Why Horror?

I used to think of myself as someone who once hated horror movies, but grew to love them. However, if I really take a close look at my life--including my childhood--I've always had a deep love of all things dark, disturbing, and creepy.

When I was a kid, I read scary stories voraciously. Yes, the classic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz with those unforgettable illustrations by Stephen Gammell (important note: Gammell also illustrated other children's books of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, such as The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant and Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman. Elder millennials know his art well), but also In a Dark, Dark Room, also by Alvin Schwartz, the nonfiction books of Daniel Cohen, most notably his book about horror movies from the silent era until the 70's, and The Very Scary Almanac by Eric Elfman. Not to mention the insanely popular Goosebumps series. By 7th grade, I was reading Stephen King's very much not-for-children fare. 

I developed a fascination with Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Bathory when I was pretty young. Reading about historical torture devices interested me to a degree that probably freaked my parents out (did they even know?). In short, I was a morbid little turd. And I can assure you that none of these deviant interests turned me into a serial killer or someone with violent tendencies. Because being into scary, disturbing things doesn't make you violent, it makes you curious. And, if there is something I want more than anything in this life, it's to KNOW. 

The desire to know things...not just anything, but the stuff you're not supposed to know...goes hand in hand with my anxiety, which is as much a fixed facet of my personality as anything else. When I was a kid, I'd always ask my parents "what if" questions: "what if I wake up and there's a bug in my room?", "what if Sarah is mean to me again on the playground" (FUCKING Sarah), "what if you're not there?". I was so scared, so anxious--I just wanted answers. I just wanted to know what the plan was. 

That desire to have answers followed me into adulthood. I want to know what happens in managers meetings at work. I want to what people say about me when I'm not in the room. Hell, I even want to know what bullshit Trump is spewing in his ever more insane press releases now that he's cut off from Twitter. But, as you can imagine, I--and everyone else--shouldn't really know everything. Not if we want some amount of peace of mind. 

So, what does all of this have to do with horror movies? Horror movies scratch so many of the itches I naturally possess: the need for catharsis, the curiosity about terrible things, the desire for media that so consumes me in the moment that my anxious brain can have a rest. Yes, horror can be soothing for anxious minds. Sounds crazy right? Here's an easy to read article about the phenomena and here's a more academic one. Obviously, this doesn't hold true for everyone. Among my own circle of friends, I know people who have chronic anxiety who either hate or are neutral on horror films. Just as medication doesn't work for everyone and yoga doesn't work for everyone, horror films (and other forms of horror-tainment) won't be an effective coping strategy for everyone suffering from anxiety disorders. 

But for those it does help, there is a certain logic to it. Horror movies allow you to experience fear and anxiety in an objectively safe situation. Yes, you might feel unsafe, but in reality, you're just fine. Now, why would you willingly choose to feel fear and anxiety? Well, for one thing it's a form of exposure therapy. We tend to avoid so-called "negative" emotions and feelings, but as anyone who has studied mindfulness and/or Buddhism knows, it's important to "make friends" with those negative emotions (check out Tara Brach's life-changing book Radical Compassion for more about accepting difficult feelings). Watching scary movies lets us approach those intimidating feelings and practice living through them. 

Another reason is catharsis. What is catharsis? It is "the process of releasing, and thereby providing release from, strong or repressed emotions". What are some emotions we like to repress? Sadness. Anger. Fear. What kind of media do we often reach for during a difficult time, like a breakup or the death of a loved one? Tearjerkers. Alanis Morrisette's Jagged Little Pill. Things that help us cry and scream. Likewise, if you have a lot of anxiety and fear, reaching for media that encourages bringing those feelings to the forefront can have the same effect as watching a movie like Beaches or The Notebook when you need to cry. 

Finally, horror movies are just fucking good. Horror used to be a maligned genre, but thanks to Ari Aster, Jordan Peele, and other horrenaissance directors, scary movies are getting more respect than ever. But you don't need to watch snooty, artsy horror movies to get that buzz. Many people prefer classic slashers to the intensity of films like The Babadook or Midsommar, which are about the horrors of grief and isolation. 

