I thought about reviving and finishing my Horrorthon thread (from Corri) here but it was just too will-sapping to lose all the work I'd done and then think about how much it would take to even catch back up (since I was like 10 movies behind by the time I joined here), so I'm just going to post some of them here although I'm just going to start with the ones from the last 3 days (5 films) since they are fresh on my mind.
Why do I dislike this movie?
Well, it's a couple of reasons really.
One, when it came out, my expectations were SO high, based on the Evil Dead films and Raimi returning to Horror, as well as the trailers which were cut to look like we were really getting that level of Raiminess, there was just no way it could live up to them. But in my mind it was going to be the greatest thing ever and I told anybody who would listen and I took my wife to see it and she could not understand what all the fuss was about. She actually liked it better than I did I was so disappointed with how restrained I felt it was compared to my expectations.
And that is the memory and impression I have sat on for 10 years or so. That I didn't like it because I was so disappointed. So I decided if I rewatched it now, with my much-lowered expectations, I would probably really like it.
But I'd forgotten about the other reason I didn't like it and I understand a lot of people are not going to feel this is a legitimate reason but it is what it is. And it relates directly to the discussion that's been going around about
Hereditary and some other films and
Misery Porn.
I'm going to spoiler-tag everything from here on out.
WARNING: "Total spoilers" spoilers below
The movie is about a really nice, genuinely good person, who hasn't really had the easiest go of it and is trying to make something of her life, put through terror and misery for 3 days before she is literally dragged to Hell. And for what? Because, as sweet and kind as she is, she chose to do her ****ing job just once instead of sacrificing her career for someone who not only was legitimately in the wrong by the rules of society but had other options than what she was asking of the protagonist and it was her own pride, not the protagonists, that led to the events of the film. The protagonist is entirely a victim of misfortune and someone else's (really several peoples') malevolence. And for that she is ruthlessly terrorized, physically put through the wringer, and ultimately damned to burn for all eternity.
And that's just not fun.
It's just not.
I remembered about halfway through how much the movie made ME miserable. Just watching this poor girl be totally victimized, by her boss, by her co-worker, by her fiancee's parents, by the gypsy, and ultimately by the demon, continuously for 90 minutes and in the end she is not saved by all her heroic action, by her arc of finding the inner-strength to survive, she finally suffers the worst imaginable fate, despite everything.
And if that's enjoyable to watch... well, it's just not for me. I couldn't enjoy the movie for what it was because of just how depressing I thought it was. I didn't even want to finish it on second watch.
The movie is about a really nice, genuinely good person, who hasn't really had the easiest go of it and is trying to make something of her life, put through terror and misery for 3 days before she is literally dragged to Hell. And for what? Because, as sweet and kind as she is, she chose to do her ****ing job just once instead of sacrificing her career for someone who not only was legitimately in the wrong by the rules of society but had other options than what she was asking of the protagonist and it was her own pride, not the protagonists, that led to the events of the film. The protagonist is entirely a victim of misfortune and someone else's (really several peoples') malevolence. And for that she is ruthlessly terrorized, physically put through the wringer, and ultimately damned to burn for all eternity.
And that's just not fun.
It's just not.
I remembered about halfway through how much the movie made ME miserable. Just watching this poor girl be totally victimized, by her boss, by her co-worker, by her fiancee's parents, by the gypsy, and ultimately by the demon, continuously for 90 minutes and in the end she is not saved by all her heroic action, by her arc of finding the inner-strength to survive, she finally suffers the worst imaginable fate, despite everything.
And if that's enjoyable to watch... well, it's just not for me. I couldn't enjoy the movie for what it was because of just how depressing I thought it was. I didn't even want to finish it on second watch.
So, basically, **** this movie.