On the surface, The Truman Show is about a man who has lived his life trapped inside of a bubble. He tries the entire movie to pop the bubble, and he eventually does.
Under that layer, though, is a complex theme. Does Truman really enjoy his cell? He seemed to for years. At the same time, he struggled with memories, but don't we all?
As the viewer, we're left to determine the morality of the happiness of millions versus the freedom of one. We're also left to consider whether Truman's cage was better than his freedom. A child born into a system that doesn't have a great track record or a life of relative safety with no knowledge of the cage.
The viewer also has to determine the sturdy nature of reality. What is reality besides our perception of it? What's real to Jim or to Bob? Are the things that are real to them real to me if I've never seen or heard about them?
Beyond the philosophical questions the movie poses, the film itself is solid. Jim Carrey pulls off the part wonderfully. He's more than just a comedian, although he can bring the humor the instant the scene needs it. The supporting cast fell right in line.
The pacing may be a little slow early on for many viewers, but that is remedied once the action begins to pick up.
If you want something light and silly, go watch something else by Carrey.
Poison for the Fairies, or Veneno para las Hadas, is well-deserving of the praise I've seen heaped onto it. Using a story of two children from very different situations to explore themes ranging from inequality to control to blackmail to revenge is a wonderful idea, and Taboada did a wonderful job executing the film.
Veneno paras las Hadas is a very slow burn. In fact, up until the last ten minutes, you might find yourself questioning whether this film really fits into the horror genre or if it's a misclassified drama. By the end of the film, you won't have any more questions in that regard.
The title and the beginnings of the film frame this as a supernatural horror, perhaps one about children getting in too deep in over their heads with forces they don't fully understand. That last bit isn't particularly out, but by the end of the film, it's clear the supernatural aspects of this film aren't all that supernatural. In fact, that probably makes things a little more frightening.
The movie isn't a horror film that's going to give you scares along the way. There are no jump scares. I don't recall any scary music. The horror all comes from the realities of this movie, most of which are realized in the final minutes.
Everything we realize in the final minutes is shown throughout the rest of the movie, but it wasn't hitting me over the head with how frightening it all was because of how mundane it feels. Orphans being made fun of and finding weird niches is common. That leading to the child being made fun of is way too common. That leading to the child acting out is even more common. Then the child gets put in a situation with a small amount of power, and that position of power happens to be over another child who fits the same profile as many making fun of her. That position of power turns into an uglier and uglier controlling force until both children are too wrapped up in the relationship to end it easily. So they end it in the worst possible fashion, which comes after the controlling child pushes her subservient 'friend' a bit too far.
The terrifying part of this film is just how relatable both children are. Neither is evil. Both are misunderstood. Most people will probably be able to relate with both children at one point or another. This is the terrifying part, as the ending climax, which I won't fully spoil, comes about so organically that it's almost met with relief or a sense of victory--until you remember that both parties in this film are children.
Lights Out (2013) is a very short horror film which immediately plays off of humanity's fear of the dark.
In three short minutes, director David Sandberg created a fantastic horror short. He took a singular premise, fear of the dark, and created a grueling three minutes of tension without a single line of dialogue.
There isn't much to say about a film that only lasts three minutes other than my heart was pumping for almost all of it.
The beauty of this film is its duration. We have no time to find anything out, but that's okay. The movie is about being afraid of what runs around with the lights off. We don't have to know the history of the creature, nor do we need to know a thing about the victim.
This is one of those movies that could give your child nightmares for weeks before you even knew they were watching it.
Frankenstein, a movie primarily about how Doctor Henry Frankenstein deals with the fallout of his monster actually coming to life, holds up very well almost ninety years from its release.
Starting with the monster itself, we find a fantastic character. Without any lines of dialogue, the filmmakers and Boris Karloff had to use actions and emotions to display the motivations of the monster, and they did a fantastic job of it. The fear, confusion, and longing that the novel describes are evident in the monster's actions, to the point of pushing the audience to root for him.
The rest of the characters are also a bit of fun. Baron Frankenstein, played by Fred Kerr, was also a hoot. He played a no-nonsense character that functioned well in the comic-relief role needed with Edward Van Sloan's Dr. Wladman and Mae Clarke's Elizabeth being quite serious, even dramatic. Colin Clive, the man who played Doctor Henry, did a decent job in his role as well, pulling off the role of being consumed by his work, even when he desired to be free from it.
