Women
in Perilous Places
by
Kristin Battestella
Horror
loves nothing more than placing women in danger. Will the girl power
be bound by the usual horror cliches or can the ladies from this
semi-recent trio of scares overcome the natural disasters, perilous
places, and island risks?
Good
Creep
– Franka Potente (Run Lola
Run) and the delightfully
disturbing Sean Harris (Prometheus)
anchor writer and director Christopher Smith's (Black Death) 2004 Tube terror
amid slippery sewer tunnels and panning flashlights with surprising
reveals. Although long credits, a prologue scare, and a colorful
party create several restarts, there's already an innate sense of
danger with a pretty woman left on the platform alone late at night.
She's locked in the station – gates across the doors, still
escalators, empty ticket booths. Mysterious echoes, screams, hidden
panels, and underground access build fear as disappearances, rats,
and maze-like corridors add to the harassment and assaults.
Claustrophobic surroundings and confined movements lead to apparent
safety on the next train, but the homeless alcoves and search for the
control room are to no avail. There's nowhere to run, but security
camera flashes and fuzzy black and white footage breaking the
solitary point of view emphasize the uh ohs while gory slashes and
terrible lashes heard on the speakers create red blood trails across
white floor tiles. Panic and heavy breathing are enough without brief
herky jerky running camera perspectives thanks to high voltage
passageways, chases on the train tracks, ladder climbs, and nasty
swims with bodies in the water. The gray claws, amphibian slender,
and deformed scaly of our subterranean culprit are well done with the
greenish hues and underwater cages contrasting bright flashlight
beams. It's cold and dirty in this old medical station – harpoons,
dolphin sounds, and specimens in jars accent the gruesome with hints
of procedures gone wrong, playing doctor, and bone saws. While mostly
what you don't see horror rather than torture porn, some audiences
expecting a scary explanation may not like the slightly fantastic
turn. A lack of subtitles can make the assorted accents difficult,
and background answers storyboarded but not filmed would have helped
deepen the statements on sex, drugs, abortion, and homelessness. At
times, the tunnel pursuits become a house of horrors room to room
with assorted scary themes, and internal logic bends as needed.
Couldn't she use her lighter to set off a sprinkler or cause fiery
damage to call for help? Why doesn't she initially utilize emergency
call boxes and cameras that are apparently everywhere? Fortunately,
that skewed realism taps into the ugly visage and unlikable bitchy at
work with doubts about the mimicry and where the audience's sympathy
should lie.
Still
Decent
A Lonely Place to Die –
Beautiful but perilous vistas, thunder, and misty but dangerous
mountains – a risky place to whip out the camera! – open this
2011 hikers meet kidnappers parable starring Melissa George
(Triangle),
Alec Newman (Dune),
and Ed Speleers (Downton Abbey). Eagles
and aerial views quickly degrade into
mistakes, hanging frights, and upside down frames. Ropes, gear, risk
– people cause disaster among the otherwise still, respected beauty
where they aren't supposed to be resulting in cuts, scrapes, and
falls. Weather interferes with their plans to climb the next killer
facade, but wishing one could paint the lovely forest and rocky
scenery uncovers mysterious echoes from an ominous pipe and a trapped
little girl. The hikers split up – several take the longer, safer
route back to the nearby town – however there's a more difficult
path called Devil's Drop that one couple brave climbing to reach help
faster. Unfortunately, short ropes and sabotaged equipment create
shocking drops and fatal cliffs. They aren't wearing helmets so we
can see the heroics, but no gloves against the sharp rocks, rough
trees, and burning ropes, well that's as dumb as not having a
satellite phone. Unnecessary fake out dreams, annoying shaky cams,
and distorted points of view detract from both the natural scary and
the mystery of who else may be out there – fear on people's faces
is always more powerful than effects created for the audience. Guys
with guns encountering more crazed men all in black with yet more
kidnappers in pursuit also break the isolated situation too early.
