Yeah, this gets the coveted 9 Deuce spot. I think in 10 years, this one may have lasting appeal, more so than other films of similar nature. Why? Because it was done right, and Ethan “chicken” Hawke is awesome. Let’s sit back and soak it all in.
We start off with like home movie footage of 4 people, perhaps a family, all with sacks over their head, and they all have nooses around their necks. Suddenly a limb with ropes tied to it falls, and the bodies are raised and they start flailing, but they die. And then we see one of those tree limb saws fall down, but nobody was holding it, or was there? That’s how we open, and I love it.
So we have a family who has just moved so the father can write his new story, as he’s an author. Let’s meet the family. Ellison is played by Ethan Hawke, his wife, Tracey, and his 2 kids Trevor and Ashley. The cops are none too happy with him moving to their town. There’s a missing girl and that is what Ellison is writing about. Apparently, in the past, he has written stories that have shed some light on unsolved crimes perhaps that painted cops in a bad light perhaps. His wife is worried that they moved to this place because of a local unsolved crime and Ellison lies of course. He is walking through the house, he looks outside, and there’s the tree. Well, that wasn’t predictable or anything. What wasn’t predictable is him going to the attic carrying boxes and a scorpion scurrying towards him. Fuck that, hell no. He finds some film reels and a projector. This is obviously important.
I just want to say, I don’t like being in NY, but compared to southern states with all their larger bugs and creatures, NY becomes amazing. Canada may even be better.
We find that Ellison hasn’t written anything too popular recently, and if this goes south, the wife is ready to take the kids and bounce. Now he sets up the projector, gotta see what’s on these reels. The film shows a happy family doing family things and then finishes with the hanging scene we saw in the very beginning. The family in it has a dad, a mom, a boy, and 2 girls, but the one girl seems to do things more on her own. Read into that however you like. The big questions are: who made the film, and where’s Stephanie?
The next film shows a family of four with 2 boys, and the dad was fishing. Afterward, they get in the car. the next shot we see is of 2 or 3 people in the car, it is in the garage, and it is chained shut, all around. There are cans of gas in the car, and then somebody sets it ablaze. Ellison is also wondering why somebody left the box there for him, as it apparently wasn’t there when they first bought the place.
Ellison here’s a noise, trying to figure out what it was. He thought it was Ashley as she isn’t fully adjusted to the house, but instead, it was Trevor in a moving box and he starts screaming. He’s having night terrors. It happens. I’ve had them, I’ve scared people. It’s terrifying honestly.
Next reel of film, a family of dad, mom, boy, 2 girls. all poolside. The next thing we see is 4 people tied down to poolside lounge chairs, and one by one, they get dragged in the pool. We then see this creepy figure in the water. He kinda reminds me of a mix of Ghostface, Jigsaw, and like some demon. I liked it!
Trevor is getting yelled at by mom. He drew 4 people getting hung in permanent marker at school. Mom is pissed. Mom is superfly pissed. I like seeing Ellison wearing a cardigan. I’m a cardigan man myself.
Time for the next reel. It’s night time in the house. The camera person has a flashlight or a light on the camera itself. It appears to be a husband and wife taped and tied down to the bed. The camera person puts a knife to the lady’s throat. Oh, there’s a little boy also taped down to a bed, so it was clearly a family again. I think it is safe to assume all of these movies have families. On the wall, he sees the same marking he saw earlier that I made no mention of. Yeah, important details. Upon further inspection, he sees this occurred in 98 and in St Louis. Supposedly it was a big family murder and a child was abducted.
Ellison goes to investigate another noise, this time in the attic. There was a snake under a box top of sorts, and on the inner part of it was drawing. It has 4 people hanging from a tree and on the other side of the tree, is a stick figure labeled Mr. Boogie. Creepy. Then another drawing of 4 people laying in be chairs, and there’s Mr. Boogie. All the people are labeled, and the parents are mom and dad. Apparently there was 3 people in the car that got set on fire .and of course, the 3 people tied down in bed. Always with Mr. Boogie. He then fell through the attic flooring. So some paramedics and cops show up to help him with his wound. This young cop is a fan and was hoping to get in Ellison’s new book’s acknowledgment page. So Ellison is going to use this to his advantage and try to get some info.
I have decided to cut off the play by play, this is too good to be distracted by typing.
In conclusion, this movie does so many things right. By the time you are one third the way through, you absolutely feel impending doom for the family. The snuff films are straight-up creepy. Having a demon named Bughuul is sweet. And the thing that may make this creepy more than anything else is the music. The music is full of doom and dread and anticipation. It was masterful. Ethan Hawke did a fantastic job as expected. Here’s the biggest compliment I can offer. It’s like a distant cousin of Stir of Echoes, only creepier. Are you sold? Don’t watch it with anybody. Watch it alone, in the dark, with the volume up. Do it, and even if it doesn’t frighten you, you have to acknowledge that the atmosphere is genuine horror. I give it an 8.0.
All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of:
- Alliance Films (presents)
- IM Global (in association with)
- Blumhouse Productions (as BH Productions)
- Automatik (as Automatik)
- Possessed Pictures
Please go find a copy and support the creators.