Us

"Us" (2019, Jordan Peele, Monkeypaw Productions, Universal Pictures) is a horror film about a family who are confronted by violent doppelgangers.

We meet Adelaide (Madison Curry) as a child with her parents at the pier attractions. While her parents are distracted, she wanders off and finds her way to a hall of mirrors. Whilst inside she sees something terrifying...

Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) is now all grown up. She, her husband, Gabe (Winston Duke) and their two kids, Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex), are enjoying a holiday at her family's cabin. After a day at the beach with their friends, the Tylers, Adelaide appears out of sorts and tells Gabe about the encounter she had in the hall of mirrors. Gabe, naturally does not believe her, but soon they notice a family standing threateningly outside the cabin. A family that looks disturbingly familiar...

An unsettling and thoughtful film that also delivers a fair amount of violence, gore and action. The moments of comedy are well timed, amusing and compliment the more tense points of the film. I enjoyed that the film felt almost nostalgic in its story telling, styling and scoring but was set in present day.

The characters are well rounded and relatable which makes it all the more effective when we meet their doppelgangers who are similar yet animalistic and antithetical in nature. There isn't a bad thing to say about any of the cast's performances, but Nyong'o's emotional performance steals the show both as Adelaide and her counterpart.

The film makes a point of not answering all the questions raised leaving a couple more holes than was perhaps necessary but delivers enough turns in the plot to leave you pondering over it in the wake of viewing. An amusing piece that says a thing or two about human nature and what defines a villain.

[Image: Monkeypaw Productions, Universal Pictures]

Hani

Knock Knock

"Knock Knock" (2015, Eli Roth, Camp Grey, Dragonfly Entertainment, Sobras International Pictures) is a home invasion thriller.

Evan (Keanu Reeves) and Karen (Ignacia Allamand) are happily married with kids, a dog and an idyllic home. When Karen and the kids go away for the weekend, Evan stays at home to work but his night is interrupted when two young women (Lorenza Izzo and Ana de Armas) come to the door in the pouring rain looking for a house party. Evan tries to call them a taxi but the girls proceed to make themselves comfortable before the cab gets there... and what started as him helping them out becomes a potentially life ruining game of seduction and violence...

An interesting premise that became a little repetitive as the film went on. It is essentially one big cautionary tale: On one hand, that women can be predatory too and that it's pretty easy to ruin your life in one easy step.

The characters aren't developed in Roth's usual style, although the film differs vastly in style and genre from Roth's previous films so much that it's not really worth comparing. Reeve's misguided and somewhat naive character is set up from the start with a few scenes portraying his loving family man side and his sexually frustrated side. It's disappointing, but not surprising when he gives in to the two promiscuous ladies cavorting around his home. The devious vixens themselves are not as well rounded as characters and go from victims to cackling, comic villains pretty quickly with not as much build up as I anticipated.

There are one or two fun scenes, but the more torture-orientated scenes seemed satirical and the film in general would have benefited greatly from either delving more deeply into the implications brought up or by maintaining the satiric humour throughout.

A lot of people have expressed disappointment in the end of this film, but I thought this was probably the scariest part of the movie. All in all, the film had some weak points, but overall it was an interesting 99 minutes.

[Image: Camp Grey, et al]

Hani

Shut In

"Shut In" (2016, Farren Blackburn, Transfilm International, Lava Bear Films, Canal+, Ocs, Cine+, Europa Corp) is a psychological thriller.

Mary (Naomi Watts) is a widowed child psychologist who lives and works in her secluded home with her 18 year old stepson, Stephen (Charlie Heaton), who has been left catatonic after the road accident that killed his father. During a snowstorm that renders them trapped in their home, Mary becomes concerned that she's either losing her mind, or that her home is haunted.

A slow burning film. The plot is pretty simple with a couple of twists and turns to try and flesh it out. The setting is effective, but the characters are a little rough and not entirely realistic, with the exception of our protagonist, Mary. Although, I find it difficult to believe a psychologist would miss some of the things that Mary misses...

On the whole, the film is pretty slow to get going and the premise is a little too 'out there' to give the slow build-up much of a payoff. Naomi Watts gives an excellent performance, essentially carrying the movie along, but the film has a hollow feeling that makes it feel a little... off.

