The Mosley Review: Barbarian
Well talk about a horror film concept that came out of almost nowhere. The majority of us all have had those odd, weird and sometimes downright terrifying experiences in a hotel, motel or an Airbnb. I mean you get what you pay for if you're in an area that is extremely shady. Well that's exactly what happened in this film and I enjoyed it. Part of me was looking at every corner of the screen from the beginning of the film to try and figure out what creepy surprises I can predict, but I was happy that it was a slower build in the beginning. I loved that it focused on the first characters in the film and how scary an awkward it is to be in a double booked room. Once the film got to the creepiness, I loved every bit of how restrained it was. It had many familiar horror tropes, but it featured a major theme in our culture that is not necessarily taboo. I really liked that the story itself was well paced on how it handled the many revelations and how it lived in the darkness of its tone. There wasn't really too much of a relief from the dread and it kept me on my toes.
Georgina Campbell was fantastic as Tess and I loved that she felt modern instead of a standard horror heroin. She was smart, brave and even though she did some questionable things, she didn't hesitate to use her resources. The amount of sheer terror and disgust on her face was excellent. She carried the film with ease. Bill Skarsgard was excellent as Keith and I liked the amount of jitter and nervousness he had. It felt authentic and the chemistry between him and Tess was fun. I wouldn't have minded a small romantic comedy film between them. Justin Long is always fun and as AJ, he was a perfect version of the Hollywood bro. He may have put himself into a terrible situation and you may not like him as the story progresses, but he somehow still charms the screen. I love seeing Justin in horror films and he did yet another excellent job as he is taken through the ringer. Robert Brake was really good and subtle as Frank. For the amount of screen time he has, he delivers that creepy and unsettling aura to the character.
The score by Anna Drubich was fun, haunting and really helped deliver the sound and tone of the VHS era of early 90's horror vibes the film was putting out. Visually the film was nice to look at and was very well lit for many of the darkest scenes. I didn't really find this film to be scary, but more creepy and fun. I have a high tolerance and expectation when it comes to horror thrillers, but I was genuinely surprised by a choice toward the last act of the film. Overall, I really did enjoy this film and for me it was a great kickoff to the Halloween season. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