The acting, overall, was a touch more theatrical than I would prefer in a horror movie, but it wasn't so distracting that it pulled me out of the film. The film is a ton of fun to watch, but I do have to say it isn't exactly terrifying. The atmospheric creepiness is somewhat lacking compared to modern-era horror, even going back fifty years. That being said, the movie, if thought about and rewatched, does a good job of displaying how the fear of the unknown, and letting that fear take over, can be the real monster.
The actual comedy in this show isn't always stellar. It's not incredibly unique. What makes this special worth watching is the 'real' parts of the show. Neal dives into some really deep subjects and it makes the viewer think. This special isn't just a comedy show, it's a real life story with ups and downs and cuts and notes. If you're looking for traditional comedy, it might be best to avoid this, but if you liked Bo Burnham's Make Happy, you'll probably like this.
This short is worth its time, even if just for the animation style alone.
The Backwater Gospel is a cutting horror-satire pointed at organized religion and the hypocrisy which often lies within. In a town full of 'religious' folk, there's one who isn't. The attempt to exercise that lone individual from their happy, peaceful town leads directly to the consequence the town was hoping to avoid the most.
The animation is top-notch, there's lots of gore, lots of symbolism, and even a catchy folk song. This short is really only lacking in duration, but that's part of what makes it such a powerful piece.
Give this one a gander when you get the chance.
What happens when you throw a rabid zombie virus as a cliched rom-com? Most of the time, crap. This time? Nearly perfection.
We start off with an over-the-top flashback, but it doesn't bog down the experience too much. Then we get into the meat of the real story. We see a pair of sisters each in their own love issue. One of the sisters has a fiance who, shortly after they arrive, contracts said zombie virus. The other sister has been so removed from love, even her relationship with her sister is extremely strained.
Through the power of mutant zombie humans in bigfoot suits, mutant zombie moose, mutant zombie fish, mutant zombie geese, mutant zombie squirrels (all practical, by the way), the real bigfoot, and science, both of the girls find their own solutions to their problems.
Not only do they leave the Russian Uncle Sam's tourist trap different people because of the rabid mutant zombies trying to ruin everyone's day, but they also leave changed because they grew inside.
If this review sounds bonkers, that's because the movie is bonkers. It's full-on nuts, but the thing is, it works. It's a campy, cheesy, low-budget mess, but the truth of it is, this is a real gem. So if you find this one in your discount movie store or some K-Mart you're not sure how it is still open, grab this guy. Heck, you can buy it at some streaming site for less than a cup of coffee and a donut. Either way, this is a film you'll want to keep around, as it would make an excellent movie to add to a marathon night or even just a fun night in during April.
The Babysitter is a fun, over-the-top horror/comedy, which will have very polarizing opinions, depending on the viewer.
I'm quite sure The Babysitter has some deep flaws. There are certainly some issues with the logic, probably anyway. Maybe the characters are a little one-note. The thing is, I was having way too much fun to care.
From the comic-book text overlays to the major twists and turns to the child-engineering-prodigy trope to the humor-gore, I really, thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
The tone started off as a comedy/coming-of-age story, but when it decided to delve into horror, it really delved into horror. It kept some of the comedic and coming-of-age elements, but from the first instance of horror on, it was without a doubt a horror movie, just a dang fun one.
I'd imagine this is a rather polarizing film. Either people will love some of the wackiness, or they'll feel it gets in the way of what The Babysitter could be. From some people, there will be eye-rolling and snickering, and from others, there will be belly laughs and big smiles.
I highly recommend checking it out, but don't go in expecting a serious movie, or you'll be rather disappointed.
The Maiden is a tale about a house, the thing that haunts it, and what ties them all together.
Haunted house? Sure. Haunted jewelry? That's more like it. The film starts off with a 43-second scene that sets the mood for the rest of the nine minutes. A little girl wearing a notable necklace is running from what looks to be a mean, old nanny. When the girl leaves through the front doors, we realize the old crone is much more than a nanny.
