Scare Me - Movie Review
Let me preface this review by saying Shudder is my absolute favorite streaming service. I’m overjoyed that they have continued to put out high level original programming on top of the fantastic library of preexisting IP.
As with most original programming, there are hits (The Mortuary Collection) and there are misses (Beezelbuth). Scare Me falls somewhere between those two.
The set-up is simple. Fred (Josh Ruben) is going on a weekend retreat to a rented cabin up north to work on his new novel. While on his morning jog, he meets the woman living at the neighboring cabin (Aya Cash). When a freak storm knocks out the power in their area, they decide to wait out the storm together telling scary stories.
The premise, while simple, leads to a complicated character study. Fred calls himself a writer and arrogantly rebuffs Bettina ( a scene stealing Rebecca Drysdale), his Uber driver’s, attempts to relate the details of her own writing. In truth, Fred isn’t a writer. Not only is he not published, he hasn’t actually written anything. When he meets Fanny (Aya Cash), he’s shocked to learn that she is a world famous author. Her book Venus is widely considered to be one of the greatest horror novels of all time. Fred finds himself infuriated when Fanny rebuffs his attempts to discuss his writing. It’s a fantastic turn that continues throughout the movie.
Fred is the perfect depiction of a large amount of millennial men. Insecurity is a disease that has infected many men in my generation along with a lack of true ambition. Fred wants to be successful, but never puts in the work to make it happen. He’s a bummer. Josh Ruben’s performance somehow makes this unlikable character empathetic to a point. Even if it’s only temporary.
Fanny on the other hand is a nightmare. While Fred is a passive, emasculated mess, Fanny is an arrogant, brash, uncaring monster. If you’ve watched Aya Cash’s performance in The Boys, you’ll know the character already. Cash is a fantastic performer and while she’s great at being a bitchy, self-righteous, SJW character. I worry that she’s going to end up typecast. She’s just so good at being the nails on the chalkboard. She constantly interrupts and belittles Fred. She challenges him, as strong women do, but she doesn’t let up. Fred doesn’t have the strength to compete against a powerful personality like her and she knows it. Yet, she keeps pushing until its too late.
The film has some truly funny moments, especially when Carlo (Chris Redd), the pizza man enters the picture, but the film is overall an uneven experience. While some of the stories they tell are fun and the actors are amping it up to 11, the film falls flat. It feels like the filmmakers wanted to say something about the current relationship between men and women in our cancel society, but they never commit. The scary stories felt like they should have been parables in a competition for supremacy, but instead they were bland, cookie cutter affairs.
I enjoyed the film, but I don’t think I can recommend it to others. There just isn’t enough going on to warrant spending the time to watch it.
