HERETIC Review

I remember reading an interview with David Fincher when he was doing press for Gone Girl where, in talking about adapting the book, he stated, "You have to choose which aspect you want to make a movie from." The idea that adapting didn't simply mean to alter the material so that it fit a new medium but adjusting, modifying even - so that said material was not only suited to this new medium but complimentary of it, stuck with me. Heretic was not adapted from a book and doesn't *really* take Fincher's advice when it comes to picking a single aspect from the topic it's covering to focus on. In fact, Heretic operates more in the "go big or go home" line of thought as it attempts to be a mind game, a mind fuck, as well as a critical reading of organized religions that ring “as hollow and as capitalistic” as board games like Monopoly with all its "zany spinoffs".

I bring up this Fincher quote because it helped me narrow my thoughts in response to Heretic for, despite the sprawling breadth of the subject matter and epic monologue deliveries via a charming-as-ever Hugh Grant, what I really zeroed in on was this idea of "iterations" and how the film presents this idea that these amalgamations of fantastical stories meant to serve as moral channels have ultimately presented us diluted and obscured worldviews. Views that people have died in the name of, views that have created rifts between entire civilizations and have fostered countless forms of violence throughout history despite being perceived as a major contributor to a peaceful society. That isn't to say this is any single religion's fault - people will find anything to argue about - but that it has become the basis for such negative repercussions says a lot about how organized religions have imported their ideas to their followers and how that shapes how those followers then choose to experience the world.

THE BOOGEYMAN Review

Movie teenagers are the worst, but the teens in attendance at my screening of The Boogeyman made the experience all the more enjoyable. Screaming at every minor sound effect, hiding their faces under the covers they brought specifically for that reason and praying they don’t have to overcome a fear of the dark for a second time in their lives after seeing the latest from director Rob Savage (Host). Their reactions honestly may have influenced my enjoyment of the film slightly but only because it became very clear how effective the film was at working on its target audience just as it intended. 

The Boogeyman doesn't offer the most original premise, no, but Savage knows how to construct jump scares and build atmosphere; both of which are key to enjoying this well-made and effective horror flick even if the themes and conceit don’t reinvent the wheel. Beginning with the offscreen death of an infant is one way to set a tone (sorry if that's a spoiler) yet Savage goes there and leans into the idea of death without fear of alienating his audience. Rather, the dynamics and situations of his prmary cast members are strong out the gate because Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Mark Heyman's screenplay takes its time in both describing and processing the grief each character is experiencing and handling in different ways.