Michelle reviews Spring, a romantic horror film.
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| "Kiss me. I just ate some garlic." |
Horror and romance films are two of the most cliché-ridden genres
in all of Hollywood. However, what would happen if some gutsy directors tried
to combine the two together? You would get Spring,
a so-called “monster-romance” directed by relative newcomers Justin Benson and
Aaron Moorhead.
Spring is a modern
fairy tale with a snarky bite and grisly trappings. A young man named Evan (Lou
Taylor Pucci) tries to escape his stressful and hectic life by taking a trip to
Italy, and upon arriving meets a beautiful and enigmatic woman named Louise (Nadia
Hilker). The relationship aspect of the plot is handled wonderfully and
progresses organically. Normally, I’m not a huge fan of romance films, because they
usually end up feeling contrived, but this one seems to be more subtle and
realistic. Both of the characters have fully realized personalities and that
makes for great chemistry on screen.
Louise is one of the better written female characters I have
seen, especially in reference to the horror aspect of the film. She is
intelligent, quick-witted and is also a scientific researcher which is usually
a male-dominated field. It’s refreshing to see the woman being depicted as
being an equal instead of a plot device to move the story along. Evan is
actually the more emotionally vulnerable one in the relationship which is an
interesting role reversal from other romance films. The unexpected dry-humor
permeating the entire film is the glue that holds together the two
diametrically opposed genres. Being scary and
funny at the same time is a hard sell indeed.
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| "Did you just say I'm not that sexy?" |
As for the “monster” part of the film, that’s more of a
mixed bag. It’s essentially a body-horror film blended with creature horror a
la Creature from the Black Lagoon. The
special effects run the gamut from mediocre (mainly the CGI) to pretty damn
good (the practical make-up). It works for the most part but does take the film
down a peg—it definitely seems the limited budget did hamper the film a bit. It’s
nothing egregiously terrible, but I was disappointed by some of the gore
scenes. The actual look of the film as well as the cinematography is very good
though. It’s softly lit with an ochre and brown color palette that makes one
think of old rustic paintings from the Renaissance era. There are also some
great overhead shots that showcase the beautiful architecture in Italy.
This movie is an interesting experiment in genre-bending
that is mostly successful in its results. It’s like delicious vinaigrette of a
film--delicately balancing an emulsion of two varied types of movies
into a smooth final product. While it does have a few missteps, it’s definitely
worth a look for someone who is craving something a little different.
-Michelle Kisner