Opiniones de drownsoda90

"Keeper" follows Liz, a young woman who goes with her boyfriend Malcolm for a getaway at his family's secluded country home for a weekend getaway that soon spirals into a short vacation into hell.

This new effort from Oz Perkins in a way sees the director going back to the basics of some of his earlier work, with a stripped-down narrative and a menagerie of ghoulish atmosphere and imagery. Unfortunately, what we get here is a middling experiment that never quite comes together. Make no bones about it; what this film does well is atmosphere, it deserves some credit for that. The woodsy environs and the rustic-modern house make for an effective backdrop for the slowly-seeping terrors that seem to infiltrate both the home as well as Liz's psyche. Surreal visual motifs recur throughout that seem to be pulled straight from an Andrei Tarkovsky film, and they are admittedly striking.

Tatiana Maslany also deserves credit here for her naturalistic, understated, and quite believable performance as a woman who finds herself in seemingly ordinary circumstances that may not be at all what they seem. Her confusion and, eventually, sheer terror are palpable. Unfortunately, this film simply did not work for me, largely due to its clunky conclusion. The screenplay thwacks us over the head with a reveal that is as predictable as it is baffling, and neither the over-the-top Clive Barker-esque visual effects or the social commentary in the finale are enough to salvage the thinly-sketched narrative.

In the end, I came away from this film with a very divided opinion. As a moody chamber piece, it does earn its flowers largely due to its offbeat atmosphere and Maslany's performance as a woman in a strange place experiencing even stranger events. However, the resolution feels largely unearned and, unfortunately, unsatisfying. For me, this was a very mixed bag of spooky funhouse horrors. 5/10.

"Die My Love" follows young couple Grace and Jackson (Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson), who relocate to Jackson's rural hometown in Montana for a new start. The couple soon welcome the birth of a son, but their relationship splinters as Grace descends into severe mental illness, while an often emotionally-absent Jackson falters in supporting her.

This emotionally exhausting film by Lynne Ramsay (no stranger to darkness) is a psychological rollercoaster that, despite lacking in some exposition, is no less an effective, turbulent, and abstract journey into one individual's mental decline. Many have characterized this film as one about postpartum depression, but I believe this is both an oversimplification and a mischaracterization. As someone whose lifelong best friend has suffered from inconsistently-medicated bipolar disorder for decades, I found that this film succinctly illustrated exactly what this disorder looks like to a level that is uncanny. Grace's temperament and actions throughout reminded me so much of my friend that I found the film at times extremely difficult to watch.

In terms of story, "Die My Love" is fairly sparse. The film mostly consists of a push-and-pull, a chaotic dance between Grace and Jackson that is both exasperating and occasionally touching. There remains a clear sense that, despite their respective flaws and problems, the two deeply care for each other; however, there is a vortex in the room consuming Grace that goes unchecked for far too long. Grace's reality is entirely obfuscated by her illness, while a distracted Jackson is ill-equipped to be a source of legitimate support. His mother, Pam (Sissy Spacek), who is experiencing her own grief, seems to intuitively recognize the emotional forces that are consuming Grace, but her efforts also remain limited due to a number of interpersonal family dynamics.

The storytelling here employs nonlinear and abstract tactics that are, for the most part, effective. I do think it suffers from a lack of exposition, as the audience gets no real sense of who these people were before Grace's decline. Instead, we are dropped into their lives at the precipice of all this turmoil. A few details about Grace's past eventually emerge near the film's conclusion, but it feels like a case of "too little, too late." Perhaps this was done intentionally so as to mimic the unpredictable, hard-and-fast progression of some mental illnesses, but I still felt as though there was an undergirding to the two leads characters that was sorely missed. Despite this, both Lawrence and Pattinson's performances are outstanding, and Spacek serves as a warm (albeit often helpless) maternal figure between the two.

There is a repetitive nature to the events that unfold as the film hurls toward its conclusion which some may find a slog to get through (and I do think it could have benefitted from some slight editing), but I mainly found it a slog because it was a painful and dispiriting viewing experience. Given my experiences with Ramsay's other films, I expected this, but it hit me harder because it brought up many personal memories. Despite what flaws it may have, as an emotional portrait, it is a real gut-punch of a film. 7/10.

"Shelby Oaks" follows Mia, whose younger sister Riley, a paranormal investigator in the early days of YouTube, disappeared in the titular abandoned midwestern town of Shelby Oaks, Ohio. Twelve years later, a disturbing incident reignites Mia's investigation into her sister's disappearance, leading her down a rabbit hole to a disturbing truth from the siblings' past.

I am only vaguely familiar with Chris Stuckmann's lengthy YouTube career as a film reviewer, so I feel I went into this with little bias in or out of his favor. The premise of "Shelby Oaks" is intriguing, and has some solid working elements at play. It begins with a found footage/documentary style mashup introduction to Riley and her group of fellow paranormal investigators, riffing on the mid-late 2000s wild west of the YouTube platform before shifting gears into a traditional narrative format. The found footage element recurs throughout to help unfurl the narrative, and while some have critiqued the film for this shift, I actually think it works fairly well and is the least of the film's problems.

The general format here plays on nostalgia for both millennials who came of age during this era, and for younger generations who have an innate curiosity for a time in internet culture that they were too young (or not even alive) to have bore witness to. There are obvious nods here to "The Blair Witch Project" and "Lake Mungo", and those are only a sliver of filmic references that Stuckmann touches on throughout the film. At times, it even reminded me of lesser-known films like "The Collingswood Story" in terms of tone.

Atmospherically, all of the references and touchstones are well-orchestrated elements of "Shelby Oaks." Derivative? Sure. But derivative can still be done well, and on a visual and atmospheric level, the film is successful. Where it suffers is its rote, scattershot reliance on tropes and uneven pacing, which renders the entire piece often feeling pointlessly stitched together as the story progresses. A derelict prison? Check. A haunted amusement park? Check. A rotting backwoods cabin? Check. As an audience, we tour each of these spooky locales with Mia searching for breadcrumbs, but each visitation feels unfortunately disconnected and arbitrary.

Camille Sullivan gives it her all here as Mia and is convincing, while Sarah Durn's mostly camcorder-captured performance as Riley is ethereal and sufficiently haunting, but the pretext of the siblings' relationship is lacking. The result is a rote and more often than not clumsy "down the rabbit hole" sequence of events as Mia follows clue after clue; the problem is that, though each clue appears to point to a darker truth at the narrative's core, there is no strong sense of danger or dread. It feels very much like a rinse-and-repeat job until the revelation is unveiled, which is a shame because the finale is actually rather surprising and went in a direction I did not anticipate-it's just that the ride there (at least from the midsection onward) feels clunky and is not nearly as compelling as it could have been.

