Good evening from the darkness, it's Halloween and predictably I've been gorging myself on horror films; amongst them one that really stands heads, shoulders, and antlers above the rest. 'Antlers' is a rare beast - a slow burning, intelligent, mythological/creature feature horror that's a rare exception to the modern horror film rule - it's high on suspense and minimal, almost non-existent on jump scares. This factor meant it's a film that I actually found scary. The story itself has a folksy, urban legend, indigenous premise, and centres on a mysterious, seemingly parent-less young boy who catches the attention of his teacher, in an idle, working class, deprived small town surrounded by the mountains. I really liked how the film took its time to develop the story, the characters, and themes, with excellent performances, especially from the child actor, all leading to a worth the wait conclusion. Did I mention this film is visually breathtaking, with incredible cinematography, excellent lighting that serves the story rather than spectacle, and minimal CGI, at least only used in conjunction with practice effects. It's rare for a horror film to actually meet/exceed expectations given how saturated the market is, especially in light of VOD platforms like Netflix that churn out more low quality horror than Michael Myers, Jason's and Freddy's kill rates put together, so this one came at me with a surprise... minus the jump scare. Go watch it 👻
Review of Antlers
