Discuss Espíritus oscuros
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Really good.
posted by OddRobSTAFFMOD on November 16, 2021 at 12:37 AM
I suggest you catch this on the big screen if you can. Yes, its a creature film on the surface. But underneath its a fantastic film about abuse, the memories we keep, the toxicity we carry with us, and what we become because of it. Its a slow burn film, but from what I hear that is to be expected from this director. Everyone did a great job. We all know child actors are either hit or miss. Thank God in this case it was a hit. The two brothers did fantastic. As did Julia and Paul. Wish we got more backstory on them. The locations should be considered a character in itself. Really caught the pain that small towns go thru when they start to die out.
Speaking of pain, it was the driving force behind this gem. The abuse and pain some of our characters go throughout this whole ordeal is very realistic. And shot in away that really grounds everything. I would have liked more background on the lore of the monster. And also more flashbacks on Julia and Pauls abuse as children. The editing and pacing was right on for me. But I feel like they could have extended it by 10 minutes and it would have been perfect. Might have been studio interfering because the story def had enough there to fatten up that time. Besides that, my only complain was the final confrontation. It was to meh for my taste. Could have done something better but they might have had a budget reason for why they went that way. But the ending was fantastic and heartbreaking at the same time.
I have to mention two more things. The lighting. It was fantastic. Sometimes films like this end up lighting everything way to dark. Im all about keeping the creature in the shadows and letting the audience imagine the worse. But you have to be able to light the scenes properly for that effect to work. Im pleased that they did that here. Weather it be a old mine, spooky woods, or a dark house. The lighting department did a fantastic job. And the practical creature effects were really well done. You could tell the CGI and practical apart but it wasnt to difficult to swallow. Like I stated earlier, the ending was abit rough, but I honestly think that was due to the budget they had.
So there we go, another film down that we are finally able to see 2 years after it was complete. Thanks Covid. Dont sleep on this one.A solid 7/10 creature feature.
Reply by cpheonix
on December 17, 2021 at 5:53 AM
While I appreciate the film stylistically and it's themes, as you mentioned, I did feel underwhelmed. Maybe it was the ending how easy it was for the creature to be defeated. Also it went through the clichés of characters doing things they shouldn't (headteacher going into the home by herself) and the open ending.
I do agree with most of your points though such as the excellent location and setting (did bring back memories or Out of the Furnace, one of the director's previous films) and the film needing to be a bit longer, fleshing out the back story of Julia and Paul. Without this, I feel it doesn't compare to other horror films that have subtext such as The Babadook (grief) and Relic (dementia).
Still worth a watch though.
Reply by OddRob
on December 17, 2021 at 6:28 AM
Couldnt agree more. I saw The Babadook ages ago and enjoyed it. Havent seen Relic yet. Another good genre film is Saint Maud 2019. If you are interested in this type of films.
Reply by cpheonix
on December 17, 2021 at 7:44 AM
I am indeed interested in these types. I've seen Saint Maud and yep, enjoyed that too. Ah you have to watch Relic, that's so good - probably my favourite last year. I recently saw Encounter that you might like too, although it's not so much a horror (but does also have Rory Cochrane that's in this).
Another thing about Antlers was Keri Russell (who was also in Dark Skies that I enjoyed, albeit that was more of a conventional scary film). I thought she was brilliant in this. As we both mentioned, its a shame they didn't explore her past, especially as they showed a brief flashback of her dad (not sure if he was tied up naked). Also when her brother said "you don't know what he did to me", I really wanted their relationship to be explored in more depth.