Ultimately, this is a flawed film, though I don't feel that its weaknesses fully discount it. It seems that audiences are divided on which elements work better, with some favoring the found footage segments, while others feel the traditional narrative section that makes up the bulk of the last three quarters is superior. I feel the former is much stronger, but it's not necessarily because of the found footage format itself-rather, it's simply that these moments tend to strike an ominous chord that much of the rest of the film does not. By the end of it all, the payoff is not entirely satisfying because the journey there is ultimately too mechanical. Despite this, though, I do think there are enough strong moments here to warrant a viewing of "Shelby Oaks." That being said, I would note that it is a film that is fundamentally not a sum of its parts. 6/10.

"Bone Lake" follows a troubled couple, Sage and Diego, who rent a sprawling lakeside estate for the weekend. They are soon met by the outgoing Will and Cin, who also booked the house through an apparently double-booking error. Rather than give up the house, the couples agree to share it for the weekend, only for inevitable mind games and mayhem to ensue.

After reading some divisive feedback, I went into "Bone Lake" with very low expectations, which may have worked to the film's advantage in terms of the entertainment value I found here. While it is a flawed film, I was pleasantly surprised by it. It is ridiculous in a number of ways and requires a fair suspension of disbelief, but it is a slick-looking and fairly fun flick that leans much more into thriller territory than it does outright horror.

An isolated estate? Check. Two couples, both strangers in a strange place? Check. An apparent history of a serial killer who dumps bodies in the lake? Check. At first glance, the film has the aura of something like a "Friday the 13th" sequel, but it plays much more like a semi-sexual psychothriller from the early 2000s. This might bore audiences expecting an all-out slasher flick, and the film does admittedly sag a bit in the middle as it revels in relationship drama and mind games that seem to have no tangible purpose. However, things really pick up in the last act, and this is where most of the real fun begins.

The performances are actually quite good, with Maddie Hasson and Andra Nechita specifically offering the most believable portrayals here. The photography and editing are uniformly stylish, and the pacing is overall nicely executed, despite the film's somewhat long-in-the-tooth midsection.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. If you are expecting something that takes itself very seriously, you will not find that here. "Bone Lake" functions best as a throwback to early aughts thrillers with a slight edge of millennial sexual politics and relationship woes. "Funny Games" it is not, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. 7/10.

"Good Boy" follows Indy, the pet dog of Todd, a young man who relocates to his grandfather's rural house which is believed to be haunted. Indy immediately notices strange goings-on in the home, which become increasingly volatile as Todd's health declines from an unnamed lung illness.

It is rare for a horror film these days to present us with a fresh concept, and while "Good Boy" is very much a run-of-the-mill "things going bump in the night" haunted house film on one hand, it is uniquely presented from the perspective of a dog who is attuned to the supernatural occurrences circling around him. Some may argue that the film is gimmicky, and on one hand, they're correct--however, this micro-budget effort is inventive and slick enough to rise above the more generic nuts and bolts that make up its funhouse of horrors.

The film was shot over a period of three years using the director's actual (untrained) pet dog in his own home, and the labor of love here is evident. As far as indie horror flicks go, "Good Boy" is quite slick looking. It's well-shot and the limited location is atmospheric and often adequately eerie. The lead "performance" of Indy is as natural as they come, serving as a mirror for the audience's emotions as the drama of the human world around him functions as a subtext for the bonds we have with our pets. This is essentially the emotional core of the film, and it comes into greater focus in the last act as Todd's increasingly dire circumstances leave both Indy and himself in a supernatural grip. Rather cleverly, the human characters in the film are visually obfuscated, with their faces almost never shown on full display, effectively placing the audience in Indy's vantage point.

While there are a handful of good scares, the atmosphere and tone are what generate most of the suspense. Initially, the repeated encounters and dreams experienced by Indy do tend to run a bit repetitive, but the final act ramps up significantly and I found myself increasingly curious about where the film was going to land. Given that its anchor is the canine protagonist, there are only so many places a film like this could have gone, but the inevitable conclusion is poignant and memorable.

Though an imperfect film, "Good Boy" is an inventive experiment that managed to keep my attention from start to finish. Anyone who has ever owned a pet has had the experience of their four-legged companion sensing something we cannot, and the film effectively plays on that while still managing to have plenty of heart. When taking into account the origins of a shoestring production like this, "Good Boy" is an especially impressive endeavor that deserves to be seen. 7/10.

"Eden" focuses on a group of mostly German citizens who attempt to settle Floreana, an uninhabited island in the Galapagos after World War I. Their aim for a slice of paradise does not go as planned.

Noah Pink's screenplay for the film is based on a true story (adapted from conflicting accounts written by two of the people who lived it) that almost seems unbelievable at times, except it's not--in fact, most of the details here are historically accurate, down to the individuals' names, characterizations, and, more or less, the series of events that transpired. With that context in mind, it is worth noting that the events depicted here are perhaps not as outlandish as they may seem.

The film is directed by Ron Howard, who is known for his glossy big-budget films, and in that regard, "Eden" does not deviate too far from the director's norm, though the material is notably darker than the kind of fare Howard typically tackles. As often grey and drab is it looks, the film is well-shot and has an epic sort of look about it that audiences have come to expect from him.

Where the film perhaps suffers a bit is in the "movie magic" elements of a production like this, where the nitty gritty realities and sheer difficulty of homesteading on such an island feel glossed over at times. The actors often appear too clean, too rested (which for at least one of them, I suppose, makes senses) and too primped. This is a fine line to balance, as overindulging in the mintutaeua of homesteading and working a tropical landscape like this could become tedious, but a certain amount of it is necessary for the viewer to buy into the circumstances. There is never a significant sense that these people will succumb to the landscape-only to each other-and perhaps that may be the point.

The performances here are largely strong, with Jude Law and Vanessa Kirby playing the intellectual quasi-hippies who were the first to land on this hallowed ground. Daniel Brühl and Sydney Sweeney play a husband-and-wife who arrive and prove to be superior settlers with the the fundamental skills necessary to work the land; while they dedicate their bodies to harnessing the natural resources, the egomaniacal Law pontificates and philosophizes (obsessively quoting Nietzsche and other philosophers) his way through circumstances, with Kirby lending an effective performance as his multiple sclerosis-stricken lover. Ana de Armas gives an outrageous, campy turn as a self-described Baroness who lands on Floreana with grand ideas and a Clara Bow-esque posture, but no real means (intellectual, physical, or otherwise) of achieving any such fantasies. Instead, she utilizes her own sociopathy and manipulation tactics in a diabolical quest for control. I suspect that most of the performances here could be cited by some critics for overacting, but when stacked against the historical record, these depictions of such extreme personalities don't actually seem to be that far from the truth of who these individuals were. Sweeney and Brühl are perhaps the most believable simply because their characters are the most relatable, and their salt-of-the-earth nature prove to be a great asset in this conflict of personalities.

