Into The Woods

For our podcast episode about this very film, click here.

Year: 2016

Director: Adam Wingard

Cast: James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Corbin Reid

Run Time: 1 hour 29 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

I like the output of director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett more than I like the legacy of The Blair Witch Project. The 1999 found footage phenomenon was a masterpiece of grassroots viral marketing, but the film itself is only a passable entry in the genre. And the less I think about its quick and dirty follow-up Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, the happier I’ll be. So unlike many rabid fans, I am very open to new blood in this stunted franchise.

I’ve been a fan of Wingard and Barrett’s partnership since their 2013 magnum opus You’re Next and their bubblegum action smash The Guest. They tend to blend genres in an exciting, refreshing manner, and Wingard’s directing has been blossoming as his visual toolbox develops. When I heard they were both being plunked into a found footage shocker, I was skeptical about whether or not this stripped-down methodology would hinder their progress, but hoped it might allow them to focus on making a singularly terrifying movie, which is something they haven’t accomplished just yet.

It’s nice to want things.

In Blair Witch, film student Lisa Arlington (Callie Hernandez) is making a documentary about her friend James (James Allen McCune) and his unresolved grief. You see, his sister Heather disappeared in the Maryland woods some 15 years ago. When a tape of her disappearance surfaces online, he gathers Lisa and his friends Peter (Brandon Scott) and Ashley (Corbin Reid) to trek out into the woods to find the abandoned house depicted in the tape and hopefully find out what became of her. They reluctantly allow the local Witch-philes Lane (Wes Robinson) and Talia (Valorie Curry) to tag along with them, because they know the location where the tape was found.

It’s only a matter of time before things start getting weird. They get lost, hear mysterious noises at night, see strange apparitions, and generally discover the reason why nobody should ever go camping.

Seriously, camping’s the worst.

Is Blair Witch a scarier film than The Blair Witch Project? Oh, effortlessly. But is it a better film? That’s where things get a little dicey. As a 2016 found footage film, it has the disadvantage of audience overfamiliarity, and it doesn’t do much to steer itself away from a lot of the clichés of modern POV horror. Why do these people keep filming when sh*t hits the fan? Who cares. (Their cameras are mostly head-mounted, which is a good excuse for recording during the climax, but the characters rather emphatically turn their cameras on for no blessed reason at the weirdest possible times so we can get valuable exposition.) And who invited this unpleasant extraneous couple? Well, we needed a higher body count. And where the hell is that droning, atonal score coming from that’s trying desperately to avoid being noticed? Well, I’ve never had an answer for that one.

The thing that sucks is that the silence in Blair Witch is so eerily, awe-inspiringly complete, it would be far more disturbing if all we could hear was the characters breathing and the whir of a camera. The sound design was good enough to have pulled it off, but the misstep of including any sort of score, no matter how subtle, reeks of a lack of confidence, exposing the movie’s artifice in the process.

Plus, being an honest continuation of The Blair Witch Project means you inherit all of its problems. Notably, the mythology of the Blair Witch herself gets a little fuzzy in favor of providing startling scares. Obviously, we’re not meant to truly understand how this shadowy, unknowable menace operates, but there are so many ingredients thrown into this stew that it just turns into mud. Combining ghostly apparitions, Satanic magic, creature features, body horror, and time warp sci-fi into a single narrative, Blair Witch completely fails to build a coherent menace, making it difficult to understand and thus be invested in the characters’ plights, even if individual moments are tremendously creepy.

Including, but not limited to, this guy’s uncanny resemblance to a loathed classmate of mine.

And thus concludes the section where I’m perhaps unfairly critical toward Blair Witch. Although it never feels quite like a unified whole, the sum of those parts is still pretty freaky. After ramping up with a punishingly long opening act, Blair Witch slips easily into pure terror, crafting images that harness the corner-of-your-eye imagination of the original film while giving the audience a sumptuous visual meal thanks to its higher budget.

There is some Gross. Sh*t. in Blair Witch, you guys. A lot of the most terrifying images are reminiscent of other horror favorites, but they’re presented in an electrifying new way that keeps you on your toes. The second and third acts do what a proper horror roller coaster should, keeping you reeling and cringing at a manic pace. There are a couple of longer setups with payoffs that fall flat, but it’s a heap of fun just the same.

