Worth: $18.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake, Kurt Braunohler
Intro:
… a fresh, original, surprising and subversive genre treat and easily the best horror flick of 2022 so far.
There comes a time in a horror movie lover’s existence when, with a heavy heart, they have to admit they’ve kinda seen it all before. After a lifetime of watching straight horror, slasher flicks, supernatural thrillers, zombie epics, elevated gear, lowered trash, giallo, J-horror and nasty stuff from the underground scene, it’s kind of hard to get excited about the latest remake, reboot or toothless reimagining. That’s why when a film like Barbarian comes along – a work that’s original, thrilling and best of all surprising – it should be celebrated with a full-throated yorp of joy.
The problem, of course, is that for full enjoyment of this cracking horror flick, you’ll need to know as little as possible. So, look, we’re going to be as circumspect as we can, but for complete narrative purity: just put down your phone and go see this flick. It’s worth it.
Still here? Righto…
Barbarian is the tale of hopeful young employment seeker Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell), who needs to spend the night in an Airbnb somewhere in Detroit so she can get to a job interview early the next day. The problem, when she arrives one rainy night, is that Keith (Bill Skarsgård) is already staying at the joint, and after some investigation, it appears that they’re both legitimately booked in. It’s late, it’s pissing down with rain, so Tess has to decide whether she can trust this affable, but undeniably odd fellow and risk staying over. In the end, she decides to go for it, and that’s when shit starts getting weird…
The thing about Barbarian is, even if it had stayed as a tense two hander for much of its runtime, it still would have been a pretty fine flick. Georgina Campbell is an incredibly appealing lead and we’re right with her as she tries to figure out if Keith is okay or nah. Bill Skarsgård is also great, playing a role that’s about as far from Pennywise the Dancing Clown as you can imagine (OR IS IT?) and clearly relishing the opportunity to show off more nuances to his acting chops than we’ve seen before.
However, when something happens in the story that turns the entire caper on its head, Barbarian becomes a different creature altogether and it’s a giddy, wild ride from then on out.
We’re not going to go into detail, but if you’ve liked some of Wes Craven’s more underappreciated works, have a fondness for genre-bending oddities, dig the pulp paperback horror of Richard Laymon and like the aesthetic of a certain found footage flick from Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, you’re probably going to love the sheer unbridled lunacy on offer here.
Writer/Director Zach Cregger is a veteran of sketch comedy, and these skills add so much to some of the wilder beats. And if the end bites off a little more than it can chew, you’ll almost certainly forgive it because the movie is such a tense, engaging time.
Barbarian is a fresh, original, surprising and subversive genre treat and easily the best horror flick of 2022 so far. Brimming with great performances (don’t even get us started on how good Justin Long and Richard Brake are), a razor-sharp script and a genuinely engrossing atmosphere, it’s a timely reminder of why we horror obsessives love this genre so very, very much.
