Film Fests
[REVIEW] BHFF 2024: ‘Animale’ A Werebull Doing The Good Work
From the moment Emma Benestan’s Animale begins, it is apparent that this is no ordinary fantasy horror movie. The film follows Nejma (Oulaya Amamra), a woman training for a bull racing competition. The sport is heavily male-dominated, so she is confronting the usual amount of sexism. She eventually perseveres and believes she is gaining the respect of the men on her team. She lets her guard down, and they get her drunk and take her to the middle of nowhere. Nejma blacks out and awakens with unexplainable wounds and bruises. The men she trusted make excuses, and she tries to shake off whatever transpired. However, the body keeps score. More importantly, not everything should be forgotten or forgiven. As Nejma begins to change and her memory of that night’s events starts to return, a string of gruesome murders begins to plague her town.
From the moment Emma Benestan’s Animale begins, it is apparent that this is no ordinary fantasy horror movie. The film follows Nejma (Oulaya Amamra), a woman training for a bull racing competition. The sport is heavily male-dominated, so she is confronting the usual amount of sexism. She eventually perseveres and believes she is gaining the respect of the men on her team. She lets her guard down, and they get her drunk and take her to the middle of nowhere. Nejma blacks out and awakens with unexplainable wounds and bruises. The men she trusted make excuses, and she tries to shake off whatever transpired. However, the body keeps score. More importantly, not everything should be forgotten or forgiven. As Nejma begins to change and her memory of that night’s events starts to return, a string of gruesome murders begins to plague her town.
The Werebull: Revenge and Femme Rage
Animale really drives home how inhumanely bulls are treated in these sports and connects that thought to how men abuse women. However, it takes this thought further than we could have ever dreamed and gives us a werebull exacting revenge on rapists. This is such a wildly stunning take on something so traumatic that it elicits a whole wheelhouse of emotions as an audience member. Am I team werebull and happy we have a movie about femme rage? Absolutely. Do I think this is a powerful story? Of course. Am I tired of women characters getting assaulted in most of the media we get? One hundred percent.
Emma Benestan and Julie Debiton’s script takes care not to glamorize assault and does not conflate rape with sex, which is where so many male filmmakers fail this assignment. The way the abuse is shot is not gratuitous and never lingers. I think Animale and Blink Twice are two of the best recent movies to deal with rape culture because they take care of the audience. They also understand people will pick up what has transpired without fifteen minutes of women being brutalized. Both films have faith in their actors and their scripts to convey a message free of the layer of film bro sleaze that we are typically subjected to when we watch rape-revenge films.
Oulaya Amamra’s Heartbreaking Performance
Oulaya Amamra’s performance as Nejma is endearing and heartbreaking. Nejma is looking for a place in the world as she seemingly has no family. Like many of us, she is in a male-dominated field and used to a certain level of misogyny, but is still trying to coexist with men who disrespect her because of her gender. So much so that she spends most of the movie trying to hold the truth about what happened to her at arms-length. Watching her figure out what the audience knew from the second the guys took her to a second location is reminiscent of Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You. It feels like being punched in the gut for the second time when she finally pieces it together. When the men who violated and gaslit her start dying grisly deaths, it is hard not to clap.
As the town begins to wonder what kind of animal is tearing apart their supposedly upstanding men, we get the surprise werebull. I love this werebull and am happy that some part of Nejma was able to exact revenge while the rest of her was still processing her trauma. This also ties together the mistreatment of animals and the mistreatment of women thread the movie has from the beginning. The majestic creatures, who she wanted to race alongside the men she thought were her friends, become the family she is in search of. They take her in as one of their own and protect her from those who would further harm her. Again, it feels weird to call this film beautiful, but it is too poignant to be called anything else.
Transformation and Primal Horror
Animale knows its audience well enough and eventually stops hinting at the werebull. The film gives us a full-on transformation as Nejma goes after the last man standing. This is terrifyingly effective and gives us just enough body horror to force us to lean even further in our seats. It is hard to not feel the bloodlust and root for her to tear him apart much like he did her. This is good for her horror at its most primal and feverish. The empathetic lens is ripped away as our plagued victim becomes a survivor and a full participant in making sure her rapist never harms anyone else. Where many movies claim they are celebrating feminine rage, Animale relishes in it.