Me? I tend to like the artsy ones. But they also have to be good and well-paced. Slow burns are ok, as long as they, in fact, burn. Nothing's worse than wanting to be scared and watching a slooooooow horror movie where nothing happens. 

With that in mind, here is a pretty comprehensive list of my favorite horror movies with a short description and, instead of a rating, I'll rank them from least intense to most intense, so horror novices who want to get into the genre can start at the with the easier films and work their way to the scarier ones.

Happy screaming!

***

Rosemary's Baby

The scariest thing about this 1968 film based on the novel by Ira Levin is that it's directed by a guy who went on to rape a child. You might have heard of him--Roman Polanski? I definitely wouldn't fault anyone for avoiding this tale of a woman who is tricked into bearing Satan's child due to who directed it, but if you're looking for a classic horror movie that has no gore, no jump scares, but a deep sense of paranoia and tension, this might be the one for you.

Get Out

Jordan Peele's social-horror film about the treachery of white liberalism is really more of a thriller with horror elements. And it is one of the best films of the 21st century. Even if you're the biggest scaredy-cat on the planet, you probably should still see Get Out since it is now part of our shared cultural conversation around race. 

The Invisible Man (2020)

Another thriller-with-horror-elements, Leigh Whannell's modern take on the H.G. Wells novel is about a woman on the run from her abusive--and very rich--boyfriend. When she is told that said boyfriend is now dead, Cecilia can finally be at peace...or can she? There are a few jump scares in this movie, and some violence, but nothing overly gory. 

The Invitation

Directed by Karyn Kusama (who also directed Jennifer's Body), The Invitation is all about the slow build up of tension during a party thrown by a married couple who invite the wife's ex-husband and his new girlfriend. At first, most of the tension revolves around the relatable awkward dynamics of being at a party with your ex. But when the conversation pivots to the couple sharing about a group they joined called "The Invitation", we have to wonder if something more devious is going on at this party. This is truly one of the most tense movies I've seen and you never know what's *really* going on until the very end. There is some violence, but nothing over-the-top. 

The Shining 

Now we're moving from kinda-horror to straight-up horror, although Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is still fairly safe for horror novices. If you don't live under a rock, you're probably at least somewhat familiar with this movie. Hell, The Simpsons did an entire parody of it. A family moves into an empty hotel in the mountains of Colorado to basically "hotel-sit" for the winter season. However, the dad gets cabin fever and goes bananas, trying to kill his wife and kid. There are some truly unsettling images (see below!) and run-of-the-mill violence, but I watched this movie alone in my unfinished basement when I was 12, so I'm sure you adult readers out there can handle it!

The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs is notable for being one of the very, very few horror-thrillers to ever win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Although it has aged poorly in its discussion of transgender people (although to be fair, the movie explicitly states that Buffalo Bill is NOT trans), the movie holds up as one of the most chilling films of all time. There's a scene at the end where Jodie Foster must hunt down a bad guy in total darkness that is probably one of the best movie scenes, period, in cinema history. 

The Conjuring

While all the films above are relatively safe for horror novices, we are now moving into genuinely scary and/or gory/intense territory. The Conjuring is a haunted house movie based on supposedly true events (I have no opinion of whether or not the Warrens were scam artists). You have jump scares, ghostly figures, screaming kids--the whole shebang--in this movie. But it's a damn good movie, period. There are now a fuckton of movies set "within The Conjuring universe" but the only really good one is this OG movie about a family tormented by the spirit of a dead woman in their new home. 

Candyman (1992)

The 2021 sequel is really good, but the original Candyman sets the stage for one of the most romantic and tragic horror villains of all time. In present day, a grad student is researching urban myths and runs across the story of Candyman--a killer with a hook for a hand--based out of the Cabrini-Green projects in Chicago. She awakens his spirit...and his heart, as she reminds him of his lost love. Candyman has violence (including a dead dog), child endangerment, jump scares, a fuckton of bees, and a white savior narrative...so watch at your own risk! 

