Hard to figure out if this is really a horror.
First up - the acting, sound, shooting, and editing are brilliant. On that basis it's an award winner.
The story starts with selling one's soul to the devil, and this passes through four characters, all female. She just gets $500 and when she speaks her name at a crossroad he comes for her and she ends up committing suicide.
So most of the story seems like a metaphor - the illusions of lonely women in a declining society. There's no significant male character - just the shadow of the beast.
I thought this was going to go Mulholland Drive, with the artist sister having invented the story to justify her evil deeds. But it ended straight.
Overall really impressed, especially with the expectation of something new in each scene. But it needed an extra level. Horror has to horrify, and a great story has to be meta - very hard to combine them.
I rated The Pact, which was a genuine horror but with much lower standards. So I reckon McCarthy will blow my mind next time round.
One more thing: I got confused distinguishing the female characters in this movie and in The Pact - is it just me?
First up - the acting, sound, shooting, and editing are brilliant. On that basis it's an award winner.
The story starts with selling one's soul to the devil, and this passes through four characters, all female. She just gets $500 and when she speaks her name at a crossroad he comes for her and she ends up committing suicide.
So most of the story seems like a metaphor - the illusions of lonely women in a declining society. There's no significant male character - just the shadow of the beast.
I thought this was going to go Mulholland Drive, with the artist sister having invented the story to justify her evil deeds. But it ended straight.
Overall really impressed, especially with the expectation of something new in each scene. But it needed an extra level. Horror has to horrify, and a great story has to be meta - very hard to combine them.
I rated The Pact, which was a genuine horror but with much lower standards. So I reckon McCarthy will blow my mind next time round.
One more thing: I got confused distinguishing the female characters in this movie and in The Pact - is it just me?