Editorials
3 Reasons You Need to Go See ‘Annihilation’ Right Now
This past weekend, Annihilation, Alex Garland’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed Ex Machina was released to an audience still drunk on the juice of purple vibranium flowers (read: Black Panther). Marvel’s newest comic book juggernaut not only topped the box office for the second week in a row, it managed to hold on so well at $108 million that it became the 2nd highest-second weekend ever (behind The Force Awakens). Yes, box office analysts love “records,” however specific they may be. The King of Wakanda wasn’t the only obstacle in Annihilation’s way. There was the new comedy Game Night and the kiddie holdover, controversy-riddled Peter Rabbit (my eyes only roll so far). After the receipts were tallied, Garland’s sci-fi brain melter pulled in around $12 million and settled into the number four spot. Its existence at your local multiplex is likely, itself, to be annihilated after next week.
Why should you give a damn, you may be wondering? The trailers portrayed this as nothing more than another mish-mash of sci-fi and action with some monstrous horror elements thrown in for good measure. Ya know, Aliens? Despite finding the advertising less than captivating, the film was on my radar for a couple of reasons. 1) I stumbled upon a handful of early reviews on Letterboxd claiming the movie was some sort of modern masterpiece. Intrigued. 2) Except for here in the US, Canada, and China the film would not be receiving a theatrical release. A deal was struck with THE streaming platform where difficult Hollywood titles go to “live,” Netflix.
The film is based on a best-selling trilogy of novels and adapted/directed by a man who’s built up mad street cred in the sci-fi world with films like 28 Days Later and Sunshine. It’s easy to see this appealing to Paramount on paper. That’s not even mentioning the amazing cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez and hunk-boat support from Oscar Isaac and David Gyasi. The story of a hardened group of scientists venturing beyond an alien forcefield, braving dangerous mutations in search of answers, seems like an easy sell, too.
Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time a fairly high profile sci-fi thriller with a modest budget got the dump. Apparently, after less than stellar test screenings, Paramount wanted drastic cuts and changes made to bolster the pic’s mainstream appeal. However, Annihilation’s producer, Scott Rudin (Ladybird, Ex Machina), had the power of final-cut to wield against the studio (which is growing rarer in today’s Hollywood climate). Rudin decided to back his filmmaker, and together, they refused to make the requested changes. Paramount was all like, “Well, fine then!” They pushed their $40 million investment off on Netflix. Point and match.
So, was this a similar situation to The Cloverfield Paradox? Early word stated Paramount felt that film was too intelligent for multiplex audiences. Yeah…it wasn’t. Paradox was just a muddy mess of ideas with a built-in “brainy” safety net to excuse all of its poor narrative choices. The likely truth was they just knew a bomb when they saw it. And, let’s face it, Paramount execs have recently had plenty of experience in that department. Was Annihilation going to be more of the same? I needed to find out for myself. Armed with nothing but my MoviePass and a few spare hours, I trekked to the moviehouse, plopped down in the dark of a sparsely filled auditorium, and experienced cinema. Yes, that last part may seem a sniff pretentious, but it’s apropos for the journey this film puts you through.
Obviously, I want you to go SEE the movie, so I’ll keep this relatively spoiler free. Keep in mind, though, some plot points will be discussed vaguely. So, enough of the preamble. Here’s why you should go out and “experience” Annihilation while it’s still in theaters!
Technical Specs
Film is a visual medium, and Annihilation is brought to life with some of the most gob-smackingly gorgeous visuals. The story unveils itself bit by bit as Portman’s Lena recalls the events leading up to her return from beyond the mysterious forcefield known as “The Shimmer.” She doesn’t remember everything. Details are foggy, and as an unreliable narrator, it’s possible not everything we see is a true representation of what actually happened. One thing Lena says, however, does ring exceptionally true. Some of the mutations beyond The Shimmer were horrifying, yet others were beautiful.
The production design on the film is top notch. What begins as “generic movie forest” morphs into overgrown brush of wildflowers – all different types, growing from the same vine. Some grow together into the form of a human, eerily watching our characters as they pass through this new, strange world. The deeper into The Shimmer, the more dangerous things become. And in turn, the more beautiful and abstract. This is a sumptuous experience that draws you in and practically begs you to search every corner of the screen for hidden details. This is what “the big screen” was made for. Better yet, this world is created with an exceptional blend of digital and practical. It would have been easy to take an entire CG paintbrush to the screen, but the impact would have been far less.
