COBWEB
Amazingly, 2023 saw two films released with “Cobweb” as its title, and both turned out to be pretty great films. The other one is a South Korean film that I have already reviewed for this blog, whereas the one I am talking about today is the genius little horror film, directed by talented Frenchman Samuel Bodin. Back in 2019, Bodin wrote and directed for Netflix the French language horror series, “Marianne”, which was a total gem and particularly, very scary. As is the norm for Netflix, they cancelled this brilliant series after only one season, but because of “Marianne”, Samuel Bodin was now on my radar and I looked forward to whatever he did next. That turned out to be “Cobweb”, Bodin's first foray into English language horror, and he immediately proved that “Marianne” was no fluke. That said, I am not sure if Bodin is just unlucky or has offended someone upstairs, but after “Marianne” being prematurely cancelled, he now suffered the fate of “Cobweb” being sent out into the world with almost no marketing behind it, at the same time as when both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” was released. “Cobweb” had no chance at leaving a mark on the world, and yet those who have found “Cobweb”, have championed it due to just how stylishly it has been made and just how scary it is. With the film taking place over Halloween, it really should have been released around that time too, to give the film a chance, as it has the atmosphere of that holiday in spades.
The film is about a young eight year old boy who starts to hear noises coming from the walls of his bedroom in the middle of the night. His parents tell him it is his imagination, but as the sounds persist, he becomes less and less sure that his parents are telling him the truth. When he then overhears a story about a girl who went missing near his house one Halloween night, the boy begins to believe that his parents may not be as nice and normal as they went him to believe. One night, the noises in the wall changes to a voice, a voice telling him that his parents want to kill him.
This is such a great little horror film, that has that spooky campfire quality to it. It is so stylishly directed, with Bodin pulling out all the stops with his camera work, camera moves, and shadow play all being very impressive. It is a very visual film, which totally seduced me by its style. I will admit that the film is not perfect, but jeez, it is a whole lot of fun. The first hour of the film, is more mystery and set-up. It is almost Hitchcockian at times, but very, very creepy, thanks to the performances from Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr, who play the boy's parents. You understand why the boy isn't sure about his folks, as something is definitely off there. The final half an hour of the film is completely different in tone, and I was not prepared for just how bloody and brutal it was all going to get. By the end of “Cobweb”, it becomes a very messy and gooey film!! Like everything else in this film the gore is incredibly well done, using a lot of practical effects. There is quite a turn in the story towards its end, that I want to keep secret, but suffice to say it has been handled more practically and with less CGI then you would expect (which I found out thanks to the special features on my blu ray of “Cobweb”). It is also this turn that people have the most problem with when it comes to the film, because the tone and style of the film changes drastically because of it all. Personally I really liked this change, and thought it added a lot to this already fantastic horror film, but once again, my fourteen year old daughter and I differed in our opinions in regards to “Cobweb”, and she felt the ending started to border more on the silly side than I did.
In a perfect world, I would have preferred the spotlight that “Talk To Me” received to have been shone on “Cobweb” instead, or at the very least for it to have got the same amount of light shined on it too, because personally I think it was the hidden horror gem of 2023, and definitely the most underrated film of the year. The film is good enough that I am sure it will end up having a following in the future, but it deserved that following now.
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