October Film Freak Out Week 5
Finishing with a Bang!
We have come to the last week of October!
Halloween is on Thursday, I have just managed to beat my sickness, and I chose a lineup of only the most interesting, more recommended film titles I’ve been asked about this year!
I’ve been much more busy this week than I expected, cause in just a weeks time, I have my first stall! More on that in a different post.
As a result, I only saw 4 movies this week, but I assure you, they were all very much worth watching.
Let’s dive right in!
Movie 23: The VVitch
The Witch was a bit of a slow burn, I feel like I did myself a disservice looking at the trailer because most of the interesting stuff was already shown in the trailer.
Overall, I think it was a great period piece, it makes an effort to create a perspective built on the experiences written from the time period.
The acting was exceptional, the children in particular were brilliant.
The dialogue was interesting, definitely one for the subtitles though.
I think what I loved most was this idea that they left their commune because their faith was more true or somehow more correct than that of the community, or at the least their father believes this to be the case.
Once they leave they seem to suffer immediate consequences, and whats worse is they assume that suffering to be on the heads on their children, whose faith may not be as strong.
Events begin to rapidly fall into place, putting the family in further distress and creating more conflict about who is responsible for the evil baring down on them.
For the most part, it seems like they are most critical of their eldest daughter, and they conspire to send her off so she is no longer their burden.
I would argue that the true lack of faith stems from the parents, whose greed and pride seems to poison the whole group.
The father insists on grilling his son on his prayers, his understanding of the faith, yet he lies to his wife and then allows his son to further that lie. The lies of the father extend to the mother of the house feeling spite and resentment towards the eldest daughter, and the father is weak and cowardly in the face of his wife’s misunderstanding.
This film was brilliant in many ways, but I felt let down by the tone, which was mostly set by increasing volumes of very intrusive music and sound. I felt as though the film would have had more impact without this ridiculous soundscape and its insane volume.
4/5 stars, as much as I liked this concept and the story that unfolded, I was sorta bored and bothered by the reliance on sound to set a mood.
I think its important for films to consider how the scene plays out with quietness.
We don’t typically have soundtracks in real life, there is no orchestra when we in the real world lose our child or discover a terrifying omen.
There is only usually a sense of quiet, or the noise of the everyday.
Passing chatter, the leaves rustling in the wind, the sound of footsteps on grass.
I think this would have fit more with the aesthetic they were going for, or at the least I wouldn’t have had to mute it so often, because I get it, violin SQUEEEEEEEE!
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Reee spoilers reeee
What I loved most about this was the narrative of the daughter.
Her guidance in all of this is very fleeting, she feels guilt and anguish over not being a true enough servant to the lord, and she is tormented by a sense that her mother is hateful of her.
She is given agency over her twin siblings, who do not listen to her and act very indignant and entitled. Yet her mother does not scold them, she blames a lack of order on her daughter for not commanding it.
The daughter does her best, but the forces are against them and her, and in the wirlwind of it all she is trying to be good to her family and her faith.
She is accused, she is made out to be a witch by her siblings despite them clearly being the ones to chant and make a connection with Black Philip, which she reminds her father is the symbol of the Devil’s presence (I think? The dialogue was lost on me a bit there).
Her family is quick to accuse her of witch craft, and her father explains that she will have to face a trial in town for it.
Wow the rage I felt towards the father, if anyone is to blame for this outcome it is him and his acts of faithlessness.
When everyone dies, and she is forced to kill her mother to survive, she is broken.
Sitting in the dark of her destroyed home and family, she is directionless, lost.
And so she goes to Black Philip and attempts to make contact, taking the path of evil, and becoming a witch like the very ones who destroyed her family.
And honestly? Love that for her.
Movie 24: Talk To Me
I had no idea this movie was Australian going in, a very happy surprise.
I really enjoyed this film, I didn’t love the ending, but the story was interesting and I loved the acting.
The story follows a young woman whose mother passed away 2 years ago, she lives mostly with a friends family and it is with her friend and her friends brother that she attends a party known for a spooky attraction.
The spooky attraction is a preserved hand, when you grasp the hand by a lit candle and say “Talk to me” a spirit appears. If you say “I let you in” the spirit possesses you.
The experience gets out of hand when the young brother wants to try, hes a few years younger than them (around 13-14 I think) and his sister doesn’t really want him to participate.
Despite that, with the encouragement of our protagonist, he participates.
This is where the story takes a harsh plummet.
