Reviews
A POUND OF FLESH (AND A TON OF PROBLEMS): ‘Fresh’ (2022) Review
From super-hero to super-terrible boyfriend, Sebastian Stan and company are held back by the messy cinematography of Hulu’s latest horror original.
If you’re tabbing out to check this review, wondering if this movie gets better, the answer is…
Sort of.
And I get why you’d do that. The first 30 minutes of Fresh are shot like a very unappealing rom-com, something akin to a lost episode of Netflix’s Dating Around; no shade to D.A., I love it, but it somehow manages to make mood lighting look overly sanitized, and this film’s opening reel has that problem as well. And even if it’s intentionally bad, it’s not a creative enough decision to make up for its ugliness, or the somewhat bad editing in the beginning. I only put so much emphasis on this because it does get better. It takes about a third of the runtime, but Fresh begins to aesthetically redeem itself past the thirty-minute mark.
Directorially, the improvement is wonderful from there onward. The set design of Steve’s home/torture dungeon brings hostile coziness with its very aggressive color palette. The layout of the building is almost claustrophobic, and it allows director Mimi Cave and crew to excel with utilizing shadows to build up walls up between the captive Noa (Daisy Edgar Jones) and her kidnapper Steve (Sebastian Stan), who has been taken prisoner as human livestock for her new beau’s cannibal customers.
Edgar-Jones and Stan are easily the saving grace of this film, as they both excel in one thing in particular: their physical performances. I feel like I never watch a film that has excellent physical acting that isn’t heavily orchestrated in some way, but here both of our leads do a hell of a job. Whether it’s Noa lashing out, shrinking inward, hobbling around, or crawling post-surgery, Edgar-Jones sells the misery of the whole situation with her body language and expressiveness.
Stan brings a kind of bizarre physical comedy to the table with his exuberant energy early on. The dark humor elicited by a montage of this madman dancing/cooking with a severed human leg isn’t funny per se, but his derangement is quite entertaining for how believable it is. The psychopathic calmness of Steve makes him memorable, and the conflict between them feels textured for it. That’s what this movie has going for it; its immersive acting keeps you hooked. Even when it approaches you with concepts that feel completely off the rails, it’s able to execute them disturbingly because of this.
Jojo T. Gibbs’s, playing Noa’s best friend Mollie, works well with Edgar-Jones, giving off believable on-screen chemistry of a lifelong friendship. But the dialogue they’re given doesn’t service that neat connection between them. In fact, the script of this film is possibly the second weakest part of it all. The themes of misogyny being profitably pervasive and women also falling victim to its lures and camouflage is fascinating, and doubly so when paired with grody meat visuals reminiscent of something like Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. But the approach it takes gives us dialogue that feels too ham-fisted and on the nose, trying to drive home the thematic elements in a way that the obvious horrors we’re being shown already do. The substance is overshadowed by moments like Mollie outright stating part of the film’s thesis while she’s caving in the head of Steve’s wife; it takes a moment that would be triumphant if it was subdued and makes it laughably bad when you get words no one would ever say mid-murder paired with poor special effects.
But what is the worst thing about this film? The music. By God, are the needle drops in this movie obnoxious. The need to pump this full of recognizable music betrays the unsettling silence this movie could have generated with its concepts and acting, or even a more robust original soundtrack to supplement the visual.
If you can overlook bad technical work in favor of good performances from the cast, I would suggest giving this a try as it is visually appealing. Otherwise, folks, steer clear of this 100-minute mystery meat surprise if the downsides give you more red flags than a bad dating profile.
You can watch Fresh streaming on Hulu.
Most people find that stretching their dollar still barely gets them by in today’s economy. I am very particular about what I spend my spare money on regarding extracurriculars. And no one likes to feel like their money is wasted. Madame Morbid Trolley Tours wasn’t an experience I had been familiar with. Maybe that’s because I’m chronically offline for most of my life. So this leads to the perfect question: in today’s turbulent economy, is Madame Morbid Trolley Tours worth the price? The short answer is unquestionably, yes. But it’s more than just a simple yes.
My wife and I arrived at the designated meeting point 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time. A handful of minutes later, a gorgeous, e-candle-lit trolley pulled up to the side of the road. We were greeted by impeccably on-brand Allison Chase, our tour guide, and trolley driver ‘Mad’ Matt Zaller. The wonderfully cheery duo invited us on the trolley, and the tour was set to begin.
400 Years of Death, Destruction, and Infrastructure
After a welcoming video intro from someone who knows a thing or two about busting ghosts, we set off on the inaugural Madame Morbid Trolley Tour in its ninth year of operation. From the Brooklyn Naval Yard all the way to Dumbo, and more, this tour magnificently chronicles 400 years of history, the good and the bad, expertly. No matter how much you think you may know about Brooklyn history, I can bet there will be something new learned within the first 15 minutes of the tour. From the first-ever plane crash to one of the worst theater fires in history, this tour covers tragedies that the greatest horror writers couldn’t conceive.
The Deadly [Charming] Docent
Allison Chase led the fascinating tour in character from the moment we stepped on the trolley until our departure. But Allison’s character was not forced or fake; you could feel Allison’s passion for not just morbid history, but the accuracy of it. Some of the stories we heard were steeped in historical context, and it was not boring for a single second. The Madame Morbid Trolley Tour is not your standard full-talking tour. It’s a mixed-media adventure of some of Brooklyn’s darkest moments.
