Freddy's Slice of Slayings: Grief Through the Horror Lens

How 'The Monkey' and 'Bring Her Back' Utilizes Grief

The Monkey | NEON

As much as society doesn’t like to admit it and as much as many film critics and film lovers try to change the name of them, horror films are embedded in our everyday lives as life itself ALWAYS has horrific challenges. Almost every film or story you see or read has the base root of something horrifying to a protagonist or antagonist which in turn propels said story. There are horror stories that are lore filled and fun and there are slasher stories that are body counting maniac mania but even Jason Voorhees has his roots embedded in the emotions of a mother’s love. That's where horror really excels and that's what this series is about.

I, myself, find so much emotion in horror films that profoundly touch me and when I am in the dire straits of life’s misery and strife, I can be comforted by a good horror film the way some comfort themselves with romantic comedies, although I love those as well. Just like Freddy’s Soul pizza in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: THE DREAM MASTER, I want to take you guys on journeys with me into my heart and soul of horror and along the way wax poetic on films that deserve to be seen amongst the millions of titles bombarding us weekly. 

This year has started pretty rough for me having lost two very close friends and loved ones literally a week apart. What's interesting about that though within the film world is this year has brought us a triple threat of returning and up and coming filmmakers with projects centering on the concept of death and grief. One of my best friends unexpectedly passed away the Tuesday before the release of Osgood Perkins THE MONKEY, a film of which I was already excited for with the unholy triad of Osgood “Son of Psycho and director of LONGLEGS” Perkins, based upon A Stephen King short story and produced by James “SAW” Wan’s Atomic Monster productions. I was ready for a depraved and crazed look at death in THE MONKEY, but sitting in that theater having just experienced a death that was random, young and thought provoking itself, that viewing strangely set me at a peace. Death is random, you can’t control it and you can’t let it control you. 

Bring Her Back | A24

A week later having semi processed said first death thanks to Osgood’s film, a second and far more intensely personal one occurred which shook me to my core. Seeking comfort in the films I had often reveled in and sinking into the crazed glorious gushings of the eighties with neon insanity I found comfort food but still didn’t find the peace that THE MONKEY had brought. What I finally experienced after months of trying to cope was Danny “RackaRacka Boys” Philippou and Michael “TALK TO ME” Phillipou’s BRING HER BACK.

Without saying too much, the film is about a brother and sister, Piper and Andy who lose their father and must go live with a foster mother named Laura until Andy is old enough to take care of them himself. A simple story filled with supernatural consequences that we’ve seen before, but the genius of the Philippou brothers is their ability to turn the supernatural into a horrifying emotion that we’ve never seen committed to film before.

A long time ago I had the privilege of speaking with HELLRAISER Composer, Christopher Young and in our conversation, he talked to me about how the film was an intimate family drama…with Cenobites. That statement forever changed how I viewed that film and consequently has left a serious taste of respect for films that try that aesthetic and tone. BRING HER BACK to me is the Philipou’s HELLRAISER. While TALK TO ME is an astounding film on addiction to escape one's own sorrow, it does have a wide net of locations and characters.

BRING HER BACK takes on a central one location setting for most of the film which takes us into a personal bubble of several inner hells. It’s a film about grief and the directions grief can take us. Where each person’s own personal hell can infect and spread to others that then not only makes oneself perpetually suffer but in turn causes the suffering of others, especially innocents who don’t deserve it. In essence what your grief causes you to do can either vilify or hero one’s self.

Within this film I saw many choices that brought about so many feelings within myself that caused me to think upon my own grief and how I need to proceed forward before it infects every avenue of my life. Every scene of dread with the genius veneer of dark greys upon the scene as well as masterful camera angles showcasing the vertigo of the character’s emotions paints those feelings perfectly which are only emphasized by the depraved uncomfortable gore, lets be honest crazed bastards like us qualify as gorgeous art. This film is a f*cking uncomfortable masterpiece of grief that most will probably walk out feeling sick either emotionally or even some physically but for me it contextualized what I was feeling and brought a comfort of understanding and that’s the true genius of the Philippous.

Bring Her Back | A24

One scene in particular, without spoilers, is amidst the strange introduction of Laura (Sally Hawkins) and Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips) to our protagonists Andy (Billy Barrat) and Piper (Sora Wong) where at a small intimate party they have after a funeral, they all get blasted. Including the kid! The last two standing are Laura the caregiver and Andy the “adopted son” who are very drunk and sitting in chairs back to back recounting their own stories of sorrow which brought them to that juncture in time to be in each other’s lives. It's a tearful respite from the awkward and gut punching scenes both before and after that carried within my mind throughout the movie and stuck with me intensely through the final act. It’s the moment that you see these two roads of grief that are very similar that could have bonded the two of them should they have chosen to let each other in and brought them as close as could be to a son and mother which I think personally could have saved them as people, but that crossroads was skipped in lieu of continuing onward instead of letting go and forging forward. It’s the most pivotal moment in the movie that breaks your heart and made me truly think of what I was doing with my own sorrow and by the end helped me begin to let go.

Are you going in just for an emotional gut punch and lesson on grieving? F*ck no! It is central to what makes this film amazing, but I know you sick bastards also want the goods and this film has it in bloody chunky buckets of gore! This is the Squeel-good movie of the year as myself and several audience members cringed and jumped at the pure viscera oozing off the screen with one of the most uncomfortable knife scenes I’ve bore witness to since Fede Alvarez’s EVIL DEAD.

Sally Hawkin’s performance as an unhinged grief stricken mother bears resemblance to her SHAPE OF WATER Co-Star Octavia Spencer’s turn in MA but as Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel would say, “Gone to Eleven.” The kids are spectacular in a hardcore spectrum of wild emotions that turn sporadically at the drop of a hat and Jonah Wren Phillip’s Oliver is the Satanic child performance of the year if not the decade that made me feel as if I was watching a Damien Rugna demonic child performance. Speaking of Damien Rugna, the uncomfortability factor of this film's FX evoke both TERRIFFIED and WHEN EVIL LURKS combined with Fulci at his most sadistic. If you’re an emotional and depraved bastard like me, this film satisfies your needs as a horror film and an emotional film that has deeply helped me move on from my own personal grief. 

Next time I’ll be taking a look at the third film in this year's triple threat of grief with Julia Max’s SURRENDER, which is now streaming on Shudder! In the meantime, THE MONKEY hits Blu-Ray soon, PHYSICAL MEDIA FOR LIFE and BRING HER BACK is in theaters now with Freddy’s intense emotional, spiritual and gorehound loving approval! Check it out on the big screen while you can!

Until next time my slayers!