The Triangle of Life

 

Score:

Character development: ††
Atmosphere: †††
Startle Scenes: †††
Depth (horror class concepts): †††
The Monster: ††

The movie is about a group of friends on a yacht trip who then encounters a strong weather disturbance out of nowhere; consequently, they are forced to board a strange abandoned ship where Jess (Melissa George) starts to get weird feelings and Déjà vu’s. The movie mainly follows the perspective of Jess as she tries to solve the weird and fatal things starting to happen.

My initial impressions of the film was that it is the typical slasher film, where the virginal girl figure ends up as the sole survivor. I thought it was going to be a slasher film with a slow and uneventful beginning slowly giving a glimpse of a killer who preys on the group, killing one after the other. However, starting the middle and towards the end of the film, I gradually got the feeling that something much more deeper and mysterious is at work. The mystery of the occurrences kept me wondering who the real killer is. In the end, I found myself far from my initial impressions as I contemplated what really was going on and its philosophical underpinnings. The overwhelming feeling that was induced in me throughout the film was a combination of adrenaline and hopelessness. I can just imagine being in their situation, encountering experiences out of the possible. There is also a sense of familiarity in the film, in a sense that I can easily get stranded in the middle of the sea, where anything out of the ordinary can occur.

In a more theoretical analysis, the movie is more of a metaphysical kind of horror messing with the nature of reality. It blurs the line between reality and fantasy; in fact, until the very end one will still keep on wondering what is really going on. The fear of the unknown and the uncontrollable threat to the body elicits the horror in this case, some of the most primal human emotions.

Scariest/Favorite Scene:

One of the most terrifying scenes of the movie was when the birds were feeding off the many Sally bodies on the upper deck. It just drills on the point that Jess accomplished exactly what she should do to sustain the cycle she was trying to escape. The horror of realizing that your are not your self, that you don’t have free will, and that your are just another element in the sick cycle of death is really a terrifying thing to think about.

Strongest Elements of The Film

The strongest scenes of the movie for me were the beginning and the ending shots (at Jess’ house). It was where the events come full circle. These scenes leaves one with clues of what was really is going on. Moreover, they give the audience a micro-view of Jess’ character. It also served as a point of character development of Jess, one sees a sense of metanoia.

A scene that also stuck with me is when Jess saw the dead birds at the seafront and the horror in her face when she realized that she wasn’t out of the cycle yet. Somehow this scene becomes another catalyst in keeping the story going. I could only imagine the feeling of hopelessness Jess felt when she realized lead her to a kind of self-proclaiming prophecy.

The Myth

It was interesting to see the loose reference to greek mythology. Although to some this seems misleading or distracting, or just a cheap shot; to me it drills the point regarding death and fate. According to greek mythology, even Gods cannot escape Fate. In the movie, Jess, didn’t escape what’s going to happen next even if she thinks she is already out of the loop. In horror movies, the fear of the unknown is a formidable element, and the most primal and ultimate of them all is the fear of death, of fate. In Triangle death really looms in every corner, in every permutation. Some say hell is living the same day over and over again, immortality as a curse; ultimately, the movie succeeds as horror due to it’s ability to elicit such fear, not just of the unknown, but more intensively, the inevitable. Humanity has thrived with it’s ability to control it’s environment, to get out of the cycle of nature and flourish, dominate. Hopelessness, to lose the ability to take control of even one’s life,

Habits

At the beginning, I admit, I was quite irritated that Jess, the “heroine” of the movie, seemed to have lost all common sense and proper reactions, as she didn’t remember what happened in the previous scenes, thus, drilling (killing) her way back to the cycle of terror. But as the movie ended, quite neatly, it all made sense, that the reason why she seemed to have acted counter to what should, is that she was willing to go through everything again just to see and have another chance with her son.

The buildup was quite dry in the beginning, but towards the middle of the movie, I was just as trapped in the cycle as Jess was. So absorbed by the film, I was trying to make sense of the reactions of the character, as well as formulating what will/can happen next, and how will it end. To a certain degree it is a microcosm of how cycles/patterns work in our lives, we will never now whether we are truly out of the loop, and we seem to face the previous versions of ourselves with confusion/anger/caution. Cycles, habits, vices, these are what our daily lives are made off? But when are our choices really our own, and when are we repressed

Horror?