The Monsters
The same can be said of the creature effects. There are certain shots where I wasn’t sure if I was looking at latex or pixels. That’s the most difficult magic trick to pull off in film, and they did it. Make no mistake, though, this isn’t a “monster movie” in the traditional sense. But there are terrifying beasts forming within The Shimmer (that weren’t a part of the original source material). While these animals may not be the focus of the story Garland is trying to tell, they will surely linger in your imagination (or nightmares) long after walking away from the theater.
A specific scene highlighted in the marketing materials is head-on, white-knuckle horror. One of the mutations has taken on the voice of its victim, trapped in the painful final moments before death. If the promise of a screaming, skull-faced bear doesn’t get your ass to the movies, I’m not sure what will.
The Score
Beyond the cinematography and production design, there is a killer score from Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury (both from Ex Machina) that begins with quaint, almost folksy guitar before descending into a maddening wave of droning synth and nails-on-a-chalkboard strings. This is likely the first soundtrack outside of some rando Italian genre picture from the 70s/80s that I will gladly listen to in my car. Though, on second thought, that might not be advisable.
There is a large portion in the final third that plays out with almost no spoken dialogue. The score builds and builds, thrusting the psychedelic images forward. We’re firmly in 2001: A Space Odyssey territory. By the time the lights came up in the auditorium, I was practically stumbling to my car. I felt as if I’d just come out of a deep hypnosis. Powerful filmmaking or binaural beats buried within the film’s score? Maybe both?
Ultimately, I’m not going to call this a masterpiece as many have been quick to label it. I will say, it has the potential to become one. Temper your expectations, as it’s not perfect. Annihilation actually does share one thing in common with The Cloverfield Paradox. They both feature fairly straightforward, catch-all explanations for the overly complicated goings-on of their stories. The difference, in Paradox they use said catch-all as carte blanche to do whatever they want. Here, Garland uses it to open the door to even bigger questions and potential readings of the material. Just like The Shimmer, it can grow and change its meaning over time.
This is bonafide cinematic art on display at your local multiplex. It’s a film that snuck past the head honchos at Paramount, and they’re surely kicking themselves over it now. Show up, and don’t let “dumped to Netflix” become the new direct-to-video! Even if this film weren’t as good as it is, I would still be calling for more people to check it out. It’s important that cinema represents a wide swath of genres and styles.
The truth of the matter is this: Paramount was right! This movie doesn’t belong at “a theater near you!” But, dammit, be glad it’s there, and go buy yourself a ticket.
Twice a month Joe Lipsett will dissect a new Amityville Horror film to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions. This is “The Amityville IP.”
A bizarre recurring issue with the Amityville “franchise” is that the films tend to be needlessly complicated. Back in the day, the first sequels moved away from the original film’s religious-themed haunted house storyline in favor of streamlined, easily digestible concepts such as “haunted lamp” or “haunted mirror.”
As the budgets plummeted and indie filmmakers capitalized on the brand’s notoriety, it seems the wrong lessons were learned. Runtimes have ballooned past the 90-minute mark and the narratives are often saggy and unfocused.
Both issues are clearly on display in Amityville Karen (2022), a film that starts off rough, but promising, and ends with a confused whimper.
The promise is embodied by the tinge of self-awareness in Julie Anne Prescott (The Amityville Harvest)’s screenplay, namely the nods to John Waters’ classic 1994 satire, Serial Mom. In that film, Beverly Sutphin (an iconic Kathleen Turner) is a bored, white suburban woman who punished individuals who didn’t adhere to her rigid definition of social norms. What is “Karen” but a contemporary equivalent?
In director/actor Shawn C. Phillips’ film, Karen (Lauren Francesca) is perpetually outraged. In her introductory scenes, she makes derogatory comments about immigrants, calls a female neighbor a whore, and nearly runs over a family blocking her driveway. She’s a broad, albeit familiar persona; in many ways, she’s less of a character than a caricature (the living embodiment of the name/meme).
These early scenes also establish a fairly straightforward plot. Karen is a code enforcement officer with plans to shut down a local winery she has deemed disgusting. They’re preparing for a big wine tasting event, which Karen plans to ruin, but when she steals a bottle of cursed Amityville wine, it activates her murderous rage and goes on a killing spree.
Simple enough, right?
Unfortunately, Amityville Karen spins out of control almost immediately. At nearly every opportunity, Prescott’s screenplay eschews narrative cohesion and simplicity in favour of overly complicated developments and extraneous characters.
Take, for example, the wine tasting event. The film spends an entire day at the winery: first during the day as a band plays, then at a beer tasting (???) that night. Neither of these events are the much touted wine-tasting, however; that is actually a private party happening later at server Troy (James Duval)’s house.
