GORIED TREASURES has been reimagined as a column with every entry focusing on random horror movies that are deserving of the spotlight. Be it indie, foreign, or simply something that is underappreciated by the masses, the goal is to put these films on everyone’s radars.
The Barrens
Dir. Darren Lynn Bousman
2012
Watch: Stream
With there being so much steeped skepticism about cryptozoology, movies have often treated the fringe science like a joke. On the other hand, Darren Lynn Bousman’s The Barrens approaches its otherworldly subject with both fear and reverence. The director of Saw II-IV subjects one family to terror in the New Jersey Pine Barrens while still offering the most convincing portrayal of the state’s most famous resident.
The Barrens begins ordinarily enough. The Vineyard clan, led by parents whose friction is apparent from the start, goes camping in the famed forest. The father suddenly becomes paranoid during the trip, and he swears something is watching and following his family.
Bousman’s movie stand out because it plays on the very vagueness that makes cryptids so fascinating. By focusing on the family tension, the story puts audiences in the right state of mind until the Jersey Devil reveals itself. The father’s descent into madness is the perfect appetizer before the main course is served.
Other cryptid horror movies make the mistake of showing the creatures too much. Bousman wisely keeps the hulking, leathery winged monstrosity to the shadows in a bid to avoid visual desensitization. To clear the palette of doubt, the monster appears at the most opportune time, resulting in a terrifying finish.
Hollow
Dir. Michael Axelgaard
2011
Watch: Stream
Trees have the interesting power of looking scary without ever swaying more than a branch. Without their compensating leaves or fruit, they appear downright sinister in the right (or wrong) light. The tree in Michael Axelgaard’s Hollow (or Dunwich) seems normal enough, though. It’s large, old, and bare, but it’s hardly evil. Or so that’s what the movie’s characters think until the tree shows its true colors.
Found footage and folk horror go together like chocolate and sugar. They complement one another so well, it’s hard to believe there was ever a time they weren’t paired together. Hollow continues the trend by investigating the mythology surrounding a specific tree in a rural part of Suffolk, England. Legend states a demonic force drove couples to suicide at a monastery; the now-gone place is marked by an ominous tree today. Four people on holiday there then learn some myths are rooted in truth.
Before Hollow reaches its dicey conclusion, the story follows a trail of menacing breadcrumbs. These moments are eerie but marred by plainspoken characterization; the main cast is unfortunately obnoxious. Even so, their foolhardy behavior plants the seeds for devilry.
Hollow has the makings of similar movies: convenient narration, excessive shaky cam, and an inconclusive ending. All for the better, though, this found-footage horror film jumps straight into lunacy and never looks back. It’s not totally satisfying, but parts of Axelgaard’s debut will leave viewers shaking like a leaf.
Inner Demons
Dir. Seth Grossman
2014
Watch: Rent
Much like society, movies aren’t always kind to addicts. Sympathy for others seems to end when learning of someone’s addiction problems. Seth Grossman’s Inner Demons, however, bucks the trend with a compassionate plea for young people with dependency issues.
An Intervention-esque docudrama selects a teenage addict as its next subject. It seems like a clear-cut case of a promising student falling in with a bad crowd. Yet as the young woman’s story unfolds, only a production assistant notices something is off; the girl’s addiction is really a symptom of something else.
Reality television’s history of exploitation is picked up on in Inner Demons. The addict’s troubles are turned into entertainment, and the only thing standing between her and nationwide scrutiny is the film’s would-be hero. His white knighting borders on treacly, but there is enough gruesomeness here to balance things out.
Overall, Grossman’s movie advocates for more understanding towards drug addiction. A supernatural element adds a tangibility that makes the subject digestible for those who have never personally dealt with the problem. The ending isn’t the happiest there is, but there is hope in knowing that even the most powerful of personal demons can be defeated.