Hello dear reader, apologies for the long delay in posting, I have nothing exciting to report other than I returned to work after my cancer treatment and honestly struggled with finding the brain space and time to write. But it was a huge pleasure to return to the cinema for a few precious months and catch some horror on the big screen before the world shat the pandemic bed once again. On the plus side, this post has ended up being a mega bumper edition of the films I’ve been watching these past few months…
My reviews are spoiler free.
Malignant (2021) 8/10
James Wan’s supernatural horror is a riotously fun, ridiculous and original film that touches upon themes of childhood trauma, the nature of victimisation and mental illness. Madison is pregnant and isolated by her abusive husband, but one night after attacking Madison he is brutally murdered by a shadowy presence in their house. Madison soon begins to have terrifying visions of more murders and must delve into her own past to understand the present. I’m actually not a fan of the Waniverse, I find the overuse of cheap jump-scares and the overarching mythology quite boring. However, from the very first scene it is evident we’re firmly in the high camp territory of Wan’s sophomore film Dead Silence (2007), but realised much more successfully. Akela Cooper’s screenplay is soap opera-like and (intentionally?) very funny and Annabelle Wallis delivers a pretty impressive physical performance as Madison. Although I didn’t find it particularly scary there is some excellent, gruey gore and some shocking set-pieces which I found wildly entertaining. Wan also makes some pretty ballsy nods to Hitchcockian cinematography, most notably Psycho (1960) as well as similarly utilising the concept of Freudian psychotopology. After having watched a lot of A24-esque moody and misty horror pieces over the years it was actually quite refreshing to watch something so balls to walls entertaining. I also saw it in a half full cinema and it was a real joy to hear people cheering and laughing along in disbelief. I definitely left the cinema wondering what the fuck I just watched, but in a good way. This film needs to be seen to be believed.
The Medium (2021) 8/10
Banjong Pisanthanakun’s Thai supernatural mockumentary horror is a scary, knarly and nihilistic film about the return of the repressed, humanity’s crimes against nature and the fear of women. A film crew follow around an Isan shaman/medium, Nim, to document her daily life and practices. Nim is possessed by the spirit of a local deity, Bayan, who has been possessing the women in her family for generations. They also interview her immediate family, including sister Noi (who was originally supposed to inherit the spirit, but converted to Christianity before it took possession) and niece Mink who suddenly starts to display some odd, out of character behaviour. The Medium offers a welcome, fresh take on the demonic possession narrative with some fantastic, visceral performances from Sawanee Utoomma as Nim and Narilya Gulmongkolpech as Mink. The film also features a couple of really good scares and it passed the highly coveted ‘me running to the bathroom in the middle of night just in case demons’ test which doesn’t happen very often nowadays. I think my only criticism would be that the mockumentary/found-footage style occasionally strays into the classic genre trap of why would anyone continue filming this madness? But if you let these quibbles go it is a thrilling, hellish ride into darkness that stays with you long after the credits have rolled.
Fear Street Trilogy (2021) 7.5/10
Leigh Janiak’s supernatural folk slasher is an entertaining and surprisingly gory film trilogy about queerness, inherited trauma and structural inequality. Shadyside is a town plagued by random serial killings which many believe is related to a curse the 17th century witch Sarah Fier placed on the town before her hanging for witchcraft. In 1994, after a local boy viciously murders his friend and co-workers, a group of Shadyside teenagers are terrorised by an evil presence and must uncover the town’s secrets in order to stop history repeating itself. Fear Steet is a hugely enjoyable film trilogy that works just as well as a very polished tv mini-series (some Stranger Things vibes here, but in a good way) and confirms Janiak as a masterful horror talent. Janiak confidently controls her horror references with each film influenced by a different subgenre (90s slasher, 80s slasher, folk horror), but its modern sensibilities feel very much part of the current neo-slasher movement. Kiana Madeira as the main protagonist Deena is brilliant (is it me or does she have a really pleasing voice?) and there is wonderful chemistry between her and Olivia Scott Welch as Sam, her on-and-off girlfriend. Admittedly, the Irish accents in Part 3 border on criminal, some things you see coming a mile away and the geographical metaphor is as subtle as a swinging axe, but considering it is based on R.L. Stine’s young adult book series it can be forgiven. Overall it is a fun and almost soapy cinematic experience perfect for Friday or Saturday night viewing.
The Night House (2020) 8/10
David Bruckner’s supernatural, psychological horror is a frightening, atmospheric and tense tale about grief, misogyny and the terrifying unknowability of others. Beth is a young widow trying to keep it together after her architect husband’s recent suicide. Following his funeral she begins to experience strange phenomena in the home her husband built, which prompts her to start uncovering a dark and disturbing secret. The Night House is a well-written and emotionally mature film which contains some genuinely quite terrifying and heart-breaking moments. Rebecca Hall is excellent as the flinty and unlikable Beth, as is Sarah Goldberg as Beth’s best friend Claire. Elisha Christian’s stylish cinematography and Bruckner’s direction elevates the usual haunted house tropes into something more original and mildly bananas. This was also another movie I had the pleasure of watching in a barely occupied cinema which certainly aided some of the shit your pants scary moments. I think some aspects of the final section don’t stand up as strongly as the rest of the movie, although, without delving into spoilerific territory, it offers a potentially fascinating commentary on the power of denial. David Bruckner is shaping up to be a really solid horror director and I’m intrigued to see how he tackles his next project – the Hellraiser reboot.