I feel this need to temper most of my praise, because the problems in Blair Witch are numerous and frustrating, but they pale in comparison to its raw energy and power. It’s a fun campfire movie, and I wouldn’t take that away from anyone. It may not be changing the course of horror as we know it, but it’s an excellent Blair Witch Project sequel that manages to bring on the jolts, even if it’s hardly the all-encompassing phenomenon of the original.

TL;DR: Blair Witch is a solid, frightening sequel, even if it doesn't quite cohere.

Rating: 7/10

Word Count: 950
Reviews In This Series
The Blair Witch Project (Myrick & Sanchez, 1999)
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (Berlinger, 2000)
Blair Witch (Wingard, 2016)

R.S.V. PTSD

Year: 2014

Director: Adam Wingard
Cast: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer

Run Time: 1 hour 39 minutes
MPAA Rating: R

You're Next is a tough act to follow. Although the horror comedy from director-writer team Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett couldn't pull its weight in the box office, the fans it acquired are outspoken and fiercely loyal. Their newest film, The Guest (premiering September 17th), will disappoint unless you can divest yourself from expectation (luckily for The Guest and unfortunately for my favorite movie of 2013, the likelihood of audience members having seen You're Next seems to be slim). 

The Guest was never going to be You're Next again. But what it is is still a ton of fun. As described by Adam Wingard himself (I am fancy and important won tickets on Twitter to go see the film at the Sundance Next Festival followed by a Q&A insanely moderated by the moderately insane Nicolas Refn), it's a cross between Halloween and The Terminator with an on-its-sleeve influence from 2011's Drive.

As a fan of slashers, 80's action films, bright colors, and men who look like Ryan Gosling, this is the perfect combination for me. And it will be for anyone who falls into any of those camps.

If your favorite movie is Winter's Bone, you're on your own.

The Guest tells the story of a family. Mom (Sheila Kelley), Dad (Leland Orser), nerdy younger brother Luke (Brendan Meyer), and sexy, rebellious older sister Anna (Maika Monroe). Still reeling from the death of the oldest son Caleb in the war, they take in a recently discharged soldier named David (Dan Stevens), who arrives one day on Caleb's behalf to deliver his final message. David charms them with his rugged good looks and his stories about his time with Caleb and everyone lives happily ever after.

Well. No. Not everyone. When people who have wronged the family wind up dead under mysterious circumstances, Anna grows suspicious of the handsome stranger in their midst. Luke already has reason to be suspicious considering the damage David inflicted upon the local bullies, but chooses to ignore it. He may be book smart, but he sure is a dumbass.

The Guest is not art, but it's not pretending it is. It could be about the manifestation of a family's grief or the effects of PTSD. It could have made a self-serious statement about the war and its effect on American society. And it would have been a great movie, perhaps even a better one. But the movie it chooses to be is so entertaining, it's hard to bemoan the more shallow approach to the material.

You can pick it apart all you want, but it's not the plot you're watching it for. It's a suave badass kicking butts and taking names. It's a young blonde transforming from a teenybopper nobody to a confident warrior. And Jiminy Christmas is it pretty.

Correction: Jiminy Halloween. Correction:  Jiminy Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

The aesthetic and color palette are about as close as a Refn homage can get without actually being a greatest hits YouTube video, but Wingard lets his inspiration lead him to new places as a director. His use of color and shot composition here show definite growth from the man who made You're Next and are a few of the only elements in the film that outright dwarf his previous venture.

The Kool-Aid tinted world of The Guest draws viewers into the heightened reality of the film, one that's just a step to the left from our own, existing in the collective consciousness of those who grew up in the 80's or, like me, have developed a lasting appreciation for the film culture of that time period. The film's tone can be a little aimless at times (it's not quite a comedy but it's funny, it's not quite a thriller but it's exciting), but the color tones keep us firmly in one unified space.

And, unique for a film of this pedigree, the acting feels like a cohesive whole rather than one seasoned veteran faltering under the weight of a dozen amateurs. Even the more minor roles like Orser as the father or Tabatha Shaun as the best friend key into the funny, strange atmosphere that The Guest puts out. Only Lance Reddick (as a military officer on the hunt for David) draws attention away from the strong ensemble as his acting style tends to shade dangerously close to over-the-top. He's no Icarus, sending the film plummeting to a watery grave, but less camp-minded individuals will have trouble swallowing his performance here.

