sstetsko

I came across The Killing of a Sacred Deer again, recently, and decided to give it another viewing and a review. The first time I saw it I was really put off by the stilted performances and the odd, often times illogical plot (one of the key plot premises in particular). At that time I was fully aware that these aspects of it were really its strength and not a fault. A completely logical plot premise has NOTHING to do with making this movie effective, while the stilted acting was deliberately done to highlight the story's true premises... the hollowness of many people's lives... the lies they built their existence and reputations on... the facade of honor and respectability adopted by certain people (etc).

Even at that time I liked the concept, and I appreciated the strange delivery as a directorial choice, but it still left me cold. On the second viewing I even noticed subtle camera use and setting choices that indicated story teling mastery and artistic vision, and I became somewhat more engrossed in the dilemmas of the family members quivering beneath their flat and dead fish exteriors, but it still left me cold.

But that is still the point. The characters are generally cold--cold and dead, and it is hard to get drawn into what should be their emotionally charged conflicts. Their true human reactions are strangled and stillborn in most cases... more going though the motions than genuine most of the time. If they can manage any emotion at all it is generally impotent rage. Their crisis in the story is horrific in a way and should solicit empathy and sympathy, but they themselves, are even more horrific albeit in a pathetic and innocuous way. So when I find the story leaves me hollow and unfulfilled... that the drama which unfolds on the screen at best makes me feel angry and frustrated, well, then, kudos. The movie has done its job. Some stories just are not heroic, pleasant, or even really human., even if they are about a family in the most difficult situation they could ever have to confront. Some stories show sides of humanity most directors don't want to look at... and so it is with The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

Like him or not, Lovecraft has been one of the greatest contributors to horror of all time. Even the great Stephen King has borrored generously from his work, and many movies have been spawned from his legacy. By far the most have been more indirect references, while only a few have been direct adaptations. While many of them (as is par for the course in all genres, but in horror in particular) were not at all that good, many of them were very well done and have inspired, scared, and delighted moviegoers for decades to varying degrees. Movies like Midnight Meat Train, The Void, In the Mouth Of Madness, Reanimator, It, and even Hellboy owe a great deal, if not all, their inspiration to Lovecraft's work.

For all this amassed body of work, few movie makers ever try to stay very close to the actual Lovecraft work, and there are arguably some good reasons to do so. To depict madness inducing multidimensional realities, largely atmospheric details based far more on feelings and descriptions than on actual monsters and events... to try to capture in image form DREAD which is far better imagined than shown, is a task that is daunting at the very least.

I must say though, while definitely not strictly adhering to the original text in making a modern version of The Color Out of Space, this version is one of the truest adaptations of any Lovecraft tale I have yet to see, and easily one of the best. It has enough flash and modern context to bring new viewers to the Lovecraftian ethos, while still keeping the core atmosphere and subject matter of the story alive. It is delightful to see such a reverent interpretation of a story that I, in absolute truth, cut my teeth on at the beginning of my lifelong enjoyment of horror. it is also great to hear the director, Richard Stanley, is planning on tackling more Lovecraft tales soon.

This story in particular was a memorable one for me as a kid... and I am glad to see it given its due. Only one other adaptation is better in my opinion... and if you liked this version and would chance to see an even more direct (albeit also a slightly more artistically abstract) version, I would HIGHLY recommend you see Die Farbe (aka The Color), which is a German version from 2010.

Happy viewing.

(PS, I know of an Italian version as well that i have yet to see. I hear it is also quite good, and I will see it. Maybe you too will seek it out and watch it. if you do, good luck :) )

If you want a badly acted amateur flick about flesh eaters then this is the flick for you. The team tries to make a production with some credibility as a historical account, but the acting is absolutely flat and poor, and presented with such terrible and inconsistent accents, that you are constantly reminded this movie was made by people with no real acting experience or training. Nor is there a sense that they had a whole lot of knowledge of the era they are supposed to be depicting, although historically speaking they weren't completely off either. There are a couple moment where we see some acting, most notably from the cannibal leader, but these moments are usually measurable in seconds so overall I can't applaud the performances. The story is fraught with other unfortunate things as well. The director rather jarringly jumps eras to further try to support the idea that it is a historical account (and to set up a rather conspicuous ''twist''), there is a largely (IMO) unneeded narrator exposition aspect, the horror elements are clumsy and overdone, the action sequences are terribly staged and executed, the cinematography is choppy and plagued with problems, the sound is a bit problematic at times, the built sets are at times waaaay too obviously cheap, and, well, pretty much everything about it was the epitome of amateur. I did go into it expecting that though, and to its credit I didn't turn it off so that is something.

But in my header I alluded to it having ''a bit of something'', so what does it have?

It had some comedic value... albeit more unintentionally than it probably wanted, and it had some fairly authentic costumes and props (I suspect a lot of historical reenactment people were involved there), but it wasn't any of these things that kind of impressed me.

It was the concept. They really tried to flesh out (if you will forgive the pun) the cannibals in a way that I found interesting, and I think in that hands of a professional crew with a large budget this movie could actually be a really dark and horrific tale. I won't say that I recommend this movie, but it does have a bit of something so there are worse things you could watch.