It cannot be stressed enough that Animale is possibly one of the best films to come out of this year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. As a professionally petty person, I wish we had more movies that let women be angry without sexual assault being the trigger. However, Animale is one of the few to understand the assignment, so it is hard to be too mad at it. Plus, it gives us a werebull doing the good work, so it will forever live in my heart.
Animale had its East Coast Premiere at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival on October 19th, 2024.
It’s very interesting when critics cover Part # of a franchise without having seen the previous entries. I’ve personally seen critics who flat-out say that Part 2 or 3 doesn’t make sense without having seen the previous film. And therein lies the problem: film critics who refuse to admit they haven’t seen EVERYTHING. But does the hard work rely solely on the film critic (or the general viewer)? Should a sequel (or third in a trilogy) drop in heavy context clues for someone who is just now tuning in? I think the answer falls somewhere between those points. Of the many reasons, that is one of the main reasons I was able to enjoy The Barn Part III so much. Let’s dig into it.
Some time ago, Pastor Josh Harper (Courtney Gains) assumed he had rid the world of evil. He was dead wrong. Well, hopefully just wrong. His nephew Kyle (Tristan Olsen) and friend Megan (Amanda Byrne) accidentally re-unleash the evil; Josh must attempt to vanquish it. Again. There’s just one big problem…the Fall Festival is going on, and damn near the entire town will be in attendance. What can go wrong?
Can You Review PT. 3 Without Seeing PTS. 1&2?
Before we really get into it, I think we should jump back to the point I was making in the intro. I have seen tons of posts, screenshots, and scenes from The Barn franchise over the years. For some reason, I’ve never gotten around to seeing the films. So there was a sort of internal struggle when deciding whether or not to cover The Barn Part III. Would I watch it just for fun? What if I didn’t like it? Sure, I could review the film on its own merits, disregarding moments that don’t make sense to a first-time viewer. But that felt disingenuous. After writing a weighty pros and cons list, I figured, what the hell. Let’s give it a watch! It turns out that was the right decision.
Co-writers Justin M. Seamen and Zane Hershberger do an excellent job of balancing fan service and, surprisingly, first-time viewers. There are definitely moments where I felt a bit lost, though I was able to put the pieces together based on context clues after sitting with the film for a few hours. By the time the credits rolled, I felt like I saw enough (as a first time viewing of the franchise) to understand how we got to this point in the franchise. Moreover, it made me more motivated than ever to go back and watch the first two films. If The Barn Part III is this gory, then I can only assume there’s a similar level of gore to the first two.
Strong Script, Stronger Kills
Hershberger and Seamen tell a tale that’s not overwhelmingly original; evil is raised and must be stopped by the good people. It’s a race against the clock, fast-paced creature feature/slasher. It’s hard to really reinvent the wheel there. And somehow, Herhshberger and Seamen manage to make you feel like you haven’t really seen anything like it before. Even during moments of slightly cheesy dialogue, the script’s tone stays beyond consistent that it just all feels right. To me, that feels very rare in this subgenre of film. Rather than being nothing but conduits for buckets of blood, the characters in The Barn Part III exist within their story purpose while still feeling fully fleshed out.
Much of The Barn Part III’s enjoyment comes from the delightful performances of the film’s lead cast. Courtney Gains takes the reins from Will Stout as Josh Harper, and Gains is wonderfully charming. Much of his screen time is shared with Night of the Comet’s Kelli Maroney, who is still an absolute blast to watch on the screen. But it’s one of The Barn Part III’s co-leads, Amanda Byrne, who steals the show. It’s hard to believe this film is Byrne’s debut feature acting role. She really gives it her all, and you can feel it through the screen.
The Barn Part III Is a Practical Effect Gorefest
Enough edging. Let’s get into the actual meat and potatoes of The Barn Part III: the kills. Simply put, Justin M. Seamen and Zane Hershberger struck gold. I’ve seen way too many slasher films/creature features, so this isn’t hyperbolic…The Barn Part III has some of the most insane, captivating, and bloody kills I’ve seen. Especially for an indie film. Whatever the budget was, the film looks like it was more expensive than that.
