Change Your Image
rgs927
Reviews
Men (2022)
Well-meaning but Poorly Crafter
So, I just finished watching "Men." I know it has been pretty divisive and I wanted to share my thoughts. I'm a fan of several cerebral, metaphorical, slow-burn horror movies so I thought this may be one of those films that I enjoyed while many other people didn't care for it.
MAJOR SPOILERS TO FOLLOW, INCLUDING A DISSECTION OF THE ENDING
I went into the movie assuming a number of the negative reviews were from neckbeards just going "girl movie bad!!!". And I stand by that belief... though that doesn't make "Men" a good movie. It's a movie with some important things to say. Arguably it's trying to say too many of them at once. And it says these things in a way that devolved into the writer/director beating the audience over the head with its metaphors in a manner that spun off into self-parody.
Some of the heavy themes in "Men" include-
-The cyclical, irrational and self-perpetuating nature of toxic masculinity.
-The erasure of the divine feminine in western religion/society.
-Spousal guilt.
I would argue that in all of those "Men" fails as a film, particularly throughout the last 1/4. In fact, I would say that up until that point, aside from a few questionable writing decisions, "Men" is a decent movie. It has some genuinely tense moments, well-crafted visuals, and instances where it depicts its themes more subtly.
I think that for awhile, the erasure of the divine feminine is shown in interesting ways. For instance, we see a church with an altar where the pagan Green Man is on one side and the Maiden/Mother/Crone is on the other. But, the Green Man is on the side facing the pews while the divine feminine image is on the side most people will never see. Meanwhile, the church's stained glass windows all depict images of the divine masculine (IE: Jesus). But, then this imagery is repeatedly paired with scenes in which our female protagonist interacts with/eats an apple. DO YOU GET IT!? SHE EATS AN APPLE LIKE EVE! DO YOU GET IT!?
The same thing happens, even more egregiously, with the toxic masculinity. Throughout the film, each male character represents different toxic archetypes (even when they're well-meaning). The landlord is a "white knight" and comes right out and says he's that way because of how his dad berated him for not being tough. The cop is dismissive of the protagonists fears regarding the film's male antagonist, playing up the stereotype that she's a "hysterical woman". The church vicar is a creep and tries to convince the protagonist that she should've forgiven her abusive husband and stayed with him. The husband, as touched on above, is abusive. There's a teenage boy that calls the protagonist sexist names. And the antagonist is a naked, old stalker clearly representing male predation. Now, all of this is pretty on the nose already. But then, throughout the ending 1/4 of the film, the antagonist becomes man-pregnant and dies giving birth to another of these other male characters, who then bloats up and gives birth to another until we've worked our way through the entire male cast. DO YOU GET IT!? BECAUSE ALL OF THEIR BEHAVIOR COMES FROM THE SAME ROOT CAUSE! DO YOU GET IT!? By this point, as well done as the birthing visuals were, my fiancee and I were laughing at the film because of how it had abandoned any sense of subtly in favor of this lunacy.
Lastly, lets talk about spousal guilt. This concept is present throughout the entire film. And, up until the last 5 mins or so, it's the least mismanaged of its themes. But then we get the ending. In the final birth, the antagonist is born as the main character's husband. After some dialogue, he sits down on the couch. The protagonist asks him why he's doing all of this, to which he replies "love." At which point, the protagonist gets an exasperated look on her face, sits down on the couch, and the film draws to a close. Frankly, had she given that look to the camera as an ironic gag-closing sitcom riff played, it wouldn't have felt entirely out of place.
"Men" is what happens when you attempt to tackle several aspects of a massive concept (in this case toxic masculinity) in the same film while not trusting your audience to understand any of it. Had the film had some faith in its viewers and perhaps leaned into any one of its themes, it could've been a much stronger movie. I cannot stress enough that there was a good movie in there somewhere until it was abandoned in favor of rage-screaming its ideas into its viewers' faces.
Event Horizon (1997)
Underrated Sci-Fi/Horror
I first saw this movie in 1998 and it has always stuck with me. While certainly not perfect, there are some excellent (albeit gory) visuals, much of the acting is solid, and the first half of the film does a great job building up suspense.
