OCTOBER 27 — I love Halloween season for its horror movies. It’s usually the best time for a new horror franchise to be rolled out or some low budget flick to surprise us.
This year, there is no Paranormal Activity instalment (thank God!) and since I have totally given up on the Saw franchise since Saw 3 and will not be watching this year’s Jigsaw I found myself last month without anything to look forward to.
Fortunately, after catching some trailers, I found two films to watch: The Snowman and Happy Death Day.
First: The Snowman. It was so unbelievably disappointing that I had to mentally review the movie right after watching it.
Did I miss something? This is a Martin Scorsese produced film and I worship his storytelling abilities. Presumably he watched the final cut before signing off on it so how could he have let this mess slide?
Furthermore, the director Tomas Alfredson admits to not filming 10-15 per cent of the script! Something to do with budgets and timing but if 10-15 per cent of a story is missing from the final cut, you can bet there will be holes in the plotline.
No less than Michael Fessbender was the lead actor of this film. Before Hollywood fell in love with him, I was already a fan after watching him in Fish Tank(2009).
The Snowman had an awesome premise. It was, after all, from a famous crime fiction series by Jo Nesbo from Norway.
Perhaps the film adaptation was meant to be like Stiegg Larsson’s Girl With the Dragon Tattoo but the latter was very focussed and coherent and the same cannot be said for The Snowman.
At the risk of sounding trite, the detective’s unfortunate name of Harry Hole did not help either. I am no prude and was not offended but a serious film such as this needs less of a double entendre for a name.
The one saving grace for The Snowman though was its picturesque shots. Like the director’s previous film, Let The Right One In, the use of the Norweigian cold was very effective. Still, it just could not save this mess of a movie.
The other surprise this Halloween was a more pleasant one — Happy Death Day. The title itself was, I admit, cheesy enough to put me off but fortunately, I read the premise and was intrigued.
It is a combination of Groundhog Day and any slasher flick you like. A young woman is killed and wakes up thereafter on the day of her death.
The plot was not too complicated but what really helped was its “tightness.” It was very focussed on the plot and the lead character.
The young woman’s life slowly unfolds before us. She is very self-involved to the point of neglecting the people who care about her. She stops at nothing to get what she wants and treats people like dirt.
As she gradually sees the error of her ways, we come to empathise with her and actually root for her to succeed in the end.
Happy Death Day is definitely the film I would recommend for a good Halloween romp. It is exciting though not scary. Its script can be a little banal at times but given the age of the main cast, I suppose it would not be out of place.
What’s even better is that it does not try to be what it’s not. It was light and humorous and ties up together brilliantly in the end.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