I have a feeling that there is a heavy crossover between fans of this franchise and Joe Bob Briggs, so let me put it to you this way. The Barn Part III has it all: bisections, dissections, full-body degloving, mini killer pumpkins, pitchfork-fu, shotgun-fu, vine-fu…and that’s just scratching the surface. Besides transporting me to a time and place that I hold dear to my heart, the late 90s and early aughts, this film just checked every single box for me. I can only hope the first two do the same.
The Barn Part III is a violent, practical effects-filled rollercoaster that doesn’t let off the brakes from the jump. To me, this feels like the proper send-off to a franchise I’m new to, and it’s giving me severe FOMO. Full of insane kills and a charming main cast, The Barn Part III is neck and neck for best of the fest for me. Do yourself a favor, gas up your tractor and get to The Barn as soon as possible.
I frequently start my reviews about horror comedies along the lines of, “I typically don’t enjoy horror comedies…” and I noticed something: I’ve been saying that a lot. Has there been such a shift in horror comedies over the past few years? Or have I finally started looking in the right places? I started saying that line in my festival review coverage around the time I saw Sean Nichols Lynch’s Red Snow, and here I am five years later saying the same exact thing. Have I changed? Probably. All of that is to say, the first film I screened for GenreBlast X was Demonetize, and it restored my faith in the make-fun-of-influencers subgenre of horror.
What Is Demonetize About?
Martin Robinson (Sean Carrigan), host of Ghost Pros, and his cameraman/sidekick Terrence (Matty Cardarople) plan to bring the Ratliff House into the internet age. After Martin calls out Paul Corey (Cherdleys) on Jackie London’s (Kimia Behpoornia!!) podcast, Paul and a host of other online influencers, including Jane Lincoln (Janine Hogan), descend onto the Ratliff House to see if it’s as haunted as everyone says it is. But little does everyone know what deadly plans the ghosts have in store for the ill-fated influencers.
There Is NO AI in Demonetize!
First off, whoever’s idea it was to have “fuck AI” at the end of the credits deserves a standing ovation. Co-writers Janine Hogan and Alexander Boyd Watson took a chance with Demonetize, battling the influx of influencer-based horror. Very few seem to really nail the cohesion of creating characters who are just annoying enough without pissing off the filmgoer and crafting the right characters to make you feel something for. Moreover, the way Hogan and Watson craft an ensemble piece that gives everyone a moment to shine (like a diamond or a turd) helps glue the emotional threads from tip to tail.
Impressive Script About Annoying People
It’s hard not to be impressed by the writing prowess of this duo, but what’s even harder not to be impressed by is the restraint it took to not make Demonetize a found footage film. And that’s coming from someone who would consider found footage to be their favorite subgenre. There are a handful of times when you can see/feel the budget, which could have been easily obfuscated through found footage means. But instead, Demonetize is presented traditionally–warts and all– and you can feel the charm and craft behind it.
Much of the humor from Demonetize comes from Paul Corey and Martin Robinson. Cherdlys and Sean Carrigan, respectively, bring enough charm to their characters while maintaining the line of good and bad taste. Director Alexander Boyd Watson could have easily let Cherdlys take the Shawn Ruddy a la Deadstream route, but that route never works. Rather, Watson’s direction is more gauchely soft. We constantly get that influencer-like humor and annoyance, but there’s a beautiful balance that keeps everything entertaining.
The Horror of It All
While the humor lands and feels purposeful, Demonetize exists in this eerily frightening atmosphere. Once the house takes control, the humor slowly fades, leading to some memorable and creepy moments. The horror-y side of Demonetize won’t keep you up at night, nor will it make you rush to your bedroom after shutting off the hallway lights, but it’s different enough to stand out from the majority of influencer-based horror flicks.
There are some moments where the filmmakers rely a bit too heavily on CGI that doesn’t look too great. And honestly, it’s a relief to know their stance on AI. Too many times I have caught a film at a festival, and it’s full of AI, and no one seems to care. So it’s refreshing to see some CGI that maybe doesn’t look the greatest, but at least it’s not AI!
Overall, Demonetize is a fresh flick in an oversaturated subgenre. It delivers on laughs, some solid scares, and a cast of social media-obsessed people who you actually don’t hate. And that’s rare. Demonetize is a great horror film to throw on your rotation for our upcoming 31 for 31 (or 61 Days to Halloween). And extra points because this is now the second horror film I’ve seen with a Dropout.TV cast member!
