Sober Horror Fan

Day 142 of Sobriety.      So, I had heard a little bit about Tusk before I watched it, and I had gathered that it was a strange and divisive film, despite having quite mainstream credentials—it was directed by Kevin Smith who made Clerks (1994) and the Jay and Silent Bob films, among others, and it co-stars Johnny Depp. I was curious about Tusk because it is distributed by A24, and I tend to really like A24’s horror output.   The bizarre plot follows an obnoxious, arrogant podcaster who travels to Canada to conduct an interview for his show. In Canada, he happens to meet an eccentric retired sailor, who he believes will make excellent subject matter for his podcast, which seems to focus on jeering at eccentric people. Unfortunately for the podcaster, the sailor has his own sinister plans for him, that involve his obsession with a walrus who once saved his life.   The film is part comedy, part horror (with the body-horror element being particular...

Day 75 of Sobriety.  Too long. Far too long. So, so long! There, that’s that out of the way. A Cure for Wellness is about a young and highly ambitions corporate executive who is sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from a mysterious health facility in the Swiss Alps, where he disappeared apparently after having some kind of breakdown. Upon arriving at the facility’s remote mountain location, the young businessman finds that there is something strange and disturbing afoot. The film was directed by Gore Verbinski, who made the 2002 US remake of The Ring , and several of the films in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Unsurprisingly, therefore, this film is a mega-budgeted affair, and it certainly looks like one. It is gorgeous to look at, particularly the spectacular depiction of the remote Swiss Alps and the elaborate gothic castle that the health facility is housed in. All of the acting is solid. Mia Goth, who plays a mysterious and　disturbed young resident of the ...