Review of Bug (2007) by Kenny N — 07 Jun 2016

This may come from the director of "The Exorcist," so people classify it as a horror film, but don't expect a boogeyman to jump out and go "boo!" or a machete wielding maniac to hack up a few horny teenagers.

No, this horror is the absolute worst kind of horror that any human being, in or outside the cinema, can experience: psychological. The mind can imagine horrors worse than any monster or movie maniac.

The basic plot is this: an abused waitress living in a hole in the wall motel in Oklahoma opens her door to a nice guy drifter. What starts out as a meet-cute between a traumatized woman (her son went missing years ago and her abusive ex is out on parole) and a sensitive man soon descends into a chaotic madness that has them (and us) questioning the very fabric of reality.

It's such a fantastically terrifying journey that you won't believe how it all ends. I normally don't care for Ashley Judd, but she plays her character, a damaged soul who hides her pain and loneliness behind a mixture of drugs, booze, and sarcasm, to absolute perfection.

Michael Shannon is so intense every second he's on screen, you can't take your eyes off him. Suave jazz singer and Broadway star Harry Connick Jr successfully transforms himself into a low down, white trash, woman beating sumbitch.

The minimalist direction of Friedkin really amplifies the mounting tension and unbearable agony of the story. So, as long as you're not going into this horror movie expecting a gory slasher flick or any of the usual business, you will be pleasantly surprised and left quite scared.