Shudder Saturday: Becky (2020)

Co-directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion, Becky is the film arguably best known to many for being the one that has Kevin "King Of Queens" James playing a Neo-Nazi criminal. It has also been referred to as a twisted riff on Home Alone, and I am sure that people have already heaped some praise on the young actress, Lulu Wilson, who portrays the titular character.

The plot is deceptively simple. Becky is taken away by her father (Jeff, played by Joel McHale) to spend some time back at the lakeside home that contains many memories of her deceased mother. It's not going to be an easy time for them though, as Jeff is informing Becky that he wants to marry his girlfriend, Kayla (Amanda Brugel), who has joined them at the house, accompanied by her young son, Ty (Isaiah Rockcliffe). Becky leaves the house, wanting some time to herself, wanting to be alone with her rage. And that is when Dominick (James) and co. enter. They want something that has been hidden away on the property, and they don't mind killing to get it. It turns out that Becky won't necessarily mind killing people either, and she has the advantage while the criminals take time to fully realise the situation.

There are a lot of people involved in this that I've been aware of before now, but not particularly impressed by. A lot of people enjoyed both Cooties and Bushwick, also from Milott and Murnion, but I wasn't a big fan of either. Cooties was average, at best, and Bushwick was a slight improvement. Becky shows that they have kept moving in the right direction though, and this is their best work yet. The script, written by Ruckus Skye, Lane Skye, and Nick Morris, is enjoyably effective when it comes to shaping the central characters and placing them in every main sequence. The crux of the relationship between Becky and her father is nailed down within their first few scenes together, their big problem stemming from a reaction from a young girl that is as hurtful to her father as it is understandable, and all we need to know about the bad guys is that they are generally very bad indeed. It also helps that there's a great little speech delivered by James that is supposedly about a dog, but very quickly and obviously shows that it encompasses his horrendous world view, and isn't really just about a dog at all.

Wilson is excellent in the main role. She's believable throughout, even as she grows tougher and more determined to cause pain and death to others. Her skill and strength seems to grow with each cathartic moment, and she always seems to be thinking one step ahead of those around her. I have seen Wilson in a few other films, but this is her standout role, for obvious reasons. James is also excellent, delivering a menacing and unpleasant character with a performance that could easily be described as revelatory. Okay, he's helped by the script and the fact that it is so far removed from his usual fare, but he still deserves a good bit of praise for taking on the role. McHale and Brugel are both very good as the adults who end up pinning their hopes on a young girl to help them get out of a very dangerous situation, and Robert Maillet is a highlight in the role of Apex, a large and intimidating criminal who actually wants things to stop before more people lose their lives.

While it avoids some common pitfalls (it doesn't try to make things overly cool, it doesn't often play things for laughs), Becky becomes slightly unstuck in the more violent moments. It becomes a bit ridiculous, whether in terms of showing what Becky can do or in terms of the damage caused to people. Watching someone cut off their own dangling eyeball is fine for causing a wince, a gut reaction, but it's also something that feels a bit preposterous. The same can be said of some other gory moments. It's not enough to completely unbalance, or ruin, the film. It's enough to knock a point or two off it though.

Nicely bookended by a couple of scenes that will prompt a wry smile from viewers, this is a thriller that I highly recommend to anyone looking for something just a little bit different. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it puts a funky new hubcap on it.

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: Vicious Fun (2020)

Director Cody Calahan has been doing some interesting work over the last ten years or so. Just last year alone he directed both this and The Oak Room (a film I am looking forward to rewatching before I give it a full review). But he started his feature career with Antisocial, which is a film I really disliked. I'm glad that I forgot all about my first exposure to his work, especially now that I am actively looking forward to anything else he lines up.

Working from a script by first-timer James Villeneuve (who has one short to his name before this, but nothing else that I can see), Calahan has delivered something that's absolutely spot on when it comes to the mix of silliness and dark comedy. The only thing really working against it is the small scale of every main sequence, either coming from the script or executed that way due to a limited budget.

Evan Marsh plays Joel, a horror magazine film critic who doesn't seem to be able to find a way to diplomatically interview anyone he views as simply directing tired and lazy genre fare. We see this in his very first encounter. We also see that Joel has a crush on Sarah (Alexa Rose Steele). When Sarah returns from a date one evening, Joel decides to follow the man she has decided to spend some time with. That man is Bob (Ari Millen), and a conversation with Bob leads to a drink or two in a bar, which leads to more drinks, which leads to Joel passing out in a closet and then waking up when the bar is closed. It's not empty though, and Joel takes a seat among a group of people who turn out to be serial killers. And it's not long until Bob appears to take his place in the circle. Which puts Joel in a very sticky situation.

Having fun with some killer archetypes (Robert Maillet plays Mike, a man who seems to love killing teens in camping grounds, Julian Richings plays Fritz, who has a penchant for using poison), Vicious Fun generally manages to live up to its title. It's no big surprise to see that Joel cannot keep up the facade for long, and most of the movie involves him trying to stay alive, helped by a skilled female killer named Carrie (Amber Goldfarb). More fun comes from Joel starting off as pretty much useless, while he relies on Carrie's skillset to keep them safe, but becoming more confident as he is forced into a number of situations he would much prefer to be viewing on a movie screen.

Marsh is a decent lead, doing a good job of being weak and pathetic until he finally starts to find a bit of fire in his belly. Goldfarb and Millen are both great, playing two killers with very different views on who they should be killing. Richings and Maillet are both good fun, Sean Baek does okay with his relatively small amount of screentime, and David Koechner has what amounts to an extended cameo, but is fun when he's around. Steele feels just right in her role, and you have superb comedic turns from Kristopher Bowman, Mark Gibson, and John Fray as three cops not about to believe for one second the far-fetched tale they hear from Joel.

Although really good throughout, Vicious Fun never becomes great. That's a shame. All of the ingredients are there, with the only thing lacking maybe a bit of daring or confidence. Mind you, it is easier to be daring and more confident when you have more money to play around with. At least you still get some memorable characters, a witty script, and a few decent kills in a film that makes the most of a premise that could have easily felt too slight for a feature.

7/10

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