In the Earth

Magandang pelikula!

Magandang pelikula!

source: In the Earth

Greetings again from the darkness. Have you ever wondered why they warned concert attendees to stay away from the brown acid at Woodstock? I can only speculate, but I assume the poor souls who consumed the taboo drug experienced hallucinations not dissimilar to watching this latest from writer-director Ben Wheatley. Filmmaker Wheatley previously delivered such interesting and diverse fare as the intriguing horror film KILL LIST (2011), the confusing and bizarre HIGH-RISE (2015), and my personal favorite of his, the quite funny and action-packed FREE FIRE (2016). Martin Lowery (Joel Fry, YESTERDAY, 2019) is sent to track down a doctor whose research may provide desperately needed help in fighting a virus that has wreaked havoc on the human race. Martin himself has been in isolation for four months prior to this mission. He teams up with Alma (Ellora Torchia, MIDSOMMAR, 2019), a Park Ranger who works out of a Lodge that has been closed for a year due to the pandemic. She will act as his guide on the 2 day hike through the dense forest to find the doctor. As you would expect, the hike doesn't go smoothly, and things turn very weird and dangerous when Martin and Alma cross paths with Zach (Reece Shearsmith, HIGH-RISE, 2015). He's the ex-husband of Dr. Wendle, the one Martin and Alma are in search of. However, Zach is off the grid and off his (proverbial) rocker. He converses with the forest, which might possibly be his most normal action. Dr. Olivia Wendle (Hayley Squires, I, DANIEL BLAKE) is finally located, and though she and Martin know each other, she seems quite intent on finishing her research in the forest. Back at the Lodge, Alma had filled Martin in on a local folk tale ... the Spirit of the Woods, named Parnag. Most just call it, "the thing in the woods." Are we to believe nature is evil, or is nature just fighting back against humans? Written by Wheatley last year, the film shows the effects of a pandemic on some people and how trying to solve things through science may fall short. Paranoia, distrust, dread, and isolation from others are all at play here - and quite in line with our current state. A supernatural element hovers, but the psychedelic images keep us disoriented, and seem to exist for the sole purpose of visual effects. The strobes are so strong they could trigger responses from sensitive viewers, and if they don't, the gore likely will. Cinematographer Nick Gillespie and composer Clint Mansell are standouts here, and though Wheatley is to be commended for his quick work, the film didn't really click for me. Perhaps the two best comparisons are THE HAPPENING (2008) and the far superior ANNIHILATION (2018). In theaters April 30, 2021.

I saw "In the Earth", starring Joel Fry-Yesterday, Game of Thrones_tv; Ellora Torchia-The Split_tv, Midsommar; Reece Shearsmith-The League of Gentlemen_tv, The Man You're Not and Hayley Squires-Cat On a Hot Tin Roof_2018, A Royal Night Out. This is a weird little movie that doesn't make a lot of sense. There is a warning at the beginning of the movie that says something like,'If you are photosensitive to strobe lights, this movie contains scenes that might trigger an epileptic seizure.' Ooohhhh, scary! It turns out to be more like the Blair Witch movie-an effort is made to scare you but not much is actually there. Joel plays a scientist that is traveling into the woods to meet an old colleague of his, Hayley, who has not been heard from in quite a while. She was supposed to have been working on some kind of virus cure but that's not the case. Ellora is the park ranger leading Joel into the woods-he might get lost, otherwise-when they run into Reece, who appears to have been living in the woods for a little while, himself, and has his own agenda going on. The epileptic causing scenes are mostly strobe lights going off that Hayley has set up for her experiments-she also has loud speakers attached to trees but it's just really loud noise. It's rated "R" for violence, grisley images and language and has a running time of 1 hour & 40 minutes. I would not buy this movie on DVD. I wouldn't rent it either. If you really have an interest in seeing it, I would wait until it's on basic cable tv.

Kept waiting for the ah ha moment that would make this movie make sense. Unfortunately, the credits ran before that moment.

Positively the biggest waste of time in years. It took 20 min of blurred dialogue to catch slightly on and two hours to just find out they had no idea themselves what the movie was about. Absolutely clueless. Can't give you spoilers because if you bother to watch it's on you.

If I could give this movie a -10, I would do it. Stupid people doing stupid things. I didn't care about any of them. I thought it might compare to other supernatural entity movies, but no. There is a warning in the beginning about people with photosensitive epilepsy possibly having seizures because of the light effects. I don't have epilepsy, but I managed to get a pretty good headache from all the pounding, constant flashing strobe lights. Avoid this one like your life depends on it.

With a mysterious pandemic as a backdrop, two scientists enter an English woodland to check up on one of their colleagues, who has been experimenting with the forest's unique energies. Before they find their colleague, they meet up with a reclusive man who has been living close to the land for some time. This film explores themes that Wheatley fans will recall from A FIELD IN ENGLAND and KILL LIST: bits of rural folklore, earth mysteries and pagan mysticism all play a part, but ultimately the horror lies in the human capacity for self-preservation.

I'm so tired of movies being labeled as "horror" but then it's just cringe, grisly torture instead of anything remotely scary. I could at least appreciate it if there was some semblance of plot to tie things together, but no, just random senseless scenes that are barely related. Either come up with another genre to describe this long, boring garbage or stop giving movies like this good reviews. Is it possible to take back my money so I don't accidentally contribute to any box office revenue for this dumpster fire?