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Review: ‘Look Away’ Has Strong Ideas, But Loses Sight of its Identity

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Look Away

Written and directed by Assaf Bernstein (Fauda, The Debt), Look Away follows a timid social outcast, Maria (India Eisley, Underworld Awakening), who is constantly degraded by her peers at school. Her own father regularly chastises her social habits and appearance with no thought as to how it could negatively affect her.

Maria gets little support from her chronically depressed mother, Amy (Mira Sorvino, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion), or her childhood best friend, who seems to see Maria as more of a burden than a bestie.

During an emotional high point of teenage drama, Maria discovers that her mirror image is an independent, sentient being who calls herself Airam. Airam convinces Maria that if they switch places, Airam can solve all of her problems.

Of course, it’s never that simple.

Airam takes the lead on Maria’s life, seducing, hurting, and killing as she pleases. She’s driven purely by her base desires and she’s in no rush to give up control.

via IMDb

Right from the beginning of the film, Maria is regularly bullied by a group of rowdy teenage boys who are determined to publicly embarrass her at every turn. But, admittedly, there’s something about the casting of a conventionally beautiful actress in the role of Maria that makes the whole thing fall a bit flat.

We feel true, relatable sympathy for Maria when she faces passive-aggressive criticism from her own parents. Her father, Dan (Jason Isaacs, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), needles at her confidence as her mother tries too hard to stay positive. Both are harmful in their own way, and both parents are earnestly unaware of how their efforts are more harmful than helpful.

via IMDb

All this is to say that, yes, Maria is in a crummy situation, but, she gives up her power to grow stronger by handing the reins over to a sinister wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Maria tries to hide from her pain, much in the way that Amy completely shuts down in the depths of her depression and willfully ignores her husband’s infidelity. They both choose to “look away” from the things that hurt them, but this doesn’t stop the pain from being there.

via IMDb

At its roots, this is actually a pretty interesting concept to explore. And perhaps because the stakes for Maria weren’t particularly high to begin with, this adds to the tragedy of the inevitably violent outcome.

At different points through the film, the role of the villain is filled more by Maria’s father than Airam. Dan is not a violent man, but his passive, judgmental, dismissive nature does lasting harm. Airam crashes like a wave, leaving destruction in her path. Dan is the rising flood that causes long-term damage, drowning those who cannot to move to higher ground.

That element of the film is one of its strongest, yet it is not explored as much as it should be. It’s a planted idea that doesn’t get enough attention to fully bloom.

via IMDb

There’s untapped potential with the finale as well. The somewhat ambiguous ending leans on symbolism and stylized camerawork to provide a conclusion. This is in no way a bad thing, but its execution is not particularly satisfying. Perhaps it just feels out of place, given the fairly conventional way that the rest of the film is shot.

If there were more dramatically stylized shots throughout the film, this final take would provide an excellent guided point of emphasis. But as an isolated effect, it’s more of a distraction.

Look Away is a decent teen horror with a sharp dramatic edge, however, these elements tend to clash with some of the film’s more mature ambitions. As a whole, it has some great ideas in the air, but fails to really stick the landing.

“Look Away” is now available On Demand.

For more memorable moments in horror cinema, check out our list of our Top 5 Chilling Moments With Iconic Villains

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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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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