horror Archives – Page 7 of 26

Review: ‘Some Like It Rare,’ starring Marina Foïs and Fabrice Eboué

October 24, 2022

by Carla Hay

Marina Foïs and Fabrice Eboué in “Some Like It Rare” (Photo courtesy of Brainstorm Media)

Directed by Fabrice Eboué

French with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Melun, France, the horror comedy film “Some Like It Rare” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people and people of Middle Eastern heritage) representing the middle-class and working-class.

Culture Clash: After a married couple’s butcher shop is vanadalized by vegan animal-rights activists, the spouses get revenge by becoming cannibal serial killers who mostly target vegans.

Culture Audience: “Some Lke It Rare” will appeal mainly to people who are interested in watching dark horror comedies that are satires of social issues.

Fabrice Eboué, Marina Foïs and Tom Pezier in “Some Like It Rare” (Photo courtesy of Brainstorm Media)

“Some Like It Rare” is a brutally funny satire that lampoons the cultural divide between meat consumers and vegans. A horror comedy about cannibal serial killers could have been mishandled, but “Some Like It Rare” is a skillful balance of macabre and mirth. It goes without saying that viewers who get easily squeamish by cannibal horror should use their own discretion on whether or not to watch “Some Like It Rare,” because this movie has some very bloody and graphic scenes that are not for overly sensitive viewers.

“Some Like It Rare” is a memorable showcase for the talent of Fabrice Eboué, who directed the movie and is one of the co-writers and main stars. Eboué co-wrote the film with Vincent Solignac, who is a fellow prolific actor/screenwriter. Through its very dark comedy, “Some Like It Rare” has incisive observations about how different perceptions of what type of life is valued the most can affect the way that people treat each other and also perceive themselves. “Some Like It Rare” can occasionally get very repetitive, but the story moves along at a pace that should keep viewers interested.

In “Some Like It Rare” (which takes place in Melun, France), Eboué portrays Vincent Pascal, a mild-mannered butcher who co-owns and co-operates a butcher shop called Boucherie Pascal with his wife Sophie Pascal (played by Marina Foïs), who is much more assertive and outspoken than Vincent. (“Some Like It Rare” was actually filmed in Le Havre, France.) Vincent and Sophie have hit a rough patch in their marriage, where their sex life has become non-existent. Adding to this tension, their butcher shop is financially struggling.

Sophie isn’t shy about expressing how unhappy she is in the marriage. She complains to Vincent that he gives more attention to their shop’s meat and to their pit bull Chubster than he gives to her. Sophie tells Vincent one day that she thinks that they should separate. He doesn’t put up much resistance to this idea. However, before Vincent and Sophie actually go through with the separation, something happens that will change their lives forever.

One day, a group of four people wearing masks and white jumpsuits storm into Boucherie Pascal, splash red paint all over the shop, and yell at Vincent and Sophie for being murderers for selling meat. Vincent chases them out of the store and gets into a tussle with a few of them. One of the men’s masks comes off, so Vincent is able to see his face. Before running away and getting into their van, one of the men in this group of vandals yells, “Vegan Power!” It’s another obvious indication that these are extreme vegan activists.

Vincent and Sophie don’t report this crime to police. Later, Sophie and Vincent have dinner at the home of their best friends Marc Brachard (played by Jean-François Cayrey) and Stéphanie Brachard (played by Virginie Hocq), a materialistic and pretentious couple who love to brag about how they’re doing financially better than Vincent and Sophie. Marc and Stéphanie are also in the meat-selling business, but they have a number of profitable shops, compared to Vincent and Sophie, who are barely surviving financially with their one shop.

Sophie confides in Stéphanie that a bank recently turned down Vincent and Sophie’s request for a loan. It’s just one more reason for arrogant Marc and Stéphanie to have the dinner conversation revolve around Marc and Stéphanie yammering on about their recent luxury vacations, their six-figure household income, and how they’re thinking about buying a home in Morocco. During this dinner, Marc gives a rifle to Vincent as a gift, but Vincent is reluctant to take the rifle, since he doesn’t have a gun permit. Marc makes derogatory comments about black people and hipster vegans, and then he tries to show that he’s macho by taking the rifle and shooting an inflatable toy duck in the swimming pool.

While driving home from this emotionally draining dinner party, Vincent and Sophie are on a deserted road when the car accidentally hits a man (played by Alexis Pujol), who suddenly appeared in front of their car. He is instantly killed. And when Vincent and Sophie get out of the car, they see that the man they hit is wearing the same white jumpsuit as one of the vandals who invaded the store. Vincent instantly recognizes him as the man whose mask came off.

Vincent’s guilt about this accident quickly turns to smugness. Vincent quips about the man dying instantly: “If he had eaten meat, he might have been tougher.” Sophie is a true-crime aficionado who knows a lot of trivia about serial killers. She suggests to Vincent that they not report the crime, dismember the body, and let the police think that this death was caused by a serial killer name Michel Francois, a city hall worker who is known for dismembering his victims and leaving the body parts around the city. It’s a shaky plan at best, but Vincent goes along with it.

After the body is dismembered, Vincent and Sophie get rid of the body parts by secretly grinding them up and selling these remains in the butcher shop as “Iranian pork.” When customers ask where Sophie and Vincent get this “Iranian pork,” Sophie and Vincent say that their supplier is a farmer whose identity they want to keep a secret because they don’t want their competition to find out. The “Iranian pork” becomes a big hit in the community, and the butcher shop starts to thrive financially.

But it results in Vincent and Sophie needing to get more of this “special meat,” which they try for themselves and find out that they actually like to eat human flesh. And so, their serial killing begins, as Vincent and Sophie decide to target vegans (especially vegans who come across as self-righteous and preachy) as their murder victims. Vincent (using the rifle that Marc gave him and meat cleavers) does the actual killing, while Sophie eggs him on and is usually the one who decides who the next victim will be. During this murder spree, Vincent and Sophie sometimes pretend to be vegan activists to infiltrate the places where vegan activists congregate.

Around the same time that Vincent and Sophie begin their secret lives as cannibal serial killers, their teenage daughter Chloé Pascal (played by Lisa Do Couto Texeira), a college student who doesn’t live in the same household, introduces her new boyfriend to her parents. He’s an agronomy student named Lucas (played by Victor Meutelet), who is a very strict vegan. Chloé announces to her parents that she’s now become a vegan too. Vincent and Sophie meet Lucas for the very first time in a comical scene where Lucas is invited over for dinner in the Pascal home, but he rejects every dinner item that is served because it violates his vegan standards.

Over time, Vincent and Sophie’s shared bonding about their secret life puts the spark back in their marriage, and their sex life is revived. Vincent and Sophie call off their planned separation and decide to stay together. But at what cost? Vincent is alarmed to find out how far Sophie is willing to go to get “fresh meat.”

For example, Sophie has no problem with wanting to murder women and children, but Vincent is initially appalled by this idea. Sophie is also more cold-hearted when it comes to the mostly male victims whom they choose to kill. For example, Vincent and Sophie target an overweight man named Winnie (played by Tom Pezier), but Vincent hesitates to kill him when Winnie says he was bullied as a child as he begs for his life. Sophie is unmoved by this childhood sob story, and Winnie becomes one of the couple’s murder victims.

“Some Like It Rare” makes a lot of obvious comparisons between what Vincent and Sophie do to what human hunters do when they hunt for animal meat. The movie also has an intentionally ironic montage sequence that juxtaposes archival footage of wild animals killing and eating other wild animals with footage of the murderous activities of Vincent and Sophie. As time goes on, Sophie gets more fanatical during the murder spree, but the story won’t necessarily go in the direction that some viewers might think it will go. Real-life French TV host Christophe Hondelatte plays a version of himself, as a TV host of a true-crime news show that talks about a lot of the serial killers who fascinate Sophie.

As this serial-killing couple, Eboué and Foïs show a talented ability to bring the right tone to this very dark parody that walks a fine line between being clever and being crass. Beyond the murder aspect of the story, “Some Like It Rare” also explores what greed and financial desperation can do to people. And although Vincent and Sophie are equally guilty of these murders, there’s a point in the movie where it becomes evident that their loyalty to each other will eventually be tested in a big way.

“Some Like It Rare” doesn’t take a stance either way in support of meat eating or veganism. Rather, it shows that people are capable of extreme ways of defending their choices of what to eat and drink, as well as how to possibly profit from those choices. “Some Like It Rare” poses these provocative questions that can cause debate: “What kind of vegan or vegetarian thinks it’s okay to commit violence against humans in the name of animal rights? Why do meat eaters consider certain animals as acceptable to eat and not other animals?” The answers, just like who might enjoy watching “Some Like It Rare,” really depends on the individual person.

Brainstorm Media released “Some Like It Rare” in select U.S. cinemas on October 7, 2022. The movie was released on digital and VOD on October 14, 2022. “Some Like It Rare,” originally titled “Barbaque” (French for “barbeque”), was released in France in 2021.

Review: ‘Significant Other’ (2022), starring Maika Monroe and Jake Lacy

October 17, 2022

by Carla Hay

Maika Monroe and Jack Lacy in “Significant Other” (Photo courtesy of Paramount+)

“Significant Other” (2022)

Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed part of the Pacific Northwest, the horror film “Significant Other” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with one Asian person) representing the middle-class.

Culture Clash: A dating couple travel to an isolated wooded area for backpack hiking and camping, but they encounter something sinister that changes their lives forever.

Culture Audience: “Significant Other” will appeal mainly to people who don’t mind watching unimaginative and slow-paced horror movies.

Matt Yang King and Dana Green in “Significant Other” (Photo by Allyson Riggs/Paramount+)

“Significant Other” blandly rips off plot developments from other movies about terror in a remote wooded area and sci-fi body horror. The acting is unremarkable. Everything in the movie looks like a lazy imitation of other films with the same ideas. The ending of the movie is so sloppily edited and underwhelming, it looks like the filmmakers ran out of ideas.

Written and directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, “Significant Other” was shown as a sneak preview at the 2022 edition of New York Comic Con in New York City. One of the movie’s biggest flaws is that it takes too long to get to any real horror. And even then, that horror is mind-numbingly predictable. It’s yet another horror flick about people stranded in a wooded area where something dangerous is about to happen.

