Keep It Clean, Girls

The central theme of Hulu's Into the Dark is to take a holiday and turn it into a horror story, which has obviously been an effective trick in the genre for several decades and counting. Perhaps more importantly, Into the Dark has been a great tool for introducing new filmmakers and apparently, holidays themselves.

Father-Daughter Day is a thing? Sure. 

Quick Plot: After her mother passed away, teenage Shay went to live with the father she never knew, who also happened to have a daughter her own age named Jo. Nothing scandalous or anti-Christian about that!

Speaking of, horrible dad has an annual tradition of taking Jo to a purity retreat (barf), where loyal daughters wear wedding dresses and make vows to stay chaste until marriage. Jo treats it like a joke, while Shay, eager to please her new father, tries to put on a good face amid the horrors of antiquated sermons and extreme misogyny. 

Along with their less-than-eager roommates, Jo and Shay playfully complete a midnight ritual to summon Lilith, the mythical first wife (and first feminist) of Adam who usually gets cut from most Sunday school lectures. Shay begins to see an ominous female figure lurking about the campgrounds, all as she struggles to find a place between the dubious Jo, sanctimonious father, even worse armed preacher (Jason Street himself, Scott Porter), and a handsome local who makes for a nice summer romance.

Written and directed by Hannah Macpherson, Pure is, like most of the Into the Dark entries, extremely sleek and watchable, even if its 90 minute time limit leaves us without the climax we might have otherwise gotten in a bigger film. The horror comes from deep within the setup, not necessarily the supernatural elements. I probably would have preferred Pure to never even mention vengeance demons or black-eyed visages and to focus instead on the monstrosity of conservative men in power.

Macpherson, a newcomer, clearly understands that men historically regulating womens' bodies (be they their wives or daughters) is true terror in itself. The sheer creepiness of men believing their daughters' sexual decisions belong to them is horrifying, and Macpherson wisely doesn't overplay this. One father is clearly unhealhtily (even by crazy Christian metrics) obsessed with his daughter's weight, while Shay and Jo's dad has seemingly never confronted the hypocritical nature of his own affair. We don't need extreme music or camera shading to let us know who the real villains in this story are. 

In fact, one of Pure's best assets is its intense sunniness. I almost wish Macpherson went the Midsommar route of keeping all the horror in pure shimmering daylight, but there's a certain inevitable conclusion that feels required in its bloody, quick CGI execution. 

High Points

The level of restraint at work in Pure is really something special, especially when you consider this being Macpherson's first full-length film. It would have been so easy to go the Jesus Camp route of overlaying added film tricks to make the men of Pure seem truly despicable, but instead, we see them through Shay's eyes: wrong-headed and entitled, but still clean-cut and seemingly trusting in what they believe. 

Low Points

I suppose it ultimately makes sense when you consider the nature of Pure's real antagonists, but the actual horror elements are probably the least interesting things onscreen

Lessons Learned

People who live in hell are called demons

Father-daughter day is a thing, and a fairly terrible one at that

No preacher is more trustworthy than the one who wears a gun at all times

Rent/Bury/Buy

While it doesn't reach the stunning quality of Culture Shock or the sheer fun of Pilgrim, I still found Pure to be a worthwhile Into the Dark installment. It has a genuinely fresh voice that, hey, as a female horror fan, I deeply appreciate. I probably won't have a reason to think too hard about it any time in the future, but I will certainly be looking out for more work from Hannah Macpherson. 

Into the Culture Shock

Hulu's Into the Dark series has generally mixed reviews, so I'm now thinking I just have really good luck in randomly picking the good ones. 

Quick Plot: Marisol is making her second attempt to cross the Mexican border, seeking refuge in the United States. Her first try ended in tragedy and a brutal rape, leaving her heavily pregnant as she teams up yet again with a no-nonsense coyote. 

The less you know about Culture Shock going in the better, as it takes some sharp tonal turns in genuinely surprising ways. Director Gigi Saul Guerrero (who also did a lot of reworking of the original script by Efren Hernandez and James Benson) brings an incredibly fresh, immediate energy to the narrative, establishing a realistically bleak opening that makes the abrupt switch all the more effective. 

If you've seen Culture Shock or are that odd movie fan who likes to know too much, I'll go into a little more detail here.

