Notable Cast: Tatiana Nya Ford, Emily Classen, Zach Ruchkin, Paul Cottman,
Cayla Berejikian, Christopher Inlow, Jeb Aufiero, Nancy Anne Ridder, Jim Krut,
Matt Burns
First, there was the meta-slasher. Scream and Wes
Craven’s New Nightmare took the slasher blueprint, spun it just a smidge,
and then let it run for a new era built on an audience - and its characters -
knowing how a slasher trope works. But now we’re in a new era that goes beyond
self-referencing slashers, like the previously mentioned Craven efforts. We’re
in the meta-meta-slasher era.
Although dissecting how the meta-meta-slasher works would
reveal some surprises and spoilers for newer films, such as Bodies Bodies
Bodies from A24, it's the most apt way to express the experience of The
Only Ones. At its core, this indie horror film flirts with dark comedy and
other horror subgenres as it progresses, but it owes its soul to the slasher
genre through and through. For fans of the slice ‘em and dice ‘em horror genre,
The Only Ones ought to carry enough kills and spins to earn a viewing,
but it does require some insight into the genre to be fully effective.
The Only Ones starts off more aligned with the meta-slasher. It features a cold opening that riffs heavily on Friday the 13th (featuring a gargantuan villain named Boneface), right down to the faux grain on the film to set it apart from the rest of the film. It’s revealed that this story is being told between six friends in the back of a van (see: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre homage) as they head out to a secluded house in the mountains and this is where the meta-meta-slasherness begins as the group attempt to navigate an unfolding slasher but end up doing more harm to themselves than anything.
It hits plenty of tropes as a slasher to keep the die-hards
hooked. It’s the first half that is slowly unveiled (after its highly
entertaining cold open) that doubles down on the dynamics of the group, even if
they mostly hit the caricature highlights. Still, when the body count rises,
the film gains some much-needed momentum to carry it through. The kills are
creative and robust, pushing the film's budgetary limits to the maximum, and
there’s just enough sly humor to it that it never shies away from the wink-wink
nature of how it plays with its tropes. Oftentimes, I felt like I wanted The
Only Ones to push further into dark comedy territory, but that can be a
tough need to thread, so it's understandable that it still plays most of its
moments straight.
Digging into more of the spins and characters within the film might betray some of the surprises that director/writer/editor/cinematographer/jack-of-all-trades Jordan Miller has in store for audiences, so I’ll attempt to play things a bit safe in this review, but the one-person-creative that is Miller is using the audience’s knowledge of the genre to pull a few tricks here and there. I must say that I was adequately impressed with the choice of the final protagonist who makes it through to the end, even if it becomes reasonably apparent early on in the script. Just be aware that for large swaths of The Only Ones to work requires at least a slasher-101 (and perhaps a meta-slasher 101) understanding to appreciate what Miller is pulling.
Although I’m hardly the biggest slasher fan as a baseline,
there’s a lot of fun with The Only Ones if you’re in the know. It’s
pacing struggles in the first half a smidge, and its budgetary restraints force
Miller to perhaps pull a punch or two with the kills in terms of special
effects, but there’s a creativity at play here that’s notable and quite respectable.
The Only Ones is most of slasher aficionados, but it’s worth a
gander.
No comments:
Post a Comment