Cobweb is named correctly, a web of deceptive and disrespectful lies. It sets you up with a nice, bland, easy to stomach, demon kid talking to human kid storyline, sprinkled with mistimed jumpscares and cliche sound design. Then just as you settle in, you’re hit with a story shift of a very suggestive and unsettling theme. Just as you grimace at that idea, we zip into a final flip of the story to deliver a classic gory horror conclusion.
The story follows Peter as a quiet and troubled child, prone to random and exceptionally violent revolts to bullies. There is nothing more quintessentially horror than that setup. Nervous and confusingly dismissive parents with a child who hears someone at night.
The house he lives in is a mid century home, with his two parents, mysteriously not detailed and strangely distant from him. They dismiss his initial fears when he first hears a voice coming from the walls. This voice turns out to be his sister, as she tells him that his parents have locked her away. She details how dangerous they are and they’re not to be trusted.
This is where the first story switch crops up, as we move from a paranormal story into something that could be a bit more realistically sinister.
For me, this story thread works the best, using its actors to lean into the creepiness and also letting Woody Norman do what he does best, act like a sad child who needs to be strong. The way this storyline unfolds creates the most intrigue and feels like it has the most depth of character. As I said, I was worried it was going to be a bit of a one dimensional jumpscare fest, but was pleasantly surprised by the dark subplot. It's hard to say that sentence and not feel like I’ve fallen too far down the horror hole, having no sensitivity for anything anymore.
That section does last for what feels like an exact third, as we roll into more of the horror finale. I think some of the elements of this more realistic theme keep themselves involved in the ending, but there is quite the switch in pace and immediate threat.
To sum it all up (based on an idea that I swear I had on my own and then did read it somewhere else, annoyingly); This film is Barbarian with a drop of Black Phone, the end.
The actual scares in the film vary from standard jump scares with standard setups, to some really well crafted ones, particularly one that is featured in the trailer, involving both parents. I was not having a good time with that one. Other than that one, there isn’t a particularly intense scare that stuck with me.
Other than that, its mostly slower scares or the ever so terrifying threat of death.
This film has a bit of an uphill battle to compete with some recent of the horror entries we’ve got. There is a modern resurgence of understanding how to make horror films for this generation. There are obviously some stragglers left behind from the Insidious and Conjuring copycat era but in general, there is light at the end of the horror tunnel that we’re entering a new time for this genre. This film doesn’t quite hit the heights of some of the other films in this list, but also doesn’t fall so far behind, feeling like a cash in on the fact it's nearly Halloween, and the courting youths need a reason to comfort one another.
Excitingly, the technical side of the film is pretty fun! We get a traditional approach for the beginning of this one, opting for dark shots, static and looming. With the tonal shift, we also got a shift in the camera, switching, flipping and adjusting along with the narrative. There are quite a few dutch angles, push in and tilts during this section. These slow moving, push in and pull outs create a bit more of an uncomfortable environment for the scared masses.This coupled with the lessening daylight we’re subjected to, brings a darker look to the film. Even the daylight scenes in this section seem to be more overcast and dim than the beginning.
The final section of the film pushes this further, darkening the scenes but picking up the pace of the cuts and movements, keeping up with the action on the screen.
I really appreciated the multiple uses of shadows, showing the parents as towering figures over Peter. They are shown a couple of times taking up most of the frame, while Peter is a tiny presence in the centre of the screen.
Audio wise, the music has some operatic singing, mixed in with the piano plinking we all know and love. It’s hard to fault the plink plonk of the keys when they do their job though. It was notable in a good way, and that’s all we can ask for.
To summarise, it's a popcorn horror that I can see doing well on Netflix or Amazon once it finishes it’s theatrical run. The casting and technical craft are hard to fault. I just wish I was more engaged in the storyline itself. I wasn’t bored or confused, I just had nothing to connect to deep enough. It is nice to have a popcorn horror now and again though.
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