Ninho do Mal

Interesting, ambitious, creative, weird, and well-made but something just didn't sit right for me. My favorite part was the wallpaper in the girl's room. This wasn't scary but it was gross in a body horror and lots of vomit way. Overall, this was just okay.

Love it or hate it you won't forget this film in a hurry. On balance I think I sort of loved it for the most part.

It is bold and brazen in its approach, unafraid to be unapologetically weird. Alongside the striking imagery there are some interesting themes to pick through, particularly surrounding motherhood and social media, which added an interesting layer to the film.

The plot is as bizarre a plot as I've ever seen. It is full of disturbing imagery, cleverly worked set pieces, and just obscene ideas. Some of it didn't quite work for me but it was a gripping film from start to finish nonetheless. When it starts to feel a bit too out there it quickly whips you back in with a wild scene.

If you like your horror to be more edgy, surreal, and on the down right odd end of the spectrum, then you'll find a lot to enjoy with this one.

Tinja's going through a bit of trauma, after mother killed a harmless naive fauna, now her innocence is migrating, there's a change accelerating, and there's nowhere she can run, or even hyde. The transition takes a wild and angry path, leaves her screeching with a vile and angry wrath, very tricky to conceal, makes her do things not ideal, as the feathers fly, becoming a bloodbath.

The cause and effect of parenting on the blank pages of a pre-adolescence young lady who struggles to come to terms with the ever changing physical and psychological side of evolving and growing up. Brilliantly performed and presented, anything but a horror flick, unless of course, you're currently riding the wave of change yourself (or have done).

This warped fairy tale from Finland hits the ground running with a wonderful opening scene that really sets the tone.

A perfect family (husband, wife, young son and daughter) enjoys a perfect moment in the perfect living room of their perfect home.

But then, an uninvited guest makes an appearance.

Like a Poe-esque harbinger of doom, a jet black raven swoops in through an open window and destroys this idyllic tableau of domestic bliss.

And then things get really strange.

Hatching is essentially a coming-of-age story, a little like ET, if it was directed by Ari Aster instead of Steven Spielberg.

With great performances by Sophia Heikkila as the selfie-stick wielding stage mom and her long suffering daughter, played by Sirii Solalinna, this is a very promising debut feature from Hanna Bergholm.

Uncanny, unsettling and unpredictable.

I never had heard about this 2022 Finnish horror movie titled "Pahanhautoja" (aka "Hatching"). But of course with it being a new horror movie, then I just had to sit down and watch it as I happened to stumble upon it.

And color me impressed. Writers Hanna Bergholm and Ilja Rautsi definitely put together a very unique and interesting storyline here. I will say that "Pahanhautoja" was certainly unlike any other horror movie I have seen before, and I have seen quite a lot, and I mean that in a good way.

The storyline told in "Pahanhautoja" is really extraordinary. It is rather peculiar and bizarre storyline, and I will say that it was a stroke of creative thinking and writing from Hanna Bergholm and Ilja Rautsi. This is definitely a movie that you don't want to miss out on, especially if you are a horror aficionado like myself.

The acting performances in the movie are good. And while it is a rather small cast ensemble, then the actors and actresses put on good performances and carry the movie quite nicely. And it was a treat to watch them bring the movie to life on the screen. Now, I am not overly familiar with Finnish cinema, so these were not actors and actresses that I was familiar with before this movie.

Something that really impressed me was the special effects in "Pahanhautoja". Wow. Just wow! I was blown away by the realism and the attention to detail. It was really amazing to see the special effects brought to life on the screen, and the creature effects were just phenomenal. Actually I will say, even if you don't enjoy the storyline, then watch the movie for the special effects themselves.

I was genuinely entertained by "Pahanhautoja", and trust me, this is a movie that I will and can warmly recommend you sit down to watch, should you find yourself with the opportunity.

My rating of director Hanna Bergholm's 2022 horror movie "Pahanhautoja" lands on a well-deserved seven out of ten stars.