I say this because, in my opinion, while this is still a horror movie through and through, its world and the characters within it feel believable. The reason I say this is that this is not a movie where Luke, a 12-year-old boy, is possessed by a demon or another supernatural being and he attempts to act scary by looking mean. I guess you could add this movie onto that list. Those are the three that come to mind immediately, but I'm sure there's others that I'm just missing at the moment. Let The Right One In, because the girl in that movie was effectively creepy and detached. The Exorcist, mostly because of the incredible make-up and the intense possession scenes. There's only a few movies, in my opinion, where this has worked. And, honestly, it just doesn't work, because kids naturally just aren't that scary. The reason I say this is that, at the very least, a good chunk of these movies actually attempt to make the kid in question scary, by attempting to look mean or whatever. And, on top of that, it also works as an evil kid horror movie which, as some of you may know, is my least favorite horror subgenre. In all seriousness though, I suppose my horror fest also had to include the home invasion thriller (which I forgot) even though, in this case, it's more of an inverse home invasion, given that the villain of the movie, Luke, lives in the house where the majority of the events take place. It's the Reefer Madness of our generation, except instead of it being a morality tale against the dangers of Mary Juana, it is a film telling us about the dangers of children and what we can do to stop them. That's why I feel that this is the perfect movie for people who hate kids because it proves our point that some of these fuckers are gonna grow up to be murderers. With that said, however, there's another thing entirely when the kid in question is a murderous psychopath, then you're perfectly within your rights to do something about it. There's a reason you're the adult there and you should act like it. Some people might say that that might discipline or correct their behavior, but if your first response to hit your kid whenever they do something stupid or you disapprove of, then you probably shouldn't be a parent in the first place. I've never advocated child abuse, and I never will, as I feel that kids will, naturally, do stupid and/or say stupid things because they're kids, and I've always felt that it's incorrect to hit your child because they do or say something stupid. Perhaps hate is too strong a word, but I just find most of them annoying and I don't want them anywhere near me if they're being annoying. I feel like I've made it clear, in a few reviews now, that I hate kids. But without a proper ending I just felt cheated. I give massive credit to the great performances and tense direction which leads me to give it a slightly higher rating than it probably deserves. But by the end when I saw that there wasnâ(TM)t a grand plan and all that I was left with was empty sadism I really felt cheated. While watching Better Watch Out, I was really engaged and really wanted to know how it would turn out. When gore-y moments do happen, they are eerily low-key, but then we donâ(TM)t even get the fun of a gore film either.
On the other hand I do almost commend the film for being minimal on the gore.
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Iâ(TM)m not saying I always need closure on a film, in fact some films itâ(TM)s better not to have it, but on this one without closure weâ(TM)re just left with a series of sadistic acts and a feeling of emptiness. If there had been an extra 10 minutes providing more closure on what had happened, maybe I would have felt differently. Really, thatâ(TM)s probably my biggest issue with the film. In terms of plot, I saw the reason for the characters sadism, but without getting into spoilers there was no closure on these actions. However, there is a gleeful sadism that the film has to its actions that just makes the whole thing deeply uncomfortable in a way without fun or purpose. I really have to commend the writing because it all felt natural and never exposition-heavy, and I really commend the young cast (especially Levi Miller and Ed Oxenbould) who really pull this thing together.
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Everything after it, I couldnâ(TM)t have guessed, and itâ(TM)s full of turns. This twist, honestly, I did predict because it seemed like the only way to progress the story. What starts as appearing like a standard home invasion film quickly turns to a psychological horror film. To start with the good, it does hold your attention. Iâ(TM)m not really sure what the crossover is for when a film become tactlessly nasty for me, I mean I generally do enjoy extreme horror, and there are things about this one that I actually do appreciate. On the other hand, the whole experience was deeply unpleasant and just not enjoyable. On the one hand I was completely enthralled the whole time, and I really did want to see how it all played out.