#30daysofhorror

Day 1: First Horror Movie You Watched

Rottentomatoes summary: “It's just another night at the morgue for a father (Brian Cox) and son (Emile Hirsch) team of coroners, until an unidentified, highly unusual corpse comes in. Discovered buried in the basement of the home of a brutally murdered family, the young Jane Doe-eerily well preserved and with no visible signs of trauma-is shrouded in mystery. As they work into the night to piece together the cause of her death, the two men begin to uncover the disturbing secrets of her life.”

This film is TrollHunter director (read on as TrollHunter will appear in this review series)  Andre Ovredal’s latest film. This horror movie has a very elegant simplicity from the get-go, and like A Dark Song, it’s not showy about scenery and gore. This being said, the overall aesthetic of the film is incredibly vibrant, and the performances are truly passionate, particularly from Emile Hirsch. The film builds a subtle tension, and once the real horror gets going, there is little to stop you holding your breath for the next fifty minutes. Furthermore, the premise is truly novel, with the undercurrents of exploration of female vengeance, not fallings into the overworked trappings of the evil woman reaping havoc through whatever supernatural depravity she had engaged within life. 

I am going to immediately emphasise how much this trilogy sounds like a Twilight preteen gushfest, and how much it absolutely Isn’t.  Jake Marlow is the last werewolf in the world, thanks to a world organization which vets and manages the supernatural persons of the world. He’s pretty depressed, as you would imagine being the last of anything, but is surprised with the unexpected emergence of another. 

Glen is a wonderful, wonderful writer. His books are witty, belligerent, hilarious and adult, dealing with surprising darkness with a mature, self-aware tone. If you’re someone who finds young adult fiction shallow and nauseating but wants your fix of werewolves and vampires, or if you’re just someone who wants to read a frigging good book, I highly recommend this.