Mini Movie Reviews: Would You Rather, You're Next and Await Further Instructions

Happy Friday the 13th! 👻

I'm always on the lookout for good horror movies, which can be a lot harder to find than you'd think. So many have one dimensional characters, poorly written storylines and so much graphic violence it's more distracting than scary (Midsommar immediately comes to mind). 

It's also been tricky for me to watch them over the years. Horror doesn't lend itself to solo viewing and none of my family members or close friends enjoy the genre. Theaters bringing back classics has helped, as has seeing some of the newer ones at the show, since at least you're around other people. But like most things, I've gotten used to not worrying about it and just watching them all by myself (dramatically long sigh). 

Some of my favorites are Cabin in the Woods, Zombieland and Fright Night (2011)...yes, they count...30 Days of Night, Let the Right One In (2008) and Let Me In (2010), Poltergeist (1982), The Purge and The Purge: Anarchy, Doctor Sleep (2019), A Quiet Place, Get Out, Us, The Exorcist (so damn creepy!), The Ritual, The Void, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Orphanage, The Woman in Black (I was lucky enough to see the play when I was in London!), The Sixth Sense, Silence of the Lambs, Hide and Seek (2005), Only Lovers Left Alive (it barely counts, but I love it, so why not include it?), Constantine (2005)...I know I'm missing some good ones...hmm...

Post-Halloween I've been working through a list of suggestions a friend gave me (she had previously recommended The Void and The Ritual, which were great). Unfortunately this batch I'd give two and a half, maybe three stars. My biggest overall complaint was lack of nuance. A little finesse and frankly, better acting, and any of these could have pushed four stars. 

SPOILERS AHEAD!

A sinister take on a party game, the premise of Would You Rather (2012) was intriguing, but lacked anything resembling subtlety. Shepard Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs) was a millionaire, sociopathic asshole who sponsors a deadly game of terrible choices, the winner securing with their life and enough money to resolve whatever problem got them there in the first place. Lambrick was immediately set up as extremely entitled and super shady, which I think was a mistake. It would have been more effective if he'd appeared benevolent and caring, only to turn into a person willing to pit people against each other for his own entertainment. Gotham's Robin Lord Taylor played Lambrick's son, Julian, which should have been a good casting choice. Instead, the role was played over-the-top, with him calling the victims "pigs" and shaming them for begging his father for money...which none of them were shown doing. As far as the viewer is aware, all the victims were sought out by Lambrick - people in tough financial situations with no close family to snoop around asking questions when they disappeared. 

One of the things the movie did well was show people's humanity (other than the rich people, of course). The first challenge was to decide between shocking yourself with electricity, or the person sitting next/across from you. When given the choice, almost everyone picked themselves. In others rounds, they try to mitigate the damage their causing to others. Certain people were less caring than others, leading to two of the deaths, while two others were shot by Lambrick and his goons, and one killed by a solo challenge. 

This is going to sound weird, but I don't think there were enough rounds of Would You Rather for it to seem plausible. For as much trouble as this guy goes through to gather people and play this "game," things escalate very quickly and are over in four bouts. There should have been an easier, lower stakes first round and then one more serious challenge before the final choice. 

I will say I was surprised by the final scene, so that was a plus (though very sad). 

Overall I would not recommend it for the poor acting and directing choices. 

When the friend suggested You're Next (2011), it made me nervous because she said this was one of her all time favorite movies. I managed to say some good things when I told her I'd watched it, and left out the rest. 

The movie opened with the murder of a couple, "You're Next" scrawled in victim #1's blood on the glass french doors. Their assailant(s) are wearing animal masks, making them extra creepy. We're then introduced to a older couple on the way to their country house to celebrate their anniversary with family. Tension between their adult children was quickly apparent, evidenced by an excessive amount of verbal sniping, until an arrow flew through the window, killing one of the guests. Tragedy ensued (duh, it's a horror flick). 

SUPER SPOILER: There were two moments that took me by surprise - when the patriarch is murder and his son, Felix (Nicholas Tucci), watched it happen...which is when we find out that Felix is behind the murders and the couple at the beginning was a ruse to throw off the police. The second was when the heroine - and only person with survival skills because she was raised in a backwoods prepper cult - Erin (Sharni Vinson) finally takes out all the bad guys and Felix phone rings. When she answered it, I said "oh noooo" out loud, because the only person it could be was Felix's brother, Crispian (AJ Bowen)...ie. her boyfriend and reason for her being at the party in the first place. 😱 

My biggest issue with this one was the acting. There was no chemistry between the characters and some of the dialogue felt like it had been written the night before, making for some fairly stilted performances. 

Since I gave away the ending (assuming you didn't cover your eyes when you saw SUPER SPOILER), you should probably give this one a pass. 

Last but definitely least - Await Further Instructions (2018), which earns itself a solid two stars. 

The single dimension of every character other than Grandad (David Bradley) is brutal...bruuutal. Nick (Sam Gittins) is the self righteous son who hasn't been home in three years because of his tyrannical and overly zealous government lackey father (Grant Masters), which has caused much pain for his caring and peacekeeping mother (Abigail Cruttenden). Nick's sister, Kate (Holly Weston), is a pregnant, smug daddy's girl who enables Grandad xenophobic remarks. At least he has a secondary motivation...he loves poking the bear. A couple times he said something racist and then sat back and chuckled while everyone else started fighting. 

