Excision

Well that certainly got my attention.  Excision is a very unusual film, billed as a "dark comedy", though I would classify it more as a horror film.  It has very funny moments, of course, but that's something that should be integrated into most good horror.  Because make no mistake, this gets horrific real quick.

Our main character is Pauline, and yes, this is how we're introduced to her.  She's an angry, hormonal teenager.  As her hormones kick into gear she learns what she's attracted to.  Death.  It's billed as "necrophilia" but that doesn't quite seem to cover it.  Throughout the film the viewer is let inside of Pauline's mind to view her beautiful, provocative and wholly fucked up fantasies.  Let this be a warning right now, these are filmed to, as much as possible, bring the viewer into Pauline's fantasy.

In real life, of course, she's not so pristine.  She's a teenager.  She's covered in acne and cold sores and doesn't get along with her domineering mother.  Her father seems like he wants to be helpful but ultimately doesn't get involved the way he should.  She's a classic angsty teen.  But her taste for blood isn't caused by sickness or vampirism.  She's just into it.

Her mother blatantly favors her ill younger sister, but in a breath of fresh air this doesn't drive them apart.  Different as they are, the sisters really love each other, and Pauline does not blame her sister for being the favorite.  In fact, Pauline is quite self-assured.  She's awkward as hell and borderline sociopathic, but she's no meek little schoolgirl who is torn up by her bullies.  This is not that kind of movie.

Pauline is obsessed but not possessed.  She's obviously crying out for help but not one will help her.  She begs to see a psychiatrist and is denied over and over again, instead sent to the family minister.  If there's a moral to this story, it's that if your teenager ASKS to go see a shrink you should take them to a shrink.  Pauline acts out more and more, waking up from ever-more disturbing fetish fever dreams, as she slowly sinks into a delusive fantasy.

Of course, she also prays to a god that she doesn't believe in.  These are some of the best scenes in the film, watching her talk to the sky and try to defend her actions.  This movie has some potent things to say about religion, science, and the power of belief.  It does yet again fail to address characters of colo

So, if you can stomach it, I'd recommend this film.  It's intelligent and disturbing.  The fantasy sequences give you a disgusted feeling that lingers.  It features a sexually assured female protagonist.  And it comes to an absolutely horrifying conclusion.  Trigger warnings for child abuse & self harm.

Sleepaway Camp

What a fucking disappointment.  I've heard a LOT about this movie.  I had heard it would "blow my mind" and had "awesome gender bending".  But I don't do well with transphobia, and that's what I saw here.  In fact, here's a phenomenal article on transphobia in horror.  Go read it.  This review is optional, reading that article is mandatory.

 This is Angela and her cousin Ricky.  She's severely disturbed, having seen her parents die in a boating accident.  Ricky is highly protective (with good reason) of his cousin.  They're going to camp.

They have a creepy guardian who constantly praises herself for being "so nice" for doing things like packing lunch for the children she is presumably parenting.  

Angela doesn't speak and is harassed by everyone except a young love interest named Paul.  Their courtship is awkward, and involves a scene where he tries to take her top off at the beach and she becomes very upset.  That made me pretty uncomfortable.

Oh, and people are dying!  I'm being flip about the campiness in this movie for a reason which will become obvious in a minute.  Above we have the camp cook, a pedophile who makes lewd comments about the young women who come into camp and who attacks Angela (and seems like he does that sort of thing a lot).  He dies literally right after attacking her.  And don't get me wrong, I definitely cheered.

But, like so many revenge films, we hit a problem.  You see, EVERYONE who is mean to Angela dies immediately afterwards.  It's not a subtle movie.  There's some question about whether the killer is Angela or Ricky, but I was always pretty sure it wasn't Ricky.  Angela's the disturbed, tormented one after all.  And this would be okay, if all the people she killed seemed to "deserve it" (in the horror movie sense of course, I don't support the death penalty). 

This is the scene where the movie gets really awful.  You see, the murders get more and more horrific and are for more and more petty offenses.  A girl kisses Paul (the love interest), calls Angela a prude and then throws her into a lake.  Absolutely dreadful bullying, yes.  But she's raped to death with a curling iron.  And that's where the murders become indefensible, getting rid of any concept of mercy for the killer (who we've all figured out is Angela).

