555: Hush

[00:00:02] Let's get to Hush from 2016, which is directed by Mike Flanagan, stars Kate Siegel, John Gallagher Jr., Michael Trucco, not really a big cast.

[00:00:16] And the synopsis is,

[00:00:18] A deaf and mute writer who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears at her window.

[00:00:28] So I've already covered a lot of Mike Flanagan movies already in this collection, so check those out if you have not yet.

[00:00:39] This was a first time watch for me.

[00:00:42] Had heard very good things about it in terms of it being a slasher, a home invasion film.

[00:00:50] And overall, I gotta say, I was a little let down by it.

[00:00:56] When I was watching it, and what I knew before, people said this is a smart thriller.

[00:01:02] You know, it avoids genre cliches, characters doing stupid things most of the time, etc., etc.

[00:01:12] I didn't really feel like it had much of that.

[00:01:16] I agree the direction overall is strong.

[00:01:20] It's a very tight, lean meat and potatoes thriller.

[00:01:24] It's only about 80 minutes.

[00:01:28] I like the use of sign language.

[00:01:30] We need way more of that in movies.

[00:01:33] I liked setting up the geography of the house and that friend coming over.

[00:01:39] You seeing her different lines of communication with the laptop, the phone, the smoke detector, and how that comes in play later.

[00:01:51] The look of the killer with the mask was very creepy and iconic.

[00:01:58] You know, a simple touch but very effective.

[00:02:02] But the first mistake was John Gallagher taking off the mask.

[00:02:08] Or the choice to take off the mask.

[00:02:11] I hate to say it, he's not that intimidating of a guy.

[00:02:15] I never really bought him as a true psychopath killer.

[00:02:21] Maybe a little bit at times, but I thought that he was either miscast and or the creative choice to have him be maskless through most of the movie diminished the scare factor.

[00:02:35] A mask is almost always going to be scarier and the unknown of who that person is.

[00:02:42] Just look at any iconic slasher.

[00:02:45] It's almost always a masked person.

[00:02:49] I did like how it mainly became more of a survival film rather than just focusing on the home invasion horror aspect of it.

[00:02:57] Like it was her really trying to fight this guy, defend herself despite being unable to speak or hear.

[00:03:08] Nevertheless, though, it did become kind of generic again after that first act.

[00:03:15] For example, oh, here I almost got out of the house.

[00:03:18] Oh, wait, no, you heard me.

[00:03:19] I had to get back in or and spoilers here.

[00:03:23] You dropped your weapon.

[00:03:25] I got it.

[00:03:26] I almost got in to the house without you grabbing me that kind of thing.

[00:03:29] So that was kind of disappointing.

[00:03:34] And for anyone who listens to the show a lot knows I can watch the stupidest horror slasher home invasion films or any genre where characters are acting stupidly.

[00:03:44] I can't see if the execution is strong or scary or funny or just wild, anything like that.

[00:03:53] But the amount of times this character is in a place where she could have killed him easily.

[00:04:02] I can forgive one or two every now and again in that way and saying, OK, well, here we need to get to the next point or whatever.

[00:04:10] Such as when the boyfriend of the other friend comes over to see what's going on.

[00:04:18] He gets stabbed in the neck.

[00:04:22] But grabs the guy before he bleeds out, has him on the ground like around the neck chokehold.

[00:04:29] And the woman is just watching him do that.

[00:04:34] And like you have a knife in your hand or you have a weapon of some kind.

[00:04:38] Just go over and stab him.

[00:04:42] But the most egregious one of all is at the end when she's writing that goodbye note saying, hey, here's the description of this guy.

[00:04:52] I love you.

[00:04:53] I went down fighting.

[00:04:55] She goes into the bathroom and waits for him, but then he gets into the tub behind her through the window.

[00:05:03] But he gets cocky and she feels his breath on her neck.

[00:05:08] There's that moment of, OK, she's got him.