Insidious

Though merely PG-13, Insidious scared the fuck out of me, so I can only assume it will scare the fuck out of others. A married couple have two sons. When one son falls and hits his head, he falls into a coma--and weird things start happening around the couple's house. They are convinced the house it haunted, so they move...only for weird shit to start happening in the new house. It turns out that their son (still in a coma, although being kept on life support at home) is haunted. More specifically, he is somewhere on the astral plane, which allows creepy shit to come from another dimension into this dimension. Yeah, it's a weird premise...but there is some spooky shit in this movie that you will not be able to unsee, including one of the most intense jump scares of all time. Also, the idea that PEOPLE can be haunted freaks me out personally. 

Midsommar 

The infamous Midsommar is not super scary in the traditional sense--it's more disturbing and upsetting than anything else. A young woman loses her entire family in a horrible tragedy and her piece of shit boyfriend is no help. So when she takes a trip to Sweden with that boyfriend and his grad student friends, she is excited to potentially leave some of that grief behind. Too bad the commune they're visiting is a DEATH CULT! Midsommar has one (long) scene of horrifically gruesome violence and a LOT of heavy emotions. It's also really funny, beautifully shot, well-acted, and just an all-around excellent film. Some people even say it has a happy ending. I guess you'll have to watch it to see how you feel about the final shot of the film.

It Follows

The unique premise of this film is what makes it so scary: an entity, we don't know exactly what, can take the form of any human being. If you have sex with someone the entity is haunting, it will then begin following you at a slow, yet steady pace. You can run from it, but it will never stop following you until it kills you. The only way to get rid of it is to have sex with someone else--BUT, if they die, it reverts back to you. It Follows is not particularly gory, but it is unsettling to the max. The fact that the entity takes the form of a person who just walks at you means the viewer will be scanning the screen the whole time, wondering where the entity will be next. This is a great movie for people who like to be scared, but don't like a lot of violence.

The Ring 

Another PG-13 film that almost gave me a heart attack, The Ring is legitimately terrifying on every level. It has unsettling images, jump scares, creepy children, people walking/crawling funny, etc. I once watched this movie with my extended family and my uncle, usually a alpha male type, exclaimed at one point "this really is a nightmare!!". The Ring is one of the few movies that caused me to lose sleep for a while after I saw it the first time AND I make a point not to think about it too much to this day because it will keep me up at night. Even though probably many of us saw the film in middle or high school, I would only recommend it to people who WANT to be scared.

Hereditary

Take the emotional torture porn of Midsommar and combine it with the unsettling images of The Ring and you have Hereditary. Ari Aster's breakout film was marketed so shrewdly to hide a HUGE twist that is both emotionally horrifying and nausea-inducing. A family faces one of the worst things that could happen, which leads mom Annie to start attempting to communicate with the dead. Creepy shit goes down. *Put on Stefon voice* This movie has it all: the occult, ghosts, gruesome images, jump scares, creepy shit happening in the background, parents screaming at children...you name it! While not as polished (or as good, in my opinion) as Midsommar, Hereditary is freaky, hands down. You will be scared and you will be unsettled.

The Descent 

The Descent is probably the scariest movie I've seen because of one word: claustrophobia. A group of female spelunkers explores a cave, only for the entry to collapse, trapping them inside. It turns out that the leader of the group knew the cave was unmapped but thought it was a good idea to explore it anyway. As the group works to find a way out, they realize that they are not alone--some cave-dwelling humanoids are down in the dank depths with them. And they're hungry. The Descent works on two levels: one, being trapped in a cave is terrifying. Two, humanoid creatures are terrifying. But humanoid creatures stalking you while you're trapped in a cave is mind-blowingly scary. While not as violent as some of the movies on this list, The Descent is the stuff of nightmares.

Honorable mentions:

A list of scary movies that are also good, but didn't make it onto my list for various reasons:

Green Room

You're Next

The Poughkeepsie Tapes

Lake Mungo

Us

The VVitch

A Dark Song

Suspiria

The Cabin in the Woods

The Love Witch

The Lighthouse

Ready or Not

The Babadook

Bram Stoker's Dracula

...and so many more!

