Hi everyone!
Welcome back for another Fantastic Fest review from our good friend Andrew Campbell. He’s still riding high after getting his press credentials for this year’s Fantastic Fest. I’m still a little surprised myself, and I can’t wait to hear about all the awesome films he’ll get a chance to see this year! And once he sees them, and we get the okay, you’ll hear about them here! For a few recent reviews from Andrew, check out “Lords of Chaos” (Episode #551), “Girls With Balls” (Episode #558), and “Dogman” (Episode #565).
Before the review, we’ll have a promo from our friends at the Bicurean podcast. Check out their latest episode entitled Single Issue Haters, where they look at the relationship between accountability and blame in our current political discourse. It’s part of their mission to help advance critical thought, especially in a world with lots of shouty people shouting shouts at other shouty people. You can catch them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @bicurean, or check out their amazing website at bicurean.com.
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Here we go!
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Hello film fans!
Andrew here - back this week with a film that I missed out on seeing at the 2018 Fantastic Fest. Although I prefer presenting reviews of films that are playing theatrically, or after they hit one of the more common streaming services, today’s film is only available on VOD at the moment but it should be streaming soon. Be sure to follow One Movie Punch on Twitter for updates when any of the films we have covered become widely available.
Speaking of movie services, I finally cut off my Netflix DVD subscription after a decade long run. I had been using my Netflix DVD queue to track upcoming films of interest as Netflix allows users to save most films to their queue just before their theatrical releases. I was able to migrate the majority of my watchlist to the free service JustWatch, which has a fairly comprehensive database, but is not without its own blind spots. JustWatch lets you track when your saved films (and television shows) become available on a list of streaming services that you select. At this point, there is so much immediately accessible content that waiting for DVDs to arrive in the mail just no longer makes sense. Did you already figure this out months ago? Do you still get DVDs in the mail? Send us a fax and tell us why.
Today’s movie is “The Wind”, a horror film set on the desolate American prairie sometime during the mid-1800s. “The Wind” was written by Teresa Sunderland and directed by Emma Tammi – the feature film debut for both writer and director. The film stars Caitlin Gerard as Lizzy, a strong-willed woman living with her husband Isaac (Ashley Zukerman) on a rural homestead. When another young couple, Gideon and Emma, move into the long-abandoned farmhouse the next field over, the two women start experiencing strange visions that threaten to disrupt their stoic lives. Are the women in the grips of a shared hysteria or are evil forces at play?
The film looks great. The daytime panoramas are contrasted well with the dimly lit evenings spent inside the stark, albeit spacious log home. Maybe it’s just me, but lately there seems to be an increasing number of horror films set in either the rural countryside or during colonial times. In this case it’s both. I’ll recommend a few similar films in a bit, but I’m starting to wonder if maybe it’s not so difficult to imbue a stark landscape with a sinister, foreboding feel. “The Wind” has the looks, but what about a plot?
So yeah, about that plot. The film opens strong with the tragic aftermath of a stillbirth, told with few words as Lizzy and the men work through guilt-ridden heartache on the front porch. After that, you’re going to want to buckle up to avoid whiplash as the film careens between flashbacks, dreams, and the present while failing to use a turn signal. Maybe there was a visual device that managed to elude me other than Lizzy looking just a bit more disheveled in the present day after the unseen spirit began to wear her down. By the time I got my bearings with each scene change, the narrative would slowly evaporate. As the story progresses, the murky mystery transitions into standard PG-13 popcorn scares. The story could have stood out by its creepiness alone rather than going the route of shadows and jump scares that are both played out and not particularly well done.
What makes “The Wind” fantastic? A few years ago, this film may have stood out from the crowd. But since the cult success of “The Witch” in 2015, the bar has been raised. “The Wind” is far too vague when it comes to its central conceit of an evil spirit that presides over the prairie. The creative team is trying to create a mystery, but what we end up with is some fairly wooden characters fighting off an ambiguous force. That said, as a debut effort for both writer and director, the film shows some promise for what was likely a short shoot on a tight budget. I hope we see them back at the festival with an improved offering in a couple years.
“The Wind” (2018) is supernatural horror at its most subtle; a breezy watch that contains just enough substance to command attention for 90 minutes. Fans of rural, period horror films such as “The Witch”, “Hagazussa” (Episode #530), or the spectacular “Nightingale” (currently in theaters) may enjoy this film.
Rotten Tomatoes: 80% (CERTIFIED FRESH)
Metacritic: 66
One Movie Punch: 6.2/10
“The Wind” (2018) is not rated and available on VOD.
Come back next week for “Holiday” a dark Danish psychological thriller set against the gorgeous backdrop of the Turkish Riviera. Some pretty heavy trigger warnings will come along with it, but it’s a powerful film deserving of the New Wave Best Picture and Best Director awards it picked up at Fantastic Fest last year. Stream it free on Kanopy tonight or come back next week for my full review. I’ll see you then.
