Get Out

Seen April 17th

Every single review of Get Out that I have read said the same thing. 10/10, perfect, a revelation… I feel weird finally being part of the majority, cos I have to agree.

Get Out is the sharp jolt that Horror needed. In recent years it felt like we were falling into a slump in the genre, paranormal activity clones and endless reboots seemed like they were going to define this decade of horror. But, in the last quarter of the decade, a new challenger approaches to show everyone just how this is done. Jordan Peele proved that he knows his stuff, this is his first film as a director and holy crap this is the kind of first film that defines a career. I want more horror movies by this guy because he knows how tension works. He knows how to build it correctly, to have you feeling uneasy and how to have you hovering over the edge of your seat before he does a jump scare. He does jump scares the way that they’re meant to be done, they’re payoffs to a buildup. There’ll be a tense conversation and an obvious unease building, you’ll be on the edge of the seat and then someone will walk past in the back of frame to a violin sting and you leap out of your seat… and it’s not cheap. It’s not overused and there are no cat scares. The jumps are genuinely creepy moments that are genuinely important to the plot.

Every single actor is absolute perfection. Daniel Kaluuya as Chris is amazing, you instantly want to see him make it through the weekend and just watching him will make you know right away when something is off. Allison Williams as Rose is a powerhouse, she is possibly the most impressive performer in the entire cast, especially in the third act of Get Out. And Bradley Whiford and Catherine Keener just… yes, perfect. Genuinely creepy from the jump and it’s absolutely amazing. Also huge huge HUGE love for Lil Rel Howery who handles the Comic Relief.

The best part? Unlike a lot of horror films, this comic relief is essential to the plot. With very few exceptions in the Horror genre I notice that the comic relief is a character that could often just be written out without any major change (I think the only exception is Shelly from Friday the 13th Part 3 who is responsible for the iconic mask, but that’s it). In Get Out he’s the third lead and never feels out of place. There’s maybe 1 scene where they really lean on him being the comedy portion of the movie, but it’s such a good scene that I’m good with it.

Visually. Holy crap. Get Out had a budget of 4.5 million and it clearly spent most of that on an amazing Cinematographer who makes the camera into another character, the look and feel of Get Out is so amazing and when they handle the Hypnosis? It’s amazingly well done and a perfect visual metaphor for being put under.

Get Out is the kind of horror film that we need more of. It feels like lately Horror lost the ability to touch on real world issues and settled in to just live on remakes and Paranormal Activity. I missed films like They Live that took on Authoritarianism and Reaganism, I miss Dawn of the Dead giving a gut punch to consumerism. I missed horror films being able to be grand metaphors for real world issues. Someone in a very stupid article claimed that this was a new genre of horror films that were about real world events. Any horror fan will point out that this isn’t new, but what is new is that this film is not hiding the metaphor. Get Out is about racism, it’s blunt as hell about that and it has so many moments that just hammer that home (The term Slaves is brought up a lot, there is literally an auction scene, it is not subtle). This is what we need, this is the horror films that we need in the new era that we’re living in. If this is a sign of what the current political climate is going to bring out of the Horror genre, then we are in for some truly amazing films. I got no issues going with the crowd here. I finally found a new horror film that excites me for the future of the genre and made me eager for the directors next project.

10/10