Halloween 2020 Countdown: One Last Review

 The Haunting of Bly Manor

This review will contain very light spoilers but not give away major reveals, surprises or plot points not derived from the source material.

If you're at all familiar with the writer/director Mike Flanagan you probably already know what to expect from his latest venture, or think you do. If you know me at all you know that Flanagan is already topping my list of favourite directors. From the Stephen King adaptations Gerald's Game and Doctor Sleep to the outstanding mini-series adaptation The Haunting of Hill House for Netflix, everything he's worked on that I've seen has been a home run or darn close to one. The Haunting of Bly Manor is a follow-up to the aforementioned Hill House series, that uses the anthology model perfected in American Horror Story to bring back most cast members but have them playing completely different characters and in different times, locations and situations. It serves this piece well, as Flanagan has established a revue of fantastic actors and this is no exception, as I'll get into later. 

Just as Hill House was adapting the titular story by Shirley Jackson, Bly Manor is Flanagan adapting the works of Henry James. Marketed as adapting The Turn of the Screw, and indeed borrowing heaviest from it, it's an important distinction to note that this series adapts various pieces of James' short ghost stories and not just that most famous one. Flanagan himself stated that no straight adaptation of The Turn of the Screw would top the acclaimed 1961 film The Innocents (despite numerous film and television attempts), and so this story is familiar but with far more to it, much like the characters and settings involved

What might surprise viewers of Hill House, for better or worse, is that this series is more of a tragic gothic romance than the often visceral horror of it's predecessor. Whilst I would definitely not recommend the former to anyone of a nervous disposition, I didn't find anything particularly scary about this latest series. Instead the piece capitalises more on atmosphere, being even more emotive and moody than it's predecessor. There are a few moments that may elicit a slight gasp, and as before there are hidden ghosts dotted in the background of every episode for eagle-eyed viewers, but the focus is far more on characters and emotional, rather than literal, fears and pain. This is something it has in common with The Turn of the Screw, although the ambiguity and subtext played so lightly by James is made rather more explicit by Flanagan, the metaphor of 1898 replaced by the heart-wrenching pain that could exist more openly in the 1980's setting and be portrayed in 2020. As such the series is still exceptionally well-acted and as effective, if not more so, than Hill House. 

                   

As promised I have to address the cast now. Spoiler alert: it's just going to be a lot of gushing. The series' lead Victoria Pedretti was a stand out in a supporting role as the tortured Nell Crain in Hill House. Moving up to anchoring this series as governess Dani Clayton she is outstanding here, more than capably handling the central pillars of the stories and leading the way with her own display of emotions, ranging from guilt and fear to love and torment. The literary character's repression-led ambiguous madness is replaced very effectively with a sense of isolation and feeling like an outsider, her past and inner torment haunting her in far more obvious and literal ways. As a character study the writing and acting all contribute to near-perfection. But Miss Pedretti is surrounded by a cast who are almost entirely on her level. Henry Thomas (of E.T fame) does a great job portraying a haunting of a less literal kind as his character falls into delusion and self-hatred, isolated and frequently at the bottom of a bottle. The scenes of his past that led to this are some of the best in the show. T'Nia Miller and Rahul Kohli are the beating heart of the show as housekeeper Hannah Grose and cook Owen, exuding charm, warmth, watchability and chemistry. Amelia Eve as Jamie gives the most nuanced and complex performance that will break your heart. Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Tahirah Sharif as doomed lovers Peter & Rebecca perfectly bring the literary characters to life. The only less than impressive part is the actress Carla Gugino. In a piece where multiple actors manage flawless accents her narrator character stumbles over James' poetic prose with an incomprehensible, inexplicable attempt at...something. English? Irish? Welsh? But this is a nitpick and doesn't hurt the emotion that she gives to her scenes in person. The child actors also are just the wrong side of precocious and with dialogue that's frequently unbearable, though the writers must take equal blame for this.

Perhaps the best episode of the series though is entitled "The Romance of Certain Old Clothes". Like every episode this season it's title is shared with a Henry James story, but this is perhaps the most direct translation. A story which is self-contained brilliance but also ultimately pulls the series together. Set in the past of the titular manor and filmed entirely in black and white, it's the most evocative and chilling ghost story you may ever see. I won't spoil anything for those who don't know the story except to say that it's a work of art, plotted to perfection. I should also add, once again, my praise for the acting. Here Kate Siegel and Katie Parker almost steal the series in one episode. I can't rave enough about this one.

The Haunting of Bly Manor, then, is about inner demons as much as outer. Deftly embracing metaphors including sexuality, repressions, guilt, and love, as well as childhood's odd emotions and dream-like forgotten lives. Creepy, eerie, and atmospheric, it gets under your skin then rips out your heart. Not as scary or horrific as Hill House with some slight stumbles but captivating, engrossing, imaginative and entertaining. Safe to say I liked this, even though the ending nearly broke me.

