By David Dent
The dictionary definition of this movie’s single word title is ‘a member of a people not belonging to one of the great civilisations’ which could summarise a lot of the characters in Zach Cregger’s first solo directing gig. It’s a film offering several different narrative strands which skirt but do not linger on many of today’s cinematic pre-occupations; class, race and the #metoo movement. Oh yeah, and it’s a jump laden fright flick too.
In the first of the film’s sections (too much detail will result in spoilers, so forgive brevity) Tess (Georgina Campbell) arrives at an AirBnB in a less than reputable part of Detroit, Michigan; it’s dark, pouring with rain, and what’s worse, the rental has been double booked. The double bookee is Keith (Bill Skarsgård, Pennywise from the recent It movies), a somewhat awkward guy who has already installed himself in the house and who invites Tess to join him while the complication is resolved (it isn’t). Cregger clearly wants us to side with his female character here; she doesn’t trust Keith and neither should we, but this is a deflection from the real horror which lies in the basement of the house.
The truth behind the subterranean terror in the rental draws in the story of obnoxious film guy AJ (Justin Long) whose entitled treatment of a young starlet and subsequent court battles leads him to liquidate his property assets – including, you guessed it, the rental where Tess and Keith are staying. We also journey back to a period before the Detroit neighbourhood went south to get the origin story of the property’s less savoury occupants. And if this sounds rather bitty and tangled, well it is; it’s also a movie that loses its momentum after the first, and best section.
Cregger seems to be chasing a movie that wants to categorise itself as ‘elevated’ but, beneath the dull script, tagged on issues of the day and blunt sexism of its central monster, this is just a B movie fright flick dressed up in a posh frock, albeit with a vein of humour which at least allows a little playfulness in the otherwise overwrought proceedings. The cast all clearly deserve a better flick than the one in which they find themselves, but their collective performances at least prevent this nonsense from being unwatchable.
Barbarian is released in UK cinemas on Friday.
Bloody Flicks 