Episode 16: 'Hokum' & Haunted Estate/Home Films

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On today's episode, we are reviewing Hokum, from Director Damian McCarthy - as well as giving some recommendations for some films based around haunted estates/homes.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to Watch More Movies. I'm your host, Ricky, and today we'll be talking about Hokum, the newest release from Damian McCarthy starring Adam Scott. Adam Scott stars as a novelist who goes to a remote hotel inn in rural Ireland to scatter his parents' ashes. He soon discovers and is intrigued by tales of a haunting in that hotel. This was a very eerie and atmospheric horror that doesn't get right into it. It takes its time with the setup and sets a stage for some creepy jump scares. Adam Scott plays this A-hole writer really well, and McCarthy does a really good job at not focusing on his backstory at the beginning or creating a ton of exposition. It isn't until the near end that you discover more about him and why he's so jaded. You learn clues along the way, but never to the point of the story halting or needing a giant long flashback. While the scenes that were scary are incredibly effective, I wish there was more something more here to sink your teeth into. So now with Hokum in theaters, go support small and creative horror films like this, please. I thought I would take time to recommend five horror movies that are about a haunted location. Specifically a larger kind of estate, house, hotel of some kind. One of my best friends described Hokum as very shining coated. So I'm gonna avoid talking about the shining. I thought about using that as a recommendation, but in the future I do want to do a Kubrick dive, so I will save it for that. But The Shining Coated is very is a great comparison. So with that being said, the first recommendation here is 1980s The Changeling. The Changeling stars George C. Scott as John Russell, a composer who, months after horrific tragedy, moves to Seattle into an old mansion that is haunted by the spirit of a young boy. I won't say more than that. The biggest benefit this film has is taking its time with the character of John and this mystery at this house. Ultimately, it is about how we process grief and when it's time for someone to grieve on their own time. As the mystery unfolds, the mirror to his own grief comes in the form of someone who is tied to the house that he interrogates. This is not without horror elements, of course. One thing that really stood out to me is just how nail biting and chalkboard scratching the score feels. There are loud beats that hit, but never solely for jump scares or anything of the sort. It fills your imagination as you're wandering with John, not knowing what you will see as these events unfold. A lot of the scenes with this music and the way that director Peter Maddock, I think that's how you say his name, makes cuts really feel Hitchcockian, and that's a very, very hard thing to do and not feel like a ripoff. It is streaming on Tubi, so if you have Tubi installed, I would highly recommend watching The Changeling from 1980. Number two is The Uninvited from 1944. It follows a brother and sister, Rick and Pamela Fitzgerald, who fall in love with an old 18th-century home and decide to purchase it. This is a great gothic horror film that deals with grief and resolution of that grief. There are some practical effects here that left me stunned for a film that is nearly 82 years old. The lighting and sound design really unsettled the viewer and really gave one of the more unnerving haunted house films that I've seen. Maybe it is the style in which the story plays out or the character relationships. I was not so as much on them. The relationship that Rick forms with the granddaughter of the owner of the property did not work for me and was a bit forced. I understand that's how a lot of movies were back in the time, but it just didn't work for me even in today's lens with that perspective. Did not take away from the story entirely because that wasn't the point to it in the end. But if you want a classic gothic haunted house horror film, the uninvited really does the trick. Number three is 2001's The Others. This is a film that has been on my watch list for the longest time. Especially seeing a resurgence in the last few years across Cinephiles. It intrigued me to say the least. Given the topic at hand, it seemed just like the perfect topic to discuss it and finally watch it. This was not what I expected, and in a very great way. The story follows a woman, Grace, played by Nicole Kidman, who moves her family to the English coast during World War II while her husband is at war, readying to come home. It is an old, large estate that her and her children are extremely sensitive to sunlight there, to the point of the kids not being able to be near an open window during the daytime, and they are all covered up until nighttime. This was a more layered film than I expected, to be honest. And not to say that I expected nothing, but it was just a lot different than what I did initially think it was going to be. This film heavily deals with grief and a fear at this time of invading forces and the war that was playing at hand. There is this constant question amongst the children of when their father is returning, despite the war being proclaimed to be over. Grace has to constantly assure themself and herself that he is okay while trying to keep her hopes up and take care of this family. Then you have this aspect of her relationship to the children that feels like it steps into Baron Munchausen territory, being overprotective or oversensitive with her kids, hiding them to from the real world, and not wanting them exposed to the horrors of post-war Europe. This plays like a mirror to her own denial of trying to repress and denial of her likely death of her husband and the trauma she's experienced through her own life. This is a film that hinges on a reveal, so I don't want to get too specific. Um it is it doesn't make you wait for it. So it's really nice that a film that is aware that there is something to be revealed, but doesn't tell you that and is keeping you waiting the entire time. Needless to say, the tension and emotion are all there, and a stellar performance from Nicole Kidman, the others is one I highly recommend, and maybe the most out of this list. So if you have the Criterion Channel, I would highly recommend checking it out. Number four is 2006's Monster House. This one is very nostalgic for me, but also very effective on its own as a horror film. An animated pure horror, which does not happen very often. It is PG, so you could show this to children if they're ready for it. It's about three friends, DJ, Jenny, and Chowder. They think that a house across the street from DJ is haunted and has a monster inside in the form of this very mean neighbor who had recently died right in front of it. This is an animated film that just feels so unique and special that doesn't feel like at all it would get made today. It wasn't edgy or trying to be more horror than it is or who it's intended for. It is just a spooky house story aimed to get children more into the genre and have a really good time and give that fall feel. The camerawork is really good here too. Especially a scene involving a kite on the front porch of the house. I know it generally gets under my skin every time I've seen it. The performances here are all terrific too, really playing to the strengths of these kids as awkward preteens and how their curiosity would strike a situation like this. It really feels like an 80s, 90s adventure movie, and that's a huge compliment that it doesn't feel like it needs to bait you into nostalgia, but it just gives you the feeling of it without force feeding it to you. So if you've never seen Monster House, I do really, really strongly recommend that you give the animated film a shot. The last recommendation is 1947's The Red House. This one had me for a second, in the sense that after a few minutes, I was really uninterested and felt like it was a lost cause to finish it. After about 15 minutes, I was very wrong. This brings the haunted house to a different context when you barely see this house, and when you do, it's from the outside, and there isn't a bunch of ghosts coming from different directions or inanimate objects moving. This story is about a young man who takes work with the family of a girl from his school. Upon meeting her family and starting to work, he learns of something off about the forest behind their farm and why can she not go into it? As the story unfolds, you find out more about the girls, young girl's father and his sister, and how that red house ties to their past. This is a very deeply unsettling story about the trauma of losing a loved one and how parents can hold on too tight to their own history and not let their children grow outside of the constraints that they have put on them and learning to let that go. It's another 40s horror film that I highly recommend is worth your time. It's streaming on Tubi, so it's free to watch, and you can watch it anytime. It's a story that I don't want to give too much away because it does kind of unfold itself and play itself fully into its strengths as it goes on, like how I experienced it. So I'd rather not get too much into the details. That was another episode today of Watch More Movies. Thank you for tuning in. This Friday I will be hoping to put up another episode of a recent new release. I'm excited to put that out. I just watched it, so I'm really excited to really get into it and talk about it. Please like and subscribe. It does help the show. Follow on Instagram, Threads Blue Sky. We're on YouTube, Apple, Spotify. And until next time, watch more movies.