“Significant Other” has a very small number of people in its cast. The two characters with most of the screen time in “Significant Other” are a couple who’ve been dating each other for the past six years. Unfortunately, because so much of the movie revolves around just this dreadfully dull couple, the movie gets bogged down in a lot of wishy-wishy drama about how these two people handle their relationship.

Ruth Miller (played by Maika Monroe) and her boyfriend Harry (played by Jake Lacy) have driven to this wooded area somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, for what Harry hopes will be a romantic getaway of backpack hiking and camping. (“Significant Other” was actually filmed in Oregon.) Ruth is reluctant to go on this trip because she says these activities make her nervous. Therefore, Ruth is already in a bad mood when they begin their trip.

Harry assures Ruth about the trail they’ll be taking on their hike: “This is the fourth time I’ve done this trail. There’s nothing scary about it.” He also comments to Ruth, who loves to surf, how he thinks it’s interesting that hiking makes her more frightened than surfing. Ruth says she’s comfortable with surfing because she grew up around the ocean. It’s at this point in the movie that you know there’s going to be a scene in the movie where Ruth’s swimming skills will come in handy.

Some more low-key bickering happens between Harry and Ruth. Unbeknownst to Ruth, he plans to propose marriage and give her an engagement ring on this trip. The problem is that Ruth is very cynical about marriage. As she says later in the movie, after Harry proposes, “All that marriage does is lock you in, and you lose control of your life.” Stung by this rejection, Harry tells Ruth that she’s probably afraid of marriage because she’s still bitter about her parents’ divorce.

The couple’s bickering turns into a full-blown argument. Ruth’s mental health issues (she has panic attacks) and her therapy treatment are discussed at length. Harry often has a condescending tone with Ruth about her psychological fragility, which makes him look like not quite the nice guy he first appeared to be in the beginning of the movie. Ruth (who does a lot of pouting and vacant staring) isn’t exactly easy to deal with though, because she’s very neurotic and moody.

Meanwhile, during all these time-wasting scenes, viewers will be wondering if “Significant Other” is a horror movie or a very boring relationship drama. Will Harry and Ruth resolve their differences? Will Ruth change her mind about marrying Harry? Will anyone watching this movie really care? “Significant Other” makes this couple’s relationship so lackluster, the answer is a resounding “no” to the last question.

There’s a little bit of a foreshadowing of the horror that might happen later, when a deer is shown in the woods getting attacked from behind by something that has a tentacle. And then, there are repetitive scenes of Ruth becoming afraid because she thinks she saw a deer in the woods. Harry reassures her every time that there’s no reason for her to be frightened.

In the last third of the movie, Harry and Ruth meet another couple hiking in the woods: spouses Ray (played by Matthew Yang King) and Vivian (played by Dana Green), who encounter Harry and Ruth under some very stressful circumstances. The horror in the movie comes too little, too late. And by the time the big “reveal” happens, it’s all very unimaginative and looks like an inferior patchwork of sci-fi horror clichés that have been done much better in many other movies.

Paramount+ premiered “Significant Other” on October 7, 2022.

Review: ‘Halloween Ends,’ starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Will Patton, Rohan Campbell and Kyle Richards

October 15, 2022

by Carla Hay

“Halloween Ends”

Directed by David Gordon Green

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2019 and 2022, in the fictional Haddonfield, Illinois, the horror flick “Halloween Ends” has a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Serial killer Michael Myers is on the loose again and will murder anyone who gets in his way.

Culture Audience: “Halloween Ends” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the “Halloween” movie franchise and star Jamie Lee Curtis, but anyone who sees this movie should brace themselves for a disappointing bore that fails in suspense and storytelling.

Andi Matichak and Rohan Campbell in “Halloween Ends” (Photo by Ryan Green/Universal Pictures)

There’s no other way to put it: “Halloween Ends” is a cesspool of bad filmmaking decisions. By now, most horror fans know that the “Halloween” move franchise (which began with 1978’s “Halloween,” directed by John Carpenter) follows the seemingly endless saga of masked serial killer Michael Myers (also known as The Shape), who somehow manages to survive after being shot, stabbed, beaten, and set on fire. Because indestructible Michael Myers has unrealistically escaped death so many times, the “Halloween” franchise now implies that he’s not completely human and there’s something supernatural about him.

In the first “Halloween” movie, Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), who was a high school student at the time, was a survivor of his Halloween night massacre in the fictional Haddonfield, Illinois. Laurie and some of her teenage peers were babysitting on that deadly night. The Laurie Strode character has appeared off and on in “Halloween” movies ever since, with all reboots and sequels failing to live up to the groundbreaking and terrifying original “Halloween” movie.

“Halloween Ends” has been described as the third movie in a “Halloween” trilogy directed by David Gordon Green, beginning with the 2018 “Halloween” reboot and continuing wth 2021’s “Halloween Kills.” The 2018 reboot of “Halloween” was good enough to show there was potential to restore the “Halloween” franchise back to being critically acclaimed horror instead of the mindless schlockfest that the franchise turned out to be. “Halloween Kills” foreshadowed that the quality of the franchise was sliding back into idiotic territory. “Halloween Ends” is the proverbial nail in the coffin that solidifies the unfortunate pattern of filmmakers ruining the “Halloween” franchise with mind-numbing and silly stories.

“Halloween Ends” was written by Green, Paul Brad Logan, Chris Bernier and Danny McBride. (It’s usually not a good sign when a movie has at least four credited screenwriters, because the screenplay usually ends up having “too many cooks in the kitchen” syndrome.) How bad is “Halloween Ends”? Michael Myers’ killing spree doesn’t begin until nearly one hour into this horrific misfire. There’s not enough Laurie Strode and too much of a dull romance between Laurie’s granddaughter and an accused killer.

The movie begins on Halloween night in Haddonfield in 2019. A 21-year-old college student named Corey Cunningham (played by Rohan Campbell) has been hired to babysit a boy named Jeremy Allen (played by Jaxon Goldenberg), who’s about 9 or 10 years old. Jeremy’s parents (played by Candice Rose and Jack William Marshall), who don’t have first names in the movie, are going out for the night to a Halloween costume party. Corey is nerdy and socially awkward, but he’s also very responsible and has plans to go to graduate school.

Before the parents leave for the party, Mrs. Allen tells Corey that ever since the Michael Myers massacre that took place during Halloween the previous year (as shown in “Halloween Kills”), Jeremy has been very fearful, he’s been wetting his bed, and he’s been hearing voices. Corey tells her that’s a normal reaction that a lot of kids would have. What Corey also finds out is that Jeremy is a little bit of a spoiled brat who likes to get his own way.

Jeremy insists on watching a horror movie on TV with Corey. When the violence in the horror movie gets too intense, Corey decides that they should stop watching the horror movie, which he thinks isn’t appropriate viewing for a child of Jeremy’s age. Jeremy wants to keep watching the horror movie though and says he’s not afraid of the horror movie or Michael Myers.

Jeremy smirks to Corey: “Michael Myers kills babysitters, not kids.” (Apparently, Jeremy never heard what Michael Myers did in 2018’s “Halloween,” where a pre-teen child became a Michael Myers murder victim.) Jeremy puts up a little bit of fuss for Corey telling Jeremy what they can and can’t watch on TV.

The next thing Corey knows, Jeremy goes missing in the house, but Corey can hear Jeremy’s voice taunting him and laughing at him in the distance. Some sloppy film editing then shows Corey locked in an upstairs closet by Jeremy, who is standing nearby in the hallway but who refuses Corey’s demands to unlock the closet door. Corey kicks his way out of the closet with such force, it knocks Jeremy over the stairwell, with Jeremy falling to an instant death on the floor of the house’s foyer.

And what a coincidence: Jeremy’s parents come home just seconds after Jeremy’s fatal fall. When they open the front door, Jeremy’s bloodied and broken body is right in front of them. Jeremy’s mother wails and screams at this gruesome sight. Jeremy’s parents immediately think that Corey killed Jeremy on purpose. A panicked and remorseful Corey is arrested and proclaims that Jeremy’s death was an accident.

“Halloween Ends” then flashes forward to 2022. Laurie now owns a house in Haddonfield, where she lives with her granddaughter Allyson (played by Andi Matichak), who is Laurie’s only grandchild. “Halloween Kills” showed what happened to Allyson’s divorced mother Karen (played by Judy Greer), who was Laurie’s only child. What happened to Karen is also mentioned at the beginning of “Halloween Ends.” Laurie, who is now apparently working on a memoir, is shown in various “Halloween Ends” scenes typing on her laptop computer and reading parts of her memoir in ominous voiceovers.

Laurie says that that she bought the house as “a place to live with love and trust—not a trap, not a place to hide.” Allyson, who is in her mid-20s, works as a nurse at a local hospital. Laurie seems to be at peace with her past and is no longer hiding from Michael Myers. But there would be no “Halloween Ends” movie if Michael Myers (played by James Jude Courtney) were completely out of of Laurie’s life. It’s later revealed in “Halloween Ends” where Michael has been hiding in Haddonfield.

Meanwhile, Corey has had a rough time in Haddonfield because he’s a social outcast who is still thought of as a child killer by many members of the community. Although it’s not shown in the movie, it’s mentioned that Corey went on trial for Jeremy’s death and was found not guilty. Corey’s reputation was ruined anyway.

Corey currently lives with his parents and works as a mechanic in his father’s mechanic shop. Corey’s father Ronald (played by Rick Moose) is easygoing and compassionate, while Corey’s mother Joan (played by Joanne Baron) is domineering and impatient. Both parents firmly believe in Corey’s innocence.

One day, Corey is standing outside a local convenience store, when four teenagers approach him to ask him to buy them some beer. The names of the teenagers are Terry (played by Michael Barbieri), Stacy (played by Destiny Mone), Billy (played by Marteen) and Margo (played by Joey Harris). Terry is the leader of these teenage troublemakers.

When Corey declines the teens’ request to buy alcohol for them, they begin to insult Corey by calling him names such as “psycho babysitter.” Laurie happens to arrive outside and sees this bullying. The teens then begin to taunt Corey and Laurie, by calling them “the psycho and the freak show.”

Corey is holding a glass bottle of chocolate milk, and he gets so angry that he squeezes the glass bottle until it breaks, thereby injuring his hand. The teens just laugh and go into the grocery store. Laurie then takes out a knife and asks Corey if he or she should use the knife to slash a tire of the car that the teens used to get there. Corey then takes the knife and does the tire slashing.

