31 Days of Halloween

THIS IS HALLOWEEN!

THE MIST (2007)

Ah, Stephen King. One of the most widely-regarded "masters of horror" whose work I've only just occasionally delved into. The only horror adaptations of his before now that I can remember offhand having seen -- and loved -- are The Shining and 1408. Frank Darabont's 2007 adaptation of King novella The Mist received quite a bit of praise upon release, but now that I've seen it, I just have to kind of scratch my head as to why. If nothing else, The Mist proves that King is a very good "idea man", but he may not always have the best execution, especially if someone as talented as Frank Darabont -- who has had great success working with King material like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile -- can't make it work. Like I said, there's a really good idea in place: residents of a small Maine town become trapped inside the local supermarket after a mysterious shroud of mist descends upon the town and inside said mist are creatures ready to feast on human flesh. And while inside, the residents all clash over how best to handle the situation.

Sounds enticing, no?

Well, this movie has two pretty big problems: one, all the townspeople feel more like caricatures rather than actual, relatable characters, and you can just watch this movie with a checklist, checking off every archetype you'd expect in a movie like this. Consequently, it's hard to ever really get invested in the film because you can just predict how certain characters will behave and others will develop. This leads into the second problem: instead of being suspenseful or scary, the movie's honestly just kind of boring. Whenever it's not partaking in by-the-numbers character interactions, The Mist indulges in hollow sequences of horror and thrills, spotting some not very good creature CGI along the way. As for the ending -- which I already knew about going in -- because I was never invested in anything, it just ... happens. Sure, it's a dark and ballsy move, but the impact is lost due to ordinary characterization and plotting. Now, I will give the movie credit for scattered scenes and moments that work, as well as a few glimmers of solid acting and a nice build-up in the beginning, but The Mist ultimately feels like a disappointment.

**/****

THE CONJURING (2013)

Okay, I'll admit it: I've been somewhat intimidated by James Wan's The Conjuring ever since it came out. I mean, right after it was released, it already had tons of people hailing it as one of the scariest movies ever. It was pretty much the same feelings I had for The Exorcist for so many years before I finally sucked it up, watched that film, and discovered the masterpiece that William Friedkin's film really was. The fact that The Conjuring had some seriously creepy trailers contributed to my holding off on it as well. But this year, I decided enough was enough, especially if it was as good as everyone was saying it was.

So, I can now say with 100% confidence that The Conjuring is ... good. Yeah. A good, solid, effectively-made horror film. But still, I have to ask: what exactly did everyone get so worked up over? I don't mean this outright negatively, just that ... what's so different about this movie from other haunted house movies of its ilk? The direction? Okay, yeah, James Wan has some serious skill in directing horror. He fills every scene in the Parrish house with incredible atmosphere and a palpable sense of dread, employing a lot of effective tracking shots through the house that help build up the tension really well. I think he may rely on jump scares a little too much, and it kind of gets to the point where you can easily anticipate them, but I still have to give Wan credit: he knows what he's doing. He takes what is really just your standard haunted house movie and injects it with enough energy and atmosphere that the movie undoubtedly works and is constantly entertaining to watch. In fact, there were a lot of times where the movie had me laughing -- not because I thought anything was stupid or bad, but because I was really enjoying myself with how well the majority of scenes were being done and partly because it was my way of relieving a lot of the tension brought on by the movie. Also, the majority of the performances are good enough to keep you invested. The Conjuring is a film that knows what it is and knows how to flex its muscles to show it, and while it relies pretty much exclusively on cliches (but well-dressed cliches, mind you), it's an effective example of classic haunted house horror that kept me involved. It's also one of the few horror films I might feel inclined to pick up on Blu Ray somewhere down the line.

I definitely want to give The Conjuring 2 and Wan's Insidious a look now, but I won't wait until next Halloween rolls around.

***/****

THE WITCH (2016)

The horror genre is one of the easiest to rag on because there's so much shit clogging the market. So when a horror movie comes along that actually makes a real effort to craft something truly creepy beyond relying on jump scares, it deserves to be celebrated, which brings us to this year's The Witch. What a creepy, unsettling, impressive movie this is; not just as a horror film, but as a debut film from a new director as well. Writer/director Robert Eggers demonstrates a very sure hand behind the camera, and similar to a director like James Wan, this guy knows how to create an atmosphere of dread and unease. The Witch trades pretty much exclusively in dread and unease, too, as there's only one jump scare that I counted -- effective, by the way. But the trick is that Eggers uses that tone to bring you into this story and keep you there, always keeping you on your toes and unsure of what's coming next. He also has an eye for the New England aesthetic, because this movie feels very authentic. It sounds authentic, too, because the dialogue feels true to the time period ... but at times, I found it got in the way slightly due to how I had to adjust and get used to the rhythm of the language. But that's my only real complaint, to be honest. The Witch is expertly-crafted, incredibly creepy and builds toward one hell of a final thirty minutes. Also, you'll never look at goats the same way again.

***1/2 /****

Sidenote: I'd meant to also cover John Carpenter's The Thing after The Conjuring and The Witch today, but I ended up short on time.