****1/2 (4.5/5)

The Haunting of Bly Manor, along with The Haunting of Hill House and Gerald's Game are all available to watch on Netflix right now.

MM

Halloween 2020 Countdown: Reviews round-up

 These reviews will contain slight spoilers, but will not give away major plot surprises or reveals.

Host (2020)

There isn't a lot I can say about the movie Host, made this year during the heart of the (first) Covid-19 lockdown. That's because on the surface there doesn't seem like a lot to it. It's filmed entirely over Zoom, it's essentially about a virtual seance gone wrong, it's just under an hour long and it's a strong contender for my film of the year. Relatable due to it's UK setting, the universal nature of the current pandemic and the simple, primal nature of fear. That fear is scary in any form but somehow more insidious when it perversely invades the screens that have necessarily had to take over our lives and interactions.

The cast, such as they are, are unknowns. Well they're unknown to me, have very few credits and often use their real names. All of which contributes to establishing the reality they inhabit as the viewers' own, a very Blair Witch style blending of fiction to reality that's just enough to help you identify with them even closer, and perhaps fear for your own safety. Primarily young women (plus one man and one older lady running the seance) who all give some of the best performances I've seen in a while, especially when you consider the limitations that they're acting through. You feel every beat of their fear, are charmed by their relatable interaction and are terrified for them in tense moments when their fate may be unclear. This is something for which the virtual setting is used super effectively, we have all had our internet freeze or randomly give out. Whilst obviously not real the cast all completely sell that they are horrified at what might be happening "off-screen".

However, whilst the film does make effective use of the things that you can't see, the most surprising thing is how much the director, visual effects artists and cast are able to pull off that the audience does see, and that is truly terrifying. Knowing that this was filmed by multiple people in different locations at various skill levels I was expecting far less than the film actually gave me. As a result I'm beyond impressed with what the filmmakers pulled off and hope to see big things in their futures. I can only imagine what they may be able to do in perfect conditions with an actual budget but I'm both excited to see it and dreading it. 

Honestly one of the scariest films I've seen ever. The film milks a lot of tension and truly visceral horror out of it's all too brief run time, so you won't feel short changed. Seriously I strongly recommend this film if you're a fan of horror or a student of film. Although maybe not if you have weak nerves...

*****(5/5)

Host is a Shudder exclusive. You can access Shudder through Amazon Prime video for £4.99 a month. Or you can do as I did and sign up for a 7 day free trial and watch this movie, along with anything else you can binge.

The Rental

Another film with a pretty relatable premise (at first) which goes deceptively deep, only this time examining the horror inherent in people that's not necessarily supernatural. Initially playing like a romantic drama, before transitioning to a thriller and then ending as a full blown horror/slasher. This movie is so well put together by director Dave Franco, and so well structured by writers Franco, Dan Swanberg and Mike Demski that it never feels at all disjointed and plays like another slice-of-life narrative of what happens to be the worst night of several people's life. 

The film is about two couple's: Charlie (Dan Stevens) and his wife Michelle (Alison Brie) along with Charlie's brother Josh (Jeremy Allen White) and his girlfriend Mina (Sheila Vand), who also happens to be Charlie's business partner. You can already see how the strings that tie these people together could get complicated very easily. That aspect is sold by the performances of the standouts Stevens and Vand, who get the most to do admittedly, but absolutely make the most of it. Dan Stevens proves why he's one of the most consistently great actors working today, selling heartache, desperation, divided loyalty and loose morality whilst always seeming the same man and the one in charge. Sheila Vand is a revelation, a young woman with the kind of screen presence that's instantly captivating, with the acting chops to back that up. She's the audience surrogate and we feel what she feels, grounding the increasing horrors into our emotional wheel house firmly and tensely. 

Perhaps the most interesting part of this film is that there are no real heroes. Everybody does something morally grey, unthinkable or downright diabolical. But we still feel for these characters. Whether it's Mina's tense fear that the man they're renting a house from may be racist (as an Iranian-American woman this is an all too real tension to begin the story with), to Michelle's inner turmoil at how circumstances have placed her in a seemingly inescapable web of darkness. Everybody shines, and even that which we perceive as evil can flip at any time. 

Playing with fears of being watched, being morally weak, being trapped (in various ways) and ultimately being distressingly fallible, and mortal. The film takes in a lot, and is a little slow to show it's hand in terms of the horror genre. But the direction is breathtaking, especially for a first time director, with instantly iconic shots and compositions, true tension and a couple of shocks that I, personally, could never have seen coming. The ambiguity of the characters may rile some, as will the pace. Likewise the ending will, I suspect, be very divisive. I marinated on it for a while before deciding I really liked the choice made and the thematic possibility of why. Lots to recommend again, and another brief watch at just 88 mins. Not perfect but really good, and frequently impressive too.

