Reviews
[TIFF Review] Neil Jordan’s ‘Greta’ Falters By Falling Somewhere Between Thriller and High Camp
There’s a long Hollywood history of thrillers in which random strangers innocently insert themselves into the lives of our protagonists and then expose the fact that they are psychos. The subgenre peaked in the 80s and 90s when titles like The Crush, Fatal Attraction and Single White Female raked in big money and even greater notoriety, but in recent years its popularity has fizzled out. These days it lives on in infrequent (and often meek) entries like 2011’s The Roommate or in the complementary “vengeful psycho ex” film such as Obsessed and The Perfect Guy.
Leave it to esteemed art house director Neil Jordan to try and inject some life – and class – back into the proceedings. The creative mind behind notorious blockbusters like The Crying Game and Interview with The Vampire digs deep into the Freudian sandbox for his latest film Greta, starring the unlikely pairing of Chloë Grace Moretz and French icon Isabelle Huppert.
Frances (Grace Moretz) is a fresh-faced newcomer to New York. She’s rooming with Erica (genre vet Maika Monroe) in an amazing open concept loft that only people in the movies can afford, working at a fancy seafood restaurant and learning to navigate the city. Frances is also slightly estranged from her father (Colm Feore) following the death of her mother from cancer – he is concerned about her, but all Frances yearns for is freedom and independence.
One day Frances discovers a lost purse on the subway and, despite Erica’s insistence that they treat themselves to a spa/colonic with the contents, Frances elects to return the item in person. She winds up striking up an unlikely friendship with Greta (Huppert), a lonely widower who appears kind, but also a little odd.
It’s no spoiler to confirm that Greta is not what she appears. The older woman begins to ingratiate herself into Frances’ life (a fact that perplexes and bothers Erica), slowly at first and then increasingly making demands on her time. One night during a dinner at Greta’s house, Frances makes a shocking discovery that prompts her to sever ties with the older woman, which sets in motion the main plot of the film as Greta stalks, harasses and threatens Frances at home and at work.
As the titular character, Huppert completely steals the show. Greta is a deranged, neurotic villain posing in plain sight as a kindly old woman. Half of the fun of Greta is watching Huppert’s obvious delight at performing unsavoury acts. This is especially true in the final act of the film when Greta reveals her full crazy intentions and the violence begins to escalate. The film’s highlight is a scene with Huppert involving a gun, a body and a little dancing and it is so amazingly ridiculous that it’s almost worth the price of admission.
As lead, Grace Moretz is unfortunately far less engaging. She seems to be aiming for wide-eyed innocent and lands instead on either sleepwalking or histrionic. Frances is so bland that it is hard to understand why Greta would become dangerously obsessed with her.
It is especially difficult when Frances is compared to Erica. Maika Monroe essentially steals the film out from under her co-star by making Erica imminently likeable, sarcastic and a little flirty. At one point Greta begins sending Frances a series of photographs of Erica while the latter is drinking alone at the bar, prompting a “chase by text” sequence as Frances desperately tries to guide her roommate to safety. Later Erica, examining Greta’s pictures of her, comments how attractive she looks and compliments the stalker for taking a good photo. It’s this kind of quip that makes Erica so much more enjoyable to watch than Frances.
Greta’s biggest failure, however, is the film’s reluctance to fully embrace its full camp potential. These kinds of films benefit from being as outlandish as possible and while there are a few delightfully silly moments (and one truly kick ass moment of gore involving a mundane kitchen utensil), they’re too few and far between. The body count is also surprisingly low, which is unusual for the subgenre in comparison to earlier iterations, which would have had the guts to knock off at least a few more characters.
As it stands, Greta simply isn’t frightening enough to be a great horror film, and it’s not campy enough to be a guilty pleasure. Greta could have been great fun – and a much stronger film – had it leaned into its genre origins. Instead it’s just so-so, despite a very game Isabelle Huppert.
