Past couple weeks have been a blitz of catching up on my horror backlog so quick summaries:
Midnight Mass: REALLY glad I finally saw this, but sad I had no one to talk to because it was old news to literally everyone, haha. Tightly written, very well acted, my only gripes were small. I thought that the vampire was sooo much more frightening before they revealed it fully and it was just the same pale pale-o-sapien design we've been seeing from I am Legend onward. If they had elected to somehow keep it looking like the trail camera nightmare it was shown as in the first couple teases I would have no complaints. The only other issue was a minor one, but Ali by all accounts should not have been able to take communion, therefore shouldn't have been able to be resurrected. I'm open to theories, but still feel it was a bit of a loose end. Over all loved the show though, sad it is over, but perfect just the length it was.
The Night House: My friend worked on this so it was fun getting to see it finally. I felt like this was the right amount of show don't tell until the end, but even then I was fine with them explaining things a bit rather than leaving them ambiguous (which was an issue with some of the other films on the list). I loved some of the imagery, especially with the faces in abstract perspective locations. It was fun spotting what was filmed locally to my home area as well!
The Menu: Wonderful satire, and Anya Taylor Joy and Ralph Finennes put in fantastic performances. Funny in the darkest ways, and while it teetered on heavy handed at times, I felt like it was a great balance. Could have easily fallen into the trappings of the easy way out, but chose to stick to its guns. If it is still relevant come Halloween I really want to do a quick costume that is based on the final course, haha.
Men: This is the case of explain too little and you've lost me, haha. Not that I don't love to sit and re-examine my feelings on a film, or even analyze the message and themes of a story once it is finished, but this was one case where it just kind of devolved into absurdist territory and I couldn't follow it bravely into the dark. It has some very unnerving parts, and again, fantastic performances, but the final sequence and a few other scenes just felt like a film school student really milking the "every frame a masterpiece" mantra. Not that I don't like a good artsy, weird film, but it just felt like it was at war with itself, trying to tell a grounded story on one hand, and on the other hand constantly cutting away to "Well what do YOU think it means" symbolism and imagery.
Barbarian: Loved it, what can I say! Talk about a movie you should go in blind, I was lucky enough not to even know the cast list and was taken for an amazing ride. Spoilers because I don't even want to touch on things that might ruin the experience if someone hasn't seen it still, but I felt like honestly it was how I imagine audiences felt seeing the cast resets in Scream and Psycho for the first times. I was fully not expecting Bill Scarsgard in the first place, and then the hard rest that came with his disposal was so jarring and fun. The epitome of "Meanwhile in Movie B", suddenly we are with Justin Long on the PCH and it was golden. What a final girl too, good gracious she went through the ringer. The movie really did a great job with not making the Mother an out and out villain either, with the sympathetic turn in the last act I felt awful when she had to be killed off. Definite recommend.
Hereditary: Yes, I know, wash me with your judgement for taking this long. I can't say more than I think has already been said but I really enjoyed this ride. Multiple moments left with my mouth agape, specifically the one I should have had a, uh, heads-up on from spoilers over the years but still didn't see coming, haha. One final thought on this was that the Oscars need to get the horror movie stick out of their butt and recognize talent, Toni Collette put in WORK in this movie and shame on them for not recognizing it.