74% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 127 reviews)
Runtime: 94 minutes
Directed by: Adam Wingard
Starring: Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg
From: Lionsgate
Here is a movie that was actually made in '11 but for whatever reasons (I'll blame it all on the incompetent Lionsgate, and I also blame them for the movie bombing at the box office) it did not get put out until a few weeks ago. Now, the more I heard about it from people the more it sounded up my alley, something that I would dig, and that the advertising for the movie wasn't completely accurate in portraying what sort of movie it'd be.
Yet, I did not go right away to see it because I heard bad things about the director's last feature film (A Horrible Way To Die, or rather, A Horrible Way To Film a Movie due to a lot of shaky-cam being used), the director using his indy director buddies to fill out the cast, and how I wasn't impressed by those guys and their contributions to the anthologies V/H/S and The ABC's of Death. But finally, I did see it this past Thursday.
The plot, from the IMDb: “When the Davison family comes under attack during their wedding anniversary getaway, the gang of mysterious killers soon learns that one of victims harbors a secret talent for fighting back.” To elaborate, a bearded dude (Bowen) and his Australian girlfriend Erin (Vinson) meet up with his rich family out in their compound, which of coruse is in the middle of nowhere right by the woods. The brothers and sister are all dysfunctional so there is arguing that goes on with everyone. Suddenly, they are attacked by three killers whose faces are obscured with animal masks. Their weapons include a crossbow. Various twists and turns happen which of course I won't spoil and Erin is the one who fights back the most.
When it comes to filmmaking, I have little to complain about. There was hardly any shaky-cam at all-thank the Lord-and it was just shot well, I thought. The music was like what you'd expect from John Carpenter in the 70's or 80's... meaning to me that it was great. I saw some complain about the acting but I thought it was fine overall, even from the directors and even from Ti West, a guy whose work I really don't care for.
Overall, what the movie is... more of a thrill ride, actually. Sure, there's suspense and a lot of gore but there's also dark humor and exciting moments; while I am having trouble finding something to compare it to, note that it's not a completely dour humorless joyless pile of misery and unpleasantness like you seemingly get a lot in recent years. It's fun to watch while you have all the horror violence and people getting killed. Sharni Vinson is awesome as the lead girl; you can believe her as a very tough, wily woman. By the end, I was greatly amused by some preposterously sweet things that happened. It's a damn shame this did not do better at the box office; hopefully once it's on demand or can be bought on physical mediums, it becomes a cult favorite. Depending on how things go the rest of the year, this may be on the list of the Top 10 movies I saw in 2013, no kidding.
Oh, and it's pretty cool that the movie has now made famous this obscure late 70's soft rocking song due to it being used a few times, Looking for the Magic by the Dwight Twilley Band.
I'll be back Monday night.
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