How scary was Hokum? Do you recommend watching it in theaters or at home with all the lights turned on and snuggled underneath a blanket?
(Bring the blanket and a friend)
I was clinging to my wife almost the whole movie. It is based on Irish/Gaelic folklore and I would say it is very similar to Babadook in spirit but the execution is brilliant. The movie calls her a Witch, though more accurately she's a Cailleach, which is a Hag. And those aren't the same things in Irish Folklore to my understanding. A witch is a mortal who learns magic, a Hag is a primordial being.
Additionally, for writers, the movie is THICC with symbolism.
I don't think the film will be as scary once it's on streaming, so I highly HIGHLY recommend seeing it in theatres with a friend.
I was literally so scared during a particular scene that I almost cried. Like it got pretty close. I was clinging to and rubbing my wife's arm to self soothe. I was in the fetal position in my seat for half the film, my face a mask of genuine terror. I think I went a solid 20 minutes without blinking once.
I have never been so scared by a movie before in my entire 30+ years of life. NEON is taking over where A24 dropped off and I am HERE for it. Even leaving the theatre, I felt like a baby deer and my skin tingled from how every hair on my body was standing on end.
This movie does not seek to gross you out, nothing in the film is revolting like most films today. It isn't trying to shock you for the sake of getting a jump. It builds the apprehension, keeping just enough that you don't start getting impatient. Instead you sort of dread it.
The film does utilize jump scares, so some people may claim I'm over selling it, but the writer/director was very intentional about their use. It may be lost on some, but after it is out on streaming I want to talk bout all the tricks the director used to make the fear so effective.
It may feel a bit slow for some, the story isn't front loaded to you, it comes in layers. Stick it out and you'll understand everything that happened/is happening if you just let the movie do it's thing.
And there is one scene where, you know the setup. The chekhov's gun is established relatively early in the movie, the MC finds an item directly tied to the chekhov's gun detail and when things get tense the MC fires that gun (the gun is metaphorical. Basically the detail setup early is eventually used).
But you know how every time, in horror films, the MC doesn't put the pieces together and you're sitting there getting frustrated/annoyed that they aren't doing the thing they clearly should be doing like it is a video game. You see scenes like this a lot in video game puzzles that use fear in their design.
And like I said, normally I get so frustrated/annoyed with the MC I have to walk out because I feel like I'm being manipulated by the film to feel fear when it is genuinely so contrived. Like, "OooOo~ is it gonna get em".
This movie mastered that scene for me. It was so tense and frightening it was nauseating. And that's the thing. The scene direction and cinematography and acting was so good that a scene that normally falls completely flat for me actually had me feeling the terror necessary to pull it off. I wasn't demanding the MC do something obvious.
A part of me wants to go see the movie again.
Another part never ever wants to see this movie again.
It's so good. Go to the theatres.
