Housebound (2014)

Housebound seems to have surprised quite a few casual viewers by actually being pretty good! Part black comedy, part mystery and part horror; this clever, silly, often blood-splattered film never leans too heavily in any one direction, making for an interesting and unpredictable watch.

Kylie (Morgana O'Reilly, above) is a petty criminal sent back to her childhood home for 8 months under house arrest. At first she's resentful and selfish, hogging the TV and scoffing at her mother's assertion that there's something spooky going on in the house (and has been for years). After witnessing some strange stuff herself however, Kylie begins to unearth some dark secrets.

The fact that Kylie has such a take-no-shit attitude really adds to a lot of fun here. Whether she's being a moody daughter or fighting off a suspected psycho, she's always full of such delightful irritation over what's happening and always seems on the verge of an eye roll. Yet it comes across as scrappy, rather than arrogant, and you find yourself genuinely cheering her on.

Having recently felt like I've been spotting plot reveals a minute before they're announced, it was refreshing to watch something that kept switching things up so much. On more than one occasion even something as simple as a shot set-up presents you with what you assume is going to go one way... only to then promptly go in an entirely different direction.

Perhaps I'm being lazy but I don't want to give too much away here! It's really best going in knowing as little as possible. However, I will say this much: creepy talking teddy bear, a cheese grater to the face, enough gore to keep you happy... and the most soppy mum character since Barbara in Shaun of the Dead.

Stung (2015)

What makes a good killer bug flick? What makes a bad one? And, most aptly here: what makes a movie about giant killer wasps just... okay?

First, the plot: A fancy garden party is attended by the mayor (Lance Henriksen!), a bunch of other blink-and-you'll-miss-them characters, and a couple of caterers, Paul and Julia. After the family dog digs a hole that unearths an underground hive, killer wasps erupt and start attacking everyone.

But you don't just get STUNG by these bad boys. Once you've had contact with their stinger it's just a matter of time before a huuuuge bug bursts out of you.

You have a little something in your teeth...

The best part is the first eruption. The wasp decides to come out of a poor lady's mouth, splitting her head in half in the process. Said bug then comes literally face to face with Paul (Matt O'Leary) while the woman's husk of a head is still hanging off it.

And yet, something about Stung just didn't capture my imagination, and it struggled to hold my attention. It's got gooey practical effects, splendid gore and wet clicky bug sounds. But that's really all I can think of to recommend it.

I spoke in my last review of being out of practice hoping more than one character survives to the end of a horror film. Well this one made me feel kind of ambivalent about anyone making it out alive.

The characters aren't bad as such, just not particularly interesting enough or despicable enough to sway me in either direction. Paul starts as a boob obsessed, dopey stoner man-child and becomes brave; Julia starts blandly pretty and becomes brave and prettier. Then they kiss.

My notes say "the kiss at the end of Tremors I really wanted to happen. This one I just wanted over with." 

It should have ended when they crashed the car.

🍺 For this film I was sipping on... 🍺

Punkin Ale by Dogfish Head 

It's a school night so I "only" had two (they are 7%!) but this film would probably benefit from the viewer drinking more. Taste wise this is a little on the bitter side for me. It's a brown ale, something I'm not usually a fan of, and even though I'm definitely getting the spices (allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg) coming through, it's not ringing my bell. I'd give it 2/5.

The Babadook (2014)

It's hard to believe it's taken me two years to see this. I remember the hype and positive buzz when it came out, and ever since it's been on my infamous "list". This October challenge is a great excuse to finally sit down and watch this and others like it.

The Babadook belongs to the "are they mad or is it real?" sub-genre of horror and if it's not counted as one of the best, at the very least it's a potent strain of it; having both a child as one of the main characters and managing to tap into some very primal fears.

Amelia is a single mother and a widow. Her husband died seven years ago in a grisly car crash driving to the hospital for her to give birth, and as she admits herself, she's "not been right" since this event. She never, for example, celebrates her son Samuel's birthday on the actual day. Amelia is still tortured by her loss, barely coping, and between an infected tooth, bitchy sister, depressing job and Samuel himself - who's understandably a bit odd - her normal setting for life is "struggling".

When Samuel starts obsessing over a monster in a children's book called Mister Babadook, things really start to unravel. 

Ba ba-ba dook dook

The Babadook is scary, no doubt about it, and we have a slow, wonderful build of unfortunate events leading us to question if this creature is indeed steadily infecting the house... or is it just Amelia's grief and depression that's isolating them and evolving into something dangerous, and ugly?

The use of colour in this film is fantastic and the house where much of the action/tension takes place is almost all the same colour. Not only is it just plain weird (are your bedroom, living-room and front door all the same shade?) but it's unnerving, making the house feel flat, like the set of a stage play or (relevantly) a storybook background.