Stuff I watched in...October 2021, part 1

Midnight Mass

Mike Flanagan is quickly becoming a household name. The director of quality horror films, such as Hush and Gerald's Game, and the creator of the incredibly scary The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, he is well-respected in the horror genre as someone who can fit both heavy emotions and legitimately pants-wetting terror into his work.

Midnight Mass is the latest of his "limited series" shows and, in some ways, is his most ambitious work yet. The show is a meditation on intense topics such as the after life, blind faith, redemption, and forgiveness. However, it suffers from one of Flanagan's signature quirks: LONG-ASS SPEECHES. In every episode of this show, multiple characters talk AT LENGTH about what happens after we die, the nature of God, etc etc. It really handicaps an otherwise very solid TV series.

Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) is the prodigal son of Crockett Island, a small fishing town somewhere in the Northeast (although, puzzlingly, no one has a Mainer or similar accent). Riley spent four years in prison for killing a woman after driving drunk. His loving mother invites him back into his childhood bedroom so that he can get his feet under him. But his gruff father has a harder time forgiving him.

Meanwhile, the community eagerly awaits the return of Monsignor Pruitt--an elderly priest who has led their local church for decades--from a trip to Israel. Crockett Island is very Catholic, with the exception of Sheriff Hassan, a practicing Muslim, Sarah Gunning, the local doctor and a closeted lesbian, Joe Collie, the town drunk, and Riley, who looked for God in prison and never found him. These four people find themselves not treated cruelly (except for maybe Joe, who is a scapegoat), but constantly pressured to conform and come to church. 

Well, Pruitt doesn't return. A younger priest, Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater, in an electric role), comes to town and explains that Monsignor Pruitt is recovering on the mainland since he fell ill during the trip. Under Father Hill's care, the town begins to see literal miracles happening: poor eyesight is regained, bad backs no longer hurt, and most miraculously of all, a young woman confined to a wheelchair after a terrible accident gets up and walks. All the faithful of Crockett Island are rapturous and become more and more zealous, with their faith rising to a fever pitch on Easter. 

Meanwhile, Riley and the nonbelievers feel that something unexplainable, yet terrible and wrong, is happening. But how can they convince the believers to listen to them when the evidence of "miracles" is all around them? 

Midnight Mass is about the horrors of blind faith. It is critical--though not damning--of Christianity. I have the sense that Flanagan is a man of faith (religion and faith show up in many of his other works) and this is his passion project in criticizing other people of faith who take it too far. But the film still comes down on the side of "it is better to believe in something rather than nothing". At least that's the sense I was left with. Others may disagree. 

If you're wanting to be scared shitless, check out The Haunting of Hill House, which sets the gold standard for haunted house stories, in my opinion. But if you want a little horror mixed in with long conversations about what might happen after we die, whether AA (with its "higher power" talk) is really the best option for those in recovery, and how a parent can forgive a child who disappointed them, etc...Midnight Mass with probably be your bag. I thought it was good, but I think Flanagan needs an editor to help him refine and cut down his florid writing before he can achieve true greatness.

Grade: B 

***

Seance

Directed by Simon Barrett, a longtime collaborator of Adam Wingard, Seance is a mediocre, paint-by-numbers horror film set in a modern day boarding school. 

After a late-night prank leads to the death of student Kerrie, a spot opens up at the Edelvine Academy for Girls. Camille Meadows (Suki Waterhouse) is accepted into the school and immediately makes an enemy of a clique of popular girls. However, spooky happenings lead Camille and the popular girls to work together to try to contact the "Edelvine Ghost". 

One by one, the girls either go missing or are found dead under peculiar circumstances. Is there a vengeful ghost--or ghosts--haunting the school? Or something else? 

Honestly, there are so many lazy and dumb things about this movie. First of all, they don't even conduct a seance--the girls use a makeshift planchette using a phone case and a lipstick tube to talk to the ghost. So the title isn't even accurate! The film is also rife with boarding school cliches including:

• Actresses who look way older than the characters they're playing
• All the students are incredibly gorgeous
• A budding lesbian relationship
• A headmistress who is not only severe and strict, but has an English accent despite this school being located in the United States.
• No one ever goes to class and when they do, the classes are ballet and theatre tech (i.e not boring classes like math). Also, all the main characters are all in the same classes

Despite the pretty cinematography and beautiful musical score, Seance is a snoozer of a horror movie. Feel free to pass this one up. 

