Tag: Body Horror

Together (2025)

Posted on by fenrisfil

A horror movie that got a bit of hype this year (Though not as much as “Weapons”) was Michael Shanks feature film directorial debut “Together”. Written and directed by Shanks (Not the Stargate actor btw), but designed as a vehicle for husband and wife actors Dave Franco and Alison Brie. This is a loud and proud body horror, with the trailer being pretty clear with the viewers where the movie is headed. The two leads are joined by Damon Herriman as the only other cast member of note. Cinematography is by Germain McMicking and music by Cornel Wilczek.

Millie Wilson (Brie) and Tim Brassington (Franco) move to the countryside so that Millie can take up a job teaching elementary school English. This is tough on Tim, who is dealing with the recent passing of his parents, can’t drive and is trying to pursue a career as a musician. Despite his issues, he loves Millie and their bond is strong. It’s about to get a lot stronger though. After going on a hike around the nearby forest the pair fall into a cave during a rainstorm and are forced to stay there for the night. They wake, to find their legs stuck together by something, but are able to separate them. Over the next few days though the pair are inexplicably drawn to each other and find their bodies fusing together. They desperately try and stay apart, while figuring out what is happening.

Chemistry

This is certainly an interesting film. The big negative here is that it really doesn’t do that much more than what you already see in the trailer. The basic premise is basically, this thing is happening to this couple. Eventually they get a little info on it, but it doesn’t really add anything. There were no extra layers beyond what I already knew going in. This is two lovers, being forced physically together in a body horror film. That’s it. It’s also worth noting there is still (At the time of writing) a law suit alleging this film is a rip off of the 2023 film “Better Half”. The script for which was apparently pitched to Brie and Franco in 2020, but they declined. It’s hard to know the truth, but this kind of thing happens all the time in Hollywood.

The big positive of this film is the two stars. Brie and Franco are married in real life (And have been since 2017) so unsurprisingly, they have great chemistry together. You do truly get the impression they are in love and this is what makes the film really work. The body horror stuff isn’t really that shocking if you’ve watched much Cronenberg. The plot is also minimal and feels linear. On top of this, movie has a tiny cast and so puts all the weight on the two leads. Fortunately between the chemistry and the fact they are both good actors, it makes the movie work. Brie especially shines here. There’s also some solid cinematography and direction from Germain McMicking and Michael Shanks respectively.

Two Become One

One surprising thing is this is really a bit of a black comedy. It’s not like there is a lot of humour here, but it is present. Most specifically in one situational bit and a one line joke about diazepam. That joke made me laugh but it was in the middle of one of the most intense scenes of the film, so not really where I was expecting to be laughing. Honestly, not sure how I feel about that one. I’m swaying towards it being a demonstration of the characters chemistry and okay. That said, using the Spice Girls “Two Become One” song, felt a little too goofy for the film. Interestingly two out of three of these elements are key parts of the “Better Half” lawsuit, and that film is more of a comedy.

Overall this is a pretty good body horror. It’s not something I’m likely to want to re-watch. It’s not likely to become a cult classic or get Oscar nominations (Like “The Substance” did last year). But if you like body horror or romantic horror it’s worth watching. If you like both then I definitely recommend it. I’m giving this a solid 6/10. It would be higher, but I don’t feel like I got much more from the movie than I did the trailer. This is the execution of a basic idea and not much else. If the trailer got your interest, give it a watch. But don’t expect to be blown away.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

The Substance (2024)

Posted on by fenrisfil

The Substance is a new body horror movie from French writer/director Coralie Fargeat. It was made for a mere $17.5m by Universal through their “Working Title Films” UK subsidiary. It stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley with support from Dennis Quaid. The movie has not had a particularly large release, but has done well for it’s budget. Notably though it has had very positive reviews with many calling it the film of the year. So naturally I had to work this into my October horror reviews. Side note, this is my 100th horror review on the blog!

Moore plays “Elisabeth Sparkle”, a fading star that is about to loose her aerobics show due to her age. After being in a car crash a surgeon slips a USB stick into her pocket with a note saying “This changed my life”. On the stick is an advert for a treatment known as “The Substance” that promises to perform miracles. Specifically to create a better version of you that will then share your life. There are rules though, the most important being that you switch every seven days without fail. Being desperate to rekindle her fame and be loved by the audience once more, Elisabeth agrees. Thus “Sue” (Qualley) is born. The instructions warn “Remember you are one”, but that may be easier said than done.

Every Seven Days Without Fail

This is a film that heavily indulges in itself. Everything is heavily stylized, but each shot hangs on a few moments more than it needs to and the arty stuff is thrown in almost every second. The style is actually good, but the film milks each idea for far too long. This leads to the main problem with the film it is far too long. You just don’t need two hours and twenty one minutes to make a body horror. The story is actually pretty simple and you know where it is going from fairly early on. Dragging out each scene wasn’t really necessary artistically, to tell the story or to enforce the themes.

My other issue with the film is the predictability. Any film that literally lists rules, you know the the direction of the film will be to break every single one of them. It’s just a matter of time (and it’s a long time). The pay off on the last one is pretty impressive though, I’ll give them that. To be fair, body horror tends to be predictable, so this is a minor issue. I did wonder early on if most of the story was meant to be a hallucination after the car crash or even something experienced as Elizabeth died. Neither came to pass, but to be fair also wasn’t ruled out. The truth is this is a film where reality isn’t really important.

You Are The Matrix

The world in which the film takes place doesn’t feel very much like a real world. That’s not a criticism though since this is clearly intentional. But it is a sign of just how much this film is about style and themes. All the characters outside of the main two (who are in fact, one) are shallow shells of characters that don’t feel real. This is because they aren’t important to the story. This is a story about one person and one person alone. One person and two actresses so it’s a good job Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley were up to the task.

