Barbarian

Barbarian is such a twisted and incredibly unique film. Going into this film, I thought I had a pretty good indication of how this was going to go down and was ready for a fun cheesy horror film that follow a pretty generic pattern, but boy was I wrong. Almost the entirety of the trailer was just the first act, and it left me seriously stumped at where this movie was going. That sense of unknown really added to the thick tension that this movie brought throughout. There is a paranoia that occurs with both the audience and the main character. You never know who to trust, even if they give you all the indications that they are trustworthy.

In today's horror cinema, it is rare to see a movie so reliant on building tension rather than jus...

I like Justin Long, he was fantastic in Jeepers Creepers but Barbarian is uninspiring, to say the least. Not that that is the fault of the actors.

Without giving too much away, Barbarian feels a little like The Hills Have Eyes, meets Psycho, meets Quasimodo. The problem here is the scripting and handling. Its takes far too long for this story to get off the ground, it has weird, nonsensical plot holes and the reveal comes far to early.

Whats left almost feels like a second film. It leaves only a reiteration of the essential earlier plot line with a few wrinkles, as the film moves towards its rather icky, conclusion.

Of course, any sense of fear and tension, built up subtly in the first part of the film, is dissipated too. You know...

While for many horror fans, Barbarian might be compelling and unique, I found it decent but more strange and uncomfortable than scary and not as remarkable as others seem to think.

Barbarian had heavy hype and big expectations before I checked it out. And while it didnt blow my mind, I can see why many film aficionados would rate it more highly. It had a fresh Jordan Peele-type feel to a story that has been done many times before. I enjoyed the different stories coming together and the obvious nods to tropes of people ignoring clearly dangerous situations and red flags. However, while it had some fun elements, I wasnt as impressed as many reviews suggested I should be. Definitely not a bad movie by any means, but some of the horror i...

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/barbarian-spoiler-free-review

"Barbarian deserves all the hype it received so far! Zach Cregger's unique storytelling in the horror film will leave any viewer baffled, transforming a generic premise into a truly captivating, suspenseful, thematically rich story where the definition of a "good person" is brilliantly explored.

It plays around with the audience's anticipation, especially with fans of the genre already used to the unfolding of formulaic arcs, through exciting twists and sudden tonal changes.

Georgina Campbell stands out from the rest, but all the players are important in embodying the idea that "appearances can be deceiving".

Mandatory viewing - go in blind."

Rating: B+

When "Tess" (a rather prone to over-acting Georgina Campbell) arrives at her airb'n'b she discovers that it is already occupied by "Keith" (Bill Skarsgård). Both are meant to be there - some dodgy booking admin - and so after a bit of a shaky start, and a bottle of red, they agree to share for the night. Next morning, on the hunt for some toilet tissue, she encounters a secret room in the basement that looks like it's been used for nefarious purposes. When her new friend comes home, he goes exploring and next thing, we discover a network of tunnels inhabited by... To be fair to auteur Zach Cregger, there is quite an impactful degree of claustrophobic horror to this but I am afraid I wasn't convinced - right from the start - with the plausib...

GO INTO THIS MOVIE BLIND. Do not read anything, watch the trailer, etc. Just go along for the ride.

Tess (Georgina Campbell) books into an airbnb to find it already booked by Keith (Bill Skarsgård). The plot then develops in a series of unexpected ways and keeps you guessing throughout. This is proper old school Chainsaw Massacre style horror/thriller. Very tense and fast moving. It's better the less you know so stop reading and start watching.

Barbarian is a great horror movie, both in style and writing. It captures the viewer right from the beginning with a cinematography that manages to subtly portray the house as creepy in one scene and cozy in the next. The whole presentation is masterfully done and abruptly shifts multiple times throughout the story.

The actors, and Georgina Campbell in particular, are consistently great. This is one of those movies that manages to become scarier by "tricking" smart and in part relatable characters into helpless and intense situations instead of relying on slasher cliches. Barbarian really keeps you on your toes with unexpected twists and only the final quarter includes a number of regular horror movie tropes.

Overall great writing, c...