As always, you've been warned.

After seemingly getting caught by violent cartel members, Marisol awakens in a bright, Stepford Wives existence where her healthy newborn is being cared by a way too smiley Barbara Crampton. The whole town of Cape Joy is cheerfully planning the big Independence Day celebration, but only Marisol seems to sense the extreme weirdness of waking up every day with perfect makeup and a non-wrinkled A-line dress.

The reveal of Cape Joy being nothing more than an elaborate (albeit surprisingly dirty) virtual simulation is sad and cruel, and fully loaded with important commentary. Like many a recent socially charged genre film, its story merits far more time than a brief 90 minute cutoff allows, which keeps this from quite reaching the echelon of greatness. Still, it shows a remarkably talented and unique voice in its director, and manages to be scary, funny, thoughtful, and surprising.

High Points

Guerrero's direction is wonderfully rich, but the movie would fall apart without Martha Higareda's steely performance as Marisol, who holds virtually every scene together

Low Points

The actual government conspiracy action-y climax didn't quite satisfy the incredible potential of the film's narrative, but an argument could easily be made that the villains were far from the main point of Culture Shock, so I'm not terribly bothered by the ending's slight disappointment (particularly when the final beat and Marisol's specific finale is so satisfying)

Lessons Learned

You can always judge a woman by the quality of her homemade soup

The best way to outsmart a cruel simulation is to not accept dessert

It seems I will never be about to outsmart a cruel simulation

Rent/Bury/Buy

Like the rest of the Into the Dark series, Culture Shock is a quick 90 minute stream on Hulu, and this one is absolutely worth your time. Go in blind and see what you find. 

Throwback Thanksgiving

Holiday horror is always welcome, particularly when it celebrates something other than Christmas. Despite being one of the few truly "for all" American holidays, Thanksgiving just doesn't get the same due as its yuletide counterpart. Hence, anything with killer turkeys or murderous pilgrims will indeed have my support.

Quick Plot: Cody is your typically unhappy movie teenager, meaning she's incredibly beautiful and very bitter. Her dad is obsessed with his job, while her stepmother Anna is intent on gaining the alpha status in their upper class suburban neighborhood. On the night before Thanksgiving, Cody wins a wishbone-off with her little brother, using it as a chance to ask for Anna's comeuppance.

The next day, Anna invites two historical reenactors to the home to help create a genuine pilgrim holiday. Ethan and Patience take their jobs very seriously, showing little tolerance for the ungrateful ways of their hosts. Before the Black Friday sales begin, the pilgrims have invited more of their clan over to raise barns, prepare a feast, build some stocks, and take over.

Co-written and directed by The Collector (and more importantly, The Collection)'s Marcus Dunstan, Pilgrim is part of Hulu's Into the Dark series of low budget, quick-moving horror movies. While it could easily have been expanded into something bigger, the small scale lets Dunstan tell a fast, highly entertaining story that keeps its family right at the heart. 

In more than one way, it feels like a bargain spin-off of Krampus: the premise is similar, the older sister/kid brother vibe is equally important, and lean-into-the-holiday-references spirit is in full swing. This is a movie well aware of how to balance comedy and horror, and most importantly, it understands that its audience should care about the actual humans in danger in order to be invested in their plight. Cody is smart and capable, her brother is adorable, and Anna proves to be a much more nuanced woman than the opening suggests. There's a wonderful scene where three of the characters unite to beat the cranberry sauce out of an oversized pilgrim, and it's genuinely touching to see them working together.

High Points

Anyone who's toured the Salem witch trial attractions or dug a little deeper in history class should know just how terrifying that kind of puritanical life was, and Pilgrim's Ethan and Patience offer such a wonderfully straight, terrifying portrait that feels in line

Low Points

At under 90 minutes, there is a bit of a rushed feel that is completely understandable, but still a tad limiting

Lessons Learned

Nothing relaxes a pilgrim more than reciting Bible passages and darning socks

Pilgrims may be no fun and homicidal, but they can teach some handy tips about poisonous fruit

A good hide and seek spot cannot be underrated

Rent/Bury/Buy

Pilgrim is a lot of fun, and finds just the right tone to work as a truly successful horror comedy. Head to Hulu and enjoy with a side of stuffing.