Laurie insists that Corey go to the local hospital, where Corey happens to get medical treatment from Allyson. There’s an immediate attraction between Corey and Allyson, but Corey is too shy to act on it. Corey mentions that he’s a mechanic at the local mechanic shop, and he recently got a used motorcylce, given to him by his father. Allyson uses this information as an excuse to visit Corey at his job so that he can give her lessons on how to ride a motorcycle.

And so begins the most tedious part of “Halloween Ends”: the courtship of Corey and Allyson. This limp romance drags down the movie to the point where viewers will be wondering where Michael Myers and Laurie are. The misleading marketing for “Halloween Ends” makes it look like Laurie and Michael Myers are in most of the movie, but “Halloween Ends” actually takes a long and unwelcome detour into Corey’s world.

Allyson’s estranged father happens to be a Haddonfield cop named Officer Mulaney (played by Jesse C. Boyd), who acts like a stalker by showing up in the same places where Allyson is, and complaining that she never contacts him or returns his messages. Allyson is never happy to see him. Needless to say, Officer Mulaney (who has no first name in the movie) disapproves of Allyson dating Corey.

Laurie keeps an open mind about Corey, because she knows what it’s like to be misjudged. Some people in Haddonfield blame Laurie for causing Michael Myers to come back. There’s a scene where a wheelchair-using, mute, middle-aged woman named Sondra (played by Diva Tyler) and Sondra’s sister (played by Leila Wilson) happen to be in the same store parking lot as Laurie. Sondra’s sister angrily confronts Laurie and says that Sondra is “damaged” because of Michael Myers, and the sister berates Laurie for tempting Michael Myers back to Haddonfield.

As the romance between Corey and Allyson begins to blossom, there are hints that Laurie’s love life could also be heating up. In “Halloween Kills,” it was revealed that a Haddonfield cop named Frank Hawkins (played by Will Patton) was a young rookie on duty during the 1978 Halloween night when Michael Myers went on his massacre. Frank, who’s supposed to be about four or five years older than Laurie, has had a crush on Laurie ever since. In “Halloween Kills,” Frank and Laurie ended up in the same hospital room together, where they discovered their mutual attraction to each other.

Frank is still interested in dating Laurie, but she’s been more hesitant about getting into a romantic relationship with anyone. And so, for much of Laurie’s screen time, Frank is sometimes hanging around like a lovesick puppy who wants some sign of affection from Laurie. Is this a romantic drama or a horror movie?

Because “Halloween Ends” veers so far into being a romantic drama for much of the movie’s scenes, the tone of the movie is very disjointed and awkward. “Halloween Kills” character Lindsey Wallace (played by Kyle Richards), a survivor of Michael Myers’ 1978 massacre, returns in “Halloween Ends” as a good friend of Laurie’s. In “Halloween Ends,” Lindsey is a totally useless character who just stands around and looks sympathetic to Laurie. “Halloween Ends” gives Lindsey no character development or further insight into Lindsey’s life. Sheriff Barker (played by Omar J. Dorsey) from “Halloween Kills” also returns for a smaller role in “Halloween Ends.”

“Halloween Ends” has a yammering radio DJ character named Willy the Kid (played by Keraun Harris), from a local radio station called WURG “The Urge,” and his annoying voiceovers pepper some of the scenes with commentary about the legend of Michael Myers. As soon as this radio DJ character’s voice keeps showing up in the movie, you just know that sooner or later, Willy the Kid will be seen in person, and his fate is easily predicted. There’s also an unnamed, elderly homeless man (played by Blaque Fowler) who lives near some abandoned tunnels in Haddonfield. His purpose in the movie is also very obvious.

Because “Halloween Ends” takes so long for Michael Myers to actually appear, some viewers might be wondering during the first half of the movie if this is a “Halloween” movie spinoff, not a “Halloween” movie sequel. Curtis makes an effort to bring some gravitas and emotional resonance to her role. However, the rest of the cast members’ performances in the movie are mediocre and unremarkable. The scenes of Michael Myers on a killing spree have a “been there, done that” formulaic quality that look like tired retreads of previous “Halloween” movies.

Note to filmmakers of future “Halloween” movies: People want to see a “Halloween” movie to have mostly Michael Myers horror scenes, not lukewarm romance scenes that take up too much of the story and look like something from a bland soap opera. That’s why “Halloween Ends” not only fails to live up to the hype but it’s also a horror movie that lacks edge, originality and truly terror-inducing scenes. In other words, “Halloween Ends” is a ripoff and a complete waste of time.

Universal Pictures released “Halloween Ends” in U.S. cinemas and on Peacock on October 14, 2022.

Review: ‘Enys Men,’ starring Mary Woodvine

October 1, 2022

by Carla Hay

“Enys Men”

Directed by Mark Jenkin

Culture Representation: Taking place in 1973, off the coast of Cornwall, England, the horror movie “Enys Men” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A volunteer researcher goes through mysterious rituals while studying a group of wildflowers, as nightmarish visions from the past seem to haunt her.

Culture Audience: “Enys Men” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching artsy and enigmatic horror movies where the movie’s plot is a mystery for viewers to solve.

Steeped in 1970s cinema nostalgia, “Enys Men” is a unique horror movie that’s presented as a puzzle for viewers to figure out on their own. People who want a straightforward horror story will be disappointed. Viewers who like mysteries will be challenged. It’s a movie that looks deceptively disjointed, but it actually requires complete attention from viewers, in order for the clues to tie everything together as the story goes along.

Written and directed by Mark Jenkin, “Enys Men’ reunites Jenkin with Mary Woodvine and Edward Rowe, who also co-starred in Jenkin’s BAFTA-winning 2019 drama “Bait.” In “Bait,” Rowe played the role of the movie’s protagonist. In “Enys Men,” Woodvine is the movie’s central character. “Enys Men” had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in France and its North American premiere at the 2022 New York Film Festival in New York City.

Jenkin is also the cinematographer and editor of “Enys Men.” He used 16mm film to make the movie look like it was actually filmed in 1973. In this strange story, where all of the characters do not have names, Woodvine plays a character listed in the end credits as The Volunteer. She is woman in her 50s, living by herself in a remote cottage located off of the coast of Cornwall, England.

The movie, which takes place from April to May 1973, shows that The Volunteer has a journal, where she’s been keeping a daily record of what she is there to observe. In each journal entry, she notes the outdoor temperature, which ranges from 14.2 to 14.5 degrees Celsius, which is about 57 degrees Fahrenheit. However, what she’s really observing is a group of wildflowers growing on a cliffside near the cottage.

Up until a certain point in the movie, her journal entries note “No change in temperature” next to each listed temperature, even though the temperature does slightly change during the course of the month. The Volunteer also wears the same clothes every day: a red wind jacket, a beige sweater, blue jeans and hiking shoes. She usually walks on the same path every day to get to the flowers on the cliffs.

Every day, she also goes through a ritual of dropping a rock into a nearby well. The water in the well can be heard when the rock splashes into it. The Volunteer has a CB radio, which she uses to communicate with unnamed people and where she also receives messages. early on in the movie, The Volunteer gets a message from a man on the radio. He tells her that he’ll be there before the end of the week. She gives a small smile in response.

Throughout “Enys Men,” there are visions of other people who disrupt The Volunteer’s daily routine. The movie plays guessing games with viewers over whether not these people are ghosts or are hallucinations from The Volunteer. Look beneath the surface, and the story can eventually be pieced together.

A teenage girl (played by Flo Crowe), who’s listed in the movie’s end credits as The Girl, keeps appearing. The Volunteer sometimes sees this girl, who does not speak. A major clue about who this girl is revealed later in the story. Hint: It has to do with a diagonal scar across her abdomen and how she got the scar.

Meanwhile, The Volunteer tells The Girl: “Please don’t climb up there. I don’t want to keep telling you, but I have to.” The Girl seems to have psychic abilities because she knows in advance what The Volunteer is saying and ends up repeating the same words simultaneously.

The Volunteer also encounters a character listed in the end credits as The Boatman (played by Rowe), who visits The Volunteer and seems to have a romantic interest in her. (There’s a brief scene of The Volunteer and The Boatman having sex up against a wall.) At one point, The Boatman sees a wildflower in a drinking glass of water on a table in the cottage. The Boatman tells The Volunteer, “I thought you weren’t supposed to pick them.” She answers, “I’m not. I’m not here on my own.”

In a nearby chapel, The Volunteer sees a dedication plaque listing the names of the seven men who were lost at sea on a lifeboat in May 1897. And when seven men in identical hooded fisherman’s outfits suddenly appear on the cliffs, it’s easy to deduce who they are. But what exactly are they doing there?

“Enys Men” has several references to lichen, a plant-like organism that has symbiotic association with algae or cyanobacteria. It’s another big clue that makes sense when certain visuals are presented in the movie. A scene with a preacher (played by John Woodvine, Mary Woodvine’s real-life father) in the chapel is a pivotal moment.

“Enys Men” is not supposed to be a showcase for memorable conversations, since most of the movie shows The Volunteer by herself, and the movie intentionally wants viewers to feel a sense of foreboding isolation in a remote area that The Volunteer eventually feels. Because there isn’t a lot of dialogue in “Enys Men,” viewers have to carefully observe the actions of the movie’s characters. It’s also a slow-paced movie that doesn’t have a lot of jump scares but is more of a psychological mystery.

“Enys Men” has some haunting images that will either intrigue or frustrate viewers (or maybe do both), because this movie does not present easy answers about the story’s narrative and what it all means. It might seem chaotic and confusing, but there’s a method to the madness. The purpose of “Enys Men” becomes clear to viewers who have the patience to pay attention and deduce what this movie is trying to say about human beings’ connection to nature.

UPDATE: Neon will release “Enys Men” in select U.S. cinemas on March 31, 2023. The movie was released in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2023.

Review: ‘Smile’ (2022), starring Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Robin Weigert, Caitlin Stasey, Kal Penn and Rob Morgan

September 30, 2022

by Carla Hay

Sosie Bacon and Jack Sochet in “Smile” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

“Smile” (2022)

Directed by Parker Finn

Culture Representation: Taking place in New Jersey and briefly in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the horror film “Smile” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans, Asians and Latinos) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A clinical psychiatrist witnesses a patient commit suicide after the patient claims to be stalked by an evil entity, and then the psychiatrist begins to believe that this evil entity is now stalking her and is trying to kill her.

Culture Audience: “Smile” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of terrifying horror movies about supernatural evil and about how trauma can haunt people.

Sosie Bacon and Jessie T. Usher in “Smile” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

“Smile” doesn’t reinvent the horror genre, but it has the type of suspense and gore that will get viewers to jump and squirm in their seats and possibly have some nightmares. This well-crafted story is the start of an obvious franchise. Unfortunately, there is a very real possibility that “Smile” could turn into franchise like the “Saw” horror movie series, which overstayed its welcome and failed to maintain the quality of the first movie in the series. If the inevitable “Smile” sequels turn out to be mindless trash dumps, at least people can still enjoy the first “Smile” movie as an example of a horror movie done right.

“Smile” (the feature-film debut of writer/director Parker Finn) takes a simple concept and turns it into a tension-filled thriller that has more going on than just a series of gruesome deaths. There’s also a bona fide mystery-solving aspect to the story that will hold viewers’ interest. “Smile” doesn’t waste time getting to the bloody horror, because the first death happens in the first 10 minutes of the movie.

“Smile” begins by showing protagonist Dr. Rose Cotter (played by Sosie Bacon) at her job as a clinical psychiatrist at Mount Pleasant Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. (The movie was filmed on location in New Jersey.) Rose thinks of herself as a calm and analytical professional who can handle almost anything that comes her way. Her life is about to be turned upside down with the arrival of a patient who ends up killing herself in front of Rose.

Before that patient arrives at the hospital, the movie shows that Rose is the type of medical professional who is compassionate to people who don’t have health insurance. She gets called into the office of her immediate supervisor, Dr. Morgan Desai (played by Kal Penn), who mildly reprimands her for not giving him advance notice about Rose treating a patient who has no health insurance and who has a history of mania and drug abuse. Rose lets Dr. Desai know that she’s annoyed by the corporate, profit-oriented way of treating patients. She believes that giving people the best health care possible should be more important than whether or not people can afford to pay for treatment through health insurance.

One of Rose’s current patients is a man named Carl Renken (played by Jack Sochet), who keeps repeating things out loud such as, “Mom’s going to die. I’m going to die. We’re all going to die.” Carl seems to be living in his own world that’s removed from reality, because he doesn’t communicate much except to make these ominous death statements. Rose has diagnosed Carl with having “manic episodes.”

Rose is soon called to attend to a graduate student named Laura Weaver (played by Caitlin Stasey), who appears to be having a psychotic break with reality. Laura has been brought to the hospital for the first time for a psychiatric evaluation. Laura is fully conscious, but she’s rambling about how she’s being stalked by something that wants to kill her. Before Rose sees Laura in an observation room, Rose is quickly told that just a week before, Laura experienced the trauma of witnessing her art history professor Gabriel Muñoz bludgeoning himself to death with a hammer.

Rose and Laura are alone together in an observation room, where Rose interviews Laura for an evaluation. Laura says to Rose, “I’m a Ph.D. candidate. I’m not some lunatic.” Laura then tells Rose with fear in her voice: “I’m seeing something—something that no one else can see. It looks like different people.” Laura then describes that this “something” disguises itself as people she knows and people who are total strangers.

“It wears people’s faces likes masks,” Laura continues. And how does Laura know she’s in the presence of this indescribable entity? Laura says that this “something” makes itself known when Laura sees it in the form of a person who has a very menacing and creepy smile on that person’s face.

Suddenly, Laura screams out in terror and acts as if an unseen entity is attacking her. Laura writhes around on the floor and continues screaming, as if she’s fighting for her life against something that Rose can’t see. Some glass in the room gets broken during the process. Rose quickly goes to use a phone on the wall to call for emergency backup.

In order to use the phone, Rose had to temporarily turn her back to Laura. When Rose turns around, she sees Laura, who is now silent, standing up with an eerie smile on her face. And without saying a word, Laura uses the glass to fatally slit her throat in front of Rose.

The two police officers who arrive at the hospital to investigate are Detective Buckley (played by Perry Strong) and a guy named Joel (played by Kyle Gallner), who happens to be an ex-boyfriend of Rose. Detective Buckley, who is the older and more jaded cop partner, uses a lot of insensitive language to describe mentally ill people. Joel, who is the junior partner, asks some questions, but he lets Detective Buckley take the lead in the interviewing.

After this rough day, Rose goes home to try and relax. She lives alone and has a male cat named Moustache, who is friendly and adorable. It’s later revealed that Rose been working 60-hour weeks for the past several weeks, with no vacation time off. It’s why, when she starts to have her own mental unraveling, her boss thinks it’s the direct result of Rose being overworked.

Rose is so on edge when she gets home, she startled when her loving and supportive fiancé Trevor (played by Jessie T. Usher) shows up. She tells him about losing a patient that day, but she doesn’t go into the gory details. Trevor hugs and comforts her and asks her if there’s anything he can do. She says his hug is a good start.

Over time, viewers see that Rose has a pattern of trying to hide any pain or trauma that she might be feeling, which is why she doesn’t tell Trevor everything right away about the circumstances under which Laura died during Rose’s brief encounter with Laura. Rose’s workaholic ways and wanting to project an image of being a strong, independent woman eventually take their toll on her mental health when she begins to believe that something evil is trying to kill her.

If “Smile” has any big flaws, it’s the over-used horror cliché of “the woman who is not believed and labeled as mentally ill.” That’s essentially what goes on during the last half of “Smile,” as Rose becomes more and more convinced that she will be soon murdered by an evil entity that other people can’t see. However, some things happen along the way that make it look like Rose is the one who’s dangerous. Rose eventually has to get psychiatric help and starts seeing a therapist named Dr. Madeline Northcott (played by Robin Weigert), who tries to remain neutral, but Dr. Northcott also begins to question Rose’s sanity.

One of the best things about “Smile” is that it doesn’t make Rose a hollow character who just has nightmares or runs around looking terrified. Rose has an entire backstory that is eventually revealed. Without giving away too much information, it’s enough to say that Rose is still reeling from the trauma of her single mother committing suicide when Rose was 10 years old.

Rose has an older sister named Holly (played by Gillian Zinser), who was an adult who had already moved out of the family home when their mother killed herself. Holly, who still lives in New Jersey, is now a wife, homemaker and the mother of a son named Jackson (played by Matthew Lamb), who turns 7 years old during the course of the story. Holly is a domineering spouse to her husband Greg (played by Nick Arapoglou), who is as materialistic as Holly is.

For example, Greg and Holly don’t understand why Rose won’t take their advice to open up a private practice so that Rose can get a much higher salary than what she makes at the hospital. During a dinner that Rose and Trevor have with Holly and Greg at a restaurant, Greg tells Rose that the main reason to become a doctor should be to get rich. Trevor defends Rose by saying that Rose isn’t a doctor for the money and that she loves being a doctor so much, she would be a doctor for free.

A more emotional and touchier subject with this family is that Holly and Greg disagree with Rose about what to do with the property that has the run-down and abandoned house where Rose and Holly used to live as children. Rose apparently co-owns the property with Holly, but Rose refuses to sign off on selling the house, or tearing down the house and selling the land. And as soon as it’s mentioned that there’s a run-down and abandoned house in a horror movie, you just know that there’s going to be at least one scene that takes place in that run-down and abandoned house.

Meanwhile, viewers find out that Joel isn’t completely over Rose, who broke up with him in a period of time that is not specified in the movie. Joel already knows that Rose is engaged to another man. However, Joel appears to still be in love with Rose, which explains why he shows up unannounced at the hospital the day after Laura’s suicide, to check in on Rose and ask her how she’s doing.

At first, Rose gives Joel a polite but firm brushoff. But later, when strange and disturbing things start happening to Rose, she asks for Joel’s help in investigating what Laura told Rose before Laura committed suicide. Joel agrees to help Rose in his off-duty time. Professor Gabriel Muñoz’s widow Victoria Muñoz (played by Judy Reyes) and a prisoner named Robert Talley (played by Rob Morgan) offer some big clues along the way in this investigation.

“Smile” has many talented cast members, but Bacon is the obvious standout in her portrayal of Rose, a character that has to carry the movie with a variety of believable emotions and various stages of terror. Writer/director Finn brings a foreboding tone and pace to “Smile” that doesn’t ease up on any of the tension. And thankfully, the movie sticks to an uncomplicated concept that doesn’t get distracted or cluttered by too many characters and subplots. The movie also injects some comic relief in a few scenes, mostly coming from Joel’s comments.

But make no mistake: “Smile” is a movie that is definitely not for very young children or people who are easily agitated by seeing very hideous death scenes. One of the main things that will keep viewers on edge and invested in the story is finding out exactly what is the cause of the terror in this movie. “Smile” does not disappoint when that mystery is revealed.

The movie could have ended in several different ways. The ending that was chosen is ultimately the one that packs a major wallop that many viewers will not see coming. And just like many original horror movies that leave a huge impression on audiences, “Smile” is poised to spawn multiple sequels for people who want the terrifying story to continue.

Paramount Pictures released “Smile” in U.S. cinemas on September 30, 2022, with a sneak preview in select U.S. cinemas on September 27, 2022.

Review: ‘Pearl’ (2022), starring Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland and Emma Jenkins-Purro

September 15, 2022

by Carla Hay

Mia Goth in “Pearl” (Photo by Christopher Moss/A24)

“Pearl” (2022)

Directed by Ti West

Some language in German with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Texas in 1918, the horror film “Pearl” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A mentally ill young woman, who’s desperate to become a famous entertainer and move away from her family’s rural farm, will stop at nothing to achieve her goals.

Culture Audience: “Pearl” (which is a prequel to the 2022 horror movie “X”) will appeal primarily to people who are fans of “X,” filmmaker Ti West, star Mia Goth and slasher movies that are just as effective in showing psychological horror.

Mia Goth and Tandi Wright in “Pearl” (Photo by Christopher Moss/A24)

In this prequel to director Ti West’s 2022 horror flick “X,” Mia Goth shows why she is one of the all-time great actresses in horror movies. Her disturbing performance as the title character in “Pearl” is a master class in horror excellence. Viewers don’t need to see “X” before seeing “Pearl” (both movies were directed by West), but seeing “X” before seeing “Pearl” gives much better context to “Pearl” in foreshadowing what’s to come for this unhinged serial killer.

