Category Archives: Horror

Nightbitch

Nightbitch           3 stars

Director Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and star Amy Adams (Hillbilly Elegy, American Hustle) bring us a different kind of horror movie in Nightbitch, a novel adaptation about the wonders of being a mother. But, of course, who are we kidding? Motherhood is anything but easy and can be downright maddening as Adams demonstrates in this movie. She has left her job at an art gallery to become a full-time mom to her two-year-old son. When she meets a former coworker who exclaims how wonderful it must be to spend so much time with her child, she responds with a long monologue of the confusion, disappointment and pain associated with this decision and then rewinds, saying yes, it’s wonderful! We see scenes of the endless monotony of cooking and cleaning she goes through taking care of the adorable toddler. Dad (Scoot McNairy of Argo and A Complete Unknown) is often away on business trips and is not all that much help when he is at home, sometimes being a clueless moron, oblivious to the strains that mom is facing and sometimes making it worse by complaining about the things she has not taken care of. (His cluelessness is undoubtedly a representation of what many fathers are really like.) As the pressures mount the movie suddenly switches to body horror, as mom starts to grow hair on her body and sprout what looks like a tail. When outside she attracts the attention of neighborhood dogs who follow her around and bring her gifts of animal carcasses. Mom accepts these changes, fully embracing them as she wolfs down food without hands and goes digging in the dirt, seemingly transforming into a canine and going for a run with other dogs. Whether this change is real or symbolic it is transforming for her character, enabling her to look at her situation differently and make the most of it. Amy Adams puts a full effort into this role making us believe she is the mom in this film, especially with how she relates to the little boy playing her son. The movie shows the full extent of how tough it must be being a mom, even though the story seems rather contrived. I can’t say how true it is to the book, but it could be viewed as a mild variation on the genre of werewolf movies without the violence.

Werewolves Within

Werewolves Within                        3 ½ stars

For a smart blend of the comedy horror genre you won’t be disappointed by Werewolves Within from director Josh Ruben and writer Mishna Wolff. This is a whodunit much like Knives Out, except that the “who” might be an animal with razor sharp claws based on the condition of the victims. It all takes place in the tiny isolated town of Beaverfield in the Northeast that suffers a snowstorm, blocked roads and a power failure all at the same time. Add to that a mysterious murder of one of the residents and you have the terrifying situation the townsfolk are faced with. Among the trapped are two newcomers, Finn the forest ranger (played by Sam Richardson who many will remember as the nerdy but talkative Richard from Veep) and Cecily the postal employee (Milana Vayntrub, who everyone knows from the AT&T commercials). The other townsfolk are divided over the prospect of a gas pipeline being planned for the area that promises some economic development for the town. Much like the country they come down at opposite extremes over the plan. There is also a hermit living just outside the town who is suspicious of everyone and becomes a suspect after the murders start. The comedy really ensues when the locals all gather inside the town’s inn for safety and it becomes clear that one of them is the killer. Then the title really applies as the accusations start and they begin to kill off each other based on suspicion and conjecture. Much of the comedy is generated by the stereotypes that the characters embody. The final reveal and climatic ending almost doesn’t matter by the time we get to it. The real point has already been made. The last time I had more fun with a comedy horror movie was last year’s The Hunt followed by 2019’s The Dead Don’t Die.

Last Night in Soho

Last Night in Soho            4 stars

In Edgar Wright’s latest thriller drama horror Last Night in Soho, we first meet Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie of Jojo Rabbit and Leave No Trace) in an old house where her bedroom is decorated in old movie posters of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Sweet Charity and other relics of the sixties. She dances to sixties pop tunes played on a turntable in an elaborate dress made of newspapers. But Ellie really lives in the present in rural Cornwall, England and is fascinated by everything about the sixties and dreams of becoming an accomplished fashion designer. Then Ellie gets her big chance when she is accepted to a famous fashion school in London.  The young girl doesn’t exactly fit in with her streetwise classmates and soon moves off campus, renting a room above a bar where landlady, Miss Collins (the exquisite Diana Rigg in her final performance before passing away last year) says she needs to pay two months rent upfront and no male guests are allowed after 8:00. It is then that things take a mysterious turn when Ellie goes to sleep and the room becomes a sort of teleportal device sending Ellie to a hopping neon light covered 1965 London with all the flashy fashions and pop songs of the sixties. The mood of the movie shifts as the themes become darker and more sinister. Ellie becomes connected to a girl called Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy of The Witch and Emma) who may or may not actually exist. Unlike Ellie, Sandie faces the world with total confidence and owns the room she enters. She perfectly nails a rendition of Petula Clark’s 1965 hit Downtown. The movie embodies the look and feel of the decadent time period of the sixties and has some fine performances including Matt Smith’s Jack, a sort of sixties pimp who operates the acts at a London gentlemen’s club.  Eventually, though the movie devolves into full blown horror thriller mayhem when it gets to an over the top ending. I admit that I did not see the ending coming, so I won’t say more about it. If you are in the mood for a good thriller horror film, Last Night in Soho hits the spot.