Everything from here on out is a SPOILER. The basic premise is Nick is bringing his girlfriend, Annji (Neerja Naik) to meet his family over Christmas. Unkind and intolerant comments are made, so Nick and Annji decide to leave first thing in the morning. When they open the front door, their way is blocked by some kind of black substance. After inspecting the rest of the house, they find every window and door is also covered. Shortly thereafter, messages begin appearing on the TV:

- "STAY INDOORS AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS."

(Ok, sounds reasonable enough.)

- "ALL YOUR FOOD IS CONTAMINATED. EAT NOTHING." 

(The dad insists on discarding all food, which seems like a bad idea when there's a pregnant woman in the house.)

- "DECONTAMINATE YOURSELVES. STRIP AND SCRUB ALL FLESH WITH HOUSEHOLD BLEACH."

(Some people find this odd, but still do it at the dad's insistence, because the messages are clearly from the government, who know what's best for them. 😐🙄)

- "USE TRIAL VACCINATIONS. ATMOSPHERE CONTAMINATED."

(When a bag of used hypodermic needles and a purported vaccine clamber down the chimney, Annji, whose a doctor, tried to talk people out of taking it. Alas they all cave to dad's insistence, which leads to grandad reacting badly and dying). 

- "VACCINATION PROCEDURE COMPLETE", followed quickly by "RETURN ALL CLINICAL APPARATUS VIA THE ACCESS SLOT" and "ACCESS SLOT CONTAMINATION."

(Kate's husband, Scott (Kris Saddler), tried pulling the slot open, which "contaminated" it, cause it to slam shut, cutting of three of his fingers.) 

- "ONE OF YOUR NUMBER IS INFECTED. ISOLATE THEM."

(Guess who gets isolated? Yup...Annji, because she'd been sniffling. Racist comments are made about her having brought it with her from India. She's forced to sequester in the bedroom with Grandad's dead body.)

- "WARNING INTERRUPTING EMERGENCY SIGNAL PUTS LIVES AT RISK"

(Ticked off from taking orders from a TV, Nick unplugs it. Dad freaks out, plugging it back in and finds this message.)

- Scott fights with Nick over unplugging the TV. Kate follows them upstairs, egging on Scott. In the tussle, they knock into Kate, pushing her over the railing. She ends up with a badly broken leg and possible other internal injuries. As Scott is frozen in shock, he sees "I SEE YOU" flash on the TV. 

- "DANGER EXFILTRATION IN PROGRESS", then "SURVIVORS MUST NOT BREACH PERIMETER". 

(While searching for an exit, Nick is able to slip his phone beyond the black barrier and record a clip of what's going on outside. Such behavior cannot be tolerated, which lead to:)

- "EXTRACT INFORMATION FROM SLEEPER AGENT" flashing on the TV. Nick's dad proceeds to smash his phone, destroying the footage, knocks Nick out and begins torturing him for information about what's happening and why. Spoiler - Nick has no idea (duh). Dad only stops when he hears Kate has died.

- Annja discovers a TV buried in the closet and I SEE YOU" flashes on her screen. 

- "SECURITY BREACH FIRST FLOOR" then flashes on the ground floor TV, followed by "ACTIVATING QUARANTINE BEDROOM 1," "ACTIVATING QUARANTINE BEDROOM 2" and "ALL SURVIVORS RETURN TO GROUND FLOOR." Gas begins pouring into the upstairs rooms, which is how we lose mom.

- The house begins to rattle and "I AM REBORN," "I BRING SALVATION," and "RESURRECTION" appear on the TV. This is when dad completely loses his sh*t and thinks it's the Second Coming. Annji tells Nick about the TV upstairs and that when she opened the back, it had what looked like a beating heart inside. 

- "MAKE A SACRIFICE TO SAVE THE UNBORN" causes Dad and Scott to try killing Nick and Annji, but ends up with them dead instead.  Wire-like tendrils then emerge from the TV, invading the dad's body and uses him to murder Nick and Annji. The tendrils then dissolve Kate's body, revealing the still living baby inside. Her parents had decided to name her Ruby if she was a girl, so the final message on the television before our screen mercifully fades to black is: 

- "HELLO RUBY. WORSHIP ME."

You never find out what the wire-tendril thing is exactly, but the final shot pulled back and pans the neighborhood, where it's clear the exact same thing has been happening everywhere...so it's safe to assume some alien creature has invaded, is taking over the earth and adding to its cult following along the way. 

The best part of the movie is the trivia:

- The surname of the family, Milgram, refers go the Milgram test of obedience to authority, a theme dominant throughout the film. It is also revealed that the family resides on Stanford street, a reference to the Stanford Prison experiment which studied similar themes of perceived power and authority.

Clever.

If nothing else, it makes you wonder how you would handle a similar situation. Perhaps the benefit of watching this movie is you now know to do the exact opposite of whatever they did and it literally can't go any worse. 😁😎

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Any scary movie recommendations for me to check out? I'm willing to settle for thrillers if horror isn't your thing. 💀

~ Katie Q.🐧