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Movie review: House of Darkness (2022)

24 Monday Oct 2022

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It’s been well over a decade since Neil LaBute plagued audiences with his remake of The Wicker Man. Not that I’m biased, mind.

His latest endeavour, House of Darkness boasts two strong leads in Kate Bosworth and Justin Long in what could be described as incredibly long foreplay but the question is who is playing who?

There is more than sexual interplay going on here though as something dark is lurking beneath the surface tipping the balance of power.

Hap (Long) believes that he has scored big time when escorting the beautiful-yet-mysterious Mina (Bosworth) home after hooking up with her at a local bar. After fumbling with the kind of uncomfortable dialogue that comes with trying to impress and not offend in order to make some kind of headway, they head back to Mina’s place which just so happens to be a glorious mansion.

This gives Hap some bragging rights to his mate over the phone during one of the moments of lull between him and Mina. This point in time signifies a window into Hap’s character, not so clean cut and innocent as he portrays to be. What draws you into House of Darkness is the clever use of seductive interaction with two characters willing to walk the line of flirtation but harbouring secrets that may or may not arise. These characters are embellished by the knife’s edge of pleasure and pain, and as an audience not knowing which way we are being lead nor how the night will end.

The prognosis:

There’s fun being directed here with the awkwardness that comes with dating or hooking up with someone. It’s always a dalliance of desire but where LaBute leads the seductive dance is through a sinister playground where manipulation is always afoot. The power dynamic between Long and Bosworth is mesmerising, luring the audience in with every beat of dialogue.

If you have the patience, let it run its course, because the climax to House of Darkness has a  beautiful send off to a well crafted script.

– Saul Muerte

House of Darkness is currently available via Defiant Screen Entertainment across home entertainment outlets* listed below:

DIGITAL PLATFORMS – Apple TV App, Foxtel Store, Fetch,
Google TV, Prime Video, Telstra TV Box Office, YouTube Movies
DISC RETAILERS – JB Hi-Fi, Sanity, Big W, Amazon.com.au

*Title availability may vary.

Movie review: Barbarian (2022)

17 Monday Oct 2022

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“BARBARIAN”

It’s a dark stormy night and a young woman in town for a job interview arrives at her Airbnb, only to be greeted by a strange man. The place has been mistakenly double-booked and with no alternative but to ignore her better judgement she decides to stay there too.

So, with this kind of set-up, you’re probably thinking this will be a colour-by-numbers horror, right? Helpless female in the dead of night, strange dude that just has to be a serial killer… right? Right?

WRONG!!!!

And frankly that’s about all I’m going to say about the plot. 

This, I promise, is a SPOILER FREE ZONE… no SPOILERS to see here, none, not one, absolutely no SPOILERS allowed, heck they’re barely even tolerated here in the zone.

I went in blind with this one. After seeing the teaser trailer about a month ago, I made a conscious effort to avoid any semblance of a spoiler…and that my reader, is the way you too should go into this.

Whilst this movie has an absolute blast playing with various horror tropes, most notably the incessantly bad decisions all horror protagonists make. It’s the twists, rug pulls and absolute batshit insanity that makes “Barbarian” a must watch.

The Prognosis:

Director Zach Cregger, usually an actor known for more comedic roles (“The Whitest Kids U Know”, “Wrecked”), gleefully dances between the genres of comedy and horror. There were times I found myself gripping my seat in terrified anticipation, only to be laughing my absolute ass off seconds later.

*The director even liked my tweet… now we’re best friends, obviously.

The actors are all fantastic too. 

Brit actor Georgina Campbell, from the excellent “Hang the DJ” episode of “Black Mirror” & the apple+ series “Suspicion”, absolutely shines.

There you have it… an attempt at a review that gives absolutely nothing away.

So now I’ve kept my side of the bargain, all you need to do is go see “Barbarian.” 

Then dear reader, let’s discuss… you can catch me on Twitter with my new bestie Zach… Zach Cregger the director… Creggers… Creggsy… actually, I don’t know him.

  • Myles Davies

Movie review: Tusk (2014)

30 Thursday Mar 2017

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The obscurity of this movie admittedly had me questioning how such a bizarre story could ever be entertained let alone actually pulled of as a feature.

But all ideas and inspirations have to start from somewhere.

When filmmaker Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier picked up on a bizarre advertisement of guys walrus fetish as part of the Smodcast discussions, the subject resonated with Smith to run with this crazy notion and turn it into a feature, Tusk, the first instalment to a trilogy that he’s dubbed, The True North trilogy.

The second having already been released, titled Yoga Hosers, and a final instalment called Moose Jaws is on its way.

The underlying theme that ties these movies together examines the quirky tales born out of the depths of Canadian lifestyle and translates as a warped cousin of the X-Files as Johnny Depp cameos as French Canadian detective investigator of the bizarre, Guy LaPointe.

The central story to Tusk follows repugnant and loathing, podcast host, Wallace Bryton.

His podcast, The Not-See Party is basically a chance for him and friend/ co-host (played by a welcome Haley Joel-Osmont) to mock viral videos of guys making fools of themselves.

This one in particular is of a guy playing around with a samurai sword in his garage when he severs his own leg off.

Wanting to milk this story and take advantage of this poor soul for all his worth, Wallace ventures out to interview him for the podcast only to arrive at the chaps funeral.

By chance however, Wallace believing to be down on his luck, stumbles across a written advertisement in the Gents toilets that piques his interest with a free room and lifetime of interesting stories.

Little does he know that he’s about to get his comeuppance when he meets up with wayward extraordinaire, Howard Howe and his curious obsession with walruses.

Kidnapped and drugged, Wallace then has to face a gruelling undertaking that allows his assailant to transform him into the creature of his curious fantasies.

Will his girlfriend and best friend be able to save him from his ordeal?

What will be left of him by the end of it all?

Tusk is a movie that lives up to its description with its strange tale, which was always going to be a tough sell for audience and critics alike.

It takes someone like Kevin Smith to carry out this vision and brandish it with his unique sense of humour.

And for that it hangs in there just barely by a single thread and may well generate an audience from his loyal fans.

Once again I find myself commending a director on their bold choice and pushing the boundaries of storytelling by challenging themselves and offering something new, even if the execution itself doesn’t eventually pay off.

– Paul Farrell