Answering this question require one to face the fundamental question that has haunted critics since time immemorial, the genreational question of what constitutes a horror film? Is it by a common, generic formula? By the history of the whole genre? Just an era of its history that promotes referential classics? or by it’s shock value? I would like to believe that more than anything else horror is referring to the emotion elicited itself; makes it a very specific genre. Banking on the power of emotions, horror is very primal to the human person. Triangle was effective as a horror, because it presented a situation wherein I can really feel my fear of the unknown and the uncontrollable. It succeeds as a horror film due to the fact that it makes me feel the creeps, the threat to life, and the daunting power of fate.

Do I Recommend it?

I recommend this movie especially to those who love a little twist in the psychological thriller genre. Expect a cycle of twists and turns that keep you interested in whats going to happen until the last scene. Be prepared for some mind-fucking stuff.

#111514 #Triangle

Gazing On and Off

Rating:

Startle Scenes: †††††

Atmosphere: ††††

Character development: †††

The Monster: ††

Depth (horror class concepts): ††††

About the Movie:

•Rec is a zombie horror movie that utilizes the camcorder effect similar to The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. It forces its audience to assume the vision of the camera with with imposing direction of the female lead. The movie is viewed through the perspective of a feature reporter, Angela Vidal, and her camera man, Pablo, as they follow a team of firefighters responding to a strange emergency from an apartment building. As they enter the area, they soon discover that something much bigger and more dangerous is going on; as they get quarantined inside. They discover a virus that spreads and transforms its human hosts into violent, flesh-eating creatures.

Unfortunately before watching it, I only knew its English version, Quarantine. My initial impression of this version, was that it was going to be the average zombie flick full of guns, action and blood. I was pleasantly (or unpleasantly) surprised about how effective the camcorder effect (I didn’t like Paranormal Activity) in amplifying the action as well as the startle scenes. Out of all the films so far, this was the most action-packed and engaging film.

In a more critical analysis, it greatly tackles the concept of the female gaze and control. By shifting the way the audience view the scenes, it changes the way they see certain truths. Angela is a very strong female figure in the film, she somehow assumes command of what will the limits of our access of the events be. The film also represents a rupture in which commercialized films have to be very polished to be effective. Through its shaky and raw experience, it becomes suprisingly more engaging and effective.





 In addition, the movie, unlike any other zombie flick I’ve seen, is contained in one apartment building. Here one can see the terrors of the zombie virus multiplying one bite after the other.

Critical Analysis:

Linda Williams made an interesting point in analyzing the unlikely chance for a female gaze in horror. And when she does, her gaze of the monster, is her very own distorted reflection in a mirror presented to her by a patriarchal society. It is her vision of her own body’s mutilation, as it evokes the male gaze’s fear of castration. The male gaze, to a certain degree, sees no difference between objects of horror and objects of desire.
It is very interesting how the lock between the female’s gaze and that of the monster’s can be interpreted as sympathy, empathy even.Williams also suggest “that the monster in the horror film is feared by the normal males of such films…. For, looked at from the woman’s perspective, the monster is not so much lacking as he is powerful in a different way… The vampiric act of sucking blood, sapping the life fluid of a victim so that the victim in turn becomes a vampire, is similar to the female role of milking the sperm of the male during intercourse. What the vampire seems to represent then is a sexual power whose threat lies in its difference from a phallic “norm.” The vampire’s power to make its victim resemble itself is a very real mutilation of the once human victim (teeth marks, blood loss), but the vampire itself… is not perceived as mutilated, just different.
” In a way Rec alludes to this notion of a different kind of sexuality through its use of zombies and the direction of Angela
So there is a sense in which the woman’s look at the monster is more than simply a punishment for looking, or a narcissistic fascination with the distortion of her own image in the mirror that patriarchy holds up to her; it is also a recognition of their similar status as potent threats to a vulnerable male power.In •Rec, the virus is a threat to the overall welfare of the dominant society. That’s why the authorities takes no chances, even to the point of rejecting these innocent people who had direct contact with the diseases and locked them in the apartment full of terrors. Moreover, Angela being so ambitious and curious to look into the male-dominated occupation of fire-fighting was seemingly being punished by being locked inside the building full of rejects like her. As williams suggest, in the classic horror film, the woman’s look at the monster offers at least a potentially subversive recognition of the power and potency of a non-phallic sexuality. Precisely because this look is so threatening to male power, it is violently punished. Using Wood’s notion of the Other the people trapped are all (even with minorities like females and Asians) subjected not only to the direct violence of the zombies, but more profoundly, to the structural violence of the state.