Even for those not familiar with the actual story, there is some predicability here in terms of what will play out, but the funeral procession marches on in a manner that is no less engaging and attention-getting. In some regards, I think audiences will simultaneously expect more and less from this film. It never quite reaches the fever pitch we want, and yet the result remains largely satisfying. As with the performances, I suspect many of the critiques here will hinge on the mere facts of the story. Are these people outrageous? Yes. Does the story at times seem far-fetched? Sure. But as the old adage goes, oftentimes truth is stranger than fiction. 7/10.

As someone who counts themselves a fan of the big-haired Tawny Kitaen-led 1986 original "Witchboard," I was not particularly enthused by the promotional material for this remake, but I felt a duty to give it a chance, especially given Chuck Russell's horror credentials. I will preface this by saying that I went into this with extremely low expectations. Is this remake high art? Absolutely not. But for sheer entertainment value, I was pleasantly surprised.

The story here takes the bare bones of the original film (with a few visual nods and recreations of scenes from the source material), setting it in present-day New Orleans where a young woman, Emily, crosses paths with a historic "pendulum board." As she and her chef fiancé prepare to open his new restaurant, Emily becomes overtaken by the board which possesses supernatural powers.

While the original film was not exactly known for its subtlety, Russell's reimagining is outwardly garish and plays with a lot of familiar witchcraft tropes and cliches in a manner that may cause some eye-rolling, though the handling of the material was less outrageous in some aspects than I anticipated. The screenplay is far from perfect, though, despite some trite dialogue here and there, I felt the story moved forward at a breezy pace. The history of the board itself and its association with a powerful witch takes center stage here, drawing us back to 17th-century France in a timeline-shifting plot thread that allows for some surprisingly well-orchestrated period set pieces. There is also a unique theme at play revolving around the history of Christian institutions surreptitiously co-opting and dabbling in the very dark arts they purport to condemn, something you rarely see explored in films of this type. These sequences are well-staged and at times reminded me of the period Hammer films of the 1960s and 1970s.

The performances here are decent given the material, with Madison Iseman giving the strongest turn in the film as the troubled Emily. Iseman evokes a natural guilelessness that is appealing, while also managing to strike the appropriate sinister chords as she literally loses possession of herself. Jamie Campbell Bower plays an occultist/New Age pagan with a vested interest in the board, and his performance is stagy if not amusing. Where the film suffers I think is its overzealous use of digital special effects, which give it a rather silly visual flair that recalls the cheapjack direct-to-video supernatural fodder of the 1990s. Whether this throwback element is intentional or not is difficult to say, though I believe the film would have been much better off without it. Still, there does remain a novelty aspect to seeing something of this nature on the big screen in 2025--and to be honest, it is perhaps not more egregious than a good deal of what we see studios like Blumhouse churning out year after year.

An amusing dinner sequence leads into a finale that is staged quite goofily to say the least, and there is a denouement that is equally goofy despite hearkening back to the aforementioned theme of religious institutions' interests in (and ostensible adoption of) the occult. At face value, the entire thing is admittedly ridiculous, but I can say that I was very much entertained by this film. I went into it with the expectation that it would be a chore to sit through, but I did not have that experience. While it is flawed, I think it is ultimately a decent if not campy reimagining of the original story. To think that a B-movie like this could claw its way to theaters today is a bit of a shock--what's more shocking to me, though, is that, despite being a fairly jaded horror fan, I found it an extremely watchable and reasonably entertaining popcorn movie. Check your expectations at the door and you may have the same result. 7/10.

"Strange Harvest" is a mockumentary that follows two San Bernardino police officers and their decades-long investigation into the case of "Mr. Shiny," a brutal serial killer whose sadistic crimes come to take on occult-like features.

Largely consisting of interviews with the officers, witnesses, and experts involving in the various crimes, "Strange Harvest" very much represents a "Dateline" or "20/20" true crime documentary, albeit a much more graphic and, eventually, fantastical one. Like many of its type, the film plays under the guise of being a "true story," a conceit that we know is a gimmick, but one that I will at least accept for entertainment's sake.

What this film excels it as it capturing the tone and feel of the true crime documentaries that litter nighttime television and major streaming services. From the editing, to the interview formats, to the police and surveillance footage, "Strange Harvest" is an admirable facsimile. The performances and dialogue are also, of the most part, reasonable effective and naturalistic enough to provide functional storytelling; with a film like this, I sometimes find it difficult to suspend my disbelief, but I can say that it came just about as close to "real"-feeling as any other mockumentary I've seen.

"Strange Harvest" owes a lot to films like "The Poughkeepsie Tapes" and the crimes profiled have echoes of "Seven" as well as footnotes referencing things like the Zodiac Killer. For true crime buffs, the film is a fairly entertaining odyssey through an outrageous series of murders--almost so outrageous that it at times stretches credulity--but the pacing and presentation manage to hold it together nonetheless.

The graphic photographs and footage scattered throughout are at times bone-chilling, as are the sequences in which we see the killer either in still image or video. As the film ramps up toward its conclusion, things get admittedly hokier and cosmic, with an H. P. Lovecraft bent to the crimes. Unfortunately, none of this totally gels, and the implications get a bit too silly for their own good.

Even still, I feel "Strange Harvest" is worth seeking out if you are a true crime documentary devotee or enjoy the mockumentary format. It may not revolutionize the genre, but it is a formidable indie film with a number of chilling moments, and it recreates the true crime documentary genre with an admirable amount of realism (despite the more fantastical wiring revealed to be underneath the floorboards). 6/10.

"Weapons" focuses on a Pennsylvania town where a large group of children-coincidentally (or perhaps not) from the same home classroom-flee their homes one night and disappear. Suspicion naturally falls on their teacher, but an intricate web of events unfolds, showcasing a dark, if not unbelievable, turn of events.

While writer-director Zach Cregger's "Barbarian" attracted a significant following among genre fans, I was not particularly a fan of that film; while I thought it had its share of strong elements and could see why some people loved it, the tone and genre-bending grotesque humor did not appeal to my taste. Because of this, I had tempered expectations for this film, but on the whole was pleasantly surprised. There is certainly dark humor here, but it is played in a more human way.

