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Posted on January 20, 2016

The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014) Review

Gwen

2014 | R | 90min | Director: Adam Robitel | Writers: Adam Robitel & Gavin Heffernan | USA

Grade: A+

Synopsis: While working on a PhD dissertation regarding Alzheimer’s, a student and her camera crew document the long term effects of the disease on one woman. During the course of filming, the family and the crew come to discover that the degenerative disease is not the only thing wearing away Deborah Logan’s body.

Review: A smart and tense film that will keep even the seasoned horror fan on the edge of her seat!

The Nuts & Bolts: I cannot help but begin this review by stating that this was by far one of the best horror films I have seen in recent history. The Taking of Deborah Logan maintained a high level of suspense without relying on the usual tropes. The acting was stellar, especially from Jill Larson (Deborah), and Anne Ramsay (Sarah). The writing and directing was innovative and well executed. Overall The Taking of Deborah Logan will appeal to fans of a damn good story as well as fans, more specifically, of the sub-genres of found footage, ritualistic horror, possession, serial killers, as well as suspense. One might ask, how does this film incorporate such schizophrenic themes? To that, I answer…”very effectively.”

Posted on January 15, 2016

The Forest (2016) Review

Gwen

95 min | 2016 | (USA) | Jason Zada

Grade: B-

Synopsis: A young American woman named Sara Price (Dormer) travels to Japan’s Suicide Forest (Aokigahara) in search of her missing twin who has a troubled past.

Review: Slow, building horror with a cerebral bend.

If you are looking for jump scares, tons of special FX, or gore, this movie is not for you. If I had to categorize it, I would call it more of a suspenseful thriller. The Forest is like the burn in your muscles the day after a good run. While watching The Forest, it is at times difficult to tell the difference between what is real and imagined. The film’s dream-like quality leaves you as disoriented as the characters that attempt to navigate the labyrinth inside the Aokigahara Forest.

Be prepared, the Aokigahara doesn’t actually play as large of a role in the film as you might think. I won’t give away any spoilers but if you are going to enjoy this film, you have to go in with an open mind. Upon viewing trailers, one might think the whole film is about the horrors that lurk within this specific forest…not so much. The Suicide Forest is a conduit for the larger portion of the film to unfurl. In fact, I would suggest that the nebulous forest is just a means for Sara and her twin, Jess (also played by Dormer) to work out their equally ill-defined inner demons.

Posted on January 8, 2016

Dark Fantasy, Horror, and The Neverending Story

Gwen

I am going to be frank. I really wanted to write about The Neverending Story (1984). Even though it is a fantasy film, I believe it uniquely contains adult themes of horror which culminate in one of the most horrific monsters of all time…The Nothing. The next few paragraphs are a brief justification of why I feel that some fantasy overlaps with horror, followed by my take on The Neverending Story. To get straight to the point, I firmly believe that many fantasy films include an abject terror shared with the horror genre. The difference between horror and fantasy lies in the setting for these abject horrors. Furthermore, The Nothing overlaps with the formless horror seen in much of natural horror, yet it looms over the real and imagined worlds and stands for something so much more terrifying and powerful than anything in horror film.

Not everyone will agree with me, but I believe that fantasy and horror go hand in glove. I especially believe this when it comes to children’s fantasy. I have stated in previous posts that the fantasy films from my childhood in the 1980s were my gateway to horror. From Grimm’s Fairy Tales to Watership Down, fantasy has used many elements that persist in today’s gothic and horror narratives. In some circles, the term “dark fantasy” has been used interchangeably with gothic fantasy as well as supernatural horror. Many works of notable horror authors like Stephen King and Clive Barker have been categorized as dark fantasy. So closely related are the two that noted horror scholar Noel Carroll felt the need to distinguish his definition of art horror from fantasy.[i]

Posted on January 1, 2016

Beetlejuice and the Invisibility of Childfree Couples

Gwen

I’m going to be honest with you; I really just wanted to watch Beetlejuice (1988). What emerged was completely unintended. As horror reviewers and academics we tend to read into things for postmodern interpretations of the world around us. As horror fans, sometimes we just want to sit back and indulge in some of our favorite films. Unfortunately our brain doesn’t always get the message to just sit down and shut up. That is exactly what happened on the way to Winter River, Connecticut, when I tried to join the Maitlands for a lazy Sunday afternoon. For those of you nay-sayers, yes I know that Beetlejuice is characterized as Comedy Fantasy—but, it’s my party and I’ll review it if I want to.

While my brain was supposed to be turned off, I realized something about this movie: it is all about Lydia. The film reads like a foreign adoption story about a childfree couple wandering the earth until they are made into a real family via the addition of a child. What I found most interesting about Beetlejuice was the way that Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis) Maitland are devalued and almost irrelevant to the outside world until they find Lydia. This is by no means a commentary on their relationship, as Tim Burton masterfully paints them as an ideal couple before and after their introduction to Lydia. It instead reflects on the way that the world around them emphasizes and validates couples with children.