Angela’s effort to document everything was also (to a certain degree) a subtle way of recording how society rejects them for being a threat to the normal state of things. In the end Angelea and the others, are one with the zombies in being threats that have to be eradicated and studied for the welfare of the system.

Strongest Elements for Me:

The strongest scene from the footage was when Angelea was searching for the video camera in the dark attic of horrors, while the creature was hunting her in the background; the movie fatefully ends with Angelea on the ground being dragged by the creature. It was very memorable. It was a first for me looking through the camera from that angle and in night vision. It intensifies the notion of the of hopelessness in their situation and this sense of imposed point of view.

An interesting angle also was when Pablo was spying on the officers through the upper windows. The camera is the only form of access to what’s going on; the privileged position that is commonly afforded to the viewers is partly limited.Favorite/Scariest Scenes:The old woman in her lonely apartment was also scary. It was a very effective startle moment for me. Likewise, the little girl who got infected also gave me the creeps. This little yet lethal figure strongly reminded me of Regan McNeil from the Exorcist. In a way it is a micro reflection of what is happening in outside world: will you sacrifice (kill) innocent people for the sake of everyone? This old woman and little girl, are somehow minorities, that reflect the measures we can take as a human race, for self-preservation and efficiency.

Overall I was very scared of the fact that my knowledge and access of the situation was limited to what the camera can see. There is a sense of helplessness and rejection in the way that my supposedly privileged position is taken way from me for the very first time as a movie spectator. I feel more emphatically connected with the characters who run, cry, and kill for their survival. Looking through nigh vision in the dark attic was quite an experience. It was really effective in the building up the effect of the final startle scene.

Do I Recommend it?

I highly recommend this new take on the zombie genre. Its fresh methods, combined with adrenaline-packed fight scenes, and the traditional zombie virus threat, makes it a standout among its contemporaries. Zombie horror fans will really appreciate the fact that they kind of experience the rush of being hunted by flesh-eating zombies more realistically through the camcorder effect. It offers a very engaging experience. Expect a lot of hiding, startle scenes, and darkness. Prepare yourself to be locked up in an apartment where a zombie virus is on the loose, and some interesting personalities to entertain you.

Screamer

Ever since watching Scream by Wes Craven as a child, I always had a fascination of not just watching scary movies, but knowing them in a much deeper level like in the case of the students in the film studying slasher movies. Learning the rules that govern them (who dies? How many sequels? A prequel? Who is the killer? How to break the curse?), the formula of a success, and more exciting, how particular films push the envelope, and consequently, becoming the new norm. To add to my history with horror films, I also remember The Scary Movie series, having a large impact on the way I see the genre. Setting all the horror aside, these “funny” films put the most common and yet most obscure characteristics of horror films in the forefront, and their then unconventional humor taught me that scary movies can be fun. Looking back, it’s really funny (in a witty way) how the series is so meta (a parody of a parody?). This just illustrates the complexity of each genre, as well as the power of using the word genre itself. This leads me to ask the question whether putting a particular film in a specific genre is important at all?

Going back to the Scream Trilogy (now four films). Watching the films, I also used to imagined how it is like to be in college and have a course about film, most especially horror, an enigma of some sort. What was worth learning about them? Now, I can say that I am living one of my childhood dreams in this certified Horror Film Class. It is very fun and amazing to think that I can make my experience of one of the biggest parts of my enjoyment (watching Horror) more academic, intense, and rich. Now, I get to make my experience more engaging and fulfilling, since I’ll be a little bit more versed in the genre’s ways and conventions. I guess this answers my question a while back. To put a film in a specific genre, although not absolute, helps one to have a learning framework of some sort. Now I, as in Ghostface in Scream, is taking my love for scary movies one step further.

In case of emergency, here’s how to survive a horror film ala Scream:

Rotten Kids

Rating:

Startle Scenes: ††

Atmosphere: ††††

Character development: †††††

The Monster: †††††

Depth – horror class concepts: †††††

About the Film:

Dead Girl is a coming of age story, which tackles the male sexuality especially at the stage of adolescence. It is about high school boys, JT and Rickie, who discover a woman chained to a bed in an abandoned hospital; which they eventually discover who can’t be killed. The undead girl, which they refer to as Deadgirl, acts as a catalyst that leads the boys’ rather boring and uneventful lives to a series of events that test their moral grounds and the measures they are willing to take just to get through a phase (get off).

