Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 4:21:54 GMT
Just finished it. Terrifying little movie but with great atmosphere. It reminded me of The Shining quite a bit. When I watch something like that, I would normally check imdb's board to try and make sense of it , and then I remembered those days are now long gone. So does anyone want to discuss it here? Could you make sense of it? It's been awhile since I've seen it but from what I remember it was an allegory for the Biblical fall of man. A family is cast out of "paradise" due to the hubris of their father and mother and exiled to live in the wilderness. Then sin begins to manifest itself and consume the family in both subtle ways (the brother's attraction to his sister, the sister's admonishments to her younger siblings, and distrust and deception among relatives) and not so subtle ways (Black Phillip-- a manifestation of the Devil-- manipulating the innocent). In the end, of course, sin wins but the ultimate fate of humanity is left unclear. Does the abandonment of God lead to despair and decay or to solace and freedom? That's up to the viewer, naturally. What didn't make sense for you?
|
|
|
Post by TheOriginalPinky on Mar 6, 2017 12:48:26 GMT
Excellent, low-key, understated horror. I like how when it starts, you are smack in the middle of it. The evil builds slowly and subtly, void of cliches and gratuitous nonsense. Very chilling atmosphere and a wonderful period piece. You experience the isolation and difficulties a family on their own in the middle of nowhere with no support system dealt with. Add a layer of religious zeal, paranoia and doubt, it is a situation rife for becoming prey of evil.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 16:41:00 GMT
One of my favorite horror films of the last few years. Incredible atmosphere, and you're right, it just oozes evil.
|
|
bd74
Junior Member
#WalkAway
@bd74
Posts: 1,522
Likes: 659
|
Post by bd74 on Mar 6, 2017 19:08:28 GMT
I loved it. Great atmospherics. Nice setting, good music, and noticeably decent performances.
|
|
begob
New Member
I smokes ze zigarette through mein azzhole ...
@begob
Posts: 26
Likes: 5
|
Post by begob on Mar 7, 2017 12:45:08 GMT
This one left me cold. Only watched it once, so I should give it another chance - but I was clock watching after a while. The final scene didn't salvage it.
|
|
needysboy
Sophomore
@needysboy
Posts: 348
Likes: 129
|
Post by needysboy on Apr 14, 2017 22:47:09 GMT
At the risk of being simplistic, I would say that the subtitle -- A New-England Folktale -- sums it up pretty well. Psychologically, I think one could make the case that Thomasin killed the baby.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 23:22:33 GMT
Laughably bad, starting with the decision to have the dialogue in ye olde English. Shakespeare it's not, so already the film shoots itself in the foot by having 90% of the audience not understanding a bloody word of what's being said, especially when every other line is in hushed tones. And I appreciate it's a character driven movie with little in the way of action, which means the dialogue is even more important.
The acting is good, but I feel like the movie never really goes anywhere interesting, and while I should have found the tension between the family members riveting, I didn't. The characters aren't really fleshed out because 80% of the dialogue is about witchcraft and sin. Then we have an ending that meets the definition of tacked-on, which pretty much ruins what's gone before. The movie is so incredibly bleak, there's not one faintest bit of hope for the characters to hang your hat on.
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Oct 6, 2017 19:11:37 GMT
Creepy, especially Black Phillip and the ending. This thread makes me want to watch it again.
|
|
|
Post by Nalkarj on May 4, 2019 2:32:21 GMT
Is this the only thread just for this movie? I just saw it for the first time on Netflix. I pretty much loved it. Ever-intriguing, but mostly subtle, references: The Crucible (though less so than one would expect), Sleepy Hollow, The Shining, Häxan, The Company of Wolves, Thriller’s “La Strega,” several others I’m not remembering. Many shots were as beautifully composed as paintings, and one in particular is aptly borrowed from Goya. Somehow (like The Shining) breaks just about every horror “rule” and succeeds exactly because of it. The script and direction, by Robert Eggers, are brilliant. I haven’t seen a movie that so uses surprise in such a good way in a long time. Those surprises are, crucially, not “twists” in (e.g.) the Shyamalan mold but, rather, scenes and set-ups that work in unexpected ways. Eggers cuts away from a scene when one least expects it, and (even more uniquely) will linger on a scene long after one expects it to end. The “wrong” characters are the ones who get attacked first—the first person vanishes with hardly any set-up. When Caleb disappears a bit later, it’s a small surprise, but (brilliantly) he returns. Again, it’s not some major twist, but it’s something the genre-savvy viewer would probably not expect. Though the viewer knows generally what will happen, he is (or, at least, I was) continually surprised by how it happens. Another example: I firmly expected the axe to play a part in the ending, and Eggers must expect that the viewer will, too, for William grabs it at the end to kill the goat—and then dies. The axe plays no role, but it doesn’t seem unsatisfying because there was more to the scenes of William chopping wood. The axe was just a detail. Many of the scariest scenes play out not at night but in broad daylight. The genius of these little surprises is that they keep the viewer constantly on-edge, because he’s off his guard; things play out differently than expected. Exactly because they’re so minor, they don’t come off as contrived; every element is necessary and inevitable, and the “solution” is spelled out so many times that its truth goes completely over the viewer’s head. As plot-construction, it’s superb. The dialogue is, to my ears, spot-on for the period, and the acting is wonderful. The girl who plays Thomasin deserves all the accolades she received. The natural lighting adds beauty and grandeur to the thing, and the well-researched use of old witchcraft “signs” shows how much effort must have gone into this. Just brilliant.
|
|
|
Post by FridayOnElmStreet on May 10, 2019 19:57:43 GMT
I was not crazy for it but it is well acted.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2019 19:59:39 GMT
I didn't overly care for it.
6/10
|
|