I ventured the high seas to watch Skinamarink directed by Kyle Ball and yowza.

Please check the trailer on Youtube, it will give you a good idea of whether or not you'll be into this movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXSUy7oExu8

A lot of people have been reviewing it as "the first movie to actually scare me in years" and I can see why! I was not quite as pants-ruiningly terrified as I thought I might be, but I braced myself pretty well.

The pacing is glacial, so don't expect any high-octane thrills. This is a quiet, slow, agonizing experience where the tension only gets broken by a few actual scares (and I use "scare" here to mean "sudden loud noise"). Spoilers after the break.


Skinamarink expertly captures the terror of being a small child alone in a big dark house. The movie is fucking dark, like can't-see-shit dark, but it also has a heavy film grain. The effect is such that when the camera is staring down a hallway or through a doorway, the pitch darkness looks shifty and you can't quite tell if you're looking at something or just imagining shapes in the dark. The camera spends most of its time looking at uncomfortable up-angles (as if viewing from the perspective of a 4-year-old) or cramped close-ups of the environment. We never get a proper look at the two kids, either just seeing their legs or their backs.

There is only one moment I would describe as actual visual horror, as in something awful is shown directly on screen. It's not gory, but it's pretty fucked! The rest is all unbearable implication. As a viewer you're simultaneously desperate to get a better look at what's going on, and fervently hoping to look away.

There is not much of what you'd call a "plot" here. You might find that very boring and disengaging, OR you might find that the apparent aimlessness and pointlessness of what's happening to be all the more horrifying. There is absolutely no exposition or closure as to why these kids are being terrorized or how this all came to be. It's just something awful and unbearable happening to two innocent kids.

Skinamarink does not end happily, or provide a tidy wrap-up. It just kind of... stops. I found it very interesting and compelling, and indeed quite scary. I'm not a horror movie aficionado by any stretch, but this was a cool experience.


You must log in to comment.