spitball thoughts after iron lung
- man, honestly, solid, i think. really solid. i had a lot of fun. hell yeah. :)
- Gripes around the pacing are interesting to me, having seen it now. On one hand I understand the sense of "oh the beginning is a bit slow" but also at the same time if i had any pacing gripes its actually more the opposite- that the ups and downs were almost too quick for my taste, and the slow burn tension WAS built up with details along the way, but were often waylaid with like. The New Things Happening.
- Honestly I think maybe it comes from a thing of like. I dont think. It was as directly scary. as i was expecting/hoping it would be at points. But i also think it was intentionally a more emotionally draining/tragic movie than it was like. Active Horror. Like it gets in a good amount of body horror and blood at the end. the entire ups and downs of the tension and the oxygen count and the noises and- like its good. it does good tension building. but it also tries to drive home the emotional bits and the balance there i think cut some of the straight tension. worthy trade! but a trade.
- honestly on that note its just fascinating to see how the lore and the very specifically video game mechanics got translated.
- the video game is excellent and is also like a beautiful capsule of a lot of specific horror game things. youre dropped into a situation where as a player you are trying to gather context. you realize its a one way trip. the photographs and Fish Reveal are all one awful, lingering journey. the lore is revealed as you fuck around on the computer, and all in complete silence. the horror is a slow drawing one that only gets heightened as you fall into the flow of the game but your doom gets more and more clear.
- its really good and not all of that translates to a movie!
- like. the first 20 min i think best captured the sense of horror from the game- all these faulty processes, the silence, the drawing tension. being sure you wont make it out. its good. i love it. it probably wouldnt have translated well to a full 2 hours.
- so its GOOD and EFFECTIVE, that the movie- pulls him back up. gives you faces and voices and a different trajectory. more hope. more to lose.
- gah just in general like. yes! this is a good adaptation. it takes the elements of the game and gives them the fleshing out it needs. voices that get agency and emotion and simon with a name and fear and loss and hope. the lore is more concrete, delivered in more generic ways because 2% answers through computer logs dont really cut it here. it lends some of the best elements- slow horror of the camera as your only view out. oxygen ticking down.
- i went into this expecting the doomed ending, and maybe thats why the back and forth on survival felt. a little more tiresome to me at points. it pulls through WELL by the end! enough that even i was like. well? maybe? but def a portion in the middle where i was a bit. well. yknow. okay. i think we get it. alas. it might have benefitted from some additional cuts but i liked everything they kept in, or get what they wanted to do with it, at least.
- really really really lovely detail work. its a single space. it was made and done really well in that sense i think. the lights, the bandages, the tape, the blood. #blood. reaaally delicious detail work. i know its framed as like. an indie effort but tbh this felt decently funded. #to me. perhaps i am just inexperienced for movie graphics.
- v funny i came out to be like. yeah the fish was telepathic. fish was talking. and my friend was like. oh yeah when ___ was talking i was like. thats the fish talking!!! shes anglerfishing you!!! and i was like OH. YES. ANGLERFISH.
- that said as someone who was a little leery of exclusively supernatural explanations- LOVE the back and forth on what is real and what isnt. a little clunky at points but honestly. think it worked out by the end. reality doubting was probably the saving grace for some of the latter lore imo. double fakeout on the broken radio..... the entire latter half is just you unsure how much is real and how isnt.... 👌
- Its an anglerfish. the lights. the teeth. yes. correct.
- telepathic anglerfish.
- honestly theres a whole host of thoughts about the movie ITSELF but i got stuck on the craft and construction of it all. lore neat. special effects neat. emotional lore clunky at times but well intentioned.
- spent a lot of the movie like. hmmm honestly less blood than i was expecting. and then the last 20 min was like Ohhhhh. Theres The Blood.
- the black box surviving even if he doesnt... nice way of cutting the difference on a happy ending i think.
- wow lotta fungus at the end. corrosive blood? the lore got fucky at the back end but it was fun to experience. chaotic. confusing. thats okay though. #blood.
- mark you did great good job.
- im gonna watch his livestreams about the creation process now.