Barbarian (2022) Dir: Zach Creggor
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This Zach Creggor directed horror was one I'd been recommended, but knew very little about. I immediately noticed and appreciated the nice camerawork - a consistent feature of the film. The use of colour was interesting and visually stimulating, particularly when used in contrast with the darker shots.
Speaking of which, darkness was used incredibly well to illicit fear, build suspense and amplify the intrinsic sense of vulnerability and anxiety the audience feels - especially when watching in a dark environment.
The tonal and narrative shifts were welcome, as it allowed for plenty of character and story development that you don't often get in horror films.
On that point, I thought the film managed to portray the timeline of events very nicely, which allowed for a lot of exposition to be shown through subtext or indirect storytelling, rather than just telling the audience everything through clunky dialogue, for example, and slowing down the pace of the film.
Creggor effectively pivots between conventional horror and empathetic or even humorous storytelling, which creates a truly disturbing but compelling film.
Georgina Campbell had one or two clunky scenes at the very start of the film, which had me a little worried, but her later scenes were very well executed and certainly contributed to the quality of the film.
Bill Skarsgård had some very well acted scenes, but equally some that felt a little awkward, at least to me.
Justin Long may have been the least likable character, but that was just testament to his performance. I thought he was the best of anyone in the film, thanks in large part to the variety he displayed.
I will also give credit to Matthew Patrick Davies - who looked fantastic in the prosthetics, Richard Brake and Jaymes Butler.
Overall, it is safe to say that my expectations were subverted and I was drawn into this well crafted horror, while also feeling the emotion and comedy that comes through in the story and make this a surprisingly complex and frightening film.
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