My Impressions:
At first I really didn’t know what to expect from the film. It started of really plain and grey. The chaotic hospital scene seems like it appears out of nowhere. As the story progressed I was still not sure what was it really about and how it was going to end. But constantly, I dreaded to discover what will the boys do next or when will the Deadgirl finally unleash its undead glory. As the film ended I felt kind of creeped out, disgusted, disturbed, and even doubtful.

Before anything else, can I say that this is the first film that managed to keep me awake at night, and that’s to say a lot considering I rarely get scared of ghosts. I a have to say well done: It really has the ability to get under your skin.

Moving on, Deadgirl is a body/zombie horror and some sort of a psychological thriller. The movie is creepy for me not mainly because I found it scary or gruesome, yes in some scenes it did have that effect, but, in a deeper and more personal sense, I was disturbed of how I closely identify (to very minimal degrees) with the characters. Just like the main characters, I too had my own share of weird puberty problems and fantasies. Science says that the human body naturally craves three things: food, sleep, and sex. It was so effective how the production of the film transformed something as ordinary as growing up, our struggles with hormones and sexual urges, into something so disturbing (what the phase honestly is like), yet very socially and culturally relevant.

It just shows what lengths a teenager is willing to take just to go through (survive) certain challenging phases; and it is truly terrifying to think that somehow these tendencies can lie at the bottom of anyone’s belly, just waiting to be tolerated then unleashed.
Just like in Ginger Snaps, it focuses on the repressed entities and energies within our society, within ourselves, and transforms it into a creature that is strange, weird, terrifying, which comes back and hunts us (as Wood explains in the Return of the Repressed). In the end, what was really horrific was no longer the creature that was the (un) dead girl, but the unknown animalistic tendencies within the teenage boys, that slowly manifested  as the story progressed. An unknown that they barely understood, and had no choice but to give in. The urge to have intimacy, or even to have control in just  one aspect of their lives (repression of children’s sexualities), slowly materialized in how they inflicted horror to the body of the Deadgirl and their bodies (talk about necrophilia).

In reviewing the film I can’t help but to discuss, once again, the topic of the the particular repression of the female sexual energy and the issue of the male gaze. It was so explicit in the film that it went from undertone to overtone. From the beginning to the end, you are acquainted with the male gaze (as in the case of Rickie staring at Joann at the opening scene). This objectification of women, and even as the “other”, are ultimately embodied in the Deadgirl stripped of her history, of her mind, of her emotions; that essentially she’s nothing more than her body. In the end she becomes free but another girl takes her place. Different body, same male gaze, same object of desire, another playmate. The film also reflects our attitude towards the (female) body, sex, violence and utility. In pornography, there is certainly a link between the male machismo and violence against women. The parallels of the film with the facets of violent pornography is expressed in the lines such as: “She wants it hard/bad/dirty”.

Strongest Elements of the Film:

In one scene it is shown that Rickie is watching cartoons while in his mother’s coach. This emphasizes the point that the main characters are barely young adults, that they are still clinging to their childhood, and yet are forced to face these urges that overwhelm their senses and rationalities. In one way the adolescent is also considered as the other, as he is being rushed to grow up, and considered as a burden in our very pragmatic mentality until society makes use of his abilities.

Of course one of the strongest elements of the film is the Deadgirl herself. She represents the pragmatic, utilitarian mentality that currently prevails in our society. She is the female body stripped off of everything especially her sexual energies, and becomes a total object. In certain levels, this is how we fundamentally see the body, its just a temporary object to fulfill certain needs and desires. Ultimately it is an abject, as emphasized by the amount of decay and filth in the film.

Grossest Scene/Favorite Scene:

The best/grossest/scariest scene in the film is when Rickie persuaded Johnny for the Deadgirl to perform oral sex on him. It was so twisted and impactful. I mean raping an undead girl is one thing; but making basically a zombie suck your penis is in a whole other level. In a more deeper sense, it just reflects how the male ego can be so intense that it can be so sick and destructive (even to himself). This notion of preserving one’s machismo is a driving force of the most drastic human behaviors.

The film also ended on a very strong note: the Deadgirl got a new name: Joann, or rather, Joann got a new peg: Deadgirl. From objectification to object.

