Stopmotion

I'm pretty open to checking out nearly every theatrically-released horror movie. Stopmotion had a limited release, but it looked really creepy so I gave it a chance.

There is definitely a lot of good here. I enjoyed the performance by the lead actress. It's filled with really cool, creepy imagery. And the stop motion stuff was done really well.

Unfortunately, a few things really tanked this movie for me. It did a bad job of keeping me invested and engaged. I was fairly bored for such a short movie. And it leans way too far on the metaphorical side for my liking. I get what they were going for. I just need more than that.

When it ended, I felt fully unsatisfied and a bit annoyed.

(1 viewing, 3/19/2024)

Lately I've heard about this movie multiple times and I was pretty excited to see the result. The premise seemed interesting and I heard that the effects are good, which both turned out to be true. You have a unique premise for the movie that makes it stand out from all the other horror movies that are dumped out nowadays. The effects and especially the gore were also pretty great and had a gritty feeling to it which complemented the movie.

However I feel like this could have been so much more and I was a little let down after I finished watching. The movie has pacing issues and it tries to be way too artsy and pretentious instead of just focusing on its strengths. It's a decent flick but I was hoping for something special and great. [5,7/10]

The film did its job of grossing me out with the body horror bits, and to an extent, successfully bothered me with its psychological horror layers. But as a whole, it still felt undercooked and wildly predictable in the final act. Undoubtedly, the best parts of the film are the stopmotion animations featuring these creepy meat-puppets. There's something eerily unique about stopmotion animation, isn't it? Maybe, since it's got to do with bringing inanimate (read: dead) things to life. The film conveys the uncanny aura of the entire process quite effectively, in a minimalist setting.

I thought the plot already had an interestingly uneasy angle to explore between the mother and daughter; however, the makers went in a totally different direction as it progressed, with subplots involving the boyfriend's sister and so on, which didn't hit the mark completely for me. I still applaud writer-director Robert King's approach to creating something wacky and authentic, unlike most horror films these days. Aisling Franciosi also does a solid job playing the lead who's facing a creative block. It's certainly NOT one of those films you'd rewatch a lot, and I guess, for good reason.

While not a terrible film, it's too sparse in its storytelling. The entire experience can be summed up in one sentence: "An animator loses her grip on reality and descends into hallucinatory madness and self-destruction." That's basically the entire "plot" of the story. This visuals are essentially a collection of other artist's influences rolled into 90 rather tedious minutes. Obvious elements of The Brothers Quay (grotesque faces and bodies), Jan Svankmajer (using meat as a medium), and David Lynch (mainly his art projects) were clearly used. Many films have documented a character losing their mind, and this film doesn't break any new ground in that arena. "Repulsion", "Censor", "Possum", and "Jacob's Ladder" (just to name a few) are far more compelling at depicting mental breakdowns while also containing an interesting story. Ultimately the film is watchable and will probably be enjoyed by those with very limited film experience.

There's nothing "bad" about Stopmotion and I enjoy Aisling Francoisi as a genre actress but there's nothing very interesting or new here. Beyond the cool imagery (which certainly borrows from Dead Ringers and Videodrome) there are 100 other movies with an identical plot and progression and ultimately Stopmotion is just kind-of ends up being a boring and joyless trip down that familiar path.

You could just watch the director's other work to appreciate the macabre art style instead of watching this and probably end up being more satisfied with the viewing experience. I didn't dislike Stopmotion, but it's pretty forgettable.