(Spoilers for Cabin in the Woods and Night in the Woods- these are both so much better if you go in blind!!)
I was kind of late on the game watching
Cabin in the Woods
But strangely, it feels just as relevant today as it might have ten years ago (fourteen, to be precise), and I can't stop myself from drawing comparisons to another teen cosmic horror that's making a comeback right now:
Night in the Woods
THE REAL MONSTER IS THE ADULTS IN CHARGE
Both CITW and NITW feature a similar premise: the adults in the room have decided that (a) there is an elder god that will protect their world from collapse and (b) the only way to keep this elder god in their favor is to sacrifice the children. In both cases, the powerful deity is hidden away, mostly only implied. Instead, the real malicious actors are the authorities who have convinced themselves that their world is worth clinging on to at any cost.
In CITW, we see these white-collared bureaucrats unleash vicious monsters and subject teens to horror-movie level trauma. It's gruesome, disgusting, and hardly a world that benefits anyone; Especially the people who have to put up with the sinking horror of trying to maintain it. The controllers are laughing and drinking and gambling, but every time something goes wrong in their horrific plan, you see the true desperation in their eyes that they're running from. They pray to evil gods and know that they will be punished for it.
In NITW, the world that is being protected from collapse is Possum Springs- and the game wants you to know that Possum Springs sucks. Through talking to the younger residents you see joblessness, abuse, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. The favorite phrase of graffiti is "Nuke Possum Springs". Still, the council of elders insist that Possum Springs is just as glorious as it was in days past, before the coal mining stopped and the jobs dried up. They don't realize that they're clinging to a mummified corpse of a town.
Both of these stories present the same solution. It's a gut-wrenching decision made when the kids finally take control and unmask their puppeteers. Either decision both saves the world and dooms it. Paying into the system passes the responsibility and maintains the status quo of murder and monstery. Ending the horror dooms the world (literally, in CITW), but puts a stop to the cycle of corruption.
Maybe, if we're lucky, the end of the world isn't the end of the world?
I rate Cabin in the Woods four out of five merfolk and Night in the Woods five out of five nuclear bombs.
(Spoilers for Sinners)
Sinners
(っ• ཀ •)っ
Did you know: in the first half of the movie, every character that exchanges money dies in the second half?
In terms of vampire movies, Sinners is a fresh take on the monster. Instead of portraying vampires as lustful demons (and let's be honest, we all love a sexy vampire but it's getting old), Sinners' vampires are greedy monsters. In a unique way, they're a metaphor for the way that capitalism gobbles up cultures and leaves behind something soulless and forever trapped in the material world (if you find this concept as fascinating as I do I highly recommend Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism).
I love it when the director hits you with the symbolism like a hammer. I rate Sinners six out of six strings.
(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ Hey there! You're probably following me for my art, but did you know I also have opinions about movies? I'm in between stages of my life right now and I don't have the set-up to make art. So I'm going to post reviews of some of my favorite horror movies. If it goes well I'll probably post some more.
(Spoilers for Iron Lung)
IRONG LUNG ࣪ ִֶָ☾✶⋆.˚
I was skeptical going into Iron Lung, knowing fully well the limitations of tightly-casted single-set films. Gravity was a large storytelling disappointment in my opinion (despite being a great scientific illustration one of my greatest fears, the Kessler Syndrome, which is a conversation for another day.) However, the movie was simply masterfully done. The tension followed a slowly boiling progression that had me on the edge of my seat. The character progression was subtle but critical to the success of the movie. Markiplier took his shirt off. It was great. Iron Lung is, to date, the most pure example of cosmic horror I've seen on the silver screen; And cosmic horror is a difficult genre to get right.
Humanity is crabs in a bucket
The cast of desperate scientists and one hopeless prisoner are doomed from the start. In this oppressive world of cosmic horror, it's not only your own death that is inevitable; All of humanity is doomed. Despite this, Iron Lung still portrays a starkly positive and hopeful message:
You can either die biting at each other or die working together to pass on the torch. Just so we're clear, the Blood Moon is going to swallow you either way.
In the first half of the movie, each character seems to bitterly resent each other for the role they played in the situation they now face. They all lash out and betray each other: Ava lies to Simon about giving him freedom, and in response, Simon x-rays the science team (on accident, but it was still a result of him lashing out).
After a hair-raising and horrific divine intervention resurrects Simon, he seems to have learned his place in the world. He reaches out to Ava, who seems to have come to the same realization. They both know, deep down, that they're not leaving the blood moon alive. But now they have something-- the mysterious data from the SM-8's black box-- that could help humanity unlock the mystery of the Silent Rapture. It's a long shot. The longest shot. But through both of their sacrifices, they manage to deliver it to the surface to be found by the rescue ship.
The timing of Iron Lung feels prophetic. If you keep up with the news at all, you probably live with a sense of impending dread. Without getting into politics, it feels like any day the world could get swallowed up by a gigantic blood worm and we'll be thrown into chaos and violence. So take a note from Iron Lung:
When you find yourself on the Blood Moon, will you die x-raying your neighbors or passing on the signal to the next generation?
I rate Iron Lung five out of five tin cans.