I loved the concept of this cursed object making its rounds at drunken parties, I also love the rules associated with the hand and the lore behind it.
I think the ending makes sense, but at the same time I felt unsatisfied with it.
4/5 stars
An ending can really determine my lasting feelings about a story, this one didn’t get me the way I wanted it to.
But the atmosphere, the lore and the vibes, they were all there.
Movie 25: Doctor Sleep
As someone who watched the Shining and loved it, this was a great experience for me.
I have not read the books, and so I cannot comment on anything linking the books and the films.
For those who have seen the shining, I think this is a must see experience.
Following on from the horrors in the original film, Danny attempts to live peacfully but is still haunted by the ghosts that tormented him in the hotel.
Eventually, we come to a time skip and now Danny is an adult struggling with alcoholism, and still haunted by the gift that sets him apart from anyone else.
Meanwhile, in a world where children are awakened to their “shine” at a young age, many unaware of it, a sinister group of adults referred to as The Knott are cutting down gifted children and sucking the essence of their shine out of them, giving themselves temporary and fragile immortality.
In another part of America, a young girl with incredible powers is becoming stronger and stronger, until one night a boy captured by the Knott makes a connection with her, alerting her to the group and its insidious practice.
She then reaches out to the one and only, Danny, for assistance.
This was a wopping 2 and a half hour film, yet I was not once bored.
It was immensely engaging, action packed and had me on the edge of my seet.
Ewen McGregor is fantastic as an older Danny, and I loved the way some scenes were reshot to use the modern actors to replace older scenes. It was practically seemless for a film without the magnificent Shelly Duval, I was very impressed that they pulled that off.
I loved the core concepts at play around trauma and facing up to your fears.
The shining aspect was the part I understood the least in the original film, this story delves deeper into the nature of people who shine and gives us some insight into how long this phenomena has existed and the range of abilities it can offer.
5/5 stars, would absolutely recommend, it’s a sequel with a soul.
Movie 26: Poor Things
This film was cerebral.
I haven’t seen anything like poor things, except maybe the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
The story follows a doctor who specializes in reviving people from death, or at the least that’s a core piece of his scientific exploration.
He invites a student doctor to assist him in his work, introducing him to his latest experiment, Bella Baxter.
The story then drifts to become mostly about Bella, her journey as a reanimated corpse, and how the world treats people who are disconnected from social norms and expectations.
Its difficult to put Poor Things into words.
Its quite disturbing in its tone, the music is very very strange and kinda screechy but in this way they aligns with Bella and her emotions and perspective. Sometimes it feels like the soundtrack is coming from Bella, at one point we watch her attempt to make sounds on a piano when she is just starting to get her footing, its very loud and off key and abrupt, much like the soundtrack of the film.
The colours are cold and somber, contrasted against moments when she wears yellow and steps into sunlight, yet even then there is a coldness, an off-ness to the vibe.
The world itself is alternative, we get glimpses of areas, boats, technology that all seem to be operating off a technology unknown to us. It has a steam punk feel, with much more colour than your typical bonzes.
The fashion is a twist on Victorian era dress but very alterative and modern in its cut and assortment.
The world aside from its aesthetic is similar to our own, there are restaurants, scientific discovery, education, cruise travel, and to Bella’s horror there is immense human suffering.
Sex is something Bella is very focused on, and as someone completely separated from social norms, sex is something Bella converses about and participates in without shame or guilt.
There are disturbing elements at play, ones which I will not mention so I do not spoil it, however these disturbing elements barely phase the protagonist, keeping the audience feeling somewhat safe.
Trigger warning: there is some moments where surgery scenes are close up, lots of blood and gore and brains, think very Frankenstein style stuff.
5/5 stars.
This film was madness of the best possible kind.
What a wild October it has been, I was so sick for most of it.
Alas, I watched many amazing horror films and find myself filled with inspiration for my next major art projects.
My favourites this year were Poor Things, Doctor Sleep, Pearl and MaXXXine.
All 4 had fantastic endings, protagonists and plots that kept me on the edge of my seat.
I did not manage to watch a horror movie for every day of the week, only getting to 26 films this year, but considering I was following a proper list this year, I think I did a damn good job!
There are a few films I have my eye on that weren’t out in time for me to watch them this October, and some of them are just to juicy to wait until October for.
So keep an eye out for a few more spooky reviews!
Aside from that, its time to start building next years list…
Until next October!
