Stoker (2013)

Posted on October 27, 2025October 27, 2025 by fenrisfil

“Stoker” (2013) is a movie that’s been on my watch list for a long time. This is director Park Chan-wook’s English language debut. This is the director of “Old Boy” (2003), a deeply disturbing, yet compelling revenge thriller that takes taboo to the extreme. This movie has a number of unique elements to it’s production. While Clint Mansel provides most of the music, Philip Glass was originally on board as composer and created a key piece of diagetic music for the film. The writer here is none other than “Captain Cold” himself, actor Wentworth Miller in his screenplay debut. The core cast is Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska and David Alford. All very good actors, but none were the first choice. Chung Chung-hoon, a long time collaborator of the director, provides cinematography.He has also worked with Edgar Wright on his last two movies.

On the day of her eighteenth birthday “India Stoker” (Wasikowska) and her mother “Evelyn” (Kidman) are shocked to learn of the death of India’s father “Richard” in a car accident. India is a very distant and cold young lady who rarely forms attachments and has no friends. The family are however very well off. At the wake, the pair are surprised at the arrival of Richards brother “Charles”, a man neither were aware of. Supposedly he has been traveling the world. After discussion with Evelyn, it is revealed he is staying with the family for a while. Richard is a charming man, but it becomes clear to India something isn’t quite right with him. But then the same is true of India.

The Elephant in the Room

So this is the second Park Chan-wook movie I have seen, the previous one being Oldboy. If you don’t want a major Oldboy spoilers, skip the rest of this paragraph. I find it a little odd both these movies involve incest. In Oldboy the incest was unintentional and part of a convoluted revenge scheme. Here it is entirely intentional and there is no illusion of innocence on either party. It is at least between an uncle and niece instead of a father and daughter, but it’s still incest. This is a psychological thriller of course and the pair in question are both psychopaths. So it’s not like these are characters of high morality. This is a very dark story.

So now we’ve acknowledged the elephant in the room. It’s time to talk about the rest of it. Park Chan-Wook is a very good director with an eye for detail. He can tell a dark story like this and fill it with subtle symbolism. Perhaps the problem here is that it’s a very obvious and somewhat blunt story. Unlike Oldboy there isn’t really a mystery here, at least not one you can’t guess fairly easily. It’s pretty clear India and Charles are psychopaths. The way it plays out leaves a lot of questions as to if certain things are real or not, specifically the duet piano piece the pair play, which may just be in India’s imagination. The trouble is, it doesn’t really mater.

Duet

So this is a film with a bit of a disconnect between the story and the presentation. But this isn’t really a plot based story. As I said, you can largely tell where it will all go. This is a character based horror, where the symbolism is all reflective of the mental state of it’s primary psychopath, India. Regardless of whether the piano duet scene is real or in her head, it is an incredibly scene. The piano piece was written by Philip Glass specifically for the movie. It was designed as a duet that requires one of the players to effectively embrace the other by requiring them to reach around to their other side to complete it. It’s actually an incredible piece of music in itself and easily the best scene.

That said, I didn’t find India particularly compelling as a character. She’s creepy, but also intentionally somewhat blank. Instead Charlie, who is presented as the classic charismatic, manipulative psychopath is far more interesting. But since we never really know how much of his appearance is genuine or India’s imagination, his impact is also diminished. Evelyn is also an interesting character, a woman determined to handle her burden with elegance. It’s a subtle performance from Nicole Kidman that really works. Yet she is not really given a lot of screen time. There is so much good in this film, yet the movie seems far more concerned with the incestuous romance angle.

Conclusion

The screenplay is a problem in my view. Wentworth Miller is not a script writer by trade, but obviously had an idea he thought was good. The screenplay remained unproduced for a long time but found it’s way on to the famous “Black list” of best unproduced screenplays. I can see why, it has compelling elements but also feels like something very difficult to make work. For Park Chan-wook, this is his first English language movie. Yet he is not fluent and required a translator. Between these two factors I believe this is why the film feels such a mixed bag. On one hand it is visually and socially compelling and the director got solid performances from all the actors. Hard to say if this is the director or just that all three of the leads are very good actors anyway.

