mo

strangely ahead of its time? this film has the cold, insular grayness of the 2018 *suspiria *remake. it also shares the reliance on the stylish setdressing of its time-setting, combined with purely nature-based witchiness, with grady hendrix's *witchcraft for wayward girls*. at the same time, christ almighty! this is 2000s YA to the bone. if not for certain cast members (hey patricia!) far above this movie's weight class and a pretty appealing vibe (that does, admittedly, occasionally dip into the dull side of dreary), it would be an entirely pointless watch. it instead reaches the heights of "if it was on cable when I was a kid i *probably* wouldn't have switched channels immediately"

i imagine this is going to be one of those movies i wind up re-rating every time it crosses my mind. welcome to 3.5 to 4 star limbo, you're in good company there are problems here. the editing and insistence on flashbacks can be overbearing, for one. there are so many clumsily placed needle drops too (but said needle drops include some of kim & kelley deal's finest work, so i can't be too mad). here's where *may* gets me: this is a deeply unpleasant, feel-**bad** watch in the ways it needs to be to work. the viewer gets a complete character study on may in ways that feel entirely too close and personal. i'll have to look into if she was written to be intentionally autistic-coded, but she reads that way so strongly. its to a point where the crushing loneliness seeping through every interaction she has with others hits incredibly close to a childhood i'm sure a lot of us shared. the movie revels in the second-hand embarrassment that comes about from missed cues, but conversely keeps so many of the other characters' motivations obscured. i still can't really tell if anna faris' character ever truly liked her, honestly. this winds up meaning that audience is pushed and pulled away from the titular character so often: are we viewing her as outsiders, are we seeing her as this weirdo freak; or are we in this with her? ....we are may canady we carry the flame.... so when things get graphic (if you're sensitive to eye stuff, maybe sit this one out), is it a good for her moment? (yes! but you didn't ask me) came out of this one heartbroken and feeling so hollow in ways i wasn't expecting. i was anticipating a brand of stylish late 90s/early 2000s indie horror that yes, was delivered, but with a whole lot more on top.

this is precisely how i start acting when i get $50 a blazing satire of beatnik culture that also gets their appeal - and a horror comedy with goof factor to boot. cult energy in spades, thank you roger corman!

intentionally chosen as a pseudo- double feature with *the thing from another world* in part to prove a hypothesis: that i would consider them good, but probably way better if their near-perfect remakes didn't exist. i was right! the paranoia in broad daylight and creeping exhaustion that I adore in my preferred 1978 version are readily intact here. you can tell that this film was a victim of studio meddling, though: chop off the bookends and you have something really special