Bye Bye Man
So I’ve been looking forward to this movie for the
better part of 2016. Originally filmed with a release date in November,
the film had gotten a lot of horror hype as being a new vision and
introducing a new Iconic character that would
haunt our nights. And as the release date came closer, the news was
that they were pushing for a hard “R” rating and that the film was going
to seriously deliver the goods… and then the date got pushed back. And
they announced it was going to get a PG-13 release.
And the film was pushed back to January 2017… for those who don’t know,
January is kind of a dumping ground for film releases. It’s where
studios tend to shove their tax write-offs and films that have little to
no expectation for seeing a return. It’s a realm
of dread for many horror fans, because that’s when we know that
something is going to be “wrong’ with the film.
“Don’t Think it, Don’t Say it.”
Bye Bye Man has all the foundation to create an
interesting and effective film with a fairly solid script, decent
direction, and great practical effects. But then the film seems to
diverge from itself in post-production. Poorly rendered
CGI, ill placed audio stings, and butchered editing of scenes obviously
intended for a mature audience undermine the efforts of the director to
pace and maintain a sense of dread throughout the story. The practical
effects make-up of the titular character
are incredibly effective but then diffused by the presence of a
“dog-like” creature that never truly receives any sort of explanation.
Follow all of that up with a bevy of the usual tropes (Séance, house
party, little girl at risk, library google search, and
a visit with the knowledgeable old lady) and the film becomes much more
of a parody than an effective horror film.
5 out of 10 and a very low priority rental.
Monster Truck
Monster Truck is another January release that had
been promised an earlier theater run but reshoots and effects work kept
pushing it back. But what we do see is far better a film than it has any
right to be- it’s a solid PG action film
with monsters, much in the vein of Amblin-esque films and lighter
sci-fi fare. While I went to the drive-in to enjoy some time with my
family, I cannot say that I really paid much attention to the film
itself. I had a massive headache, took a nap halfway through
the film, and woke up just long enough to see that many of the earlier
tropes introduced in the film were turned on their heads a little. So,
keep in mind that I only saw about half of the film… the first fifteen
minutes and the last half hour or so.
A young man lives in a modern era “oil boom” town
with his mother and her live-in boyfriend, the local sheriff of their
small town. The nearby drilling station has hit a deep water pocket,
releasing three unknown lifeforms and endangering
the profit margin of their project. Two of the creatures are captured
while the third manages to escape. The young man and the creature
encounter one another, the creature hides in the shell of a truck the
man had been working on, and this is how we really
get things started.
The film seems straight out of “paint a plot by
numbers 101”, yet suddenly veers in a few different directions regarding
the characters themselves. Almost as if recognizing the depthless
tropes they’re supposed to represent, the characters
move beyond the caricature and fill greater depths without the cheap
attempts to play on heart strings that many films rely on. But, be it as
it may, this is still a children’s film at heart. An exploration of
that depth isn’t really necessary and we move
along at a fairly quick pace to the climactic rescue of the other
creatures.
5.5, low priority rental.
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