A Scary Place...

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2018)

I'm not really a big fan of horror movies, but if I find it interesting, then I watch it. And when I saw the trailer, I new I was going to love it, and I did. A lot of horror movies suffer from the cliches, like making stupid decisions or false jumpscares, and this movie did have a few of those jumpscares. I think jumpscares don't make movies scary, but the thrill and the suspense is what truly makes a movie scary. A Quiet Place had so much suspense and thrill, and that for me made it scary. But I wasn't scared like I couldn't get an image out of my head, but I was scared because of what I thought was going to happen, like, is she going to die or how are they going to escape. A Quiet Place did have one of those cliches; at the start of the movie, it said "Day 89", you should have a basic understanding of survival and to keep quiet from these monsters, so why exactly would you turn on a toy rocket that makes sounds? Except from that instance, all of the characters make smart, logical actions.
Story: 8/10
The idea that we see the story the same way the characters do was a good. I'm guessing the characters have no idea why or how these monsters got here; the audience also doesn't know why or how they got here, and that's why I love this movie so much. The mystery of the monsters really does make them unpredictable, and generally good monsters. I liked how the movie starts at "day 89", It adds to the mystery. The story is simple; a family trying to survive from these monsters that use sound to hunt, I also believe they use echolocation. The story mainly focuses on the family, and not so much on the monsters; the movie focuses on how the family has to keep quiet and their reaction to the monsters. The story does have some weaknesses, like why aren't the monsters attacking the birds in the air; does the monsters know they can't get the birds. So clearly their are some unanswered questions and some plot holes, but not to the point where you're questioning the whole movie. The story is very strong in my opinion, it's entertaining, mysterious, thrilling, and simple. Overall, the story is great, but there are some plot holes and unanswered questions.
Characters: 8/10
The characters are decent, with some characters obviously getting more attention than others (Regan, the deaf girl). At the beginning, one of the family members die (Kid with the rocket), and that kid's death at the start of the movie was a perfect way to start a horror movie; by showing how easy it is to die in the world they're living in. I think most of the characters were good, but it is difficult to make a character likable or attached to with such little dialog. Luckily all of the actors were good at acting, because this movie heavily relies on the emotions and the actions to show what a character is going through. And of course someone dies (John Krasinski's character, Lee Abbott), but it wasn't that emotional. The movie was very short in my opinion, with a run time of 1h 30min; if this movie was 2hs long, with the extra 30min developing characters, then maybe his death could've been sad. If the movie was 2hs long, then it would've been extremely boring, so either character development, but boring or boring characters, but entertaining. The John Krasinski and Emily Blunt duo was good, mainly because their married in real life. Overall, each character had their own moments that made them somewhat interesting, but below average character development, but since there was such little dialog, I will give them the benefit of the doubt.
Action: 9/10
Since the beginning of the film, we were shown the dangers of the world they live in, but I wanted a bit more. Right after that death of that kid, we didn't really see much from the monsters; I kind of forgot about them for a bit, but the dialog did keep reminding me of the dangers. I would say the last 20-40 minutes of the movie was about the situation the family was in, and how they had to survive the fight. Those last 20-40 minutes were so stressful; one moment the kids are trying to survive from the monsters, then we go back to the husband and wife, then back to the kids. The movie was like giving us short breaks before our hearts were pounding again. I would say the first half of the movie was building up to the eventual "final fight". There were a lot of jumpscares, but this movie doesn't depend on them, as I said before, but the thrill is what got me to the edge of my seat. Overall, the action was thrilling and heart pounding (especially at the end), but the movie does get a bit boring in the first half.
Overall, this movie was a good horror. The monsters weren't the most original idea, but the mystery and suspense is what makes them unique. The characters were well development for how little the dialog was. The fact that the story begins after the whole invasion/beginning was a good idea, and it makes the audience more unaware of what happened, which I think was a great way to start a horror movie. A Quiet Place is pg-13, and that slightly bothered me. Since it was pg-13, the movie shied back from the violence; if it didn't, then I think it would've made the monsters more scary and gruesome. I enjoyed A Quiet Place, and I think this movie is great to watch with a friend, so I strongly recommend, A Quiet Place.