The story does play around with mind games, hallucinations, and drawing on the characters' past traumas. At times, if you're unable to suspend disbelief, this can make characters appear foolish as they chase after a character that couldn't possibly be there or otherwise see things they should logically know are not real. But if you can wrap your mind around this being much more than horror-character stupidity, you begin to realize just how insidious the evil in this movie is.
Sam Neill has done other horror and I think he's underrated when it comes to his appearances in the genre. He does a great job throughout here, adjusting his performance well as his character goes through major changes.
There aren't many decent sci-fi/horror films out there. While this one certainly doesn't surpass classics like Alien, it is a suspenseful, creepy film that continues the genre's tradition of asking big, frightening questions. I definitely recommend it to any fans of dark science fiction.
Wishmaster (1997)
An Underrated Gem
With excellent practical effects, smart writing, and an abundance of creativity, Wishmaster is one of those 90s horror flicks that didn't get the notice it deserved. While several horror mainstays made appearances and the great Wes Craven directed, this film rarely gets talked about these days.
The djinn, the wish-granting antagonist, is handled without relying on many of the genie-clichés we so often see. The female lead was smart and strong in a year before that was the norm. The practical effects are a throwback to 80s horror classics like Hellraiser and The Thing.
Admittedly, this movie comes from the early days of CGI and has some off- putting moments because of it. It can be jarring when they transition between a lovingly crafted practical effect to a weak, computer generated one. Thankfully, these moments are few and far between.
Like many solid horror films of the era, this one spawned several awful sequels. Don't bother with them. Watch the original and enjoy it. It's a great throwback to the sort of scary flicks many of us horror fans have been missing for some time.
The Babadook (2014)
A Smart Horror Film About Tragedy and Fear
This is straight up one of the smartest horror flicks of the last several years. That said, there is going to be one major, deciding factor when it comes to whether or not you can enjoy this movie- can you stomach the child actor? Unlike most child actors, he does a great job. But he's doing a great job at being an insufferable little brat. For some people, this great performance keeps them from liking the film. Personally, I found that it added to the tension and to the strength of the film's theme.
This movie is rooted heavily in metaphor. If you want a straight, black and white tale with no subtlety, go watch a slasher flick. If you're searching for an intelligent story that makes you look long and hard at some difficult truths, you'll enjoy this film. And along the way, you'll encounter some great, classic scares.
The Void (2016)
A Film for Fans
To start out, I'll say this- I get SOME of the negative reviews. Does this film answer all of its questions? No. Are there parts of it that "don't make sense"? Sure. And if you're not someone who's familiar with the weird tales/cosmic horror genre, these things may be sore spots for you. There are no big name actors. There are moments where it falls into the trap of having characters be stupid for the sake of attempts to build tension. Also, the costume/symbol of the cultists had me chuckling at times (and "triangle man, triangle man" going through my head).
That said, there's a lot to like here. The effects are solid, finding a balance between all-out creature features a la The Thing, and showing you snips of the horror amidst shadows and flickering lights, because sometimes less really is more.
The story is an homage to horror greats others have mentioned- John Carpenter, Clive Barker, and, mostly, the great HP Lovecraft. This is one of the few Lovecraftian movies that got the sort of effort put into it it deserves. I'd put it on par with Dagon and say it's almost as good as In the Mouth of Madness.
There are multiple "heroes"; a fact that can be jarring for some. What many don't realize though, is that sort of thing is a staple of the genre. Some of those suited to saving the day, folks that look to be the hero, DIE. Everyone can die. Then, someone else has to step up and try to stem the tide before all hell breaks lose. No one human is anywhere near powerful enough to fight, or even really understand, what they're up against. Ultimately, even in victory, there's great loss- because you can't beat cosmic horror. You can only hope to keep it from eating the world for another day.
If you're a fan of Lovecraft, I think you'll enjoy this film. If you're a fan of Carpenter and/or Barker, I'm certain you'll appreciate the effects. It's not The Thing. It's not Hellraiser. It is, however, solid enough that I'd watch it again and show it to fellow cosmic horror fans.
The Visit (2015)
Definitely not his worst. Also not his best.
There are people out there that say this movie redeemed M. Night. There are others out there that say this film was the cinematic equivalent of telling off his detractors. Lets be real- it's just a movie. Like any other movies, it has its highs and lows.
The high points of this movie make for some decent horror moments. Well done jump scares (I'm normally not a fan of jump scares so consider this high praise). Solid camera-work, which surprised me. Good tension-building moments. Decent pacing, mostly. A decent payoff at the end of the major conflict, though one that does comes with some issues.