Blues, greys and shadows, everywhere.

Similarly, Amelia is seen wearing the same couple of outfits, or colour combinations of clothes throughout. This serves to remove an unnecessary distraction of wardrobe, plus adding to the feeling of characters existing on top of a backdrop. Her pastel pink and cream colour palette also highlight muck and gore very well!

Light and shadow, too, are used to brilliant effect. This relates to the primal fear I mentioned before. There's a certain deep-rooted horror of what lies in the shadows; a flicker in the corner of the eye, a coat taking the shape of a person... It's something we can all relate to - it's something that undoubtedly has always been - and when such a universal fear is used and used well, it's a glorious thing. I fully expect to have a heart-stopping moment tonight when I wake up and sleepily glance across the room.

I'd also like to give mention to the female-heavy element to this movie. It's written and directed by Jennifer Kent (her first feature length film), with predominantly female characters and a frankly perfect performance from Essie Davis as Amelia. 

She's clearly an actress with impressive range, giving us heartbreakingly meek and exhausted, to defiantly gritting her teeth, all the way up to animalistic twitching and screaming at Samuel (Noah Wiseman). I found my sympathy, surprisingly, switch from mother to son and back again, as both character arcs developed.

Frankly I've grown unaccustomed to caring about more than one character, and it definitely ups the ante, as you wonder who is going to crawl out the other end of the 90min runtime in one piece.

"I've never seen a more terrifying film than THE BABADOOK. It will scare the hell out of you as it did me." 

 - William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist.

The guy has a point. I can imagine in the intense confines of the cinema, this film would've definitely had my heart in my throat. For the full experience this needs all lights off and volume up. The hype is justified!


Edited to add:
This film has definitely stuck with me, and I intend to revisit it. Thought I would share this review, I found, which is everything I hope to be in a horror blogger and more. So good. 

Holidays (2016)

Okay firstly, that artwork is the shit. It genuinely looks like it could have been from thirty years ago, and Holidays, this sweet little horror anthology, was made this year, in 2016! 

Secondly, I'm not sure I will ever think of Easter the same way after this film. 

From the opening I had a good vibe about Holidays, and the reason for this was the music. One might argue that the synth approach to spooky stuff is old hat (It Follows, Stranger Things...) but I don't think I will ever tire of it.

These holidays run chronologically, so we start with Valentine's Day: a stylish and adorably grisly exploration of misguided teen love. Clearly some Carrie influences here, complete with bitchy girl bullies and locker rooms. It's somewhat predictable but fun.

St Patrick's Day is a strange beast. Flavours of The Wicker Man and Evil Dead style crash zooms of boring rituals - so, actually more Shaun of the Dead... BOOM! Making tea! BAM! Driving to work! - mixed with body horror, black comedy and a frankly bonkers ending.

Easter? Well. Never has there been a more glisteningly terrifying incarnation of the Easter bunny than the one I just saw. It also reminded me that I really love the element of "now you must take my place" in my monster terror. This holiday may have been my favourite just for the sheer WTF?! factor. Although the Halloween segment comes in a very close second.

Mother's Day uses the scary premise that it's possible to get pregnant every single time you have sex, regardless of your precautions. It travels from an uncomfortable examination room beginning to a birth in the desert, cutting to black before you have a chance to pick up your jaw.

Father's Day

I found Father's Day the most disappointing, in that the build was SO good, so eerie and tense, that when the end came it did not do justice to what preceded it. It probably would have been contender for favourite, had the payoff, er... paid off. A real shame.

The revenge of cam girls on their creepy porn agent makes up the plot of the Kevin Smith written and directed Halloween tale. This one totally reminded me of Hot Girls Wanted but with a way better ending. If you know me at all, you know I fucking love Kevin Smith, and this made me want to see more short films from him. The Halloween theme is tenuous at best, but this is funny, gross, and features his wonderful daughter Harley Quinn Smith. I approve!

Christmas

The best way to describe Christmas with real life married couple Seth Green and Clare Grant, is Black Mirror lite.

And finally, a New Year's celebration begins by leading the viewer in one direction, only to change it up for a very satisfying, messy conclusion. I will say no more. It may put you off internet dating for a little while though!

I'm happy I started this challenge with something I ended up genuine enjoying. With any anthology film there are going to be weak links, but honestly one way or another, everything in this had something to recommend it. The chapter titles as old style greetings cards are also just plain beautiful, too, so keep an eye out for those!


🍺 For this film I was sipping on... 🍺

20 Pounds of Pumpkin by Samuel Adams 

At first it underwhelmed me both in pumpkin flavour and the flavour generally. However the spiciness does come through after a while, just maybe not as much as I'd like. I'm sure finishing the six pack won't be a problem though... I'd give it 2.5/5.