'Blu-ray or Bust' - GOODNIGHT MOMMY

'Blu-ray or Bust'

GOODNIGHT MOMMY (2015, R, 100 minutes, RADIUS)

After watching GOODNIGHT MOMMY, I have come to the conclusion that you should never, under any circumstances, raise your children in Austria.

Seriously. Oh, sure, the countryside is beautiful; lovely forests, scenic lakes, winding country roads. Not to mention the dark tunnels and creepy graveyard crypts . . . which, apparently, are the least of your worries.

Written and directed by the team of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, this creepy film is arguably the most unsettling horror film of 2015. When I reviewed IT FOLLOWS early last year, I believe I mentioned that it was going to be a tough film to beat. MOMMY comes close, but for entirely different reasons. Where IT portrayed a relentless (if not eventual) evil, this film strikes on several different chords.

Twin brothers Lukas and Elias (portrayed by the effective Lukas and Elias Schwartz) seem to be living a care-free life in a remote home. Playing in the surrounding woods, swimming in the lake, investigating the local cemetery . . . really, what could possibly go wrong? Well, for starters, their mother returns after a surgery that has left her face bandaged and unrecognizable. The procedure has also seemed to have changed something fundamental within her. It is the distrust the boys feel with her that sets this tale on an irreversible and damnable course. To say anything else would give too much away, however…

You might figure this one out early on. You may think you know the wicked twist, and you probably do. I figured it out early on, but was still unprepared for the course the story would take. Remember, I mentioned that this is, hands down, the most unsettling genre film of last year. Stick with it and see why.

While not entirely necessary on Blu-ray, I would suggest you go that route. No, no giant explosions or booming soundtrack. But the cinematographic eye of Martin Gschlacht (his was the brilliant vision on display in 2012’s THE WALL, which captured the Austrian countryside with seamless finesse and majesty) is best appreciated in the format. There are several cinematic techniques used that sets this apart from your standard horror fare. And while the Schwartz brothers both help create an atmosphere of mystery, it is Gschlacht’s haunting photography that solidifies the tension. What at first seems an idyllic setting quickly becomes gloomy and claustrophobic.

There is only one special feature, and it is the writer/directors speaking to each other and an off-screen interviewer. Not as good as your usual docs, but insightful—if not a tad bit boorish.

So if you are thinking of rearing your kids in Austria, DON’T. Save your money for Octoberfest. Or an extra schnitzel.

Film Grade: A

Special Features: C-

Blu-ray Necessary: Recommended

-- T.S.Kummelman