[00:05:11] And she spins around with a knife, stabs him in the leg.

[00:05:16] He falls to the ground in horrible pain.

[00:05:20] He's already been hurt on his arm.

[00:05:23] He's been shot with a crossbow.

[00:05:24] So he's very much on his last leg.

[00:05:28] She has another knife that he dropped.

[00:05:31] Just stab him right there.

[00:05:33] If you're waiting for this guy for the final fight, like the final moment to take this guy down, that was the opportunity to do it.

[00:05:40] To me, from a narrative standpoint, from a storytelling standpoint, like that could have been just as satisfying if we didn't also have the epilogue to that or the secondary fight when she goes out, sprays him with the wasp, insect killer spray.

[00:05:58] And then she almost gets killed again when he gets on top of her and is strangling her.

[00:06:06] It felt so unlike the behavior of the character who we had seen up until that point.

[00:06:14] Or even early on before that, when she's not injured at all.

[00:06:18] And she realizes that her friend who's behind the house has a phone in her pocket.

[00:06:24] So she sets off the car alarm in the front and then runs to the back.

[00:06:31] And sorry to rag on the movie so much, but it did kind of irk me more so than a lot of others.

[00:06:37] She had the opportunity to easily get away, run into the woods and hide until this guy is just gone.

[00:06:47] Or find someone who can help her.

[00:06:51] And then one last thing, then I'll get to some things I liked.

[00:06:55] I would compare this most closely to The Strangers, which I think is far, far better.

[00:07:02] In that film, and I did cover The Strangers franchise so far in its own little premium show if you want to check that out.

[00:07:11] But that home, that vacation home that they go to is right on the edge of a road, like a main road.

[00:07:19] So I could buy those killers, those invaders, driving by that house and saying, oh, here, let's go attack this woman.

[00:07:28] Let's see if anybody's home.

[00:07:31] In this one, there's no understanding for where this guy came from.

[00:07:36] He just has a crossbow randomly.

[00:07:41] Since we see at the end where the cops are coming from, it's on a long, winding road.

[00:07:48] You know, you don't know how far it is away from any kind of town or main road that anybody would see.

[00:07:56] Like in what situation did you just happen upon this place?

[00:08:02] Anyways, let's get to some positives.

[00:08:05] I did really like Kate Siegel.

[00:08:07] I know she's, I think, the girlfriend or wife of Mike Flanagan.

[00:08:13] Her saying, you can leave and writing it in blood or in lipstick or something on the window for him and saying, I never saw your face.

[00:08:21] You can leave right now.

[00:08:24] And then he takes advantage of that and says, well, I'm going to take off my mask right now.

[00:08:29] So you have seen my face.

[00:08:32] The meeting of the boyfriend with John Gallagher and him questioning John Gallagher's identity and trying to poke holes in what he's saying.

[00:08:43] I know some people are stupid, but looking at a guy like that, he says he's a cop.

[00:08:51] He has a huge tattoo of a snake, I think, on the side of his neck.

[00:08:57] He's not shaven.

[00:08:58] He's in civilian clothes and a hoodie.

[00:09:02] Does he have any resemblance of any law enforcement official that you've ever seen?

[00:09:09] So even though I thought there was good suspense there and I like that immediate shock of him turning his head and getting stabbed in the neck, that was another, I'd say more so poor writing than anything.

[00:09:24] I like the location itself, the look of the house.

[00:09:28] And as I've talked about before recently with Mike Flanagan's Gerald's Game, he's able to make great use of a small space yet again in this.

[00:09:39] So as a whole, you know, I can see if some people really like this movie.

[00:09:44] I know that there is a decent fan base for it.

[00:09:47] I don't really see myself going back to this one anytime soon, especially if I'm in the mood for a Mike Flanagan movie.

[00:09:55] This doesn't really offer that much rewatchability for me.

[00:10:02] That one is a three out of five.

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