I got to watch this movie on its limited theatrical release, so glad I just decided to go see a random movie on a lark on the one weekend it was out. Ash was released by Shudder, which if you don't know about they have a fantastic horror-focused streaming service. In fact, these days I only subscribe to four streaming services, and Shudder is one of them. The other three are Curiosity Stream, Magellan TV and Hulu, thought the last one is technically free as part of my phone deal. Shudder however is the best, especially if your tastes run in a "weird and horror" vein for films.
The setup for Ash is immediately intriguing as a woman named Miya awakens with a concussion and memory loss on a research station on an alien world. She finds the rest of the crew dead, brutally murdered, and outside an alien landscape. She quickly figures out that the atmosphere, while somewhat breathable is actually mildly toxic and she flees back into the ship after witnessing a bizarre "mirroring" image of herself in the hazy distance. Soon, as she begins to have flashbacks of her memory of the living crew on the ship, a second crewman who was on the orbiting ship named Brion arrives in response, apparently, to a distress call.
As the mystery of what happens unfolds, Riya begins to remember the events, and image sof herself killing her fellow crewmates. Evidence is uncovered of an alien artifact, a tunnel network that the crew was exploring, and an unexpected death while doing so. Brion meanwhile remains focused on the next window of opportunity for the lander to break orbit and return to the ship. As daylight falls, a hull breach diverts their attention from the mystery for a moment, though the actual breach appears to have been sabotage, suggesting a third person is still alive....and there is a missing body, or so it seems...
Ash does an amazing job of building paranoid tension and as escalating mystery with only two actors, accomplishing a vibe not unlike The Thing in terms of the "Who's really causing these problems?" kind of sense. By the third act it goes completely off the rails....and I will absolutely not spoil it, but take note that all of those amazing creature effects at the end are practical effects, a real spectacle when the "truth" is finally revealed.
Much of this film has an eerie, dreamlike quality. There are a lot of impressive establishing shots for the planet's environs, and some eerie dream sequences. Some of the graphics feel like they might be using some AI elements, but the mix with practical effects works very well. The soundtrack is also incredible, deeply unnerving and mood setting.
If you are a fan of horror in general, scifi horror in particular, or want some inspiration for your next Mothership campaign, this movie is well worth a watch! It is another one of my guilty pleasure faves, but is also a genuinely good film. About the worst thing I can say about it is: why don't they have, like, better surgical machines, or even anesthetic in the distant future? You'll know what I mean when you see it! Anyway...solid A, totally worth a watch.
No comments:
Post a Comment