HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: THE LODGE (2019)

THE LODGE (2019)

Extremely disturbing thriller finds young Aidan Hall (Jaeden Martell) and his little sister Mia (Lia McHugh), dealing not only with the separation of their parents, but their father’s (Richard Armitage) new girlfriend Grace (Riley Keough), who was the sole survivor of a religious cult mass suicide as a girl. Their mother (Alicia Silverstone) kills herself over the collapse of the marriage and only months later, the kids are told they are going to the family lodge for the holidays and they have to stay alone with Grace for a few days…and that dad and Grace plan to marry. If tensions between the three aren’t enough, strange things start occurring in the house, such as the disappearance of all their belongings and most of the food. As tensions and fear escalate between them, who or what is tormenting the already troubled trio?

The Lodge is from Goodnight Mommy duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, from their script with Sergio Casci (The Caller). It does a really great job of setting up tension long before we arrive at the lodge. The kids not only have a dislike for Grace to begin with, but obviously blame her for the suicide of their mother. The kids, being from a strong Christian background, believe their mother will not reach heaven for committing the sin of suicide. Again, in their eyes, it’s Grace’s fault. In the age of Google, the kids know all about Grace’s cult past and it is a clever way for us to find out as well. It creates tension between the audience and Grace, before we even meet her. The early scenes in the remote lodge are uncomfortable, as Grace tries to bond with these kids and the strong religious undercurrent in the house makes the emotionally scarred Grace uneasy as well. If that isn’t enough, strange things begin to occur. They wake up to find their belongings and all the Christmas decorations gone. There is barely any food left, the generator and heat are out, phone’s are dead and Grace’s medication and dog are gone too. Franz and Fiala already have the tension cranked up to 11, now there is another element thrown in. Who or what is toying with these three? Is it the kids getting a perceived revenge? Is Grace a lot more unbalanced than we though?…or is there something supernatural going on? It’s an unsettling and disturbing ride to the truth and the filmmakers keep us guessing along the way. Even without all the plot elements, Franz and Fiala create tension and atmosphere simply with their camera lens. Even stationary shots keep us on edge, as do the continual shots of Mia’s dollhouse at home, which seems to mirror what’s going on at the lodge. Let’s not forget there are some disturbing dream sequences as well, as Grace starts to unravel, hearing her father’s voice in the night. It adds up to a very chilling time and comes to a conclusion that is unsettling and will stay with you for quite a while. We get our answers and it is unnerving to be sure. The film looks great as photographed by Thimios Bakatakis and there is a very spooky score by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans to add to the atmosphere.

The cast are excellent with a knockout performance by Riley Keough as Grace. We get all this negative and disturbing information about her before we even meet her. Once we do, Keough presents her as a very likable and sympathetic woman who just wants to be accepted by her boyfriend’s children. We feel very bad for her when the kids reject her at first and certainly when circumstances start to pull apart a woman already working hard to overcome past trauma. Keough is simply fantastic. Richard Armitage is solid as dad, Richard. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy. He loves his kids and just wants them to get along with his new wife-to-be. Alicia SIlverstone is impressive in her brief screen-time and we feel her pain with only a few scenes. Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh are excellent as well, as Aidan and Mia. They handle a variety of difficult scenes very soundly and even get us to see past their anger and hurt to the likable kids underneath. A great cast.

This flick may not be as terrifying as early word wants us to believe, but neither was the duos’ Goodnight Mommy. That being said, it is a very chilling thriller and the constant atmosphere of foreboding gets under your skin. It is an unnerving and unsettling ride. The Lodge has strong performances, including a home run job by Riley Keough, who overcomes the initial vilifying by the the Hall kids to be likable and sympathetic…then scary when she starts to unravel at what’s going on. While on that subject, the filmmakers keep us guessing and uncomfortable, as we try to discover who, or what, has turned a bad situation into a nightmare. A very effective and disturbing movie.

-MonsterZero NJ

 

Rated 3 and 1/2 (out of 4) Christmas gifts, as this is a Christmas movie after all!

