day 10. movie 08. - curse of chucky
i don't have any connection to this series. i've only ever seen the original child's play, and only then maybe 80% of it's total run time. but i know the general gist of his arc, and the major players in the child's play fiction up to this point. this was completely my wife's request as she's a big chucky fan. so, going in, i was ready for basically anything.
what i got was a rigidly by-the-numbers "killer stalks the house" horror film. and in fact, this film's biggest problem is it's complete lack of identity. you could replace chucky with any generic serial killer type, and very little about the film's first two acts would need to change. that's unfortunate, as i feel the "creepy doll gone insane" motif deserves a little more in terms of creativity, both in the violence depicted as well as the overall tone of the film. it's just very flat throughout.
that said, i really enjoyed fiona dourif's performance. having her stare down her real-world father's voice coming out of a murderous doll made from some pretty cool scenes, but i don't feel that meta-connection was at all utilized in the film's fiction. after a HUGE STORY DUMP toward the end of the film's second act, the final third goes into some really interesting and satisfying directions, especially if you've followed and enjoyed the series from the beginning. this was surprising to me as i thought the film was a reboot, and it most definitely is not; i feel in some areas it actually leans on the 'culture' of the previous films a little too heavily.
i was entertained, but i thought a lot more could have been done with some of the ideas in the story.
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
good for: chucky gonna chucky (even if the kills are pretty uninspired), some good interweaving with existing fiction, fiona dourif's performance
bad for: flat tone, weirdly inappropriate gothic house setting
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day 11. movie 09. - mama
based off a horror micro-short that appeared on youtube a few years ago, guillermo del toro dips from his "man how
fucked up can childhood be?" well to flesh the idea out into a feature-length film and for the most part, it works.
full of old school creep-scares, mama tells the story of two sisters--having been lost in the woods for years--being handed over to their uncle and his live-in rocker girlfriend, and the mysterious "mama" entity they seem to be beholden to. it's not often that a horror film not based on a murderous psychopath is so up front with it's main "monster". "mama" is featured heavily almost from the start of the film, and in many cases, you'd think her ever-presence would dilute the horror. it does not.
toro definitely knows how to spin a decent ghost story, and aside from plot elements i can only describe as "magical silliness", the story here is well-written and tight. there's a few character actions that feel a little forced, but given that the film would otherwise have to be 2+ hours (too) long to properly develop them, i can roll with it.
jessica chastain's annabelle has a nice moderately redemptive arc throughout the film, and the two girls--especially the younger sister lily--are equal parts chilling, creepy, and naive without overly pandering to audience sympathies. the script and acting mostly falters toward the end of the film, when the "magical silliness" and some seemingly dropped story progression muddle one particular character's motivation a little bit.
good "classic" horror; mama wins on creep-factor instead of leaning on cheap jump scares.
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
good for: creep factor, the 'mama' creature is very disturbing and haunting, well-written story, young children being creepy without being annoying/forced
bad for: clarity of plot