A large amount of time later, the house is now dilapidated, but real estate agent Lucy, played wonderfully by Alia Raelynn, only sees it as a commission check. She sets off into the house to begin taking the top layer of grime off before she shows the house to potential buyers.
It doesn't take long for her to find a familiar necklace, and that's when our old friend begins to show up. Now, Lucy isn't one to run and hide from just a little supernatural activity, at least not once she finds out that a prospective buyer wants to take a look at the house in an hour.
Lucy begins to clean up the mess of a ritual ring when she hears a sound from a water bucket. As anyone in a supernatural horror film would do, she takes a look over the edge of the bucket. Of course, the evil spawn within tries to drown the real estate agent by pulling her into the bucket.
As Lucy pulls her head from the water, the creature within rips the necklace from her neck.
After laying down a rug to cover the water, we cut to the potential buyer ripping on the house. Lucy does her best to complete the sale, and after a bit of haggling, they come to an agreement.
That's when the buyer's daughter comes out from around back. The man sends his young daughter into the house without a second thought, and after a moment of hesitation, Lucy decides not to intervene.
Just before she's about to walk through the doors, she sees a necklace on the ground, picks it up, and is pulled into the house before anyone can react.
While the story itself is solid for a 9-minute film, it's not even the best part of the movie. The special effects and lighting are both utterly smooth and seamless, and they're still not the top part, either. The cinematography and the editing in The Maiden are just that. The quick cuts are well balanced with long, developing shots, creating a wonderfully creepy effect.
The Maiden is one of the better short films I've seen in a while, and I recommend making time for this one.
We Always Find Ourselves in the Sea is an atmospheric ghost story driven by its cinematography just as much as its characters.
The story is of an estranged father and daughter, separated by a divorce. The father has fallen apart and really needs someone to pull him out of the dark.
Throughout the film, color is used very selectively. Almost everything is drab, dull tones, except for the stunning red which surrounds Nina, the daughter.
After Christmas Dinner, Nina and Patrick, the father, go have a talk. She tells her father of a memory, one he claims not to remember, before she disappears.
The story hadn't been exactly happy, and shortly after, a woman in a mask begins to follow Patrick around. He attempts to drink away the memory, but that only induces a nightmare.
The nightmare turns dangerous, and the next day, the site manager finds Patrick strangled by seaweed.
This film is fantastic as a short. We don't know how or why Nina died, but we do know that she did not have a happy life with Patrick. It's implied that he drank to the point of forgetfulness and had more than your average temper. We know that Nina was seeking revenge.
In the end, the details of Nina's life after Patrick and even her death don't matter. Heck, her life before her parents split probably doesn't matter to the story much.
Without the unnecessary fluff, the filmmaker can spend more screen time on breathtaking cinematic shots, showing a world devoid of color, except for the color that surrounds Nina's coming and going. Every interaction between Nina and Patrick is also incredibly important to figuring out anything about either of them, especially with how few lines of dialogue fill the film.
Black Christmas is what happens when a director decides to make a slasher but also decides to make a good movie.
Each character has a purpose. By that, I don't mean simply to drive the plot along. Each character is a person, and they each have their own unique personalities and motivations. Barb isn't just the drunk and morally abrasive stereotype; she's driven by her jealousy and likely by issues from her childhood. Each character feels about as deep as her, at the least.
The only character who isn't fully explained is Billy, and that's for the best. Billy isn't a character we want explained, and it only drives the horror deeper that he isn't.
This should be on every horror fan's Christmas playlist.
It really feels like Kon found the silliest concept he could still make a serious love story with and went for it. It definitely worked, as the movie is entertaining, but it is certainly different. The story is unique and is certainly worth a watch for the gimmick (if you want to call it that) alone, but the story is also quite moving.
Overall, like I said, the concept seems silly on paper, but it really does work and does add some emotional heaviness throughout.
Patema Inverted is a film about a split world where gravity points in different directions. This affects people, objects, and even natural stone. Wherever an object was created decides which direction the object falls. Of course, without some kind of protection, objects and people can fall into the sky.
That's the concept. As a concept, it's incredibly interesting. The gripping moments, awesome actions scenes, and interesting animation sequences have limitless potential. This movie fills that potential and does a fantastic job of executing the concept in a way that keeps things interesting.
