Why so much hype?

Touches You

Purely Joyful Movie!

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

I never write reviews but this time I had to! The story itself is not bad at all, but the acting is. Only Cristobal Tapia Montt as Martin is saved here. Also, the lines in some cases are really off! The dialogues sometimes really don't deliver. Production company IFC Midnight normally produces good or decent horror movies, but this time is sadly not the case. If you are a horror fan and you have a lot of time, then watch it.

Well well well , what a surprise this was. After the last decade of vampire films (yawn) I've finally seen one that was fantastic and original. Reminded me of the surprise I had with "Let me in".This was superb. Towards the end I felt reminiscent of "Near Dark" and I can see this film gaining cult status. Vampire films are made every decade and then in the following decades you see lists of fave cult ones , I'm going to say this one belongs in the list for this decade. It's very good. OK so now to the quick review with spoilers. A loner enters a small town and gets into trouble with the local bad guys. He has come to the village with the purpose of seeking out his dead wife's son. The bad guys try to murder him yet they fail. For he has the vampire blood. He's very low key about this , no silly special fighting etc , his one ability is that he can heal. There's so many twists and turns in this film I'm not going to list it all as that would spoil it for anyone who watches it. The acting is great , cinematography excellent , script is first class , pacing of the film is good , ending of film is good. Can't really fault this on anything and I'm not a vampire fan , I used to like vampire films but haven't seen a good one since "let me in". If I had to compare it to any other film I would say "Near dark" for this decade. Excellent.

The log-line for the movie is very simple, a mysterious man shows up at a home in a small Canadian town. Thing promptly go sideways for not only the Stranger but also for just about everyone he encounters, plunging the town into a bloodbath.The trailer for the movie gave me the impression it was some sort of early outbreak style horror film. The type of movie that tells how patient zero started the end of the world. It certainly could have gone in the direction I suppose but the film turns out to be much smaller in scope than expected, taking a different approach to an old horror trope. Who the Stranger searching for and why he needs to find them are clues that filmmaker Amoedo provides sparingly. The back story is filled in through flashbacks designed to provide the audience with motivation for the Stranger's actions.The film is engaging to a degree but it's got serious flaws. The mystery is enough to keep you in it to the end and the gore and violence are well handled, if not brutal. The acting is extremely uneven but isn't bad enough to drag the movie down. Where the movie falls short for me is in how Amoedo handles the characters. There isn't really a likable character in the entire film. The old rule of storytelling is give the reader/viewer/listener one character they can root for. Amoedo gives us that…sort of. To start, everyone is damaged. All are worn out or on drugs or lost. The hero(es) are just terrible at standing up for themselves. None of them make good decisions. They're all inconsistent, or weak or just give into terrible situations without pushing back, taking a stand or trying to get help from someone outside of town. This becomes frustrating quickly because the villains are evil… and when I say evil I mean really evil.They kill, maim, beat, torture, cover-up, intimidate, circumvent, and subdue anyone or anything that appear as a threat to them. They do all this without any compunction or real fear of being detected. The impunity with which the antagonists operate comes across as a bit implausible given the setting of the movie. Corrupt police are easier to swallow in bigger cities, but in a small (nice looking) Canadian town it's harder to accept based on the scope of the nefarious activities our antagonists are engaging in. This has a significant impact on the film's climax. When the final act begins the terrible transition that should push our Big Bad to another level of menace falls flat because we've already seen him be so damned evil it doesn't matter he's now an evil monster.The Stranger falls squarely in the middle of the spectrum. It's worth seeing once and I enjoyed the unique approach to an old idea, but the execution was sloppy, leaving me less than thrilled when the movie finally came to it's conclusion.Perhaps my review would best be summed up with one word… Meh.

But still very intriguing and very weird, which I found to be good. It's not really new and you will be able to guess a couple of things coming along the way, but the way it is told and shot respectively (very dark) may be exactly right up your ally. Or you might hate it for that, but you'll be able to know very early on if you like it or not, the mood is set very early on.It's a slow burner, but there will be blood and action if you are patient enough to wait for those "sparks"/moments to happen. It's not the flashiest of movies or the fanciest in the horror/suspense category, but it does many things right. Are you up for that?