Wow, Some of the Dumbest Reviews Ever

Rating: 8/10 (30 March 2019)

I am a big fan of horror films and Jordan Peele's work, and from the beginning, not when people saw Get Out and suddenly realized he existed. I was fine with being satisfied with my enjoyment of the film but then saw all these bad reviews that said consistently the same thing - people didn't understand the film, or that it wasn't logical. Really? IT'S A HORROR MOVIE! Is Freddie Krueger logical? Jason Vorhees? Pet Semetary? No. Most horror films start and end in fantastical terms that are based somewhat in reality in order to scare us. That's why Freddie Krueger scared the pants off people in the '80s because that was the first time a villain attacked us in our dreams. Fantasy meets reality. That's what horror is.
A lot of Jordan Peele's work is based on his obvious love of '70s, '80s and '90s films, and general geek culture. Get Out, as he stated, was inspired by the '70s version of The Stepford Wives. And, if you've seen the film, like I have, Get Out is basically a clever reboot of that film replacing racism with misogyny. I wonder if all the people who thought Us isn't logical think you can put people in a deep hypnosis and they become robot slaves. Nope, Get Out isn't logical either cause it's a HORROR MOVIE.
I thought Us was a superior evolution of Peele's career because, as I said, Get Out is pretty paint-by-numbers to Stepford Wives. Watch it, you won't see much difference other than the theme. Where, Us is a generally inspired by Peele's love of '80s films, and I'm guessing he saw Three Identical Strangers, and he took that inspiration and created something wholly original and intriguing. Maybe this movie isn't for everyone, there was one guy laughing in our theatre when Elisabeth Moss showed up as the Tethered, but every one else in the packed theatre was scared AF. It was a very tense film with little breathing room. I haven't been that scared in a film since Freddy Krueger. When I asked my partner what she thought of the film she said, she was scared, traumatized, ruined from horror movies for all time, and would take every second back if she could, and she had her face covered through most of the film. She said what she was able to watch was very good. And when I used the creepy voice all night she was jumpy and irritated with me. That is a good horror movie.
For everyone that has their theories, here's what it's about: in the opening scene when the camera is zooming in on the '80s TV, talking about Hands Across America, there are video boxes on both sides of the TV. The three films to the left were C.H.U.D. (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers), Goonies, The Man With Two Brains. Little Easter eggs of what the film is about. All are campy '80s movies that are considered cult geek classics. There's not some attached, deeper meaning like people are trying to assign to Peele's work. This is the same man who's first film was Keanu, a story about a gang kidnapping a man's kitten. Like Tarintino, Peele is just a man deeply passionate about film, and what he likes, he's just more into '80s cult films, while Tarintino likes Korean action films. And many think Tarantino is a genius, but a lot of his career is based on stuff he ripped from Korean films and other places that most Americans don't recognize so it seems fresh and completely his own. But both Peele and Tarintino take their inspiration and create fresh, interesting ideas of their own.
Aside from Peele's job well done, the actors performances were excellent. I've definitely jotted Lupita in my book as actors to watch out for and see their films. I've seen her in several films, but she hasn't had something that I've seen that let her shine in the way this film did. She was usually there merely to support some man's role, rather than shine on her own.
Though there wasn't as much humor inserted into this film as Get Out, probably because it would have slowed down the bullet train of tension, but my favorite moment was when Elisabeth Moss told her ECHO to call the police and it played N.W.A. instead; very funny. I love how Peele plays between both worlds of horror and humor, kind of like his own modern take of '80s horror/comedies. He's done a good job of modernizing that genre. I look forward to his take of The Twilight Zone.