Every scene wherein these teenage boys rapes, abuses, and plays with the female body gives its audience a raw and graphic image of how the some of the repressed are preying on their fellow repressed. They are all so intensely trapped in the cycle of repression that they unconsciously perpetuate the very mechanisms that repress them. This is manifested by the cycle of violence experienced by JT, from the school, to Rickie, to the Deadgirl’s body, and back to him at the end.

Do I Recommend it?

This is a very tricky movie to recommend. You will either hate it or like it. If you are looking for an intense and twisted body horror, that is very erotic and sensual, this may be the movie for you sick taste. Otherwise, back off or you will deeply regret it. Expect a lot of gore, sex, and an intimate perspective on teenage horndogdom. Prepare yourself to going inside the most twisted and darkest corners of the male teenage fantasy.

Finders Keepers

Rating:

Startle Scenes: ††††

Atmosphere: †††††

Character development: †

Depth – horror class concepts: †††

The Monster: †††

About the Movie:

Watching The Innkeepers was a trip back to the classic basement ghost horror tale. Yes, you’re right, the one that keeps you at the edge of your seats, shouting at the protagonist not to go down the cellar stairs, because somehow, through the setting’s atmospheric build up, you are sure that something terrible is bound to happen (or show up). The same old formula: an unrest soul trapped in the four walls of the house because of an unfinished business, which consequently, and unfortunately, meant a curse for the unwelcomed (but then again, welcomed) guests. It follows the curiosity of The Yankee Pedlar Innkeepers, Luke and Claire, regarding the Inn’s haunted past, which can bring it back to life (pun intended). Luke and Claire are your typical working class, they struggle both financially (as shown in their efforts to bring interest back in the Inn) and with their bland, uneventful lives (chat with the coffee shop barista).

My initial impressions of the film, given the opening sequence composing black and white creepy images, was that it was going to be dark and serious; that it will focus mainly on the ghost preying on the guests of the hotel, terrorizing them until the end. After watching it, I was kind of underwhelmed by its ability to scare me. It’s startle moments were a little above the average. For me, its strongest point is its ability to build up an atmosphere, I really felt like the Inn cam alive slowly.

Just like some of the classics, The Shining to mention one, the build up of the horror atmosphere was slow but on point; one can feel the setting, the The Yankee Pedlar Inn, come alive, as the protagonist are slowly trying uncovering the layers of mystery surrounding it. The Inn was the ghosts’ medium in making their presence felt. The eerie tone of the the whole place, the hallways, the antique yet ironically cold rooms, the humming of the laundry area, the garage, the basement, even the receptionists’ desk with the silver bell; they all elicit some sort of a clam before the storm.

The film however, just like its classic references, is good at building up the sense of terror through images and encounters that keep one’s spirit jumpy then cut short in many instances, well until that moment when the “unknown” finally reveals itself. The slow phase of the movie assures that certain images are embedded on the minds of its audience, like the creepy creaking signage of the hotel, the staircase, the corridors, the piano, the recording device, the Déjà vu’s. These seemingly peripheral and minuscule details, are the devices of the ghosts, their very presence, that makes the experience more than the startle moment.

Here we see an actual depiction of Noel Carroll’s explanation of the horror genre’s effectivity based on playing with its audience’s curiosity, with the process of discovery, proof, and confirmation. The Innkeepers is a good example showing how the process of building horror is linked to the process of disclosure of the monster.

How should I think critically about this movie?

One interesting point made by the movie is the juxtaposition of the problems of the working class and the elite. Think of it, the hotel employees who are near the bottom of the social ladder (as emphasized by Lee’s demeaning and condescending comments regarding Claire’s dreams,) resort to somewhat a form of escapism with ghosts and paranormal activity; while Madeline O’Malley’s dilemma was the she was left by her fiance, which lead to her suicide. However in the spirit realm, which absorbed Claire in the end, everyone is in a state of equity, no past, present, or future. The thing that she found escape in, ghost hunting, as a repressed member of society (as part of the proletariat, like Wood talks about)  have fully engulfed her. This makes me contemplate how the outcasts in the peripherals of society can prey on each other; and how the spiritual realm becomes a common ground for everyone.

To further emphasize the film’s socio-economic themes, just look at this poster:

Strongest Elements of the Film:

I really liked the utilization of the ghost-hunting equipment to record EVPs, it lets its audience experience the very scientific way of discovering (or communicating) with the supernatural, that we commonly watch in documentaries like True Ghost Stories. It was an effective tool because it made the haunting more realistic and kind of scientific. I also got the feeling that it was a way of hearing the Inn breathe.