I just set myself up for a great joke but I don't think I should go there.

A few bits and bobs before I leave you. First of all: Man, can Adam Wingard shoot a drink. I can't adequately explain why but my favorite shot of You're Next is orange juice being poured into a glass in the first scene. There's an equally great shot in a bar scene in the first act of The Guest. I don't know what's going on and I refuse to apply film theory and read too far into things, but I like where it's going.

But that kind of observation doesn't do justice to the action-packed fun of the film. The dialogue is razor sharp, the movie references are both subtle (see: Halloween III) and obvious (of course there's a You're Next mask - keep an eye out) but equally fun to hunt down, and there's way too much badass to handle in one single piece of cinema.

I'm not in love with The Guest, but it's a genuinely entertaining film that keeps me excited to follow these filmmakers as they grow and progress through their careers. And although Simon seems to be more self-aware about these things than Adam does, it's great to see that the women in their action / horror films can actually be layered people rather than one-note knife bags.

It's not out for a good month yet, but I urge you to keep this movie kicking around in the back of your brain. Forget about You're Next, buy a ticket, and have yourself a good time.

TL;DR: The Guest is a nearly worthy followup from Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett, although the fun can be shallow.
Rating: 8/10
Should I Spend Money On This? Oh definitely. I know it's tough to go to the movies now that tickets are more expensive, but this one's worth a holler especially if you adore cheesy 80's cinema.
Word Count: 1094

The Applebox Killers or: Five Things You Didn't Know About You're Next

Because Sergio is super up on things, we managed to get tickets to a special midnight screening of You're Next, my favorite horror movie of the year at the Cinefamily Theater in Los Angeles. Afterward there was a Q&A with the director Adam Wingard, the writer Simon Barrett, and one of the stars AJ Bowen.

It was a really great experience, the likes of which make me really glad that I live in Southern California.

Because I'm super cool and I can name drop, here's me with Adam Wingard and AJ Bowen.

But aside from being super fun, the event was also very informative about the process of making the film and I learned some very interesting things that I'd like to share with you all.

#1 The Killers Weren't Quite So Menacing As All That

Two of the killers (one of whom was played by Simon Barrett himself) were... vertically challenged. Although one of the actors towered over the rest of the cast, the other two had quite short statures. In order to make them more imposing, the other two frequently had to stand on wooden appleboxes to adjust for their height difference. During production the crew unofficially dubbed the movie "The Applebox Killers."

#2 You're Next Owes Everything to The Possession

Lionsgate had previously picked up You're Next for distribution in 2011 but was delayed by corporate restructuring. Once the Sam Raimi produced The Possession proved to be a modest hit, this cleared the path for You're Next's release one year later.

#3 Sharni Vinson Really Threw Herself Into Her Character

Apparently this Aussie chick is just as tough as she looks. Sharni was dedicated to telegraphing every single one of Erin's aches and pains as accurately as possible and was disappointed when they wouldn't let her jump out the window and used a stunt double. Ironically, after having danced for three weeks on a broken ankle in Step Up 3D and breaking her knuckles when punching a wall in Bait, You're Next was the first film set where she didn't break a bone.

#4 Barbara Crampton Is A Peach

Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon and star Jeffrey Combs were both supporters of the team's earlier film, A Horrible Way to Die. In honor of their support, Barrett and Wingard requested that Barbara Crampton (the love interest in Re-Animator) come out of retirement to play the mother. They told her to call Stuart and Jeffrey so they could vouch for them, but she loved the script so much she decided to do it anyway.

#5 Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett Love Silly Horror Movies

It just goes to show that the greatest horror filmmakers have the best senses of humor. Barrett extolled the virtues of Return of the Living Dead III and Wingard's favorite Halloween film is Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers, a 1995 slasher that featured Paul Rudd and a druid's curse.

