Skinamarink

"Skinamarink" (2022) is a unique and unsettling horror film directed by Kyle Edward Ball. The film revolves around two young siblings, Kevin and Kaylee, who wake up one night to discover that their parents are missing and all the windows and doors in their house have mysteriously vanished. As they navigate this eerie situation, they are haunted by a strange voice that becomes increasingly sinister, leading them into a nightmare that challenges their perception of reality.

The film is heavily influenced by childhood fears and nightmares, with Ball drawing inspiration from recurring nightmares shared on his YouTube channel. The narrative is minimalist, focusing on atmosphere and psychological terror rather than traditional horror elements like gore or fast-paced action. The grainy, indistinct visuals and the slow-burn tension create an experience that is more about evoking a primal sense of dread than delivering straightforward scares.

"Skinamarink" has been described as a "microbudget cult movie" that has gained significant attention on social media platforms like TikTok, where its haunting imagery and cryptic plot have sparked widespread discussion and speculation. The film's ambiguous nature allows for various interpretations, especially concerning the strange voice that haunts the children and the mysterious ending that leaves viewers with more questions than answers.

Despite its unconventional approach, "Skinamarink" has been praised for its originality and its ability to tap into deep-seated fears, making it a standout in the horror genre. It's particularly recommended for fans of psychological horror who appreciate films that linger in the mind long after the credits roll.

The movie premiered at the Fantasia Film Festival in 2022 and later became available for streaming on Shudder in 2023.

Well, there are three types of viewers that come out of a viewing of Skinamarink. First we have the people who praises it as the next best thing since sliced bread. Then we have the people who absolutely detest this movie. And lastly there are the people who respect the effort and the new approach but felt that there is a lot lacking. I'm leaning towards the latter. Yeah the movie has an interesting presentation and some neat sound engineering. But like others said before the 100 minutes runtime is stretching the goodwill, even for people who are familiar with arthouse movies.

The movie has a lot of gaps in it's narration and it's up to the viewers imagination or personal experience to fill those gaps and ultimately enjoy the movie. For some people it hits very close to home and they have no problem doing so. Others are bored to tears. So I have to admit, it is a unique movie in it's own right and I highly respect that, although I personally didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted.

It shares certain similarities to a videogame called Gone Home. It also plays in an empty house with missing parents and you have to figure out the story by pure observation and patience. But it had a decent story and an interesting ending. For people who are disappointed by this movie for the lack of a coherent story but like the ambience, I can recommend at least this game.

But there's also over an hour of sleep-inducing dead air that does nothing to increase tension or atmosphere, at least for me. I am someone who enjoys a slow burn, but even I have my limits. I watched it at night to get into the horror atmosphere and I struggled not to fall asleep throughout the whole thing.

It's a shame, because if you cut out most of that dead air there are moments of pure horror that genuinely freaked me out. Hopefully someone will do a fan edit and cut out over an hour of weird camera angles and the sound of old cartoons playing in the distance because my god there's only so much I could handle...

I went into this movie completely blind (as I try to do with most movies) and can say without question this is NOT a movie you want to go in blind. This movie is extremely experimental and abstract and will not be to most people's taste. The entire film is shot with a grainy vhs type look and is comprised of deliberately off center shots of the interior of a house. There is virtually no plot to speak of and most of the 1 hour 40 minute runtime is composed of random shots.

I love films that challenge and are demanding to the viewer. I love independent cinema and slow burn films. But this film expects WAY too much from the viewer and becomes very irritating as a result. Even to the hardened art house viewer this movie expects too much. This would have made a brilliant 40 minute short as there are moments of true horror but they are surrounded by random repetitive imagery. At no point does this movie pick up pace or have any sort of narrative.

This movie feels like a nightmare ASMR or a full length creepy pasta. If you suffered from night terrors or sleep paralysis or experienced childhood trauma I think you could become extremely invested in this film and that is the only way this works. I didn't feel connected or engaged in the story (I've never been through any of the above) and the only film I can compare with regards to the pacing and somnolent effect this movie had is "Beyond the Black Rainbow".

Five points for originality.

What happens when you get a community college film maker an 8mm Snapchat filter and a near sighted toddler as a cameraman? This. Hope you like ankles, muffled dialogue with subtitles, closeups of door frames and other pseudo artistic shots of doorknobs and corners of televisions. I'd rather watch the emoji movie for 24 hours straight than ever see this again. I'm a huge horror fan and have been for my entire life, ad never been so disappointed. Currently seeing a 60 second closeup of shredded wheat in a bowl with no milk. Literally...that's a scene. But, it does transition to a single power outlet for 15 seconds after that. And, as a bonus, you get one line of dialogue every 3-4 minutes like "dad, I'm going to go to sleep" while focusing on a linoleum tile for 24 seconds. Wait! I just saw a calf AND a foot! Do NOT waste one second on this "film"