A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcrammers

It wasn't so much that I wasn't enjoying it.

Sometimes when I'm restless I will watch a movie and read a book at the same time. And usually I can follow both pretty well. It was interesting to me that I was utterly failing to follow The Beyond, which made me wonder about the structure of the film and why missing moments was making me feel so disconnected from the story.

I obviously need to start it from the beginning and give it full attention. But never have I been so at sea while watching and reading. It literally felt like every time I looked up the only information I was getting was *dissolving head* . . . *bloody eyeball* . . . *writhing zombie* . . . *cover of old book* . . . *another bloody eyeball* . . . and so on.

I do not endorse this kind of multitasking but I have been known to glance at my phone at odd moments during a film so I won't pretend I am above reproach.


But there is a dream logic at play in The Beyond in how it connects those images and I think you would need to feel your way into that groove. If you are already feeling restless, I don't know easily you would gel with how the film moves.

Pretty sure that qualifies as a superpower.

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It's like driving. You're looking ahead of you but you're also looking in the rearview mirror.

Lest anyone clutch their pearls too much, I usually only do this with TV shows that lean on the side of exposition (like Grimm or Sleepy Hollow) where every few minutes someone explains what is happening and you barely have to look at the screen to follow along.

Obviously with a movie that relies mostly on its visuals or that doesn't follow a more simplistic logical structure it . . . doesn't work.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...rno-dies-at-70

I really like The Beyond and it is worth finishing. But it has a sort of disjointed dream-quality about it where the narrative is not exactly something you can just easily explain beyond the obvious over-arching story.
I found it a pleasure to watch although some of that is because I know almost every location in the film from living in New Orleans.

Finally got around to Ready or Not (and was disappointed). Question---

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So in regards to the premise . . .

I seem to recall this was very divisive at Corrie, is that correct? Or maybe everyone liked it but one of us hated it? Something like that?

I watched Ready Or Not back in October and found it pretty flat and disappointing.

Wooley HATES it. Others have been split between "meh" and thinking it was a fun time.

I saw it twice in the theater and had a blast both times (as did the rest of the audience). The giddy, over-the-top violence and Weaving's strong central presence really did it for me.

EDIT: re: premise

OK that's probably what I was thinking of. I didn't hate it but I found it to be empty. The family wasn't really given any traits beyond "rich, and therefore evil". I feel like I was supposed to hate the one aunt but her character seemed to be nothing more than a sourpuss and a scary hairdo so I didn't really feel strongly about her.

But my main beef is that
I wasn't expecting anything profound but I'd hoped it would at least be more clever. I'm sure it's more fun with an enthusiastic audience.

I liked the character of the brother. And I think it's a pretty good portrait of the mentality of entitlement. As for the aunt, she's a good example of "I had it rough, so everyone else has to have it that way."

I would challenge this criticism and say that

I think a big problem is outside of Weaving the casting isn’t great. I think if they cast some fun character actors who go a little bigger and more campy it would’ve improved the film a lot. I wanted to hate the rich family but just didn’t care and struggled to remember who everyone was. Like the butler is a good example and you mentioned the aunt. They’re supposed to be imposing and threatening but just kinda show up and say their lines.

I disagree. I thought that Sexy Complicated Brother, Sociopathic Sister-in-Law, and Inept Husband (who watches crossbow tutorials on the toilet) were distinct enough in their parts in the story.

I also felt as though the entitlement was so well drawn. Maybe it's just that I knew someone who had a miserable time nannying for a wealthy family, but so much of it rang true to me.

I'm with you. It's a shame my scathing Corri reviews of it have been lost (I ended up discussing it multiple times in different contexts). Very disappointing film with lots of weaknesses.

I agree with all of this.

So Demon (2016) is the ****.

The Marcin Wrona film? ****ing brilliant.

I didn’t like it at all, either. Watchable, but utterly boring & unoriginal. Samara Weaving is charismatic, though.