Word Count: 487

CinemaBeach: I Watched the Tape

V/H/S 2

Year: 2013

Director: Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Edúardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Gareth Huw Evans, Timo Tjahjanto, Jason Eisener

Cast: Lawrence Michael Levine, Kelsy Abbott, Adam Wingard

Run Time: 1 hour 36 minutes

MPAA Rating: UR

Electronic crackles and pops fill the air. The screen goes fuzzy until… a burst of blue and the word “PLAY” appears in block letters in the upper right hand corner. You’re not watching a home video. You’re at the beginning of indie horror’s new installment of the found footage anthology series V/H/S.

While the original film made a splash with its exploration of how people actually find “found” footage films and segments directed by big indie stars, it was a mediocre effort – haphazardly done and unnecessarily misogynistic.V/H/S 2 follows more or less the exact same structure – a series of found footage short films by a variety of prominent indie directors linked by a not very coherent story that takes place in a supposedly abandoned apartment. Yet somehow this one works just so much better.

Note: For clarity’s sake, I’ve split my review into five parts – one for each segment of the film.

“Tape 49″ (dir. Simon Barrett)

Simon Barrett produced both films and co-wrote several segments, so it only makes sense that his story should be the one to provide the overarching narrative. Larry (Lawrence Michael Levine) is an unscrupulous private detective who was hired by a woman to break into the abandoned apartment and discover what happened to her son. He drags along his girlfriend and accomplice, Ayesha (Kelsy Abbott). They come across an abandoned set of VCRs and a pile of unmarked VHS tapes, and Ayesha sits down to watch some of them to see if they contain any evidence while Larry investigates the rest of the dwelling.

This story largely follows the same beats of the previous movie and although it is somewhat chilling as it is (the couple is most definitely not alone), its only real purpose is to glue the other segments together and we don’t get to spend a lot of time with these two.

The biggest flaw is one that is prevalent throughout the segments – there are far too many different recording devices being used. Larry has a button camera and a professional looking handheld with a lamp. Ayesha has a little still photo/handheld hybrid, and a webcam also records her every move. The segment cuts between shots from all four sources, which practically destroys the core concept of “found footage” from the get go. It is far too heavily edited to seem like something that somebody just discovered in an abandoned camera. This is forgivable, but for the keenest of observers it can tread a little too far into Hollywood unreality.

“Phase 1 Clinical Trials” (dir. Adam Wingard)

The You’re Next director also stars in this short as Herman, a man who lost his eye in a tragic car accident. The doctors fit him with a bionic eye, but this technology is only in its early stages, so they are taping everything he sees as a test run for the beta system. The eye works maybe too well, and when he gets home he begins to see things that shouldn’t be there, like a dead man with blood smeared on his face standing in the bedroom. A fellow patient (whose bionic gift restored her hearing) named Clarissa (Hannah Hughes) barges into his home uninvited. Clarissa explains it all, and Herman learns that if he interacts with these beings, they will only get stronger.

Wingard has already proved that he can flawlessly marry laugh-out-loud with whiplash-inducing shocks in his previous film so the humor is at a low ebb in this segment, but he can’t resist throwing in the odd silly line reading or self aware joke. This short is mostly a straight horror piece, but the light tone is just about the only pleasantness we’ll get for the rest of the film and the segment’s crash and burn ending is a portent the dark world we are about to enter.

There’s another conceptual issue here – there is a slight musical score that, although subtle, absolutely does not belong in a found footage movie.

A Ride in the Park (dir. Edúardo Sanchez & Gregg Hale)

The director and producer of the now-classic The Blair Witch Project return to found footage with this clever twist on the genre craze they helped to ignite. A biker (Jay Saunders) puts a camera in his helmet so he can film his wild ride through the local park’s twisting paths. With little preamble, he finds himself smack dab in the middle of a zombie outbreak. He doesn’t last long, but the tape doesn’t end there. The camera is still attached to his head as he rises up, just another member of the undead horde.

That’s right, this is a first-person zombie movie, something I don’t think has ever been attempted before. It is a fascinating and wholly original angle that makes do with a criminally low effects budget. Perhaps less scary than its companions, it more than makes up for that with its incredibly clever premise.

Leave it to the Blair Witch guys to completely turn the concepts of two genres on their heads simultaneously.

Safe Haven (dir. Gareth Huw Evans & Timo Tjahjanto)

This segment centers around a documentary crew’s efforts to interview a notorious cult leader in his compound. Evans, the director of the Indonesian action superhit The Raid: Redemption teams up with another Indonesian director for a segment that is shot mostly in – you guessed it – Indonesian. These two are given the largest slot in the anthology and have more time to thoroughly explore their premise and crank up the slow burn.