To me this seems to all be a metaphor for plastic surgery. More specifically for how it is crutch many Hollywood actresses reach for at a certain age. It’s an unfortunate thing and almost every time they end up looking worse than aging naturally. This movie really looks into this from the perspective of the women that go through it. It is ultimately a tragedy. It’s not an entirely sympathetic one though. It’s also not a film that shies away from the grossness or comedy of a body horror. The former it indulges in throughout, but the latter kicks into gear for the final act. This is an act that wouldn’t be out of place in a Charles Band or Troma horror comedy.

Termination Is Final

This is a good movie, but I’m not sure it warrants the “Best movie of the year” labels it’s been receiving. The ending is more funny than tragic and the movie drags a lot getting there while they show you a few more close ups of peoples teeth or piles of meat. The themes are sort of in your face and the plot is a straight line towards disaster. That is a plot that works, but it’s nothing special. The visuals however are good. The sets, sound design and editing (Length aside) are very impressive. The body horror is sufficiently gross (Which is the entire point) and everything more or less works. So, how do I score this? I think a strong 6/10 is fair. It’s a recommendation, but I do think you need to like body horrors or art movies to enjoy this.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

Hatching (2022)

Posted on by fenrisfil

Tonight I’m watching the recently released Finnish Body Horror movie “Hatching”, directed by Hanna Bergholm in her feature film debut and written by Ilja Rautsi. The film stars Siiri Solalinna as Tinja the daughter of a Finnish family. Solalinna will be doing double duty on this film as both Tinja and the movies monster, a demanding role for the young actress.

Lovely Everyday Life

The movie starts out with our host family presenting their apparently perfect, lovely life for the mother’s blog. It’s pretty clear though things aren’t completely perfect. This isn’t a classic horror dark secret kind of thing though, just that the mother is clearly more focused on image than emotional well being and is determined to push her daughter as hard as possible so as to achieve success in gymnastics. The family’s son seems to have picked up some of her mothers personality and is needy and demanding, while the father is aloof, more interested in his guitars than his family, likely explaining why his wife is almost openly cheating on him (That is the daughter knows and he it seems doesn’t want to).

The Bad Egg

The mother has a cruel streak to her as is demonstrated early on when she kills a stray bird that comes into the house instead of releasing it outside. This sets up our theme as later that day Tinja comes across a dying bird in the woods by her house and gives it a mercy killing, only to discover a nearby bird egg which she takes home. This is where the horror bit starts. The egg of course hatches and what comes out of it isn’t a regular bird. It is about the size of young Tinja and seems to have some intelligence, quickly bonding with the girl who decides to look after it and names it Alli (A name I feel that is a clue to the films meaning).

Things start to go off pretty quickly as our Hatchling kills the neighbours dog and drops it’s mutilated corpse on the pillow next to Tinja is a bit of a reversal of the classic dog “present”. Things obviously escalate and it is clear their is something more to the connection TInja has with the hatchling, the two are bonded mentally and physically, so much so Alli is starting to look like Tinja. Since this is a recent movie I’m not going to reveal much more but this is a body horror so expect violence and a bit of grossness.

Be Careful Which Wolf (Or Bird) you Feed

There is a deeper level to all this though. This is a metaphor for self loathing. Tinja’s mother’s quest to present the perfect life to her blog video viewers and the pressure she puts on her daughter to achieve in gymnastics has lead to Tinja being angry with herself for her failures, to be disgusted with herself and see herself as a monster. The story is really about a young girls fragile psyche and the importance to nurture more than a sense of shame. It’s important to note, the victims of the Hatchling are not people that have abused her, but her rivals. The monster is not protecting her, but enacting her darkest desires in her own drive to be considered special in the eyes of her mother. Eventually the child’s innocence is lost and she becomes a twisted version of her formers self. It is a darkness that as Tinja says in the final act “I hatched it”

I mentioned earlier I thought the name “Alli” was significant and it is a double whammy. It happens to be the brand name of a weight loss drug (relevant because some of the scenes in the film are heavily hinting at Bulimia) but also is a name of Greek and French origin that effectively means “Keeping ones chin up”. There is no way that is a coincidence give the mother’s attitude and the Tinja’s internal struggle between her natural good nature and the part of her that is turning into her own mother. Well played Hanna, well played.

Assessment

I liked the metaphor. It came through clearly, but it doesn’t hit you over the head with it like a lot of films do. It is also done very effectively through the horror. This is a very good bit of intelligent horror story telling. That said, I didn’t find any of the particular scenes stood out visually, nor did I find the hatchling itself particularly scary. For me though the story is more important than all that. The actors seemed pretty good, though I always find it hard to judge when I’m busy reading subtitles instead of looking at the actors. Siiri Solalinna though I’m sure has a bright future.

I also liked the haunting soundtrack, which was fairly minimalistic but effective and the physical creature effects were actually done pretty well. I thought the closeups looked a bit fake, but at a mid distance it looked really good. They transition from puppet to Solalinna about half way through and before anything too complicated is called for, which was probably for the best.

For tonight's movie I watched the Finnish Body Horror Movie Hatching.

Conclusion

This came out of a fairly simple idea of Rautsi’s about a boy bringing home an egg that hatched his doppelganger. A doppelganger story is not in itself especially original or compelling, it’s what you do with it that makes or breaks it and they did well here. While the film didn’t blow me away, I definitely came out with a healthy respect for it and it’s makers. This is a high 6.5/10

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.