Grade: C

***

Ouija: Origin of Evil

This movie, directed by the famous Mike Flanagan (see Midnight Mass, above), is know for being a rare sequel (in this case, a prequel) to a movie that turns out to be better than the original film. While 2014's Ouija is currently sitting at a 6% on Rotten Tomatoes, Ouija: Origin of Evil is sitting at a plump 82%. 

Starring Elizabeth Reaser as Alice Zander, a young widow raising two daughters, Lina and Doris, in 1967, Ouija: Origin of Evil has an interesting premise: what if scam artists suddenly discovered their scams were real? Because Alice no longer has a husband, she has to find a way to make ends meet. She performs seances to give grieving loved ones peace of mind that their family members are comfortable in the afterlife. Alice recruits her daughters to help her with the "showmanship"--shaking tables, candles that seem to blow themselves out, and ghostly apparitions. 

But when Alice buys a ouija board to spice up her little shows, all hell literally breaks loose. It seems that youngest daughter Doris is able to communicate with the dead using the board. She is able to talk directly to her dead father. Alice sees this as a miracle where older sister Lina is skeptical...especially when the normally sweet Doris begins to act cruel and distant. 

Though the final third swings for the fences a little TOO hard, Ouija: Origin of Evil has an interesting plot, some genuinely good scares, and decent acting. This is not Flanagan's best work, but given that the man is a genuine talent, his direction takes what could have been a shitty sequel to a shitty movie and elevates it to a decent flick.

Grade: B

***

The Guilty (2021)

Do you like to see pretty men cry? Then this is the movie for you! A nearly word-for-word remake of the 2018 Danish film of the same name (which I reviewed in my "Movies I watched in September" entry), The Guilty stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Joe Baylor, a cop in the LAPD who is benched while awaiting trial for killing a 19 year old man. He is assigned to answer emergency calls, and when a woman named Emily (Riley Keogh) calls one night, Joe becomes increasingly invested in her situation. Emily is in a car with a man she is afraid of. She pretends she is talking to her child while Joe asks her "yes" and "no" questions to determine where the car is headed so that he can send help.

The film hinges on an absolutely devastating twist that, of course, had less impact given that I've seen the original. Still, seeing an actor I love go through a roller coaster of emotions was enjoyable, even though I knew where the film was headed. Because the Danish and American versions of this film are nearly identical, and also because I don't want to give away too much of the plot, there's not a whole lot I can say about this film. If you like thrillers that focus mostly on one actor and take place in one location (think Colin Farrell in Phone Booth, Tom Hardy in Locke, and Ryan Reynolds in Buried), you'll probably enjoy The Guilty. I suppose I slightly enjoyed the American remake a bit more than the Danish original because it stars one of my favorite actors (who can hit it out of the park with a sobbing/whimpering scene, for sure). But since the two films are so, so similar, I'm going to give them the same grade.

Grade: B

***

Dolls

Dolls is a horror film from 1987 about, well, dolls. I saw parts of it as a child and it scared the fuck out of me, so I recently rewatched it for funsies to see if it still holds up. The answer: um, actually yes. It's still pretty fucking creepy. However, the humor in the movie is horrendously dated (not in an offensive way, just in a cheesy way) and the acting is atrocious. So, if you're looking for a scary movie to make fun of, but that might still creep you out--Dolls might fill that need.

The film takes place in rural England. An American family--Dad David, Stepmom Rosemary, and daughter Judy--is on vacation in the English countryside when their car breaks down during a thunderstorm. They spy an big, old house nearby and seek shelter with an elderly couple, Gabriel and Hilary, who live there. Gabriel is a doll maker, and so the entire house is filled with the creepy little poppets. But young Judy isn't afraid of the dolls--including a "Punch" doll that Gabriel gives her to hang on to. 

Three other strangers arrive: nice guy Ralph (basically a poor man's John Candy), and two English tarts, Enid and Isabel, who are obnoxious and loud. The movie really makes clear who the good guys and bad guys are from the get-go. 