The screenplay utilizes segmented vignettes that interlock, forming a larger portrait of the strange, almost Stephen King-esque events unfolding in the small community. Tensions abound, as the missing kids' schoolteacher, Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) receives her scarlet letter, with grief-stricken parents such as Archer (Josh Brolin) blaming her for their children's disappearances. Further characters are thrown into the mix and each have their own narrative strands in the chain of events, including a struggling cop (Alden Ehrenreich), a young drug addict and petty thief (Austin Abrams), and the school principal Andrew (Benedict Wong).

While this narrative mode can often be hit-or-miss, it is played to great effect here and is clever without being too gimmicky or pretentious for its own good. On a purely technical level, the film is solid-the cinematography and locations are atmospheric, the sparse use of music and silence is pointed, and the performances are uniformly good from everyone involved. That being said, Amy Madigan, playing the aunt of the sole child in his class who didn't vanish into the night, steals the thunder from everyone , giving a performance that is of "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" proportions.

Many have noted that the less you know about the film going into it, the better, and while I think that adage stands true for most moviegoing experiences, it is especially true here. The interlocking character vignettes are compelling in their own right, and the plot strands playfully connect by degrees, keeping the audience firmly planted on their toes. The truth eludes you until the outrageous final act, which is where I think the film could lose some people; however, by that point, I think even most hardened horror fans will remain invested due to the high level of intrigue that has brewed over the previous hour and a half. "Where could this possibly go?" was a recurring thought as I watched this, and even when it stretched credulity as the answers came, I remained firmly in the crosshairs, just as each of the children in Ms. Gandy's ill-fated homeroom. 8/10.

"Bring Her Back", the Philippou brothers' followup to "Talk to Me", focuses on teenage siblings Andy and his younger sister Piper who, after a tragic accident, find themselves in the care of a foster mother, Laura (Sally Hawkins) a hippy-dippy therapist who has her own dark past and possibly nefarious intentions.

The Philippou brothers impressed many horror fans with their highly unique debut film in 2023 (myself included), and this is a formidable second feature that has some cross-pollination with their previous film, albeit with an entirely different villain at the helm.

"Grief horror" has become a prominent sub-genre/thematic glue over the last decade, and while "Bring Her Back" is just as much a part of this thematic trend, it has the spin of placing its two teenaged leads in the hands of a villainous parental figure who is selfishly driven to go to the ends of the earth for her own purposes, pitting the youth against a corrupt adult figure wielding control. This is not necessarily a unique plot device, but the collision of the two elements makes for some real emotional fireworks. Hawkins's portrayal of Laura is a stunning one, and her character--despite her motives being driven by her own personal tragedy--is one so reprehensible and evil that she is difficult to shake off once the credits roll.

Interpolated with Laura's sinister plot is that of the two siblings who have landed in her web, as well as Ollie, a mute young boy also residing with Laura who is not (or perhaps, is) entirely what he seems. The film goes for gut punches that hit the right emotional notes, interspersing a vague occult element at work which is hinted at in disturbing ritual footage that serves as a model for Laura's own corrupt form of quasi-necromancy.

There are a few potent moments of gore that will leave you wincing, but it's the suspense in the final act that really ramps up and drives the film toward a conclusion that offers a couple of grim surprises, despite the supernatural mythology of the entire piece not feeling like it fully comes together.

In the end, though, the performances and characters here make this a worthwhile viewing experience. For all its thematic gravity anchored in grief and pain, I found myself utterly disgusted by Hawkins's character--she is unforgivable, vile, selfish, and downright wicked, and her portrayal, disturbing. There is not enough grief in the world to justify her, and that, to me, was probably the most interesting aspect of this narrative riddled with tragedy. 7/10.

"Hollywood 90028" follows Mark, a dejected cinematographer in Los Angeles struggling to make it in the business, relegated to shooting porno loops to get by. Plagued by loneliness and alienated from his peers, Mark finds friendship in a prostitute named Michele, but his demons ultimately begin to surface in violent ways.

This obscurity written and directed by Christina Hornisher has often been branded as a rediscovered lost film, as it was hardly released for nearly four decades and unknown to even the most diehard exploitation enthusiasts. It is a unique film with a strong psychological dimension that is unfortunately never fully realized.

The character of Mark is wracked with guilt over the death of his infant brother when he was a child, and is a lonely and withdrawn man for reasons that are apparent. However, the screenplay lacks the connective tissue that could potentially make sense of his pathology. His character in some ways reminded me of Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver", released a few years later, though Mark's ultimate drive for murder lacks a tangible underpinning.

The film is unusual in that, despite largely dealing with masculine rage, it was written and directed by a woman, though it does also offer some exploration of female objectification and the realities of sex work through the character of Michele, another troubled soul who finds some kinship with Mark. It is a langorously-paced affair all around, with some dizzyingly surreal captures of Los Angeles's grimmer underbelly, which is certainly a plus.

As the story ramps up to its inevitable conclusion, there is a fair share of tension and a tragic last punch at the audience, but when the credits rolled, as a viewer, I felt ultimately empty. Perhaps this was an intentional choice, or maybe (and more likely) an incidental element of the film stemming from its spacey quality. All in all, I found it to be a character study that doesn't quite work, but its attempts at exploring a number of psychological themes are valiant. 6/10.

"Iced" focuses on a group of friends who reunite at a posh ski resort after their friend died in a skiing accident four years earlier. Naturally, more members of the group are destined to die.

This shot-on-video slasher flick directed by Jeff Kwitny ("Beyond the Door III") is a prime slice of late-'80s cheese picked off the video rental store shelf. If you know, you know. "Iced" is certainly not a good film, but it is a real low-budget charmer with its fair share of spilt blood.

The setup is banal and predictable (as is the case with most films of this ilk), but what "Iced" has going for it is a snowy atmosphere paired with dark cabin interiors, big hair (it was filmed in 1988, after all), and a fair amount of interpersonal drama between the group of friends that feels as though it could have been plucked from an episode of an '80s soap opera.

Obviously this will not appeal to all tastes, and the film does suffer from some choppy editing that really shows its budgetary restrictions. The performances are also shaky at best, but the ski-suited killer makes some menacing appearances throughout, and the despite the slow-burn nature of the first hour, things do ramp up into full-blown slasher territory in the last thirty minutes, when the bodies start to fall.

