Skylla Mumana | Reporter
Recently, in a conversation with one of my friends, I happened to stumble upon the fact the new Cinemark theatre in Waco has a $5 movie special every Tuesday. With that information in hand, I decided to go and see the new horror film “Antlers.”
“Antlers” is a horror movie that came out on Oct. 15 starring Keri Russell and Jeremy T. Thomas. The movie is based on the book “The Quiet Boy,” which was written by Nick Antosca.
“Antlers” takes place in an isolated Oregon town where a middle school teacher and her brother find themselves involved with a young student who has a lot of dark secrets surrounding his family and home life. Throughout the course of the film, the characters quickly learn that tall tales and folklore may be more real than they initially thought.
I thought the movie was OK. To me, it was more thrilling than scary. However, there were a lot of great things about this film. For one, the cinematography was top tier. I really enjoyed watching the paneling and looking at the Oregon landscape. The cool color tones throughout the film really helped with the setting as well.
Another thing I enjoyed about this movie was how its conflict, or main horror aspect, was pulled from Native American folklore. Having films and media based around Native American traditions and stories exposes the masses to their rich culture and to their lasting heritage within the United States.
The acting by Jeremy T. Thomas was incredible. Not only did he sell his character, but his emotional performance was crazy. Just from his acting you can really tell he dove deep into his character and emulated the trauma that his character experienced.
I did feel like there were some parts the movie that definitely could have improved on, or that I wish they had done differently.
I wish there had been more explanation of the Native American folklore, or it had been better intertwined into the plot of the movie. Don’t get me wrong, I loved how it was included in general because I feel that it made the movie really interesting. However, if they had given an earlier and better explanation of the legend used, it would’ve made for a more enthralling plot.
I also would have liked for the monster to have been shown more. The visuals of Thomas’ family were definitely chilling, but I would have liked for the actual monster to have faced the camera in its entirety. If the creators of the movie had done this, it would have made for a really scary pop-up scene.
Overall, I think the movie is worth a watch, but a one-time watch. This isn’t a movie I personally would want to go back multiple times to see, or rave about it to my friends. It was just OK.
