Reviews

In My Skin is a disgusting and disturbing film. It follows Esther, a woman who becomes increasingly obsessed with self-mutilation and self-cannibalization after an accident that wounds her leg.

Esther is a tragic figure of sorts. She is intelligent and successful. She's good at her job and looking forward to moving in with her boyfriend. This is all threatened when her tendency for self-destruction starts to put a strain on her relationship and career.

Although there are a few truly grotesque and wince-inducing body horror sequences, including a bizarre and unsettling dinner scene, the film is not simply gross or gory without a point. As it goes on, it becomes clear Esther is suffering from an addiction of sorts, and she goes to great lengths to hide her addiction from her lover, her friends, and her job.

There is an authentic sincerity and dedication to Marina de Van's performance. You get the feeling even Esther herself may not consciously know why she's doing this, just that she needs to satisfy an irresistible urge.

Overall, In My Skin is a disturbing film that successfully uses body horror to explore dissociation and addiction.

Don't go in expecting Green Room. This film is more of an atmospheric, slow burn with occasional bursts of intensity rather than a straightforward thriller.

Some of the plot elements and how they are handled will turn people off but the craftsmanship here is impossible to ignore. The performances are for the most part strong and the visuals are beautifully bleak. The violence is explosive and disturbing. Fans of Saulnier, and fans of genre in general, will find a lot appreciate here.

Those who want things wrapped up neatly may be disappointed, as the themes the film deals with, along with how it presents them, warrants a second watch. It's not necessarily a story with a satisfying conclusion and no loose ends. Some of the ambiguity felt unnecessary and could have been handled better, but the script is overall solid, if a bit of a mixed bag.

Overall the film's story gets its message across, regarding the exploration of the line between human and animal, and the feral tendencies we bury deep in ourselves. It could have used a bit of cleanup getting there, but it's still a strongly crafted film above all else.

6/10.

This film wasn't terrible. It manages to take a very basic "stuck in a car with a monster outside" plot and inject some character into it. But it was by no means great.

The acting was solid. There are some emotional scenes that elevated the film.

The director manages to create some tension and suspense with the atmospheric lighting, camera movements, and shot composition.

The effects on the monster ranged from pretty okay to sometimes looking slightly silly. It's a practical monster instead of CGI, which is appreciated, but it still looks rubber and fake in certain scenes.

The final act of the movie was pretty strong.

The story is very basic. Two people get stranded on a deserted road and a monster from the woods terrorizes them. The film tries to engage the viewer more by making the primary focus of the story about the strained relationship between the mother and daughter and how this terrifying experience brings them together. In some respects this works, but it's not enough to make the story anything more than average at best.

The dialogue was also very shoddy at points and felt unnatural and forced.

Overall, this is a pretty average horror movie. Nothing special or memorable but not bad. Don't expect anything great. Expect a flawed film with an unoriginal plot with some good aspects scattered throughout.

5/10.

Hangman is yet another found footage horror film. It is unoriginal in nearly every way, from the character's stupid actions all the way down to the killer having no reason to do the stuff he does other than he's absolutely insane. This movie has been done many times before and in much better ways.

The only redeeming qualities of this film are Kate Ashfield's performance, which was decent but nothing to write home about, and the last five minutes, which are somewhat intense. But that's it. The film is distasteful, poorly acted, poorly written, slow, boring, unoriginal, and a lot of it doesn't make sense. There were a few times the main characters could have done something obvious to help themselves but they just didn't for some reason.Yeah, it's one of those movies. It's infuriating to see characters be so stupid and oblivious to everything going on around them. Takes me right out of the film.

This movie was an hour and twenty-four minutes long but it felt like two god damn hours.

Stay away from this.

2/10

I'll admit I've never been much of an Eli Roth fan. The original Cabin Fever was a pretty bad movie but I wouldn't even recommend this film to Eli Roth fans, as it is a pretty pointless remake. Fans of the original probably should stay away.

If there was one positive thing about the original film, it was that it had that low budget charm to it. There's something about low budget horror films that I like and Cabin Fever had that. However, this remake does away with that charm as it obviously had a higher budget. A higher budget doesn't always mean a better film, though.

The acting in this remake is atrocious and the dialogue is even worse. The characters are all underdeveloped stereotypes that you really don't care about at all. Nearly all the scenes of the original are redone shot-for-shot, but they're handled in a much messier manner. There are a few minor differences, such as the "party man" cop character is now played by a female, for some reason.

As for positives, there aren't many. The cinematography was decent and the gore and makeup effects were pretty damn good actually. Some of the music was alright. But that's about it. I don't see why this film had to be made.

Overall, this is a shallow remake of a bad, low budget horror film from 2002. If you've never seen Cabin Fever but plan on watching it, I'd go with the original, as it is the better of the two. However, that's not saying much, as they're both pretty shitty. If you are a fan of the original, you probably won't like it much. But you might watch it anyway just to compare the two. I wouldn't pay much to see it, though. Maybe rent it if you get the chance.

3/10