Ultimately, the reveal is predictable and the killer's logic stilted at best, but genre fans don't seek out these types of films for nuance. "Iced" is a delirious good time, and an amusing relic of its era. For a no-budget slasher, it stands as a decent shot-on-video facsimile of more polished films. 6/10.

In "The Last Showgirl", Pamela Anderson stars as Shelly, a middle-aged showgirl who has made a decades-long career in a now rapidly declining act on the Las Vegas strip. When she learns that her famed show is unexpectedly set to close up shop, she faces an existential crisis.

There is no arguing that this film's surface appeal for virtually all of the filmgoing public is to see its star like we've never quite seen her before--and in some ways it's true, in others, not. The Pamela Anderson forever edified in pop culture has never quite been taken seriously as a performer, or perhaps has simply never gotten the right opportunity--but regardless, I will say that her performance here is very good. She captures a nervy pathos as Shelly that is well executed by any measure. The film's dialogue at times feels slightly stilted which does detract from the performances to a degree, but this is true of most of the cast, and not really their fault.

Visually, "The Last Showgirl" is a marvel. It appears to have been shot on aged film stock, which gives it a filtered but grainy appearance that is otherworldly and almost lost in time. While it appears to be set in the early 2000s, the 1980s-tinged set pieces and the dimly-lit casino interiors are supremely atmospheric. Anyone who has been to Las Vegas and seen this side of it can attest to how perfectly (and poetically) the city's less glamorous nooks and crannies are captured here.

The film is ostensibly a character study, as Shelly attempts to plan a future in the face of an impending career death--a career which she has long defined herself by. The premise is interesting in that the character is, in a sense, shamelessly shallow, despite having a real heart and an upbeat cheerleader-esque personality. She wants the best for not only herself, but those around her, and yet her anchor in life is proved ephemeral and only fails her. She is also un-glamorized in the sense that her personality flaws are unveiled as the film progresses.

By her side is Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis), an older and long-ago-ousted ex-showgirl who takes fleeting gigs cocktail waitressing, and who drowns her sorrows in a variety of alcoholic beverages. Where Anderson's character has more reserve, Curtis's brash and bawdy personality brings some spark, and the two have genuine chemistry here. The younger cast (Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Song, playing much younger showgirls who view Anderson as something of a surrogate mother, and Billie Lourd as Anderson's semi-estranged daughter) also give respectable performances.

Despite that it seems to strive toward character study, I ultimately feel like "The Last Showgirl" functions better as a downbeat mood piece than anything else. The characters--even Shelly--remain somewhat unreachable, which I suppose may be intentional. This is a world of surfaces, after all, and the film seems to fundamentally understand this. The moody shots of Anderson ambling around the Vegas strip, and Curtis's transcendent casino dance to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" are pure, unadulterated cinematic pleasures. And even if these moments don't drive home the heartbreak in the story, they are worth the price of admission alone. 7/10.

"Babygirl" is a psychological thriller that focuses on Romy, the CEO of an esteemed tech company in New York City. Sexually dissatisfied by her husband (Antonio Banderas), she finds herself in a complicated sexual relationship with a younger male intern (Harris Dickinson).

The fourth film by writer-director Halina Reijn, "Babygirl" has several ingredients that make it a fairly compelling watch: Firstly, the performances. Kidman rarely misses for me, and this is no exception. She strikes a quiet sort of suffering here as a sexually-frustrated middle-aged woman working in a highly corporate tech-focused world. There is a quiet torture she evokes that is palpable, and her character's cerebral nature is wonderfully offset by her husband's (played nicely by Banderas), a highly artistic-minded theater director who in many ways is Romy's polar opposite. Harris Dickinson is also very good here as Samuel, a wry young intern who attracts Romy through a series of playful encounters and manipulations.

The film is beautifully shot, with stunning cityscapes and interiors that are modestly but effectively dressed with Christmas lights and other holiday decor (parallels to "Eyes Wide Shut" were probably intended, and understandably noted by audiences). The lighting in particular is beautiful, and the film is underpinned by an ominous musical score that is effectively used.

All that being said, as I was watching "Babygirl", I kept thinking to myself: "I've seen something like this before." It didn't dawn on me until about midway through that the film felt very much like a less dire (and frankly much less intense) take on Michael Haneke's "The Piano Teacher', a film with a similar setup but different character profiles and much grimmer circumstances. Like that film, "Babygirl" is very much a meditation on sexual desire and frustration, although it never reaches a point at which the stakes feel particularly dangerous to us. In that sense, I think the film falters a bit.

Things do resolve here in a manner that ultimately works and serves the arc of the story well enough, but I do think it would have been a much more effective film had the stakes felt less controlled and the characters more vulnerable. Despite that, though, "Babygirl" remains worthwhile for its accomplished lead performances and dazzling cinematography. 7/10.

"Link" follows an American zoology student Jane (Elisabeth Shue) abroad in England who takes a job as an assistant to Dr. Steven Phillip, a researcher who studies primates. One of his subjects, Link, is a former circus chimpanzees. Left alone at Phillip's seaside manor, Link and his fellow primates begin engaging in tribal squabbles that result in dire consequences.

This animal horror film has Australian director Richard Franklin ("Psycho II") at the helm, and his Hitchcockian influence can be seen here in a similar manner, despite the story involving mostly non-humans.

"Link" starts off well, and things become interesting once the action moves to Dr. Phillip's rural manor, where the real madness unfolds. The film is nicely shot and the locations and interior sets are exquisitely rendered. Unfortunately, while the film remains entertaining, it suffers from the same issue that many films featuring animal villains have: Link and his fellow chimpanzees simply never feel threatening. We know logically their strength, but there is an enduring playfulness that runs through all of the mayhem which undercuts the dire nature of the situation. I think a large part of this is Jerry Goldsmith's obnoxious score, which is excessively cartoony. Despite this, there are a few bizarre cross-species moments between Shue and Link that are uncomfortable and give the audience pause.

The performances here are mixed: The film suffers from a largely lifeless performance from Shue, who also contributes to the film's lack of threat with a general listlessness that is at times distracting. She has her moments, but again, we never get a true sense that she feels as though she is in legitimate danger. Terence Stamp is great as usual as the professor, though his screen time is unfortunately quite brief in the grand scheme of the story.

All in all, "Link" is a middling animal horror effort. Franklin's direction and cinematography are quite good, and it gets high points for atmosphere. What hurts it is its lack of suspense and a general goofiness that results in what feels like low narrative stakes. It is a marginally entertaining film, but it never actually feels like a horror movie, or even a thriller for that matter. 5/10.

