If you're a sucker for Stephen King stories about people being put up against threats that go beyond the limit any human should face (The Shining, It, Misery, Carrie) you’re definitely getting your money's worth this one because Stephen’s blood thoroughly runs through his son's veins. Derrickson's remarkable direction should also not be overlooked as well, especially the way he sets up at establishing and developing his characters before initiating the coming terror. I’d say it takes about a good 20 minutes in its runtime for the film to showcase its first real threatful sequence with the main antagonist and some may fault the film for being too slow. The way I see it is that for the audience to be properly investested in the horror, they must first be invested in the characters. The dialogue is nothing riveting because the film mostly stars kids who for most part is their first time ever acting, yet Derrickson still gets the job done by patient narrative pacing, and ultimately a heartfelt emotional core between the characters of Finney and his sister Gwen played by Madeleine McGraw (who for me stole the whole show).
I feel like it would be a sin if I didn’t at least mention Ethan Hawke and how brilliant he is in this, he’s been in the business since he was a kid and has done almost everything at this point. And Hawke yet manages to showcase a new masked serial killer that has really stood out and made an impact on the genre and one teenagers and young adults we’ll most likely be showing off for Halloween this year. Some may find the lack of backstory with The Grabber frustrating, for myself it was his charm and mannerism that drew me into his captivating performance, the mystery itself that kept it all pleasantly surprising throughout the runtime to know that he’s just a bizarre yet quirky creep, to me that’s far more nerve-racking than a sympathetic or tragic backstory. As for the technical aspect, anyone who caught sight of Derrickson’s film Sinister back in 2012 (also starring Hawke) and was compelled by the way Derrickson incorporated super 8 stock footage in that film, will be more than happy with this one as well. Without giving too much away there is an aspect to this film that is integral to the story involving a character's dreams that I genuinely did not expect, the way Derrickson chose to shoot these dreams to make it look like old footage from the 1970’s I found to be very bold, fascinating, and even natural the way it almost felt like connected tissue to Sinister.
There is much more that can be said about this one from the minimal yet earned jump scares, to the characters of the small town who are dealing a lot with their own personal baggage outside of the kidnapping going on in the town. This film overall made for a very compelling joyride that doesn’t tamper down to its audience and showcases how Scott Derrickson is evolving as a creative filmmaker. He was also the helmer of the first Doctor Strange film back in 2016 for Marvel Studios and was set to return to help it’s sequel (In the Multiverse of Madness) but left due to creative differences. Makes you really wonder what this film would’ve turned out like without Derrickson in that directors chair or even have a turn out at all. Blissful this film was in his hands and turned out to be something extraordinary and perceptive.
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By Danny Manna @Cinemanna24- Nerdthusiast Content Creator
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