Pop Skull

I don't quite know what was supposed to happen with this movie. I don't understand what was supposed to be scary. I don't understand how the strange lights, flashing, camera tricks, etc. are supposed to be scary or creepy. As I was yawning, I stopped the movie unable to finish the last 30 minutes or care that I didn't finish it.

Believe me, I saw lots of horror movies. But not even one compares to that waste of time that "Pop Skull" is. You thought "Haunted boat" or "Seven mummies" or "Chain reaction" are bad? Wait until you see this and bore yourself to death. Literally, with every passing minute of this movie you feel you life being sucked from you and you want to scream and scream again! I saw this at the cinema and half of the people just escaped from the theater after the first half, where nothing happened. Nothing happened in the second half either... And they call that horror, when there isn't a single scary moment in the whole movie!

"Pop Skull" should be an interesting film on many levels as it tells the story of alienation,depression and loneliness due to emotional breakdown.Daniel loses the one girl that he can't live without.She broke up with him to date an actor named Victor.His perception of reality is completely shattered as he trips on whatever he can get his hands on: over the counter drugs,prescriptions,tiny white pills,oblong pink ones.This results in the series of hallucinogenic nightmares...The main problem I have with "Pop Skull" is that it's pretty damn boring.The soundtrack is excellent,the acting is decent and the film leaves many questions unanswered.Admittedly the use of light and shadow is exceptional and there are some great filming techniques used,but the action is slow and lifeless.Just like a drug trip.I enjoyed Andrey Iskanov's similarly experimental "Visions of Suffering" more.5 out of 10.

In the dark and fathomless depths of shallow contemporary American horror and thriller movies, "Pop Skull" stands as one of the seldom noticed beacons of light. It is not only Adam Wingard's finest picture to date, but one of the best in its genre. Like all great horror and thriller films, "Pop Skull" eludes categorization by invoking fear for something deeper and more interesting than simple jump scares. Juxtaposing hallucinogenic imagery with realistic dialogue, the film captures the essence of today's young generation, giving expression--through the strained words and cathartic thoughts and actions of its characters--to its fears within the context of it's other anxieties, such as loneliness, depression, confusion and aimlessness. Furthermore, by portraying something as common as heartbreak while illustrating a self-destructive addiction to what most people use and have easy access to, i.e., over-the-counter drugs, the narrative acts a disturbing reflection of the audience by connecting them to something they can all relate to and potentially experience. Simply put, "Pop Skull" is a film that manages to present the audience with an insightful social critique within the entertaining confines of the horror genre.

I was surprised by this film. It reminded me of some Japanese ghost stories I've seen, which are always unsettling especially after the film when you think it over, and those creepy images start to spill into your every day life. At the same time, Pop Skull featured some innovative depictions of hallucinatory states of mind which I thought were sometimes a little obscure, but other times a useful device for conveying complex emotional states in a character who is verbally rather simple. For some reasons, many of these images -- which are often juxtapositions, stops and starts, changes of speed, transformations, flickering and strobing--seem 'accurate'; in other words, though obscure, they convey a meaningful insight into the mind of a character, yet they leave a lot to the imagination, and make you wonder about the mysterious things lurking around in the psyche. Some may argue that they are just artsy, pretensions -- perhaps even a bit emoish and laughable. Perhaps. The last time I saw anything quite like it was in Gaspar Noe's 'Enter the Void', but the imagery in Pop Skull is more obscure and personal leaving a lot of mystery about exactly what the protagonist in the story is going through internally over a painful event in his life. The storyline itself is not that complicated, but the alternate realities that go along with the story add an intriguing element to the film. I think mood is the key strength of this film. There's a mood of confusion, depression, fear, and encroaching madness, that you expect from a good horror movie. I have to admit too, that I wasn't really expecting the film to go in the direction that it did. So it has some surprises, some mystery, and a good sense of pacing which builds up the suspense fairly well. To call this movie a horror story is fitting, but it is atypical for American horror films. I'll bet that David Lynch could appreciate this film for its power to suggest things to you rather than explicitly feed it to you. I would actually watch it again as I did with 'Enter the Void' just out of curiosity over the various levels of meaning the hallucinatory episodes suggest -- especially in how they tie into the plot, and relate to a characters thought process (however disjointed it may be). I'm looking forward to seeing some of Adam Wingard's other films now.