Goodnight Mommy (2015 - Austria)

(German Title: Ich Seh Ich She)

Directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz

Written by Veronica Franz and Severin Fiala

Starring Lukas and Elias Schwartz and Susanne Wuest

Throughout the world, different cultures make for different tastes in many themes and genres. For instance, a film that American’s might find funny and entertaining may fly right over the heads of audiences in Great Britain. It’s not that either is wrong or right, but rather than comedy is purely subjective. And what one person might find relatable, another person from another country might find it random. Comedy is not Universal.

On the other end of the spectrum is the horror genre. Horror transcends cultures and terrifies us all regardless of where we’re from or what language we speak. We are all afraid of what goes “bump” in the night. Regardless of one’s background, it is near impossible to not feel a sense of unease when presented with the unknown. And, apparently creepy little kids.

In this Austrian film, a pair of identical twin boys, Lukas and Elias, struggle to settle back home when their Mother returns home from having cosmetic surgery. Her face hidden by bandages, her increasingly odd behavior fuels the boys’ nightmares. Their fear and paranoia takes control as they seek to find out the true identity of the woman beneath the gauze.

In a film that could just as easily rely on loud noises and quick cuts to cause the viewers heart rate to rise, on the contrary, the filmmakers opt for slow moving shots and force you to listen to the silence for clues. A delicately constructed film, you more or less need to watch every frame in order to see and understand every little nuance created for the story. “Goodnight Mommy” won’t scare you, per say. But it will certainly make you feel uneasy straight away.

This film was very difficult to review because there is so much to say. Yet saying anything more would give too much away.

In order to understand the films true story and not just the one presented in the trailer, you need to see it for yourself. It is so much more than it lets on.

My Rating: 8/10

Sinister (2012)

Directed by Scott Derrickson
Written by Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill
Starring Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone and Nick King

A true-crime writer finds a cash of 8mm home movie reels that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose career dates back to the 60s. But he soon learns that his research may be putting his family in harms way.

Nope! Nope, nope, nope… nope, nope… WHOLE lotta NOPE! I have a very inconsistent relationship with horror movies. I either find them boring and not very scary, or I find them very creepy and will find myself trying to think of something else so that I can sleep at night.

"Sinister" isn't the best horror movie, but it avoids certain elements that make so many of them seem interchangeable. In today's market, the horror genre is littered with jump scares, excessive gore and bad acting. I guess that's not just modern horror movies, but horror movies in general. They usually suck. But every now and then, there is one that just freaks the hell out of me.

RUN, BITCH, RUN! HE GON' GET YOU!!!

This movie is filled with intensely macabre imagery that many of the PG-13 horror movies are missing. I mean, I think dead little girls are creepy too, but there are only so many times that you see one with her hair in front of her face before you want to go out and by them a comb. Imagery is what makes this movie in my opinion. In lieu of jump scares, the directed opts for painfully long shots that don't cut away. That alone sets the tone for the entire movie in the opening shot. 

My only complaint is that this story takes place in Pennsylvania and in one of the opening scenes Ethan Hawke kills a scorpion… and doesn't think it's weird that there is a scorpion in the North East. Then, about halfway through, he tells a Police Deputy who has lived in that town his entire life about the scorpion… and the Deputy doesn't think it's weird.

For the record, scorpions are not native to Pennsylvania. And if you ever find one in your Pennsylvania home, you should immediately assume that there is a serial killer stalking you. That's what I think at least.

My Rating: 6.5/10