Reviews
‘Skinamarink’ Review – Abstract Lo-Fi Horror Mines Chills from Suggestion and Ambiance
Writer/Director Kyle Edward Ball’s microbudget feature debut Skinamarink earned critical accolades during its festival run before becoming a viral sensation late last year on TikTok. Its buzzy reputation for terrifying viewers and its title deriving from a children’s song made popular by Sharon, Lois & Bram instilled the expectation for a unique kindertrauma horror movie. While it delivers on its singular vision, its experimental nature and reliance on technique and the power of suggestion will likely polarize.
The 1995-set Skinamarink uses the setup of two young children, Kevin (Lucas Paul) and Kaylee (Dali Rose Tetreault), waking in the night to find their parents gone along with all windows and doors. The siblings band together around the living room TV with toys and blankets for comfort as they fend for themselves, but it soon becomes clear that perhaps they’re not alone.
Skinamarink eschews conventional storytelling or plot to immerse viewers into the personification of traumatic childhood nightmares through lo-fi ambiance and imagery. Ball and cinematographer Jamie McRae present this nightmare through static shots via grainy analog photography and long takes of shadowed corridors or rooms lit by the hazy blue glow of the television. The striking composition instills an abstract Creepypasta vibe. The camera gazes at empty spaces or eerie imagery, never showing the faces of its child leads or the unseen threat. It’s an innovative means of building atmosphere with dread and fear, giving viewers barely enough context clues to fill those empty spaces.
Accompanying this is the diegetic and ambient sound design that favors crackling noise and whispers so hushed that most of the dialogue is subtitled. The only semblance of a score comes from the cartoons playing on the TV. The ambiguity of the sound and imagery seeks to disorient.
While Ball succeeds in crafting a liminal reality with style, Skinamarink depends on prolonged patience and a willingness to fill in the vast nothingness through imagination. Not much happens in the 100-minute runtime, and the tactics begin to feel repetitive after a while. It winds up running overlong as a result. You’re either on this movie’s peculiar, dreamlike wavelength, or you’re not, and the latter can make this feel more like an endurance test.
Ball recreates that otherworldly feeling of unexplainable nightmares through audio and visual disorientation, trapping viewers in the claustrophobic perspective of Kevin and Kaylee. But Ball is too effective in generating that inescapable feeling; Skinamarink overstretches its minimalist, abstract horror experiment. For some, that’ll instill unnerving terror, while others will find it too impenetrable to engage.
As an overextended, kinder trauma voyage that operates on a vibe over a story, Skinamarink commits fully to its unique approach. Ball’s painstaking recreation of a shared childhood nightmare through lo-fi ambiance on a minuscule budget is commendable. It seems best suited to watch in that half-awake delirious state in the late night hours, home alone with the lights off. There’s no real story to follow; it’s an unsettling mood piece to immerse viewers in a nightmare realm. As impressive as this experiment in terror can be, it’s too sparse to earn its runtime.
Skinamarink releases in theaters on Friday 13, 2023.
The tenth entry in any franchise, let alone horror, is a monumental milestone. What began in 2004 with Saw, a twisty thriller that introduced John “Jigsaw” Kramer as a mastermind trap engineer, quickly gave way to an enduring horror franchise where the traps got gnarlier and the timeline increasingly more convoluted once Jigsaw and favorite apprentice Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) were lethally removed from the equation. Both are back in Saw X, a milestone sequel that goes back to the franchise’s roots to a deeply satisfying degree.
Saw X, set between Saw and Saw II, introduces John Kramer as he struggles with his terminal cancer diagnosis. Facing months to live, Kramer finds hope from fellow cancer support group member Henry (Michael Beach), whose radical life-saving procedure points him in the direction of elusive Dr. Cecilia Pederson (Synnøve Macody Lund). Dr. Pederson offers reassurances and a coveted spot in her experimental medical program, but it requires a steep price tag and a trip to Mexico City. Desperate to live, Kramer’s willing to pay the price.
But when he realizes there’s something deeply amiss with Dr. Pederson’s program, well, hell hath no fury like Jigsaw scorned.
Paulette Hernandez as Valentina in Saw X. Photo Credit: Alexandro Bolaños Escamilla
Director/Editor Kevin Greutert, who’s been with Saw since the start, knows this franchise well, and it shows. Working from a screenplay by Pete Goldfinger & Josh Stolberg, Greutert takes time to establish the setup, reestablish Kramer’s code of ethics, and introduce the new group of unwitting players. While that means a slower start to the trademark traps than more recent entries, it’s necessary groundwork for the emotional stakes that build to a gratifying payoff later.
The traps seem straightforward at first, but that simplicity lets the gore shine in exhilarating, jaw-dropping ways. Not only does the carnage flow freely, impressively handled by Fractured FX, but it’s bolstered by an impressive cast of newcomers that fearlessly commit to the harrowing acts. While Saw X marks a return to form, this new group of survivors with a palpable determination to live lends a refreshing new angle. That strong will to live is matched by a cunning intelligence in Dr. Pederson, changing the game for Kramer in unexpected ways.
Greutert, Goldfinger & Stolberg approach this tenth entry with a reverence for the franchise’s history while making it accessible for newcomers. Setting it so early in the timeline allows for fan favorites to return, with Bell and Smith picking up as if they’d never left. Bell brings gallows humor that reminds audiences why Jigsaw and his penchant for traps became an instant horror icon in the first place. His engineering skills and strict moral code make him fearsome for enemies, but Bell brings a tender warmth here. Smith’s Amanda feels perfectly in line with where we meet her in Saw II, a fragile former drug addict deeply loyal to Kramer and his quest.
The franchise callbacks don’t end there – stay for a mid-credit scene – but the script ensures no homework is necessary going in.
Saw X. Photo Credit: Alexandro Bolaños Escamilla
The carefully plotted Saw X builds so thrillingly that by the time “Hello Zepp” kicks in, the urge to cheer and holler is overwhelming. The traps are brutal and unrestrained; prepare for a lot of wincing at the screen. But they carry with them an emotional impact on both the characters and the story. The only misstep here is a loose ending for one character that feels more in service of a potential plot continuation. If that means we get to see more of Kramer and Amanda in the future, that’s a small price to pay.
Saw X delivers a franchise high, and that’s no small feat ten installments deep. There’s a comfortable sense of awareness and humor found in a sequel that utilizes its pared-back simplicity to showcase the characters and gore. Whether you’re new to the franchise or a diehard fanatic, Saw X is an easy recommendation this Halloween season. Welcome back, Jigsaw.
Saw X releases in theaters on September 29.
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