Horror | www.jaredmobarak.com

REVIEW: Спутник [Sputnik] [2020]

2020/08/102020/08/10 Jared Mobarak

Victors are not judged. Heroism comes at a cost, but rarely is it the hero’s to bear. They reap the benefits, bathe in praise, and maybe even start believing they’ve earned it regardless of whether the title was bestowed upon them for saving lives or simply being a “pioneer.” Those who suffer are the families left behind who compete for this hero’s time and those faceless strangers the hero trampled upon with a sense of entitlement and lack of remorse. A hero exists for what could be while that which…

REVIEW: Random Acts of Violence [2020]

2020/08/082020/10/02 Jared Mobarak

Guess everything’s coming up “me” today. On its most superficial horror flick level, Jay Baruchel‘s latest directorial effort Random Acts of Violence works. Co-adapted with Jesse Chabot from Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti‘s 2010 graphic novel of the same name, the story sees Slasherman comic creator Todd (Jesse Williams) hitting the road from Toronto to New York City with his wife (Jordana Brewster‘s Kathy), assistant (Niamh Wilson‘s Aurora), and business partner (Baruchel’s Ezra) in advance of a Comic Con appearance. The reason they’ve decided not to fly is because Kathy…

REVIEW: 1BR [2020]

2020/07/282020/07/28 Jared Mobarak

Do you want to be a part of this community? It’s been said many times throughout the COVID-19 lockdown (and subsequently too-early re-opening that threatens an even worse lockdown because Americans are entitled brats who can’t be bothered to do what’s right if it inconveniences them): We must stick together. The only way we’re going to survive this, protect innocent lives, and save the economy is by working in tandem. Wear a mask. Social distance. Stay home. Believe that you—yes you—are Patient Zero because, unless you’re showing symptoms right now,…

REVIEW: Amulet [2020]

2020/07/232020/07/25 Jared Mobarak

Forward isn’t the only way. There are other roads. Trust is earned, not given. Just because you believe you’re a just person who’d do everything in your power to protect the less fortunate doesn’t mean they should blindly provide their allegiance. They need to know for sure that what you say and do is true. They need to know that you aren’t acting one way via deception in order to act another way later out of some warped notion of entitlement. There are too many people in this world who…

REVIEW: Perempuan Tanah Jahanam [Impetigore] [2019]

2020/07/222020/10/02 Jared Mobarak

We just don’t want what your family left behind. Life has never been easy for Maya (Tara Basro). Raised by her aunt with no knowledge of her parents’ history, she’s struggled finding her place in the city. Her sole comfort is best friend Dini (Marissa Anita), a tollbooth operator like herself who’s promised to help open a clothing business if they ever save enough money. So when a strange man drives through her lane on a deserted evening three separate times, it’s hard not to fear the worst. No matter…

REVIEW: The Rental [2020]

2020/07/212020/07/21 Jared Mobarak

Abs-bro-lutely. There’s something to be said about a lack of sentimentality in a horror film. That doesn’t mean we can’t still have sympathy for the victims’ plight—the fact that they’re human beings provides the space for it regardless of who they are or what we know about them. We care because we see ourselves in their shoes. They embody our fear rather than provide an object for us to fear for. Whether or not they suffer when fate’s hand comes down is therefore quite often a moot point. Our sympathy…

REVIEW: Ghosts of War [2020]

2020/07/142020/07/16 Jared Mobarak

If you leave, you die. Sometimes the memories of our inaction haunt us more than the actions we have committed. This can be especially true at war once you return home to realize the blood on your hands goes far beyond the lives you were directly responsible for extinguishing. Whether you found yourself helpless to act because of a direct order from your superior or you simply froze out of justifiable fear, the screams of those lost will remind you of your complicity either way and haunt your dreams like…

FANTASIA20 REVIEW: Fried Barry [2020]

2020/07/072020/08/19 Jared Mobarak

Some things you just can’t run away from. Barry (Gary Green) is a piece of work. He’s a deadbeat husband to Suz (Chanelle de Jager), deadbeat dad to their son, and all-around deadbeat to Cape Town on the whole considering he’s shooting heroin when he’s not roughing up people who owe him money because he’s been facilitating their habits too. As far as we can tell by the cursory introduction writer/director Ryan Kruger provides, Barry deserves every single insult Suz hurls his way when he strolls home well past the…

REVIEW: Relic [2020]

2020/06/302020/07/06 Jared Mobarak

Don’t follow it. The horror trope is ubiquitous: “the call is coming from inside the house.” Whereas slashers use this now comical notion as a way to preempt the abrupt reveal that a solitary victim onscreen is about to be murdered by someone they didn’t know was standing right behind them, Relic director and co-writer Natalie Erika James (with Christian White) has a much scarier and tragically authentic way to utilize the trend. Because what is dementia but a disease that devours one’s sense of identity from the inside out?…

REVIEW: The Beach House [2020]

2020/06/252020/10/02 Jared Mobarak

Life is so fragile. There’s a lot to like about Jeffrey A. Brown‘s feature directorial debut The Beach House from its gorgeous production design to its ruminations on mankind’s fragility when compared with Mother Nature’s hardier offerings (despite our penchant for believing we hold dominion over Her). It’s therefore easy to appreciate the reason Emily (Liana Liberato), Randall (Noah Le Gros), Mitch (Jake Weber), and Jane (Maryanne Nagel) have arrived at a site that may end up being their tomb because we’re quick to ignore the baked-in irony too. This…

REVIEW: Blood Quantum [2020]

2020/06/232020/10/02 Jared Mobarak

You don’t name things that eat you. A Red Crow reservation citizen in Jeff Barnaby‘s Blood Quantum asks the question of whether they as indigenous people are immune to a vicious zombie outbreak that’s taken over North America or have simply been forgotten by the Earth during its cleanse. It’s easy to understand such a defeatist attitude considering the world at-large has done the latter for centuries. Colonialists slaughtered, infected, and cordoned off natives from lands they sought and stole, continuing to isolate them even today onto their tiny swaths…