Connect with us

News

Review: ‘She Never Died’ Brings Female Fury to an Immortal Tale

Published

on

She Never Died

She Never Died is a tangential sequel to 2015’s Henry Rollins-lead He Never Died, which follows Rollins’ Jack as he shuffles through his immortal life with deadpan delivery and a never ending stream of trouble. More spinoff than sequel, She Never Died takes the story of a cannibalistic immortal and twists in a decidedly feminist edge. 

Written by Jason Krawczyk (He Never Died) and directed by Audrey Cummings (Tormented aka Berkshire County), She Never Died follows Lacey (Olunike Adeliyi, Saw 3D: The Final Chapter), a socially detached loner with a vigilante hobby that provides her with the human flesh she needs for sustenance. When one of her food runs catches the attention of a dark web streaming site, Lacey becomes tangled up in a world of underground crime that threatens to destroy her.  

via A71

As a side effect of one of her vigilante justice escapades, Lacey develops a friendship with Suzzie (Kiana Madeira, Level 16), an excitable but jaded sex worker. With her chatty intrusions, Suzzie has all the potential to be an insufferable character, but Madeira is so utterly charming that you’re immediately won over. Even after a traumatic experience, she’s full of light.

Adeliyi as Lacey is rigid and disinterested, but with flashes of intensity that remind you what the character is capable of. It’s a performance that could easily be misinterpreted as wooden, however, the more time we spend with the character, the more it clicks in. It is perhaps unfair to compare her performance with Rollins’ in He Never Died, but it’s difficult not to draw connections when the characters are so matched in their persona. 

She Never Died

via A71

With its change in pronouns, She Never Died brings a female focus to the world of the immortal biblical cannibal. We don’t learn what Lacey’s role is until the very end of the film, but there are limited options from the source material, so you can probably hazard a good guess. That said, not much time is spent on the lore and laws of the character; She Never Died already assumes you’ve seen the first film. While this is fine for anyone who has, those that haven’t might find the loose ends to be a tad confusing. 

She Never Died has some strong female characters at its core, each with their own complexities. Both of our leads are women of color with troubled histories. When we first meet Lacey she is living on the streets. Unlike Jack, she does not have millennia of white male privilege to keep her comfortable. Her newfound friend Suzzie is vibrant, confident, and personable, providing a positive representation of a sex worker. She has depth and personality; she’s eager to get involved, though she is thoroughly independent. And to go against the trope that’s so common in horror films, she isn’t killed or otherwise punished in a gruesome way. 

The “big bad” of the film is a curious character herself. Meredith (Michelle Nolden, RED) runs a human trafficking ring where she shuttles girls off to the highest bidder. It’s a bold operation, and one that’s not typically headed by women. There’s something about it that feels like a betrayal — that calculated destruction of female solidarity. It’s an effective way to establish her as a horrible person and a deeply unethical threat. 

via A71

She Never Died balances themes of judgement and justice, solidarity and independence. Its grander themes of immortality and consequence aren’t fully explored, which is a shame because there are some great opportunities that come with such an open premise. This seems to fall more on the script than the direction, but again, if you have seen the first film it grants a bit more context. 

As a straight film (without the context of a sequel), She Never Died brings a few things to the table. It has an interesting story, some great visuals and tense moments, and fun gore to satisfy the horror hounds. But the plot details on their own — without the proper context — could easily confuse viewers. To get the most out of the film, you really should watch both parts. Think of She Never Died as a companion piece; it can stand on its own, but it’s part of a whole. 

Everyone has their demons, but for She Never Died, the devil is in the details.

 

She Never Died will have its U.S. Premiere at ScreamFest (Hollywood, Los Angeles) on October 10.

She Never Died

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

on

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movies

Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

Published

on

In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

News

Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

Published

on

Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading