Deepfocuslens
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HERETIC and A24
🕑 Added 2024-11-08 21:07:23 +0000 UTCI feel we've reached the point where we've completely overshot the elevated arthouse horror era, and this film is the perfect example of that. I gotta tell you...all these lofty, cerebral horror films we've been seeing this year that just haven't clicked. They get to wrapped up in their own machinations. SMILE 2 is one of the only horror films this year to actually succeed at making me feel something. And part of it was due to that fact that it stayed in its lane, went for high impact anxiety and thrills, and it wasn't trying to go for some heady nonsense that stifles all the tension.
Comments
Sagar Saxena
I loved the 'verbose' first half but didn't like that it all crumbled into a rather run-of-the-mill second half. The well read,intellectual guy who has designed his house to question belief,was a great villain in itself without having to wield weapons.
Henri J. Mertens
Just got out of seeing it. While I enjoyed it for the most part, it’s absolutely crazy to me that Hugh Grant is simply performing a Ted Talk referencing Monopoly and Radiohead. They should’ve just naturally been PLAYING Monopoly and LISTENING to Radiohead lol. Instead, the girls just stand there for 15 minutes straight doing absolutely nothing. The monotony of that scene was pretty laughable. Alfred Hitchcock would be shaking his head at the poor staging.
George Lenis
I feel this way about Jordan Peele’s movies. Loved his show with Keegan but his movies have had little impact on me. Can’t quite put my finger on why but they just don’t feel authentic. Feels like I’m watching an essay instead of watching a story unfold.
Deepfocuslens
I feel the same way. Though I struggle with a lot of elements of Barbarian, I love it so much. Have forced many people to watch it, and I see it as a comfort movie. Smile 2 absolutely reminded me of it, and I consider it to be this years version of Barbarian for me.
Deepfocuslens
haha I have not. I will check that out. Thank you!
Deepfocuslens
You might like it! Didn't do it for me but, if it makes you happy then that's awesome.
Deepfocuslens
I agree. But here I feel we've really crossed over. Where I feel like it's beyond just staying too long. Now it becomes an annoyance.
Drew Perkins
I gave a horror quiz on Halloween at the theatre where I volunteer, and I ended with a note of resentment about how people view 'elevated horror' – as if the genre was plagued until the last decade. It wasn't. There have been great horror films throughout the last century, but lately the market has been oversaturated with filmmakers trying to be the next Robert Eggers. While I really like Ari Aster and Robert Eggers, their success has led to many imitations that lack a genuine voice, merely echoing recent success without understanding what made them resonate.
Wolfman Brandon
I haven't seen many recent horror films but the only ones I think are solid the whole way through are The Babadook and The Lighthouse. I had those similar issues with Hereditary back when the era was at its peak. It absolutely ruined itself when it turned into a wannabe Rosemary's Baby knockoff.
TenzingNorgay82
Found it on YouTube.
Stephen
https://youtu.be/m7c4s7hguus?si=k_IK487PtcxEUm5A
Henri J. Mertens
Maggie reviewed it
Stephen
Yeah it’s a trend that has been losing its juice the past few years. Anytime the homages or symbolism is too obvious it’s cringy and every film apparently needs to be inspired by The Shining in some way.
TenzingNorgay82
I’d be interested to get your take on Longlegs. I don’t recall seeing a review of it here.
swift minus one
I should check some of these out
Edward Looney
I felt the same way a couple years ago about Barbarian and Men, released a few months apart. Men was that A24 "elevated" folk(?) horror(?) about a woman who encounters . . . men . . . and trauma related to men. It wasn't scary, it had nothing interesting to say, and it said it in a very long winded way. Barbarian, however, was a trashy, skillfully made, grindhouse flick with no lofty "elevated horror" ambitions, but it actually has a lot to say about the way women have to protect themselves in situations where men can blindly march forward, and the sort of male/female archetypes you can find yourself unwillingly trapped in/perpetuating. And yet you can just watch it and enjoy the crazy roller coaster ride and never think any deeper about it and it still works. To me, it's the perfect counterexample to this arbitrary distinction between "horror" and "elevated horror"; Barbarian has so-called "elevated" ideas, but it's horror, for horror fans, first and foremost. Which makes it even funnier to me that A24 passed on it...
Carson Banghart
I may have missed you talking about it, but have you seen The First Omen? This was the only other studio horror movie outside of Smile 2 that genuinely surprised me this year with how it managed to keep that high tension and scares throughout its runtime without getting bogged down by the usual elevated horror traps. May be that I’m also a sucker for religious horror movies (thank you childhood catholic guilt) but I think it’s worth a watch if you haven’t seen it!
Henri J. Mertens
Dang, judging by your smile in the thumbnail I thought you were going to give it a good review lol. I still plan on seeing it tomorrow though
vince2k
I think it wore out its welcome a long time ago. Not that there are no good "elevated horror" movies these days, but too many of them never come close -- and arguably aren't even interested -- in living up to the potential of their concepts.