Your Monster

Your Monster    3 stars

Once again, I had the chance to see a film in the theaters that I missed this year at Sundance. Your Monster by first time director Caroline Lindy is a sort of rom-com horror movie for women coming out of a bad relationship. In the movie Laura (Melissa Barrera of 2021’s In the Heights) is an actor and musical theater geek who has been dating Jacob (Edmund Donovan), a theater director for five years and has been helping him with developing his musical production. That is, until Laura is diagnosed with cancer and the douchebag, Jacob decides to leave her. (It is reported that Lindy came up with the story based on her own experience with a douchebag; hence the movie trailer claim: “based on a true-ish story”). With the help of her only friend, Masie (Kayla Foster), Laura moves into her mother’s house and becomes an emotional wreck (an understatement to be sure). It is there that she discovers that there is a rather fearsome looking monster living in her bedroom closet and that he has been there since Laura was a child. The monster is played by Tommy Dewey who is also the executive producer of the movie. At first, Laura is scared to death of this creature, and he wants her out of the house. But since she has no place to go, they tolerate each other and try to work out a living arrangement. As the two become more familiar, the monster, who sports a beard and has a catlike appearance, encourages her to audition for a part in Jacob’s musical and she gives it a try, landing an understudy role for the part that was originally intended for her. Then as things progress, she finds that this monster also has an interest in literature and theater, so the two become a little too close. Eventually, the monster becomes like an inner voice to Laura, making her realize how she has been wronged by Jacob and should find a way to express her feelings. Naturally, things go a little too far with some brutal and bloody consequences, a requirement of most horror movies even if it is a romcom. Most of the movie though has a light feel to it thanks to the numerous musical numbers that could come out of a forties or fifties musical comedy. I thought it was an interesting take on the comedy horror genre, but I found the monster to be a little too perfect for Laura to really buy it. (If he spends all his time in the closet and under the bed, why should he know so much about the outside world after all.) For a better performance by Tommy Dewey, you should see the movie Saturday Night where he plays the head writer of Saturday Night, Michael O’Donoghue. For a more entertaining comedy horror movie I recommend Ginger Snaps which I reviewed last year.

Something In The Dirt

Something In the Dirt                                                     2 suns

In this story about paranormal activity, Levi has just moved to a new apartment in the Hollywood Hills where he strikes up an acquaintance with long time resident John. Then the two witness the impossible in Levi’s apartment as objects seem to float in the air and light emanates into the room with no source. The dives into endless tangents involving numerology, the Pythagorean Brotherhood, alien fruit, a perfect ratio and long dead city planners as this weird pair of random dudes try to solve the mysteries of the universe. They come up with the idea of making a documentary about the experiences, but their own incompetence gets in the way. Flash forward scenes with interviews of others linked to the documentary lead us to believe that the plan went awry at some point. This low budget movie was made mainly by three close friends in the apartment owned by one of them. It’s a fairly long movie that just is forever following the rabbit hole. It is silly and in the Q&A we learn that at one point the movie was three and a half hours long. We also learn that Something in the Dirt is the fifth movie created by this group of friends. I will not be seeking out their earlier works.

Piggy

PIGGY                                                   3 suns

Once again we dive into the horror genre, this time to a rural village in Spain with an especially bloody story about a bullied teenager. Sara works in her parent’s butcher shop and happens to be very overweight making her the object of abuse from some of the other girls in the town. After another day of torment, she witnesses a stranger kidnap and beat three of the girls but is frozen in fear as he drives away with them in his van. Instead of saying anything to the police about what she knows she is intrigued by this stranger and tracks him down for reasons she is not sure of. The film is shocking and especially violent with plenty of bloody scenes. It is a cautionary tale of adolescent behavior and the desire to be accepted. This one is not for everybody.

Speak No Evil

Speak No Evil                      3 suns

Sundance always has its share of imaginative horror films so today I took in Speak No Evil. Here a young European filmmaker has conceived a story that starts with a Danish family on vacation in Italy who meet a Dutch couple that they easily make friends with. When the Dutch couple invites them to their home in the Netherlands, they quickly accept bringing their young daughter with them. Then when the hosts start to behave in some odd and eccentric ways such as disrespecting the wife’s dietary restrictions, the visitors do their best to be accepting and maintain politeness. But then as is always the case in horror movies, certain things happen, choices are made and inevitable consequences result. Things do not turn out well for our visitors. If you liked the movie Midsommar from 2019, then Speak No Evil is for you.

