and may even be a tough one for horror fanatics like myself. But I think it really just boils down to compatibility; you might like and appreciate what it’s doing, or it’s just not your thing. And either side is completely fine.
It’s not one I’ll need to rewatch any time soon, but I’m definitely glad to have seen it at all, and the film will be remaining in my library.
That’s my piece.
This movie is very different and I really appreciated that...initially. The repetitive shots of doors and ceilings, Legos and feet, got very tiresome after the first half hour. The first jump scare doesn't occur until about 33 minutes in, and I HATE jump scares, but at least something happened. Seeing a house through the eyes of a child was a good idea but the camera needed to peer into a few more areas and show a bit more. The last couple of minutes are very creepy. I don't know what to make of it but it unnerved me. It's not enough to make me rate this any higher, though.
before I watch this movie I saw trailers and reviews on YouTube and went through the comments. my only explanation of this movie is it's a child's nightmare. now I understand why my kids don't like to sleep in the dark :joy: I'm leaving the lights on :sweat_smile:
Everyone wants to be David Lynch without putting in the effort. This is the perfect horror film to watch if you're a dyssemic Redditor whose wife's boyfriend is coming over and you need to waste some time.
An extensive catalog of underexposed shots of ceilings, floorings, and hallways. Depending on your sensibility, it could be either a snooze fest or your worst nightmare. I didn't find the movie particularly scary, but as I tend to get disturbed more by the overall mood rather than the images, I have to say it gave me quite a hard time falling asleep.
Most shorts are static and linger so long that your brain will start imagining things moving in the dark, lurking out of the film grain. That's the most considerable merit of "Skinamarink" - its ability to unsettle with literally nothing but furniture.
Although the mood is constantly unsettling, fear can quickly change into boredom due to the film's repetitive nature. There's barely enough footage for half an hour, let alone a feature film. Ball's previous short "Heck" succeeded at doing the same thing eating up less than one-third of the time. The children's reactions also felt unrealistic and disconnected just for the sake of it, while some more work on the dialogues could have helped make the whole thing feel more eventful and disturbing.
This is a mood piece. The camera moves slowly (if it moves at all) and does not linger too long on any character. Noisy, low contrast, monochrome images make it extremely difficult to make out particulars. It's disorienting and confusing, with no real story to speak of. It is the horror of being young and alone in a world that's still so new, and it perfectly captures what I remember of being just such a child in the dark.
I won't recommend it. This will not resonate with most people. But it is a great movie nonetheless.
This movie was made for $15k and has grossed $1.5M worldwide to date. This is why it is noteworthy, not for the story etc. which most comments here are missing. Similar genre to Blair Witch Project…
An extremely experimental movie that I am surprised even got made. This movie will not be liked by many people, but some people will definitely love this kind of movie.
Shout by AcoucalanchaVIP 4BlockedParent2022-12-05T03:42:00Z
Story: what story? It's art!
Characters: Nope. Let's focus on the walls instead.
Not scary in the slightest the only scares were jumpscares with loud music. I didn't care what happened to the two pairs of legs. If you're going to do a movie about a child's point of view put the camera on their forehead, not on the floor. The walls and ceilings got wayyy too much screen time. Painfully boring!