Tag: John Gallagher Jr.

[31 Days of Horror Part V: A New Beginning] Day 7 – Hush (2016)

Director: Mike Flanagan

Cast: John Gallagher Jr., Kate Siegel, Michael Trucco

Screenplay: Mike Flanagan, Kate Siegel

81 mins. Rated R for strong violence/terror and some language.

 

When Maddie (Kate Siegel, Hot, Oculus), a writer working on her follow-up novel, stays in her isolated home to find solitude, she is not prepared for the horrific night that awaits her. Maddie is deaf due to a childhood illness, and she cannot hear the killer who taunts her from outside. This killer is a man looking to play a game of cat and mouse, and Maddie is his next target. Maddie must use her remaining senses to keep herself safe and stop the killer from collecting another victim.

I met Mike Flanagan (Gerald’s Game, Ouija: Origin of Evil) once at the premiere for his film Absentia, and while I’ve never shied away when I have issues with his work, I found Hush to be a very capably put together little horror/thriller. It’s concept is simple and that’s what makes it so compelling. His direction is clean and unwavering, maintaining focus on Siegel’s Maddie as often as possible. This single-setting film works very well and cruises through its tight run time.

John Gallagher Jr. (10 Cloverfield Lane, Peppermint) plays the killer quite well in a way I haven’t seen him yet. From all the work I’ve watched of his, I’ve never seen him embody menace in such a way. He is a terrifying presence. Michael Trucco (Next, The Bye Bye Man) also appears in a small but crucial role as a next-door neighbor looking for his missing spouse.

While not everything works perfectly in Hush, the film is brisk, exhilarating, painful, and enticing. Mike Flanagan uses his single-setting and small cast very nicely, never going for full-blown mayhem and instead focusing on the silence of the hunt. Maddie grows and evolves as the film’s runs along, making her a formidable foe to the masked killer.

Hush is one to watch for. If you missed it when it soft-dropped n Netflix in 2016, please take some time to check it out. The risk is minimal and you may find it quite enjoyable like I did. If you don’t, eh, it’s only 81 minutes.

 

3.5/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

 

 

For my review of Mike Flanagan’s Absentia, click here.

For my review of Mike Flanagan’s Oculus, click here.

For my review of Mike Flanagan’s Ouija: Origin of Evil, click here.

 

For more Almighty Goatman,

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10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

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Director: Dan Trachtenberg

Cast: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr.

Screenplay: Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, Damien Chazelle

104 mins. Rated PG-13 for thematic material including frightening sequences of threat with some violence, and brief language.

 

What is 10 Cloverfield Lane? Is it a sequel to Cloverfield? How is it actually connected? What the hell is actually going on here? Lots of questions circulate the pseudo-sequel, or as J.J. Abrams calls it, the “spiritual successor” to Cloverfield, ever since its trailer premiered in front of 13 Hours after filming was completed without anyone really knowing about it. The idea is brilliant, but it remains with a follow-up question: Was it worth it?

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SPOILER ALERT: A film like 10 Cloverfield Lane has been shrouded in so much secrecy that many would consider any discussion to be spoilery. I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty of the spoiler territory and tread lightly here, but for all you spoiler purists out there, this is a heads up.

When Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Final Destination 3, Faults) wakes up in an underground bunker handcuffed to a pipe, she doesn’t understand what’s going on. It isn’t until she meets her captor, Howard (John Goodman, Monsters, Inc., Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle) that she learns of a horrible truth: there has been an attack on American soil. Everyone else is dead. She meets Emmett (John Gallagher Jr., TV’s The Newsroom, Short Term 12) who backs up the claim but doesn’t have any proof. So the question remains: Is Howard telling the truth? Or is Michelle in more danger beneath the soil? Also, it has Cloverfield in the title, so there’s that.

I spend the entirety of the film trying to tie it to Cloverfield. I’ll tell you right now, the film is tied to Cloverfield, but if you haven’t seen the original film, you could enjoy this one all the same.

John Goodman gives an award-worthy performance as the jealous and tense Howard, and he is met on an almost-equal playing field by Winstead and Gallagher here, as this single-location thriller unfolds. Director Dan Trachtenberg plays the claustrophobia well here, not overdoing it but letting the story dictate when. It’s a tautly-edited film, packed with great set design and excellent dialogue.

This entire film is exactly what it should be with one exception concerning the film’s ending (which I actually really enjoyed, but I also wanted more). I really can’t get too much into it, but I will say this: I’ve heard Abrams discuss a possible third installment, and I cannot wait. Not that this film sets up a sequel so much. I just want to see the next direction the series will take. After the stunning found-footage Cloverfield and the tightly-wound thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane, I just…I want more!

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So there you have it. See this damn movie! It’s the best film I’ve seen this year (so far, of course, but all the same). If you didn’t like Cloverfield or couldn’t sit through the found-footage, that’s fine. Go to 10 Cloverfield Lane. Now.

 

4.5/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

 

 

 

So have you seen 10 Cloverfield Lane? What did you think? Did you catch the cameo at the beginning? Let me know!

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