OMM2024 - Night 19: Stop Motion (2023)

Caught up to the proper night and with a plan for the rest of the month! #OctoberMovieMarathon has another top rated movie for you tonight.

Night 19: stopmotion (2023)

10/10

Ella's mother is a legend in the stop motion animation world, but has lost the use of her hands. Now for her mother's last film, her mother is the brains and Ella is the hands. But when her mother falls into a coma, Ella gets the chance to make her own film...

Woah! This movie was really cool! The concept is fantastic and well executed, the visuals are horrifying, and I really have no complaints about the movie. I love that there are stop motion sequences integrated into the live action movie. The story leans more towards the psychological side of horror, but there's plenty of gruesomeness to enjoy. Though there is gore, it's well done, so I'll allow it.

I love how you don't get to know exactly what's going on, and I feel like some people might be able to piece together where the movie will go- but that doesn't take away from the reveals. It's more like a reward for recognizing the foreshadowing and callbacks.

 

From the opening sequence to the end I couldn't look away (though I did hide behind my hands at some points). This is an excellent movie and I highly recommend it.

SPOILERS START BELOW THE POSTER!

SPOILERS START HERE!

The DEATILS! I feel like I want to watch this movie again just to see how many extra details I can pick up on. The way things are framed, the dialogue, even the sound design all seem to have hints as to what's really going on. I especially love the subtlety of the squeaking noises when Ella moves. I didn't pick up on them until the back half of the film, and that makes me think there's other things I missed at the start! I'm still not entirely sure what the orb thing is about, but it does not feel like a plot hole- just something I could understand better on a second viewing.

The Ashman is terrifying, and every new version of him is somehow even worse than the last. Extra points go to this movie for not having there be some sort of sexual tension/analogy to the "the second night, he touches her". I really appreciate that the horror is simply the creature entering into the physical realm and not literally... entering anything. Thank you!

The ending had me equal parts repulsed and sad. This one's going to stick with me for awhile. Not in the "that one scene will haunt my nightmares" (like "The Taking of Deborah Logan") but in the thematic sense. I certainly relate to Ella and her struggles... and yeesh does this movie show me a dark path that could go down. I think the best horror movies can end up feeling so personal, because that's the horror that sticks with you.