Episode 3: Antebellum and Becky
Updated: Mar 30, 2022
Scott and I discuss Antebellum (IMDB) | trailer (Amazon) and Becky (IMDB) | trailer (Amazon).
Antebellum
Scott:
What is horror? Blood and guts, the ghost in the house, possession, demons, zombies, cannibals, or the things we are afraid to talk about, even among our closest friends?
Antebellum is a horror movie forcing you to watch and deal with the uncomfortable, to face the dirty underbelly of a topic we are afraid to confront. From the beginning you are uneasy, it draws you in with a claustrophobic feeling, a soundtrack that bears great weight.
The characters are sharp and real, too real, too sharp. There is no gore, but I say the gore lies within your mind, the dirty stain we try to wipe away, only to smear. At the end you are left feeling triumphant for the heroine but mortified with what you just saw.
Did parts of it feel spliced together, did the ending seem contrived, yes, but that does not deconstruct the message of this horror film, true horror are the realities we fear to face.
A Quiet Place over Bird Box!
Senthil:
It took me awhile to put the pieces of the movie together. Once I did, the movie was much more horrific than I had initially realized. The level of the horror in this movie is progressively more disconcerting. The horror in this movie does not fit the traditional definition. It very much belongs in the category, however.
The music really sets the tone for the intensity and tension throughout the movie. This is not a soundtrack I ever see myself casually listening to, as it would evoke memories of the horror from the movie. However, the music really enhances the experience of and impact on the audience.
While the movie does not contain the blood and gore common to horror movies, this contains scenes that would make Eli Roth recoil.
This was a well-done horror movie; however, the characters need to make bad decisions, or at least avoid making good ones, for the story to work. This was a deeply disturbing movie with a purpose, which makes it more of a Bird Box than a Quiet Place.
Becky
Scott:
When you try to cut your dug out eyeball with a pair of children’s scissors, we are talking horror and comedy! Becky drove me nuts, Kevin Smith as a bad guy, okay, I am in, bat shit crazy sociopathic nine-year-old, hell yes, and look, there are great moments in the film, but in the end, you just feel, well, drained and let down.
Why should you care if Kevin Smith does something horrible to someone, you have nothing relatable to attach yourself too? How does a perfectly normal child become a crazy killer after her mother passes away? I get depression, come on.
But this is worth a watch. It has some fantastic moments where the saying take the whole twelve inches or motorboating just fit so well you cannot help yourself from mentally making the statement. There is great blood and guts, some scenes even made me tense up a little because I could not believe they just did it.
The character Becky was so over the top and well played I had to go see if she was in other films. I think there is a little Becky in all of us, watching it get out is hella fun.
A Quiet Place over Bird Box!
Senthil:
Mall Cop becomes a Nazi and nurtures his psychotic side. This movie manages to make difficult to watch explicit gore comedic. This is another movie that features a sociopathic psychotic young girl, which reminds me of a similar but better movie, Psycho Goreman.
This is another horror movie featuring a minor as the main character, but the movie has scenes making it unsuitable for minors, including a scene involving graphic motorboating that does not turn out like you probably expect. The music is simple, repetitive, and effective, but not a score I would buy and listen to again.
The characters not only need to make bad decisions for the movie to work, but they also need to behave and respond in completely over the top way that do not make sense. This movie is an excuse to show shock worthy gore. It does not try to make sense because that is not the goal. Despite some effective horror themed comedic moments, graphic shock violence, and traditional home invasion theme that almost works, this is more of A Quiet Place than Bird Box for me. Entertaining to watch and get aggravated at.