🍿72: Talk To Me

The incredibility of The Blair Witch, two new trailers, and this week's feature review 🫱🏻‍🫲🏿

“She isn’t gone.”

~ Hereditary, 2018

App and away…

If you’ve ever been frustrated by not getting your favourite Substack newsletters, only to find them piled up in the dusty corner of your Gmail (aka the Promotions tab) then you need to download the Substack app.

This is a great place where you can read, share and interact with all your Substacks in one place — this means you can like and comment on new posts without opening a new webpage and waiting for it to load. But best of all, you’ll actually get notified when a new release of your Substack comes out.

So stop relying on Gmail, get the Substack app — and like SP! ❤️

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Now for the headlines:

• Talk To Me has been in the cinema for a little less than two weeks, but a sequel is already in the works. Read more.

• Emerald Fennell, director of Promising Young Woman, will be opening the London Film Festival with her upcoming film Saltburn. Read more.

• Barbie has made more than $1bn at the worldwide box office. Read more.

• The Oscars have lost their UK broadcaster as Sky gives up rights to the ceremony. Read more.

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Upcoming Releases

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt

UK: TBC // USA: TBC

Written and directed by Raven Jackson, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt explores the life of Mack, a Black woman in Tennessee, from her youth to her older years.

Fair Play

UK: 13 October // USA: 13 October

An unexpected promotion at a cutthroat hedge fund pushes a young couple’s relationship to the brink, threatening to unravel more than their secret engagement.

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Fact of the week

The Blair Witch Project is a fascinating film to read about. From the lengths that the crew went to to make it seem like the actors were dead (they were listed as deceased on IMDB and their parents got condolence calls) to the world believing the film was made using genuine found footage.

It was also filmed on a shoestring budget of $35k (though total production was around $300k) and went on to make $248m at the box office. Its success marked the birth of a whole new sub-genre.

Until recently, however, I didn’t realise that the film is almost 100% improvised. There was a treatment that laid out the story, but there was no scripted dialogue. The actors really did go on a camping trip through the woods, equipped with a camera and GPS tracker.

Directors Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick marked GPS locations with flags or milk crates, where the actors would leave their footage and pick up food and directing notes.

Each actor was given their own instructions every day about how they should act. In an interview with The Guardian, Myrick said: “These would say things like: ‘Heather, you’re absolutely sure that to get out of this mess you go south. Don’t take no for an answer.’ Or: ‘Josh, somewhere along the way today, you’ve had it with this bullshit.’”

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Review: Talk To Me

Star rating:

4 (out of 5)

Where to watch: 

USA: Only in cinemas

UK: Only in cinemas

Runtime:

1hr 35m

Director:

Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou

Blurb: 

A group of friends discovers how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand and find themselves addicted to the thrill — until one of them unleashes a terrifying force.

The review (NO spoilers):

Talk To Me is the latest horror from A24 and marks the feature debut from directors (and twins) Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou.

On the surface, it might seem as though there’s some tenuous link between Talk To Me and the short Victorian horror story ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ by W.W. Jacobs (if you’ve not read it, you might have seen ‘The Simpsons’ adaptation) but this film explores an entirely different story.

While it isn’t breaking any new ground, Talk To Me manages to be more like a terrifying drama than a stereotypical horror. Underneath all the jumpscares and gore — of which there’s plenty — there’s still a solid plot that’ll keep you glued to your seat.

But, best of all, it really is quite scary. The suspense and anticipation are built up masterfully and to great effect. The more gruesome scenes add just enough shock value to be visceral, without being overly obscene or gratuitous — though that might be subjective.

There’s a similar balance in the way that each scare is delivered, because it’s creepy and jumpy in equal measure. Jumpscares have earned a reputation for being a cheap device to scare audiences, the kind of trick that any seasoned horror fan will see coming a mile off. However, the Philippou twins manage to avoid the clichéd delivery of blockbuster horrors, while managing to tap into whatever it is that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

Scroll down to see what’s in the next issue.

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If you liked Talk To Me…

Bodies Bodies Bodies

2022 | UK: Sky Cinema / Amazone (£4.99) // USA: Paramount+ / Amazon ($3.99)

I can’t say I’ve seen Bodies Bodies Bodies, but this is another recent A24 horror that focuses on a group of young adults, looking for thrills by playing a game that soon turns deadly.

This is, however, more of a slasher than a supernatural horror, and judging by the trailer it’s more comical too.

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In the next issue:

Scrapper

UK: 23 August // USA: TBC | Watch the Trailer

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