Somehow it's already October again and time for an annual tradition: 31 days, 31 spooky and horrific movies to see. There was a delay in getting this blog stood back up due to technical issues and me being a cheap bastard (i.e. not wanting to pay $5/mo to have someone else host it). So here we are, over a week into October and 7 films down, and not a single blog post to show for it. For the rest of the month I hope to update this more frequently with more in-depth looks at some of these films, because they definitely deserve it (in some cases...).
Horror is a genre that is often maligned as being low-brow or not worthy of critical analysis compared to Serious Dramas, but I think there is something to say about, and things to learn from, horror films. While some are trying to be 'literature', if you will, and are trying to say something more meaningful than "evil guy is evil and murderous', even those that are only interested in more basal thrills can have interesting things gleaned in spite of themselves. Oftentimes it is as much about what a film doesn't say or unconsciously says as it is about authorial intent. That, in particular, is what most fascinates me about these films--the most thought put into some of them is what can we do to make this scary? Yet that in and of itself can illuminate deeper ideas and fears that the filmmaker, and by extension, societal groups themselves, hold.
So, let's dive into this first batch of films. I'll only be doing a short, spoiler-free snippets on each of these, with longer, spoiler-filled posts for films that I want to do a deeper dive on. I'm a big proponent of viewing films with as little information as possible, allowing the film to stand on its own as a singular work, so I highly encourage you to watch any of these that sound interesting first, and then come back and read my thoughts on them if I do post a more in-depth review. If it's a true stinker (and there will be some of those), then I'll let you know in the spoiler-free review below.
Now, without further ado, let's dive in...
Good Boy
(2022) Dir. Viljar Bøe
Good Boy is directed by Norwegian filmmaker Vilar Bøe, his second feature film and first to have distribution, as far as I can tell. It follows a college student who unknowingly matches with and goes on a date with the young heir of a considerable fortune. He seems charming enough, until she discovers that he lives with another man who dresses and acts like a dog. It's a premise that feels at once both underbaked and spread thin. There are moments of true tension in the film, but none that quite make up for a meandering plot and some questionable character decisions. It's trying to say something about domestic violence, but there's so little substance to all of it that I can't take it seriously. There are films that can take ridiculous premises and use them as effective metaphors or vehicles to explore difficult topics (see: Lars and the Real Girl, most of Charlie Kaufman's work), but in Good Boy's case they don't actually do anything interesting with the fact that a man is keeping another man as a pet. It's a fact, it happens, the most obvious reading is the correct one, and what we we're left with is a by-the-books indie thriller whose actors and technical acumen can't sustain it for its runtime.
Cube 2: Hypercube
(2002) Dir. Andrzej Sekula
Hypercube is the sequel to the ultra-low budget original, which has a soft spot in my heart for its sheer shlock factor. The sequel once again sees a group of strangers with unclear motives kidnapped and trapped within the seemingly-infinite confines of the eponymous cube. Now though, things are positively non-Euclidean.
Cube 2 suffers from a two seemingly contradictory problems: it both tries to go bigger than its predecessor, while also being largely a retread of it with very little new to offer. The setup is nigh identical to the original, yet the characters (whose dialogue is ever-so-slightly better) are just as one-dimensional as before, but without as much scenery chewing and memorably terrible lines.
The plot itself is my biggest gripe of the film, and a definite downgrade compared to the original. In the first, at least, there was a clear arc as the characters met each other, worked through the puzzle of the Cube, and learned how to escape. There was also a clear ticking clock at the end that added some needed urgency to the third act that kept the audience's interest. In Hypercube, by contrast, neither we nor the characters solve the puzzle of the cube until the (literal) last minute, by which time all sense of urgency or suspense has fully been excised. Instead, we get a meandering slog through identical rooms with none of the gory and interesting kills of the original (and even it was very much a c-grade in that regard). The central concept of the space they're in is interesting, and I often found myself wanting the characters from the first, simply because they would probably figure out what was happening and formulate a plan.
Bad Moon
(1996) Dir. Eric Red
Bad Moon starts as a classic take on the werewolf story, with our 'hero' enduring a savage attack in the opening sequence, only to show up months later in Canada where his sister and her son have moved to get out of the city. When a series of savage 'animal' attacks strike the area, and the family dog begins acting strangely, things devolve into a horrific final act.
