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‘Midsommar’ is Entirely Transportive, Trippy Dread

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MidSommar

Once again, director Ari Aster takes us with him to very personal arenas of dread with Midsommar. With almost a completely different flavor, Hereditary follow up, Midsommar manages to surprise, darkly charm and have another long lasting effect that proves Aster is a singular voice currently in the genre.

I was a bloke who skipped every trailer, first impression and publicity still that I could in anticipation of this one. I was able to experience it going in entirely cold and for those like myself, I’ll spare you any spoilers during this review.

In broad strokes this is about a young group of friends that heads to Sweden in order to take part of a mid-summer fest. As the fest progresses through its varying phases each day, the young group of Americans find themselves far from home, high and in the midst of strange and horrific pagan activities.

The formula is akin to a common slasher at its ground floor, complete with all the fixins of a group of young folks heading out into the unknown for some fun. Aster then stirs in a complex blend with bits of Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man and elements of Herschell Gordon Lewis’s Two Thousand Maniacs.

Added to that formula is Aster’s overtly personal approach to his writing, which includes twinges of grief with what is (now) widely known to be a film that is about the inner workings of a breakup. The interesting thing here is that Aster doesn’t strictly make one individual or group the “bad guy,” instead he spreads the very human elements of being a jerk or being out right malicious to almost all the characters in the film.

“Aster’s voice is hypnotic

and completely vicious.”

On a small scale Aster also compares everyday American sensibilities and places against a backdrop of a pagan cult and does a nice deconstruction by way of juxtaposition. The end result being that the strange and violent ways of maintaining faith and order sometimes look better than ideological, self-centered opportunism. Order by big acts as opposed to chaos, self worth and the passive aggressive.

MidSommar

The true horror of the film comes at you through brightly lit pastel framework where the sun doesn’t set, and where the subtext of the first act sets up a tightly fastened snare of dread. Most impressively, Midsommar manages to do all that before the first bit of blood is spilled.

There is a special kind of accelerant behind the misery that makes this film’s run-time fly that is heavily reliant on its stellar cast and their chemistry. Leads Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor particularly compel with a subdued desperation and play nicely with the ideas of the more toxic sides of relationships that have run their course. In the third act of the film Pugh reaches a propulsive level of character work that makes it almost difficult to find your breath.

There are some gnarly sights and kills flowing throughout this one that manage to burn themselves deep into your subconscious. Shock inducing gore set pieces that at times reaches impressive levels of works of high art.

Strangely, the film is peppered with a really great sense of humor about itself. The horror elements don’t takeaway from the feeling of a real group of young folks. In its early moments there is a stoner comedy at work just under the low tide of the bizarre horror in wait. It’s an extraordinary approach given the subject matter and a vibe that I’m certain changes from audience to audience.

Midsommar is transportive, trippy dread that is depraved and darkly sensual. Aster’s voice is hypnotic as ever and completely vicious. Not taking anything away from the masterful, Hereditary, but Midsommar transcends and gives way to something that is as brilliant as it is unnerving.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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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.

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

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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.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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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.

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