“Pearl” was filmed immediately after “X” was filmed. The two movies were released six months apart, which is unusual for a prequel movie. The main location for “Pearl” and “X” is an isolated Texas farm in an unnamed rural town. (“Pearl” and “X” were both actually filmed in New Zealand.”) It’s at this farm where a lot of murder and mayhem take place. “X” was written by West, whereas West and Goth co-wrote “Pearl.”

In “X,” the year is 1979, and a group of six people from a big city in Texas have gone to the farm to make a porn movie called “The Farmer’s Daughter.” The movie’s producer rented the farm. The owners of the farm are an elderly couple named Pearl (played by Goth) and Howard (played by Stephen Ure), who is nicknamed Howie. Pearl and Howard don’t know until after the fact that their farm is being used to film a porn movie. And when Pearl and Howard find out, all hell breaks loose.

The actress who plays the title role in “The Farmer’s Daughter” is Maxine Minx (also played by Goth), an ambitious performer in her 20s who thinks that this porn movie will make her a big star. Pearl becomes fixated on Maxine, who reminds Pearl of how Pearl used to be when Pearl was a young woman who dreamed of becoming a famous entertainer, with a specialty in dancing. Pearl ends up being a voyeur who spies on Maxine, and this voyeurism triggers a deadly rage in Pearl.

The movie “Pearl” is this character’s origin story that shows she’s been mentally ill long before she encountered this unlucky group of pornographers. In “Pearl,” the year is 1918. Pearl (who is an only child) is in her late teens and living on the same farm with her parents. The name of the property is Powder Keg Farms, which is a nod to something that happens in “X.”

Pearl is married to Howard (played by Alistair Sewell), but he is a military man who’s away because he’s serving in World War I. She appears to be sweet, innocent and a hopeless romantic. Pearl keeps Howard’s love letters to her as if they are her greatest treasures. However, Pearl’s seemingly harmless exterior masks someone who is capable of a great deal of harm.

The infleunza pandemic is plaguing the United States, so people wear face masks in public. (It’s a chilling parallel to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which “Pearl” and “X” were filmed and released.) Pearl’s one goal in life is to become a movie star, especially in musicals. She frequently goes to the local movie theater to watch her beloved films, such as “Palace Follies,” which she has seen multiple times.

Pearl finds her home life very stifling and will do anything to get away from the farm and follow her dreams. There’s a scene where Pearl is alone and prays out loud: “Please, Lord, make me the biggest star the world has ever known, so I can get far away from this place.” Pearl’s strict and religious mother Ruth (played by Tandi Wright), who is a German immigrant, frequently berates and punishes Pearl if Ruth thinks Pearl did anything wrong. Ruth thinks being an entertainer is a sinful lifestyle, and she expects Pearl to live on the farm for the rest of Pearl’s life.

There are some scenes that show how cruel Ruth can be. One of these scenes takes place during a family dinner at the dining table. Pearl admits that she had some candy on the way back from the movie theater. Ruth gets angry and takes away Pearl’s dinner before Pearl can finish and says that Pearl gave up her right to the meal because Pearl spent money on candy. Pearl says she’s “starving” and pleads with Ruth to let her finish the dinner, but Ruth remains unmoved.

Pearl’s father (played by Matthew Sunderland), who does not have a name in the movie, is catatonic for unnamed health reasons. He is usually seen in a wheelchair, as he watches the love/hate turmoil between Pearl and Ruth, with sadness and fear in his eyes. It’s never made clear if his muteness is voluntary or involuntary.

At various times, Pearl and Ruth express resentment over having to take care of him. Ruth shows signs of mental distress too, when later in the movie, she unleashes a rage-filled rant at Pearl about how much Ruth hates being a caretaker for her husband, and Ruth thinks that Pearl is not doing enough to help. Ruth also knows that something is very wrong with Pearl, when she shouts at Pearl during an argument: “You are not well, Pearl! Something is festering inside of you!”

“Pearl” is the type of horror movie that takes its time to build to the actual horror, because the movie is a psychological portrait of Pearl’s mental illness. Pearl is seen talking to the farm animals, who are the only audience she’s had to practice her dance moves and act out her fantasies of being a famous actress. Out in the farm’s field, she dances with a scarecrow. And then, she starts kissing the scarecrow passionately and simulating sex with the scarecrow as her personal sex doll.

The farm is located near a swamp that has an alligator, which Pearl thinks of as a pet. An early scene in the movie shows Pearl killing a goose on the farm and feeding the goose to the alligator. There’s also an alligator in the same swamp in “X,” which does exactly what you think a horror movie does when there’s an alligator in a swamp. At one point in “Pearl,” it looks like Pearl is going to push her father into the swamp, where the father would surely be eaten by the alligator. Will Pearl commit this murder?

Two things change the trajectory of Pearl’s life in a short period of time. First, she meets the local movie theater’s projectionist (played by David Corenswet), who is a bachelor in his late 20s. The movie’s credits only list this character’s name as The Projectionist, but at one point in the movie, Pearl calls him Johnny. Whatever his name is, there is an immediate attraction between him and Pearl when they first meet.

He’s smooth talker who flirts with Pearl when she’s outside of the theater after she’s seen “Palace Follies” once again. He tells Pearl that she’s welcome to see a movie for free anytime when the theater is closed, and he’s there to operate the film projector. One night, after Pearl has another conflict with Ruth, she rides her bike to the theater and takes him up on his offer.

The other turning point in Pearl’s life happens when Howard’s perky younger sister Misty (played by Emma Jenkins-Purro) stops by the farm to visit and tells Pearl that there will be dancer auditions held in the near future at the local church. Misty will be going to the auditions and suggests that Pearl audition too. Pearl sees this opportunity as her chance to get in the big leagues of the entertainment industry. Pearl is determined to go to the auditions, knowing full well that her mother Ruth would disapprove.

“Pearl” has several nods to “X,” such as the audition scene where Pearl goes on the audition stage, and there’s a big “X” to literally mark her spot. When she meets up with her new projectionist acquaintance, he shows her a softcore porn movie and predicts that this type of adult movie will eventually be legal in the United States. He also mentions that he wants to make these types of movies, and that Pearl would be a big star if she did these types of movies too.

He suggests that Pearl move to Europe, because he says entertainers in Europe have more freedom to express their sexuality. All he will say about his background is that he’s a bohemian who lives a nomadic existence. Pearl is intrigued and awestruck by him and takes his advice to heart.

Viewers who are expecting a typical slasher flick, where the first murder happens within the first 15 minutes of the movie, might be disappointed at how slow-paced “Pearl” seems to be in the first third of the movie. The middle of the movie picks up the pace. And by the last third of “Pearl,” there are several tension-filled, gruesome moments that culminate in a scene that’s a cinematic knockout.

Goth has two major standout moments in the film that don’t involve showing any bloody murders: In one scene, she delivers a long monologue that is a window into her troubled and twisted soul. And the final scene and the closing credits in “Pearl” will be talked about by horror fans for years.

What also makes “Pearl” so notable as a prequel is that it doesn’t try to copy “X” or confuse people who haven’t seen “X.” (And people who see “Pearl” without seeing “X” first will be curious to see “X” after watching Pearl.”) “Pearl” is a true stand-alone film that has an entirely different look and tone from “X”—quite an achievement, considering all most all the crew members were the same for both films.

The cinematography by Eliot Rockett in “X” was dark and gritty, inspired by the bleakness of many 1970s horror movies. Tyler Bates’ musical score also reflected the angst of a freewheeling 1970s American society on the verge of the 1980s, a decade that ushered in a cultural explosion of financial greed and political conservatism. As stated in the production notes for “Pearl,” West and Rockett were inspired by Technicolor films for “Pearl.” Bates’ musical score is sweeping, lush and romantic—all meant to reflect the elaborate fantasies in Pearl’s mind.

Pearl’s fantasies don’t always match up with reality. That is her personal horror, which manifests itself in the rampage that takes place in the movie. People who saw “X” already know what happened to Pearl as an elderly woman. However, Maxine Minx’s story continues in the sequel “MaXXXine,” which is due out sometime in 2023. West and Goth have a great partnership in this movie saga. It’s a partnership that has resulted in horror movies that are instant classics.

A24 will release “Pearl” in U.S. cinemas on September 16, 2022.

Review: ‘Resurrection’ (2022), starring Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth, Grace Kaufman and Michael Esper

September 11, 2022

by Carla Hay

Rebecca Hall in “Resurrection” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films)

“Resurrection” (2022)

Directed by Andrew Semans

Culture Representation: Taking place in upstate New York, the horror film “Resurrection” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with one Asian American) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A business executive, who’s a single mother to a teenage daughter, experiences emotional turmoil when a man from her past comes back into her life.

Culture Audience: “Resurrection” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of stars Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth, and will appeal to viewers who are open to watching horror movies with unexpected and disturbing twists.

Tim Roth and Rebecca Hall in “Resurrection” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films)

Just like the 2021 horror film “Malignant,” the 2022 horror film “Resurrection” has an unsettling and shocking reveal that viewers will either love or hate. The movie isn’t perfect, but the surprise ending offers a bizarre twist that shows bold originality. “Resurrection” is better than the average horror movie, largely due to the suspenseful mystery at the center of the story, as well as the cast members’ convincing performances.

“Resurrection” is the second feature film from writer/director Andrew Semans, who previously directed the offbeat comedy/drama “Nancy, Please,” about a hellish experience with a roommate. “Nancy, Please” made the rounds at several film festivals in 2012, before getting a very limited release in the U.S. in 2013. “Resurrection” (which has its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival) is a movie that is much darker in tone and will leave many viewers disturbed by some of the visuals and how the story concludes.

“Resurrection” takes place in an unnamed part of upstate New York (the movie was actually filmed in Albany, New York), where biotech executive Margaret Ballian (played by Rebecca Hall) thinks she has her entire life under control and in order. The movie’s opening scene shows Margaret having a private meeting in her office with her young intern/administrative assistant Gwyn (played by Angela Wong Carbone), with Margaret giving Gwyn some advice about Gwyn’s personal life. Apparently, Gwyn is in a very bad relationship with a love partner, because Margaret tells Gwyn that Gwyn’s belittling partner is a “sadist,” so Margaret advises Gwyn to end this toxic romance.

