Tag: Laysla De Oliveira

Netflix Mini-Review: Locke & Key

Joe Hill’s and Gabriel Rodriguez’s comic book is brought to the small screen and it’s pretty good.

SUMMARY (Spoiler-Free)

After the death of their father Rendell (Bill Heck), Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode Locke (Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones, Jackson Robert Scott) move with their mother, Nina (Darby Stanchfield) to Matheson, Massachusetts. They move into the Locke ancestral home, Keyhouse. Inside the house, the kids find out that there are a number of keys hidden which grant the users special abilities, but also discover that there are evil forces (Laysla De Oliveira) who want the keys for themselves. 

Image result for locke and key netflix
They’re very creative in their use of keys. 

END SUMMARY

So, if you are a fan of the comics, you’ll notice that they changed the name of the town from Lovecraft to Matheson. It’s a little less fitting because the type of horror that forms the basis of this story is more associated with H.P. Lovecraft than Richard Matheson, but since Lovecraft was a horrible racist, I completely understand the need for the change. The other changes are a little more necessary for the adaptation of the story to the small screen (something Matheson’s work does better than Lovecraft’s), but most of the key (pun fully intended) elements of the series remain intact. There’s a lot more emphasis on the lives of the kids outside of the house than in the series, but just cramming a lot of effects-driven escapades in would have been extremely expensive, so that was going to happen.

Image result for locke and key netflix
New England home with lots of lamps? That’s Lovecraft.

If you’re not aware of the comics, don’t worry, it’s pretty easy to get into the series. The characters are not the most complex you’ll see out there, but that’s because the emphasis in the series is mostly on the worldbuilding and the premise. If you find the first episode compelling or interesting, you’ll find the rest of the series the same. If you don’t, and you might not since it’s pretty niche. The series has a dark tone that doesn’t quite lend itself to the added scenes of mundane high-school troubles, but when it’s focused more on the fantastic elements it works well. It tries to do the best it can with the non-linear chronology of the comic and I think it mostly pulls it off to similar revelatory effects. It helps keep everyone guessing where certain motivations come from.

Image result for locke and key netflix
There’s some light gore. Be warned.

Overall, I thought it was pretty good. Not mind-blowing, but if you’re a fan of this type of genre, you’ll like it. 

If you want to check out some more by the Joker on the Sofa, check out the 100 Greatest TV Episodes of All Time, Collection of TV Episodes, Collection of Movie Reviews, or the Joker on the Sofa Reviews.

If you enjoy these, please, like, share, tell your friends, like the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JokerOnTheSofa/), follow on Twitter @JokerOnTheSofa, and just generally give me a little bump. I’m not getting paid, but I like to get feedback.

Halloween Reviews/Netflix Review – In the Tall Grass: A Solid Adaptation of a Complicated Idea

A mind-bending horror story by Stephen King and his son Joe Hill gets adapted by Netflix. 

SUMMARY

Becky Demuth (Laysla De Oliveira) and her brother Cal (Avery Whitted) are driving across the country. Becky is six months pregnant and trying to find a way to get rid of the baby. They stop by a cornfield near an old church in what I think was Kansas in the book and hear a small boy named Tobin (Will Buie, Jr.) calling out for help. The two go into a field of tall grass and get separated quickly. They discover that the cornfield warps time and space, keeping them from finding each other or a way out. They discover that Tobin’s mom (Rachel Wilson) and dad (Patrick Wilson) are also in the grass field, as is Travis (Harrison Gilbertson), the father of Becky’s child. As madness and confusion start to set in, the group has to find a way out of the field. 

InTheTallGrass - 2Cast.jpg
Also, there is naturally weird stuff IN the grass.

END SUMMARY

So, the story this is based on is ironically much more simple and straightforward than the movie, the opposite of what usually happens with adaptations. This ends up making the movie more in line with the themes of the story involving confusion and uncertainty, with Becky’s uncertainty about her pregnancy mirrored with the uncertainty of the people in the grass. The book attempts to throw off the reader by having characters take actions they know to be logical only to get impossible results. The film has the advantage of being able to show an objective viewpoint of the unimaginable physics of the grass, with some of the shots being extremely unnerving. While the fact that we aren’t as close to the feelings of the characters as we are in the book, the acting and the cinematography still get the point across. 

InTheTallGrass - 1Church.jpg
The church goes from hopeful to horrifying in mostly the same shots.

Most of the film isn’t traditionally scary. You’re not dealing with monsters or zombies or whatever. Instead, it’s the fact that the world that our characters are in does not follow any laws that we base our reality on. Events don’t happen in order. Time doesn’t flow at constant rates. Directions mean nothing. Standing still doesn’t mean you aren’t moving. Everything is broken and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s extremely off-putting and eerie, leaving you feel uncomfortable the entire time. The one thing that is certain in the film is death, revealing that the only thing that is beyond the reach of the grass are dead things. 

InTheTallGrass - 3Cast2
*Insert Ominous Music*

The acting in the movie is solid, though I admit that it’s the atmosphere that makes it scary. Patrick Wilson remains a treasure and his ability to play batsh*t crazy makes for a lot of entertainment. The thing that he ends up finding inside of the grass isn’t exactly explained, but that’s part of the horror. The movie ends significantly differently from the book, although it does contain one of the most disturbing elements in the book’s ending. If you read the story, this is still worth seeing.

InTheTallGrass - 4Crush.png
Seriously, kudos to his crazy.

If you like psychological horror or, to a lesser extent, cosmic horror, give this one a watch.

If you want to check out some more by the Joker on the Sofa, check out the 100 Greatest TV Episodes of All Time, Collection of TV Episodes, Collection of Movie Reviews, or the Joker on the Sofa Reviews.

If you enjoy these, please, like, share, tell your friends, like the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JokerOnTheSofa/), follow on Twitter @JokerOnTheSofa, and just generally give me a little bump. I’m not getting paid, but I like to get feedback.