From practically the moment it hit theaters, Neil LaBute's 2006 remake of the 1973 British popular horror classic "The Wicker Man" has largely been dismissed as one of the worst movies of our time, and of value only for those who make compilation clips of Nicolas. Cage at his most insane moment. Sure, it's not a masterpiece. But I confess I've always had a peculiar affection for how it depicts LaBute exploring and sometimes lampooning the reputation for misogyny he developed over the course of “In the Company of Men's” such corrosive explorations of the male-female dynamic.” Your friends and neighbors” and “The shape of things”, in the context of a genre that also has its problems along these lines.
With his latest movie, "House of Darkness," LaBute is trying something akin to "The Wicker Man." And while the results may not be quite as outrageous this time around, they are an intriguing and at times quite witty battle of the sexes, in which not all of the bloodshed is strictly metaphorical.
Director: Ayoub Qanir
Writer: Ayoub Qanir
Stars: Mika Hijii, Naoyuki Miyahara, Keisuke Ishida
As the movie begins, a car with a couple inside pulls up to a large house in the middle of nowhere. Hap (Justin Long) and Mina (Kate Bosworth) met that same night at a bar in town, and since he's a "decent guy," Hap volunteered to drive Mina home out of the supposed kindness of the lady. her heart. But it's pretty obvious that he expects the evening to end with more than just a pat on the head, so to speak. Mina invites him in, but she quickly realizes that guys like Hap are no stranger to her; she has a way of twisting virtually every line of her complacent quackery about him, always leaving him on the defensive. And yet, Hap is so confident in the players' abilities that he continues his quest for seemingly low pressure. Even after the point where she asks him if he's married, and he stumbles over the answer as badly as possible.
Between the drinks already in her system, the glass of Maker's Mark in her hand, and the focus on getting Mina to bed, Hap doesn't realize that the situation she finds herself in is even stranger than she realizes. It seems. For starters, the house, one of several that Mina claims her family owns, is literally a castle that practically oozes a gothic atmosphere wherever one looks. There's also the fact that despite Mina's insistence that they're alone, there are also noises and movements that suggest someone else is lurking in the darkness caused by faulty electricity. This is partly explained by the sudden appearance of Mina's sister Lucy, but strange things continue to happen as the night progresses. Not that Hap notices; at one point, he makes a come-on of sorts to Lucy while Mina is away for a few minutes, though plenty of hotdogs, at least those with a literary bent, might have picked up on the hint suggested by their respectives. names and at least tried to flee the premises.
There is a twist in the final act, but LaBute's script doesn't really play out in a conventional fashion, and most viewers will have figured it out long before the half-hour mark. In a way, it serves as a kind of companion piece to his previous film, last month's neo-noir "Out of the Blue," in the way that story plays with genre conventions by heralding the arrival of a major spin and then deliberately stretch the time until it finally unfolds as expected. In "Out of the Blue," the presumption doesn't work because it's downright impossible to believe that the main character didn't see what was in store for him even though he professed to be knowledgeable about the pitfalls of noir storytelling. But the tactic works this time, as Hap has no idea what's going on that he doesn't even recognize the kind of story he's actually in until he's literally breathing down the back of his head, inspiring a few moments. black humor
While the film's basic premise (a "nice guy" turns against a woman with a few secrets of her own) may remind some of the absurdly praised "Promising Young Woman," those familiar with LaBute's filmography may find it works. even better as a reversed version of "In the Company of Men." That movie, as you may remember, is about two businessmen who instigated a vicious competition to seduce the most vulnerable woman they could find and destroy her just for fun. The dynamic may be the same here, but it's interesting how the story is told from the perspective of the game's would-be victim; LaBute not only refuses to sympathize with him, he seems to especially enjoy twisting things further for his hapless hero.