Barbarian Review

It’s rare that a horror movie comes along that I hesitate reviewing due to wanting to keep its secrets as hidden as possible. So without getting into any major specific spoilers right away, I'll just say that Zach Cregger's Barbarian was quite the interesting rollercoaster ride of a movie experience. There were several unexpected twists and turns to what this story was painting itself to be that it ended up feeling like I was watching different movies all being stitched together. Fortunately, this stitching process was being done so in an entertaining enough and exceptionally directed fashion and not theoretically messy. That’s it. That’s as far as I’ll go for anyone who wants to step into this as cold as I did. This is one of those movies that legitimizes the statement "the less you know, the better". So, if you're a huge horror fan, I recommend stop reading now, go watch Barbarian, and then come back. For everyone else, I still won’t get too spoilery here in my discussion but I will bring up a couple of potential hints.

Starting things off, in just the first 6 minutes alone, I was already internally grinning at the promising signs for how the rest of the movie might be. The sense of atmosphere from the cinematography and haunting score immediately filled me with genre loving glee. There’s a particular panoramic shot where the protagonist is standing on a porch on a rainy night looking towards the street that, quite honestly, was one of the eeriest pov shots that I’ve ever seen in horror. Something about the way that the setting was lit with the street lights casting dark shadows over the parked cars in the rain-littered darkness immediately pulled me into this state of cinematic immersion. If this was the filmmaking sensibilities of Barbarian's style moving forward, then I knew that I would be in more than capable hands. The moment she hesitantly walks into the house for the first time leading into a very Suspiria-like title card, I simply smiled. It just felt like I was in for something really special...and boy was I.

Seriously guys, this definitely a title worth remembering. At one point, I thought I was watching a solid, creepy psychological thriller revolving around questionable strangers in an unnerving circumstance. Then things take a crazy, drastic turn venturing into what felt like one of the dungeons from Resident Evil Village where something out of the REC. movies might be lurking around. I absolutely fell in love with the change of setting that was being presented here. And then, out of nowhere comes brand new characters that felt completely disconnected from the story with their own conflicts who somehow manages to get organically woven into what’s going on. So things go from grounded psychological horror, to what feels like a creature feature on the surface, to then a drama about modern day gender politic conflicts, to then finally ending up in a Hills Have Eyes/I Am Legend style horror-thriller. It’s a very intriguing narrative structure and one that I can happily say is a refreshing step away from the common post-Conjuring and Paranormal Activity modern horror gimmicks. 

I’d quicker see this type of plot line jumping and intersecting done in a Christopher Nolan epic before I see it in a horror movie about a rental house starring Justin Long. And guys…it works for the most part (emphasis on “most part”). I was completely engaged from beginning to end wondering what in the world I was about to get into next which means the filmmakers did their job in giving us something to genuinely anticipate. This is one of those titles where, in the future where people complain about a lack of originality with modern movies, I’ll quickly and confidently toss this on a list of high recommendations. And with that statement, I bring that recommendation to you right now. Go see Barbarian with as little promotional material exposure as possible if you’re a big horror fan wanting to see something fresh and equally fun. 

But seeing the responses to this movie now after I’ve reviewed it, I can tell that there will be a lot of people that gets turned off from the “twisty turny direction” attempted here. Personally, I was certainly thrown off by the directional choices but never fully turned off. It keeps you on your toes all the way to the very end whether or not you like or dislike its creative decisions. But that’s just me. It has its issues no doubt, but this was a solid watch overall and definitely worth checking out.

Rating: 8/10