This was an interesting film to review, because my thoughts on it swung wildly as I was watching it. The opening scene is pure schlock: boobs, gore, a man in a werewolf costume, that set me up to expect a 70s-style b-movie. After that though, it veers hard into the wilds of northern Canada and we're introduced to our actual main characters: a single-mom lawyer, her son, and their German Sheperd, Thor. The first act is certainly the roughest, but the film finally finds its footing once the definitely-not-a-werewolf uncle comes to stay with them. Thor isn't fooled, and the movie is at its very best when those two go perro a perro. The werewolf costume and makeup itself is excellent--the animatronic head is well articulated and suitably scary-looking, but all terror potential is sapped from it due to the TV movie-like lighting that's pervasive throughout the film. There's no moody shadows or dark corners for this monster to hide in, only the harsh light of a Kino 2000.
With all that being said, this film will easily feature in my top 5 most horrific scenes of Spooktober 2024. Of the two contenders in this film for that spot, one of them features no violence at all.
When Evil Lurks
(2023) Dir. Demián Rugna
When Evil Lurks is an Argentinian horror film that sits somewhere between the possession and zombie genres, borrowing some of the best aspects of both. In the world of the film, demon possessions are a well-known phenomenon, causing the afflicted to swell and bloat into horrendous body-horror monstrosities. That's not the worst part though: it's but the gestation process of the demon itself, which seeks to escape into the world when the host dies. When two brothers find such a 'rotten' in their remote village they decide to try to take it far away so that its evil influence doesn't spread through town, but they instead set off a chain of events that threatens to spiral out of control as the evil spreads.
I really loved this film. The creeping dread and powerlessness that the film invokes as the main character correctly identifies the threat and tries again and again to subvert brings me back to the scariest days of Covid-19, when we didn't fully know what we were dealing with and the vocal contingent of people that refused to admit that there was a problem at all. The excellent performances from the cast keep us grounded in the human element of this slow-motion catastrophe, and I felt actual investment in the relationship between the two brothers. The climax is the only place that I think the film stumbles slightly, but the rest of the film is excellent, and I think this is destined to become a modern classic.
The Baby
(1973) Dir. Ted Post
The Baby is a thriller/psychological drama that is often miscategorized as a horror film. It follows a middle-aged mother, her two live-in grown daughters, and Baby, a grown man with possible mental development issues that still acts like a baby. When a social worker is reassigned to his case she grows more convinced that his behavior is caused as much by his family as any actual disorder.
This is an interesting film because on the face of it (including the incredibly misleading poster embedded above), it seems like it'll be a typical 70s expoitation flick involving a murderous grown man dressed as a baby. Yet, in fact, it's nothing of the sort, and is instead a well-scripted, well-acted low-budget drama with exploitation tendencies. I honestly can't fault the marketers on this one--I have no idea how I would sell this film to general audiences. All I can say is seek this out, it received a blu-ray release recently with a very good transfer from the original film. A special shout out to the score, which is delightfully weird and unhinged.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
(1970) Dir. Jaromil Jires
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is a Czech surrealist film about a 13-year-old orphan girl as she navigates her coming of age in the care of a nun in a small village. What follows is a fever dream of ideas as she deals with vampires, lecherous preachers, and a villain named "The Weasel".
This is a difficult film to recommend to the average film-watcher, but anyone that is interested in film history, especially 20th-century eastern European film, would be remise in not seeing this. I've never seen a coming-of-age film quite like this before, and for all of its faults, it doesn't shy away from all that entails.
Misery
(1990) Dir. Rob Reiner
When famous writer Paul Sheldon's car crashes on his way down the mountain in a blizzard, he is rescued by an adoring fan that promises to nurse him back to health. Things take a turn for the worst when it becomes clear that they have no intention of letting him leave.
I somehow had missed seeing this film before now, and I'm quite upset that was the case. This is such an excellent thriller with riveting performances from both of our leads, as well as Richard Farnsworth and Frances Sternhagen in really fun supporting roles as the town sheriff and his wife/deputy. The thing that I appreciated most about this film is the way that Paul is a savvy and resourceful character that makes good choices throughout the film--there's no contrived situations that rely on him or any other character making a poor choice to move the plot forward. It's very tightly scripted with a minimum of cruft, fine directing and cinematography, and impeccably paced. If you somehow, like me, have never had the pleasure of seeing this, go watch it immediately.
Well, that's it for this first batch. I'll be back soon with week 2, and potentially some deeper dives into my favorites!