There's a tonal imbalance in The Raid director Gareth Evans attempt at a horror movie. At the outset, it seems he clearly has in mind a modern horror spin on The Wicker Man and other such secret cult stories, but loses the thread about halfway through.
The first half builds a crawling tension as Thomas (Dan Stevens, bringing ultimate Dan Stevens-style glowering and brooding to the role), infiltrates a mysterious cult on their secluded island in search of his sister, whom the cult's leadership is holding for ransom. The cult worships a mother figure of the island, a provider to whom they sacrifice blood for a fruitful harvest, and follow their leader preachings of an ideal community free of taxes and money and armies and war. The hypocrisy screams loudly - doors have locks, there's a police force, weapons abound - and the people, while devoted, are definitely under strict rule. Their leaders, outcasts, fugitives, traitors to the king cannot be good men.
Glimpses of the mother figure skulking around the island (who is at once free to roam and yet bound?), coupled with the sacrifices to her and the severe rule of law on the island all present an atmosphere of definite unease. Thomas' infiltration is a dicey one, as he doesn't know the rites and rituals and songs and tenets of the church, and it's only a matter of time before he gives himself away. The leadership, resources running low, community on the verge of collapse, need the ransom he brings but most assuredly will not allow Thomas and his sister their freedom should he present it, but they know he's among them and need to draw him out before he starts sewing unrest.
It's to the midway point that Evans has tension drawn extremely high, but he lets go of the ropes and can't seem to draw them back. He becomes far too interested in the humanity of the characters, exploring their pasts and families, and there's no contribution to the central tension in those stories. Had Evans's established a much different tone (with a subtler, less scratching-at-the-walls kind of score) from the outset, making more of a drama with moments of horror or suspense, it would all work a little different, but the tone of the second half is all revelations...including the mother figure, who is clearly metaphysical (though her creepy, basket-headed caretaker is a real conundrum...who is he? Why is he doing what he's doing? why the basket head? How does he know how to use a gun? Why can't he speak? What's his entire deal?).
The second half brings a lot more gore and uneasy visuals, which belong in the horror movie of the first half but feel out of place in the far more dramatic second half. Evans also can't help but make his short fight sequences inherently kinetic - his sensibilities from The Raid perhaps a little too ingrained - and the camera motions feel way out of place in the production.
It's not altogether an unfulfilling movie but it's not consistent, and unsure of what it wants to be. Too bloated by at least half an hour for standard horror, and far too invested in it's characters and setup to fit comfortably in the genre. At the same time it's too gross, and too interested in presenting a new horror mythology to be drama, and the mixed bag nature means it spoils any parable it may have been reaching for.
The first half builds a crawling tension as Thomas (Dan Stevens, bringing ultimate Dan Stevens-style glowering and brooding to the role), infiltrates a mysterious cult on their secluded island in search of his sister, whom the cult's leadership is holding for ransom. The cult worships a mother figure of the island, a provider to whom they sacrifice blood for a fruitful harvest, and follow their leader preachings of an ideal community free of taxes and money and armies and war. The hypocrisy screams loudly - doors have locks, there's a police force, weapons abound - and the people, while devoted, are definitely under strict rule. Their leaders, outcasts, fugitives, traitors to the king cannot be good men.
Glimpses of the mother figure skulking around the island (who is at once free to roam and yet bound?), coupled with the sacrifices to her and the severe rule of law on the island all present an atmosphere of definite unease. Thomas' infiltration is a dicey one, as he doesn't know the rites and rituals and songs and tenets of the church, and it's only a matter of time before he gives himself away. The leadership, resources running low, community on the verge of collapse, need the ransom he brings but most assuredly will not allow Thomas and his sister their freedom should he present it, but they know he's among them and need to draw him out before he starts sewing unrest.
It's to the midway point that Evans has tension drawn extremely high, but he lets go of the ropes and can't seem to draw them back. He becomes far too interested in the humanity of the characters, exploring their pasts and families, and there's no contribution to the central tension in those stories. Had Evans's established a much different tone (with a subtler, less scratching-at-the-walls kind of score) from the outset, making more of a drama with moments of horror or suspense, it would all work a little different, but the tone of the second half is all revelations...including the mother figure, who is clearly metaphysical (though her creepy, basket-headed caretaker is a real conundrum...who is he? Why is he doing what he's doing? why the basket head? How does he know how to use a gun? Why can't he speak? What's his entire deal?).
The second half brings a lot more gore and uneasy visuals, which belong in the horror movie of the first half but feel out of place in the far more dramatic second half. Evans also can't help but make his short fight sequences inherently kinetic - his sensibilities from The Raid perhaps a little too ingrained - and the camera motions feel way out of place in the production.
It's not altogether an unfulfilling movie but it's not consistent, and unsure of what it wants to be. Too bloated by at least half an hour for standard horror, and far too invested in it's characters and setup to fit comfortably in the genre. At the same time it's too gross, and too interested in presenting a new horror mythology to be drama, and the mixed bag nature means it spoils any parable it may have been reaching for.
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