So, I watched the Woman in the Yard, and I have some thoughts...I think it's shot REALLY well. The tension and atmosphere are excellent, even when it's just in family drama mode. The scare scenes in the first half are outstanding, in my opinion, and there was even a jump scare that caught me off guard.
But that ambiguity and chaos in the third act muddled a lot of it. I'm not wholly opposed to ambiguity in horror, but it has to be done well. That's a tough needle to thread, particularly when you're so straightforward with your central allegory (more about that in spoilers later). In this case, no one's gonna miss what the woman in the yard represents, but while the movie reflects that much clearly...what it has to say ABOUT it is much messier.
The ending is confusing, and while that invites debate about certain meanings, I think it was cheap and lazy, particularly when so much of the writing was strong before that. You can genuinely get to know these characters based on their interactions, and the movie takes its time giving you that. But when it comes to making a clear resolution or statement at the end, they folded hard and left it up to the viewer.
So, it's a good movie. But I hated the ending, which I'll discuss more in spoilers.
So, the woman in the yard is a clear allegory for depression and survivor's guilt. There's enough implication that Ramona, the MC, has battled depression before the car accident (the woman was already present when it happened). There are some brilliant ways that they show depression's impact on people, and I genuinely tightened up when Ramona imagined her kids being better off without her.
I don't like that the movie never clarified that Ramona wasn't a literal threat to her kids (in fact, it implied the opposite). It didn't clarify that the Woman in the Yard lied about the kid's future (I'm just assuming as much). Then, the final encounter with the woman doesn't end with Ramona being active. She's completely passive! The Woman guides her hands; Ramona looks at the mirror and the penguin doll...then she walks out of the attic.
To make matters worse, the sequence after could be seen as a dream sequence or a time-lapse. But I think the name being backward on the painting is the closest thing to an unambiguous symbol in the final act. It would suggest that this is a dream sequence. That means grief and depression won out, which really happens but damn...you just Jordan Meme'd the end of this movie worse than any movie since Lodge.
It's even more frustrating because I see plenty of threads laid out, which could have been connected to make a clear ending with an obvious positive message as opposed to Cheddar Bob yourself to ease the stress. I've seen others take a more positive outlook on the ending, and I'm glad they can. I just had trouble taking what the narrative gave me and coming up with a resolution that ties everything together coherently.
Still a solid 6.5 out of 10, but if they stuck the landing, it'd be hitting the 7-9 range where most of my yearly favorites land.
Watched Blue Monkey this week. Cheesy 80s creature feature in a quarantined hospital. Entertaining all throughout, they make the most out of the one place location. Full movie on yt as well if anyone is interested
Watched Blue Monkey this week. Cheesy 80s creature feature in a quarantined hospital. Entertaining all throughout, they make the most out of the one place location. Full movie on yt as well if anyone is interested
I used to be a big horror reader, but I've always been a bigger fan of horror short stories than novels. But I do pick up a book or audio book once in a while, and I read a lot of non-fiction which includes stuff about horror movies (I read Chain Saw Confidential which is Gunnar Hansen's book about the making TCM last year). On the horror fiction tip: On the anthology tip, I've gone through the Books of Blood for the stories behind Candyman and Hellraiser; and I'm re-reading my favorite horror anthology of all time. Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti is full of Lovecraftian existential dread that I love.
I haven't read any extreme horror, unless you count the novella "Hello Old Friend," which was messed up but really well done.
Watched Blue Monkey this week. Cheesy 80s creature feature in a quarantined hospital. Entertaining all throughout, they make the most out of the one place location. Full movie on yt as well if anyone is interested
Hidden Canadian gem , this one... I remember many moons ago, my uncle rented this from Hollywood video.
we watched it and that nikka was actually mad because there was no actual "Blue Monkey" in the flick killing people
Will add this to my 80's re watch
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I actually like this
