This was great. The things I liked the most were the out of focus background prolonged stares, when they played some of her movements in reverse to make it even freakier, and that they obscured so much of it in shadows. This was low budget filmmaking getting creative with the limitations and not afraid to do things other films would consider hacky. The lighting really made this movie interesting and coupled with the music put you in a weird dream like universe that still remained grounded and I can't say enough good things about the look and the feel of the movie. It is like a dreamier It Follows and I was really impressed by how the lighting and music choices complimented that vision. There are good twists throughout and you realize that to keep the classic monkey paw story slightly different and fresh. The main character is incredibly unlikeable and it gets more and more apparent throughout and only adds to the horror of what he did and what he continues to do. Really enjoyed this one and Curry Barker going from Youtube to this is really impressive. I am really excited to see what he has planned next which I believe is Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I need to go watch his short films Milk and Serial and The Chair.

Admittedly I have not seen 28 Years later yet. And I do not super remember 28 Weeks Later. But 28 Days Later really had a strong hold on me. Just knowing you could film something like that on miniDV made me think anything was possible and it really scared me. This film did not have that sense of horror that I felt as a kid watching 28 Days later. There was more hummor in this one but also some very grotesque parts. I probably should have seen this one in theaters but it was still a lot of fun and a little silly in a world that I never thought could have any hummor or light, although it is a very breif dim light. I have only seen one other Nia DaCosta film, the remake of Candyman, that was fine, this is much better, and I am excited to see her next movie.

Third watch. I noticed new things in the framing — the doorways, the narrow corridors, the way the camera refuses to follow them into certain rooms. Restraint as ache. I don't think I'll ever stop watching this film.

I know this is supposed to be four hours of transcendence. And there were moments — the long takes in the Zone, the way water keeps appearing. But I fell asleep twenty minutes from the end and I'm not sure that's entirely my fault.

This film has no right to work as well as it does. Shot for almost nothing, nearly no visible faces, barely any dialogue — and yet it got under my skin in a way that most polished horror doesn't. It operates on a dream logic that the genre rarely bothers with.

Mary Ellen Mark's photography from this project is some of the most important work I've encountered. The film is devastating in a different way — more time, more breath. Tiny lived in my head for weeks after.

I used to dismiss this. Now I think it's one of the stranger, more honest films about marriage and fantasy ever made. The Christmas lights. The way Kubrick shoots New York like a dream of New York. It improves with every viewing.