Ultimately this is going to be a difficult one to rate. I did not like the story. I did not really buy India’s character or really enjoy her presentation. Her voice over also felt unnecessary. But the movie is well made from a technical standpoint. I suspect I may not have a true score for this until I’ve had more time to think on it and maybe give it a second viewing. I could end up adjusting it anywhere from a 5.5-7.5. It’s that kind of movie. As it stands, despite this review probably sounding more negative than positive, I think the movie is worth watching. This is a more likely to win awards than fill theaters. It’s sort of unpleasant to watch, yet compelling too. I’m giving it a 6.5/10.

Werewolf Triple Bill

Posted on January 30, 2025January 30, 2025 by fenrisfil

Rather than doing a regular review roundup for January, I’m going to take a bit of a swerve. Continuing the trend from my previously posted reviews, I’m reviewing three werewolf movies. So, if you follow this blog (Or my social media posts), you know I didn’t like the new “Wolf Man” (2025) movie. That’s an understatement. But it has driven me to find an actually good werewolf movie or two from the many that have slipped me by over the years. I’ve said before there are only five werewolf movies I think are truly great. There’s a handful more that are pretty good, but most of these movies are not worth bothering with. Perhaps sometime I’ll do a top ten.

I’ve always been keen on the werewolf as a horror character. Wolves actually have a lot in common with humans. Nature has only ever created two persistence hunters, the wolf is one and humans are the other. They are the ultimate feral mirror of ourselves. But beyond that the transformation from man to wolf provides the opportunity for all kinds of metaphor. Last but not least they always provide a challenge for effects and filming. As a result, these movies are often more about what you don’t see. They tend to have a very old school horror vibe to them. So for this round up I’m looking at “Wer” (2013), “Late Phases” (2014) and “Werewolves Within” (2021).

Werewolves Within (2021)

I’m going to start of with my least favourite. “Werewolves Within” is from director Josh Ruben and writer Mishna Wolff. Wolff is clearly a fan of the genre as she is also behind the series “Wolf Like Me”. Ruben has made one previous feature film, the horror “Scare Me” (2020). This horror comedy stars Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub and is an adaptation of the computer game of the same name. That game is basically a variation of the Werewolf social deduction game, itself a version of the game “Mafia”. Right off the bat you can tell the focus of this isn’t really the werewolves. It’s also worth noting, that set up somewhat similar to the movie “Cry Wolf” (2005), another film that bares a striking resemblance to “Mafia”.

“Finn Wheeler” (Richardson), is a Forest ranger assigned to cover Beaverfield, a small town where the residents are divided over a pipeline. The town is populated by a bunch of colourful and somewhat bizarre characters, the sanest of which appears to be the post woman “Cecily Moore” (Vayntrub). On his first night there all the generators are taken out by what appears to be a powerful animal and one of the residents are killed. This starts a long game of insinuations and conflict between the residents. It becomes apparent one or more of them are actually werewolves and the clock is ticking to find out who.

I Accuse You!

One of the standard types of horror comedies is basically a form of fatal slapstick. That is everyone ends up killing everyone else, often by accident. This is one of those. This obviously fits with the video game. I’ve never played it, but these games always work by eliminating who you think is the werewolf (or Mafia member) and the goal of the actual werewolf is to misdirect the other players to eliminate each other. This is exactly what is happening here. The trouble is, since this is an adaptation of the game, you know this going in. It makes the set up all a bit too obvious. It also means by necessity, you don’t actually see the Werewolf until the final moments of the movie.

The biggest problem the film has though is that it is not especially funny. It’s more “Quirky” than laugh out loud funny. That gives the film some charm, but I need a bit more to my horror comedies. That aside, the movie is perhaps most similar to “The Beast Must Die” (1974). Both movies turn the werewolf story into a bit of a murder mystery, with the colourful cast constantly pointing the finger at each other. The difference is I didn’t predict the werewolf was in the first act of that movie. Ultimately, this is almost a good movie, but just fails to really stand out in any way. It is a very average horror comedy. 5/10

Late Phases/Night of the Wolf (2014)

Mostly this movie is referred to as “Late Phases”, but it is also known as “Night of the Wolf” and that appears to be it’s official release title in the US and UK. No doubt that caused a lot of confusion with the marketing. Late Phases is a better fit for the film’s plot, but it doesn’t really say “Werewolf” loudly enough, so I can see why it was changed. Anyway, this is a movie from Spanish filmmaker Adrian Garcia Bogliano and his first in English. It is written by Eric Stolze, with cinematography from Ernesto Herrera and music from Wojciech Golczewski. The film stars Nick Damici as blind retired Vietnam war veteran “Ambrose McKinley”.

