The Boy (2016) and another reason not to keep dolls around your home

Guys! I finally watched the other The Boy movie. And although it didn't even come close to last years' The Boy (check out my review here), it was super fun!

I've been hearing nothing but bad news about it which I should have learned by now will ALWAYS happen when a horror movie is well marketed and has big names behind it. Horror fans love to hate the mainstream. I was listening to the new Shock Waves episode and they all praised The Boy for being a good time. So I decided to just watch it at some point and sort my own opinion out. Then this evening I went over to a friends' house and low and behold a few of us ended up watching The Boy.

So...let's talk about it!

THE BOY (2016)

 

You wouldn't hurt me, would you, Brahms?  

Originally this film was going to be titled The Inhabitant or In a Dark Place, which are pretty terrible titles, but would've have helped with my constant references between the two movies of the same name. It came out at the beginning of this year and is now available on DVD and VOD. It was directed by William Brent Bell (who also directed The Devil Inside) and written by Stacey Delay, and filmed nearby in Victoria.

It stars Lauren Cohan (Supernatural, The Walking Dead) as the lead character Greta who has traveled from America to the UK to be a nanny for an older couple's young child. But when she arrives at their beautiful old home she discovers the child is actually a doll named Brahms. Which is a terrible name. Turns out the real Brahms died in a mysterious fire 20 years ago when he was just 8 years old. The old couple, after saying many incriminating and cryptic things, leave on a holiday, leaving Greta alone with Brahms and a long list of rules she must abide by.

Malcom (Rupert Evans), is a grocer who comes by once a week with...you guessed it...groceries. He befriends Greta and the two team together in fear as Brahms seems to come to life, terrorizing the house.

Complaints? 

The 'twist' was glaringly obvious to the average horror viewer. The things that the old couple were saying to Greta at the beginning were basically just them saying "THIS IS THE TWIST AREN'T WE CLEVER?".

For a horror film there was a surprising lack of gore or even murder. It was very dry. They relied purely on jump scares that mostly fell short. It was...for lack of a better word...not very horrific. It's like a ghost movie for babies.

There just seemed to be a lack of substance...it just felt...kind of hollow?

Loved?

The film was beautiful to look at. The scenery was creepy and stunning, the lighting did wonders to change the mood when needed. There was a great scene where the camera is focused on Brahms' face and it's lit up with a warm sunlight, then the camera begins to turn and the sunlight turns to dark shadows underneath Brahms eyes and it really gave me chills.

The house was great! Exactly what you want to see in a horror movie set in an old house. Beautiful decor, lots of creepy stuffed birds, strange wood carvings etc etc. It was filmed at Craigdarroch Castle which I've been begging Mitch to take me to because it's supposedly haunted in real life.

Lauren Cohan did a great job leading the film. She's a power house and a phenomenal actor and stunningly beautiful. Even Rupert Evans a sidekick did a great, believable job. You're rooting for the two of them to survive. The old couple, played by Jim Norton and Diana Hardcastle were really fun to watch! They creeped me out more than the doll tbh.

So to wrap it all up, if you want a fun and quick film to pass the time? Watch this. If you want to watch a real horror movie that's deep and meaningful and terrifying...watch The Boy from last year (2015.)

I'm giving it a 6/10. Probably won't watch again, but would recommend it to non-horror fans looking to be scared.

In other news - I showed Mitch House of 1000 Corpses the other night because we got the bluray. I was super excited to watch all the extras on it but they were shit! Like a 5 minute 'making of'. Garbage. Tonight I have two movies that have been sitting on my desktop for AGES that I am determined to watch; Man Vs. and Holidays. Hopefully review those soon.

Stay spooky!

In which I watch The Boy (2015) and break my toe while doing it

Well....that was a longer delay than expected. The gypsy curse hit hard and fast. We had everything packed up and ready to go but two days before we moved in, our new building caught on fire. So we had to wait around in limbo for awhile wondering if we were going to be homeless. But finally last weekend we were able to move into our new apartment and then spent the week unpacking.

But enough excuses...I'M BACK...but now also with a broken toe.

I chose to watch The Boy (2015) last night....not the one with Maggie from The Walking Dead, but the other one and half way through I dropped my laptop on my toe. Like...perfectly hit just one toe. I started spurting blood and almost fainting (I'm one of those people who can watch you get your arm cut off without flinching but the second I bleed I'm on the floor blacked out). So now it's all bloody and bruised and swollen and broken.

The laptop is fine though.

Okay I'm shutting up....let's talk about this phenomenal movie!!!!!!!!!!

THE BOY (2015)

Directed and written by Craig Macneill, The Boy tells the story of a father and son who run a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. It's based on a short film by the same guy which is loosely inspired by the book Miss Corpus, written by Clay McLeod Chapman (who helped write the script as well). 

The father is played amazingly by David Morse, who is a terrible father but manages to make you feel for him anyway. The young boy, Ted, is played by Jared Breeze and can we get this kid a damn Oscar? What an impressive performance! Ted is fucked up from growing up all alone and angry. His mother left him when he was young and his only interaction is with the guests, who come and go, leaving him behind like his mother did. He has a lot of anger that he doesn't know how to deal with and begins to lure animals onto the highway to be killed by oncoming cars. But one night he attracts a deer and a man named William Colby (played by Rainn Wilson) hits said deer and crashes. He is forced to stay at the motel while his car is fixed. Ted instantly becomes attached and fascinated by William, but so does the town Sheriff played by Bill Sage. Seems to be that William is running away from something.

From the get go this movie is so incredibly tense. You're on the edge of your seat the entire time just completely unnerved. Every move that Ted makes you're convinced he's just going to snap and kill everyone. For a movie with not a lot of dialogue, you never get bored once. The scenery is absolutely stunning but so lonely and the score is incredibly creepy and adds to the intensity and dread of the story.

While the ending is slightly predictable if you're paying attention, it doesn't feel like a cop out. I found myself cheering for Ted even though I knew it was wrong. It's a very "anti-hero" type film where you know that Ted is awful but you can't help but completely understand the way he is. He is a victim of his surroundings and the way he was raised.

It asks the interesting question of how serial killers are made. Are they born that way, or are they created by the way they are raised and their environments?

I adored this film and the performances all around were phenomenal, especially Rainn Wilson and Jared Breeze.

10/10

Please watch this film!! I beg of you! This is indie horror done the right way and we should be supporting it and encouraging others to bring us these beautiful and terrifying films.

Alright, up next is most likely The Forest and The Gift, but don't hold me accountable for that. I'm the worst.

Stay spooky ya'll and thank you for being so patient!!