Caveat (2020) 7.5/10
Damian McCarthy’s Irish supernatural horror is a scary and atmospheric movie about guilt, masculinity and familial mental illness. Whilst suffering from partial amnesia, Isaac accepts a lucrative job offer from Moe to look after his niece Olga, who suffers from bouts of catatonia, in a house on a secluded island. However, there is one caveat – Isaac must wear a straight-jacket-like harness inside the house which restricts his ability to enter certain rooms and why is there a malevolent toy bunny drumming randomly about the place? Considering Caveat is McCarthy’s directorial debut and it had a micro-budget, the film is cleverly made with fantastic, grimy set design (the domestic squalidness reminded me of Saint Maud (2019) and Relic (2020)’s nightmarish wall cavities) and some well-crafted scares that nod to Asian horror tropes. First-time feature film actor Jonathan French also delivers a highly effective and sympathetic performance as the troubled Isaac. The film’s premise and visual imagery is unique and very intriguing, although it doesn’t quite explore these ideas to the most satisfying conclusion. I felt like some even more brilliant set-pieces could have been created from the caveat, but perhaps this is just a reflection of a lack of time and money. Overall this is a cracking film debut for McCarthy and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do once freed from the budgetary straight-jacket.
Sator (2019) 6.5/10
Jordan Graham’s supernatural folk horror is a creepy, tragic and dark film about hereditary illness, familial sacrifice and the terrifying power of nature. A supernatural entity known as Sator watches over a troubled and isolated family living in the woods. The grandmother Nani believes that Sator speaks to her and she captures the entity’s words through automatic writing. Her grandson Adam decides to find Sator and heads out into the desolate forest. Sator is another impressive micro-budget directorial debut with Jordan Graham appearing to fill all the major film-making positions bar the acting. The movie has some highly eerie and uncanny moments, it’s amazing how listening to an old woman just whimsically speaking and reading can be so terrifying. Thematically it has a lot in common with The Dark and the Wicked (2020) and Hereditary (2017), but approaches it in a refreshingly different format (black and white sections, a home video documentary style). Although I am deeply impressed by this first-time filmmaker’s achievement, to be completely honest I felt a bit underwhelmed. I’m not sure if it’s just a bit of fatigue with oblique A24-style misty folk horrors, but whilst I was definitely creeped out, I ultimately didn’t feel much of an emotional connection with the story, mostly just unsatisfying confusion. However, Sator is definitely worth a watch if you’re in the mood for an unnerving, lo-fi folk horror.
Candyman (2020) 7.5/10
Nia DaCosta’s supernatural psychological horror is a stylish, witty and timely film exploring the terror of racism and intergenerational trauma, gentrification and the ambiguous nature of the artistic muse. Anthony is an up-and-coming visual artist in Chicago experiencing a creative block, but is inspired after hearing about the urban legend of Helen Lyle and the Cabrini-Green housing project. Sensing that he could utilise this story for his next art installation, he ventures into the abandoned housing project and finds himself becoming dangerously obsessed with the Candyman story. Full disclosure I’m a massive fan of the original Candyman (1992) movie, I was just the right age to watch it at sleepovers and inevitably dare my friends to recite his name five times in the mirror. Watching the film as an adult I realised how brilliantly crafted and haunting Bernard Rose’s movie really is – not to mention its complicated and sometimes ambiguous racial and gender politics. But DaCosta’s film is a worthy sequel and a great contemporary update to the Candyman mythology. It similarly addresses complex issues such as the artistic exploitation of racial trauma and posits some uncomfortable questions about how a white supremacist society consumes black art. The fusion of the Candyman mythos with the Black Lives Matter movement is very apt, although there are definitely a few on the nose moments which maybe could have been integrated more smoothly into the narrative. However, I am a white person and my opinion on this is largely moot so I would recommend reading Sarah-Tai Black and Jourdain Searles’ reviews for a more relevant, alternative perspective. I didn’t find it particularly frightening in the cinema however I think the film’s strength lies in its long-term chilling effect. It wasn’t until a day later that some of the scares really hit home as I felt a sense of uncanny dread walking along my own corridor at night. The screenplay is also pretty funny and I appreciated the nasty Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)-esque art world satire. Teyonah Parris, as Anthony’s girlfriend Brianna, is wonderful and their relationship is well fleshed-out. The beautiful and powerful use of shadow-puppetry also delivers a similar punch in the metaphorical dick as the shadow puppetry sequence in Koko-di Koko-da (2019). I think my main issue with the film is just that it tries to cover a lot of ground in a slender 91 minutes, especially in the final section. It’s almost as if there are two slightly different films existing uneasily together which means that some of the earlier, super compelling ideas around artistic creativity and exploitation are not explored to their fullest. The Candyman mythology also ends up becoming quite confusing, although in that sense it’s faithful to the original which was never particularly coherent either. But overall DaCosta’s movie is a very entertaining, thought-provoking and worthy successor to the original and a welcome addition to the hive.
So what did you think of these movies? Did I get it completely wrong or right? Or just somewhere in between? Let me know in the comments below or send me a cheeky email/DM!
Before I sign off I also wanted to wish you a happy and healthy new year! Hopefully 2022 will be less of an arsehole and your spookiest dreams will come true.
Let's Scare Lauren to Death 