Eschewing the jump scares of the other entries for horrific body horror, this segment is a clear standout in a crush of amazing horror short films. I’d rather not say much about this one for fear of spoiling the atmosphere of dread it creates.

Slumber Party Alien Abduction (dir. Jason Eisener)

Birthed from the mind of the director of Hobo With a Shotgun and directly based on his childhood nightmares, this short is relentless and adrenaline-pumping. A group of preteen boys at a slumber party are left at home alone in the care of a big sister (Samantha Gracie). Naturally, the second her parents leave, her boyfriend (Rylan Logan) pulls up for a little playtime of his own.

The kids pull a prank on the couple in the middle of a particularly steamy session and record the whole thing. The boyfriend threatens to kill them, but the enormous foundation-rumbling screech that comes from outside proves he might not get there first. Filmed mostly from the perspective of a dog with a camera tied to his back, the group panics and attempts to escape what turns out to be a group of highly committed alien abductors.

Despite the heavy subject matter, this segment is easily the most fun because it is filmed with a sort of childish glee by Eisener, who makes great use of his parents’ property in Nova Scotia. In a setting he is intimately familiar with, he has free reign to have as much fun as he wants and it clearly shows through the shocks and the screaming.

V/H/S 2 pulls so far ahead from V/H/S that it’s almost not fair to compare the two films. Alas, they are inextricably connected, but this film does a mighty job of steering the franchise onto the right path. Although it is susceptible to the flaws of most low budget found footage films (namely, some mighty poor acting and a couple less than convincing make-up effects) and has some struggles with the overall concept (how on Earth did the recordings of a bionic eye end up on a VHS tape?), the flick was so frightening that I sometimes wondered why I was doing this to myself.

It’s really quite astonishing how much better it is than its ancestor in terms of pacing, horror, creativity, and, well, everything. The gross misogynist undertones are abandoned and the terror levels are ramped up to 11. And though a few make-up effects left something to be desired, there is a particularly gruesome and lovely first-person shot of a severed carotid artery and the best throat-slitting ever committed to celluloid.

If you read that last sentence and were disgusted, this movie is not for you. If you were intrigued and want to see the keenest horror film out today (and second only to [REC] as the best found footage film I’ve ever seen), take a look atV/H/S 2.

TL;DR: Featuring a cadre of prominent indie horror directors, V/H/S 2 is miles ahead of its predecessor and makes the most of its premise.

Rating: 8/10

Should I Spend Money On This? It was hardcore - I regretted bringing Sergio to it. So only if you're really committed, but I loved it.
Word Count: 1512

The First to Rise Shall Be the First to Die

Year: 2013
Director: Adam Wingard
Cast: Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, AJ Bowen
Run Time: 1 hour 36 minutes
MPAA Rating: R

First, some bragging: This film is due to come out in wide release on August 23rd, but luckily I have a Sergio who got us tickets to see it at the LA Film Festival at LA Live. It was an incredible experience. Also, we saw Sugar Ray Leonard there, which I'm told is a big deal. 

You may recall this post in which I lamented the apparent lack of creativity in the horror field today, citing You're Next as another example of by-the-numbers post-Strangers home invasion thrillers. And for the first fifteen minutes or so, that's exactly what it was, although with more of a slasher tinge than most.

The opening scene features an age old slasher standby - the Opening Scene Couple. There wasn't much to say about it except the girl one had boobs hanging out of her shirt and actually gave a surprisingly nuanced performance for a throwaway character with no lines. This scene plays out exactly as we expect it to, and the scares are telegraphed long ahead of time.

That's all well and fine, if not particularly inspired, and it is with somewhat diminished expectations that we join our hosts for the evening, Paul (Rob Moran) and Aubrey Davison (Barbara Crampton), a couple who are celebrating their 35th anniversary tomorrow in their vacation home in Middle of Nowhere, USA. Moran and Crampton are easily the two weakest links in this ensemble cast and their stilted dialogue exchanges remind one of every poorly made shocker from the last 20 years, which is perhaps the point but I'm not willing to give the filmmakers too much credit on that one. I give them far too much credit later for it to really matter in the long run, anyway.

