You ever watch a movie, and then go on Letterboxd and all you can think of to say is "I dunno. It was pretty good. I liked it" and that's it? That's kind of how I'm feelin.
I'm gonna give it a shot. I don't have a lot of strong feelings about this movie, negatively or positively, so we'll see what I come up with.
So it seems that Adam "Party Down" Scott is the go to guy for weird, horror stuff these days. Between The Monkey and Krampus, Severance, and now this, he's elbows deep into horror, and I dig it.
Adam Scott has become an interesting actor. He's been around for a minute, but it feels like he's finally finding his footing as a versatile genre guy. At least for playing the kind of guys he tends to play. He's a good straight-man, even though he's also wickedly funny when he wants to be.
One thing I liked about this movie is that the lead character is entirely unlikable. Like, he's a real prick. Treats everyone like crap and just kind of smirks his way through the movie. That was refreshing honestly. You get to know why he's like that, and it's interesting. It doesn't excuse it, but it explains it a little.
Also, the story is decent. It's not unfamiliar, but it's got its own spin on some well worn tropes, which I respected.
It's also got a lot of Silent Hill energy. Not in the horror so much as the characters and their stories. Had they gone in a different direction with the various things he encounters in the movie, it could have easily been a Silent Hill movie. Thematically, I mean.
Ultimately, if you like your horror spooky and tense, with a good amount of atmosphere, as well as a challenging protagonist, then Hokum is a pretty decent choice. I liked it. It mostly did the things I wanted it to do. The writing was good and the tone was creepy. I dunno, it was pretty good. I liked it.
IN OTHER NEWS!
I'm almost done with my vampire pop-star book that was going to be called Scout's Arrival, but is now going to be called something else, because I thought of a possibly better name. I'm not telling you yet. I will when I'm done with it!