This reminds me of that story “The Drum” from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The one where the kids want this cool drum these gypsies in the woods have, but they’re told they have to be bad in order to get it. So they go home & do all this bad stuff & act like little assholes, but instead of getting what they want they drive their mother away instead, & in her place is a replacement mother with a glass eye & a wooden tail. Borgman doesn’t have quite that level of weirdness, but it’s still plenty weird, & they both feel kind of like a folktale or a fable. Don’t get tempted by the dark side, people. Wooden-tailed mother or no, it’s not going to end well.
6 February 2019: We are the Flesh
Nice to look at at times, & the lead performance is great. That’s about the extent of the positives, sadly. It felt long despite the runtime, & boring despite all the taboo-breaking. Hopefully the director will move past the urge to shock & lose the pretentious dialogue, because he has a good eye.
3 February 2019: Ghostwatch
12 year old me would’ve been so into this if I had lived in the UK. Watching it for the first time as an adult, it’s surprising to see so many elements of the found footage & faux documentary genre being mined for scares way before the onslaught of such movies in the aughts. It’s also filled with pleasant 90s nostalgia now, which was fun. The no nonsense show host was particularly entertaining.
1 January 2019: Terrified
The makeup & sfx are great, the lead is charming, & the humor works well. American horror filmmakers could learn a thing or two from this guy.
2 December 2018: The Witch in the Window
The strongest aspect of this one is the relationship between father & son, which is beautifully written & portrayed. The lead here was my favorite character in YellowBrickRoad, & he’s even better when given a bigger role. I’d love to see more from him. I would liken this to a pared-down Haunting of Hill House, though it works better than the series in both the interpersonal relationships & the ghost stuff.