Partial Education Presents
Drag Me From Medicority - The Perils Of Horror Fandom
Featuring Partially Educated Review of
Drag Me To Hell
You're Next
The Awakening
The Conjuring
and
The Borderlands
No intro, straight into the reviews. Here's why. I consider myself a big fan of horror, yet always dread picking out a film because of just how many get released and just how many aren't worth the time. As a result, my own disenfranchisement with the genre has led me to become a bit cynical about it. Nonetheless, I decided that enough had been recommended to me that would be worth giving a go. First though, I wanted to cover Drag Me To Hell, as that is probably the most recent horror film that I have genuinely enjoyed.
Here's the thing though, Drag Me To Hell isn't remotely scary. In fact, it's absolutely hilarious in the same way that many of director Sam Raimi's films often are when you wouldn't necessarily expect it. Alison Lohman plays a promotion seeking loan officer who decides to get tough with the wrong person and has a gypsy curse placed on her. This gives her three days of demonic torment before she is (title check) dragged to hell. Naturally, the film follows Lohman as she deals with the, shall we say, loveable antics of her demon stalker, whilst attempting to find a way to stop said demon from following through on the final part of the deal. Lohman makes for a hugely likeable heroine and, though you can see why this fate has befallen her, you never suspect her of truly deserving it. This means that the unfortunate bloodlust that some films try to instil in their audience is far from applicable here. Add to that the fact that the idea of an eternal damnation in Hell feels like one of the most horrible fates that could befall someone and you've got a solid plight for the heroine. As I said though, the film isn't scary. It's not a huge issue when you consider the level of fun that's to be had here, but it doesn't even achieve much in the way of simple creepiness. Also, the film has a slightly worrying preoccupation with horrible things entering Lohman's mouth. Though the first few instances of this achieve the gross out factor, it becomes something that is fallen back on far too much and thus loses all of the effect by the end. However, Drag Me To Hell survives on a solid plot, excellent acting and has more than a few welcome surprises up it's sleeve. Obviously, I'm not going to give away those surprises, but I find myself fairly safe in saying that regardless of whether you love, hate or stand indifferent to Drag Me To Hell, you will definitely remember it.
FOUR out of five
So, there we go. That is the most recent horror film that I have even come close to loving. Given the lack of fear, it proves to me that it's not that I want to be terrified, but instead just entertained. Could I find one that would do that?
Sort of.
With an opening that feels more like a badly acted version of Lars Von Trier's Melancholia, than it does a slasher film, You're Next sets out it's stall very badly. An uninteresting family feud hangs over this ill-fated reunion as a conveniently large and (even more conveniently) disposable family gather together, only to find themselves targeted by a group of masked killers. To be fair, the simplicity is refreshing, saving us from the usual overdone backstory or campfire tales that will foretell the mayhem to come. These people exist to die and little more, so the filmmaker's figure we might as well just introduce the victims and then get on with it. If you are a slasher fan, this simplicity may appeal to you and the film definitely gains some momentum once the killing starts. The deaths are moderately inventive, without feeling too contrived and it's anything but restrained when it comes to gore. OK, so it's not on the same level as your average "gorno" film, but the kills look and feel alarmingly brutal. Character motivations remain fairly believable throughout (I don't recall anyone hiding in a closet) and, though the final survivor is fairly obvious, the film sets out it's stall fairly well when it comes to an "anything goes" mentality. But, when I say the acting is bad, I mean it. This is daytime television fare and I'm thinking that might offend the stars of daytime television. The attempts at humour don't work either, ranking somewhere near "huh huh, that stupid person just died", instead of demonstrating a solid grasp on dark humour. You're Next is alright, maybe even good, but little more, at times overcoming the heinous acting and dull opening by providing us with copious amounts of action, but is it going to stand with the best that slasher films have to offer? Not a chance.
