I finally had the opportunity today to watch what’s probably been my most highly anticipated movie in a long while:
They Live Inside Us.
I truly can’t remember the last time I was this excited for a new movie. Maybe Halloween 2018? It’s hard to say. But from the instant I pressed “play”, this one didn’t disappoint, and lived up to my every expectation.
Much like the predecessor that it was born out of, the Witching Season anthology, They Live Inside Us is an all-out love letter to Halloween, that was clearly made by people who love Halloween, for people who love Halloween, and truly understand what other people who love Halloween want to see.
The opening sequence of this film, with two mischievous boys riding up on their bikes to the house that will become the central focus of the story, immediately brought me back to the Halloweens of my childhood. That mischievous streak that takes us over, that part of us that wants to be scared, no matter how we feel any other time of the year. And if there’s one thing I will never get over about Witching Season Films, it’s their ability to pick out, and perfectly capture on camera, the perfect decorations, to both incite an intense feeling of Halloween nostalgia, and also create an atmosphere that is foreboding enough to make you wonder what’s lurking beyond them.
Soon we meet our main character, Jake, a writer who’s clearly exhausted and desperate for inspiration, who has come to the eerie Booth House, with his young, physically disabled daughter, in the hopes of writing the next great horror story.
As they settle into the house (well, as much as you can “settle” in a place like this), eerie things start to happen. Their first night in the Booth House plays out in a style similar to the first season of American Horror Story. (I strongly encourage fans of Murder House to check this movie out, if you’ve been missing that vibe!) Strange, unexplainable things start to happen, and lines start to blur between what’s real and what’s a hallucination.
As Jake starts to work on his story, we’re treated to a few little horror stories within the main story itself. Jake toys with the idea of a masked killer, a scarecrow, and an evil clown, all of which we get to see visualized in great detail. The masked killer bit is a fun throwback to the original anthology’s Killer On The Loose. The Scarecrow sequence is my favorite aesthetically. I could smell the corn and hay at my favorite local farm while watching this. And the clown piece introduces a truly iconic character named Choppy. I admit to being a sucker for an evil clown in most cases, but Choppy was definitely the most horrific character in the story, taking things in a different, more raw direction for a bit. I dare say I think he could hang with the “Heads” from another favorite Halloween/horror film of mine, Rob Zombie’s 31. I am also incredibly impressed that each of the killers in the stories, along with Jake himself, were all played by James Morris. He does a fantastic job with all these roles. It was obviously a big job to take on, but the passion and dedication, from everyone involved with the film, is strong and obvious. You will know while watching this movie that these people love what they do.
I won’t reveal how the story ends here, because I want people to watch this movie. I will say, if you haven’t watched the original short film yet, it may be best to wait until after you’ve watched the full length film, so you feel the full effect of the ending. But, even going into it with some idea of how it was likely going to conclude, it still managed to get me in the end. There were a few bits added onto the ending that actually made it really emotional. It took me a few minutes to even move after it was over, and I won’t deny I had tears in my eyes.
Since seeing the short film for the first time, I’ve wanted more of the They Live Inside Us story, and this movie was truly everything I hoped it would be and more. It managed to combine everything one could possibly ask for in a Halloween film. Nostalgia, atmosphere, and even a darker horror element than I would’ve expected. They Live Inside Us deserves to become a Halloween staple, for anyone and everyone who loves the holiday, and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves.
Please check it out, you won’t be disappointed.
Stay spooky, my friends.
Comments
Post a Comment