#slowburnhorror

Timothy Hutton delivers a dual performance that’s both vulnerable and terrifying as a writer haunted by the violent pseudonym he tried to bury. Amy Madigan and Michael Rooker ground the madness with warmth and grit, while Julie Harris adds her signature eerie gravitas in a brief but unforgettable turn.

It’s not perfect—the pacing drags in the middle—but the atmosphere? The ideas? The sheer weirdness of sparrows swarming a suburban home? Chef’s kiss. A flawed gem that deserves a fresh look in our current King renaissance.

My full 3/5 star review—complete with analysis of its Jungian shadow self, Romero’s gothic vision, and why this film lingers like a half-remembered nightmare—and the original trailer for you to check out is live now. LINK IN SOURCE

June 20th, 2009

Tuscaloosa, AL

June in Alabama is the closest thing you can get to hell on earth without actually dying, I mean there is a reason the south is called Satan’s armpit after all. My dad always said the cold was better than the heat, “you can always add clothes for the winter but you can only take off so many in the summer before its public indecency" was his famous line.

“I know it's hot but can you at least hold the camera right?” Alex said, demanding as always. I get it he wanted this project to be as perfect as possible but hell its 90 degrees in the shade and this stupid camera was already slippery enough without my hands covering it in sweat.

“Yes boss whatever you say boss” I quipped back, earning a look that I can only describe as a mom look from him.

Alex was the brain of this whole operation there was no ifs, ands or butts about it. How he came up with a title like Marble Hornets for a college short film about a guy trying to find himself was way beyond me. I had asked him once when he was working on the script how he came up with the title he’d just shrug and say it felt right all without looking up, which was just Alex speak for don’t second guess me. Alex recruited me and Jay first, I mean it made sense we were both the camera nerds of our film class and had the most experience with them. Brian and and Tim came on next, he needed actors and to him they were the only choice. Brian was more of the quiet type he sat in the front and really didn't say much but Alex for some reason was adamant on having him as the main character. Tim I had known for longer, we had a few intro classes together and turned out our dad’s had known each other for a while. Alex had said both of them were so perfect for their respective roles, they weren't overtly dramatic like most of the guys in our class, Alex himself said Tim had this sort of presence that made you want to keep watching even if he was just doing something simple.

What didn't make sense to any of us is why out of all places Alex insisted on filming out here in the middle of absolute nowhere, trees were all around us along with the cicadas which would definitely destroy the audio. The weird thing was the lack of anything else, no birds or wind or any other thing you would expect in nature, just us and the bugs.

“Okay,” Alex said, clapping his hands once. “Let’s reset. From the top.” His new catch phrase was slowly but surely becoming the bane of mine and Jay’s existence. Sure we had loads of tapes, a weirdly large amount but it would be a pain in the ass to go through and edit all his footage.

Jay shifted beside me, adjusting his grip on the second camera like it had personally wronged him.

“You ever get the feeling,” he muttered, “that places like this remember people?”

Jay looked at me and pushed his hair back, the strands still sticking to his forehead that was slicked in sweat. I snorted and gave a dry laugh.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure this park knows us by name at this point. If Alex keeps making us reshoot, eventually it’s gonna start asking for royalties.”

Jay let out a weak laugh, then wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

“If this place remembers people, I hope it forgets me fast.”

He replied with a chuckle and took a large gulp from the almost empty water bottle.

“Not a chance,” I quipped. “We’ve been standing here since 11am. The trees probably think we live here now, granted that wouldn't be too bad the rent is probably free.”

I mumbled as I reset the camera to the correct angle and made sure the lens was focused.

“Careful, if you make that joke and Alex hears you he’ll turn this into some survival Mad Max style movie,” Tim said from behind me leaning up against a tree with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He looked like the heat wasn't even affecting him, if anything he looked more annoyed that we had been out here all day.

“Well then we’d have a reason for all of this suffering, I mean hell we’ve must have done 10 takes for a 5 minute segment,” I groaned and walked over to him, taking the cig out and taking a puff for myself.

“Hey those things can kill you, do you know how pissed Alex would be if one of his camera crew died?” Tim said with a sarcastic tone.

I let out a slight cough and replied in a similar tone, “If this cigarette kills me instead of the heat you can just bury me under that tree with a nice stone. Here lies Miverva, cause of death one cigarette and heat stroke.”

“You always get like this when it’s hot?” Tim said with a small smile as he took back the almost burnt out cigarette.

“Only when I’m seconds away from melting into the forest floor,” I said. “Why, you offering heat-stroke advice?”

“No,” he said, meeting my eyes for a second longer than necessary. “Just surprised you’re still standing.”

“Spite,” I replied immediately. “And caffeine.”

For a moment, the cicadas filled the space between us, loud and relentless. Then Alex’s voice cut through the trees again, calling us back into position. Tim pushed off the tree and moved into place, passing close enough that I caught his quiet, almost amused,

“Hang in there, Minerva, it would be a shame if the prettiest thing out here died.”

I tightened my grip on the camera.

Bring Her Back

Before anything else, I really liked Talk to Me. And this film by the Philippou brothers is just as strong, just completely different.

Quick, no spoilers After a loss, a family ends up in a new, fragile situation that doesn’t feel healthy from the start. And the more something unspoken begins to push its way up, the more everything slowly tips into something much darker.

I honestly don’t want to give too much away, even though I feel like I’m probably the last person on earth to finally watch this.

It’s horror, but with a lot of drama in it. No cheap jump scares, no loud shock tricks. It just keeps building, and that slow pace honestly makes it worse, because it feels weirdly believable. And the violence isn’t constant, it’s only a few moments, but they hit like a punch.

I wasn’t bored at all. But I did feel this heavy, sad, almost suffocating atmosphere at times. The kind of mood that sticks to the characters and doesn’t let you shake it off.

I didn’t know the child and teenage actors before, but they did a really solid job. And Sally Hawkins nails it. She’s as uncomfortable and unsettling as she’s supposed to be, yet I still felt sympathy for her. And that’s kind of the disturbing part.

If you want horror that’s more atmosphere than chaos, I’d say give it a shot. Was it worth all the hype? Hmm. But at least it didn’t disappoint me 😉