So here's the problem.  The movie isn't over.  We know who the killer is.  There is no one running from the killer we're rooting for.  And we know there's no defending what she did.  So what on earth is the climax?  What's the reveal?

Angela has killed Paul, and is standing naked making a gutteral screaming noise on the beach.  Also she has a penis.  The big reveal is that Martha (the creepy caretaker from the beginning) was demented and forced a boy to live as his dead sister and that's what made him crazy.  The "most shocking ending in horror history" is not who the killer is, it's that the killer has a penis.  Also did I mention Peter/Angela had gay dads?  We're not meant to sympathise with this child or condone the killings.  We're meant to be horrified by the fact that who was presented as a girl has a penis.

This fucking movie, man.  After YEARS of hype this is what I get.  Now, if you didn't already, go read that article on why this is fucked up and why specifically it is transphobic (since the main character was forced to be a girl against his will he is not actually transgender).

Oculus

That is the spookiest movie I have seen in a very long time.  I literally just finished it, and, hyped up on energy drinks and alone in my big, creaky house, I'm frankly just writing this review to distract myself from how freaked out and paranoid I feel right now.

It's that good.

The movie begins (after the obligatory jumpy intro) with a psychiatric patient named Tim.  He is congratulated on overcoming his psychosis and is released, finally, at the age of 21.  He is genuine and stable, and gets a vague warning from his doctor that while reconnecting with his sister is important, managing his recovery is more important.

At first this seems odd.  Initially, Kaylie is presented as very put together.  She has a kind fiance who works with her in the art trade.  She is supportive of her younger brother when he gets back, helping him set up an apartment and offering her guest room.  Soon, however, it comes out.  She has found something.  A mirror from their childhood that she plans to "kill".  She invites her very skeptical brother to her strange mirror intervention.

 

Tim reluctantly agrees to help her transport the mirror to their childhood home, then stays in an attempt to convince his sister that this is psychosis for which she has not gotten treatment.  Kaylie begins talking to the cameras (note, this is NOT a found footage film, but the characters employ the use of cameras).  She claims that more than 45 people have been killed by the mirror.  Tim tries to reason with her, pointing out that she only has a dozen actual cases to show the cameras.  He pleads with her, trying to save her from the paranoia and delusions he himself faced.

Throughout the film, we see flashbacks of their lives as children, living with their parents.  Their father killed their mother and Tim killed their father to save Kaylie (which landed him in a psychiatric unit).  This is some of the most chilling footage of the film.  Both children have a slightly different version of events they remember, but both are absolutely horrifying.

Because they may have just been from a horrifyingly abusive home.  After their parents deaths, maybe they concocted a supernatural story around the events in order to protect themselves, mentally, from what a monster their father was.

The supernatural parts of the film are so scary because there's always the possibility that they're just an illusion (or a delusion).  Every time something truly horrible happens, the characters flash back to themselves as frightened children who don't understand the horror that is happening around them.

In terms of feminist content, this film did okay.  The two major women in the film (the mother and the main character, Kaylie) are the phenomenal actresses Katee Sackoff and Karen Gillian, and are relatively complex characters.  Kaylie, the main character, is strong, self-assured and protective of her little brother (who is more sensitive), which is a breath of fresh air.

 
The movie fails entirely on depictions of people of color.  It is somewhat unsensitive to people with mental illness.  The main characters, if they are indeed ill (instead of haunted, the more likely option) are depicted as having violent tendencies.  This is a long-running issue in media (esp horror).  In real life, people with mental illnesses are not more likely than the general public to become violent.  However, even if the characters are ill, they are treated with a certain respect and empathy.  The viewer feels as though if they had been put through what these people were put through they would behave in much the same way.  Cycles of abusive violence do exist.

Overall I give it a 5/5 for spooky factor.  I just jumped hard enough I almost knocked my laptop out of my lap because my AC kicked on (thermostat is set to 78, it's after 10pm, welcome to Texas).  Representation of women I give a 4/5.  POC, disability & mental illness factors get a 0/5, like so many horror films.  But if you want a good, solid scare that doesn't depend on gore but depends on tension, this is the movie of the decade.

Film trigger warnings for: domestic violence, mistreatment of people with mental illness, abuses in the foster care system