"Death Valley" follows young Billy (a pre-"A Christmas Story" Peter Billingsley) who accompanies his mother (Catherine Hicks) and her boyfriend (Paul Le Mat) on a trip through Death Valley where he inadvertently gets them tracked by a violent serial killer.

This under-seen effort from Universal Pictures is a strange hybrid of a serial killer road thriller (pre-dating "The Hitcher") and an outright slasher, albeit with a child character who is at the nexus of the danger and bloodshed. The contrasting storytelling modes here set "Death Valley" apart from other films of the era, though I would surmise that much of its more conventional slasher trappings and bloodshed were shoehorned in by the studio to capitalize on the slasher craze, which was at its peak in 1981.

The genre mix here gives "Death Valley" a strange footing in the canon of horror films. My main issue with the film is that its villain character does not come across as particularly threatening, and there are some interactions between the young Billy and the murderer that, though clever, require some suspension of disbelief. Still, there are sequences in the film (particularly one early on in which Billy unknowingly stumbles upon a murder scene) that are extremely suspenseful.

Aside from its brief prologue in New York City, the film is exclusively set in Death Valley, and the cinematography of the landscape is breathtaking and extremely atmospheric, including a rustic resort where the trio of characters end up, leaving them right in the killer's radius. Billingsley is likable here as the lead, and Catherine Hicks also gives a solid performance as his mother.

The film does stretch credulity a bit in the final act as the confrontation devolves into some rinse-and-repeat attacks and (unfortunately) uneventful chase scenes, and the film skids as it crashes into an abrupt conclusion that feels lacking. All that being said, I think "Death Valley" functions as a unique curio of a film. At its heart, it is a road thriller with some slasher trappings that have been cut-and-pasted onto it. The partly-grafted final product produces mixed results that are sometimes dull and sometimes quite thrilling, but its desert locales and committed performances help elevate the material considerably. 6/10.

Robert Eggers made a significant impression with his 2015 directorial debut "The Witch", and has continued to impress me since. A reimagining of "Nosferatu" at his helm seemed like a dream come true, and after many years, it finally came to fruition with somewhat mixed results.

As with the original 1922 film and Werner Herzog's surreal 1979 remake, Eggers mostly honors the source material here. The original film itself was a blatant derivative of "Dracula," so anyone who knows the bones of that classic story will more or less already have the lay of the land in terms of what happens in "Nosferatu".

Firstly, the attention to detail here is impeccable; the period costumes and sets are dazzling, and the cinematography is top-notch, with repeated uses of muted grey nighttime sequences that border on black-and-white (intentional I'm sure, as an ode to the Murnau original). In the latter act, as rats and plague take over the streets, there is a palpable sense of rot that is highly effective. Given that Eggers has proven his excellence in these departments with his previous films, it is no surprise that the finer details and visuals are uniformly stunning.

As far as performances are concerned, we have a strong cast here. Lily-Rose Depp (whom I'd never seen in anything prior to this) gave a formidable performance as the haunted Ellen Hutter, who is pursued by Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard), a malevolent vampire whose connection to her is emboldened when her husband Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) is assigned to handle estate matters for the Count. Willem Dafoe is as spunky as ever here as an occult expert who attempts to help the Hutters, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin give effective performances as the Hardings, friends of the Hutters who oversee the troubled Ellen while Thomas travels to Orlok.

All of these aforementioned elements give the film a real leg up, and approximately the first half of it (largely consisting of Thomas's travels into Transylvania and first encounter with Orlok) are engrossing and beautifully contrasted with Ellen's "melancholic" (and eventually possession-like) episodes back in urban Germany. However, once the story returns its focus to the city, the film seems to stall its momentum. One of the notable differences in this reimagining is that the focus revolves more around the Ellen character (aptly named "Lucy Harker" in Herzog's version) and the Hardings, but the unfortunate thing is that it never feels like the audience gets to know them any better for it. This is especially so in the case of Ellen, whose character has a slightly different spin in Eggers's screenplay, specifically in terms of her relationship to Orlok. The result feels like something of a missed opportunity, and the proverbial stake is driven in even further when one considers the film's running time, which is considerably longer than both the 1922 and 1979 versions, and yet those films often feel more involved. There is a strange amorphousness about the 2024 version's latter half that left it feeling enervated, especially against the ominous and suspenseful first hour.

The film's conclusion will hold no surprises for those who already know the previous films, but Eggers's staging of it is nonetheless spectacular and visually effective--and this is a fact that remains true about the film as a whole. Unfortunately, it does stumble a bit in the latter half as it seems to attempt to expand the material without ever fully reaching a satisfactory fever pitch. All that being said, the film is a gothic visual marvel in its own right, upheld by stunning cinematography and uniformly solid performances. It is imperfect, but it is a showstopper in more ways than one. 7/10.

"The Ghost Dance" focuses on an anthropologist whose archeological dig in the Arizona desert unleashes the spirit of a powerful, corrupt Native American shaman who begins to exact a violent revenge through the possession of a young Native man.

This under-seen relic of '80s video stores could broadly be classified as "redsploitation" fodder, which I suppose could be partly true, though I think "The Ghost Dance" is a bit more sensitive to its themes than other films that fall in that category.

Shot on location in Tucson, the film is benefitted by the stunning desert landscapes and atmospheric museum interiors, the latter of which being where a lot of the story unfolds. The story is also set apart from many of its contemporaries by the fact that its focus is on adult professionals (university professors, anthropologists, researchers), giving it another unusual dimension that differs from the standard teenage stalk-and-slash.

This is not to say that "The Ghost Dance" is a perfect film, as it is far from it; the main element lacking I believe is the background mythology and actual nature of the villain, whose supernatural machinations become muddled and incoherent at times. Despite this, the attention to detail and respect for the Native American culture still feels present. The direction also has an at times "made-for-TV" charm to it.

Overall, "The Ghost Dance" is a worthwhile oddity in the '80s slasher pantheon. It is slightly more cerebral than most of its peers, and the supernatural angle lends a unique dimension, even in spite of the machinations not feeling fully fleshed out at times. As an independent slasher of the time, "The Ghost Dance" is surprisingly much better than many. 6/10.

"The Weight of Water" follows a photographer (accompanied by her husband, brother-in-law, and her brother-in-law's girlfriend) researching the double murder of two Norwegian immigrants that occurred in the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New England in 1873. As she uncovers hidden details about the crimes, she begins to see her own situation paralleling that of the sole survivor of the murders.