During “downtime” (the times between locations), we were edutained by mini documentaries (that were quite funny). Some of the “downtime” was filled with traffic trivia (I won a needle pen!). And other times were show-and-tell-like, with objects passed around for us to examine. But there was never a moment of silence that wasn’t purposeful. All in all, Allison’s knowledge and passion shone like the luminosity of a full moon.
Is Madame Morbid Trolley Tours Worth It?
The Madame Morbid Trolley Tour was not just a fun night out for my wife and me, but it was a delightfully dark night of edutainment. It should also be noted that ‘Mad’ Matt’s driving skills were fantastic. There was a time when I had become enamored with how Matt handled the narrow streets of Brooklyn before realizing that I needed to refocus my attention on Allison. The Madame Morbid Trolley Tour is an exceptionally fun evening of horror and history that will make you think twice next time you walk down the streets of Brooklyn. It is worth the money, and then some. There’s no better activity for a cold, dark October night than the Madame Morbid Trolley Tour.
For more information on Madame Morbid Trolley Tours, and to get your tickets, click here!
I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I should have watched the Stephen King adaptation Cujo a million years ago. First of all, I was a voracious King reader in middle school. The other thing I was obsessed with during those years was Friends. You know, the show that hinges a major episode’s subplot on Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) watching Cujo for the first time. Whatever the reason was, I never got around to it, but I’m rectifying that oversight now.
What is Cujo About?
Cujo tells a relatively simple story. Donna Trenton’s (Dee Wallace) a housewife who’s cheating on her husband Vic (Daniel Hugh-Kelly) with local handyman Steve (Christopher Stone). There’s no accounting for taste, because Vic is 10 times hotter and Steve doesn’t own a bed frame. Look, Donna. I know Vic has that awful David Hasselhoff hair, but I promise the 1980s will end sooner or later. It’ll be OK.
Donna’s attempted termination of this affair ultimately leads to its discovery. Amid this drama, her car breaks down at a mechanic’s isolated farmhouse, trapping her and her son, Tad (Danny Pintauro). You see, the mechanic’s dog, Cujo, freshly christened with rabies, is patrolling the area and attacking everything in sight.
Dee Wallace Is Cujo’s Not-So-Secret Weapon
It would be impossible to start a worthwhile review of Cujo without praising Dee Wallace. The woman is a genre icon, naturally. Think about this: She had only appeared in seven theatrical movies before starring in Cujo. Four of those movies are The Stepford Wives, The Hills Have Eyes, E.T., and The Howling. But this woman didn’t become an icon simply by accidentally stumbling into some iconic titles. She is simply terrific as Donna, using her darting eyes and taut expression to deliver oodles of subtext. You instantly get the sense of how trapped she feels by marriage and motherhood without her uttering a single word.
A good performance is vital, here. Because there’s a hell of a lot of drama to get through before she’s trapped in that damn car. But Wallace instantly shoves you into Donna’s perspective, whether you like it or not. This makes it all the more potent when she is menaced by Cujo. Her desperate attempts for survival, also impeccably performed, have true weight because she seems like a real person. She is also given an incredible scene partner in Danny Pintauro. The future Who’s the Boss? star, who was only six when shooting Cujo, has a perfect everychild quality. His innocence heightens the peril. But so does that fact that he is just as irritating as every six-year-old you’ve ever met.
This movie truly captures how annoying it must be to be stuck in a life-and-death situation with a child. This is a compliment, I swear! Donna is worn down by every aspect of the situation, including her own son’s inability to cope with it. And this ratchets up the tension even further, to an almost unbearable degree.
Cujo Is a Mixed Bag, But Worthwhile Overall
The movie doesn’t work if Cujo himself doesn’t work, and at first I was real worried that he wouldn’t. In the first half, the St. Bernards that play Cujo onscreen are often shown to be wagging their tails in delight. Which kind of undercuts the reality of the situation, I’d say. But the editing and the special effects step in to fix what animal training couldn’t. The attack scenes in the second half are constructed with quick cuts that never let you get too much purchase. It’s a good approach for keeping viewers off-kilter.
Also, Cujo becomes less and less recognizable as a cuddly canine the further the movie gets. It’s a simple trick, really. He ends up getting coated with more and more slime. Saliva, pus, blood, and what have you. This is good for making him feel like a true movie monster. Plus, it’s a good mirror for the sliminess inside the car as it gets covered in sweat, blood, and grime.
The second half of the movie ultimately works like gangbusters. It’s a shame that Cujo is too cowardly to get Donna and Tad in the car before the halfway point. This decision is somewhat faithful to the book’s structure as I remember it. However, it diminishes the weight of the long days that they spend in the car. We really need to feel that crushing stretch of time, and we don’t. When Tad is suffering from dehydration, it’s not a gut punch. Honestly, I just found myself asking, “Already?” It’s good that they gave the movie a happier ending, because the classic grimdark Stephen King finale wouldn’t have landed.
Is Cujo Worth Watching in 2026?
At the end of the day, Cujo is a solid movie and I’m glad I finally watched it. However, it’s not such a stone-cold classic that I’m not at least a little intrigued by that upcoming Netflix remake…