Unfortunately, that's one of the only things the movie did exceedingly well. The pacing of the movie was strange. It started rather slowly until some revelations by the characters drew us into the action. The film takes a large amount of time to introduce us to Patema, one of our protagonists. While this is a good thing, Patema isn't an incredibly interesting character. She's the Chief's daughter, sure, but that only comes into play for a few lines of dialogue. She has some really emotional scenes that just don't feel as emotional as they should because the character depth isn't quite up to snuff.
In addition, Age, the other protagonist, doesn't get the same treatment Patema does, at least not right away. Until later in the movie, the only things we really know about Age is that he isn't happy with the authoritarian nature of his school/government.
The antagonist of the movie and the rest of the supporting cast are all extremely one-sided: dumb, in love, mindless goons, etc.
While the pacing is inconsistent and the movie starts off slow, once it hits its pace, it really takes off. The two protagonists really help develop each other, although the short amount of time it takes for each one to be willing to sacrifice their lives for the other is much too short.
Altogether, the plot is a means to an end. It is designed to force the characters together so their one-sided-ness isn't nearly as glaring as well as to give us a reason to see the world. The twist at the end wasn't terribly surprising, but it was executed well.
All in all, the movie was good, not great. The concept was fantastic, but the rest of the movie just held the concept back. It's certainly worth a watch (probably two), but it isn't something I'll make a point to watch at least once a year.
Salvatore is a clean revenge short that leaves the viewer satisfied.
There's not a lot to unwind in most revenge shorts, and this one's no different. This short doesn't force the viewer to imagine the motivations behind the revenge, which can't be said for all revenge shorts. This helps build to the satisfactory conclusion we already dream of going into such a film.
It starts off a touch on the less sympathetic side. Our revenger appears to be breaking a few rules where he's living, and while the man checking on him is a bit of a jerk, he hadn't done anything terribly wrong.
Next, we see the nurse is willfully neglectful, and if the viewer has done any reading into the neglect that takes place in many nursing homes and elderly living facilities, the blood starts to boil.
When the revenge comes, it isn't entirely creative. It's not super unique. It is quite cathartic, though. That's why people watch these shorts. They're a chance for the viewer to feel a touch of control in the awful situations our world has to offer to those unable to care for themselves. Whether the revenge is taking place at the hands of an abuser of children, women, the elderly, or another disenfranchised group, these films give society a chance to take control of the situation, even if only in a virtual way. Salvatore does a wonderful job of providing this release within its own revenge niche. It doesn't break any ground, but these films don't need to.
Macabre is a constantly flowing, dialog-free short with a very interesting art style and an underrated plot.
Without diving too much into the plot to avoid spoilers, this dark and heavy, animated short is all about endurance, transformation, and maybe even escape. Even just for the visuals alone, it's worth the twenty minutes it takes from your day.
The lack of dialog really puts the focus on the actions of the film, and every minor detail stands out because there is no dialog to trick you into thinking you can look away for a moment, not that you'd want to.
While I can't say this is the easiest short to follow, which is likely by design and is basically just not slapping the viewer in the face with the story as some dialog-free shorts tend to do, it's short and fun enough to to be viewed a few times over.
Dracula, or Horror of Dracula, is a pretty by-the-numbers Dracula film.
This one, in particular, focuses on Dr. Van Helsing, giving the titular character very few scenes. Regardless, the acting is effective in most of the main characters, including Dracula himself.
This film doesn't stretch the lore of Dracula much, rather just producing a solid film within the already-crafted confines, which works well enough. While it's not groundbreaking, it's not bad, either, which is a very good thing.
Overall, it's a touch of a drag, but the solid score brings the viewer right back into the action, which is a nice touch on most of these older movies.
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a fairly straight-forward horror film, but even sixty-five years later, it still works.
The movie plays on the fear of the unknown creature. Deep in the Amazon Rainforest, there might be some kind of ancient, half-fish-half-man horror that sets out to kill all humans who come into its territory. Maybe it even wants to steal away the women to continue living. That's a scary thought, in and of itself.
When you add that to the movie's best quality, the score, it makes for some truly chilling, truly tense scenes. The whole film is well done, especially for 1954. The set design is fully believable, and the acting is solid all around. Julie Adams specifically does a great job. Even gill-man's costume was relatively well done, especially for the time.
