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TIFF Review: ‘The Wind’ Howls as an Atmospheric, Sinister Horror-Western

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the wind review TIFF

Directed by Emma Tammi, The Wind is a grim, atmospheric study of a desolate environment that hides a dark secret.

The script was developed from true first-hand accounts of frontier women who settled in the prairies and were driven mad by the unrelenting howl of the wind. Written by Teresa Sutherland, the plot explores this madness through a dark supernatural influence as the characters panic about what evils could be moving through the dark nights.

Set in the 1800s, the story is told in a non-linear structure, meaning that the viewer jumps through the timeline to understand how the story unfolds, giving depth and significance to each character’s emotional state.

via IMDb

We follow Lizzy (Caitlin Gerard, Insidious: The Last Key), a young woman who is thrilled to see new “neighbours” move in to a nearby cabin. Across the vast field, their home is visible as just a flicker of light through the dark of night. Lizzy and her husband do their best to make the new couple feel welcome, but the new resident’s young wife, Emma (Julia Goldani Telles, Slender Man), struggles to adjust from her previous life in the city. The longer they stay, the stranger Emma’s actions become as she is convinced that an evil entity is after her. When Lizzy’s husband must leave home for a several-day-on-horseback journey, she starts to question her own comfort and safety in this oppressive isolation.

The film revels in its atmosphere – a bleak, hopeless tundra with no help in sight. Lizzy is our guide and unreliable narrator through the story. We stick to her side through the whole film, moving through the daily motions of necessary chores and feeling her terror as she faces each night alone.

Written, directed, edited, and designed by women, the relevance of lines of dialogue like “Don’t be unpleasant in front of the men” are not lost on the audience. This idea of the “hysterical woman” is communicated with an appropriate weight.

via TIFF

For a film that focuses on the madness supposedly caused by an unyielding wind, the sound design is obviously extremely important. The Wind utilizes silence in a way that pushes the plot forward, and it’s stunning. The opening sequence is completely silent – save for the constant howling of the wind – and it immediately sets a taut, unsettling tone.

Despite the limited dialogue, we gain a complete understanding of each character. In true pioneer fashion, it’s an economical script that doesn’t mince words. Every line of communication is direct and to-the-point.

The silence of the film envelops Lizzy and builds a deafening claustrophobia, where every spare inch is filled by that constant wind. It’s so powerful that in the extremely rare occurrences where the wind is not present, it’s a bit of a shock to the senses.

A driving score was composed for the film by Ben Lovett (The Ritual) using period instruments like the nyckelharpa to produce an earthly, haunting sound that plays on a base instinct we’ve long since forgotten.

Because of the tension that’s tightly coiled by the sound design, any sudden releases are sincerely frightening. There were a few moments in the TIFF screening where the whole audience physically jumped (a genuine response that I haven’t witnessed in a long time).

via TIFF

The Wind places the focus on the experiences of women in a period when their stories aren’t often told. Westerns typically focus on a glorified version of a man’s work, promptly ignoring the struggles that went into the development of land and maintenance of a household. It acts as a humbling look at the lifestyle and dangers of pioneer life in the prairies, and the fears that ran wild in such an unrestrained environment.

The non-linear storytelling can be a bit clunky at times, but it’s a necessary function in revealing the full story. Overall, The Wind is a quiet, twisting, thrilling horror-western that settles under your skin and prickles your senses.

 

The Wind will be playing next as part of Fantastic Fest’s 2018 lineup.

via IMDb

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Melissa Barrera Says ‘Scary Movie VI’ Would Be “Fun To Do”

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Melissa Barrera might literally get the last laugh on Spyglass thanks to a possible Scary Movie sequel. Paramount and Miramax are seeing the right opportunity to bring the satirical franchise back into the fold and announced last week one might be in production as early as this fall.

The last chapter of the Scary Movie franchise was almost a decade ago and since the series lampoons thematic horror movies and pop culture trends, it would seem they have a lot of content to draw ideas from, including the recent reboot of slasher series Scream.

Barerra, who starred as final girl Samantha in those movies was abruptly fired from the latest chapter, Scream VII, for expressing what Spyglass interpreted as “antisemitism,” after the actress came out in support of Palestine on social media.

Even though the drama wasn’t a laughing matter, Barrera might get her chance to parody Sam in Scary Movie VI. That is if the opportunity arises. In an interview with Inverse, the 33-year-old actress was asked about Scary Movie VI, and her reply was intriguing.

“I always loved those movies,” the actress told Inverse. “When I saw it announced, I was like, ‘Oh, that would be fun. That would be so fun to do.’”

That “fun to do” part could be construed as a passive pitch to Paramount, but that’s open to interpretation.