The low points really left me scratching my head at times. The quirks of the children- the daughter being a documentarian giving much of the film a found-footage style, and the son being a rapper are ridiculous and painful, respectively. The twist ranks among the laziest of horror clichés. The tension turns sour in the end when it takes forever for the kids to do anything in the name of self-preservation once they know what's going on. What few supporting cast members we get range from useless to annoying, there to drop unsubtle hints about the twist, to mug for the documentary camera, or to encourage the son to rap. Lastly, the film could've ended several minutes earlier, but instead subjected us to scenes of a cliché family drama story, and more of the son trying to be a rapper.
Overall, I recommend seeing this movie once. There are some genuinely well put together scenes and scares. There's some well-done film-making that does remind me of M. Night's early works. Just realize, you're going to have to put up with some glaring flaws as well.
Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
An amazing, modern opera unlike anything else out there.
Some people rip on the over the top nature of the songs in this film. Others criticize the over the top acting. Others claim it puts too much effort into trying to be edgy. The people that make this claim have never watched an opera aside from Repo. Its SUPPOSED to be over the top, overly dramatized and, at times, the songs are meant to be caricatures. When Shiloh sings about being seventeen and how its better than being 40, she is SUPPOSED to sound like a whiny seventeen year old complaining about dad's rules... because that's what she is doing. Since its an opera, she expresses this through song. If you don't like people expressing the nature of their problems, characters, etc. through song, you don't like opera and probably shouldn't be reviewing one.
That said, for fans of the genre, this movie is amazing. Anthony Stewart Head and Sarah Brightman steal the show. Heck, even Paris Hilton puts on a solid performance. The grave robber takes on an almost Puck-like role and poor Shiloh comes across as a 'real' teenager through the writer's willingness to have her act like one even if its going to get people rolling their eyes.
The visuals are gory. If you don't enjoy horror/gore this may not be the film for you. But as a horror fan who enjoys a bit, I found out thoroughly entertaining at some points, and even limit-pushing at others.
The ending was one of the best I've seen in a musical in awhile. Pure, operatic genius. It wasn't afraid to be both classical in its execution and modern in its storytelling. The actors really shine through here and the brilliance of the script shows through.
This movie requires a certain type of fan. I'm not a 'goth'. I'm not trying to be 'edgy.' But I do love music, enjoy horror films and appreciate a good, tragic, well-written story. As such, I found this movie to be amazing, pure and simple. The acting is intense. The music goes from beautiful to horrifying to, on occasion, comedic. The visuals are stunning and whoever thought up this vision of the future is a genius. If you're not someone who hates operas, someone who can't see a goth without getting immediately annoyed, or someone who can't handle gore, watch this movie. Maybe you'll like it. Maybe you won't. But one thing's for sure- you'll never see anything else like it.
The Final (2010)
Good, Modern Horror
Its risky doing a film like this. In our society, school shootings or anything remotely related to them are just something you don't talk about. But this film took concepts that were there in Columbine and the like, added more horror elements, and just ignored the societal norm of not using such tragedies as a basis for entertainment.
Now this film wasn't perfect. The sound effects could've been done better, the gore could've been a bit more realistic and there's a character in the film who I felt was rather pointless (The Vietnam Vet) and who is given a bit too much screen time/plot involvement.
That said, there's a lot of good here too. The portrayal of high school and 'small town America' is spot on from the cop who lets the popular kids off in return for their weed to the various HS students and the way they mock the 'villains' in the film, turning them from outcasts into monsters. And while several of the characters are portrayed rather over the top in early scenes (the popular girls), it really adds to the movie overall. There's a small nod to the awesome horror movie Audition with Emily modeling her costume (everything but the mask) after the crazy woman in that film and even torturing someone with needles. Conceptually, a lot of the 'punishments' are gruesome and classic without being too cliché and are done in a manner that allows a person to continue suspending disbelief.
This is not a movie for everyone. Some people wouldn't watch this just because of the inspiration it draws from. People who can't handle torture (with minimal gore) should not watch this film. But for the rest of us, this is an excellent example of modern day horror wherein one of the most frightening aspects of the modern world, kids killing their classmates, is drawn on to create a truly unique film.