Anyone who has read Anita Shreve's source novel knows that adapting this bifurcated story with parallel narratives would be an ambitious experiment, and while it is not a perfect film, I think it is one of director Kathryn Bigelow's unfairly unsung (or perhaps ovelrooked) works. The nature of the two stories (the 1870s period piece is actually based on a real crime that happened on Smuttynose Island) running together and at times intermeshing is handled fairly well here, though the contemporary events do sometimes feel lopsided in comparison to the historical murder mystery, which is a more compelling piece.

One of the ingredients that makes "The Weight of Water" really succeed in my view is the haunting atmosphere that is contrasted between the two narratives. The contemporary is largely set aboard a sun-soaked yacht, which at times recalls Roman Polanski's "Knife in the Water", and it contrasts significantly with the historical narrative, which takes place entirely on a lonesome island in the late winter.

The second piece here that helps the screenplay rise up is the performances, which are uniformly fantastic. Catherine McCormack and Sean Penn stand out here as the lead couple in the present day, whose fraught past rears its head during the reunion with Penn's character's brother (Josh Lucas) and his girlfriend (Elizabeth Hurley). The chemistry between these four surprisingly works well. In the historical story, Sarah Polley gives a tour-de-force performance as Maren Honvedt, a lonely wife who is the sole witness of the murders of her sister (Katrin Catrtlidge, who is powerfully icy) and sister-in-law (Vinessa Shaw, who offers an effectively gentle performance that makes her fate all the more brutal).

In the end, the two narratives here, past and present, collide on a metaphorical (and perhaps literal) level, and while the film's conclusion feels somewhat abrupt, the story does resolve itself for better or for worse. I imagine this film was a unique storytelling exercise for Bigelow, and I found the result profoundly haunting. I think it is a film that literature devotees will enjoy more than the average filmgoer simply because its structure is very literary in nature. For others, that fact may be a dealbreaker. 9/10.

"The Tenderness of the Wolves" is a semi-fictionalized retelling of the crimes of Fritz Harmann, a lonely and disturbed man living in war-torn Germany, who molests and butchers his male victims (some underage) and sells their meat to an unknowing local restaurant.

This early directorial effort from cult figure Ulli Lommel, who directed a variety of horror films over the ensuing decades (some good, most not) is tonally a bit different from the director's subsequent works. "The Tenderness of the Wolves" is bleak in tone, narrative, and visuals, adopting an almost clinical storytelling mode that renders the events depicted even more chilling than they already are. Harmann's dark, dingy attic apartment and the muddy, filth-ridden streets outside are so tangible and oppressive that you can nearly feel the must seeping through the screen.

Kurt Raab portrays the unhinged Harmann in such a way that, despite the atrocities he commits, there remains a deep sadness about the man as a character. He stands as both a frightening embodiment of evil, and a pathetic, lonely person who seems incapable of love despite his own homosexual longings. Raab's acting here is superb, and we also get solid supporting performances from Ingrid Caven and Margit Carstensen.

All in all, "The Tenderness of Wolves" is an effectively disturbing, bleak portrait of a deranged man. It is not easy viewing by any means, but it is powerfully rendered and a much more serious film that most of Lommel's output. The subject matter at hand is horrific, and all the worse because it is partly based on reality, but for those who can withstand the uncomfortability that comes with the territory, this is an artistically worthwhile horror film. 8/10.

Irene takes a job as a receptionist at a chilly hotel in the Austrian Alps. She soon learns that the previous employee in her position disappeared from the locale under unclear circumstances, and later discovers a local legend about a witch who dwelled in a nearby cave centuries prior.

This debut from Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner is an ominous, at times totally oppressive offering that will divide (and has divided) viewers since it premiered at Cannes in 2003. "Hotel" is the kind of film that employs a storytelling mode that is sparse, at times tantalizingly so. The audience is fed bits of information just as the lead character herself is. We don't necessarily know what to do with it, nor do all of the strands fully converge in the end, but the overall impression that is created stands very strongly.

The location is integral to the film's power, and it also leaves a strong impression on the viewer. The hotel itself appears as a WWII monolith with a newly-fabricated modern millennium sheen. These contrasting elements are most clearly highlighted in the sleek, modern-looking lobby and the crumbly, cavernous, bunker-like basement which comes to take a prominent role in the film.

As is the case with everything else in "Hotel", the performances here are both immediate and distant, with characters that leave strong impressions despite rather threadbare characterization. In the end, the film as a whole will frustrate viewers who wish for more detail and less opaque conclusions--and on one hand, I understand this sentiment. On the other, however, "Hotel" does serve as a haunting, strange film whose power largely derives from the fact that it is comfortably seated in a liminal world. If you yearn for a moderately creepy sort of fable from the realm of the vague, look no further. 7/10.

"Azrael" follows the titular character, a woman living in a post-rapture world where humans (or at least those in the cult of which she is a member) have removed their vocal cords, living a life of speechlessness, which they interpret as a virtue. Ousted from her group in the wilderness, Azrael is forced to fight as she is led to be a sacrifice to the humanoid creatures that prey on the living.

In a film where spoken dialogue is nearly non-existent, storytelling can become tricky, though it has been executed nicely more than once. While some have pointed out this facet of "Azrael" as a gimmick, the truth is that a story like this doesn't (surprisingly) actually need dialogue. The framework here is indeed skeletal, and there is a lot of context that is never expounded upon, but I found that this film seemed to function effectively despite this, as the film's own logic is also pretty straightforward.

There are clues and suggestions throughout that I found myself mentally chewing on after leaving the theater, but more out of curiosity than sheer frustration. What made the film work for me I think, above all else, is that it is a highly immersive viewing experience, and I suspect the lack of dialogue has something to do with this. It is also very slickly shot, and there is nary a dull moment as the lead character faces a series of visceral, violent trials and tribulations as she faces the creature-ridden forest in which her group of rapture leftovers reside. The gore is very much pronounced, and the practical effects are all very impressive.

Samara Weaving gives a high-octane performance here, and the supporting cast all turn in equally effective work. The film really kicks into high gear in the last fifteen minutes, and ends with an image (and implication) that will keep you thinking afterward. Is it perfect? No. But it is certainly more inventive and interesting than any of the "A Quiet Place" sequels are. 8/10.

"The Substance" follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a renowned fitness TV star whose career (and life) comes crashing down on her 50th birthday when her boss, Harvey (Dennis Quaid), calls it quits on her long-running series. Through a chance encounter, Elisabeth learns of a mysterious black market substance that claims to replicate her DNA, leading to the birth of a second, "newer, better" version of herself. Desperate, Elisabeth takes the gamble, giving life to Sue (Margaret Qualley). The two selves must trade off in seven day intervals (leaving the other in a comatose state), but maintaining this balancing act proves troublesome, leading to disastrous consequences.

