Suburban Gothic

It doesn't squarely fit comedy/horror or any other label, but it's fun (and a little dark) with some interesting characters and laugh-out-loud moments.

Matthew Gray Gubler is great as the man-child and Ray Wise is perfect as his father.

There are a few scenes sprinkled through the film that look oddly "cheap". Perhaps late pickups or second unit production. They're kinda distracting but don't ruin the film.

I went to see Excision, Richard Bates Jr.'s debut, knowing almost nothing about it. All I had read was a 5-star Empire review. I'm so glad I trusted said review: Excision is a funny, original, sometimes horrifying, and also disturbing film. I'll never forget its ending (a true rarity: a profoundly sad ending in a horror movie). And it made me very excited about future films from writer and director Bates.

Well, to put it mildly, Suburban Gothic is a disappointment. The goal here is obviously to pay homage to John Waters' trash/filthy/defying humor (no wonder Waters himself shows up in one of the best scenes of the film), but the result seems more like not-really-inspired Waters (Cry-Baby, Pecker) than excellent Waters (Polyester, Pink Flamingos). Close-up shots of feces, vomit, and sperm add nothing to the story - and unfortunately most of the humor of the film doesn't go much higher than this.

But it'd be unfair to classify Suburban Gothic as just scatological humor. There are some truly funny scenes, Matthew Gray Gubler is charming as the protagonist, and he makes a good team with Kat Dennings. (The cast is the best thing about the film, including Leland Palmer himself, Ray Wise, and Barbara Niven as the parents) But the story is so generic I couldn't believe it came from the same man who wrote Excision. There's not a single scary moment - which wouldn't be a problem if the film was a riot, like Shaun of the Dead. Unfortunately (for me), I wasn't laughing nearly as much as the girl behind me, who was almost dying of laughter every time Gubler gave a high-pitched scream - and he does it a lot.

I guess I'll have to wait for the next film from Bates. Or watch Excision again.

Matthew Gray Gubler is perfect in this. Ray Wise is at his best. Kat Dennings is underutilized, though. She has great comedic timing and presence and is not given enough of it to perform. The editing could have been tighter, giving it more flow. But I like that this movie is exactly what it wants to be and is unapologetic about it.

If you like quirky movies, this is for you. If you like your horror straight, best to skip this one.

Decent watch, could watch again, but can't recommend.

I watched this excited to see Kat Dennings in a movie again, but she really ends up playing second fiddle to Matthew Gray Gubler who basically carries the movie. While he actually seems like a good actor and was able to add a flavor to his character that I couldn't tell that if it was just him shining through, the truth of the character or he elevated the character with a special twist, so this puts him on my to watch out for list.

The story itself is really lackluster. There are a lot of familiar faces, and the minute to minute is generally pretty entertaining, but the weirdness of finding a hidden kiddie coffin and trying to lay a ghost to rest gets weird when it's stretched over a long period of time without getting intense.

I'm all for different, and I can't call this bad, but there are so many other good things to watch instead.

More of a cultural study about being a millennial than an actual movie. Kat Denning has a lot of tattoos, the male lead - Matthew Gray Gubler (maybe change that for Hollywood, dude) is unemployed, lives with his parents and is looking for his "purpose" and a few mumbled jokes are passed around. The plot, such as it is, deals with a fairly routine ghost story that our digital native heroes must release from torment by solving a mystery. In other words, if you have seen an episode of Scooby Doo, you've basically seen the film. However, it is somewhat entertaining. In short, if you can watch it on cable and can't anything better, maybe give it a try.