Weirdly though, following Troy’s death, the party’s location is inexplicably moved to Karen’s house for the climax of the film, but the whole event plays like an afterthought and features a litany of characters we have never met before.
This is a recurring issue throughout Amityville Karen, which frequently introduces random characters for a scene or two. Karen is typically absent from these scenes, which makes them feel superfluous and unimportant. When the actress is on screen, the film has an anchor and a narrative drive. The scenes without her, on the other hand, feel bloated and directionless (blame editor Will Collazo Jr., who allows these moments to play out interminably).
Compounding the issue is that the majority of the actors are non-professionals and these scenes play like poorly performed improv. The result is long, dull stretches that features bad actors talking over each other, repeating the same dialogue, and generally doing nothing to advance the narrative or develop the characters.
While Karen is one-note and histrionic throughout the film, at least there’s a game willingness to Francesca’s performance. It feels appropriately campy, though as the film progresses, it becomes less and less clear if Amityville Karen is actually in on the joke.
Like Amityville Cop before it, there are legit moments of self-awareness (the Serial Mom references), but it’s never certain how much of this is intentional. Take, for example, Karen’s glaringly obvious wig: it unconvincingly fails to conceal Francesca’s dark hair in the back, but is that on purpose or is it a technical error?
Ultimately there’s very little to recommend about Amityville Karen. Despite the game performance by its lead and the gentle homages to Serial Mom’s prank call and white shoes after Labor Day jokes, the never-ending improv scenes by non-professional actors, the bloated screenplay, and the jittery direction by Phillips doom the production.
Clocking in at an insufferable 100 minutes, Amityville Karen ranks among the worst of the “franchise,” coming in just above Phillips’ other entry, Amityville Hex.
The Amityville IP Awards go to…
- Favorite Subplot: In the afternoon event, there’s a self-proclaimed “hot boy summer” band consisting of burly, bare-chested men who play instruments that don’t make sound (for real, there’s no audio of their music). There’s also a scheming manager who is skimming money off the top, but that’s not as funny.
- Least Favorite Subplot: For reasons that don’t make any sense, the winery is also hosting a beer tasting which means there are multiple scenes of bartender Alex (Phillips) hoping to bring in women, mistakenly conflating a pint of beer with a “flight,” and goading never before seen characters to chug. One of them describes the beer as such: “It looks like a vampire menstruating in a cup” (it’s a gold-colored IPA for the record, so…no).
- Amityville Connection: The rationale for Karen’s killing spree is attributed to Amityville wine, whose crop was planted on cursed land. This is explained by vino groupie Annie (Jennifer Nangle) to band groupie Bianca (Lilith Stabs). It’s a lot of nonsense, but it is kind of fun when Annie claims to “taste the damnation in every sip.”
- Neverending Story: The film ends with an exhaustive FIVE MINUTE montage of Phillips’ friends posing as reporters in front of terrible green screen discussing the “killer Karen” story. My kingdom for Amityville’s regular reporter Peter Sommers (John R. Walker) to return!
- Best Line 1: Winery owner Dallas (Derek K. Long), describing Karen: “She’s like a walking constipation with a hemorrhoid”
- Best Line 2: Karen, when a half-naked, bleeding woman emerges from her closet: “Is this a dream? This dream is offensive! Stop being naked!”
- Best Line 3: Troy, upset that Karen may cancel the wine tasting at his house: “I sanded that deck for days. You don’t just sand a deck for days and then let someone shit on it!”
- Worst Death: Karen kills a Pool Boy (Dustin Clingan) after pushing his head under water for literally 1 second, then screeches “This is for putting leaves on my plants!”
- Least Clear Death(s): The bodies of a phone salesman and a barista are seen in Karen’s closet and bathroom, though how she killed them are completely unclear
- Best Death: Troy is stabbed in the back of the neck with a bottle opener, which Karen proceeds to crank
- Wannabe Lynch: After drinking the wine, Karen is confronted in her home by Barnaby (Carl Solomon) who makes her sign a crude, hand drawn blood contract and informs her that her belly is “pregnant from the juices of his grapes.” Phillips films Barnaby like a cross between the unhoused man in Mulholland Drive and the Mystery Man in Lost Highway. It’s interesting, even if the character makes absolutely no sense.
- Single Image Summary: At one point, a random man emerges from the shower in a towel and excitedly poops himself. This sequence perfectly encapsulates the experience of watching Amityville Karen.
- Pray for Joe: Many of these folks will be back in Amityville Shark House and Amityville Webcam, so we’re not out of the woods yet…
Next time: let’s hope Christmas comes early with 2022’s Amityville Christmas Vacation. It was the winner of Fangoria’s Best Amityville award, after all!
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