Throughout the night, the dolls come alive and...well, they don't murder the bad guys per se. It's a little different than that. You'll have to see the movie to get what I'm talking about. But they definitely commit acts of violence on everyone except Judy and Ralph. Even though the movie is super corny overall, the dolls are actually pretty scary. A child watching this would likely have nightmares for weeks. And adult might just shudder at the uncanny valley-ness of it all. 

So do I recommend Dolls? Meh. It's not great. But if you like cheesy 80s horror, or wish there were even more movies in the "Chucky" series, it might provide a night of entertainment. 

Grade: C+

***

Movies I watched in...September 2021

Malignant

The best way to watch James Wan's latest horror film, Malignant, is without knowing anything about it. You may spend the first half of the film thinking it's fairly mediocre, but just wait. So if you're interested in seeing it, stop reading right now and go watch it. Then come back and finish reading the review.

...

...

...

...

HAHAHAHAHAHA HOLY FUCK, WASN'T THAT SHIT INSANE??

So, Malignant rests on a bat-shit crazy twist that is hinted at, but only fully revealed in the final third of the movie. The first part of the film follows Madison Mitchell (Annabelle Wallis, a regular in James Wan's films), a pregnant woman married to an abusive man. When hubby goes too far and pushes Maddy into a wall one day, a mysterious black figure shows up later than night and makes quick work of hubs, breaking his neck. The cops have their eye on Maddy as a potential suspect, even though she seems timid and harmless. Things get even more complicated when Maddy begins to have visions of murders. Basically, she's in her own home, but she can see the murder take place in real time. 

It's important to note that Maddy was adopted at age 8. Before the adoption, she can't remember much of what her life was like. However, she would speak to someone named "Gabriel" who would tell her to do bad things. Her adoptive parents always assumed Gabriel was Maddy's invisible friend, and once Maddy's sister, Sydney, was born, Maddy stopped mentioning Gabriel.

Well, the twist is that Gabriel is/was Maddy's parasitic twin. You know how some people are born the like a lump on their neck and when it's removed, there are teeth in the lump? That's basically Gabriel, except WAY more developed, and also happens to have supernatural powers which he uses for evil. Maddy's mother gave her up to a hospital that observed Gabriel and Maddy, and eventually excised Gabriel from Maddy's body. However, since the two shared a brain, they could only "suppress" Gabriel...and when Maddy's husband banged her head against the wall, it awoke the dormant Gabriel. So all those murders were Gabriel's will, using Maddy's body. Gabriel put Maddy into a sleep-like state while murdering people, which is why Maddy could sort of see the murders, but thought she was at home.

Does any of this make any sense, medical or otherwise? Fuck no! Unlike The Human Centipede, this film is NOT medically accurate. But it is fun as hell, especially the final third. If Gabriel had been like, a ghost or demon or something, this movie would be getting a C/C+...but the twist is so bonkers, so hilariously wild, that it bumps it up a whole letter grade. Don't misunderstand: Malignant is not a "good" movie. But it's really, really fun. It recalls cheesy, gruesome movies of the 80s, like Basket Case and Dead Alive. Some critics have also said it's reminiscent of giallo films, but I'm not quite seeing the connection there. It definitely has a vintage feel, for sure. And the poster is great! 

Well, if you have read this far, you either already saw it, or I blew the twist. But here's the thing: I knew the twist going in and it was still fun as fuck! So if you're a horror fan at all, please watch this movie. 

Grade: B+

***

 The Card Counter

Directed by Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver and director/writer of First Reformed), The Card Counter is a bleak meditation on whether or not one can be redeemed after one commits heinous crimes. Specifically, torture.

Oscar Isaacs, in a career-best performance, plays William, a man who spent 10 years in prison where he learned to count cards. He now spends his days pulling in modest winnings at casinos around the country. William is careful to never win so big that he draws attention to himself, and he is always on the move. He stays in cheap motels and he covers all the furniture in sheets. Why does he do this? Is he running from someone or something? 