Nanny

Nanny                                   4 suns

The winner of the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize was Nanny, a film with supernatural elements that doesn’t quite rise the level of full-blown horror. We meet Aisha, an undocumented immigrant from Senegal, who gets a job as a nanny to a wealthy Manhattan couple taking care of their girl, Rose. Aisha is a mother herself, but has left her young son in the care of a cousin back in Senegal. Her hope is to be able to bring the son to the U.S. to join her one day. However, the situation is less than ideal as her employer’s problems begin to spill over to affect her own life, compounded by a supernatural presence that appears to invade her thoughts and dreams. Hope comes in the form of the grandmother of a man she meets played by Leslie Uggams, whom she can confide in. The film portrays the difficulties faced by immigrants who are parents in the U.S. as well as dealing with issues of mental illness among a population not equipped to handle them. Fortunately, the movie ends with a hopeful note.

The Substance

The Substance  4 ½ stars

For a searing indictment of the obsession with youthful looks and beauty double standard in today’s society combined with some of the grossest scenes Hollywood has produced lately, you can’t miss with The Substance currently in theaters. This science fiction horror film by French director Coralie Fargeat is sure to be remembered by all who see it. (She previously brought us the over-the-top and bloody as hell revenge movie aptly titled Revenge in 2017 that was a condemnation of rich white men who have little regard for women.) In The Substance we first meet Elizabeth Sparkle (a still stunning Demi Moore in one of her finest performances), who rose to stardom in the nineties and now stars on her morning workout show. But the sexist producer, Harvey (Dennis Quaid) wants to dump her and replace her with someone younger and hotter. Elizabeth learns of a black-market treatment called The Substance that claims to create a new, better version of yourself. Who wouldn’t want that? She quickly signs up for it and is directed by a mysterious voice on the phone of how to get it and implement the procedure. In a very long sequence with no dialogue, she carefully does as told, injecting the drug, leading to the resulting division of her body into two, one the new younger version (Margaret Qualley of Drive-Away Dolls) and the other, her original self. Part of the bargain is that Elizabeth must alternate between the two bodies every seven days, using the correct food and stabilizer that are provided. Both bodies are her and she must “respect the balance” as the mysterious voice says. Otherwise, things can get ugly. The young Elizabeth, who goes by Sue lands the part of the new star of the workout show with her youthful body being ogled by older men. Everything seems great, especially when she is offered the opportunity to host a New Year’s Eve show; that is, until Sue takes more than the designated amount of time creating a conflict between the two bodies. As one would predict this leads some very unfortunate consequences for the pair. What follows can best be described as a David Cronenberg horror movie on steroids as the amount of blood and gore reaches new and absurd heights. There is an abundance of closeup shots when things get messy as well as on Dennis Quaid’s face (and his sloppy eating habits) as well as loud sound effects to emphasize how gross it gets. The film certainly gets very self-indulgent, but it delivers on its message of condemning the impossible beauty standards of our society. It reminds us that trying to relive one’s past can only result in disappointment. If you like this movie for its action and blood you should be sure to find Fargeat’s Revenge. You won’t be disappointed.

MaXXXine

MaXXXine           3 ½ stars

In a throwback to slasher flicks of the 1980’s, director Ti West brings us MaXXXine, a story of blood, lust and murder set in 1985 Hollywood. Although there are a few suspects, MaXXXine is not really a murder mystery but a test to see how much blood and brutality the audience can endure. It can also be seen as a portrayal of how cruel the entertainment industry can be to those who seek their fortune there as untold numbers have learned. For the third time West teams up with star Mia Goth, the scream queen of the 21st century. Previously, they made X and Pearl in 2022. Goth plays Maxine Minx, an established porn actress with a very southern accent seeking greater stardom so she auditions for a role in a new film. The film, The Puritan II, seems like the ideal vehicle and the film’s director (Elizabeth Debicki) sees something in Maxine and gives her the role. But in this time of VHS tapes and St. Elmo’s Fire, there is a darkness looming. A serial killer called the Night Stalker has been hunting starlets and the police are nowhere in the search for the killer. There are flashbacks going through Maxine’s mind about killings, so we know she has a dark past. We also can see that she can be a fearsome force such as when she confronts a would-be attacker and bashes his testicles with graphic effect. A few times we catch glimpses of a masked, glove wearing figure wandering the porn parlors. Maxine is confronted by an old gumshoe (Kevin Bacon at his creepiest) who explains that he has a client who is demanding to meet her, but she wants nothing to do with this offer. Shortly, some of her friends in the industry turn up dead with horrible burns in the shape of satanic symbols. Though she is asked by police detectives (Bobby Canavale and Michelle Monaghan) for cooperation in finding the killer, she refuses, opting for protection offered by her agent (Giancarlo Esposito). Like any good slasher movie there must be a final confrontation between the film’s star and the killer where the bodies fall, and body parts get chopped up and bloodied. In this respect MaXXXine delivers very well even though it takes a while to get there. It feels very much like the genre it imitates. Along the way we even get to see some famous movie sets put to good use including a certain iconic sign in the Hollywood Hills.