An entertaining, original horror film done properly (video review on my YT channel "Rami the Critic"

Rating: 9/10 (26 February 2017)

Video review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA3- G0rDyTM&feature=youtu.be
Generally, horror films in this day and age aren't exactly the most congenial of sights for movie enthusiasts. From tired old clichés to a never-ending stream of unsatisfactorily constructed and acted money-grubbing PG-13-ers, expectations are set at an all time Mariana Trench low. A silver lining to that is the unequivocal awe when true effort is exerted and consequently a beacon of hope radiates with incandescent luminosity for the horror world. That is the case with Jordan Peele's horror debut "Get Out". It had a shite trailer, an unoriginal title, but it veritably blew me away. Ladies and gentlemen of the film industry, this is how to make a horror film properly.
The film starts off with at night with a young black man in a white suburban neighborhood who is abducted in an emphatically creepy manner. Cut to African- American photographer Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya). He drives with his white girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) to her parents' estate. They have no idea that he is black. Rose's father Dean is a neurosurgeon and her mother Missy is a psychiatrist. While they are friendly to Chris (in a rather patronizing kind of way), he becomes increasingly uncomfortable when he notices how strangely groundskeeper Walter (Marcus Henderson and maid Georgina (Betty Gabriel), who are both black, are acting very strangely. We find out that things aren't the way they appear at this place.
The true genius in this film laid in its virtuosity at provoking laughs, unmitigated tension and consternation, and most importantly some post-viewing dialogue as a result of its blistering social commentary on race relations in the United States that is shrouded in this impeccable concoction of horror and satirical comedy. When it came to the way Rose's dad was attempting to pander to Chris with some "black" words in addition to the statements made by the creepy old white people at the garden party about "blacks being in style", those kinds of scenes in my opinion served to highlight the subtle racism that may exist among some of the politically correct. Moreover, other scenes throughout the film play on our assumptions, whether we're black or white, about how certain events would play out given the race that's involved in them. The overall message is left in the eye of the beholder and that's part of the film's beauty; it's so bizarre it keeps us thinking. When was the last time a horror film truly did that?
I am so glad that Jordan Peele chose to keep the jump scares to a minimum, instead opting for tension, unpredictability, and a surreal atmosphere. We the audience are just as confused as Chris as to what the hell is going on and are equally as freaked out. The film's ability to consistently scare, perplex, and amuse the viewer kept me guessing, which resulted in some heavy satisfaction to the slightly predictable payoff. Additionally, Chris is a character we can actually care about. There is a trouble inside Chris's mind which I will not spoil that is touched on in a very bizarre but earnest kind of way.
It wasn't just atmosphere from a technical standpoint that gave the horror its unprecedented vigor, it's the performances. Daniel Kaluuya's subtle performance conveyed suspicion, restlessness, and all out fear with immaculate panache, topped with an American accent so spot on that some slight incredulity struck me when I found out the actor is an Englishman. Two exceptionally noteworthy performances were by Marcus Henderson and Betty Gabriel, the groundskeeper and housemaid respectively. Georgina's zombified behavior in particular is the kind that will give you some kind of paralysis as you're watching her, she truly was frightening. Of course some much needed credit should also go to Milton Howery who played Rod, a hardworking TSA officer and Chris's dear friend. Not only was he fantastic in providing some comedic relief, a good deal of his hilarious lines brought out some of the film's satirical elements; a truly lovable character indeed.
Don't be fooled by the trailer of "Get Out", the film is nothing of the sort. With cutting edge performances, genuine thrills, eerie atmosphere, subversion of horror tropes, and scathing social commentary on race relations in America, "Get Out" reassures us that originality is something very possible in the horror world no matter how absent it may be from the majority of such films. With 100% approval rating on Rotten tomatoes from 131 professional critics at the time of this writing, will "Get Out" be the first horror movie in a while to get nominated for an Oscar in a major category? Probably. When the audience in your packed theater cheer and clap, then you know something is done right. Truly remarkable; I say "get out" of your chair or whatever it is you're sitting on and get your spindly ass over to that theater pronto.
My score: 9/10. Absolutely brilliant.