Jokes still hold up really well. Not so much "burst out laughing", but a lot of finely crafted and delivered bits and scenes that rarely fail to get an involuntary "ha!" from me.
The commitment to the fake horses gag is maybe my favorite part, especially in the context of the historian's murder.
halfway through this movie my dad paused and ordered Jersey Mike's and right when he got back from picking it up my mother in law called and told me my wife was lost in the woods so i went with her to go find her
we found my wife and then i went back to my parents and ate my sub and finished the movie
Every shot of this movie had me gripped. The camera grain makes movement hard to perceive, and makes you think that things are there when they aren't; combining that with really prolonged cuts, where sometimes things change and sometimes thing don't, and it creates this fantastical, eerie atmosphere. It doesn't get quite scary, but you still know something's wrong, and I love that feeling.
The scene at the climax, where the door appears from complete darkness, was one of the most visually astounding things I've seen in a long time.
This Flanagan has some really interesting ideas and a few good freaky shots in the first half. The whole mystery feels intriguing and surprisingly easy to get invested in. Character motivations in the way they act aren't explicitly said, but are still clear based on their actions.
Towards the end, things start to feel a little expository which sinks the overall eerieness of the monster.
Camerawork feels generally amateur, and a lack of "punch" in the horror scenes drag down…