Night of the Creeps is a fantastic movie to watch in many different situations: with friends, at a sleepover, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, and so many more.
It's an easy to watch flick, and it contains the right balance of horror elements, gore, campiness, humor, and absurdity to make each viewing as enjoyable as the last. It's got a touch of body-stealing aliens, a touch of zombies, a touch of traditional serial killer, all mixed with all the fun that can come from being placed in a sorority house.
Sure, it's not downright frightening, and it's not necessarily an utterly funny movie like a comedy, but the balance it strikes between the two is where the beauty shines through.
Rites of Vengeance is a dialog-free revenge short, and that's mainly what it is.
This short feels like it would be cathartic to many who may relate too well to the concept of the film. Other than that, I didn't see a lot of depth from the film. There's not a lot of extra themes going on, but I'm not sure it needs more going on. It's five minutes of cathartic revenge directed at an office that has caused many, many people pain, and sometimes, even for those who can't directly relate due to not having gone through the trauma, that cathartic revenge being released into the ether can be an enjoyable five minutes.
The best way to describe Chupacabra Terror is it's a film. There's nothing really wrong with being just a film, but there's not a ton right with it either.
John Rhys-Davies is a bunch of fun, and I actually really like the chupacabra costume. Overall, the acting is mostly fine, which is a good plus if the movie isn't going for straight cheese. The blood and gore effects are about what you'd expect from a low-budget, circa-2005 film, but that certainly doesn't get in the way of the general enjoyment.
I don't think the doctor, played by Giancarlo Esposito, is written all that well, and there are some inconsistencies surrounding his actions. There's also something off about Chelan Simmons' Jenny character. I'm not sure if it's acting, writing, or some mix. There are also a few weird bits as to how the chupacabra is handled in general. There are some intentional morons on the ship, which function as one-note plot devices, and I'm not sure they're needed.
All in all, it's a standard made-for-TV movie; it will entertain well enough, but don't go in expecting something incredible.
Dédalo is a sci-fi horror short out of Portugal. It leans pretty heavily on alien horror, which is something I tend to enjoy.
The set, props, and lighting are well done, especially for a short, which adds a ton to the enjoyability of the film. Some of the gore and the alien suit itself are a little lacking, but it's not so bad that it completely breaks the tension.
The main character's acting is fine, and the emotions on her face really sell the story. The movements of the alien, on the other hand? Well, they're pretty cheesy.
With a tension-filled short like this, the slightest bit of cheese basically erases the tension, which means the alien's movements, especially immediately after the climax, drain the entire short of it's sticking power, rendering the ending fairly neutral instead of the emotions the director is attempting to get across.
That being said, most of the execution and the idea itself of a man-eating yet still man-like alien hunting the only remaining crew member of a space ship are both solid, and if you've got ten minutes, you could certainly do worse than Dédalo.
I Want You Inside Me is a modern twist on a horror classic. The film is a great take on the idea of a vagina dentata, at least in a loose sense.
Our protagonist's first boyfriend disappears after the pair have sex in a cave. He keeps trying to call her, but something interferes with the sound. We don't really find out what happens until our protagonist moves on.
The whole thing could be looked at as a metaphor about giving in to your desires in case you'll be fully consumed.
Black Sunday is a black and white gothic horror film focused on the revenge plot of an executed plot and the people trying to stop her.
The plot itself is fine. It's nothing extra special, but it facilitates the movie well enough. The characters and many of the other general building blocks of the film are also fine. So why is this movie worth watching?
Well, the director, Mario Bava, does a stellar job of setting the scene. The soundtrack to the movie is spectacular. The black and white really aides to the atmosphere, as does the cinematography. The cinematography, in particular, is outstanding. The film relies on a wonderful selection of long shots. There are many shots where the length doesn't particularly add to the story, but it certainly adds to the atmosphere and overall creepiness of the movie. The film also includes some fairly gruesome scenes, nothing quite like a splatter film, though. The scenes are well placed and add to the experience rather than become the focus themselves.
All in all, if you're after a great atmospheric horror film and don't care much about a plot or characters, you may find yourself enjoying Black Sunday.