Just like in her franchise, Scary Movie also has a legacy cast including Anna Faris and Regina Hall. There is no word yet on if either of those actors will appear in the reboot. With or without them, Barrera is still a fan of the comedies. “They have the iconic cast that did it, so we’ll see what goes on with that. I’m just excited to see a new one,” she told the publication.

Barrera is currently celebrating the box office success of her latest horror movie Abigail.

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Thrills and Chills: Ranking ‘Radio Silence’ Films from Bloody Brilliant to Just Bloody

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Radio Silence Films

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, and Chad Villella are all filmmakers under the collective label called Radio Silence. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett are the primary directors under that moniker while Villella produces.

They have gained popularity over the past 13 years and their films have become known as having a certain Radio Silence “signature.” They are bloody, usually contain monsters, and have breakneck action sequences. Their recent film Abigail exemplifies that signature and is perhaps their best film yet. They are currently working on a reboot of John Carpenter’s Escape From New York.

We thought we would go through the list of projects they have directed and rank them from high to low. None of the movies and shorts on this list are bad, they all have their merits. These rankings from top to bottom are just ones we felt showcased their talents the best.

We didn’t include movies they produced but didn’t direct.

#1. Abigail

An update to the second film on this list, Abagail is the natural progression of Radio Silence’s love of lockdown horror. It follows in pretty much the same footsteps of Ready or Not, but manages to go one better — make it about vampires.

Abigail

#2. Ready or Not

This film put Radio Silence on the map. While not as successful at the box office as some of their other films, Ready or Not proved that the team could step outside their limited anthology space and create a fun, thrilling, and bloody adventure-length film.

Ready or Not

#3. Scream (2022)

While Scream will always be a polarizing franchise, this prequel, sequel, reboot — however you want to label it showed just how much Radio Silence knew the source material. It wasn’t lazy or cash-grabby, just a good time with legendary characters we love and new ones who grew on us.

Scream (2022)

#4 Southbound (The Way Out)

Radio Silence tosses their found footage modus operandi for this anthology film. Responsible for the bookend stories, they create a terrifying world in their segment titled The Way Out, which involves strange floating beings and some sort of time loop. It’s kind of the first time we see their work without a shaky cam. If we were to rank this entire film, it would remain at this position on the list.

Southbound

#5. V/H/S (10/31/98)

The film that started it all for Radio Silence. Or should we say the segment that started it all. Even though this isn’t feature-length what they managed to do with the time they had was very good. Their chapter was titled 10/31/98, a found-footage short involving a group of friends who crash what they think is a staged exorcism only to learn not to assume things on Halloween night.

V/H/S

#6. Scream VI

Cranking up the action, moving to the big city and letting Ghostface use a shotgun, Scream VI turned the franchise on its head. Like their first one, this film played with canon and managed to win over a lot of fans in its direction, but alienated others for coloring too far outside the lines of Wes Craven’s beloved series. If any sequel was showing how the trope was going stale it was Scream VI, but it managed to squeeze some fresh blood out of this nearly three-decade mainstay.

Scream VI

#7. Devil’s Due

Fairly underrated, this, Radio Silence’s first feature-length film, is a sampler of things they took from V/H/S. It was filmed in an omnipresent found footage style, showcasing a form of possession, and features clueless men. Since this was their first bonafide major studio job it’s a wonderful touchstone to see how far they have come with their storytelling.

Devil’s Due

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Perhaps the Scariest, Most Disturbing Series of The Year

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You may have never heard of Richard Gadd, but that will probably change after this month. His mini-series Baby Reindeer just hit Netflix and it’s a terrifying deep dive into abuse, addiction, and mental illness. What is even scarier is that it’s based on Gadd’s real-life hardships.

The crux of the story is about a man named Donny Dunn played by Gadd who wants to be a stand-up comedian, but it’s not working out so well thanks to stage fright stemming from his insecurity.

One day at his day job he meets a woman named Martha, played to unhinged perfection by Jessica Gunning, who is instantly charmed by Donny’s kindness and good looks. It doesn’t take long before she nicknames him “Baby Reindeer” and begins to relentlessly stalk him. But that is just the apex of Donny’s problems, he has his own incredibly disturbing issues.

This mini-series should come with a lot of triggers, so just be warned it is not for the faint of heart. The horrors here don’t come from blood and gore, but from physical and mental abuse that go beyond any physiological thriller you may have ever seen.

“It’s very emotionally true, obviously: I was severely stalked and severely abused,” Gadd said to People, explaining why he changed some aspects of the story. “But we wanted it to exist in the sphere of art, as well as protect the people it’s based on.”

The series has gained momentum thanks to positive word-of-mouth, and Gadd is getting used to the notoriety.

“It’s clearly struck a chord,” he told The Guardian. “I really did believe in it, but it’s taken off so quickly that I do feel a bit windswept.”

You can stream Baby Reindeer on Netflix right now.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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