This movie is instantly disturbing, unsettling, and violent as a Cronenberg can get.
It's quite a common criticism nowadays to hear that violent kills in horror movies like this are a glorification of violence. This movie, however, is one of the most powerful depictions of the impact of violence has on a person. The main goal of this movie is to show that violence has some of the worst consequences imaginable.
It's Suspiria levels of colorful, horror movie-level horny, and Beyond the Black rainbow levels of stylized. Despite going to the extremes with its Gore, the entire film is beautifully shot. The entire film has this dystopian feeling mixed with the early 2000s vibe. It's a beautiful movie filled with excellent Gore, Mandy-like hallucinations, action, and that's one of my favorite endings in horror movie history.
Frankly, this movie scares the shit out of me.
10/10
UPDATE MAY 5TH, 2022
A dark and moonless night
Has never felt so right
An empty mirror only shows what's left inside
Lost in the city street
Electric tapestry
The neon beckons me beyond its ghostly light
No longer I pretend
The staircase I descend
Will lead me anywhere but my unscripted end
My heart and hands collide
The gun lays at my side
Too late to turn back, only fate's left to decide
-MAGNUM BULLETS, NIGHT RUNNER
Normally when i come back to old reviews like this, I'm mostly just amazed i thought they were worth posting. Surprisingly, i think the first review i gave of this movie is fairly accurate. i didn't say anything untrue, and although primitive it gives you a good idea of what to expect.
Tasya Vos is a corporate agent who uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people's bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for the benefit of the company. While she has a special gift for the work, her experiences on these jobs have caused a dramatic change in her, and in her own life she struggles to suppress violent memories and urges. As her mental strain intensifies, she begins to lose control, and soon she finds herself trapped in the mind of a man whose identity threatens to destroy her own.
this movie is jammed packed with subtly cruelty, and the first scene after Holly Bergman get shot full of more holes than SpongeBob. In a debriefing session meant to reconnect her with her real identity, Vos sorts through a series of objects associated with personal memories and pauses on a butterfly that she pinned and framed as a child. although the dialogue is delivered entirely monotone and acquaintance level friendly, but its full of silent animosity. The way Girder checks her pulse, the deliberately manipulative dialogue, its exactly as uncomfortable as watching someone being groomed should be. All of the scenes with Vos and Girder have that same uncomfortable feeling to them, and it makes you wonder if Vos is being groomed, or if that is what she really wants.
she obviously has some humanity left in her or we would have no movie, but how much? she likes to kill other people but knows what she is doing is wrong. she loves her family but knows that they are an obstacle. how long have Vos and Girder been doing this together? was Vos instantly attracted to this kind of work or did Girder have to convince her? Did Vos want to die rather than choose before the choice was made for her?
This is a movie where one line has multiple meanings, and every time i re-watch it i find several new little details.
and yes, this movie still scares me
10/10
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