FEBRUARY 13, 2024
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of...ss_(2022_film)
OUT OF DARKNESS (2022)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Frankenstein
LISA FRANKENSTEIN (2024)
I had absolutely
no idea what movie I would be seeing before checking online what was going to be playing at my local theater online. No, seriously! It was going to be $7+ day at the local Marcus Theater on Tuesday, and there was nothing particularly compelling which was demanding my immediate attention. I had already seen
The Beekeeper,
Wonka,
I.S.S. and
Argylle - liking all of them to varying degrees, but not really being
particularly bowled over by any one of them. And
Bob Marley: One Love wasn't going to be out yet, so I had a choice between two rather interesting viewing options, ultimately opting to see
both of them on the same day.
The first one,
Out Of Darkness, is a kind of horror thriller set in prehistoric times, dealing with a group of people - not quite strangers, but not completely family - desperately traveling the wilderness searching for food and a place to live. Trouble arrives in the form of what appears to be a stealthy, invisible predator which stalks the group and abducts the youngest member, apparently with the intention of making him its next meal. But the
real trouble comes from the psychological havoc wrought by this desperate survival situation that causes a certain member to turn on the others. Ultimately, the danger comes more from within the group than with anything outside of it. Yup, it's one of those
"We have met the enemy, and it is us" sort of scenarios. Once again - and I'm saying this more often than I'd like to these days
- the acting and the directing are certainly more than competent, and the movie is overall quite well-made, but I ultimately wasn't all that surprised or felt that I was seeing anything new. As far as "message movies" go - while not necessarily being a "message movie"
per se - I felt that it was slightly on the nose. A couple of reasonably well-executed jump scares keep the audience alert, and the visuals are suitably dark, but ultimately I thought it was just
okay. Sorry if that sounds jaded, but I've got to be honest. Don't listen to me, though. Go see for yourself and draw your own conclusions...
Considerably
more than okay, however, is the Diablo Cody-penned horror comedy
Lisa Frankenstein. Well, folks, I honestly
don't know how to describe this one!
I guess you could say it's a more fantastical variation on something like
Heathers (
"My teen angst BS has a body count!"), or perhaps the sort of film you'd get from the younger Tim Burton if he were more inclined to flirt with necrophilia. The story is totally insane, and I won't attempt to describe it in detail, but basically it's about a misfit teenage girl with a history of family tragedy who hangs out in a local cemetery and speaks to a bust of a handsome young Victorian-era man who's been buried there, idly wishing that they could be together. And her wish actually comes true when a green bolt of lightning strikes the grave and re-animates the guy's corpse. Suffice it to say that all manner of hilarity and grotesqueness ensues from that point onward, and I had absolutely no idea
what was going to happen from scene to scene. And that's a feeling a
truly enjoy experiencing when I watch a movie. I'm not saying
Lisa Frankenstein is a
masterpiece, mind you, but it's definitely a cinematic experience that will stick with you. Granted, a reaction of
"What the f--- did I just see?!" does not in and of itself constitute a rave, but this one's got a brain and a pulse and an attitude, and I would heartily recommend it for those who desire to see something a little different!