I know I’m not alone when I say that the upcoming Werwulf looks incredible. Certainly, we all drooled over the costuming, the visual design, that awesome grainy filter that makes this thing look like a creature feature from the 50’s.
And watching that got me thinking. This guy is very well known for directing movies that perform very well and are consistently very highly rated. Kind of like my personal film hero, Mike Flanagan (take a shot every time I mention him on this blog). He even has a tendency to hire many of the same actors, which speaks to his character as a director (if he was a dick, people wouldn’t agree to work with him again and again). While I am familiar with his work, the only films of his I’ve actually seen as of this moment are The Witch and Nosferatu, both of which I thought were incredible pieces of horror.
So I decided that, in anticipation for Werwolf, I wanted to check out what I hadn’t seen before from him!
I will be re-watching The Witch for this article, but since I’ve seen Nosferatu somewhat recently, I left that one off the list. We’ll go in release order, of course. Strap in and enjoy!
The Witch (2015)
A frontier family believes they’ve been targeted by a witch living nearby in the woods.
First off, I just want to say that I love how the dialogue is not dumbed down for modern audiences one bit. It feels so much more authentic that way.
Also, good on Robert for going with Anya Taylor-Joy for this film. I truly cannot picture anyone else playing Thomasin with such bleak innocence.
The only score we seem to get isn’t really music at all, more like screeching and groaning. I think this is great, because any sort of melody would be comforting among the bleak, dire imagery.
I also want to give the actor playing Caleb, Harvey Scrimshaw, some props. He nails the old English dialogue and gives a great performance of sweet innocence.
His line delivery throughout is very impressive, and I thought his little monologue was very well done. I hope this kid goes far.
I also really like how costume and makeup really made these actors, all of them great, look like they really lived in the frontier before modern technology. Greasy hair, stained and worn clothes, no noticeable makeup. It drives me absolutely nuts when women in historical films wear mascara.
I just need to say that the idea of being trapped in a pen with two creepy children and the world’s most terrifying goat is peak horror. This movie is what made me afraid of goats, and if you don’t get why, you’re lying.
The shot with the bird and Katherine made my spine actually tingle. No spoilers if you haven’t seen it, but you’ll get what I mean when you see it.
In summary, this movie is a masterclass in dreadful atmosphere and top-notch writing. The dialogue felt so authentic and the turns that the plot takes are horrifying and tense. At no point during this movie did I feel relaxed or comfortable, which is a sign of great skill within the horror genre.
Rating: 10/10
The Lighthouse (2019)
Two lighthouse keepers struggle to maintain their grip on sanity.
Starting off, I am in love with the visuals here. The aspect ratio, the black & white, it’s all genius. I see already that this film and Werwulf have a similar visual vibe going on, which I am all here for.
I also need to say that I’m in love with the framing of so many of these shots. The seagull and Rob with the wheelbarrow perfectly centered opposing one another was genius.
What I’ve noticed about Eggers’ first two feature films is his ability to take a very simple idea and milk it for every uncomfortable and unsettling moment imaginable. I think it shows true skill that such memorable and appreciable art was made with these incredibly simple concepts.
Let’s talk about Rob for a bit.
He doesn’t speak much at all, kind of reminding me of Ennis in Brokeback Mountain. I really liked the first real few sentences he said, when Willem was yelling at him about the floor. And man, that scene where he kills the gull was great. I don’t know how they made that gull prop, but it looked just like he actually smacked the guts out of the skin. Fucking props.
Something that really made this one stand out from The Witch was the tiny bits of humor. Rob and Willem getting absolutely blasted and dancing around doing sailor jigs was really fun. Speaking of blasted, Rob’s drunk acting was seriously impressive.
I really, really didn’t see that ending coming. I mean, how could you? What the fuck. I need to watch this movie ten more times.
Rating: 9.5/10
The Northman (2022)
When a boy’s uncle murders his father for his kingdom, he vows revenge.
It was apparent right away that this was the point in Eggers’ career where the budget was increased noticeably. I’m guessing that after the success of The Lighthouse, production companies trusted him a lot more. I say this because from the first five minutes, we’ve broken the conceit of his first two feature films- instead of a small, bottleneck setting and a few limited cast of characters, we’ve got a sprawling countryside, tons of actors and characters, and just more of a… I don’t know. Commercial look and feel? Not to say Eggers sold out or anything, but it’s clear that the vibes are different here. Everything feels more epic, like the scope has increased.
I really like all of the old Norse religious stuff. The wolf rituals, wearing the skins, all that. Gave me definite Howler vibes, if you’re familiar with Red Rising. I appreciated the level of brutality. I can’t help but think it’s much more culturally and historically accurate than a washed-out portrayal we might’ve gotten from a different director.
Another notable difference is the clear speculative elements of the narrative. Our main character is often visited by otherworldly soothsayers and beings. I thought the draugr fight was really fun. Very Skyrim.
I’m not going to spoil anything, but we even learn partway through that our main character isn’t necessarily playing the role in the story that we thought he was. I thought that was really genius. I kind of got Oedipus/Macbeth vibes from the storyline too, which was cool.
Compared to the first two, I think this one is my least favorite so far, simply because it lacked some of the magic and simplicity that I liked so much in his first two. Not to say I didn’t enjoy it, but it just felt a little less special. There were even a few points where I got close to losing interest.
I also really enjoyed seeing Ralph Ineson from The Witch again. He’s such a unique guy.
Still, a solid movie, and worth a watch on an afternoon in.
Rating: 7/10
Now that I’m much more familiar with Eggers’ catalogue, I’m even more excited by the trailer for Werwulf. Judging from the art direction and cinematography we see there, I can tell it’s going to be similar in style to The Witch and The Lighthouse, which were by far my two favorites.
I can’t wait to see it in theaters in December!
Monthly Writing Goals
20,605 / 20,000 words
Wow. I don’t really know what happened, but I just kind of rolled with Project Wishbone all day Tuesday, and ended up adding over 5,000 words to that project (it’s now past the 20k mark!).
Still waiting on responses to all my submissions and queries, but the novel progress I’m making has me quite proud.
More next week!
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