The cellar was a good throwback to the classics although it wasn’t built up that much. Through introducing something familiar, horror fans can immediately capture a certain horror-linked mood and memory.

Favorite Scene
/Scariest Scene
The scariest scene for me was when Claire discovers the old man in the bathtub, and then being consequently chased down by him (almost naked which makes this also the grossest scene) to the basement. There is something very creepy about the old man (last guest) character. It seems like introducing him as the last guest signifies the start of the doom that was bound to happen.

Do I Recommend it?

Overall, the movie’s strongest element is the Inn itself. I recommend it to traditional horror movie goers who enjoy just the right amount of scare; and enjoys a movie that safely operates within the standard rulers and procedures of the ghost horror genre. Expect a slow and steady buildup and a sprint towards the end. No need for any preparations, enjoy the film for what it is, a conventional and clean dose of ghosts hunting hotels

Silver Bullets

Rating:

Startle Scenes: ††††
Atmosphere: ††
Character development: ††††
The Monster
Depth – horror class concepts: †††

About the Film:

The flick tells the growing up story of sisters Ginger and Bridget. They are your typically awkward teenage girls, who team up with each other against the rest of the world indefinitely, until one night a bite changed everything. The story then follows how Ginger, the elder sister, goes through the pains of puberty, but with the extra burden of transforming into a were wolf.

Ginger Snaps is a body horror that parallels what the human body goes through in the transitions of adolescence, with the transformations to a werewolf, in very playful and smart way. My initial impressions of the film was that it was going to be cheesy and lame (I’m not really a fan of werewolf flicks); That it would be another teen horror flick wherein it tells blunt plot showcased in a lot of gore. In the end I still thought that it was kind of a cheesy film, but it partly saved itself through its discussions of sexual and feminist themes through playing with images of carnal desires.In theory, through the metaphor it just shows how the repression of teenage (girls), their sexual energies, can be so powerful as to evoke a blood-thirsty monster within.

Strongest Elements:

Robin Wood’s notion of the Other, the repressed, can be a critical lens to view the film. It presents children, as monsters “representing a generalized concept of Otherness”, which society represses and reflects its on repressions. It also presents the female as the Other. Horror films, like in the case of Ginger Snaps, has its ways of directing our attention to the people at the edges of society.

One of the strongest scenes is when Ginger finally embraces her transformation when she walked along the corridors feeling confident and liberated. It is very strong since it represents the tension you undergo when you go through adolescence, kind of the same in becoming a werewolf; confronting the struggle between reclaiming your body by embracing its new form, lingering on your past, or embracing change. For this fact, the movie becomes relatable to virtually everyone; because adolescence is a shared past we all share. One can feel the urges, the drives, the stress, that comes with entering adulthood.

Robin Wood introduces us to the concept of surplus repression. One of its manifestations is the particular repression of the female sexuality, the woman as the other. For this reason, another strong scene is when Jason and Ginger finally have sex in the car. It was wild and animalistic mostly due to Ginger’s strong sexual/carnal drives; the most interesting part is that the role reversal that happened. Ginger assumes the dominant top position while saying (howling) “who’s your daddy?”. It clearly implies Wood’s point on the Return of the Repressed.

 Grossest Scene/Favorite Scene:

The grossest and scariest scene for me is when Jason was urinating and blood was coming out making him realize that he was infected by Ginger. This alludes to the fear of sexually transmitted disease, and also the repression of homosexuality, which is a significant reality in our current society. Blood, a bodily fluid, signifying disease and death, a form of abjection, reinforces the fear of sexual intercourse and the risks that goes with it.

Do I Recommend it?


I don’t recommend this flick that much because I genuinely think it’s kind of outdated for our generation. It banks strongly on old horror conventions like startle scenes and cheesy teenage murder plots, as well as dry humor. Moreover, I don’t really prefer horror mixed with humor; for doing such is a very tricky method, its a make it or break it kind of thing. Done unwell, it might mess up with the effectivity of the movie as a horror. I do recommend it to people who look for a light-hearted horror flick, with the perks of teen sex and fantasies. Expect gore, sex, and awkward, humorous moments. To prepare yourself, just sit back and let Ginger blow your head.