Barbarzyńcy

Avoid spoilers, you really don't want to know which way the initially relatively simple looking premise will go. Just the few reviews posted here now would have easily ruined the experience for me. Barbarian is a dream horror debut, the best and least predictable genre film in years, and Zach Cregger is the one Hollywood producers should be fighting over right now. Anyway, without spoilers, it's very hard to talk about this film, so I'll perhaps just give a very tentative indication that it's divided in three parts. The first one overflows with tension and culminates in a heart attack and fucking scary sequence. The second part lightens the tone, but the humour is not intrusive, rather it comes from the fact that the focus shifts to the funny character. The third part is a horror ride with a dash of gore. The overall plot is perhaps a bit wild in the end, you have to work a bit to "believe", but that is the only complaint I can have about this revelation. The sound is worth a special mention – I don't usually pay much attention to it, but Barbarian is really beautifully scored, it's almost ear-piercing. (25.10.2022)

A properly intense wild piece that reminds me of my favourite Ghostland. I'm glad to see that every year some talented and unknown horror filmmaker comes along to satisfy our needs for years to come. Zach Cregger has made a very good horror film that can't leave anyone downright cold. Barbarian has perfect craftsmanship (the sound and cinematography are of Wan's caliber). Georgina Campbell and Bill Skarsgård are both perfect (Justin Long a little less so, but it’s alright). The opening is a little slower, but once the action moves to the basement, it starts a hell of an uncomfortable, chilling and intense horror with a very uncomfortable and claustrophobic setting, a properly creepy villain – the best one so far in five years. The film also emphatically emphasizes the rational behavior of the characters, which is a very nice touch. It also manages to pleasantly and unpleasantly surprise the viewer on several occasions, the mystery and thick atmosphere works as well as the fear of the unknown. There were a few heart-attack-inducing jump-scares and of course there was gore – basically, everything we want to see in this genre. I'm giving a standing ovation, tearing my hair out and roaring HELL YEA!. Anyone who is going to be mad at this movie, I'm going to be mad at them. 9/10. (28.10.2022)

It’s a fine thing that Disney+ is debunking the myth of family VoD and premiering interesting horror movies. But Barbarian is overhyped. Screenwriter and director Zach Cregger enjoys playing with form and he respectably builds up the suspense associated with the unknown in the first third of the film. But the later uncovering of the mystery reveals the creative weakness of merely borrowing key elements from the groundbreaking works of the genre and slides into unintentional self-parody in the climax, while thinking it’s cool. This should have been made by an inventive butcher, ideally with European roots, who wasn’t afraid to exploit the potential of the terrifying content of the videotapes. (06.11.2022)

Ignorance truly is bliss. Rarely today do I go to the movies blind, without the slightest knowledge of the premise or the cast. With Barbarian this was a double advantage because the question marks started piling up right from the first few minutes. It's a shame that the opening act is by far the best. Every little twist brings about a first-class thrill, and the last two minutes had me glued so tightly that I almost couldn't bear it. Unfortunately, the second and third acts, when compared directly, are a diluted, subversively told fairy tale that becomes weaker the clearer the who, what, and how become. When even the appealingly rational rules are violated in the finale, and the showdown begins so abruptly that I had to make sure I didn't accidentally skip fifteen minutes of runtime, it seemed almost a pity if you consider the massive yet rather quickly blown potential. (02.11.2022)

The concise first third of Barbarians with the wonderful Bill is great; the second has an unexpected comedic edge (I roared with laughter at the twist from jump-scare to reality farce), and the third is a mishmash, but... the original mix of inverse home invasion, lactation instruction, collecting of VHS snuff flicks, drama about cruel motherhood and black comedy about the MeToo movement simply kept me watching, even though some of the dramaturgical choices are very dubious and the film barely holds together in places. As another entry in the canon of Detroit high-concept horror movies (the magnificent and in some ways related Don’t Breathe and the more allegorical It Follows are worth mentioning), it is indeed a more than respectable work. A place where society has collapsed invites the rise of barbarism. (28.10.2022)