Their children arrive one by one (significant others in tow) to celebrate and, although the next paragraph is somewhat of an exposition dump, the film achieves it in such a way that we can actually keep track of their names and the basic relationships between each character without too much trouble. This is filmmaking at its simplest, but something a lot of horror directors never seem to manage to do well with such big casts.

First to arrive are middle brother Crispin (AJ Bowen) and his Australian girlfriend/former student, Erin (Sharni Vinson). Then comes the eldest son, Drake (Joe Swanberg) and his wife Kelly (Sarah Myers - no, that stage name is not lost on me). Drake seems to enjoy tormenting Crispin, amusing the others, but Crispin is having none of it. Then all at once their daughter Aimee (Amy Seimetz) arrives, toting her hipster filmmaker boyfriend Tariq (Ti West - an actual hipster filmmaker who gamely embraces self parody), little brother Felix (Nicholas Tucci), and his edgy alternative (read: annoying) girlfriend, Zee (Wendy Glenn). With the pieces in place, the game can begin. And so it does, when during a tension-filled dinner party, the diners are attacked by a masked crossbow archer through the dining room windows. 

He'll huff and he'll puff and he'll penetrate your brain cavity.

And here is where the film begins in earnest. The filmmakers have already proved they can choreograph a decent jump scare, but that's worth nothing nowadays. That's all modern horror has left. But with this scene begins the first of many in which the driving, heart-pounding fear actually comes from the situation instead of the things that go boo in front of the camera. Tension! In a horror film! What is this, the 70's?

And then the glory. After the filmmakers draw back their gums and reveal their fangs, the bombshell drops. This movie is a horror comedy. A good one, at that! The balance of funny and scary is a notoriously razor thin edge, and to date only a handful of movies have successfully achieved it (Evil Dead II, we're looking at you). You're Next honestly is one of the most flawless attempts at the genre. Think a less overtly meta Scream. 

And thus is the beauty of the film. It relentlessly juggles being terrifying, hilarious, a home invasion thriller, and a wicked slasher film, never dropping a ball. It's obvious the filmmakers loved the horror films of their childhood and wanted to make one of their own. This home invasion thriller owes just as much to Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street as to The Strangers and the multitude of visual nods and subtle references are smoothly integrated into the film, not detracting one bit from the unique story it is trying to tell. A movie made with that kind of love and attention is a treasure to watch no matter how good it is. Luckily, this one is pretty darn good.

This picture contains many things I like. Those cabinets are incredible.

As things go from bad to worse, Erin quickly proves herself a game challenger. She will stop at nothing to protect this family, whose members are too busy squabbling and crying to be much help. After watching so many horror films where the dumb girl goes to investigate that strange noise, draped in her bedsheet, it is so refreshing to see a girl who actually follows the advice we shout at the screen. Because of this, we can forgive her of her few horror movie mistakes. She's only human.

And there's the zinger. Although some of the minor characters can be pretty one dimensional, the core cast is a totally relatable, believable group, thanks either to the writing, the performances, or both. The movie can (and frequently does) descend into a wildly fun horror romp, but it rarely forgets that its characters are actual human beings.

I'm tiptoing around the plot, because I really don't want to ruin anybody's experience with this film, but I will add that the later sequences are alarmingly well staged, the editing keeps us grounded in the reality of the location, and the cast and crew are clearly having a lot of fun.

While this film might never join the widely beloved horror pantheon of Freddy, Michael, and Jason, it is certain to be a fixture on Top 10 Horror Lists of 2013 (mine as well), and maybe even of the decade.

UPDATE: Looking through my notes, I realize I forgot something. Shaky cam is a thing, but it goes away as the movie progresses. I like to imagine it's because the movie starts off shaky, but then finds its footing and kicks butt.

UPDATE #2: According to IMDb and everyone else, Crispin's name is spelled "Crispian," but I reject that on the grounds that it's stupid.

TL;DR: Hilariously bloody and bloody hilarious, You're Next walks the tightrope between horror and comedy with ease.
Rating: 10/10
Should I spend money on this? This movie has been bouncing around in Lionsgate's back drawer since 2011 and it deserves as much love as you can afford. I know I'm going to see it again once it comes into wide release.
Word Count: 1183