While I enjoy body horror films, it is not necessarily my favorite sub-genre, but I had fairly high hopes for "The Substance" with a few reservations. I walked out of the theater nearly speechless. It may be the best horror film I've seen this year, and there have been a lot of great ones thus far. While "The Substance" is certainly not for all tastes, it is a film that has a little bit of everything. It's gruesome and ghastly, but it's also at times jet-black humorous. There is action, gore, dance sequences, car crashes, blood-soaked fights and broken glass, and more than a few interior visual homages to Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining". There are even audacious special effects pieces that rival (and recall) the bonkers creations of Screaming Mad George (see Brian Yuzna's "Society" for reference), something I never in a million years could have imagined I'd see on display in a movie starring Demi Moore.

And yet, behind all the monstrous spectacle and bloody entrails, "The Substance" also has thematic weight that renders the film's more violent elements an emotional dimension that is at times painful to watch. At its core, this film is a parable on self-loathing. Yes, there is a strong commentary on beauty standards (particularly those of women) and the corporate machines that power (and distort) the images we have of ourselves. When you boil it down, though, this is a story that has a universal appeal because the nature of it is very much human.

Visually, the film has a hyperreal look and smart, effective pacing that leaves its 2 hour and 20 minute-runtime feeling like a breeze. A film like this would not work without competent performers, and we get that in droves from Demi Moore here. Nobody has ever seen her in a film like this, and she gives a gung-ho performance that hits the emotional beats just as expertly as the grotesque. Margaret Qualley is her counterpoint as Sue, and matches Moore on both of these levels, as the two women (or rather, one--an important distinction in the plot) do a sort of dance that is part "Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde", part "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Dennis Quaid rounds out the principal cast here as Moore's (and later, Qualley's) boss, a gross pastiche of the slimiest of slimiest entertainment executives.

The film ramps up in the last act in a way that I didn't exactly see coming. I expected a credit roll after a few key moments, but no--Coralie Fargeat kept pushing. I can only describe the finale as a perverse collision of something like "Ziegfeld Girl" and the climax of "Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II", but in all truth, I'm not sure I've seen anything quite like it before.

In the end, though, I cannot help but feel that the most harrowing and powerful sequence in the film is a protracted, brutal physical battle between the two leading women, which serves as a distillation of everything it is speaking to. Underneath all the blood, the teeth, the bone, and every pound of flesh, "The Substance" is really an agonizing portrait of just how much we can hate ourselves--and more importantly, the price we pay for doing so. 10/10.

"Strange Darling" focuses on a one-night stand between two strangers in rural Oregon which, as the plot expands, becomes a portrait of a serial killer's rampage.

Deliberately told in a nonlinear fashion (literally with chapter title cards which unfurl the story in a non-chronological order), this psychological thriller is another welcome addition to the numerous independent surprise genre efforts of the year. The story here is deceptively simple, and the devil is entirely in the details: It is the narrative arrangement that makes this a particularly engaging experience, and the film maintains a playfully macabre sense of humor and self-awareness that keeps the proceedings entertaining no matter how grim the circumstances become.

"Strange Darling" echoes a bit of the Coen brothers in terms of its wry sense of humor set against a down-home bloodbath, and there are also blatant odes to horror classics like "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" in the John Larroquette-style rolling intro that presents the film as the true events of a killer's murder spree that spanned years and several states. The lead actors, Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner, have solid chemistry and give raw performances that make the film all the more effective. Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley Jr. Are also a welcome surprise playing a memorable pair of kooky backwoods hippies.

I do feel that the film begins to slightly putter out a bit in the final fifteen minutes, and a subplot briefly comes into focus which was only hinted at in flashes earlier on, only to be ultimately left purposefully vague. On that front, I was left wanting a bit more, though it did not detract from the film as a whole.

All in all, I found "Strange Darling" to be a refreshingly crafty thriller that toyed with conventions and expectations in a way that was nuanced and effective. More than anything else, though, it is just plain fun, and maintains a punk rock spirit that doesn't feel contrived. As far as independently-produced thrillers go, it is one of the best I have seen in quite a long time. 8/10.

"Cuckoo" follows teenaged Gretchen who begrudgingly moves to the German Alps where her father has been hired to design a new resort for proprietor Herr König. Once there, Gretchen takes a job running the reception area of the current (and decaying) resort lobby. After a series of odd occurrences, she finds herself being pursued by a strange cloaked woman.

I went into this film with tempered expectations, despite the fact that the trailers intrigued me, and I am happy to say that "Cuckoo" was a pleasant--albeit imperfect--surprise. Tonally and atmosphere-wise, writer/director Tilman Singer strikes gold. The Bavarian Alps locations are breathtakingly captured, and the set pieces (specifically the dusty, retro hotel lobby and bungalows scattered at the forested foot of a mountain) feel like a cross between "Twin Peaks" and Dario Argento's "Phenomena".

Script-wise, where "Cuckoo" works best is in its ability to keep the audience in a state of limbo and intrigue. The formula here is familiar: Protagonist comes to a new location; things are not as they seem. However, the parameters of utter strangeness that this story is stretched to really makes it completely unique and unlike anything I've ever seen. As it progresses, it veers into science fiction territory, and in moments reminded me of something like 1981's "Strange Behavior", a film about a teenager uncovering a strange plot in his small Midwestern town. "Cuckoo" similarly follows its own logic without reservation, and the outcome might be too much for certain tastes. As others have noted, I do think the film nearly goes off the deep end in the last act, as the plot threads established early on do not feel as though they fully coalesce.

While I did not find the film particularly scary, the strange cloaked mystery woman who serves as the chief antagonist here has some effective and bizarre appearances, and her overall getup (trench coat, boats, sunglasses) feels like something straight out of a giallo. Performances here are uniformly solid, with Hunter Schafer playing the rebellious but likable lead, and Dan Stevens as the strange resort owner. Jan Bluthardt is also great as a detective that ultimately ends up teaming up with Gretchen, and the two develop a quasi-buddy kinship. There is in general a consistent sense of humor throughout the film that most of these actors have the opportunity to tap into, and which makes the proceedings especially fun.

All in all, while I think the film could have benefitted from some tinkering in its last act, I nonetheless enjoyed "Cuckoo" for the mere fact that it is wholly original in more ways than one. The atmosphere and performances only give the film more bang for its buck, and the utterly strange places the story goes were more than enough to keep me intrigued. If you're hankering for a strange trip into the Alps, look no further. 7/10.