Horror Archives - Taji Mag

Barbarian

Starring Georgina Campbell, Justin Long, and Bill Skarsgard

After watching the first trailer, I thought to myself, “How in the hell is this film going to turn out and what’s in the basement?” Given that Bill Skarsgård (who played IT, the clown) stars in the film, Barbarian looked like a horror film worth watching. Boy was I right! This film had a bunch of “What in the f*ck!” moments and some really scary stuff in it.

Let’s start off with Georgina Campbell: I give her two thumbs up as a horror protagonist. Her reactions to certain situations and actions are 100% believable and exactly what you’d expect. Campbell’s awkward chemistry with Skarsgard (Keith) in the Airbnb was spot on. I think two people would be awkward in this situation. With Skarsgard giving all sorts of creepy vibes, all I could yell at the screen is, “Tess baby, what is you doin’ baby?” but then Tess became warmer towards Keith as they both let down their guard and created a safe-feeling environment…well sort of.

I like that Tess was able to make smart decisions like most people would, such as not opening certain doors and staying out of certain areas. But you know it wouldn’t be a horror movie had she kept that same mindset throughout the whole film. Eventually, she let her curiosity get the best of her.

When asked about how she became a part of the film, Campbell said, “I’ve always really wanted to do a horror film, but I hadn’t come across anything that was right, that I really, really liked. I just loved it. I thought it was fantastic. Then I spoke to Zach, and he was very passionate and knew exactly what he wanted to do and just seemed like he knew what he was doing, and yeah, I was in.” Campbell was right about her selection because this is not your typical horror film; nor does it follow traditional film beats. Her character, Tess, had to figure out how to survive, have sympathy, and learn who to trust.

Outside of being creepy and awkward, Skarsgard straddles the line of trustworthiness. It works here because I couldn’t tell what the hell was causing the unusual activities in the house on that first night Tess and Keith stayed there. If you want a scary film, put Skarsgard in it! I think after IT, his performances will always fit this genre…or maybe it’s just something in his eyes.

If you remember Jeepers Creepers, then you should remember Justin Long’s classic clash with an evil demon. Long plays AJ, an actor involved in a rape allegation who needs more money to keep his lawyers on staff. I’m not holding back any words when I say that Keith is a selfish, opportunistic asshole. Long brings a lot of humor to the film as AJ. There were also some moments when I thought he was worse than the villain. With all the flaws of this character, you can’t help but feel bad for him. You don’t want to see him suffer at the hands of the murderer… until the very end when you’re ready for him to suffer the worst death imaginable. Now that’s what I call a switch-up!

Justin Long as AJ in 20th Century Studios’ BARBARIAN, exclusively on Hulu. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

The set design was amazing. I give much kudos to the crew. From the Airbnb to the rooms in the basement, every environment helped set the tone for each scene. Especially when the characters ventured into the creepy basement, but I won’t give too much away. You’ll have to see for yourself.

I can not express how awesome the sound design was. For example, as a character walks down a dark hallway, you can hear their increased heartbeat as they approach an unknown area. It had my heart pumping fast. The multiple times the victims tried to evade the killer felt like a thrill ride in the theater.

Actress Georgina Campbell shares the same sentiments saying the experience was “just incredible.” She further explained, “The set design was just amazing. It was all set on a sound stage for the interiors. And just walking into the Airbnb, it was incredible because it looks just like an Airbnb would. It’s got that Airbnb feel, where everything’s probably from Ikea. It’s all not quite got a personality, really. But yeah, so I just thought that was amazing. And then once we go downstairs into the basement, it was very easy to get lost in the scenes because everything felt and looked really real.”

Director/Writer Zach Cregger’s flashbacks in the film were unique and provided enough information to know the motivation of the antagonist. It’s interesting how he developed the idea for this film. He explained, “I had read a book called The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker. There was a chapter primarily directed towards women, encouraging them to pay attention to these little minor red flags that men can give off in day-to-day situations. They can be very innocuous things that you might not notice. Things like complimenting you when it’s not necessarily appropriate or doing you a favor that you didn’t ask for or touching in a nonsexual way that’s not initiated by you, all these little things that seemingly don’t matter. He was basically saying [that’s] the gift of fear. It’s important to pay attention to these little red flags because you’re equipped with that to identify potential threats.”

Once the villain and its origin are revealed, the film heads into a series of chases, fights, and what the f*cks, but ends in an unexpected way. You’ll want to catch this film! And when you do, please leave a comment below on your thoughts.

Watch Barbarian on September 6th, 2022 in theaters everywhere.

My Impression

My reaction to the Beckett trailer was, “Okay, so…this film has to be produced by Jordan Peele because it looks like a version of Get Out overseas.” I mean, the protagonist Beckett, a Black American, crashes a car his car into a house in Greece, and his white girlfriend ends up dying instantly. Yeah, I can see this story going in an interesting direction. A horror movie indeed.

Does the writer give an exciting and compelling reason for Beckett to be on the run? Not in my opinion. The film had an unexpected twist, but my guess was the local authorities were trying to kill Becket because he unintentionally killed his wife, who we discover was a spy of some sort, but that wasn’t the case. By the end of the film, I was disappointed.

It was crazy that Beckett uncovered that the local authorities were trying to kill him to keep a politically driven kidnapping under wraps. Beckett saw the kidnapped child of an important political figure right after his crash.

The chase and tension in the film were great. I felt like Beckett couldn’t catch a break though; the locals were surprisingly friendly and even knew how brutal the police were. Multiple tried to help him, despite facing terrible interrogations or maybe even death for their assistance.

Beckett Beatings

Now for the many ass-whoopings Beckett took in this film. John David Washington made it believable that the character was a regular non-fighting citizen. I’ve known Washington to play some badasses and to see this character get destroyed the whole movie was a change. During the movie, I was like damn I hope he has some good health insurance.

One of the worst beatings he took was in the subway tunnel, where he was punched and stabbed multiple times. Becket was basically knife practice, but he kept fighting and escaped severely injured. During the film, I can say Becket was a survivor because he would run every time, but of course not before getting hurt in some way.

Becket redeemed himself by not getting caught and killed by the U.S. embassy staff member, Tynan, and escaping the attempts on his life. Beckett’s fights with Tynan and the female antagonist were hilarious to me. I guess he had a “Karen” trigger moment because he smashed the hell out of her head into the concrete.

But the ending, the ending had me like…

I couldn’t believe it? Beckett jumped off the parking garage and landed on top of the car like Macho Man Randy Savage doing a high-flying elbow in a WWE match. He landed on the car like a sack of potatoes and saved the day. I am sure he had some internal bleeding and probably needed medical treatment for the rest of his life. Of course, the audience is lead to believe Becket sacrificed his life for the child since he was the cause of death for his wife. Although it was an attempt to pay off the heart on Becket’s hand-drawn tattoo given by his wife, there could’ve been a better way to end the movie.

The film has entertaining moments but I was not happy about the ending or the plot involving the mafia and politics. Maybe if Becket or his wife had direct involvement in the kidnapping it would’ve made for a better story. I am always going to cheer on John David Washington as an actor but I have to be honest, this film missed the mark for me.