THREE out of five
I didn't like The Awakening. Yet, weirdly, I find myself quite keen to watch it again. The reason is the twist, as I'm fairly certain it's one of the most cack-handed twists I've ever seen, particularly when it comes to maintaining continuity. Unfortunately though, I can't quite prove this and so I am interested to go back and see if I am right. I just couldn't bring myself to do it quite yet. The real shame of this is that the film begins very well indeed. Instead of going for the opening scare, it throws you straight into the mindset of Rebecca Hall as author Florence Cathcart, a lady who has made her name by debunking other people's supernatural scams. This works because if you are a skeptic, you are with her and if you are a believer, you want to see if her mind will be changed by the end of the film. The scenario that offers the chance for this to happen is the ghost of a child walking the halls of a boarding school, terrifying the other children as a result of his distorted face. Rebecca Hall is excellent, as is Dominic West as one of the school's teachers. Despite West's questionable filmography, he always puts in a decent performance and this one is no exception. As for Hall, if she doesn't become a highlight of British acting in the next few years, this world contains precisely bugger all justice. Unlike the likes of Drag Me To Hell, this is a film that sets out it's stall in a manner that needs to be scary and in this respect, it fails. Though some scenes manage to qualify as eerie, there really isn't anything that's going to send an acceptable amount of shivers down your spine, bar one "blink and you miss it" moment. It's hurt even more by an overcooked score that often feels like it belongs to a historical epic, more than it does an atmospheric horror film. The Awakening is a film that starts off well and looks at though it could be great. Unfortunately, as time moves on, it gets worse and worse until the whole thing feels wholly average.
TWO out of five
Of all the films that make me feel like I've seen too many horror films, The Conjuring is probably the most notable. It's a film that has become famed for terrifying audiences all over the world and yet, after I watched it, I slept as soundly as I ever have. It suffers from one of the flaws that has dogged a number of James Wan's films, most notably Insidious. He simply shows us too much. Everything gets wrapped up in a neat little package too, leaving us in no doubt as to what is going on, what is causing it and why it's doing it. Fear of the unknown is what makes some of the best horror films retain their fear and, though it may be an overused comparison, films like The Others will always serve to make efforts like The Conjuring seem like an inferior product, particularly when they keep falling back on cheap tricks. The story doesn't help either because, basically, there isn't one. A family move into a secluded house in the woods (it's the 60's so I guess we can forgive them for their idiocy) and shit happens, so they call in the experts. Fair enough going for the simple concept, but that means your film really does live and die on whether it can scare the audience. Therefore, for me, The Conjuring is a failure. It's not me trying to seem all big and tough, there were some moments that creeped me out, but little to nothing stuck with me. There's some solid acting that works to it's credit, particularly from Lili Taylor as the mother in the family. It's not the best written role, but she handles it very well indeed and seizes her moment to shine in the ending. Areas like that save The Conjuring from being a complete bust and I didn't find it anywhere near as bad as Insidious. Nonetheless, I'm happy to accept this is a film that was just lost on me, so if you enjoyed Insidious, I guess I can recommend it to you. I'm just prove that there's no guarantees that you'll love it.
TWO out of five
By this point, I really didn't want to watch The Borderlands. My mission to find a decent horror film was starting to look like a bit of a bust and about ten minutes before watching the film, I realised it was found footage. I'll save my hatred of that particular area of horror for another time. Nonetheless, I had committed and didn't really have time to watch five other films before the review was due, so I sat down for a likely hour and a half of boredom. More fool me, because that hour and a half passed and I was scared of leaving the room. Gordon Kennedy, Robin Hill and Aidan McArdle create the main (and very much unknown) cast of Vatican investigators who have been sent to determine whether mysterious events at a village church are legitimate and whether or not they may constitute a miracle. Director Elliot Goldner pulls a bit of a masterstroke by having absolutely no concern with scaring you from the start. In fact, the majority of the beginning seems more like a comedy and a very funny one at that. Kennedy and Hill make for a brilliant double act, somewhere along the same lines as Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith did, albeit in a far more British way. However, as time goes on, the comedy becomes lesser and the scares begin to develop very gradually, very subtly and very effectively. I said earlier about how sometimes showing nothing is a more effective method and this is the proof, creating a truly horrible feeling that something is going to jump out at any moment. Will it? Won't it? I'm not telling you, but if you're not terrified then, in my opinion, you have nerves of steel. Exceptional sound design boosts that terror even more. Sometimes they use music and this doesn't work as well, but when they stick to atmospheres and sound effects, this is first rate. However, as much as I want to give The Borderlands a perfect five, I can't. The two reasons are simple. The first is that it has clichéd weird villagers in it and they're never properly justified, bar the incredibly freaked out vicar, played brilliantly by Luke Neal. Also, the ending is a bit of a disappointment, though that's all I can say because by ending I literally mean the final 30 seconds. Most of all though, I am grateful to The Borderlands for showing me that there is still some decent horror being made. I just think it might be a while before I can start bringing myself round to the idea of looking for more of them.
FOUR out of five
Next Time (14th August)
Not-So-Great Scott
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