First and foremost, this film feels like someone went to their local grocery store, grabbed a random three-dollar mystery novel off the checkout shelf, and decided to make it a movie with some extremely popular and attractive people. In other words, it's a silly mystery movie with crazy, zany twists and turns.
Some of those twists and turns were easy enough to see coming, but some of them were straight out of left field. In addition to the entertaining twists, the film does a decent job of not taking itself seriously. The humor in the movie is peppered in during great moments. Some of it is cheesy, but if you're going to this film for a deep, thought-provoking film, don't.
The characters themselves are all extremely exaggerated. Lively's Emily is over-the-top sophisticated, crass, and private to the point where she won't allow pictures or even paintings of her face. Kendrick's Stephanie is bubbly, eager, awkward, and overly friendly. The rest of the cast fills in the needs around them, and while the cast is filled with one-note characters, they fulfill the needs well. Golding's Sean was my least favorite, but mainly because he doesn't have a defined archetype in a film filled with single-aspect characters.
The biggest issue with the film is the plot itself. Emily contradicts herself with the motive for her faking her own death. She tells Sean that she did it for him and for Nicky. Then she says she did it for her. On top of it all, she doesn't appear to have a plan to get the insurance money after it comes through. The film could have easily alleviated all of these issues with a quick scene or a line about fake passports for Emily and Nicky.
All in all, A Simple Favor is a fun romp filled with crazy twists and turns, humor, and great acting. Don't think too much about the film itself, and just go have some fun. It's definitely worth a getaway matinee.
The Black Panther is a fun romp, but it definitely has some issues. First, the good.
The action is fun, the emotions hit home, and the story isn't dirt-poor.
While the CGI gets ripped on from time to time, I thought it was solid enough for a Marvel movie. The fight scenes were relatively well-choreographed, as well. The ritual combat scenes were exciting and visually appealing. The fights in Korea were also fun to see, and while I'm not a fan of car chase scenes as a whole, I did enjoy this one. It was reminiscent of a James Bond movie.
In fact, that's another appeal, at least to me. The secret technology base and the fun action scenes were a great callback to James Bond-type movies. I do think the movie would have been complemented by giving T'Challa a similar vice as Bond's, although Marvel probably wouldn't veer down that line for the seemingly morally absolute King of Wakanda.
The story, well, it's a mixed bag. Everything seemed crammed together with major emotional keys being rushed through or somewhat ignored. The concept is fine though. A long lost relative comes to challenge the new king, wins, and shows his colors, becoming something amoral. The king comes back and takes down the usurper, realizing something about themselves/their kingdom in the process. It's tired, but not so tired it damages the movie.
This is where the issues begin to rise, though. The movie is really a movie and a half or two movies crammed into one. Wakanda has a ton of wonderful mythology, but almost none of it is explained. The movie never really explains how the Wakandans used vibranium was used to make themselves wealthy. It touches on it in some exposition, but there was much more that was just glossed over.
In addition, W'Kabi became radicalized by Killmonger much too quickly for such a pivotal relationship to flip. Some of the emotional aspects of the movie fell flat because they weren't given enough screen time.
Despite its flaws, Black Panther is a fun movie that adds to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It should have been two movies, but I doubt this is the last we'll see of Wakanda.
The Addiction is one of the more thoughtful films about vampirism available today.
While the film is incredibly thoughtful, with loads of subtext at every corner, it borders, and sometimes crosses into, pretention. There are times where the narration is attempting to add subtext, but it's so heavy-handed that the film loses sight of the fact it's a horror film. I'd argue it's thought piece first and horror film second, honestly. Maybe that makes it even more frightening.
Christopher Walken is wonderful, and Lili Taylor does a fine job, as well. The choice to shoot the film in black and white was a great idea, as well. There's a real focus placed on the ideas the film is pursuing.
Even though the subject of the horror in this film are vampires, the movie is truly describing humanity.
Spookley is about what you'd expect from a direct-to-video kids movie made on a relatively low budget.
It's fine. That's about the line I draw. The songs are fine. The story is fine. The animation isn't quite fine. Overall, it's fine.
The movie, in general, is about not judging people based on their appearances or other shallow reasons. That's a fine moral, and I don't really have any problems with kids' movies having a clearly defined (and stated) moral.
