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The Strings, 2020
Catherine (Teagan Johnston) is a musician who has split from her band for reasons that are undefined. Wanting a chance to be creatively productive and reset, Catherine rents a remote cottage and sets about composing, drinking too much, and wooing a local photographer, Grace (Jenna Schaefer). But soon Catherine is troubled by the sense that there is something in the house.
Look: I would imagine for a lot of people (in this thread, and generally), this story of a curvy bisexual woman slowly losing her mind while composing electronic/synth music in a dimly lit living room won't exactly push their horror buttons.
But shucks if I didn't enjoy the protagonist, enjoy the music, and enjoy the general vibe of unease that permeated the whole thing.
Johnston is actually a musician, and further she composes and performs music like what we see in the film. Her comfort with that process, and the fact that she has a really nice voice, lends an authenticity to the various sequences of her trying to compose music. So often in movies, "great musicians" are . . . not so great. It was fun to see a real talent playing a musical performer.
I also really enjoyed the atmosphere. This is the kind of movie where the character hears a thump and then looks around, while the camera slowly zooms in on the wall. And . . . that's it. For most of the movie, the instances of haunting/horror are incredibly low-key. But in a very slow but steady way, it all begins to escalate. Catherine has disturbing dreams, waking from them and thinking that she sees a figure watching her. It's just slow enough that you believe a person wouldn't run out of the house screaming, and would just chalk it up to an overactive imagination and stress.
The upside and downside to this film is that for the most part it exists at the same level of intensity, pace, and tone. It's good because it adds to the dream sense of it, but the problem is that the lack of variation can make it all blend together.
I feel like I can confidently recommend this one to @Captain Terror, but I'm not sure if it's "horror enough" for most others in this thread. I definitely enjoyed it. It was a real change of pace with oodles of atmosphere.
The Strings, 2020
Catherine (Teagan Johnston) is a musician who has split from her band for reasons that are undefined. Wanting a chance to be creatively productive and reset, Catherine rents a remote cottage and sets about composing, drinking too much, and wooing a local photographer, Grace (Jenna Schaefer). But soon Catherine is troubled by the sense that there is something in the house.
Look: I would imagine for a lot of people (in this thread, and generally), this story of a curvy bisexual woman slowly losing her mind while composing electronic/synth music in a dimly lit living room won't exactly push their horror buttons.
But shucks if I didn't enjoy the protagonist, enjoy the music, and enjoy the general vibe of unease that permeated the whole thing.
Johnston is actually a musician, and further she composes and performs music like what we see in the film. Her comfort with that process, and the fact that she has a really nice voice, lends an authenticity to the various sequences of her trying to compose music. So often in movies, "great musicians" are . . . not so great. It was fun to see a real talent playing a musical performer.
I also really enjoyed the atmosphere. This is the kind of movie where the character hears a thump and then looks around, while the camera slowly zooms in on the wall. And . . . that's it. For most of the movie, the instances of haunting/horror are incredibly low-key. But in a very slow but steady way, it all begins to escalate. Catherine has disturbing dreams, waking from them and thinking that she sees a figure watching her. It's just slow enough that you believe a person wouldn't run out of the house screaming, and would just chalk it up to an overactive imagination and stress.
The upside and downside to this film is that for the most part it exists at the same level of intensity, pace, and tone. It's good because it adds to the dream sense of it, but the problem is that the lack of variation can make it all blend together.
I feel like I can confidently recommend this one to @Captain Terror, but I'm not sure if it's "horror enough" for most others in this thread. I definitely enjoyed it. It was a real change of pace with oodles of atmosphere.