****(4/5)

The Rental is unfortunately, and criminally, not available to watch in the UK. It is, however, available to rent on all digital platforms in the US so if you have a VPN and $6 (or it's equivalent) you can watch it at home. 

The Witches (2020)

Oh boy, and we were doing so well. I'll be brief here. I know this isn't technically a horror film but it is dealing with similar tropes, and Nic Roeg's 1990 adaptation horrified me since childhood. That film may have slightly disturbed me but at least I remembered it. The only horrifying thing about this new adaptation is how bad it is. Nihilistic to a fault that's at odds with it's tone, the restoration of Roald Dahl's original, depressing ending from the book doesn't help. And yet this film isn't even bold enough to embrace it's darkness, frequently playing like, and looking like, a cartoon!

Anne Hathaway is competing to win a role in the Blackpool pantomime, and somehow still going over the top. The young actors are out of their depth and Viola Davis is written so badly that she seems as dizzy as we are trying to decipher what is happening to her, and more importantly why. She labours behind a fatal-sounding cough for most of the movie that's never explained and just goes away. But that's the kind of film this is, stuff just happens. As a result the outlandish, potentially horrific stuff has no weight. And the whole thing collapses like a badly made souffle. 

Director Robert Zemeckis is the biggest disappointment, employing such uncanny and unrealistic cgi that it's like watching a real boy being chased by the cast of The Polar Express. One feels the indignity of poor Hathaway, already playing the part like an evil drag queen, as the director unnecessarily and unconvincingly turns her into Stretch Armstrong, a weird Chesire Cat demon and a creature that resembles a weasel that's minutes from death. Put this against Roeg's film and the argument for practical effects has never been clearer.

Is there anything good here then? Well Stanley Tucci is good in a virtual cameo role, there's some fun slapstick, and the set designer makes it slightly less painful to look at. Plus Dahl's prose always has little nuggets that sound like gems. But it's not enough to save this from being a less than bewitching experience.

*1/2 (1.5/5)

The Witches is available to rent from Video On Demand digital services everywhere for around £15. Save your money.

If I have time I may be back with a review later, but if not then it may have to wait until November. Have a safe and happy Halloween. 

MM

Halloween 2020 Countdown: The Babysitter 1 & 2

Hi again reader, or welcome if you're new. It's been a while since I posted on here. In fact the last time was before the world turned scarier than any movie. However we probably need escapism now more than ever and sometimes good horror can do that. This isn't a political blog or social study but I have watched a few movies over the last months and want to share my thoughts here. I would have done it sooner but life got in the way; a global pandemic, the probable death of cinema, a sad bereavement and the launch of a new podcast (Hit or Miss YouTube channel, for Doctor Who talk and review). But I definitely wanted to, at least, continue my yearly tradition of reviewing my Halloween night viewing. And so, with a little free time, I decided to post reviews of the things I've seen on the run up to that annual treat (or trick) as a sort of countdown. The first movies I wanted to talk about are The Babysitter and it's sequel The Babysitter: Killer Queen.

These reviews will be as spoiler free as possible, mainly in an attempt for me to preserve some of the cooler surprises that I saw when viewing these movies. However, as always, your discretion is advised if you want to know absolutely nothing but still plan to watch someday.

The Babysitter (2017)

Okay, I know it might seem weird to review a movie that's three years old already but honestly I hadn't heard of it until I saw the trailer for this year's sequel. That trailer looked like goofy fun with a couple of younger actors I vaguely recognised. But when I headed to Netflix to check out the original I was drawn in by the leading star, playing the titular babysitter; one Samara Weaving. If you don't know who she is then where have you been? A young Australian actress (she's actually the niece of Hugo Weaving) whose star has risen exponentially over the last year or so. Small roles in various projects led to her break out role in 2019's Ready or Not, a horror film of which she is the best thing involved but which I otherwise found rather underwhelming. Then just this year she cemented her place in the Hollywood big time with a role in the long-awaited comedy sequel Bill & Ted Face the Music as one of the co-leads, playing the daughter of Alex Winter's title character Bill S. Preston. Like most of her other work (she also starred in the TV show Ash vs Evil Dead for a three episode arc) this movie blends together the genres she is arguably most known for; horror and comedy. Once again I can say that she's the best part of the movie, though I actually enjoyed it more than Ready or Not and the acting is much better all round in my opinion. In a film whose tone is completely ridiculous (and it knows it) she plays the part deadly serious (pun intended). It's a lot to do to carry a film as the literal title character but she does a fantastic job of selling the reality of this madcap nonsense and more importantly makes it believable that the male lead would be besotted with her, something which is also crucial to the overall plot. 

