Mazelie Passmore

I watched this movie for the first time this week, and I just don’t think that this movie works the same way now as it did when it came out. The visuals are beautiful and there are some really amazing shots, but it is SO iconic that the plot isn’t scary anymore. I already knew most of the important scenes, so they just didn’t work for me. The movie was very influential too, so many aspects seem cliché now (obviously they weren’t when the movie was made). Some stylistic elements like the score are also very dated, and don’t get me wrong, I can enjoy old movies, but especially for horror movies, they just get cheesy over time. I won’t spoil the ending, but it felt very anticlimactic after half of the movie building towards a big finale. (again, it is likely partially because I knew most of the big scenes already. It does take you out of the movie when you say “oh that’s a meme” during the finale). It felt unfinished, and so many things weren’t wrapped up, and not in a cliffhanger/“so many unanswered questions” way, but in a “we forgot about this stuff” way. At this point it probably seems like I hated the movie. I do think that 3 stars is accurate. I enjoyed the first half of the movie, and the second half wasn’t awful. I can definitely understand why and how it was so scary in the 80s onward. It just does not withstand the test of time. For me, at least. If you’re over 30 you’ll probably like it.