Soft Liquid Center

Soft Liquid Center is one of the more unsatisfying horror movies I've seen in a while. It is well-filmed, the performances are enjoyable, it has a great soundtrack, and it is pretty scenic much of the time. My main problem is the story. It isn't so much that it is a slow burn or that some things were slightly ambiguous; a movie can do that and still be enjoyable. But in this story, it felt like they had ideas for some cool things to film wihout taking the time to decide what it had to do with the plot. Rather than bother to think everything through and ensure it was all coherent, they chose to leave things open-ended. This will trick viewers into imagining that these filler scenes actually have meaning for them to interpret, and they will go on to label Soft Liquid Center as "intelligent." In fact, it is not scary or entertaining in any way.

It starts a little slowly, but in a good way. The atmosphere sets the mood right from first scenes. The story develops slowly but then it haunts you in a very unique way. It becomes more insightful and complicated at some point and so the mystery. I think that some fans of Lynch will enjoy it. You can find some reference there for sure, but after all it's very inspired. The work on colors and photography is just wonderful and I guess quite symbolic. Maybe it's not for eveybody, but those who love independent, author's films should love it. For me one of the most interesting films I have seen this year.

"Soft Liquid Center" is a hidden gem in the world of low-budget independent horror films, proving that you don't need a big budget to deliver bone-chilling suspense and a climactic finish. Directed by the relatively unknown but immensely talented newcomers, Perry Home Video, this film takes audiences on a rollercoaster ride of fear and intrigue.

The story revolves around a woman finding herself after a recent breakup. Strange occurrences begin to unfold, and the woman becomes increasingly enveloped in a nightmarish struggle. Perry Home Video's skillful direction, combined with a minimalist approach to special effects, creates an atmosphere that is both unnerving and captivating.

One of the film's standout features is its masterful use of suspense. Perry Home Videos plays with the audience's expectations, building tension through subtle cues and eerie silences. The pacing is deliberately slow, allowing the fear to creep up gradually, and every creak of the floorboards becomes a heartbeat in the darkness. The cinematography, despite limited resources, is surprisingly effective in conveying a sense of claustrophobia and isolation, amplifying the overall sense of dread.

The cast, predominantly composed of unknown actors, delivers commendable performances that feel genuine and relatable.

The climax of the film is a tour de force, delivering on the promises made throughout the slow burn. The tension reaches a fever pitch, and Perry Home Video's decision to leave certain aspects to the audience's imagination pays off with a genuinely chilling and unexpected resolution. The final scenes are both satisfying and haunting, leaving the audience questioning the thin line between reality and the supernatural.

While "Soft Liquid Center" may not boast big-budget special effects or star-studded casts, its brilliance lies in its ability to harness the power of suspense and storytelling. Perry Home Video has crafted a horror masterpiece that stands as a testament to the creativity and innovation that can emerge from the world of independent filmmaking. This is a must-watch for horror enthusiasts seeking an interesting take on the genre.

Of course I had not heard about this 2023 movie titled "Soft Liquid Center", when I happened to stumble upon it by random chance here in 2024. Initially I skipped on the movie, given the movie's rather uninteresting cover. But I came back to it, wanting to find out what it was about. And seeing it was a horror movie, of course I opted to sit down and watch it.

Writers and directors Zachary Gutierrez, Steph Holmbo and Joseph Kolean put together a script and storyline that wasn't overly interesting. The narrative of the movie was rather mundane and slow paced, and thus it was somewhat of a struggle to sit through it and keep feigning an interest in what was transpiring on the screen. 31 minutes into the movie and I was already ready to call it quits, yet I opted to endure and stick with it, hoping the movie would pick up in pace and contents.

However, that just never happened.

I was not familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie. However, I can't claim that I was particular impressed with the performances I witnessed on the screen. Sure, I've seen far worse acting performances in other movies, so at least it wasn't all bad.

The dialogue in the movie is a bag of mixed nuts. Some of the dialogue is amazingly dubious, cringeworthy and just downright bad, and those instances were a bit difficult to sit through.

Throughout the course of the movie, directors Zachary Gutierrez, Steph Holmbo and Joseph Kolean did incorporate some rather interesting visual shots, which did add a sense of mystery.

I would not recommend you waste 82 minutes on watching "Soft Liquid Center", not even if you are a horror aficionado like myself. This movie just simply isn't worth the effort. The movie was effectively as bland and boring as the movie's cover.

My rating of "Soft Liquid Center" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

I saw that the reviews on this were very polarized, so i thought I'd give it a watch to get my take in. First, the good: The cinematography on this is amazing. Nice color range, very clear, with many shots that could be art pieces on their own. Somebody clearly knew what they were doing. The acting was quite good too despite the cast being entirely made up of unknowns. So far this sounds like a really good movie, right? That's where we run into problems. The pacing is just off, and the story seems at first almost non-existent. There's slow-burn abut this is almost no burn. We spend most of the movie asking ourselves if it is going anywhere. For example, after a while the main character is enjoying a beverage, doing nothing, and decides to watch TV. And we watch the show, and nothing happens to the real movie, but we are so happy because at least something is happening on the show. Thirty minutes in, and it seems like something is going to finally happen, but it turns into a prolonged scene of fisting a watermelon. Not doing much anything was better than doing this. OK, sure, the character was looking for something and hollowed out the watermelon to try to find it, but it didn't really ring true. If a watermelon starts wobbling on its own and you get the notion that something might be inside of it, the first thing I'd be thinking is that it has a rat or insects. I would certainly not shove my arm deep inside trying to scoop the innards out. Fully half the movie is over before we get clear indication that something is wrong, and even there it could just be mental illness or something. And it goes on, and then something actually happens! Sorry, false alarm, it was only a dream. But maybe the dream means something. In the end (very near the end!) we do kind of end up somewhere, and some of the earlier details that didn't seem important kind of fit, but... It just doesn't work. The plot is the kind of thing that sounds good on a 3x5 note card, but you need more than that. This would have made a good 15 minute short. Plus I really don't think this should be called a horror movie. There's a couple of horror-like moments, but they are very brief. This firmly fits more in the magical realism genre. For a first-time effort, this was fairly impressive. It has a few of the right elements, and several really good things about it. But, as a feature film, it's not quite there yet.