I really wanted to like this one. Between my growing disdain for the ubiquity of Christian exorcism horror in the modern day, and how much I’ve gotten into films that directly swerve from that standard like Godless, I was hoping that this would serve as another welcome change of pace for the genre. But not only is this production nothing all that special on its own, but it’s the kind of mid that ends up flying right in the face of the message at the heart of the story.
I got into this when I looked at Arctic a few years back, but now more than ever, it has been cool to see so many YouTubers making it in the film business. Joe Penna went from MysteryGuitarMan to delivering the kind of survival thrillers that even I can get into; Radio Silence, the guys who pioneered the ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ format on YT, not only have been contributing to and are now producing the V/H/S anthology series, but now have the keys to one of the most beloved slasher franchises ever in the new Scream movies; and the Martial Club stunt team got to work on last year’s runaway success Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Before this blog even existed, I was one of many who thoughtthey could turn YouTube into their career (before realising that going into video-making with that mindset is, to put it simply, a terrible idea), and while I realised that it wasn’t the way for me, it’s still quite nice to see so many others turn that passion into something viable.
And this time around, we have a success story from my neck of the woods (kind of), with the Adelaide-based team of brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, AKA RackaRacka. It was quite surreal to see their production logo next to national grant Screen Australia and A2-bloody-4 in the opening credits, and that’s only the beginning of it where this film is concerned.
Patrick Wilson is one of my favourite actors working today. Whether he’s fighting underwater King Arthur, stuck with late-career Katherine Heigl, or being the face of James Wan’s post-Saw horror catalogue, the man just seems to shine no matter where he goes. As such, the prospect of him making the transition to director has certainly got me intrigued, especially within a franchise that had already launched a major directing talent in Leigh Whannell. But as I look at his debut here, I can’t help but think he would benefit from having a completely different starting point, because this doesn’t really do him any favours.
After scoring two respectable hits (well, one hit and one highly divisive feature, but this is me talking, and I think they were both very good) while the industry around him was busy scrambling to deal with a once-in-a-lifetime epidemic, director Rob Savage has now stepped right into the mainstream with a Stephen King adaptation. Knowing what happened last time a promising new talent made their kick-in-the-door announcement with a King feature, I’d like to say that I’m keeping my expectations in check… but honestly, I really wanted to like this. And yeah, I do, but only like it.
I’ve never gotten on the hype train for the Evil Dead series. I certainly appreciate the legacy of the films themselves (a world without Evil Dead is a world without Braindead, and that would be a sad world to live in), and I don’t think any of them are bad necessarily. I just can’t seem to get into them as much as others have. The first Evil Dead just doesn’t do much for me (tree rape doesn’t exactly warm me up to a film), and while Evil Dead II is quite fun, I struggle to consider it more than just alright all things considered.
Army Of Darkness… yeah, okay, that film goes hard, I
can’t front. After truly hitting his stride with Darkman, Sam Raimi really cut
loose to deliver a properly gonzo and aggressively goofy bit of medieval
fantasy action-comedy ridiculousness. But even with how much I enjoyed it, considering the sharp change in setting and tone, part of me thinks that I got into this because of that change, rather than anything to do with the shared IP.
Now for the tricky bit: As an overall entertaining movie, Army Of Darkness is the franchise’s peak. But in terms of a proper scary film, I liked Fede Álvarez’s reboot/sequel thingy from 2013 more than either the original or Dead By Dawn. I really got into how it toyed with the franchise formula, using the Deadite possession angle as metaphor for addiction and withdrawal, making the astoundingly blood-soaked finale feel genuinely cathartic in how much progress Mia had made to get to that point. I’m also just a fan of how Álvarez handles atmosphere in films like that, really bringing the dread out of the situation.
With all of that in mind, I went into this latest addition to the franchise on a mixed note. I may feel a bit left out as far as the entertainment value of this franchise as a whole, but Evil Dead 2013 had me hoping that this could give me more of that expansion on the original material that could get me on-side with it. And yeah, it certainly did its own thing with the franchise lore, but I once again find myself a bit underwhelmed by the result.
