The Boy (2016)
Horror, Thriller
Directed By: William Brent Bell
As most horror fans know, January and February is typically a dumping ground for disappointing movies. It is the time of year that audiences are at their lowest numbers and studios usually use the time to dish out their least worthy properties. So when I first started seeing previews for The Boy, the latest film from William Brent Bell, it came off as another in a long line of mid winter duds that we see every year. This is hardly the case and thanks to some decent word of mouth and the opportunity to see what Lauren Cohan (The Walking Dead) could do on the big screen I made sure to check this flick out before it had finished its run in theaters.
Like many other genre films, The Boy keeps the plot simple. Greta (Lauren Cohan) is looking to get away from her past life which leads her to England, where she takes a job as a nanny for an aging couple. Upon her arrival she is shocked to learn that the "boy" she will be taking care of is actually a porcelain doll that represents the couples lost child. She has her reservations but the money is too good to pass up and even though she feels she is taking advantage of this elderly couple it all seems harmless enough. When her new employer's leave and strange things begin to happen around the house she starts to believe that this doll isn't just a doll and that maybe not all of their son was lost all those years ago.
Based on synopsis alone, this film hardly seems like anything we haven't seen before. Girl shows up at a house with a creepy doll, creepy doll then begins to torture her and make her question her sanity, and for the first two acts this is mostly the case. It is in the final act that this film separates itself from all others like it and falls completely down the rabbit hole. Not to say that this is the most original genre film either, because it isn't, what it does is take cliches and tropes the audience knows so well and twists them in a way we haven't necessarily seen before, all while paying homage to classic films like The People Under the Stairs.
Going into this I still had the bad taste in my mouth from 2014's Anabelle, a film that had a ton of promise and even an R rating but couldn't deliver on a single punch. So going into this, a film with a PG-13 rating (something genre fans are finally starting to realize isn't always a bad thing), I doubted how this film could actually scare or impress me. Now most of the film isn't "jump out of your seat" scary but it manages to get under your skin and make you feel quite uncomfortable at times and with a wickedly clever finale this film managed to do more than I thought possible.
It is nice to see Lauren Cohan making her transition to the big screen, we have seen plenty of big TV starts try and make the change recently and fail (just look at half of the Game of Thrones cast) so I enjoyed seeing her thrive in this film. She is as good, if not better than she has ever been on TWD and without her this film doesn't get passed the first act. I am happy to see some quality back in a studio horror film, especially one that came out in January, and I'd like to see many more like this going forward. 2016 is looking to be another solid year for genre fans and The Boy is wonderful way to get it all started, if you have been holding back on this one take the leap and check it out before it leaves theaters.
As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!
No comments:
Post a Comment