Because of the sensitive nature of this conversation, Gwyn asks Margaret not to tell anyone about what they discussed in this meeting. Gwyn doesn’t know it, but Margaret’s own love life isn’t exactly going so well either. She’s having a secret affair with a married man named Peter (played by Michael Esper), who is the father of a teenage daughter named Chloe. Margaret, who is not married, is also a parent to a teenage daughter. Margaret’s daughter Abbie (played by Grace Kaufman), who 17 or 18 years old, is a college-bound student in her last year of high school.

Although Peter and Margaret care about each other, they’re not in love with each other. They both know it’s a dead-end affair that came about from lust and a need for companionship. During one of their sexual trysts, Margaret gets an alarming phone call: Abbie is in a hospital after getting into a drunken biking accident with a friend named Lucy. Luckily, Abbie recovers from her injuries, but this health scare starts to trigger maternal feelings in Margaret that affect her for the rest of the story.

Margaret and Gwyn are then shown in another private meeting in Margaret’s office, where Gwyn confides in Margaret that she broke up with the abusive partner. Margaret congratulates Gwyn and praises her by saying, “You’re tougher than leather.” Although Margaret and Gwyn have not been working together for very long, it’s apparent that Margaret feels protective of Gwyn, almost like a mother is protective of a child.

Not long after this meeting, Margaret attends the Biotech Rising Conference and is shocked to see who someone who is one of the conference’s speakers: His name is David Moore (played by Tim Roth), who is a confident and intelligent scientific researcher. Margaret’s reaction to seeing David on stage is that of someone who suddenly physically ill from fear.

Margaret is so unnerved by seeing David, she rushes to her home and calls out for Abbie, who is at home, safe and sound. Margaret bursts into Abbie’s room and asks Abbie if she is okay. Abbie says yes. Margaret is immensely relieved to see that nothing has happened to Abbie, who is confused over why Margaret is acting so paranoid, and she asks Margaret why.

Margaret won’t tell Abbie anything, except to insist that everything is just fine. But when Margaret goes into a bathroom, she begins sobbing. What is it about David that’s caused Margaret to be so distressed? It should come as no surprise that David is someone from Margaret’s past whom she wants to forget. And he ends up making contact with her, much to her dread.

Most of “Resurrection” is about the unnerving cat-and-mouse game between David and Margaret. David takes pleasure in knowing that his presence is upsetting to Margaret. She starts having nightmares, including one where she finds a burned baby inside of a stove. It’s enough to say that much of the horror in “Resurrection” is about Margaret’s issues with motherhood and abuse.

The nightmare about the burned baby isn’t what most viewers will think it is, because the secrets about Margaret’s past, which are eventually revealed in the movie, have some unpredictable elements. Hall gives a very tormented performance as Margaret, whose mental health begins to unravel the more that she sees David. Roth gives an effective performance too, but he’s played creepy villains in many other movies, so there are no real surprises in how Roth portrays David in “Resurrection.”

The pacing of “Resurrection” sometime drags slowly, but Semans’ writing and directing are solid enough to maintain viewers’ curiosity about what will happen next. “Resurrection” has some horror imagery about children that might be too upsetting for sensitive viewers. As gruesome as “Resurrection” can be, it’s a horror movie that offers glimmers of hope and makes a memorable statement about the power of a mother’s love.

IFC Films released “Resurrection” in select U.S. cinemas on July 29, 2022. The movie was released on digital and VOD on August 5, 2022.

Review: ‘Barbarian’ (2022), starring Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård and Justin Long

September 7, 2022

by Carla Hay

Georgina Campbell in “Barbarian” (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios)

“Barbarian” (2022)

Directed by Zach Cregger

Culture Representation: Taking place in Detroit and briefly in Los Angeles, the horror film “Barbarian” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Murder and mayhem ensue when a woman, who’s in Detroit for a job interview, finds out that her Airbnb-type rental house has been double-booked with a male guest, who is also staying at the house.

Culture Audience: “Barbarian” will appeal primarily to people interested in watching suspenseful slasher films that mixes formulaic plot developments wth a few surprises.

Justin Long in “Barbarian” (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios)

“Barbarian” falters with uneven pacing and some gaps in logic, but this slasher flick delivers the type of suspenseful mystery, jump scares and interesting characters that a horror movie should. The acting performances are better than the screenplay. If not for the performances and some clever surprises, “Barbarian” would be a very run-of-the-mill horror movie.

Written and directed by Zach Cregger, “Barbarian” is somewhat of a departure for Cregger, who is also known as an actor who does a lot of work in comedy. (He was one of the original cast members of “The Whitest Kids U’ Know,” the comedy sketch series that was on the IFC network from 2007 to 2011, after launching for a short stint on the Fuse network.) Cregger’s feature-film debut as a writer/director was the forgettable 2009 sex comedy “Miss March,” in which he co-starred with Trevor Moore, one of the other cast members of “The Whitest Kids ‘U Know.”

“Barbarian” begins with the arrival of aspiring filmmaker Tess Marshall (played by Georgina Campbell), who has traveled to Detroit, because she has a job interview to be an assistant to a semi-famous documentary filmmaker. Tess is staying at a one-bedroom house (at the address 476 Barbary) that she rented through Airbnb. And because this is a horror movie, she arrives at night when it’s raining outside.

To her surprise, Tess finds out that there’s another guest who’s already at the house, and his rental time is for the same time that she’s been booked. His name is Keith Toshko (played by Bill Skarsgård), who has arrived from Brooklyn, New York. Keith tells Tess that he booked his reservation through Home Away, an online service that’s similar to Airbnb. Keith also says that he’s part of an artist collective called the Lion Tamers Collective, and he’s in Detroit to look for living space for the group.

After Tess and Keith see that they both have confirmations for the same booking, Tess offers to leave, since Keith arrived at the house first. Tess starts to call around to find a hotel room to book, but the first place she calls doesn’t have any vacancies. Keith says that there’s a big convention happening in Detroit, so she probably won’t have much luck finding a hotel room. The movie never says where Tess lives, but it’s far enough were she had to rent a car for this trip.

There are several moments in “Barbarian” when people make less-than-smart decisions—the types of decisions where viewers might say to themselves, “I would never do that.” The first of those moments in “Barbarian” happens when Tess takes Keith’s word for it that she won’t find a hotel room, and she gives up too easily in her search to find a hotel. This is the type of questionable decision that horror movies rely on, in order to put characters in danger.

Tess then offers to sleep in her car for the night, but Keith insists that she stay in the house because the neighborhood is too dangerous for her to be sleeping in her car at night. At this point, even though Keith is friendly and polite, viewers will be wondering if Keith really is a good guy, or if he has sinister intentions for Tess. This question is answered at a certain point in the movie, but “Barbarian” does a very good job of keeping viewers guessing about what’s going to happen.

Tess then makes the fateful decision to spend the night at the house. Keith tells Tess that she can have the bedroom, while he sleeps on the couch. Because Keith is a complete stranger to Tess, as a precaution, Tess uses her phone to secretly take a photo of Keith’s driver’s license when she see his wallet on a table in the bedroom.

There’s tension in the house, but not just because of fear. After a while, there’s sexual tension, because it becomes obvious that Keith is attracted to Tess. And when Tess begins to feel more comfortable around Keith, the attraction becomes mutual. Their first night together in the house has some scares for Tess when she wakes up in the middle of the night to find out that her bedroom door, which she had closed behind her, is open.

The terror in the house doesn’t happen right away. Tess begins to trust Keith enough that she accepts his offer to share the house with him for the rest of their stay in Detroit. When Tess goes outside the house for the first time when it’s daylight, she sees that the house is the only well-kept house on a residential street that looks like a bombed-out war zone. All of the other houses on the street look like condemned, unhabitable buildings.

The street is also eerily quiet, except for a harrowing incident when a homeless-looking man on the street—Tess later finds out his name is Andre (played by Jaymes Butler)—runs after her and yells at her not to stay in the house. Tess is so frightened by this stranger, she runs into the house and locks herself inside. When she calls 911 to report the incident, the operator says that there are no police units available to go to that street.

Tess gets another big red flag when she goes to her job interview with the documentary filmmaker Catherine James (played by Kate Nichols), who asks Tess where she’s staying while Tess is in Detroit. When Tess mentions the neighborhood and that she’s staying at an Airbnb house rental, Catherine’s immediate reaction is surprise that this neighborhood has a house that meets Airbnb rental standards. Catherine is also very concenred that Tess is staying in that neighborhood, which has a bad reputation for crime, so Catherine urges Tess to be careful.

And something horrible does happen in that house. Luckily for viewers, it’s not revealed in the “Barbarian” trailer or other marketing materials. The movie avoids the pitfall of not giving away its best moments or the movie’s chief villain in the trailer. However, it’s enough to say (as shown in the “Barbarian” trailer) that there’s a long and sinister tunnel underneath the house. And lurking in that tunnel is someone identified in the movie’s credits as The Mother (played by Matthew Patrick Davis), who will definitely make viewers squirm.

Meanwhile, about halfway through the movie, “Barbarian” introduces another character who has a connection to this house. He’s a famous actor named AJ Gilbride (played by Justin Long), who lives in Los Angles. AJ is successful enough to be a steadily working actor who gets starring roles, but he’s not mega-rich. He owns some rental properties, including the house in Detroit where Tess and Keith are staying.

AJ is first seen in the story as he gets bad news from his agents: An actress named Melisa (voiced by Kate Bosworth), whom he is co-starred with in a TV pilot called “Chip Off the Old Block,” is accusing him of rape. Melisa is suing AJ because of this alleged sexual assault. AJ might also face criminal charges. AJ, who vehemently proclaims his innocence, tells anyone who’ll listen that the sex he had with Melisa was consensual.

Because of the scandal, the TV network for “Chip Off the Old Block” has decided that if the network picks up “Chip Off the Old Block” as a series, AJ will no longer be a part of the show. AJ says that he plans to countersue Melisa for defamation. His attorney advises AJ not to contact Melisa or talk to the media while the case is pending.

AJ gets more bad news when he visits his business manager, who tells AJ that AJ doesn’t have enough money to cover the cost of AJ’s legal fees. The business manager advises AJ to sell some of AJ’s property. The business manager also tells AJ that he no longer wants to work with AJ.

A desperate and despondent AJ goes to Detroit to see what he can do about selling the house that he owns at 476 Barbary. AJ has neglected the property so much, he wasn’t even aware that the property’s management company had been renting out the house to visitors for temporary stays. He’s in for a shock when he finds out what’s been going on at that house.

