Over Halloween night I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to watch, it took me a while to figure out whether I should watch a series I was already watching or watch something I had seen before; feeling a bit fatigued over that idea I chose to check out something new, though I was relatively uncertain about this decision given I wasn't sure whether I was going to throw myself into viewing something I may not enjoy, effectively 'wasting' Halloween night. A stupid idea, I know, but I still ran with that decision and decided to check out a film I had been seeing around here and there, something I didn't bother to research at all nor was I all that interested in accidentally spoiling it for myself. This film was Barbarian. A film from a director known as Zach Cregger, that I don't recall ever seeing around before prior to this. Perhaps I have seen something of his in the past.
Barbarian is a film that I'm not sure if I enjoyed or not, I found myself getting a bit bored of what it offered, finding it a bit too long and a bit lackluster for the 1 hour and 43 minutes in length it had. I certainly didn't hate the film, but the usual feeling that it was just taking my time and not really utilising it well came about. I have noticed this is a frequent occurrence these days as runtimes are long but it seems as if the director just didn't really know what to do with that time, spanning things out when they could be much shorter. Almost as an excuse to increase the runtime with the intentions of maybe being a bit more ambitious, but then backing out of it at the last moment.
This was by far my greatest issue with the film, though it did toy with multiple ideas that I found quite interesting for a horror and thriller film. It felt a bit fresh, but still that uncertainty crept in and removed some of my enjoyment of it. The twists and odd moments that take place as it progresses are ultimately watered down due to the runtime, and again that idea of ambition without the courage to take things further was felt.
Barbarian
Barbarian introduces itself with the typical horror tropes that plague the genre, while toying with today's societal issues and politics to amplify those tropes: the idea of a woman booking a stay at a property in a predominently poor and black neighbourhood in Detroit only to arrive at the location in the night to find that a stranger was already present at the property; this stranger inviting them in to stay with them because of the dangers of being out at night in the area, that she should really reconsider going out and finding another place to stay, that she is in fact safer with him. We get this strange feeling from the start regarding where this narrative is going, we feel unsafe ourselves viewing the inside of this relatively dim, but nicely decorated property. The unfamiliarity of it and the stranger that seems so inviting and generous. Open to discussion and even going as far as offering the woman alcohol. As the audience we immediately feel that something is off, and our minds play with the idea of where this might all be going. That there is some strange hidden agenda at play here. Perhaps this location was never really on the market for short stays? Perhaps this man is a killer?
The film continues to play with these ideas and promoting them into our minds as the woman hears strange noises at night, she roams around the house in suspicion that the stranger opened her door; in the morning she discovers a hidden area in the basement, one of which features a room with a video camera on a tripod, an old bed opposite. This obviously gives us more to work with, implying more malicious intent from the stranger. But this is where this film begins to play with subversions! And I believe it did this in a really interesting and unique manner. The film pushes beyond this idea and reveals its second chapter: our stranger is innocent. Completely unaware of the hidden room and the cave system that appears to be beneath the property. This 'gotcha!' moment feels really fresh, I found myself surprised at the direction the film went in, not expecting it at all. And to add to it, it takes another twist later on to again subvert the expectations you had. Though the problem with the film is how it fails to really capitalise from these subversions of expectation. It quickly sizzles out and tries to tell a longer narrative that almost feels like the film is split into two different narratives, though deciding suddenly to attempt to pull them together into one.
As this narrative continues, the film pulls more influence from reality to try to immerse us, using tropes and real political and societal issues to provide depth to one of the main characters. I found this a bit lazy, truthfully. I think it was a very easy way to go about building a character that wasn't that interesting. This weakness being that the film still found a way to inject some political beliefs and commentary when it didn't really add a whole lot to the film. His character being more of an asshole type, which is common for the horror genre often: that one character that seemingly just treats others like shit for no reason, not very likeable, but the film could've easily built such a character in another manner, without resorting to the easiest option of a Hollywood producer that is getting allegations made against him. It felt like the fastest way they could possibly create a character that people would instantly dislike given the real world events, but I guess it works. Just that it isn't really for me.
Given the genre, it wouldn't really be a horror film if it didn't rely on certain tricks and moments that take place to the audience's almost demand: the main character tripping over. Them failing to use logical thinking to get themselves out of situations. The idea that they just have to go back to the dangerous area to save someone despite them being useless. Though in part we even see a counter character serving as the voice of reason in one moment. I really enjoyed seeing this, that for once we see that character that steps in and says that whatever the story wants, shouldn't be the direction chosen. And tropes are what this film absolutely loves even if it intentionally avoids handing them to us through subversion. I'll refrain from mentioning more regarding the narartive, however. As I do feel that the eventual twists ca be quite unexpected if you avoid other reviews and the trailers. While I think they're good, again that annoyance of a runtime that isn't worthy of the events on screen can be repeated. Condensed down by another 20 to 30 minutes, and I think this could've been a solid horror flick for Halloween, up there with the typical type of anthology series that used to be given in the past.
Directing
With a relatively short budget, Barbarian is a pretty decent film visually. I found myself enjoying the lighting and the set design quite a bit. We also get a really unique perspective of a character in one scene that places us directly into their view, their arms reaching out into the darkness as if they were our own. Showing us the claustrophobic nature of the cave system beneath the property. It seems the production took advantage of having a very limited set of spaces to utilse by putting much of the budget into decorating them properly, knowing they'd be used often and seeing the importance of dressing them up in a manner that seems authentic. Often enough these lower budget films fall flat on the art direction and it pulls us out of that immersion. The same can be said regarding performances. And this film has a pretty interesting cast! One member of which being Justin Long, an actor I haven't seen in a while now; his performance pretty good in a more serious role where I feel I can only really remember him for his more comedic ones. Though now much more aged.
It felt like your usual, more older type of horror film that doesn't try to catch you with cheap scares but instead focuses more on the atmosphere it builds, and while it doesn't do a whole lot with it, it does take advantage of your expectations as it pulls you along implying one thing and then pursuing an entirely different direction. It was different, and I do admire it for this. But I struggle to say whether I really did enjoy it or not. Too long for sure. Too many directions that don't quite go anywhere. It had the potential to be much better with just a few very minor changes. I do think it fell a bit as a result. If you have two hours to spare and nothing much else to do, not minding whether those two hours get wasted or not, check the film out. You may come out having enjoyed it, or you may feel like I do and feel those two hours weren't really worth it.
