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| Topic | Board 8 Ranks 2010s Horror Movies - Chapter 2 - *THE RANKINGS* |
| Snake5555555555 05/21/22 11:36:52 AM #127: | Suprak - B+ This was a movie I first saw with friends who had seen it before, and I remember them very excitedly telling me I needed to watch it. Like they were perched on the couch watching me and my wife just as much as they were watching the movie. And I started it and it was interesting but I didnt quite know what the hell was the big deal. The opening is solid enough and the idea of this family being hunted by these weird home invaders is a good enough premise. You have characters being picked off one at a time in bloody ways and the film is stylized in a way that is fun and filmed in a way that I think helps elevate it, but I wasnt quite sure what the hell the big deal was. And then the main girl kneecaps an invader and beats his head in repeatedly with a mallet until chunks of brain are flying out and I was like oh shit, Im in. All the build up is good, dont get me wrong, but when the mask comes off and shes like oh yeah Im a bad ass from some weird survivalist compound and you all are in more danger than I am it wasnt something that I was really ready for, but it turns the movie around into something I wasnt expecting and really, really enjoyed. It is this fun, clever twist on what was already a very well trodden sub-genre in 2011 (the home invasion horror) and what you get here for a decent chunk of the movie is basically Home Alone but with murder. Those spiked boards are straight out of Home Alone 2, and I was really hoping wed get a scene where she tricks one of the killers into electrocuting themselves into a skeleton. This was really interesting because I had seen a lot of these types of movies and this is the first one where I remember thinking oh, its the killers who are fucked. Particularly because youre watching this from the perspective of Erin, it is a home invasion film where you feel like you actually have a fighting chance. It became a little bit of revenge porn at a certain point, and there was something satisfying about watching her take a blender to the annoying younger son. Oh, and blender kill is definitely top five kill on this list, right? I feel like it has to be. Going into it, I didnt know how dark it was going to play it. I thought it was sort of a horror/comedy, but its pretty light on the comedy overall. There are a couple of funny-ish parts, but this is definitely more on that horror/thriller side of the spectrum where you have this big cast of characters and youre sort of just waiting for them all to die. When I saw it was a family, I wasnt quite sure if they were going to kill off the kids before the parents because that seems extra cruel. And then the daughter sprints neck first into a trap and severs her jugular and that sort of answered my question for me. Mom and dad do die not much longer after that, but it was a pretty intense way to open up the murders (not counting Ti West I somehow didnt even realize he was in this film the first time I watched it). Youre basically made to not like these characters from the start. This is an unsufferable bunch of rich entitled assholes and the movie does absolutely nothing to garner sympathy for any one of them. It really winds up being all about Erin in this film, and the actress here (who I dont remember seeing in anything else) does a pretty good job carrying things as the only likeable character of the bunch. There is something empowering about getting one of these final girl archetypes and the movie is just like no, shes legitimately an asskicker and even though she is scared and beat up at times, shes capable of fighting back so you want to see her take out all these other assholes that are plotting against her. On a rewatch, I do kind of wish the supporting cast was a bit better. I was mostly just into the action and script the first time through, but watching it again there really isnt anyone else here besides Erin that Im all that interested in. Part of that is by design, sure, but the cast also isnt doing anyone any favors. And the twist of this movie is so incredibly poorly choreographed that it barely feels like a twist. Rude boyfriend who hates his family and is in deep money problems is one of the villains. SHOCK. SO MUCH SHOCK. I remember watching it the first time and as soon as the survivors of the crossbow shootfest are gathered in the main room I had already decided that the boyfriend had to be in on things. Its satisfying to see him get ganked by Erin and I did enjoy the ending of the cop accidentally springing the axe trap, so it wasnt as if I totally hated the ending here. Complaints aside, this is another fun movie. Great premise, good execution, and really fun once Erin decides to start taking mallets to peoples heads. It made home invasion horror interesting again, which was something I thought was impossible back in 2012 or whenever I saw this. Tom Nook - Fun slasher. Good pacing. Good character dynamics. Lightning Strikes - You never want to do anything interesting anymore. Thats not a valid criticism. This is a really tightly put together horror thriller that manages to pull off a sharp tonal shift in its second half inyo lore of a black comedy. In the first half, theres a real feeling of suspense and tension as the killers feel like an almost overwhelming force. In the second half, its genuinely funny and you cant help but cheer as these same killers get horribly murdered. What ties these two very different parts together is Erin, a hyper- competent (and brilliant) protagonist brought to life through a great performance by Sharni Vinson. Overall this is just a really well paced, really fun slasher that wows you with a clever meta-twist - the lead is so capable that in the second half its the villains sho are getting slashed. The idea of a reverse slasher is a simple one, but done really well here. The film is also genuinely funny once the main antagonist and their motivation is revealed, there are moments that had me laughing very loudly. Id go as far as to say that the second half shifts genre into horror comedy, but it works just as well and feels very natural. It caps it all off with a fun twist as well. If theres an issue with the film I think it might be the very ending. I really like Adam Wingard as a director but I think he struggles with final conclusive scenes, he has a tendency to leave things hanging. Its not so bad here but you can still see it this time around. 4/5 Biggest Scare: The scene where the mother is murdered is genuinely chilling, and makes the comedy they get from it later land even harder. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. https://www.instagram.com/horror_obscurities/ ... Copied to Clipboard! |
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