LogFAQs > #984292444

We watched a movie called Bystanders a few days ago. It falls into the genre of "reverse horror" stylings, as in the villains of the film end up being the victims as they're hunted by the "good guys". It's a really formulaic story; teen girls are lured to a college style party where they're drugged and assaulted but these guys also happen to be killers as well so they do a hunting style game after they've had their way with them. One girl makes it to the road and signals help, which is where the movie actually begins. The help in this case happens to be a pair of do-good serial killers who like hunting down the scourge of society. Honestly the film is probably at its best when you're waiting for them to reveal that fact to them. I feel like some of the characters here are written as far too one note; like motives and backstories seem overly cliche at times. Like if you were asked to give an underlying reason why someone turns out the way they do in this movie, then that's probably the answer they go with. That said, I do like the actors and think they bring a certain amount of charm to the bare bones stuff they're given. This wasn't a bad experience, and a lot more engaging than the last couple of straight to stream titles I've seen.

The Rule of Jenny Pen was truly a wild experience. This stars acting legends battling each other in a retirement home and features a lot of the fears and worries about getting older. The acting here is obviously top notch, and I had to at times stop and tell myself that the people in this film weren't actually the characters they were portraying because it became so easy to believe that. Of course, places like this really exist and some people when they reach a certain age don't hold up as well as others might. The hand you're dealt in that can hinge on a lot of factors, and much of the terror here is realizing there's nothing you can do to change or stop it. Geoffrey Rush is someone I'm obviously a fan of given how much I love PotC, and he brings his aura and gravitas to his role as a proud judge who suffers a debilitating stroke that brings on the latter stage of his life. He finds himself confined to a wheelchair and placed into an assisted living facility, which is full of people who are mostly a bit more far gone than he is when he first enters. His initial reaction to this and the way his character progresses are very well done, and though this movie isn't without a few flaws, I think it's propped up a lot by the performances of Rush and the rest of the cast.

Speaking of which... I did not foresee coming into this year and proclaiming that John Lithgow was going to be portraying one of the most interesting and unhinged villains I've seen in a horror movie recently. I feel like his character is going to fly under the radar here unfortunately, but with all the hype and praise for Nic Cage last year as Longlegs, people really need to experience Lithgow in this one. He's so unhinged and insane, just a phenomenal performance really. Again I don't think this is the best film of the year, even at this early stage, but the best parts of this movie are the actors. As much as I love Geoffrey Rush, John Lithgow really steals the show here. I'd have never guessed it.

Most of the rest of the cast besides these two household names are New Zealanders, since this film was shot there and mostly uses local actors. They're all really good though, especially George Henare as Rush's roommate. He really deserves to be mentioned as well so I thought I would. But yeah, this is good stuff. It's definitely a little weird and there are a few times where the pacing gets weird, but it's definitely worth a watch regardless of that.