“Barbarian” has a flashback to the 1980s, when this Detroit neighborhood was safe, clean and well-maintained. A middle-aged man named Frank (played by Richard Brake) is seen going to a home supply store and telling a helpful sales clerk that he needs plastic sheets for a “home birth.” Viewers see that Frank is actually a bachelor, but he lets the sales clerk assume that he has a pregnant wife who will soon give birth. Frank doesn’t talk much, and there’s something “off” about him, because he acts like someone who has dark secrets.

Frank is then seen arriving unannounced at a house where a woman is home alone. He’s wearing a repairman’s uniform, and he politely tells the lady of the house that he’s from the utility company, and he needs to do an inspection. The woman lets him inside the house without hesitation. Frank then goes in the bathroom alone and unlocks the bathroom window.

After just a few minutes in the house, Frank thanks the woman resident, and he leaves the house. It’s at this point you know that Frank is going to break into the house later through that unlocked bathroom window. Who is Frank and what kind of criminal is he? Those answers are eventually revealed in the movie. This flashback scene also foreshadows that the neighborhood will go downhill when a male neighbor tells Frank that his family is moving soon because the neighborhood is “going to hell.”

“Barbarian” makes a few references to “white flight” in Detroit (when white residents moved out of certain Detroit neighborhoods because more black people were moving in) and the #MeToo movement. But these social issues don’t overwhelm the story, which remains mostly focused on the horror. “Barbarian” is an overall commentary on decay and neglect in communities, particularly in urban areas.

The characters in “Barbarian” are believable as people, even if some of their actions are illogical. For example, after Tess sees some disturbing things in the house, she stays in the house much longer than most people would. It’s very hard to believe that she can’t figure out other options on where to stay besides this creepy house.

“Barbarian” also brings up some questions that are never answered. There’s a part of the movie that shows there have been some missing people with a connection to the street where the house is. Wouldn’t any loved ones and friends be looking for these missing people? And who’s been maintaining the upkeep of the house? There’s no mention of housekeepers for this place. It’s the only house on the street that’s very neat and orderly on the outside of the building, even though the house’s front lawn looks run-down and messy.

A showdown scene near the end of “Barbarian” also doesn’t make sense on a physics level. However, the mystery of the house is plausible, as long as viewers believe the movie’s depiction that the cops in Detroit avoid this neighborhood as much as possible. “Barbarian” is also a cautionary tale about the dangers of renting a vacation home from strangers, particularly for women traveling alone. Tess obviously didn’t do enough research about the neighborhood and house where she’d be staying.

“Barbarian” writer/director Cregger (who has a cameo in the movie as a Detroit friend of AJ’s) could have paced the movie a little better, since the suspense-filled tension stops in areas where the tension should have been better-maintained. However, the movie has a talented cast, and the film delivers plenty of terrifying and ominous moments that should satisfy most horror fans. “Barbarian” is the type of horror movie where viewers shouldn’t overthink some of the details and should enjoy the terror ride for what it is.

20th Century Studios will release “Barbarian” in U.S. cinemas on September 9, 2022.

Review: ‘Hawa’ (2022), starring Chanchal Chowdhury, Nazifa Tushi and Sariful Razz

September 6, 2022

by Carla Hay

Nazifa Tushi in “Hawa” (Photo courtesy of Jaaz Multimedia)

“Hawa” (2022)

Directed by Mejbaur Rahman Sumon

Bengali with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in the Bay of Bengal near Bangladesh, the horror film “Hawa” has a cast of characters from Bangladesh representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: After a mysterious woman gets caught in a net from a fishing boat, she is pulled aboard, and strange things start to happen to the fishermen on the boat.

Culture Audience: “Hawa” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching slow-paced horror movies that save the best scenes for the last third of the movie.

Pictured clockwise, from bottom left: Rizvi Rizu, Shohel Mondol, Sariful Razz, Bablu Bose, Nasir Uddin Khan, Mahmud Alam, Chanchal Chowdhury and Sumon Anowar in “Hawa” (Photo courtesy of Jaaz Multimedia)

The “slow burn” horror movie “Hawa” doesn’t get to its most terrifying moments until the last third of the film, but the long buildup to this terror is worth the wait. “Hawa” has a lot to say about gender dynamics when there’s only one woman in an isolated place with men. The movie takes its time in showing the increasing tension between the all-male team on a fishing boat (they are all fishermen for a living) and the mysterious young woman who literally gets ensnared in one of their nets.

Directed by Mejbaur Rahman Sumon, “Hawa” (which means “the wind” in Bengali) takes place entirely in a remote part of the Bay of Bengal, where the closest nation is Bangladesh. Sumon co-wrote the movie’s screenplay with DurSukorno Shahed Dhiman and Jaheen Faruque Ameen. (“Hawa” was filmed on St. Martin’s Island in the Bay of Bengal.) The movie’s central setting is a mid-sized fishing boat whose below-deck area is equipped with a furnace room, a storage area and some sleeping quarters.

During the fateful trip that’s depicted in this movie, there are eight members of the fishing team, including their captain, who are all men. Except for one brief scene in the movie, when another boat appears, the people on this fishing boat are isolated. It’s mentioned at one point that women aren’t allowed on these fishing trips.

The gender composition in this trip changes one night when they find a young woman caught in one of their nets. At first, she appears to be dead, but she’s actually unconscious. When the woman is brought on board and regains consciousness, she remains mute until a pivotal part of the story.

“Hawa” looks like a movie that could take place in an undetermined decade in the late 20th century or early 21st century. There is no mention of technology, such as the Internet or cell phones, to make contact with people. If the boat has a radio, it’s not seen or used.

About halfway through the movie, it’s revealed that the mystery woman’s name is Gulti (played by Nazifa Tushi). It’s also eventually revealed why Gulti was found in this part of bay that is so far from land and from other boats. Because she does not speak when she is first discovered, and she has no identification, the men decide that they will drop her off at the nearest town when their fishing trip is completed.

In the meantime, the fishermen decide that Gulti will have to do some work on the boat, in order to earn her place. Some of the men on the boat misinterpret Gulti’s silence for weakness. Two of the men try to sexually assault her on separate occasions. Gulti is able to fight them off, but her attackers hold grudges.

The first attempted rape happens when the boat’s domineering, middle-aged and arrogant captain Chaan Manjhi (played by Chanchal Chowdhury) tries to lure Gulti to go with him below deck to the furnace room to have a sexual encounter. He licks his lips lasciviously at her to make it known what his intentions are. As he tries to physically lead Gulti down to the furnace room, she pushes him away.

An enraged Chaan gets physically aggressive with Gulti. He calls her a “fucking whore” and tries to force her into the furnace room. Gulti is able to defend herself by taking a machete and getting Chaan to back off of her during their physical altercation on the deck. He’s so startled, he falls backward into the water and has to be rescued by members of his crew.

For the rest of the trip, Chaan tries to make Gulti as miserable as possible. He’s verbally abusive to her, and he orders her around like a slave. When she brings Chaan a drink, he says that serving him a drink isn’t “real work,” and she has to earn her place on the boat by doing work that’s a lot more physically demanding.

The second time that Gulti is almost raped, the attack comes from a middle-aged crew member named Eja (played by Sumon Anowar), who tries to physically subdue Gulti at the beginning of this sexual assault. Eja’s assault, which is even more prolonged than Chaan’s, involves Eja hitting Gulti, trying to remove her clothes, and grabbing Gulti to try to get her to do what he wants. Gulti successfully defends herself by eventually kicking Eja in the crotch, and he stops attacking her.

Not everyone on the boat wants to hurt Gulti. Most of the men don’t bother her and don’t interact with her much. But there’s one crew member in particular who goes out of his way to be kind to Gulti. He’s a young man named Ibrahim (played by Sariful Razz), nicknamed Iba, and he’s the boat’s friendly mechanic.

Iba is attracted to Gulti, and the feeling appears to be mutual. Iba is also the first person whom Gulti talks to on the boat. Iba and Gulti meet for secret late-night talks in the water. During one of their first conversations, she drops hints that she could be a mermaid.

The biggest flaw of “Hawa” is this 130-minute movie has some unnecessary scenes that drag down the pace of the movie. The first half of the movie is kind of a tedious slog that shows the men on the boat going through various power struggles and disagreements about the work that needs to be done. Early on in the movie, someone tries to steal fish for himself and quickly gets reprimanded for it by Chaan, who rules the boat like a dictator.

The other men on the boat are supporting characters whose personalities don’t leave much of an impression until the last third of the movie. Twin brothers Parkes (played by Rizvi Rizu) and Urkes (played by Shohel Mondol), who are in their 20s, are very close and look like they have a co-dependent relationship. The other crew members, whose ages range from 30s to 40s, are Nagu (played by Nasir Uddin Khan), Mora (played by Mahmud Alam) and Foni (palyed by Mahmud Alam), who have varying degrees of loyalty to Chaan.

“Hawa” has cinematography by Kamrul Hasan Khoshru and Tanveer Ahmed Shovon that effectively immerses viewers into the moods for the daytime and nighttime scenes. During the day, the fishing team is focused on work, but their isolation is still evident, because the boat is usually shown as the only one in the immediate area. At night, the atmosphere becomes more menacing and foreboding for anyone on board the ship.

What’s less realistic choices are in the makeup, costume design and hairstyle for Gulti, who appears in many scenes with perfectly applied makeup, her clothing well-styled, and her hair neatly combed or put up in a bun. Considering that she was found unconscious in the water while tangled in a net, it’s highly unlikely that she would have any makeup or beauty supplies with her, or that there would be any makeup on the boat. Gulti’s dress (the only outfit she has in the movie) sometimes also looks a little too neatly styled, when it should look more worn and tattered, considering everything that she goes through in the movie.

There’s a supernatural aspect to the story that could explain Gulti’s well-kept appearance, so viewers might have to suspend some disbelief when they see Gulti looking like a model on this very unglamorous and dirty boat. The men don’t seem to notice how Gulti manages to look picture-perfect in this rough environment. The men that do notice her physical appearance look at her from the angle of her sex appeal.

The troublemaking members of this fishing team feel more freedom to cause mischief and mayhem at night. And even though Chaan is the captain of the boat, even he can be vulnerable to anyone who has a reason to dislike him. He’s not only cruel to Gulti, but he’s also mean-spirited to members of the crew.