Ambrose has just moved into a quiet retirement community on the edge of a forest. Despite his disability he is fiercely independent and has a shaky relationship with his son. On his first night in his new home he is attacked by some kind of beast and is only saved by his dog (Who is mortally wounded during the attack). Ambrose quickly realizes he has been attacked by a werewolf and that when the next full moon arrives he will likely be killed. He isn’t going to go down easily and spends the time until the next full moon preparing and investigating. This brings him into conflict with the other residents of the village and his own son.

Old Dogs, New Tricks

This is a fairly unique werewolf movie. It plays the mystery angle to some extent, but is more focused on it’s non-wolf protagonist. Nick Damici really does hold this film together as the grumpy vet, determined to go out fighting. The film goes with a the traditional version of the monster with a design straight out of The Howling. In practice they aren’t the best looking versions I’ve seen but I do have to give them points for a very good transformation scene. Don’t expect to see a lot of them though. They appear at the start and end of the film, but the vast majority of it is in that period in between full moons. That’s not a big negative for this film though as it gives the film time to focus on Ambrose and see what makes him tick.

Obviously a werewolf movie already requires some suspension of disbelief. This movie asks us to go a little bit further in believing that this blind veteran can fight back against them. It turns out, it’s not as much of an ask as you would think! The movie does well with it’s budget and it doesn’t mess about with the plot. The bookended werewolf scenes and the direct drive and ticking clock of the rest of the movie means it doesn’t drag. Overall, while it’s not going to break the long standing record of only five great werewolf movies, this is pretty close. A good low budget werewolf movie, just about worthy of a 6.5/10.

Wer (2013)

“Wer” comes to us from writer/director William Brent Bell in his third feature and second horror film. I’m not familiar with his work but the film “Boy” (2016) seems to have been his most successful. Alejandro Martínez provides cinematography and Brett Detar, the music. The film stars A.J. Cook with support from Simon Quarterman, Vik Sahay and Sebastian Roché. All solid TV actors that occasionally pop up in lower budget movies. I have to admit it is hard to take Vik Sahay seriously after watching him in “Chuck”, but he does a good job so that is on me.

After a horrific attack in France on a family of holidaying Americans, the authorities arrest local man Talan Gwynek (Brian Scott O’Connor). There is more than a little controversy here though since all the physical evidence suggested a vicious animal attack far beyond what a human could do. Because of this expatriate lawyer “Katherine Moore” (Cook) volunteers to take the case of his defence. Assisting her are investigator “Eric Sarin” (Sahay) and animal expert “Gavin Flemyng” (Quarterman). Fairly early on she starts to suspect this is a fit up being done by a corrupt police captain “Klaus Pistor” (Roché). However, there is definitely something strange about Gwynek….

Of Wolf And Man

This is a very rare breed of werewolf movie in that it tries to take a realistic approach to the curse. As a result the make up style is a lot closer to the original Wolf Man than the more modern “Howling” style monster or werewolves that actually turn into wolves. Here the werewolf is a human suffering a rare disease that can be both inherited and passed on through infected blood. Those infected become notably hairier on a permanent basis, but most of the time are harmless. That changes on the full moon where they gain superhuman strength and become violently feral. This movie achieves everything “Wolf Man” (2025) set out to do in re-imagining the classic version of the monster. That it achieved it twelve years prior, just goes to show how little Leigh Whannell actually brought to the table.

The plot around the beast is a bit more of a mixed bag. The individual parts all work well enough, but the film shifts gears dramatically for the final act. Once the secret is out, the rest of those plot elements don’t seem especially important. This works fine first time through, but I can’t help but feel the early acts will lead to the film dragging somewhat in repeat viewing. I also have to say, I’m not a big fan of werewolves that don’t resemble wolves in any way. While this may be the best version of that I have come across, it’s not what I am after. I guess you could call it a “Lycanthropy” movie instead of a “Werewolf” movie. Anyway, that gripe aside, the movie is pretty good and worth a strong 6/10.

