Director: Jonathan Holbrook
Year: 2019
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
After surviving a terrible car accident, a young girl forced to stay with a relative in her small-town home, but while she's out taking jobs to raise the girl she befriends an escaped mental patient who reminds her of her deceased family and tries to help each other get by in life.
Review:
This was a wholly enjoyable genre epic. Among the film's brightest aspects is a wholly unique and intriguing storyline that manages to include some interesting setups throughout here. The film's core of the daughter forging the relationship with the killer based on the mutual acceptance of each other's conditions, where she's completely overwhelmed about living in the situation and gets tied together with the killer due to their connection to rabbits. Given what we see about their living situation, with the aunt completely unwilling to take on the role of guardian to the quiet niece as she's not willing to disrupt her own life to take care of her, there's an obvious need for her to connect with something which comes in the form of the serial killer who enters her life wearing the fabled mask her father wore. Given that situation and the flashbacks detailing not only her connection to the creature but also her fathers' tactics to bring her up with stories and fantasies involving them, the misconception and relationship that builds here is incredibly well-detailed and fully reasonable within this universe.
That comes about due to the fantastic acting within here. Sanae Loutsis as young Nina, the troubled girl, is a truly sympathetic and engaging lead as we find that she has so much of the film's running time on her shoulders. While the genesis of the relationship might be unbelievable, she carries herself well and pulls off the introverted pre-teen who gets caught up in the more dangerous attitudes that develop later. Joy Yaholkovsky as the unreliable Aunt Erma is great as the nightmarish aunt looking to split the difference between being carefree as she used to be while maintaining responsibility for Nina. There's a part of us that doesn't appreciate or enjoy what's going on because of her inability to fully appreciate the need to take care of a little girl who needs her but it plays out rather nicely overall which is what brings us together onto her side as time goes on. Her friend June, played by Tabitha Bastien, is the best here as we initially suspect her to be just like Erma but the sense of caring and compassion she has for Nina once she begins speaking with her is a fantastic choice to take as we get some extra sympathy during this sequence that pays off later.
On top of that, the film also scores exceptionally well with its horror and stalking scenes. The scenes of the killer taking out the hospital staff and seeing the aftermath of the hospital escape showcase some great gore as we see what the killer is capable of. Later scenes, from him stalking the owner of the garage, the ambush on the fisherman in the woods or his triumphant rescue scene in the woods when he kills off the group that was planning on using her as an occult sacrifice, range from the stalking showcasing the more extended setups possible with his appearing to them and bringing out the tension of the maniac chasing them along or just the sudden short shock of the behemoth appearing and killing. Given that these scenes are done in conjunction with fine storytelling reasons as the killer is more interested in protecting the one person kind to him but not realizing he's not supposed to kill everyone he comes across adds a special touch that's quite enjoyable. As well, the film also manages to contain plenty of stellar technical qualities, from a trippy drug-fueled party with psychedelic camerawork and genuinely funny moments which all make this one a lot of fun at times.
There are a few flaws in the film. The biggest issue is easily the most obvious as the gargantuan running time could be seen as an overwhelming obstacle to overcome. For sure, the film is generally worth it but the fact that this one could've been split into separate features or trimmed down to keep a slightly more energetic tempo as the film does stay interesting throughout but does get the running time down slightly and be a little more manageable. Some scenes run on far too long than they need to while others could've been trimmed down as well with the end result being cutting down the film since there's little need to be as long as it is. There's also several subplots that could've been cut out completely since all they do is add to the running time or add bodies to be chopped up, including the child-smuggling ring and their operations or the day-to-day exploits of the police duo investigating the escape which tends to run up the film's length without much to warrant their inclusion. The fact that some might have an issue with the lack of attention paid to the girl being alone as often as she is without anyone coming to check on her as that seems rather odd, but otherwise there isn't much really wrong with this one.
Overview: ****/5
Despite the running time being somewhat of a struggle and a potential turnoff for some, there’s still so much worthwhile to like about this one with its intriguing story and fantastic attack scenes that make this one quite enjoyable. Give this one a shot if you’re willing to go with the running-time and can appreciate the aspects within this one, while those that cannot be bothered to look at this one because of the flaws won’t be swayed by anything.
Comments
Post a Comment