Viewers need patience to sit through the often-tedious first half of “Hawa” before the story gets a lot more interesting. Even though “Hawa” definitely needed tighter editing, the last third of the movie proves that it’s a memorable and suspenseful thriller. And the movie’s last image is haunting and very effective.

Jaaz Multimedia released “Hawa” in select U.S. cinemas on September 2, 2022. The movie was released in Bangladesh on July 29, 2022.

Review: ‘The Invitation’ (2022), starring Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty, Stephanie Corneliussen, Alana Boden, Courtney Taylor, Hugh Skinner and Sean Pertwee

August 26, 2022

by Carla Hay

Nathalie Emmanuel in “The Invitation” (Photo by Marcell Piti/Screen Gems)

“The Invitation” (2022)

Directed by Jessica M. Thompson

Culture Representation: Taking place in England and briefly in New York City, the horror film “The Invitation” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with one biracial person, a few black people and one Asian person) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: An aspiring ceramic maker, who is an American orphan in her 20s, is invited to go to England to meet her long-lost relatives, but she finds out these relatives have sinister plans for her.

Culture Audience: “The Invitation” will appeal mainly to people who don’t mind watching formulaic horror movies that are frequently dull.

Thomas Doherty and Nathalie Emmanuel in “The Invitation” (Photo by Marcell Piti/Screen Gems)

If the horror flick “The Invitation” were an actual invitation, the RSVP would stand for “regurgitated, silly vampire pap.” As the movie’s “woman in peril,” Nathalie Emmanuel tries to bring personality to a film that’s relentlessly mediocre. The movie trailer for “The Invitation” gives away about 80% of the major plot developments. But even if you don’t see this movie trailer filled with spoiler information, everything in this unimaginative film is easy to predict.

Directed by Jessica M. Thompson (who co-wrote “The Invitation” screenplay with Blair Butler), “The Invitation” is a cinematic version of a cheap romance novel with a vampire twist that fails to be suspenseful. The movie’s jump scares look forced and don’t last long. All the horror elements of “The Invitation” are derivative of much better horror movies.

The protagonist of “The Invitation” is Evelyn “Evie” Jackson (played by Emmanuel), an aspiring ceramic artist in her 20s who lives in New York City. Evie, who later says she’s trying to get a master of fine arts degree, hasn’t been able to make a living as an artist. She pays her bills by working as a server at a catering company.

Evie is an independent-minded bachelorette who lives alone and currently has no special person in her love life. She has a (cliché alert) sassy best friend named Grace (played by Courtney Taylor), who is also a bachelorette, and they often commiserate with each other about their lovelorn experiences with dating. Later in the movie, Evie mentions that she’s in no rush to get married, which makes a certain turn of events in the movie more horrifying to her.

Evie’s father died when she was 14. Evie’s widowed mother died of cancer a few months ago. Evie has no siblings. And so, when Evie spends her birthday by herself, she does so by making ceramics and listening to a past voice mail message from her mother. It’s the movie’s obvious way of showing that Evie is in such grief over her mother’s death, Evie wants to spend her birthday alone.

Not long after her birthday, Evie takes an at-home DNA test, by using a kit from a genealogy company that had a recent event where Evie worked as a catering server. When the DNA test results come back, Evie finds out that she has a long-lost second cousin named Oliver Alexander III (played by Hugh Skinner), an aristocrat who lives in England. The next thing you know, Evie is having a lunch meeting in New York City with Oliver, who initiated this meeting.

Oliver explains to Evie that their great-grandmother Emmaline Alexander had an affair with a footman, who was black. In an era when interracial relationships were very taboo, Emmaline got pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was Evie’s maternal grandfather. Evie is also the child of an interracial couple. Her mother was black, and her father was white. Oliver lets Evie know that the current members of the Alexander family are not racists and that she’s welcome in the family.

Oliver invites Evie to meet her long-lost British family during a wedding that will take place at a lavish English countryside estate of another wealthy family whose surname is Deville. (“The Invitation” was actually filmed in Hungary.) Oliver quickly mutters something about a cousin named Martin who’s marrying a member of the Deville family. Oliver insists on paying for everything for this first-class trip. Evie is hesitant at first to take this generous offer, but of course you know that she changes her mind. Oliver simply won’t take no for an answer.

When Evie arrives at the estate, she’s outside and accidentally bumps into a few maids, who are carrying drinking glasses that shatter on the ground. Evie makes profuse apologies, but the estate’s haughty head butler Mr. Fields (played by Sean Pertwee) scolds the maids, even though Evie says she’s entirely to blame for the accident. Mr. Fields looks up and down at Evie (who wears a nose ring) and coldly asks her who she is and what she’s doing there.

Mr. Fields’ snobbish attitude toward Evie has racist overtones, since Evie is the only guest at the estate who isn’t white. Oliver steps in and introduces Evie to Mr. Fields as a member of the Alexander family. Mr. Fields’ attitude immediately changes to being polite and professional, but Evie feels hurt and angry over his insulting demeanor toward her when they first met.

It isn’t long before Evie meets the handsome and charming owner of the estate: Walter “Walt” Deville (played by Thomas Doherty), who makes an apology to Evie about Mr. Fields’ rudeness when Walt sees that Evie feels offended and uncomfortable. Evie is immediately attracted to Walt, and the feeling seems mutual. They mildly flirt with each other in a way that people do in movies where you know that that this flirtation is going to turn into a romance.

Mr. Fields shows Evie around the inside of this palatial estate, and he tells her that she’s welcome to go anywhere except the library, which is locked. And it’s at this point in the movie that you know Evie will eventually go in the library, where secrets are obviously being kept locked up. During this house tour, Evie meets chief housekeeper Mrs. Swift (played by Carol Ann Crawford), a friendly staffer who has been assigned to be Evie’s personal maid during this trip.

Evie feels awestruck by all the opulence and wealth on display. She also feels somewhat out-of-place, since she never grew up with this type of money and privilege. In order to cover up her insecurities, she makes sarcastic comments to Walt and to Grace (who talks with Evie on the phone for video chats) about what it must feel like to be super-rich.

Sure enough, Walt begins to court Evie. In a private conversation that Evie has with Oliver, she checks with him to make sure that the Devilles are not biologically related to the Alexanders. Oliver says with a smirk that the two families are not biologically related. And as soon as Evie gets confirmation that if she got romantically involved with Walt, it would not be incest, Evie lets Walt get closer to her. Eventually, Walt tells Evie that his parents are also deceased.

The courtship is a whirlwind affair. Walt even does things such as give Evie a designer gown to wear at a pre-wedding party at the estate. Evie thinks it’s almost like a fairytale where she is being treated like a pampered princess. But since “The Invitation” is a horror movie, this fairytale is going to turn into a nightmare.

Before that happens, Evie starts to feel more comfortable around her stuffy family members and the Alexander family’s equally stuffy friends when they hold a reception in her honor. She’s given a warm welcome by family patriarch Alfred Alexander, who leads the group in raising drinking glasses to give an enthusiastic toast to Evie.

Almost all of the family members are men. Someone in the group mentions in a foreshadowing comment that they need more women in the family. Evie might have been welcomed into this family, but she still wants to keep her identity. When Oliver introduces Evie as “Evie Alexander,” she corrects him and reminds him that her last name is Jackson.

At a pre-wedding party, Evie is introduced to two more people from nearby aristocratic families: Lucy (played by Alana Boden) is a bubbly blonde. Viktoria (played by Stephanie Corneliussen) is an icy brunette. Lucy is amiable to Evie, but Viktoria is openly hostile to Evie. Viktoria also shows signs that she’s very jealous of Evie’s blossoming romance with Walt.

There are demon creatures lurking around the Deville house at night. “The Invitation” has a lot of stereotypical jump scares involving these creatures, with very brief moments of effective tension. Evie sees one of these creatures on the top of her canopy bed. She screams and hides underneath the bed, but she doesn’t do what most people would do: Leave the house, or at least insist on sleeping in another room.

The movie’s opening scene also shows a woman in the house committing suicide by hanging herself. Later, when Evie is at the mansion, Mrs. Swift tells Evie that this woman was “the lady of the house,” who died recently. The name of this woman should come as no surprise when it’s revealed. And then, certain maids end up getting murdered.

The problem with “The Invitation” is that it could have been more intriguing, but everything in the movie is just shallow. “The Invitation” just goes through the motions of things that have already been done in many other horror flicks about ghosts, demons and vampires. The movie has issues about race and social class that are dangled in front of viewers but never fully developed. “The Invitation” didn’t need to be a “Get Out” ripoff, but it could have made some clever commentary about social prejudices or feeling like an outsider in the context of this horror story.

Instead, the movie just has Grace make unfunny, racist wisecracks about Oliver being “the whitest person I’ve ever seen,” and Grace saying that Evie better be careful about being around so many white people. Grace comments that these white people could be after Evie to harvest her organs. (It’s this movie’s weak semi-nod to “Get Out.”)

Because, yes, as already shown in the trailer for “The Invitation,” Evie has been lured into a trap by a group of vampires. The reasons why they targeted Evie are eventually revealed, but these reasons aren’t surprising since the movie trailer shows Evie in a wedding dress. As for the vampire groom, remove the last two letters of the name Deville. This movie is not subtle at all.

In her performance as the strong-willed and independent Evie, Emmanuel seems to be doing her best to make Evie a convincing character. But after Evie sees the demon in the bedroom, Evie unrealistically seems to get over it quickly. Doherty’s performance as Walt should have gotten more menacing as the story goes along. Instead, the performance becomes campier as the story devolves into a cesspool of vampire clichés. All of the movie’s other cast members give adequate or forgettable performances.

Although the production design and costume design for “The Invitation” are attractive to look at, the movie’s visual effects aren’t very impressive. “The Invitation” has scenes where a massive fire has engulfed an area—and all of the fire looks very phony. The fight scenes are almost laughable. However, “The Invitation” has a manicure scene with some effective sound editing and sound design intended to make viewers squirm.

“The Invitation” takes so long to get to any real action, by the time the showdown scenes happen, they all feel anticlimactic. Certain fight tactics that are used by the protagonist are too easy to predict. And there are some aspects of the story that are just downright dumb. For example, the very last scene in the movie is ridiculous and unnecessary. “The Invitation” is not the worst horror movie ever made. It’s just not an impressive horror movie, and it will be forgotten quicker than a hungry vampire can bite a victim.

Screen Gems released “The Invitation” in U.S. cinemas on August 26, 2022.