Books
‘In Search of Darkness’ Book Review: A Must-Have for ’80s Horror Fans
In 2019, the documentary of 80s horror In Search of Darkness became an instant hit with horror fans. Now, a beautiful coffee table style companion book is available and is a must-own for all fans of one of horror’s greatest eras. The book is a walk down the horror aisle of the best mom and pop video store in the heyday of VHS, featuring full color photos, poster art, insightful essays and more. More than just a nostalgic throwback, In Search of Darkness is the kind of book I wish I’d had back in my years as a burgeoning horror fan but is also satisfying for the film fanatic I have become in the years since.
The format is beautifully and simply laid out, with at least a dozen (usually more) movies from each year of the decade presented in order of release accompanied by informative and insightful essays by the authors Heather Wixson and Patrick Bromley. Both authors have been mainstays of film journalism, specializing in horror, for many years. Wixson began her career in 2007 with Dread Central and has spent the past ten years as the Managing Editor of Daily Dead, from which she recently retired to focus on books and other projects. She has devoted the past several years to interviewing and writing books about the Make-up and Special Effects wizards that have brought so much to film over the years, specifically the horror genre.
Bromley is a film journalist and critic whose work can be found all over the place including right here on Bloody Disgusting. He recently provided the commentary for the Vinegar Syndrome release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and is known as something of a Tobe Hooper expert. He is also the founder and editor of F this Movie!, an eclectic film website, and host of its accompanying podcast. So, to be clear, the authors know their stuff.
Wixson and Bromley divide writing duties roughly in half and though each has a distinctive voice, their writing styles dovetail beautifully into a cohesive whole. Each author plays to their strengths. Being familiar with both their work I didn’t even have to look at the bylines to know that Heather covered Christine and Terror in the Aisles and Patrick took on The Funhouse and Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. Wixson’s passion for make-up effects is clear and comes through in many of her contributions. In general, Wixson takes on the “big” titles, the movies that defined the decade the most, and Bromley covers what the more cynical among us might call schlock, but he would likely call pure cinematic bliss. There are exceptions and surprises, of course, as there should be (Patrick covers The Shining for example). Each essay dives into the history behind the film, the major players involved, the reception, and legacy with often surprising aspects drawn from interviews with the filmmakers from various sources and insights from the authors.
For all their in-depth explorations of each film, in general the authors keep their critics’ hats safely stowed, keeping in mind that every entry on the book has its fans. In fact, they may well have sold me on finally hitting play on some of the schlockier offerings of the decade like Evilspeak, Nightbeast, and Blood Diner. Hell, I may even give The Beast Within a spin for shits and giggles. The point is that this book is a celebration through and through. The authors are honest about the critical receptions of the films, which were often unkind, and sometimes let their own opinions shine through, but recognize how beloved even the schlockiest films can become given time and availability. And that is an ongoing theme of In Search of Darkness. What may have been dismissed in its day often becomes revered as the years pass. Variations on the phrase “the years have been kind to…” referring to various maligned projects like The Thing, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The Blob and many, many others, can be found throughout the book for good reason.
Each chapter of the book also includes a rundown of the top horror movies at the box office for the year as well as the top movies of all genres for context. The final page for each year highlights some of the major news and pop culture events including the top songs, albums, and television shows. There is a large central section that pays tribute to the talent involved with the greatest horror films of the 80s including directors, actors, effects artists, and more. This section includes brief biographies of John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Stephen King, Tom Savini, Barbara Crampton, Robert Englund, and many others presented in a dynamic and engaging fashion.
One of the beauties of the book is that it covers so much ground. Sure, you’ll find Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, and the Halloween sequels in it, but you’ll also find deeper cuts like The Changeling, The Being, and Tetsuo: The Iron Man. I was happy to find the same love given to Frank Henenlotter and Larry Cohen as to George A. Romero and David Cronenberg. In other words, In Search of Darkness is extraordinarily eclectic, highlighting the diversity that truly defined what is often viewed as a homogenous decade. The authors make the case that the 80s was horror’s greatest decade, and with what they lay out throughout this book, it’s tough to argue against that. I even came across a film or two I hadn’t even heard of before, which has become increasingly rare as the years go by.
At just shy of $85, the cover price may give some horror hounds pause, but believe me, it’s worth every penny. This is a beautiful volume that every fan of 80s horror will want on their shelf or prominently displayed on their coffee table. Filled with favorite titles, hundreds of full color photos, insightful and informative writing, this is simply a must own.
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