Final Howl

Werewolf movies are difficult to pull off and few have ever really found the formula. So when I am able to score one of these films at a six or higher out of ten I call that a win. Indeed if I do put together my top ten, “Wer” and “Late Phases” may well make my list. I want to note too that the gap between those movies was narrow. They are both worth checking out, if you are a fan of the sub-genre. Late Phases edged ahead because it felt 100% like a werewolf movie and still managed to find something new to say. As for Werewolves Within, it’s not really much of a werewolf movie. It is though reasonably fun and certainly better than “Cry Wolf” was. All three are better than “The Beast Within” (2024) and way better than “Wolf Man” (2025). Anyway, stay tuned as I may have more werewolves for you soon.

Dark Skies (2013)

Posted on October 20, 2023October 20, 2023 by fenrisfil

Tonight’s horror movie is the Blumhouse produced, Science Fiction Horror “Dark Skies” from 2013. Written and directed by Scott Stewart, who previously helmed the underrated “Legion” back in 2010. The movie stars Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton, Dakota Goyo and Kadan Rockett as the “Barrett” family, with support from Jake Brennan and J.K. Simmons.

The movie begins with a relatively ordinary seeming family in an ordinary seeming suburban town. The father “Daniel” (Hamilton) in unemployed and seeking work. The mother Lacy (Russell) is attempting to support the family in her job as an Estate Agent and the two boys seem relatively well adjusted with a close relationship where they talk to each other with a walkie talkie. Into this a number of strange occurrences start to happen.

Things That Stack Themselves Geometrically In The Night

One night various items in the kitchen are found stacked up on top of each other in complex patterns. With the family asleep while this was happening they suspect it is someones idea of a joke, but there is no sign of forced entry. The following night after activating their alarm the family a woken up when every sensor is tripped at once and all the family photos are stolen. This is just the start and following this each family member at some point or other ends up behaving strangely and losing time. Several flocks of birds converge and crash into the families house and despite activate their alarm system and installing cameras strange events continue to happen in the house and bypass this security.

Meanwhile through all this the pressures clearly start to get to the family. Eventually Lacy begins to suspect alien activity may be the cause (After investigating the bird situation and finding similarities with cases claimed to be aliens). After discovering geometrics shapes burned into the flesh of their kids Daniel accepts something beyond his comprehension is going on and they seek help from a UFO export, “Edwin Pollard” (Simmons). Here we get an exposition dump that leads us to the final act. The family is about to have one among them abducted and it’s up to them to stop it.

50 Shades of Grays

The plot for Dark Skies is pretty straight forward. Strange events occur until they can’t deny what is happening anymore and go for the exposition dump and a last stand. Who is going to be abducted is actually fairly obvious but the film tries really hard to swerve us. This is a one of those cases where movie makers obsession with subverting expectations actually makes the movie predictable instead of surprising. These days the biggest twist you could have in a movie would be to just play everything straight. But despite that, the movie doesn’t revolve around this twist so the predictability of it doesn’t harm it.

The character writing isn’t particularly good here, though the older boy’s struggles with puberty is quite endearing. The father is a bit of a jerk and his determination to believe the existence of aliens is utterly preposterous is grating. The thing is of all the far out explanations for things, Aliens is the most likely to be real. I mean it’s not like Lacy was telling him it was ghosts, demonic possession or the underpants gnomes. It’s a really big universe out there and many scientists have been of the opinion that alien life exists for a very long time. Indeed the drake equation (For calculating the number of technically advanced Alien Civilizations in our Galaxy) has been around since the 60’s. Skepticism I could get, but given just how crazy the events they were dealing with are I found his extreme reaction to the possibility unrealistic.

Tension and Boredom.

While the characters aren’t terribly well written, the actors do a pretty good job of bringing them to life. The events themselves are pretty well staged and it builds some solid tension. These are filmed in ways that would have cost virtually nothing and yet manage to present a solid amount of horror and mystery. It’s a classic approach to Sci-Fi horror that I appreciate. BY the end of the movie we gain some proper glimpses of the Grays and they look sufficiently scary. The soundtrack adds to this tension well with it’s minimalist approach and intense bursts of noise. These days many sound tracks are more noise based than melodic so this may have been a bit of a trend setter (I’d have to investigate that one further).

Overall, this is quite a mixed bag. The plot and characters are not actually that interesting and the pacing feels a bit plodding in places. I feel like this would have been better had they not waited so long to get to the exposition dump as without that there really is little story progress between each event. The way those events are presented are solid and almost makes up for the rest, but not quite. With a better script this could have been something great, but instead it’s ended up merely above average. This is a strong 5.5/10. Well made, but frankly a little boring.