Ethan Hawke is one of my favourite actors working today. While he certainly has the skill to back up that kind of acclaim, my love for the guy’s work comes mainly out of how insanely eclectic he is. The Northman, Cut Throat City, The Truth, Stockholm, Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets, The Magnificent Seven, Predestination, Boyhood; not only is the man up for pretty much anything a director could possibly throw at him, but he’s also willing to go into unexpected international corners to spread the love around. So when news hit of him being cast as the villain in a horror flick, hell yeah, I was on board for that… but while Hawke certainly delivered, it’s a testament to just how good this film is that he ends up being at the lower end of this film’s positives.
Well, here’s a little curio that I stumbled upon. While skimming through YouTube for new film releases to review, I came across the trailer for this film, which included the scene of a demonic Jesus jumpscaring a priest. I am nothing if not easily intrigued, so I decided to check it out. I went in expecting something campy and, considering the over-saturation of the sub-genre, been-there-done-that, and that is definitely what I got… along with an especially foul taste in my mouth.
Now that lockdown conditions are easing, and I’m done with research for some upcoming FilmInk write-ups, it’s time to start my maddened scramble to catch up on the films that are out in cinemas right now. And we’re starting with a film that, going into it, I wasn’t expecting much from. Not to say I was dreading it or anything, but the original Candyman isn’t something I hold a lot of fondness for. It’s an interesting take on the slasher formula, and its exploration of urban legends certainly scratched my storytelling itches, but I could either way on the prospect of a new follow-up to it, even considering the talent involved. However, now having watched it, I have to admit that I can vibe with this a lot easier than I did with the original.
Over the past couple years, my opinions on the Conjuring cinematic universe have gone from strength to strength. To the point where I’m likely in the minority for such things, given how favourably I’ve been towards the recent run of spin-off features. I still maintain that the first two Annabelle movies are a hard pass, but The Nun, The Curse Of The Weeping Woman, and even Annabelle Comes Home are still in my good books at the time of writing this.
As such, I was reasonably looking forward to the new mainline Conjuring film, albeit slightly taken aback by the real-life inspiration this time around (making it about a real-life murder case hits a bad note that just a haunted house doesn’t manage). But it turns out that I was looking in entirely the wrong direction as far as misgivings with this feature, sad to say.
A few years ago, I looked at a film with the immediately-mockable name of The Bye Bye Man. I found myself in a bit of an odd situation after watching it as, while it initially caught my attention through contemporary critics lampooning the shit out of it, I ended up struggling to figure out if I hated it or not. Yeah, the acting was weak, the horror cred of the overall production was limp at best, and most of what it had to offer was watered-down material from other, better entries in the genre… but to this day, there’s still something about its approach to a supernatural killer that appeals to the kookier part of my brain.
I bring all this up because this film left me with a similar reaction, where I feel like I’m still having an argument with myself if this is a uniquely cool take on psycho-horror, or if it’s just an overcooked and under-seasoned casserole of a film.
A Blumhouse-produced reboot of an old-school piece of feminist-leaning horror… I feel like we’ve been down this dark road before. Okay, in fairness, I don’t want to imply that either that film or this one is irredeemably bad. It’s just that the pattern goes beyond the studio backing it, and right into finding a similar mixture of intriguing and bizarre ideas in trying to modernise the original story. And quite frankly, it hexes itself more times than not.
At last, after many months of jealously hearing from friends about how cool Shudder is, it has finally made it to Australian screens. That means all manner of exclusive content on the service is now open for reviews, so I might get around to reviewing Kuso or One Cut Of The Dead at some point. But for now, though, we’ve got something very special to look at. A film that I believe will go down as the film of 2020, both because of how much of a snapshot it is of this point in history, and because it’s just that fucking brilliant as a film all on its own.
