Review of Stoker (2013) by Connor G — 11 Sep 2013

This movie reminded me a ton of Alfred Hitchcock's film "Shadow of a Doubt." The uncles names in both is Charlie, he suddenly reappears into a girls life in both, and in both he's a maniac. The director of Stoker said it's not a remake or reboot of that film, but c'mon let's face it. The film stars Mia Wasikowska as a young girl named India. Her father recently died and her mother played by Nicole Kidman is an absolute mess. India's uncle Charlie reappears after years of traveling and decides to stay with India and her mother to help support then through this tragedy. After awhile it becomes increasingly apparent that uncle Charlie is a lot more than he seems. People being to go missing and no one seems to know what's going on.

First off the film is shot really well. The cinematography is just awesome. Unfortunately, the plot is rehashed from the previously stated Hitchcock film. The characters are interesting enough, but the plot involving India following the same steps as her uncle didn't work for me. She's a weird character and it just doesn't seen like shed venture that far down.

The movie starts out extremely slow. It features lots of sound effects for things too which becomes just a little bizarre before the end. I get that it's setting the tone, but moving into the killings and how they happened is what kept me interested.

Overall, I wouldn't say this is a horror film. I'd describe Stoker as more of a drama/thriller. It explores the mind of a young girl who doesn't quite fit in, until one day. I'd say just give it a rent!