Likewise the young newcomer Judah Lewis sells this relationship, his character and serves as the audience surrogate all whilst co-leading the film. Along with the two leads the former child actress Emily Alyn Lind does a fantastic job as the stereotypical good girl fawning over a guy who doesn't seem to notice her (the teen movie "best friend" who is secretly longing for more), transitioning effortlessly into a girl that it's clear the audience, and the male lead, clearly adore rather than just lusting after. The other actors are all good but at relatively one-note roles, serving as parodies of slasher and teen movie tropes. Bella Thorne does well as the mean-girl bitch who seems entirely shallow, though the film subverts this for one of it's better jokes. She also provides the requisite "eye candy" in a cheerleader costume that wants to be a parody whilst acknowledging that it's also drawing in young boys to watch the movie, a fortuitous case of having your cake and eating it too. Hana Mae Lee brings the deadpan brilliance and a more sinister vibe, Robbie Amell is the male "eye candy" who mocks the idea of young men with abs finding excuses to be shirtless by... being mostly shirtless (yum, cake!). Though he too brings the threat as things develop and tension increases. Andrew Bachelor is fine but entirely forgettable as an unfortunate "token black guy" though, and comedy legends Leslie Bibb and Ken Marino are wasted in what is essentially cameo roles. 

Director McG, of Charlie's Angels and Terminator: Salvation "fame" walks a precarious tightrope with this film. To labour the metaphor he wobbles more than once as the tone shifts between serious, melodramatic, romantic, camp, schlock, self-aware parody and traditional slasher. If that doesn't sound like something you'd enjoy then this may not be the film for you. Obviously targeted at a younger, likely teen, audience, the movie does seem at times to have the kind of short attention span that you might expect from that demographic. And after a decent build-up it turns hyperactive relatively quickly and stays that way until the end credits roll. But, against all odds, it somehow just works. McG, a director who I come very close to hating, does a surprisingly good job, particularly in the scenes that show the bonding of young Cole and his babysitter Bee. The on-screen chemistry is there for sure but the director gets the most out of it in scenes that show them playing games, watching movies outdoors and generally making you feel like a young boy falling for his first crush. Indeed the whole end of the movie wouldn't work without this, nor would the sharply felt betrayal that opens the second act.

When the splatter-fest begins it's initially jarring, with a couple of instantly iconic shocks and images, before devolving (knowingly) into something akin to those Itchy & Scratchy cartoons in The Simpsons. But dang it, the film had me hooked into it and it was darn fun! Not exactly a cinematic masterpiece but campy fun that you can enjoy as a disposable treat. This is one of the better films you could click to Netflix and chill with, elevated by some great acting and surprisingly adept direction.

***1/2 (3.5/5)

The Babysitter: Killer Queen

After watching the original and having a pretty good time with it I actually saw this sequel on the night that it was released. Expecting to be disappointed it gave effectively the same kind of vibe as the first, with even more veering into tongue-in-cheek territory and embracing of the more outlandish parts of it's premise. This did lessen the horror a little for me although an early surprise that tried to emulate the original movie was far more shocking to me, and a little controversial as I saw it. Likewise the inventiveness of the slasher-style kills is turned up a notch, approaching Final Destination territory, with giallo style effects, whilst playing for laughs/groans as much as screams or disgust.

Without wanting to give too many spoilers I'll say that all the returning actors give a performance comparable to their previous one, if it had been let off the chain. A handful of them even get to find new depths and play totally different sides of their character, an impressive feat. The nature of several people's return means that they are tonally afforded free reign to go as crazy as they like. This leads to some really good comedic performances, though nobody will be scared of anything other than the overacting that occasionally creeps in. I will say that with no sign of Samara Weaving anywhere in the poster, marketing or trailer, and with her star firmly on the rise, I honestly expected her not to return for this movie. I was pleasantly surprised, without spoiling, at how that character was addressed, explored further and ultimately returned to focus. The movie goes back to where her character began, in more ways than one, and emphasises what made me dig the performance. Some may find it trite but I kind of loved it. Shout out too to Jenna Ortega who is given the unenviable task of being the only new actor to join this film, and then is expected to slide into a huge archetypal role that's been vacated. I was initially hostile to this but once again the film had won me over by the end. 

Even more zany and OTT than it's predecessor, with a bigger shock or two and some inventive gore, though less tension. Everyone involved is having fun and McG surely knows by now that he's making films that'll be the best night of a 14 year old boy's life and for everyone else will be schlocky fun to pass a brisk, entertaining 100 minutes.

The Babysitter and The Babysitter: Killer Queen are both available to watch on Netflix right now. 

***1/2 (3.5/5)

MM