Do you like scary movies?
It’s time to “be afraid, be very afraid” as SpoilerFreeReviews is dropping 13 spooky movies for fans to enjoy this PSL season. We will be posting our most frightful Halloween favorites over the next 13 spooky nights. So come join us around the fire as we tell our 13 creepy Halloween favorites. 🎃
ANTLERS comes from producer Guillermo Del Toro and director of CRAZY HEART/HOSTILES, Scott Cooper. At its core, and on paper, you could understand what drew Del Toro to this project. It’s a bloody creature feature that’s also something of a twisted fable about tortured children, dealing with abuse. Those familiar with Del Toro’s work will see shared spiritual overtones between this film and classics like THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE or PAN’S LABYRINTH. However, while by no means a bad movie, it’s by no means on par with the brilliance of those two films either.
And part of that reason is because Cooper’s slow burn style feels a bit tedious. The pacing is incredibly slow for a film that’s actually incredibly tense. Additionally, unfortunately, though it comes from a fantastic place, there seems to be a lot of ideas that aren’t as fully explored or fleshed out as I wanted them to be, both from an emotional standpoint, and a mythological standpoint. It’s not bad, but I genuinely did want more coming from the talent involved. You know Cooper is more than capable of delivering fully thought out narratives with satisfying character arcs.
Having said that, it does have truly unsettling moments, great acting courtesy of Keri Russel, Jesse Plemmons, and newcomer Jeremy T. Thomas, as well as a brilliant score, and a lot of gore, body horror, and creature feature elements to satisfy true horror fans. It’s worth a watch, but not something you have to go out to see immediately. Beware the wendigo!
ANTLERS hits theaters October 29th!
Illustration by Mike Manalo, coloring by Tarush Mohanti