 

 

 

 

 

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HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL (2018)

THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL (2018)

(Remember, clicking the highlighted links brings you to other reviews and articles here at The Movie Madhouse!)

The Field Guide To Evil is an anthology flick that has folktales from around the world presented by directors from those countries. It’s simply stories, told from the title book, whose pages we flip through between these tales of the bizarre and the macabre. A simple set-up to bring to life eight horror stories of various styles and from a diverse selection of cultures.

As a collection of stories from around the world, each told by different filmmakers in their own style, Field Guide works very well together as a whole and the chosen stories all blend together nicely. Most take place in days of old though there are a few contemporary tales to chill ones bones. We get Die Trud from Austria and filmmakers Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz (Goodnight Mommy), a tale about a vengeful entity who stalks sinners. Turkey’s Can Evrenol (Baskin, Housewife) directs Al Karisi about a demonic entity that preys on newborns. From Poland comes The Kindler and The Virgin directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska about a man enchanted by a witch. From America comes Calvin (V/H/S) Reeder’s The Melon Heads about a rural North American urban legend come grotesquely to life. From Greece comes What Ever Happened to Panagas the Pagan and director Yannis Veslemes answers that question. The Palace of Horrors comes from India by way of filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia and tells of a castle filled with nightmarish creatures. From Germany and filmmaker Katrin Gebbe comes A Nocturnal Breath, a story of a demonic entity and possession. The final tale is the most fairytale-like, Cobblers’ Lot from Hungary and director Peter Strickland, which tells of two shoemaker brothers who are both in love with the same princess…obviously, it doesn’t end well. The stories are all atmospheric and have their own unique visual style with Die Trud, Al Karisi, A Nocturnal Breath and Cobbler’s Lot being the most effective. The Melon Heads comes up the weakest, as it’s a thin story, loosely based on folk tales about beings said to roam the woods and the contemporary American setting doesn’t quite gel with the more old world style settings of the other stories. That being said, it still has it’s disturbing moments. Collectively, the film looks great for a movie that was crowd-funded, the cast all perform their stories well and there is some very heavy gothic imagery in most of the tales. Spooky fun!

In conclusion, this is a very entertaining, spooky and, quality-wise, consistent anthology. The folk stories from around the world make it very intriguing and give it a nice gothic flavor, with the different tales and styles mix very well. Even it’s weakest story still has some disturbing moments, with the best really enchanting and chilling at the same time. A highly recommended movie!

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 and 1/2 (out of 4) field guides.

 

BARE BONES: GOODNIGHT MOMMY

GOODNIGHT MOMMY (2014)

Filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala prove that a movie can be both disturbing and boring with this unsettling but dull thriller. After having their mom (Susanne Wuest) returned home from plastic surgery after an accident, weird twins Elias and Lukas (Elias and Lukas Schwarz) start to become convinced that the woman, now in their secluded home, is not their real mother. With her increasingly odd behavior, the twins resort to some very disturbing actions to get the truth out of her.

A lot of positive buzz has surrounded this arty Austrian horror flick, but to me it was kinda dull, with it quite obvious that the mom was not the only person in the house who was suspect. After about an hour of dull sequences with the twins building their suspicions, the film then degenerates into a routine and cruel torture show in it’s last act, as the boys try to coax a confession out of the woman they refuse to believe is their mom. Some of it was hard to watch, but that doesn’t necessarily make it involving, as you never really come to like or get to know any of the characters from the weird boys to their bitchy mom. This leads to us keeping an emotional detachment, despite being appalled by what’s happening and we never really get invested in the story. We should have sympathized with either the boys or the mom, but they are creepy and she seemed too self-absorbed to be likable. There is a Sixth Sense-ish finale, which really didn’t come as a complete surprise, as there was a strong feeling something of that nature was coming. It is far too obvious from the beginning that something is being kept from us and that Franz and Fiala were going to go all M. Night Shyamalan at some point. Definitely did not live up to the hype and praise.

-MonsterZero NJ