Horror Parker Finn's Smile series

[Kane52630]

 

[Closerframe]

Saw the trailer for this before Crimes of the Future and felt indifferent to the entire thing. Kind of reminds me of the Netflix movie, Cam.

 

[Prison Mike]

Saw this trailer when I saw Top Gun. This had me intrigued.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[antsman41]

...always wanted the PJ song adapted into a movie.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Asr]

‘Smile’ Review – A Scary Grin Exposes a Familiar But Effective Horror Movie

 

[Kane52630]

 

[VictusMortuus]

I actually love the marketing they’re doing for this movie so creative and creepy.

 

[Daywalker89]

Okay guys ive just come out of the cinema and i kid you not im emotionally exhausted from this film. Without doubt the best horror film this year and for some time and i don't say that lightly. Smile will linger on me for a while. Before this showing i was expecting a truth or dare generic movie. What i got was entirely different. Was in the cinema of crowd of 6. The build up to the opening title credits had a touch of 80's (Seemed like a throwback) and instantly got you hooked in. Sosie Bacon absolutely STOLE the show. Seing her deterioration was traumatising. Kyle Gallner was a welcome addition to the film also. The camera angles had a touch of kubrick at some points. The atmosphere was daunting. Yes there are a few typical jump scares (Phone rings etc) but damn the build up to them was hair raising.

The best thing about this film......... The sound design and soundtrack. HOLY. ****. This had the "sinister" video tape scenes and "it follows" turned up to 100. This film really doesn't give you a moment to breath and thats to do with the daunting, eerie, damn right disturbing sounds that are heard throughout. The imagery..... Im actually replaying some of the scenes in my head and i get uncomfortable shudders just thinking about it. Particularly the 3rd act (I hope i can sleep tonight lol)

Ive been watching these types of movies for decades but never has the themes been balanced so well here. Trauma, mental health and supernatural horror all play a part into making this one those horror films that is mentally draining. As Sosie's character investigates and your seing what she's seing you can't help root for her to get out of this living nightmare but also as the viewer the sense of dread is around every corner (Even in the daytime) The twist and turns will batter and bruise you around until it comes to the point where you don't want to see the 3rd act play out.

Now of course Smile doesn't really bring anything new the table but the elements Parker Finn brought into this film can NOT be understated. He has crafted a fantastic film here and i hope it gets praised but even if it doesn't its my best horror of the year due to the panicked state i left the cinema and processing the film in general. My mate who i usually see horrors with was abit shaken choosing the words " Mate i need a beer....... That was something else "

To my surprise this was rated a 18 (In the UK) For now my current rating is a 8.5/10. I will watch it again at some point when ive repaired my horror nerves but honestly this delivered in alot of ways that i haven't experienced with recent films lately.

Oh, can i just say these horror films really are delivering some of the best acting performances on screen compared to other genres. Often gets overlooked in my eyes.

 

[Lasirius]

This was surprisingly good! I’ll watch it again in the upcoming days.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Really excited for this. The trailers creeped the hell out of me.

 

[Closerframe]

Much better than I expected and far darker and grim than most horror movies today.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Luigi]

I'll head out to watch this on Sunday. Sounds really good.

 

[Asr]

Nice to see ADI was behind this movie as well (in addition to Prey): ‘Smile’ Writer/Director Parker Finn on the Film’s Practical Effects and Horror Influences [Interview]

 

[Stringer]

Had to get me a double cheeseburger after watching this.

 

[Ninjablade]

I feel as if the trailers and posters did this movie a disservice. While this does have all the tropes and makings of one of those stupid B horror movies like Wish Upon or Truth or Dare, and that's what the marketing sold. But this movie actually had something to say which was refreshing. This was incredibly well directed, and a lot of simplistic craftsmanship in designing the scares. I was impressed even if the central concept was quite hard to take seriously at times. I only wish I didn't have such a terrible audience to appreciate more.

Hot damn, Sosie Bacon... what a wonderful performance. I felt drained for her. Also not me, not knowing that she was Kevin Bacon's daughter until literal minutes ago when looking up her name because I left right as the credits started.

 

[TheVileOne]

I did think Sosie Bacon was good in this. I see, or at least hope, big things are in her future. Was really impressed by her performance.

 

[Asr]

Saw this today, easy 8/10. An overall well-made, well-acted, and very well-directed movie (with an extremely well-crafted soundtrack - both the musical score and the sound effects) that was certainly intense all the way through. But I have to say it didn't feel entirely original, although I suppose that might be hard to do nowadays - because it ended up feeling like a mash of The Babadook's thematic subtext with The Ring's plot mechanics. And I hate to say it, but the elements it borrowed from those two movies kinda detract from it for me - not too much, but still enough for me to subtract at least 1 point on my scale.

