Talk to Me

I feel like I am the only person that thought this movie was very average and lackluster. Being an A24 film, it's stylish, with great cinematography and overall good acting. But I thought most of the characters were unlikable and the story felt hollow. It felt like it was taking bits and pieces from other horror movies that it thought would work to formulate another good horror movie. The practical effects are excellent and I always appreciate the use of less CGI which helps ground any film in more realism. The movie also tries to have a deeper message and metaphors, but these also fall apart with the story telling. By the end it felt forgettable. I wanted to like it but sadly it's a dud for me.

Its an overall good movie especially considering it is the first feature film attempt by the directors. But is far from perfect. The biggest (& possibly the only) flaw of the movie is its protaganist. She does not miss a single chance to act stupid & selfish and keeps getting everyone else into trouble. This makes watching the movie a frustrating experience at times. If there was a proper sensible character to counter her and was given as much screen time, movie would have been better. But on technical level, its a well made movie with nice effects, cinematography, acting & direction. In the end, if I was to rank this movie in comparison to other horror movies. I would rank it above any conjuring or insedious sequels but below movies like 'It Follows'.

Talk to Me is a stone cold classic of the horror genre. It feels fresh, thrilling, absorbing, and has a brilliant concept at its core.

The story follows a group of friends who play around with the occult, contacting the spirit world through a mysterious ceramic hand. As you might expect, things go off the rails quickly and insidious activity ensues.

The way the story is set up is superb, giving a fresh spin on a somewhat tired horror trope and bringing it into the 21st century with style.

It contains a strong collection of characters with great performances behind them all and solid writing that doesn't feel cliche or tired.

Stylistically I think the film is superb, with the direction on point. There are some neat creative flourishes and a brilliant use of sound, both of which really contribute to the overall atmosphere, which is one of constant suspense and unease.

I don't think the film is particularly scary, relying more on body horror and disturbing imagery, but it is very unnerving and tense nonetheless.

The only reason I'm not scoring this higher is that I think some of the concepts could have been taken a little further, and some of the horror dialled up a notch, but these are minor criticisms really.

Talk to Me is one of the most refreshing and engaging horror films I've seen in a while, and will be sure to be a treat for any horror fans out there.

A group of youngsters discover that by taking part in a small ritual involving an embalmed, ceramic hand, that they're able to contact spirits from the other side.

One of the better horror films I've seen for some time, when I compare to the other horrors I've seen in 2023, this rates as the best so far.

Talk to me has a degree of originality, it's loaded with jump scares, and has some genuinely memorable moments. The writing was rather good, everything pieced together nicely, including that pretty shocking opening sequence.

Quite graphic at times, it wasn't afraid to show a bit of gore, eyeball, that's all I'm saying, I had to look away. I loved that deliciously dark closing scene, it was such a strong, cohesive end to the film, it really worked.

There were a couple of clichés, and there were a couple of moments where you're left scratching your head, puzzling whether people would actually do the things that happened here, but those are minor faults, the only major gripe I had, was the rebirth of The Crazy Frog music (I thought our ears had been spared that years ago.)

They trailered Cobweb and Nun 2, will either of them surpass this one? Will have to wait and see.

A big thumbs up.

8/10.

I've spoken in the past about being a big fan of Australian horror movies. Some of my all time favourites have come from this country. So it's a little disappointing that the last two Australian horror movies I've watched ('Run Rabbit Run' and 'Talk to Me') have been a bit of a let down. The latter was nowhere near as big of a let down as the former to be fair. There were parts of this film I liked, but overall it didn't quite hit the right spots.

I'm finding possession films less and less scary with every year that goes by. I find that as soon as you see the ghosts/demons it's just too hard to believe (even though the make-up work in 'Talk to Me' was very well done). The only time it really works for me any more is in films like 'Paranormal Activity' where you rarely actually see anything. Seeing less will always be more in this circumstance.

So I didn't find the film overly scary, and then all I really have to fall back on is the characters. Sadly we've reached a point where the only way to write realistic teenage characters any more is to make them extremely unpleasant. If they were all overly nice it wouldn't feel like they were properly written, yet if they are particularly unpleasant then it isn't much fun to watch them. It's a real predicament that the horror genre has and I don't know the way around it.

I will say that the ghosts/demons were done in such a way that if that is the kind of thing that scares you I could see this movie being very effective and creepy. Otherwise though, you might be fresh out of luck with this one. 6/10.