Episode 4: Know Fear and Open 24 Hours

Scott and I discuss Know Fear (IMDB) | trailer (Amazon) and Open 24 hours (IMDB) | trailer (Amazon).

Know Fear

Scott:

Okay, I was disappointed with this film. I was disappointed because here was a film with what I would consider a new premise, and they just did not follow through.

The idea of a demon being visible to family in different ways, sight, sound and written word and working together to defeat it, each person required to help the other, all right, I can ride this train.

But it never comes together, the characters are forced into old tropes, even with refreshing ideas. Blood and guts are second to what should have been great opportunities for engagement with the demon.

At the end you are left wondering what the hell, why did they do that, it could have been so much more. It’s a total pass, when it could have been an incredibly new horror troupe.

Senthil:

Know Fear is a supernatural thriller evoking compelling scares. Horror movies can utilize traditional tropes but still be watchable when handled by a skilled director. This is a low budget film with traditional themes yet with growing levels of intensity we don’t think we’ll see while watching the beginning of the movie.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Horror has increasingly demonstrated entertaining movies can be made with little special effects, little money, and plenty of creativity, even while re-hashing story concepts. The villain is not compelling and isn’t even seen much, but what you don’t see is as effective as what you do. While I did not rate this movie highly in many categories, the scare factor and impactful music made this an entertaining movie to watch.

This is closer to a Bird Box than a Quiet Place for me.

Open 24 Hours

Scott:

Trying to return to a normal life after committing a heinous crime, even if it under the best intentions, is impossible. This is where the story takes us.

Single location movies are interesting to me, as it requires good setup and camera angles to create a sense of foreboding. You have limited space, so creating a sense of confinement while also building movement is tricky.

I enjoyed the film. I found myself tensed up at times, some solid blood and guts, and the ending, although expected, turned to be unexpected, leaving the viewer questioning what occurred. Characters solid, did not feel they needed to follow the trope of do something stupid, then die. No, the movie allowed the characters to be slaughtered outside of the horror norm.

Somewhere between Quiet Place and Bird Box!

Senthil:

This utilized familiar horror plot elements packaged in ways that had me doubting how well I understood what was going on. However, the movie veers off into more traditional horror movie grounds in the last quarter of the movie. What starts off as a psychological thriller turns to hack and slash. Overall, I found the movie hit key characteristics of a horror movie and was worth watching.

This is closer to a Bird Box than a Quiet Place for me.