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JUSTIN TANNER REVIEWS BARBARIAN
The first third of Zach Cregger’s mind-blowing horror film, “Barbarian” plays almost like a cookie cutter Rom/Com, and it would be fun to take out all the portentous music, change the title to “Double Booked!” (or something equally benign), invite a bunch of unsuspecting “in-love” couples to a screening of what they believed to be a funny romance...and watch their horrified reactions when Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) innocently opens the door to the basement and all hell breaks loose. I’d seen the preview for “Barbarian” half a dozen times, with its somewhat promising, if overly familiar, cryptic subterranean abattoir vibe, and tempered my expectations.
Director Creggar (The Whitest Kids U' Know) has made a terrifically constructed fright-fest, with more whiplash disorienting twists, reveals, and time travel restarts than a dozen scary movies. And its last hour is absolutely crammed with so many scares, laughs, and bonkers WTF moments that any discussion of plot past the thirty minute mark is officially off the table. The set up is right out of a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan comedy from the 90’s: What happens when that Airbnb you rented online gets double booked and you find yourself in the middle of the night having to share a house with a total stranger? Hi-jinks! What starts out as a suspicious and wary ‘meet cute’, chock full of (quickly dispelled) red flag warnings, ends up with a shared bottle of wine, unexpected connections and a lingering ‘good night’ that almost leads to a kiss. The would-be romantic leads are played by the charming and attractive Campbell (”All My Friends Hate Me”) and Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise the Clown in ”It”). And they are given a script that is sharper and more layered than we usually get from a film like this. But Cregger has a lot on his mind - and before the insanity begins, he takes us on a labyrinthine trip into male/female relations, power dynamics, how to (not) trust your instincts, and, inevitably, how love can sometimes lead you into making REALLY bad decisions.
“Bad Decisions”, in fact, would be a great alternate title. With all of its “Are they out of their minds?” moments — in which characters ignore their spidey sense and open doors they KNOW they should leave closed — the audience almost becomes a character in the film, impotently shouting “No!” again and again. Horror has had a pretty lousy year so far: The big guns, “X”, “Crimes of the Future”, “Scream”, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “The Black Phone” were all shooting blanks. The foreign and domestic independents, “Hatching,” “Watcher,” “Men,” “Glorious,” and the ultra dreary “Innocents” barely justified their footage. And the most successful thrillers, “Prey”, “You Won’t be Alone”, “Master” and “Resurrection”, were more action flick, art house picture and social issue dramas (respectively) than outright horror films. Of course there was Mimi Cave’s brilliant sucker punch “Fresh”, which managed the triple feat of being a Rom/Com/Slasher all at once. (And, thanks to Cave’s tight control of the material — and a fierce commitment to her twisted point of view — ended up as one of the best films of the year, horror or not).
And “Barbarian”, with its cast of across-the-board first-rate actors is right up there. Justin Long (“Drag Me to Hell”) manages to tap into his usual comfort zones of oily charm and “who me?” disingenuousness with a fresh new finesse: He’s never been better or more present onscreen. Richard Brake (The Mandalorian) brings a chilly blankness to the pivotal role as Frank — shopping at Target has never seemed so skin-crawly. Kate Nichols (”The Operative”) has only one short scene, but she brings all kinds of hilarious subtext to the delivery of a single word: “Brightmoor?” — I laughed every time she said it, and I could easily watch a whole movie about her character, Catherine. Best of all, Matthew Patrick Davis (American Dad!) blows the screen apart every time he appears. His physicality switches fluidly from menacing to heartwarming to hilarious. He is a real find and the movie’s secret weapon. When everybody brings their A-game, the director is most likely the responsible party. So let me give a full throated scream of approval to Zach Cregger for brightening up a dim year for horror. I can barely wait to see what he does next. I remember reading the LA Weekly review of Woody Allen’s “Purple Rose of Cairo” back in 1985, which basically said: “Sometimes the best thing a critic can do is tell you ‘don’t read any reviews, just go see the movie.’” I took their advice, and when Mia Farrow’s big moment came, I was grateful and delighted to experience that film’s joyful surprise unspoiled. So in the spirit of keeping “Barbarian”’s many nutso astonishments under wraps, I advise that you not watch the trailer, or read any other reviews. Just buy a ticket, get some popcorn and sit back. "This is a movie best served cold." IN THEATERS
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So I was totally unprepared for the deliriously freaked-out marvelousness of the film which I watched, slack-jawed and aghast, in a state of anticipatory confusion and delight. 