There are some issues, however. First, they play off two characters for laughs due to the fact they are a little 'slow'. It's strange to have this movie about acceptance have two characters playing with qualities that are often played off for laughs in a damaging way to people who really may be different.
Other than that, the biggest issue is how simple it all is. Granted, that's not a bad thing for a movie for toddlers, but there are a lot of kids' shows on Disney Jr. or Nick Jr. that feel a little more complex in about a quarter of the runtime this one had.
Again, it's fine. If you're struggling to find something Halloween-related to watch with your young kids but don't want them downright terrified for hours, this is probably a fine bet.
The Stylist features a hair stylist who has a love for wigs and acquires them in an interesting manner.
Our lead appears to be a standard hair stylist who does a lot for her regular customers. She stays open late, provides wine, and provides what looks like a wonderfully relaxing atmosphere, at least on the surface.
Of course, this is a horror film, so things are different than they appear. Shortly after the after-hours client gets her wine, the viewer realizes there was more in the glass than a little merlot.
After the now-unconscious guest is fully out, the real horror begins. Our stylist begins to scalp the woman in the chair. After waking up screaming, our stylist does what she needs to do and runs the scalping scissors into the lady's temple.
The film ends in a basement with many other wigs, all with the same ring of flesh around the outside.
The short honestly doesn't have much going for it outside of the character-driven nature of the film. The body horror is relatively tame, even a touch comedic. The plot doesn't fully exist.
That being said, our main character is incredibly intriguing. We learn about the internal torment that drives her to imitate others, even to the point of stealing their hair.
The Stylist certainly isn't the most mind-blowing short horror film out there, but it's more than worth the fifteen minutes it takes to see it in its entirety.
He Took His Skin Off for Me is an incredibly strange film. The premise of the movie is exactly the title and the following fallout.
I suppose it is body horror, of a sort. Really, it's a strong metaphor about relationships, about love, and about sacrifice. In its runtime of eleven minutes, the movie dances on the line of what will be the last straw before the man who took the skin off of his body for his significant other puts his skin back on and leaves. We see struggles and frustrations.
In the end, what the author of the short story, Maria Hummer, and the director, Ben Aston, wanted to say about relationships.
All in all, using such an extreme body horror technique to illustrate such a tender metaphor is unique, to say the least.
Thale is an atmospheric horror film from Norway based on the huldra from Norwegian folklore.
A pair of crime scene cleaners stumbles across a hidden room containing Thale, a huldra who holds the appearance of a woman. The first two-thirds of the movie are the pair unraveling the mystery of who and what Thale is and why she is in this hidden compartment.
These two-thirds are fantastic. The world building is fun and pulls from the folklore, and the mystery of it all ramps up and up. We don't know that Thale is there, and once we find that out in a spectacular fashion, we slowly begin to unravel the puzzle of it all. Is Thale an abused little girl? Is she a monster? Is someone looking for her?
As this draws out, we begin to find out more and more about the characters. Each of the main three has a story to tell and a backstory worth investigating, but we really only catch glimpses of everyone's story, although we do see significant amounts of Thale's.
While the atmosphere, the world building, and the character building are excellent in the first two-thirds of the movie, this seems to fall off during the climax. It turns out that there are people hunting Thale. They incapacitate the two cleaners using gas while Thale hides back in a bathtub with a gas mask hooked up to air.
After a cut, we find that the two men are outside, tied up and blindfolded. A man moves to dispose of them after giving the standard evil villain monologue but is interrupted by an explosion. The explosion destroyed the building where Thale had been picking off the remaining people hunting her down. After the explosion, a pack of huldra come through and rip the man to shreds, leaving the two cleaners alive.
The film ends with all of the problems being solved. Thale is back with the rest of the huldra, and the problems that the two other protagonists were dealing with were magically solved.
While the first two-thirds of the film was full of strong aspects, the last third flipped all of that on its head. The atmosphere shifted from creepy and mysterious to something you'd find in an action movie, and the ending was simply everyone getting what they wanted without a satisfying resolution to the buildup of tension and mystery.
Is it worth a watch? Sure. Don't expect to be blown away, though. The slow burn of the first forty to fifty minutes is incredibly enjoyable and the last parts of the movie are fine, even if they don't follow the same mold.