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Eerie (2018)
A flawed but sincere low budget horror with world class cinematography
Its sincere exploration of suicidal anguish makes for palpable dread and though its scares can be mocked by conditioned horror fans, the film strikes an emotional chord.
The cinematography, camerawork, scene to scene direction, atmosphere, are, much like Bea Alonzo, distractingly gorgeous, as we're plunged in dark corridors with sinister entities eager to be seen and especially, heard.
But also, shown. A lot. If only it would keep us guessing in the dark for longer. The cutthroat mean-spiritedness falls apart when the threat shows up too early; for too long; too up close; too often, forcing us to scrutinize the cheap, immersion-breaking make-up.
But along the underwhelming scares and prolonged chats with spirits, I realized the film does not cater to our horror bone but works its message with the good natured grace (and clumsy impatience) of a telenovella. Still, if we accept that, it produces a few hair-raising beats at its most restrained.
Bea Alonzo, manages much needed emotional range in her one-note role as a selfless teacher trying to uncover the mystery. Even if the mystery is thin, sincerity does not obsess over mechanics.
This is evident by the film's earned and cathartic conclusion. The alienation, isolation, mental anguish and purgatory, ring authentic. It is someone's reality (maybe someone you know), desperate for answers to the cruelty afflicted upon them, as they fear their growing conviction that the only answer may be death. THAT, to me, is a pillar of horror, both in fiction and in life.
Kill Switch (2008)
The Lord Have Mercy: Kitch Action At Its Finest
The thirteenth entry in Steven Seagal's direct-to-video canon elaborates on his snuff-wish in ways only an incompetent filmmaker can, but the noteworthy frenetic execution propels it to cult status.
I think it's safe to assume you will watch this in a state of disbelief. Consider an early scene where Billy Joe, one of Seagal's enemies, is kicked out of a window and the shot is repeated five times over. This is really just the tip of the iceberg. The layers of mistakes and deliberate editing choices are what steal the show from the get-go and it's a beautiful ballet of dissonance bathed in self-seriousness, making this the ultimate Steven Seagal movie. Every cinematic tool is abused, mysteries put aside to indulge in bar fights that reach an unthinkable climax of choreographed silliness, with editing that serves the absurd and experimentalism. The violence is extremely phony and the body double reveals, the abundance of cheap sound effects, and a misinterpreted use of the JUMP CUT technique only add to the delicious frenzy.
Seagal with his trademark uninvolved voice (though the southern accent he adopts is hilarious) and his catchphrase "Lord Have Mercy" is on par with the screenplay's lack of emotional resonance, basic coherence and the senseless urge to kick the living __it out of generic antagonists.
That urge is what makes Kill Switch his greatest film to date, that viewers affectionate of irony must absolutely see and see to believe. It wouldn't be a post-millennium Seagal flick if the stunt doubles didn't do the fighting and the music didn't do the acting but in Kill Switch this phenomenon seems almost celebrated.