[Image: Lava Bear Films, et al]

Hani

Within

"Within" aka "Crawlspace" (2016, Phil Claydon, Safran Company) is a 'new house' horror set in Suburban America. I say 'new house' horror because it all begins with a family moving into a new house. Genius, right?

A man, his new wife and his daughter, Hannah (Erin Moriarty), move into a new house. Everything seems fine until Hannah notices strange things going on in the house. Of course, her parents do not believe her, especially upon learning that the house has a dark past. Her dad, especially, believes that Hannah is just freaking herself out. But Hannah is convinced that there is a presence within the house and she's determined to put a stop to it.

This film is pretty generic with lots of genre tropes and a few plot twists that weren't particularly effective in grabbing viewer imagination. It plays out as a standard haunted house film which goes through the motions and then takes another avenue that muddies the plot. On the other hand it's far from terrible. The acting is good, and the film doesn't outstay its welcome. It does, however, meander through a plot by numbers and doesn't really break any new ground.

[Image: Safran Co. et al]

Hani

Hush

"Hush" (2016, Mike Flanagan, Blumhouse Productions, Intrepid Pictures, Netflix) is a psychological thriller/slasher/home invasion movie. 

Maddie Young (Kate Siegel) is a young, deaf author who is living alone in a secluded house whilst trying to finish her latest novel. She is targeted by a masked killer (John Gallagher Jr.) who soon notices that she cannot hear and tries to take advantage of this fact as he baits her.

A creative film for the genre, with some really good casting and smart, tense scenes. The action is gory and fast paced. Our protagonist is a strong lead, despite her lack of spoken words. Our antagonist is also pretty strong as the sick, twisted psycho who's motivation we are not truly sure of. And the few other supporting characters manage to create rounded, sympathetic roles despite a small screen time. "Hush" is a really excellent piece that breaks down tropes and keeps the viewer engaged throughout. 

Definitely worth your time.

[Image: Blumhouse Productions, et al]

Hani

You're Next

"You're Next" (2011 - released 2013, Adam Wingard, Lionsgate, Icon Pictures) is a 'home invasion' slasher film.

The advertising for this film was very promising. From the creepy masks, secluded setting and traditional stalk-and-slash genre, it seemed like a winner.

I'm sure from the tone of this post, however, that you have guessed that I did not find this film to be much of a winner...

The kick off is fast and bloody. It almost has a 70s slasher feel to it, too, which is then carried on into the next scene where we are introduced to some of our main characters Crispian (A.J. Bowen) and his fiancée Erin (Sharni Vinson), who are on their way to visit Crispian's wealthy parents in their new luxury holiday home. It seems that all of Crispian's brothers are also visiting for the weekend with their girlfriends/spouses and fiancées too.

Unfortunately, the family reunion is to be spoiled when a small band of animal-masked killers target the family with a range of weapons in an organised assault.

An odd film, it couldn't decide if it was going for the feeling of an older film or trying to be modern.

The characters also lacked a lot of development, resulting in them becoming, to me, very disposable. I found myself rooting for the killers just to see what imaginative killing devices they had cooked up next!

Where the backstory was provided it seemed forced and patchy, and acted as nothing more than an excuse to create a kick-ass female character. Now, I'm not complaining. I'm a Whedon fan. A kick-ass female lead is always fun, but maybe a bit more thought could have went into the character set up there.

The twist, because let's face it there was always going to be one or two... or three..., is intriguing but not clever. And the plot is painfully slow, allowing me to begin thinking about other things while our boring collection of characters did some stuff.

Also, the mother looked younger than her 'sons'. A bun hair do is not sufficient as 'older person' make-up!

Of course, I do have nice things to say about this film too.

The action, when it gets around to it, is impeccable. The gore is fun and shocking, the killing techniques are interesting and believable. The scary bits are indeed scary. The masks are an excellent touch and the blender kill is pure genius!

While I would hasten to add that I think gore hounds and horror fans should definitely all see this film just to appreciate its ups, I found its downs to outweigh the fun and horror and leave me feeling mostly unimpressed.

 

 

[Image: Lionsgate & Icon Pictures]

Hani