The reason William was in the clink is because he was convicted of war crimes. He was an interrogator at Abu Ghraib (or a similar facility). We see flashbacks as William tries to sleep at night. These scenes, shot in a distorted fish-eye lens, are the most powerful scenes in the film, and indeed are among the most visceral scenes I have watched in a long time--and they're not even that explicit. Schrader is careful to capture the environment, filled with noise, naked men in stress positions, barking dogs, and feces covering the floors and walls without using violence as entertainment. This film's take on torture, specifically the torture administered by American soldiers on Muslim men in the post-9/11 world, is unflinching and unsparing in its condemnation. William tells a young man, Cirk (Tye Sheridan), whose father was also an interrogator, that even though he is bitter that his superiors were never punished he is not justifying what was done. The camera pushes in on Isaacs deep-set, tired eyes as he says, "Nothing will ever justify what we did." 

William is a man with very little reason to live or to forgive himself. He makes a connection with a woman named La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), who runs a "stable" of gamblers who have outside financial backing. Around the same time, William meets Cirk--a young, troubled man who blames Major John Gordo (Willem Dafoe) for his father's suicide. Gordo is essentially a stand-in for the real life John Bolton--basically one of the bigwigs in charge of "advanced interrogation techniques" for the US military. Cirk's father never forgave himself for what he did during the war and became and alcoholic who abused his wife and young Cirk before taking his own life. Cirk's plan is to capture Gordon, torture him, and kill him. 

William believes that if he can win enough money--using La Linda's backers--to help Cirk pay off his debts, that he can convince Cirk not to go through with this plan. If he can only give Cirk the hope that he himself never had, maybe he can save Cirk from his own hatred and anger. But is William being played for a fool?

I have a few criticisms of this film. Namely, a good amount of the dialogue is clunky and unnatural. I hate to say it, but Tiffany Haddish and Tye Sheridan don't seem to be strong dramatic actors (Haddish is, of course, a gifted comedian). The way they delivered their lines felt like they had simply memorized them and then said them back, with no cadence or anything to help make their delivery feel lifelike. And when compared to Isaacs, who is an incredibly gifted dramatic actor...well, it felt awkward.

However, the overall messages of the film, which are 1) that America sold its soul during the Iraq war and cannot be forgiven, and 2) some individuals who seek redemption may never find it, are so powerful that I can overlook some of the clunkiness. And, again, the scenes in the Abu Ghraib prison are perfection at capturing the literal hell that both the prisoners and their tormentors found themselves in. I recently watched all the Saw movies and as I watched these prison scenes I thought "America basically created its own Saw in these prisons, only worse because at least in Saw you could hope to win the game." 

Bleak, unrelenting, and deeply emotional, I recommend The Card Counter.

Grade: B

***

The Guilty

I watched this 2018 Danish film in preparation for the 2021 remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Jakob Cedergren stars in a nearly one-man movie as Asger Holm, a police officer awaiting trial for killing a 19-year-old. He is taken off his usual beat and assigned to work an emergency hotline. One evening, he receives a call from a woman named Iben (voiced by Jessica Dinnage) who at first talks to Asger as if she's talking to her child. Asger figures out that Iben is in a car with a man she does not feel safe with, and the two devise a code so Iben can give Asger clues as to where the car is going. 

To say much more would spoil the plot, which slowly reveals additional details (I'll give you one detail: the man she's in the car with is her ex-husband) and the tension ramps up and up, as Asger becomes fully invested in the woman's situation. 

It will be interesting to see how the American remake takes on the issue of police brutality. One could possibly see this film (and maybe it's remake? I haven't watched it yet) as "copaganda" since a supposedly bad cop does a good thing for the woman on the phone...but the film ends on such an ambiguous note that I don't really think it's trying to be like the movie Crash (where the bad guys are good and the good guys are bad and moral lessons are spoon-fed to us!). 

Overall, it's pretty good. Not great, but good, Jakob Cedergren "gives good face" in this movie, which is important since 90% of the movie is just...his face. In one INCREDIBLY tense scene, his eyes well up just a tiny bit, and damn if that's not some good acting. Check it out!

Grade: B