It was easily one of the most creepy & unsettling movies I've seen in a long time, which I do have to give major credit to. And I was glad that it delivered some payoff at the end that it wasn't all just a "psychological horror" either.

I do have to add this movie did some things that really annoyed me though, mostly because they've been done too many dang times in horror movies, that I wish filmmakers would stop doing:
1. Having characters take several seconds to turn around for dramatic effect. It's just so unrealistic - most people would turn around immediately in real-world scenarios, but horror movies always have to have characters do the super slow turn-around, which drives me nuts.
2. Along the same lines, characters that walk at a snail's pace in the dark to "find out what's over there". Again I get the dramatic effect thing, but it still drives me nuts to not see characters walk faster.
3. Open doors into hallways that look completely black in the dark. I get that movies do this for dramatic effect too, but it's just so unrealistic. No hallways look THAT dark in the real-world.

And a couple of other minor complaints:
4. I felt that Sosie Bacon's character was terrible at actually doing her job (and I'm not sure if it was done entirely on purpose). I mean, considering how prevalent mental and psychological disorders are today, I would've expected her character to have more competent skills at empathizing with and trying to understand her patients, rather than being as presumptuous as she was.
5. One of the movie's absolute best scares was shown in the trailer. Not that it wasn't effective in the trailer, because it was. But they really, really, really should've saved that for the movie and not shown it in the trailer. I think anyone who's seen the trailer will know which one I'm referring to here, but I'll tag it anyway:

Spoiler

The sister's head turning down in front of the car window. Just would've been SO much better if my audience wasn't expecting that one. Because it sure seemed like my audience felt that one coming, since it was in the trailer.

But those nitpicks aside, I still enjoyed this movie for the most part and have to say it's in my top horror movies of the year for sure.

 

[Kane52630]

I'll post my review shortly but this was pretty good. It's definitely taking inspiration from other better horror movies but I really liked it. It's a good ripoff with good jumpscares.

 

[Lily Adler]

Did anyone watch the short film this was based on?

Also this move makes me want an It Follows sequel.

 

[TheVileOne]

Saw this today, easy 8/10. An overall well-made, well-acted, and very well-directed movie (with an extremely well-crafted soundtrack - both the musical score and the sound effects) that was certainly intense all the way through. But I have to say it didn't feel entirely original, although I suppose that might be hard to do nowadays - because it ended up feeling like a mash of The Babadook's thematic subtext with The Ring's plot mechanics. And I hate to say it, but the elements it borrowed from those two movies kinda detract from it for me - not too much, but still enough for me to subtract at least 1 point on my scale.

It was easily one of the most creepy & unsettling movies I've seen in a long time, which I do have to give major credit to. And I was glad that it delivered some payoff at the end that it wasn't all just a "psychological horror" either.

I do have to add this movie did some things that really annoyed me though, mostly because they've been done too many dang times in horror movies, that I wish filmmakers would stop doing:
1. Having characters take several seconds to turn around for dramatic effect. It's just so unrealistic - most people would turn around immediately in real-world scenarios, but horror movies always have to have characters do the super slow turn-around, which drives me nuts.
2. Along the same lines, characters that walk at a snail's pace in the dark to "find out what's over there". Again I get the dramatic effect thing, but it still drives me nuts to not see characters walk faster.
3. Open doors into hallways that look completely black in the dark. I get that movies do this for dramatic effect too, but it's just so unrealistic. No hallways look THAT dark in the real-world.

And a couple of other minor complaints:
4. I felt that Sosie Bacon's character was terrible at actually doing her job (and I'm not sure if it was done entirely on purpose). I mean, considering how prevalent mental and psychological disorders are today, I would've expected her character to have more competent skills at empathizing with and trying to understand her patients, rather than being as presumptuous as she was.
5. One of the movie's absolute best scares was shown in the trailer. Not that it wasn't effective in the trailer, because it was. But they really, really, really should've saved that for the movie and not shown it in the trailer. I think anyone who's seen the trailer will know which one I'm referring to here, but I'll tag it anyway:

Spoiler

The sister's head turning down in front of the car window. Just would've been SO much better if my audience wasn't expecting that one. Because it sure seemed like my audience felt that one coming, since it was in the trailer.

But those nitpicks aside, I still enjoyed this movie for the most part and have to say it's in my top horror movies of the year for sure.

It did feel highly derivative and copied from other horror films which took me out of it sometimes.

Spoiler

Also, if the smile curse can't interact with those who aren't cursed, then it somehow had to cause Sosie Bacon to kill her cat and stuff it in that gift box right?

 

[Deck Rickard]

Did anyone watch the short film this was based on?

Also this move makes me want an It Follows sequel.

It Follows was great. Maika Monroe is the Scream Queen we need.

 

[DarkKnight88]