Regardless of that or my other minor quibbles, however, I was–and remain–enamored with the feel of it. It's very much about whatever good or evil lurks under the everyday façade; obviously this is the entirety of the film's "Is this bandaged woman our mommy or not?" premise but the theme goes further than that, seeping into nearly every deliciously uncanny frame. This beautiful family in a beautiful house nestled amongst beautiful fields and waters–why does it all come across so creepy? What are they all hiding, what are they really thinking, what the hell is going on? The abnormal looks normal approach is nothing new, particularly in horror cinema ("Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut..."), but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna eat up fine filmmaking when I see it, you know?
Brr! I loved this movie. Not quite what I was expecting, and I was surprised how OK I was with that. It's a creeper! The blurry framed fashion images on the wall were particularly brilliant.
ReplyDeleteYES! I loved that as well, very nice touch. The whole thing is creepy...I guess the violent turn was a bit of a letdown for me but maybe on a second view it'll work better because I'll be expecting it? It kind of pulled me out of things the first time around.
ReplyDeleteThe violence was almost satisfying at first because Bandaged Mommy felt so mean and scary (poor kitty!), but then yeah, it turned things into a completely different movie from the one I had thought I was watching. I really liked how it played with your sympathies though and I feel like, even on a second viewing, I would spend the first part being terrified for the kids all over again.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say thank you all for not spoiling the ending for me. I have been putting off viewing this for a while since it is somewhat $$ on streaming-I'm waiting hoping it shows up on NF...but I might have to give in now!
ReplyDeleteBTW: Just watched Blackwood, a Brit film, on amazon prime last night and it had an intriguing somewhat more complicated ending than I expected. Everything dovetails expertly.After i thought about it The Shining seems to be a theme it uses-haven't seen that done before!Just wanted to alert you to a little known film that is worth a go.
Blackwood, eh? Never heard of it! But then, there are a lot of things I've never heard of, I guess. I'm definitely intrigued, though, and will add it to my watch list, thanks!
ReplyDeleteAs far as spoilers...there is always a risk around here but I try to be good about it, especially newer stuff that not everyone has seen yet. At the very least I attempt to give a big warning. I know it's chancy here on the the wilds of the internet, but sometimes I care about things being spoiled for me.
looking at these pictures, i realized there's something a little bit creepy about cornfields close to a house like that - you can hide about anything in a cornfield.
ReplyDeleteNice review. I loved the eerie mood in this film.
ReplyDeletei finally got to see this, it turned up on amazon prime. i did not get the bit with the bug...you know which one i mean.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's one of a few confounding "horror movie moments" that work well in the trailer but don't make much sense in the film itself.
ReplyDeleteI REALLY wanted to like this movie, but when the "twist" is so obvious that I guessed it within the first 15 minutes of the film and then hoped that wasn't the actual twist, but then it actually was...well, no matter how pretty the movie looked, it was just a mediocre film at best. Meh.
ReplyDeleteI watched this today.
ReplyDeleteI agree, there's a stretch of this movie that is incredibly twisted and tense. But it all falls apart with a twist that I've seen in too many movies.