Unknowns snipers would better layer the environmental fears, raging
river perils, terrain chases, and gunshots. Attacks from an unseen
culprit are much more terrifying than knowing what poor shots they
are even up close and with scopes. Injuries, screams, thuds, and
broken limbs provide real menace, and we really shouldn't have met
the killers until they are over the victims asking them how much the
price of their nobility hurts or what good compassion did for them
today. Although double crossing criminals playing the mysteries too
soon compromises the good scares and surprise fatalities, fiery
sunset festivals progress the mountain isolation to a ritual village
suspicious. Fireworks and parades mingle with hog masks and alley
chases – again suggesting people are where they shouldn't be as the
hiking dangers become congested public confrontations. While the
crooks' conspiracies get a tad ridiculous when innocent bystanders
are killed in plain sight, this is a unique natural horrors cum
kidnapping thriller remaining tense and entertaining despite some of
those shout at the TV flaws.
A
Split Decision
Black Rock – Childhood
friends Kate Bosworth (Blue
Crush) and Lake Bell
(Boston Legal)
revisit a Maine island with co-star/director Katie Aselton (The
League) in this 2012
survival tale from writer Mark Duplass (of the 2014 Creep).
Hip music, packing inventories, and crass jokes join the scenic drive
to the horrors, but one has invited the other two ladies without
telling each one, lies about having cancer, and admits she wants an
we're all dying anyway last hurrah. Fortunately, the speedboat, cold
water, and barren coast are already chilling as the women revisit a
childhood map with old forts and time capsules. There are no
distinguishing characteristics such as jobs or even last names, but
it's easy to see why the two similar brunettes dislike each other –
none of them really seem like friends but they go along with their
pushy blonde leader anyway. Despite tough hiking and mosquito
complaints one brunette can't get over the other sleeping with her
douche boyfriend six years ago. They shout and nearly come to blows
as the blonde between them insists she isn't taking sides just as she
confers with one and not the other. Instead of discussing their
problems, the conversation is of men and childhood lesbian crushes
amid try hard cursing every other word. Of course, there are three
suspicious dishonorably discharged soldiers turned hunters on this
island and the women are obviously their game. Fireside flirtations
with drunken blow job talk reveal the once shy brunette as a tease
liking attention who thinks a make out session will suffice.
Unfortunately, these guys don't play by the rules or take no for an
answer, and assault becomes a typical plot point as each trio falls
into bullying peer pressure from its strong arming leader. Our
sexually dominate alpha male has a meek black follower and his white
pal is perhaps so in love with his commander that he is impotent
without the rifle he uses against the women. Rather than exploring
catty women snapping in the isolated horror, men hit and bind them
while the helpless girls say they fear rape – putting the sexual
violence back in the minds of the weak trying to prove they are real
men. Though directed by a woman with an understanding of shit men,
this is written by her husband as a male fantasy. These women are
called cunt slut bitch and said to be getting their deserve symbolic
impalings and kicks in the crotch for denying the superior
war-fighting male his pleasure. Graphic gunshots, action filming, and
chases in the woods are well done, and up close camerawork draws in
the fear or intimidation. However, the mixed message on whether the
violent men or the teasing woman is at fault takes away from the
tense women's point of view. The jealous blonde insists they can't
escape and dislikes her previously at odds pals working together when
they don't need her cowardly to fight back – which becomes more
male viewer titillation as the lookalikes strip off their wet
clothes. Panties and all in the itchy woods with killer men in
pursuit! The brash gal with the masculine nickname quivers as her
once meek pal slaps her, and the cheek to cheek, heavy breathing, and
hair pulling is almost sex scene coy. They walk around in the woods
naked, bonding while making spears, yet for all the girl power, this
becomes less about defending oneself over an assault and more about
two women psyching each other up to slit a guy's throat. Instead of a
horror movie by women, for women, this becomes a bizarre he said, she
said. It's worth a viewing discussion, but it skews toward male
tropes disguised as a women's piece.
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